<p>16 – My Own Home</p>
<p>Standing in the faint afternoon sunlight, Suyun slowly began to feel unwell.</p>
<p>“Hmm…” She took a deep breath and gathered strength to hold onto her things again.</p>
<p>Suyun carried the clothes toward the security room, remembering that this was a place where she could temporarily store her belongings.</p>
<p>Finding a house later, she could just drop the things off and keep a few items for her backpack.</p>
<p>“Excuse me, can I leave my things here? I’ll come back for them later.” Reaching the security room, Suyun asked the person inside through the window.</p>
<p>The security guard, busy on his phone, heard her voice, looked up, and saw Suyun.</p>
<p>“Yes, yes.”</p>
<p>“Thank you.” With the response, Suyun carried her things inside and placed them on the floor.</p>
<p>She took out a black umbrella from her backpack.</p>
<p>As she stepped outside after putting her things away, she opened the umbrella.</p>
<p>As for why she hadn’t used an umbrella when she went out with Qin Xue at noon, that was a feature Suyun realized when she forgot to take it in the morning.</p>
<p>When she had just fed, her body felt energetic, and the sunlight didn’t hurt as much or cause burns; at most, it just felt warm.</p>
<p>It didn’t matter, so she could avoid using an umbrella to attract attention.</p>
<p>However, if she had low energy and hadn’t fed for too long, standing in the sunlight could make her disappear in no time…</p>
<p>For example, just now, feeling down, standing in the sunlight made her dizzy, a sign of low energy.</p>
<p>“Where to look for a house?” Holding the umbrella, Suyun walked around the school, looking up at the area.</p>
<p>Actually, the tall buildings across the street were visible as soon as she stepped out of the school gate, possibly just a couple of hundred meters away, separated by a street.</p>
<p>From those floors, she could see a bunch of clothes drying; they likely belonged to people who had moved out of the school.</p>
<p>It was close, right at the school gate. The houses didn’t look old, making them Suyun’s first target.</p>
<p>Before long, she reached the entrance of that building but stood there, puzzled.</p>
<p>What should she do to rent a house?</p>
<p>Then, Suyun circled the building a few times, taking about five minutes to return to the starting point.</p>
<p>She wanted to see if there were any “For Rent” signs nearby or the landlord’s phone number, but unfortunately, found nothing.</p>
<p>Could it be that it was fully rented, hence not available?</p>
<p>As Suyun stood at the door contemplating, someone came out in front of the building, holding a blue card, which seemed to be the key.</p>
<p>A resident of this building?</p>
<p>Seeing the situation, Suyun approached and stopped what seemed like a university girl from the school.</p>
<p>“What’s up?”</p>
<p>“Well, I’d like to ask for the landlord’s phone number. Do you have it?” Suyun asked politely.</p>
<p>With the umbrella lifted, the girl noticed Suyun’s appearance and hesitated for a moment before responding.</p>
<p>“Sure, do you want it?”</p>
<p>“Uh-huh, please!”</p>
<p>Suyun then took the landlord’s number from the girl, thanked her, and stood by the door to dial.</p>
<p>“Beep beep…”</p>
<p>“Who are you? What do you want?” A middle-aged woman’s voice came from the other end of the phone.</p>
<p>“Do you still have rooms for rent? I want to live here.”</p>
<p>“Oh, let me check…”</p>
<p>“There’s a room available on the 11th floor; the previous tenant just moved out a few days ago. It’s the only one left. Do you want to see it?”</p>
<p>“Yes, thank you.”</p>
<p>After a brief exchange, the landlord asked Suyun to wait at the door.</p>
<p>After a while, a woman about Suyun’s height came out, holding a set of keys and wearing black glasses, giving off a rent collector vibe.</p>
<p>Well, it indeed fit.</p>
<p>Suyun followed her inside, taking the elevator to the 11th floor, where each floor was quite spacious, and there were only two residents on the 11th.</p>
<p>The middle-aged woman opened the door to room 1101, which was currently empty; there was some litter on the floor, and the walls by the bed in the bedroom had many scribbles.</p>
<p>It wasn’t as clean as Suyun had imagined, but it was still acceptable.</p>
<p>Overall, the room consisted of a hall and a bedroom, with a kitchen next to the hall.</p>
<p>Notably, the bathroom and toilet were actually hidden inside the wardrobe in the bedroom; opening half of the wardrobe door revealed a door, quite discreet, so one wouldn’t have to run too far to use the restroom, which was convenient.</p>
<p>The entire room totaled over 40 square meters.</p>
<p>Suyun was very satisfied.</p>
<p>“2,500 a month; utilities are extra.” The woman’s voice pulled Suyun from her thoughts.</p>
<p>“Ah?”</p>
<p>No way, that’s so expensive…</p>
<p>Seeing Suyun so surprised, the middle-aged woman changed to an impatient expression.</p>
<p>“This is relatively cheap around here; if you don’t want it, it’ll be rented out quickly.”</p>
<p>“…”</p>
<p>Suyun felt a wave of embarrassment; how did she forget to ask for the price earlier? She had been looking for so long.</p>
<p>“I’ll check around a bit more.”</p>
<p>In the end, Suyun followed the landlord down. They didn’t speak on the way; the atmosphere felt oddly tense.</p>
<p>After that, Suyun walked down a street close to the school, with houses lining the way.</p>
<p>She looked for phone numbers; if there weren’t any, she would wait for people to come down to ask for their number.</p>
<p>This time, she directly asked about the size of the rooms and the costs.</p>
<p>In late summer, the city wasn’t exactly a first-tier city, but it was definitely at the peak of a second-tier city; still, it was close to the university, with nearby subway access and convenient transportation.</p>
<p>After inquiring at seven or eight places, Suyun found that the prices were generally over 2,000, with the most expensive at 3,800, which was only slightly better than the 2,500 one by having an extra bedroom.</p>
<p>The 2,500 option was the cheapest among these.</p>
<p>…</p>
<p>By the time night fell, Suyun hadn’t found a price she liked.</p>
<p>Although she didn’t do well on the college entrance exam, she had at least come to the city from the countryside; she really didn’t understand the living costs after spending the last six months in school.</p>
<p>Is it really this outrageous?</p>
<p>Suyun stubbornly called the first landlord again.</p>
<p>This time, she dialed three times without an answer and thought she had lost hope, but the fourth time connected.</p>
<p>From what the other party said, someone else had indeed inquired about the room, but fortunately, they hadn’t rented it right away, suggesting they were hesitating like Suyun.</p>
<p>Get there first!</p>
<p>After roughly understanding the price, this time Suyun agreed immediately and received a key and a blue card.</p>
<p>“11th floor, can I see the dormitory?” With only Suyun left in the room, she leaned comfortably against the window of the bedroom, watching the campus under the night sky.</p>
<p>The campus was still bright, with streetlights and classroom lights on.</p>
<p>From the hall, looking through the window facing the back of the building was the brightly lit city and streets, much brighter than the school.</p>
<p>Suyun hadn’t gotten to know much about this city yet; she only knew that the central area was quite developed, likely not reaching first-tier status because the surrounding areas hadn’t kept pace.</p>
<p>Glancing at her new home, Suyun returned to the security booth to move her things into her house.</p>
<p>Once the clothes were placed by the bedside, her WeChat finally received a message.</p>
<p>(Yuan Yuan: Mom came to see us)</p>
<p>(She doesn’t have a good relationship with her sister and often argues… When I go to mediate, they lock me in my room and tell me to stay out of it)</p>
<p>(And now, I’m locked up again)</p>
<p>“Ah?”</p>
<p>Sitting by the bed filled with her possessions, Suyun furrowed her brows.</p>
<p>Qin Yuan Yuan hadn’t elaborated much; Suyun only understood one thing.</p>
<p>Qin Xue didn’t have a good relationship with her mom, already reaching a point of severe arguing.</p>
<p>If that was the case, Suyun really didn’t know how to help.</p>
<p>After all, even this little potato was directly locked up, right?</p>
<p>(I: Are they still arguing?)</p>
<p>(Qin Yuan Yuan: Yes)</p>
<p>“Well…” Suyun felt a bit worried, but worrying wouldn’t help, so she could only ask Qin Xue tomorrow; right now, the other party wasn’t even replying to her messages.</p>
<p>She chose to call her advisor and her parents.</p>
<p>Not sure if she could stay outside today; if not, then tomorrow, after all, she hadn’t moved her things yet.</p>
<p>Standing in the faint afternoon sunlight, Suyun slowly began to feel unwell.</p>
<p>“Hmm…” She took a deep breath and gathered strength to hold onto her things again.</p>
<p>Suyun carried the clothes toward the security room, remembering that this was a place where she could temporarily store her belongings.</p>
<p>Finding a house later, she could just drop the things off and keep a few items for her backpack.</p>
<p>“Excuse me, can I leave my things here? I’ll come back for them later.” Reaching the security room, Suyun asked the person inside through the window.</p>
<p>The security guard, busy on his phone, heard her voice, looked up, and saw Suyun.</p>
<p>“Yes, yes.”</p>
<p>“Thank you.” With the response, Suyun carried her things inside and placed them on the floor.</p>
<p>She took out a black umbrella from her backpack.</p>
<p>As she stepped outside after putting her things away, she opened the umbrella.</p>
<p>As for why she hadn’t used an umbrella when she went out with Qin Xue at noon, that was a feature Suyun realized when she forgot to take it in the morning.</p>
<p>When she had just fed, her body felt energetic, and the sunlight didn’t hurt as much or cause burns; at most, it just felt warm.</p>
<p>It didn’t matter, so she could avoid using an umbrella to attract attention.</p>
<p>However, if she had low energy and hadn’t fed for too long, standing in the sunlight could make her disappear in no time…</p>
<p>For example, just now, feeling down, standing in the sunlight made her dizzy, a sign of low energy.</p>
<p>“Where to look for a house?” Holding the umbrella, Suyun walked around the school, looking up at the area.</p>
<p>Actually, the tall buildings across the street were visible as soon as she stepped out of the school gate, possibly just a couple of hundred meters away, separated by a street.</p>
<p>From those floors, she could see a bunch of clothes drying; they likely belonged to people who had moved out of the school.</p>
<p>It was close, right at the school gate. The houses didn’t look old, making them Suyun’s first target.</p>
<p>Before long, she reached the entrance of that building but stood there, puzzled.</p>
<p>What should she do to rent a house?</p>
<p>Then, Suyun circled the building a few times, taking about five minutes to return to the starting point.</p>
<p>She wanted to see if there were any “For Rent” signs nearby or the landlord’s phone number, but unfortunately, found nothing.</p>
<p>Could it be that it was fully rented, hence not available?</p>
<p>As Suyun stood at the door contemplating, someone came out in front of the building, holding a blue card, which seemed to be the key.</p>
<p>A resident of this building?</p>
<p>Seeing the situation, Suyun approached and stopped what seemed like a university girl from the school.</p>
<p>“What’s up?”</p>
<p>“Well, I’d like to ask for the landlord’s phone number. Do you have it?” Suyun asked politely.</p>
<p>With the umbrella lifted, the girl noticed Suyun’s appearance and hesitated for a moment before responding.</p>
<p>“Sure, do you want it?”</p>
<p>“Uh-huh, please!”</p>
<p>Suyun then took the landlord’s number from the girl, thanked her, and stood by the door to dial.</p>
<p>“Beep beep…”</p>
<p>“Who are you? What do you want?” A middle-aged woman’s voice came from the other end of the phone.</p>
<p>“Do you still have rooms for rent? I want to live here.”</p>
<p>“Oh, let me check…”</p>
<p>“There’s a room available on the 11th floor; the previous tenant just moved out a few days ago. It’s the only one left. Do you want to see it?”</p>
<p>“Yes, thank you.”</p>
<p>After a brief exchange, the landlord asked Suyun to wait at the door.</p>
<p>After a while, a woman about Suyun’s height came out, holding a set of keys and wearing black glasses, giving off a rent collector vibe.</p>
<p>Well, it indeed fit.</p>
<p>Suyun followed her inside, taking the elevator to the 11th floor, where each floor was quite spacious, and there were only two residents on the 11th.</p>
<p>The middle-aged woman opened the door to room 1101, which was currently empty; there was some litter on the floor, and the walls by the bed in the bedroom had many scribbles.</p>
<p>It wasn’t as clean as Suyun had imagined, but it was still acceptable.</p>
<p>Overall, the room consisted of a hall and a bedroom, with a kitchen next to the hall.</p>
<p>Notably, the bathroom and toilet were actually hidden inside the wardrobe in the bedroom; opening half of the wardrobe door revealed a door, quite discreet, so one wouldn’t have to run too far to use the restroom, which was convenient.</p>
<p>The entire room totaled over 40 square meters.</p>
<p>Suyun was very satisfied.</p>
<p>“2,500 a month; utilities are extra.” The woman’s voice pulled Suyun from her thoughts.</p>
<p>“Ah?”</p>
<p>No way, that’s so expensive…</p>
<p>Seeing Suyun so surprised, the middle-aged woman changed to an impatient expression.</p>
<p>“This is relatively cheap around here; if you don’t want it, it’ll be rented out quickly.”</p>
<p>“…”</p>
<p>Suyun felt a wave of embarrassment; how did she forget to ask for the price earlier? She had been looking for so long.</p>
<p>“I’ll check around a bit more.”</p>
<p>In the end, Suyun followed the landlord down. They didn’t speak on the way; the atmosphere felt oddly tense.</p>
<p>After that, Suyun walked down a street close to the school, with houses lining the way.</p>
<p>She looked for phone numbers; if there weren’t any, she would wait for people to come down to ask for their number.</p>
<p>This time, she directly asked about the size of the rooms and the costs.</p>
<p>In late summer, the city wasn’t exactly a first-tier city, but it was definitely at the peak of a second-tier city; still, it was close to the university, with nearby subway access and convenient transportation.</p>
<p>After inquiring at seven or eight places, Suyun found that the prices were generally over 2,000, with the most expensive at 3,800, which was only slightly better than the 2,500 one by having an extra bedroom.</p>
<p>The 2,500 option was the cheapest among these.</p>
<p>…</p>
<p>By the time night fell, Suyun hadn’t found a price she liked.</p>
<p>Although she didn’t do well on the college entrance exam, she had at least come to the city from the countryside; she really didn’t understand the living costs after spending the last six months in school.</p>
<p>Is it really this outrageous?</p>
<p>Suyun stubbornly called the first landlord again.</p>
<p>This time, she dialed three times without an answer and thought she had lost hope, but the fourth time connected.</p>
<p>From what the other party said, someone else had indeed inquired about the room, but fortunately, they hadn’t rented it right away, suggesting they were hesitating like Suyun.</p>
<p>Get there first!</p>
<p>After roughly understanding the price, this time Suyun agreed immediately and received a key and a blue card.</p>
<p>“11th floor, can I see the dormitory?” With only Suyun left in the room, she leaned comfortably against the window of the bedroom, watching the campus under the night sky.</p>
<p>The campus was still bright, with streetlights and classroom lights on.</p>
<p>From the hall, looking through the window facing the back of the building was the brightly lit city and streets, much brighter than the school.</p>
<p>Suyun hadn’t gotten to know much about this city yet; she only knew that the central area was quite developed, likely not reaching first-tier status because the surrounding areas hadn’t kept pace.</p>
<p>Glancing at her new home, Suyun returned to the security booth to move her things into her house.</p>
<p>Once the clothes were placed by the bedside, her WeChat finally received a message.</p>
<p>(Yuan Yuan: Mom came to see us)</p>
<p>(She doesn’t have a good relationship with her sister and often argues… When I go to mediate, they lock me in my room and tell me to stay out of it)</p>
<p>(And now, I’m locked up again)</p>
<p>“Ah?”</p>
<p>Sitting by the bed filled with her possessions, Suyun furrowed her brows.</p>
<p>Qin Yuan Yuan hadn’t elaborated much; Suyun only understood one thing.</p>
<p>Qin Xue didn’t have a good relationship with her mom, already reaching a point of severe arguing.</p>
<p>If that was the case, Suyun really didn’t know how to help.</p>
<p>After all, even this little potato was directly locked up, right?</p>
<p>(I: Are they still arguing?)</p>
<p>(Qin Yuan Yuan: Yes)</p>
<p>“Well…” Suyun felt a bit worried, but worrying wouldn’t help, so she could only ask Qin Xue tomorrow; right now, the other party wasn’t even replying to her messages.</p>
<p>She chose to call her advisor and her parents.</p>
<p>Not sure if she could stay outside today; if not, then tomorrow, after all, she hadn’t moved her things yet.</p>
