Chapter 21: Bodhisattva

“Tomorrow?”

Fu Yingcheng turned off the faucet and frowned. “Don’t get fooled.”

“How is that possible? Just in time for them to pay February’s rent tomorrow. I’ll move in and pay the full month’s rent at the same time as them. That way, I don’t have to calculate the daily rate, it’s more convenient.”

Fu Yingcheng looked at the girl in the mirror, her eyes bright and gleaming.

An irrepressible sense of anticipation.

…

Impressive.

Was she not fed, or was she not clothed?

She’s this happy about moving out?

Fu Yingcheng raised his eyes to look at the person in the mirror, his hands moving leisurely as he wiped the water. “Have you signed the contract?”

“I’ll sign it when I move in tomorrow.”

“In such a rush?”

“It’s not rushed. I’m taking a day off tomorrow, and Lu Yan will help me as well.”

After being repeatedly questioned by the man, Ji Fanling’s enthusiasm dampened as she noticed his expression.

The man’s lips were pressed into a straight line, his brows sharp and furrowed deeply, as though a layer of impenetrable gloom shrouded him.

Ji Fanling hesitated. “What’s wrong? Are you unhappy?”

Fu Yingcheng’s brows tightened briefly before he turned to look at her. “Can’t you just…”

He met the girl’s gaze.

After a moment of silence, the man turned back around and casually hung the towel on the rack. “Couldn’t you have told me earlier?”

“I just went to check the place today.” Ji Fanling felt he seemed a bit unhappy. “Is there a problem?”

“Move if you want to. Do you expect me to throw you a farewell party?”

Fu Yingcheng let out a chuckle with an unclear meaning, dried his hands, and walked past her. “You’ve already found a place. Why not move out tonight?”

Ji Fanling thought for a moment. “Tonight’s a bit inconvenient. First, I need time to clean up. Second, moving in the middle of the night would disturb others’ sleep…”

Fu Yingcheng glanced at her.

He had casually mentioned moving overnight, and she actually started considering it.

So eager to leave, without a trace of hesitation or attachment.

“Suit yourself.”

Fu Yingcheng coldly interrupted her reasoning, turned, and walked into the study. He closed the door behind him, shutting her out as if dismissing her. He added with a hint of disdain:

“Just one thing.”

“All your stuff, and anything you’ve used, take it all with you.”

Ji Fanling couldn’t figure out what he was so upset about. She was still pondering it while brushing her teeth, and it wasn’t until she was discussing rent with Lu Yan later that evening that it suddenly dawned on her.

Could Fu Yingcheng actually think she was trying to run off because she owed money?

Could she, Ji Fanling, do such a thing?

The next day, Ji Fanling got up early, a little after six, to prepare for the move. It was rare to catch Fu Yingcheng still at home. He was at the entryway changing his shoes. She made a point to approach him and spoke in a pleasant tone, “Fu Yingcheng, I’m moving out today.”

Fu Yingcheng let out a soft “hmm,” his expression calm. However, faint dark circles under his eyes betrayed a hint of weariness. “Need me to help?”

“Just packing a few things, why would I need help for that?”

Fu Yingcheng didn’t insist, got up, and prepared to leave, as if what he had just said was merely a polite remark made in passing.

Ji Fanling called out, “Wait a moment, I have something to say.”

Fu Yingcheng stopped in his tracks, turned his head to look at her, and waited patiently.

Ji Fanling fiddled with her fingers, feeling awkward. “Um, thank you for everything during this time.”

The man lowered his lashes, his gaze falling on the slight redness at the tips of her ears.

Ji Fanling continued, “Also, even though I’m leaving, but…”

The entryway was narrow.

The two of them stood very close, their breaths audible, creating an atmosphere tinged with a faint sense of bittersweet farewell.

It left one inexplicably anticipating what she would say next.

Ji Fanling raised her head, looked into his eyes, and declared resolutely:

“But rest assured.”

“The money—I will definitely pay it back.”

“…”

The man’s gaze darkened, his sharp Adam’s apple bobbing as he remained silent. Without a word, he turned and walked away.

He shut the door behind him with a flick of his wrist.

The sound of the door closing was louder than usual.

Ji Fanling: “…”

Damn it.

She had poured her heart into that promise, was Fu Yingcheng not even the least bit moved?

Moving out always came with endless tasks. Ji Fanling didn’t have time to dwell on it and turned her attention to packing.

Personal items like toothbrushes and towels were, of course, hers to take, but other things were harder to define, like the water cup, blanket, and hairdryer. Those originally belonged to Fu Yingcheng, and though she had used them while living here, she couldn’t just assume that using them made them hers.

Given last night’s remark, where Fu Yingcheng told her to take everything she had used, Ji Fanling reasonably suspected that, with his level of cleanliness, even if she didn’t take them, he’d throw everything out anyway, and might even send her a voice message mocking her:

“Left your trash behind on purpose, waiting for me to throw it out for you?”

Just thinking about it made Ji Fanling’s scalp tingle. So, she decided to pack up everything she had used, including the washbasin. This way, she wouldn’t even need to spend extra money on new household items.

When Ji Fanling stepped out of the elevator, dragging her large and heavy bags, she looked like a refugee fleeing a disaster, struggling to catch her breath under the weight.

Hurried footsteps approached, and suddenly the burden on her back lightened. Someone had picked up her bundle. “Wow, I didn’t expect you to have so much stuff. If I’d known, I would’ve come up to help you.”

Ji Fanling turned her head with difficulty and recognized the person. It was Mr. Chen, the driver who worked for Fu Yingcheng. She froze for a moment. “Mr. Chen? Why are you here? Where’s Fu Yingcheng?”

“Mr. Fu drove himself to the office today, and he… um, I heard you were moving, so I thought I’d come and give you a ride,” Driver Chen said as he took the luggage from her hands and placed it in the back seat of the Maybach.

“…Thank you.”

“No need to be so polite,” Driver Chen said as he got into the driver’s seat. “Where are you headed?”

Ji Fanling gave the address for the Jixing Street residential complex, and the Maybach smoothly merged onto the main road.

Along the way, Driver Chen seemed to glance at her now and then through the rearview mirror, as if he had something to say but hesitated.

No matter how you looked at her, she seemed like an immature high school student. Although she wasn’t particularly sweet-tongued, she was at least polite.

Yet every word out of her mouth was “Fu Yingcheng.”

She addressed him by his full name casually. 

As if it were the most natural thing in the world.

… And then Driver Chen recalled Fu Yingcheng’s face that morning, as dark as the bottom of a pot. Instead of taking the car to the office as usual, Fu Yingcheng had instructed him to wait downstairs to help Ji Fanling move out.

How to put it, his tone, his attitude.

There was a strange contradiction to it: clearly annoyed, yet still going out of his way to consider her needs.

For someone like Mr. Fu, with his cold, unfeeling temperament, when had he ever tolerated anyone before? It was practically unheard of.

Halfway through the drive, Driver Chen finally couldn’t hold back and tentatively asked, “So, will you be coming back to live here in the future?”

“I won’t be coming back,” Ji Fanling said without the slightest doubt in her mind.

They were just classmates, after all.

Besides, even the closest of friends wouldn’t live long-term in someone else’s home.

“I just remembered, when you first came to Jade Imperial Garden, it was in the car I drove. In the blink of an eye, it’s been two months. Not too long, not too short, huh?”

“…It’s fine.”

After holding back for a while, Driver Chen finally got straight to the point. “So, you and Mr. Fu are… distant relatives?”

“…We’re friends.”

Ji Fanling explained, “I was in a bit of a tough spot, so I stayed at his place temporarily.”

“Oh, oh, friends.”

With an age gap of nearly ten years, even after witnessing them—a single man and woman—living together for two months, Driver Chen didn’t dare let his thoughts stray toward anything improper.

Especially when the person in question was Fu Yingcheng, a man who exuded self-restraint in every aspect of his being.

Driver Chen had been driving for him for six or seven years and had noticed that Fu Yingcheng always wore a dark metallic pinky ring on his left hand.

A pinky ring symbolized abstinence, solitude, and a commitment to singlehood.

Although a single ring couldn’t possibly stop the admirers flocking to Fu Yingcheng, there were still plenty of people willing to throw themselves at him. Yet he seemed only annoyed by it all, not even bothering with the courtesy of offering a ride home.

On rare occasions when a business partner got drunk at a dinner, he would simply instruct Driver Chen to escort the person, while he either drove himself or took a cab home.

Countless nights, Driver Chen had watched Fu Yingcheng escort someone to the car, then coldly turn and walk away. From the back seat, the woman would stare at him through the car window, her expression a mix of disappointment and frustration.

Sometimes, he would even be casually interrogated: “Driver Chen, have you ever driven anyone else home?”

Driver Chen: “…To be honest, I’ve never seen Mr. Fu date anyone.”

The response was usually a prolonged silence.

The fact that Fu Yingcheng didn’t like anyone else, well, that was a good thing.

But never liking anyone at all, that was a bad thing too.

After enough rejections, there were even fiery-tempered female CEOs who cut straight to the chase: “Just be honest, does Fu Yingcheng not like women?”

Driver Chen, sweating profusely: “…Ah, well, how could I possibly speculate about the boss’s private matters?”

…

Hearing Ji Fanling refer to him as a “friend,” Driver Chen mulled it over for a moment and chuckled to himself. “Friends with such a big age gap? That’s quite the cross-generational friendship. How did you two meet?”

“Cross-generational friendship? Not really.”

Ji Fanling replied expressionlessly, “Fu Yingcheng and I are the same age.”

Driver Chen: “?” What kind of “same age” is that?

The girl counted on her fingers. “Almost twenty-seven, pushing thirty.”

Driver Chen: “???”

Ji Fanling propped her chin on her hand, gazing out the window with a calm expression. “It’s just that I look young.”

Driver Chen: “…”

You look way too young!

*

When they arrived at the Jixing Street residential complex, Driver Chen enthusiastically insisted on helping Ji Fanling carry her things upstairs, and she didn’t stop him.

After signing the rental contract, three months’ deposit and one month’s rent upfront, Ji Fanling began tidying up the room. By the time Zhou Sui rushed over after work to help, Ji Fanling had already finished organizing everything.

Carrying a bag of fruit into the room, Zhou Sui found the space so cramped that there wasn’t even room for a chair. She could only stand in the narrow gap between the bed and the wall. “Congratulations on moving in!”

“Why’d you bring anything?”

Ji Fanling sat cross-legged at the head of the bed and patted the edge. “Just sit anywhere.”

“Isn’t it a bit small? And there’s no window.”

Zhou Sui looked around cautiously, hesitant to mention that there was also a faint unpleasant smell wafting over from the bathroom.

Ji Fanling didn’t even lift her eyelids. “It’s just for sleeping.”

“True.”

With nowhere else to put the fruit from the plastic bag, Zhou Sui had no choice but to place it on the bed. She tried to take a few steps forward but was blocked by a large bag stuffed into the narrow gap on the floor.

“What’s this?”

“All clothes, no place to put them.”

Ji Fanling showed her the plastic hooks she had ordered on Pinduoduo. “I’m planning to hang them on the wall later.”

“This many?” Zhou Sui opened the bag and took a peek. On top was a pure white plush jacket, its fur glistening like mink. Zhou Sui reached out and touched it, it was soft and fluffy, almost like real fur.

It looked nice, no doubt.

But it didn’t seem like something Ji Fanling would wear.

“You bought this?”

“As if.” Ji Fanling replied, “Fu Yingcheng bought it.”

“…”

Zhou Sui stayed silent for three seconds before asking casually, “Are all of these his?”

“Not all of them.”

Just as Zhou Sui was about to let out a breath, Ji Fanling leaned over, reached into the overstuffed bag, and pulled out two bundles of socks. “…These are mine.”