Chapter 193: Are You Out of Your Mind?

Chapter 193: Chapter 193: Are You Out of Your Mind?

Song Yao silently rolled her eyes.

She hadn’t even turned around when Li Hanchen stopped behind her, his cold gaze fixed on the newly opened door across the hall.

His brows knitted together, and his voice was flat.

"Who are you yelling at?"

"You know her?"

The woman was taken aback by his stare and quickly waved her hands.

"Who... who else could there be? I’m not talking to the air!"

"You never know."

Song Yao tilted her head with a smile, retorting instantly.

Only one corner of her mouth lifted, but the smile didn’t reach her eyes.

The woman’s lips quivered with anger.

Her nails dug into the strap of her canvas bag, her knuckles turning white.

She glared at Song Yao and Li Hanchen, her chest heaving, and forced herself to suppress her anger as she asked again.

"Did you two... move into that apartment?"

She was referring to the unit Song Yao was now living in.

Song Yao gave a huge eye-roll.

"Do I owe you an answer?"

Li Hanchen had no intention of dealing with her. He reached out and grabbed Song Yao’s wrist.

He half-shielded, half-pulled her toward their door to open it.

But the woman wouldn’t give up and chased after them.

"Who do you think you are? What makes you worthy of living here?"

Song Yao almost laughed out loud.

"Well now, and who might you be?"

The woman’s face flushed red.

"My husband is a regiment commander! A real one!"

Song Yao spread her hands.

"What a coincidence. My husband is also a regiment commander, and he was just transferred here."

The woman pointed at their door, her voice suddenly rising in pitch.

"Then why should this apartment be yours?"

Song Yao looked completely baffled.

"Huh?"

She turned to look at Li Hanchen.

"We can’t live here?"

Li Hanchen shook his head.

"No one’s stopping us."

The woman was so angry she slapped her thigh.

"Wasn’t it already decided? This apartment was supposed to be reserved for high-ranking officers!"

Song Yao blinked.

"But you’re already living here. Why would any *truly* high-ranking officer want to come and join this ruckus?"

The woman flew into a rage.

"What’s that supposed to mean?"

Li Hanchen unlocked the door with a CLICK and stepped aside to let Song Yao go in first.

He blocked the doorway, his expression cold. "And your surname is?"

"Which regiment is your husband in? Which specific unit?"

The woman immediately tensed up, staring at him warily.

"Why are you asking?"

Li Hanchen’s tone was flat.

"You’re repeatedly knocking on doors, blocking people, and shouting. My wife is pregnant. Your behavior constitutes a public disturbance and a safety hazard. I need to report this to the organization for the record."

As he spoke, the woman’s eyes darted past him to peek inside the apartment.

The lights were on inside, revealing a full set of furniture: a sofa, a cabinet, a small bed, and a bassinet.

"You..."

She pointed a trembling finger at Li Hanchen.

Without another word, Li Hanchen slammed the door shut, cutting off her voice and her shadow.

"Not talking, are you? Then I’ll check every unit one by one."

The woman gritted her teeth, stomped her foot twice, and then turned and stomped off.

Li Hanchen waited until he heard her slam her own door before cursing under his breath.

’Is she out of her mind?’

Hearing the noise, Song Yao immediately pulled the door open.

"She left?"

Li Hanchen nodded.

"She’s gone."

"She was after this apartment, wasn’t she?"

"Mhm, most likely."

They thought that would be the end of it.

But as soon as dusk fell, all hell broke loose next door.

There was the CRASHING and BANGING of things being thrown, adults yelling and children crying—the commotion was audible throughout the entire floor.

Song Yao casually turned down the TV volume. With a gentle twist of the knob, the sound immediately faded.

"They’re at it again?"

Li Hanchen put down the enamel mug in his hand and started walking toward the door.

"Yes."

"The same family?"

Song Yao leaned forward, her eyes fixed on the door.

"Mhm."

He grunted again, his Adam’s apple bobbing.

Song Yao immediately darted to their front door, bending her knees and leaning forward to listen through the crack.

The moment she opened the door a crack, the sounds from outside flooded in.

The children’s sobs mingled with a woman’s shrill cries.

"I won’t accept this! You go and ask them! On what grounds?"

"Why do they get to live in the big apartment while we’re stuck in this tiny partitioned space?"

"When I asked to switch apartments before, you said it couldn’t be approved! You said your rank had to be higher! And what happens? Some outsider comes along and moves right in with his bags!"

"Can you keep your voice down?"

The man’s voice was hoarse, laced with a bone-deep exhaustion.

"I won’t keep it down! Why should I have to endure this?"

"Our family of four is crammed into one small room, while the two of them take up all that space! For what? Is there any fairness in that?"

"What’s the use of yelling at me?"

"What’s the use, then? Why don’t you go and get a clear answer?"

"Who am I supposed to ask?"

As the two were bickering, the two kids next to them started wailing at the top of their lungs.

"Mommy! Daddy!"

Before the words could fade, with a LOUD BANG, their own front door was actually pushed open.

Song Yao immediately tilted her small face up, staring blankly at Li Hanchen above her.

"Don’t tell me they’re here for us?"

The couple’s movements were surprisingly in sync.

They ducked their heads and hid behind the door in unison, their backs pressed against the wood, heels half an inch off the floor.

The door clicked shut securely.

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK!

Just a moment later, the knocking came again.

Li Hanchen looked down at Song Yao and said, "Go back to the room first."

Song Yao didn’t dawdle at all, turning and ducking into the bedroom.

Once her figure had disappeared from the doorway, Li Hanchen pulled the door open a crack, revealing only half his face.

"Yes?"

A man stood outside the door. His previously furrowed brow relaxed.

The bit of anger he had vanished in the blink of an eye.

"Uh... you’re the one who moved in?"

Li Hanchen nodded.

The man was in his early thirties, with a buzz cut and deeply tanned skin.

He wasn’t as tall as Li Hanchen, but he stood tall and straight.

"Hello. I’m Yang Lei, commander of the 1st Regiment."

Li Hanchen extended his right hand, his palm broad and thick.

"Li Hanchen."

"Your surname is Li? Are you the new commander of the 3rd Regiment?"

Yang Lei blurted out, his voice rising slightly.

"Mhm."

"Wow, I never would have guessed. You’re so young!"

Yang Lei looked him up and down.

Li Hanchen didn’t engage with the comment, his tone steady and without inflection.

"I’m twenty-nine. That’s not so young."

Yang Lei froze for a second, his eyebrows raised slightly. Then he gave a wry grin and his shoulders slumped a little.

"Going by that, should old-timers like us just hurry up and retire?"

Li Hanchen’s tone was flat. He neither denied nor agreed with the statement.

"You’re exaggerating, Mr. Yang."

Yang Lei saw that his face was frosty.

In the end, he could only wave his hand and make a vague gesture toward his own door.

"It’s getting late. I won’t disturb you any longer."

Li Hanchen nodded, and the door closed with a click.

The moment Yang Lei walked through his door, his wife, He Wei, immediately came up to him, an apron still tied around her waist.

"Did you ask?"

He raised a hand to scratch his prickly short hair.

"Ask what? How could I ask?"

"Could I even bring myself to say it?"

"Was I supposed to say, ’Hey, we have a lot of kids and you don’t, how about we switch apartments?’"

This string of rhetorical questions left He Wei speechless.

Yang Lei sighed, shoved his hands into his pockets, and stared down at the muddy tips of his shoes.

"We’ve been living here for so long, what’s wrong with it?"

"Isn’t it fine?"

BANG!

He Wei swept a water glass off the coffee table.

"Fine, fine, fine, that’s the only thing you know how to say! Whether it’s good or not, don’t you have any idea yourself?"

Yang Lei was getting annoyed too. His Adam’s apple bobbed.

"Then what do you suggest we do?"

"Go ask to switch apartments?"

"Then you go ask! I can’t bring myself to do it!"

"..."

After that, a few more loud shouts could be heard intermittently.

Song Yao didn’t peek out to look again.