Chapter 98: Chapter 98: An Excessive Request

Yan Ziruo had been somewhat restrained during her shopping trip this time. The siblings returned to Zuimo Court just after nine in the evening.

However, the moment Yan Ziruo walked through the door, she collapsed like a dead dog, whining for her younger brother to get her some water and give her a massage.

Yan Feifan simply ignored her.

Just as Yan Feifan finished a quick wash-up and was about to head back to his room to read, he was surprised by the sound of the doorbell.

They had been living here for nearly three weeks, and this was the first time the doorbell had rung unexpectedly.

Yan Feifan checked the security monitor on the door and saw a middle-aged man with slicked-back hair, wearing a bathrobe.

The man had regular, well-defined features—a handsome older guy, you could say—but he looked completely unfamiliar. Yan Feifan didn’t recognize him at all.

He opened the door and asked politely, “Hello, can I help you?”

The middle-aged man with the slicked-back hair looked Yan Feifan up and down, then glanced at Yan Ziruo who had walked over. He spoke slowly, “I live downstairs. My wife and I just flew back from Northern Europe today.”

“The property management told me a brother and sister rented this place?”

Yan Feifan grunted softly in response.

The slicked-back-haired man was quite displeased that they didn’t invite him in, but he had no choice but to state his business from the doorway.

“It’s like this. My wife suffers from some neurasthenia and depression. More importantly, she has hyperacusis!”

“Hyperacusis?”

Yan Feifan repeated the term, then asked for confirmation, “You don’t mean your wife can hear extremely faint sounds, do you?”

Hyperacusis is a hearing disorder.

A patient’s tolerance for loudness collapses, making them abnormally sensitive to auditory stimuli. They find any or certain specific sounds uncomfortable, and even whispers can seem piercing.

The condition is quite rare, affecting about 1 in 50,000 people.

The symptoms vary from patient to patient.

Some patients have diminished hearing for certain sounds, yet are especially sensitive to others.

For example, they might hear the sound of water flowing through pipes in the walls or a toilet flushing upstairs with unusual clarity.

When it rains, the raindrops sound as loud as thunder.

Some can constantly hear the sound of blood flowing through their own veins, or even the sound of their own breathing.

The slicked-back-haired man nodded and sighed softly. “My wife’s hearing is very sensitive. She can clearly hear your footsteps upstairs, the sound of doors closing, you showering, flushing the toilet, everything.”

Yan Ziruo was skeptical. “No way.”

“The soundproofing in these apartments is pretty good to begin with, and the living room and bedrooms are carpeted. We don’t even walk heavily.”

“And she can hear all that?”

The man nodded. “You might think I’m exaggerating, but my wife can indeed hear it, and quite clearly.”

Still not quite convinced, Yan Ziruo looked to her younger brother.

Yan Feifan explained, “Sis, some people really can hear things like that.”

“You can think of it as a special talent in auditory perception, or even a superpower, so to speak.”

Put that way, Yan Ziruo started to understand.

She turned to the man and said, “I understand why you’re here now. But just because your wife’s hearing is so sensitive, you can’t expect us to tiptoe around our own home every day after we get back from work, can you?”

“How exhausting would that be for us?”

“Home is supposed to be a place to rest and relax.”

The man proposed, “Well, I have a solution that works for everyone. I know your apartment has an attic.”

“Could you perhaps move your daily activities up to the attic? If you don’t need to come downstairs, then don’t!”

Seeing the unpleasant expressions on the Yan siblings’ faces, he quickly added, “Of course, we can offer some compensation for the inconvenience!”

The man then asked, “How much is your monthly rent here?”

Yan Feifan said sternly, “This isn’t a matter of rent.”

“This hyperacusis, while complex in origin, can be treated with targeted therapies and tolerance training.”

“Failing that, she could also use earplugs or other methods to reduce the intrusion of external noise.”

“Asking us to live in the attic… that’s an unreasonable request.”

Yan Ziruo chimed in, “Exactly! That’s going too far.”

“This request goes beyond the bounds of reasonable accommodation and help. You’re asking for the impossible.”

“If you have this kind of problem, why didn’t you buy a top-floor apartment? Or a detached house?”

The siblings’ unhesitating refusal made the slicked-back-haired man’s face darken.

He accused them, “You’re so young, how can you have no sympathy or empathy at all?”

“You know my wife has hyperacusis. Can’t you just endure a little hardship?”

“How did your parents and teachers even raise—”

Before the man could finish his sentence, the girl in front of him slammed the door shut with a BANG.

The sound was so loud it made him jump…

Inside, Yan Ziruo said indignantly, “Feifan, the fact that he had the gall to ask us to live in the attic just shows what a selfish bastard he is.”

“There’s no point in talking to someone like that any further.”

At this, Yan Ziruo grew even more annoyed. “First, we got screwed over with the parking space, and now we have to deal with a troublesome downstairs neighbor.”

“I’m calling him right now to ask just how many more traps are waiting for us in this apartment!”

With that, Yan Ziruo found Wang Chuan’s number on her phone and dialed.

The call connected quickly. Yan Ziruo put it on speaker and angrily demanded, “Hey, Mr. Wang, what’s this about the downstairs neighbor being allergic to sound?”

“Oh, that couple is back?”

After that rhetorical question, Wang Chuan’s voice continued from the phone, “That couple… you don’t need to pay them any mind.”

“They’re a classic case of ’I’m weak, so I’m right,’ and they wish everyone else would live like cats.”

“You just live your lives as you normally would. If they can’t stand it, they’ll find somewhere else quiet to live.”

Yan Feifan sounded a bit confused. “Mr. Wang, hyperacusis can be significantly alleviated through symptomatic treatment, as well as psychological counseling and training. It’s even possible to cure it.”

“With their financial means, they should have no trouble hiring an expert, right?”

Wang Chuan’s voice came from the phone again. “Feifan, it’s not that they can’t treat it. It’s that they don’t want to.”

“That sensitivity to sound is their livelihood.”

“I heard the wife uses her keen sense of hearing to do work like tuning pianos, violins, and other instruments. The income is quite substantial.”

“If her hyperacusis were cured, her means of making a living would disappear along with it.”

’So that’s how it is.’ The Yan siblings finally understood.

Yan Ziruo demanded again, “Mr. Wang, are there any other things about this apartment we should know about?”

“Think carefully, Mr. Wang. Don’t ’forget’ again, like you did with that ’little’ matter of the parking space!”

Wang Chuan’s cheerful laugh came through the phone. “Nope, nothing! There won’t be any other troubles coming your way.”

“I guarantee it!”

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