Moving Apart

There were five rooms in total, with only three on the second floor—yet all three women had claimed them.

That left Shen Yi with no choice but to take the third floor.

"This... why are you all staying on the second floor?"

"The master bedroom upstairs is so big, and I’ll be the only one up there. Why don’t you come up and stay with me?"

Shen Yi grumbled unhappily.

He’d had some sneaky plans in mind, but it seemed the women had seen right through him, leaving him completely excluded.

"Ugh, wishful thinking."

Cheng Jun muttered under her breath, her face flushing red.

She had been the quickest to act, snatching the last room on the second floor to avoid any awkwardness.

The real question was—which of the three would end up sharing a room with Shen Yi? They certainly couldn’t all go at once—that would be beyond embarrassing. After what she’d experienced, Cheng Jun was downright terrified of that scenario.

Since it wasn’t something they could openly discuss, it was better to just let Shen Yi sleep alone rather than fight over who would go first.

"Yeah, you can just sleep by yourself," Fu Nanzhi chimed in, barely suppressing a laugh.

Just then, Shu Yunyi emerged from the nursery and knocked on the door.

"The space here is enough, but the interior will need some renovations later."

"We’ll need to add padding and switch to hypoallergenic materials."

Shen Yi nodded.

"Got it. That’s simple enough."

"We’ll arrange for someone to handle it soon."

Then, hesitantly, he asked the three women,

"Since you’ve all picked your rooms, why don’t we... move in today?"

He wasn’t being impatient—it was just better to get things settled quickly to avoid complications.

"Fine."

Cheng Jun didn’t hesitate, speaking up first.

"I don’t have much going on at work today, so I can skip it."

"A couple of trips back home by car should cover everything."

Her belongings were mostly clothes, jewelry, and assorted bottles—nothing too bulky. If she needed anything urgently, she could always buy it later.

Shu Yunyi, however, paused before turning to Shen Yi.

"I don’t have a car right now, so Xiao Yi, could you drive me home to pick mine up?"

"I only took today off—I have classes tomorrow. If I’m moving, it has to be today."

"Sure," Shen Yi agreed.

Fu Nanzhi then offered,

"How about I drive you, Yunyi?"

"I can help you move too."

Shu Yunyi hesitated.

"Wouldn’t that be inconvenient? Don’t you need to go back for your own things?"

Fu Nanzhi waved it off with a smile.

"It’s fine. I live in Phase One, so it’s really close. I can go back anytime."

"You’ve got a lot to move, right? An extra car and pair of hands will speed things up."

Shu Yunyi brightened.

"Well, in that case—thank you, Nanzhi."

Shen Yi watched quietly, not wanting to interrupt as they bonded. Instead, he grinned and said,

"Alright, since everything’s settled, let’s get moving... time to head out."

"I’ll go register your license plates with the property management. That way, you can come and go easily, or park directly in the private garage."

As they walked downstairs together, he added,

"We can also pick up some groceries while we’re out. I’ll cook you all a proper feast tonight—my specialty."

"Let’s celebrate."

"Deal."

"If it’s not good, you’re in trouble."

"We’ll be waiting."

The three women laughed as they walked out together, lively and cheerful.

Cheng Jun, who lived the farthest, left first on her own. Fu Nanzhi and Shu Yunyi drove off together to Yang District to pick up Shu Yunyi’s car from her mother’s place.

With the house now quiet, Shen Yi exhaled deeply, a relaxed smile spreading across his face.

After some reluctance, all three had finally agreed to move in. No major issues had come up, though he’d had to accept a few "unfair" terms—but those were just playful little agreements between the four of them. Nitpicking wasn’t his style.

For now, the tension between the women had eased, though it seemed to be shifting toward him instead. But Shen Yi wasn’t worried about that.

After all his maneuvering, everything had turned out well.

"I finally got Nanzhi to take the serum... I just don’t know when the effects will kick in."

"Guess we’ll have to wait and see..."

With a sigh, he got to work, heading down to the garage to drive back to his rental and pack up his meager belongings.

Amusingly, no matter how much he accumulated, everything still fit neatly into a single suitcase.

Shaking his head, Shen Yi grabbed the suitcase with one hand and two pairs of shoes with the other before heading out.

Instead of going straight back, he made a detour to the supermarket.

Once inside, he beelined for the fresh produce and meat sections, loading up his cart. Filling the massive double-door fridge in the kitchen wouldn’t be easy.

Chicken, duck, fish, meat, eggs, milk, oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar, tea, sugar—even with his stamina, it took two full shopping carts to haul everything to the car.

A new home meant starting from scratch, and everything had to be stocked.

At least the kitchen came fully equipped with both Western and Chinese cookware—otherwise, the shopping list would’ve been even longer.

After stuffing the car to the brim, Shen Yi spent another chunk of time unloading everything back at the house.

On his way upstairs, he ran into Cheng Jun, who had just returned with her first load, struggling to drag a heavy suitcase up to the second floor.

Shen Yi caught up and took the suitcase from her, nearly staggering at the weight.

"Whoa, no wonder you’re struggling—this thing’s a beast!"

"What’s in here, gold bars?"

Cheng Jun giggled and gave him a playful shove, barely keeping a straight face.

"More valuable than gold, actually. Be careful with it."

"It’s my collection of skincare products—really effective ones."

Holding it steady, Shen Yi continued upstairs.

"The whole suitcase is full of that?"

"Yep."

Cheng Jun clasped her hands behind her back, tapping her toes as she followed him.

"Of course. Besides mine, I brought sets for Nanzhi and Yunyi too."

"Let them try them out."

Shen Yi smirked, catching a particular word. He glanced back at her.

"They’ll love that."

"But... ‘Yun-jie’?"

Cheng Jun flushed but quickly put on a stern face.

"She’s seven or eight years older than me—what’s wrong with calling her ‘jie’?"

Shen Yi played innocent.

"Nothing! I was just surprised, that’s all."

"Humph! You’re not allowed to be surprised. Keep it to yourself!"

"Now hurry up!"

She gave him a light kick for good measure.

"Got it!"

Chuckling to himself, Shen Yi bounded up the stairs two at a time. Seeing them get along so well was exactly what he wanted.

After helping Cheng Jun with her luggage, she drove off again—one trip wasn’t nearly enough.

Shen Yi quickly dropped his own suitcase on the third floor before diving into the kitchen to start organizing.

It was too early to cook, but prepping the ingredients and spices was a task in itself.

Still, he was in high spirits, humming a tune as he tied on a new apron and got to work.