Rose Manor

Shen Jia Nian slept all afternoon. When he woke up, it was already dark, around seven o'clock in the evening.

She felt less uncomfortable and her stomach ached no longer. She went to the bathroom to wash her face and prepare to heat up the vegetable porridge and chicken soup left in the morning for dinner.

Just as the fire started, there was a knock on the door outside.

Shen Jianian was stunned for a moment, then turned down the heat and walked out of the kitchen.

She took a look in the door mirror first. No one was outside. She opened the door. Just like at noon, there was a wooden tray on the ground with a warm casserole on it.

No note was left this time.

Shen Jianian picked up the tray, put it on the cabinet in the entrance hall, and knocked on the door next door.

Since the food had just been delivered, the person must be at home. She had to thank them and buy some gifts later. She couldn't just eat and drink for free.

But she knocked on the door twice, but no one responded.

Shen Jianian felt strange and waited patiently outside for a while. Not sure if she could hear it from inside, she pressed against the door and said, "Hello, I live next door to you. Thank you very much for the food you sent."

Still no response.

Shen Jianian crossed her arms and rubbed them together. There was a cold breeze in the corridor. After a few more minutes, the heat on her body was gone. She entered the house with three steps and turned back. Before closing the door, she took one last look at the next door, but there was still no movement.

In the house next door, Fu Jichen was still standing in the entrance hall, only a door away from Shen Jianian. He could hear clearly what she said just now. She used the honorific "you", who did she think her neighbor was?

A kind aunt?

Fu Jichen laughed silently.

After Shen Jia Nian entered the house, he brought the tray to the dining table. In the casserole was steaming hot noodle soup with nutritious and rich ingredients. On the surface lay a round fried egg and a few small green vegetables, as well as shredded ham, corn kernels, Carrots, fungus shreds, and braised beef that looked like they were homemade, cut into large pieces and neatly stacked.

A bowl of noodles that combines meat and vegetables.

Probably because she was worried that she would be sick and have no taste in her mouth, she also had a plate of diced radish, which was refreshing and appetizing.

Shen Jia Nian smelled the aroma of noodle soup and looked in the direction of the next door again. She couldn't help but think about what kind of aunt lived next door.

The words "beautiful person and kind heart" are not enough to describe her beauty.

She secretly decided to buy more gifts to give back to her aunt!

Shen Jia Nian ate a few diced radish, which whetted his appetite. He held a spoon in one hand and chopsticks in the other, and finished a whole portion of noodles. His stomach was full.

She washed the casseroles and put them together with the ones from the morning. Then she changed into her clothes for going out. This time she had a better memory and put on a warm hat and scarf, and went downstairs to throw away the trash.

It was the same flower bed she had been to last night. She called "Mimi" while hunching over to look for it. She searched around but couldn't find the cat that looked like a cow.

I don’t know if it went somewhere else.

Shen Jianian was about to go back when she suddenly heard rustling noises coming from the cardboard box. She squatted down and tilted her head to look in through the hole in the cardboard box, then she let out a relaxed smile.

She searched for a long time and found out that the cat was hiding in the simple cat nest she made last night.

"Let's go out to eat." Shen Jianian brought two plastic boxes down, one for cat food and one for water, and placed them next to the cat's nest.

The cat had a bad temper. As soon as Shen Jianian came closer, it bared its teeth and showed its sharp claws, waving twice in the cardboard box.

"Okay, you are the boss here, I won't compete with you for territory." Shen Jianian stood up and walked away, observing from a distance, just like last night.

Sure enough, not long after she left, the cat crawled out of the cardboard box and ate its food.

Shen Jianian felt relieved and turned back.

When the elevator reached the twenty-sixth floor, Shen Jianian took out her phone and checked the time. It was eight forty-two. She tried knocking on the door next door again.

Inside the house, Fu Jichen was working on a black rectangular table in the living room, with the laptop screen shining on his face and a steaming cup of freshly brewed tea in his hand.

Hearing the knock on the door, he glanced towards the entrance and frowned.

Knocking on the door so late?

Fu Jichen stood up and pushed away the chair, and walked very lightly to the entrance hall. Looking out from the small door mirror, Shen Jia Nian was wearing a white woolen hat and a red scarf, with a small face covered only by his eyes.

Is she planning to go out in this way, or has she just come back from outside?

You don't know how to stay home and rest when you are sick. Why is it so uneasy?

Fu Jichen thought so, and his frown never relaxed.

Shen Jianian suddenly approached the door. Fu Jichen thought he had been discovered and hurriedly took a step back. He almost tripped over the mat beside the door, feeling quite embarrassed.

However, Shen Jia Nian just turned his face and put his ear close to the door panel, wanting to hear if there was any movement inside.

She heard nothing and went back to her home. Shen Jianian thought as she picked up her scarf that she would not just stay here for a few days and then leave. There would always be a chance to meet the kind neighbor in the future.

The neighbor may be too busy at work, doesn't have much free time, and doesn't stay home often.

The phone rang. Shen Jianian hung up his scarf and took out his phone from the pocket of his down jacket. It was a WeChat message from Fu Jichen.

Fu Jichen: "It's more than ten degrees below zero at night. You are weak and susceptible to wind and cold. Don't run out if you have nothing to do. Stay at home and rest."

Shen Jianian frowned slightly, feeling baffled.

Although it was obvious that he cared about her, his tone was too strange.

Moreover, is he a crow's mouth? She happened to have a cold...

Shen Jianian habitually ignored his messages, locked his phone and threw it aside.

*

For several days in a row, in the morning, noon and evening, various kinds of food appeared outside Shen Jia Nian's room, packed in warm casseroles. As a result, her house now has more than a dozen large and small casseroles piled up.

Whenever she wanted to give it back, no one answered the knock on the door.

Shen Jia Nian had no choice but to follow his neighbor's example and leave the washed dishes outside his door, and write a handwritten letter of thanks to express his gratitude.

In the evening, Shen Jianian went to throw away the garbage and feed the cats as usual, and found that the tableware outside the next door was missing. It must have been taken back by a neighbor.

There was an extra letter outside her door. She picked it up and opened it. It was still written in horizontal and vertical block letters, and it was a reply to the thank you letter.

The neighbor's aunt told her that she was welcome, and said that she was usually very busy at work and was usually not at home. After cooking, she left the food at her door and left.

Shen Jia Nian folded the letter and put it in his pocket. The corners of his mouth curled up slightly. She really guessed it right. The neighbor was a busy aunt and it was difficult to see people all day long.

She felt relieved and carried the garbage down to throw it away, while also feeding the ferocious cat.

Shen Jianian's body recovered completely. He bought several boxes of fruits and some local specialties online and placed them at the door of his neighbor's house. He wrote a note on them.

It was always quiet next door. She didn't hear the sound of children. There should be no children, so she didn't buy anything for the children to eat.

At 10:30 in the evening, Fu Jichen came back from the company, leaning in the elevator and rubbing his eyebrows. The black coat made his shoulders straight and his temperament calm.

The elevator door just closed and opened again.

The female resident in the same building opened her eyes when she saw such a man when the elevator opened.

The female resident thought to herself, after living here for so long, why didn’t she find such high-quality men in the building before? Must have moved in recently.

The elevator door was about to close, and the female resident finally came to her senses and squeezed in.

She twitched her hair around her ears, gathered her coat, looked down and saw the plush slippers on her feet, and secretly regretted that she didn't take care of herself when she went out.

There were only two people in the not-so-spacious elevator. The female resident secretly glanced at the man next to her. He was so tall, about 1.85 meters tall. He could see his nobility from head to toe. The key was his face. Really. He was handsome in every way, and she couldn't tell the price of the watch on his wrist. It must be quite expensive.

Fu Jichen noticed that the eyes on him were becoming more and more unscrupulous and full of scrutiny, and his brows furrowed slightly.

When the elevator reached the twenty-sixth floor, Fu Jichen stepped out without even looking at the woman.

The female resident suddenly realized that she had forgotten to press the floor button, but she found out that the man lived on the twenty-sixth floor, so it was not all without gain.

Fu Jichen walked to the door and stopped. He looked down at the several large boxes blocking the door, then looked at the next door and twitched the corners of his mouth.

He opened the door, moved the boxes in, found a courier knife and opened them one by one. He found a box of oranges, a box of strawberries, a box of cherries, as well as specialties such as local eggs and morels.

Fu Jichen couldn't laugh or cry as he looked at several boxes of things. Was she performing a "reciprocity of courtesy" and "reciprocating a favor" with him?

He took out his mobile phone and was about to send a WeChat message to Shen Jiannian. When he looked at the time, he was not sure if she was asleep, so he gave up the idea of ​​sending a message.

There was Shen Jia Nian's profile picture in the circle of friends. Fu Jichen was standing in the entrance hall among a bunch of open express boxes. He clicked on the circle of friends. Shen Jia Nian posted an update an hour ago.

[I met a super kind neighbor aunt, and I will be happy for ten thousand years! 】

The accompanying picture is an ugly black and white cat, which has nothing to do with the text.

Fu Jichen liked this circle of friends, then clicked into Shen Jianian's circle of friends and scrolled down.

Her circle of friends was only visible for three days, and nothing could be refreshed, so she gave up.

Taking another look at the only circle of friends, Fu Jichen silently recited the words "neighbor aunt" repeatedly. Apart from helplessness, he had no other emotions for the time being.