Enemies Are All Nourishment for My Fungi..

Chapter 28: Chapter 28 Renting a Place to Settle Down

[Reliable Old Pan: Although you have a good physical condition, you still need to practice diligently, to develop muscle memory. Otherwise, in the face of danger, you’ll freeze like a petrified chicken and it’s a dead end.]

[Mama Longlong: Right, when told to run, just run for your life, don’t look back. When no one can look out for you, the secret to survival is to save whoever can be saved.]

[Ye Nai: Oh, okay, I’ll focus on moving trash to make money and train.]

[I am Cao Jie, not Cao Cao: Using your space to move trash is such a waste~]

[Ye Nai: But it’s fast money, stable, and time-controllable.]

[Call me Sister Ma or I’ll kick you: Well, that’s true, having a plan of your own is good.]

...

[Liu Liuliuer: Off-topic guys, weren’t we talking about renting?]

[Meimei Does Not Rain: Right, right, Ye Nai, are you coming to view the apartment tomorrow? By the way, who came up with your name? It doesn’t sound quite right to call you Ye Ye or Nai Nai.]

[Ye Nai: Just call me by my full name; actually, I don’t mind superadding a generation~]

[Call me Sister Ma or I’ll kick you: Haha, that’s just the opposite of Xiao Ni.]

[Call me Xiao Ni, don’t add a surname: There’s just one rental agency in our district, I’ve found the number for you.]

[Ye Nai: Thanks.]

Ye Nai made a call, and agreed with the agency to pick her up at the hotel the next morning.

After reporting back to the group chat that she had arranged to meet with the agent, exchanging a few words and saying goodnight, Ye Nai continued to browse the shopping app on her phone. She added the items she liked to the shopping cart without rushing to buy them, deciding to wait a few days and if she still wanted them then, she would place the order.

This was a small trick to control impulse shopping and avoid “chopping” (spending too much), taught by her computer crash course teacher. Impulse purchases of things you can’t eat or use, which would just waste space and money, were a waste of resources. Wasn’t it hard to make money these days?

After a good night’s sleep, the next morning the agent arrived on an electric scooter to pick her up. When Ye Nai went downstairs, she specifically rolled up the sleeves of her t-shirt to her shoulders, showing off her strength to make sure the agent did not underestimate her.

It wasn’t that she assumed all agents were lackluster, but just in case. When she had gone to the furniture market to buy furniture, she had encountered a male salesperson who was dripping with “dad vibes”, admonishing her as he tried to upsell her. She’d only wanted to buy a 1.2-meter single bed, but he insisted on recommending a larger, more expensive double bed, saying she wouldn’t think the bed too big once she got a boyfriend. He was both disgusting and greasy, and she turned her head to find a female salesperson who was sweet-talking, making her feel happy about her purchase.

When she met the agent, Ye Nai clearly saw his gaze circle around her arms, then he smiled politely, inviting her to sit in the back seat before they set off.

The ride from the hotel to the Yijia District took about fifteen minutes.

As she approached the district, Ye Nai noticed that the living conditions seemed much better compared to the area around the hotel, which had a strong sense of community life.

“The living conditions are pretty good here, it feels quite barren over by the hotel.”

“Residents of this district, whether they are Awakeners or ordinary people who can make money, aren’t wanting for cash. Business people naturally open shops around here; it’s a local affluent area. The hotel area is barren because it’s by the station and caters to passing trade.”

The agent considerately did not drive straight into the district but took a detour along the street, letting Ye Nai get a good look at the nearby environment.

“That’s great, I thought if I wanted to buy some daily necessities in the future, I would have to rely entirely on online shopping.”

“Hahaha, it’s not that bad,”

“Can’t blame me for thinking that way,” said Ye Nai, “the city always has rumors that there is a severe shortage of people in the three danger zones.”

“They lack ordinary people, not Awakeners. Mutant plants and beasts roam all over the danger zones, as well as the local mutated animals—they are all prey for Awakeners. It’s close to the Secret Realm, too. If you’re capable enough, you venture in there. As long as you come out alive, you’re bound to make money.”

The agent took Ye Nai back to the entrance of the district and swiped a card to get in.

“All the buildings here are low-rise, 30 in total, each with 12 floors, 6 units per building, and each unit has two apartments with one elevator between them.”

“The conditions are that good?”

“The residents here aren’t short on money.”

“The one we’re going to see is a two-bedroom apartment also with one elevator serving two apartments?”

“Right, but don’t be fooled by the two bedrooms. The interior area is 88 square meters, so some teams with fewer members rent two-bedroom apartments and install bunk beds, and by partitioning off the living room, turning it into a makeshift three-bedroom isn’t hard.”

“I am starting to look forward to it.”

Ye Nai was genuinely excited. The space was larger than her own home; her family’s two-bedroom apartment was less than 60 square meters and it was already cramped with six people living there. Now that her grandparents had come to stay temporarily, she felt very glad that she had decisively left.

They rode further into the community and arrived at Room 1 on the 10th floor of Unit 3 in Building 27.

Upon entering, they were greeted by a spacious and well-lit living room facing south, with a gleaming floor, the kitchen equipped with a range hood, and a bathroom with an electric water heater. Every room, including the balcony in the living room, had only ceiling lights as their source of illumination.

Beyond that, there were no other large appliances—no fans, air conditioning, refrigerators, or washing machines. The tiled floors shone so cleanly, you could see your reflection, and everywhere one looked, there were signs of a home that had been cleaned and maintained.

The layout was very simple: on the left was a south-facing living room, bedroom, and connected large balcony, and on the right there was a north-facing kitchen, bathroom, and another bedroom.

The two bedrooms had doors opposite each other, with the adjoining wall made into a closet that contained just a rod for hanging clothes and no shelves, making it easy to adjust the use and layout oneself. The apartment was bare, with no furniture or appliances, which pleased Ye Nai immensely.

She had bought all brand-new appliances and naturally wanted to use them. With the apartment so empty and clean, she could just pack her bags and move in.

After discussing the price with the agent, the simple yet fully equipped two-bedroom apartment, with no appliances, was going for 2600 a month, which worked out to about 30 per square meter. They settled on a deposit and one month’s rent upfront—5200 in total. This was for the landlord, and the agent also charged one month’s rent as a service fee.

Originally, when Ye Nai and her mother had looked up the average rent, it was 500, but such a place was like a motel standard room with an ensuite—there was no way to tell what the other conditions were like just from the internet.

The agent mentioned that most of these kinds of rooms were master bedrooms with bathrooms in privately transformed shared apartments. There was a high turnover of tenants, often ordinary people new to the area who needed a temporary place to stay. Once they began to work in the danger zones, even at 200 a day, the money earned in a month would be enough to move to a better place.

Ye Nai wasn’t short on money and didn’t want to keep moving, so she decided to rent a place that met her needs in one go.

Next was the process of formalities. Ye Nai transferred money to the landlord and the agent, then hitched a ride with the agent to the hotel to check out. When leaving the district gate, she showed the rental contract and got a gate card. Afterwards, she went back to the commercial streets near the district to do some shopping, and took the opportunity to post a message in the group, thanking everyone for the housing recommendations; she had secured the rental.

There were no replies in the group; all those team leaders had their main jobs and were probably busy at that time. Ye Nai didn’t mind, and put away her phone as she meandered through the shops.

The landlord did not allow damaging the walls, but had left removable spaces in the windows of the house, large enough to fit window air conditioners. Ye Nai bought three right on the commercial street—one big one for the living room. She took them home and managed to install them by herself. The air conditioning in the room facing north naturally drained water along the external wall, while the living room and the room facing south used buckets to catch the water.