The Landlady and The Amnesiac

30

Chapter 30 – Not Easy to Handle

In the short time taken to get from the first floor to the third, the woman never once stopped complaining.

She complained the corridor was too narrow, complained that there wasn’t an elevator, complained about poor lighting and complained about how messy and dirty the slums were.

Luo Bei was already waiting at the door with the keys. Jiang Sihan gave her a look as he stepped onto the third floor, this woman was not easy to handle.

The woman’s surname was Chen. In all honesty, she was very pretty and very pale. She had on thick makeup and the pungent smell of perfume emanated from her.

The weather was cold now, but she was still bare-legged in shorts.

“Are you Miss Chen?” Luo Bei asked politely.

“Yes, I would like to see how the room looks.” Miss Chen didn’t complain anymore and Luo Bei opened the door with the keys. She led Miss Chen in.

“This is the living room, this is the master bedroom, this smaller room can be used as a study room, or as a second bedroom…” Robbie had memorized it all by now. “This is the bathroom and the kitchen. The room comes furnished. You can move in immediately. I told you over the phone that because it’s been furnished, I will take two months’ rent as deposit.”

“I won’t be staying here for too long.” Miss Chen played with her hair. “My husband bought me a property at the lakeside villas in the city. I wouldn’t be renting if it wasn’t currently under renovation.”

After thinking for a while, Luo Bei replied, “The shortest term is six months. Do you accept?”

In six months, it would be graduation season and the room would be easy to rent out then. In general, the houses in the ghetto were rented out in one-year leases with the exception of the Luo family’s.

“Although I will probably only live here for four or five months at most, I can accept a six-month lease. I’ll just leave the room empty. My husband has money anyway.”

Luo Bei was silent for a while and said: “If you’ve made sure there is no problem, we can sign the lease. I will show you the electricity and water meters later. In addition, there are two months left of the last tenant’s internet plan. You can continue to use it, but if you want to use it after the two months, you have to renew it yourself.”

Miss Chen waved her hand and said indifferently, “I’m not lacking money anyway. I’m too lazy to go see the electricity and water meters.”

“The electricity here is…” Luo Bei was about to explain the electricity bills, but Miss Chen had an impatient look on her face. “You don’t need to tell me these trivial things, let’s just sign the contract.”

… Ok.

There are detailed instructions in the contract anyway.

When Luo Bei led her to her house to sign the contract, she glimpsed the little boy who had been beside her.

The weather was colder now, yet the little boy was wearing pants that he had obviously outgrown, his ankles bare. His sneakers were also dirty and torn, his hair was overgrown. Most importantly, he was wearing thin long sleeves.

Luo Bei hesitated and asked, “Miss Chen, is this your son?”

Miss Chen looked a little uncomfortable. Although she was impatient, she nodded.

Luo Bei became more suspicious. She glanced at Jiang Sihan and they exchanged puzzled looks.

She didn’t care that the mother was vain, but on such a cold day, to let a child wear so little and also pants that were obviously small, she couldn’t help but find it weird.

Luo Bei had also read plenty of news about human traffickers. Although this Miss Chen didn’t look like one of those traffickers who would commit such outrageous acts, she still needed to keep an eye on her…

Thinking so, Luo Bei said, “Here’s the thing. Every tenant in our community must register their information. If you bring children, you must provide proof of kinship.”