Chapter 39: This Roommate Is Eighteen

Just as Yu Xiaoli said, let’s put everything else aside for now; sit down, eat, and fill your stomach before talking about anything else.

From noon until afternoon, the food remained steaming hot: a steamed sea bass, a portion of braised pork with knotted bean curd sheets, stir-fried loofah with edamame, fish-flavored eggplant, and a large bowl of chive and egg soup.

However, the sea bass had a long, deep cut running from its head all the way to its tail, for reasons unknown.

Lu Wei sat at the table, feeling restless and uneasy. Yu Xiaoli placed a large piece of braised pork into her bowl.

"Try this, Xiao Lu. Usually, it's just Xiao Da who eats my cooking, and he praises everything I make. I need you to help me critique it a bit."

Lu Wei nodded quickly. "It's delicious, it's really delicious, Teacher Yu."

Zhai Da gave a dry cough. "Would you mind picking up your chopsticks first?"

You have the script, can't you even act it out properly?

Lu Wei nearly buried her head in her bowl. "O... li... gei..."

Fortunately, Yu Xiaoli's enthusiasm was enough to melt any awkwardness. At the dining table, she never let the conversation drop, nor did she let Lu Wei’s mouth stay idle, piling food into her bowl one item after another.

Zhai Da was much more normal, eating his meal on his own.

As Lu Wei ate the home-cooked meal, something she hadn't tasted in a long time, her jaw ached and her eyes stung. Luckily, her eyes were already red, so it didn't stand out too much.

After eating more than half, Yu Xiaoli finally spoke: "Xiao Lu, I've heard a rough summary of your situation from Xiao Da. I just checked with the people at the factory, and there are no vacancies left in the dormitory."

Lu Wei looked up, placed her chopsticks on the edge of the bowl, and rested her hands on her knees.

"You know the technical school students come for their internships a few months before graduation. The first batch arrives next week, and two meeting rooms have already been cleared out to accommodate them on floor mats."

Lu Wei quickly said, "Teacher Yu, I can sleep on a floor mat too. I don't have many belongings."

Yu Xiaoli gave her a reproachful glare. "Only the male students are sleeping on floor mats. How could you?"

"Then... I can make do in the workshop for now..."

Zhai Da didn't say a word to help, continuing to pick at the sea bass on the plate.

Must say, it’s even more flavorful after being sliced open.

Yu Xiaoli finally revealed her true intention: "Listen to me. On the way back, I cleared out the storage room next to Xiao Da's. You'll stay at my place for now. You can move out whenever you feel ready and have regained your strength."

Zhai Da caught on, sat up straight, and looked around, seeing no clutter.

"Where did you put the stuff from the storage room?"

"In your room."

Zhai Da widened his eyes. How could you fit so much stuff in there?

He immediately got up to take a look, but Yu Xiaoli grabbed him. "Don't go. It’ll just annoy you."

Zhai Da: ?

He had anticipated that Ms. Yu might make this offer, but he hadn't expected her to have already started cleaning the room.

In that short time on the way back, she even had time to cook a meal...

As expected, middle-aged women are numerical monsters.

Lu Wei lowered her head, her voice soft and timid: "Teacher Yu... you really don't have to..."

Even though Zhai Da had prepared her, and even though Yu Xiaoli was warm and welcoming, making such a decision was still not easy.

Accepting help from others is harder than gritting one's teeth and pushing through alone. Sometimes, rejecting kindness is just a reflex for someone who is drowning.

Lu Wei looked toward Zhai Da, hoping for some help, or to hear him urge her to agree, or even to persuade her not to stay.

But Zhai Da had no reaction; he rested his head on one hand, focused on finishing the leftovers.

Some things, Lu Wei had to decide for herself.

The brief silence stretched on. Finally, Lu Wei plucked up the courage and said, "Then... thank you, Teacher Yu. I’ll trouble you for a few days. I can pay rent and for food..."

Yu Xiaoli’s expectant expression brightened in an instant. "Those are trifles. Don't worry about money. That Sister Ma from our factory used to fight with her husband every day when she was young; she’d come here to sleep every other day, and I never saw a cent. This house isn't factory equipment; having one more person won't wear it out."

Zhai Da nodded. He remembered Aunt Ma Cuilian. Back when he was in elementary school, she would frequently show up with a bag, cry to Yu Xiaoli all night, and once stayed for a whole week.

To be honest, it wasn't very kind to bring these things up to Ms. Yu.

She stopped coming later on.

Her husband passed away from a stroke, and from then on, she bought flowers for herself, lived freely, and danced to square dancing until two in the morning without a care in the world.

Since a decision had been reached, Yu Xiaoli began busily making arrangements.

Zhai Da ended up washing the dishes. Lu Wei wanted to help, but Yu Xiaoli pulled her away; they had to finish tidying the storage room, as there was still a lot of cleaning and scrubbing to do.

The items from the storage room ultimately weren't piled in Zhai Da's room but were placed on the balcony, which had been accessible before but was now completely blocked off.

By the time they finished, it was past ten o'clock. Yu Xiaoli took care of her guest, telling Lu Wei to shower first.

In a daze, Lu Wei was pushed into the unfamiliar bathroom, carrying her toiletries.

She stared blankly into the mirror.

What do I do next... take off my clothes?

On the sink sat two toothbrush mugs, one green and one pink, presumably belonging to Zhai Da and Teacher Yu.

They were easy to tell apart, not because of the color, but because the toothbrush in the green one was frayed like weeds.

Lu Wei took her own orange plastic cup out of her plastic bag; it was smaller and simpler.

It looked like a cheap beer mug from a cheap restaurant, and it probably was.

Finally, with great caution, she placed it side-by-side with the other two.

But a moment later, Lu Wei pulled her cup away as if electrocuted, as if she had committed some terrible mistake.

She secretly decided that from now on, she would keep her things in the storage room, even if it meant keeping them in a plastic bag; she would never leave them out.

She didn't want to intrude on anyone's life... although she already was, she wanted to minimize it as much as possible.

Lu Wei felt lost and anxious, but worried about occupying the bathroom for too long, she forced herself to overcome the strange sense of unfamiliarity and began to undress.

Just as she removed her top, there was a knock on the bathroom door. Lu Wei was so startled she quickly put it back on: "I'll be out in a second."

Outside the door, Yu Xiaoli said gently, "I'm not rushing you. I just found a bath towel for you. Also, the hair dryer is in the drawer under the sink, just letting you know."

After her anxious shower, Lu Wei didn't even dare to dry her hair completely before rushing out. Yu Xiaoli seemed to be patting her face in her own room, and Zhai Da's door was tightly shut.

With damp hair, Lu Wei crept back to her room like a thief.

This space wasn't designed as a storage room. Zhai Da’s home was over sixty square meters with no shared area, not much worse than an eighty-square-meter commercial apartment; it could be called a second bedroom, as it did have a window.

However, for over a decade, it had just been the mother and son, and this small room had gradually become a place for miscellaneous items.

In the rectangular space, a spring folding bed occupied nearly half the room. Yu Xiaoli said she would ask around to see if anyone had a spare single bed they didn't want. Lu Wei naturally objected, but her objection was overruled.

Against the wall was a set of modular cabinets, with one side cleared out for Lu Wei to store her things, while her suitcase was spread open in the corner.

The spring bed was already made with bedding, all from Zhai Da’s home, complete with a pillow towel embroidered with a vintage mandarin duck pattern.

Lu Wei stared blankly for a while. With nothing to do, she chose to lie down quietly so as not to cause any trouble.

She lay on the squeaky folding bed, perfectly flat.

Moonlight filtered through the narrow window, landing on Lu Wei’s slender, pale legs. Even in her ordinary trousers, her legs looked thin, like two large trumpets.

Sounds of movement occasionally drifted from outside—it seemed Yu Xiaoli and Zhai Da were taking turns showering. Every time someone passed by, she would stiffen.

She kept replaying the events in her mind, wondering if she had left anything in the bathroom or made anything dirty.

She lay there for two hours, and even at one in the morning, she couldn't fall asleep.

Until a voice sounded clearly.

"Can't sleep?"

Lu Wei woke up in an instant, staring in shock at the wall beside her.

"Zhai... Zhai Da?"