Chapter Thirty-One: Carrying Heavy Loads on Bicycles

  The girl took out the mobile phone hidden behind her back, quickly dialed a number, and after the call was connected, she asked sweetly: "Aunt Qiu, I'm Xiaozhang... Ah, yes! There's a new tenant in Sakura Apartments, he says his name is Lin Zixian, do you know him? ... Oh! Oh! I see, Aunt Qiu, goodbye!"

  She hung up the phone, put down the steel pen and phone she was holding as a dagger, apologized: "Sorry, I'm alone at home. This area occasionally has some hooligans wandering around, so I have to be careful. Nice to meet you! My name is Zhang Beibei!"

  "I didn't know that a pen could be used to deal with thugs, people with culture are really scary, it's like killing someone without a trace. But I don't think I look like a thug either!" Lin Zixian joked and saw that the other person was a bit embarrassed, so he immediately changed his tone and laughed: "I'm just kidding, can I go up to see the room now? Do you want me to show you my ID again?"

  Zhang Beibei blushed and shook her head, stretching out a hand in front of her to lead the way: "I'll show you the way!"

  "Thank you!" Lin Zixian followed behind her.

  As we entered the old foreign-style building's hall, Zhang Beibei began to introduce: "The first floor has a kitchen, dining room and living room, as well as two bedrooms, where two male housemates live. The second floor has three bedrooms, where three female housemates live, including me. The third floor is smaller, with two bedrooms, the eastern one is occupied by a mother and daughter, and the western one is yours. Although the third floor is small, it has an additional rooftop. There's a bathroom on each floor."

  Lin Zixian nodded all the way, finding that although the old foreign-style house looked old and worn on the outside, it was still quite good inside, clean and tidy.

  A spiral staircase twisted all the way up, and Lin Zi couldn't help but sneak a peek at the firm and upright little butt swaying in front of him, this was one of his hobbies.

  The two of them didn't stop on the second floor and directly came to the third floor, where there was also a small living room. Zhang Beibei pointed at the tightly closed door on the right side and said: "This is your room."

  Lin Zixian took out the key and opened the door. The room was dimly lit, but the single room area was not small, estimated to be nearly thirty square meters. It could be seen that the earliest owner of this house was a rich man, but there was a faint smell of mold in the room.

  The backpack was thrown onto the bed, and she walked straight to the windowsill, pulling open the curtains with a whoosh, opening the window for ventilation. The room suddenly brightened up. Looking around, the table, chairs, bed, and wardrobe were all complete, but there was nothing in the closet, no bedding on the bed, and a layer of dust on the furniture.

  Zhang Beibei, who had been standing at the door without entering, said: "This room was originally occupied by someone, but they moved out a few months ago due to work arrangements. If you need any daily necessities, you can go buy them on the old street outside... This place might need some cleaning."

  "As a roommate, I think you won't mind helping with the cleaning!" Lin Zixian said with a thick face.

  Zhang Beibei was taken aback for a moment, nodded, and did not refuse.

  "Then I'll trouble you, I'll go outside and buy what you said." He threw down a sentence and ran off, and soon the sound of closing the iron door came from downstairs.

  Zhang Beibei was stunned on the spot for a while, and found that this man was indeed not enough to be a gentleman. She was a campus belle in school, and many boys wanted to curry favor with her but didn't have the chance. He, on the other hand, ordered her around at their first meeting, and did so in such a matter-of-fact way.

  This girl is also honest, thinking that she had misunderstood him earlier, and actually went downstairs to find rags and mops, starting to help him clean up. Fortunately, the furniture in the room was not too much trouble to clean.

  Lin Zi, who had just left the yard, patted his pocket and found that he had run out of cigarettes. He then walked to the small grocery store at the crossroads and bought a pack of cigarettes. When paying, the beautiful owner hesitated for a moment and asked: "Are you a tenant of Sakura Snow Apartment?"

  "How did you know?" Lin Zixian was somewhat surprised.

  The little girl stood at his feet and raised her head: "Uncle, we also live there. Are you living next door to us?"

  "I live on the third floor... Ah, you're the mother and daughter that Zhang Beibei mentioned?" Lin Zixian suddenly realized.

  The boss's wife pushed the money back and smiled: "I am Tong Yunan, this is my daughter Tong Feifei, we will be neighbors from now on, let me treat you this time!"

  "Hello, I'm Lin Zixian, the forest of trees, the son of Laozi, the leisurely person." Lin Zixian stretched out his hand and shook hands with others, his eyes quickly scanned the small South goods store, then looked at the little cutie under his feet, his eyes flickered slightly.

  This kind of person is either too lazy to think, or once they start thinking, their experience is not comparable to ordinary people. From the embarrassing environment of a small grocery store when he was young, to both mother and daughter being surnamed "Tong", he immediately guessed something, but didn't ask about it. He quickly put the money back in his pocket and smiled: "Then I won't be polite."

  As Lin Zi Xian had expected, the mother and daughter's life was not very affluent.

  Tong Yun saw that after she said to treat, the other party quickly swept a glance at the small Nan goods store. She felt a slight pang in her heart, although she was poor, but she also had her own dignity to adhere to. Otherwise, with her looks, she could have lived another kind of life. A pack of cigarettes didn't cost much money, but she was afraid that the other party would refuse. Seeing the other party readily accept the money and understand her intention, a long-forgotten smile from the heart appeared on her face.

  Lin Zi sat down in front of Xiao Ke Ai, hooked her little chin and smiled: "From today on, we are neighbors. Would you like to have dinner with your mom at my uncle's place tonight?"

  Tong Fei Fei looked at her mother, a very sensible child, although she was obviously somewhat moved, but didn't dare to take charge arbitrarily.

  Lin Zi Xian immediately pulled a long face and said unhappily, "Fei Fei! From now on, we're neighbors. Uncle is inviting you for the first time, and you're rejecting me? Uncle will be heartbroken."

  Tong Feifei was immediately embarrassed, not wanting to see her uncle sad, but also not good at disobeying her mother's words. Tong Yunan hesitated for a moment, and finally nodded to her daughter, Tong Feifei immediately happily nodded to Lin Zixian and said: "Uncle, I promise you."

  "Alright!" Lin Zixian picked her up with one hand and smiled at Tong Yunan, "Let's close the shop early today! I'm not familiar with this area, just moved in and need to buy some daily necessities. As a neighbor, would you mind showing me around?" It was like an ordinary request from an old friend.

  This guy is good at playing tricks, Tong Yunan can't even find an excuse to refuse, and still has to smile and agree.

  The small grocery store closed quickly, and when Tong Yunan stood on the street, Lin Zixian was surprised. This mother who had given birth to a child actually had an extraordinary appearance, and she was still bare-faced. Tong Yunan felt a little embarrassed by his gaze.

  Lin Zi suddenly turned his head and praised Tong Feifei: "Feifei, why do you have such a beautiful mother! Uncle is stunned."

  Tong FeiFei proudly smiled, Tong YuNan also smiled slightly, and the awkwardness dissipated. He beckoned to his daughter: "FeiFei, come down quickly, Uncle is tired."

  Tong Feifei immediately struggled up, Lin Zixian put her down, she immediately held her mother's hand, and Lin Zixian also shamelessly held Tong Feifei's other hand, thus forming a scene of two adults holding one child, as if they were a family.

  Three people strolled through the old town streets, accidentally encountering a snack stall. When Lin Zixian noticed Tong Feifei's gaze was slightly moved, he immediately said he was hungry and asked Tong Feifei to introduce something delicious. As a result, Tong Feifei pointed out the roasted lamb skewers, and Lin Zixian immediately bought a large pile, insisting on sharing some with the mother-daughter duo.

  Tong Yun said naturally and proudly that she didn't want to, but she was no match for Lin Zixian, this international big rogue. Lin Zixian looked around with a bitter face and said: "In such a public place, let you two mother and daughter watch me eat, how can I be so embarrassed? It's better to starve...

  He was persuaded by his persistent nagging, and Tong Yunan couldn't refuse. In the end, all three of them walked around with skewers of mutton in their arms, eating as they strolled.

  At that time, Tong Yun saw her daughter showing a happy face following her father and mother to go shopping, and she secretly glanced at Lin Zixian with slightly red eyes. She wasn't stupid, how could she not see that the other party was doing it on purpose?

  Next, Lin Zilei took the opportunity to ask Tong Feifei to recommend a drink after eating spicy lamb skewers. This time, Tong Yunan did not decline again and tried his best to satisfy his daughter's rare happiness...

  Three people strolled past a bicycle shop, Lin Zilei casually glanced at it, his eyes paused for a moment, staring at an old-fashioned cargo bike, and walked in. The store owner came over to ask what he needed, Lin Zilei pointed to the old-fashioned bicycle.

  Tong Yun saw that he wanted to buy that old-fashioned cargo tricycle and asked curiously, "What do you want to buy a bicycle for?"

  "Of course it's for transportation." Lin Zixian said with a smile.

  "No, I didn't mean that." Tong Yunan explained: "I think now there are very few young people who will buy this kind of old-fashioned bicycle, usually they will buy those fashionable ones."

  Lin Ziyan slightly shook his head, stretched out his hand to caress the car body, and rarely revealed a gentle gaze. He smiled faintly: "If America is a country built on automobile wheels, then China before 'reform and opening up' was a country built on this kind of 28-inch load-bearing bicycle. At that time, whether in cities or villages, some families could make a living with just one load-bearing bicycle. The dreams and responsibilities it carried, the fashion and honor, would never lose to today's brand-name sports cars. When I was young, I often saw adults riding them. Now I want to buy one to reminisce about that time!"

  He vaguely remembered when he was a kid, his old man would often ride this kind of bicycle with him on it, feeling the wind.

  Tong Yunan's eyes looked at him with a somewhat unusual gaze, and she didn't say anything else.

  "The young man is right." The shop owner next to him was stunned for a moment, and suddenly applauded and sighed: "I have been running this bicycle store for over 30 years, and selling this kind of cargo bike used to support my family's livelihood. But now it's getting harder and harder to sell, so I almost never stock this model anymore. I've always had a feeling of being suffocated, but couldn't quite put my finger on why. Today, hearing your words, I finally understand. Alas! This bike, I won't sell it to you, I'll give it to you for free!"