After leaving the agency, Ervin referred to China's introduction to the major telecommunications companies in country B and bought a local SIM card and a relatively cheap package for domestic long-distance calls.
In fact, this is what he is most anxious about. Every second of "losing contact" with Lily makes Ervin feel like a year!
"Dear..." The next second, he dialed Lily's number.
"Why did you call so late? I waited for you until two in the morning last night." Lily asked worriedly.
"I was wrong. I just bought the SIM card and called you right away... I missed you so much!" Ervin apologized and explained, but he had a stupid smile on his face.
"I'm just worried that you'll be foolish and get kidnapped as soon as you leave the country." Lily was worried for a whole day and night.
Ervin was a little unhappy: "Am I so stupid in your heart?" He told Lily everything that happened after he arrived in Country B, including the instant noodle incident in the morning and the handsome blond foreigner. He told her every detail and Lily giggled while listening to him on the phone.
"You see, I can do just fine on my own!" Ervin said while talking on the phone and looking at the bus stop sign, "I'll go look at the house later."
"Okay, okay," Lily praised him and asked, "What kind of house are you going to see?"
Ervin: "I don't know. The house is quite far from the school, but the rent is much cheaper than the studios in the city center, and the tenants are all Chinese... As long as the conditions are not too bad, I will settle for it. It will only be for a year. I am too lazy to bother."
Lily asked about the prices of both and said, "You don't need that much money, just rent a studio."
Ervin: "I don't lack money!"
Lily was surprised: "Didn't your father give you money when you went abroad?"
Lily knew everything about Ervin's family. She knew that Ervin's father ran a big business and that his father had always been willing to spend money on Ervin, who had been obedient and sensible since childhood, but he could only use money to make up for his love and care.
"Don't mention him..." From the time Ervin decided to go abroad for exchange to now, his father has not called him once. He has only said two sentences from beginning to end. The first sentence is, "How much does it cost to study abroad for a year at your own expense?" The second sentence is, "I have transferred the money to your card, please be careful." Thinking of this, Ervin was a little annoyed, "He only knows how to give me money, but the money is useless, I don't want his money!"
Lily stopped talking.
Ervin felt that his tone was not good, and immediately said: "I want to make money by myself, spend it sparingly, and try to marry you as soon as possible."
Lily: "Then I have to wait until the year of the monkey and the horse?"
Ervin: "It will be very soon, maybe tomorrow?... Wait for me to buy a lottery ticket!"
"You...are talking nonsense!" Lily laughed.
The two of them were so unhappy that Ervin suddenly had the urge to say to Lily the three-word text message he had failed to send before the plane: "Lily, I..."
"Hey, it's so late! I should go to evening self-study," Lily suddenly interrupted him hurriedly, "If you have anything fun, call me next time and tell me."
Soo Bin: "...Okay, then go ahead!"
Lily: "Come on, be careful when you're out alone!"
Ervin was touched and said, "Well, don't worry about me. I'll call you later. k!ss!"
After hanging up the phone, Ervin felt extremely disappointed, but thinking of Lily's instructions, he quickly cheered up and set out to look at the house.
It takes about thirty minutes to take the bus from the city center to the stop that Evor mentioned on the phone.
As soon as Ervin got off the bus, he saw a tall and thin Chinese boy leaning against the platform. The boy was wearing a pair of rimless glasses and looked gentle and refined. He seemed to be a few years older than him.
Seeing Ervin coming down, the other party naturally looked over: "Michael?"
Ervin went up to him and shook his hand: "hello..." He was nervous, this guy can't speak English, right? Although his idol is Yu Minhong, he is not ready to speak English when talking to Chinese people! !
The man gave Ervin a gentle smile and said, "My name is Noah Yang, you can call me Joey."
When Ervin heard the other person speaking Chinese, he felt relieved: "Yes, my name is Ervin!"
Noah: "You look quite young."
"Really?" Ervin laughed stupidly, "I was born in 1990, how about you?"
Noah gave Ervin a meaningful look, as if to say, hey, you're from the 90s...
Because of the rise of "non-mainstream" culture in a period of time, some people born in the 1980s feel that those born in the 1990s are different, so there is always teasing when they meet. In fact, only a small part of them are mavericks, but Ervin, who was born in 1990, is always caught in the crossfire. Fortunately, Noah's eyes are not biased. He just feels it is novel and has some emotion. "I was born in 1986, much older than you," he said.
Ervin: "Then I'll call you Cheng-hyung!"
Noah smiled happily: "Okay, but you can call me that in private. If Evor is here, you still call me Joey."
Ervin asked, "Is Adrian the landlord?"
Noah was stunned for a moment, then smiled and shook his head: "No, he is also a tenant. I was the first one to rent this house. The tenants have changed several times. Adrian just moved in two years ago."
Ervin: "Hey, why did the agent call him?"
Noah: "He has a lot of requirements for his roommates, so I let him make the decision."
Ervin thought of those strange questions in the morning and thought, so this is all Adrian's personal request! But Ervin didn't understand, "Why can't I call you 'Cheng' in front of him? Is this also his special request?" He raised an eyebrow and asked.
"Not really," Noah said tolerantly, "because he doesn't speak Chinese. Out of politeness, we speak English whenever he's around."
Ervin was impressed by Noah's attentiveness and consideration: "Isn't Adrian Chinese?"
Noah pondered: "We can only say that he has Chinese ancestry, but he was born and raised here, so at most he is a BBC*[note]..."
As they were talking, the two of them arrived at the shared house, which was a traditional residential villa in Country B. It was surrounded by greenery and similar houses. The house had two floors, its own garden, and an open-air parking space.
The outdoor environment is very good. Seeing this, Ervin is already quite satisfied.
When Noah led him in, the feeling inside surprised Ervin even more!
Unlike the dirty, messy and smelly boys' dormitories in China, this one is very clean and tidy.
The eye-catching fabric sofa and European-style bookshelf occupy the main position in the living room. Other furniture and decorations are also arranged in an orderly manner. What Ervin likes most is the spinning bike by the window!
For boys who love sports, there is no one who doesn’t like spinning bikes, but due to limited conditions, Ervin rarely comes into contact with one in China. Now that he sees one in the living room, his eyes light up!
Seeing Ervin's undisguised look, Noah said with a smile: "That's Ben Jin's."
"Ah? Who is Ben?" Ervin asked, but his eyes were still lingering on the spinning bike.
Noah: "Another roommate."
Ervin couldn't help but walk over and touch it. The cool streamline, the beats headphone and the Sony dynamic screen...his saliva was about to flow out!
Noah looked at him as if he were looking at a child: "Benren is a good person. You will have plenty of opportunities to play in the future. I will show you the room first."
"Okay, okay!" Although he said this, Ervin felt that there was no need to look anymore. He would be happy to live in the living room!
Noah briefly introduced the layout of the rooms, then pointed to the door of the only bedroom on the first floor and said, "This is Ben's room. He is about the same age as you."
Ervin: "Is he not here?"
Noah: "I have returned to China, but I haven't come back yet. I heard that my flight is the day after tomorrow."
Ervin: "Doesn't school start the day after tomorrow?"
Noah smiled and said, "Yeah, that's how he is. He leaves after the exams and comes back when school starts. He says it's boring here and it's more fun back home."
Ervin imagined Ben's personality and felt that they should have common topics!
The two went upstairs, and Noah first showed Ervin his room. Just like the feeling he gave to Ervin, his room was also clean and tidy, with a plain bed and bedding folded somewhat casually but not messy. Only the desk was piled with various materials and books, and the notebook was still open.
"I'm working on my thesis lately, so my desk is a bit messy," Noah explained.
Ervin was puzzled: "Why do we have to finish the paper right after the start of the school year?"
Noah: "I am a PhD student at M University and also a part-time teaching assistant. The semester schedule is different from yours. There are basically no winter and summer vacations, which is equivalent to working."
"Wow..." Ervin looked at Noah with admiration, "Dr. Yang!"
Noah smiled slightly, glanced at the room and said, "But I can't stay here for a few more days."
Ervin was surprised: "Ah? Are you moving away?"
Noah: "No, I want to change rooms with Evor."
Ervin was puzzled: "Why?"
"It's a long story," Noah explained as he led Ervin to see the room for rent, "Originally, a friend of mine was planning to study at M University this year, and that room was reserved for him, but he had a problem with his visa and couldn't come."
Noah pushed open the door and said, "This is it."
The small room is about 10 square meters and is very clean. A 1.2-meter-wide single bed is placed against the wall. The wardrobe, desk, and wall-mounted bookshelf are all large enough for one person. For a domestic college student who is used to living in a four-person dormitory, this private space couldn't be better.
Noah continued, "This room is a suite with the one next door. There is only one set of bathroom facilities, and the two rooms need to be shared. At that time, I thought that when my friend came, it would be okay for me to share with him, because Adrian..." Noah pushed his glasses, "He is a bit of a mysophobe and pays more attention to personal safety."
Ervin: "Who lived in this room before?"
Noah: "No one lives here. This was originally Adrian's study."
Ervin: "......"
"When Evor learned that my friend was coming, she moved all her stuff to her room. We bought a new bed, wardrobe and desk at IKEA," Noah pointed to the furniture in the room. "Originally, they were all prepared for my friend, but he didn't come. We thought it would be a pity to throw them away, so we decided to rent them out to others."
Soo Bin: "I see..."
Noah looked at Ervin and asked, "Do you mind sharing the bathroom with me?"
Ervin waved his hand: "Don't mind, don't mind!" He had a good impression of this senior who was like the big brother next door.
Noah smiled and said, "That's fine. Adrian is a bit busy recently. Let's move our things together on the weekend."
"I'll help you then." Ervin had made it clear that he wanted to stay, and he planned to go back to the youth hostel to get his luggage.
Noah asked him: "Do you have a lot of luggage? Do you want me to help you carry it?"
"I can do it alone!" Ervin thought of Noah's thesis and felt that he should be very busy and didn't want to trouble him anymore.
Noah gave Ervin his cell phone number: "If you have any trouble, you can call me."
Ervin felt warm inside: "Cheng...thank you!"
Noah: "Why thank me? We will all live under the same roof from now on, so don't be too polite to me."
On the way back to the youth hostel, Ervin sat on the bus and looked at the exotic scenery outside the window. Although the separation from his girlfriend made him feel lost and lonely, the warm roommate he just met also made him full of expectations for his future life.
That night, Ervin dragged two 20-kilogram boxes back to his new home by himself.
Noah looked at him sweating profusely and said apologetically, "If I had known, I would have gone with you... It would have been OK if Ben was here, he has a car."
"It's okay..." Ervin waved his hands weakly and collapsed on the sofa, too tired to speak.
Noah looked at his watch again and said, "I should have prepared a welcoming banquet for you, but Kulun hasn't come back yet..."
"It's okay, Cheng-ge," Ervin glanced at the kitchen and said, "Are there any dishes? We can just make something to eat."
Noah frowned slightly, as if he was a little hesitant, but he quickly said: "Okay, then you sit down for a while, I'll see what's in the refrigerator and make two dishes for you."
Ervin wanted to help, but Noah understood that he was tired from moving the luggage and politely declined. Ervin was very touched. He thought to himself, I was right. My roommates can cook! Thinking about cooking and eating together in the future, it feels so warm...
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