Chapter 882: 479 Change

「……」

Hearing the superintendent's elderly woman's concerns, Leon, after his initial surprise, suddenly realized that the situation at Happiness Apartment was not as simple as it seemed.

The elderly couple who managed the building were simply too "human," causing him to always treat them like two especially kind neighbors, overlooking their non-human nature.

The birth of Happiness Apartment, aside from the anomalous seed provided by the Water Bearer Director, also stemmed from the gratitude and longing of those whom the elderly couple had helped decades ago in the old charity home, and their deep-seated hope that the couple still existed.

Thus, as an anomalous object, though they served as managers and even drew salaries from the city government, they were in truth " Fushu " of the building itself, not true humans, and could not exist independently of the apartment.

And anomalous objects themselves are not indestructible.

My witch's broom, for instance, ceased all response after being snapped—if the city department merely maintained it, it likely wouldn't affect the couple's existence, but if large-scale renovation or expansion truly occurred, the outcome would be uncertain.

"I can't say for sure…"

After understanding the crux of the matter, Leon's expression grew serious. After a moment's thought, he proposed:

"How about this? I can file a report with the Clearance Bureau, under the guise of preserving the anomalous object, to halt this renovation, then secure a large sum of funding so you can decide for yourselves how to proceed—this way, you won't have to worry about anything happening to you."

"Hmm…"

But to Leon's surprise, upon hearing his suggestion, the superintendent's elderly woman hesitated slightly, then shook her head and refused:

"Don't do that. Let the apartment be renovated normally. Rather than stopping the renovation or expansion, my husband and I would rather you simply ask them—after the expansion—to not evict the tenants or raise the rent here."

"That won't happen."

Though he disliked using the privileges granted by his noble status, such a reasonable request gave Leon no reason to refuse—he nodded immediately in agreement.

But then, he hesitated slightly and added:

"But is it really safe? I can't determine whether this expansion counts as maintenance or as damage to Happiness Apartment itself—if the outcome leans toward destruction, you and Uncle John might truly vanish!"

"It's fine."

Upon hearing Leon's promise, the superintendent's elderly woman smiled with relief and explained:

"This place really needs a good repair—the handrails on the stairs are missing long stretches. Every time your two little ones run wild inside, I'm terrified they'll fall down the stairs."

"Besides, Hannah and the other households here are planning to have children in the next couple of years—can we really let those kids grow up in such an unsafe place?"

"Aunt Mary, these two things aren't mutually exclusive."

Leon insisted:

"From what I understand of anomalous objects, if the renovation isn't led by the city but instead carried out by you two, it should minimize the impact—so even with major repairs, you'd likely still continue to exist."

"No, don't."

After a moment of thought, the superintendent's elderly woman shook her head, her expression gentle as she refused:

"We can only do minor repairs—we have no ability to expand the building. But the people from the city say they've already negotiated with the surrounding buildings, even secured the abandoned factory behind us, and plan to expand Happiness Apartment eight or nine times its size."

"Besides continuing to offer low-cost housing, they also intend to reopen the old charity home, taking in children from the old district who've lost their parents, providing basic education and teaching practical skills for livelihood."

"According to them, this is Princess Wang Nuwei's new decree—since children represent a nation's future, under favorable conditions, the budget will prioritize education and childcare, with substantial annual allocations."

As she spoke, the superintendent's elderly woman seemed to have fully made up her mind. She smiled slightly, embarrassed, then added cheerfully as Leon remained silent:

"I've never really cared about policies or decrees—I didn't understand most of what they said—but if this means more homeless children can be cared for, then it's a good thing. So let them do it however they want!"

"But if expansion truly happens, your chance of vanishing along with Happiness Apartment will be extremely high."

After thinking it over, Leon pressed on:

"Here's an idea—I can ask them to skip the Happiness Apartment area entirely during expansion, only altering the surrounding areas. That way, both can remain."

"No, don't bother."

Watching Leon's determined effort to preserve Happiness Apartment, the superintendent's elderly woman pondered, lowered her gaze to her knitting, then smiled warmly as she refused:

"Happiness Apartment faces the street corner—if we're skipped, the future charity home and apartment will either have to detour or carve out a new side path behind us—it'd be terribly inconvenient."

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"Besides, my husband and I have lived long enough—counting both our lives and afterlives, I'm already over one hundred and fifty years old. Three people who issued our city salaries have already died of old age. There's no need to cling on any longer!"

"But…"

"Thank you, good child. I know you don't want us to vanish, but we've truly made up our minds."

Seeing Leon still seemed ready to speak, the superintendent's elderly woman softly explained:

"At first, we wanted to survive to care for the children who were cast out. After they all… left, we felt life in the capital was hard for good people, so we wanted to help whenever we could."

"But we were never remarkable in life, nor powerful after death—we could do little. We simply helped whoever we saw in need."

"Now, with this good news, once the new charity home is built, our old building and the small patch of land behind it can help even more people. We're content—no regrets left."

"Alright…"

Leon hadn't expected Princess Wang Nuwei's rise to power to affect Happiness Apartment's existence. Seeing the superintendent's elderly woman's face now serene and gentle after speaking her mind, he nodded, no longer pressing—choosing to respect their will.

Yet, respect aside, there were still things he must try.

Noticing the faint hope in the superintendent's elderly woman's expression—he knew she too longed to see the new charity home—he ventured:

"I won't stop them from expanding Happiness Apartment, but I'll try to minimize changes to the original structure, without disrupting the layout, to preserve your essence."

"Also, I understand a little of the secret art the Water Bearer Director used to create you. When the city begins construction, I'll attempt to use that art to merge you two with the new charity home… What do you think?"

Merge us with the new charity home?

Hearing Leon's suggestion, the superintendent's elderly woman was slightly moved, yet hesitated:

"But would that affect…"

"No."

Leon shook his head:

"Think of it as a part-time job—you'll still manage Happiness Apartment, and now also serve as managers and gardeners of the new charity home!"

Here, Leon paused slightly, then turned to the superintendent's elderly woman, who still looked uncertain:

"Aunt Mary, you don't want to vanish before the new charity home opens, do you?"