Zhuo Xiaofan's English proficiency is only at the village level. Her speaking and listening skills are relatively poor. Her slightly better skills are writing English words and translating some documents and English novels.
After reaching Zhuo Xiaofan's English level, Gao Jianfei was clear about his current situation... It was impossible for him to communicate with foreigners, but he was more than capable of handling the translation of contract documents in a typical company office!
When Gao Jianfei left the Ghost Den, he could be said to have returned with a full load.
Well, lock picking, air conditioner repair, and English—Gao Jianfei now possesses these three skills, though they are all only at the village level, but it's better than being useless.
Having not slept well last night, Gao Jianfei can finally get a good night's sleep today and catch up on his nap.
After sleeping soundly until noon the next day, and enjoying a delicious set meal served by the hotel, Gao Jianfei, full of energy, pushed his suitcase out of the hotel. Upon leaving, Gao Jianfei returned the suite key to the hotel reception.
Today, Gao Jianfei changed into a clean set of clothes: an ordinary light yellow t-shirt, a pair of blue denim shorts, and a pair of sneakers. Although they were still cheap, they were very clean. Wearing them, combined with Gao Jianfei's decent appearance, they didn't make people feel disgusted or repulsed.
Dragging his suitcase, Gao Jianfei arrived at a nearby real estate agency.
The staff were quite welcoming and invited Gao Jianfei to sit down on a sofa in the lobby.
The staff member was a woman in her early thirties, of medium build, with a large, plump bottom and ample breasts. Underneath her low-cut t-shirt, a deep cleavage was clearly visible, and a large expanse of snow-white skin was dazzling to the eye.
"Excuse me, are you renting or buying a house?" the young woman asked politely.
"I'd like to rent an apartment," Gao Jianfei said with a smile.
"So, what kind of location would you like to rent? What are your specific requirements? For example, the size of the apartment, the approximate price range, the household appliances, etc. Tell me these things, and I can do my best to meet your requirements." The young woman's attitude was very good.
Gao Jianfei considered it for a moment.
Originally, I brought more than 7,000 yuan with me when I came to G province. Last night, I treated Tang Bao and the others to a late-night snack, which cost more than 3,000 yuan, leaving me with more than 4,000 yuan.
Before receiving his salary, Gao Jianfei had to pay for his living expenses in advance, and he also had to take into account his daily living expenses.
"Then I'll just spend 2,000 yuan to rent a place!" Gao Jianfei thought to himself.
"Excuse me, I'm new to the flower market and not very familiar with the rental prices here. Could you please give me a general overview of the rental prices in different areas?" Gao Jianfei said politely.
The young woman patiently explained, "Well, let me give you a general overview. In the city center, in a more bustling area, a typical one-bedroom apartment, simply furnished and equipped with appliances, would cost around 4,000 yuan per month. In a slightly less central location, the same apartment would cost 1,500 yuan per month. Based on the properties our company has on hand, 1,500 yuan is the lowest price."
1500?
This price was already enough to leave Gao Jianfei speechless, but this is, after all, a coastal city, and perhaps 1500 is indeed a low price.
Gao Jianfei gritted his teeth and prepared to agree, directly renting a house for 1500 yuan a month.
At this point, the young woman added, "Also, according to the rules, if you want to rent a house, you must pay the rent every six months. That is to say, for example, if you want to rent a house with a monthly rent of 1,500, you have to pay 9,000 first."
"Huh? I see...this..." Gao Jianfei was speechless. "Could...could you pay the rent monthly?"
"I'm sorry, there's no monthly payment schedule." The young woman shrugged helplessly.
"Oh, well... I'll go look around somewhere else first." Gao Jianfei said helplessly, standing up, dragging his suitcase, and walking outside.
It's not that Gao Jianfei definitely couldn't come up with 9,000 yuan. He still had 500,000 yuan in cash in his haunted house! However, Gao Jianfei was a rather frugal person, so he planned to look at a few more real estate agencies and compare them before making a decision.
Just as Gao Jianfei was dragging his luggage, about to leave the real estate agency, the young woman jogged after him, saying, "Wait. Please wait a moment."
Gao Jianfei turned around and saw the young woman's large breasts bouncing as she ran.
"I can tell your financial situation isn't very good. Actually, the prices at real estate agencies around here are basically the same as ours. By the way, I just remembered that a relative of a relative's friend's neighbor has a house to rent out. It's quite cheap, but the location is rather remote." The young woman's chest heaved.
"How much? What location?" Gao Jianfei asked with concern.
“The monthly rent is only 300 yuan,” the young woman said, pulling out a piece of paper. “This is the address of the house, near Yuehua Street.”
Gao Jianfei took the note... "No. 67, Yuehua Village, Yuehua Street. Yan Kui."
"Yuehua Street?" Gao Jianfei touched his hair. "The Yuehua Street with all the food stalls?"
"Yes! If you're looking for a late-night snack, Yuehua Street is one of the best value spots in the flower market! Hehe, it'll be so convenient for you to find whatever you want to eat at night. Also, the rent of 300 yuan is the lowest price in the entire flower market," the young woman said with a smile.
Whenever Yuehua Street is mentioned, Gao Jianfei can't help but think of the strange father and daughter he met last night... Xiaoxiao and that tall, thin guy.
"It shouldn't be that much of a coincidence. I hope I don't run into them?" Gao Jianfei nodded his thanks to the young woman, then turned and left the real estate agency, muttering to himself, "Where can I find such cheap rent? I've just started working, so I should save money wherever I can. If necessary, I'll move again after I get paid, or when my circumstances improve..."
After walking a dozen meters, Gao Jianfei had already made up his mind... He would go to Yuehua Street and Yuehua Village to find Yan Kui and rent his house!
One good thing about big cities is that as long as you can read, you'll basically never get lost. For example, the flower market is very conveniently located.
Gao Jianfei easily spotted the minibus sign for Yuehua Village on a small bus stop not far from the real estate agency... "Minibus Route 467".
Gao Jianfei was quite lucky. After waiting for two minutes, an empty No. 467 minibus arrived at the station, and Gao Jianfei quickly dragged his luggage onto the bus.
The minibus drove along, gradually leaving the city, and began to bump along the relatively narrow roads.
Looking out the car window, Gao Jianfei noticed that the minibus was traveling the same route that Tang Bao had taken him through yesterday.
However, the minibus did not drive to Yuehua Street, where Gao Jianfei had a late-night snack yesterday, but stopped in a small village in front of Yuehua Street.
This is the final stop... Yuehua Village.
Gao Jianfei got off the bus, pulling his suitcase.
Looking around, Yuehua Village has about a few hundred households. The village has single-story houses, self-built two- or three-story buildings, and a few four-story buildings. Each household has a satellite dish on its roof to receive satellite TV signals.
Surrounded by mountains on three sides, the village has paddy fields, rice paddies, and a large number of fruit trees.
"Yes, this should be the rural area of the flower market." Gao Jianfei nodded and then entered the village directly.
To be honest, renting a place here isn't a big deal. The transportation is quite convenient. Gao Jianfei calculated that if he rented a place here, he would only need to transfer once a day to get to the company. The journey would take no more than 40 minutes.
"No. 67, Yuehua Village..." Gao Jianfei took out the slip of paper to confirm, and then started searching one by one. In the village, every house had a house number on its doorplate.
"Number 61... Number 62... Hmm, we should be up to number 67 soon!" Gao Jianfei said, pulling his suitcase as he searched.
Just then, a series of strange noises came from a two-story building in front... "Bang! Bang! Bang!"
It's like... the dull sound of a wooden hammer striking wood.
Furthermore, these sounds were interspersed with occasional woman's coquettish shouts... "Ha!" "Drink!" "Ha!"
Gao Jianfei scratched his head and went to investigate the sound.
After walking a few steps, Gao Jianfei arrived in front of the two-story building, and then he froze...
In the courtyard outside the two-story building, there were more than a dozen round wooden stakes, each about 1.5 meters high, arranged in a special orientation.
Not far from the wooden stake, there were more than a dozen wooden puppets. The puppets were made in a rather abstract way, but they looked somewhat like people.
At this moment, a young girl, her back to Gao Jianfei, was seen walking swiftly on the wooden stakes. Each step was taken in a very peculiar direction. After a dozen or so steps, the girl somersaulted in mid-air and landed on her feet. With a swift movement, she disappeared into the pile of wooden puppets and began striking them repeatedly with both hands, producing dull "bang" sounds. As she struck the puppets, she shouted repeatedly... "Ha! Ha! Drink!"
Her striking speed and frequency gradually increased, her footwork shifting between horse stance, bow stance, and circling stance, displaying a wide variety of variations.
"Excellent boxing skills!" Gao Jianfei couldn't help but cheer.
Although he couldn't discern the style of the girl's boxing technique, it was clear that she was practicing a folk martial art, and her skill level was extremely high.
Hearing Gao Jianfei's shout, the girl quickly turned around and glanced back.
Under the afternoon sun, the girl had shoulder-length short hair, a small nose, a small mouth, big eyes, and healthy wheat-colored skin. Her eyes were bright and lively, and there were fine beads of sweat on her forehead. She wore no makeup, but there was a natural air of heroic spirit between her brows.
It was none other than Xiaoxiao, whom Gao Jianfei had seen at the late-night food stall on Yuehua Street yesterday!
"Ah? It's you?" Gao Jianfei couldn't help but blurt out.
At the same time, Xiaoxiao also recognized Gao Jianfei and spoke up almost simultaneously with him... "Scumbag, is that you?"
Chapter Thirty-Five: What are you planning to do so late at night?
Chapter Thirty-Five: What are you planning to do so late at night?
"Uh... sorry, I was just passing by, just passing by, you can continue..." Gao Jianfei and Xiaoxiao exchanged glances, then Gao Jianfei immediately turned around, ready to slip away!
After all, Gao Jianfei and Xiaoxiao had a bit of an unpleasant argument the night before last.
Furthermore, Gao Jianfei finally understood why he had felt incredibly terrified and palpitated when Xiaoxiao pounced on him the day before yesterday. It turned out that this little girl was a trained martial artist!
Gao Jianfei doesn't understand boxing or martial arts, but judging from Xiaoxiao's stance on the wooden stakes and the wooden puppets today, it's not hard to draw a conclusion... her kung fu is real, and she's very good at it!
"Wait! You scum, don't run!" Xiaoxiao shouted from behind, leaping several times to block Gao Jianfei's path. She spread her arms wide to block him. "Hey, you scum, what are you doing in my house? What secrets are you hiding?"
Today, Xiaoxiao wore a white t-shirt, black training pants, and a red ribbon tied around her waist, looking just like a female disciple from the martial arts world on TV, with a bit of a female knight-errant vibe. Her well-developed figure, with its prominent breasts and youthful, petite, and cute face, made people want to get closer to her.
In short, this girl, although she doesn't have the beauty, maturity, and competence of a typical urban white-collar woman, is full of natural beauty.
Guan Xiaoxiao's eyes were filled with suspicion, conjecture, wariness, and even a hint of hostility, but Gao Jianfei didn't feel any obvious disgust or hostility towards her. Gao Jianfei spoke truthfully, "Actually, I didn't come here to find you, nor did I intentionally come to your house. I was just passing by. To be honest, I did come to Yuehua Village to find someone, but the person I'm looking for has nothing to do with you. I'm looking for 'Yan Kui.' Yan Kui, the owner of house number 67 in Yuehua Village."
"It has nothing to do with me?" Xiaoxiao frowned, her eyes filled with vigilance. "Tell me! What do you want with my dad?"
"Yan Kui is your father?" Gao Jianfei was dumbfounded. "No way...no way it's such a coincidence?"
"Hmph! Pretend? What are you pretending for!" Xiaoxiao had barely finished speaking when she flashed around, her right foot directly behind Gao Jianfei, hooking him and gently pushing him with her right hand!
"Ouch!" Gao Jianfei felt his footing falter and his body fell backward!
Just as Gao Jianfei was about to fall to the ground, a male voice rang out from behind, "Nonsense! Xiaoxiao, have you taken the wrong medicine?"
Gao Jianfei felt someone pull him from behind, regaining his balance and straightening his body. He quickly turned around and saw the tall, thin man he'd seen at the late-night food stall the day before—Xiaoxiao's father—smiling at him. "You were looking for me?"
Gao Jianfei now completely understands... this father and daughter are both experts!
"I was originally looking for you, but I'm not now!" Gao Jianfei glanced around and saw that the house number on the two-story building behind Yan Kui was indeed "No. 67." This meant that the landlord the real estate agency had introduced him to was none other than the tall, thin Yan Kui standing before him!
But Gao Jianfei didn't want to share a roof with a father and daughter who were "martial arts masters" living in seclusion. He quickly denied it. "Alright, I'll be going now, I won't disturb you two any longer..."
"Wait, wait," Yan Kui, the tall and thin man, took a step forward and put his arm around Gao Jianfei's shoulder. "Well, young man, you kept saying you were looking for me, so why are you leaving now? What do you want from me? Just tell me the truth."
Gao Jianfei glanced at Xiaoxiao. The hostility in Xiaoxiao's eyes noticeably lessened, and she looked at her father smugly, "Dad, you misjudged him this time, didn't you? An expert? Expert my ass!"
"Xiaoxiao, stop talking nonsense! Go back inside! Now!" The tall, thin Yan Kui glared at Xiaoxiao with a stern face.
Xiaoxiao made a face at Yan Kui, then turned the face towards Gao Jianfei. Although it looked mischievous, she clearly no longer harbored any hostility or suspicion. Instead of going back inside, she moved a small stool and sat down where she was.
"I'm actually here to rent a place." Gao Jianfei took out the slip of paper the real estate agency had given him. "Look, No. 67, Yuehua Village, Yuehua Street, Yan Kui, right?"
"You want to rent a house?" Yan Kui was surprised, then chuckled. "You're renting a house in our countryside? Isn't that your older brother? They should be very rich. Why aren't you staying in a big hotel in the city? What are you doing in the countryside?"
Xiaoxiao seized the opportunity to chime in, "Yeah, aren't you a social scumbag? Collecting protection money and stuff, that should be disgusting, but you should be rich, right? You came to rent a place in our house... What's your purpose? Tell me!"
"Misunderstanding! Misunderstanding!" Gao Jianfei said repeatedly. "What you saw the night before last was just an illusion! Actually, I have nothing to do with those people. Really! One of them is the son of my uncle's neighbor's cousin. I just arrived at the flower market and didn't know anyone, so I called him to ask him to help me find a job. But a bunch of them came out and asked me to buy them a late-night snack, without mentioning any job offer. It was obviously a scam. But I had no choice; they outnumbered me, so I had to go along with it. I spent over 3,000 yuan on the late-night snack yesterday, which really hurt me. I don't have much money, so I won't contact them again."
Gao Jianfei was just making things up.
She then emphasized, "Look at me, I'm wearing cheap clothes from street vendors, while they drive sports cars. How can we be on the same level? Right?"
Yan Kui glanced at Gao Jianfei a few times. "Yeah, judging from your appearance, you don't seem like a thug. If you really were a thug, you would have just taken advantage of him and left without paying anything back."
Xiaoxiao nodded thoughtfully, "If you look closely, they are indeed a bit different from that group."
Gao Jianfei breathed a long sigh of relief. "Yes, you should trust me! Is everything alright now? Can I go now?"