After lunch, Iren and Yihshyong looked around their front yard. Just then, they saw a boxcar stop in front of their neighbor's house. Iren and Yihshyong then came out of their fence to take a closer look. When they came out of the fence, they looked closely at the house to their left. Two people who looked like electronics technicians also went out of their neighbor's house fence. Their neighbor walked behind the two people. After the three had chatted for a while, the two technicians got into their boxcar, which immediately sped away.
"Have they finished repairing your television?" Yihshyong greeted their neighbor.
"They're done, but I'm still not satisfied," said their next-door neighbor. He was standing in his yard, right in front of the gate.
"Unsatisfied how, Sir?" Iren leaned forward.
"The color is not bright enough. Because this is a new television, so it is still under full warranty, so I asked them to replace it with a new television."
"Are they willing to replace the television, sir?" Yihshyong's eyes widened.
"At first they didn't want to. But because I insisted, they finally relented. But they said they couldn't do it today. So, only tomorrow afternoon, they have time to deliver a replacement television. It couldn't be earlier than that."
After that, their neighbors went back into the house. Iren and Yihshyong were still standing outside for a few minutes. Besides looking around the outside of the fence, they also saw some plants growing in the front yard. Although not often, sometimes they do things like that. However, they soon entered the house because the weather was quite hot.
They busied themselves with their own activities while waiting for Shannchyuan to return. Yihshyong and Iren watched television in the living room. Shinnshiow and Jenqyih sat in the dining room. Iren didn't know what the two of them were doing, but he assumed that his two friends might be reading a book or magazine since he didn't hear their voices.
It was almost half-past two in the afternoon when Shannchyuan finally arrived home. He came with a surprise. He was not alone. There was a girl who came home with him. During the year they lived together at the house, Shannchyuan never brought home a girl. Not even once. He even never had a meeting alone with a girl. At least, as far as his friend knew, he never had.
To be honest, it wasn't just Shannchyuan. The four other residents, five if they included Chioujen, had never brought any woman to their house. This morning on the phone, Shannchyuan did not mention that either. He just said he'd be home around noon. Of course, they assumed Shannchyuan would go home alone. Therefore, it was natural that this time it surprised them.
"Good afternoon, all!"
Shannchyuan greeted his comrades while waving his right hand. The four of them looked at each other. Witnessing that, Shannchyuan smiled broadly. He explained who the girl who came with him was. "This is Miss Liuchiou. She will stay here with us for a while. I'll give you the full story later. Now we have to clean up first."
Shannchyuan was the leader of their gang. So it wasn't extraordinary that Shannchyuan made such a unilateral decision without discussing it with the others. However, all this time, when deciding on important matters, Shannchyuan had never made his own decisions without consulting them. So Shannchyuan's words this time sounded a bit strange to the ears of the four of them. It was also possible that Shannchyuan felt it was not an important decision, so there was no need to ask his friends for their opinion. Or maybe Shannchyuan felt that because they only had a few days left in the house, all the rules were no longer in effect. However, whatever was on Shannchyuan's mind, Iren didn't mind it. He is also sure that other friends will also understand. From the beginning, the four of them, or five including Chioujen, had agreed to obey Shannchyuan, even though Shannchyuan never asked them to follow his words. After thinking further, Iren guessed that there was an extraordinary incident that made Shannchyuan have to take such a step this time.
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Iren nodded his head repeatedly. He was eager to hear Shannchyuan's explanation. Two days ago, he'd seen Shannchyuan talking to a girl. Yesterday he'd witnessed Shannchyuan running across the street following the girl. And today, Shannchyuan brought home a girl, but not the girl he had been chasing yesterday. Without being asked, Iren stepped forward toward Shannchyuan and the girl. Then he stretched out his hand to grab the backpack that the girl had just put on the floor. Iren then picked up the backpack and walked, following Shannchyuan and the girl. They walked towards Shannchyuan's bedroom.
Iren put the backpack in one corner of the room. After that, he sat on the chair in front of the study table. Shannchyuan asked Iren to stay in the room to help Miss Liuchiou until he finished taking a shower. Shannchyuan took a bath first while Miss Liuchiou rested in Shannchyuan's room, waiting for her turn to bathe.
While waiting for Shannchyuan to finish the shower, Iren watched Miss Liuchiou observe the situation in the room. Iren realized there were many things inside his dahge's bedroom, just like his own bedroom. There was nothing unusual in this room. There was a bed, a study table, a few chairs, a wardrobe, and a wooden chest. Plain bedroom walls, without any decorations, except for a wall clock that was not too big. An alarm clock in the palm's size of a grown man's hand was on the table.
Miss Liuchiou approached the study table. A notebook beside the alarm had the name "Duanmuh Shannchyuan" written on its cover. She smiled when she read the name.
"What is wrong?" asked Iren.
"Never mind," replied Miss Liuchiou. Then she continued her words.
"The name Shannchyuan somehow makes me think again about the rain I got yesterday."
Iren was just dumbfounded. He didn't understand what Miss Liuchiou meant.
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