Chapter 91: Off Work

Chapter 91: Chapter 91: Off Work

Tuantuan blinked her big eyes in disbelief. Looking deeply aggrieved, she asked her mother, "Am I not your little baby anymore?"

"You’re still sick right now. Playing on the slide will easily make you feel worse," Deng Yuyuan explained.

Tuantuan grew anxious, unable to understand. "Why? It was fine when I played before. How can playing on the slide make me sick?"

This concept was completely beyond the comprehension of a two-year-old toddler.

Deng Yuyuan tried a different approach. "Because Mommy still has to take Tuantuan to find a house to live in. If we wait until Tuantuan finishes playing, it will be too late."

"Too late"—this was a reason the little baby could understand. She quickly accepted it and excitedly asked her mother where they were going to live.

Deng Yuyuan didn’t know either. She went to a nearby restaurant, bought a steamed bun, broke off a small half for Tuantuan, and walked in the direction the older woman had mentioned earlier.

They would find a place to settle down first, then take their time choosing a proper house later. If they had to spend a bit more money, so be it; they weren’t exactly short on funds at the moment anyway.

Deng Yuyuan walked further and further off the main road until they entered a densely populated residential area. The alleys here were barely wide enough for one person to pass through. Densely packed houses lined both sides, completely blocking out the sunlight. A cold, damp chill seeped straight into the bones. Every household had its doors tightly shut, and there were barely any pedestrians on the road.

It looked remarkably like the urban villages Deng Yuyuan had lived in during her past life when she was broke. However, the houses in those future urban villages were much better than the ones here. With the mottled walls around them, it was hard not to worry about whether the roofs would leak on a rainy day.

Tuantuan was a little scared and shrank into her mother’s embrace.

Deng Yuyuan surveyed her surroundings, looking for someone suitable to ask, until she encountered a young girl stepping outside with a bag of trash in her hand. The girl walked with a slight limp.

"Hello. Someone recommended I come here to rent a house. Do you know where the landlord is?" Deng Yuyuan stepped forward to stop her, concisely explaining her reason for approaching.

The girl looked up, and a delicate face with a touch of sharp elegance entered Deng Yuyuan’s sight. However, the timid, cowering look in her eyes diluted the visual impact of her striking features.

The girl looked at her warily. Upon noticing the chubby, fair-skinned child in Deng Yuyuan’s arms, her guard dropped slightly. "Aunt Zhao’s place is further ahead. Just walk straight until you see a larger house with better lighting. Ring the doorbell directly, and someone will open the door."

"Okay, thank you, miss!" Tuantuan sweetly chimed in first to express her gratitude. "Tuantuan will help you throw away the trash!"

A perceptive little baby was just this proactive and eager to show off!

After speaking, she dangled her legs in her mother’s arms, wanting to climb down.

"No need, no need." The girl waved her hands repeatedly, involuntarily quickening her pace as she walked away.

"Tuantuan, she wants to throw it away herself." Deng Yuyuan sighed and set her down. "Hold Mommy’s hand tightly. Can you walk by yourself?"

"Okay!" Tuantuan replied, cheerfully holding her mother’s hand as she skipped along.

Deng Yuyuan quickly found Aunt Zhao’s residence, where the landlord lived with her family. Upon learning that Deng Yuyuan wanted to rent a room, Aunt Zhao stated the price upfront. The minimum lease was half a year; the first payment required three months’ rent, plus an additional month’s rent as a security deposit.

In other words, to rent a place for the first time, she had to hand over four months’ worth of rent.

Deng Yuyuan rummaged through her bamboo basket, pretending to be strapped for cash, and barely scraped together enough for the rent.

Aunt Zhao shot her a sideways glance. "Let’s get the ugly truth out of the way first. I’ll come to collect the current month’s rent at the beginning of each month. If you can’t pay, I won’t let you stay, and your deposit won’t be refunded."

Tuantuan hid behind her mother, shivering. Catching Aunt Zhao’s fierce glare, she instinctively cupped her fists and bowed. "H-hello, Aunt Zhao."

Her little pink fists were still shaking violently in mid-air.

Aunt Zhao almost broke character, barely able to maintain her fierce facade.

She turned her head and coughed lightly. After counting the money, she went back into the room to fetch a key. "Let’s go. I’ll take you to see the room now.

"The room comes with a bed and a stool. You’ll need to go out today to buy bedsheets and blankets."

Aunt Zhao stopped in a familiar alleyway and opened the door next to the limping girl’s room.

"You’re in luck. The people living nearby are all good folks. Your neighbor on the left is a young woman who usually stays at home. Across from you is an older woman who came to the city to make a living, and on your right is a married couple," Aunt Zhao rambled on. "My reputation is very good. I don’t just assign tenants at random. As much as possible, I try to group similar people together so everyone has peace of mind."

The room was about twenty square meters. The floor was covered in dust, the walls had yellowed, and there were no windows.

Fetching water and using the toilet both had to be done outside, but they could buy a chamber pot to keep in the room and empty it out every day.

Aunt Zhao went on to explain the layout of the surrounding streets and pointed out the nearest exit. This street had the simplest demographic among all her rental properties. She strictly warned Deng Yuyuan absolutely not to venture into the other streets after dark; if any safety issues occurred, Aunt Zhao would not be held responsible. During the day, most of the men went out to work, so it was fine for Deng Yuyuan to go out and familiarize herself with the area, but she still needed to carry a stick for self-defense.

Deng Yuyuan frowned slightly. The environment here was fine for a few days, but in the long run, while an adult might manage, Tuantuan definitely wouldn’t be able to handle it.

"How about it? Pretty good, right?" Aunt Zhao boasted.

Deng Yuyuan smiled and nodded. After seeing Aunt Zhao off, she sat Tuantuan on the stool and told her she was going out to buy some things. In reality, she found a secluded corner and exchanged supplies from her farming game system’s shop.

A curtain to hang on the wall, a high-quality silk comforter and mattress, a foldable dining table... Deng Yuyuan took advantage of the sparse daytime foot traffic to transport all these items back to the small room.

Tuantuan cheered happily at the door. The little child didn’t understand whether the environment was good or bad; she only knew that she and her mother had a new home.

For dinner, they ate porridge, which Deng Yuyuan simply took out from her system, using the bamboo basket as a cover. Tuantuan was very easy to fool.

Night fell.

The noises around the house began to multiply. There were the sounds of men drinking and shouting over games, couples arguing, and muffled thuds of soft flesh hitting the floor from next door.

Tuantuan covered her small ears. Finding it ineffective, she simply hugged her ragdoll and whispered secrets to it.

Deng Yuyuan repeatedly warned Tuantuan that when Mommy wasn’t home, she absolutely must lock the door properly. Unless it was Mommy returning or the room catching fire, she was never allowed to open the door and go out.

Meanwhile.

Mr. and Mrs. Wei were overjoyed after hearing about their youngest son’s experiences that day.

Children just needed to interact and play more with their peers to step out of their gloom sooner.

Today, Wei Shu did not express any opinions on the arrangement of the dishes on the dining table. He stared blankly at his parents and then asked a baffling question, "Are the police officers off work right now too?"

"That’s right. It’s after working hours now, so everyone has gone home. Does Little Shu need something from the police?" Wei’s mother replied with a beaming smile.

Wei Shu suddenly stood up and ran over to the nanny, looking anxious. "Let’s go to the hospital to check. Didn’t they talk about buying a child? We can go ask her parents right now."