Xiao Xin chuckled and put her phone away, scratching her neck sheepishly: "Well... thank you, sis."
The proprietress's smile deepened when she heard him call her "sister."
She grabbed Xiao Xin's arm and said with a smile, "This child has such a sweet tongue. Come eat here more often, and I'll treat you to meals on the house!"
Xiao Xin smiled awkwardly, but in reality, he was already used to this kind of thing.
He didn't push the landlady's hand away, but instead asked with a smile, "Do you know any good properties around here, the kind that are good value for money and have good security?"
The landlady asked in surprise, "You want to buy a house?"
Xiao Xin shook his head: "It's not buying, it's renting."
This area is not far from his alma mater, University A. Because it is close to the school, there are many people renting houses, so the surrounding housing prices are not only high, but some housing conditions are also not good.
Ask the long-time residents on this street, and they'll generally say it's easier to avoid bad real estate agents.
The landlady released his arm, stroked her chin and thought for a moment, "Yes, there is, but I'm busy right now and may not have time to go see the house with you. I have the landlord's phone number here, why don't you go and take a look by yourself first?"
Xiao Xin smiled and thanked her, saying okay. Then she left the landlord's phone number, which the landlady had introduced, and exchanged phone numbers with her as well.
＊
After leaving the noodle shop, Xiao Xin called the landlord and then went to the address the landlord had given him.
He found the address in less than ten minutes.
Xiao Xin walked on the cement ground, passing through several deep alleys. Houses stood side by side, with power lines crisscrossing overhead.
The surroundings were so quiet that only Xiao Xin's footsteps and the sound of a few birds flying overhead could be heard.
He walked to the entrance of an alley, turned right, and saw the landlord waving to him in front of an iron gate.
This is an old-style self-built housing community with many alleys; even navigation apps may not be able to find it.
Xiao Xin was able to find it so easily because he had lived here two years ago. He had specifically rented this kind of house with many alleys to avoid debt collectors.
However, there was no security here, but fortunately, it was good value for money, so Xiao Xin rushed over as soon as he heard the address.
The landlady was a woman in her sixties, wearing a gray jacket, with her short, gray hair styled in fashionable waves, and wearing reading glasses.
She smiled and said to Xiao Xin in front of her, "You're a handsome young man. How old are you?"
Upon hearing this, Xiao Xin immediately understood the subtext of her words; her next question would likely be whether he had found a partner.
Women of this age are like that; when they have nothing to do, they like to get together and chat about everyday matters, and then introduce potential partners to each other.
As darkness fell, Xiao Xin, wanting to save time, got straight to the point: "Grandma, let's go look at the house first. I have to rush back to work later."
Seeing his anxious expression, the landlord assumed he had something urgent to attend to and didn't ask any further questions, instead leading the way.
The corridor was nice, with dim yellow motion-activated lights that flickered on and off in sync with their steps.
The landlady walked slowly, and Xiao Xin followed behind her without urging her, keeping his hand on the iron railing as he took one step at a time.
There's no elevator here, and the dark stairwell walls are covered with small advertisements, giving it a very quiet and uninhabited feel.
Although the housing prices here are cheap, the roads are hard to find, so apart from a few regular residents, very few people live here.
"Young man, there's no elevator here. The apartment we're looking at is on the top floor. Are you comfortable living here?" the old lady suddenly asked.
Xiao Xin asked, "How many floors is the top floor?"
"Eighth floor," the old lady replied.
It wasn't far to the next floor, and Xiao Xin said with a smile, "It's alright, consider it exercise."
He was in a hurry to rent a house and didn't want to think too much about it; he couldn't keep living in the clubhouse forever.
Because he also values personal privacy.
He felt that living here would allow him to be closer to He Yunzhou and make it easier to visit his father.
The eighth floor is a suite with a rooftop terrace. The space is quite spacious, and you can see the flowers planted by the landlady when you open the door.
Various kinds of flowers fill the small rooftop, and there is a clothesline under the eaves in front of the door for drying clothes.
Xiao Xin thought it was nice to live here; it was quiet and the air was good.
With a slight glance, he spotted the dumbbells and yoga mat in the corner of the rooftop.
The old lady followed his gaze and said with a smile, "My son used to live here, but he has been away from home for almost ten years, so it's just sitting empty. I thought I could rent it out to earn some pocket money."
Although she was smiling, Xiao Xin could still hear the melancholy and bitterness in her tone.
Xiao Xin didn't say much, but patted the old lady on the shoulder: "Grandma, I've rented the house. How about the rent?"
The old lady asked him, "How long do you plan to rent it?"
Xiao Xin thought for a moment and said, "Half a year."
The old lady pursed her lips, looked up at him, and said, "Two thousand."
Xiao Xin didn't haggle and promptly transferred the money to her.
This price is considered low for this area, and he probably guessed that it might be because it's a top-floor unit, so few people rent here.
After the old lady gave him the key, she left. Xiao Xin looked around the room and found that there wasn't a speck of dust in it.
It's obvious that someone cleans it regularly.
There were clean bedding and pillows in the bedroom, saving him the trouble of buying them himself.
Winter is just around the corner, and without air conditioning, this house will definitely be cold.
Xiao Xin stood in the bedroom for a moment, lost in thought, when his phone received a WeChat message from his father's caregiver:
Mr. Xiao, your father has another large gash on his thigh...
The photo below was accompanied by a graphic picture of a bloody thigh.
Xiao Xin felt a lump in her throat, her hand tightening around her phone before letting go limply.
He knew it was that crazy woman who did it, but he had no right to blame anyone else.
The small hospital has limited regulatory conditions, and caregivers cannot be by his father's side 24 hours a day. It's his own inability to provide his father with better medical care.
Xiao Xin's fingers trembled as she transferred five thousand yuan to the caregiver and replied: Please take good care of my dad.
If things go smoothly, Xiao Xin should be able to get his father into a better hospital in the next couple of days.
After collecting the payment, the caregiver replied with an "okay," and then nothing more was said.
Xiao Xin wiped her face, still reeling from the shock, when she received a text message from that crazy woman:
You ingrate! I know where you are right now, you just wait!
Xiao Xin could tell from her words that this woman was indeed short of money recently, otherwise she wouldn't have been pressuring him so much.
However, he still has over 400,000 yuan left. Once he gets his father into a better hospital, he should be less affected by this woman.
Xiao Xin didn't care what she did and deleted the text message as usual.
He was about to leave with his keys in hand, but before he could even lift his foot, his phone rang again.
Xiao Xin took out his phone from his pocket, saw it was a call from his manager, and said "hello" to his ear.
The manager knelt on the floor, trembling as he clutched his phone.
He shakily looked up at the man on the sofa with a cold expression, then lowered his head and asked weakly, "Hey, hey, Xiao, Xiao Xin, where are you now..."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
