Assistant Architect by Xi He Qing Ling
Chapter 102: House Hunting
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However,packing and moving isn't the biggest headache right now, it is his finances.
Zhang Siyionly recently learned how to keep good records of his accounts and manage hismoney. He doesn't have any savings and his credit cards were overdrawn.Previously, Fu Xinhui would help pay rent in advance and then Zhang Siyi wouldpay him back when he could. As a result, Zhang Siyi formed a habit of payingrent late and thus, since his rent is due now, he doesn't have it. Since FuXinhui family went bankrupt and he is going abroad, the spoiled Zhang Siyi mustclean up the mess alone.
When you startliving in a new apartment, the lease normally requires a deposit and one monthsrent in advance when you sign a contract. In the current location, it isabsolutely impossible to rent a place for 4000 monthly.
Zhang Siyilooked at the ceiling and sighed. First, he needed to go out and see what wasavailable and then determine if he could afford it. Like Lu Qiao, he might haveto find a place farther from the city center.
Whilethinking about his rent issues, Gu Yu replied: "Where is he going?"
Zhang Siyi:“He’s going abroad.”
Gu Yu:“So, what are your plans? Are you ready to move?”
Ten daysago, Zhang Siyi mentioned the issue of moving so he didn't hesitant to reply: "Ihave until the end of the month."
Gu Yu: "Areyou going to find a roommate?"
Zhang Siyi:“Since I have the dog, I am not sure if I will be able to find a roommateso I'll probably just find an apartment for myself."
After hesent the message, he was expecting a fast reply. Zhang Siyi held his phonestaring at the screen waiting for the text from Gu Yu for a long time. When hecouldn't wait any longer, he went to put the phone down, however the phonesounded. Gu Yu messaged: "If there are any difficulties, you can tell me."
Zhang Siyi emotionswere a wreck. Usually he isn't so vulnerable, but today, he was immersed withsad feelings from Fu Xinhui's departure. He especially wanted to be comfortedby Gu Yu.
AlthoughZhang Siyi thought Gu Yu's message was probably just his concern for a friendand subordinate, and even with the sour feeling Zhang Siyi has since Tao Fei appearance,his heart warmed up a little.
Zhang Siyireplied: “Well, thank you.”
Regardlessof Gu Yu's feelings, with his best friend gone, Zhang Siyi can only findcomfort in Gu Yu's support. In the later part of the month, Zhang Siyi was metwith another disaster. Being faced with the truth of the cost of renting a newhome has left Zhang Siyi feeling drained. This experience has been the mostdifficult since returning to China!
The nextday, Zhang Siyi went to work early and made a few phone calls to an agency andask about apartment rentals. As he expected, there are similar sized apartmentsand rental costs in the vicinity he now lives in. Since there aren't cheaperplaces, he will have to move further from the city center.
When he gotout of the elevator, Zhang Siyi saw the receptionist with Tao Fei. He heard TaoFei ask: "Why are there so many cacti?"
"Because DirectorGu likes cactus. When it was his birthday, the female employees in the designdepartment bought him cactus as gifts, but instead of keeping them, he donated theplants to the company so now, there are a lot that haven't been claimed. "Flirtingwith Tao Fei, the young girl at the front desk quietly revealed this secret tohim."
Tao Fei laughed:“Gu Yu likes cactus? Why didn't I know!? Which one is his?"
Hearing thechange in attitude from Tao Fei at the mention of Gu Yu, Zhang Siyi feltirritated. He couldn't help himself from slowing his pace in order to continuelistening in on their conversation.
"TheDirector raised this one." The young receptionist pointed to the big cactus onthe shelf.
Tao Fei onlyglanced at the big cactus and moved his line of sight to the small ball next toit: “This small cactus next to it looks like it came from the big one. I'lltake care of that one."
Although thecactus is actually an imposter and the real cactus is at his house, when heheard Tao Fei make claim to the cactus, he felt angry and frazzled. Even if itwas counterfeit, the cactus was his exclusive plant that Gu Yu gave him!"
Thereceptionist replied: "That cactus is being raised by someone already, AuntFour."
Tao Feiwondered and questioned: “Who is Aunt-sister? Are there relatives in thiscompany?”
Zhang Siyi:"……" Auntie, your sister!
The youngwomen covered her mouth hiding her laugh: “No, no. Aunt Four is a boy. It'shis nickname." She then turned to the huge picture on the wall………
….. Zhang Siyi wanted to reach out and stop her. Nnnnoooooo!! (QAQ)
But it wastoo late. Zhang Siyi saw the young girl at the front desk reach out and point atZhang Siyi's silly sleepy photo, saying, "It's him!"
With hislarge eye getting even bigger, Tao Fei flashed a face of surprise:“Oh, it is him!” But his surprise turned into a funny smile:“Who took this photo of him? It's stupid.”
Zhang Siyi:“…………” It's too much!
SpottingZhang Siyi coming in, the young women called out to him: "Hey Mr. Zhang!"
Hearing hisname being called, Zhang Siyi was even more annoyed. Tao Fei was really surprisedto see him, but his silence only lasted a few seconds. He watched Zhang Siyiand laughed out loud crazily: "Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!"
Clenchinghis jaw, Zhang Siyi glared at him angrily, and stepped through them with heavyfootsteps to get into the office.
…..He hates Tao Fei! (╰皿╯)
During thelunch break at noon, Zhang Siyi planned to take some time to look at housingoptions. It suddenly occurred to him; the real estate agent who he exchanged businesscards with when he first joined Borderless.
He openedhis desk drawer and searched through the documents. Finding it among the officestuff in his draw, he pulled it out a looked on the backside for the phonenumber. Zhang Siyi removed the man’snumber from the blacklist and made a phone call.
After thecall was connected, he did not hear the usual introductory voice of 'hello I'mso-n-so, can I help you' and instead there was a pause and an angry voice: "Whois this?"
“Uh,is this Mr. x from the real estate agency?"
"The realestate market hasn't been good. I've quit!" Then Zhang Siyi heard the sound ofthe phone hanging up. Leaving Zhang Siyi hanging out to dry, he looked at hisphone in surprise and thought: -Shit! Ididn't think there would be a day when the intermediary would hang up on me!
The agentwho had previously harassed him endlessly last fall, quit. He went downstairsto look around for an agency near his company. Looking at the listings throughthe window for information, he was shocked to find that the rent at eightthousand a month for a 1 room studio was even more outrageous. Shit! Just kill me!
Mullingover this new information, he strolled back to his company. Zhang Siyi didn't thinkhis mood could get any worse than it already was, but when he arrived back tothe company, he saw Tao Fei and Gu Yu just coming back together from lunch. Fuck! Just kill me again!
“Hey! Mr.Zhang!” Tao Fei smiled and waved at him.
Gu Yu alsolooked at him, and opened his mouth to say something……
Feelinglike he couldn't take it any longer, Zhang Siyi spoke in a monotone voice and interrupted:"I'm going to the convenience store." Ashe turned and headed to the nearby store, he heard Tao Fei say: "He's a strangeguy."
After a fullday at work, Zhang Siyi returned home in the evening. He went to walk the dogand continue to pack and clean up the apartment.
When he FuXinhui returned briefly after the New Year's, he packed the important items andthe clothes he wanted and took them away with him. At that time, it wasn'tclear whether or not he was going to continue liveing in the apartment. ZhangSiyi asked about his room once, and Fu Xinhui said he couldn't bring the stuff abroad,so he left the remaining things in his room for Zhang Siyi to dispose of.
Fortunately,the boys did not have a lot of possessions. Other than extra cloths andbedding, there were assorted decorations and kitchen supplies to deal with.
Zhang Siyiwas surprised to find the set of the Bose surround speakers that Fu Xinhuibought for more then ten thousand in his old room. Even in the face of hisfamily’s bankruptcy, it seems like he hasn't been able to let go of his nouveauriche spending habits. (=_=)
Alreadyhaving experienced the hardships of life, Zhang Siyi chose to pack up the usedspeakers and post them to a secondhand website at a discount. It only took tenminutes until someone from the website contacted him. Solving one small problemfor Zhang Siyi, they made arrangements to make the sale the same night. ZhangSiyi was happy to make some easy money. Pocketing his eight thousand, he lookedat Cheer-Up and said: "Lucky dog, hmmm?"
With histongue hanging out, the dog just panted: "Ha~Ha~Ha~."
Putting hisarms on waist, Zhang Siyi viewed his handiwork. With only a few more things topack, the room was nearly empty and clean. When he was done, he noticed a bunchof new messages about the Bose speakers. "Bose speakers for only 8000. Are thosefakes?"
Looking atthe phrase 'only eight thousand' Zhang Siyi wonders: Eight thousand is cheap? It's a month's salary!
Anothermessage appeared: "The original price of the speakers is 17,000. If they are lessthen a year old and 90% new, the second-hand market price is 13000. At 8000,are they really not fakes?"
Zhang Siyi:"……" Fuck!
Zhang Siyi'sheart is bleeding! He thought he made a quick buck, but the truth of the matter,is that in a blink of an eye, he lost potentially five-thousand. – Whydidn't I investigate the pricing a little beforehand! No wonder the buyer camehere so quickly to inspect the speakers. Ah! Fucking idiot!
Cheer-Up:“Ha ~ Ha ~ Ha ~”
Zhang Siyigrabbed a pillow from the sofa and threw it at the dog: “Shut up!"
Wastingenergy over his stupidity isn't going to get Zhang Siyi anywhere. Resigned, hefinished packing and cleaning for the day. On the bright side, he found asolution to his immediate financial needs. The eight-thousand will be used topay rent for a new apartment. Before going to sleep, Zhang Siyi got into thehabit of practicing music.
Lately, playingthe violin has allowed him to let go of the day's pressure and feel more relaxed.It is strange. Zhang Siyi used to think that practicing the violin every daywas a huge chore. He thought the repetition, playing the same thing over and overand over, that one needed to do in order to learn new music was a boring,impossible task. This is especially true for learning difficult music andlearning Summer is no exception. But now that Zhang Siyi set a goal, he isdetermined to play the song Gu Yu requested and the next development is fareasier then he imagined.
After twoweeks of practice, Zhang Siyi has been able to play the song through withoutmusic. Although there are a few problematic areas and he needs to speed up thetempo overall, his existing progress and achievements gave Zhang Siyi a hugesense of accomplishment that lifted up his spirit out of the abyss.
Moreover, DavidGarret’s Summer interpretation is very exciting like a sultry summer afternoonwhen the clouds come, the rain pours, the wind blows, the thunder rumbles, thelightning strikes, like this ever-changing force, like his oppressive love, thecontradiction is fierce.
Through thesound of the violin, to find relief, to seek hope, he desperately wanted abreakthrough. With his vigorous arm movements and quick fingers, he vented hislove and jealousy that had nowhere else to go. He vented the backlog of stressand fatigue from the long work day that had nowhere to go. All of his negativefeelings were like the notes from the page resonating then floating into theair.
After playing,all of his troubles retreated and his heart was soothed once again.
Zhang Siyididn't know playing the violin could be so therapeutic. Now, like an itchymosquito bite that can't be ignored, he wanted to play violin every day. Feelingthe energy in the music every night, brings him strength and confidence to facea new day.
Blocking out all extraneous feelings, he focused his attention to his immediate needs. Methodically, he went to work for the day, he took a break a noon to look for an apartment and then at home every day in the evening, he cleaned and packed up his apartment. After ten intensely focused days, Zhang Siyi finished the blueprints of the entire office building six days ahead of schedule. He didn't even need to ask for Du Rui help. Even Zhang Siyi was surprised at his own accomplishments under such a vigorous schedule.
Was this the breakthrough Zhang Siyi wanted?
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