Landlady

"You said you're a writer? Have you published anything?"

"I… I'm an online writer. To get published, your work has to be really, really popular."

"So, your work isn't popular? How much do you make a month?"

"If I meet all my quotas, it's probably around six thousand."

"Only six thousand? That's not even half the price of my handbag. That's way too little. How can you live in Jianghai City with that kind of income?"

Inside the Lakeside Cafe in Jianghai City, Shen Lang was on a blind date with a woman introduced by his mom's mahjong friend.

When the conversation turned to Shen Lang's salary, the atmosphere instantly grew awkward, making the already socially anxious Shen Lang feel even more on edge.

After a few moments of stiff silence, the woman rose from her seat, slung her brown handbag over her shoulder, and smiled helplessly.

"Alright, I have something else to do, so I'll be going now. We'll be in touch."

In her eyes, this man was decent-looking and quite tall.

But his plain attire, unshaven stubble, and haphazardly styled hair made him seem far too casual.

His demeanor also reeked of lethargy, his eyes behind thick glasses vacant and lifeless, like a shut-in who stayed home day and night playing games.

More importantly, he didn't have much money!

His small electric scooter parked outside the cafe looked incredibly out of place compared to the other cars nearby.

"Take care."

Shen Lang felt no disappointment; in fact, he felt a slight thrill deep down. Finally, he could be alone.

Shen Lang was 24 this year. Due to his passion for online novels, he became an online writer after graduating, specializing in wuxia and action genres.

This job was similar to being a tech geek, requiring him to stay home all day typing.

This long-term reclusive lifestyle made Shen Lang, who was already somewhat solitary, even more introverted and shy.

Aside from going downstairs for meals, Shen Lang practically never left his home.

Several years of this isolated existence had made Shen Lang's social skills extremely poor.

Whenever he interacted with girls, Shen Lang would get exceptionally nervous, his speech becoming muddled, often saying things completely out of sync with the mood.

This was the main reason why Shen Lang, at 24, had never had a normal romantic relationship.

Just then, his phone rang in his pocket.

"Hello, is this Mr. Shen? Can you come sign the contract soon? I need to pick up my daughter from school shortly."

"Yes, yes, I'll be right over."

Unable to bear his parents constantly hounding him to find a partner, Shen Lang found a single studio apartment on a rental website, planning to escape the elderly couple who were always pushing him to get married.

He quickly picked up his coffee and drained it, then got up to pay at the counter.

Given the woman's materialistic behavior moments ago, Shen Lang didn't expect her to offer to split the bill or pay.

"Hello, that'll be 150 yuan. You can scan here."

The cashier was very pretty, her eyes curving into charming crescents when she smiled.

"Ah, okay."

Shen Lang shyly avoided the cashier's gaze.

Most socially anxious and introverted people were like this; they weren't used to making eye contact with the opposite sex, especially when talking to pretty girls.

"Thank you for coming, please take care."

As Shen Lang scanned the QR code and paid, he suddenly felt a dizzying sensation.

It seemed like a few lines of text and a blurry heart icon flashed above the girl's head.

He blinked and looked at the girl again, but the text and heart icon had vanished.

It's time to find some time to exercise.

Shen Lang attributed it to a bad habit caused by his prolonged sitting every day.

After paying the bill, he hopped on his electric scooter and headed straight for Fulung Community in the suburbs.

Fulung Community was quite far from the city center, but the rent was cheap, and the area was relatively quiet.

This was exactly what the homebody Shen Lang liked, which was why he promptly paid the deposit on the rental website.

As soon as he stepped into the elevator, his WeChat notification chimed.

Pingping An'an (Mom): "@Sleep Till Dawn, Son, how was your blind date today?"

Sleep Till Dawn: "It fell through, what else? Also, the date today cost me 150, can you reimburse me?"

Pingping An'an (Mom): "Son, do you want me to tell you a story?"

Sleep Till Dawn: "What story?"

"Back then, Taishang Laojun spent forty-nine days refining an immortal pill. This immortal pill also gained sentience and ran down to the mortal world, settling under the Ginseng Fruit Tree. Over time, it transformed into the likeness of a ginseng fruit."

"Later, Tang Sanzang and his disciples arrived there. Sun Wukong secretly ate many of the ginseng fruits, but then he struck and killed the ginseng fruit that the immortal pill had transformed into with a staff? Can you guess why?"

Sleep Till Dawn: "Why?"

Pingping An'an (Mom): "Because it's danshen. What's the point of keeping danshen alive? You agree, right, son? Smile, smile, smile."

Sleep Till Dawn: "?"

Shen Lang swallowed nervously as he looked at the string of smiling emojis his mom sent. He quickly exited the WeChat group and went invisible.

For the sake of his life, he decided not to go over to his parents' place for dinner this weekend.

The elevator arrived on the 22nd floor. Shen Lang stepped out and walked to the door of his rental apartment.

"Tap, tap, tap, tap..."

The front door was open, and the sound of high heels tapping on the floor echoed from inside the room, clear and crisp.

"Are you Mr. Shen?"

Hearing the elevator, the sound of high heels inside the room grew closer, and Shen Lang's heart began to beat faster and faster.

He really wasn't very good at dealing with women.

A moment later, a woman wearing a shirt embroidered with brown patterns appeared before Shen Lang.

The woman had a delicate, fair, melon-seed shaped face, and her dark, long hair rested on one shoulder. She wore a nude-colored straight skirt with nude stockings, her legs shapely and long. From head to toe, she exuded the unique sensual charm of a mature woman, along with the aura of a married homemaker.

She held a rental agreement in her hand, and on the small table in the room lay a large bunch of gleaming silver keys.

Shen Lang subconsciously glanced at the number of keys; there were definitely more than a dozen properties.

Beautiful, with a good figure, and a Landlady — such a graceful married woman. Shen Lang had only seen such characters in the YY novels of his peers.

"You're Shen Lang?"

The woman looked him over with surprise, then chuckled playfully, "From your voice, I thought you were in your early thirties. I didn't expect you to be so young."

Faced with this unexpected compliment from the Beautiful Young Married Woman, Shen Lang gave an awkward, embarrassed smile and quickly chimed in, "Ah, I, I didn't expect it either."

The words had barely left his mouth when Shen Lang regretted them. He was so mortified his toes could dig out a three-bedroom, one-living-room apartment.

What kind of idiotic thing had he just said? He didn't know how old he was?

Sure enough, after Shen Lang spoke, the Beautiful Young Married Woman looked at him with a particularly astonished expression.

Shen Lang was so nervous he wanted to die.

After racking his brains for a moment, Shen Lang, desperate, blurted out an awkward compliment: "What I mean is, you're also very young, big sister. You look like a young girl."