To You Whom I HATE The Most Chapter 5
Fifth Letter
Cen Wei held her breath and quickly tossed the tablet in her hand, afraid that if she looked at it for even one more second, she might uncover some earth-shattering secret.
She shook her head, trying to shake off the words she had just seen.
It was Zhou Ran's fault for leaving things lying around carelessly, not hers.
After all the hassle in the morning, it was already lunchtime. Cen Wei opened the fridge and took a quick look. There wasn’t much inside. It was neatly filled with eggs, milk, two boxes of blueberries, a bag of bagels, and a bottle of some unidentifiable grayish liquid.
She opened the food delivery app, ordered some fruits and fast food, and also added a spicy double-pepper beef noodle soup for herself.
The roads were bad in the rain, so the delivery guy was late by half an hour. On the phone, he kept apologizing to Cen Wei, and when he arrived, he kept saying, "I’m so sorry."
"It’s fine, it’s fine," Cen Wei said, handing him two napkins to wipe the rain off his face.
"Thank you so much."
Cen Wei smiled and said, "You’ve worked hard."
After closing the door, Cen Wei checked the bottom of the food container. It wasn’t hot anymore, and the noodles inside were definitely soggy.
As soon as she opened the lid, a strong chili aroma wafted out. The noodles were a bit limp, but the broth was flavorful, and the beef was well-seasoned. It wasn’t bad at all. Maybe next time she could try eating it at the restaurant.
He Zhiying sent a message on WeChat, asking how things had gone with her and Zhou Ran.
Cen Wei put down her chopsticks and typed back: "It’s all settled. He lives downstairs, and I live upstairs."
He Zhiying: "Okay."
He Zhiying: "I already gave Shi Jiaxu a good scolding. If I had known he rented the place to Zhou Ran, I definitely wouldn't have bothered you. I only meant well but ended up causing trouble."
Cen Wei sent a cute puppy sticker: "It’s fine, at least it’s better than me wandering the streets with nowhere to go."
He Zhiying asked her: "What about Zhou Ran?"
Cen Wei: "He went out."
He Zhiying: "Then you two should get along well. He’s actually a decent guy."
Cen Wei replied with a polite smile.
Around 2 PM, Zhou Ran came back.
At that time, Cen Wei was lying on the couch, in a half-dream, half-awake state.
With a loud bang, the sound of the door closing shook her out of her drowsiness completely. She hummed, irritated, rolled over, and opened her eyes.
"Did I wake you up?" Zhou Ran asked, standing at the door.
Cen Wei rubbed her face and, in a hoarse voice, replied, "No."
Seeing the shopping bag in his hand, Cen Wei asked, "Did you go to the supermarket?"
"Yeah, I stopped by on my way." Zhou Ran walked over to the dining table. "Is this what you bought?"
He was referring to the plastic bag on the table, which had "Fresh Delivery" printed on it.
Cen Wei nodded. She hadn't had a chance to open it yet.
After sorting through the items in the shopping bag, Zhou Ran went on to take care of the things Cen Wei had ordered.
If she wasn’t mistaken, he seemed to let out a small sigh.
"Don’t order fruit through the delivery app again."
"Hm?"
Zhou Ran held up a bunch of bananas. "They're not fresh."
"Oh." Cen Wei awkwardly tugged at the corner of her mouth.
Zhou Ran: "There’s a supermarket on the B1 level of the mall across the street."
Cen Wei nodded. "I know."
"Do you want some yogurt?"
"Sure."
Zhou Ran washed his hands, took two bottles of yogurt from the fridge, and handed one to Cen Wei.
"Thanks." Cen Wei stole a glance at him.
"Ugh." Her expression showed clear discomfort.
"It's unsweetened, so it’s a bit sour," Zhou Ran said, unbothered, as he took a big gulp himself.
Cen Wei thought of the food in the fridge and asked, "Do you usually eat this healthily?"
"Mm."
Cen Wei took small sips of the yogurt.
Zhou Ran sat down on the single sofa across from her. "Since we’re going to live together, I think there are some things we should discuss in advance."
Cen Wei looked up at him and shifted into a more comfortable position. "Go ahead."
"First, no bringing people back."
Cen Wei nodded and added, "And we can’t let anyone know we’re living together."
"Mm." Zhou Ran continued, "There are bathrooms upstairs and downstairs, but the shower is upstairs, so..."
"Oh, that’s fine. You can use it."
"Sometimes I shower in the mornings too, so just wanted to let you know in advance."
Thinking back to the unsettling scene this morning, Cen Wei’s expression stiffened. "Got it."
"Also, I can’t keep all my clothes downstairs. Suits and shirts are hard to fold. I’ll go upstairs every night to get the clothes I need for the next day. I won’t go up to the second floor at any other time."
This made her feel reassured. Cen Wei nodded. "Okay."
"We’ll use the washing machine separately, and the kitchen and fridge can be shared spaces. Is there anything else you’re concerned about?"
Cen Wei shook her head, not being able to think of anything else. Honestly, in the past few hours, she hadn’t had time to consider these things at all.
Seeing Zhou Ran's serious expression, she almost expected him to pull out a contract for her to sign any second.
"Let’s leave it at that for now. We can discuss any issues later," Zhou Ran said, glancing at his watch. "Are you planning to take a nap? I’ll head to the study then."
"No." Cen Wei got up from the sofa and, very conscientiously, moved aside to give him space. "I’ll go upstairs. Don’t worry, I won’t come into the living room to disturb you unless it’s really necessary."
Zhou Ran nodded. "Okay."
There was no suitable workspace upstairs, which was quite inconvenient for Cen Wei.
The design drafts for Xincheng still needed revisions. Speaking of which, the person who had kept her working overtime that weekend was downstairs.
Cen Wei curled up in the armchair, holding her tablet, using the cap of her pen to tap her chin rhythmically.
Sometimes, when her thoughts were blocked, she would flip through the portfolio she had put together to look for inspiration.
With a general direction in mind, Cen Wei opened the drawing software and started sketching, stroke by stroke.
By the time the rough draft was finished, the rain was still falling outside, and the light in the bedroom had grown dim.
After staring at the screen for a while, Cen Wei felt her eyes strain. She looked up, stretching her arm to grab the yogurt bottle from the desk.
Ugh, so sour. She still couldn’t get used to it.
Distracted, she wondered what the person downstairs was doing. She hoped he wasn't having a leisurely weekend, or she would feel unbalanced.
Noticing that it was getting dark, Cen Wei ordered herself a spicy noodle dish.
When the doorbell rang, she raised an eyebrow. It had only been less than half an hour, how could it be so fast?
Cen Wei walked down the stairs. Zhou Ran was nowhere to be seen. She glanced around the living room as she passed through, but didn’t spot him.
Upon opening the door, the delivery guy said, "Hello. Mr. Zhou, right? Here’s your delivery."
"Huh?" Seeing "Panda Light Meals" written on the green bag, Cen Wei didn’t immediately reach out to take it.
The delivery guy glanced at the door number and confirmed, "I haven’t made a mistake, right? The phone number ends in 8712."
"Yes, that’s mine."
A hand reached over Cen Wei’s shoulder to take the delivery.
Hearing the sound, Cen Wei tilted her head slightly, her ear brushing against the fabric of the man’s shirt.
Zhou Ran spoke to the delivery guy outside, saying, "Thank you."
"You’re welcome. Enjoy your meal."
Cen Wei closed the door and reached up to touch her ear. It seemed there was more to get used to than just the yogurt.
Zhou Ran, still holding his phone in his left hand, casually placed the delivery on the dining table and went back to the balcony to make a call.
Ten minutes later, Cen Wei’s spicy noodle dish arrived.
She sat at the dining table, first setting up her phone to watch a show with her meal.
Zhou Ran finally came back from the balcony. He walked across the living room and sat down across from Cen Wei.
What did he mean by that?
Cen Wei snapped the wooden chopsticks apart forcefully. She would feel queasy just looking at plain boiled chicken breast.
She decided not to care about him.
Visually, he could force himself to desensitize, but the temptation of the smell was vivid and real. It was torture.
He never should have agreed to that ridiculous idea of living together.
That evening, Cen Wei showered first. When Zhou Ran came upstairs, she was drying her hair, wearing thin pajamas. A towel was perched on her head as she hurriedly walked into the bedroom, her back hunched as she lowered her head.
After his shower, Zhou Ran knocked on the bedroom door.
"Come in," came the voice from inside.
Cen Wei was curled up in the armchair in front of the vanity, looking small and petite.
Zhou Ran subtly averted his gaze and walked over to the wardrobe, opening the door.
The first impression the sight gave him was chaos. Too many colors scattered around, with clothes not arranged in any particular order, like a painter's used palette.
Zhou Ran frowned slightly, pulling out a shirt and a pair of trousers from his side of the wardrobe.
"You should take the blankets downstairs too," Cen Wei said, pointing to the stack of neatly folded blankets at the foot of the bed.
"Okay."
She had already changed the bed sheets to a light green one with pale purple flowers.
When Zhou Ran reached the door, he hesitated for a moment, wondering if he should say something, but he decided their relationship wasn’t close enough for "goodnight" just yet.
With one arm holding the blankets, he gently closed the door behind him.
After descending two steps, Zhou Ran heard the sound of the bedroom door locking behind him.
"......"
Good. She was pretty cautious.
The rain had been falling all day. Zhou Ran lay on the sofa, watching a suspense movie on the TV, with the volume turned down low.
After a while, sounds came from upstairs. Cen Wei walked down the stairs with a mug in hand, wearing a milk-white robe over her pajamas, and a pair of framed glasses.
Cen Wei sat at the dining table, scrolling through her phone while waiting for the water to heat up.
She yawned, then looked up, her attention caught by the scene on the TV. She asked, "Shutter Island?"
Zhou Ran turned his head toward Cen Wei. "Have you seen it?"
"Yeah, I used to really like Leonardo when I was younger."
The film was from eight years ago, and at that time, Leonardo still had sharp features, looking handsome and charming.
Knowing the identity of the villain in a suspense movie was like a can of cola that had been open for a day. What once held excitement lost its freshness, leaving only a dull aftertaste.
The water boiled, and Cen Wei poured it into her cup, then stood up and walked toward the stairs.
As she passed the living room, something crossed her mind. She suddenly stopped, turned around, and asked Zhou Ran, "Do you fit on this bed?"
Zhou Ran glanced up at her, his lips pressed into a straight line. He didn’t say anything, but somehow it felt like he had said everything.
"How long is it?" Cen Wei took a step closer.
Zhou Ran answered uncertainly, "About 1.8 meters?"
Cen Wei: "How tall are you?"
Zhou Ran: "1.92 meters."
"Ah, oh," Cen Wei scratched her head. "Isn’t Shi Jiaxu a rich second-generation? Why didn’t he buy a bigger sofa?"
Zhou Ran: "He never thought I’d end up sleeping on it."
They exchanged a glance and fell silent.
Considering his sleep quality, bone health, and, most importantly——Zhou Ran was still her client——Cen Wei sighed, set her cup down, and said, "I’ll sleep in the living room. You go upstairs."
"It’s fine."
"Let's switch. I’ve been complaining that there’s no good space for working upstairs anyway. It’s more convenient downstairs, and this bed is big enough for me to roll around on."
Actually, he could have managed on the couch, but since she had offered, Zhou Ran nodded in agreement. "Alright then."
"You go ahead."
Zhou Ran stood up, and Cen Wei swapped positions with him. She crossed her legs and sat on the sofa. She had slept here earlier in the day, and for someone who was 1.66 meters tall, it was spacious enough.
"Then, I’ll go upstairs?"
"Okay." Cen Wei sipped from her mug.
This man's conscience was so small that it wouldn't even register a number on a scale, would it?