Chapter 24: The Landlady

Yet no matter how friendly the man tried to be, Zhou Chengxi still felt a strong resistance toward him. Forgiving him is God’s job, Zhou Chengxi thought before falling back into a deep sleep.

Aside from Chen Liyang, who barely slept all night, the children slept soundly.

Sporting panda-like dark circles under his eyes, Chen Liyang got out of bed early.

He had to make breakfast for the little ones. Yesterday he had bought several packs of noodles, so he planned to cook noodles for them and poach a few eggs to go with it.

Watching eggs being used up like water, Chen Liyang felt the pressure of raising five children for the first time.

He couldn’t help but wonder just how deep the friendship between Zhou Xinru and her best friend had been for her to adopt five children in her own name.

To be honest, if something happened to one of his own buddies, he wouldn’t be so selfless. At most, he would frequently buy food and drop by to visit the kids.

People were naturally selfish, after all. Taking in so many children before even getting married meant no girl would ever want to marry him.

All he could say was that this woman was truly remarkable.

As soon as the children woke up, they saw steaming bowls of noodles waiting on the dining table.

They were no longer as surprised or confused by Chen Liyang’s change in behavior as they had been at first.

If he could change, their lives would be much easier.

They just didn’t know how long this change would last!

After eating breakfast, they put on their backpacks and left for school. With final exams only a week away, the academic atmosphere was exceptionally tense, with teachers going over exam papers and review materials every day.

An outsider might think they were preparing for the college entrance exam, but that was just how fiercely competitive schooling was nowadays.

Children from ordinary families like theirs were already behind from the starting line; if they didn’t work hard, they would fall even further behind.

After the other kids left, Chen Liyang combed Wanning’s hair before heading to the kitchen to clean up the mess.

Today he planned to give the whole place a thorough cleaning inside and out. Once the landlady arrived, he wanted to negotiate with her to install a few air conditioners.

The weather was only going to get hotter. How could they get by without air conditioning?

Zhou Wanning sat quietly in the living room watching television. If Chen Liyang had looked over, he would have noticed her eyes drifting toward him every now and then as he wiped down the furniture.

Although Chen Liyang had never been a father before, he had been a child once himself and knew how kids liked adults to treat them.

Therefore, Chen Liyang treated Wanning with the utmost gentleness.

This gentleness was different from how he treated Zhou Chengdong and the other boys; he felt one had to be much more careful and attentive with a young girl.

What was more, Zhou Wanning had an emotional barrier toward the original host, which was why she remained silent.

All he had to do was treat her well and gradually untie the knot in her heart.

Zhou Wanning could feel all of this, but she still couldn’t bring herself to speak. Perhaps she was afraid that all of this was just a dream.

But over the past two nights, she had finally stopped having nightmares. Instead, she dreamed of Chen Liyang carrying her to an amusement park, his shoulders broad and warm.

If possible, she wished with all her heart that she would never wake up from this dream.

Just as Chen Liyang was hard at work cleaning, a woman’s voice called out from outside the door: “Is Chen Liyang home?”

Chen Liyang paused, guessing it was the landlady coming to collect rent.

Normally, the original host paid her in cash, claiming he didn’t know how to transfer money online.

Naturally, it wasn’t that he didn’t know how; he just had a twisted sense of humor and deliberately made the landlady make the trip in person.

Recalling this, he immediately put down his rag and rushed out. “I’m home! Coming!”

Seeing Chen Liyang run out dripping with sweat, the landlady made no effort to hide her disgust.

The landlady was an attractive woman in her early forties, holding a cat in her arms.

Today, she wore a high-slit qipao with her hair pinned up. Her face was ordinary, but her fair skin made up for it.

Though slightly plump, she had a distinct, alluring charm.

In fact, when Chen Liyang first moved in, she had actually held some romantic interest in him.

After all, she had been a widow for over three years and was desperately craving a man’s companionship.

Learning that Chen Liyang’s wife had run off and left him to care for five children alone, she had repeatedly hinted that as long as he got together with her, she would waive his rent.

Who knew that Chen Liyang would flatly reject her, even mockingly implying that she was a toad trying to eat swan meat^[1]?

This had infuriated her so much that from then on, she wouldn’t let him delay rent by even a single day, threatening to kick him out if he couldn’t pay.

Now, seeing Chen Liyang with his bleached hair, bruised face, and filthy appearance, she felt she must have been blind to ever fancy a man like him.

Chen Liyang naturally knew that this woman had once been interested in the original host.

Unfortunately for her, the original host had married a beautiful wife, so he naturally looked down on an older woman like her.

His rejection had been blunt and ruthless, which led to her giving him a sour face every time she came to collect rent.

Seeing her now, sullen and glaring at him with disdain, Chen Liyang felt a little awkward, especially since he was planning to ask her to install several air conditioners in the house in a moment!

Thus, he immediately put on a flattering smile. “Sister Wang, you’re here! Would you like to come in for a glass of water?”

“Keep your doghouse to yourself. I don’t want to get my qipao dirty. Just hurry up and give me the rent so I can leave.” Sister Wang had gone inside once before, only to be overwhelmed by the stench.

If this place weren’t so difficult to rent out, she would have kicked the family of six out long ago.

Chen Liyang rubbed his hands together. “Sister Wang, could I discuss something with you?”

“No!” Sister Wang refused without hesitation. In her mind, nothing good could come of it; he was either going to ask for a rent delay or a discount.

She wasn’t a philanthropist and had no need to maintain a charitable image.

“You haven’t even heard what I have to say yet. Look, the weather is getting hotter, so I was hoping you could install a few air conditioners. That way, even if we don’t rent here in the future, it’ll be much easier for you to rent it out to someone else.”

As soon as Chen Liyang finished speaking, Sister Wang looked at him like he was an idiot. “Do you have water in your brain^[2]? I only collect a little over five hundred Yuan a month from you in rent, and you want me to spend over ten thousand Yuan to install air conditioners for you? I didn’t hear you complaining about the heat last year or the year before. How come you suddenly can’t handle it this year?”

“Like I said, rent it if you want to. If not, get the hell out.”

She only charged five hundred Yuan in rent, yet he expected her to pay that much out of her own pocket? Did he really think he was such a prize? I stopped giving a damn about you long ago, Sister Wang thought to herself.

Chen Liyang had already anticipated this outcome. He actually had the money to install an air conditioner himself, but he was bound to move out sooner or later. Dismantling it later would be a hassle, and selling it second-hand would mean taking a huge loss.

Still, seeing the look on Sister Wang’s face, he knew she wouldn’t budge even if he talked until he was blue in the face. With a helpless sigh, he turned and went to his room to grab his phone.

He didn’t have that much cash on him, so he had no choice but to transfer the money to her.

Just as he turned around, the fat orange cat resting on Sister Wang jumped down from her arms and followed him into the room.