Volume 1, Chapter 59: Parrying with the Beautiful Tenant

At 10:00 PM, Zhou Yang's eyelids were once again drooping with sleep.

The company had a mountain of business, and Zhou Yang and Liu Yan were leading their respective teams in a fierce sprint to boost sales.

Word had it that the sales department would be appointing a deputy director by the end of the year.

The position of deputy director would be chosen from among the sales managers, the marketing managers, and the director's secretary.

Therefore, both Zhou Yang and Liu Yan had a shot at the promotion.

They had to push themselves to the absolute limit during the second half of the year to have a fighting chance in the final year-end evaluation.

Su Jing had also been exceptionally busy these past few days.

After the recent hiccup during the launch of the new pharmaceutical product, a chain reaction of subsequent issues had surfaced.

Numerous clients had lodged complaints, and several cooperative partners were demanding compensation in succession.

The marketing and sales departments were overwhelmed. As the head of marketing and sales, Su Jing had to take charge personally, joining forces with the regional managers across all districts to appease the disgruntled clients and partners in the market.

Su Jing had barely returned to the company all week, and on the rare occasions she did drop by, she would leave in a hurried rush.

The entire marketing and sales department was caught in a whirlwind of activity, operating at a breakneck pace.

Consequently, Zhou Yang was exhausted by day and simply couldn't endure the late hours at night.

Accompanied by the ticking of the clock, Zhou Yang propped his head up at his desk and drifted off into a deep sleep.

I do not know how much time passed before a sudden noise startled Zhou Yang awake.

It was the sound of the opposite door closing.

Zhou Yang rubbed his eyes, shook his head vigorously to snap himself awake, and then got up and walked to the master bedroom door.

"Mom, I told you already, stay out of my business!"

A very muffled voice came from the master bedroom, though the content was vaguely discernible.

Realizing that she was on the phone, Zhou Yang figured it wouldn't be appropriate to interrupt, so he lay down on the living room sofa to wait.

Who would have thought that he would end up falling asleep again while waiting.

When he woke up again, it was already the dead of night.

The master bedroom was clearly dark and quiet, its occupant fast asleep.

Zhou Yang slammed his fist against his own head in frustration. "Sigh, you sleepyhead, you always ruin everything!"

At this ungodly hour, it was impossible to go and knock on her door, especially since she was fast asleep.

However, Zhou Yang wasn't completely empty-handed; at the very least, he now knew that she did come back to stay here. Moreover, since she had come back two nights in a row, there was a high probability she would return on the third night.

He absolutely must not fall asleep tomorrow.

The next day turned out to be another grueling and tedious affair. Upon returning home that evening, Zhou Yang decided he wanted to take a shower.

To his utter astonishment, however, he heard the sound of running water coming from the bathroom.

"She's back this early today?"

Zhou Yang hurried over to the bathroom door to verify.

However, the bathroom featured a frosted glass door, and the woman inside immediately spotted a figure standing outside, letting out a sharp shriek: "Who is it?"

One had to hand it to her; the girl possessed plenty of nerve to maintain such a remarkably calm tone under the circumstances.

Zhou Yang spoke up, "Oh, it's me. I'm the tenant in the second bedroom."

Upon hearing this, the girl grew instantly furious: "Can't you see I'm taking a shower?"

The girl's voice, mingling with the rushing sound of water, struck a strangely familiar chord with Zhou Yang.

Why did this voice sound so much like someone he knew?

Zhou Yang's brain failed to connect the dots for a split second, but a cold demand echoed from inside: "What on earth do you want? If you don't leave right now, I'm calling the police!"

Feeling wronged, Zhou Yang quickly defended himself, "Hey, I don't mean anything by it. I just wanted to come out and communicate with you about something."

Yet, coming out the way it did, the sentence carried an entirely different connotation.

With a young woman taking a bath inside, Zhou Yang standing right outside the door declaring he wanted to "communicate" with her—

Who wouldn't jump to conclusions?

Especially since the girl was completely naked inside while a man stood just a layer of frosted glass away, the sense of helplessness was overwhelming.

Any ambiguous remark would inevitably send her imagination running wild.

"I don't want to communicate with you!" the girl snapped. "Stop blocking my way, or I really will call the police."

Feeling helpless, Zhou Yang conceded, "Alright, fine, don't call the police. I'll go back to my room first, and we can have a proper talk after you finish washing up."

"Deal!" the girl replied.

True to his word, Zhou Yang returned to his room and shut the door.

Peeking through a narrow crack, the girl made sure he had indeed retreated to his room before quickly wrapping herself in a bath towel, tiptoeing back to her master bedroom, and immediately locking the door from the inside.

And this girl was none other than Su Jing, the marketing and sales director of the EPS Group and Zhou Yang's direct superior.

What a damned yet charmingly awkward coincidence!

Neither of them had any inkling of the other's true identity.

Su Jing hastily dialed the elderly landlord's number: "Hello, Uncle Cui, why did you lease the place to a male tenant without my consent? Didn't I tell you I didn't want any male roommates?"

Uncle Cui replied with a sigh, "Well, the rental market is sluggish, and I've got to make a living too. Have a heart and try to understand my situation!"

Su Jing retorted, "I'm trying to understand you, but are you understanding me? I was just taking a shower in the bathroom, and that guy came right up to the door and started talking to me. I had to trick him into thinking I was calling the police just to get him to go back to his room. Didn't you just invite a pervert into the apartment?"

Uncle Cui secretly relished hearing this and quickly probed, "What's that? Did he block your doorway while you were bathing?"

"Pretty much!" Su Jing said.

"That kid looked so gentle and well-mannered, I never took him for such a pervert!" Uncle Cui declared. "Don't you worry, I'll go give him a piece of my mind right now and kick him out."

Hanging up the phone, Uncle Cui called Zhou Yang directly.

"Young man, what on earth is wrong with you?" Gone was Uncle Cui's previous amiable tone as he launched into a tirade: "Do you go peeping at people while they're showering? Do you have any idea you've driven her to call the police?"

Zhou Yang rushed to explain, "I wasn't peeping at her shower! I just went over to talk to her."

"Why are you even bothering to explain?" Uncle Cui interrupted. "I warned you from the start to be careful when sharing an apartment with a young woman. Since you wouldn't listen, there's nothing I can do. For the personal safety of my tenants, I regret to inform you that I can no longer rent this apartment to you. Pack your things and get out immediately!"

Zhou Yang: "......"

To be told to move out after staying for barely a week was utterly heartless.

"Uncle Cui, you've got it all wrong. I'm not the kind of person you think I am. I hadn't even laid eyes on the master bedroom occupant in the entire week I've lived here. I only went over to greet her out of basic courtesy and for the sake of our future peace as roommates," Zhou Yang argued.

"And you picked the exact moment she was taking a shower to go greet her?" Uncle Cui snapped. "Save your breath. Pack your things and clear out right now, or the police will be paying you a visit instead of her."

"Hold on, Uncle Cui, are you being reasonable at all?" Zhou Yang demanded.

"It's not that I'm being unreasonable; it's that the girl loathes you now and calls you a pervert!" Uncle Cui retorted.

Gritting his teeth, Zhou Yang said, "I'm going to go talk to her."

With that, he hung up the phone and marched over to the master bedroom door, ablaze with fury.

Thump, thump, thump!

Zhou Yang knocked on the door.

"Hey, beautiful, what happened just now was a misunderstanding. Open the door and let's talk!"

"Are you ever going to quit?" Su Jing yelled from inside. "I've seen plenty of scumbags in my time, but I've never met anyone as persistently obnoxious as you!"

Su Jing was furious as well; why wouldn't this guy leave her alone?

At the boiling point of his anger, Zhou Yang shouted back, "Are you out of your mind? Who are you calling a scumbag?"

"If you aren't a scumbag, what are you?" Su Jing fired back. "Let me tell you, I'm not someone you want to mess with. You'd better pack your bags and clear out obediently, or you'll be the one who gets hurt!"

Zhou Yang was so angry he laughed. "You're not someone to mess with? Who are you trying to scare? If you're so tough, why didn't you even dare to open the door?"

Su Jing knitted her delicate brows, gritting her teeth as she said coldly, "Don't push me."

Zhou Yang retorted, "You're the one pushing me! Open the door right now and say whatever you have to say to my face!"

Thump, thump, thump!

Zhou Yang began pounding on the door again.

Su Jing buried her face in her hands. "This is driving me insane!"

She dialed 110. "Hello, I'm reporting an incident. There's a pervert outside my door constantly banging on it, and he refuses to leave. Please dispatch officers immediately; I'm in grave danger."

"Understood, Miss. Please provide your exact location."

After hanging up the phone, Su Jing sat quietly by the door.

"Look, you aren't coming out, fine. All I want to tell you is that I don't snore in my sleep, so you don't need to invent trumped-up charges to report to the landlord. Besides, I am a very clean person, and I don't need your reminders—in fact, I've been the one cleaning the living room this whole time."

"Lastly, I am not any kind of pervert. I only walked over because I heard water running in the bathroom and wanted to check if you had returned."

"I only have one favor to ask. The landlord just called saying he wants to kick me out. I've only been here for a week, and moving is a massive hassle, isn't it?"

"Besides, he isn't even refunding my deposit!"

"None of that is my concern!" Su Jing replied coldly. "I don't even know you."

Su Jing figured this was merely a delaying tactic on his part, spinning a pathetic tale to win her sympathy.

This pervert was cunning and dangerous; she wouldn't open the door for him under any circumstances.

Glancing at her wristwatch, she estimated that the police dispatched by the 110 emergency line should be on their way.

The police station wasn't far from here; as long as she could stall for about ten more minutes, the officers would arrive.