Staring at the message sent by Bai Huizi, Chi Qingya stood frozen in place, not knowing how to reply.
But then, she thought, maybe this was just what a Landlord would do.
How could a Landlord possibly care about someone like her, a girl from the countryside?
Since she didn’t care about her, then naturally, Su Li, who was just like her, wouldn’t matter either.
Maybe, at some point, Bai Huizi had been Su Li’s short-lived benefactor.
But once she’d grown tired, she simply tossed Su Li aside.
Just like she had done to herself.
Even though she and Su Li were the same type of person, in the end, she’d abandoned Su Li as well.
And Bai Huizi, with even better conditions, would never care about the life or death of a country girl.
“Su Li…”
Chi Qingya murmured Su Li’s name softly, her emotions tinged with disappointment.
Even if Su Li had been abandoned by Bai Huizi, she still wanted to pick Su Li up again.
Chi Qingya gripped her phone tighter.
[Please, if you know where Su Li is, could you tell me?]
After sending the message, she once again fell into a waiting state.
Chi Qingya thought she’d be waiting for a long time.
But not long after, her phone vibrated again.
And not just once—it kept buzzing.
[?]
[You actually have the nerve to say something like that?]
[You dare to ask me for help?]
[You lose someone and now you remember to look for them?]
[Don’t you ever worry about your own matters, always making trouble for others every day, is that it?]
[The ones I hate the most are students like you, always thinking everyone owes you. What does your missing friend have to do with me?]
[If you didn’t come looking for me, I was about to look for you!]
[Chi Qingya, can’t you pay some attention to your personal hygiene?]
[You’re a girl, you dress yourself up nice and proper, but every day all you do is cause trouble for others!]
[Do you even realize the pile of garbage bags at your door is almost growing mold?]
[And I have no idea what kind of random junk you’re eating every day. You never clean up after yourself. The leftover food and soup have leaked all down the Hallway, do you know that?]
[The neighbors have come to complain about you again. They say just walking past your room makes them want to puke!]
[Every day just dealing with your problems gives me a headache. Did you move in here just to disgust me?]
[Other than causing trouble for others, is there anything else you can do?]
[Ha, so you do know you’re dirty, huh?]
[This time, instead of piling garbage in your own room, you’re starting to dump it in the Hallway to disgust everyone else?]
[The Madam downstairs came up with her cane to complain, saying there are cockroaches crawling out from under your door!]
[A twenty-year-old girl living like a garbage dump—if I were your mother, I’d have beaten you with a broom already!]
[Hurry up and get rid of your trash!]
[If you can’t deal with it, then pack up and get out!]
[And you still ask me where Su Li went?]
[Don’t you know in your own heart?]
[Who else but you would want to live in a pile of trash every day!]
Chi Qingya stared at the messages bombarding her like cannon fire, her flushed face reflected on the greasy dining table.
She remembered the Malatang box she’d left in the Entrance Hall because she was sick, the soup having soaked the Plastic Bag until it was all puffy—she’d planned to clean it up after school today.
She hadn’t expected Bai Huizi to come after her even before school was out.
She felt a bit aggrieved.
She never intended to let the garbage pile up at the door.
It was just that she’d been in too much of a rush leaving for class that morning.
Her phone buzzed again, and Bai Huizi added a final message:
“If you don’t clean it all up before I get off work today, I’ll bring the Unlocking Technician and clear your place out like a junkyard!”
[Alright, I’ll go clean up now.]
Chi Qingya hurriedly replied, making a promise, knowing she simply had no way to keep asking about Su Li for the moment.
She felt Bai Huizi’s words were a bit too much.
She’d only neglected to clean because she’d been sick.
She didn’t mean to disgust anyone.
There’s a difference between being passive and being intentional…
Chi Qingya regretted it now—if she’d just taken the garbage bags down with her this morning, could she have found out what happened to Su Li already?
Chi Qingya felt a little regretful; it was all her own laziness that led to this ending.
That was why she couldn’t go see Su Li.
If only she’d cleaned up the garbage on her way downstairs.
Now, there was no way she could keep asking the Landlord about Su Li.
Chi Qingya looked at the Boiled Fish in front of her, which had gone cold without her noticing, and she no longer felt like eating.
All she could do now was go home and clean up the trash.
Would she be lucky enough to run into Su Li on the way back?
Chi Qingya thought about it, even though she herself found it unrealistic.
But she really didn’t know what else to do to find Su Li.
……
Bai Huizi slouched on the Leather Sofa, the Silk Dress slipping off one shoulder.
Her two slender, pale legs were draped over the armrest, toes hooked around a precariously dangling Crystal Slipper.
The afternoon sunlight sliced in from the floor-to-ceiling windows, casting shifting shadows from the gentle curls of her hair onto her collarbone—like a golden serpent coiled in a jewelry box.
When the air conditioning breeze lifted the thin blanket at her waist, the folds of her dress bunched up at the tops of her thighs, like expensive silk carelessly crushed by someone’s hand.
She reached up to sweep away the stray hairs sticking to her neck, her wrist bending against the sofa back in a lazy arc, even her fingernails gleaming with a pearly sheen.
Bai Huizi’s lips curled as she casually tossed her phone onto the sofa.
This troublesome tenant wasn’t as useless as she’d imagined.
It seemed, ever since she’d scolded her last time, the girl had become a lot more obedient.
She no longer acted arrogant like before.
No matter how Bai Huizi scolded her now, she never talked back.
Truth be told, Bai Huizi wasn’t really interested in Chi Qingya.
If she had any interest, it was only because of Su Li.
If not for Chi Qingya having lived with Su Li before, Bai Huizi wouldn’t even spare her a glance.
Now, her only value was like a clown on a stage, there for her amusement.
“Come to think of it, I haven’t seen little Su Li in quite a while~”
Bai Huizi suddenly remembered the last time she played with Su Li.
She didn’t really know why she’d done such a thing.
She simply wanted to, so she did.
As for the result, Bai Huizi didn’t care.
Even if it felt a little odd thinking back, it was still rather amusing.
[Transfer: 50,000 yuan]
[Little Su Li, are you free?]