Once they were a good twenty meters away from the “building,” Li Yundong suddenly realized that they shouldn’t act as though there was a horde of zombies hot on their heels unless they wanted to appear in court as the greatest vandals in the history of vandalism.
Li Yundong gave Su Chan’s hand a sharp tug, then slowed his steps down to a walking pace.
“Hey, hey, slow down,” Li Yundong said in a low voice. “We’ll look suspicious if we run.”
Su Chan nodded and clung onto Li Yundong’s arm.
When Su Chan turned her head around to stare at the building for the fifth time, Li Yundong smacked the top of her head. “Tsk! Idiot! Stop looking! You’re gonna make us look suspicious!”
Su Chan rubbed the top of her head and pouted. “I just wanted to see when it’s going to collapse!”
Li Yundong laughed incredulously. “Wait a minute,” he said. “Do you want it to collapse?”
Su Chan nodded like a bobble head. “Yup! Yup!”
Li Yundong suddenly felt an urge to take another look at the building, so he did.
There it was, tall and majestic. Pretty on the outside, but rotten on the inside. What a monumental failure of a monument. Hah.
Su Chan’s wish for the building’s collapse was justified. At least nobody would get killed if it collapsed now.
But… what if it collapsed before they managed to get to a safe distance?
Li Yundong suddenly found himself increasing his pace. They ended up running like hell again. Vandalism charges be damned.
Li Yundong slowed down once the sales office building was in sight. The electric car was already parked in its earlier spot.
By the time they neared the sales office’s front door, their gait had already slowed to a leisurely pace. As they passed the front of the sales office, Li Yundong peered in through the glass doors. What he saw made him stop short. Apparently, the Battle of the Concubines was still ongoing.
Beside him, Su Chan stopped as well. “What?”
Li Yundong pointed into the office.
“Are they still fighting?” Su Chan said in surprise.
“Maybe they’re a bunch of masochists,” Li Yundong muttered. “So relentless.”
Through the glass, Li Yundong saw Mingming stand up on wobbly feet, then yell at Li Congli. Whatever the two women were arguing about must be pretty damn important considering their total disregard for the disheveled state of their clothing. More so when taking into account the fact that they were both in public. Their faces were even covered in scrapes and bruises. Clearly, they had come to blows. Over what? Money, definitely. Maybe throw in a couple pieces of blackmail for good measure. Important stuff.
Zheng Youming wasn’t faring any better himself. On his face were clear signs of scratches, which, Li Yundong was fairly certain, were caused by fake nails. Ouch.
The next thing that happened made Li Yundong regret his decision to stay and watch the drama. Zheng Youming saw him and Su Chan through the glass. Seconds later, the door was pushed open, and out came Mr. Cardboard Walls. All of a sudden, Li Yundong felt an urge to punch that son of a bitch in the face.
“Hey, young fella!” Zheng Youming greeted him with a cheeriness that Li Yundong didn’t share. “You’ve checked out the suite? Well! That was quick! So! How about it? The place is awesome, eh?” Zheng Youming clapped his hands together. “Now, regarding the contract and the procedures, you can go to—”
“There’s no need for that, Boss Zheng,” Li Yundong said coldly. “We won’t be staying here.”
Zheng Youming’s face fell, and he immediately glanced at Su Chan. The disappointment in Zheng Youming’s expression was so clear that Li Yundong nearly unleashed one of Zhao Yujian’s fancy kicks on the bastard.
Zheng Youming looked back at Li Yundong. “What! You’re joking, surely!” Zheng Youming yelled. “Is the rent still too high? Or are there any other problems? Tell me! It can all be worked out!”
“Problems?” Li Yundong released a dark chuckle. “Here’s one. The place sucks.”
Zheng Youming jumped, looking utterly affronted. “That’s rubbish! Just go ask around!” he yelled, then began patting his chest with his palm. “Everyone will tell you the same thing! That Zheng Youming’s properties are the best of the best, designed with their occupants’ safety in mind—”
BOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMM!!!! CRASH!!!!!!
It sounded no different than the rumbling of thunder, except that the sky was clear.
Billows of dark smoke rose into the air, spreading out like an ominous cloud.
When the final wave of rumbling ended, all was silent.
The look on Zheng Youming’s face was priceless, like he’d just splurged a billion dollars on a diamond ring only to have it fall into the toilet bowl when he was taking a dump.
Everyone in the vicinity was too shocked to speak, almost as though their mental faculties had collapsed together with the building.
Li Yundong was the first one to react. He grabbed Su Chan’s hand and sprinted away, feigning a look of panic. As he ran, he screamed at the top of his lungs. “Arrrggghhh! The building collapsed!!!!! Get away from here!!!! Run for your lives!!!!”
Then, they heard Zheng Youming’s hysterical scream behind them. “NOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!! This is impossible!!!!!”
Following that was the sound of Li Congli’s shrill laughter. “Zheng Youming!! You soooooo had it coming!!! Hahaha!!! This is what I call karma!!! I salute you, Lord Almighty!!! Finally! Finally, You’ve punished this despicable man!”
The echos of Li Congli’s laughter filled their ears as Li Yundong and Su Chan fled the area as though their lives depended upon it.
They ran and ran until New Xin An District was too far away to be seen. Then, they stopped at the side of the road and shared a look. Seconds later, they burst into laughter.
At that moment, both Su Chan and Li Yundong were thinking the same thing: What a delightful act of mischief!
Sure, they had destroyed a building. But in doing so, they had just prevented thousands of deaths and punished an evil man.
They laughed and laughed, drawing the attention of passers-by.
After a while, Su Chan recovered from her laughing fit and took Li Yundong’s hand. “Yundong…” she said, tracing circles on his palm. “Will you be in trouble because of this?”
Li Yundong held back another wave of laughter, then cleared his throat. “Not at all!” he said. “Nobody was staying in that building yet. Besides, this is me delivering poetic justice to a bad man!”
Su Chan giggled. “Yes!!!!!” Su Chan raised her fist. “An evil man like him deserves to be punished!”
Li Yundong tightened his fingers around Su Chan’s hand. Hit on my woman? Hah! I’ll hit on your f*cking building until it collapses!
Li Yundong burst into laughter at that thought. Then, he released a long breath, easing the ball of frustration that had been trapped inside his chest earlier. He stood up, pulling Su Chan to her feet. “Come on! Time to continue our search!”
***
The pair left New Xin An District behind and eventually arrived at New Hongshen District, the area that Bai Xiaoyang had told them about earlier.
Su Chan had that look in her eyes again the moment they entered New Hongshen District, that bright sparkle, as though her eyes held a constellation of stars. One building in particular stuck out like a sore thumb due to its height; it was a twenty-story monolith amidst a cluster of five-story buildings. The more Su Chan stared at it, the more excited she became: superb positioning, check; wide field of vision, check; altitude, check!!
“That one! That one! Let’s go, Yundong! Let’s go!!!” Li Yundong’s arm would’ve been ripped away by Su Chan if the Renyuan Jindan hadn’t enhanced his shoulder joints.
Li Yundong laughed and allowed himself to be pulled forward a few steps. “Slow down, silly,” he said, holding Su Chan back. “We have to look for an agent first. Otherwise we wouldn’t be able to know which places are for sale and which ones are for rent!”
Li Yundong led Su Chan towards a building, which he believed housed a rental agency. His guess was confirmed the moment they stepped into the building, where they were greeted with: “Hello! Are you looking for a place to stay?”
After making several inquiries at the counter, Li Yundong learned that there was only one apartment available for rent on the top floor — an apartment with three bedrooms and two living rooms. The apartment fit Su Chan’s criteria to a tee, which was ideal, if they weren’t stinking broke.
Li Yundong wondered why these people hadn’t been charged and thrown into jail for robbery yet. 4500 yuan per month! That was essentially the same amount of money he’d been getting from his good-for-nothing parents every month! F*ck!
However, when the agent showed them the apartment, Li Yundong had to admit that the suite was worth every penny.
The place was fully-furnished, with everything inside being brand new. Su Chan found its lighting and layout appealing. Li Yundong, on the other hand, was drawn to its Chinese style decor.
“Even if you guys are on a budget, you can still move in first,” said the agent enthusiastically. “After that you can find someone else to move in and split the rent!”
Desperate much?
Well, if the agent thought her suggestion could help seal the deal, then she couldn’t have been more wrong. Having another person move in was the last thing on Li Yundong’s mind since it would ruin his “cohabitation” plans. Su Chan, on the other hand, didn’t want an outsider to disturb Li Yundong’s Cultivation.
Su Chan stepped away from the agent and walked up to Li Yundong. Hooking her finger on Li Yundong’s hand, she tugged. “Yundong…” she pleaded in a low voice. “Can we make this place our home? Please? Pleeeeaasse?”
Li Yundong gave her a tiny smile, then patted the top of her head. “Don’t worry,” he said. “I’d remove the moon from the sky if that’s what you want! Alright then! This is the place!”
Li Yundong did the math in his head. If he paid the rent up front, including the deposit, that would likely cost him 30 thousand yuan. Which meant he would have around 40 thousand yuan left in his bank account. That should last us for a while… Besides, the summer holidays were nearing, which meant he could start looking for a job. Add in the money he’d be receiving from his parents… Yup. It’ll be enough to support us.
Li Yundong was jolted out of his thoughts by Su Chan’s crushing hug.
“Yay!!!! This is great!!!”
Su Chan beamed at him.
Great indeed. If the sudden tightness in his pants was any indication, it would appear that Li Yundong Jr. agreed with Su Chan’s assessment as well. Li Yundong had to force himself to imagine Director Qian’s bald patch in order to distract himself from the feel of Su Chan’s tender and (gosh darn it to hell) springy bosom against his arm.
Li Yundong cleared his throat harshly, then looked down at Su Chan with a smile. He pointed at his left cheek and said, “Give me a kiss then!”
Su Chan sneaked a glance at the agent. “N-no…” she said, blushing. “T- there’s someone here…”
Meh. Li Yundong hadn’t expected her to kiss him anyway. He laughed and said, “Oh, okay! That settles it then! You can kiss me to your heart’s content when we’re alone!”
Su Chan giggled, then looked away coyly. The faint blush on her cheeks nearly melted Li Yundong’s heart. Before he knew it, Su Chan was dashing off, her double braids swinging and brushing against her back.
“Meanie!!!!”
Su Chan’s voice echoed on the walls of their new home, and Li Yundong found himself utterly bewitched, mind, body, and soul.
***
Once they’d settled the deposit and signed the lease, Li Yundong and Su Chan were ready to head back to the motel to get their luggage.
Happy that they’d found themselves a new home, Su Chan walked ahead with an extra bounce in her steps. Behind her, Li Yundong watched her in amusement. While they were leaving New Hongshen District, Li Yundong felt a tingle in his spine; someone was watching him.
He stopped, then glanced around until his eyes landed on a gazebo in New Hongshen District’s garden. Staring right back at him was a girl in a long, pink dress. This girl looked to be around the same age as Su Chan — probably between fifteen or sixteen years old. Something about her prevented Li Yundong from turning away. It was her aura, which seemed ethereal and otherworldly. Li Yundong took in her face noted the girl’s prominent and shiny forehead. Then, he felt it. He felt it the moment their eyes met — a huge weight on his entire being, stifling him.
When their gazes met, it was like the collision of two fast-moving trucks. The impact shook both parties, and they averted their gaze instantly.
Those eyes… so sharp and piercing, Li Yundong thought. I’ve never seen a girl with eyes like that before… I wonder who she is…
“Yundong! Our carriage is here!”
Su Chan’s voice brought Li Yundong out of his trance. He turned away from the gazebo and looked past the gates. Su Chan was already standing outside, waving at him.
Li Yundong headed towards the gate, still wondering about those eyes.
