Moving took quite a while, and buying furniture was no small undertaking either, but they both enjoyed the process.
The house came fully finished, but they still had to take care of the finer details themselves.
It was worth mentioning that they now had enough space to set up a home gym in the basement. Zhao Pingchuan had always worked out regularly, and this made it convenient for him to exercise.
Ji Ran also set up a home theater because they loved snuggling up to watch movies and occasionally played games together.
Looking at the house as it began to take shape, Ji Ran thought that having money really was nice. It saved them a lot of trouble.
The master bedroom was still one large room made by joining rooms together. The reason was simple: neither of them had ever considered sleeping separately. When you had a darling boyfriend to hold at night, who would want to sleep alone?
When it came to decorating, Zhao Pingchuan supported almost all of Ji Ran's ideas. As far as he was concerned, the house was already perfect with Ji Ran in it. But whenever Ji Ran needed him to, he gave his suggestions serious thought.
They spent another few months working on it on and off. After officially moving in, they invited their friends over for a meal.
After discussing it, the two decided to cook at home. Zhao Pingchuan was the head chef, and Ji Ran prepared a few dishes too.
That afternoon, everyone arrived one after another. The moment they opened the door and saw Little White, their eyes all turned to stars, and they cried out dramatically, "Wow! Where did this little cutie come from?"
"Ji Ran, when did you get a dog? How come I never heard you mention it?"
"Aww, let uncle hold the little rice dumpling."
Little White had grown livelier and usually wasn't afraid of people, but seeing so many strangers with frightening looks in their eyes all at once, he still let out a few quiet barks and hid in the kitchen, rubbing anxiously against Zhao Pingchuan's trouser leg.
Zhao Pingchuan was washing vegetables. He looked down, saw Little White, and asked with a smile, "What's wrong, Little White?"
Ji Ran walked in and picked up the dog. "The creepy uncles scared him, hahaha."
As he held Little White, he said, "Once you grow a bit bigger, I won't be able to carry you anymore."
Lin Lin took the opportunity to stroke Little White's head, her eyes narrowing with pleasure. "Ahhh, his fur feels so good."
Little White licked her hand and rubbed his wet nose against her. Flattered, Lin Lin wished she could give him her very heart.
Lin Zhou snorted at the sight, playing the sour grapes. "So this guy is a sucker for good looks. He only likes pretty girls, huh?"
He still remembered how Little White had avoided him earlier.
As it turned out, Little White wasn't nearly so shallow. Once he had settled in, he welcomed every guest. When he saw Chen Mo sitting alone at the far end of the sofa, he even ran over and rubbed against his trouser leg, studying him curiously with his beady eyes.
Chen Mo's eyes lit up at once. He tentatively reached out and stroked Little White, who obediently lowered his head and let him pet him. Chen Mo said, "Your name is Little White, right? Hello."
The way he greeted Little White so solemnly made everyone laugh.
Perhaps someone as deeply socially anxious as Chen Mo liked dealing with small animals best. For the rest of the afternoon, he practically followed Little White everywhere, stopping just short of bringing him to the table.
Everyone felt bad leaving Zhao Pingchuan and Ji Ran to do all the work, so they pitched in. With so many hands, the ingredients were prepared quickly.
Li Xuan, Lin Lin, and the others toured the home theater and refused to come out once they went in. Only when it was time to eat were they reluctantly pulled away.
"Brother Chuan, Ji Ran, that screen of yours is amazing. It must have cost a lot."
Ji Ran had picked out the screen. He smiled and nodded. "It was a little expensive."
Li Xuan was envious. Computer people like them were interested in that sort of thing and could tell its quality at a glance.
Zhao Pingchuan said, "You're welcome to come over and play whenever you have time."
Whether or not Zhao Pingchuan was just being polite, Li Xuan was thrilled. Being invited by Zhao Pingchuan himself gave him so much face, so he readily agreed. "Definitely, definitely."
Everyone gathered around the large round table in a lively crowd. A divided hot pot sat in the middle, surrounded by a dazzling assortment of stir-fries and stews that looked, smelled, and tasted wonderful.
Zhao Pingchuan's cooking earned unanimous praise. Chen Qi said, "Old Zhao, I've known you all this time, and this is the first time I've eaten your cooking."
Lin Zhou and Chen Mo said that if even Sister Qi had never eaten it, they were even less likely to have had the honor.
Zhao Pingchuan smiled and pointed to a few plates. "Everyone helped out. Ranran made some of the dishes."
Li Chang followed his gesture, picked up a piece of beef brisket with tomato, and praised it. "You're both really good cooks. Who usually cooks at home?"
As Ji Ran's coworkers, they knew he rarely ate dinner in the company cafeteria. Whenever they asked, he said he was going home to eat with his brother.
At the question, several pairs of curious eyes turned toward Zhao Pingchuan and Ji Ran.
Ji Ran scratched his head bashfully. "My brother cooks more often."
Zhao Pingchuan explained, "Whoever has time cooks."
As for who had time, they were both busy people. Ji Ran often worked overtime, and Zhao Pingchuan had even less chance to take a break.
Seeing the two of them stand up for each other, Lin Lin looked envious. "Someone who's willing to cook for you can always find the time, right?"
Li Xuan patted Ji Ran on the shoulder and sighed at how lucky he was. "Exactly, Ji Ran. Our Brother Chuan is such a big boss now, and he still drives you to and from work every day and cooks for you. People would be green with envy if they heard. You'd better treasure him."
"Before anyone else turns green, you'll have died of envy yourself."
Ji Ran wasn't about to stand on ceremony with his good friend. He promptly stuffed a chicken leg into Li Xuan's mouth.
Li Xuan took the chicken leg and bit into it, giving him a thumbs-up. "Delicious!"
It really was delicious. Everyone ate and chatted until they had polished off everything on the table. In the end, they offered to help clean up, but Ji Ran refused. "Hey, no need, no need. You're guests today. Just leave it."
Chen Qi said, "There are so many dishes. How long will it take the two of you to clean them all?"
Ji Ran grinned. "It's fine. We'll just throw them in the dishwasher later."
Zhou Jianghua let out a strange yelp. He didn't understand the world of rich people. "All right, sorry for assuming."
When it was time to say goodbye, everyone reluctantly bid Little White farewell. "See you next time, cutie."
Little White waited at the door with his two owners, wagging his tail as he watched the guests leave. So many people had played with him that afternoon, and he was especially happy too.
After they had invited their friends over, the new house felt a little more lived-in. Looking at this home that truly belonged to the two of them, Zhao Pingchuan and Ji Ran exchanged a smile.
They tidied up the house a little, then washed up and lay in bed, holding each other.
Ji Ran rubbed against his neck, his hair tickling Zhao Pingchuan enough to draw a few soft chuckles from his chest. "Did you learn that from Little White?"
The movement really was a lot like Little White's. Ji Ran laughed too when he realized it.
He lay on his back, resting his head on Zhao Pingchuan's arm and leaning his head against his. "Brother, do you like the life we have now?"
"I do." Zhao Pingchuan answered without hesitation.
Ji Ran had given him a second life. From being forced to accept it at first, he had come to truly cherish every day. He only hoped he could stay with Ji Ran for longer.
"I really like it too." A smile rested on Ji Ran's lips, and his eyes were bright.
Life could never be free of storms. Even though they had now reached great heights, they would still encounter all kinds of unforeseen troubles. But as long as he had the person beside him, he was afraid of nothing.