The Unreturnable Refrigerator - Chapter 7
Chapter 07: The First Glance
The old saying goes, if you tell one lie, you have to tell countless others to cover it up.
But an unskillful lie doesn’t need to be covered, because it will soon be exposed.
When Lu Yin received a call from Beibei, she knew her lie couldn’t continue.
Faced with Amy’s anxiety, which Beibei had relayed, Lu Yin couldn’t tell her it was because of Sheng Xiali. She didn’t want anyone to know about her relationship with Sheng Xiali.
In the end, she had to take the blame herself.
“You know, I have a lot of stuff at home, so I was thinking of tidying up a bit first.”
“Oh, so that’s why. Amy was so worried. She thought she had made you unhappy. You don’t know, she’s the one who introduced your case. It wouldn’t matter if you weren’t satisfied with the design, but now, losing you as a client without even completing this first step of her job affects her performance.”
When Amy called Yang Beibei, she mentioned one of the performance review rules at the studio, one that her boss had just said to her in the office.
She was also a little confused. Did her boss really want to take on Lu Yin’s case, or was she just reminding her to be diligent in her work?
Either way, the boss had spoken. Could she be a fool and do nothing? She immediately thought of calling Yang Beibei.
She had introduced the person in the first place. Besides, it was just a measurement. Her job only went so far. If Lu Yin didn’t sign the contract later for whatever reason, that would be the boss’s problem, not hers.
Before getting off work, she received a call from Lu Yin, confirming that she would come to measure the apartment the day after tomorrow.
Normally, Amy would never bother Sheng Xiali with this pre-contract progress, but this time she felt it was a little different. After thinking about it, she decided to tell Sheng Xiali before leaving.
Sheng Xiali didn’t even look up as she listened: “You can go home now.”
Amy happily replied: “Boss, don’t stay too late. Sister Xinlei will be worried.”
With that, she left. She considered it her way of helping her favorite couple.
As night fell, Lu Yin reheated the food she had packed for lunch and ate it with the herbal tea, feeling very full.
You need energy to work. Although Beibei said she would come to help her organize her home tomorrow, Lu Yin decided to get a head start to avoid shocking Beibei too much.
It didn’t work. The next day, Yang Beibei was still very shocked.
“Yinyin, are you planning to open a supermarket?”
Yesterday, Yang Beibei had been guessing that Lu Yin had some other reason for refusing Amy. To refuse a hard-won designer just because the house had too much stuff and was a bit messy didn’t seem to hold water.
But today, seeing it with her own eyes, she immediately felt the reason was perfectly valid.
Lu Yin gave an awkward laugh, too embarrassed to say this was already the remaining inventory after getting rid of a large batch of items.
During her last lockdown, besides giving things to Sheng Xiali, she had also given things to many neighbors in the community chat group who were in need. She didn’t ask for any money. But some of the neighbors were sincere and insisted on giving her things in return.
Just last night, a neighbor she had helped before had dropped off several boxes of fruit. Now that she was down a fridge, the burden was even greater.
“Come on in. Look around and see if you need anything. Just take whatever you want.”
Yang Beibei could only stand with her feet together in the entryway, watching Lu Yin navigate a barely-walkable path through the clutter. She tucked her shoulders in and followed her inside.
The further in she went, the more shocked she became.
This wasn’t her first time at Lu Yin’s place, but things had been different recently. It had only been a month since she last came, but the number of things in Lu Yin’s apartment had doubled.
“What’s going on, Yinyin? Are you trying to bury yourself in here?”
Lu Yin gave an embarrassed laugh to ease the tension: “I accidentally bought too much. See if you need anything. Whatever I have, I’ll give it to you.”
Lu Yin gestured around, looking as if she would happily let Yang Beibei take whatever she wanted.
But Yang Beibei wasn’t happy. She was a little worried for Lu Yin. This hoarding seemed a bit “abnormal.”
“Let’s organize first and see what you have.”
Yang Beibei, not wanting to embarrass Lu Yin, smiled and rolled up her nonexistent sleeves, ready to tackle the task.
Lu Yin couldn’t miss Yang Beibei’s thoughtfulness. She rolled up her sleeves and smiled: “Okay, you tell me where to start.”
Although Yang Beibei was younger than her, Lu Yin knew that when it came to “organizing and storing,” Yang Beibei was much better than her.
She was so glad she had taken the initiative to “seduce” her back then.
She and Yang Beibei were originally just members of the same group on a social media app. Their group didn’t talk gossip; they only shared funny or ugly things they bought online. One time, she saw a post by Beibei.
It wasn’t the ugly thing that attracted her, but Beibei’s ID: [Hengcheng Eats Guide].
She took the initiative to add her as a friend.
It was less than a day after she had left Hengcheng and all her past behind that she, for some unknown reason, added a Hengcheng netizen.
Lu Yin couldn’t even remember what her state of mind was at the time.
But looking back now, that “initiative” was a very good decision.
She and Yang Beibei had been chatting for five years after she left Hengcheng.
It wasn’t until she returned to Hengcheng that the two of them met for the first time.
They hit it off immediately.
Lu Yin smiled slightly. Coincidentally, Beibei had attended the same university. The year Lu Yin graduated was the year Beibei enrolled.
She could even be considered her senior.
The two of them organized and chatted, working from daybreak to nightfall. Finally, they had sorted everything by category and had cleared a path through Lu Yin’s crowded apartment.
Lu Yin rubbed her lower back. It was not easy. Thanks to Beibei, if she had to do it alone, with her procrastination, she didn’t know when she would finish.
After a hard day’s work, Lu Yin felt bad letting Beibei eat takeout again. After asking for her opinion, they both happily agreed to go to the university town to find something to eat.
Another reason Lu Yin liked this apartment was that it wasn’t far from her alma mater.
They each rented a shared bicycle and pedaled towards the university town night market, enjoying the pleasant summer evening breeze.
It was the end of July, and schools were on vacation. The few universities they passed were quiet. Only the basketball courts had a few people playing.
Along the way, they saw two girls who seemed to be in a playful argument that looked like a ‘flirty quarrel.’
The two of them took a detour, knowing better than to get involved. After they arrived at the night market and found a spot at the best-tasting barbecue joint, Yang Beibei nudged Lu Yin and winked: “The two girls arguing just now, were they a couple?”
Lu Yin nodded. The air of intimacy between those two girls was stickier than the summer breeze.
Yang Beibei chuckled. She thought so, too. Although she had been single all her life, she had a certain sensitivity towards her “own kind.”
“Speaking of which, Yinyin, was the person you like also from our school? I always felt like you avoided talking about things at school.”
This sudden topic left Lu Yin speechless.
Yang Beibei seemed to have a sudden realization, and her voice rose a little: “Yinyin, does your return this time have anything to do with that person?”
What was that all about? Why was the topic so random?
Lu Yin almost spit out the iced beer she had just taken a sip of. How did these two things connect?
“Such a big reaction. I guess it’s true then.” Yang Beibei narrowed her eyes, a playful smile on her face: “Tell me about it. What kind of person is she?”
They used to talk about everything online, but Lu Yin never talked about her love life. At first, Yang Beibei thought Lu Yin was like her and had never been in a relationship.
Then, one time, Lu Yin video-called her while drunk and asked how to completely forget a person. That’s when Yang Beibei found out there was someone in her heart.
She just didn’t know what kind of past it was that made Lu Yin cry so pitifully when she was drunk.
Unfortunately, Lu Yin wouldn’t admit it when she was sober, saying it was all just drunken talk and that she was just reciting lines from a TV show.
Yang Beibei didn’t believe it. If Lu Yin could see her own expression at the time, she wouldn’t be able to come up with such a brazen lie. She regretted not having recorded the evidence back then.
Lu Yin took a sip of iced beer to calm herself: “What are you nosy kids asking about? I said there’s no one.”
Even as Lu Yin said there was no one, Sheng Xiali’s image automatically appeared in her mind.
But surprisingly, she wasn’t thinking of the successful, elegant Sheng Xiali she had just seen yesterday.
Sitting in the summer night breeze, looking out at her alma mater in the distance.
She remembered ten years ago, the somewhat different Sheng Xiali she had seen at first glance.
In fact, she had seen Sheng Xiali long before Song Xinlei brought her to their dorm.
It was the first day of school.
September 1, 2012, 111 days before the rumored end of the world.
Whether the world would end or not, Lu Yin didn’t know. But that summer at the Lu household was more lively than ever.
After Lu Yin received her acceptance letter from Qing University, the usual arguments in the Lu family stopped. All she heard every day was her mother, Lu Huiying, happily calling Lu family relatives and her father, Wang Xingteng, calling Wang family relatives to share the good news.
The couple didn’t even argue anymore. They went together to send Lu Yin to school.
The three of them happily took a photo in front of the school gate. Lu Huiying held Lu Yin’s hand and shed a few tears: “My life is worth it. I raised my daughter to get into one of the best universities in the country.”
Wang Xingteng was not happy to hear this and grumbled: “Listen to yourself, you say it as if you’re the only one who raised her to get into university. I was the one who taught Yinyin’s lessons when she was little. You can only read the words on mahjong tiles.”
As soon as he said that, Lu Yin knew it was bad. Sure enough, Lu Huiying’s face immediately darkened.
“Wang Xingteng, have you no shame? You taught her for a few days? Yinyin hadn’t even graduated from kindergarten when you got together with that Zheng woman. You didn’t come home for nights on end. Our daughter couldn’t even see you. What the hell did you teach her?”
…
The back-and-forth revealing of each other’s flaws wasn’t new. Lu Yin could almost recite it by heart.
Lu Yin looked up at the brilliant sun, feeling her eyes get a little blurry from the sunlight. She then lowered her head to look at the photo of the three of them that they had just taken.
In her blurry vision, a layer of mottled light appeared on their smiling faces.
Lu Yin patiently waited for her vision to clear and also patiently waited for the two of them to finish arguing.
Fortunately, it didn’t take long. They realized they were in public and decided to save some face, stopping their argument faster than ever before.
Seeing them put on a smile again, Lu Yin pretended the argument hadn’t happened and got back into the car to go to the dorm area.
Maybe they hadn’t argued enough just now. When they arrived at the dorm, as Lu Yin was taking her luggage out, Wang Xingteng started to scold her.
“Yinyin, look at you. You’re going to school like you’re moving. What other student has so many things like you? I think you’ve just been spoiled by your mother!”
Lu Huiying was not happy to hear this. But she looked around at the other students. Indeed, no one had as many things as Lu Yin. Four suitcases, seven or eight storage boxes, and two woven bags. She was also carrying the two bags she had just taken out of the back seat.
She glared at Wang Xingteng: “Keep your voice down. Don’t act like you didn’t have a hand in spoiling our daughter. Didn’t you say before we left that since we had a car, we should bring everything we needed? Yinyin was just thinking of bringing all the things we already had at home, which also saves you some money.”
But there really was too much. Lu Huiying felt a lot of eyes on them. She looked at Lu Yin unhappily: “And you, are you going to school or escaping a famine? Bringing so many things. Next time, bring less and ask your dad for more money. What can’t you buy with money? That way, your dad won’t have to say you’re moving.”
Lu Yin remained silent. She knew if she really asked for money, it would just be another scolding.
Lu Huiying saw she wasn’t saying anything and assumed she was being defiant and not listening to her. She looked around, wanting to find an example to set a good example for Lu Yin.
She pointed casually forward: “Look, who has more things than you? Now that’s what a student looks like.”
It was with this casual pointing that Lu Yin saw that solitary, slender figure.
Generally, even students with the least luggage would at least have a suitcase or a duffel bag.
But the person Lu Huiying was pointing at, dressed in a black t-shirt and black pants with her hair in a ponytail, had nothing but a backpack. She walked among the students with their large and small bags and their parents. She looked like an out-of-place passerby.
But because she was out of place, she was also particularly attractive.
Lu Yin watched the person walk closer, seeing that her eyes, which didn’t hold much emotion, were always looking at the road. Lu Yin’s stare was so direct and blatant, but she didn’t slow down to show confusion or even spare her a glance.
She just walked past her, like a lone, straight tree that had grown legs.
Lu Yin watched this lone tree enter the same dorm building as her.
Later, when Song Xinlei brought her to their dorm, she found out her name was Sheng Xiali.
“What are you spacing out about? Thinking about that person?”
Yang Beibei reached out and waved her hand in front of Lu Yin. When Lu Yin came back to her senses, she looked at her with twelve parts curiosity and a coy smile: “Yinyin, tell me. What kind of person could make you so unforgettable?”