As a smart and savvy woman, Ran Jing was feeling a bit repulsed upon hearing that she had to do the cleaning. But then, she remembered the cost of living in this golden district within Shangcheng. In comparison to having to pay 6 to 7 thousand yuan for monthly rent, doing some chores didn't seem to be so bad. After all, saving about 7 thousand per month meant a saving of 84,000 per year; it would be awesome if she could cut her spending by this much!
"Okay, deal." Ran Jing thought for a second and didn't oppose the proposal. "But as a female, we have a lot of inconveniences, so I think you should know what to pay attention to in your daily life. Firstly, you are not allowed to enter my room without my consent, and vice versa, I won't even take a peek at your room. Then, in terms of cleaning the common areas…"
Xu Cheng looked at her from an angle. "Do you expect me to do it?"
Speechless, Ran Jing pouted and replied, "Okay, I will do it, but please do not let yourself go. If I feel wronged for doing more chores than a reasonable amount, I will leave."
"Then you can leave right now."
Ran Jing bit her lips. "You…"
"Beggars can't be choosers. My floor is a unit with a view, which is very scarce in Shangcheng. I could even make a lot of money by just renting out my balcony for people to enjoy the view. Right now, I'm not even charging you anything, so is it that hard for you to do some cleaning?"
Ran Jing gnashed her teeth. "But I'm still not a maid. Besides, you have to pay for the work maids do right? I'm not charging you money either, so why can't we just compromise? You are a man, why do you have to make it difficult for a vulnerable little girl?"
Xu Cheng blinked. "You were the one trying to lay down rules for me, not me."
Ran Jing paused a second and replied, "But we can't have no rules, right? We don't know each other, so we must lay down some rules to avoid awkward encounters in the future."
Xu Cheng said, "I'm very disciplined and I also have a bottom line. Otherwise, why is it that your looks can charm others but not me? I know what you are worried about. In the beginning, you thought you could seduce me with your beauty and then keep me in my place with your strength. However, you noticed that you can't beat me in a fight, so now you are painting yourself as a vulnerable little girl to leverage some rules with me. To be honest, you are thinking too much. I've seen way prettier girls than you and wasn't moved by them either, so you can rest assured that I'm not interested in you."
Xu Cheng didn't have the time for a relationship right now. All he wanted was to join the Dragon Division as soon as possible.
However, to someone like Ran Jing who had always been super confident in her beauty, being treated indifferently like this was a complete insult. But then, she had no leverage in negotiating with Xu Cheng and couldn't just blow off her cap. It was already difficult to convince this man to let her in. Like Xu Cheng said, finding a condo like this wasn't easy in Shangcheng.
But… she was still a young and beautiful lady, so shouldn't he negotiate like a gentleman?
"What's the matter with you… bullying a vulnerable girl…" Pouting, Ran Jing put on an innocent look as she stared at him.
"Vulnerable girl?" Xu Cheng couldn't hold his laugh, "A vulnerable girl that can throw a 6'3 man over her shoulder? A vulnerable girl that could become a captain of the Criminal Investigation Department?"
Ran Jing didn't think that this guy's eyes would be this sharp, being able to read the details within the few seconds she showed her ID.
"To others, I am a policewoman serving justice, but to someone who has hit me before, I'm just a vulnerable girl. Does bullying a newcomer like me make you feel superior?" Ran Jing said.
Xu Cheng waved his hand and replied, "Whatever, don't talk anymore. Do the chores or just turn around and walk out."
"You have a problem with your character!" Ran Jing hummed once. Then, she picked up her luggage, turned around, and headed for the door. In fact, there was still a small part of her that thought Xu Cheng would call her and ask her to stay, but she soon realized that she was thinking too much.
Left with no choice, she stopped, turned around, dropped her bags, and said in rage, "As a police officer sworn to serve the people, I have decided to save you."
Then, without having the time to pick up her dignity that shattered everywhere, she went to her room and dropped off her luggage, and also made the bed with her sheets.
And just after Xu Cheng was done dealing with this one, he heard a quarrel outside in the corridor. The sound was moving closer and closer to his door, and just when Xu Cheng went up to lock the door, who would've thought that the two that were arguing would open it. One was a woman, who had a little natural curl with her hair, soft pink lips, and long eyelashes. Her beautiful oval-shaped face became cold as soon as she saw Xu Cheng. She just dropped her luggage inside the room, then threw a thick stack of hundred-yuan bills onto the floor and coldly said, "I have to be on flights every day, it's so tiring that I just want to sleep whenever I get back. But then, the property management told me that I have to move? You think you can do whatever you want just because you have money? Take back your money, I just want to sleep." Then, she directly went into Xu Cheng's home with her high heels still on. Xu Cheng was dumbfounded as he watched the woman walk right in…
The man that was arguing with her was the property manager. He awkwardly and apologetically looked at Xu Cheng; it was clear that he also tried his best.
"Mr. Xu…"
Xu Cheng's eyes were wide open as he questioned the manager, "What's going on?"
The property manager awkwardly said, "I forgot to tell you, there are two ladies out of the four tenants that were originally here, and they are still unwilling to move. I thought we could negotiate with them, but we didn't expect them to be so difficult to deal with… Sorry Mr. Xu, one of them is a police officer so I didn't dare to force her to move out; and the other one is a flight attendant, but judging by the supercar she drives in and out of the property, her job is probably just a hobby. Our boss even tried but seemed to be unable to persuade her."
Xu Cheng was speechless, but seeing the manager's face that was about to cry, he didn't have the heart to put all the blame onto him. He just waved and dismissed him. Originally, he wanted to occupy all four units on this floor, so he could have more room for training equipment, which would help him recover faster. Helpless, he kneeled down and started to pick up the money.
Ran Jing came out, clearly still oblivious about the news of another woman moving in. She clapped her hands to get Xu Cheng's attention and said, "To thank you for letting me stay, I will treat you to a meal."
Xu Cheng slowly replied, "Is it because you are too lazy to cook?"
He saw through me again?!
Ran Jing began to worry about her future rooming with this guy, it seemed impossible to hide any thoughts in front of him, not to mention that he was not acting like a gentleman at all! She curiously asked Xu Cheng, "Are you still single."
Xu Cheng nodded. "Strictly speaking, yes."
Ran Jing: "You deserve it. Let's go! It's food either way, who cares where we are eating. I wasted too much time today already on solving the whole housing situation."
Xu Cheng thought it would be a good idea to eat out too; he could use this opportunity to learn more about the city's current situation and crime rate.
At least, that was Xu Cheng's intention of going to dinner, but Ran Jing was completely planning something else. She felt that she lost face during the whole housing situation and how she basically ended up becoming his maid, so she was purposely bringing him to a restaurant that her male colleagues loved going to. She was aiming for an "unexpected" encounter with her colleagues to show Xu Cheng how popular she was. In addition, if those people saw that their goddess was dining out with a man, they would probably try to teach Xu Cheng a lesson out of envy and anger, and that might help restore some balance to her heart.
Xu Cheng didn't get a car yet, so he went into Ran Jing's sedan.
Across the entirety of Shangcheng, on shopping mall display screens, billboards by the roads, ads by the streets, Lin Chuxue's product endorsements could be seen everywhere. Her pictures also added an element of beauty to the city.
Out of the blue, Xu Cheng said, "You know why a girl's beauty doesn't affect me? Because my wife is Lin Chuxue."
Ran Jing laughed as she tried to keep her steering wheel straight, "If Lin Chuxue's your wife, I will stream myself eating poop."
Xu Cheng was speechless. "I was just joking, you don't have to be so serious."
He was afraid that Ran Jing would one day follow through with that promise.
"I'm joking too, of course. If your wife is Lin Chuxue, I will eat poop live in front of your face."
Xu Cheng, "…"
The two arrived at a restaurant that wasn't really high-end. Xu Cheng was a bit surprised as to why Ran Jing would take him out this far for a meal. He took a look around and noticed that the Criminal Police Department's building was just nearby. Suddenly, he realized that this was not going to be an easy meal.
Ran Jing was scared that Xu Cheng would chicken out, so she faintly smiled, "They give a pretty big discount for police here, why not give this place a try? The place might not look high-end, but the food is delicious and made from organic ingredients, and they know how to cook a lot of home meals."
Xu Cheng nodded. "Then we will just eat something here."
Ran Jing nodded and smiled.
Then, she took Xu Cheng into the restaurant, and her colleagues that were dining inside immediately saw the two. They began to exchange looks with each other, "Hey, isn't that the police belle of our Criminal Police Department? Holy crap, no wonder Li Dazhuang couldn't successfully court her, it turns out that she already has a boyfriend. Haha, go and get Li Dazhuang, his goddess is even showing off her boyfriend on our turf now."