After a string of endless sighs and complaints, Song Yan was eventually dragged into a corner by Xuanxuan and Chen Jiajia for a private chat. I have no idea what sweet talk they poured into his ears, but when he returned, his mood was noticeably sunnier.

Later on, while the three of us were hanging out and watching a movie, I casually lamented, “Song Yan’s been so clingy lately. He barely gives me any personal space.”

Xuanxuan popped a grape into her mouth and replied nonchalantly, “What’s wrong with clingy? At least it proves he doesn’t have time to cheat.”

Chen Jiajia immediately chimed in, “Exactly. Good luck finding a boyfriend who’s as loyal and self-disciplined about being needy as Song Yan. You could search with a magnifying glass for ten lifetimes and still come up empty.”

Me: “?”

To make matters worse, ever since that little venting session, the frequency of Song Yan coming over on his own accord dropped drastically. It dropped so much that I started smelling something fishy, though no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t pin down any solid proof.

Until one afternoon, while I was buried so deep in writing my thesis that my hair was practically turning into a bird’s nest, the doorbell suddenly rang. Pulling the door open, I froze mid-breath.

Standing outside was Senior Jiang Yifan.

Word was he’d already entered the workforce. His vibe was still as warm and refined as ever, though his eyes seemed a few shades sharper—the unmistakable look of someone who’d been punched around by real life and matured for it. Seeing me, he looked mildly surprised too. “Long time no see, Sisi.”

I was caught totally off guard. “Long time no see… wait, how did you know I lived here?”

“I didn’t,” he offered a gentle smile. “I just heard from friends that there was a place here with great rent and good conditions… and as it turns out, I happen to meet all the tenant requirements.”

Me: “…”

If I’d known, I never would’ve let Xuanxuan and Chen Jiajia draft that tenant wanted ad like a romance novel casting call. They were the ones luring in handsome guys, but I was the one paying with my dignity.

Just as I was contemplating digging a hole to crawl into, the door next door burst open. Two familiar heads poked out to catch the drama: “Senior Jiang Yifan?!”

Chen Jiajia narrowed her eyes, probing, “Senior, are you here looking for our Sisi?”

“It’s nothing!” I shot them a fierce, warning glare before turning back to offer the senior a strained smile. “What a coincidence, one of the guys inside is actually looking for a roommate. Let me show you the room.”

With that, I quickly escorted Jiang Yifan away like I was escorting a witness away from a crime scene.

The guy sharing the unit was a freshman, around eighteen or nineteen, pale-skinned, bright-eyed, and looking every bit like a model student. The only catch was his height was a bit on the modest side—standing next to Jiang Yifan, he barely reached his chin. The moment he opened the door, he greeted us politely, “Hi, landlady. Hi, sir.”

Jiang Yifan pushed his glasses up his nose, calmly assessing the kid before nodding, “Hey there.”

That very afternoon, Jiang Yifan signed the lease and moved right in. I lent a hand, helping him tidy up his room.

“Sisi,” Jiang Yifan looked at me as I was bent over folding clothes, suddenly asking, “Are you and Song Yan… still together?”

I answered naturally, “Yeah, we’re still dating.”

His hands paused mid-air as he hung up a shirt. He knit his brows, his voice hesitating, “Sisi… did you really go nurse the other woman through her postpartum recovery?”

I froze for a few seconds before frantically waving my hands, “No, no, no! That was completely me overthinking things and jumping to conclusions. A total misunderstanding!”

Jiang Yifan let out a soft sigh of relief. “That’s good, then.” He paused for a moment before asking further, “Sisi, I just want to know… back then, did you really not have even a little bit of feeling for me?”

I let out an awkward laugh, “I think I was just way too into Song Yan back then, so I had eyes for nobody else.”

As for whether I had ever liked the senior… honestly, I couldn’t even remember myself. All I remembered was that back then, Song Yan was paying me way too much. Every time I looked at him, I felt like I was looking at a walking, talking bank account balance.

With my brain packed wall-to-wall with currency symbols, where was there any room left to catch feelings for anyone else?

Jiang Yifan fell silent, and the air began to turn a bit awkward. Luckily, right on cue, his roommate appeared to save the day: “Sisi, it’s getting late, you should go rest. He and I can finish cleaning up.”

“Yeah, it is pretty late. You two keep at it, I’ll head back first,” I seized the chance to pull a fast retreat.

Passing by the fire exit stairs, I suddenly caught Xuanxuan’s voice booming through a phone call: “Little Song, get over here ASAP! Senior Jiang Yifan moved in today! I even heard him asking Sisi if she still liked him—major red alert! You better just move in here full-time!”

Chen Jiajia’s voice immediately chimed in, “Why are you still worried about being called clingy at a time like this? The closest vessel gets the water first! If you wait around and let the senior steal Sisi away, it’ll be too late for tears!”

I cleared my throat softly.

The other end of the line went dead silent instantly. Xuanxuan’s reflexes were lightning fast: “Yes, Dad, I got it, hanging up now!”

After seeing my two roommates off, my doorbell rang again. Opening it, I found Song Yan standing outside looking windblown and exhausted, trailing a suitcase behind him. I immediately spread my arms to block the doorway:

“What do you think you’re doing? Even if you give me two hundred thousand a month and I only refund you two thousand, I never said that covers room and board.”

“Sisi…” Song Yan coaxed, trying to squeeze his way inside, “I’m so poor I can’t even afford rent anymore. Just let me crash here for a few days, okay?”

He leaned in close, whispering seductively, “After this, I’ll let you touch my abs every single day.”

“…I’m over touching abs now.”

“Then you can touch somewhere else, as long as it offsets the rent.”

“…?”

I heavily suspected he was talking dirty, but unfortunately… I had no proof. Oh well, it wasn’t like I was losing out anyway.

Living with Song Yan was actually pretty great. Even when he was swamped with work, he’d still make time to come home and cook for me. If he couldn’t make it in time, he’d order takeout to make sure I was fed. On a few occasions when he looked utterly exhausted, I even took the initiative to step into the kitchen myself.

Afterward, he used practical actions to prove that he wasn’t exhausted in the slightest…

Meanwhile, Chen Jiajia and Xuanxuan also escaped singlehood one after the other. Jiang Yifan came to look for me once. That day, I was huddled up with a bag of potato chips watching a movie, while Song Yan—fresh out of the shower with wet hair—lazily went to answer the door. By the time I poked my head out to look, Jiang Yifan had already left.

From then on, the number of times I ran into him dwindled further and further. On the rare occasion we bumped into each other, he was usually out walking the dog with his younger roommate.

One night, craving late-night snacks, I ran down to the convenience store to buy some skewers. On my way back, I happened to step into the elevator right as Jiang Yifan and his roommate were walking in. Before the doors even closed, the heavy scent of alcohol filled the air.

Jiang Yifan was dressed sharply in a suit, but his eyes were noticeably hazy with drink. His roommate, on the other hand, was practically turn-to-jelly drunk, leaning his entire weight against the senior’s shoulder. The moment he saw me, he greeted me obediently, “Hi, landlady…”

“Hey there,” I clutched my box of skewers, tucking myself into a corner of the elevator. “Did you guys just get back from drinking?”

Jiang Yifan nodded, “Yeah, he was in a bad mood.”

The younger roommate immediately protested, “Nonsense! It was clearly you—”

The elevator doors slid open just in time. Jiang Yifan swiftly clapped a hand over the kid’s mouth, saying calmly, “He’s too drunk and talking nonsense. I’ll take him back to rest first.”

As I stood watching the two of them stagger off, Song Yan’s voice, thick with sour jealousy, suddenly sounded from behind me: “Enjoying the view?”

I turned my head, annoyed, “Can’t I even look for a second?”

Song Yan was great in every way, except his jealousy was completely beyond cure—and he was particularly prone to getting jealous over Jiang Yifan. He stepped forward, blocking my view entirely: “No. Especially not people who had designs on you.”

I shook my head helplessly, “That was over half a year ago. He’s probably moved on to a new target ages ago.”

“Impossible.”

“We’re all adults, what’s so impossible about it?”

“You don’t understand,” Song Yan said with absolute certainty, “This is a man’s intuition.”

“…”

The next morning, I planned to bring some food over for Jiang Yifan and his roommate. Song Yan immediately snatched it away: “No big deal, I’ll do it.”

Yet less than a minute later, he was back.

“Why so fast?” I looked at him suspiciously.

Song Yan’s face flushed an inexplicable shade of red. “Uh…” He cleared his throat softly, his expression endlessly complex. “It seems… my intuition was off by a bit this time.”

“Meaning what?” I was dying of curiosity. “Did the senior bring a girlfriend back?”

“It’s just…” He choked on his words for half a minute before giving up entirely. “Forget it, you’ll find out on your own later. Anyway, it has nothing to do with us.”

“Uh… okay then.”

Not long after, Song Yan and I got married. On the eve of our wedding, he brought a thick stack of documents for me to sign. The very first page turned out to be an asset transfer agreement.

Song Yan smiled with smug satisfaction, “Sisi, my net worth has multiplied several times over now.”

“By how much?”

“A lot.”

I flipped through a few more pages, feeling more and more off the further I read, “…Why are all these registered under my name?”

“Yeah,” Song Yan rested his chin in his hand, looking at me. “Voluntary gift, and the premarital assets have all been notarized too. If you ever leave me, I’ll instantly be wiped out.”

I offered a deeply sincere assessment, “Aren’t you afraid I’ll take the money and run? You know how I am—I have zero principles when it comes to money.”

Song Yan shrugged, “Not afraid.”

I looked at him, delivering my final verdict with absolute seriousness: “You really are in the terminal stages of Simp Brain Syndrome.”

Then again… I happened to love his current condition very much.