Chapter 2: Apartment Rental — I will definitely not die in your apartment!
Xiao Gu silently sized up the woman in front of him.
A small white turtleneck sweater, luxuriant white muslin skirt, soft pink wool overcoat, and a pair of knee-high high-heeled boots.
Clad head-to-toe in famous brands.
On her face was delicate, light makeup, and her two round cheeks were flushed red from heavy physical exertion. At this moment, her red cheeks seemed to have been decorated with the perfect application of rouge.
Xiao Hu muttered to himself irresolutely before asking out loud, “Who told you I was renting my apartment?”
This low, ba.s.s voice was enchanting, truly captivating Mi Qing. She showed him the small advertis.e.m.e.nt in her hand and said, slightly out of breath, “This.”
Xiao Gu lowered his head to look at the paper. His eyebrows rose slightly.
It really was his phone number on the advertis.e.m.e.nt, but he didn’t remember when he had pinned this advertis.e.m.e.nt.
He inwardly thought this over and guessed what had happened.
“Are you renting? I’m very sincere!” Mi Qing tightly clenched the small advertis.e.m.e.nt in her hand, as though she was grabbing onto a life-saving straw.
Xiao Gu raised his eyes to look at her. She was still incessantly gasping for air. Catching sight of her curled, chestnut-colored hair, she cut a sorry figure.
The corners of his mouth slightly moved as he asked, “You are not from here?”
Mi Qing nodded. “I came here…to try and find work, but I haven’t been able to find any. My money has also been stolen. If you don’t rent me the apartment, I won’t have anywhere to stay tonight.”
She had said this with a pitiful and lovely voice. Xiao Gu listened to her words and knitted his brows. “Your money was stolen? Then do you still have enough money to pay the rent?”
Mi Qing: “…”
The only thing he cared about is this? Men of A City are indeed too cold!
She lightly tossed her hair to the side and exposed a smile to Xiao Gu. “I still have ¥300 left; isn’t your apartment ¥299?”
Xiao Gu said, “The apartment is for three, so you need to pay four months’ worth of rent.”
Mi Qing: “…”
She didn’t bother to calculate how much money was four months’ rent; she wouldn’t have been able to pay anyway.
Watching her sole hope shatter in front of her eyes, Mi Qing pleaded one last time. “Can’t I just rent for one month? This is an emergency of life and death! I guarantee that I will very quickly find work!”1
Xiao Gu thought for a moment before he looked at her and said, “Show me your ID.”
Mi Qing’s slim eyebrows, highlighted with eyebrow liner, twitched twice. Even though she was reluctant, she still withdrew her ID from her shoulder bag. “Take a look.”
She tightly held the ID in her hand, clenching it as if she was afraid someone would s.n.a.t.c.h her candy.
Xiao Gu didn’t say anything. He looked at the card in her hands for a while before he opened his mouth to ask, “Didn’t you just say that you only had ¥300 on you? If I allow you to rent the apartment, before you find a job, how will you live? I don’t provide food here.”
Mi Qing: “…”
Faced with this pointed question, she choked. She put away her ID. “To be specific, I have ¥9.50…”
Xiao Gu looked at her silently.
Mi Qing quirked her mouth and did her best to give him a charming smile, hoping that her charm would be able to
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bewitch him. “Mr. Xiao, I have studied international trade at university abroad, so it should be very easy to find work! I can request for my boss to pay me in advance, and if that isn’t possible, I can still try to find work that pays daily. In short, don’t worry. I will definitely not die in your apartment!”
Xiao Gu: “…”
His pair of deep, black eyes didn’t even blink as he stared at her. A good moment pa.s.sed before he opened his mouth to say, “Take off your clothes.”
Mi Qing was startled. Although she had wanted to use her charm to bewitch him, she didn’t want to confuse him this thoroughly!
She immediately covered her chest and retreated two steps immediately. “What do you want to do? I will report to the police!”
Xiao Gu narrowed his eyes and said, “Take off your clothes and sell them. It should be more than enough to pay for a year’s worth of rent and still have money to spare.”
Mi Qing: “…”
She really didn’t expect this kind of way to make money, but now that Xiao Gu reminded her… she wasn’t willing to. She had just bought these clothes last month; she was very much in love with the colors and styles and would hate to sell them.
As if he could see her unwillingness, Xiao Gu took a step back into his apartment, striking a pose against the doorframe. “If you don’t want to, leave.”
Anxious, Mi Qing hurriedly stepped forward to stop him. “I’ll sell!”
Xiao Gu: “…”
「 Chestnut is sorry to say that Mi Qing’s words gave Xiao Gu some strange thoughts. 」
He leaned his body against the doorway and allowed Mi Qing to enter. “Take a look at the apartment first; then we’ll discuss.”
Mi Qing nodded and carried her luggage inside.
Although she had mentally prepared herself when she was climbing the stairs, when she actually explored the apartment, she was somewhat disappointed. The apartment really was a hundred square meters, but it absolutely couldn’t be considered elaborately decorated. Parts of the wall were missing color, and the ceiling was also very low…
Furthermore, in her heart, she already looked down on this apartment. A large dog ran up from further inside the apartment. It raised its head to look at her. “Woof!”
……
After a short, silent moment, she exploded into a world-shaking shriek. “AAAHHH——DOG-DOG-DOG! You have a dog!”
Mi Qing dropped her luggage and had to jump behind Xiao Gu’s body before she could relax slightly.
Xiao Gu turned to look at Mi Qing’s scared, pale complexion before he asked, “You’re afraid of dogs?”
Mi Qing, eyes closed, fiercely nodded. “Quickly, make it leave!”
Xiao Gu crouched down and rubbed the dog’s head. “Then that is very regretful. I’m afraid you won’t be able to rent this apartment then.”
Mi Qing’s breathing was still unsteady, but she slightly opened her eyes a crack to see the large dog’s master being affectionate with it. “So I must…must live together with it?”
“Mn.” Xiao Gu nodded. “Although, he’s not very brave and doesn’t dare to bite people.”
Mi Qing frowned. Hadn’t it stared enough at people with its earnest gaze?
“If you’re really afraid, then you have no other choice but to go find some other place.”
Xiao Gu dealt a hard blow to Mi Qing. She could bear with this worn-out apartment, but this dog…
She once again stealthily glanced at it. It looked like a husky. She had heard that they were very dumb, but then again, it was also a dog.
Xiao Gu patted the husky’s head. It ran back to its doghouse and lied down on its stomach. He stood up and glanced at Mi Qing. He thought for a moment before saying, “As long as you stay in your room, I can command him to not enter it.”
Mi Qing’s mind and heart underwent an intense internal battle. Wanting her and the dog to live together under the same roof, she wouldn’t be willing even if she was beaten to death. But now, it was impossible for her to find a place even cheaper than this apartment when it was already dusk. This… was even more terrifying than beating her to death.
Considering the pros and cons, Mi Qing’s heart became resolute. With a determined face, she asked, “Are the doors in your apartment secure?”
Xiao Gu stared at her blankly before lightly laughing. “Don’t worry, the dog won’t knock against the door. At the most, he’ll scratch it for a while.”
“Then that’s good…” Mi Qing thought. She could clench her teeth and bear with it for a month. If she could find work without a hitch, it wouldn’t even need to be a month; she could move out of this place immediately.
“Alright then. You have to watch the dog regularly.” She once again lifted her luggage. She scanned the apartment. “Which one is my room?”
“Over here.” Xiao Gu stuck both of his hands into his jeans, beating back a yawn as he walked over. “I haven’t used this room, but it’s been cleaned——should still be considered clean.”
Mi Qing dragged her luggage into the room and looked around. The room was very small, roughly as big as the bathroom of her original room. Wait a minute, speaking of the bathroom… Mi Qing realized she had a serious question. “This room doesn’t have a bathroom?”
Xiao Gu, who had been leaning against the doorway, retreated two steps and conveniently pushed open a door across the hall. “Your room is right across from one. You can use this one in the future; I’ll use the one in my room.”
Mi Qing knitted her brows and said, “But I’m a girl. It would be inconvenient to have to go outside my room so much.” Not only that, there was a dog glaring like a tiger watching his prey in the living room.
Xiao Gu glanced at her and said, “If you’re reluctant, you don’t have to live here.”
Mi Qing: “…”
She pursed her lips and raised her head to look at him. “Do you only know how to use these words to threaten people?”
Xiao Gu corrected himself. “If I’m unwilling, I can also not rent.”
Mi Qing: “…”
Hehe. Wait until she found a job and ascended to the pinnacle of her life. Even if he beseeched her to live here, she would refuse.
She turned around and entered her room. Although the bedroom wasn’t very big, at least it had a complete set of furniture. It had a wardrobe writing desk and a desk in front of the window sill—a small ball cactus was even placed on top of it. The bed’s four-piece set was pure white. Although the colors were very monotonous, it appeared to be very cozy.
“Is this four-piece set new?” she asked.
Xiao Gu said, “If you want new, buy it yourself. These were just changed a few days ago; it’s clean.”
Mentally, Mi Qing made a face at him. She counted out ¥300 from her purse and reluctantly gave it to him. Xiao Gu lowered his head to look at the money in her hand. He didn’t take it. “Keep this money to eat for now. After selling your clothes, you can give me the rent money.”
At this moment, Mi Qing was slightly moved. She had thought that he was as nasty as his words just a moment ago. She could generously forget and not bear recriminations.
Just as she was about to say thank you, her eyes suddenly opened wide. “Ah!” She jumped very far away.
Xiao Gu felt something rub against the side of his leg, so he glanced down and saw that it was his pet husky.
The husky seemed to be curious about this brand new guest, so it had come inside the room to look.
He crouched down and to give it some instructions. “Don’t go near her, and don’t go into this room. When she becomes crazy, she will even fight with herself.”
Mi Qing: “…”
Dog: “…”
Having finished instructing his pet, Xiao Gu felt that he had done a great service, so he began to withdraw. “You can settle your things. The kitchen is free to use, just remember to clean it once you’re done.”
Mi Qing said, “It doesn’t matter. I can’t cook.”
Xiao Gu glanced at her and didn’t say anything. He turned his body and left.
Mi Qing locked the door before she began unpacking her luggage. Just as she began unpacking her clothes, a knock sounded from the door.
She paused in thought for a moment before she opened the door a crack. She peered out with a pair of bright eyes. “What is it?”
Xiao Gu didn’t take to heart her guarded behavior. He pa.s.sed his phone over through the door crack and asked, “These missed calls, were you the one who called?”
“Yes.” Upon raising this topic, Mi Qing got angry. “I called you three times, and you didn’t answer. Do you know how troublesome it is for a girl to carry such heavy luggage up seven floors? Now that you mention it, why don’t you even have an elevator here?”
Xiao Gu moved his lips to talk, but Mi Qing immediately cut him off. “Okay, you don’t need to explain. I know——if you’re unwilling, you can also not rent.”
Xiao Gu smiled at her. “I also said that I can also not rent to you.”
Mi Qing took in a breath of air before she also smiled and said, “Actually, I really like climbing the stairs. Not only can it toughen the body, it can also help lose weight. Hehe.”
Xiao Gu didn’t talk nonsense with her. He took another cell phone out of his pocket and dialed Mi Qing’s phone number.
Mi Qing’s pink HoneyPeach 10S rang.2 She rejected the call and asked, “Why did you do that?”
Xiao Gu said, “This is my private number. If you need to reach me, use this one to call. The other number was the one printed on business cards to give to clients. I normally don’t answer that number.”
Mi Qing: “…”
Boss, you really have no problem doing business like this?
She silently cursed and lowered her head to look at her cell phone. She typed ‘Mr. Xiao’ into the contact information before she deleted those two words and asked, “What’s your name?”
Having already taken two steps, Xiao Gu paused his steps and turned around to look at her. “Xiao Gu, the character ‘Gu’ from ‘honor does not allow one to glance back.’” 3