Jiade:
After days of pain and struggle, I have decided to leave you.
Everyone thought I was your girlfriend, and I once thought so too, but the longer I spent with you, the more I realized your heart was never truly with me.
From childhood, I was a carefree girl, fond of eating, sleeping, and laughing… But since meeting you, I became anxious, constantly worried, spending countless nights in tears.
I know you liked me, but that wasn’t love.
You only enjoyed chatting with me, listening to my jokes, watching me entertain you like a clown… You never had the impulse to kiss me, nor did you ever consider a long-lasting future together.
Chapter One
Having moved into this small apartment for some time now, Pei Jiale was finally living the life he had always dreamed of.
His ideal life could be summed up in seven words: Leisurely! Leisurely! Even more leisurely!
This small apartment was far from the noisy city center. Only birdsong would wake him in the morning. Opening the window, he was greeted by a breeze of green leaves and wildflower fragrance, refreshing to the soul.
The apartment was old and remote, with few tenants. He had rented the top floor, claiming the entire rooftop for himself. In his free time, he would sunbathe and read on the rooftop, feeling utterly content.
What made him happiest was that besides his personal secretary, no one knew he had moved here. Neither his company subordinates nor his nagging mother were aware of his location.
They only had his phone number, not his address. He could appear before them at any time, while they would be unable to find him no matter what.
Haha, how fun! He was like an invisible person, casting a spell, coming and going without a trace, yet able to observe everything in the world at any moment.
This feeling was like reading a detective novel, which made him very happy.
But Pei Jiale never imagined that his leisurely life would be disrupted by a sudden woman.
To tell the story of this headache-inducing woman, one must start with that noisy morning.
That day, he was lying comfortably in bed, dreaming of champagne beauties, when he was suddenly awakened by a tremendous commotion.
At first, he thought it was a hallucination. After all, his previous life in a bustling city had left some psychological shadows, and occasional hallucinations were normal. But soon, he realized this terrible sound was real.
He rubbed his sleepy eyes and looked out the window.
A large truck was parked below the apartment, with workers moving furniture back and forth. It seemed a new tenant was moving in.
It was understandable for moving to be noisy, and Pei Jiale was feeling magnanimous. Not wanting to quarrel with neighbors, he decided to turn on the CD player and use a symphony to mask the noise.
Unexpectedly, as the cello, violin, flute, clarinet, and trombone played in unison, he frowned while listening with his eyes closed.
Knock, knock, knock… Knock, knock, knock…
What was making this continuous sound? Drums? No, not quite!
Opening his eyes and looking around, he finally discovered the sound was coming from outside the door.
Who was knocking? Was it the landlord coming to collect rent?
Pei Jiale reluctantly got up to answer. The moment he opened the door, he was stunned.
Standing outside was a strange girl.
She seemed strange for two reasons: first, he didn’t know her, so why was she knocking on his door? Second, she had a sweet and cute face, but her expression was as cold as ice, giving people a chilling feeling, like encountering a thousand-year-old zombie.
The girl was holding a huge hammer in her right hand – was this what she had been using to “knock” on his door?
“Miss, who are you looking for?” Pei Jiale asked, eyes wide.
Since everyone pays the same rent, you can’t take advantage of others.” She raised her hand, pointing directly at his nose.
“But I live on the top floor!” Pei Jiale complained aggrievedly, “This old apartment has no elevator, and I climb the stairs more laboriously than others. Don’t I deserve some compensation?”
“Did anyone force you to rent this floor?”
“Well… no.”
“Then that’s your own fault!” The girl spoke sharply, “Stop making excuses! I give you until today to move those messy things from the rooftop, otherwise I’ll throw them downstairs.”
“Miss, who are you exactly?” The landlord’s heir?
“My surname is Qiu. I’m your neighbor, just moved in today.” She answered expressionlessly.
“Oh!” Pei Jiale suddenly realized, “So you’re the one making noise!”
How unfair! Accusing others while being the culprit! This girl was actually the source of the noise and had the nerve to come and criticize him?!
“What, not convinced?” The girl crossed her arms and hummed lightly, “I made noise involuntarily, but you did it deliberately. I can be forgiven, but you cannot.”
“Miss, isn’t it impolite to hammer on someone’s door?”
“You play music so loudly, would I be heard if I knocked gently? I could probably break my hand knocking, and you still wouldn’t hear. Moreover, your place doesn’t even have a doorbell.”
“Uh…” Wow, she was so articulate that even a seasoned veteran like him had to temporarily concede.
“In any case, please don’t play music so loudly in the future,” she raised the hammer again, “If you offend again, I’ll break into your room when you’re not home and smash your sound system to pieces!”
Good heavens, how terrifying – he was speechless.
Pei Jiale wanted to say something, but the girl turned away like the wind – coming and going in a hurry, like a nightmare.
He stood dazed at the doorway for a long time until the phone rang sharply, bringing him back to his senses, and he walked back into the room.
Who would call him at this time? It could only be his boring mother.
Since entering middle age, his mother had gradually transferred her love from his father to him, watching him and his older brother’s every move daily, like an anxious lover.
Moving to this small apartment was half to escape his mother, but no matter how he dodged, he couldn’t escape her grasp.
Ok, ok, son, I’ll do as you say.” Pei Jiale responded perfunctorily, “Mom, I’m hungry and want to eat something, so I can’t keep talking to you because even if your son is a genius, he can’t talk and eat at the same time.”
”Good boy, Mom has one last thing to tell you. Are you going to meet Uncle He’s daughter this weekend?” Mrs. Pei didn’t let him off the hook.
”Uncle He’s daughter? Who is she? Why should I meet her?”
”It’s a blind date, you silly son!”
”What? Mom, what did you say? The phone seems to be broken, I really can’t hear anything!” Pei Jiale played dumb again.
”Stop playing games with me! Go meet this girl this weekend, do you hear me?”
”I can’t hear you! Mom, I’ll fix the phone first and call you back later.” This time, he didn’t give his mom a chance to nag him, decisively hanging up the phone.
He let out a sigh of relief, patting his chest. After the nervousness subsided, his stomach started growling.
He hadn’t completely lied earlier – he was indeed hungry now. However, having never learned to cook, he really didn’t know what to eat.
These days he’d been ordering takeout, which was getting tiresome, and the nearby restaurant food wasn’t very good… It seemed he should listen to his mother’s advice and hire a capable housekeeper.
But this housekeeper couldn’t know his status as the vice president of Tianxing Group and the second young master of the Pei family, otherwise they wouldn’t just cook for him but would try to jump into his bed. Past experiences were not to be forgotten!
The best solution was to ask the landlady to help find a reliable girl nearby.
