Sweet slice-of-life love story: Wife, Let's love again
Chapter 109: The One with Good Soundproofing

Chapter 109: Chapter 109: The One with Good Soundproofing

The fading light of dusk slanted in through the window, casting a golden hue on the manuscript papers on the table.

The colleagues around were packing up, and Qin Guanglin also put down his pen, signaling the end of a day’s work. After a quick tidy-up, he was ready to clock out.

"I’m heading off first."

Seeing that Sun Wen still had unfinished work, he called out without intending to wait for him, grabbing his phone and sending a message to He Fang as he walked out.

"Wait up, Lin, I’ll be quick!" Sun Wen urgently called out.

"I’ve got something else."

"What could you possibly have to do?"

"Accompanying my girlfriend."

"..."

While he was speaking, he had already reached the outside. Qin Guanglin pressed the elevator button, and He Fang had already replied to his message.

"I’ve found a single-room apartment today, let’s go check it out together later."

"Sure, let’s take a look at that and then check out the one I found," he typed back on the keyboard, accepting the plan.

In any case, it was just a look. He could veto her choice later.

Qin Guanglin felt that a single room was too cramped—seeing the bed as soon as the door opened wasn’t good at all. A one-bedroom apartment was more reliable, with a living room as a buffer and space to put some clutter outside, so it didn’t all pile up in the bedroom.

"Should we eat first or look at the apartment?" Qin Guanglin asked.

"Are you hungry? If not, let’s look first—it’s not good to go too late."

"I’m not very hungry, let’s look first."

After replying to the message, he called Qin’s Mom to let her know to make less food since he wasn’t coming home for dinner.

Sitting on the bus, Qin Guanglin was texting Teacher He, an unconscious smile spreading across his face.

Everything was proceeding according to plan. He Fang would soon graduate, then he would take her home to meet his parents, and then... make money, propose.

Perfect.

This was fate.

Back at the bus stop near his home, Qin Guanglin got off and went straight to South Fly Road. As soon as he reached the intersection, he saw Teacher He waving at him with an unfinished bottle of mineral water:

"Over here."

"Have you been waiting long?" Qin Guanglin quickly walked up, noticing the strands of hair stuck to her forehead with sweat, and couldn’t help but reach out to brush them aside, "You’re all heated up."

The afternoon heat lingered after five o’clock, and with yesterday’s rain, today was even hotter, making it unsuitable to look for apartments during the day.

"It’s alright, it’s cooler now," He Fang said, pulling Qin Guanglin towards the apartment she had found, "Noon was really hot. I hid in the shop ahead for a long time, waiting for it to cool down before I came out."

Finishing her words, she felt the sweat on her hands and uncomfortably wiped them on Qin Guanglin’s clothes, then looped her arm through his, "It’s not far ahead, also on the third floor. Wait, let me call the landlord."

"How about we check out the one I found yesterday first?" Qin Guanglin suggested.

"No, let’s look at mine first."

He Fang dialed the number while walking, speaking briefly before quickening her pace.

They reached a building where the sound of flip-flops came from inside just in time. A figure appeared at the staircase—it was the same landlord as the night before.

"Eh? You guys..." The landlord was taken aback.

"Yesterday, I was helping her look for an apartment, and now we’ve come to take a look." Qin Guanglin realized, "Is this place also...?"

"Yes, that’s right." The landlord smiled, pointing, "There are also two other buildings there that are mine."

"..."

Indeed, the flip-flop-wearing lady could very well be a hidden wealthy person.

"Let’s take a look first. She likes single rooms, but I think the one-bedroom is quite good," Qin Guanglin pulled Teacher He along to follow the landlord upstairs, "We’ll go check out the one from last night afterwards; saves us some trouble."

"A one-bedroom is of course better than a single room, isn’t that obvious?" The landlord looked back at them, "Plus, the one-bedroom has better soundproofing."

"cough..."

Qin Guanglin coughed awkwardly, meeting He Fang’s gaze.

"You’re thinking nonsense," He Fang wrinkled her nose, whispering in a very soft voice to him.

"She’s living alone; it’s mainly about having more space," Qin Guanglin couldn’t help but explain to the landlord.

Really, this landlord lady, why speak so carelessly? Soundproofing what?

"Even if you live alone, you need good soundproofing. Some tenants work late shifts and it’s really annoying when they’re walking up and down the stairs at night," the landlady was quite straightforward, pointing out the flaws first.

She held several properties in her hands, and she didn’t mind whether they were rented out or not; it was always better to speak upfront than dealing with tenants’ complaints after they had moved in and found issues—way too troublesome.

"...That’s true," Qin Guanglin admitted sheepishly, realizing he had overthought.

Thump, thump, thump up to the third floor, the landlady opened the door to let the two of them in to take a look, "This is the single room. She’s seen it during the day, now you take a look."

Qin Guanglin looked around after entering. Indeed, you could see the bed as soon as you walked in, a wardrobe was placed by the entrance, a small desk further inside, and in the corner was the bathroom door. Thankfully, there was a small balcony on the other side, cluttered with a washing machine and mop among other odds and ends.

"Your bag takes up so much space it’s hard to move around, it’s too small."

He started nitpicking as soon as he finished looking, really not wanting He Fang to live in this shabby single room, "Look at this, the walls are peeling, so ugly. And the sleeping area is only separated by a door from the hallway. It’s not just unsafe, but you can hear everything happening outside clearly."

"Have you lived here?" He Fang glanced at him sideways.

"Do I need to? It’s common sense," Qin Guanglin sat on the bed a few times before standing up, "And just now, the landlady mentioned it too, the noise from outside will disturb those inside. Come on, let’s check out the other room."

The more he looked at the single room, the less he liked it. He decisively pulled He Fang out of the room, ready to go see the one they had taken a liking to the previous night.

"Okay then," He Fang conceded, seeing his attitude, "Let’s see how good that place you mentioned is."

"It’s definitely better than this one," Qin Guanglin stood at the doorway waiting for the landlady to lock up and take them to the other place, "Did you bring your ID card?"

"I brought it."

"Great." He glanced at the landlady still bent over locking the door and whispered to He Fang, bending down, "If you think it’s okay later, just rent it on the spot."

"Let’s see how it looks first."

"Let’s go," the landlady called out after locking the door, leading the way downstairs.

The two apartments weren’t far from each other, and soon they arrived at the one-bedroom apartment. Qin Guanglin rushed He Fang to the bedroom window to show her, "Look, there."

It was still daylight, and without needing to open the window, you could see Qin Guanglin’s home in the distance.

"It’s so far away, you can only see a house," He Fang took a quick look and turned to inspect other places, "Unless I really plan on buying a telescope to spy on you?"

"Not at all," he gesticulated excitedly, "At night, if I just look up and see your lights on, I’ll know you’re here."

"You’d know even if you didn’t look."

"It’s not the same. Seeing and not seeing feels different; it makes it seem closer."

"Alright, alright."

After looking over the bedroom, He Fang checked out the kitchen and bathroom, and she had to admit Fool Qin really had found a good spot this time.

"It’s too big, I’m scared of the dark," she hesitated. The reason she wanted a single room was that a big house seemed somewhat scary to her.

"Really?" Qin Guanglin was somewhat stunned, "It’s just an extra living room."

"What if there are noises in the living room at night?"

"Uh..."

Qin Guanglin thought for a moment, then pulled He Fang back to the window, "I’m right over there. Just a phone call or a message and I can be here in ten minutes... no, if I run, it’ll only take five," he paused, "I think the two doors here are so much better than that single room’s one door. The sleeping area is only separated from the hallway by a single door..."

"Hmm, you have a point," He Fang nodded, "So, we’re taking it?"

"We’re taking it."

Seeing that she had no objections, Qin Guanglin went out to the living room to speak to the landlady, "We’ve decided, this place will do. That contract..."

"Tsk, I didn’t bring it with me." The landlady searched through her bag for a moment but couldn’t find it, "Wait here for a bit, I’ll be back in a few minutes."

"That’s fine."

Watching the landlady leave, they both sat on the sofa waiting for her to return with the contract.

"What do you want for dinner?" Qin Guanglin asked, pulling out his wallet.

He had deliberately put three thousand yuan in his wallet the night before, to see how much would be left after renting the place, and if it wasn’t enough for dinner, he’d have to go back and get more.

"Sha County Hotel, I haven’t had their steamed dumplings in a long time," He Fang eyed his wallet, "Why are you carrying so much money?"

"For renting the place."

"I’ll rent it myself."

"Didn’t you say that my money is your money?" Qin Guanglin said as if it were the most natural thing in the world, "So this is also you renting it."

"I don’t want it."

"You do."

"Don’t..."

The rest of her resistance was blocked by an annoyed Qin Guanglin, who silenced her with a hush.