459

Dong Xiaoye stretched out her hand and said, “My name is Dong…”

“Officer Dong!” My landlady finally remembered who she was: “You are that police officer! No wonder you look familiar to me, hehe. I am not old yet, but I have already become forgetful. The last time you wore a police uniform, I only felt that you were a lively girl. But I didn’t expect you to look so pretty in casual wear. I’m really sorry.”

I was curious, “You two met before?”

“Mhm,” after shaking hands with my landlady, Dong Xiaoye said, “After Zhou Tian was arrested, I asked Ms. Wang about his situation.”

.

“Zhou Tian?” Liusu asked, “Is he the thief who lived across from Nan Nan’s flat?”

“He is not a thief, he is a robber!” My landlady sighed, “He looked quite honest. But I didn’t expect that he was such a person. Not only did he steal from other people, but he also crawled into a woman’s house in the middle of the night and hurt people. Sure enough, you can’t judge anyone by their appearance. It’s my mistake to rent the house to that kind of bad guy.”

Only now did I just remember that the flat opposite to my flat was also the property of my landlady.

My landlady took her daughter out to have some fresh air while buying something for her, and she also came to this shop to take a break. Now that she saw us, she sat directly with us and started to chat with us. Like I said, when one man hung out with two women, it would not be a date at all, otherwise my landlady definitely wouldn’t want to sit with us. After all, she was not a woman who liked to be the third wheel.

From chatting with my landlady, I learned that because of Zhou Tian, the flat opposite to my flat has not yet been rented out. No one wanted to live in the flat where the robber used to live. After finding out who the previous tenant was, the potential tenants all said that they didn’t feel safe. Despite my landlady explaining that Zhou Tian had been put in prison, it was still in vain.

My landlady didn’t seek to make a profit when renting out the flats. It was purely for the purpose of reducing expenditure. After all, even if the flats were empty, she still had to pay the property fees. Her original plan was to wait until the housing price rose to a certain extent, then she would sell the flats, but now if she had to keep paying the property fee, she had to sell the flat in advance. Hearing her complaining helplessly that no one wanted to rent the flat even after she reduced one-third of the rent, I suddenly had an idea.

Isn’t Ziyuan looking for someplace to live at the moment?

“Elder Sister Wang, if someone wants to rent the flat opposite mine, how much will it cost?”

“Who would want to rent it?” Elder Sister Wang smiled bitterly, “I’ve already lowered the rent to 1,500, but still no one wants to rent it. Everyone was worried about the safety in that community. If someone really wants to rent it now, I can lower the rent to 1,200 per month if they want to rent for a month; 1,100 per month, if they want to rent for three months, or 1000 per month if they want to rent for the entire year. And if they pay in advance, I can give them a 10 percent discount.”

In other words, if Ziyuan rented the flat for one year, the monthly rent would only be 900 Chinese yuan. Although the community I lived in was a bit old, the location was excellent. In addition, the flat was only on the fourth floor.

In Bei Tian City, the rent for flats with such conditions was generally no less than 2,500 per month. The monthly rent for my flat was 1,800. Although the condition of the flat rented by Liusu was better, it did not have any furniture and cost 2,300 a month. This showed how attractive my landlady’s offer was.

Ziyuan said that her former neighbor wanted to rent a flat to her. Assuming she wasn’t lying, the offer that her old neighbor gave her, still would not be less than 900 per month, right? Besides, if she moved into the flat opposite mine, I would also be able to look after her.

“It just so happens that I have a friend who is looking for a flat. If you don’t mind, I can give her a call and ask her.” I knew very well in my heart that the reason why I hoped Ziyuan to move into the flat opposite mine was not just to be able to look after her. If she was able to live closer to me, I would also be able to have more opportunities to observe what kind of people she would hang out with. This motive was so nasty that I hated myself for just thinking about it.

Liusu had apparently guessed that the friend I was talking about was Ziyuan. She wanted to say something but was hesitant. Eventually, she chose to stay silent. Because of that, I didn’t keep it in mind.

My landlady smiled and said, “Since it is your friend, naturally, I won’t mind it.”

Ziyuan’s cell phone was off, so I called the hotel instead, but it was still unavailable. After I asked the service desk, I was told that the phone line in her room was unplugged. Probably, she couldn’t stand the endless nasty “customer service” in the middle of the night.

Unable to contact Ziyuan, I told my landlady that I would give her a reply in two days. My landlady said that I would need to hurry up because one of her relatives also wanted to rent a flat from her.

I knew this was an excuse. She was either regretting renting it at such a low price and wanting to use this excuse to increase the price, or she really wanted to rent out the flat as soon as possible and used this excuse to urge me.

It would be fine if it was the former, but if it was later…

So as soon as my landlady left, I said to Liusu and Dong Xiaoye: “Since we have nothing to do, shall we go visit Ziyuan?” I knew this request was unreasonable and inappropriate, but I just couldn’t wait for Ziyuan to move into the flat opposite mine.

Dong Xiaoye glanced at Liusu and glared at me: “Why are you in such a hurry? Can’t you ask her when you go to the company on Monday?”

I knew it was an unreasonable request, but there were too many thoughts in my mind, “Ziyuan is also going to check out a flat today, I’m worried that she will sign the contract immediately. Elder Sister Wang’s rent is only 900 yuan a month. It’s rare to have such a great deal. We need to hurry up before she regrets it.”

I could feel that Ziyuan had been avoiding me on purpose. But I couldn’t let her keep doing that. I had a responsibility for her and I needed to take care of her.

I knew that this was unfair to Liusu, and I felt very guilty about it, but I had no other choices.

“Okay, since it is also on the way to the cinema, we can drop by.” Unexpectedly, Liusu didn’t get jealous but picked up her bags quickly.

Dong Xiaoye said anxiously: “Liusu!”

“What’s the matter?” Liusu said with a smile: “We aren’t doing anything at the moment, so we might as well pay Ziyuan a visit before the movie starts.”

If Liusu got angry at me, I might feel more comfortable. But the more considerate she was, the more guilty I would feel. I knew that I was making an unreasonable and stupid request, but I didn’t know how to take my words back. I had a strong feeling that if I took my words back now, it would only hurt Liusu even more.

Dong Xiaoye glared at me angrily. She finally couldn’t hold back her anger and tread my foot fiercely.

This woman was indeed a good friend of Liusu. It hurt so much when she trod my foot.

…

“She hasn’t come back yet?” I suspected I had heard it wrong, so I asked again.

“It’s not that she hasn’t come back yet, but she hasn’t come back at all. She has only stayed here for one night, that is, the night you sent her back,” The receptionist who knew me well looked at Liusu and Dong Xiaoye and said to me in a nonchalant tone: “Miss Xue specifically told us that if someone comes to find her, or calls her before ten o’clock in the evening, we need to tell them that she just went out and might be back soon. And if it is after ten o’clock, we need to tell them that she is already asleep, and she doesn’t want anyone to disturb her sleep. But since it is you, I don’t think there is any need to lie, right?”

Her words were full of jealousy because she used to think that I was interested in her. In the past, whenever I booked rooms for the clients of Fengchang, I would tease her. After a while, she naturally had some feelings for me. Then because I stayed overnight in Ziyuan’s room, she misunderstood my relationship with Ziyuan. (Although it wasn’t a misunderstanding at all) This was the reason why she didn’t follow Ziyuan’s instructions and lie to me.

I couldn’t help feeling uncomfortable, Ziyuan lied to me again. She did rent a room in this hotel and has not checked out yet, but she has never stayed here at all!

Since she didn’t live here, why didn’t she check out? Why did she tell the hotel staff to lie on her behalf?

Ziyuan had left Bei Tian City for five years, and she had just come back. Everything was different from the day she left, and there were not many old acquaintances around her. So why did she want to do this? And who did she want to lie to?

Third Lady? Mo Yizhi? Or… Me?

It was most likely me because only I know that she lived here, and only I would come here to look for her! The Third Lady and Mo Yizhi were well-connected people, and Ziyuan was working for them, so there was no reason for her to deceive them because she couldn’t deceive them.

But why did she want to lie to me?

“Nan Nan…”

“Little Chu…”

Liusu and Dong Xiaoye spoke at the same time, both girls felt a little embarrassed. In the end, Liusu asked first: “What does Ziyuan mean?”

Dong Xiaoye stretched out her hand and said, “My name is Dong…”

“Officer Dong!” My landlady finally remembered who she was: “You are that police officer! No wonder you look familiar to me, hehe. I am not old yet, but I have already become forgetful. The last time you wore a police uniform, I only felt that you were a lively girl. But I didn’t expect you to look so pretty in casual wear. I’m really sorry.”

I was curious, “You two met before?”

“Mhm,” after shaking hands with my landlady, Dong Xiaoye said, “After Zhou Tian was arrested, I asked Ms. Wang about his situation.”

.

“Zhou Tian?” Liusu asked, “Is he the thief who lived across from Nan Nan’s flat?”

“He is not a thief, he is a robber!” My landlady sighed, “He looked quite honest. But I didn’t expect that he was such a person. Not only did he steal from other people, but he also crawled into a woman’s house in the middle of the night and hurt people. Sure enough, you can’t judge anyone by their appearance. It’s my mistake to rent the house to that kind of bad guy.”

Only now did I just remember that the flat opposite to my flat was also the property of my landlady.

My landlady took her daughter out to have some fresh air while buying something for her, and she also came to this shop to take a break. Now that she saw us, she sat directly with us and started to chat with us. Like I said, when one man hung out with two women, it would not be a date at all, otherwise my landlady definitely wouldn’t want to sit with us. After all, she was not a woman who liked to be the third wheel.

From chatting with my landlady, I learned that because of Zhou Tian, the flat opposite to my flat has not yet been rented out. No one wanted to live in the flat where the robber used to live. After finding out who the previous tenant was, the potential tenants all said that they didn’t feel safe. Despite my landlady explaining that Zhou Tian had been put in prison, it was still in vain.

My landlady didn’t seek to make a profit when renting out the flats. It was purely for the purpose of reducing expenditure. After all, even if the flats were empty, she still had to pay the property fees. Her original plan was to wait until the housing price rose to a certain extent, then she would sell the flats, but now if she had to keep paying the property fee, she had to sell the flat in advance. Hearing her complaining helplessly that no one wanted to rent the flat even after she reduced one-third of the rent, I suddenly had an idea.

Isn’t Ziyuan looking for someplace to live at the moment?

“Elder Sister Wang, if someone wants to rent the flat opposite mine, how much will it cost?”

“Who would want to rent it?” Elder Sister Wang smiled bitterly, “I’ve already lowered the rent to 1,500, but still no one wants to rent it. Everyone was worried about the safety in that community. If someone really wants to rent it now, I can lower the rent to 1,200 per month if they want to rent for a month; 1,100 per month, if they want to rent for three months, or 1000 per month if they want to rent for the entire year. And if they pay in advance, I can give them a 10 percent discount.”

In other words, if Ziyuan rented the flat for one year, the monthly rent would only be 900 Chinese yuan. Although the community I lived in was a bit old, the location was excellent. In addition, the flat was only on the fourth floor.

In Bei Tian City, the rent for flats with such conditions was generally no less than 2,500 per month. The monthly rent for my flat was 1,800. Although the condition of the flat rented by Liusu was better, it did not have any furniture and cost 2,300 a month. This showed how attractive my landlady’s offer was.

Ziyuan said that her former neighbor wanted to rent a flat to her. Assuming she wasn’t lying, the offer that her old neighbor gave her, still would not be less than 900 per month, right? Besides, if she moved into the flat opposite mine, I would also be able to look after her.

“It just so happens that I have a friend who is looking for a flat. If you don’t mind, I can give her a call and ask her.” I knew very well in my heart that the reason why I hoped Ziyuan to move into the flat opposite mine was not just to be able to look after her. If she was able to live closer to me, I would also be able to have more opportunities to observe what kind of people she would hang out with. This motive was so nasty that I hated myself for just thinking about it.

Liusu had apparently guessed that the friend I was talking about was Ziyuan. She wanted to say something but was hesitant. Eventually, she chose to stay silent. Because of that, I didn’t keep it in mind.

My landlady smiled and said, “Since it is your friend, naturally, I won’t mind it.”

Ziyuan’s cell phone was off, so I called the hotel instead, but it was still unavailable. After I asked the service desk, I was told that the phone line in her room was unplugged. Probably, she couldn’t stand the endless nasty “customer service” in the middle of the night.

Unable to contact Ziyuan, I told my landlady that I would give her a reply in two days. My landlady said that I would need to hurry up because one of her relatives also wanted to rent a flat from her.

I knew this was an excuse. She was either regretting renting it at such a low price and wanting to use this excuse to increase the price, or she really wanted to rent out the flat as soon as possible and used this excuse to urge me.

It would be fine if it was the former, but if it was later…

So as soon as my landlady left, I said to Liusu and Dong Xiaoye: “Since we have nothing to do, shall we go visit Ziyuan?” I knew this request was unreasonable and inappropriate, but I just couldn’t wait for Ziyuan to move into the flat opposite mine.

Dong Xiaoye glanced at Liusu and glared at me: “Why are you in such a hurry? Can’t you ask her when you go to the company on Monday?”

I knew it was an unreasonable request, but there were too many thoughts in my mind, “Ziyuan is also going to check out a flat today, I’m worried that she will sign the contract immediately. Elder Sister Wang’s rent is only 900 yuan a month. It’s rare to have such a great deal. We need to hurry up before she regrets it.”

I could feel that Ziyuan had been avoiding me on purpose. But I couldn’t let her keep doing that. I had a responsibility for her and I needed to take care of her.

I knew that this was unfair to Liusu, and I felt very guilty about it, but I had no other choices.

“Okay, since it is also on the way to the cinema, we can drop by.” Unexpectedly, Liusu didn’t get jealous but picked up her bags quickly.

Dong Xiaoye said anxiously: “Liusu!”

“What’s the matter?” Liusu said with a smile: “We aren’t doing anything at the moment, so we might as well pay Ziyuan a visit before the movie starts.”

If Liusu got angry at me, I might feel more comfortable. But the more considerate she was, the more guilty I would feel. I knew that I was making an unreasonable and stupid request, but I didn’t know how to take my words back. I had a strong feeling that if I took my words back now, it would only hurt Liusu even more.

Dong Xiaoye glared at me angrily. She finally couldn’t hold back her anger and tread my foot fiercely.

This woman was indeed a good friend of Liusu. It hurt so much when she trod my foot.

…

“She hasn’t come back yet?” I suspected I had heard it wrong, so I asked again.

“It’s not that she hasn’t come back yet, but she hasn’t come back at all. She has only stayed here for one night, that is, the night you sent her back,” The receptionist who knew me well looked at Liusu and Dong Xiaoye and said to me in a nonchalant tone: “Miss Xue specifically told us that if someone comes to find her, or calls her before ten o’clock in the evening, we need to tell them that she just went out and might be back soon. And if it is after ten o’clock, we need to tell them that she is already asleep, and she doesn’t want anyone to disturb her sleep. But since it is you, I don’t think there is any need to lie, right?”

Her words were full of jealousy because she used to think that I was interested in her. In the past, whenever I booked rooms for the clients of Fengchang, I would tease her. After a while, she naturally had some feelings for me. Then because I stayed overnight in Ziyuan’s room, she misunderstood my relationship with Ziyuan. (Although it wasn’t a misunderstanding at all) This was the reason why she didn’t follow Ziyuan’s instructions and lie to me.

I couldn’t help feeling uncomfortable, Ziyuan lied to me again. She did rent a room in this hotel and has not checked out yet, but she has never stayed here at all!

Since she didn’t live here, why didn’t she check out? Why did she tell the hotel staff to lie on her behalf?

Ziyuan had left Bei Tian City for five years, and she had just come back. Everything was different from the day she left, and there were not many old acquaintances around her. So why did she want to do this? And who did she want to lie to?

Third Lady? Mo Yizhi? Or… Me?

It was most likely me because only I know that she lived here, and only I would come here to look for her! The Third Lady and Mo Yizhi were well-connected people, and Ziyuan was working for them, so there was no reason for her to deceive them because she couldn’t deceive them.

But why did she want to lie to me?

“Nan Nan…”

“Little Chu…”

Liusu and Dong Xiaoye spoke at the same time, both girls felt a little embarrassed. In the end, Liusu asked first: “What does Ziyuan mean?”