Chapter 42: Renting a House

The old man shook his head and placed the chess piece on the board,

 “Now that your leg is healed, it’s time to go back to the army.” His son’s leg got better day by day after eating that ginseng.

 After acupuncture treatment with the doctor for a while, he could now walk freely.

Ji Yanting pursed his lips and placed a chess piece on the board, “I’m going to Yuncheng.”

He had to find Xuemei and his daughter. He couldn’t rest until he saw them.

“Didn’t Yuanming go look for them? That mother and daughter are no longer alive.”

Old Master Ji tightened his grip on the chess piece, a chilling coldness in his eyes. Fortunately, he had made arrangements.

 He wouldn’t let his son bring that mother and daughter back. They were not worthy of his son.

“Then I have to see their graves.” Ji Yanting threw the chess piece back into the box, stood up, and walked outside. “Dad, get some rest.”

He didn’t want to talk to his father about his wife and daughter. Every time they talked about it, they would argue.

Old Master Ji angrily threw the chess pieces back into the box, stood up, and walked to the table with a gloomy face. He picked up the phone on the table and dialed.

“How are things going?”

“She has agreed to move out of the village.”

“Good. Make sure everything else is arranged. Don’t let Yanting find them.” Old Master Ji hung up the phone.

Ling Yao took a leave of absence from school and took Ling Xuemei to look for a house near the school.

She wanted to find a house that was close to the school so she wouldn’t have to take the bus to and from school.

She saw a few elderly women chatting under a big tree at the entrance of the alley and walked over.

“Auntie, can you tell me if there are any houses for rent nearby?”

Hearing this, the elderly women all looked at Ling Yao and Ling Xuemei.

“You want to rent a house?” A chubby auntie asked.

Ling Yao nodded.

“There’s an empty house next door to my house for rent, but…” The auntie’s eyes flickered with hesitation.

“But what?” Ling Xuemei was a little curious.

“It’s not very clean. Someone died there before. There are often strange noises at night. Maybe you should go look elsewhere.”

Another auntie said. That place was a little creepy, even during the day. It was cold and gloomy.

Ling Xuemei hesitated. She turned to ask Ling Yao for her opinion with her eyes.

“Let’s go take a look first.”

“Mm.” Ling Xuemei nodded.

Ling Yao looked at the auntie, “Auntie, can you take us to have a look?” She wasn’t afraid of ghosts. She had died once herself.

“You’re not afraid?”

“There are no ghosts in this world.”

“Alright, come with me.” The auntie stood up and led the way. The house was next door to her house.

 If they hadn’t been unable to move, they would have moved out long ago.

They walked deep into the alley, and the auntie stopped and pointed to a small courtyard in front of them, “This is it.”

“How do we get in?” Ling Yao saw that the door was locked.

“Wait a minute. I’ll go call someone.” The auntie said and walked forward.

After a while, she came back with a middle-aged man.

“You want to rent this house?” The middle-aged man looked Ling Yao and Ling Xuemei up and down.

This house belonged to his uncle’s family. Five years ago, his uncle’s family suddenly died, and the house was vacant ever since.

Some people had asked about renting it, but they moved out after only two days. After that, the rumors about the house being haunted spread more and more widely.

“We want to take a look first, then decide.”

The middle-aged man took a bunch of keys from his pocket, walked forward, opened the door, and let Ling Yao and Ling Xuemei in.

The yard was overgrown with weeds, like a wild wasteland. The house was also dilapidated due to years of neglect. It was filled with a decaying atmosphere.

“Maybe we should look at other places.” Ling Xuemei frowned and looked away. The house and yard were quite large, but she just felt a chill down her spine.

 She didn’t know if it was because she had listened to the aunties and was having an illusion.

Ling Yao also felt that this place wasn’t suitable for living. She nodded.

They looked at many other places, but there were no houses for rent.

As it got dark, they could only find a motel to stay at.

“Yaoyao, maybe we should just rent that courtyard.” Ling Xuemei had considered it.

The courtyard was only ten minutes away from No. 2 High School. It would be convenient for Yaoyao to go to school.

And there were many rooms. She could open a clinic there and continue treating people.

Ling Yao turned over and looked at Ling Xuemei, “Mom, aren’t you afraid?”

“What’s there to be afraid of? There are no ghosts in this world.”

“Alright, let’s go take another look tomorrow.”

“Okay.” Ling Xuemei reached out and gently patted Ling Yao’s back. She slowly closed her eyes and quickly fell asleep.

Ling Yao smelled the faint fragrance coming from Ling Xuemei and felt a sense of peace. Soon, she closed her eyes too.

The next day, after breakfast, Ling Yao and Ling Xuemei went back to the alley and found the auntie from yesterday.

“You really decided to rent this courtyard?” The auntie looked at Ling Yao and Ling Xuemei in surprise.

“If the price is right, we’ll rent it.” Ling Yao said.

“Then wait a minute. I’ll go find Huang Xi.”

After a while, the auntie came back with the middle-aged man from yesterday.

Huang Xi walked to Ling Yao and Ling Xuemei, “I heard from Auntie Ma that you want to rent this courtyard?

I’m warning you in advance. You can rent it, but if you move out before a month is up, I won’t refund the rent.”

Ling Yao nodded, “Tell me the price first. See if it’s suitable.”

Huang Xi thought for a moment, “Ten yuan a month.”

“Five yuan.” Ling Yao directly countered.

Huang Xi frowned, “That’s too much of a discount. Let’s meet in the middle. Eight yuan.”

“Six yuan is the most I can do.”

Huang Xi considered it for a moment, “Alright, alright. Six yuan it is.”

Anyway, the house was empty. It was better to get an extra six yuan a month.

“Then let’s sign a contract.” Ling Yao took out a contract she had prepared and handed it to Huang Xi.

Huang Xi took the contract, looked it over carefully, and thought it was okay. He took the pen Ling Yao handed him and signed his name.

Ling Yao waited for Huang Xi to sign and then signed her name too.

Ling Xuemei watched from the side, filled with relief. Her Yaoyao had truly grown up.

Ling Yao handed Huang Xi a month’s rent and a deposit.

 The contract clearly stated that if they moved out before a month was up, the rent wouldn’t be refunded, but the deposit would be returned.

After Huang Xi and Auntie Ma left, Ling Yao and Ling Xuemei got busy.