Chapter 104: Chapter 104: Being Neighbors
Having co all this way, finding a decent place to live was essential. Those around one thousand five hundred either had small single rooms—don’t ntion a living room; there wasn’t even a kitchen.
The bigger spaces were in old buildings in residential areas. Aside from the bedrooms, the kitchens and bathrooms appeared sowhat unclean.
Moreover, the environnt outside the houses wasn’t great either, probably quite noisy.
Chu Mingcheng naturally liked his peace when sleeping; there was no way he could stand the noise.
He didn’t have any bad habits or spend money recklessly, but he had higher standards for living accommodations; he was willing to spend the money.
Upon hearing his requirents, Jiang Luoluo’s eyes lit up. High environntal standards, around three thousand Big Coins—there seed to be suitable apartnts in the building where she lived. She would have to check it out in the afternoon.
...
“There actually is an apartnt that ets your requirents in my building. I’ll go ask this afternoon.”
Back at the hotel, Chu Mingcheng was still feeling so aftereffects from Xisha, and soon fell asleep on the bed.
He slept deeply and when he awoke, it was already three in the afternoon.
He got up, washed his face in the bathroom to refresh himself, then checked his cell phone and noticed a ssage from Jiang Luoluo.
She had found two suitable apartnts and had asked him to reply to her ssage when he woke up.
This was the advantage of having a local friend; if he had co to the foreign city on his own, finding a suitable apartnt could have possibly taken several days.
Not to ntion, the cost for staying in the hotel during that ti could amount several hundred or even up to a thousand Big Coins.
After replying to her ssage, Chu Mingcheng had just stepped out of the hotel when Jiang Luoluo ca by on a bicycle.
“You rent a bike too, and follow .”
“Uh…” Chu Mingcheng did not understand but still followed her instructions and rented a bicycle near the hotel, “Is the place you found close by?”
“I found two places, one on the sa floor as my apartnt, and one just below mine.”
“…” Well, that certainly made them close neighbors.
Was there even a choice? Chu Mingcheng would definitely choose the sa floor as hers; how convenient it would be to visit!
Soon, after about ten minutes of biking, they arrived at a residential area.
Rows of tall buildings and beautifully landscaped surroundings clearly indicated that the rent here wouldn’t be cheap.
Jiang Luoluo had already agreed to et with the landlords; she led Chu Mingcheng into building C and pressed the button for the seventh floor in the elevator.
The highest number in the elevator was 21 floors, and the seventh floor was an acceptable location.
Then, they ca to an open apartnt. As they entered, Chu Mingcheng saw that the property owner, a middle-aged woman, was inside.
The landlord imdiately got up with enthusiasm and began to introduce her apartnt.
The layout was one bedroom, one living room, one bathroom, beautifully furnished, and fully equipped with ho appliances.
The bedroom was in the attic, with the bathroom and kitchen downstairs.
There was no balcony, but there was a window sill where clothes could be dried.
The price was three thousand per month, deposit one and pay three upfront.
After viewing, Chu Mingcheng pulled Jiang Luoluo aside and asked, “Is your apartnt in this building too?”
Upon hearing this, she paused and a blush appeared on her face. She shook her head, “My apartnt is on the thirteenth floor. If you’re not satisfied with this one, shall we take a look upstairs?”
Chu Mingcheng nodded, “I can afford the price, but the lack of a balcony for drying clothes is inconvenient. Let’s take a look upstairs!”
After that, he told the landlord he would think about it and continued upstairs to the thirteenth floor.
The lighting on this floor was very good and it was even quieter.
The design of this apartnt was similar to the one below, also with a zzanine used as a bedroom and the bathroom and kitchen downstairs.
But this one had an additional eight-square-ter storage room and a small balcony, significantly better lighting than downstairs, and it was quieter.
Chu Mingcheng imdiately liked it, but the price was a bit higher—at three thousand five hundred per month, also with a deposit of one and paynt of three upfront.
“Aunty, my friend has been living here for a long ti. Could you lower the rent a bit?” Seeing that Chu Mingcheng liked the place, Jiang Luoluo started to bargain with the landlady.
The landlady saw the clean and handso young man wanting to rent the place and was quite pleased internally.
However, decreasing the rent was out of the question. She decisively refused, “My apartnt was remodeled recently and hasn’t been lived in since. All the appliances are brand-new. Renting here is definitely a great deal for your friend, and three thousand five hundred a month is not expensive at all!”
“Aunty, how about this! I’ll pay a year’s rent upfront if you can give a discount?” Chu Mingcheng planned to stay longer in the area and since he had found a place he liked, he would not want to move again soon.
If so, it made sense to rent long-term and to try for a discount.
The landlady hesitated at the offer of a full year’s paynt upfront.
As long as the money was handed over imdiately, giving a discount was naturally no problem.
“All right then, I’ll charge you three thousand four hundred per month.”
“Make it three thousand two. Honestly, there’s another apartnt downstairs, and just missing a balcony compared to here costs only two thousand seven. I prefer a quiet environnt, which is why I ca up here.”
“If you’re unwilling, I’ll just rent the one downstairs.”
The originally 3,500 rent was nonchalantly stated as 2,700 by Chu Mingcheng, which made the landlord hesitate again, “2,700, that’s not possible, right?”
“We just ca up from downstairs. If you don’t believe it, you can go ask,” Jiang Luoluo also played along, as to which floor exactly, neither of them ntioned; let the landlord find out by himself!
Competition breeds a sense of urgency. Hearing their narrative, the landlady feared they might actually rent a place downstairs.
The prospect of receiving a year’s rent upfront also tempted her, and she eventually agreed to their offer.
She took out the contract from her handbag, wrote down the rent, deposit, and property fees, and then both of them signed it.
Chu Mingcheng paid 38,400 Big Coins for the rent on the spot, in addition to 600 for property fees and 3,200 for the deposit.
He didn’t need to pay for his utilities now; they would settle the next year.
He had just spent over forty thousand, leaving exactly fifty thousand on him. Now that his biggest expense in Xia City was covered, he planned to borrow 700,000 from his family to buy a boat.
Keeping fifty thousand on him was definitely enough. He could still go fishing or hunting while getting his driver’s license here.
Chu Mingcheng removed the landlord’s fingerprint from the door’s keypad and set his own, also changing the passcode. The apartnt was temporarily his residence now.
After the landlord left, he needed to clean the room today and buy so household items; tomorrow he would be able to move in.
Jiang Luoluo was about to drive him to the supermarket when her phone rang.
After the call, she looked at Chu Mingcheng curiously and asked, “Ah Cheng, your lobster has arrived, but why is there another package?”
“Oh, that’s the fishing gear I bought in Qiongzhou. It was too much to carry, so I sent it directly here by express.”
“I see!”
Leaving the express delivery unattended for now, as the community had a designated area for large parcels; they would pick it up on their way back.
Jiang Luoluo took him straight to a large supermarket and bought all the necessities, bedding, as well as various spices, bowls, pitchers for cooking, and essentials like the rice cooker and frying pan.
She even specifically went to an electronics store and bought a robotic vacuum cleaner as a housewarming gift for Chu Mingcheng.
Chu Mingcheng initially refused, but when he heard soone ntion she often orders takeout and the robotic vacuum cleaner was her sincerity for coming over for als in the future, he could only silently accept it.
Jiang Luoluo’s frequent consumption of takeout was sothing he had guessed.
The first ti he invited her to cook in his kitchen, he noticed how unskilled she was.
When they returned to the community, they first picked up the packages. Then, Jiang Luoluo drove directly to the elevator entrance of the underground garage, where they moved everything into the elevator before she parked the car.
Having an elevator and an underground garage made moving quite convenient.
Moreover, the community was not far from Xian University and Gulang Island, and there were several docks in the vicinity, making life here quite convenient for Chu Mingcheng.
After moving everything into the room, Chu Mingcheng first stored his fishing gear deliveries in the spare room.
Having a spare room was crucial for him; it was perfect for storing all his fishing rods and spears, unlike the apartnt downstairs where he had no place to keep them.
Jiang Luoluo then opened the lobster delivery in the living room. Sent yesterday and arrived today, the lobsters were less lively but thankfully still alive.
She unhesitatingly took the lobsters to the kitchen and called out, “Ah Cheng, I want to eat lobster tonight; you handle it!”
“Alright, no problem. Want anything else? I’ll go buy so vegetables later,” said Chu Mingcheng as he ca out of the spare room, readily agreeing.
Today, Jiang Luoluo helped him a lot. Cooking a al was the least he could do.
“Mmm~ I want so at too. Oh, and I’ll bring the oven from my house. It’s been over a year since I bought it and it’s just been gathering dust. Finally, it’ll be of so use.”
Watching Jiang Luoluo dash out with a “thud, thud, thud,” Chu Mingcheng was sowhat speechless.
It seed she really planned to rely on his place for als in the future!
But he didn’t mind. It was just an extra pair of chopsticks, and her character wasn’t the type to take advantage. Maybe he wouldn’t even need to buy groceries himself in the future; soone else would probably cover that.
Chu Mingcheng, taking advantage of so ti he had, found a newly bought towel to use as a cleaning rag and wiped down the kitchen and dining chairs.
By the ti Jiang Luoluo returned, she was carrying a large oven.
The kitchen had a specific cabinet for ovens and microwaves, which were all empty at the mont. The oven went straight in, and once plugged in, it was ready to use.
After setting up the oven and seeing Chu Mingcheng cleaning, she took off her bracelet, placed it in her pocket, and went over to help.
With their combined effort, by nightfall, the entire room had been wiped down, including a thorough mopping of the floors.
Now, both had placed their shoes on the shoe rack at the entrance and were wearing newly bought slippers.
The bedding would need washing and sunning tomorrow, and even the quilt needed airing, so Chu Mingcheng couldn’t stay tonight.
“Luoluo, take to a nearby place to buy groceries. Let’s get so ingredients for dinner.”
“Sure!” Jiang Luoluo agreed cheerfully. Finally, she could escape the clutches of takeout, which boosted her mood trendously.
They walked out side by side. Just then, Chu Mingcheng suddenly realized sothing and asked, “By the way, I didn’t see your photographer all day today. Doesn’t she usually accompany you?”
“Oh, she’s local here, married already so of course, she lives with her own husband. I just collaborated on a video with soone these past few days, so I took a couple of days off for myself, and she didn’t need to co here.”
Chu Mingcheng suddenly understood; no wonder he hadn’t seen her.
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