Chapter 11 That house was wonderful, spacious and bright…
The next morning, Song Xinran got up early. She changed into a newer set of clothes, wore freshly washed white shoes, and tied her shoulder-length hair into a ponytail. She looked very energetic.
Upon seeing this, Song Xinwen couldn't help but ask, "Xinran, are you going to town again today?"
Song Xinran: "Yes, it should be finished today."
Song Xinwen looked her up and down several times and nodded affirmatively: "You look great dressed like this. You're like a completely different person since you came back a few days ago."
Song Xinran smiled and said, "I'm eating and sleeping well at home, and my sister is here, so of course I'm in good spirits. I'm going to town now."
Song Xinwen watched her sister's retreating figure with a clear smile on her face. She had been worried that Song Xinran, being introverted and not good at speaking, would be bullied by others. But this time, she felt that her sister had changed a lot. Not only did she love to talk, but she also spoke well. Her whole demeanor was different.
Even if I can't go back to the glass factory, I might be able to find other work.
After arriving in town, Song Xinran got off her motorcycle and headed straight for the Third Middle School. She had only taken a few steps when a voice called out to her:
"girl!"
Song Xinran turned her head and saw that the person who had called out to her was an elderly woman in her sixties or seventies, wearing a dark blue top, carrying a basket on her back, and her rubber shoes were covered in mud.
"Young lady, do you know how to get to Mingxiang Restaurant?"
Song Xinran had explored every nook and cranny of the town in the past two days and nodded, saying, "Auntie, follow this road to a place called Xinlv Stationery Store, turn left, turn right when you see the Rural Credit Cooperative, and walk a few more steps and you'll be there."
The old lady was a little embarrassed: "What does this Xinlv Stationery Store look like? I can't read."
Song Xinran thought that if she described it to the old lady, she might go to the wrong place. She glanced at her watch and saw that it was still early before the agreed time, so she said, "Auntie, come with me. I'm going that way too."
The old lady quickly thanked her, saying, "Thank you, young lady. I'm going to my niece's house. It's been a few years since I last visited, and I've forgotten how to get there. I only remember that it's next to Mingxiang Restaurant."
Song Xinran smiled and said, "It's alright, Auntie, I'm going the same way anyway."
After walking for about ten minutes, they arrived at the restaurant entrance. Song Xinran asked worriedly, "Auntie, do you know where your niece lives now?"
The old lady nodded and pointed to the residential area next door, saying, "I recognized the restaurant as soon as I saw it. It's right next door. Thank you, young lady. Come up and have a drink of water."
Song Xinran glanced at the residential area. It was the best house in town, and renting it would cost at least five hundred yuan a month. Song Xinran didn't have the money and hadn't even gone inside to look at the house, so she politely declined, saying, "No need, Auntie, I have other things to do."
After dropping off the old lady, Song Xinran went to a fruit shop and bought two jin of apples, specifically the best-looking Red Fuji apples, which cost five yuan in total.
When Song Xinran arrived at the building opposite the middle school with the apples in her arms, she saw Huang Yun chatting with someone. She called out, "Sister Yun, I'm sorry I'm late. I've kept you waiting."
Yesterday, Huang Yun said she would go back and ask about renting a place for her. We agreed to meet here at nine o'clock today, and it's still a few minutes to nine.
Huang Yun said, "I wasn't late. There's no market today, and I have nothing to do at home, so I like to go out for a walk."
Song Xinran handed over the apple: "Sister Yun, I saw this apple when I came and it looks pretty good. You should try it."
Huang Yun, who lived in the town, could tell at a glance that the apples were not cheap, and quickly declined.
Song Xinran said, "It's nothing valuable, Sister Yun, please accept it. If I hadn't met you yesterday, I'd still be running around like a headless fly."
After declining several times, Huang Yun finally accepted the apple, smiling and saying, "You're too kind. It's nothing. I just asked for you; I didn't do anything."
Then, noticing Song Xinran's clothes today, she said, "You look really smart today."
Song Xinran smiled and said, "I thought I would dress neatly when I met the landlord, and he thought I was a clean person, so he was more at ease giving me the rent."
Huang Yun praised, "Your idea is not bad. Many landlords are picky about their tenants these days. Come on in, have a seat and some water. I'll tell you about the rooms you have, and you can choose which one to look at first."
Huang Yun brought the apple home, put it on the coffee table, and started talking to Song Xinran.
"It's a house next to the market, on the second floor. There's only one bedroom, but the kitchen is large. However, the toilet is in the hallway outside. Only your family uses this toilet; everyone else on the same floor uses their toilets inside. This house is cheap, only 120 yuan a month."
"The other house is also nice, spacious and large, on the third floor, with two bedrooms, a separate kitchen and toilet. It used to be the landlord's own house, and the interior is nicely decorated. It's just a bit far from here, near the post office, and it costs 220 a month."
Huang Yun said, "There are quite a few houses now, but not many have a kitchen and a toilet. It's inconvenient to climb up and down high floors every day. These two are quite suitable. Which one would you like to look at first?"
Looking at Huang Yun's expression, Song Xinran said, "Sister Yun, thank you so much. Just from the description, I know these two rooms are better than the ones I saw before."
“However…” she said, “Sister Yun, is there anything else you want to say to me? Just say it. I’m already very grateful that you asked so many questions for me.”
When speaking to someone, Song Xinran likes to look at their face, and she naturally didn't miss the fleeting hesitation on Huang Yun's face just now.
Sure enough, when Huang Yun heard her say that, she said, "Okay, sister, I'll be frank. Actually, I know another house that meets all your requirements. It's on the first floor of the building next to mine, but... the landlord is a bit difficult to talk to."
“I knew the previous tenant. She said that the landlord had a strange temper. He would urge us to pay the rent before the end of each month. He would not fix anything that was broken in the house. He didn’t even return the deposit when they moved out!”
Huang Yun: "That house is nice, I'm just worried you'll get ripped off by the landlord."
Song Xinran asked, "Does Sister Yun know that landlord?"
Huang Yun: "I'm not familiar with her. I only met her when I first bought the house. The landlord was a woman in her thirties or forties. I never met her husband or children. She moved to another place later, and this place has been rented out ever since. However, the previous tenant moved out almost two months ago."
Song Xinran first thanked Huang Yun, and then subtly indicated that no matter which place she rented in the future or what happened, she would not blame Huang Yun, since Huang Yun only gave her the information and the decision was her own.
Hearing her say that, Huang Yun understood and smiled, "Okay, then I'll take you to see the landlord."
The two talked as they walked and soon arrived at Mingxiang Restaurant. Huang Yun went into the nearby residential area: "The landlord lives here now. It's the only residential area in town, and the price is expensive."
Song Xinran followed Huang Yun up to the third floor, where Huang Yun knocked on the green-painted security door.
A moment later, the door opened, and a woman in a white shirt stood in the doorway.
Huang Yun said with a smile, "Xiao Mei, aren't you going to rent out your house near No. 3 Middle School? My sister wants to rent it."
Before Song Xinran could speak, Wan Mei said, "Sister, I'm not renting that house anymore."
Huang Yun was taken aback: "Has someone rented it, or are you moving in?"
Wan Mei frowned slightly: "Renting it out is too much trouble, I'm not going to rent it out."
Looking at the decoration of the other party's house and then at the other party's expression, Song Xinran already understood that the other party really did not want to rent and was not short of money.
She said, "Excuse me, I'm sorry to bother you."
Turning to Huang Yun, he said, "Sister Yun, let's go first and then go see the others."
"Xiaomei, who's here?" At that moment, an elderly woman's voice rang out from inside the house.
Wan Mei turned her head and said, "Aunt, it's alright, you can rest."
An older woman with short hair, wearing a navy blue top, walked into the living room and immediately spotted Song Xinran, calling out, "Little girl!"
The old woman turned to Wan Mei and said, "Xiao Mei, this is the little girl I told you about who gave me directions. She even took me to Mingxiang Restaurant!"
Wan Mei was somewhat surprised.
Huang Yun also turned to look at Song Xinran, surprised that she had such an experience.
Song Xinran did not show any surprise or flattery, but simply smiled and called out "Auntie".
Wan Mei glanced at Song Xinran and smiled, "Come in and sit down. My aunt has been talking about meeting a kind person since she arrived. She was brought downstairs, but unfortunately she didn't get to come up for a drink of water."
Song Xinran and Huang Yun naturally wouldn't refuse.
After the two entered, Wan Mei looked Song Xinran up and down. Seeing that she was dressed neatly and even her shoes were clean and white, she couldn't help but feel a little goodwill towards her.
Wan Mei is a bit of a clean freak. Last time, she rented her house to the wrong person. When the other person moved out, the house was a mess, and she had to hire someone to clean it herself. Besides, it's not easy to find someone in town, so it was a lot of trouble.
However, dressing neatly is one thing, but on the other hand, she needs to make sure that she doesn't have to pay the rent to the other party just because they helped her aunt.
"Young lady," Wan Mei asked, "how many people are in your family?"
Song Xinran understood that the other party was asking how many people would live in her rented room. She said, "If it's a rented room, it's just me and my son. He's four years old this year. He's very obedient and never scribbles or draws in the room."
Wan Mei glanced at Song Xinran. Before she could even make a request, the other woman spoke first. She seemed to be a clean and intelligent person. Wan Mei liked talking to intelligent people, so she didn't need to be so tactful: "Miss, I'll just say it directly. I don't usually work here and don't often come back to Lingde Town. If anything in the house breaks, you'll have to find someone to fix it yourself. Keep the receipts, and the repair costs can be deducted from the rent."
"I'm a bit particular. The house has to be exactly the same when you move out, otherwise I won't return your deposit. By the way, you know that nowadays you not only have to pay rent, but also a deposit when you rent a place, right?"
The aunt, who was standing nearby, found these words rather harsh and quickly tried to smooth things over: "Xiaomei, this girl is a good one."
Song Xinran smiled and said, "Auntie, Sister Xiaomei is making things clear now to avoid any trouble later. I'm already very happy that Sister Xiaomei is willing to take me to see the house. What she said are all basic, I understand them all, and I will do them."
Wan Mei's eyes showed a hint of satisfaction. She didn't like to leave things unclear and then argue later. Seeing that Song Xinran was also cooperative, she said directly, "Now I'll take you to see the house. If you think it's okay, you can rent it."
*
On the way there, Huang Yun told Song Xinran how nice the house was—spacious, bright, square, with a good surrounding environment, and it was on the first floor.
At that time, Song Xinran had already begun to look forward to it, knowing that Huang Yun was not a person who liked to make grand pronouncements.
When the door opened, Song Xinran saw that the house was even better than Huang Yun had described, with bright and clean windows and white walls without a single stain.
The main room was furnished with tables, chairs, benches, and a recliner. The two bedrooms were well-lit, with mattresses even placed on the bed frames. Curtains were installed on the windows, and the breeze brought in bright sunlight.
Huang Yun was astonished when she saw it, and murmured, "How come it's even better than what I saw before?"
Huang Yun had a good relationship with the previous tenant and had sat here before. At that time, the main room was full of things and the walls were decorated with flowers. It looked very full. Now that everything has been moved out, she realized how spacious it was.
Wan Mei raised the corners of her lips when she heard Huang Yun's words: "After the previous tenant moved out, I specially hired someone to clean. It took a lot of time to clean the stickers on the wall. Tearing them down damaged the wall, so I specially hired someone to repair them."
Song Xinran looked around and said, "Sister Mei has such good taste. This pure white wall looks great. It's simple and elegant, and it goes well with any furniture and color. It couldn't be more classic."
After hearing this, Wan Mei no longer needed to remind Song Xinran not to post anything randomly. She even felt that Song Xinran's taste was similar to hers, and that they both had a good level of appreciation.
Song Xinran looked at the house, and its quality far exceeded her expectations; she figured the price wouldn't be cheap.
But after seeing nicer apartments, she felt that the ones she had seen before were incomparable, and she would rent this one even if it was more expensive.
"Sister Mei, your house is really nice. It has good lighting and ventilation, and the layout is also good. Moreover, the interior is decorated very cleanly and elegantly. I especially like this style. If I rent it, I will take good care of these things. I wonder how much it would cost per month?"
Wan Mei thought for a moment and gave a price: "One hundred and eighty yuan a month."
A note from the author:
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