It's Really Inhuman

As soon as Aunt Zhou finished speaking, Xia Zhiyu's face flushed red as she hurriedly denied, "No, Aunt Zhou, he... he's not my boyfriend. He's my boss..."

Aunt Zhou looked up at Su Yang again. "Your boss? But this young man is quite handsome. How can someone so young be your boss?"

"Ah, Aunt Zhou, he really is my boss. I don’t want to trouble him," Xia Zhiyu replied awkwardly, stealing a glance at Su Yang.

Aunt Zhou rolled her eyes and continued, "Alright, let’s get back to the matter at hand. If you want to keep living here, it’s not impossible, but..."

"But what?"

"Before, you paid rent quarterly. If you want to stay, it’ll have to be changed to a yearly payment, and the monthly rent will increase from 500 to 800. I’m not raising it arbitrarily—this is the current market rate for apartments in this neighborhood. If you agree, we can sign the contract right now."

Aunt Zhou finished in one breath, then lit a slender cigarette and waited for Xia Zhiyu’s response.

Su Yang listened silently to their conversation, thinking to himself, You sly old fox. All this fuss just to raise the rent.

After hearing Aunt Zhou’s terms, Xia Zhiyu hesitated. She was already tight on money, and now the rent was increasing, plus she’d have to pay a year’s worth upfront.

At 800 a month, a year would total 9,600—far more than she could afford to pay all at once.

"Well? If you agree, we’ll sign the contract now. But let me be clear—once it’s signed, you’ll have to pay the full year’s rent immediately. After that, you can live here however you like for the next year, and I won’t bother you."

Aunt Zhou exhaled a puff of smoke, smirking at Xia Zhiyu.

Just as Xia Zhiyu was struggling with her decision, Su Yang finally spoke up.

"Xiao Yu, don’t rent this place. It’s remote, the environment isn’t great, and 400 or 500 a month might be reasonable, but for 800, you can easily find a one-bedroom apartment somewhere else."

"But... Su Yang, if I don’t rent here, I’ll have to move out today. Finding a new place will take a few days, and in the meantime, I..."

Su Yang waved his hand with a smile. "Don’t worry about that. Do you really think I’d let you end up homeless?"

"Ah..."

Hearing their exchange, Aunt Zhou scoffed. "Oh, this young man sure talks big. ‘Remote and bad environment,’ huh? Fine, if you think so little of this place, hurry up and move out. Saves me the trouble."

Su Yang kept his smile but didn’t bother arguing. He had already planned to help Xia Zhiyu find a place in the city, and now was the perfect opportunity.

Xia Zhiyu bit her lip and glanced at Su Yang, who was leaning against the window. Suddenly, she felt an inexplicable sense of security.

Even though Su Yang had only made a verbal promise, for some reason, she trusted him completely.

[Ding! Detected Xia Zhiyu’s favorability toward the host has increased to: 60. Reward: 2 million.]

Hearing the system’s prompt, Su Yang smiled faintly without showing any outward reaction.

After a few seconds of silence, Xia Zhiyu finally made up her mind. She took a deep breath and looked at Aunt Zhou. "Alright then... I’ll start packing now."

"Hmph, hurry up. You’re out by the end of the day!"

Aunt Zhou shot Su Yang a glare, then grabbed her purse and left.

Once she was gone, Xia Zhiyu sighed helplessly.

Su Yang walked over and sat beside her. "Don’t worry, Xiao Yu. I’ll help you figure out the housing situation. Just relax and focus on packing, okay?"

"Alright... Su Yang, let me get you some water first. You can sit and wait—I’ll be quick."

"No need. Just pack your things."

"Okay~"

Xia Zhiyu nodded and turned to enter the small bedroom.

Su Yang sat on the wooden sofa and glanced around the living room. This place can’t be more than 40 square meters, but it reminds me of the apartment I used to rent.

Wait, isn’t Xiao Yu from Haicheng? Why is she renting then?

Curious, he got up and walked to the bedroom door, watching as Xia Zhiyu bent over to pack her clothes. "Xiao Yu, I remember you told me last night that you’re from Haicheng, right?"

"Yes, Su Yang. Why do you ask?"

"Where did you and your grandmother used to live?"

At this question, Xia Zhiyu’s hands paused for a second before she replied softly, "At my uncle’s place."

"Your uncle’s?"

"Mhm. We lived there for a few years, but after my grandmother passed away, he sold the house."

"What?" Su Yang’s voice rose slightly as he frowned. "He sold it? He’s your uncle—did he just abandon you?"

Xia Zhiyu sighed, her tone resigned. "My parents never cared about me. Why would my uncle? Back then, he only let me stay because of my grandmother... If not for her, I would’ve been on the streets long ago."

"In this world, only my grandmother ever truly loved me. After she was gone... I had no one left."

"Damn."

Su Yang turned away, taking a deep breath. Xiao Yu’s life has been so rough! And her so-called ‘family’—what kind of heartless people are they?

But why did they treat her like this? She didn’t elaborate, so I’ll have to ask her another time.

As he was thinking, Xia Zhiyu continued, "My grandmother passed away during my senior year of high school. But since my school was boarding, I still had a place to stay after my uncle sold the house."

"So after graduation, you started working odd jobs."

Xia Zhiyu nodded. "Mhm."

The mood had grown heavy, so Su Yang sighed softly. "Alright, let’s drop this for now. Just focus on packing."

"Okay~"

After one last glance at Xia Zhiyu, Su Yang returned to the sofa.

She’s been through so much. I’ve got to help her properly.

Ten minutes later, Xia Zhiyu emerged from the room with a backpack and a khaki cloth bag in hand.

She gave Su Yang a small smile. "I’m all packed, Su Yang. Let’s go~"

Su Yang glanced at her belongings. "That’s all you have?"

"Mhm, just these."

"Alright, let’s go. Oh, have you eaten yet?"

Xia Zhiyu shook her head. "Not yet."

"Then I’ll take you to eat first." Su Yang stood and walked over to her.

"No need, Su Yang. I’m not hungry. Let’s just head to the restaurant."

"Don’t worry about that. You should eat something first." He patted her shoulder, then took the cloth bag from her and headed for the door.

Xia Zhiyu pressed her lips together and quickly followed.

Once downstairs, she looked up wistfully at the fourth-floor window.

Su Yang also took a look around, then smiled and asked, "Xia Zhiyu, how long have you lived here?"

Xia Zhiyu thought for a moment and replied, "One year and three months."

"That long?"

"Yes. Back then, I was working in Jiangyue District, so I rented this place and ended up staying for over a year~"

"But when I first arrived, I noticed there isn’t even a small convenience store on the street outside. Doesn’t that make daily life inconvenient?"

Xia Zhiyu glanced at Su Yang and chuckled, "Su Yang, you came in through the south gate, right?"

"South gate? So this neighborhood has another entrance?"

"Yep. The other gate has plenty of vegetable vendors and small supermarkets. You can get everything you need for daily life there."

"Oh, I see. Alright, let’s go. No need to look around anymore."

"Sure~"