The Unreturnable Refrigerator - Chapter 2
Chapter 02: Refrigerator Magnet
Lu Yin was holding two boxes of eggs. The moment she heard a ‘click’ as the door opened, she introduced herself right away.
She even tried to be humorous, saying she was there to “deliver warmth.”
She planned to use this opportunity to build a good relationship with her neighbor, to close the distance between them. After all, isn’t there an old saying, “A close neighbor is better than a distant relative”?
She thought that perhaps in the future, she might need this neighbor’s help.
The light from inside the apartment slowly seeped out, and with it, the cold air.
Lu Yin put on a cheerful smile, hugging the eggs with one arm, leaving the other hand free, ready to wave a greeting when she saw the person.
When the door was fully open and she saw the pale, stark face that abruptly appeared in the doorway, Lu Yin’s “good evening” got stuck in her throat, and her raised hand froze in place.
Without a second thought, she threw her hand up, hugged the eggs, and jumped back, a scream almost escaping her lips. Luckily, her brain finally caught up.
That wasn’t her face; it was a face mask!
Lu Yin took a deep breath, lowered her hand, and patted her chest. Seeing that the other person was just staring at her silently, Lu Yin felt a bit awkward.
The other person was probably also startled by her jump, standing completely still after seeing her.
How embarrassing.
“G-good evening.”
Lu Yin waved her hand, and once her heart rate had stabilized, she continued as she had practiced at home, smiling warmly.
But the other person didn’t react…
Well, not exactly. Lu Yin looked at the neighbor’s hand gripping the doorknob. The entire back of her hand was taut, and the veins were prominent from the tension.
Was she that scared by her?
Lu Yin was embarrassed. She had only jumped back and hadn’t even had time to scream yet.
“Uh, don’t be scared, I’m a person.”
As soon as she said it, Lu Yin felt like an idiot. If she wasn’t a person, was she a ghost?
If anyone looked like a ghost, it was the person in front of her. Lu Yin felt something wasn’t right.
She studied the non-responsive neighbor. With the face mask on, she couldn’t see her features clearly, but Lu Yin had a feeling that, just as the property management had said, she was very good-looking.
She also had a great figure—tall and slender.
Lu Yin’s height without shoes was 161.7 cm. The other woman, wearing flat slippers and not counting the loose bun on her head, was still more than half a head taller than her.
Unlike Lu Yin’s colorful and casual loungewear, the other person wore a simple, dark blue silk home outfit with neat buttons, and a pair of white cotton slippers that covered the front of her feet. Her hair was tied up in a casual bun with a simple hair tie.
The whole person exuded a fresh, but somewhat cold, aura.
As the silence stretched on, Lu Yin felt the atmosphere around her getting colder.
And she wasn’t sure if it was her imagination, but she felt the other woman’s gaze was a bit heavy, weighing on her and feeling like a layer of scrutiny.
Lu Yin narrowed her eyes. She thought about whether to turn back or continue with her original plan, and decided to continue.
After all, she was already here.
“Hello, I’m the owner of apartment 901, right across from you. I saw you in the owner’s group chat saying you needed eggs, and I happen to have some extra at home, so I brought two boxes over for you.”
As Lu Yin spoke, she held up the two boxes of eggs she was hugging. They were large packs, 30 eggs per box, for a total of 60. That should be more than enough for a week’s supply.
Sheng Xiali’s eyes were cast downward, looking at the person holding the eggs, and she replayed the words she had just heard.
She said she lived across the hall.
Across the hall…
Lu Yin waited for a while, seeing the person still didn’t respond, and blinked. What did this mean? Did she not want them?
“What, do you already have eggs?” Lu Yin asked tentatively.
The other person maintained her previous posture, just looking down at her. Just as Lu Yin was beginning to feel that something was off, the other person seemed to come back to life.
And she finally spoke.
“Thank you, how much?”
Her voice was dry and a little hoarse, but it was nice to listen to. For some reason, Lu Yin even felt a little familiar with it.
But she couldn’t immediately recall who it sounded like.
It didn’t matter. The other person had finally spoken. Lu Yin’s heart relaxed a little, and she continued with her planned lines.
“No need, we’re neighbors. There’s always a time when we can lend a hand to each other.”
She genuinely meant it.
Six months ago, she sold her house in Licheng and bought this dream home she had always liked, planning to settle down in Hengcheng.
When she left Hengcheng five years ago, she cut off all ties with the city, even changing the phone number that had a Hengcheng area code. Now that she was back, besides a netizen she knew from five years ago named Beibei, she actually didn’t have a single friend to talk to in this huge city.
If she could get to know her neighbor well, maybe they could go out for a meal together someday. It would be even better if the other person knew how to cook, so she could get a home-cooked meal.
It had been so, so long since she had a home-cooked meal.
Thinking of this, Lu Yin’s attitude became more proactive: “Let me help you bring them in. Where should I put the eggs?”
As Lu Yin spoke, she started to walk inside. When she got closer to the neighbor, she caught a faint scent of perfume.
This familiar scent of Bluebell made her instantly guess the brand. She was surprised that her neighbor, who looked so aloof and serious, also liked this sweet-scented perfume.
Lu Yin loved this sweet and summery fragrance, which made her feel that this cold-looking neighbor might not be as unapproachable as she seemed on the surface.
Sure enough, as Lu Yin got closer, the neighbor automatically took a step back, increasing the distance between them and seemingly making way for her.
The corners of Lu Yin’s mouth curled up even higher. Did this mean the neighbor wasn’t rejecting her approach?
Mission one of getting along with the neighbor: success!
After entering the apartment, the cold air rushed at her. She had been standing outside for a while, and since she was wearing a lot of clothes, she had started to sweat. The sudden cold made her shiver.
When she got a clear look at the empty layout of the apartment, she felt the temperature drop even further.
“Put them on the table.”
The neighbor’s slightly hoarse, pleasant voice came from behind her. Lu Yin felt a bit dazed. She felt the voice was really familiar, and maybe she had met this neighbor before.
But that wasn’t the most important thing right now. Why did the neighbor’s apartment look like this?
Lu Yin’s gaze swept across the empty open-plan living and dining area. She originally liked the layout of this complex because of the grand, open-plan space with a floor-to-ceiling window that overlooked a famous river in Hengcheng.
Now, this area, which should have been a combined dining and living room, was an 8-meter long space with just a simple, cold marble table for four…
And only two chairs…
There were no sofas, no coffee table, no TV, none of the things that should be in a living room.
“Your home…” Lu Yin paused, and asked tactfully, “Did you just move in?”
After placing the eggs on the table, she turned to face the person behind her.
The person was still standing at the entrance, just quietly looking at her.
Only after hearing her question did she speak: “Two years. I moved here two years ago.”
Lu Yin’s eyes widened. Two years!
She had lived here for two years, and it was still this barebones? What had happened to her neighbor?
She immediately thought of the news stories she had seen about people who bought apartments but didn’t have money to decorate, so they would buy furniture piece by piece, just getting by for the time being.
Lu Yin looked at her neighbor standing at the door. The exposed section of her smooth neck was bare, and there were no decorations on her slender wrists. She did indeed look quite simple and plain.
This might be a personal matter, so Lu Yin didn’t feel it was right to ask.
Her peripheral vision caught sight of a palm-sized meal box on the table. She turned her head and looked at the label, which was a vegetarian meal often seen in convenience stores.
On the entire table, this seemed to be the only thing to eat. Was this her dinner?
Lu Yin hesitated, but in the end, she still asked: “The community needs to be locked down for a week. Do you have any food at home?”
After she asked, she was worried the neighbor might overthink it, so she added, “I have some at home, but I want to eat something different. Maybe we can exchange?”
After Lu Yin spoke, she saw the other person finally release the doorknob. Looking a bit hesitant, she walked into the kitchen.
The uniform glass sliding doors of the kitchens in this complex’s luxury apartments allowed Lu Yin to clearly see the situation inside.
Spotlessly clean and completely empty.
Other than the appliances that came with the apartment, there was only one pot. Even the refrigerator the neighbor opened was one of the built-in models.
A moment later, the neighbor came out holding a bag of toast.
Before she could speak, Lu Yin pointed at the items and asked, a little incredulously, “Is that all?”
No way, was she kidding?
But the other person actually nodded!
She actually nodded…
Lu Yin’s eyes immediately turned red.
How pitiful. What had happened to this neighbor? But since she had encountered her, she couldn’t just watch her go hungry.
“Wait for me, don’t close the door.”
Lu Yin left those words and hurried back to her own apartment.
Sheng Xiali watched the person’s back disappear into the opposite apartment, then lowered her head to look at the shadow at her feet.
They say you can’t see shadows in dreams.
She lifted her foot and stepped on the shadow. The shadow moved with her.
It wasn’t a dream.
The person who had disappeared from her world five years ago was living right across the hall…
Sheng Xiali pulled out a chair and sat down. The face mask on her face had dried out, and her skin felt a little tight and painful…
A moment later, a series of hurried footsteps sounded. Sheng Xiali abruptly looked up. The face that had suddenly vanished from her world, with its deceptively bright smile, burst back in.
Just as unreasonable as before, without warning, she just came.
Lu Yin carried three boxes of snail noodles that were piled up on her balcony. After putting them down, she remembered she had forgotten to ask if her neighbor liked them.
Seeing the neighbor sitting on a stool, watching her silently and not refusing, Lu Yin immediately understood—a kindred spirit!
How could someone who liked the same perfume as her not love snail noodles?
“Don’t close the door, okay? I have a lot more stuff over there.”
Lu Yin didn’t wait for a reply and rushed back again.
This time, she brought a whole case of soda, which rattled and clanked as she carried it.
Lu Yin put the soda down with a loud ‘clank.’ The box was heavy, and she was sweating a little. She had taken off her mask because it was uncomfortable. She wiped her sweat away casually and smiled at her neighbor: “I have too much soda at home. Snail noodles and an iced soda together taste so much better.”
This annoying case of soda couldn’t fit in the fridge and had been blocking the way in front of it. She had kicked it several times while walking by. Now that she could finally get rid of it, Lu Yin breathed a happy sigh of relief.
Seeing the neighbor’s empty apartment, Lu Yin’s heart felt an itch, a feeling she couldn’t quite control.
She had only intended to bring a little bit of warmth to her neighbor, but once she started adding things to this empty room, things began to feel a bit out of her control.
And her neighbor watched her, not saying a word to stop her.
Lu Yin thought that maybe she was just too embarrassed, and truly in a difficult situation.
So today, she decided to make her delivery of warmth a little bigger.
Lu Yin made trip after trip, moving all the stuff that was piled up in her apartment into this empty one.
During the process, she felt like she had a new storage warehouse where she could hoard things. She was like a squirrel preparing for winter, stockpiling supplies in her home.
Sheng Xiali sat in her chair, silently watching everything unfold. She was watching the person from her memories doing the very same things she remembered from the past.
She hadn’t changed at all. Not only had her appearance barely changed, but her way of being kind to someone hadn’t changed either.
Suddenly, she heard an unusually loud crash. Sheng Xiali rose from her chair with a start and walked quickly to the door.
Just as she reached the entrance, she was met with a huge, white refrigerator.
Lu Yin was breathing heavily, her face flushed from the physical exertion, as she peeked out from behind the refrigerator.
“There’s too much stuff in the fridge. Taking things out one by one would take too long. Hehe, luckily my fridge has a movable base. Just open both sides of your door, and I’ll push it inside.”
“You can just give the fridge back to me after you’ve finished everything.”
“No need to thank me.”
“We’re neighbors, we should look out for each other.”
To prevent the other person from refusing, she said all this in one breath and then went back behind the fridge, just waiting for her neighbor to open the door so she could push the fridge in.
She was planning to redecorate and would need to rent a new apartment and move in the meantime. This fridge was too big to move. If she could leave it with her neighbor, it would save her from having to move a large item.
In a way, her neighbor would be helping her save on a big moving expense.
It was a win-win.
Sheng Xiali’s gaze had been fixed on a black magnetic whiteboard with writing on it ever since she saw the familiar fridge.
On a business trip, back in seven days. Love you.
Five years ago, her handwriting was a bit neater.
And a little more childish and inexperienced.