11 Renewal of Lease
Chapter 11
At two in the morning, the light in the bedroom was still on.
Xuan Congnan finished the final stroke of his painting, stretched his stiff limbs, and looked at his work with satisfaction—and was even more pleased with the price it had sold for.
After happily settling the price, he said to Gu Shi, “You should get some sleep first. I’ll finish painting this fiery cloud for you overnight.”
Gu Shi was unhurried and said, “You can finish it tomorrow.”
Xuan Congnan was resolute. “I’m full of inspiration right now; I can finish it quickly.”
With that, he carefully moved the easel back into the bedroom, then went out to bring in all the brushes and paints, making several trips. Before closing the door, he said, “Good night, Gu Shi.”
Two seconds later, he opened the door again, politely stayed in the living room to find something to do, and said, “I forgot only my room has a bathroom. You should go freshen up first. Hurry.”
After washing up, Gu Shi came out in pajamas and returned the courtesy, “Good night, Congnan.”
Seeing an extra 52,000 yuan added to his WeChat balance, Xuan Congnan felt as if he were dreaming.
He glanced through the locked bedroom door at the living room, where the light had long been off. Gu Shi was sleeping on the one-point-two-meter-wide bed there. Happily, he whispered, “Sure enough, fools with money are the best.”
His new phone worked wonderfully. Xuan Congnan took several photos of his painting and, unusually, posted one on his Moments.
He blocked everyone except himself from seeing it.
Nan Nan’s caption read: “Fiery clouds, a money tree. [Picture]”
His excitement tonight was hard to quell. Xuan Congnan busied himself downloading apps like Weibo and Douyin. For those without accounts, he registered; for those with accounts, he followed Gu Shi.
He followed only him.
“It’s finished. Once it’s completely dry, you can take it home and hang it up,” Xuan Congnan said, returning from his morning jog with two breakfasts.
Gu Shi said, “No rush.”
“Come eat,” Xuan Congnan invited.
“Okay,” Gu Shi replied.
Suddenly curious, Xuan Congnan asked, “Why did you price this painting at 52,000 yuan?”
Gu Shi said, “I’ll give it to my lover someday. That number has special meaning.”
The aroma of steamed buns filled the air. Xuan Congnan liked meat and took one. “You’re giving your lover a painting originally worth 800 yuan?”
“Now it’s worth 52,000.”
“...That makes sense.”
“Do you have work today?” Xuan Congnan asked.
“No,” Gu Shi answered, sipping porridge through a straw. After a brief pause, he explained, “It’s not that I’m not ambitious, just that I don’t have work today.”
“Mm,” Xuan Congnan nodded, munching on the bun and drinking pumpkin millet porridge. “After breakfast, I’ll take the easel back to the studio and stay there at noon. Don’t go out if you’re not working. I’ll lock the door from outside, so if anyone comes, they’ll know I’m not here.”
“Are you afraid your ex-boyfriend will come looking for you again?” Gu Shi asked.
Xuan Congnan didn’t deny it. “Yeah.”
“Okay.” After a moment, Gu Shi asked, “Will you be at the studio all afternoon?”
“Yes. All my supplies—paints, paper—are there,” Xuan Congnan replied.
“Why can’t you paint at home?” Gu Shi inquired.
Xuan Congnan shook his head, pointing to the paints he had brought back yesterday. “They’re incomplete.”
“Why don’t you bring all your supplies back? Or prepare a full set to keep at home?”
Xuan Congnan looked at him oddly, then gestured broadly at the entire apartment instead of just the paints. “This place is too small. We use a lot of tools when painting, and the space is messy and cramped. There’s just no room.”
“Mm.” Gu Shi pursed his lips.
He ate slowly and neatly. Xuan Congnan waited patiently.
“Congnan,” Gu Shi said.
“Hmm?” Xuan Congnan took another bun, watching Gu Shi, who seemed still hungry.
“Do you only live here now?” Gu Shi asked.
“No,” Xuan Congnan said. “Sometimes I stay at my uncle’s house.”
“The last time your cousin came over, I felt the relationship between you two wasn’t very good.” Gu Shi hesitated, unsure whether to speak further.
Xuan Congnan nodded indifferently. “It’s pretty bad.”
Naturally, Gu Shi continued, “If you’ve rented a place, why do you still go back?”
Having finished the third bun, Xuan Congnan was full. He wiped his hands and mouth with a napkin and said, “The rent here is cheap, but the neighborhood’s not safe. I’m afraid of losing things. I left my pendant at my uncle’s, so of course I have to go back for it.”
Gu Shi looked at his neck—empty.
But on their first meeting, there had been a black cord around it.
“Is the pendant valuable?” Gu Shi asked.
“It’s not worth much, but it’s very important to me,” Xuan Congnan said.
Important enough that he didn’t dare wear it daily, fearing loss.
“You—”
“Bang! Bang! Bang!”
Xuan Congnan paused, turning toward the door.
“Your ex-boyfriend?” Gu Shi frowned.
Xuan Congnan pressed his lips together and said, “Probably not.”
“Congnan—open up!”
Two voices overlapped, confirming Xuan Congnan’s guess down to the second.
He stood, grabbed Gu Shi’s arm, and pushed him into the bedroom. “Go in. Lock the door. She might try to barge in. Don’t let her see you.”
Gu Shi grabbed him back. “Should we call the police?”
“No need.” Xuan Congnan closed the door behind Gu Shi. “I can handle this.”
As soon as the door opened, a pale hand struck fiercely. Xuan Congnan hurried back and closed the door. The hand was caught in the door and screamed miserably.
“Auntie, are you okay?” Xuan Congnan said through the barely-open crack.
Zhuo Yajun looked at her palm and back of the hand with concern; a red mark was broken skin. “How dare you catch my hand?! Come out and talk!”
Xuan Congnan said, “What you say isn’t a royal decree.”
“Then I’m coming in!” Zhuo Yajun braced her shoulder to ram the door.
“You came here yourself,” Xuan Congnan looked down the hallway, “You’re so weak; you’ll just get tired.”
Last time, after offending Director Zhang at home, Xuan Ye dared not vent on big shots but dared to fight with Zhuo Yajun.
Xuan Congnan had long awaited this day. It took half a month for her to show up, so late at night—he suspected no other reason.
He looked at Zhuo Yajun’s face—her makeup impeccable, betraying no sign of a woman over forty—and guessed coldly, “Xuan Ye slapped your face back then, right? Just now the swelling went down? Otherwise, you’d have come earlier.”
Zhuo Yajun’s expression changed. “How dare you say that!”
“You’re noisy,” Xuan Congnan frowned.
“I didn’t come here to settle scores today. The family’s out of money. Give me some,” Zhuo Yajun commanded, extending her hand arrogantly.
Xuan Congnan slowly assessed her outfit. “You’re wearing tens of thousands in clothes, and you want money from me? Have some shame.”
“Oh,” he added, “Or is it rented?”
Zhuo Yajun glared fiercely. “If you don’t give it to me, I’ll cause a scene at your school’s gate. Your uncle and I raised you for ten years—is this how unfilial you are?”
Causing a scene in public, right or wrong, only harms reputation. People see drama, not truth.
“Go ahead,” Xuan Congnan pretended to reach for his phone. “I’ll call the police now. When my parents passed, they left me 20 million yuan. You’ve been my legal guardians for ten years; now that I’m an adult, I can legally inherit my property.”
His hand was steadier and firmer than Zhuo Yajun’s: “Pay me back.”
Zhuo Yajun panicked, “You—”
“Afraid the police will make you pay?” Xuan Congnan said.
Zhuo Yajun snarled, “When I get home, I'll burn your mother’s paintings so you won’t even get one last look.”
The hallway echoed their voices. Although Zhuo Yajun calmed and lowered her volume, neighbors along the long corridor opened doors, complaining, “They were noisy at midnight yesterday, and now again.”
One neighbor asked, “Xiao Xuan, is someone bothering you again? Need help?”
“No, Uncle, thanks,” Xuan Congnan nodded toward the neighbor across the hall and watched him close the door.
From somewhere, a faint voice said, “No influence, no power, good-looking, this kind of pairing is a sin. Trouble’s bound to happen.”
Xuan Congnan calmly asked Zhuo Yajun, “How much?”
“I know you don’t have much money. Give me fifty thousand,” she said, her tone softer as she looked down at her freshly manicured nails.
“You know I don’t have much,” Xuan Congnan replied, “Five hundred.”
Zhuo Yajun angrily snapped, “Are you trying to bribe a beggar? Forty thousand!”
“One thousand,” Xuan Congnan said flatly. “Since we can’t agree, if you go home and burn my mom’s paintings, I’ll call the police to make you pay.”
When transferring money, Zhuo Yajun stared intensely at his phone. “You changed phones and say you have no money?”
Xuan Congnan said, “I stole this. You can report me.”
Zhuo Yajun was stumped, silent.
Before leaving, she said, “Director Zhang is determined to have you. You better prepare for marriage.”
Xuan Congnan closed the door and blocked her away. “Wish you and Xuan Ye a happy divorce. And a happy wedding to you and Director Zhang.”
Zhuo Yajun screamed angrily in the stairwell below.
—
At the studio, a few classmates nodded greetings. Xuan Congnan silently moved his easel to the usual spot by the window.
“Buzz.”
Scavenger: [Congnan.]
Scavenger: [Did you go to the studio? Why did you leave so suddenly?]
Scavenger: [Sorry, I should have helped.]
Scavenger: [Can you talk to me?]
Zhuo Yajun’s appearance was expected, but today’s confrontation still left Xuan Congnan uneasy.
He wanted his mother’s last painting but could never find it.
Xuan Ye and Zhuo Yajun had hidden it.
When in a bad mood, Xuan Congnan wasn’t good at dealing with people and feared affecting Gu Shi or that Gu Shi would ask. Hearing a noise at the bedroom door, Xuan Congnan didn’t look back and ran off with his easel.
Gu Shi sent several messages. The latest after arriving at the studio was: “Can you talk to me?”
—
Having a roommate like Gu Shi was really something.
Xuan Congnan: [With your face like that, showing up is only causing me trouble.]
Scavenger: [Sorry.]
Xuan Congnan: [It’s not your fault.]
Xuan Congnan: [I’m painting.]
Scavenger: [Okay.]
Then, like a ghost, Gu Shi disappeared, giving Xuan Congnan enough peace.
Time passed slowly. At noon, Xuan Congnan bought food and brought it home. Gu Shi asked nothing, which made Xuan Congnan feel much lighter.
Shen Qian still came to school. When he saw Xuan Congnan from afar, Xuan Congnan took a detour to avoid him.
At midnight, Shen Qian still knocked on Xuan Congnan’s door. Once, he even tried to force his way in but was driven off by neighbors.
By mid-month, Xuan Congnan found this unstable life frustrating and for the first time wanted to rent a new place.
Across from his dilapidated old complex stood a tall apartment building—clean, orderly, beautiful, and cozy, having agreed to demolition years ago.
Most importantly, the security was better. Residents needed a keycard to enter.
When he moved out in freshman year, Xuan Congnan had checked prices: buying a house was 12,000 yuan per square meter; renting was 1,800 yuan per month.
Four hundred fifty and eighteen hundred...
Xuan Congnan sighed.
“Congnan,” Gu Shi called as he walked in.
Having shared the apartment for nearly a month, Xuan Congnan was used to seeing Gu Shi as soon as he opened the door. “You don’t have work again.”
Gu Shi said softly, “I just finished some projects a few days ago; my agent is negotiating new ones.”
He held something. “Come look.”
Xuan Congnan walked over. “What is it?”
It was June 19. In two days, Gu Shi would have lived here a full month.
They were no longer just roommates.
Gu Shi said, “Can I renew the lease?”
“Hm?”
Xuan Congnan frowned slightly.
Gu Shi was great—never caused trouble and even helped him earn money. But as an actor and top star in the entertainment industry, Xuan Congnan didn’t want to be tied to someone like him forever.
“This is the new place I found. We can move in,” Gu Shi placed the papers on the table.
It was a rental contract.
“Not far, right across the street. Three bedrooms and two living rooms. The bedrooms are small, but the living room is large, so one living room will be converted into a studio. All your stuff can go in there. You can paint whenever you want without going to the school studio. It’s not safe here. It’ll be better to change places.”
Xuan Congnan stared at the contract.
Rent was 3,500 yuan a month.
“I’ll only charge you 450,” Gu Shi immediately said. “I’ll still pay you 20,000 a month for the shared rent.”
Xuan Congnan almost couldn’t speak. “You know how much I pay for rent? And you still pay me twenty thousand?”
“It’s worth twenty thousand,” Gu Shi pushed the contract toward him. “Renting with someone like me is brave. I’m the one causing trouble.”
“You can live there alone.”
“I want to live with you.”
Xuan Congnan looked up at Gu Shi, eyes questioning and slightly surprised.
Gu Shi lowered his gaze. “The place and studio are ready. It’s too late to back out now. If I don’t live there, it’ll be wasted.”
The living room curtains were open, and the apartment across was brightly lit. Xuan Congnan glanced longingly, then looked away and asked, “How long do you want to renew?”
“Half a year,” Gu Shi said, watching his expression, then added, “...If that’s too long, two months at first is fine.”
Sixty days. That should be enough to get rid of Shen Qian.
“Then two months. Rent monthly.”
“Okay,” Gu Shi agreed immediately.
While transferring money, he said, “I’ll pay your next month’s rent first.”
“Buzz.” [‘Scavenger’ transferred 20,070 yuan to you.]
“You overpaid.”
“Sorry, wrong number,” Gu Shi said. “Just transfer the rent and the rest back to me.”
“Okay.”
Four hundred fifty plus seventy—
Xuan Congnan blinked, looked at Gu Shi, and transferred the money.