Chapter 210 - 198: Renting an Apartment
Chapter 210: Chapter 198: Renting an Apartment
「Three days later,」 Tang Qingyun came again. This time, however, he was much more low-key, waiting at the entrance without going into the school. He asked a student to find Xiao Man, saying a relative was looking for her outside the school gate and she should hurry over.
Xiao Man had no idea which relative was looking for her. When she got to the gate and saw it was Tang Qingyun, she turned to leave. But then she spotted a young boy standing to the side of the school gate. He had fair skin and delicate, handsome features, and his young face wore a cool expression. He shouted to her, "Sis, I’m here!"
Xiao Man stared speechlessly at Tang Haocheng. ’You’re here? Who told you to come?’
Tang Haocheng was already immune to his sister’s indifference. He came over, took her hand, and pulled her toward the car parked nearby. "Let’s go get lunch. I have something to tell you... Um, I called Grandma and Grandpa, and they agreed to let me be with you... Sis, hurry up and get in! You still have class this afternoon!"
Xiao Man hesitated for a moment before following Tang Haocheng into the back seat of the car. "What did Grandma and Grandpa agree to?" she asked.
"To let me go to school with you!" Tang Haocheng grinned at Xiao Man. His brilliant smile revealed a hint of innocence, and for a moment, he finally looked like a proper eleven-year-old kid.
"Why aren’t you staying in the big city? What are you doing coming to our little county? Don’t let it affect your grades, or someone will just end up blaming me again!"
"I won’t. I’ve already finished the entire high school curriculum. I’m studying other things now."
"Then why are you still messing around in school? Isn’t that a waste of time?"
"It used to be a waste, but not anymore! I’m going to keep you company, Sis. After the college entrance exams in July, we’re going back to Beijing together—Grandma and Grandpa said so!"
Xiao Man: "..."
Tang Qingyun opened the front door and sat in the driver’s seat. He was quite displeased that Xiao Man hadn’t even bothered to greet him. But seeing the siblings getting along so harmoniously, chatting back and forth, he decided to let them be. ’He was actually glad now that he hadn’t kept pestering Manman a few days ago. Because of that call, the Wu Family’s elders, who were supposed to go to Beijing, never made the trip, and the stress even made them ill. Wu Xiaowen was too quick to judge, insisting it had to be Xiao Man. She never even considered it might have been their son, Tang Haocheng. Hao Hao had gone back to the provincial city to collect some books and stayed there by himself for days. He had plenty of opportunities to call their grandparents in Beijing. He could have said anything he wanted.’
’That kid, honestly. How could he not think of his mother at all? Why did he have to go and tell them everything?’
’Tang Qingyun felt like such a failure as a father. His son wasn’t close to him, and his daughter wouldn’t even acknowledge him. Things couldn’t possibly be any worse!’
He drove to a state-owned restaurant on the main street and stopped. Glancing in the rearview mirror, he saw Hao Hao’s little head pressed close to Manman’s. The two of them were whispering about something. Manman’s expression was focused, the corners of her lips turned up in a slight, serene smile that was both graceful and playfully cute. ’Where was the grumpy, rude girl she’d been around him?’ Tang Qingyun sighed inwardly. Unwilling to disturb them, he got out of the car first and went into the restaurant to order their food.
The food at a restaurant in the county seat naturally couldn’t compare to that of the provincial city, let alone Wancheng. And it couldn’t even hold a candle to the delicacies from Xiao Man’s home in Gongdao Village, which boasted an "authentic farmhouse flavor."
But it was true that the food was oily and the portions generous. The three of them—one adult and two children—ordered four dishes, which was more than enough. After the meal, Tang Qingyun didn’t take Xiao Man directly back to school. Instead, he drove straight down the county’s main road and then suddenly turned into a courtyard with an open iron gate.
Xiao Man glanced at the sign hanging outside the courtyard gate: Ping County Water Resources Bureau.
As the car came to a stop in the courtyard, three or four people immediately came forward. They were all smiles as they shook hands with Tang Qingyun and exchanged pleasantries. The car door on Xiao Man’s side was pulled open, and she looked up to see Xiao Feng.
Tang Qingyun was surrounded, so at Tang Haocheng’s urging, Xiao Feng led the two siblings away. He took them toward a nearby three-story building with two units per floor. It looked quite new, with snow-white plastered walls. The stairwell landings had decorative, openwork railings, and the smooth concrete floor was embedded with calcite fragments, giving it a speckled, less monotonous look. Xiao Feng explained, "This staff housing building was completed just over a year ago. There was some trouble during its construction, but Secretary Tang was the one who ultimately resolved it. As for your apartment, Vice Director Wang from the Water Resources Bureau specially set it aside for you. Don’t worry, we’re paying rent for it. Vice Director Wang’s ancestral home is right here in the county, so he has his own house. This place is usually empty, as he was saving it for his son’s wedding."
"So, his son isn’t getting married anymore?" Tang Haocheng asked.
Xiao Feng smiled. "His son is still just dating someone. There’s no rush."
He pushed open the door to an apartment on the third floor and led them inside. Just as expected, the place was completely empty. It was clear no one had ever lived there before.