New Tenant

Early the next morning.

At eight sharp, Zhao Yihang handed over his shift. His eyes were dark as coal, making him look like a thousand-year-old zombie from the Hong Kong movie Mr. Vampire. He patted my shoulder and said, "Ding Han, buddy, I really can't hold on much longer. Why don't you talk to the boss about hiring one more person? At least we could rotate shifts and get some rest. Who can stand working all year without a break?"

"Alright, I'll talk to her."

"I'm counting on you!"

Zhao Yihang left with a sigh, like an overworked beast of burden drained of all its life force.

After I sat down, I realized Lu Xiaobei had already gone out to set up her stall, so I sent her a message about hiring another person.

The result was that Lu Xiaobei took a full ten minutes to reply: "Pay back the twenty thousand yuan you owe me, then I'll hire someone. Otherwise, where am I supposed to get the money..."

I was speechless. After a moment of thought, I replied, "This matter can perhaps be discussed later!"

She sent me a black bomb emoji that made my screen shake.

A few minutes later, a call came in. It was actually the landlord.

"Ding Han, are you home?"

"No, I'm at work."

"Alright."

The landlord said, "Milo moved out yesterday. I'm bringing a new tenant over to look at the place today."

"Okay."

I didn't say much else. The house belonged to the landlord, and I was only a tenant myself.

At noon, my phone chimed. A message from Lu Xiaobei read: "Ding Han, come eat. I bought you a boxed meal."

With that, she sent me a location pin.

"Huh?"

I was surprised. "What about the internet café?"

"Let Old K watch it for a while. It's not like he hasn't done it before. If he weren't so addicted to grinding Legend, I'd have hired him as the manager. It would save quite a bit of money."

Speechless, I raised my hand and said, "Old K, Lu Xiaobei asked you to come watch the place for me. I'm going out to eat."

"Sure thing!"

Old K didn't hesitate in the slightest. He darted over in a single stride, then gestured for me to hurry up and vacate the manager's seat.

After leaving the internet café, I followed the location Lu Xiaobei had sent. A few minutes later, I arrived.

She stood beneath a blue sign that read, "I miss you very much in Creek City." The cold wind fluttered her coat, and with a casual sweep of it, she looked breathtakingly beautiful. She held a boxed meal in her hand as well.

"Aren't you eating?"

I took the meal from her.

"I already ate. You eat."

"Alright..."

I was starving, so I squatted by the roadside, opened the meal, and wolfed it down.

"Ding Han, look up."

The moment I looked up, I heard a click. At some point, Lu Xiaobei had raised a selfie stick. She bent down with her head lowered, her long hair falling loose, and captured herself, me, and the "I miss you very much in Creek City" sign behind us in the shot.

Everything about the photo was great, except that I was frantically stuffing food into my mouth, and when I looked up, I had a completely confused expression.

"Not a bad picture..."

Lu Xiaobei was very satisfied. In the photo, her long hair flowed beautifully, and even her long legs had made it into the frame.

"Alright, get back to work. While you're at it, see whether Old K has secretly topped up his own card. Last time I saw that he still had more than three hundred yuan on it."

"Damn, you're even keeping an eye on Old K!"

I looked at her disdainfully. "You didn't call me over for lunch just for this photo, did you?"

"What else would it be?"

She said it with perfect confidence.

After returning to the internet café, I checked my phone and found that Lu Xiaobei had posted our group photo, with the caption: "Me and the Employee of the Year," and she had even tagged me.

I couldn't help smiling. Then I casually downloaded the picture and made my first Moments post in Star Abyss. Besides the photo, I added the caption: "My 23-Year-Old Beautiful Boss."

A few seconds later, someone liked it. It was Lu Xiaobei.

She had way too much free time. I suspected she had been staring at her phone the whole time.

Right after that, Lu Xiaobei called me.

"Hmph, I knew that novel on Original Point Novel Network was written by you. Are you going to admit it or not?!"

"Huh?!"

I panicked. "Damn, then... could that My Name Is Lu Xiaobei in the comments section be you?"

"Who else would it be!!!"

"Damn!"

"Hmph!"

Lu Xiaobei hung up, then sent me a WeChat message: "Let me count your crimes for you. First, writing novels during work hours, so your pay should be docked. Second, using my name without my permission and infringing on my right to reputation. Third, making yourself my boyfriend in the novel without my consent. Fourth, kissing me in the novel without my permission. Fifth..."

Her WeChat message was so long that it made my head go numb.

"Alright, alright, I apologize."

I replied, "When I have time and money, I can treat you to a meal to make up for it!"

"Your attitude is decent. I'll forgive you for now. I'm going to set up my stall."

After sending that message, Lu Xiaobei went silent. She was probably busy outsmarting the city management officers again.

"Beep beep~~"

That afternoon, the landlord called again.

"Ding Han, I've rented out Milo's room. Just letting you know, nothing else."

"Alright."

I nodded. "Don't worry, I'll get along peacefully with the new roommate."

"That's good."

The landlord said nothing more and hung up.

Toward evening, I received a message from Sakura: "Ding Han, I went to a concert with my boyfriend. We got stuck in traffic on the way back, so I might be a little late to take over. Can you hold on for a bit longer?"

There was no helping it. I could only work overtime for a while.

It wasn't until after six, when it had gotten dark, that Sakura finally returned, looking travel-worn. At least she had some conscience and brought me a piping-hot roasted sweet potato.

So I ate the roasted sweet potato on my way home. The cold wind blew all the way, making me shiver. Deep winter had arrived. It seemed I should buy a down jacket, but I had no money!

Downstairs in the residential complex, where it was usually empty, a car was parked today. It looked extremely high-end, entirely white, with a winged emblem on the front and a "B" badge on the rear.

A Bentley Flying Spur!

No way, right?

I looked up at our shabby old residential complex and simply couldn't connect it with a luxury car worth three or four million yuan.

I went upstairs and opened the door.

"Click~~"

After entering, I saw a woman sitting on the sofa.

From my angle, I could only see her slightly wavy long hair draped over her shoulders. She wore a beige coat over a light-colored sweater. There was a silver logo on the collar of her coat, the kind that made it obvious it was expensive.

She slowly rose to her feet and turned around.

She was beautiful, so beautiful that she didn't seem real.

"You're Ding Han, right?" Her voice was calm, even carrying a hint of indifference.

"Mm."

I nodded. "You're the new tenant?"

"Yes."

She looked at me. "Sit down. There's something I'd like to discuss with you."

"Alright."

After sitting down, I didn't quite dare meet her eyes. There was something unapproachable about her, something that even felt like the aura of someone in a position of power. Combined with her cold gaze, it made me neither dare nor want to get close to her.

"I'd like to discuss renting your room as well. Would that be possible?"

She paused, then said, "I'm not used to sharing a place with others. I want to live alone."

"Why should I?"

I frowned, a nameless anger suddenly rising inside me. The tenant next door had previously been Milo, that approachable, shameless Luo'er. Now he had been replaced by her, and it felt rather hard to get used to.

"I was here first. Why should I be the one to leave?"

"I can compensate you for the rent."

She looked at me. "Would you reconsider?"

"Compensate me? How?"

I said flatly, "I've lived here for a long time too. I've developed feelings for every blade of grass and every tree here. If you really can't stand sharing a place, shouldn't you be the one leaving?"

"I'm willing to pay ten times the amount."

She said calmly, "I asked the landlord about it. You paid one month's rent and one month's deposit before, a total of 1,600 yuan. I can give you 16,000 yuan right now. Do you think that's acceptable?"

"Sixteen thousand?"

My heart jolted. I frowned. "Since you're this determined, it's not impossible for me to leave."

She took out her phone.

"I'll add you on WeChat, then transfer it to you through WeChat."

"Alright."

I brought up my WeChat QR code. The next moment, someone sent a friend request. The instant I accepted it, 16,000 yuan was transferred over.

I opened her WeChat profile. There was no avatar, only a blank white picture. There wasn't even a WeChat name, probably just a space or some similar symbol. Her Moments had no posts either. Her whole profile was like a blank page.

"I can move out, but you need to give me time."

I frowned. "Within three days, I'll definitely move out. Is that okay?"

"Yes."

She nodded, then got up and returned to her room.

I went back to my room too. After looking at my phone, I glanced at the wall connecting to the next room. Just who was this Ms. Blank next door? She transferred 16,000 yuan without batting an eye. She was definitely not ordinarily rich!

Also, could the white Bentley downstairs be hers?

"Ding!"

Just then, a message arrived from Zhang Ruolin: "Ding Han, are you there?"

"I am. Get to the point."

"I want to make a deal with you. I have five thousand rounds of Roarer ammunition, but this morning I completed a mission and luckily got a blue Submachine Gun. The caliber is different, so I can't use the Roarer ammo. Do you need it? I'll give you a discount. You can take all five thousand rounds for 12,000."

"Sure!"

I was ecstatic. "Where are you? I'll come find you. Are you at the bar?"

"No, I happened to pass by downstairs from your place. Want me to come up to trade?"

"That works too."

Not long after, there was a knock at the living room door.

The moment I went out and opened the door, I discovered that the door to the room next door had opened too. That Ms. Blank, whose WeChat profile was entirely blank, had opened her door as well. After seeing me, surprise flickered in her eyes.

Zhang Ruolin entered the living room and saw her too.

Ms. Blank closed her door without saying anything.

"New roommate?"

After entering my room, Zhang Ruolin asked with a smile.

"Mm, keep your voice down."

I took out my phone and transferred 12,000 Star Coins to her through WeChat.

Zhang Ruolin pulled out bullets, one pack after another, while I tossed them directly into the Dimensional Storage Space.

The two of us chatted as quietly as possible.

"What mission gave you that blue Submachine Gun?"

"A B-rank daily mission. I got lucky."

Zhang Ruolin smiled. "Want to go sit at the bar with me later?"

"No. Milo has already gone to Beijing to chase his dreams, so there's even less reason to go to the bar now."

"True."

Zhang Ruolin said, "With Milo gone, I feel like The Fifth Element has suddenly lost all its charm."

She checked the time. "It's still early. I'll rest here for a bit, and we can watch some TV together."

I was speechless and could only let her do as she pleased.

Zhang Ruolin turned the TV volume up rather loud. I even suspected she was doing it on purpose.

Not long after, Zhang Ruolin left, and I opened the door to see her out.

But I discovered that Ms. Blank was sitting in the living room too, using a laptop to browse through documents. A thick stack of materials sat beside her. When my room door opened, she turned around and looked at us in surprise.

"Alright, big sister is leaving. Contact me whenever you want it again, okay? I'll give you a twenty percent discount!"

Zhang Ruolin breathed softly into my ear, her eyes hazy. Her slender palm slid off my shoulder like a snake, and then she smiled as she left.

"???"

I was completely speechless. What was she doing all that for??

On the sofa, Ms. Blank's delicate brows furrowed slightly. She ignored me.

It was over. In her eyes, my character had definitely been tarnished!!!