Chapter 21: Chapter 19 Picky Old Granny
After walking out of the villa, Huo Sining intended to find a nearby real estate agency to inquire about the situation, but unexpectedly, she passed by a fresh market on her way.
With a thought, she paused in her steps and turned into it.
Every regional market has its own characteristics, and since she wanted to make money in the seafood industry, it was essential to know what kind of seafood the locals liked to eat. Only by knowing both oneself and the enemy could she strike accurately.
Huo Sining got out of the car and walked into the market, surrounded by the cries of vendors everywhere.
The stench of fresh seafood didn’t deter Huo Sining; she looked over the stalls one by one, asking the vendors whether the high-priced wild fish species and live seafood were imported from other places or local products, only leaving after receiving satisfactory replies.
People in S City love seafood, but in reality, the local seafood supply in S City’s market is pitifully scarce.
In fact, the aquatic resources native to Shanghai are not abundant, with the annual catch at the Yellow River estuary not even eting one-third of S City’s yearly consumption.
Thus, a large batch of foreign aquatic products travel across the ocean to arrive here.
Huo Sining might not be able to get her hands on foreign aquatic products, but she could certainly have a try with the freshwater delicacies from the Yellow River.
If one were to ntion the most expensive fish in the Yellow River, of course, one would have to talk about the “Three Delicacies of the Yellow River.”
The so-called “Three Delicacies” refer to Huangjiang Knifefish, Yellow River reeves shad, and Yellow River pufferfish.
Especially wild knifefish and reeves shad, the prices of these two kinds of fish are usually above a thousand yuan, earning them the reputation of freshwater fish aristocrats in the seafood market.
However, it’s said that the Yellow River reeves shad has been extinct since the eighties, so Huo Sining set her sights on the wild Huangjiang Knifefish.
Although knifefish was less plentiful at this ti due to their seasonal migration, Huo Sining still planned to try her luck at the Yellow River after renting a house.
Erging from the fresh market, Huo Sining wasn’t in a hurry to return.
Walking further into the old alleyways, she saw so rental advertisent posters on the walls.
Although unsure about their reliability, Huo Sining still carefully jotted down the phone numbers with a pen.
That’s when she realized the importance of a cellphone.
Previously, in Baiyun Village, Huo Sining didn’t feel the need for it, as few people used cellphones in the countryside, and even if they had to contact soone, they mostly used landlines.
But upon arriving in S City, she found it very inconvenient without a cellphone, so Huo Sining thought it was ti to buy one.
Although she didn’t have much money in hand, she would have to spend it where necessary.
Moreover, in the future, when she would be selling seafood and live fish, having a cellphone would at least make it convenient to contact people.
With that in mind, Huo Sining didn’t hesitate and headed straight for the phone market, soon walking out awkwardly carrying an old Nokia model.
Having been used to smartphones, transitioning to using this kind of bar phone with nine buttons was quite uncomfortable.
Checking the ti and seeing it was not yet ten o’clock, Huo Sining took out the rental information she had copied from the advertisents and dialed the numbers provided.
To her surprise, after several calls, they all claid to be agents rather than landlords, which left Huo Sining frustrated. Nonetheless, she reluctantly made a call to the last number with a try-and-see attitude.
The phone rang for a long ti before it was finally answered by an old granny with a hoarse voice: “Who are you looking for?”
A spark of excitent lit up in Huo Sining’s heart, as it seed this ti it was not an agent. She quickly asked,
“Hello, I saw your rental advertisent in the alley. I was wondering if your house is still for rent?”
After listening, the old granny paused, then grumbled impatiently,
“Oh, so it’s about renting a house. Ala thought it was soone coming to help
watch the fish. The house is still available. Are you one person or two?”
Huo Sining didn’t understand the first part of the sentence, spoken in Shanghainese, and she was puzzled about its aning, but the latter part was in clear Mandarin. Relieved, she responded,
“I’m by myself. Could you tell
the exact address? I’d like to co and see the house.”
The old granny casually answered, repeating the address once before hanging up the phone directly.
Luckily, Huo Sining had good listening and shorthand skills; otherwise, she would have never rembered such a long address.
She felt sowhat helpless and nervous; people often said that S City residents were exclusionary, and it seed to be true.
After asking for directions for a long ti, Huo Sining arrived at an old residential area and found the house ntioned by Old Granny by following the house numbers in an old alleyway.
It was only after asking people by the roadside that Huo Sining learned that most of the residents here were old Shanghai locals, and because they hadn’t been relocated yet, the housing in the area was relatively cheap.
However, thinking about the attitude of that old lady, Huo Sining felt sowhat jittery. S City residents were exclusionary, and she was an outsider; she feared that renting a house wouldn’t be easy.
Huo Sining had a bad feeling, her intuition telling her that the landlady Old Granny would be difficult to deal with.
She politely knocked on the door, and it opened from the inside, with a woman in her sixties stepping out.
Huo Sining greeted her with so restraint, “Auntie, hello.”
The old lady did not speak; she just stared at Huo Sining, scrutinizing her from head to toe.
It wasn’t until Huo Sining began to feel uncomfortable from her gaze that the old lady finally spoke up, “Are you the one who called about renting the room?”
Huo Sining nodded, and then the old lady started probing:
“You’re from out of town, aren’t you? Where is your family from? You look quite young, what do you do for work, and why on earth do you need to rent a room?”
Huo Sining frowned slightly; she didn’t like the old lady’s blunt questions and the slightly disdainful and scornful look in her eyes. Yet she also knew that renting a house in a place like S City was indeed difficult, and a person had to bow her head under soone else’s roof:
“I’m from Rongcheng; I’m here to attend university. My family isn’t very well-off, so I plan to find a sumr job here in S City during the vacation to earn so living expenses.”
She had thought such an explanation might make the old lady look down on her even more, but unexpectedly, after hearing what Huo Sining said, a smile appeared in the old lady’s eyes, and her attitude was no longer cold and impatient:
“So you’re a university student! Sorry about that, my dear, I misunderstood. I thought you were one of those disreputable won. You wouldn’t know, but recently so won from outside ca to the alley, they do not work properly and instead partake in shaless activities, attracting all sorts of ssy n to co and make trouble. We would never rent our house to such riff-raff!”
Huo Sining was stunned.
Yet the old lady warmly pulled Huo Sining into the house while continuing to ask, “How old are you, my girl, and which university do you attend?”
The difference in treatnt before and after was so great that Huo Sining was taken aback, seeing the old lady looking at her with a smiling face, she replied:
“I just turned eighteen, studying at S University.”
The old lady couldn’t help but give Huo Sining a thumbs-up: “You’re ambitious, considering other’s burdens at such a young age. You’re much better than my grandson who only knows how to hole up in his room and tap away at the computer, not knowing what he’s up to. Nowadays, there aren’t many university students willing to work during the sumr to earn money!”
Huo Sining offered a modest smile but brought the conversation back to the matter of renting, “Auntie, would it be possible for
to see the room?”
“Of course, of course. Look at , chatting away and forgetting you’re here to rent the room.”
Old Granny had a good impression of Huo Sining, grabbed the keys, and led her upstairs while explaining:
“This house was built in the 1990s; it used to be the dormitory for workers of the textile factory. Our family had two separate units, one upstairs and one downstairs. My son’s family used to live upstairs, but after they moved away, I had the place divided into two suites for rent. A tenant moved out not long ago. Though the house might look old, many people co to see it. But you know, these days there’s all sorts of riff-raff around, and I don’t just rent to anyone. I offered to show you the room because you seem kind-natured.”
Huo Sining kept a smile on her face but was inwardly critical. They say S City folks are fastidious and shrewd, and this old lady’s words and actions gave her a glimpse of that truth.
The room was on the top floor. Even though the building was old, the room was indeed good.
The thirty-square-ter partitioned suite included a bedroom, kitchen, and bathroom, complete with a bed, wardrobe, desk, and even household appliances.
This surprised Huo Sining greatly. Although the price was a bit high, she also learned from the old lady that no strangers were allowed in the house, so she could be sure of its safety.
Huo Sining liked it at first sight and decided to rent it on the spot.
Seeing how readily Huo Sining made her decision, Old Granny was naturally pleased, and quickly brought the contract for her to sign and stamp with her thumbprint.
Huo Sining paid three months’ rent, received the keys, and prepared to return to the hotel for her luggage.
Unexpectedly, just as she opened the door, she bumped into a man, chest-first.
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