Chapter 14 The First Tenant

Another day passed, and there was still no news of Li Xiaoyan, everyone was certain that she was genuinely missing. Apart from worry, there was an underlying fear in everyone's hearts. How did a perfectly fine person just disappear? The outside world seemed too dangerous.

Gu Fan was restless, without any appetite. It wasn't because he was worrying about Li Xiaoyan, but he was worrying about Lin Xi and even a little bit about himself.

The first to disappear was Zhao Rui, the second was Li Xiaoyan. Would there be a third, a fourth? Gu Fan had contemplated this horrifying possibility before, but with the disappearance of Li Xiaoyan, the likelihood seemed to be increasing.

Gu Fan hoped that he was just being overly sensitive, that it was all just a series of coincidences. So, the possible third disappearance became critical. If there truly was a third, Gu Fan hoped with all his heart that it wouldn't be Lin Xi.

However, after a day of fear and apprehension, Gu Fan sadly discovered that as a mere student, there was nothing he could do. "Am I really just supposed to wait for something to happen before taking action? But would it be too late then?" Zhao Rui hadn't been found, and Li Xiaoyan's disappearance remained a mystery.

Sighing, Gu Fan opened his laptop and looked up cases of disappearances. He found various supernatural incidents where people behaved bizarrely before vanishing- jumping around, crying and laughing, as if bewitched. The more Gu Fan read, the more scared he became, until he finally had to close the web page.

"It's ok, it's ok. Don't scare yourself," Gu Fan forcefully calmed himself down, trying to distract himself with other thoughts. His mind then drifted to the twenty thousand yuan he had to pay as compensation for the bar fight.

Right now, Gu Fan would rather face the not insignificant sum of compensation than think about the mysterious disappearances. So, he opened a rental website and put up the details of his old house for short-term rental, for at most two nights.

This was his first time doing business, and Gu Fan was unsure. He referred to a lot of information from chain hotels and set what he thought was a reasonable price. He anticipated that many people who came to the city for work and hadn't found a suitable place yet, might consider his offer.

After posting the rental information, Gu Fan didn't feel any anticipation for the first renter to bring in the first bundle of cash. He couldn't resist worrying about Li Xiaoyan, even imagining her parents going frantic with worry. He wondered why would a nice person just disappear, where had things gone wrong, leading to various supernatural disappearances.

"Oh my god, I will have nightmares tonight," Gu Fan sighed. Suddenly, the ring of the phone scared him half to death, causing him to break out in cold sweat.

Gu Fan picked up his phone while cursing whoever was calling this late, and noticed it was an unknown number. He immediately had a bad feeling, because he'd just been reading about strange happenings at night and was afraid of hearing something weird on the call.

"Don't be afraid, I believe in science," Gu Fan plucked up his courage and answered the call, saying, "Hello?"

A cold voice came from the other end, "Is this the place with the short-term rental? Can I come over to take a look?"

"Y... Yes," Gu Fan was surprised that his rental information received a call so soon. It seemed his location was quite popular.

"Wait, it's too late to come and see the apartment now, isn't that a bit abnormal? Would I be the next one to disappear?" Gu Fan became more and more scared, and he regretted not suggesting the caller come during the day. However, it was too late now, as he had already given them the address.

"What should I do, what should I do," Gu Fan was running in circles with worry. He finally figured out to call for backup and dialed Lu Yi's number, but it was out of service. Just when he needed it, there was no service.

In the end, Gu Fan called up the person who wanted to see the house, saying it was too late and not convenient to see the house. The response he got was a mildly angry voice, "What? You tell me now that it's too late? I already left my house and am almost at your place. Are you going to pay for my cab ride?" And with that, the call was cut.

Seeing the other party's determination and strong attitude, Gu Fan felt even more uneasy, thinking, "Don't panic, it's my territory."

So, Gu Fan began to hide kitchen knives, mops, and other tools he could use to defend himself. If the visitor meant harm, Gu Fan planned to pull out a weapon unexpectedly.

"But what if not one person comes, but several? Two fists can't fight four hands," Gu Fan glanced outside the window. His neighbor's light was still on, his only hope if things got out of hand was to scream for help.

In a state of nervous anxiety, Gu Fan sat in the living room for nearly half an hour. Despite readying himself for a fight, he was inwardly trembling. Then, the sound of knocking on the door startled him, causing him to break out in a cold sweat and his heart rate picked up.

"They're here, they're here!" Gu Fan tried to speak, but didn't have the courage to open the door. He wasn't keen on becoming the third person to disappear. However, the persistent knocking conveyed an unyielding spirit, forcing Gu Fan to confront the situation.

"What's there to be afraid of, let's do this," Gu Fan gritted his teeth, stomped his foot and mustered his courage. As he swung the door open, ready to strike first and gain the upper hand, the sight that met his eyes left him dumbfounded.

Not only was Gu Fan at a loss, but even the people who came to look at the house were taken aback, seemingly unable to believe the situation before them.

"Aren't you that female cop?" Gu Fan exclaimed in total surprise, he'd never have guessed that Su Hui would be the one looking at the house.

Similarly, Su Hui hadn't expected this either, she couldn't help but sigh, "Wow, so you live here." After uttering these words, she stepped inside and took in the spacious living room and felt a sense of surprise and wonder.

As Su Hui walked around the living room, she observed her surroundings, but her focus seemed scattered, it was unclear what she was thinking about.

Meanwhile, Gu Fan was standing by the side, a whirl of thoughts in his mind, and he didn't know quite what to say to welcome the potential tenant.

The silence was broken when Su Hui suddenly asked, "Are you living here alone?"

Gu Fan nodded, "Yes, I live here alone. My parents sometimes come by. There are many rooms here and they are mostly unused, so I thought about renting them out to cover tuition fees."

Next, she glanced at the kitchen and the bathroom. Both were rather worn and not quite up to her liking, Su Hui then asked, "Can you show me the rooms?"

"Sure!" Led by Gu Fan, they moved upstairs. Gu Fan showed Su Hui the vacant rooms. The furniture was mediocre, the rooms slightly large, and again, a bit worn out.

Seeing Su Hui's underwhelmed expression, Gu Fan became worried that she might not be interested. If she didn't like it, would other potential tenants feel the same way? His plan to rent out the rooms for short term to reduce his debts would be ruined.

Just as Gu Fan was growing anxious, Su Hui threw another question at him, "Are your parents aware that you're renting out their home? Do they approve?"

Hearing this, Gu Fan felt a chill run down his spine. He was taken aback by her thoroughness. After a pause, he assured her, "Don't worry, my parents have entrusted this house to me, they won't mind as long as the house isn't demolished."

On receiving this assurance, Su Hui gave a simple 'oh' and shot Gu Fan a curious look, as if trying to decipher a lie. Her increasingly mischievous smile made Gu Fan quite nervous. He wondered what she had in mind next.

Pitted against someone with years of experience in law enforcement, Gu Fan, with little worldly experience, didn't feel quite confident. But he thought he should still make a move, and asked, "Aren't you a local? I reckon you must have a place to stay, why are you looking for a room?"

"I had a quarrel with my family. You can think of it as me running away from home in a fit of temper," Su Hui replied vaguely and changed the topic, "I lead a busy life and I don't want the to-and-fro of house-hunting. I trust you so I'll rent it. If it's a short-term lease, how much does it cost per day?"

"It's not much, five hundred per day," responded Gu Fan, trying to sound calm but gleeful inside, "Serves you right! You're looking for a place this late. With no place to stay, you are desperate to find one. Let's see how well I fare as a cunning businessman. I'll fleece you."

However, Su Hui's reaction to hearing the price was calm, to the point of disdain, she asked, "Isn't this kind of short-term rental a legal housing lease? Besides, it has commercial properties like hotels. Did you get it registered?"

"Registration? That too is necessary?" Gu Fan seemed bewildered. It was his first time renting the house and based on the countless rental advertisements around, he hadn't found it to be such a hassle.

Su Hui turned grave, "If you don't get it registered, the property rental market will be in chaos. Being a cop, I have dealt with a lot such cases. Didn't expect to run into one today. So, what will it be, administrative detention or a fine of a thousand?"

"No, please! No detention, no fine. I'm just a poor student. It was out of ignorance that I posted the rental advertisement," Gu Fan was truly scared. He didn't know if she was threatening him or not, but it worked.

In the end, Su Hui ruthlessly cut down the price to three hundred. Although he was left with a sense of injustice and felt exploited, Gu Fan thought he'd better swallow his resentment.

After paying for two days' rent, Su Hui felt extremely pleased to see Gu Fan looking dejected while writing her a receipt. It felt rather enjoyable bullying a young boy like him, she thought. Besides, the lad was handsome, albeit a bit young – a fairly cute newbie.

"Sorry, I am a criminal police officer, and property rentals generally fall under the jurisdiction of commercial departments. Ha ha, you are indeed easy to handle."