At the end of 2017, Room 2202 of Zhu Zhe's house was the first to be renovated. She immediately posted a rental notice, hoping to use the rent to offset part of the mortgage and reduce the pressure.
In the past two years, the housing prices in Magic City have continued to rise, and the housing prices in Ode to Joy have also increased. The nearby subway has also been opened to traffic, and hospitals and schools have been rebuilt. Housing prices have soared to more than 40,000 per square meter.
Zhu Zhe plans to find someone to share a room with. The rent for one room is 4,000 yuan, and the two rooms total 8,000 yuan. Although it is not enough to offset the entire loan, it can also reduce her financial pressure a lot.
It's just that it's difficult to get along well with each other, and it's not easy to find two satisfactory roommates.
Zhu Zhe has very high requirements for shared housing. She only accepts women, and the number of people living there cannot be too many. She also has to pay a deposit of one to three.
At first, Zhu Zhe's room was rented to two college students. Later, she found that the students always brought their boyfriends back, which made it very inconvenient for her, so she let the students leave as soon as the lease period was up.
Later, the tenants recruited were mostly young women who had just started working. However, one trouble with these people was that they were prone to get married and quit the rent, and few of them could rent for a long time.
In terms of work, Zhu Zhe followed his former leader and moved to a five-star hotel near Ode to Joy as the housekeeping manager. His salary doubled, and his annual guaranteed salary was more than 200,000 yuan.
After the financial pressure eased, Zhu Zhe began to return the 600,000 yuan to Wang Gang one after another. Although Wang Gang repeatedly expressed that he was not in a hurry, Zhu Zhe was very insistent.
At the beginning of 2000, Zhu Zhe finally paid off her debts, leaving only the monthly mortgage payments. Her younger siblings were about to graduate from college, so she no longer had to pay any more and could just send some living expenses to her parents every month.
After the burden became lighter, Zhu Zhe no longer treated himself harshly and even considered buying a mobility scooter. However, the epidemic hit.
Wang Gang had already prepared for the epidemic, and he also prepared one for Zhu Zhe. The two of them live in the same building in a community, so they can naturally take care of each other.
Wang Gang prepared two boxes of things, took the elevator directly to the 22nd floor, and came to the door of Room 2202.
"Sister Zhu, are you at home?" Wang Gang put down the box and knocked on the door.
The door opened and Zhu Zhe came out wearing a mask.
"Xiao Gang, why are you still running around during the current epidemic?" Zhu Zhe said in surprise when he saw the two boxes at Wang Gang's feet.
Wang Gang moved the box directly into 2202.
"I live downstairs, so I'm not running around." Wang Gang smiled and said, "I brought you some disinfectant and masks, as well as some food and medicine."
Zhu Zhe welcomed Wang Gang into the house and sprayed him with disinfectant spray for a long time.
"The community tells us to stay at home and not come out!" Zhu Zhe complained: "What if you get infected?"
"It's okay. We only go up a few floors. It's not so easy to get infected." Wang Gang opened the box and took out the food first.
"Where are your two tenants?" Wang Gang looked at the empty house and asked.
"They went home to celebrate the New Year. I heard they were also locked up at home and couldn't buy a ticket to go back to Shanghai," Zhu Zhe said.
Wang Gang opened the refrigerator and found that it was indeed empty. Zhu Zhe didn't save much food for the New Year.
"I brought you some rice noodles. You put them in the cupboard. The supermarket has been emptied." Wang Gang warned.
"Did you leave some more over there?" Zhu Zhe asked with concern: "My unit has notified us of a temporary vacation. We don't know when the epidemic will end."
Wang Gang took out the mask disinfectant again and said, "Don't worry! I bought so much before the Chinese New Year that not even one person can use it."
Zhu Zhe poured a glass of water for Wang Gang and said, "You must pay more attention to it. I heard that the virus is very serious this time."
"You too, you must wear a mask when you go out. It's best to wear two layers. Fortunately, you didn't go home to celebrate the New Year this year." Wang Gang said.
Zhu Zhe smiled bitterly and said: "What are you going to do when you go back? They know how to ask for money from me."
Wang Gang raised his eyebrows. He knew that Zhu Zhe's native family was not very good. Her parents, siblings all used her as a cash machine. She just wanted money. She didn't dare to go home during the Chinese New Year, so she found an excuse to work overtime.
In Shanghai, she didn't even dare to talk about buying a house.
"What about you? Why didn't you go back to your hometown to celebrate the New Year?" Zhu Zhe asked.
"I went back and rushed back as soon as I had nothing to do in the first grade of junior high school. I didn't expect that the epidemic broke out in the second grade of junior high school."
Wang Gang didn't tell Zhu Zhe because he was worried about her, so he rushed back to the magic city.
"Have you eaten? Do you want to eat something together?" Zhu Zhe said.
"Then let's have a bowl of noodles with soybean paste." Wang Gang said bluntly.
"I haven't eaten enough in all these years." Zhu Zhe said with a smile.
"The beef sauce you cooked is now a hot item in my noodle shop." Wang Gang said: "It sold very well a year ago, and many people still want to order it."
Zhu Zhe had told Wang Gang the recipe for beef sauce a long time ago, and Wang Gang considered her as a technical investor, and would give her some dividends from the beef sauce's earnings every month, which was about 10,000 yuan.
It was also because of this money that Zhu Zhe was able to repay the loan and Wang Gang's 600,000 yuan.
Zhu Zhe came to the kitchen and started feeding Wang Gang.
While cooking noodles, she asked Wang Gang: "Xiaojia is abroad, I wonder if she will encounter an epidemic."
Wang Gang said: "She is quite calm now, but it may break out in the future. I have already called to warn her."
When Zhu Zhe heard this, he said intentionally or unintentionally: "Do you usually keep in touch? Do you want to wait for her to come back after completing her studies and reunite?"
Wang Gang took out two bowls from the cabinet, then peeled a few pieces of garlic and chopped it into minced garlic.
"Xiaojia has already had a boyfriend abroad, who also studied abroad." Wang Gang said nonchalantly.
Zhu Zhe shook his hand and the noodles fell into the pot again.
"Do you really have no chance at all?" Zhu Zhe felt a little happy, but he still said: "You and Xiaojia are a good match."
Wang Gang took out the refrigerated beef sauce from the refrigerator, heated oil in a pan, added minced garlic, and worked with Zhu Zhe to make noodles with soybean paste, just like a young couple.
"She and I broke up peacefully. We have different values." Wang Gang said while cooking the sauce:
"Xiaojia wants to stay abroad after graduation, but I would rather stay in China."
Zhu Zhe said in surprise: "Why don't you go abroad if you have the opportunity?"
Wang Gang took a deep look at Zhu Zhe and said, "I can't bear to leave the people in China!"
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! Zhu Zhe's heart trembled and he quickly picked the noodles into a bowl to hide his panic.
Wang Gang poured the hot sauce over the noodles and sprinkled with chopped green onion.
"When we broke up, Xiaojia still doubted my relationship with you, saying that I was too close to you and didn't look like siblings," Wang Gang joked.
Zhu Zhe was stunned for a moment and said, "We don't look like siblings, so what do we look like?"
Wang Gang said with a faint smile: "Xiaojia said I have a crush on you, but I just don't admit it."
Zhu Zhe's eyes widened and he said in surprise: "Did she break up with you because we misunderstood us? Do you want me to call Xiaojia and explain it to you?"
Wang Gang put the noodles on the table and said, "No, I actually felt that it was inappropriate for a long time and I have always wanted to break up."
Zhu Zhe frowned and said, "Xiaojia's conditions are so good, it would be a pity for you to break up."
Wang Gang said indifferently: "Maybe Xiaojia is right. What I really like in my heart is not her, but other people."
Zhu Zhe's heart was beating fast. Just when he was about to ask Wang Gang who he liked, the phone rang.
The caller was Zhu Zhe's mother.
"Mom, how are you doing over there?" Zhu Zheli answered the phone to cover up his panic.
"Sister, it's me." The person who spoke was Zhu Zhe's younger brother, Zhu Mingjie.
Zhu Zhe's face sank and he asked: "Why did you use mom's phone to call me? Is mom okay?"
Zhu Mingjie said: "Mom is very good. She asked me to call you to tell you that you are safe."
"That's good." Zhu Zhe wanted to hang up the phone.
"Sister, can you send some money back? I don't know how long this epidemic will last, and my family doesn't have much money!"
Zhu Zhe said displeasedly: "Didn't I just give my mother five thousand yuan during the Chinese New Year?"
Zhu Mingjie said: “It’s almost the same as it is for visiting relatives during the New Year.”
"We only have a few relatives in our family, so I don't know how much money we can spend during the Chinese New Year." Zhu Zhe obviously didn't believe his brother's words:
"Tell me honestly, where did our money go?"
Zhu Mingjie coughed and said confidently: "I've made a deal with someone, and I'll visit her home during the Chinese New Year and buy some new year's goods."
"What new year's goods cost five thousand yuan!" Zhu Zhe said angrily.
"I bought two bottles of good wine and two packs of cigarettes. It's basically the same amount of money! It's my first time visiting someone's house, so I can't bring anything good." Zhu Mingjie didn't feel that he had done anything wrong.
Zhu Zhe said angrily: "You are a student who has not graduated. No matter how rich you are, five thousand yuan is enough to cover half a year's living expenses for my parents!"
Zhu Mingjie said: "Mom gave me the money. She asked me to buy something nice. Don't be rude. It's not what I wanted to buy."
"Sister, please transfer the money quickly, our family is almost out of rice." Zhu Mingjie said rudely.
Zhu Zhe choked and coughed at her brother's words. She worked hard to make money in the magic city and couldn't bear to eat a meal of meat every month. As a result, the money she saved was used to support such a poor playboy. If she had no money, she would ask her sister for it.
