The Landlady and The Amnesiac

01

Chapter 1 - Luo Bei

Being a fresh graduate, Luo Bei ran around applying for jobs under the scorching sun every day during this time. Fortunately, she was born with snow-white skin, otherwise being basked in the sun like this, it wouldn't even take a week for her skin to darken.

She was sitting at the bus stop. The seats had been roasted by the hot sun, like Japanese teppanyaki. It was so hot that her butt hurt; in the end, she could only resign to buying a bottle of iced tea at the nearby newsstand and wait for the bus to arrive.

For people like her, a public bus that was two dollars a ride was the most cost-effective treat on such a summer day. The air-conditioning on the bus was on full blast, such that her sweaty skin dried up instantly - so~ comfortable. It was unfortunate that she was financially responsible now, otherwise, she would really like to apply to be a bus conductor.

Looking at this bustling city, Luo Bei felt for the first time that her future was bleak.

It wasn't like a recent graduate wouldn't be able to find a job, but with her ordinary undergraduate degree, it was extremely difficult to find a job with better conditions. As a result, when she finally selected the job she was going to settle for, she wasn't very happy. Grandma often said that she had high standards but little ability, she was right.

Luo Bei's grandfather was a nouveau riche. When she was a child, she spent a few years living a comfortable life. Every day, a car sent her to school. Her wardrobe was filled with so many pretty dresses she would not be able to wear all of them. But the good times did not last long. That year when she turned ten, her grandfather was fooled into gambling and lost her family property. In the end, the only property left was a small building in the slums. This type of house was built by a nouveau riche from the area; there was no real estate certificate and the owners themselves were living in the building. Now the six-story building of the Luo family was rented to people who were working hard in this city. The rent was not expensive, but the combined monthly earnings were also quite large.

It was ultimately useless. In Luo Bei's eyes, in her entire family, only she and her grandmother could still be considered normal. Her father was roped into doing business and was up to his neck in debt. The monthly rent was used to pay back his debt. Her mother had her eyes on the building and wanted to get half of it as alimony. Her parents were originally still fighting about getting divorced, who would have thought that not too soon after, the two ran away with all their money. Ever since that year at fifteen, Luo Bei had never seen her parents again.

Some people say that they were already dead, others say that they had gone abroad and didn't want to come back.

Although it was cruel to think like this, in Luo Bei's opinion, the departure of her parents made her and her grandmother relieved at the same time.

Grandma said that the money owed by her grandfather and her dad would be paid off in at most two years. Afterwards, they would be able to have a good life. After all, the income from the building was enough to let the grandmother-granddaughter pair to lead a natural and unrestrained life.

Only with such expectations could Luo Bei and Grandma actively confront the future every day.

Listening to a couple of lovers arguing over increasing rent, Luo Bei suddenly felt that the future was bright again. At the very least, she and Grandma still owned a building.

However, although she was someone with high standards and little ability, she was not willing to spend her life relying on the rent income, what would the difference between her and a stuck-up landlady be then? She had studied so much for so many years, what for? It was so that she could find a good job, become a white-collar worker and let Grandma shine once more.

Luo Bei thought for a long time, and finally replied to the email from a foreign trade company not far from the slums.

Although it was only an office clerk position, the salary was not very high, but the ideal job didn't exist. This was already pretty good.

Let's take it slow.

***

Luo Bei was a standard pretty girl. When her grandfather had not struck gold and her family had been in poverty, why did her mother still want to marry her dad?

Frankly speaking, her mother was someone in the "good-looks club" in name as well as in fact.

Her father was very handsome, even more handsome than many popular male artists of that era. Everyone said that Luo Bei looked like her father. This was indeed true. She had been pretty and cute since childhood, and was publicly acknowledged by the residents as the flower of this generation.

She had been class flower before, as well as the school flower.