Chapter 9: Zhu Li's Advice

The shared rental contract was signed quickly.

Lin Feng folded his copy and slipped it into his pocket.

It was almost noon, and Lin Feng was about to take his leave.

Zhu Li, however, spoke up first to keep him: "Lunch is about to be served, stay for a meal! I tell you, Wen Keke's cooking is delicious."

Having said that, Zhu Li turned her head and winked at Wen Keke.

Wen Keke immediately said: "Then I'll go buy groceries."

Having said that, she grabbed her bag and hurried out the door.

Lin Feng had intended to politely decline, but Wen Keke left too quickly.

If he left now, it would be refusing to give them face.

Zhu Li also didn't want to stay behind alone with Lin Feng, so she followed them out.

After the two women left, Lin Feng curiously surveyed the room's furnishings.

Before being rented out, the apartment had been fully renovated and equipped with all appliances.

But the furnishings inside were arranged by Wen Keke herself.

The dominant tone was pink.

The living room was filled with many cartoon dolls.

As for the bedroom, the doors were closed, and Lin Feng felt embarrassed to open them to look.

Having just drunk a cup of coffee brewed by Zhu Li, he now felt the need to use the restroom.

Lin Feng opened the bathroom door.

The bathroom was spacious, with a dry-wet separation.

Outside were the washbasin and toilet, plus a fully automatic washing machine; inside was the bathing area.

After draining the water, Lin Feng had intended to leave.

But out of curiosity, he pulled open the partition door and then drew aside the curtain.

Just then, with a 'pa' sound, a string of things fell into the large bathtub that still had water in it.

It was underwear.

It looked like it had just been taken out of the washing machine and hung nearby to air-dry.

Young women generally wouldn't hang their intimate clothing outside to dry.

They might even hang them where others could see.

"What should we do?"

Lin Feng felt a headache coming on.

After thinking, he reached in and fished the items out.

He took out a plastic bucket, added detergent, and gave them a scrub.

Lin Feng could be absolutely certain that these underwear belonged to Wen Keke.

Not only were they in her favorite pink, but some also had cartoon embroidery.

Hmm, why is there a thong…

At the same moment.

Wen Keke and Zhu Li had already walked out of the residential compound.

A little further over, about a hundred meters away, was a large chain supermarket.

"Keke, what do you think of this Yang Feng?"

Zhu Li linked arms with Wen Keke, smiling as she asked.

"What do you mean, how?"

Wen Keke pretended not to understand Zhu Li's words.

Zhu Li said: "Your sister, I have the keenest eye for men; this handsome guy is absolutely a top-notch man you couldn't find even with a lantern in Yanjingcheng."

"With such insight, why don't you go tell fortunes?" Wen Keke laughed and shook her head.

Zhu Li sighed and said: "For us women to get ahead in the workplace is harder than climbing to heaven."

You're still an unknown little clerk, and our company is run by women, so we don't have those petty tricks.

But you can't possibly stay at that company forever; once you quit and find a new job, you'll either work honestly for a dead-end salary.

After a few years like that, you won't even be able to afford an apartment; when you're older, your family will pressure you to marry.

Then come the endless blind dates on holidays; you haven't seen those oddball men—if they're ugly, that's one thing, but if they have a little money, they hold their noses high, like they're at an imperial beauty pageant.

If you want to get promoted and earn tens to hundreds of millions a year, you have to accept the workplace's unspoken rules……

"Sis, you're saying all this—surely you haven't experienced all of it, have you?"

After Zhu Li finished speaking, Wen Keke asked curiously.

Of course! I, your sister, am thirty this year, older than you, and there's nothing I haven't encountered.

I, old lady, no longer have any hopes; I'll just keep muddling along until one day I take a fancy to a man and marry him.

Having said that, a hint of gloom flickered in Zhu Li's eyes.

A thirty-year-old working woman always has a past she'd rather not recall, or one worth savoring.

When Wen Keke and Zhu Li returned, Lin Feng was already sitting on the sofa.

He was flipping through an advertising magazine in his hand.

In his previous life, Lin Feng had already trained himself to have a thick skin.

Having just finished washing the underwear, he only then realized that this might have been wrong.

But it was already too late to regret.

Seeing Wen Keke and Zhu Li return, Lin Feng's face didn't turn red at all.

Even if he were discovered, he could still keep his composure.

As long as he himself isn't embarrassed, then the embarrassed ones are others.

Wen Keke went into the kitchen to cook.

Zhu Li obviously wasn't good at cooking, so she sat down to chat idly with Lin Feng.

"Handsome guy, with so many apartments, when you collect rent, you must have run into all kinds of weird tenants, right?"

After saying that, Zhu Li's mouth corner twitched slightly upward.

Lin Feng nodded, "Mm! All kinds of people exist."

"Then tell me about it."

Zhu Li looked at Lin Feng with an eager expression.

Lin Feng said with a smile, "Have you ever seen a lazy person who doesn't go out for half a year, orders takeout for meals, relies on online shopping for daily necessities, and doesn't even want to throw out the trash?"

"Go on."

Zhu Li became even more eager.

Lin Feng glanced toward the kitchen, smiling as he said, "Last Tuesday I went to collect rent; the tenant was a young woman."

As soon as the door opened, a foul smell wafted out, the kind of smell from a garbage heap.

The whole living room was piled with takeout boxes, used tissues, dirty clothes, even used sanitary pads; in several rooms, delivery cardboard boxes were stacked to the ceiling.

Even the bedroom where she slept was a filthy mess. When I saw my own place turn out like that, I can't describe how awful it felt.

"There really are people like that! What happened then?" Zhu Li asked curiously again.

Lin Feng gave a wry smile: "Of course I treated her like an ancestor and had her evicted, then called in a cleaning company; it took most of a day to get the place clean."

"Any more weirdos?" Zhu Li asked again.

Lin Feng then brought up the family of Yang Long and Yang Fei in Spring Garden.

After saying that, Zhu Li chuckled and said, "You're pretty ruthless; if it were me, I couldn't last even a night. But this family is just too shameless, too excessive—you let them off so easily."

Lin Feng said lightly, "If it weren't for those four kids, I certainly wouldn't have let them off so lightly."

Feeling his tone had grown a bit harsh, Lin Feng smiled again and said, "There are also tenants who, without saying a word, renovate the place and then, when moving out, demand that I pay for the renovation costs…"

Zhu Li listened to Lin Feng's narration and kept giggling.

Lin Feng actually understood Zhu Li's purpose in asking these questions.

She just wanted to find out exactly how many properties he owned.

In Jinhuxiaoqu, as far as Zhu Li knew, there were two units.

In Spring Garden, at least twelve units.

When Lin Feng dealt with the Yang family, he used the method of waiving one month's rent, so the tenants of that three-story building temporarily moved out.

One could say that the half-year's rent paid by the Yang family still didn't cover the money Lin Feng spent dealing with them.

But even if it meant a loss, Lin Feng would not compromise.

Besides that, there are another two or three units.

At least twenty-plus units!

All are located in the central district of Yanjing, and the monthly rent collected is at least 100,000.

This is surely just the tip of the iceberg of the properties Lin Feng owns.