Chapter 14   – The Bottomline Continues to Drop (1)

As it was so elegantly put on the internet – poverty is the original sin, the source of all troubles. Yan Shuyu wasn’t able to resolve the issues at their sources, so after much consideration, she finally came to the painful conclusion that she would have to give up the idea of changing schools for her son as well.

But, she still needed to move, that was her very last stubbornness.

Worst case scenario, they wouldn’t move too far away. Just some distance between themselves and Hotel Dorsett and Zhou’s headquarters would be sufficient.

I’m such a genius and no issues could bring me down, thought Yan Shuyu happily to herself and she wasn’t distressed anymore. She went home with a spring in her steps and immediately picked up her phone and dialed the landlords’ number.

The landlords were a middle-aged couple. According to the novel’s introduction, they have cozy jobs and a lot of free time, so instead of using a management company, they handled all the rental processes themselves. The fact that they handled all these matters in person gave Yan Shuyu some wiggle room – if they used a management company, she wouldn’t even know who she could talk to.

Yan Shuyu was quite lucky today. After the call had gone through, it was the landlord, the more lenient of the two, who picked up the phone. After her changes-at-the-job-I-have-no-choice spiel, Uncle Landlord smiled and said, “Xiao Yan, normally under your circumstances, it’d be considered a breach of contract and we could keep all of the deposit, but we know that it wasn’t easy to be a single mother, so if you insist that the apartment and the furniture were all in good shape, we can consider refunding you the deposit….”

Then, Uncle Landlord suddenly switched the topic to a different angle and said, “But I suggest you to really think this through. We can refund you the deposit, but not the 6-month’s rent that you have paid in advance.”And all that happened just when Yan Shuyu thought that the landlord was such a great guy. She was dumbfounded hearing his words, “I paid 6 months in advance?”

“Yeah,” Uncle Landlord couldn’t help but chuckle, “We signed a contract. How could you forget that?”

Ah, she had wrongfully accused the original owner – instant son’s kindergarten cost over $20,000, 6-month’s rent plus deposit probably cost another ten of thousands of dollars. It was amazing that the original owner had any money left at all. Putting her hand over her chest, Yan Shuyu was amazed. After a little while, she explained awkwardly, “Yeah, it has been crazy busy at work. I was a little absent-minded.”

“It’s quite alright,” smiled the landlord heartily. “If you can figure something out on the other end, I think it’s best for you to stay the entire 6 months. If you still want to leave then, we can talk about the deposit. As you have already paid 6-months up front, it wouldn’t be in your best interest to move now.”

Poverty stunts ambitions, Yan Shuyu had no choice but to accept the landlord’s suggestion and agreed with him despite her heartache, “I guess you are right. When push comes to shove, I guess I will just have to look for a different job.”

Alright, so she couldn’t move to a different city, or switch her instant son to a different school. Now she couldn’t even meet her bare minimum goal of moving to a different place. As much as she was an optimist, Yan Shuyu couldn’t help but started wondering if she was just a useless piece of garbage once she was away from her parents and her ex-boyfriend.

The landlord, naturally, couldn’t feel her despair through the phone and continued to chuckle, “There are a ton of work in this city and Xiao Yan, you are so pretty. It won’t be difficult for you to change jobs!”

The shameless Yan Shuyu didn’t have any immunity toward anyone who praised about her looks in front of her. Every time she heard it, it brought a big smile on her instantly, as was right now. As soon as she heard the landlord’s word, she was revitalized right away and not despairing anymore. Happily, she nodded and said, “That’s what I am thinking too, it’s so easy to just change jobs!”

After she was done bemoaning, she didn’t forget to thank the landlord genuinely, “Thank you so much, Uncle Ye.”