"The water pipe's clogged, and no water's coming out?"
"Okay, I understand. I'll send you the property management's number right away."
"Or I could come over and take a look first. If I can't fix it, you can call the property management."
"Mm."
After hanging up, Zhang Yang grabbed a towel and wiped off his sweat, changed into a fitted tank top, then took his keys and went to see Nazha.
Women were generally more lecherous than men. They just tended to be more reserved about it. When a man had a chance to show off his physique, he shouldn't chicken out.
A woman seeing a man's six-pack, V-lines, and broad shoulders was no less thrilling than a man seeing Da Mimi in The Island.
"Ding-dong."
Zhang Yang reached the door of apartment 802 and rang the bell. "Nazha, it's me."
The door opened quickly, and Nazha appeared, bare-faced but stunning, dressed in a modest nightgown that covered her from head to toe.
"Se—senior?!"
Nazha had been about to greet him enthusiastically, but when she saw his upper body wrapped in a tank top, her heart skipped a beat.
Her gaze instinctively landed on Zhang Yang's muscular chest, just barely visible beneath the fabric. Her ears suddenly felt unbearably hot, and she swallowed involuntarily.
The sound was loud. Her blush spread all the way down her neck.
Zhang Yang acted as if he hadn't noticed her embarrassment and smiled. "I was working out just now, so I missed your call. Sorry."
Nazha guiltily pulled her gaze away and said coolly, "It's fine."
She'd been a little annoyed when he didn't pick up at first, but seeing him looking like this made up for it.
"You said the water pipe was clogged. What exactly is going on?" Zhang Yang skipped the small talk and got straight to the point.
Nazha led him to the bathroom. "I wanted to take a shower, but no water came out."
"My agent told me the water and electricity bills were all paid on time, so I wondered if the pipes were broken."
As Nazha spoke, Zhang Yang turned the shower knob. Sure enough, no water came out.
He went over to the sink and turned its faucet on as well. It was dry, too.
"I think it's pretty badly clogged," Nazha said from the doorway, her arms crossed.
Her eyes kept drifting to the muscles in Zhang Yang's arms and his abs.
Then she'd dart her gaze away, as if she were worried he'd catch her staring. She looked like a guilty thief.
Zhang Yang didn't respond. He stepped out of the bathroom and turned on the kitchen faucet, but that had no water either.
"Just as I thought."
Zhang Yang smiled to himself, then went straight outside. With Nazha watching, he opened the utility closet door and turned the main water valve.
Whoosh!
A few breaths later, water began running in the bathroom.
"The water's back!" Nazha exclaimed in delight.
"Mm." Zhang Yang came over to her, his eyes teasing. "The main valve wasn't open. That's pretty serious. You could take apart every pipe in the apartment and still not get any water."
Nazha blushed again. "..."
The first time, she'd been embarrassed. The second time, she just felt mortified.
There was no way she hadn't caught the teasing in Zhang Yang's voice.
"Junior, the problem's fixed, so I'll head back and take a shower."
Zhang Yang stopped there and left without hesitation.
He could've kept flirting with Nazha. For example, he could've deliberately left his keys behind and had the property management come unlock his door.
Before that, he could've asked Nazha to let him stay with her for a while. A man and a woman alone together in one room could set the mood.
But he didn't.
There was plenty of time!
"Nazha asking me for help confirms one of my theories."
Lying in the bathtub, Zhang Yang thought it over carefully.
Nazha was in the entertainment industry, so helping her solve a problem could have been an opportunity to grow closer to her. But the Opportunity Manual hadn't shown anything.
That meant either the Opportunity Manual had foreseen that he would handle the problem, or Nazha wouldn't have run into a problem she couldn't solve in the first place.
He went over the sequence of events. If he hadn't received the Entertainment Industry Opportunity Manual today, he probably would've gone back to the dorm to sleep. Then he wouldn't have run into Nazha at the apartment, exchanged contact details with her, or told her to call if she needed help.
Maybe Nazha wouldn't have encountered this problem along the original timeline.
Meanwhile, as Nazha soaked in the bath, she messaged her agent and recounted what had happened that evening.
The reply came quickly: "There's a notice from the property management on your door, reminding you to open the main valve before using the water."
Nazha: "..."
When she'd first come home, she'd watched Zhang Yang go into apartment 801 and hadn't paid any attention to the notice on her own door.
She quickly finished her shower, ran to the door, and ripped down the notice.
If Zhang Yang saw it, she'd be embarrassed beyond belief.
Though their time together had been brief, Zhang Yang had left a deep impression on her.
And that impression soon became a memory Nazha would never forget.
"No, don't!"
The next morning, Nazha sat bolt upright in bed.
Looking at her surroundings, she thought she must be going crazy.
Someone she'd only just met had appeared in her dream.
Nothing had actually happened, perhaps because she was inexperienced, but it was still terrifying.
On the other side of the wall, Zhang Yang had slept soundly all night.
He got up, washed up, and dressed. After stopping at an old shop for pan-fried buns, he took a car to the company.
He put on a mask and went to a nearby convenience store. Following the clerk's directions, he bought several brands and sizes of Scripture Pavilion.
Liu Shishi only needed regular, soft-cotton pads between 240 and 350 millimeters long. He wasn't foolish enough to buy only those; that would look too coincidental, as if he'd done it on purpose.
The cashier seemed used to men buying Scripture Pavilion products. She rang Zhang Yang up quickly and efficiently, her expression unchanged.
Zhang Yang breathed a sigh of relief, took his "props" back to the company, and waited in his lounge for the right moment.
Meanwhile, Liu Shishi returned to the company in her van and went straight to Cai Yinong's office.
The two chatted about this and that for a long while before Cai Yinong finally got to the point. "Shishi, you don't mind being paired with a newcomer, do you?"
Liu Shishi smiled faintly. "Everyone starts out as a newcomer. I don't mind."
With Cai Yinong's domineering personality, it wouldn't matter if she did mind. Besides, she genuinely didn't care about this sort of thing.
"Mm." Cai Yinong was pleased with Liu Shishi's attitude. This was also a way to test how much control she had over her artists.
"Actually, you don't have to work with a newcomer," Cai Yinong said. "Try to persuade Old Hu to take the male lead."
Liu Shishi knew this was Cai Yinong's real goal. She still hadn't given up on getting Hu Ge to play the male lead.
She was about to turn her down tactfully when she suddenly felt a heavy, warm sensation in her lower abdomen.
Remembering the date, she realized something was wrong. She stood up at once. "Sister K, I understand. I'll try talking to him again. Something's come up, so I need to go back to my lounge."
Having gotten the answer she wanted, Cai Yinong naturally had no objection.
Liu Shishi hurried back to her lounge and went straight to the restroom. She opened the storage cabinet beside her, only to find it completely empty.
"I'm out!" Liu Shishi frowned and was about to ask her assistant to buy more.
But as soon as she opened her mouth, she remembered she'd given her assistants the day off.
"This is just awful!"
Liu Shishi realized she had no choice but to endure the discomfort and handle it herself.
She couldn't just stop someone in the hallway and ask them to go buy some.
She put in her contact lenses, donned a mask and a baseball cap, and left her private lounge. Someone was coming toward her from across the hall.
It was Zhang Yang, someone she knew!
"Sister Shishi!"
Zhang Yang saw Liu Shishi and looked surprised.
Then he hurriedly hid the transparent bag in his hand behind his back.
But that only drew Liu Shishi's attention. She took a closer look.
When she saw what was inside the bag, her expression turned curious.
This really was a pillow delivered just when she needed a nap. Zhang Yang was her Timely Rain.
"A'Yang, why did you buy this?"
Before you continue