Tenant’s Secret Love

Chapter 6: They're getting married

Back at the apartment, Renee had already finished her bowl of congee, while mine was still steaming. I took out two salted duck eggs from the bag Stubborn Father had left behind and handed her one, saying, “Try it.”

“I'm almost done,” Renee said, speaking in a normal tone for the first time since we met two days ago.

I smiled and said, “Have another bowl. White rice congee won't make you fat.”

Renee ignored my suggestion and said, “Your father has already left, so you can move out too.”

I looked outside at the storm and discussed it with her, ‘I'm not moving today. Can I stay one more night?”

“No,’ Renee said firmly.

I slammed my chopsticks on the table and angrily said, ”What's wrong with you, woman? Do you understand that people are soft-spoken? Spit out the congee you just ate, and I'll move right away.”

Renee looked at me with her beautiful eyes, dumbfounded by my sudden change of attitude.

I then softened my tone and said to her, “Big sister, I've been tossing and turning all day today, and I'm exhausted. Please let me off the hook, okay?”

“Scum, who's your big sister!”

“Miss...miss, okay?” I said hastily, and vowed again, “Tomorrow, I promise to move after work tomorrow!”

Renee finally relented and said to me, “Remember what you said.”

“Of course, I'll move tomorrow!”

Renee gave me an unhappy look, picked up the bowl and walked over to the rice cooker with the white rice porridge, then filled up a small bowl for herself.

“I thought you weren't eating anymore?”

She glared at me and said, ‘You've already eaten, so it's not a big deal if you eat one more bowl.”

I shook my head and sighed, ’Alas, this is how depraved people are!”

Although I was teasing, I peeled the salted duck egg and handed it to Renee. She didn't refuse, so the two of us continued eating in a strange atmosphere.

...

After dinner, I handed Renee the 3,000 yuan Stubborn-Father left behind: “I'll pay you back 3,000 yuan first, and I'll pay you the rest next week when I get paid.”

“If you give it to me, will you still have money to pay the rent? ... Let's pay it back together in the future.”

“This is you thinking about me, not me deliberately not paying you back.“ I said, stuffing the money into my wallet.

“As long as you move out quickly, everything else doesn't matter,” Renee said, taking another sip of congee. She seemed to like the congee very much. Indeed, my father's congee-making skills were second to none. He could make the most ordinary rice porridge taste like home-cooked food.

“I'm not the plague, you don't need to dislike me so much!” I sighed.

“With your virtue, do you expect me to like you?”

I laughed and didn't say anything back. Maybe I really have a bad character, or maybe she has a bit of a misunderstanding about me, but it doesn't matter. I don't need to clarify or explain, because tomorrow after work, we will draw a line.

I gulped down the congee in my bowl and then stared at Renee. At the moment, she was wearing a white long-sleeved chiffon shirt

I took out the knitted sweater Stubborn-Father left behind and pretended to model it in front of Renee, then sighed for a long time and said, “It's getting cold. Do you think this sweater suits you?”

Renee frowned and said, ”Why, do you want me to take advantage of you?”

“Really, it suits you perfectly... If you let me continue to rent this room, I don't mind giving it to you. My father already said that my mother knitted this sweater by hand, so it's thick and can keep the wind out and keep you warm in winter!”

“I'm not worthy of it.”

I smiled and handed her the sweater: “I was just joking. I'll give it to you even if you don't rent the room. I have no plans to get a girlfriend for the time being, and it would be a waste to have such a good sweater lying around. Even if I apologize for being unreasonable yesterday.”

I looked extremely sincere, and Renee hesitated for a moment before she actually took the sweater I handed her and said to me, ”Okay, I accept your apology...and be nicer to your father, don't lie to him anymore and make him worry.”

“Is there a logical connection between accepting an apology and being nice to my father?” I asked in surprise.

In response to my questioning, Renee angrily said, ‘You really are scum!’ and then shoved the sweater into her handbag, pushed open the door and left.

I was left alone in the room. I was a little confused by Renee's sudden anger. I sat there thinking for a long time before I realized that perhaps she temporarily accepted my apology and even let me stay another night as an exception, but only out of sympathy for Stubborn-Father. She was still very indifferent and annoyed with me. In her eyes, I got a woman pregnant, cheated on my own father, was rude to her and didn't keep my promises. What was I if not a scumbag?

Renee didn't stay in this room that night. I thought to myself, “She must have other rooms in this city, but why does she have to stay here?”

I racked my brain but couldn't figure it out, so I simply stopped thinking about it. There are always strange people and strange things in this world, and this is not too unusual compared to the myriad wonders of the world. So there's no need to get to the bottom of it; just consider it the performance art of the rich.

In fact, I quite like living in ignorance in many cases, because the truth can mean pain, and you can only lose what you have gained. So if you don't know the truth, you won't suffer, and if you don't have it, you won't lose it.

...

The next day, after the weekly planning meeting, Harlan and I walked out of the meeting room together, followed by another colleague, Jack.

I lit a cigarette and waved to him, “Come here, Jack.”

Jack looked at me warily, ”What?”

“I heard you like outdoor sports?”

“Yes, I really like it!”

I smiled and said, “I have a set of professional outdoor sports equipment that I bought but never used. I'll sell it to you cheap.”

“You don't like outdoor sports, so why buy outdoor equipment?” Jack asked rather puzzled.

“Precisely because I don't like it, I've never used it. It's like new, awesome! It's the famous brand Arcteryx, and I'll sell it to you cheap, 2,000 for the whole set,” I said, putting my arm around Jack's shoulder.

“Really?” Jack asked, overjoyed.

I said impatiently, ‘Of course it's real. Hurry up and pay. I'll have Harlan bring it to you tomorrow. I've had it in his house since I bought it.”

Jack counted 2,000 yuan from his wallet and handed it to me, saying, ’Remember to bring it to me tomorrow. I'll need it for rock climbing next weekend.”

I stuffed the money in my pocket and said, ”You tell Harlan yourself.”

Jack then said to Harlan, who had been distracted, “Harlan, remember to bring me the outdoor gear that Lucas left at your place tomorrow.”

Harlan came back to his senses and asked somewhat puzzled, “What outdoor equipment?”

“It's Lucas's set of outdoor equipment from Arc'teryx. He sold it to me,” Jack explained patiently.

I took a sharp drag on my cigarette and immediately walked towards the bathroom. Harlan, who was behind me, cursed and yelled, “Damn it, sell what the hell, that's mine!!!”

Then I heard Harlan say to Jack helplessly, ”Okay, don't feel bad, I'll bring it to you tomorrow.”

...

After finishing my cigarette in the bathroom, I returned to the office. On Harlan's desk was a cup of coffee, and he was wearing anti-radiation glasses as he tapped his fingers on the keyboard.

I turned on the computer and took the opportunity to play with the lighter in my hand while it booted up. I then spoke to Harlan again: “Still busy with the planning case for GUCCI setting up a counter in our mall?”

Harlan didn't hold a grudge against me for what had happened just now, and sighed, “Yes, it's been almost a week. The investment promotion department has been waiting for our side's planning proposal to negotiate with the GUCCI representative!”

I responded without pursuing the matter further. Harlan and I are two polar opposites. He is a workaholic, while I have always been content with mediocrity. The result of these two very different attitudes is that, after two years of doing the same job, Harlan is already the head of the planning department's copywriting planning team, while I am still at the bottom.

Harlan suddenly stopped typing and stared at me for a long time with a worried expression.

“What's wrong?” I asked, puzzled by Harlan's strange behavior.

Harlan finally said, ‘The other day I saw that you were in a bad mood, and there's something I didn't tell you... Natalie and I are getting married next week.”

“Finally getting married!’ I subconsciously sighed, followed by a heartache that convulsed.

In the beginning, Harlan was able to meet Natalie entirely because of Brittany and me. Natalie was Brittany's best friend, and Harlan and I were inseparable. After Brittany and I started dating, we provided Harlan and Natalie with the opportunity to get to know each other, and they subsequently fell in love.

During the years of college, the four of us often hung out together, establishing a deeper friendship. We had joked about getting married together after graduation several times.

Harlan and Natalie's marriage was a great joy, but it also exposed my pain and loneliness starkly and mercilessly... I was unable to sustain my love for Brittany after all.

Sometimes people's pain actually comes from comparison... But at this time, apart from envying and wishing Harlan and Natalie well in their pain and loneliness, what else could I do?

The past will eventually turn to dust, but the wind cannot blow it away. It settles in my heart, enveloping my world in a blanket of desolation.

I smiled at Harlan and said, “Buddy, where's the wedding invitation? Bring it over quickly.”

Harlan nodded and took the invitation out of the drawer and handed it to me. I opened it and on the photo on the invitation, Harlan and Natalie were smiling with happiness.

...

After a long silence, I asked Harlan, “If you get married, will Brittany come back to the States?”

“You know, since she moved from Los Angeles to New York, we've lost touch. But the other day Natalie sent her an email, and she hasn't responded yet. No one can say for sure if she'll come back.”

“Oh, really?” I responded flatly, and stopped talking to Harlan. I kept my fingers on the computer keyboard, but my eyes were staring blankly at the screen.