"It must cost a lot of money to decorate this house, right?" Lin Zeqiu asked.
"Yes," Lin Zhixia took out a stack of documents from her backpack, "The living room and bedroom are paved with teak wood floors, painted with wood wax oil, and the toilet and balcony use non-slip vitrified tiles..."
Lin Zeqiu sat on the sofa: "Did the landlord ask you for renovation fees?"
Lin Zhixia handed the document to him: "The landlord's price per square meter is more than a thousand yuan higher than the bare-shell house."
Dad walked around the living room for a long time, and asked in a daze: "Such a nice house, why would the landlord want to sell it?"
Lin Zhixia explained: "Since November last year, the A-share market has skyrocketed, with a premium of more than 30% over Hong Kong stocks. The landlord wants to sell the real estate and use the money to invest in the stock market. The landlord also said that his family has several houses in the provincial capital..."
Dad was still a little worried: "Xia Xia, have you really saved enough money for the down payment? How much do you still need? Mom and Dad will make up for it for you."
"It's enough," Lin Zhixia said happily. "The Youth Thousand Talents Program gave me a direct reward of 500,000 yuan, the school gave me a resettlement allowance of more than 1 million yuan, and the Provincial Education Bureau allocated me a housing subsidy for 'high-level talents'. Add to that the money I've saved over the years, and after paying the 40% down payment, I still have 110,000 yuan left in my bank account."
Lin Zhixia's parents were infected by her joy. Lin Zeqiu also said, "The decoration materials are all high-end, but the furniture is a little bit lacking. I have more than 100,000 yuan on hand, so I will use it to buy a few more sets of furniture for our family."
Lin Zhixia took his hand and said, "Come and see your new bedroom."
Lin Zeqiu tensed all his muscles, his body movements were slow and stiff, like a puppet. He even ignored Jiang Yubai standing aside, and didn't hear what Jiang Yubai said at all. He only saw that Jiang Yubai made his parents smile, and his father patted Jiang Yubai on the shoulder, and his attitude towards Jiang Yubai was as warm as the morning sun in March.
However, Lin Zeqiu no longer cared about Jiang Yubai. He just wanted to visit his new bedroom - it was a very spacious and bright room, with a side door leading to an independent bathroom, an independent study, and a balcony with a wide view.
Lin Zeqiu has lived alone in a small bedroom of ten square meters for more than twenty years and has never slept in a double bed in his life. He couldn't help but bend down to touch the bed frame, spread his fingers, and then retracted his hands. He caught a glimpse of Jiang Yubai from the corner of his eye and felt a little uncomfortable. Even if he liked this bedroom, he couldn't act too poor and embarrass his sister in front of Jiang Yubai.
At this time, Lin Zhixia happened to ask: "Brother, do you like this house?"
Lin Zeqiu raised his chin proudly: "Not bad, just so-so."
Lin Zhixia's voice became lighter: "This is already the best house I can afford. I can't afford it if it's more expensive."
Jiang Yubai suddenly said, "You have been looking at houses by yourself for more than three months. I am too busy with work and can't spare the time to accompany you..."
"It's okay," Lin Zhixia said sincerely, "You taught me the skills of house hunting, which helped me avoid detours and helped me a lot."
After that, she leaned against Jiang Yubai and interlocked her fingers with him through the cover of her sleeves. Jiang Yubai also said that as Lin Zhixia's good friend and boyfriend, he wanted to give her some gifts, including a set of customized daily necessities, to celebrate her moving into this big house.
Lin Zhixia asked curiously: "What daily necessities?"
Jiang Yubai introduced briefly: "Table lamps, curtains, carpets, pots and pans."
"Don't buy anything too expensive." Lin Zhixia warned.
Jiang Yubai imitated her usual tone: "Okay, okay."
Jiang Yubai spoke in a low voice with a smile in his voice. Lin Zhixia guessed that his expression was also very nice. Before she even looked at him, she felt a sweet feeling in her heart. So she held Jiang Yubai's right hand tightly and said to him privately: "This new house is also your home..."
Jiang Yubai said nothing. He stood near the balcony, the dim sunlight falling into his eyes, which looked warm and clear.
The original owner of this house was a middle-aged man who was very easy to talk to. He did not cheat Lin Zhixia at all, and the house transfer procedures were handled very smoothly.
Lin Zhixia successfully passed the bank's loan application. Her basic annual salary is about 400,000 yuan, plus various allowances, rewards, and patent licensing fees, her annual income after tax is about 500,000 yuan. After deducting the monthly mortgage of nearly 30,000 yuan, there are still more than 100,000 yuan left, which is enough to cover her expenses - she has no interest in jewelry or brand-name clothing, and her daily life is frugal and she spends almost nothing. Jiang Yubai is a little worried about Lin Zhixia's capital chain.
Jiang Yubai told Lin Zhixia that he would set up the "Quantum Technology Laboratory" as soon as possible, and as the director and founder of the laboratory, Lin Zhixia would definitely be able to obtain stable returns.
When it comes to the "Quantum Technology Laboratory", Lin Zhixia is not in a hurry at all. Her focus is still on teaching and scientific research.
In addition to school affairs, how to properly decorate the new house is also an issue worth exploring.
From May to June 2016, Lin Zhixia and Lin Zeqiu often went to simple home furnishing stores such as IKEA and MUJI and bought a lot of daily necessities.
Jiang Yubai generously sent electrical appliances, carpets, wooden cabinets, pots and pans - the brands of those things were all unheard of by Lin Zhixia's family. When Lin Zhixia asked about their prices, Jiang Yubai said that he got the internal price of the manufacturer's group purchase and direct sales, which was not very expensive, and he hoped that Lin Zhixia would accept his kindness.
Lin Zhixia asked in a probing manner: "How much did it cost you?"
Jiang Yubai changed the subject: "I didn't think it through enough... I can't help you academically, I can only provide some convenience in your life."
Jiang Yubai spoke very sincerely, and took all the responsibility on himself. When he said "I can't help you academically", he turned his face slightly, as if recalling the time in middle school when he was completely suppressed by Lin Zhixia - at that time, Jiang Yubai tried his best but couldn't get the first place in the grade, and even lost to Jin Baihui. Even Shen Fuxuan's exam ranking was once ahead of him.
In Lin Zhixia's "Human Observation Diary", the most common sentence she used to describe Jiang Yubai is: "Today, Jiang Yubai was struggling with a simple physics problem..."
Jiang Yubai's sigh was barely audible, and Lin Zhixia immediately felt sorry for him. Not only did she accept all his gifts, she also sat on his lap, put her arms around his neck and kissed him a few times. As soon as she said a few nice words, he immediately tightened his arms around her waist and kissed her eagerly and passionately, as if he had finally walked out of the shadow of the past.
At the end of June 2016, Lin Zhixia moved into a new home with her parents and brother.
At nine o'clock that night, Lin Zeqiu took a bath in the bedroom and lay down on his big bed with a sense of ritual. He wrapped himself tightly in the quilt and buried his face in the pillow. The pillow was also very unusual, firm and soft, exuding the fragrance of plants and trees. He had lived for more than 20 years and had never known that there was such a useful pillow in the world.
Lin Zeqiu was extremely excited. He couldn't sleep, but didn't want to get up.
Lin Zeqiu's bedroom is closest to the living room.
At around ten o'clock in the evening, he heard a faint sound of conversation coming from the entrance.
He got out of bed and opened the door. He saw Lin Zhixia leading Jiang Yubai through the living room. Yes, on the first night of their move, Jiang Yubai sneaked into his house as a guest. Lin Zeqiu's heart sounded a red alarm. He walked barefoot for a while and found that Lin Zhixia had taken Jiang Yubai into the guest room.
Lin Zeqiu felt relieved.
He returned to his bedroom.
However, just as Lin Zeqiu closed the door, Jiang Yubai leaned close to Lin Zhixia's ear and said, "Your brother has gone home."
Lin Zhixia was startled by his voice: "So?"
"Excuse me, can I go to your room?" he asked her politely.
Lin Zhixia reminded him righteously: "We can't do anything else except sleeping."
He said, "I understand."
Lin Zhixia looked him up and down. He had just come back from the company and hadn't had time to change his clothes. His shirt was neat and his trousers were straight, giving people the impression of a hardworking workplace elite.
Lin Zhixia's heart warmed up, so she took Jiang Yubai back to her big bedroom and played the role-playing game of "President Lin and Secretary Jiang" with him in the bathroom. Secretary Jiang's services were meticulous and detailed, and President Lin was overwhelmed. The sound of water, laughter, and panting in the bathroom mixed together and continued until late at night.
This summer is exceptionally hot.
Jiang Yubai would occasionally visit Lin Zhixia's home. He would sleep in Lin Zhixia's room until 5:30 in the morning, then go to the guest room next door in the dark. He came out of the guest room at 7:30 the next morning. Lin Zeqiu thought Jiang Yubai was still simple - he was just cunning, scheming, and had a strong desire to win. He looked at people and acted differently, but in fact he was still a conservative and honest young man.
Lin Zhixia's parents never noticed Jiang Yubai who lived in the guest room.
Mom and Dad go out at 7 o'clock every morning. They are still running the supermarket business in Ancheng Community. Lin Zeqiu paid for Dad to buy a Wuling Hongguang van. At 7 o'clock in the morning, Dad will drive Mom back to Ancheng Community, and at 6 o'clock in the evening, they will return to the university town. They no longer run the store day and night like before, because Lin Zhixia and Lin Zeqiu both have a stable income, and life is much easier than before. The family can have dinner together every day and watch TV together.
Lin Zhixia was very satisfied.
She was more attentive to the tasks assigned by the school.
In August this year, when the weather was at its hottest, another major event happened in the college—a highly respected professor suddenly decided to change jobs. The college tried to retain him in every possible way but failed. He still had several master's and doctoral students who had not yet graduated. The college held an emergency meeting and had no choice but to assign new supervisors to ensure that the students graduated smoothly.