I'm Not That Kind of Person

An Yao still helped Chen Hai back to the apartment.

“Thanks, miss. With my weight, it must’ve been hard for a little Bean Sprout like you to help me all the way here.”

“Uh…” An Yao merely smiled. Was that supposed to be a compliment?

“Want to come in for some tea?” Chen Hai gestured toward his apartment.

“I—I still have something to do, so I’ll pass. I mainly wanted to thank you for helping me last time. I really appreciate it.” An Yao seemed quite wary.

“It was nothing. Go on, then. See you around.”

“Okay.”

An Yao hurried over to the elevator, but when she instinctively glanced back, she found that Chen Hai had left his door open and collapsed facedown on the floor. The apartment was pitch-black, with only his legs sticking out.

“Ah—sir…”

An Yao was badly startled and quickly went over to check on him.

After turning on the apartment lights and struggling for quite a while, An Yao finally managed to get Chen Hai onto the bed.

“So much alcohol…” An Yao looked around and found bottles scattered all over the floor beside the bed and across the table. After taking a closer look, she realized that the apartment itself was fairly tidy. It was as if all these bottles had appeared out of nowhere.

“Did something upsetting happen to him?” An Yao wondered.

She stood up and gathered the scattered bags from the floor, then collected all the bottles. After that, the girl still seemed dissatisfied with the mess in the apartment, so she tidied up all the things that had been left lying around.

“Hmm…”

An Yao looked around, then decided to sweep and mop the floor as well. Only after she finished did she seem satisfied. Once she had gathered all the trash, the girl carried the bags out and left.

…

The next day.

Chen Hai woke up with a pounding headache. He grimaced, patted his forehead, and got up to pour himself a glass of water. But when he returned to the living room, he froze. The clean, orderly surroundings made him feel as if he were still dreaming.

“Damn, I’m still dreaming after all. So I drank this water for nothing?” Chen Hai muttered.

But the vivid sensation of everything around him made him realize that this wasn’t a dream.

When he returned to the bed, Chen Hai finally noticed a note on the nightstand.

He picked it up and read:

[Dear Sir,

I’m sorry that I still don’t know your name. Last night, I saw you collapsed outside your door, so I took the liberty of coming in and helping you to the bed. The apartment was a little messy, so I tidied it up while I was at it. Thank you again for your help.

—An Yao]

An Yao.

Only then did Chen Hai remember. Was she the young girl from yesterday?

“Holy crap. Isn’t this exactly the kind of encounter I’ve always wanted? And I was sleeping so soundly I missed it!”

He cursed himself, then shook his head. Chen Hai was hungry now, so after washing up, he decided to go downstairs for breakfast.

When he opened the door, he froze again. A young girl was standing outside, holding a bag.

“Good morning, sir. I’m so glad you’re finally awake. I heard that someone had gotten into trouble from drinking…”

The person outside was An Yao. Seeing that she had brought him breakfast, Chen Hai immediately became wary.

“Jin Sha didn’t send you, did she?”

“Jin Sha?”

“Never mind.”

Seeing the confusion on her face, Chen Hai took note of her reaction and simply asked, “How long have you been standing here?”

“I just got here. I brought you some breakfast too,” An Yao said. “I’m sorry. I really didn’t know how else to repay you, so I could only do these small things.”

“It really was nothing,” Chen Hai said.

An Yao paused. Now that Chen Hai was sober, he seemed quite serious and proper. His gaze was clear and genuine, completely different from the drunk man he had been the night before.

“…”

“Thanks, miss. Come in and eat with me. There’s a table inside.” Chen Hai took the breakfast from her and turned back into the apartment.

An Yao hesitated, seemingly afraid to go in.

“If you’re worried, you don’t have to close the door,” Chen Hai added.

“N-no, that’s not what I meant. I’m sorry.” Realizing that he had seen through her thoughts, An Yao hurried into the apartment, then pulled the door nearly shut without locking it.

Chen Hai opened the breakfast and found fried dough sticks, soy milk, and rice noodle rolls.

“What are you having?”

“I-I’m fine. You eat,” An Yao said. “I’ve already eaten.”

The next second, however, her stomach let out a loud growl.

“If you haven’t eaten, just say so. Here, have the rice noodle rolls.” Seeing that An Yao had nearly buried her head under the table, Chen Hai pushed the food toward her. His gaze then fell on the school badge on her clothes.

“You’re a student at Beijing Normal University?”

“Y-yes. I’m a freshman this year,” An Yao replied.

“You’re actually a pretty good person.”

“Huh?”

“You’re obviously scared of me, yet you still went out of your way to help me.” Chen Hai shook his head. “I may be a little rough around the edges, but I really am a good guy.”

An Yao couldn’t help but laugh. Still, she did seem a little more relaxed.

“Do you live here alone, Brother Chen?” An Yao glanced around.

“Don’t keep calling me ‘sir.’ Just call me Brother Chen,” he said. “And yes, I’m currently living alone…”

“A few nights ago, you went out in the middle of the night and headed to such a remote place. What were you doing there?” Chen Hai asked.

“I was buying medicine. It was urgent, so I took a shortcut,” An Yao explained. “I sometimes walk along that road during the day. I just never expected…”

“Oh, I see.”

Chen Hai didn’t ask any further questions. After finishing the fried dough sticks, he went over to his wallet and rummaged through it. Finally, he pulled out a hundred-yuan bill.

“Thanks for bringing breakfast.”

“N-no, no, no. It was only breakfast. I can’t accept this.”

“It’s fine. Take it. You also cleaned up my apartment, and I think this is still too little.” Chen Hai said, “I don’t like owing people favors.”

“But it was only the right thing to do…” An Yao murmured.

Clutching the money in her hand, the girl hesitated for a moment. In the end, under Chen Hai’s watchful gaze, she accepted it.

“Do you often do housework at home?” Chen Hai asked.

“Y-yes. I also look for housekeeping jobs on the side because I can’t really do anything else,” the girl replied.

At that moment, a sound like an alarm began ringing. An Yao took out an old-fashioned smartphone and silenced it, then said to Chen Hai, “I forgot to turn off my alarm.”

“If you need money, you can come work for me,” Chen Hai said casually, glancing at the phone model, which looked almost ten years old.

An Yao froze. Her cheeks flushed as she stood up.

“I-I’m sorry. I didn’t mean that. I don’t want to do that kind of thing!”

“What are you thinking?” Chen Hai rolled his eyes. “Do you think I’m offering to keep you? With a figure like yours…” He paused, then continued, “I need someone to help clean and organize my apartment. If you’re willing, I can pay you a decent salary, and it could be a long-term job.”

“Ah…”