Chapter 15 Comrade Little Xu

Chapter 15 Comrade Little Xu

The good neighbor looked at him and finally uttered a single word, "Mm."

Then he added, "Next time, be slower; it's dangerous. I won't move from here."

Chen Bai smiled and agreed. Sensing the gaze of the person in front of him, he lifted his eyes, ruffled his hair, and asked, "Are you looking at this?"

He asked, "Is it necessary for work to look like this? Is it good-looking?"

He asked casually, not expecting an answer. After he spoke, he started rummaging through his pockets, attempting to show his discount coupons. Just as his hand went into his pocket, he heard a voice from above him say, "It looks nice."

A simple sentence, perfectly in line with Neighbor Brother's usual way of speaking.

Chen Bai lifted his head and took a few more glances at the person in front of him before smiling. "Good to hear that."

It was still early for dinner. According to their original plan, the two of them were supposed to visit the forest park near the mall.

But on the street, beside a damn bench, Pink-haired couldn't move any further.

Pink-haired glanced at the fluffy creature wildly waving its paws inside the store, then turned to look at the man standing behind her.

Xu Sinian looked down, meeting her light gray eyes.

"..."

Chen Moubai fulfilled his wish of entering the Samoyed Bar with his good neighbor.

Some money should be saved, some spent wisely.

Upon entering the store and burying herself in the enthusiastic pile of fluff, the scent of puppies filled Pink-haired's nostrils. She closed her eyes peacefully; with each blink, she felt as though she had arrived in heaven.

Even in heaven, there's work to be done.

The person drowning in the sea of fluff, who was living life to the fullest, suddenly sat up from his dream-induced stupor, remembering what his agent told him before leaving the studio - to take more photos for backup.

Though he didn't understand the purpose of having backups, he followed the advice anyway.

As a result, his good neighbor transformed into a human, self-propelled, mobile phone stand, complete with a built-in photo-taking function.

An additional figure had appeared among the photographers—the store manager.

The manager offered an 80% discount if Chen Bai agreed to have his photo displayed on the customer collage wall. Chen Bai consented without a moment's hesitation.

After playing with all the Yees in the Ye Club, Pink-haired was finally willing to depart, leaving with a complimentary small keychain from the store—a memento he shared with his neighbor brother, one for each of them.

Exiting the store, he solemnly pulled out his precious discount voucher, feeling that the process lacked sufficient grandeur, so he added a fitting background music score of his own.

Armed with his esteemed discount voucher, he successfully took a seat in a private booth, where his good neighbor removed his hat and mask.

Taking the opportunity to sneak a few more glances at his good neighbor, Pink-haired gave him a thumbs up. "Really handsome."

The meal was enjoyable, and during the intermission, Chen Bai even snapped a photo of the hot pot to share with his buddies.

Steam billowed from the hot pot, and through the hazy mist, Xu Sinian glanced at the person who had put down his phone and was now lounging in his seat with his eyes squinted, looking like a lump.

After finishing the meal, it was indeed late when they returned. Getting into Brother Neighbor's car, Chen Bai opened his livestream software and posted a notice for a delayed broadcast.

The result of forcibly turning on his device early in the morning and playing all afternoon was that after Chen Moubai had cleared his notifications, he slumped in the passenger seat with a tilt of his head, his whole body sliding down as he fell asleep instantly.

Driver Xu drove smoothly without any jolts, and he slept all the way until he was woken up under his apartment building.

"..."

His mind wasn't clear, but with what little rationality he possessed, Pink-haired didn't linger in his kind neighbor's car, struggling to get up.

Getting up, getting up... he couldn't quite manage to get up.

It was as if an invisible force had bound him, from which he could not break free no matter what.

Xu Sinian: "…"

Watching the person in the car struggling incessantly, Xu Sinian opened the passenger door, bent down, one hand bracing on the seat, and leaned in to unfasten the passenger's seatbelt.

The invisible force vanished, allowing the person to successfully exit the vehicle.

As they climbed the stairs, the person who was yawning incessantly walked while holding onto the railing.

Chen Bai felt that this state wouldn't do, contemplating whether to brew a cup of black coffee later.

Ascending the stairs and walking through the corridor to stand before the front door, he turned to bid his good neighbor farewell, then lowered his head to reach into his pocket for the keys.

"..."

A moment of clarity. After searching the pocket where he usually kept his keys, he calmly withdrew his hand and reached into another pocket.

Putting aside the matter of black coffee for now, there might be something more important he should attend to.

Xu Sinian stood by, watching as the man searched every single pocket on his person, then observed him silently wiping his face.

Some people don't say a word, yet it feels like everything has been said.

He asked, "Didn't bring your keys?"

The man beside him turned around, letting out a couple of laughs, "Haha."

These two laughs encapsulated a myriad of emotions.

After careful recollection, Chen Bai was finally certain that the key he was searching for should still be lying quietly on the cabinet in the entrance hall.

The front door key was inside the house, the lock shop's key was also inside, and the lock-picking tools were in the lock shop. The landlord had maintained contact with him, so he knew clearly that the landlord was already playing with his granddaughter and great-grandson at their home today, and would only return to check on the shop tomorrow morning.

If he were to hire someone to pick the lock, by tomorrow, the heroic tale of "the locksmith locked out, seeking help to unlock his own door" would spread throughout the neighborhood.

"Click."

The neighbor's front door opened, and his good neighbor, hand on the doorknob, looked over at him.

The man standing right outside his doorstep but without a place to call home stepped into his kind neighbor's abode.

Slipping on slippers, Chen Bai expressed his gratitude for his neighbor's great kindness.

Although they often chatted at the doorstep, he had actually never seen what his good neighbor's home looked like inside; this was his first time.

This house, like the entire residential building, had stood for quite some years. Its decor was from a long-gone era of popular styles, vintage yet not outdated, clean and tidy.

His good neighbor led him to the guest room, saying, "The housekeeper cleaned before, and the bedding has all been freshly changed."

While he was checking out the guest room, his good neighbor went to fetch him some clean clothes for changing.

After spending the afternoon buried in a crowd, and having hot pot for dinner, his body was saturated with its aroma, leaving him no choice but to take a shower.

Those who frequently work on set have the habit of keeping a set of clean clothes for changing, which came in handy at this moment.

Chen Bai thanked his good neighbor for the clothes provided out of friendship, and after taking a shower, he vigorously rolled up his sleeves and pants as he exited the bathroom.

Upon finishing, he looked up to see his neighbor, towel still draped around his neck after his own shower, standing at the entrance of the master bedroom, watching him. Chen Bai couldn't tell how long he had been standing there.

After a busy day, Master Chen had questions and asked them directly.

Xu Sinian: "I just finished."

Meaning, he had just started standing there.

But Chen Erbai felt it wasn't so, because he thought he saw this person smile for an instant just now.

However, without evidence, he chose to temporarily skip this topic, bending down to pick up his phone left in the living room, replacing the previous delay notification with a suspension notice.

Without the necessary equipment here, he couldn't stream live. Coincidentally, Qingzhou had something to attend to today and wouldn't be logging on, so Chen Bai didn't have to head to the internet cafe to wait until dawn.

His locksmithing work typically wrapped up by nightfall, leaving him with downtime now.

Suddenly, he found himself with free time.

With idle hours on his hands and it still being early—definitely not yet bedtime—he ultimately decided to play a simple game of Ludo with his good neighbor, just as they had done before.

The reason he chose this game was because its repetitive, straightforward gameplay easily induced drowsiness, making it perfect for a few rounds that would lead precisely to bedtime, allowing for a punctual night's rest.

—This was his explanation.

In reality, after two rounds, the person in the loose-fitting clothes went from comfortably lounging on the sofa to sitting upright with a cushion in his arms, eyes wide as saucers.

Xu Sinian noticed that perhaps this man's poor luck with raffles wasn't unfounded. With six sides on a die, landing on 1 was statistically unlikely, but on this individual, it became an improbably frequent occurrence.

Holding the cushion close, Chen Bai maneuvered his green plane forward step by step, only to be swiftly overtaken by other players and sent back home in one fell swoop.

Another little green plane was trampled back to base, and he then bumped his head against his good neighbor's back, once not being enough, so he gave it another couple of taps.

After the collision, he commented, "Your back is so hard."

Xu Sinian was speechless.

Xu Sinian took two steps forward and, by coincidence, stepped on another player's plane, successfully taking his revenge.

The person holding the cushion was deeply moved. He withdrew the head that had been preparing to bump into someone else and said with utmost sincerity—nine out of ten—"From now on, I'll only play flying chess with Comrade Little Xu."

Comrade Little Xu appreciated his trust and ended the mini-game after playing two more rounds.

If they continued like this, some people might not be able to sleep tonight.

Comrade Little Xu's decision saved the sleep of a Pink-haired player who was almost about to lose control again.

Feeling it was about time, and remembering that his good neighbor had work the next day, Chen Bai suggested going to bed and returned to his room.

It was bedtime, but not his bedtime—it was still early. With work at the restaurant the next day, he lay in bed, slowly flipping through the music sheets stored on his phone, finally putting it down well past midnight.

As a result of his graveyard shift sleep schedule, when he woke up the next day, his neighbor had indeed already left for work. On the living room table lay a spare key, which, combined with the message he received on his phone that morning, implied that he could use it if needed.

A remarkably considerate and kind neighbor.

Without bothering to retrieve his keys, Chen Bai, after confirming that the landlord had already opened his shop, went straight downstairs to fetch lock-picking tools, finally returning to his own home.

The first thing he did upon returning home was to turn on his computer and go live, intent on making up for the lost streaming time and income from the previous night.

The traffic in the morning is different from at night, and it's not his usual streaming hour now; he was prepared for a sparse audience.

However, the actual number of people who entered after he went live was better than expected.

As the game loaded, Chen Bai munched on a steamed bun bought downstairs while watching the barrage of comments fly by.

"You didn't have Qingzhou or Erbai yesterday, do you know how I survived! Do you know!"

"So normal is the timing, so normal is Erbai."

"Wait, has Erbai finally decided to change his clothes? How come he looks better all of a sudden, even though we still can't see his head (closing eyes)."

"I never knew Erbai had collarbones!"

"Please make this outfit semi-permanent [praying hands emoji]."

"People usually have collarbones, my friends."

Chen Bai, munching on a steamed bun, glanced at the comments and then looked down, finally remembering he was still wearing his neighbor's clothes. He said, "It can't be semi-permanent; these are a friend's clothes."

As he spoke, he adjusted the slightly drooping neckline upwards.

With a snap, the brief joy of his online friends vanished.