Chapter 35: Thick-Skinned

"Are you asking me for a favor?"

Li Yancheng, who was just about to reach into the small cabinet under his desk to retrieve cups and pour water for the two visitors, stopped mid-motion upon hearing this. He sat back in his chair and looked at the father and son from the Qian family.

If Ningning hadn't come by earlier, he might have been confused about why they were seeking him out. But after hearing about what had happened in the courtyard, seeing these two made his intentions clear: it was undoubtedly about his house.

"What is it, Ruishan? No need to use the word 'beg'."

"Ahem..." Faced with Li Yancheng’s inquiry, Qian Ruishan cleared his throat. He glanced at his father beside him, and seeing no particular reaction, he spoke up.

"It’s like this, Dacheng. You know about what happened in our courtyard, right?"

"Yes, it happened the day before yesterday. Of course I know. Didn't the neighborhood office say they would arrange for repairs?"

"They did, but we can't start construction in the middle of winter."

Qian Ruishan paused, waiting for his old classmate to pick up the thread so he could steer the conversation toward his goal. But Li Yancheng had no intention of helping; he simply sat there, staring steadily at him, waiting for him to continue.

"Uh..." With no one to bridge the silence, Qian Ruishan had to keep going. He couldn't just stand there awkwardly.

"The neighborhood office assigned my family a temporary place to stay in the courtyard next to their office, but..." Qian Ruishan faltered. He didn't quite know how to proceed, but after a second or two of hesitation, he gritted his teeth and laid it out. "Dacheng, my father and I came to see you today to ask if you could let us use your..."

"Ruishan, wait a moment..."

Li Yancheng cut him off before he could continue. He interrupted because he already knew why the pair had come, and it was exactly as he had guessed; there was no point in listening any further.

With a polite smile, he said, "Ruishan, you aren't complaining that the temporary housing from the neighborhood office is too far, are you? Let’s be clear: I don't have the power to make them change your assignment. You know the people at the neighborhood office just as well as I do, and since the temporary housing is already settled, changing it would require talking to Director Liu. I’m not close with Director Liu, so you’ve really come to the wrong place."

In reality, he understood perfectly well why the Qian family wanted to borrow his house: they had a large family. While his household wasn't as large as the one with nineteen people, theirs still had thirteen.

The temporary housing provided by the neighborhood office was at most one or one-and-a-half rooms. Having over a dozen people cramped in there for at least a year would indeed be miserable.

But you cannot shift your misery onto someone else.

Furthermore, given the state of the courtyard at Number 31, there was no chance the neighborhood office would pay to tear it down and rebuild it; they would only perform repairs. If these people weren't satisfied with the results later, or if they found excuses not to move back—or simply decided the temporary housing was more comfortable than their original home—what would happen then?

The Qian family wanted to borrow Li Yancheng’s house precisely because it was spacious enough to hold their thirteen members. If he were to give in out of a sense of social obligation and they refused to move out later, he would have nowhere to turn.

He wasn't about to be that foolish.

Besides, they were classmates of the *original* Li Yancheng, not *him*. Why should he care about their living conditions?

So, he quickly steered the conversation toward the idea that they were looking for help with the neighborhood office, effectively shutting them down. "Sorry, I’m not close with those people, I can’t speak for you."

Let’s see how they get out of that.

Unfortunately, he had underestimated their shamelessness.

"Uh... Dacheng, I... that’s not what I meant. I’m saying the temporary housing is too small. You know I have a big family. I’m asking if you could... could you lend us your house for a year? You can move into our temporary spot. Don’t worry, as soon as our place is repaired, we’ll move out immediately."

Li Yancheng sighed inwardly. He looked at Qian Ruishan, then at the expectant face of the elder Qian, and smiled faintly. "I thought you were asking me to put in a good word with the neighborhood office. Haha..."

*Ring-a-ling...*

Just then, an electric bell rang outside. It was the signal for the lunch break, letting everyone know it was time to eat.

"Dacheng, time to eat!"

Before the bell had even finished ringing, a young man carrying a lunchbox walked in. This was Qi Minchao, a classmate from Li Yancheng’s vocational school days, now a surgeon.

"Whoa, you’re still busy?" Seeing the strangers sitting in the room, Qi Minchao assumed they were patients.

"It's fine, I'm finished here. You go ahead, I'll be right there."

"Alright, I'll head over. Hurry up—we’re having rice today, and I heard there’s meat."

"Got it."

While responding to his old classmate, Li Yancheng bent down and pulled two lunchboxes from the small cabinet under his desk.

"Ningning, want to eat with me today?"

"Ah? But Brother Dacheng, I haven't told my sister-in-law." Ever since Jin Zhihai had been transferred to the municipal task force, little Ningning had been eating lunch at the department store where her sister-in-law worked.

"Do you know the number for their office's front desk?"

"I remember it."

"Come on, I'll take you to call her." Li Yancheng stood up, grabbing his lunchboxes.

"Oh."

Little Ningning glanced blankly at the father and son from the Qian family, who were sitting on the long bench looking somewhat dazed, and scrambled off her chair.

"Uncle Qian, Ruishan, I won't keep you. Our cafeteria only allows one guest per employee. Please remember to pull the door shut when you leave."

The Qian father and son seemed to wake from a dream and stood up as well. Seeing Li Yancheng already walking out of the clinic, Qian Ruishan hurriedly called out, "Dacheng, just now..."

"That’s enough." The elder Qian grabbed his son’s arm. "Isn't his attitude clear enough? Why are you still calling after him?"

"But Dad..."

"No more 'buts.' Not answering directly is a refusal; can't you see that? Let’s go home."

The elder Qian walked out of the clinic with a dark expression, followed closely by Qian Ruishan. Once outside, both men looked at the back of Li Yancheng, who was leading Ningning toward the duty office. Their gazes were filled with gloom.

...

"Here, these are our cafeteria meal tickets. If they ask who it's for, just say it's my meal. You go ahead and get the food; I need to make a call."

After Ningning finished her call, Li Yancheng took a stack of hospital-issued meal tickets from his pocket and handed them over along with the lunchboxes.

Ningning didn't ask who he was calling. She obediently took the boxes and tickets and trotted off toward the cafeteria in the back courtyard.