Tenant's Secret Love

Chapter 21: The significance of a cockroach

Renee and I walked towards my 'Stubborn-Father'. I asked, "Dad, why didn't you call me when you came? The temperature drops at night, and it's so cold for you to be sitting here like this!"

"I did, but you turned off your phone," Stubborn Father's reply was still very wooden, without the slightest hint of emotion.

On second thought, I remembered that I had thrown my phone into the moat in a drunken fit. I felt a pang of remorse, as I had not earned much money and had done nothing but squander it.

Renee greeted Stubborn Father, 'Hello, uncle!' (In China, people refer to their elders as 'uncle' or 'auntie.')

"You too. You haven't eaten yet, have you? I bought some food from the supermarket and will cook for you," said 'Stubborn-Father' as he took out a plastic bag from behind him. Inside were fish and some vegetables.

"Uncle, the congee you made last time was delicious, so your cooking must be very good too," Renee said to 'Stubborn-Father' with a smile I had never seen before, which made me realize that I really was an unpleasant person, not that Renee was being condescending.

Stubborn-Father just smiled at Renee's praise and then gestured for us to go upstairs.

On the way upstairs, Renee walked in front of us, and Stubborn-Father and I fell behind. I asked him somewhat unexpectedly, "Dad, have you stayed in Suzhou these few days and not gone back?"

"I went to Guangzhou again to attend an exhibition, and I passed through Suzhou on my way back," Stubborn-Father's answer was still concise.

I thought about it and realized that it was almost winter, and it was the time when the state-owned enterprise where Stubborn Father worked received the most orders for heaters. Stubborn Father had to travel to many places to purchase raw materials around this time every year.

When he returned to the house, Stubborn Father went straight to the kitchen and started working. Renee wanted to go to the kitchen to help Stubborn Father, but he refused. Then she went back to her room and I don't know what she was busy with. I, on the other hand, sat in the living room, lost in thought, still feeling a wave of bitterness in my heart. I knew this bitterness would stay with me for a long time, until the day I completely forgot about Brittany.

After a short while, Renee came out of her room, dressed in loungewear. She looked much more approachable, but still as beautiful as ever. It seemed that beauty was in her bones, and she would always be beautiful no matter what she wore.

"Sitting there like a statue! Can't you go help your father in the kitchen?" Renee seemed to resent the fact that I was doing nothing while my father was busy.

"You don't understand. He likes to cook alone."

"Is that so?"

"Because he takes pleasure in cooking, and if someone else helps, it's like they're taking his pleasure away."

"Oh, so the food he cooks must be delicious, right?"

"You're not a foodie, why do you ask so much?"

"Do I have to be a foodie to ask? Everyone has the right to be curious." Renee once again emotionally disagreed with me.

"You'll find out later, it's not a big deal."

Renee didn't pursue the matter with me, turned around and went back to her room, then walked towards the bathroom with a dirty laundry basket. I was a little surprised, because even goddesses have to do laundry.

The sound of running water came from the bathroom, and then the washing machine started to spin. Listening to the regular sound of the spinning, I became even more distracted, and for a moment I couldn't even feel my own existence.