Chapter 7 - Chapter 7: The Rental Fiasco

On Friday evening, as Su Wan walked out of the subway station, she saw her landlady, Aunt Zhang, standing at the entrance of the residential building with her hands on her hips, her face darker than the dark clouds on the horizon."Su Wan, I'm not renting this apartment to you anymore! You must move out by next weekend!" Aunt Zhang's shrill voice attracted the curious glances of several neighbors."Auntie, we signed a one-year lease—there are still six months left!" Su Wan hurried over, clutching her briefcase tightly. "You told me before that you wouldn't take the apartment back anytime soon.""That was before! Now my son is getting married, and this apartment has to be his wedding house!" Aunt Zhang pushed her roughly, her tone even harsher. "Don't be ungrateful! If you don't move out next week, I'll throw your things out myself!"Su Wan stood frozen in place, watching Aunt Zhang's retreating figure. The keychain in her hand dug painfully into her palm. She remembered how, three months ago when she first moved in, she'd specially bought new curtains and a carpet, even placing three potted succulents on the windowsill. Now, suddenly forced to move, she didn't even have a temporary place to stay.Over the next two days, Su Wan spent all her time after work looking for a new apartment. The one she viewed in the rain on Saturday afternoon had a living room window facing a garbage station, the stench making her cough uncontrollably. The apartment she saw on Sunday morning was half as expensive again as her budget, and the agent kept urging her: "Book it quickly, or someone else will snap it up!"On Sunday night, sitting amid a pile of rental flyers, Su Wan stared at the agent's "read but unanswered" messages on her phone, a wave of grievance washing over her. Her phone lit up—it was a work message from Lu Chengyu: "Can we coordinate the lighting plan for Stellar Center next Monday morning?"She stared at the message for a long time, but ultimately didn't mention her rental trouble. They were just work partners; there was no need to bother him.On Monday morning, Su Wan stepped into the elevator with dark circles under her eyes. She'd just pressed the button for the 15th floor when a familiar voice sounded behind her: "Good morning."She turned around to find Lu Chengyu in a dark gray suit, holding a newspaper. His gaze fell on the dark circles under her eyes: "Didn't sleep well?""It's nothing, just..." Su Wan trailed off, but meeting his earnest gaze, she couldn't help but say, "My landlady suddenly wants to take the apartment back. I've been looking for two days but haven't found anything suitable. I have to move out next week."The elevator doors slowly closed, reflecting their figures. Lu Chengyu frowned, pinching a crease into the edge of his newspaper: "That's a breach of contract. You could take legal action to claim compensation. But if you're in a hurry to find a place, I have a friend who works as a real estate agent—he has a lot of high-quality listings. Shall I ask him for you?""Would that be too much trouble?" Su Wan waved her hands quickly. "I'll keep looking. Maybe I'll find something soon.""It's no trouble," Lu Chengyu took out his phone and opened his notes app. "Tell me your requirements—location, budget, any preferences? Like avoiding street-facing units or low floors."Watching him bow his head to take notes, Su Wan felt a sudden warmth in her heart. When she listed her needs, he even asked thoughtfully: "Should it be close to your company? That way, you won't have to get up early to squeeze the subway."At 3 p.m. that day, Su Wan received a file from Lu Chengyu on WeChat—detailed information about three apartments, including real photos and videos. The top listing was a downtown apartment, just a 10-minute walk from DreamWeave Design. The decor was the light wood style she loved, and the rent was even 200 yuan cheaper than her current place."This listing is in high demand," Lu Chengyu's message followed. "I asked my friend to reserve it for you for two days. If it's convenient, you can go see it tonight—he'll be waiting for you at the community gate."When Su Wan went to view the apartment, the agent smiled as soon as he saw her: "Ms. Su? Mr. Lu specially instructed me to keep the best unit for you, offer the lowest rent, and even negotiated a deposit waiver for you."As she stepped into the apartment, the setting sun streamed through the floor-to-ceiling windows, casting light on the living room carpet. The agent pointed to the balcony: "Mr. Lu said you like raising succulents, so he asked the landlord to keep this south-facing balcony—it gets great sunlight."As she held the pen to sign the lease, Su Wan suddenly thought of Lu Chengyu in the elevator that morning. He was clearly so busy, yet he'd remembered such a small detail as "succulents needing sunlight."She sent Lu Chengyu a message: "I love the apartment—thank you so much. Let me treat you to dinner tonight as a thank-you."Two minutes later, Lu Chengyu replied with a smiling emoji: "No need for dinner. If you really want to thank me, make the Stellar Center proposal even more outstanding—after all, this is a project we're in charge of together."Su Wan looked at the phrase "we're in charge of together," and a smile crept onto her lips. So he'd helped her not just as a "small favor," but because he saw her as a partner standing side by side.