WP 14

The woman who came out of the room was wearing an apron, as if she had been cooking something. But it wasn’t even mealtime. What was she making at this hour? Jiang Yibai, curious, leaned slightly to peek inside.

Zhen Zhen reacted quickly. She turned around and said, “Xiao Jiang, why don’t you go wait downstairs for a bit?”

Jiang Yibai was an outsider here, and since she had already hinted for him to leave, it would’ve been shameless to stay and keep watching. He glanced at Si Shaorong, then said, “Alright. If you need help with anything, just call me.”

Zhen Zhen gave him a polite response. But before Jiang Yibai had even reached the door, he heard the woman say, “Rong-ge, are you still mad? Just listen to me, I’ve already explained everything to He Jia. That whole thing was a misunderstanding…”

“Qin Cheng!” Zhen Zhen snapped in a low voice, cutting her off. She pulled the door closed behind her and said coldly, “We’re here today to move out. He Jia already refunded the rent.”

“What?” Qin Cheng’s eyes widened in shock, clearly unable to believe it. “He didn’t tell me that. He said you two had already talked and worked things out.”

“We did,” Zhen Zhen said with a cold smile. “You’re dating now. With the Great Master here, it was getting inconvenient. You two can enjoy your life as a couple from now on.”

Si Shaorong couldn’t even be bothered to respond. He had already started walking toward his room. Qin Cheng quickly followed after him.

“Rong-ge! Even if you’re planning to move, you should at least look at a few more places and compare. Are you going to stay in a hotel? Don’t you have a thing about cleanliness? The hygiene in hotels is…”

“Out of the way.” Zhen Zhen pushed past her at the door, grabbed a bag, and started helping Si Shaorong pack. She crouched down and lifted the computer tower. Despite the long dress she was wearing, she moved quickly and efficiently. “The Great Master already signed a lease with someone else. The place is better than here, so you don’t need to worry about him.”

Qin Cheng was at a loss for words. She stood there in the doorway, staring blankly as Si Shaorong quietly continued packing.

Suddenly, she said, “I made you soy-braised eggs. You always liked…”

Zhen Zhen cut her off. “That kind of thoughtfulness would be better spent on your boyfr—”

Before she could finish, Qin Cheng exploded. Her eyes went wide as she shouted, “Shut up! What does this have to do with you?!”

Zhen Zhen went silent.

Zhen Zhen turned back to her and pointed at her own nose. “Are you talking to me?”

Qin Cheng snapped, “You’re just jealous! You’ve been looking down on me for a long time, haven’t you? Using your position as his assistant to get close to him, who knows what you’re really after! Now you’re even pushing Rong-ge to move out! You’re a vile woman!”

Zhen Zhen: “What?”

Qin Cheng was clearly furious. She genuinely believed she was acting in Si Shaorong’s best interest and said with righteous conviction, “What he needs most for his work is a stable, quiet environment. You keep encouraging him to move, but how is he supposed to focus like that? He and He Jia have lived together for two years. They’re familiar with each other, and there haven’t been any conflicts. Now you suddenly want him to live with a stranger. What if the new guy has bad intentions? What if he’s just trying to use his name and reputation? You’re not thinking about what’s best for him at all.”

Zhen Zhen: “…”

Si Shaorong continued as if he hadn’t heard any of it. He unplugged the cables, packed up the keyboard and headphones, then carefully took down the monitor.

When Qin Cheng saw that Zhen Zhen didn’t respond, she quickly turned to Si Shaorong. “Rong-ge, there was a misunderstanding, but I’ve already explained everything to He Jia. That night, I was drunk and ended up in the wrong bed. Nothing happened between us. He Jia understands that now. I promise something like that will never happen again. We’ve known each other for a while now. I know your habits, your schedule, your routines. So does He Jia. We’re used to living with you, and there’s no better setup than this.”

Si Shaorong finished packing, frowned slightly, and looked at Zhen Zhen. “These are hard to carry. It’s better if Jiang Yibai comes up to help.”

Qin Cheng: “What?”

Zhen Zhen had originally planned to make a couple of trips herself. There wasn’t that much stuff, and it would’ve been quick. Now she understood what Si Shaorong meant. He wanted to take everything with him at once so they wouldn’t have to come back again.

Zhen Zhen nodded and gave Jiang Yibai a call.

He rang the doorbell almost immediately. In fact, he hadn’t gone downstairs at all and had just been wandering at the end of the hallway.

Zhen Zhen didn’t want too many people knowing about the conflict between Si Shaorong and He Jia, but now wasn’t the time to dwell on that. She lifted the packed luggage, bumped her shoulder against the woman blocking the door, and said, “You standing here like this is just getting in the way. Have a little self-awareness.”

Qin Cheng’s face turned bright red with anger. But compared to Zhen Zhen, her figure really didn’t hold up, and in the end, she had to move aside awkwardly and with no dignity.

Jiang Yibai grabbed part of the luggage and carried the computer tower with one hand. The keyboard was still hanging from the handle.

Si Shaorong had a backpack on his shoulders, the monitor in his arms, headphones looped around his neck, and a large cloth bag slung over one arm, stuffed with books he had chosen to take.

As for anything he couldn’t carry, he had already decided to leave it behind.

As the three of them headed out, Qin Cheng still refused to give up. “Rong-ge! What exactly do you want? Isn’t it enough for me to apologize? I’ll get He Jia to apologize too! When he gets back, I’ll make sure he—”

Jiang Yibai couldn’t make sense of it all, but it was obvious there was some serious drama between the three of them.

Seeing that Si Shaorong didn’t react at all, Qin Cheng chased after them and shouted, “Where’s your new place? Just give me the address! I’ll bring you food! How are two men supposed to live together? Are you just going to keep ordering takeout? That’s not good for your health!”

Zhen Zhen silently thought, He Jia is an idiot.

Si Shaorong himself didn’t seem to have any opinion about it. It was like the person involved wasn’t actually present in the scene.

Jiang Yibai raised an eyebrow and turned to face the woman. “Excuse me, but who says two men can’t live together?”

Qin Cheng froze.

Jiang Yibai said, “I can cook, clean, and warm the bed. I can play instruments, sing, and tell stories too.”

Qin Cheng: “…”

Zhen Zhen let out a small laugh. At that moment, she found Jiang Yibai more and more pleasing to the eye.

Even Si Shaorong glanced back in surprise.
He saw was the man walking ahead with the computer tower in hand, tall and straight-backed, looking undeniably handsome. But that head of unruly curls softened the edge of his charm, giving him a warm, almost tender feel.

Qin Cheng suddenly understood. “It’s you? Rong-ge is moving in with you?”

Jiang Yibai replied, “I don’t know what happened between you all, but Zhen-jie mentioned to me that you’re He Jia’s girlfriend, isn’t that right?”

Qin Cheng stared at him, not sure what he was getting at.

“If I’m wrong, I apologize,” Jiang Yibai said, flashing a small dimpled smile. “But as far as I can tell, my ge doesn’t look like someone moving out. He looks more like someone walking away after messing things up.”

Si Shaorong: “…”

Qin Cheng’s ears flushed red. “What nonsense are you spouting? That’s not true at all!”

“Then I must’ve said something wrong,” Jiang Yibai said calmly. “We’re all adults. Whether my ge stays or goes is entirely his own decision. No one has the right to interfere.”

Qin Cheng snapped, “What do you know? What do any of you know?”

When she said “any of you,” she was clearly including Zhen Zhen as well. “Do you have any idea how hard it is for Rong-ge to write? When he gets stuck, he can’t sleep for nights. Even when he’s running a fever and hooked up to an IV, he’s still writing. After all these years, his career is finally gaining momentum. Having a stable, familiar living environment is critical. And I am more than capable of taking care of him.”

She pointed at Zhen Zhen. “But you’re the ones forcing him to move. Now he’s going to some unfamiliar place where no one’s paying attention to his needs. What if he gets sick or worn out? Will either of you even notice?”

Jiang Yibai looked astonished. “You make my ge sound like he’s completely disabled in daily life.”

Si Shaorong: “……”

“You see?” Qin Cheng jumped in. “You don’t understand at all! Just give me your address. I’ll bring food over for you too when I cook for him. That should be fine, right?”

Jiang Yibai curled his lip. “Of course not.”

Qin Cheng: “……”

Si Shaorong suddenly had a bad feeling. Sure enough, the next second Jiang Yibai said bluntly, “I’m gay. Even my close friends don’t come over often. What’s a strange woman doing dropping by with food all the time? You might not care, but I do.”

Zhen Zhen couldn’t hold back a laugh and burst out chuckling.

Qin Cheng looked completely stunned. “What?”

She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Si Shaorong was living with a gay man? She instinctively took a few steps back, the disgust on her face plain as day, like Jiang Yibai was something filthy.

Jiang Yibai didn’t seem to mind, but Si Shaorong, who had stayed quiet all this while, finally frowned.

He hadn’t planned to respond to Qin Cheng at all. After today, they weren’t going to see each other again. No point wasting time. Even while she was talking, his mind had been elsewhere, still mulling over plot ideas.

But now, seeing the look on her face and the way she recoiled, he couldn’t stay silent.

“Honestly,” Si Shaorong said, enunciating clearly, “the most unstable element in this household… is you.”

Qin Cheng was stunned.

Si Shaorong said, “It’s your presence that has been the greatest obstacle to my work.”

Zhen Zhen sighed inwardly. No wonder he had stayed single all these years. The man’s words could cut like a knife. Still, this time, she thought he had cut perfectly. She almost wanted to applaud.

If not for the fact that Qin Cheng was He Jia’s girlfriend, still young, and cooked diligently every day, Si Shaorong would have crushed whatever hopes she had a long time ago.

Zhen Zhen recalled how she too had once entertained foolish thoughts about “proximity giving her an edge.” When that fantasy fell apart, she had practically wanted to slap her past self awake. Compared to that, she now realized that Si Shaorong had actually been very gentle with her.

Qin Cheng had no words left. She simply couldn’t understand how, after doing everything she could for this man, believing she understood him better than anyone, sympathized with his struggles, and was willing to accommodate him, she had ended up with this kind of response.

What gave him the right? How could someone say something like that?

Jiang Yibai sighed inwardly. He had thought Si Shaorong was just being soft on her because she was a woman, so he had stepped in to “gently dissuade” her. But to his surprise, the Great Master could be ruthless when he wanted to be.

Seeing Qin Cheng’s face turn from pale to flushed and back again, he quietly slipped away.