Chapter 34: Chapter 34

“Huh? Who are you? Are you trying to tear down the building!?” Mrs. Lin snapped at the strange man who was at the door.

She just installed this door not long ago. The audacity of the man to bang on it so carelessly.

“You are asking who I am? Don’t you know who I am?” The man looked to be in his mid-forties and he carried a haughty air around him.

“How should I know? Have we met in the past?” Mrs. Lin raised a brow. “And mind how you speak. As you can see, I am older than you.”

“Hehe, you are as people said. You’re troublesome, Mrs. Lin.”

Mrs. Lin almost laughed. But she couldn’t when she had the urge to knock the man’s head.

“Well, I’ll introduce myself. My name is Jackson Su. People call me Mr. Su. And I’m the new caretaker of this Apartment Building.”

Annie had gone inside her room to change into something more presentable. She came out just at the moment the man introduced himself as Mr. Su.

“Why does Mr. Su ask for the rent? We just paid it not up to a month ago. Did you not receive our invoice?”

“Of course, I have received the invoice. But you paid the same price for both the store and the apartment.”

“Is that a problem?” Mrs. Lin asked. She didn’t like this new caretaker. “Haven’t we been paying the same price for both the store and apartment?”

“Hehe, things don’t work like that anymore.” Mr. Su’s demeanor turned into a calm one. Somehow, after seeing this beautiful girl, his anger seemed to have cooled down.

“So, Mrs. Lin.” He went on. “Unlike the apartment, your store consumes more electricity because I heard that you sell cool drinks. Instead of 14,000, I’m afraid you’ll be paying 18,000 for your store from now on.”

Both Annie and her mother exchanged shocked looks. 18,000!?

“Mr. Son or whatever you’re called, are you playing pranks on me!?” Mrs. Lin exclaimed. “The money I earn from that store isn’t even up to 18,000 per month.”

“You can’t blame me, it is an order from the landlord.”

“And who is that so-called landlord?” Mrs. Lin snapped.

The woman was so mad that if not for Annie holding her, she would have strangled the dumb-looking man.

“I can’t tell you the name of the landlord,” Mr. Su answered. “But we can talk things out–“ his eyes came to Annie and he chuckled. “How about we speak inside your apartment, Mrs. Lin?”

The neighbors had gathered around when they heard the commotion. They started whispering loudly when Mr. Su said his last words. Obviously, they had detected the hint in his request.

Ah! Annie possessed the charm to tempt men like Mr. Su.

“It hasn’t been long since the scandal occurred. I heard that guy dumped her on the spot.”

“Isn’t it because she’s too beautiful? If I was a man, I would feel insecure about marrying someone like her.”

“People at the event even claimed that the guy said something about how she was two-timing between him and another man.”

“All in all, Mrs. Lin is lucky. This Mr. Su seems strict, but he instantly melted when he saw Annie.”

“At least, Mrs. Lin will get to keep her store.”

“Argh! You–“ Mrs. Lin pointed at the neighbors. Clearly, she’d heard their words. “Don’t you have anything to do with your lives apart from gossiping? Do you find my daughter’s situation so funny that you can say whatever you like about it?”

“Is it our fault that she’s too beautiful?”

“Calm down, Mrs. Lin, we didn’t mean it that way.”

“Yes, if I had a daughter like Annie, I’d thank the heavens every day and welcome any kind of suitor with open arms.”

Mrs. Lin was so mad that she was unable to speak.

The neighbors’ words were like a boost to Mr. Su’s confidence. If he could have this beauty, what else could he wish for? Forget about his ugly wife, he could even abandon his children.

“So, Mrs. Lin. Hehe, we should enter your apartment, right? It will be uncomfortable to discuss in the presence of these many people.”

“No need.” Annie stared at him. “Is it not a rent increment? Mr. Su, expect the invoice in the evening.”

Her words shushed down the neighbors’ whispers. With a blank expression, the girl uttered the words in an indifferent tone.

Didn’t she just turn down Mr. Su’s secret offer?

The neighbors were not very surprised. This girl had always been arrogant whenever it came to accepting suitors. Countless men had tried to court her, and they received the same attitude.

The neighbors were almost convinced that the girl lacked a heart, until her engagement with Mr. Ju’an was announced some months ago.

Contrary to the neighbors’ thoughts, Mr. Su didn’t expect to be turned down so harshly. He recovered from his shock and tried to give it a second shot.

“Let’s not talk about the rent yet, we can discuss everything in your–“

“Mr. Su, did you not hear me right? You will get the invoice before evening. I believe you don’t have any reason to prolong the argument.”

“You–“

“If Mr. Su does not have anything else to say, please have a nice day.” The girl gave him a stiff smile then retained her blank expression.

Mr. Su left in shame, grumbling under his breath. This girl was thinking too highly of herself. He wasn’t ugly and he had a stable income, how dare she reject him?

‘Annie, right? Very soon, you’ll come begging me to take you as a mistress.’ Hadn’t the landlord handed the whole apartment building to him to manage?

Haha!

Mr. Su’s mood brightened up as he started devising plans in his head. He entered his car and left the district while whistling.

.

Back at the apartment building, the neighbors dispersed and Mrs. Lin entered the apartment with Annie.

“How are we going to afford that much money? Remember we spent everything on the wedding’s preparation.”

Mrs. Lin was pacing around, looking flabbergasted.

“Relax, Ma. I have 2,000 here.” Annie sat her down. “With this, we can pay for half of the money.”

“It is your last money, Annie. And I don’t have even a penny. How can we afford the rest?”

Annie was thinking about going to the local bank nearby. Before she could voice out her thoughts, Dylan staggered out of his room, rubbing his sleepy eyes.

“Isn’t it just 2,000? I have it here, Ma.”

“Eh?”