Mountains pile upon mountains and rivers wind endlessly—just when all seems lost, a new path appears.

Hu Rong couldn’t stand her husband talking like this and glared at him, retorting in a low voice, “What do you know? Yangyang is going through her restless adolescence right now—kids at this stage are most prone to impulsive feelings toward the opposite sex around them.”

As she spoke, she glanced upstairs, then turned her head and continued in a barely audible whisper, “Haven’t you noticed that lately she keeps mentioning Teacher Li? ‘He’s so handsome, Teacher Li this, Teacher Li that’—is this how she should be focusing on her studies?”

Why did it always circle back to the same thing?

Ji Chengguang sighed, “Let me put it this way: even if Yangyang has some thoughts, it’s normal. It’s human nature. You can’t tighten the reins on her mind and body just because you’re overly worried. She’ll leave home someday—what, are you planning to follow her to university and stick with her for her whole life?”

Hu Rong wanted to argue, but when the words reached her lips, she found she had nothing more to say.

Seeing this, Ji Chengguang continued, “Not only should we not avoid this issue, we should be proactive about communicating with her at the right time. She’s about to enter her final year of high school—how many more years do you think you can control her?”

“The most important thing right now is to find a tutor who can help Yangyang make rapid progress. We’ve already met four teachers—how can you know what the next one will be like ahead of time?”

Hu Rong sighed, realizing Ji Chengguang’s last words had struck home.

After a moment, she asked, “Should I contact him today then?”

Ji Chengguang replied, “The sooner, the better.”

Hu Rong asked, “And the lesson fee?”

Ji Chengguang said, “Stick to what we discussed—raise it to three hundred. Didn’t you all think this teacher was suitable? Let’s be proactive, show our sincerity. We’ve done our part; the rest is up to him. Smart people understand these things. Besides, this teacher was found through Old Qin’s cousin, wasn’t he?”

Hu Rong nodded.

“Alright, I’ll call him tonight and invite him over tomorrow.”

...

The next morning at nine-thirty, the piano teaching group convened to discuss the progress of last week’s Yudong piano students’ grading practice.

Li An arrived last, with the fewest students. As in last week’s teaching group meeting, he quickly reported on the progress of his three students and spent most of the remaining time listening in.

Just as it was Lin Pengfei’s turn to report, Li An’s phone vibrated in his pocket.

It was a call from Xiao Wang, the agent. Li An felt relieved and casually hung up.

As he pondered, Xiao Wang sent a message.

“Bro, I’ve picked out four more apartments for you—do you have time to check them out in the next couple days?”

It was already the sixteenth; the day after tomorrow, he had to reply to the landlord.

If there was no news from Xiao Wang today, Li An would have to take the initiative. If there really was no suitable place left, he’d temporarily move to Yunting Court and make further plans later.

“I’ll call you back in twenty minutes,”

Li An replied, putting away his phone.

After the meeting, he waited for everyone to leave and chatted briefly with Huang Juan; last night, he’d gotten a call from Hu Rong, inviting him to teach Yangyang formally at eight tonight.

He felt he should tell Huang Juan about it.

“That’s good,” Huang Juan nodded.

“Well, I’ll let you get back to work,” Li An, still preoccupied with the housing issue, didn’t linger. “Just let me know if you need anything.”

He left with those words.

Arriving at the safety stairwell, Li An called Xiao Wang. On the phone, Xiao Wang said he’d found several shared apartments near Yudong, all within Li An’s budget.

They agreed to meet at one-thirty at the east gate of Harmony Plaza.

With the time settled, Li An went to ask Old Dong for leave. According to regulations, teachers needed to fill out a leave form, but Old Dong waived the procedure and let Li An go.

“Thanks, Director Dong.”

Old Dong, curious because Li An usually liked to stay in the piano room, asked, “Family matters?”

“I’m meeting the agent to view apartments.”

Li An answered truthfully; tonight he’d be teaching Ji Yang, tomorrow would be busy all day, and the day after tomorrow he’d be moving—so only this afternoon was free.

He had a quick lunch of instant noodles and checked out of the office.

At 13:25, he arrived punctually at the east entrance of Harmony Plaza.

Xiao Wang and his apprentice were already waiting.

The afternoon sun blazed, and Rong City had become increasingly muggy in recent days.

Barely exchanging a few words, Li An felt sweat sticking to his back.

“Let’s go, bro, we’ll start with the closest—Ziyu Garden, 120 square meters, converted for four tenants, rent 1100, one small bedroom left. I’ve checked it out—no window, but that’s the only flaw.”

Li An replied, “...Let’s go.”

...

Three hours flew by.

After leaving Ziyu Garden, Li An had expected better options ahead, only to realize that the windowless “birdcage” was the best of them.

Xiao Wang was earnest.

Of the rooms viewed, one had a musty smell as soon as they stepped in, and from one partition came a deafening shout, “Thanks for the six-six-six, my loyal viewers—!”

How could anyone sleep here at night?

There was one quiet and tidy apartment, with four tenants—three women, one man.

That was fine; as long as the landlord and the three girls accepted his gender, he had no issues.

But when he stepped into the room he was to rent—

It was less than five square meters.

Cheap, yes—only seven hundred.

But how could one live like this? Li An estimated he’d have to store things on the bed.

Despite coming prepared for disappointment, he still felt let down after touring all the options.

Li An cared about the space of his daily life.

He’d once lived in a studio with a separate living room and a south-facing bedroom where sunlight greeted him each morning.

He loved that feeling.

The last apartment he saw just now actually matched his standards quite well—a small duplex for two tenants, with a couple upstairs.

That didn’t matter.

His unit was downstairs, with its own bathroom and kitchen, and the whole place was bright, especially with a large window—truly tempting.

At 1800 monthly, he could grit his teeth and consider it, especially since he now had extra income from teaching Ji Yang.

Most importantly, the location was perfect, right between Yudong and Blue Whale.

But upon closer inquiry, it wasn’t a residential block—the landlord charged one yuan per kilowatt-hour.

No thanks.

That hidden cost was terrifying; he’d suffered from it before.

After circling around, the three ended up back at the entrance of Harmony Plaza.

“You’ve only got four days before you need to move—we need to decide fast. Should we go back to Yunting Court and have another look?” urged the apprentice, tired from the afternoon’s rounds.

Li An sighed; in the end, he’d have to return to Yunting Court.

Alright, let it be.

Checking his watch, he saw there was still time and planned to negotiate with Xiao Wang about the price of the cat-friendly apartment at Yunting Court, but Xiao Wang suddenly spoke up.

“Bro, there’s another apartment—want to check it out? It’s just behind here.”

Li An followed Xiao Wang’s pointing finger—behind Harmony Plaza was a row of high-rise residential buildings.

“One-bedroom, next-to-top floor, independent lease, premium bathroom with shower, two thousand monthly, negotiable.”

“Wait, wait.” Li An was a bit stunned. “Are you talking about the Wanhe Residence apartments?”

Xiao Wang nodded, “Yes, bro, that’s the one...”

“Say no more, lead the way.”

Li An decided to give himself one last chance.

If the apartment was real, even at two thousand, it would have been snapped up long ago, even at four thousand.

If it was real and still unrented, there must be something wrong with it.

But what could be wrong?

A premium bathroom with shower—one of his two essential requirements was already met.