Old Mrs. Zhou, who was sunbathing downstairs, saw a young man in a dark gray trench coat enter the same building for the seventh time, each time accompanied by a real estate agent.
At first, Mrs. Zhou thought the young man was short on money, so he had to shop around before signing the contract. However, after hearing that she had already secured the house, she saw the young man again, this time accompanying another family to view the property.
Mulberry Street had many vacant houses due to the presence of the No. 6 Apartment replica nearby. After the incident with Wei Xuji, even fewer people remained. Some houses' ownership had changed hands several times and ended up with the Public Security Bureau. In the building where Grandma Zhou lived, there were ten apartments in total, but only three were occupied.
When the young woman came over for the tenth time, she was finally alone. She was carrying a large bag of daily necessities, and when she saw Grandma Zhou carrying a small stool on her way home, she lent a hand to help.
Old Mrs. Zhou casually asked, "Is the young lady planning to stay here?"
Cheng Tingyu smiled, "It should be."
Old Mrs. Zhou shook her head again and quietly reminded, "Are you thinking of taking over the house and subletting it? It's not very safe around here. Just last month, a young girl got caught up in that kind of place. Many people came to inquire about the price, but after learning the situation, they left without even asking for their deposit back. You'd better return the house quickly."
Cheng Tingyu blinked: "I bought rental contract insurance, so I can't terminate the lease during this period."
——The rental contract insurance she purchased included some clauses, not only prohibiting lease termination but also containing additional terms regarding whether the rental price could be changed by either party within the agreed period.
Cheng Tingyu thought, the homeowners in this area were all very warm and friendly. Not only were they willing to rent the house to her, but they also took the initiative to pay for an insurance policy at "Screwdriver" to ensure the rights of both parties.
Old Mrs. Zhou sighed twice and said nothing more.
After conveniently escorting the neighbor back home, Cheng Tingyu received a message on his phone—
Shen Xingliu: The business we discussed today has been settled, and the contract will be sent to the designated address.
PS: Once your residency period is over and you obtain official resident status, would you like to join 'Screwdriver'? I think you have the knack for making money that fits well with our company's ethos.
Cheng Tingyu, with meticulous calculations, took advantage of the pay-one-deposit-one promotional terms and rented twenty-nine houses on Mulberry Street in one go.
Just five days after the original homeowner was pleased to have rented out the house that had been stuck in his hands, news broke out—the inspection team came to inform that the copy of Apartment No. 6 had been cleared, and the safety level near Mulberry Street had been raised.
The reputation of the inspection team is still reliable.
Cheng Tingyu felt deeply about this. On one hand, the remaining half of the bonus had already been credited to her account. On the other hand, after the inspection team clarified the situation, the number of people inquiring about rental prices had been increasing in recent days.
——If she had discovered the oddities about herself and the possible purpose of going to the city a bit later, she could already be planning a life of lying back, collecting rent, and enjoying her retirement.
She lived in a place where the floors weren't high; the top floor was the fifth.
With a sense of nostalgia for the dreamscape that had already passed, Cheng Tingyu chose Room 01 for himself, leaving the opposite room available for rent.
Recently, Cheng Tingyu indeed felt the arrival of the peak season—occupancy rates on Mulberry Street had significantly increased, half of the vacant apartments in the surrounding buildings had been filled, and the rent had risen back to twice its original amount.
Even if she didn't take on any assignments for a while and relied solely on the difference in housing prices, she could still maintain her standard of living above the subsistence level.
Cheng Tingyu thought, Wei Xugu had a keen eye indeed. The rental location she chose was extremely cost-effective. From Qin Luosong, he learned that this girl didn't stay at the hotel arranged by the inspection team but returned to her own rented apartment.
Cheng Tingyu's rented house was mainly concentrated around the building where Wei Xugui lived and the one in front of it.
——If it weren't for the lack of loan options and the risk of putting all his eggs in one basket, Cheng Tingyu would have even considered renting several buildings directly.
Wei Xugui is a resident of the central district. After experiencing a scenario related to the "Ancient Source," she needed to undergo a period of isolation before returning to the central district. Wei Xugui let her brother go home first, while she decided to stay outside for a month.
Cheng Tingyu went out to buy something and ran into a neighbor on his way back.
Old Mrs. Zhou chuckled, "Xiao Cheng, more and more people have been coming to look at the house lately."
Cheng Tingyu said earnestly, "The main reason is that our community has a good atmosphere, a quiet environment, and spacious housing, which attracts outside residents."
Mrs. Zhou thought that the young person in front of her could describe a remote and sparsely populated place in such a way; no wonder she made money.
Cheng Tingyu carried her things up to the fifth floor. Just a couple of days ago, a new family had moved into the neighboring apartment 502—a couple with a young child. Cheng Tingyu didn't know much about the little girl's personality, but she had already learned that the girl had a very loud voice.
"Wow!"
The deafening cries came from above, causing Cheng Tingyu, who had just bought some daily necessities from the "Hot" supermarket, to stop in his tracks on the stairs.
——It might be because the little child hasn't yet reached the age where they can clearly express their thoughts, so they spend more energy on wailing and crying.
The door of the rental house was not the common security door, but an old-fashioned type with a wooden inner door and an iron outer door. To prevent their child, who had learned to open doors, from sneaking out when the parents were not home, the couple would lock the iron door. A few days ago, when Cheng Tingyu went out, he often saw the child sitting behind the iron door, shaking the bars vigorously, and crying for candy from everyone who passed by.
The couple from 502 had already finished work and gone home. Cheng Tingyu slowed his pace, politely letting them go up first, while he followed behind, carrying a bag of daily necessities, leisurely making his way to the fifth floor.
"Wow—I want golden candy."
Cheng Tingyu thought absentmindedly that the little kid today had been quite specific about the type of candy they wanted. She had seen it mentioned in a chat thread before; "Golden Candy" was a confection from the central district, reputed to be very delicious and expensive.
The couple upstairs were evidently unable to satisfy the child's demands for candy, and the crying grew louder and louder. Fortunately, with their child distracted, Cheng Tingyu was able to return to his own place relatively calmly.
On the forum, there were some posts sharing tips on improving physical fitness. When Cheng Tingyu had some free time, he unlocked a few to see if there were any exercise methods that suited him.
As she had more opportunities to interact with the inspection team, she had to make herself appear more like a flesh-and-blood player.
Seven o'clock in the evening.
Cheng Tingyu chose to rent her own place, so there was no hotel meal service to rely on. In the evening, she prepared to go out in search of food. After some thought, she also tucked a newly bought fruit knife into her bag.
The population on Mulberry Street wasn't dense, so naturally, there weren't many street vendors. After staying for a few days, Cheng Tingyu had already learned that the nearby convenience store, which looked on the verge of closing down, only supplied one type of boxed meal priced at two hundred yuan, with the only meat dish being chicken meatballs.
Recalling the life in the last instance, Cheng Tingyu truly felt that, despite the risk of facing the "Ancient Source" familiars, the dining standards at Apartment No. 6 made it all very worthwhile.
...Regarding Cheng Tingyu's thoughts, the other residents of Apartment No. 6 might have different opinions.
For the residents of F0631 City, awakening abilities might not necessarily be a good thing.
Compared to ordinary people, players are closer to danger, especially those with close ties to the Enigmatic Eye. They are constantly at risk of falling into madness.
Wei Xugui felt the discomfort in her throat and considered herself rather lucky. Although she had awakened her powers due to spending a long time in the replica, fortunately, it wasn't the most dangerous kind. Unlike Mitong, who was either on the verge of sudden death or already on that path, and unlike Jieyu, who needed to report her whereabouts to the inspection team regularly, her actions were quite free.
After leaving Apartment No. 6, Wei Xuguang returned to his rented room on Mulberry Street and called his brother to let him know he was safe. He told his brother that he needed to live alone for a while and asked Wei Xusheng to go back to Midtown so as not to affect his work.
——Theoretically speaking, after experiencing a life-threatening accident, it would certainly be safer to stay in a hotel designated by the inspection team staff. However, people with secrets always tend to prefer being alone.
Wei Xuguang's rental apartment was in a very remote location. The building originally had many vacant units, but in the past couple of days, due to someone's subletting activities, there had been quite a few people coming to view the apartments.
The feeling of being alone in silence brought Wei Xuguan a sense of peace; it was the occasional sound of footsteps in the hallway that made her feel wary.
Top floor, Room 502.
The ceiling light in the living room had been broken for who knows how long. When Wei Xujiu first rented the house, she bought a mediocre table lamp from a second-hand store to serve as a light source. She didn't plan to spend time cooking or buying takeout, intending to make do with some bread.
The evenings in the outer district are much quieter than those in the central district.
Downstairs, music began to drift from an unknown household. The rich melody of a cello flowed from its strings, dense and profound, as if harboring endless secrets. Meanwhile, the crisp notes of a piano were like tiny chisels, each strike seemingly hammering at Wei Xugui's temples, creating an extremely peculiar sense of tension.
The light from the lamp in the living room was already dim, and now it flickered a few times as if there was a loose connection, causing the shadows of the surrounding furniture to sway along with it.
Wei Xugui felt that she should drink some water; her throat was painfully dry and hoarse.
She stood up and reached for the water bottle, the surrounding shadows swaying and shifting with Wei Xu's movements.
——Among those shadows, there were not only Wei Xu Gui's own.
"..."
The silence made the music from downstairs even more distinct.
502 was alone, this was something Wei Xu Jun confirmed multiple times every day.
She put down the water cup, gently stuffed the bread bag into her pocket, quickly drew the living room curtains a bit tighter, and then cautiously exited the living room.
One step, two steps, three steps, four steps..
Clearly, the house wasn't large, but Wei Xuji suddenly realized that she couldn't find the archway to her own living room.
In the corner of his eye, a black figure seemed to grow out of the corner of the living room like a twisted bud of flesh.
Wei Xugu subconsciously wanted to launch an attack, but at the last moment, he forcibly restrained himself.
She needed to stay calm.
Darkness harbors danger, but it also brings protection.
Without understanding the reason, she couldn't make too much noise.
After the trials at Apartment No. 6, Wei Xugu has developed a certain resistance to mental anomalies.
As someone who wasn't particularly unlucky, Wei Xugu knew that she still had some cooldown time left and wouldn't be immediately captured by the instance. The probability of the house itself undergoing a mutation was low; the anomalies around her seemed more like something was wrong with her.
"Tap, tap, tap."
For a long time, the top floor, which had only been occupied by Wei Xu Gui, now echoed with the footsteps of another person.
The rhythmic footsteps finally stopped at Wei Xuguang's doorstep, then fell into silence.
Wei Xuguang controlled her breathing to avoid making too much noise, but she couldn't control her heartbeat.
In the darkness, every sound becomes clearer than during the day.
"Click."
After a period of silence, the newcomer took a step closer in the direction of Room 502.
In the outer district, Mulberry Street was not a particularly bustling area. Cheng Tingyu ran three blocks away before finding a fruit store that satisfied her. She bought two kilograms of apples and pears, and then fell silent when the shop assistant said, "That will be two thousand and thirty-four yuan, but I'll charge you two thousand."
The world after transmigration received extra points on the supernatural side, but there were obvious flaws on the agricultural side.