Chapter 013
Nangong Iren
That night, they waited for a call from Shannchyuan. Yihshyong and Iren got their turn first. They stood on guard while Shinnshiow and Jenqyih slept. Around three in the morning, Shinnshiow and Jenqyih got up and replaced Iren and Yihshyong to stand guard.
But that night, Shannchyuan did not call. He only called to give the news about eight in the morning. He said he was okay but didn't know anything yet about Songfei. The news that nothing terrible happened to Shannchyuan relieved them. At the same time, they were also somewhat worried that Songfei might be in trouble. They decided not to go anywhere today. After Shannchyuan returned, they would discuss what to do next.
At nine in the morning, the phone rang again. Iren rushed out of the room to answer the phone. He suspected there was the latest news from their dahge.
"Hello," said Iren.
"Hello," came a voice from the other end.
"Chioujen? Is it you?" Iren recognized the voice. The voice owner was Jongharng Chioujen, their comrade who, six months ago, moved to another city.
"Good Morning! Yes, it's me, Chioujen," replied the caller. He sounded happy.
"Good Morning! It's good to hear your voice, Chioujen!" Said Iren. Habitually, Chioujen called them once or twice a week to keep up with each other.
"How are you there? Have you found a new place for us to stay?" Asked Chioujen.
Many of Chioujen's stuff was still in their house. So, they still considered Chioujen as their housemate. So when they found a new place, it would be Chioujen's house too.
"Still not yet," replied Iren. "I think this problem will take a long time to resolve. So there is a possibility we will be vagrant next week," Iren was laughing out loud. "By the way, it's unusual for you to call us in the morning. Is there any important news you want to share?"
Usually, Chioujen made calls at night because long-distance calls were cheaper. Besides, it's because Chioujen worked during the day. Nine o'clock, like now, usually was a busy time for Chioujen.
"The company pulled me back to the head office. So tomorrow I'll go back there," said Chioujen.
"Wow, that's good to hear," shouted Iren, "Later, we can be homeless together here."
They both were laughing together.
"I'll be there in the evening. It's after ten," said Chioujen.
"Okay, I'll make sure we are at home tomorrow night."
Chioujen hadn't brought this house's keys with him when he'd moved out. So somebody had to be at home to open the door for him.
"Thank you very much," said Chioujen.
"Very well. We'll be waiting for you."
"Convey my greetings to the others."
"Okay. See you tomorrow night."
When Iren hung up, Yihshyong walked over to him.
Yihshyong's face looked curious. "Who is calling?"
"The company moved Chioujen back here. So tomorrow he will come home. He will arrive at this house after ten at night."
"Oh, that's great then. We have a friend with the same fate as a bum," said Yihshyong.
"At least he still has a job," said Iren.
Yihshyong burst out laughing when he heard Iren's words.
Chioujen, the youngest member of their group, had moved to another city six months ago. Chioujen had said the company where he worked had thrived, so they'd opened a branch in another city. Unlike the other residents who lived in the house, Chioujen had moved to this city three years ago. Then he'd lived and worked in this city. One year ago, he'd joined the others after they'd come to this city. Then, after some deliberation, he'd decided to stay together with the others.
While waiting for Shannchyuan to come home, Iren and Yihshyong read books and watched television. Meanwhile, Jenqyih and Shinnshiow slept until around eleven o'clock. At noon, it turned out that Shannchyuan still didn't arrive home yet, so half an hour later, they settled to have lunch without Shannchyuan. They thought Shannchyuan must have had lunch on the way home.
The four of them sat at the dining table. Iren can hear a faint roar from his stomach. It was obvious that he was hungry. His friends laughed. From their reaction, it seemed they could hear the roar, too. Iren took and put the rice in the bowl. As usual, he took a lot of rice. Since two months ago, he was actually determined to go on a diet. At least he wanted to reduce rice consumption. But it turned out to be very difficult. He lives with people who love to eat. So the temptation to eat more always graced Iren's days. Finally, Iren could only follow the eating habits of the surrounding people. He continued to eat as usual. However, he increases his physical activity so that the food he eats, especially carbohydrates, does not accumulate as fat in his body. It so happened that during the past two weeks, he had been going out every day. When he did activities outside, he tried his best to always walk to get there, except, of course, when he had to travel to a distant place, which was clearly impossible for him to reach on foot because it would waste a lot of time.
"What do you think about the dish?" Iren asked Shinnshiow. Since this morning, Shinnshiow slept until noon after staying awake from three to eight in the morning while waiting for news from Shannchyuan. It was Yihshyong who cooked the lunch this time.
"It's delicious," said Shinnshiow, glancing at Yihshyong. Yihshyong only smiled at the questions and answers. Yihshyong's cooking was quite good. It was just that it probably couldn't be compared to Shinnshiow.
"I'm learning how to cook properly," said Yihshyong with a laugh. "How do you honestly think?" Yihshyong asked Shinnshiow.
Shinnshiow chewed on the rice that was still in his mouth. After swallowing the rice, he answered Yihshyong's question. "Shyongge has made a lot of progress. Compared to three months ago, this is an extraordinary achievement," said Shinnshiow.
Three months ago was the beginning of all of them becoming unemployed. Starting from Shannchyuan, and then one by one successively, the other four also lost their jobs. It made sense that soon after that, Yihshyong would find plenty of time to practice cooking.
"Thank you! Thank you Shiowdi," said Yihshyong, "but I mean, in what way is my cooking still not good?"
Shinnshiow furrowed his brows. It seemed that he was having a little trouble coming up with the right words to describe his assessment of the dishes Yihshyong cooked.
"Well, in my opinion, the assessment of food is very subjective. What I feel is important, maybe it is not important to other people at all. So actually the perfect or imperfect of a dish depends solely on the basic philosophy adopted by the cook. itself."
Shinnshiow's words did sound cool. But in Iren's opinion, that words were completely meaningless. Yihshyong looked at Shinnshiow to wait for Shinnshiow to continue. However, Shinnshiow continued to feed the rice and side dishes into his mouth and then was busy chewing the rice and side dishes.
Yihshyong seemed to be still waiting for a clearer answer from Shinnshiow. Therefore, Shinnshiow then had to give an assessment that sounded more beautiful to Yihshyong.
"I think the progress that Shyongge has achieved is truly extraordinary. I think if Shyongge opened a small food stall now, the customers who come will certainly not complain about the taste of the dishes Shyongge cooks."
Yihshyong seemed thrilled to hear Shinnshiow's praise. Iren even worried that Shinnshiow's words would make Yihshyong desperate to open a small food stall if he didn't get a job in the near future.
As long as they enjoyed lunch, Jenqyih was silent. Iren did not know exactly what was bothering his friend's mind. It was not clear it was related to the problems they were facing together or only to Jenqyih's personal issues. Iren did not want to ask questions. Apart from not wanting to interfere too far, he worried that such actions might only worsen things. He could only hope that Jenqyih was willing to discuss matters that were bothering him. At least he had to open himself up to Shannchyuan, who was the central figure among them.
Whether it was because Yihshyong had cooked too much rice or, indeed, they only ate a little, what was clear before them was the fact that there was still a lot of rice left. Even until midnight, the amount of rice that much would most likely still not run out. They probably wouldn't be able to eat that much rice. Iren glanced at Shinnshiow. His reaction was really interesting. The youngest of them looked deep in thought. He gazed at the mound of rice still served on their dining table. Perhaps he was contemplating what they should do with the rice.
After lunch, Iren and Yihshyong looked around their front yard. Just then, they saw a boxcar stop in front of their neighbor's house. Iren and Yihshyong then came out of their fence to take a closer look. When they came out of the fence, they looked closely at the house to their left. Two people who looked like electronics technicians also went out of their neighbor's house fence. Their neighbor walked behind the two people. After the three had chatted for a while, the two technicians got into their boxcar, which immediately sped away.
"Have they finished repairing your television?" Yihshyong greeted their neighbor.
"They're done, but I'm still not satisfied," said their next-door neighbor. He was standing in his yard, right in front of the gate.
"Unsatisfied how, Sir?" Iren leaned forward.
"The color is not bright enough. Because this is a new television, so it is still under full warranty, so I asked them to replace it with a new television."
"Are they willing to replace the television, sir?" Yihshyong's eyes widened.
"At first they didn't want to. But because I insisted, they finally relented. But they said they couldn't do it today. So, only tomorrow afternoon, they have time to deliver a replacement television. It couldn't be earlier than that."
After that, their neighbors went back into the house. Iren and Yihshyong were still standing outside for a few minutes. Besides looking around the outside of the fence, they also saw some plants growing in the front yard. Although not often, sometimes they do things like that. However, they soon entered the house because the weather was quite hot.
They busied themselves with their own activities while waiting for Shannchyuan to return. Yihshyong and Iren watched television in the living room. Shinnshiow and Jenqyih sat in the dining room. Iren didn't know what the two of them were doing, but he assumed that his two friends might be reading a book or magazine since he didn't hear their voices.
It was almost half-past two in the afternoon when Shannchyuan finally arrived home. He came with a surprise. He was not alone. There was a girl who came home with him. During the year they lived together at the house, Shannchyuan never brought home a girl. Not even once. He even never had a meeting alone with a girl. At least, as far as his friend knew, he never had.
To be honest, it wasn't just Shannchyuan. The four other residents, five if they included Chioujen, had never brought any woman to their house. This morning on the phone, Shannchyuan did not mention that either. He just said he'd be home around noon. Of course, they assumed Shannchyuan would go home alone. Therefore, it was natural that this time it surprised them.
"Good afternoon, all!"
Shannchyuan greeted his comrades while waving his right hand. The four of them looked at each other. Witnessing that, Shannchyuan smiled broadly. He explained who the girl who came with him was. "This is Miss Liuchiou. She will stay here with us for a while. I'll give you the full story later. Now we have to clean up first."
Shannchyuan was the leader of their gang. So it wasn't extraordinary that Shannchyuan made such a unilateral decision without discussing it with the others. However, all this time, when deciding on important matters, Shannchyuan had never made his own decisions without consulting them. So Shannchyuan's words this time sounded a bit strange to the ears of the four of them. It was also possible that Shannchyuan felt it was not an important decision, so there was no need to ask his friends for their opinion. Or maybe Shannchyuan felt that because they only had a few days left in the house, all the rules were no longer in effect. However, whatever was on Shannchyuan's mind, Iren didn't mind it. He is also sure that other friends will also understand. From the beginning, the four of them, or five including Chioujen, had agreed to obey Shannchyuan, even though Shannchyuan never asked them to follow his words. After thinking further, Iren guessed that there was an extraordinary incident that made Shannchyuan have to take such a step this time.
This is truly an incredibly rare occurrence!
Iren nodded his head repeatedly. He was eager to hear Shannchyuan's explanation. Two days ago, he'd seen Shannchyuan talking to a girl. Yesterday he'd witnessed Shannchyuan running across the street following the girl. And today, Shannchyuan brought home a girl, but not the girl he had been chasing yesterday. Without being asked, Iren stepped forward toward Shannchyuan and the girl. Then he stretched out his hand to grab the backpack that the girl had just put on the floor. Iren then picked up the backpack and walked, following Shannchyuan and the girl. They walked towards Shannchyuan's bedroom.
Iren put the backpack in one corner of the room. After that, he sat on the chair in front of the study table. Shannchyuan asked Iren to stay in the room to help Miss Liuchiou until he finished taking a shower. Shannchyuan took a bath first while Miss Liuchiou rested in Shannchyuan's room, waiting for her turn to bathe.
While waiting for Shannchyuan to finish the shower, Iren watched Miss Liuchiou observe the situation in the room. Iren realized there were many things inside his dahge's bedroom, just like his own bedroom. There was nothing unusual in this room. There was a bed, a study table, a few chairs, a wardrobe, and a wooden chest. Plain bedroom walls, without any decorations, except for a wall clock that was not too big. An alarm clock in the palm's size of a grown man's hand was on the table.
Miss Liuchiou approached the study table. A notebook beside the alarm had the name "Duanmuh Shannchyuan" written on its cover. She smiled when she read the name.
"What is wrong?" asked Iren.
"Never mind," replied Miss Liuchiou. Then she continued her words.
"The name Shannchyuan somehow makes me think again about the rain I got yesterday."
Iren was just dumbfounded. He didn't understand what Miss Liuchiou meant.
Maybe yesterday something important happened. Something to do with rain. I mustn't forget to ask Dahge this!
About twenty minutes later, Shannchyuan finished taking a shower. He entered the room, already dressed neatly, and invited Liuchiou to take a shower. After Liuchiou entered the bathroom, Shannchyuan asked Iren to immediately gather their friends to explain what happened yesterday.
Now they sit on the couch in the living room. Hearing Shannchyuan's story. He told his story from the moment he got Songfei's call.
"Then how did you get out of the elevator?" asked Yihshyong after he heard about how Shannchyuan got trapped inside the elevator.
"As usual, Hannrong toured the building as soon as he arrived. So he got us out of there," Shannchyuan replied.
"You didn't think to report it to the police?" Iren was a little surprised. Usually, their dahge was a law-abiding person.
"Not yet. I'm still considering it. We don't know what this girl witnessed was a real kidnapping or simply a quarrel among the family members. I don't want to cause trouble for Hannrong, anyway. If we report to the police, chances are that the police will call Hannrong to be a witness. The building owner will definitely consider him negligent. He let the criminals enter and chased people inside the building. The employer will give him harsh sanction." Shannchyuan said firmly. He seemed very sure of what he said.
Shinnshiow and Yihshyong turned their gaze toward the bathroom that Yinqyueh was taking a bath in. Seeing this, Jenqyih stared at Shannchyuan with a curious look. He asked. "About this girl. Why don't you just take her home? You make her stay here with us. Honestly, I think it doesn't sound like you at all."
Shannchyuan then explained his reason for bringing the girl home. "This girl came to town a week earlier than originally scheduled. So her family won't be looking for her in three days. I decided we'd drop her off at her family home in three days. Besides, she seems reluctant to hang out with her relatives. She didn't really know them. Maybe she didn't even know them at all. So I guess it was natural for her to say that she was afraid she would be restrained as soon as she got together with them. By staying here, at least he still wanted to feel the freedom for these three days. I don't think there's anything wrong with us helping him this time."
Upon hearing Shannchyuan's excuse, Iren was taken aback. For him, Shannchyuan's explanation sounds a bit off. His dahge was different this time.
Oh my guava, Dahge must be crazy! How could a middle-aged man act like a teenager?
But came to think of it, maybe Iren would also make such a stupid decision if he was in Shannchyuan's position. It's possible Iren, or any other man who lived in this house would do exactly the same thing. At least for the time being, until there was a better way out.
Nevertheless, bringing home a young girl who still had a family wasn't something a grown man like them should do. What if the family thought this was a kidnapping? Of course, they would all be in trouble. However, Iren knew more or less what kind of life Shannchyuan had been leading. He realized his dahge was not a bad person. It's just sometimes, he neglected the things that happened around him. Not ignorant, but sometimes he just didn't want to interfere in other people's affairs.
Iren realized they were all clumsy people. People could say they were a little difficult to socialize. People like them tend to perform unusual actions, just like what happened now. Just like right now, they weren't on the purpose of being cold or indifferent to Miss Liuchiou, but they honestly didn't know how to behave properly under certain circumstances.
Shannchyuan assured them that sometimes, once or twice in life, people commit crazy acts. Yes, they had all done something crazy. Leaving the routine in life and choosing to travel indefinitely was a wild action. When doing so, many people back home accused them of running away from the realities of life or even shirking responsibility, both family responsibility and work responsibility.
About Miss Liuchiou, the decision was that they all agreed to let the girl stay here. It's only for three days, after all. If a neighbor asked, just told them that the girl was Shannchyuan's niece who had just come from another city. After all, soon they would also move from this place.
Soon the girl finished taking a shower and directly joined them in the living room. She stood in front of them and introduced herself.
"Good afternoon, all. My name is Liuchiou Yinqyueh. I just came to this city four days ago. In three days, I will meet my relatives to live with them. I think Uncle Duanmu already told you all about what happened. If you have questions, please don't hesitate to ask."
Uncle Duanmu? This girl called Dahge an uncle? You must be ancient in her eyes, Dahge!
Iren exclaimed silently while laughing in his mind. He was almost certain that the rest of his friends thought the same.
Soon after that, they all took a turn introducing themselves according to age order—Shannchyuan, Yihshyong, Jenqyih, Iren, and Shinnshiow. Iren could see the girl was busy memorizing their names. Duanmuh Shannchyuan, Shimen Yihshyong, Dongfang Jenqyih, Nangong Iren, and Beeihae Shinnshiow.
The girl stared at Duanmuh Shannchyuan. From their interaction, maybe she drew conclusions that Duanmuh Shannchyuan, the oldest occupant, was the boss here. Therefore, his four friends called him Dahge. The five were single middle-aged men. At some point in their life, they decided to live under one roof while living in this city. Iren didn't know from the girl's perspective that's a good or a bad thing.
They were engaged in fluid questions and answers for about half an hour. Slowly but surely, their stiffness melts away. Then came the time to discuss the serious matters that happened yesterday.
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