Night’s Nomenclature

Qing Chen ran as fast as he could on the road, and as he climbed over the wall to get out, the iron railing cut open his wound again.

The teenager's face was cold. He didn't expect that the first thing his father did after getting out of detention was to sell the apartment.

When he got back home, he heard an agent inside saying, "You might think that this house has nothing special, but it's one of the closest you can get to the Luo City Foreign Language School. Your child can transfer to the school right after the purchase is complete. Just think about how much time you and your child can save when the school is only five minutes away."

"If you live far away, you'll either have to spend an hour or so in the traffic, or your children have to risk their safety riding bikes on the road. Moreover, they can sleep for an extra 40 minutes every day, much better than what other students have to deal with."

There were six people here at the open house, and they were all couples.

The agent then said, "The owner of the house also said that his son was the high school entrance exam champion in Luo City. This can be considered a champion's residence."

Qing Chen, "…"

Honestly, he didn't expect that his title as the champion of the high school entrance exam could be used to raise the price of the apartment.

Qing Chen said coldly, "Who asked you to come to see this house? This house is not for sale!"

Hearing the voice, everyone turned to look at Qing Chen.

The agent hesitated and asked, "You are…?"

Qing Chen answered succinctly, "The champion."

The agent, "…"

The couples that came glanced at one of the pictures on the wall, and it was one taken when Qing Chen was given the award.

At that time, the city also rewarded him with 5,000 yuan. Of course, Qing Guozhong soon lost all the money to gambling.

The agent said hesitantly, "Mr. Qing Guozhong has handed the property for us to manage, and we have verified that the property certificate indeed has his name on it. I can guarantee that. He even handed me the keys not too long ago. How about this, let me call Mr. Qing Guozhong real quick to confirm."

Saying that, he dialed Qing Guozhong's number and put it on speaker.

However, when the call was picked up, the first thing they heard was the sound of playing mahjong. It took a few seconds before Qing Guozhong said impatiently, "What's wrong?"

"Hello, Mr. Qing Guozhong," the agent said, "So, we have an issue here. I brought a few clients to see the house, but it turns out that… your son said the property is not for sale."

Qing Guozhong was a little puzzled: "Shouldn't that kid be in class? Why did he come home all of a sudden? Don't worry about him, the house is under my name. I get to decide! Red Dragon1A mahjong game piece!"

The agent said, "Um, Mr. Qing, I'm afraid that you need to come back to resolve this, otherwise there will be problems when you vacate the house."

"I'll be back tomorrow afternoon then. I'm busy right now. Two Dots!" said Qing Guozhong.

Then, he ended the call.

The agent was speechless. He looked toward Qing Chen and said, "Well… we'll be back tomorrow afternoon."

Qing Chen, however, was thinking about where did Qing Guozhong get the money to gamble again.

After everyone went out, he reached below his mattress, and sure enough, the gold bars he bought last time were gone.

The fact that Qing Chen was a penniless student was no secret. People would have questions if he suddenly got an extra several thousand yuan in his wallet.

He was a little glad now that he took four gold bars with him when he went to Laojun Mountain. Otherwise, those would've been taken as well.

At this time, Jiang Xue walked in, and she asked softly, "Xiao Chen, is everything alright?"

Qing Chen silently shook his head.

Jiang Xue said, "I just checked with the agency. If your father wants to sell this house, you can't really stop him. Legally speaking, this is his house."

Noises could be heard outside the window. It was the agent trying to explain the situation to several clients. After all, those people were very angry when they found out that they came for nothing.

"Yeah," Qing Chen replied softly.

"Don't worry Xiao Chen, you don't need a dad like him anyways. You can come live with us. I can sleep with Xiao Yun." Jiang Xue comforted, "You're part of our family now. Just focus on school, and don't worry about anything else."

Qing Chen smiled, "It's okay, Aunt Jiang Xue, Xiao Yun's glowing up, and it's best for her to have a room."

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. Qing Chen looked out and saw that Hu Xiaoniu and Zhang Tianzhen were there in their wheelchairs.

Behind them were caretakers pushing their wheelchairs.

Hu Xiaoniu thought about it and said, "Qing Chen, we heard what's going on. If that's the case, you can live in the apartment right across from here. They left already, and we bought that place down. If you don't mind, you can live there."

To be honest, Hu Xiaoniu had never seen or heard of such a thing before, and he couldn't figure out why a father would sell his house and leave his son homeless.

He couldn't understand.

Qing Chen thought about it and said, "I am very grateful for your kindness. What you provided is indeed what I need urgently, but I cannot live here for free. I know you are not short of money, but please accept the rent. At the same time, I will owe you a favor."

Hu Xiaoniu smiled and said, "Sure, that's good to me."

In Qing Chen's mind, his classmate didn't have to rent the apartment to him, so he had to owe this favor."

If Hu Xiaoniu ever got in trouble in the future, he would certainly help out free of charge for once.

Hu Xiaoniu asked someone to get the key and hand it to Qing Chen: "The market price right now is 1200 a month, but with the renovation, such as the new air conditioner, bathroom, and smart TV, I'll offer you 1400. What do you think about that?"

"A fair price," said Qing Chen as he turned to Jiang Xue, "Aunt Jiang Xue, can you pay for now? I'll return the money to you eventually."

"Sure," Jiang Xue nodded.

Hu Xiaoniu said sincerely to Jiang Xue, "Because of our carelessness, it's been quite a friction between us in the past. Please forgive us. I hope that we haven't left a bad impression, and we can still become friends."

Jiang Xue smiled, "Don't worry about it, it's all good."

Hu Xiaoniu nodded.

He then slowly stood up and started walking up the stairs with the support of the railing. The person behind him helped him move the wheelchair up.

Jiang Xue looked at Qing Chen and asked, "So, now what?"

Qing Chen looked back at the home he had been in for years. The dim room, the shabby curtains, and the broken sofa. He used to think that he would leave here one day sooner or later, but when it came time to leave, he was still a little reluctant.

He remembered that years ago, his father would buy rice noodles, and the two of them would sit on the sofa and eat around the coffee table.

He still remembers the time when ants would often come visit, and his mom Zhang Wanfang would complain that there were too many bugs around.

Looking out from his desk, he would see the fig tree in front of the door.

He could remember every detail. The good and the bad.

Then, his mom left.

And then, his dad never returned.

Maybe that was the downside of having a good memory.

But today.

"Maybe it's time to end it all." Qing Chen said calmly in the middle of the small apartment, "Tomorrow, I'll let go of the past life."

…

Author's Note: It's about to get fun~

• 1A mahjong game piece