Standing there under the weak afternoon sunlight, Su Yun slowly began to feel unwell.
“Phew…” She took a deep breath and gathered her strength to pick up those things again.
Su Yun carried the clothes toward the security room. She remembered that this place allowed temporary storage.
Once she found a place to stay, she could move them in. Just leave a few things in her backpack.
“Um, can I leave these here for a while? I’ll come back to get them later.” Standing in front of the security room window, Su Yun asked the person sitting inside.
The security guard, who was scrolling on his phone, looked up when he heard her voice and saw Su Yun.
“Sure, go ahead.”
“Thanks.” Su Yun, getting confirmation, carried the items inside and placed them on the floor.
She pulled out a black umbrella from her backpack.
As she stepped back outside, she opened the umbrella.
As for why she hadn’t used an umbrella earlier when going out with Qin Xue, that was because Su Yun had discovered something that morning when she forgot to bring one.
That was—when her body was energized right after feeding on blood, sunlight didn’t hurt as much. It wouldn’t burn, just felt hot.
It didn’t affect her much and allowed her to skip using an umbrella and avoid drawing attention.
But when her energy was depleted, and she hadn’t fed for a long time, standing under sunlight for even a short while could make her disappear…
Like just now—her mood was down, and standing under the sun made her dizzy. That was one such case. No energy.
“Looking for a place… Where should I start?” Holding her umbrella, Su Yun circled around the campus, looking up at the area in front of her.
Actually, as soon as she stepped out of the school gate, she could see tall buildings across the street—just one or two hundred meters away, separated only by a road.
Clothes were hanging on the balconies of those buildings—it was likely that students had moved out and were living there.
Close to campus, right by the gate. The buildings didn’t look old either, which made them Su Yun’s first target.
Not long after, she arrived at the building entrance, but froze up.
She was standing at the door, but what exactly was she supposed to do to rent a place?
Su Yun circled the building once, which took about five minutes before she returned to the same spot.
She was trying to see if there were any “For Rent” signs nearby or maybe the landlord’s contact number. Unfortunately, she found nothing.
Could it be that this place was already full, so they didn’t need to rent it out?
While Su Yun was standing there thinking, someone exited the building—a girl holding a blue card, probably a keycard.
A tenant?
Seeing her, Su Yun stepped forward and stopped the girl, who looked like a college student.
“What is it?”
“Um… I was hoping to get the landlord’s phone number. Do you have it?” Su Yun asked politely.
She tilted her umbrella slightly, and the girl caught a glimpse of Su Yun’s face, stunned for a moment before reacting.
“I do. You want it?”
“Yes, please!”
Su Yun received the landlord’s number from the girl, thanked her, and then stood at the entrance to make a call.
Beep… Beep…
“Who is this? What’s the matter?” A middle-aged woman’s voice came from the other end.
“Are there any units available for rent? I’d like to live here.”
“Oh, let me check…”
“There’s one empty on the 11th floor. The previous tenant just moved out a few days ago. Only this one. Do you want to take a look?”
“Yes, thank you.”
After a short conversation, the landlady told Su Yun to wait at the door for a moment.
Soon, a woman around Su Yun’s height came out. She held a ring of keys and wore dark sunglasses, giving off strong landlady vibes.
Well, that’s what she was.
Su Yun followed her inside. They took the elevator up to the 11th floor. Each floor was quite spacious, and this floor only had two units.
The middle-aged woman opened the door to 1101. The room was empty, with scraps of paper and trash scattered here and there. There were even scribbles on the wall near the bed.
It wasn’t as clean as Su Yun had imagined, but it wasn’t bad either.
The unit consisted of a large main room and a bedroom, with a kitchen next to the main area.
One interesting detail—the bathroom and toilet were hidden inside the bedroom closet. Sliding open half of the closet door revealed a hidden door. Pretty discreet. And you wouldn’t have to walk far at night to use the bathroom. Convenient.
Altogether, the apartment was just over 40 square meters.
Su Yun was very satisfied.
“2500 a month. Utilities not included,” the woman’s voice snapped Su Yun out of her thoughts.
“Huh?”
Seriously? That expensive?
The middle-aged woman saw her surprised face and immediately looked annoyed.
“This is already one of the cheapest in the area. If you don’t want it, it’ll be rented out soon.”
“…”
Su Yun felt awkward. How did she forget to ask the price earlier? And now she’d looked at the place for so long already.
“I’ll go look around the area a bit more.”
In the end, Su Yun followed the landlady back downstairs. Neither of them said anything along the way, and the atmosphere was kind of weird.
After that, Su Yun walked down the street near the school—there were apartment buildings everywhere.
She started searching for phone numbers. If she didn’t see one, she waited for someone to come downstairs and asked them.
This time, when she called, she directly asked about the unit size and rent.
Summer End City wasn’t quite a first-tier city, but it was definitely at the peak of second-tier. And this was near a university, with a nearby subway and convenient transportation.
After contacting seven or eight places, Su Yun found that prices generally started at over 2000. The most expensive one was 3800, and that one only had one more bedroom than the 2500 unit.
The 2500 place was the most cost-effective.
……
By the time night fell, Su Yun still hadn’t found anything at a price she liked.
Even though she didn’t do well on the college entrance exam, she had still made it from the countryside to the city. She’d spent the past six months at school and hadn’t realized how high the cost of living was.
Was it always this ridiculous?
Feeling defeated, Su Yun put aside her pride and called the first landlady again.
This time, she called three times with no answer. Su Yun thought it was hopeless—until the fourth call finally went through.
The landlady told her someone else had inquired just now, but fortunately, that person hadn’t rented it yet. Probably hesitating like Su Yun.
Better act fast!
Now that she knew the price, Su Yun agreed quickly this time. She received a key and a blue keycard.
“11th floor… Can I see the dorms from here?” Alone in the room, Su Yun lay comfortably against the bedroom window, gazing out at the school in the night.
The campus was still brightly lit, with streetlamps and classroom lights glowing.
And if she looked from the back window in the main room, it was the bustling cityscape—far brighter than the school.
Su Yun didn’t know much about this city. She just knew the central area was developed. Probably hadn’t become a first-tier city yet because the surrounding areas hadn’t caught up.
After glancing around her new home, Su Yun returned to the security room and moved her belongings in.
Once the clothes were placed by the bed, she finally got a reply on WeChat.
(Qin Yuanyuan: Mom came to see us)
(Sister doesn’t get along with her. They always fight… And when I try to stop them, they lock me in my room and tell me to stay out of it.)
(Now I’m locked up again.)
“Huh?”
Sitting on the bed surrounded by her things, Su Yun frowned.
Qin Yuanyuan didn’t explain everything, but Su Yun gathered the basics.
Qin Xue didn’t get along with her mother. To the point of constant fighting.
If that was the case, Su Yun honestly didn’t know how to help.
Even that little potato got locked up just for trying to help.
(Me: Are they still fighting?)
(Qin Yuanyuan: Yeah)
“…Alright.” Su Yun was a little worried, but there wasn’t much she could do. She’d ask Qin Xue about it tomorrow. Right now, she wasn’t even replying to messages.
She decided to call her advisor and her parents.
She didn’t know if she’d be allowed to stay off-campus tonight. If not, then tomorrow would be fine. She hadn’t moved everything yet anyway.
(End of Chapter)