My Nightclub Landlady

"Well, if you"re afraid, you don"t have to go up there."

Zhu Fei took out a few things she needed from the shopping bag and went into the corridor. Zhou Liang followed meekly.

They climbed to the fourth floor in single file. Zhu Fei had not been back in several days. When she opened the door, there was a thick smell of smoke inside.

Zhou Liang covered his nose and cried, "Oh my G.o.d, don"t you know how to turn on the extractor hood? I"m choking!"

"Yo, Fei Fei"s back." The landlady walked out of the kitchen, spatula in hand. After seeing Zhou Liang, she couldn"t help asking, "Boyfriend?"

"Well, h.e.l.lo! h.e.l.lo!" Zhou Liang excitedly rushed ahead to greet her.

Zhu Fei was speechless. She silently went into her bedroom and locked the door behind her.

Zhou Liang knocked on the door hurriedly. "Zhu Fei, why did you lock the door? Let me look at your room. If you don"t want to move out of the place, can I at least make the place look nicer for you?"

"No, I already made it up just the way I like it. Stop knocking!" came Zhu Fei"s m.u.f.fled voice through the door, "I"m changing."

When he heard this, Zhou Liang"s heart nearly stopped. If he had x-ray vision, he wouldn"t mind looking through the door and checking out Zhu Fei"s beautiful body. If he could claim it, he would be happy till he died.

With nothing else to do, Zhou Liang went to chat with the landlady.

"Young man, Aunty made fries and kidney beans stir-fried with meat. Wanna eat? It smells good!"

The landlady was not a local. She came to Tianhe with her husband to find work, but he worked in a construction site and rarely came back home. They rented the apartment and lived in the part.i.tioned area of the living room while subletting the bedrooms. With the rent money they could not only earn back the rent for the entire apartment, but even keep a small surplus. And anyone would want to eat her dishes, but they were not free - five Yuan a plate, flat price.

"Thanks, but I have already eaten."

Zhou Liang could not understand what Zhu Fei was doing. He originally thought that even though she rented a flat, it would at least be more comfortable to live in. But it turned out to be a shared apartment - and with so many roommates, at that! She was a spoiled young lady from a rich family. How could she take it?

This was crazy!

Soon, Zhu Fei came out of the room with a gift-wrapped box.

Zhou Liang got a little excited, "Oh, is that a gift for me? How polite! You always surprise me."

Zhu Fei curled her lips and said, "It"s not for you."

She turned to the landlady, "Auntie, when Qin Feng comes back, please give him this belt for me."

The landlady took the box and said thoughtfully: "Oh, yeah, that kid"s out. I"ll give it to him when I see him."

"Thanks. I hope you don"t mind me leaving now." Zhu Fei walked out the door.

Zhou Liang hurried after her, confused. "Who were you talking about? Qin Feng?"

"Yeah," Zhu Fei answered casually.

"Who"s that? Does he live here too? Why are you giving him a belt? What"s your relationship? How can a man live here! Then, your personal life-"

Zhu Fei really could not stand Zhou Liang"s verbosity. Before he finished, Zhu Fei abruptly turned around to face him. Zhou Liang nearly b.u.mped into her.

"What"s with all the questions?"

Then she went on down the stairs, coldly saying, "I think you"d better go back as soon as possible. You can"t force feelings. You"d only be wasting your time by staying here."

Zhu Fei did not know why she was suddenly so ruthless with Zhou Liang. She wanted to jump out of her previous life, but Zhou Liang couldn"t wait to pull her back. Thus, the two were pushing in opposite directions. This made her feel uncomfortable.

Zhou Liang"s heart grew cold. He did not expect her to act like this. "You"re supposed to be engaged to me. Do you have a close relationship with that Qin Feng guy? And you"re giving him a belt? Why?"

"Because I want to. What"s it matter?" Zhu Fei loudly responded, speeding down the stairs to get away from him.

Zhou Liang chased after her anxiously. On the way, he missed a step and nearly twisted his foot. Fortunately, he seized the handrail and stopped himself from rolling down the stairs, but when he finally exited the building, Zhu Fei was already backing her car out of the parking s.p.a.ce. Zhou Liang came after her, knocking on the window, "Get out! We need to talk!"

Zhu Fei opened the window and said, "I want to go to the hospital to see my father. An upper cruster like you probably wouldn"t like it there. Also, tell Li Jianbin that I absolutely do not agree to this arrangement between us."

Zhu Fei stepped on the gas and the Audi Q5 lurched forward. Luckily, Zhou Liang quickly got out of the way, otherwise he might have been run over.

Looking at the rear of the speeding car, Zhou Liang stomped his feet and roared loudly, "Zhu Fei, I will never accept that I can"t have you!"

The only purpose of his coming to Tianhe was to find Zhu Fei and bring her home. Zhou Liang would never give up that easily. He chased her to the end of the block and then took a taxi to keep up.

Qin Feng went directly to the hospital from the Free Man Bar. He helped Zhu Fangguo take his special medicine and stayed to chat with him for a while.

Zhu Fangguo was looking much better. He was recovering fast. It looked like he could be discharged in a few days.

"Uncle, don"t go back to sweeping the streets when you"re discharged. It"s such hard work, and pays so little," Qin Feng said. "It"s also very dangerous. There are so many cars on the road - what if you get run over by a drunk or high driver?"

"At my age, what else can I do if not this, son? I have to eat. Now, Fei Fei is also…"

Although Zhu Fangguo did not formally recognize her, after several days of contact with her in the hospital, his heart had long been softened. Although he did not want to drag her down, she was, after all, the only flesh and blood he had left in the world. The heart is flesh and blood is thicker than water. Could he really ignore her? He couldn"t count how many times he wanted to gently hold her hand just like he used to when she was little. When it was cold he helped her warm up, and when it was hot he fanned her. But the reality was that even his own life could not be guaranteed. How could he resume their relationship? As soon as he did, Li Jianbin would get in the way. Then, the one who would suffer would still be his daughter.

"Uncle, first, don"t talk about your Fei Fei. If you don"t mind, how about running errands, taking out garbage and cleaning in my workplace? I don"t know how much money you make right now, but I promise you can make more than twice as much as you do in sanitation. And it"s not so tiring," Qin Feng said.

Before he came, Qin Feng had already called Gu Shaoyun, his commanding officer, to briefly explain the situation in Tianhe and solemnly explain the last will of his comrade, Xiao He - to take care of Sister Flower, which was the reason Qin Feng would not return to the team for the time being. Of course, what was more important was that he wanted General Gu to use his military contacts to find the relevant officials in Cangyun Province who could talk to Jia Quan and make him ease up on Zhao Jun.