“Su Jin?”
.. School’s out?”
Su Jin seemed anxious. Upon hearing the voice, she only turned to glance at Shen Xiyan, not even bothering to greet him.
Shen Xiyan’s gaze naturally fell on her hairstyle and outfit, frowning as he asked, “What happened to you?”
If she had looked like a refined girl at noon, now she was even less presentable than the plainest girl next door — rustic and unpolished, barely held up by her facial features.
“Changed my style, got a problem with that?”
“No… Are you waiting for someone?”
Su Jin sighed, “The Air Conditioner in my rented place broke down. The person I called got into a car accident on the way, and I’m waiting for the traffic police. I don’t know what to do tonight.”
“Don’t you have a flyer or something? Just call another place.”
“Flyers are usually stuck on apartment buildings, right? There’s none here.”
“Then can’t you look for local services online?”
Su Jin’s eyes widened in surprise. “There’s such a thing online?”
“You really have no common sense.”
Well, it’s understandable with today’s girls — their fingers never touch anything dirty.
Go back a few decades, not knowing how to cook would be embarrassing before marriage.
Now, would you trust your girlfriend to cook for you?
Believe it or not, your girlfriend might end up cooking you instead.
“How do I look for it? Which app?”
“Just use the payment app. You can find everything you want on there.”
Taobao selling everything is no joke.
There was even a time when women who had fallen on hard times were doing business there.
“There’s that too…” Su Jin opened it and let out a sound of someone not familiar with the world.
Then she saw Shen Xiyan’s expression that said “complicated,” followed by a deliberately modest pose.
But this kind of coquettish woman’s act, seductive at noon, feels quite out of place now.
“Forget it. The landlord should have a toolbox, right?”
“For what?”
“Take me there, I’ll help you fix it. Even if you call someone now, it probably won’t be fixed until tonight…”
Su Jin’s eyes showed disbelief mixed with suspicion. “You can fix Air Conditioners?”
“… A little bit. The child of poor parents learns early.”
Actually, it had nothing to do with being poor; it was all thanks to Qin Sheng’s training.
Repair skills aren’t a “poor person’s” essential skill — they’re a “man of the house’s” essential skill.
That’s something a single girl like Su Jin would never understand.
Every time Qin Sheng wanted to stop him from working overtime, she’d use every trick in the book.
“Xiyan, the light at home is broken. I’m scared alone. It feels like someone’s outside the door. Please come back…”
“Xiyan, the heater’s broken. I’m so cold alone. Please come back…”
“Xiyan, the gas is leaking. Is it going to explode? Please come back…”
At first, Shen Xiyan really thought there was something wrong at home and rushed back to fix it.
But after he actually learned how to repair, he could spot the problem at a glance.
Forget it… better not mention it.
Actually, he should’ve realized the problem the first time — because while fixing, Qin Sheng would strip off her clothes, and then casually take off his too.
Everyone’s seen the “Housewife x Repairman” plots in Japanese adult films — it’s basically like that.
But even in those films, the wife pretends to resist a few times. Qin Sheng’s approach was completely “invite the wolf in,” “wait for the rabbit,” “trap the turtle in a jar.”
Shen Xiyan didn’t have to do anything except stand ready.
Even when changing a lightbulb, standing on a chair twisting the bulb off, suddenly Qin Sheng would pull down his pants.
What’s called the perfect height difference?
Not like with Lin Ci, where one tiptoes and the other lowers their head for a tender kiss.
Qin Sheng didn’t even need to crouch — she could just grab his thigh while hesitating.
In short, it was complicated.
Before meeting Qin Sheng, he had lived a “holding it together” life.
***
After meeting her, it was a life of “endurance.”
“School’s out, and the traffic’s so bad. If you call someone new now, it’ll take at least an hour. I can take a look for ten minutes max. If it doesn’t work, you can call others. Better than you baking in the sun here…”
Su Jin’s eyes held a hint of mischief. “You’re not following me, are you?”
“Why would I follow you? I want to return the favor… Never mind! Just forget I said anything.” Shen Xiyan shrugged and pretended to walk away.
Su Jin thought for a moment, looked down at her T-shirt soaked with sweat, and called out, “… Hey! Wait! Come with me.”
Shen Xiyan was silent.
The narrow roadside was lined with walls topped with iron wire to stop students from climbing over.
The wires were covered with vines, blooming with purple morning glories.
They walked slowly. The schoolyard was noisy after class, but this place was quiet.
Usually, families who lived far rented small rooms here, letting their kids nap.
But living here at night meant the conditions were really poor.
Shen Xiyan stopped at the corner, looking back helplessly. “If you’re the guide, why are you always behind me? How do we get there?”
Seeing Shen Xiyan stop, Su Jin had no choice but to quicken her pace.
Shen Xiyan watched her hips from behind. It wasn’t lust — Su Jin’s hips swayed with a particularly seductive rhythm. Both the pull of breasts and hips were irresistible to a man.
Her curves were full and rich, so the sway was alluring. Lin Ci’s was a size smaller but perkier. Looking left and right, Qin Sheng’s hips were still the most tempting…
Su Jin turned her head, curious. “What’s wrong?”
Shen Xiyan kept a straight face, took two quick steps, and walked beside her. “Nothing…”
Su Jin didn’t dwell on it and kept walking.
Men are like that — when they see a beautiful woman, they can’t help but steal a few more glances unless their wife is right beside them, in which case only great willpower can restrain them.
Many boys have a “little secret.” In middle school, they didn’t like the pop stars or class beauties — they were obsessed with the English teacher who just had a baby.
Their eyes wouldn’t dare look away during class.
Looking at the blackboard? Not a chance.
All eyes were on the young mother’s hips.
It’s too embarrassing to admit, so no one ever did.
But if it were Qin Sheng, she would drag Shen Xiyan to look together and comment.
At moments like this, Shen Xiyan’s survival instinct kicked in hard, making him frantically find flaws in the other woman to flatter Qin Sheng.
When Qin Sheng was happy, she was proactive in bed.
When Qin Sheng was unhappy, she was also proactive — just teasing and tormenting instead of indulging.
“How do you live here? I thought Qin Sheng said you made a decent amount…”
Su Jin frowned delicately, brushing it off, “If I want to live here, I just live here.”
She didn’t know when her parents or younger brother might come, and if they showed up without seeing her, wouldn’t that expose her?
“Have you added that person as a friend?”
“Not yet…”
“Maybe they’re writing. Don’t rush, I told you already.”
“Yeah.”
“But Qin Sheng won’t get jealous, right?” Su Jin covered her rosy mouth, laughing softly after realizing. “I think she actually dislikes me. She told you not to contact me, and yet you’re still asking me questions.”
Shen Xiyan nodded. “Because she thinks you two are ‘bad women.’”
“Me? Seriously?”
“Yeah.”
Su Jin shrugged, not explaining further.
They soon arrived at a small house, or rather, a tiny single room.
The outside wall was just plain cement and sand, not even painted.
“Wait, I’ll open the door.”
Su Jin reached for her keys, feeling around her pockets. “It’s broken! I think I left the keys inside…”
“Do you have hydraulic pliers?”
Shen Xiyan looked at the lock hanging on the door, unimpressed. “It’s more expensive to call a locksmith than the lock itself.”
“Who would have that kind of tool?”
Su Jin gave up, letting out a deep sigh. “You go home first, I’ll wait… Waiting for one or two is the same anyway. There should be someone online who can open locks, right?”
Today was really full of bad luck.
“I’ll do it.”
“Do what?”
“Open the lock…”
“You can open locks?!” Su Jin’s eyes were shocked.
“The security door is tough, but this padlock is simple. You don’t even have to worry about the lock cylinder’s orientation when picking it.”
Shen Xiyan found two iron wires on the ground, bent the ends into hooks, fiddled a bit, and under Su Jin’s incredulous gaze, the small lock clicked open.
“Is this also ‘the child of poor parents learns early’?” Su Jin’s eyes completely changed.
Lock picking is a skilled craft. In modern society, only two kinds of people know this: locksmiths and thieves — firefighters don’t count.
Shen Xiyan was obviously neither. Going back a hundred years, flower thieves could do this trick.
No wonder he fooled Qin Sheng — turns out he’s a thief of hearts!
“I liked tinkering when I was little…” Shen Xiyan explained calmly. “I’d try picking our home locks for no reason and slowly gained experience.”
But it was still Qin Sheng’s doing.
Every time she was in a bad mood, she’d lock herself in the bedroom without eating or drinking, afraid she’d lose control and lash out at Shen Xiyan.
He really wanted to share her burden, but since the door was locked, he had to wait for a locksmith — so he practiced on his own and ended up on a path of no return.
“This padlock only keeps honest men out. The same key can open different locks. What kind of security do you expect from it?” Shen Xiyan pushed open the door.
The room was empty, without even a window, about four or five times the size of a typical bathroom.
Inside was only a bed, a desk, a stool, a small desk lamp, and a slightly old, generic-brand Air Conditioner hanging on the wall, making the faint loneliness feel even clearer.
Su Jin didn’t think anything was wrong.
Being home was enough — a child at home doesn’t feel anxious. If she were locked outside for an hour, she’d really go into a shell.
“Lend me the stool to stand on…”
Shen Xiyan walked straight past her, grabbed the remote, tried it, then unplugged the power and started tinkering. “Go get me a screwdriver. The landlord should have one, right?”
“… Oh.”
For some reason, Su Jin felt a sense of security.
It was hard to describe — even though she felt helpless, there was someone stepping up to solve her problems.
Kind of like when she was little, no matter what happened, she just called out, “Mom.”