Chapter 3 The New House
Chu Ci originally planned to rent a place first to put down all the furniture and luggage that had been moved out, and then look for a proper place to live.
However, almost everyone around her had been offended by the original owner of this body, and they would simply avoid her when they saw her.
There were still rental listings on the utility poles in the street. She tried contacting them by landline, but when the landlord came and saw it was her, he ran away without even saying hello.
I spent the whole morning running around most of Kowloon, but I still couldn't find a suitable place to live.
At noon, Chu Ci packed up some food and went to the hospital to see her grandmother. She then presented a prepared explanation: "Grandma, the doctor said that you are getting old and the injury to your chest is quite serious. You will need to stay in the hospital for a few more days."
"Oh? Stay in the hospital for a few more days?" Grandma's face immediately fell. "A few more days is still a lot! The daily hospital fees are very high!"
She put down her chopsticks, turned over, and tried to get out of bed. "No, no, don't listen to those quacks. Grandma is fine now. Come on, let's go home now."
Chu Ci didn't want to tell her about being kicked out by the landlord, but she knew she had to tell her sooner or later.
As she helped her grandmother lie down, she ate her boxed lunch and hesitated before saying, "Grandma, I'm worried that Wang Qiang will come looking for us again. Maybe we should move."
Grandma's hand, which had been holding the chopsticks, froze. After a moment, she cautiously asked, "Is it... that your landlady doesn't want us to stay there anymore?"
She's an old lady, and it's not easy for her to find a place to rent anyway.
At her age, with no children and a young granddaughter, the landlord was afraid she would die in the house and turned it into a haunted house.
Only her current landlord, seeing how difficult it was for an elderly woman like her to raise her granddaughter, not only rented her the house at a low price but also frequently came to support her business.
Chu Ci knew that Grandma wasn't worried about the landlord kicking them out, but rather about causing trouble for the landlord.
She pursed her lips. "Once Wang Qiang finds out we're not living there anymore, he naturally won't cause any more trouble for the landlady."
"That's true." Grandma sighed softly, putting the topic aside for the time being, looking a little worried. "Ah Ci, it's easy for a young girl like you to rent a place, but it's going to be difficult if you bring Grandma along."
She had originally wanted to suggest buying a house in a cheaper area.
But think about it carefully, where can you still find cheap housing in Hong Kong now?
Furthermore, they don't know if Wang Qiang and his gang from the Green Dragon Gang will retaliate against them again.
If they retaliate, all their money will be tied up in the house, and even if they wanted to send Aci to the mainland by illegal boat, she wouldn't have any money left.
Grandma sighed inwardly, but stopped repeating her words to Chu Ci to stop causing trouble.
Chu Ci quickly finished her meal, wiped her mouth, and said, "Grandma, you take care of yourself and leave the house-finding to me. I'll look further afield; Kowloon is so big, I'm sure I can find a suitable house there."
“Okay, Aci has grown up. Grandma is waiting for you to take her to live in the new house.”
Grandma smiled and agreed.
After resting for a while, Chu Ci left the hospital and planned to walk further afield.
The original owner had offended everyone nearby, so it's unlikely that people further away had also been offended.
She left Kowloon City and took a bus to the nearby Kwun Tong District.
After wandering aimlessly around Kwun Tong District, her efforts paid off, and she found a bulletin board with a relatively large number of rental listings.
As she was copying down the phone number, intending to make a call from the public phone booth at the small shop, she suddenly heard a commotion.
A group of police officers led a man with his hands cuffed out of a residential building. Reporters surrounded them, and photographers kept taking pictures with their cameras.
"Hello, Inspector Shen, could you give us a update on the case of the five-faced female corpse?"
"A week has passed since the discovery of the five-faced female corpse, and the Major Crimes Unit has still not caught the suspect. Do they really care about the safety of the people of Hong Kong?"
"Sir, is the person you've arrested now a suspect in the case of the five-faced female corpse?"
...
A group of reporters held microphones up to the policeman's mouth, and camera flashes went off constantly.
In front of the cameras, several police officers escorted a handcuffed criminal suspect with expressionless faces, ignoring the reporters' questions.
As a fellow police officer, seeing the Hong Kong police officers suffering so much, Chu Ci couldn't help but feel worried for them.
It's better on her side. When the police arrest suspects, people just stand around watching from a distance. Nobody dares to interfere with the police's normal work.
Their slow crime-solving speed might earn them a severe scolding from the police chief at most. But Hong Kong police officers are subjected to intense questioning by reporters in front of cameras, practically being called a bunch of incompetent fools wasting taxpayers' money.
She watched the commotion for a while, then looked down and copied down the phone numbers in her hand before heading to a newsstand with a landline.
You wouldn't believe it until you look; once you do, you'll find that the newspapers and magazines at the newsstand, aside from celebrity gossip, are all about murder cases.
The "five-faced female corpse case" mentioned by the reporter actually involved five faces, not "faceless".
She pulled out the newspaper to take a look, but the newsstand owner grabbed her arm, saying, "Hey pretty girl, you have to pay to read the newspaper!"
Chu Ci: "How much?"
"The two pieces you're holding."
Chu Ci handed over the money, and the shopkeeper accepted it with a smile. He then asked her, "Hey pretty girl, a new copy of 'Major Crimes Collection' is out! Want a copy? It's only 15 yuan!"
He picked up a magazine that wasn't thin, with black background and red text. The words "Major Crimes Unit Murder Case Collection" looked like flowing blood, and at first glance, it looked like a horror novel.
Chu Ci: "..."
"Are all the murders in this book based on real events?"
"Of course!" The boss's playful smile vanished, replaced by a serious expression. "Hey pretty girl, go ask around here, everyone knows that our magazine, Liang, is the most honest and reliable. All these books are genuine!"
He snorted, his voice tinged with resentment at being wrongly accused.
"With so many murders happening in Hong Kong last month, this 'Collection of Murder Cases' is thicker than usual, and the cost price is also higher. Other places sell it for 20 yuan a copy, but I'm keeping the original price and selling it for only 15 yuan."
"Once you miss Suzhou, you'll never have another boat ride!"
Chu Ci: "..."
She didn't quite understand why Hong Kong allowed the sale of such magazines.
"With so many murders happening and being published, won't it cause panic?" she asked her boss.
"What's wrong with that! We have the right to know."
The boss fanned himself with a newspaper, not caring much. "Besides, Hong Kong has been so unsafe for so many years, with murders happening anytime, anywhere. We're used to it!"
Chu Ci: "..."
She frowned, sensing that something was off about what her boss had said.
In her memory, although Hong Kong had poor public security in the early 1990s, it was definitely not like what her boss said, where murders could happen anytime, anywhere.
A kindergarten student stumbled upon his female teacher's tragic death in the bathroom.
During a spring outing in third grade, I discovered dismembered body parts with my classmates.
A fifth-grader walks home alone and stumbles upon a murder scene where the body is being disposed of.
Throughout junior high school, I was followed by a psychopathic killer, witnessed a couple arguing and attacking each other, and even saw a classmate jump off a building.
The pressure of high school studies is immense, leading to a surge in suicides and homicides, and even some deranged students relieving stress by murdering teachers…
Chu Ci was greatly shocked.
What kind of world is this?!
The shopkeeper saw her holding her head and staring wide-eyed, then waved his hand in front of her, "Pretty girl, are you buying or not?"
"..."
Confused, she still took out her money and bought the book.
I sat on a chair next to the newsstand and read most of the book before my mind finally calmed down.
"Boss, do you have a landline?" She didn't forget that she was looking for a place to live.
"Yes," the shopkeeper gestured for her to go to the phone booth to make a call, "Local or long distance?"
"In the city."
"The charge within the city is 0.5 yuan per 3 minutes, and any time less than 3 minutes will be charged as 3 minutes."
After the boss explained the situation clearly and saw her nod, he moved aside the seat in front of the landline, indicating that she could use it as she pleased.
Chu Ci dialed the first number on the notebook, and a child answered the phone.
Hello!
The child's innocent voice was full of energy, and Chu Ci couldn't help but soften her voice.
"Hello, I'm looking to rent a room. Do you have any vacant rooms available for rent?"
“Yes!” the little girl across from me replied sweetly. “My mommy said that if anyone wants to see the house, they can come over directly. I’ll tell you the address, write it down.”
Chu Ci hadn't expected things to go so smoothly. She wrote the address down in her notebook, asked the shop owner, and found out it was nearby.
"It's this building right next door!" the boss said, pointing to the area where reporters had just surrounded him.
"..."
What a coincidence!
Looking up, the building appears to be about twenty stories high.
Looking at such a tall building, her heart sank slightly.
In the 1990s, she probably couldn't afford the rent for such a tall building.
But she had already made an appointment with someone, and even if she couldn't afford the rent, she planned to go in and take a look.
She took the elevator to the 15th floor, and as soon as she got off, she heard a crying sound.
At the end of the corridor, a group of people were surrounding a young woman kneeling in the middle, offering their advice in a cacophony of voices.
"Ali, don't cry! We all watched him grow up, we know him well, he would never kill someone!"
"Yes, Ali, you should contact a lawyer right now! That five-faced female corpse case is making a huge fuss. Those police officers will stop at nothing to solve the case. Be careful that Ka-shing doesn't get abused in there!"
"Grandma Xiang, don't scare Ali! But Ali, crying won't solve anything. How about we take care of your two kids for you, and you come with us to the police station?"
...
A young woman, holding a child who appeared to be less than a year old, was sobbing uncontrollably amidst the attempts of a group of housewives to comfort her.
Judging from the location of their house, it seems to be the same house she had arranged to rent with.
Chu Ci stood not far away, unsure whether he should greet her.
Just as she hesitated and was about to leave, the door behind the young woman suddenly opened. "Mommy, someone just came to see the house! Our haunted house can be rented out now!"
The energetic, innocent child's voice was strangely familiar.
Chu Ci: "..."
Haunted house?
Distracted by her daughter, the young woman sitting on the ground almost forgot to cry for a moment, and her eyes met Chu Ci, who was standing not far away.
The beginner quests have been completed, and the rewards have been sent to your inventory. Please check them as soon as possible.
[Suitable target detected. First standard mission issued.]
[Helping He Huali communicate with spirits to clear her husband's name]
[Reward: Spirit Incense]
A note from the author:
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Please comment and favorite! [kiss][kiss][kiss] Still giving away 20 small red envelopes
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