My 26-Year-Old Female Tenant

Chapter 002: The Woman Who Drives a Q7

I took another look at the woman sitting before me. Her posture was upright, her long wavy hair draped over her shoulders. Her skin was fair, her figure slender, and the corners of her lips were slightly upturned with a hint of confident sharpness. Simply put, she was a breathtaking beauty. The moment I laid eyes on her, it felt as if everything in the world could be forgiven.

Old Li waved me over. "Zhaoyang, come here. I need to talk to you."

"It's about the rent, isn't it? I'll pay it all next month when I get my salary, okay?" I put on an ingratiating smile. After all, I had owed Old Li rent for quite some time.

"It's about the house... Uh... I've already sold it to this young lady."

"You sold the house?! Who the hell is dumb enough to buy this run-down apartment that could collapse with just a small tremor?!" I blurted out while glaring at the woman. Facing the imminent threat of homelessness, I couldn't care less about her elegance and beauty—I was pissed!

Old Li awkwardly glanced at the frowning woman, then turned back to me and said, "You need to move out tonight. I won't charge you for the past few months' rent."

"Old Li, the older you get, the more of a coward you become! Even if you wanted to sell the house, couldn't you at least have given me a heads-up? Now it's pouring outside, and where the hell am I supposed to find a new place?"

"Just find a hotel for the night." Old Li remained indifferent to my predicament.

"You don't even own this place anymore, so shut the hell up!" I snapped at Old Li before turning to the woman. "So the house belongs to you now. How about I continue renting it from you?"

She shook her head. "I bought it for myself. I have no intention of renting it out."

That set me off even more. "Miss, are you serious? You're driving a luxury SUV worth over a million yuan, and you want to live in this dilapidated place?! Are you doing this just to spite me?"

Ignoring my anger, she replied calmly, "You have one hour to move out."

Before she could finish her sentence, I interrupted her. "Not moving. Have you ever seen someone kicked out without any prior notice?" With that, I plopped down on the couch right next to her. Instinctively, she shifted away.

Lighting a cigarette, I surveyed the old apartment, feeling an overwhelming sense of loss. For the past two years since I moved to Suzhou, I had lived here. This small, broken-down place had sheltered me through the most difficult period of my life.

I had once confided in the living room clock, poured my heart out to the old floor lamp in the bedroom, and treated every object here as a loyal friend through thick and thin. Leaving this place felt like losing my last emotional anchor.

The smoke I exhaled seemed to irritate her. She stood up abruptly and moved to the other side of the room.

I sighed at my own misfortune. It was as if all the bad luck in the world had conspired against me today, each piece of bad news stacking on top of the last.

After a few moments, Old Li spoke up, breaking the tense silence between us. "I've got some things to take care of at home. You two can sort this out on your own." Without waiting for a response, he bolted out the door as if he had just dumped a hot potato.

Now, it was just me and her.

Outside, the wind howled and the rain lashed against the windows. The terrible weather made me even more reluctant to leave. I decided to stay put and see who would give in first. After all, I had nothing but time.

I struck up a conversation. "Miss, may I know your name?"

She remained stone-faced. "Does it matter?"

"Of course, it matters. I’d like to know the name of the person responsible for making me homeless on a stormy night."

She ignored the sarcasm in my voice and coldly stated, "You have 40 minutes left. If you don’t leave by then, I’ll call the police."

Just as I was about to argue, my phone rang. I frowned at her before taking it out of my pocket. Seeing Le Yao’s name on the screen only made my irritation worse.

I picked up, annoyed. "What now? Didn’t I already give you money?"

Le Yao hesitated before speaking. "Zhaoyang, tomorrow is the weekend… Can you come with me to the hospital for a follow-up checkup?"

"Are you sure the baby was mine? Can't you ask a friend to go with you? Do you think I have nothing better to do?" I fired back, hoping to intimidate her into dropping the request.

"I have no other friends in this city except for you."

"You’re mistaken. We were just sleeping together, not friends. Do you even know what ‘friends with benefits’ means?"

Ignoring me, she lowered her voice and said, "I’m really scared… If you don’t come, I’ll just let fate take its course. I won’t get the checkup."

I sighed, trying to be patient. "You went alone today, didn’t you? Should be even easier tomorrow, right?"

"It’s because I went alone today that I realized how terrifying it is!"

Her persistence was driving me insane. Losing my patience, I swore, "For f**k’s sake—"

"Yeah, f**k me! That’s how I ended up pregnant! I should have had the baby just to raise them and tell them their father is a heartless bastard!" she yelled before hanging up.

"What a mess." I lit another cigarette and smacked my forehead in frustration. Two years of casual flings, and I had never met a girl as troublesome as Le Yao. Despite her righteous indignation, I knew just as certainly as she did—the baby wasn’t mine. The fact that she claimed I was her only friend only made me more convinced she was conning me. Just last week, I saw her post a picture on Weibo partying in a bar with a bunch of people.

"Scumbag."

I looked up and saw the woman glaring at me with undisguised disgust. Since it was just the two of us in the room, there was no doubt she was talking about me.

"You eavesdropped on my call?" I asked, unfazed by her insult. I wasn’t even sure myself if I counted as a scumbag or not.

"You have 30 minutes left." Her voice was colder than before.

It really was a miserable, stormy night. After giving all my cash to Le Yao, I was broke. Where was I supposed to go? The world was vast, yet I suddenly had nowhere to stay.

After a moment of silence, I said, "Miss, look at the storm outside. It’s late. Moving out tonight just isn’t practical."

She glanced at the window before relenting slightly. "When will you leave?"

"Tomorrow."

"What time?"

"Before 1 PM." I softened my tone, knowing I’d be asking her for a favor soon.

She nodded. "Then leave for now. Be on time tomorrow."

I didn’t move. Instead, I leaned slightly toward her and hesitated before asking, "Miss… Can you lend me some money?"

She seemed surprised but remained firm. "I have no obligation to lend you money."

"No? Then I’m not leaving. I have no money, so I can’t exactly sleep under a bridge, can I?" I said, lying down on the couch defiantly.

She looked at me like I was a plague but unexpectedly pulled out a bank card. "Password is six zeros. Have everything settled by 1 PM tomorrow."

I took the card, grinning. "No problem!"

As I left, I half-joked, half-seriously said, "Miss, how about we live together? I can cook, give massages, and make sure you’re comfortable after a long day at work…"

"Get out!" she snapped, hurling a cushion at me with pinpoint accuracy.