Chapter 02

"Why don't you open the umbrella?"

A cute voice roused Shannchyuan from his reverie. He felt the raindrops had fallen from the sky. He at once opened the umbrella in his hand.

"Thank you,"

Shannchyuan turned to the voice's source. He smiled at the person who had just knocked him out of his reverie. Her voice sounded familiar. As soon as his eyes saw the voice's owner, he was astonished. The umbrella handle almost fell from his grasp. The cute voice owner's face was very like someone he had known several years ago. For a second, Shannchyuan hesitated. Were this person and that person the same? But there was no way that person could be here. Besides, this person looked a lot younger than that person.

"You're welcome,"

She answered while she was smiling and holding a brightly colored umbrella.

"You seem to confuse,"

Suddenly she said that with a serious face.

"Confuse?"

With a confused look, Shannchyuan asked her. He had not been confused earlier, just daydreaming instead. Something that he never forgets to do when he was alone. But her recent question might confuse him.

"Yes, you look confused. You look like someone who is lost. Are you new here?"

This time, the question was obvious enough that Shannchyuan could answer it right away.

"I've lived here for more than a year. I was just thinking about something. So, it may seem like someone who is lost."

"I see. Sorry, I was wrong."

She smiled.

"Never mind. Thanks again."

She then reached into the pocket of her jacket.

"May I ask you a question?"

Before Shannchyuan answered the question, she took out a piece of paper and handed it to him.

"Do you know this address?"

Shannchyuan instantly grabbed the paper. After watching it for a while, he then replied,

"It's two blocks from here. Just go straight. There'll be a gigantic sign with the name of the place on it so it won't be mistaken."

It seems the brief explanation was satisfactory to her.

"Thank you,"

She put the paper back into her jacket pocket.

Shannchyuan continued his words,

"But I don't know if the place is still open or closed. It's already dusk. Maybe it's better for you to go there tomorrow morning."

Hearing Shannchyuan's answer, she looked like she was considering something. But then she said,

"That's right. It's almost night. Most likely, the place was closed. But I wouldtry it, anyway. If it's closed, then I would try again tomorrow."

After saying so, she excused herself and immediately left for the place had shown by Shannchyuan.

Shannchyuan looked at the back of the person who was rushing in the direction he had shown. Her brightly colored umbrella swayed from side to side. Looked harmonious and in line with her light but fast footsteps. In an instant, that person's figure shrank and slowly disappeared from Shannchyuan's sight. Even the way she moved was similar to someone from his past.

"Today is an exhausting day," Shannchyuan muttered to himself.

It had been almost three months since Shannchyuan had had no job. Previously, he had worked part-time at a bookstore. He didn't want to work full time because he didn't want to be tied down in that place. Three months ago, the bookstore had to close because the owner sold the site to someone else. The person who had bought the store wanted to turn it into a cafe. The old owner then had moved to another city. Previously, he had lived alone. His relatives, who had lived in another city, invited him to live with them.

The bookstore was a used bookstore. The old owner had sold all the existing books to another used bookstore. The other bookstore would accept Shannchyuan and other clerks, whose total number was only six people. But the other bookstore wasin another city so that Shannchyuan couldn't work there. Shannchyuan felt comfortable living in this city and wanted to stay here for a few more years. The new cafe that had replaced the used bookstore could not accept Shannchyuan because they thought Shannchyuan was too old to work there. Not suitable for the cafe's target market, namely the younger generation and adolescents.

Last year Shannchyuan had arrived in this city. An enormous city. This city has a square shape, each side about 160 kilometers long. With a population density of up to 25000 people per square kilometer, the permanent resident in this city reaches over 600 million. It was even more during the day because many commuters lived in the surrounding cities and commuted every day to work in this city. There was so much to explore in this city. One reason Shannchyuan had moved to this city was to explore all corners of the city, which had a very long history.

Therefore, since coming here, Shannchyuan had always chosen to work part-time only, so he had more free time to travel around the city.

After a moment's pause, then Shannchyuan also left that place. He went home because it was getting dark. The place he called home would soon not be his home. The landlord increased the rental price of the house. Shannchyuan couldn't afford the new price this time. The house was not big, but the location was very strategic, so it was only natural for the landlord to increase the rental price. He was the new landlord. The old landlord had passed away last month and had left the property to his family. This new landlord was the nephew of the old landlord. When he was still alive, the old landlord had promised not to raise rental rates for his homes shortly. Of course, after he died, the heir had the right to decide what to do with the house. It would still be leased as it was, or it would be sold. Two weeks ago, the new landlord had said he had no plans to sell the house soon but asked for an increase in the rent if the tenants still wanted to live there.

The old landlord properties had been scattered all over the city. The house Shannchyuan lived in was one of them. He felt comfortable inside the house he rented a year ago. He did not live alone. Apart from him, four other people also lived there. They were Yihshyong, Jenqyih, Iren, and Shinnshiow. There was one more person, Chioujen. But six months ago, Chioujen had moved to another city. The company he worked for opened a new branch in another city. They had sent Chioujen there. All of them lived under one roof. According to their calculations, living together in the house was much cheaper.

The old landlord, in his old age, had other priorities for the rest of his life. Renting out his property was not intended to make a profit. Having someone who could take care of the property was enough for him, so he had charged very cheap rents. Although the house was not big, there are three bedrooms in it, so it was enough for the five or six of them. Those three bedrooms were not large but felt comfortable.

The house's lease would be ended the next day, so they had to search for a new site quickly. The new landlord had given them one week to find a new place to live in. So this one week must be appropriately used to find it. Of course, they realized it was tough to find a new place to live that was comparable to the house they lived in, but they would try to find a suitable location. Maybe they could rent a small apartment for a while. Even a one-bedroom apartment was fine, as long as it fits their budget.

Not long after, Shannchyuan arrived at his residence. The other four residents were already in the house.

"Dahge, How is it today?"

When Yihshyong, one of the occupants, sawShannchyuan coming, he at once asked while putting cookies into his mouth. The other occupants had always called Shannchyuan Dahge because Yihshyong and all other people living there were younger than Shannchyuan. They consideredShannchyuan as their leader. Not because he was wiser or more experienced, but simply because he was the oldest. Shannchyuan himself sometimes felt that he was often acting so immature that he seemed like the youngest of them all.

Moreover, Shannchyuan's appearance was much younger than his proper age, so it was not uncommon for people to think that Shannchyuan was the youngest of the five or six of them. Yihshyong was the second oldest. At first glance, he resembled Shannchyuan. His stature was not much different. Their height and weight were roughly the same so that Shannchyuan and Yihshyong could easily borrow clothes from each other. In terms of appearance, Yihshyong was the second youngest.

"What do you mean?" Shannchyuan asked back. Without waiting for Yihshyong's reply, he continued,

"There has been no progress today. Neither a matter of residence nor work. Hahaha........"

This time he laughed.

From one bedroom came out another occupant. Looking at Shannchyuan, he said,

"Iren got us good news."

"What good news?" Shannchyuan asked curiously.

"Let him explain it. Now he's taking a shower," That other occupant replied with a big laugh.

He was Jenqyih, a very cheerful person. Jenqyih was the tallest person among them. He was not very tall, but because Shannchyuan and Yihshyong were relatively short, Jenqyih looked very tall.

After waiting for a while, Iren finished the shower and came out of the bathroom. He had already known that Shannchyuan was waiting for his answer. Then he said,

"Do you still remember Tsaehorng?"

Shannchyuan raised his eyebrows, "Do you mean, a kid, who we helped six months ago?"

"Yes," Iren nodded while firmly answered.

"I met him today. He offered to help us. So, it turns out his family is the owner of Shindongchaang."

Everyone knows Shindongchaang was a large company that operates in various fields. One of the Shindongchaang business fields was warehousing.

Iren stopped talking for a moment, then continued his words again.

"Although he cannot help us financially, he can lend us several small warehouses to store our belongings. We have to consider the possibility of that next week we haven't got a new place to live yet."

"We don't need a large warehouse because we don't have a lot of stuff." This time Yihshyong joined the conversation.

Iren nodded his head, then said.

"He can't possibly lend us an enormous warehouse. He was not an executive or anything in his family's company. So, all he can do is lending us small warehouses like the lockers that are scattered all over the city. Of course, we still have to pay."

As far as Shannchyuan knew, the Shindongchaang warehousing business comprises large warehouses in particular locations. Besides, their lockers were scattered all over the city, such as train stations, shopping malls, and other places.

"We can store items in small warehouses such as lockers at stations near here or other stations. In contrast to lockers managed by the station, which are usually only for storage of goods, because the maximum is only two weeks, this Shindongchaang locker exactly like their warehouses; we can rent it monthly or annually. He said we can use it for up to three years," Iren said happily.

"So, how much do we have to pay?" Shannchyuan asked seriously.

"We get a 98% discount," Iren answers quickly. "This payment is just a formality because they can't provide this service for free, so we have to rent it."

Hearing that, Shannchyuan thought they just got a jackpot.

"Wow...." Shannchyuan nodded with a smile.

We have solved one problem. So now we just need to find a place to live that doesn't need to be big. The most important thing is we can sleep and take a shower there.

"Eh, wait a minute," Jenqyih suddenly interrupted their conversation. "How big the locker do we get?"

"2x2x2 meters," Iren explained. That's the biggest size in the station."

"Is it enough for all of our stuff?" Jenqyih uttered in a slightly worried tone. Among the five,

Jenqyih's items were the most.

"Of course, that's enough. We can rent six units. I think we have to include Chioujen. So each of us gets one." Iren explained clearly.

"It's awesome then," Jenqyih laughed.

Suddenly Shinnshiow, the fifth occupant, appeared from the kitchen. He had not taken part in the conversation because he was cooking.

"Dinner is ready. Let's eat now."

And the five of them rushed to eat the dish Shinnshiow had prepared. Tonight they could sleep soundly because there was one less thing to think about.