73: Xue Ning’s Apartment Part 1

Xue Ning’s Apartment Part 1

Sun Jingwei gave her a heartbroken look, and she frowned.0

"Oi, don't pity me!" Xue Ning said, smacking his arm. "It's really not that bad once you get used to it!"

If possible, he looked even more heartbroken at her words.

Poor Xue Ning, she lived in this dingy place that can't even get people to clean up their lift lobby. There was a faint smell of cigarette smoke and dried piss in the air, and suspicious black spots on the walls.

Xue Ning lived here, with such an inauspicious address, simply to save more money for daily expenses! 

"It's still sad," Jingwei insisted. "And what are these black spots?" He pointed. "Is this mould? Is your lift lobby capable of creating a new species of fungus?"

"Nah, it's just cockroach shit, don't touch it." Xue Ning replied. Jingwei drew his hand back as if burnt. 

"Cockroach shit… on the walls?" He repeated faintly. 

"Or lizard shit. It's either one or the other." Xue Ning shrugged. "Lizards are more likely though, these buggers are always around. Don't step on them."

"Duly noted." Jingwei said, and he took a more careful look at the floor surrounding his feet. In a fit of paranoia, he lifted his shoes to check the underside for any animal droppings and carcasses. 

He stumbled, and Xue Ning easily grabbed his arm to support him. She didn't want him to fall against the wall and smear that branded T-shirt of his with shit. A posh man like Sun Jingwei might just have a meltdown, and she was ill-equipped to deal with something like that. 

The vultures on social media would love it though. Which is another reason why she had to help him. Not because she wanted to hold his arm or anything! 

"Thanks darling," he said distractedly, taking another look at his shoes. Was that black speck dirt… or… he shuddered internally, giving Xue Ning a pleading look. 

Xue Ning took one glance at the bottom of his branded shoes and rolled her eyes. 

"That's just dirt, put down your feet."

Jingwei took another look just in case. Now that Xue Ning said it, he felt more reassured and heaved a sigh of relief. 

"How long have you been living here for again?" Jingwei asked. "You seem really used to these… circumstances." 

"Not too long, and it's life," Xue Ning shrugged. "It could always be worse. At least my home has its own toilet."

Jingwei stared at her, horrified.

"You mean some houses don't have toilets?" He squawked out. He imagined the sprawling estate of his mansion without any toilets whatsoever. Impossible. 

"Yeah, communal toilets are a thing, ever heard of dorm rooms?" Xue Ning asked. "It's a lot cheaper to share a toilet, but I refuse to skimp on this." She had enough bad experiences with shared bathrooms in school to invite them into adulthood. This was a necessary expense. 

"Huh," was Jingwei's only response. Seeing that his mind was frantically rebooting with new knowledge, Xue Ning decided not to hold it against him. If he pawned his watch, he could probably buy at least half of this building. 

"Anyway, are you okay with climbing up three flights of stairs?" She asked, finger preparing to press on the button. "It's fine if you say no, I won't judge you. Much."

"Hey! I'm fit enough to climb three flights of stairs!" He protested. He had caught Xue Ning checking out Shengli's physique when they first met him, and that was certainly fuel for his competitiveness. Even if Shengli and Xue Ning had not gotten along, it still rankled him. 

He was going to make sure she couldn't take her eyes off him! And it starts with proving his own fitness.

"Lead the way!" 

"Fair enough," Xue Ning casted a doubtful look at him, before climbing the stairs. She wasn't completely healed, but it was good for her to get some exercise - she had been eating astonishingly well these past few days. 

Sun Jingwei was strangely quiet as they climbed up. She expected him to make some quip about how narrow the staircase was, and the possible presence of pests. She even expected him to wheeze in exhaustion. 

Curious, and just a little worried, she turned around slightly, only to see Sun Jingwei's eyes focused on her ass! No wonder he was so quiet! She whipped around to glare at him, but before she could actually scold him, he stumbled back, startled, and nearly fell backwards!

"Careful!" She yelled, grabbing onto his T-shirt with one hand, the other gripping the staircase railing. God, this man was a menace to his own wellbeing. Thankfully he managed to catch himself by holding onto the railing, but Jingwei immediately let go as soon as he was able. 

"Xue Ning, thanks for saving me, but I must know, has this railing ever been wiped?" Jingwei asked warily, staring at his own hand as though it was rife with germs.

Xue Ning rolled her eyes, but internally smirked. It was time for her to get some revenge. 

"Railings need to be wiped?" She asked curiously. "I didn't know that!" 

Jingwei stared at her, and then at his hand, and then back at her, before letting out a mournful sound as though he was a kicked puppy. 

She laughed. 

"Just kidding. I know that railings need to be wiped." Just as Jingwei was beginning to feel relieved, she continued. "But the ones here aren't though. No one bothers." 

Jingwei stared at her, horrified.

"Don't worry, I have dish soap at home. It'll set things right." She said comfortingly. She patted his arm with her hand that touched the railing, expecting him to flinch or jump away, but he did no such thing. 

How surprising. 

"Alright, I'll douse myself in it," he promised, holding her dirty hand with his own clean one. She stared at him, what was the point? Now both of his hands were dirty. 

He caught her curious look and smiled. "Who has ever heard of someone washing only one hand? If I got one hand dirty, I might as well dirty the other one too. And you're my wife, so no matter how dirty your hand is, I still want to hold hands with you."

pqdm.com