At exactly eight o'clock in the evening, Tao Zhiyue had just walked to the door of the barbecue restaurant when he saw a familiar figure walking towards a car that had just parked on the side of the road.
He took a closer look, then sighed slightly disappointedly: "Why did you change your clothes?"
Huo Ran at this moment was completely different from the one he saw on TV at noon. He changed into a casual T-shirt and trousers and looked like a college student.
“… As soon as you mentioned that you wanted to eat barbecue, I cleverly discovered your intention.”
Huo Ran walked to his side naturally and said seriously: "I won't take off my coat in public."
"What do you mean take off your coat?" Tao Zhiyue said without changing his expression. "You just came back from the buffet, so of course you want to eat something hot."
Huo Ran thought for a while: "Do you want to see me eat it? You said before that you don't want to eat it."
"..." Tao Zhiyue coughed, trying to change the subject, "I haven't had dinner yet, this doesn't count as a midnight snack. Come in quickly, there's a vacant seat."
The first round ended in a tie.
After walking into the smoky barbecue restaurant and sitting down, the waiter brought two menus. Tao Zhiyue just started to look at them when he heard Huo Ran sitting opposite him reading out the names of the dishes at a glance.
"This thick-cut pork belly looks delicious, with the secret recipe of plum meat, as well as marbled beef ribs, Australian beef cubes, and beef tongue... Order them all!"
Tao Zhiyue didn't know whether to laugh or cry: "Why order so much meat?"
“You love beef!”
Huo Ran ticked the paper menu while changing his words at the speed of light: "Don't worry, you will have a coach soon, and you will have to walk a lot to look at houses tomorrow, which is equivalent to climbing a mountain, so don't worry about eating today."
That makes sense.
Tao Zhiyue hesitated shamefully for a moment, then decisively joined the queue of people ordering dishes.
"Let's order some mushrooms. When they are grilled, mushroom juice will form on the back, which is very delicious."
"And cold noodles, I hope they taste as good as the ones made by the auntie at the company..."
A moment later, the table was piled with plates, and the sight of fresh meat and vegetables was dazzling.
Huo Ran took the tongs and boldly spread the meat on the barbecue paper coated with cooking oil. He grilled it over the warm charcoal. Soon, a sizzling sound was heard and golden oil stars appeared on the pork belly.
"By the way, I just did a little research on moving."
Tao Zhiyue was an activist. Once he made up his mind, he would take action immediately.
"You will probably go to the new city often in the future, so I took the company and the new city as the two endpoints, and used a half-hour commute time as the radius, and pulled all the communities within the overlapping range from the map."
While the meat is still fresh, Tao Zhiyue began to share his research results in earnest: "The transportation should be convenient, the surrounding living facilities should be complete, it is best to have a park where you can exercise and walk, the house type should be reasonable, and the community environment and property should also be good..."
"Do you have any other ideas about my requirements for renting a house?"
Huo Ran listened attentively: "I have it now. It's very comprehensive. I'll listen to you."
"According to these conditions, I selected seven communities, all of which met the criteria, but some of them were relatively old communities, and some were high-end communities with particularly high rents."
"Considering your usual living conditions and actual needs, I have ruled out small residential areas and mixed-use commercial and residential buildings with a lot of people."
Huo Ran was stunned for a moment, and just as he was about to speak, he heard him continue.
"For me, the cost-effectiveness of high-end residential areas is not very good, so I ruled them out. Finally, I chose a residential area with relatively the best conditions, Jia'an Mingyuan, which was delivered five years ago. It is about 15 minutes' drive from the company and the new town."
"The occupancy rate is very high now, so there is no need to worry about noise from renovations. The community is well greened, and the distance between buildings is reasonable. I think the lighting will be very good."
Tao Zhiyue took out the photos of the community from his mobile phone album and showed them to Huo Ran who was standing opposite him over the stove.
"The developer positioned it as a garden-style livable community. The garden can be judged from the photos. In order to confirm whether it is livable, I captured a lot of online reviews that mentioned the name of the community. The positive rate is very high. Most of the owners are middle-income earners who are buying second homes. Many of them are married and have children."
"And based on other captured keywords, we can tell that because the community is close to the subway entrance and bus station, the rent is much more expensive than the surrounding communities, so most of the owners live there themselves. However, there are too many floating populations, and the community management is very strict, and you need to swipe your card to enter and exit."
"I guess because there are children, the owners have a stronger sense of security. The community atmosphere is good, there are regular gatherings and activities, and they will be very vigilant when seeing strangers. The probability of a pervert sneaking in should be very low."
"Among all the rental websites, I found that Jia'an Mingyuan has a total of 15 houses for rent. There is a lot of room for selection. I can go and see each one in person."
Finally, Tao Zhiyue concluded his speech seriously: "In fact, this community meets my future housing purchase standards, but I am still working hard to make money. I hope that this project can be successfully launched and I can get more bonuses. Now I can experience my ideal living environment in advance, which may make me more motivated to work every day."
"I think you should be satisfied with this community. If you are not satisfied, I can make alternative plans."
After Tao Zhiyue finished his introduction, he relaxed and took a sip of lemonade. He looked at the roasting pan piled with meat and said in surprise, "The meat seems to be smoking."
Huo Ran completely forgot to turn the meat over after hearing this. Hearing this, he quickly took the tongs and started to pull out the meat slices stuck to the barbecue paper.
Tao Zhiyue seized the opportunity for a second round of ridicule: "You are so stupid, how about I grill you."
"No way!" Huo Ran resolutely defended his right to hold the clamp, "You've won the house search. I only have meat left to roast."
"Have you started investigating a long time ago? Such detailed information."
Tao Zhiyue shook his head: "Yes, I decided when I replied to you in the evening. I didn't want to disturb you two, so I went to the Internet cafe."
Then he said to himself: "When I get home, I will optimize a program and make a crawler that can run stably on the phone, so that I don't have to rush to find a computer every time."
Huo Ran couldn't help but sigh: "What a great efficiency! I was still imagining looking for a house everywhere, but you have already pinpointed the specific house."
"Now I can imagine what you look like at work. It's great to have a colleague like you."
Tao Zhiyue was very alert: "I will not change jobs before this project is finished, even if you poach me."
"Really?" Huo Ran picked up some meat for him, pretending to be upset, "Do we really have a chance to be colleagues?"
“… I can send you a weekend limited trial card.”
Tao Zhiyue picked up the chopsticks and couldn't wait to poke the grilled mushrooms that looked like a small bowl.
"If you have any other needs, just let me know. I can continue to optimize the house viewing plan tomorrow."
The small mushroom bowl was filled with light brown clear juice, reflecting the bright lights and swaying figures, and was filled with a refreshing fragrance.
"As long as there is a demand, I think it's great." Huo Ran answered seriously, "Every detail has been carefully considered, which is beyond my imagination. I want to move in overnight."
Yu Tao Zhiyue smiled and said, "It's great to have a colleague like you."
He carefully picked up the roasted mushrooms, trying not to spill the precious mushroom juice, and put them into Huo Ran's bowl.
"Have a mushroom, please."
"It smells good, but I want to drink Coke. How can I eat barbecue without iced Coke?"
"Just don't eat barbecue, eat more mushrooms and vegetables."
“… I suddenly realized that lemonade is also delicious, so I asked the waiter for some ice cubes.”
The ice cubes suddenly fell into the transparent lemonade, the bright yellow lemon slices sank to the bottom of the glass, and tiny bubbles floated up.
Amid the rich barbecue aroma, Huo Ran's barbecue skills gradually improved, and he could even provide precise degree of doneness service.
Under the dual influence of delicious food and new life, Tao Zhiyue was in a good mood. Suddenly, he caught a glimpse of a middle-aged man at the next table. He was looking at Huo Ran curiously and looking at his mobile phone screen from time to time, as if he was confirming something.
The middle-aged man accidentally met his gaze, smiled apologetically, and simply moved over here.
"Excuse me, are you familiar with the Huo...Huo Ran that was on the news today?"
He shook the screen of his mobile phone and saw a summary of today's big news on the local forum. On it was a screenshot of Huo Ran speaking at the forum with a calm face.
This was the first time Tao Zhiyue encountered such a scene. Before he could react, he saw Huo Ran, who was carefully studying the meat, raise his head with a confused expression.
"What's so exciting?" He glanced at the middle-aged man's phone, "Do I look like this guy?"
Then he was extremely surprised and said: "No, right? Am I wrong..."
Middle-aged man: …
Tao Zhiyue: …
The middle-aged man stepped back awkwardly, but he had the nerve to take a closer look: "I'm so sorry, I recognized the wrong person, sorry to bother you."
Tao Zhiyue held up her face with one hand and tried hard to hold back her laughter, not wanting the middle-aged man to notice anything unusual.
"Why do you sound so confident..."
Huo Ran turned his face away and smiled, whispering to him, "My outfit style and facial expressions and tone at work are all modeled after my dad's. I think the combined effect after applying it should make me look older than my actual age. Now it seems that this set of limited-edition skins for work is very necessary."
"I made a mistake today. I was so busy changing my clothes that I forgot to change my hairstyle." Huo Ran reflected, "This is my first time on TV. I must pay attention next time."
Before, when Tao Zhiyue and Huo Ran went out together, they attracted attention mostly because of their appearance. Now that the TOD project has been confirmed, Huo Ran, as one of the persons in charge who will be stationed here for a long time, will inevitably have to frequently participate in various public activities, and his public recognition will become higher and higher.
From now on, it will be difficult for Huo Ran to wander around openly and without any disguise like he did in the past.
When Tao Zhiyue chose the house, he took privacy and security into consideration, but he never expected that he would be recognized so quickly in the evening after the news was broadcast at noon.
"What should we do tomorrow? Real estate agents are most familiar with all matters related to land. They have probably read today's news many times and will use it in their sales pitch for new town properties overnight."
Recalling the time when they both wore masks when they first met, Tao Zhiyue found it funny, but also a little worried: "It's so hot now, it will be stuffy to wear a mask."
Huo Ran obviously also remembered an unforgettable moment. He pondered for a moment and got an idea: "Just change the position to cover it!"
On the morning of the second day, according to the time agreed between Tao Zhiyue and the agent, the two showed up at the gate of Jia'an Mingyuan community on time.
Looking at the green trees and flower beds scattered throughout the community, Tao Zhiyue nodded in approval: "The real thing matches the photo."
"I think the doorman looks a little nervous." Huo Ran whispered in his ear, "Do we look like two bodyguards? If I had known earlier, I would have worn a suit, and the effect would have been better."
"I don't know, but I feel like there's a layer of mushroom juice in front of my feet. It's very protective."
"Ah, I'm thinking about last night's barbecue again. I don't want to eat it for a month. I feel so full."
"You said the same thing when you came out of the barbecue restaurant two weeks ago."
"Really? I don't remember that."
"I'll record it next time."
The real estate agent carrying a bunch of keys stood by a big tree and watched for a long time, nervously watching the two upright men in sunglasses talking in a low voice. She found that there were indeed no other people who looked like clients around, so she had to go to them nervously.
"Hello, have you made an appointment with Mr. Tao to view the house?"
Then the two of them stopped chatting tacitly, turned around, looked at her through their dark sunglasses, and nodded in unison.
Agent lady:…
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