trct_55

Chapter 55: Buying Furniture

Changfeng Furniture Shop was located on Avenue Edouard VII, near the racecourse, not far from the Jie residence, about ten or twenty minutes away by car.

Luo Mingxuan once again drove his little black Ford to pick them up. In this era, it was quite rare for a son of a wealthy family to own his own car—it could only be said that Luo Mingxuan's parents truly doted on their youngest son.

The sky had been thick with dark clouds all morning, and not long after they left the Jie residence, a fine, drizzling rain began to fall again.

Fortunately, there was always an umbrella kept in the car. After parking in front of the furniture shop, Luo Mingxuan got out first, opened his large black western-style umbrella, and went around to the back seat to open the door for Ji Qingzhou and Jie Yu'an.

The umbrella was large, but not large enough to cover all three of them.

Luo Mingxuan handed the umbrella to Ji Qingzhou and ran ahead into the shop through the rain himself.

"Luo Mingxuan really is good to his friends." Ji Qingzhou said this out of genuine feeling, turning his head to remark to Jie Yu'an.

Jie Yu'an gave a toneless "Mm" in response, then quite naturally slipped his arm free from where Ji Qingzhou had been holding it, and took hold of his left hand instead.

The rainy day was damp, but his palm was very dry, and the moment their hands touched, a steady warmth flowed from it.

Ji Qingzhou glanced down at his hand, now entirely enclosed, and said nothing.

By the time they climbed the steps and reached the shelter of the eaves at the entrance, and he went to close the umbrella, he found his hands weren't quite enough for the task.

Luo Mingxuan noticed this and eagerly took the umbrella to close it himself, all the while clicking his tongue and sighing, "Look at the two of you, holding hands in broad daylight, is that really necessary, Brother Yuan?"

"Just for convenience, what did you think it was?" Jie Yu'an countered evenly, as if it were Luo Mingxuan who was making a fuss over nothing.

Luo Mingxuan said, "Then should I hold your hand as we walk?"

"Get lost." Jie Yu'an spat out the words without a shred of mercy.

"Just as I thought, men really do tire of the old once they have someone new," Luo Mingxuan said, shaking his head with exaggerated sorrow.

Seeing him play the part so dramatically, Ji Qingzhou couldn't help but laugh a little, and added, "Isn't that just how it goes—'only the new love's laughter is seen, never the old love's tears heard'."

"Shall I have a stage brought in so you can put on a proper show?" Jie Yu'an said, his tone lightly mocking.

"Fine, fine, enough talk, let's go. Mind the steps ahead," Ji Qingzhou said, and pulled him by the hand into the shop.

Changfeng Furniture Shop was a three-story building of grey brick and stone, and being a furniture shop itself, it was decorated with considerable grandeur.

Walking inside, what met the eye was a space that resembled a hotel lobby, with high ceilings and an unusually spacious layout.

The windows all around let in a grey, muted light; through the misted glass, one could make out the shop banners hanging outside the establishment across the street, fluttering up and down.

By contrast, the interior was bright and open. Several large lamps hung overhead, and beneath their amber-yellow light, the solid wood floor displayed all manner of tables, chairs, cabinets, sofas, and tea tables in every style and material.

Seeing customers arrive, a shop clerk dressed in a shirt and Western trousers, wearing round-framed glasses, hurried over at once.

He clearly didn't recognize Jie Yu'an, and took them for ordinary customers. Seeing that all three were well-dressed and carried themselves with evident refinement, he asked with great enthusiasm what they were looking to purchase.

Luo Mingxuan waved a hand. "No need to recommend anything. We'll look around ourselves first, and we'll find you if we need you."

"Certainly, please take your time." The clerk had seen plenty of customers like this before, and simply trailed along behind them at a respectful distance, more for form's sake than anything else.

Ji Qingzhou looked around, and the first thing to catch his attention was a Rococo-style sofa set nearby.

Its upholstery was covered in rose-print velvet, with a walnut wood frame and bronze-gilt sofa feet, carved all over with elaborate floral patterns; the frame's curves were antique and elegant, heavy yet ornate—clearly high-end goods at a glance.

"What's the price on this?" Ji Qingzhou asked out of curiosity.

"This set, sir, is made from imported European wood, but finished with our Chinese-style lacquer painting, so it's on the pricier side. A single long sofa is three hundred and twenty yuan, and the full set is five hundred and eighty silver dollars," the clerk trailing behind them explained.

Five hundred and eighty, now that really was expensive!

Ji Qingzhou thought to himself, and immediately looked away.

Jie Yu'an, perhaps misreading his meaning, said, "If you like it, buy it."

"I'm just asking about the price range for now. This sofa wouldn't suit your little white Western-style house," Ji Qingzhou said, lowering his voice slightly.

"Oh, this cabinet is lovely!" Luo Mingxuan, who had wandered off to the cabinet section at some point, waved Ji Qingzhou over. "Brother Qingzhou, look at this, the whole cabinet front is painted with gold butterflies, really beautiful!"

Ji Qingzhou led Jie Yu'an over by the hand and looked over the four-drawer cabinet he was pointing at, nodding. "It is nice, but it's not the style I'm after."

"So what exactly are you planning to buy? Tell me, and I'll help you pick things out."

"Hold on, let me check." Ji Qingzhou took out his shopping list from his bag and flipped it open. "For the larger furniture—downstairs we need a sofa and coffee table set, a cabinet, a dining table and chairs, a sideboard, two chests of drawers, and a large standing mirror. Upstairs we need a sofa, a bookcase, a writing desk, a dressing table..."

"Wait, wait, that's far too much. Let's just leave it to the professional and go piece by piece."

Luo Mingxuan, who had originally wanted to wander and browse leisurely, realized upon hearing the length of the list that the three of them would never get through it on their own in any reasonable time. He took the notebook from Ji Qingzhou's hand and passed it to the shop clerk, asking him to guide their selection.

Seeing the list filled a whole page, the clerk was delighted, and noting that each item came with an approximate size range, he felt he had a good sense of what was needed.

He then led the three customers through the store section by section with clear purpose.

The Western-style house under Jie Yu'an's name had a fresh, refined architectural style, ill-suited to furniture that was either overly luxurious and ornate or classically traditional—yet those two styles happened to be the most common ones in the shop.

In the sofa section, Ji Qingzhou browsed for quite a while before settling on a simply-styled brown leather sofa set, meant for the reception area downstairs.

For upstairs, he chose a single-seat sofa in cream-colored floral fabric, paired with a round coffee table and a small oak-and-rattan tea cabinet.

The dining table was easy to choose—he settled directly on a set of black walnut French-style dining table and chairs, then picked out a foldable butterfly table for the upstairs sitting room, paired with four backed chairs with rose-embroidered cushions—useful for a card game if there were ever enough guests.

Of course, the thoroughly proper Jie Yu'an would certainly never join in such a thing.

As for the desk for his small office area, Ji Qingzhou couldn't find a long table in the right size. Later, noticing that the butterfly table, folded to one leaf, made a rather attractive half-moon shape, he decided it would suit the space between the two floor-to-ceiling windows in the northeast corner, and so ordered one more butterfly table in a slightly larger size.

After picking out a few pieces of furniture, the shop clerk had more or less gotten a sense of his taste, and his recommendations became more precise.

"As for the sideboard you mentioned, how about this one—cherry wood, with three shelved compartments on top and two drawers below, plenty of room for storage. Or this white cabinet here, quality wood, fitted with glass panels for better dust protection..."

Ji Qingzhou listened to his explanation, and had just taken a couple of steps closer, about to open the glass door of the cabinet to check the quality inside, when two shop assistants suddenly rounded the corner nearby, carrying a large wardrobe between them.

Luo Mingxuan called out loudly, "Watch out!" Just as Ji Qingzhou was about to pull Jie Yu'an out of the way, the other man, as though able to sense the direction the danger was coming from, in an instant threw an arm around him and pulled his whole body into his embrace, backing him against the corner of the wall.

The clerk was startled, and quickly waved the assistants moving the wardrobe to hurry along, then apologized profusely to the two of them.

"It's fine, it's fine." Ji Qingzhou was a little shaken, but fortunately they'd dodged in time and hadn't been hit by anything.

He let out a quiet breath, and as he pushed against Jie Yu'an's shoulder to step back, he glanced up at the man's composed expression, thinking to himself that even though he couldn't see, his reflexes were genuinely fast.

He had served in the military, after all—his reaction speed was seven times that of an ordinary person like himself.

"Are you all right? Did anything scrape you?" He immediately took hold of Jie Yu'an's hands and pushed up his sleeves to check, since the man had just shielded his back with his arm.

Jie Yu'an shook his head, and instead held his hand, saying evenly, "I'm fine. Let's keep looking."

"Honestly, your staff really ought to be more careful! Shouldn't someone give a shout before coming around a blind corner like that? If they'd knocked into someone and something happened, wouldn't that reflect badly on your shop? You really need to be more careful from now on!" Luo Mingxuan scolded on their behalf.

The clerk, well aware he was in the wrong, quickly offered several more apologies.

"All right, it was partly my own fault for being too absorbed in looking. Let's move on," Ji Qingzhou said, smoothing things over, and turned back to examine the sideboard from before.

Off to the side, Jie Yu'an stood quietly, somewhat lost in thought. Abruptly he raised his free left hand and pressed it against his own chest, then let it fall again as if nothing had happened.

Whether it was from the shock of the moment or not, his heart rate had been racing rather fast just then, and it was only now that the pounding, almost bursting sensation began to slowly settle.

Come to think of it, Ji Qingzhou ate so much usually, why was he still so thin? One arm alone had been enough to wrap around his entire body.

The cotton shirt had felt soft and pliant to the touch...

Hm, his personal shampoo must have run out—what he'd caught among the strands of hair just now seemed to be a faint scent of soap.

Why was his soap scent different from the one he smelled on himself? Could it be they weren't using the same brand...

His thoughts had wandered absentmindedly for a moment when Jie Yu'an suddenly felt the young man's warm body, carrying that faint soap scent, lean in close again. Just as his heart rate began to rise once more, he heard the other's deliberately lowered voice at his ear:

"Adding this cabinet, we're already past five hundred now. Is your balance enough?"

Although Shen Nanqi had told him to pick out good furniture, Ji Qingzhou still couldn't help weighing cost against value a little.

Fortunately, the style he'd taken a liking to had, from the start, been the plainest and simplest in the shop, belonging to the more affordable range within the store, so the combined cost of all the various pieces wasn't too high—still less than the price of that one luxurious sofa set from the very beginning.

"Mm," Jie Yu'an answered in a low voice. "Pick what you like. No need to economize."

Hearing this, Ji Qingzhou relaxed a little, and as he pulled him along toward the dressing table section ahead where the shop clerk was leading them, he asked quietly, "Where did your money come from? Don't tell me your father gave it to you?"

Jie Yu'an's expression seemed a touch exasperated, though his tone remained quite gentle as he answered, "I did hold a military rank before, you know."

"Oh..."

"And after being discharged from injury, I also received a large severance payment."

"How large is 'large'?"

"Three thousand yuan."

"That much!" Ji Qingzhou was somewhat taken aback, but then, thinking of how the man had made it all the way to colonel before his injury—and at that, such a young, highly educated colonel—he'd probably earned no small number of military merits, so it made sense he'd have saved up a good sum.

"So where do you keep your savings, then? Surely they don't fit in the nightstand?"

Jie Yu'an turned his head toward him and asked, his voice flat, "You're keeping track of that too?"

"Listen to yourself. I was just asking casually, and now I'm someone keeping track of your money? You think I married you for your pension?" Ji Qingzhou said, half-joking.

Jie Yu'an seemed to find this rather amusing too; a faint smile touched the corner of his mouth before he replied, "Same as you, in the bank."

"Same as me?" Ji Qingzhou raised one eyebrow, not immediately catching his meaning—after all, his current savings weren't even enough to qualify for a bank account.

Back in the modern world he'd had quite a bit saved up... wait, could it be that he'd talked about where he kept his savings once before, while drunk?

"You're really too much, bringing up some ancient, moldy old business just to tease me with it," Ji Qingzhou said dismissively. "Good thing I can't remember any of it."

Jie Yu'an: "Then how do you know what I'm talking about?"

"Hey, what are you two muttering about over there? Who's the one buying furniture here, anyway, can we move a little faster? We've still got two more floors to get through after this one!"

Luo Mingxuan had already finished a whole round of conversation with the clerk, and turning back to find the two of them still dawdling along without making any progress, called out the reminder in a robust, carrying voice.

"Coming," Ji Qingzhou answered unhurriedly. "You know perfectly well your Brother Yuan isn't so quick on his feet, what's the rush..."

.

Since the moneyed backer footed the bill with such confidence, they simply ordered whatever they wanted, and in just over two hours the three of them managed to buy nearly everything on the list.

All that remained—aside from the large cutting table and ironing table for the workroom, which would need to be custom-made by a carpenter—was the curtains, which still needed to be measured and ordered specially from a curtain shop.

As they got into the car and set off for the curtain shop, Ji Qingzhou tallied up the spending and found that today alone, just on this soft furnishing, they'd already spent over eleven hundred silver dollars. He couldn't help sighing inwardly at how easily rich people spent their money...

Fortunately, Jie Yu'an was willing to cover the renovation costs—otherwise, having rented this empty space, he really wouldn't have known what to do. He'd probably have bought a couple of secondhand tables and chairs and opened up a shabby little studio just like that!

Though, if the Jie family hadn't been willing to put up this money, he'd thought it over, and in all likelihood he wouldn't have rented this place at all.

"Once we finish ordering the curtains, your mission's complete. Everything left to buy is stuff the studio needs, and I can just find someone to have it made myself," Ji Qingzhou said, checking off the furniture already purchased on his list one by one.

"No sewing machine needed?" Jie Yu'an asked.

"I need one, but that's not exactly ordinary furniture," Ji Qingzhou said. "Sewing machines are expensive, but if I scrape together enough, I can just about afford one myself."

Though that would have to wait until mid-month, when he turned in manuscripts to two different places and collected payment from the newspaper office as well as from Mr. Ramos. Those two payments combined came to a hundred and fourteen yuan, and with another ten or twenty yuan on top of that, it'd be enough for a sewing machine.

"There's one at my house," Jie Yu'an said quietly.

"Is your household exactly an ordinary one?" Ji Qingzhou clicked his tongue lightly. "All right, I know you're generous, but this kind of expense isn't part of what you're covering, you don't need to pay for it on my behalf."

"It's already bought."

"What?" Ji Qingzhou frowned and looked at him.

"When the fans were being installed," Jie Yu'an said with easy composure. "The same foreign trading company had one in stock, so I ordered it while I was at it."

Ji Qingzhou made a sharp intake of breath. If Luo Mingxuan hadn't still been up front driving, he honestly would have wanted to ask, "Do you secretly have a crush on me?"

Of course, he knew that was impossible. Jie Yu'an being this generous with him now was probably partly because he thought of him as a friend, and partly because he simply wasn't short on money.

It was a bit like watching a good buddy too broke to afford instant noodles but too proud to admit it or borrow money, so you ended up quietly looking out for him here and there instead.

But surely he wasn't so poor as to actually need looking after like that?

Ji Qingzhou narrowed his eyes and studied Jie Yu'an's stern, composed face for a moment, found no crack in it, and finally pressed his lips together, shook his head, and said, "Fine. Since you've already bought it, I'll just happily accept it, thanks for the thought."

Jie Yu'an: "It's just ordinary furniture. No need to think so much of it."

Overhearing their exchange, Luo Mingxuan chimed in with a tone far more cheerful than either of theirs, "Hey, Brother Qingzhou, since Brother Yuan's already given you a gift, shouldn't I get you something too, to celebrate your move?"

"What move? I'm not exactly moving into a new home."

"Then let's call it celebrating your new shop opening instead," Luo Mingxuan chuckled. "Just you wait, once your studio opens, I'll bring you a big present!"

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