"Young man, I haven't seen you around before. Are you here to visit someone?"
An old man's voice sounded beside Xiao Xiao.
Xiao Xiao turned to look at the old man without surprise.
He'd heard someone coming up the stairs.
Besides, the old man's footsteps had been anything but quiet.
"Mm."
Xiao Xiao nodded. He was, in a way, here to see a "person." "Sir, do you live on the sixth floor?"
"No, I live on the fifth."
The old man shook his head. "I just saw you standing here for a while, so I came up to have a look."
He glanced to the left, his face showing a trace of distaste. "Young man, are you here to visit a friend?"
"You should tell your friend to find somewhere else to live."
"Even if the rent's cheap, this place is in terrible shape."
"Sir, doesn't anyone do anything about this?"
Xiao Xiao couldn't believe nobody had gone to the residents' committee.
But if they had and things were still like this, then...
It seemed they were dealing with someone very difficult to reason with.
"Do something? What can we do?"
The old man sighed. "Do you know who lives there?"
"Who?"
Xiao Xiao asked cooperatively.
"A mental case."
The old man lowered his voice.
"A mental case?"
Xiao Xiao repeated softly. "A person with a mental illness?"
"Right, right. More or less."
The old man's expression was complicated. "I've watched that boy grow up, too."
"What a tragedy."
"Mm?"
Xiao Xiao gave a timely response.
The old man's gaze grew unfocused, as if lost in memories. "Xiao Yang and his family moved here twenty years ago."
"Xiao Feng was only nine then."
"Xiao Feng is Xiao Yang's son. He lives alone in that apartment now."
The old