SG 62

Extra 2  Our Home

The single apartment Chu Baiyan rented was fine for one person, but once two people moved in, it felt a bit cramped. That was even though both he and Yan Anqing kept their lives simple. Other than the most basic necessities, there was nothing extra in the house, yet the space still was narrow.

The wardrobe was too small. After they put in both of their clothes, there was no space left for the winter down jackets or bulky bedding, so they had to pack them into storage boxes and stack them by the wall.

The most troublesome thing was cooking. There was no kitchen, only an open cabinet about two meters long by the entrance. Once they put the pots, rice cooker, and all the seasonings on it, the counter was already full. Even with the exhaust fan turned to the highest setting, the whole place filled with cooking smoke whenever they made food.

When Chu Baiyan lived alone before, he could manage because he didn’t cook much, and the kitchen was barely used. After the two of them started living together, they often had to cook dinner at night, and the flaws of a single apartment became obvious. Every time they fried a dish, the smell lingered in the room for two hours. In autumn they could open the window for air, but in winter, even with the air conditioner on, the smell stayed in the room for half the day.

Although Yan Anqing never complained, Chu Baiyan knew he didn’t like the smell of cooking oil. Every time the scent got on his clothes, he would frown and pull at them, sniffing for a long time.

The idea of buying a house came to Chu Baiyan in April. Yan Anqing was packing the closet, putting the winter sweaters and thick home clothes into storage boxes. Just after he closed the lid and stood up, he tripped over some clutter on the floor and fell down on the box, cracking the lid and cutting his thigh.

He was lucky to be wearing long pants, so the cut was only a thin line, but it still made Chu Baiyan feel distressed. The next day, after finishing his performance, he went to the real estate agency at the community gate to look for apartments. His requirements were simple. He preferred to stay within the same community since Yan Anqing’s shop was right by the gate, and moving too far would make it inconvenient to go to work.

Even someone as slow to notice as Yan Anqing could tell that Chu Baiyan had been getting way more calls these past few days. Before, other than calls from Lu Ran, Chu Baiyan rarely took phone calls at home. But now, he could get seven or eight calls in one evening, and when he wasn’t answering, he was busy texting.

“You’re getting too many calls.” Yan Anqing complained, unhappy, because during one dinner alone, Chu Baiyan had already answered three.

“Are you planning to move to another place?” The calls were all about house locations and sizes. Even if Yan Anqing hadn’t been listening closely, he could still tell they were about houses.

Since he couldn’t bring his phone during the day when performing, Chu Baiyan arranged with the agent to contact him at night. Calls and messages all piled up then. He had wanted to surprise Yan Anqing, but it seemed impossible now.

“I’m not changing apartments, I’m buying one. This one is too small, and it’s rented. I want to buy a place of our own.”

When Chu Baiyan finished speaking, Yan Anqing’s eyes lit up. “Our home?”

“Yes. Instead of renting a slightly bigger place, I’d rather buy one. I left my info at the agency near the gate a few days ago. The calls at night are all from them.”

Chu Baiyan showed him the listings he was interested in, explaining each location, which floor they were on, and how big the apartments were.

“When we get a day off on Monday, I’ll take you to look at them.” Since he only wanted something nearby, mostly in the same community, there weren’t many options. After narrowing down the size, only a few listings were left, which actually made it easier to decide.

“Does it cost a lot?” Yan Anqing looked through the pictures one by one. The new places were much larger than their current one, even bigger than the second floor above the old shop.

“I still have a few hundred thousand. If we get something around sixty square meters, the down payment will be enough.” For two people, that space was enough. He was mainly looking at one-bedroom or small two-bedroom apartments with separate kitchens.

He had kept the money from the demolition of the old house, and together with his savings and the money he earned from performances, the agent had already helped him calculate that for this size range, he could cover the down payment and still have some left, with no heavy monthly payments.

Yan Anqing immediately grabbed his phone and started tapping. Before Chu Baiyan even realized what he was doing, he received a payment notification from Alipay.

“I sent you all my savings.” Yan Anqing had been running his shop for almost two years, and he’d only saved just over a hundred thousand. In the first half of the first year, he barely made enough to live, and it was only later, when he got more customers, that he managed to save a little.

By June, they had already moved into the new home. After their rental contract expired, they renewed it for one extra month. The buying process went smoothly. After viewing a few apartments, Yan Anqing immediately fell in love with one on the ninth floor of another building in the same community. It was a small two-bedroom unit of sixty-two square meters.

The owner had several properties. Since his child was going abroad, he wanted to sell one farther away to get some cash, so the price was reasonable. The apartment had never been lived in and was still in the same condition as when it was handed over. Yan Anqing didn’t like places that had traces of previous owners, so this one was perfect.

It was fully furnished, so there was no need for major changes. The white walls looked too plain, so Yan Anqing picked warm-toned wallpaper to decorate them. He hung curtains he chose himself, bought simple furniture and appliances, and hired a cleaning company to deep clean everything before they moved in.

Their “move” was just crossing a small greenbelt inside the same community. They didn’t have many belongings, and after three trips back and forth, the old place was empty. The new bathroom was spacious, there was a separate kitchen, a private bedroom with a door, and a small second room next to it that they turned into a study with a desk and computer chair.

Yan Anqing felt love and curiosity for every corner of the home. The plate he had given Chu Baiyan was placed in the most eye-catching spot in the living room.

“I really love our home.” After unpacking, Yan Anqing relaxed fully and leaned back against the couch.

When Chu Baiyan sat down beside him, he leaned in and kissed his cheek. “I love you too.”

Chu Baiyan held his neck and kissed him. In this city, he finally had a home of his own, and a lover waiting for him every day. He was no longer a drifting rootless person. The warmth and happiness he had once envied in other families were all his now.