We Barely Know Each Other, but I'm Living with a Stone-Faced Mechanic! - Chapter 24

After half a month away, the apartment was covered in dust and filled with stale, stuffy air.

Tao Ying coughed, covered her nose and mouth, and opened every window.

Qin Zheng carried in all the cardboard boxes she had bought.

It wouldn’t be appropriate for him to pack the bedroom, so Tao Ying asked him to handle the odds and ends in the living room and kitchen.

One look inside the kitchen nearly made Qin Zheng laugh.

There wasn’t a complete set of cookware or dishes. Only two lonely bowls and pairs of chopsticks sat upside down in the drying rack.

Tao Ying wasn’t packing with much precision. She folded clothes with the hangers still inside and stuffed them directly into boxes. The duvet and bedding went into another.

She didn’t own many shoes either. Crouched beside the shoe cabinet, she bagged them one by one.

“Are you taking this little sofa?” Qin Zheng called.

Tao Ying looked back. He sat astride her coffee table, legs planted wide.

His height and bulk made it look like a stool.

“Yes. I bought it.” Her gaze dropped. “The coffee table too.”

Qin Zheng laughed. She was scolding him for sitting on her table.

Her tone was no different from usual, yet he heard an adorably pointed edge beneath it.

“All right. I’ll take the sofa and table to the vehicle first.” He hurried to make amends.

Tao Ying dragged the shoe box blocking the doorway aside. “Can you manage alone?”

“Yes.”

Qin Zheng removed his cumbersome jacket, revealing a black T-shirt. He tossed the cushions into a box, hooked one hand beneath the sofa, and lifted it easily with a brief tightening of his arm and wrist.

Tao Ying hurried to open the door as wide as possible.

Two trips didn’t tire him, but they did make him hot. Sweat covered him. He took two packed boxes down as well.

Before his fourth trip, Tao Ying brought him water. “Rest. You’re sweating a lot.”

“I’m fine.” Qin Zheng accepted it, drank half in one breath, then casually lifted the hem of his shirt to wipe his face.

His lean waist carried no excess softness. Every muscle was sharply defined, the grooves shallow and clean. The lines beside his hips descended beneath his waistband, his skin sheened with sweat.

Each breath radiated raw, unrestrained masculinity, the force of it almost dizzying.

Tao Ying turned away and lowered her head to tape a box shut.

At university, she had known fit male classmates, but their faces were often pitted with acne. After graduating and staying to teach, most men she encountered were married; their bellies arrived before the rest of them.

Some professors maintained themselves and looked elegant, but they were mild as plain water.

Tao Ying had met few men with a presence as vivid and striking as Qin Zheng’s.

He surveyed the living room. “How many boxes are left?”

“Only these two. I’ll do a quick clean. Please take them downstairs first.”

“Sure.” Qin Zheng stacked them and carried both away.

Tao Ying didn’t own much. They worked until nearly one and ordered takeout after returning to their new home.

Sorting her belongings was not Qin Zheng’s job. He would only be in the way, so he gathered the takeout containers and prepared to go downstairs.

“Wait.” Tao Ying suddenly remembered something.

He looked back. “What?”

“Ms. Qu asked for your WeChat today. I sent her your work account. She just messaged me saying you hadn’t accepted.”

Qin Zheng paused. “Why did she add me?”

“I think she has a relative trained in auto repair who’s looking for work.”

“Tell her to bring him directly to the shop. I’ll meet him.”

Busy with unpacking, Tao Ying said, “Tell her yourself.”

Qin Zheng checked his phone. He could see only the profile picture, display name, and basic information—not the phone number or WeChat ID.

“Send me Ms. Qu’s contact card.”

“Didn’t she already add you?”

“I’ll forward it to Xiao Fang and let her screen him first.”

Tao Ying smiled and sent Qu Le’s card. “Xiao Fang doubles as HR?”

“Of course.” Qin Zheng smiled too.

Downstairs, he tapped the reception desk and handed Xiao Fang his phone.

“Add this account. She’s a teacher across the road and has a relative who wants a job here. You handle the conversation.”

“Okay.” Xiao Fang had held several roles from her first day, but Qin Zheng paid enough to make her happy about it.

By afternoon, Tao Ying had put everything away. She temporarily stacked the boxes and trash on the terrace.

Qin Zheng came upstairs once and carried them down to the large shop dumpster.

When Tao Ying remembered them, they had vanished. She circled the terrace two or three times like a confused fly. “Did they disappear into thin air?”

Qin Zheng returned with dinner just in time to hear. “What disappeared?”

“The trash I left on the terrace.” Tao Ying looked innocent.

“…I took it.”

“Oh. I didn’t even know you came up.”

“You said there was nowhere for the little sofa, so I carried it downstairs while I was here.”

Tao Ying pointed to the object blocking a corner. “The coffee table too. It doesn’t belong on the terrace.”

“Fine. I’ll take it down later. Come eat first.”

Tao Ying washed her hands and sat at the dining table.

She had taken only a few bites when her former landlord called. He might not make it back tomorrow, he said, and asked whether they could meet the day after.

Tao Ying agreed.

Her arms ached after the long day.

Qin Zheng couldn’t help laughing. “I didn’t let you carry a single heavy thing. How are you this tired?”

Tao Ying breathed out. “I’m taking a shower.”

Not long afterward, she fell asleep facedown on the bed.

She didn’t wake until late the next morning. Looking in the refrigerator for food, she discovered Qin Zheng had left breakfast. She only needed to heat it in the microwave.

Tao Ying stood beside the table for a long while, then carried the tray into the kitchen.

While she ate, the landlord called again.

After apologizing, he said, “Ms. Tao, I can make it back this afternoon. Could we still meet today?”

“You…” Tao Ying was reluctant.

“I know changing the time repeatedly is wrong, but I’m begging you. Something came up at home tomorrow.”

What else could she say?

Qin Zheng didn’t return for lunch. He wasn’t at the shop either; he had gone out on an errand.

Tao Ying had eaten brunch and wasn’t hungry. Around three, she changed, took her car keys and phone, and left without even bringing her bag.

She needed to return to campus for her car. At the east gate, she met Xiao Fang.

“Where are you going, Ms. Tao?”

“To end my lease.” Tao Ying looked at the bags in both her hands. “What is all that?”

“Things the boss ordered online. He told me to put them in the refrigerator.” They couldn’t be delayed.

“Do you have a key?”

“The boss said you’d be home.”

Tao Ying removed the new key Qin Zheng had given her and passed it over. “I’m going out now. Have your boss return it to me later.”

Qin Zheng would surely be back by the time she returned.

“Okay.”

Xiao Fang took the key and organized the fruit and vegetables in the refrigerator.

Tao Ying had barely left when Qin Zheng returned.

Seeing him, Xiao Fang handed over the key. “Boss, Ms. Tao’s key. She asked you to bring it home.”

Qin Zheng frowned. “Why do you have her key?”

“She went to end her lease.”

“End her lease?” His frown deepened. “When did she leave?”

Hadn’t the landlord called yesterday and rescheduled for Sunday?

“Ten or fifteen minutes ago.”

Qin Zheng’s gaze sharpened. He called Tao Ying immediately, but her line was busy.

At the thought of the unpredictable danger waiting at Jinhua Gardens, he could no longer sit still. Grabbing his car keys, he rushed out of the shop.