Chapter 33: Our Home

Looking at the dust on her hand, Shen Qingyao fell silent.

The putty on the walls had been applied terribly—so poorly, in fact, that she felt her own efforts would have been unnecessary.

“Don’t all go quiet on me. The only advantage this place has is that there’s just enough room here for a crib. Once you have a baby, it’ll be convenient for keeping an eye on the little one, won’t it?”

Xu Kaifeng carried on talking to himself, while Jiang Yan watched Shen Qingyao’s reaction.

But Shen Qingyao’s entire attention was fixed on the putty covering the walls.

She had a habit: one side of the bed had to be against a wall.

She also liked sleeping on the side nearest the wall. Only then did she feel completely secure.

When decorating her own home, Shen Qingyao had paid particular attention to this. She could hardly imagine moving in without covering the walls with newspapers, only to wake up the next morning with putty dust all over her body.

When Xu Kaifeng saw that no one was responding to him, he deliberately nudged Shen Qingyao with his words.

“What do you think?”

“I think it’s not very good.”

Shen Qingyao raised the putty dust on her hand, gesturing for them to take a look.

Neither man understood what she really meant.

Xu Kaifeng assumed she disliked the layout, while Jiang Yan took it to mean that she was not yet considering having children.

Each man had his own thoughts.

“You don’t like it? Then let’s look at the next one.”

Xu Kaifeng stepped out the front door first, but Shen Qingyao noticed that Jiang Yan’s mood had changed.

At first, he had been examining the place seriously. At some point, however, he had begun doing nothing but stare at the floor.

Shen Qingyao slipped her arm through his. “Jiang Yan, say something too. This is our home. Don’t leave all the looking to me.”

“All right. I’m looking.”

The words “our home” were enough to move Jiang Yan.

A smile returned to his face as he realized he had been overthinking things.

They had only just received approval for their application. They had not even held a ceremony, and strictly speaking, they were not yet married. Why had he been thinking so far ahead?

As long as Shen Qingyao was there, that was home.

Jiang Yan composed himself, and Xu Kaifeng led them up to the third floor.

“Take a look at this one. It’s actually quite similar to the place downstairs, but I don’t think it’s as good as the last one.”

Shen Qingyao touched the wall again. At last, the walls in this house were not shedding much dust.

She nodded in satisfaction before turning her attention elsewhere.

All the houses they had viewed had three rooms and no clearly defined living room.

What displeased Shen Qingyao was that the rooms had been divided in an extremely wasteful manner.

The partitions were needlessly complicated when they could have been made much simpler.

Not only was the usable floor space reduced, but some areas were so awkward that even placing things there would have been inconvenient.

The hallway was the worst. Shen Qingyao could not imagine what one was supposed to do with it.

“The lighting is good. Your wife likes sunbathing, and she’ll get plenty of sunlight here.”

Jiang Yan turned to look at Shen Qingyao. “This place won’t do. Yaoyao doesn’t really like it.”

“Your wife hasn’t even said anything. How do you know it won’t do?”

Jiang Yan answered with a smile, “If she liked it, she would have looked at me by now.”

“All right, all right. She’s your wife, not mine.”

Xu Kaifeng was nearly choked by Jiang Yan’s words.

Looking at Jiang Yan’s blissful expression, Xu Kaifeng felt miserable.

He suspected that even his own voice had turned sour.

“Jiang Yan, don’t you think spring has arrived for you? Why do I feel like you’re strutting around showing off your feathers?”

“She’s my wife.”

Jiang Yan imitated Xu Kaifeng’s tone, and Xu Kaifeng immediately stalked to the doorway in a huff and took a deep drag of his cigarette.

“Do you like it?”

“I don’t.”

Shen Qingyao felt somewhat disappointed.

Judging from Xu Kaifeng’s tone, these two houses should have been among the better options.

Yet both had unavoidable problems, and Shen Qingyao was torn over whether she needed to give something up.

After all, a house would be the most valuable possession they owned in the future.

Especially a home of this kind. No matter how policies changed later, it would not be reclaimed for political reasons.

“I’ll take you to see another one. I think you might like it.”

Jiang Yan’s words dispelled Shen Qingyao’s hesitation.

“All right.”

Xu Kaifeng watched the two of them head downstairs and immediately followed.

“Damn it, why do I feel like I’m the third wheel?”

He scratched his head as he watched them walk ahead hand in hand.

No, this wouldn’t do. He was going to attend the next matchmaking gathering too.

Xu Kaifeng strode forward. As he passed Jiang Yan, he gave him a shove.

Jiang Yan glanced at him. “The next matchmaking event is on whichever day you’re assigned duty.”

“Jiang Yan, you’ve really got some nerve. You’re unbelievably smug.”

Xu Kaifeng cursed as he opened the door, while Shen Qingyao could only laugh.

Once the door opened, Shen Qingyao immediately felt that the place was comfortable.

The lighting was not as good as in the previous two houses, but the layout was far better.

For the first time, she could almost see the shape of a home.

She pointed toward one spot. “A small dining table would fit perfectly here.”

After pushing open the bedroom door, Shen Qingyao called Jiang Yan over and pointed inside.

“And here—we could put a desk for you to work at. What do you think?”

Jiang Yan nodded, and Shen Qingyao was overjoyed.

She stood in a spacious corner with her hands clasped behind her back, facing the window.

“The light is good here. I could put a desk here and do my makeup or read.”

Suddenly, Shen Qingyao remembered where she was.

It was not that she could not wear makeup here. It was simply that makeup was a luxury in the countryside.

And as for reading—the original owner of this body had only completed middle school. If she had truly loved reading that much, she would not have stopped her education there.

Though she benefited from the opportunities of the times, the original owner had no particular skill to offer.

Shen Qingyao was about to explain, but Jiang Yan spoke first.

“I’ll leave it all to you.”

“This is our home.”

Warmth spread through Shen Qingyao’s heart. Whatever she had been about to explain vanished from her mind.

Xu Kaifeng shoved the keys into Jiang Yan’s hand. “Looking at the two of you makes me sick with sweetness.”

“I’m leaving. Once you’ve made up your minds, remember to submit the application yourselves. I’m done serving you.”

Xu Kaifeng thought someone would care about his outburst. In reality, Jiang Yan could not have been more eager for him to leave.

The moment the door closed, Jiang Yan moved closer to Shen Qingyao.

“Do you like it?”

Shen Qingyao’s eyes curved into crescent moons. “I love it. What about you?”

“I love it too.”

“Then let’s take this one. It’s not as large as the others, but at least it has no serious flaws.”

“Everything we want, it can provide.”

As Shen Qingyao spoke, her heart began to swell with excitement.

The house was small, but she already knew exactly how to make use of every inch.

No matter how large or spacious the other houses were, none of them suited her and Jiang Yan as well as this one.

When they left, Shen Qingyao was still somewhat reluctant to go.

“There shouldn’t be anyone competing with us for it, right?”

Jiang Yan did not give her a definite answer. “It’s hard to say. Everyone still has to apply according to the rules.”

“If someone else applies, tell me. I’ll go and plead with him.”

Shen Qingyao was joking, and Jiang Yan immediately saw the amusement in her eyes.

“Then bring me along when you plead. If that isn’t enough, we’ll plead together.”