Love in the Fast Lane - Chapter 53 - Ready to Go Home

“Hey, Tang Ning, have you seen my handbag?” Mo Zihan shouted from the master bedroom.

Tang Ning was squatting in the secondary bedroom smoking a cigarette. Hearing Mo Zihan’s call, he immediately responded, “No, haven’t seen your handbag, but there’s something very personal of yours on the bedside table here. Are you coming to get it?”

Mo Zihan rushed over at a speed surpassing Schumacher’s, pounced on the bed, and asked with wide eyes, “Where? What is it? Hey, you, you didn’t secretly keep it, did you?”

Tang Ning was speechless. Am I that perverted? Besides, with your personality, do you think I need to be sneaky? If I were to keep it, would I shout out loud for you to come get it? What, did I get my head stuck in a door today or something?

“Think about it for a second. If I didn’t tell you, would you notice something missing?”

Mo Zihan thought for a moment and nodded, “That’s true!” But then immediately shouted again, “But there’s nothing here now, so who knows if you’re trying to cover something up. Hey, what is it? Where did you hide it?”

Tang Ning sighed, “Geez, you’re really something. I was just teasing you. I haven’t seen anything. And don’t you even know whether your personal belongings are there or not? Just go and check when you get back.”

Mo Zihan said matter-of-factly, “Who counts those things? Am I bored? I don’t have a hoarding habit. After using something, I wash it and throw it in the wardrobe. New stuff goes there too. You think I have time to take them out and check?”

Then, with a confirming tone and an interrogating look, she asked, “You’re not kidding, right? I’m warning you. If you dare do something like that, I’ll immediately buy a kitchen knife for self-defense and visit your room at night for some knife practice.”

Sweat. That reason. That threat. Strong and powerful!

Tang Ning assured her repeatedly, “Really, I’m not. You should hurry up and find your handbag. Tomorrow is the company’s year-end summary. Once the party’s over, we’re busting out. If you can’t find your stuff, won’t it delay things later?”

It was a sunny afternoon, well, technically the afternoon after work hours. It was also the first afternoon since Tang Ning’s parents had returned home. Both of them were so used to being cautious that they were afraid the elders might notice something suspicious and suddenly come back to check. Even after seeing them off and watching the train leave, they didn’t dare touch the bedroom until Tang Ning made repeated phone calls to confirm. After Mo Zihan got off work in the afternoon, they spent most of the day wandering around downstairs before finally heading up to start moving.

Sometimes, when they thought about it, it was almost laughable how paranoid they had become.

At that moment, the sound of a car stopping came from below. Both of them were startled and rushed to the window to look down. It turned out to be just someone from the residential community returning home. They exchanged relieved smiles.

Mo Zihan sat on the edge of the bed and suddenly said, “Why do I feel like this secondary bedroom is the best?”

Tang Ning laughed, “Well, should I take the master bedroom then?”

Mo Zihan shrugged indifferently, “Doesn’t matter to me. I kind of like it here. It has better lighting conditions. The master bedroom feels a bit unfamiliar to me.”

Tang Ning sighed, “Yeah, if I were to move there, I wouldn’t get used to it either. How long have we been living here? Almost two months now, right? It feels like all the little moments of the past two months have been in this room.”

Mo Zihan laughed, “Stop being sentimental! We’re just moving bedrooms, not moving houses. If you’re so nostalgic, why didn’t you feel this way when you moved from there to here? Besides, it’s not like you’re moving out; it’s me moving to that bedroom, okay?”

Tang Ning hesitated for a moment and suddenly asked an odd question, “When we go to your place for the New Year, what do we do?”

Mo Zihan blinked, “What do you mean what do we do?”

Tang Ning answered, “Accommodations. Is there enough room?”

Mo Zihan was surprised and then finally remembered this issue, “Oh my, I almost forgot. We’re going back to my hometown for the New Year. There’s just one yard with three livable rooms. If… Oh no, there’s a ninety percent chance we’ll have to share a room for quite a while.”

Tang Ning was silent for a while, then suggested, “How about we leave that bedroom empty? I’ll continue sleeping on the floor; it could be seen as getting accustomed to it. Your hometown probably doesn’t have heating, so if we share a room there, I might not adapt quickly to sleeping on the floor. Also, if we go to your hometown, how am I supposed to lay out the bedding?”

Mo Zihan was stumped as well. She couldn’t just let Tang Ning sleep on the floor directly. If she had to go out and buy bedding after reaching her hometown, that would arouse suspicion immediately.

“So, what do you think we should do?” she asked.

Tang Ning smiled wryly, “You’re familiar with your hometown’s situation. If you leave it to me, I can’t come up with any ideas. We need to figure this out carefully. We can’t afford any mistakes now; otherwise, all our efforts will be in vain.”

Mo Zihan fell silent too. She could sense that their relationship was unlike that of any other couple. Yes, it was a relationship, but neither of them would admit it just yet. Entering each other’s hearts takes time and a series of events that not only prove their feelings but also reveal and express them. However, from the time they met to now, everything had been calm and ordinary, as if their journey had been smooth sailing. Love, it seemed, shouldn’t be like this; it should have some ups and downs.

But those ups and downs must be within their ability to endure. The kind of tumult Mo Zihan experienced in the past was unacceptable, and such upheaval wasn’t likely to happen between the two of them.

“Well, let’s not move then. Someone might come up here in the next few days anyway. Even if no one comes, it’s fine to keep that room empty,” Mo Zihan finally said, taking her things back.

Tang Ning laughed, sprawled out on the floor, and stopped thinking about anything or wanting to do anything.

In the following days, the company held its annual summary meeting, which Tang Ning had to attend. During that time, he also submitted a design drawing. This design drawing had taken the most thought and held the highest value, surpassing his previous two or three combined. This one was a high-end, mass-producible product, not clothing but a household item.

Unsurprisingly, this design opened the door for the company to enter the high-end household product market for the coming year. Murong Feng didn’t hesitate to order production to start even during the New Year period. As for Tang Ning, what he needed was his reward.

It was time to get ready to go to Mo Zihan’s home for the New Year. One day, a heavy snowfall blanketed the ground, and Tang Ning and Mo Zihan headed to the airport. Both of their parents called to scold them, saying it wasn’t safe to fly on a cloudy day. So, they rushed to the train station and managed to buy tickets. Now, they were just waiting to go home.