Chapter 21: Three Rules Established

By the time they finished dinner, it was already close to ten at night. Fortunately, Su Chen had wisely prepared soft drinks instead of alcohol. Otherwise, neither of them would have been able to leave the table upright tonight.

After they had vied for the privilege of washing the dishes and tidied up, they finally managed to settle back on the living room sofa for a rest.

During this time, Su Chen said, “By the way, let me pay you back the hundred thousand yuan first.”

He took out his phone and transferred one hundred thousand yuan to Han Jiangxue through WeChat—a deposit Zhang Fuyu had paid him for selling a song.

But Han Jiangxue didn’t immediately accept the payment. Instead, she asked, “...Where did you get the money?”

“I told you earlier, didn’t I? I sold a song to Zhang Fuyu. She paid five hundred thousand for it, so I’m not short of money for the time being,” Su Chen replied.

“...Five hundred thousand?!” Han Jiangxue exclaimed, “Zhang Fuyu paid you half a million for a single song?!”

“Uh...yes.”

Seeing Su Chen nod, Han Jiangxue was even more baffled.

“Who’s gone mad, you or Zhang Fuyu? With five hundred thousand, you could commission a top-tier music producer! How is this any different from hiring a rookie to play professionally and paying them tens of thousands a month?”

“Or...did you two make some kind of unspeakable deal?!”

Su Chen: “......”

Han Jiangxue suddenly joked, catching Su Chen completely off guard.

She clearly knew the going rate for original music—perhaps that was why she found it so unbelievable.

“Why can’t it simply be that I wrote a song Zhang Fuyu really liked?” Su Chen retorted.

Han Jiangxue offered an awkward smile and explained, “I’m not saying your songs are bad, of course! I just mean...it’s a song for a girl to sing, and you’re a guy...”

Although she didn’t finish her sentence, Su Chen could feel his professionalism being questioned from the look in her eyes.

He picked up the guitar Han Jiangxue had given him and casually sang a few lines from “Courage.”

“Love really does take courage, to face the gossip and rumors.
As long as you give me a look of affirmation, my love then has meaning.”

He’d sung only two lines, but Han Jiangxue’s eyes grew wide.

Setting the guitar down, Su Chen asked, “Well? Do you believe me now?”

Han Jiangxue raised her hand, giving him a thumbs-up. “Sorry, I spoke too soon! Forgive my youthful ignorance, Song God!”

Su Chen replied, half exasperated, “I tailored this song specifically for her. She must have genuinely liked it, or she wouldn’t have offered that price.”

“So...can you accept this hundred thousand with a clear conscience now?”

Han Jiangxue knew that if she didn’t take the money tonight, Su Chen would never let it go. So, under his watchful gaze, she accepted the money—albeit with a touch of reluctance.

After putting down her phone, neither spoke again. In that instant, silence flooded the living room. Both Han Jiangxue and Su Chen realized that a certain awkwardness was rapidly swelling between them.

In the end, it was Su Chen who couldn’t bear it any longer and broke the silence first.

“All right, if there’s nothing else, I’ll get going,” he said, rising from the sofa.

Watching him head toward the door, Han Jiangxue grew anxious.

“Hey...wait! Where are you going?” she asked.

She didn’t even know why she said it—she simply felt an urge to make him stay as he was about to leave.

Su Chen paused and replied, “Obviously, I’m going to find a place to sleep! It’s late—I’m not about to go clubbing now, am I?”

Han Jiangxue blurted out, “Stay here...”

But Su Chen declined politely, “I’ve already crashed here twice in the past few days. If I stay again tonight, my conscience will bother me!”

“Besides, even if no one else says anything, it’s just the two of us—a young man full of energy and a stunning beauty. If I were to lose control...it wouldn’t be appropriate.”

“And anyway, even if I stayed one more night, I can’t keep living here. Sooner or later, whether I rent or buy, I’ll need a place of my own.”

“But...” Han Jiangxue protested, “It’s so late, all the rental agencies must be closed by now.”

“I’ll just get a hotel for tonight and look for a place tomorrow,” Su Chen shrugged, unfazed.

After a moment’s thought, Han Jiangxue insisted, “...So just stay here.”

Su Chen: ???

I’ve said all that, and she still wants me to stay—could she really be interested in me?

Seeing Su Chen’s odd expression, Han Jiangxue hastily clarified, “I mean, I have another apartment—you can rent it from me.”

“...You have another place?” Su Chen was taken aback.

So I took you as a friend, but you want to be my landlord!

Han Jiangxue explained, “Yes, it’s just upstairs from here.”

“When my mom bought this place, she really liked the location, but thought the apartment was too small. She planned to buy two floors and join them into a duplex.”

“But since I was going to live here, they never started construction, so the upper floor stayed as it was.”

Su Chen’s lips twitched. “Your mom has high standards. This place must be at least a hundred and twenty square meters, right? That’s more than enough for a family of three.”

“That’s just the way she is...Come on, I’ll show you upstairs,” Han Jiangxue said, getting up from the sofa.

“...All right.”

The two of them, one after the other, made their way upstairs via the fire escape.

Han Jiangxue stopped at the door directly above her own apartment, placed her finger on the fingerprint lock, and with a click, the door opened.

She flipped on the light switch, illuminating the entire apartment.

“Take a look. This one’s also fully furnished, exactly the same layout as mine downstairs. I have someone clean it every week, so you can move in anytime...Well? Do you like it?”

“I do, but the rent would be way too much for me,” Su Chen replied.

The place was in Hangzhou’s city center, right next to the Qiantang River and not far from West Lake. He’d quietly checked the rental prices earlier—even the smallest units here went for eight or nine thousand yuan a month, and that was with a six-month minimum.

“The rent isn’t much. For a three-bedroom, two-living-room unit, let’s say three thousand a month, and you can pay monthly!” Han Jiangxue said playfully.

Su Chen: ???

“That’s way below market. I can’t take advantage of you like that,” he refused.

“What do you mean take advantage? If you don’t rent it, I wouldn’t let anyone else have it either. I hardly ever use it myself—it’s just sitting here gathering dust.”

“And I still have to pay for cleaning and the building fees. All those little expenses add up!”

Han Jiangxue went on seriously, “So renting it to you might look like I’m losing money, but really, I’m not! So you’d better take it off my hands and ease my burden.”

“Well...all right then.”

Seeing him agree, Han Jiangxue struggled to contain her laughter, her eyes narrowing with delight.

“Oh, right!” she suddenly said. “If you’re going to live here, we need to set some ground rules!”

Su Chen asked, “What rules?”

“First, you can’t bring other girls here overnight.”

“Second, no dating or flirting with other girls while you’re living here.”

“Third, you have to cook me at least one meal a week.”

She counted off the terms on her fingers.

Su Chen didn’t hesitate, “Deal.”