The salty life in Life of Pi

Chapter 44 Free is the most expensive
Wang Shengnan couldn't stop talking. Lin Miaomiao's problem was solved, but Lin Dawei's task was not completed yet. She couldn't help but say a few more words.
"I asked you to find a house for a whole semester but you still couldn't find one. I really don't know how you found one."

Lin Dawei was eating and pretending not to hear, but Lin Miaomiao didn't care about that and asked Wang Shengnan directly.
"Mom, where are you going to rent a house?"

"We originally planned to live in Country Garden, the same neighborhood where Xiaoyu lives, but we couldn't contact the landlord, so we asked your father to look for other properties nearby, but he still hasn't found one."

After finishing his meal, Lin Dawei wiped his mouth and looked at Wang Shengnan beside him.
"Are you sure I can't find it? Or are you just obsessed with it? The ones I've been looking for recently are either too expensive, too noisy, or too far away. I can always find fault with them no matter what they are."

After saying that, Lin Dawei swiftly left the dining table and moved away from the center of the battlefield. Wang Shengnan stared at him, but had no intention of getting up and taking action.

Hearing that it was Wu Xianyu's neighborhood, Lin Miaomiao took out her phone and made a voice call. By the time Wang Shengnan realized who her daughter was calling, it was too late.
"Hey, what's up?"

"Xianyu, let me ask you something. My parents want to rent a house in your community, but they can't contact the landlord. Can you think of a solution?"

Lin Miaomiao spoke confidently, and Wu Xianyu became speechless.

"Wow, it's as if I go to school every day and still know other landlords. Forget it, which landlord is it? I'll go to the property management to ask."

Seeing Lin Miaomiao pushing the phone in front of her and nodding her chin to indicate what she was talking about, Wang Shengnan had no choice but to clear her throat.
"Hey, Xiaoyu, my aunt is the landlord of Building 2. Do you know her?"

"Building 2?"

Wu Xianyu's voice on the other end of the phone became strange, but soon a message came

"Isn't this a coincidence? I know him. Is it the one with only one family living in it?"

"Oh, yes, yes, that's the building. Xiaoyu, you know it."

"I know you. Too well. How about this, Auntie, when you send Miaomiao to school on the weekend, please come early. I'll wait for you at Building 2."

"Oh, that's great. Thank you, Xiaoyu. Do you want to eat anything? Auntie will bring it to you."

"How about you make some more dumplings, Auntie? I haven't had them for a while, and I'm craving them."

"Okay, okay, no problem, Auntie will bring it to you when the time comes."

"Okay, thank you Auntie, I'll hang up first, I'm still eating."

"Okay, you eat first."

As the phone was hung up, Wang Shengnan smiled and returned the phone to Lin Miaomiao.
"Oh, Xiaoyu is really good. He knows the landlord directly. He is much more useful than your father."

"No, I think my dad is the best."

Lin Miaomiao had a smile on her face, but she was still humble to Wu Xianyu.

Wang Shengnan narrowed her eyes and looked at Lin Miaomiao meaningfully for a while, but said nothing.

Lin Dawei, who was sitting on the sofa in front of the TV, snorted, and didn't say anything to Wang Shengnan for the sake of his daughter standing on his side.

After breakfast the next day, Wang Shengnan started to knead the dough. Wu Xianyu had a big appetite, and since he had helped her so much this time, she had to cook a few more meals.

Lin Miaomiao watched her mother start to get busy, then returned to her room and quickly did her homework.

After finishing her homework, she threw her pen away without picking it up. She washed her hands and sat down next to Wang Shengnan.
"Mom, let me help you pack it. You look tired after spending the whole morning."

"Oh?"

Wang Shengnan's smile is very strange
"Are you helping me wrap it, or do you want Xiaoyu to taste your cooking skills?"

"What nonsense are you talking about?"

Lin Miaomiao didn't dare to look up at her mother's expression. She started to wrap dumplings with her clumsy hands and turned to look in the direction of the master bedroom.

"Don't look at it, your dad has gone to the company and has a meeting to attend."

Wang Shengnan saw at a glance what Lin Miaomiao was worried about and exposed it directly.

Seeing Lin Miaomiao's relieved look, Wang Shengnan felt a little sour inside.
"Hey, look at you, your elbow is bent outwards."

"without"

Lin Miaomiao's voice was weak and she had no confidence. Wang Shengnan was so angry that she laughed and poked Lin Miaomiao's forehead with a rolling pin.

"I'm warning you, I don't care if you're in love. I, your mother, also went through this period. But you're not allowed to cross the line, especially not to affect your grades. If your grades drop a little, I'll definitely break up the couple."

As he spoke, he waved the rolling pin in his hand, but Lin Miaomiao pretended not to understand anything, glanced at the rolling pin, and said
"What are you talking about? I don't understand. I'm just close to Xianyu. We're just friends. What are you thinking?"

"You just keep talking tough. I don't know who you learned this from."

Not wanting to bother about this little thing, Wang Shengnan continued to work. After a while of silence, Wang Shengnan's movements slowed down and her voice became a little softer.
"Miao Miao, promise me that you will not cross the line, especially the last step. You must not give it to him unless you are ready to live with him for the rest of your life."

"Oh, Mom, what are you talking about?"

Lin Miaomiao, with a flushed face, made mistakes in her hand movements and stuffed the squeezed stuffing back.

After taking a look at the dumplings that were broken by her daughter, Wang Shengnan stopped talking about this topic.

The living room fell into silence again. Lin Miaomiao felt that this silence was a bit torturous. She thought of a topic.
"Hey, Mom, let me tell you, the last time I went to Gusu, Xiaoqi and I shared a room. She had clearly taken a shower, but her bath towel was dry. I suspect she took a shower in another room."

Halfway through the conversation, Lin Miaomiao felt that this topic was not appropriate. Didn’t she notice that Wang Shengnan had stopped moving her hands?

Wang Shengnan reacted for a while, frowned and looked at Lin Miaomiao

"What do you mean? Whose room did Deng Xiaoqi go to take a bath?"

"Uh"

At this point, it was impossible for Lin Miaomiao to change the subject, so she just expressed her speculation.

"What did you say? Deng Xiaoqi and Qian Sanyi are together? They even did that?"

"shush"

Lin Miaomiao wanted to cover Wang Shengnan's mouth with her flour-covered hands.
"Mom, please keep your voice down. This is all speculation. There is no evidence. Don't speak so loudly."

But Wang Shengnan ignored Lin Miaomiao's words. She stood there in shock.
"Kids nowadays are really amazing. They are not afraid of anything happening even if they do this."

"I've said something without any evidence, just treat it as a joke."

Lin Miaomiao now regrets saying this very much. Wang Shengnan was only shocked for a moment before returning to normal.

"Alas, this is not good for either of us. Has Qian Sanyi's grades dropped recently?"

Tilting her head and thinking about the ranking this semester, Lin Miaomiao nodded.

"It's not really a decline, it's just fluctuating. When it's high, I'm first, and when it's low, I'm fifth. But it's still pretty impressive."

"It's impressive for you, but what about the top scorer in the high school entrance exam?"

Wang Shengnan started rolling out the dough again, her tone was firm.

"He is too young and cannot control himself. Too much of that kind of thing will hurt his body and brain. It is poison to people like him. Alas, this Deng Xiaoqi is also doing a lot of harm to others."

As she spoke, Wang Shengnan looked at Lin Miaomiao again, and this time her tone was much stronger. "Lin Miaomiao, I'm warning you, you can't have such thoughts, whether for you or Xiaoyu, you are not allowed to have such thoughts before you graduate from high school."

"mom!"

Lin Miaomiao was anxious, and her mind was filled with shameful images. She stood up and faced Wang Shengnan.
"I've already told you it's not true, but you keep saying it"

"Oh, then you take a rest, I'll make the dumplings."

Wang Shengnan's words immediately made Lin Miaomiao shut up. She sat down silently and continued to make dumplings.

She curled her lips and fought with me, but Wang Shengnan was still satisfied with Lin Miaomiao's attitude. It was a good thing that she could maintain her bottom line.

In the evening, after dinner, Lin Miaomiao packed her schoolbag and lay on the bed. She couldn't help but think of what Wang Shengnan said during the day. She picked up her mobile phone and started searching for something. The more she looked, the paler her face became. Finally, she turned off the phone and closed her eyes.

After lunch on the weekend, at Wang Shengnan's urging, the family got in the car and headed straight to the rural community. When they arrived at the second building, Lin Miaomiao called Wu Xianyu.

"Hey, Xianyu, we're at Building 2, where are you?"

As she spoke, Lin Miaomiao looked around, searching for Wu Xianyu, when she heard a voice from above her head.

"Auntie, uncle, come up first"

Looking up, Wu Xianyu stuck his head out from the second floor and called the three of them to go upstairs.

The three of them looked at each other, and Wang Shengnan couldn't help muttering

“How did it go directly to someone’s house?”

When they arrived at the second floor and saw that the door was open, Lin Miaomiao took the lead and walked in. What caught her eye was the Nordic style decoration, with light yellow solid wood floors, white walls, black skirting boards, and cream-colored sofas and coffee tables.

There was a sound from the kitchen, and Wu Xianyu opened the door and appeared, holding a plate of fruit, and greeted the three people.
"Sit down first and have some fruit."

After a moment of silence, Lin Miaomiao reacted and pointed at Wu Xianyu in shock.

"This is your home!"

"Oh, you finally reacted."

Wu Xianyu was smiling. When everyone sat down, Lin Miaomiao picked up a peach and started eating it.

"I didn't expect that your family is quite rich, Xianyu."

"My parents left this for me. Uncles and aunts, please have some fruit. The house issue will be easy to solve."

Wu Xianyu asked Wang Shengnan, who was still a little dazed, to eat some fruit. He then got up and went to the master bedroom, lifted the dust cloth, and opened the drawer at the head of the bed.

After coming out, Wu Xianyu handed a bunch of keys to Wang Shengnan.

"Auntie, take a look at this building and choose which one you like. Except for the one opposite, you can live in the other eight houses."

Lin Miaomiao's focus was very strange. She looked up at Wu Xianyu

“Why can’t the room opposite be used?”

"Because I'm going to keep that room as my wedding room. Why? Do you want to see it?"

Lin Miaomiao fell silent and pulled her parents
"Let's go, let's go check out the house first."

When Wang Shengnan arrived at the third floor and opened the door, she finally reacted and looked at Lin Dawei.
"Xiao Yu, do you mean that this building belongs to them?"

“It seems that’s what it means.”

Lin Dawei was also a little dazed.

Lin Miaomiao was running around the room, and when she saw her parents didn't catch up, she called out to them.

"What are you doing standing at the door? Come in and take a look. I think the decoration of this room is a bit retro."

The two of them came back to their senses. Looking at the decoration in the room, Lin Dawei couldn't help but touch it.

"Isn't this the old decoration? I remember seeing something similar when I was a kid. I didn't expect it to still be preserved here."

Wang Shengnan was also a little surprised when she saw the decoration
"This can't be from before the founding of the People's Republic of China. It's been quite a while."

"No, they were all copied later. If they were really in such a dilapidated state back then, these things would not last long."

Lin Dawei shook his head to deny Wang Shengnan's idea, but his eyes were full of love. It was exactly what he wanted. He had originally thought of renting the house for the mother and daughter to live in, but now it seemed that he could come and stay for a few days if he had nothing to do.

The three of them looked at the remaining rooms, all of which had relatively old-style decorations. Finally, they returned to the original room and felt that this one was better, but the soft furnishing might be more difficult because they couldn't find one that matched the style.

Seeing the three people coming back, Wu Xianyu stood up from the sofa and looked at them with a smile.
"Which one do you like?"

“It’s the room upstairs from your house.”

Lin Miaomiao spoke first.

"You have a good eye. When are you going to move in?"

Lin Miaomiao turned to look at her parents. She had no say in this matter.

Wang Shengnan returned the key to Wu Xianyu with a tentative tone.
"Xiao Yu, the rent here is not cheap, right?"

Wu Xianyu was stunned, then laughed and pointed to the refrigerator.

"Auntie, you've paid the rent, and what about the hundreds of dumplings? Besides, I live alone here and it's too lonely. It will be more lively with Lin Miaomiao here."

After saying that, Wu Xianyu took the key of the house upstairs from the key ring and handed it to Lin Miaomiao.

"Here, you can move it in whenever you want. It's just there anyway."

"Thanks, come to our house for dinner then."

Lin Miaomiao took the key and invited Wu Xianyu. Seeing Wu Xianyu nodded in agreement, she took her parents out of Wu Xianyu's house and closed the door.

Back in the car, Lin Miaomiao handed the keys to Wang Shengnan
"Here, when are you planning to move?"

Looking at the key in her hand, Wang Shengnan was a little bit unbelieving. She was able to rent the house for free? Although they gave her some dumplings, that was nothing. It wasn't even a fraction of the rent.

Lin Miaomiao was generous and comforted her parents.
"Xianyu is not someone who is short of money. It would be strange if I gave him money. Just treat him to a meal when the time comes. He lives alone and cooks for himself every day. It would make him happier if he doesn't have to cook for himself than to get the money."

Wang Shengnan glanced at Lin Miaomiao with a complicated look in her eyes and muttered in a low voice:

“Free is the most expensive”

After sending Lin Miaomiao back to school, Wang Shengnan and Lin Dawei returned to the house and planned what to move in. As they talked, Wang Shengnan sighed.
"Xiao Yu, this is putting too much pressure on us. We are allowed to live in this house for free. We will move out as soon as Miao Miao finishes her senior year exams."

"Well, during the weekend or holidays, I'll cook more dishes and invite Xiao Yu over."

Lin Dawei turned his head and looked at the whole room, and he had some other thoughts. His daughter was now closer to Wu Xianyu. He could endure it for the sake of studying, but they would have to separate immediately after the exam.

(End of this chapter)