The ultimate master in the city

Chapter 16 Renting a House

The light rain was still falling.

Zhou Fengchen searched for several hours in the rain and finally found a fur shop. He carried six dead weasels inside and, after some haggling, sold them for 570 yuan. Adding the 200 yuan he had left, he had a total of over 700 yuan, which was all his assets at the moment.

He planned to use the money to first rent a house for his father's memorial tablet to live in, and then go out and find a job.

Thinking of this, he turned to the fur shop owner and asked, "Excuse me, do you have any rental properties around here?"

The fur shop owner, wearing reading glasses and stroking six dead weasels, looked Zhou Fengchen up and down upon hearing this. "What price range are you looking to rent?"

Zhou Fengchen rubbed his hands together and said, "The cheaper the better, preferably free."

"Are you kidding me? There's no such thing as a house that's free."

The fur shop owner suddenly chuckled strangely. "My sister's family happens to have a house to rent out. It's a three-bedroom, one-living-room apartment for only a hundred a month. You won't find such a good deal anywhere else in the city. Want to move in?"

Anyone else would have doubted this statement, but Zhou Fengchen didn't really understand these things. He ignored the shop owner's strange tone and secretly calculated that 100 yuan a month was enough to rent the place for seven months. Whatever, he'd just stay there for now!

Seeing that Zhou Fengchen agreed, the shop owner immediately made a phone call. A middle-aged woman arrived shortly after, gave Zhou Fengchen a strange look, and led him out the door.

The two turned left and right, went through several alleys, and finally arrived at a very remote old residential area from the 1990s.

The landlord led him upstairs and introduced the place with a strange expression, saying that the location was a bit remote, so not many people lived there. It cost 100 yuan a month, and he had to pay for water and electricity himself. The place was fully furnished, so he could move in right away.

Zhou Fengchen didn't care about these hard conditions. He followed the landlord into the room on the third floor and found that the room was very spacious, but it was covered with a thick layer of dust, as if no one had been in there for a long time.

"It's been a while since anyone lived here, it's a bit dirty." The landlord stood in front of the door, looking very uncomfortable. "You should be able to clean it yourself, right?"

Zhou Fengchen nodded. "No problem."

"Alright, one month's rent as deposit, two hundred yuan." The landlord took out the contract and pen. "Sign it, and you can move in tonight."

Zhou Fengchen paid the money, signed the document, took a look at the copy of the contract, and was about to speak when he realized that the landlord had vanished in the blink of an eye.

Once inside, he looked around and felt that everything was fine except for a slightly eerie atmosphere.

Next, he cleaned the room. After three hours, the whole room was brand new. He placed Zhou Daoxing's memorial tablet in a shrine and casually threw the original statue into the trash can.

It was already dark, and I felt a bit hungry. I still needed to buy some daily necessities, so I locked the door and went downstairs.

There were indeed very few residents in this building. The doors of the two rooms on the second floor were wide open, and the rooms were empty. There was only one household on the first floor, and an old woman was peeling peanuts in front of the door, her steps trembling.

"Hello, ma'am!" Zhou Fengchen smiled and thought to himself that it was necessary to greet his new neighbor.

Unexpectedly, the old woman looked up at him, her expression changed, and she asked, "Young man, are you new here?"

"Yes." Zhou Fengchen nodded.

"Where do you live?" the old woman asked again, her voice gloomy.

"301, what's wrong?" Zhou Fengchen asked.

The old woman got up and ran over, grabbing his hand tightly, and said cautiously, "Listen to me! Don't stay here, or you'll die!"

"Well!"

Zhou Fengchen was taken aback and was about to ask for clarification when a girl of about sixteen or seventeen years old with a ponytail rushed out of the house and yelled at the old lady, "Grandma, what are you doing!"

Then she smiled at Zhou Fengchen and said, "I'm sorry, brother. My grandma is old and was just talking nonsense. Don't take it to heart."

Before Zhou Fengchen could reply, she pulled the old lady back into the house.

The old woman was still struggling, turning back and calling out, "Child, listen to me, go quickly..."

Zhou Fengchen stared at the closed door, feeling utterly bewildered. Die? How?

……

Go out along the alley on the right side of the community, and at the end of the road is the snack street. Zhou Fengchen found a ramen shop, ate a bowl of ramen, and bought a quilt, toothpaste, towels, biscuits, and other items, which he packed into a bag and carried back home.

He suddenly stopped halfway and glanced back in one direction, where two people were watching him suspiciously.

Zhou Fengchen thought for a moment, wondering what he, a penniless man, had done to attract attention. After thinking for a while without figuring it out, he turned and walked back on his own.

As I entered the alleyway of the residential area, seven or eight people suddenly appeared in front of me, while the footsteps behind me were chaotic, and more than ten people followed. I was blocked from both ends.

This situation would have terrified most people, but Zhou Fengchen just found it strange. What did this mean?

"Brother! We meet again." At this moment, a man with a full beard walked out from the front, his face gloomy.

"You are..." Zhou Fengchen thought for a moment, "Aren't you the leader who challenged the dojo? I saw you today, what's up, is something the matter?"

Jiang Suoshen sneered, "That's right! Something's happened! You really went all out today! Both of them are in the hospital now."

Zhou Fengchen looked around and understood. "You mean they were injured, and you brought people to retaliate against me?"

Jiang Suoshen's face twitched. It felt strange coming from this kid's mouth. He nodded: "Yes!"

Zhou Fengchen started taking out his money, neatly stacking the five hundred or so bills, and said, "Injuries are inevitable in martial arts competitions. I didn't do it on purpose. I don't have much money. How much do you think I should pay?"

"I don't care about your paltry money, I'm not letting this go!" Jiang Suoshen gritted his teeth. "All of you, come at me! If anything goes wrong, it's on me!"

More than twenty people rushed over in a flurry.

"All right!"

Zhou Fengchen sighed, stuffed the money back into his pocket, laid down the blanket, and raised his hands into a strange starting stance: "Martial Seven! Dislocation and Tendon-Separating Stance!"

With that, he flashed into the crowd like a ghost, and screams erupted one after another. These fancy moves were too weak. In just three minutes, they were all lying on the ground, leaving only Jiang Suoshen, who was holding nunchucks, standing there dumbfounded.

"beat!"

He wasn't afraid at all. He shouted and charged forward, but he was only halfway there when his neck was grabbed and his feet were lifted off the ground.

He stared in astonishment at Zhou Fengchen, completely bewildered as to how the other had managed it. He himself was a national Sanda champion, yet he was utterly powerless against him! How could someone be so terrifying?

"Idiot! Take your men and get out of here!"

Zhou Fengchen flung him away, picked up the blanket, turned and walked inside, not even bothering to look back.

Jiang Suoshen lay on the ground, his body trembling violently, and roared at Zhou Fengchen's retreating figure, "I'll get my revenge!"

……

Back at the apartment building, it was only around nine o'clock at night, but the entire building was pitch black, with only dim lights in the stairwell.

Zhou Fengchen looked around, scratched his head, and went back to his room. After putting his things down, he excitedly wandered around the room. It was funny to think that this was the first time he had ever lived in a house. He had always lived in caves since he was a child, so everything felt strange and wonderful.

I played for half an hour before I started to feel a bit tired. I hadn't slept well these past few days because of catching trains, so I could finally get a good night's sleep.

……

It was the middle of the night shift, and Zhou Fengchen was sound asleep when he vaguely heard the door creak. He turned over, opened his eyes groggily, and was startled awake.

The bedroom door was opened a crack, and a five- or six-year-old child ran in quickly, took something from the bedside table, and then ran out again.