Chapter 2: First Impressions, Rules, and Sublease/Return Apartments
You carefully compare the entries. Everything else is fine; they may seem absurd, but everything you've encountered is absurd enough. As long as you remember and follow them, they're really not a big deal.
But aren't the two rules of "must speak the language" and "insult in one's mother tongue" contradictory?
You were completely baffled, so you typed a message to the girls asking what was going on and whether there was a problem with the rules.
“These rules won’t be wrong.” The girl who started first replied quickly, and she also kindly gave you a few more words of advice: “Everyone’s understanding of the rules is different, and the situations they encounter are also different. Relying too much on other people’s experience will limit your thinking later on, so don’t ask anymore.”
You are grateful for her kindness and sincerity, but as a newcomer, you feel quite uneasy.
The girl sighed, exchanged a glance with her companion, and then told you their solution.
“We choose not to speak. As long as we don’t speak, no one will ever come to tell us these things,” she confessed.
this…
Saying nothing when you should is indeed a very smart approach.
After thanking them, you look at these 12 general rules and fall into deep thought again.
The other rules can be temporarily circumvented:
3. You won't generate any garbage when you first arrive.
7. You definitely don't want to buy secondhand goods for now (but you're really curious about what kind of secondhand goods can be sold so cheaply). 8. You're pondering the word "recycling" repeatedly, not quite understanding its underlying meaning, but as I said, it's not relevant to you yet.
9. Just like these girls dealt with point 2, at least on the way home today, don't look up, just keep your head down and act withdrawn.
11. You do have an identification card in your bag, so don't worry.
12. This statement is strange and suspicious. You thought about it for a while, but since you couldn't come up with a clue, you stayed away from homeless people when you were walking on the street.
As for the rest:
These two rules about beer and sausages directly define the appearance and quality of certain items; that is, they are only considered "normal" when they maintain a certain state. You don't know what will happen if things are "abnormal," but you've seen enough abnormal things today. You boldly guess that they might, to some extent, be warnings of disaster and danger. In this light, these two rules seem quite useful.
And you have to eat 10 potatoes every day... Ugh, and you don't even know how or where to buy them. This is different from the carnival market—just look at these girls leisurely eating here, and you know there's definitely no carnival market today—it's something you can't avoid and have to do every day.
The same applies today, even if you've only just arrived.
You've seen many descriptions of life abroad, especially in South America, of how it's a "big rural area" where you have to drive a long time to get anywhere, and how going to the supermarket at night isn't like in Asian countries where there are convenience stores right downstairs. You're afraid that you'll lose a precious chance because of these easy, potato-like rules.
Your gaze shifts to the several neatly arranged plates of whole, spicy stir-fried potatoes on the girls' table, and an embarrassing thought pops into your head.
You know this lacks boundaries, but with darkness approaching—yes, you're a die-hard fan of the travel category, and you know that in Ouzhou, especially near the Arctic Circle, autumn evenings often turn dark as quickly as an old quilt being pulled over the sky before winter even arrives. Feeling a little anxious, you simply lower your head and type out your last troublesome request for the day.
"I don't have any money in my wallet, I don't know my bank card PIN, and I don't know where I can buy potatoes. Could you please order me some potatoes? I'll pay you back later!" You finally sent the message, but you were still a little nervous before the girl checked it.
"No problem." The girl readily agreed, even waving her hand to tell you that you don't need to pay back the money. "Just call me Xiaoming. It's not easy for anyone here, so it's normal to help each other out."
Xiao Ming immediately put down his chopsticks and bowl. He neither spoke to the waitress nor waved to her. He simply sat up straight and opened his eyes wide, which actually caught the waitress's attention.
The waiter, who also appeared to be from China, strolled over slowly without saying a word. He simply drooped his eyelids, pursed his lips, tossed the menu onto the table, handed Xiaoming a sticky note and a pen, and then left like the wind.
Without even looking at the menu, Xiaoming skillfully wrote down a number, then wrote "cola 250ml," and went to the front desk, leaving the paper and pen there.
During this time, you picked up the menu and looked at it curiously. As expected, you couldn't understand a single word. However, you noticed that there was a number in front of each dish, and you just noticed that the number Xiaoming wrote was 6.
6 is probably the code for this potato dish.
Sure enough, a plate of steaming potatoes was served soon, with a Coke brought over beforehand.
Give Xiaoming a grateful smile and quickly pick up your chopsticks to start eating.
The first bite almost made you spit it out.
It's fine if it's a whole potato, after all, how bad can a potato be? Why is it soft on the outside and chewy on the inside, with a mouthful of tough fibers after one bite? And it's so salty, and not only is it salty, but the flavor is also uneven. Every bite is like opening a blind box—the kind with no guarantee of what you get.
Perhaps it was because you were eating with such a ferocious expression that you didn't notice the waitress had already slid up to your side.
She has the typical appearance of someone from southern China, and the words she speaks are in a dialect or slang that you can't understand.
In short, what she said was probably not a nice thing.
Your heart is pounding, almost leaping out of your chest, your brain is racing to think of a way to cope, and cold sweat is dripping into your half-open mouth.
"Gut, Allesgut." Xiao Ming sighed, still managing to get you out of that predicament.
The waiter was somewhat satisfied then, snorted, and left again.
You gasp for breath, close your eyes tightly, and then gently open them. Before you can even thank him, Xiaoming has already sent you more tips: "If you don't want to be questioned by the waiters, it's best not to make any attention-grabbing gestures or expressions while eating at a restaurant."
"Thank you, but what did she just say? And what did you say?" you asked quickly.
"She was just asking what you thought of the meal, whether you enjoyed it, and I just told her everything was fine," Xiaoming quickly replied.
Because they had been helping him, Xiaoming's friends were almost finished with their potato feast, while Xiaoming still had a lot left to eat.
You stop bothering Xiaoming and bury yourself in swallowing the potatoes, trying to distract yourself by mentally studying the words Xiaoming just said.
After Xiaoming finished eating, the girls quickly got up and left. Xiaoming patted you on the shoulder to say goodbye, and you actually cherished those few minutes of feeling safe with companions and helpers, but you also knew that others couldn't help you forever, and you would ultimately have to face everything on your own.
Thanks again, Xiaoming. You watched them pay and leave, then focused on your plate of potatoes. Thankfully, there were drinks Xiaoming ordered, otherwise it would have been impossible to swallow.
After the meal, you walked out of the restaurant, and the cool autumn breeze carried away the greasy smell from the restaurant, making you feel a little more relaxed.
I opened the map and entered the address from the housing contract. Luckily, this is a small town, so even if I can't take the bus, it's only a half-hour walk.
Unlike in China, there are no skyscrapers here. The only place that can be called the city center is the shopping streets in the area where you wake up. At first, you might worry about making eye contact with someone, but after walking for about ten minutes, there are almost no pedestrians on both sides of the wide road.
You can't help but look up, taking in your surroundings as you walk quickly.
There's no bustling traffic here, nor are there shared bicycles or electric bikes everywhere. Instead, you see a few shared electric scooters lying haphazardly every now and then. The houses on both sides are the stereotypical seagull-style garden villas, their colorful paint making them look like cartoon houses from an animation. But contrary to what you might imagine, the gardens have many ornamental trees and decorations that are usually only found in flower-filled places, such as white magnolias and purple magnolias. One family even has different Buddha statues in their yard and low-lying cherry blossom trees.
It seems that beautiful and calming things transcend national borders and cultural differences.
Walking on such a peaceful avenue, you almost forget what happened just hours ago, and instead get the illusion that it's pretty good to travel painlessly and experience different cultures and lifestyles just by being careful not to break the rules.
A kitten suddenly appears in front of you.
You love small animals the most, and almost instantly, you blurted out, "Meow—"
wrong!
You might recall seeing different ways people in different regions call their kittens. If you just meow like that, what if it's considered a violation?
Before the last note had even faded, you quickly looked around hoping no one was nearby. However, the small buildings facing the street, whose doors and windows had been tightly closed, had suddenly opened their doors, revealing the faces of elderly people.
They just craned their necks, as if waiting for you to finish what you were saying.
"—Aww!" You almost bit your tongue, but managed to get the sound right back, "Meow, meow."
You may not know how Chinese people call kittens, but Chinese cats also meow. If you imitate a Chinese cat's speech, how can that not be considered speaking the local language?
Your brain is working at lightning speed, and you're so engrossed in the role that you even accidentally clench your fists and raise them to your chest, then tiptoe and walk with a furtive, cat-like gait.
The old people staring at you seemed to mutter something, their already cloudy eyes becoming even deeper. After making some gestures, they closed the window listlessly.
You let out a long sigh of relief, only then realizing belatedly that your momentary relaxation had brought you such a huge crisis.
Looking at the kitten again, still licking its paws by the roadside, you no longer dare to have the thought of "petting the cat." You simply lower your head and quicken your pace again.
We've finally arrived at our destination.
You're not staying in a student dormitory, but rather in a regular apartment leased to a local landlord. This makes it a bit of a hassle for you to navigate through the buildings with their bizarre orientations and find your apartment number.
After circling around several times, you finally found your building.
The key is in your wallet, but don't rush to open the downstairs door and go in. Instead, observe the information on the stairwell door first.
This building looks like a garden villa. Looking at the different names pasted on the different doorbells, even though you don't understand the local dialect, you can recognize these words as people's names.
It turns out that these buildings are not for one family to enjoy alone; different families live on each floor.
You drifted off for a moment, thinking of some strange posts you saw when you were a child that said, "Everyone abroad lives in a big haus with a garden."
Come back to your senses.
Your name hasn't been posted yet, and the number 303 is still empty. Maybe I can post it when I have time. You don't know what the rules are for living here, but you don't want to be too different from the others.
Looking closely, you memorized the names of your neighbors, especially those who lived on the same floor as you. You remembered that the contract, as interpreted by the translation software, indicated that you weren't renting the entire apartment, but rather sharing it with two other people.
I hope they are easy to get along with.
Wait, something's not right!
You noticed something strange.
Judging from the windows, this building clearly has four floors, so why are the doorbell numbers limited to those starting with 3?
A chill rose from the soles of your feet, and you instantly broke out in a cold sweat.
Thankfully, you soon discovered that the floors here start at 0 instead of 1. Just to be safe, you didn't immediately assume this was reasonable, but instead checked other buildings before you were certain that marking the 1st floor as the 0th floor was a common practice here.
Sigh, you're way too stressed right now. The slightest thing makes you terrified. But that's a good thing, at least it's better than accidentally stepping into a trap and dying.
You checked your mailbox one last time to make sure there was nothing in it before finally going into the building.
This building is even older than it looks from the outside. The wooden stairs creak and groan, making you tremble with fear with every step.
What will shock you even more is that as soon as you get to the third floor and open the door, a tall boy with blond curly hair is startled. He then cheerfully extends his hand to you and says a few words in a language you can't understand.
Why are there men among them?
A note from the author:
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(This guy is nobody!!!! Don't worry, Tiger won't randomly insert himself into the main male characters.)
And as those who know, know, the most effective surveillance cameras on the streets of the Dezhou district are—
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