# New File After rearranging and adjusting the layout, Feng Yan gathered the eggs off the floor and asked the cleaning robot to sweep them up. He was incredibly lazy and would never do anything himself if he could get out of it.
His mother hated these high-tech products, which she thought were nothing but a waste of money. But compared to the way cats washed their faces, this gadget was at least useful and reliable enough.
While he was wiping down the table, Feng Yan's mother called. Before he could feel happy about their wonderfully harmonious mother-son relationship, Feng Yan answered and discovered that his mother didn't care about him at all.
His mother said, “Niuniu's canned food is all gone. He really liked the food you bought last time. Order more this time.”
Feng Yan's spirits deflated, and he answered with a sigh, “But my monthly salary hasn't come in yet.”
His mother immediately transferred three hundred thousand to Feng Yan with a single click.
Feng Yan stared at the number in disbelief. It was the equivalent of his entire month's living expenses.
“Mom, three hundred thousand is enough to feed me for a whole month. But you're giving me three hundred thousand just to buy canned dog food? He's a small dog—how long could it possibly take him to finish it?” Feng Yan tried to protest.
His mother replied from the other end in an indifferent voice. “Do you want to eat dog food?”
Feng Yan shed a symbolic tear when he heard his mother's words.
Sometimes he wondered why his mother was so impatient with him and had mysophobia, yet could still keep a dog. She had clearly hated dogs in the past.
To put it briefly, the dog had originally been an ordinary stray. One day, when Feng Yan's mother fainted from hypoglycemia, it barked and called over a crowd of people. In the end, Feng Yan's mother adopted the dog out of gratitude.
Well, judging by that incident, this dog really was more useful than Feng Yan. But no matter what, Feng Yan refused to accept that and said, “Don't you care about how your son has been doing lately?”
His mother replied casually, “You still have enough energy to worry about money for canned food, which means everything's normal. All right, I'm not talking to you anymore. I'm taking Niuniu out for a walk.”
Feng Yan wanted to howl, but then he remembered that someone was next door, so he held it in and whispered into the microphone, “What about my pay?”
Hearing that, his mother became even more certain that her son was perfectly fine. She sent him another hundred thousand and told Feng Yan to get lost, warning him not to embezzle the dog's food money.
“If you steal your brother's canned-food money, how is the puppy supposed to eat? Just wait until Niuniu starves…”
“Not only could the puppy starve, I could starve too.”
Feng Yan's complaint went unheard, and his mother hung up on him.
Feng Yan was silent for a moment, staring at the phone screen as it went black. Maybe he was the child picked up off the street, while the dog was the Feng family's biological child.
“I'm really not even as valuable as a puppy. This is so unfair…”
Grumbling, Feng Yan ordered several dozen cans. He used the little money left over to buy essential vitamins for the puppy.
In any case, Feng Yan had prepared a huge gift package. With a dog keeping her company, his mother wouldn't think about scolding Feng Yan or making trouble for him. That was good.
After finishing his order for the dog's food, it was Feng Yan's turn to order food for himself. When he saw all the delicious-looking ready-to-eat meals, he ordered them immediately, practically drooling.
Usually, Feng Yan spent his free time in the afternoon playing games or bragging with his friends, but the deadline for his novel was three days away. He still owed sixty thousand words. If he didn't start today, he'd have to work like a horse tomorrow, and that wouldn't be fun.
Feng Yan forced himself to sit in front of the computer and stared blankly at the empty document, but his eyes kept darting back and forth toward his phone. At that moment, his phone felt like the most entertaining thing in the world.
He sat there until it grew dark, writing five hundred words and playing games for three hours.
Inspiration always came when you didn't want it, and when you wanted it, inspiration didn't want you.
In short, the harder Feng Yan tried to think, the emptier his mind became.
For the next twenty-four hours, Feng Yan didn't get a single bit of inspiration.
Two days passed like this, spent entirely playing games.
Before the second day ended, his editor sent him an ultimatum just before midnight.
“There are still 38,610 words left to reach the target. If you don't manage to finish them, you won't get paid this month.”
With no other choice, Feng Yan could only log off, abandoning his teammates and letting them call him a pig.
Once again, Feng Yan forced himself up. He climbed out of bed with his waist and bones creaking, cheered himself on three times, grabbed the keyboard, and started working.
The urgency of finishing his manuscript made Feng Yan forget that someone was next door.
He kept working nonstop until 5:30 a.m., when the sky had already begun to brighten. Only then did Feng Yan come to his senses, typing another thousand words as he emerged from his frenzy.
“Awesome!” Feng Yan gave himself a thumbs-up.
To reward himself, Feng Yan decided to eat breakfast outside while breathing in the fresh morning air. He could always stay up all night, but he couldn't get up early. That was probably a common problem among young people.
After breakfast, Feng Yan went for a walk around the morning market.
When he returned to the community, Feng Yan spotted an auntie riding an electric scooter and parking in front of the building where he lived.
After staying up all night, Feng Yan's mind wasn't particularly clear. It wasn't until they entered the corridor together that he remembered who the auntie was. She must be the domestic helper who worked at Zheng Yixuan's house.
When the auntie saw Feng Yan, she found it amusing and said, “Hey, I've been working here for three years, and this is the first time I've seen you.”
Feng Yan smiled and scratched his head. “Uh, so you know who I am?”
The auntie said, “Yes. I often see food deliveries and garbage left outside your door. Young people like you don't even want to cook vegetables for yourselves and eat takeout every day instead. That's not healthy.”
Feng Yan nodded and smiled. “What can I do? I'm too busy to find time to cook for myself.”
“Oh, don't you have anyone to help you cook?”
Feng Yan knew where the auntie was going with that question. He only shook his head without answering.
“My goodness, you're so handsome. How could you not have a girlfriend? How old are you?”
“Twenty-four.”
“Still so young. Anyway, don't eat takeout too often. Eat something healthy once in a while. Oh, right, what's your name?”
“My name is Feng Yan. Just call me Xiao Feng.”
“Aiya, not only is he handsome, but his name is handsome too.” The auntie praised him with a smile, her eyes curving into crescents. Then she introduced herself. “Just call me Auntie Lin. I work at the house next door. If you ever need help, you can come to me.”
“Thank you, Auntie Lin.”
Auntie Lin seemed like a very enthusiastic woman. Perhaps because she was always working for the gloomy and sullen Zheng Yixuan, she couldn't stop talking and asking Feng Yan about the basics of his life when she met this cheerful young man.
Feng Yan always had a template for dealing with aunties like this. After chatting for a while, he steered the topic toward Zheng Yixuan. To be honest, he was genuinely curious about the man because he seemed so mysterious.
Auntie Lin said, “Actually, I don't know Zheng Yixuan very well. In fact, he's not my employer. I worked as a domestic helper in the home of an old professor named Professor Zheng. The professor gave me a raise three years ago and then asked me to come here every morning, clean Zheng Yixuan's house, and bring him food.”
“Oh…”
“He seems to be mute and deaf,” Auntie Lin continued. “Every time I come here, he sits on the balcony and never says a word. When I talk to him, he simply ignores me, as if he can't hear anything I say.”
Feng Yan frowned in disagreement. If Zheng Yixuan were really mute and deaf, he wouldn't have been disturbed by Feng Yan, and Feng Yan would have died of asphyxiation from the eggs without anyone noticing.
He hadn't spoken to someone who came to work for him for three years, so it had to be because of a mental illness. Suddenly, Feng Yan became a little curious about why Zheng Yixuan was willing to speak with him.
His curiosity getting the better of him, Feng Yan couldn't help thinking, ‘Could it be because I look like a good person?’