My Home Doesn't Have a Water Meter

"Hello?"

Lu Ban walked onto the balcony of the room, closed the glass sliding door between the balcony and the house, and answered the phone while watching Qin Tiantian, who was sleeping in the middle of summer clutching a pillow and wrapped in a quilt.

The other party was silent for a moment.

Just as Lu Ban suspected if some strange sounds would come from the phone and he would receive a videotape containing a well and a woman the next day, a voice came from the other end.

"Thank goodness, it's a human voice."

"We don't have a water meter."

Lu Ban answered immediately.

"?"

The other party was clearly taken aback, not knowing what topic Lu Ban was talking about, but he was obviously experienced and quickly adjusted his emotions.

"It's like this, Mr. Lu Ban, I am Li Zijian, the secretary to the chairman of Jiangcheng Industrial. We saw your video exploring the Jiangcheng Grand Theater online, and we would like to discuss this matter with you. Do you have time tomorrow? I apologize for disturbing you so late at night."

Lu Ban could detect a hint of helplessness in the tone of the man who called himself Li Zijian. It was like being on New Year's Eve, having a big meal with family, and suddenly the superior calls, asking him to chase a client for payment. He clearly didn't want to disturb their festive mood but was forced by his damn job to put on a business smile and find the client.

"Are you going to sue me?"

Lu Ban blurted out the first thing that came to his mind.

The Jiangcheng Grand Theater was now a ruin in the hands of Jiangcheng Industrial, a property of Jiangcheng Industrial. Was he trespassing?

That's not right. There were no warning lines or signs prohibiting entry nearby. It shouldn't be illegal for him to go in and take a look, right?

He should find some legal videos to study later.

".No, no, you've misunderstood. Our chairman saw the video and wants to ask you some questions."

Li Zijian on the other end of the phone was momentarily speechless by Lu Ban, and then replied after a pause.

"Your chairman?"

Lu Ban smelled something fishy.

"Yes, I don't know if you've heard of her, our chairman's name is Song Yunyan."

Thump—

Lu Ban's heart skipped a beat.

Song Yunyan?

Didn't she… die at the Jiangcheng Grand Theater?

"Mr. Lu?"

Li Zijian was confused by Lu Ban's sudden silence.

".Yes, what time and where should I go tomorrow?"

Lu Ban collected his thoughts and then asked.

"You don't need to travel. We will send a car to pick you up at ten in the morning. Your current address is XX Residential Area, Building 4, Unit 1304, right?"

Li Zijian fluently reported Lu Ban's current address.

".Yes."

Lu Ban replied.

"Okay, I've got it. Then I won't disturb your rest, Mr. Lu."

The other party hung up the phone.

Lu Ban stood on the balcony, listening to the melody of the classic Spring Festival Gala songs coming from the room, feeling a bit lost.

Putting aside the question of how the other party obtained his account and identity information, in the internet age, privacy was no match for capital. As long as they spent some money to investigate the real-name authentication information on the Old Days Video Network and then found a real estate agent to check the rental information corresponding to the ID card, they could find this.

Lu Ban was focused on something else.

He picked up his phone and searched for news about Song Yunyan, while comparing it with the pictures of old newspapers he had downloaded.

Then Lu Ban realized that he had indeed overlooked something.

The reports at the time focused on Du Danping's death, mentioning that there were five people in total, but it didn't say that Song Yunyan had also died at the same time.

So, although Song Yunyan was present at the time, she wasn't burned to death in the fire?

She was the daughter of the former chairman of Jiangcheng Industrial, and now she had taken over her father's business, becoming the female CEO?

"Song Yunyan saw me exploring the Jiangcheng Grand Theater and saw Du Danping performing, so she's looking for me?"

Lu Ban roughly understood the whole story.

"Good thing I didn't release the footage of me smashing Du Danping's ghost's head, otherwise would this Song Yunyan have me torn to pieces?"

He realized it a little late.

"Or, Song Yunyan is indeed dead, and the current 'Song Yunyan'… is actually something disguised as her?"

Another possibility emerged in his mind.

"Forget it, I'll leave these worries to tomorrow's me. Time to sleep!"

Lu Ban decided not to dwell on his troubles.

He lay down on the chair, and to the tune of "Gong Xi Fa Cai," he drifted into a deep sleep.

The next day, 8 AM.

Lu Ban woke up on time, the song still playing in his ears.

"Run forward, facing cold stares and ridicule, how can you feel the vastness of life without experiencing hardship?"

He glanced at the bed. Qin Tiantian was sleeping like a log, completely unmoving.

Lu Ban sat up to wash his face and brush his teeth, changed his clothes, and went out to buy breakfast.

Two baskets of xiaolongbao, two bowls of soy milk, and four deep-fried dough sticks. He packed them all up and brought them back.

When he returned, Qin Tiantian had just gotten out of bed, looking half-asleep, unable to even open her eyes.

Lu Ban placed the breakfast on the living room table. He thought about the methods he'd seen before for increasing follower count and decided he needed to establish his persona.

To establish a persona, you can't be too deliberate; it needs to look like a casual action.

So, he picked up his phone, took a picture of the breakfast, and posted an update on the Old Days Video Network.

[Did everyone sleep well last night? Come up and eat breakfast!]

Such a positive update was sure to be inspiring!

As soon as Lu Ban put down his phone, he opened the takeout packaging, and the notification for his update vibrated.

With one hand holding a fried dough stick to dip in soy milk with his chopsticks, he used the other hand to scroll through the comments.

[It's all your fault! Your video kept me up all night!]

[Is this breakfast some kind of underworld breakfast brought from somewhere?]

[Wait, look closely, is there a human head reflected in the soy milk?]

[Damn it, are you trying to get revenge on society this early in the morning?]

[Soy milk must be salty!]

[Get lost, who drinks salty soy milk?]

A jumble of comments popped up within just a few minutes.

Lu Ban's follower count was already around 15,000. On the Old Days Video Network, he was considered a small content creator with his own community.

"Is there something wrong with the photo?"

Seeing the comments, Lu Ban clicked on the photo and zoomed in to examine it closely.

He saw that in the reflection of the soy milk, there was indeed a human face! A face that didn't belong to Lu Ban.

"Don't just stand there, eat quickly."

Lu Ban saw Qin Tiantian reflected in his phone and looked up to urge her.

"I slept so well. This bed is really something else; I've never slept so comfortably at home."

Qin Tiantian stretched like a cat and sat down opposite Lu Ban from an angle where she couldn't see anything.

"I'm going out later, you should go home quickly."

Lu Ban asked.

Was this woman trying to crash on his couch?

His bed was only for his blue-eyed ragdoll cat. As for women, they could get lost!

"I'm going, of course I'm going! I'll leave as soon as you go out."

Qin Tiantian yawned, picked up her chopsticks, and started eating breakfast.

They ate breakfast with little conversation, each looking at their own phones.

After cleaning up a bit, exactly at 10 AM, Lu Ban's phone rang.

It was yesterday's number.

"Hello, Mr. Lu, I've arrived downstairs. The car is ready."

Lu Ban answered and glanced out the window at the street below.

"Good heavens, is that a stretched limousine or something?"

Beside him, Qin Tiantian, who had also looked down, saw the sleek black car that looked so out of place in the surrounding neighborhood.

"Wow, are you a hidden rich second generation?"

She then started humming a tune.

"Shut up."

Lu Ban, about to get into the black luxury car, didn't want to hear the woman singing.

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