Chapter 67: Empty, Lonely, and Cold

Chen Feng wasn’t in a hurry to move into the Red Villa Bay property. The main reason was that living there alone right now would be boring.

Moreover, the small villa he was currently renting was also quite nice. It was closer to East Lake, convenient for walks, and a bit livelier.

Truth be told, in terms of location, the rented villa was actually better.

The reason he bought the Red Villa Bay property wasn’t necessarily to live in it himself; it was more about a feeling, a wish.

Now that the villa was successfully purchased and the long-held wish was fulfilled, he suddenly felt a sense of post-passion clarity.

He thought back to how he and Shen Lin had yearned for a house in Red Villa Bay, only to grimly accept the reality that they would likely never be able to afford one in their lifetime.

Now that he had the ability to buy it, things had already changed, and the person was no longer there.

He had arranged with Xiao Ya to come back in two days to pick up the property deed and handle the relevant procedures with the property management.

Then, he returned to the rented villa to continue his solitary life.

Without Sun Xiaorui’s company, he suddenly felt a bit unaccustomed to it, even though they had only been together for a few days.

First was the issue of meals. When Sun Xiaorui was around, all three meals were well-prepared, and he just had to eat what was ready.

Second was the lack of companionship. For a divorced man without children, the hardest part in the beginning is the loneliness and solitude, both physical and psychological.

There were plenty of substitutes for the physical aspect, but the psychological part was harder to deal with. Even with online chats, online dating, and other things through various social apps, it was difficult to dispel that sense of psychological emptiness and loneliness.

Chen Feng was relatively lucky. He had struck it rich just a few days after his divorce and found himself a companion.

But it’s easy to go from a simple life to a luxurious one, and hard to go from luxury back to simplicity. Now, without Sun Xiaorui, his life felt out of sorts.

Being alone at home felt empty. The surrounding air was filled with a palpable loneliness, which was especially noticeable in this two-story villa. If it were a single apartment, it might have been better.

Chen Feng could only turn on the TV and crank up the volume to make the room feel a bit livelier.

With the TV on but not watching it, Chen Feng took out his phone to scroll through short videos. When he felt hungry, he ordered takeout.

While waiting for the food, Chen Feng received a WeChat message from Wu Mengting, asking if he was free the day after tomorrow.

Chen Feng guessed it was about them moving and replied, “Yes.”

Wu Mengting quickly sent a message: [There’s an open-air performance at the Grand Theater the day after tomorrow. I hear it’s wonderful. Come with us to see it.]

Chen Feng was stunned. He had thought it was about moving, not going to a performance.

Chen Feng’s first instinct was to refuse, but he immediately thought about how he had tried every possible way to break free from the heavens’ control last time, only to fail. He also thought about how he had never been to the Grand Theater to see a performance in his entire life.

So, after hesitating for only a few seconds, he replied with an “Okay.”

[That’s great! I’ll contact you the day after tomorrow then. I’ll pick you up at six in the afternoon.]

Chen Feng didn’t want to reveal his address and immediately replied: [No need to pick me up. I’ll go by myself. We can just meet at the Grand Theater.]

A few seconds later, Wu Mengting sent: [Alright then.]

Seeing this, Chen Feng didn’t bother with her anymore.

It seemed the heavens were still trying to set him up with Wu Mengting. Chen Feng knew it would be hard to break free, but he felt he could try his best to stay clear-headed, to let his feelings be expressed but stop at propriety, and not do anything to wrong her.

He put the matter aside for now and continued scrolling through short videos.

Time passed quickly, and the takeout arrived.

He went to the door to get the food, walked into the room, and had just taken a few bites when his phone rang.

Chen Feng picked it up and saw it was Sun Xiaorui.

Chen Feng answered immediately, asking with concern, “Xiaorui, what’s up?”

“Brother Feng, the doctor is recommending surgery for my dad. My mom and I don’t know if we should do it,” Sun Xiaorui said, sounding helpless.

Chen Feng asked calmly, “What hospital is your dad in now? How is the hospital’s medical level for cerebral infarctions?”

Sun Xiaorui replied, “It’s the city hospital, one of the best in our city.”

“Have you asked the doctor what the success rate is if he has the surgery?”

“The doctor wouldn’t dare to guarantee anything. He just said that in my dad’s current condition, surgery is the best option. Otherwise, he could very likely become hemiplegic, or even be in life-threatening danger.”

“Can your dad be transferred to another hospital now?”

“My dad is conscious now and can get out of bed. A transfer should be possible.”

“Then let’s just transfer him. Transfer him to the provincial capital, or directly to Shanghai or Beijing. Whichever hospital has the highest level of treatment for cerebral infarctions, go there.”

“If we go to another city, I’m afraid it won’t be easy to get reimbursed. We’ll have to pay for a lot of the expenses ourselves.”

“I’ll transfer 500,000 to you first. If it’s not enough, we’ll talk later.”

Chen Feng was very straightforward. He had already anticipated this when she called.

Although she had only been with him for a few days, and he had already given her the money she deserved, they had a pleasant time together. Most importantly, he wasn’t short on money now, and this was to save her father’s life. A few hundred thousand was really nothing to Chen Feng.

“Brother Feng… I… I don’t know how to thank you.”

Sun Xiaorui’s voice was choked with emotion, deeply moved.

“It’s not too late to thank me when you get back. Let’s leave it at that for now, I’m in the middle of eating. I’ll transfer the money to you later. Just send me your bank account number on WeChat.”

“Okay, Brother Feng. I’ll consider this money a loan from you. I’ll pay it back from… my salary in the future.”

“Haha, let’s talk about that when you get back. Anyway, as long as you’re with me, I definitely won’t treat you unfairly.”

“Mm. Thank you, Brother Feng.”

“Let’s leave it at that for now. I’m hanging up.”

“Okay, goodbye.”

Chen Feng didn’t say much more to her; there was no need. Her father was about to have major surgery, and she wasn’t in the mood.

A few minutes later, Sun Xiaorui sent her bank account information via WeChat.

Chen Feng immediately opened his online banking on his phone and easily transferred 500,000.

Not long after, a tearfully grateful emoji and the very solemn words “Thank you” appeared from Sun Xiaorui on WeChat.

Chen Feng saw it, smiled slightly, and put it aside.

To him, 500,000 now was about the same as 50 yuan before his divorce.

What’s more, it was a gift to his own mistress. There was nothing to be reluctant about.

After finishing the takeout, which cost over three hundred yuan, the taste was decent, and the beef was quite authentic, but it clearly didn’t have the same feeling as Sun Xiaorui’s cooking.

He felt that the takeout was mixed with a commercial flavor, while Sun Xiaorui’s had a family atmosphere and love. It was probably a psychological effect.

So, he was really starting to miss Sun Xiaorui now and hoped she could come back soon.

But looking at the situation, it would be difficult for her to return in the next ten days or half a month.

Thinking of this, Chen Feng felt a bit depressed.

Am I really going to start living the life of a truly divorced bachelor?

It would have been one thing if he hadn’t lived with Sun Xiaorui before, but they had lived together for a good few days. To suddenly be single again was truly a bit hard to bear.

With a depressed and somewhat uncomfortable mood, Chen Feng went upstairs to continue scrolling through videos and reading novels, finally falling asleep slowly after one in the morning.

The next day, he didn’t wake up until after ten o’clock. The 2.2-meter bed held only him; the extra pillow beside him was empty.

Chen Feng stared blankly for a good while before getting up to open the curtains. Outside, the sky was already bright, and the surroundings were quiet, with no noise.

This feeling was really damn unpleasant! Too empty, lonely, and cold!

Chen Feng didn’t want to live in this villa alone anymore.

He went out, got in his car, and drove to Delong Plaza. It was livelier here, with the breath of human life.

He went on another shopping spree, with so many bags that he had to make two trips back to the parking lot. It was just a pity that this time, another Sun Xiaorui didn’t appear, bravely chasing after him to get to know him.

Of course, plenty of women threw flirtatious glances his way, but Chen Feng wasn’t interested in any of them. Beauties of Sun Xiaorui’s caliber and temperament were truly rare.

After spending the morning at the mall and having lunch, Chen Feng drove around the streets aimlessly.

Until he suddenly saw a familiar person on the side of the road. He immediately pulled over into a parking spot, rolled down the window, and shouted at the person, “Zhang Kewei!”

The person turned his head in surprise. Seeing it was Chen Feng, he was first stunned, then walked over quickly with a pleasant surprise.

“Fengzi, what a coincidence! To run into you here. It’s been a long time. How have you been?”

“Just getting by. How about you? Didn’t you say you went back to your hometown? Why are you in Xiuzhou again?”

“Sigh, it’s a long story,” Zhang Kewei sighed, looking as if he couldn’t bear to look back on the past.

“Are you free? Let’s go for a cup of tea and chat,” Chen Feng invited.

After a moment’s hesitation, Zhang Kewei nodded, “Alright. There’s a teahouse nearby, just a few minutes’ walk. I’ll take you there.”

“Okay. Let’s go.”

Chen Feng was bored, and it was a rare chance to meet a university classmate he hadn’t seen in several years. He really wanted to chat.

Chen Feng got out of the car and walked with Zhang Kewei.

On the way, they exchanged a bit more about their current situations.

They weren’t just university classmates; they had also been roommates for two years, and their relationship was quite good. So, they didn’t hide things from each other.

It turned out that after graduating from university, Zhang Kewei had returned to his hometown to focus on taking the civil service exam. But after failing twice, he felt too ashamed to face his folks and couldn’t stay in his hometown any longer, so he went to Shanghai to work.

After two years of struggling without making a name for himself, and with his parents worrying about him every day, he had no choice but to return to his hometown again. Through his parents’ arrangement, he entered a public institution as a contract worker. The pay was decent, and if he worked long enough, he might even become a permanent employee.

If he had continued to work well, he might have made it in the future.

But during one work assignment, he accidentally offended a supplier designated by the unit for procurement. Not long after, he was fired. He later found out that this supplier was the brother-in-law of a leader in the unit.

Thus, Zhang Kewei couldn’t stay in his hometown anymore. He had to come out again to find a job and returned to Xiuzhou. After all, he had studied here for four years and was relatively familiar with the place.

Now, he was a regional manager for a stationery company. The title sounded grand, but in reality, he was just a salesperson. His team, including himself, consisted of only three people.

Zhang Kewei wasn’t shy about his current job and told Chen Feng directly.

Chen Feng also roughly described his situation, though of course not everything. He only said that he had resigned, gotten divorced, and was now trading stocks.

After they had roughly updated each other, they arrived in front of a teahouse.

Zhang Kewei led the way in with familiarity and found a seat.

He picked up the menu and looked. It wasn’t expensive. The cheapest cup of tea was only 18 yuan. In this area, it was considered mass consumption.

They both ordered just a cup of tea.

“The prices at this teahouse are very reasonable. I often meet clients here.”

After a brief explanation, Zhang Kewei teased with a smile, “To be honest, I never dreamed you’d be trading stocks now. I bet you’re the same, you probably never thought I’d become a salesperson.”

Chen Feng smiled bitterly and nodded, “I really didn’t expect it. Back then, your grades were in the top ten in our class. Why didn’t you find a job related to your major?”

“Do school grades even count for anything? The professional knowledge they taught was already several years behind the times. Especially for our computer science major, which changes every day. Besides, I’m not very interested in computers myself. And after a few years of neglect, I can’t pick it up again. If I were to learn it all over, I don’t have the perseverance or interest. I might as well just be a salesperson.”

Chen Feng could only nod slightly in agreement. The computer science knowledge he had learned ten years ago was long outdated now. And they were similar in that neither of them was very interested in the computer science major.

They lacked professional skills and hands-on abilities in specific areas like programming, graphic design, 3D design, and model design. They were barely passable, but not proficient.

Furthermore, without an interest in pursuing a career related to their major, they could naturally only do other jobs.

“You’re better off than me. At least you’ve been married. I’m still a damn bachelor,” Zhang Kewei said with a depressed look.

Chen Feng could only smile bitterly and shake his head. This guy, Zhang Kewei, was really not good-looking. He was less than 1.7 meters tall, his skin was a bit dark, and his protruding eyes looked a bit scary. In university, his figure was still good, as he exercised often. Now, he was clearly a bit overweight.

His family background was also quite average, and his current job was average.

Short, ugly, and poor, you could say he had all three. And now you could add fat to the list.

To put it bluntly, what woman would be blind enough to fall for him?

“Alright. Did you run into me just to complain and pour out your troubles?” Chen Feng asked with a smile.

Zhang Kewei also smiled, “If I don’t pour them out to you, I really have no one else to pour them out to. So, Fengzi, just help me out this time and let me vent for a while.”

“Get lost,” Chen Feng cursed with a laugh. “I’ve got a bellyful of troubles myself, and you want to pour yours on me.”

“What troubles do you have? I see your car is brand new, you just bought it, right? That means you’ve got some money now, and you’re divorced without kids. That’s great, no attachments.”

Chen Feng could only smile bitterly and shake his head. He couldn’t possibly say, I have a terminal illness and I’m about to die.

“If you must pour out your troubles, I’ll let you. It’s my bad luck to have run into you. Come on, tell me in detail about your miserable life now, so I can have a good laugh.”

“Damn, have you no sympathy!”

Zhang Kewei gave him the middle finger.

Then they both burst out laughing.

In university, they were just as goofy.

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