Selene carried a large box through a long, narrow corridor. Her good friend Maggie was waiting at the door. When Selene approached, Maggie hurried over to help her carry the box inside.
After setting down the box, Selene let out a long breath. She dusted off her hands and looked around the room.
This was a studio apartment in Living Hell. After the first phase of Living Hell's renovation had been completed, quite a few residents had converted the extra space in their homes into studio apartments to rent out to other residents of the East End.
Living Hell had once been the district with the worst living conditions in the East End, but things were completely different now. The rooms were still cramped and poorly lit, but the sanitation conditions had improved by more than a few levels. The decor was nothing luxurious, but it was certainly better than a ramshackle shed.
Yet because of the gap between rich and poor, many East End residents still lived in rundown houses. Selene's friend Maggie, for example, had previously lived on the edge of the shantytown. It was better than those miserable structures made of corrugated iron and shipping containers, but whenever it rained, water ran down the walls until a large section of the floor became damp and moldy.
The windows in Maggie's old home had been tiny and poorly positioned. It was freezing in winter and sweltering in summer. Every winter, Selene could not stay there for even two hours without her limbs going stiff from the cold.
Maggie came over from the doorway as well. Looking at the tiny room, she sighed. "I never thought I'd get to live in a place like this."
The little room was not large, only four or five square meters, just enough