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墨書 Inktalez
The next morning.
Tong Le opened her eyes in her new apartment. A sharp pain throbbed at her temples as she sat up. She was still wearing the same clothes from yesterday, and while the bed was incredibly soft and comfortable, this was not her home.
Getting out of bed, she noticed Tian Ling sleeping on the living room carpet. It suddenly dawned on her that she had gotten drunk at the bar last night and had been brought here.
She wandered around the spacious apartment, which felt warm and inviting. The furniture was all new, the decor fresh, and even the kitchen utensils looked recently purchased.
Recalling fragments of last night, she quickly took out her phone to check the location of the neighborhood. It turned out this was the apartment that Zong Zeyu had lent her.
As she made her way to the living room, she accidentally stepped on Tian Ling's hand. Tian Ling let out a yelp and sat up abruptly, staring blankly at Tong Le.
Tong Le headed straight to the bathroom. Looking at herself in the mirror, she noticed an array of unopened skincare and makeup products on the counter—all brand new and top quality.
For a moment, she felt as if she were dreaming. Wasn't this exactly the life she had longed for? A spacious home of her own, filled with sunlight and fresh air, adorned with flowers by the window, a pristine white carpet, a bookshelf, a wine rack, a vanity mirror where she could admire herself, and a space that belonged solely to her.
She had always dreamed of this day, thinking it would be a long time before she could have it. Yet here it was—Zong Zeyu had handed it all to her.
Turning to glance back at the bathroom, she saw a bathtub just for her—no longer cluttered with various laundry basins and foot baths or rags and small stools left by her mother-in-law, Zhang Huizhi.
Such freedom was rare, and Zong Zeyu had created this hidden sanctuary for her.
Just then, a shrill scream came from the master bedroom.
Tong Le hurried out to find Tian Ling standing in front of the open wardrobe in awe. "So many beautiful clothes! And they still have tags on them—are they new?!"
Tong Le approached and saw that the wardrobe was filled with dresses and suits in shades ranging from light to dark.
Tian Ling opened another side of the wardrobe and gasped as she spotted bags and high heels—all brand new.
Tong Le felt as if she were in a dream; everything seemed increasingly surreal. She even began to doubt whether this was truly Zong Zeyu's apartment or if perhaps he had given her the wrong key.
Without hesitation, Tong Le walked up to Tian Ling and playfully tugged at two strands of her hair. "Hey! Why are you pulling my hair?" Tian Ling exclaimed.
Realizing this wasn't a dream made it very likely that Zong Zeyu had indeed given her the wrong key.
She immediately took out her phone and called Zong Zeyu.
When he answered, his deep voice came through. "Finally awake? Someone will bring you breakfast in twenty minutes."
Tong Le questioned him, "Did you give me the wrong key? There are so many women's items in this apartment; it's clearly been set up by a girl. Is this where your girlfriend lives?"
Zong Zeyu paused for two seconds before responding, "Yes, it's for my girlfriend. What's the matter?"
Tong Le let out a sigh of relief. "I knew it! The furniture and appliances are all complete, the wardrobe is filled with various skirts and bags, and there are plenty of cosmetics in the bathroom. It’s obvious a girl lives here! There’s no way it’s an empty house; I just knew you must have given the wrong key."
Suddenly, Tong Le reacted, "Didn’t you say you didn’t have a girlfriend?"
Zong Zeyu replied, "Well, I do now."
Tong Le was momentarily taken aback. "Your new girlfriend? Why didn’t you say anything? Now that you have a girlfriend, don’t take me to your mom’s place for tasks next time."
As soon as she said this, for some reason, Tong Le felt a slight heaviness in her chest, as if she was struggling to breathe, like there was no oxygen in the air around her.
She quietly waited for Zong Zeyu's response. On the other end of the line, Zong Zeyu said, "The key wasn’t given by mistake."
Hearing this made Tong Le's heart clench tightly. In those brief three seconds, she felt as if she had experienced the harshness of winter and summer, confusion, anticipation, disappointment—everything felt prolonged.
Then came surprise and excitement.
Zong Zeyu continued, "Take a shower, have something to eat, then come to Zong Shi Yan Tuan to sign the contract. I’ll hang up now; there’s nothing else."
Tong Le hurriedly confirmed, "The key wasn’t given by mistake?"
Zong Zeyu replied, "No."
Tong Le's voice became cautious. "Can I cook in this house?"
Zong Zeyu said, "Yes, but only for me."
"Okay," she replied.
After hanging up the phone, Tong Le stood frozen in place with her phone in hand.
Tian Ling had seven beautiful bags hanging from her arms. She leaned closer to Tong Le and asked in surprise, "Are you feeling feverish? Why is your face so red?"
Tian Ling reached out to touch Tong Le's cheek. "Wow, you're so hot!" She then checked Tong Le's forehead and sighed in relief when she found it wasn’t warm.
Tong Le pressed her hands tightly against her left chest; she could feel her heart racing uncontrollably.
Every word exchanged between her and Zong Zeyu on the phone had struck her heart fiercely.
Tian Ling grabbed the beautiful bags and tried them on one by one in front of the mirror. Suddenly she remembered something. "Oh right! You got drunk last night. Before Zong Zeyu dropped us off here, Wen’s bar had trouble with some debt collectors who were after her for either ten or thirty thousand—I'm not sure which—but it was quite a hassle."
Tong Le recalled some fragments from last night; she did remember bits and pieces. Then it suddenly struck her—since Wen had a debt crisis, where did she get a million to help resolve the property purchase issue?
Immediately, Tong Le sent a WeChat message to Wen: "Sister Wen, are you okay? I just sobered up. Tian Ling said you had trouble with debt collectors last night. Are you facing financial difficulties? And what about that million you said you helped me raise?"
Wen replied: "I ran into some issues with my funding chain. That million for the house was promised by Zong Zeyu; he didn’t want me to mention it, but this matter can’t be hidden forever. By the way, I’m planning to go to Zong Shi Yan Tuan today; can you take me to meet Zong Jin?"
No problem. Call me when you get to the company; I'm going to Zong today as well.
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