Chapter 002
Duanmuh Shannchyuan
Crimson sky quickly darkened that evening, like an arrow shooting out of a bow. The chilly wind was caressing the skin quite tightly. That gale gusts incessantly swept the streets, which were still covered by the busyness of everyday life. Like the previous day, the sky was cloudy, ready to pour out all the drops of water on the face of the earth.
"Why don't you open the umbrella?"
A cute voice roused Duanmuh 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 daydreaming. 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 split second, Shannchyuan hesitated. He thought they were the same person. But he immediately brushed off the possibility. His old acquaintance couldn't possibly be in this place. Besides, she looked much younger than his acquaintance.
"You're welcome," she answered while she was smiling and holding a brightly colored umbrella. She paused for about five seconds. Then suddenly, with a serious face, she said, "I notice you looked confused."
"Do I look confused?" With a confused look, Shannchyuan asked her. Nothing confused him earlier. He just daydreaming instead. Something that he never forgot to do when he was alone. But the question she just asked might confuse him.
Did I look so pathetic?
The young woman showed an expression like a person who was worried that she just had made a big mistake. Slowly she continued, "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."
"The last few days, it has always rained before and shortly after sunset. So every day, we have to carry an umbrella when we go outside." She said while looking up at the inside of her umbrella.
"That's right! It's quite strange the weather recently. But fortunately, it usually rains only briefly. So if we don't bring an umbrella, then we can just find a place to take shelter temporarily," Shannchyuan replied.
She nodded her head at Shannchyuan's words. It seems she agreed one hundred percent with him. She then said, "the few days I was here, I saw a lot. I mean, I saw there were lots of places on the side of the road that I could use as a shelter when suddenly it rained."
"Where do you come from?" Asked Shannchyuan. From that person's accent, it was clear that she was not from this city.
"I come from Yeuandong," said that person.
"Oh! I also happen to be from Yeuandong," said Shannchyuan, "where exactly is your hometown in Yeuandong?"
"Yehjing," said that person. Her face shone. She looked so proud of her hometown.
How could there be such a coincidence? This person looked a lot like her, who was also from there. Are they related?
"Ah! I also come from Yehjing," said Shannchyuan enthusiastically.
"But since I was five years old, I moved to another place. So my accent is not the same as that of the Yehjing. It was only five years ago that I moved back to Yehjing. From what I hear, your accent is also not exactly the same as the Yehjing," the person continued what she said after being interrupted by Shannchyuan.
"You are right!" Shannchyuan said. "Even though I was born and raised in Yehjing, both of my parents are not native of Yehjing, so my accent is a mixture of the Yehjing accent and my parents' accent."
"I see! It's so nice to meet fellow Yehjing in this city." Suddenly, she reached into the pocket of her jacket. "May I ask you a question?"
Before Shannchyuan could answer 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 seemed 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 would try 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. He sighed.
It had been almost three months since Shannchyuan had lost his 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. When the old owner had sold all the existing books to another used bookstore, the other bookstore would gladly accept Shannchyuan and other clerks, whose total number was only six people. But the other bookstore was in another city, so 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. Indeed, they had expressed their refusal in a very polite way. Even a little too much. Every word that had come out of their mouths was neatly and carefully arranged. But still, Shannchyuan had annoyed to hear that.
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 six hundred million. It was even more during the day because many commuters lived in the surrounding smaller cities, towns, and villages. They commuted every day to work in this city. There was so much to explore in this city. Shannchyuan had moved to this city to explore all corners of the city, which had a very long history. That's the most important reason on his mind when he settled down in this city. 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 for 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. The new owners might decide to sell the house or keep it leased to them as before. 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.
In his old age, the old landlord had other priorities for the rest of his life. He didn't intend to make a profit when he was renting out his property. 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 extensive, there were three bedrooms inside, 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 they have to use this one week appropriately to look for the new spot. 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 was suitable for their budget.
Not long after, Shannchyuan arrived at his residence. When he arrived at the front gate of his house, Shannchyuan heard someone greeting him.
"Good evening Mr. Duanmuh."
Shannchyuan looked back. It turned out that someone was standing in front of the gate of the next house. He was the one who lived in that house. Shannchyuan didn't know how long that person had been standing there. He had just passed the house but did not realize that someone was standing right in front of the house's fence. It means Shannchyuan was walking dreamily. Something he did almost every day.
"Good evening Mr. Shiuander," replied Shannchyuan.
Shiuander Janji is a neighbor who lives in the house located to the left of their house. He had not been there long, only about five months. He was a man in his sixties.
"Just got home, sir?" Mr. Shiuander asked.
"Yes, Sir," replied Shannchyuan curtly.
The man raised his right hand. He looked at the watch he was wearing. He seemed to wait for someone to arrive.
"Is anyone going to visit you, Sir?" Shannchyuan asked.
"Yes. But not to visit me. Those people are going to deliver goods that I just purchased. So, this afternoon I went to an electronics store near here. I saw an interesting television. After I thought about it, finally I bought the television. They promised to send it here at three o'clock in the afternoon. I've been waiting here for over three hours. They haven't come yet."
"Just be patient, sir! I think it's the rush hour now. It's time for people to come home from work," said Shannchyuan.
"I know. Life in a big city is indeed different. We have other things to consider. It might take them a long time to get here. But three hours?"
"Have you called them?"
"Yes. They said the car carrying the goods had already left."
"Perhaps they also deliver some goods to other places. You happen to be the last one on their schedule. You'll just have to wait. Maybe they'll show up soon."
"You are right. Then I'll just wait inside the house."
Shannchyuan smiled. "I'll go inside first, sir! Maybe my friends are already waiting inside."
Shiuander Janji nodded. He smiled brightly.
Shannchyuan then opened the gate and stepped into his front yard. He walked at a fast pace. He really wanted to go into the house. After entering the house, he realized that the other four residents were already in the house.
"Dahge, How is it today?"
When Yihshyong, one of the occupants, saw Shannchyuan 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 considered Shannchyuan 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.
At that time, Yihshyong was sitting on the sofa in their living room. There were three plates on the table in front of the couch. Anyone could clearly see those three plates filled with cookies. Just like Shannchyuan, Yihshyong actually didn't really like eating cookies. Maybe he was too hungry by this time, and dinner was not ready yet.
"What do you mean?" Shannchyuan asked back. Without waiting for Yihshyong's reply, he continued his own words.
"There has been no progress today. Neither a matter of residence nor work. Hahaha .... "
Shannchyuan laughed so loudly. Yihshyong was silent for a moment. Then he laughed too.
Another occupant came out from one of the three bedrooms. 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.
Jenqyih then also caught up with Yihshyong and Shannchyuan sitting on the couch in the living room. As usual, Jenqyih showed a gleaming face. That is one of Jenqyih's strengths and weaknesses. People are a little difficult to guess his mood. In difficult situations where people were expected to show a concerned face, for example, when visiting someone grieving, Jenqyih often appears with such a bright face. This often led to misunderstanding because some people thought Jenqyih was insensitive in reading the situation.
While waiting for Iren to finish taking a shower, the three of them watched television in the living room. They chose to watch the evening news program because it was only to pass the time. A well-known business owner who had been missing for about two months had been found inside a rickety hut in the forest at the city's northern border. The news anchor, a lovely young lady, did not clearly inform the entrepreneur's condition, except only to state that the person concerned was in good health.
"Lately, many people went missing, then a month or two later they were found. Is this just my feeling, or do you think like that too?" Shannchyuan asked his two friends.
"Every day, there are people who disappear. That's not a new thing. It happened since I don't know when. It's always like that!" Jenqyih took a cookie from one plate right in front of Yihshyong.
"It's not the same," said Yihshyong. "Lately, a lot of public figures were reported missing. They are not ordinary people. And after they were found, they usually become quiet. Not willing to give any comments. Do you remember what happened last month? At that time, a member of the city council who was previously very vocal was found after three months disappeared. After that, he was silent, did not issue any statement. Whereas before, when something terrible happened, he always boasted on television about how to fix it. Don't you think such an attitude seemed unnatural? "
Jenqyih scratched his head. He didn't answer Shannchyuan's rhetorical question. Instead, he took more cookies. He did not stop chewing cookies. He really liked to eat sweet things. Shannchyuan had reminded him many times not to overeat sweet food. But Jenqyih always just laughed at Shannchyuan's words.
"That's what I mean," said Shannchyuan. "Such incidents are not just one or two times. Previously there were also several times. After they had been found, they refused to comment on anything. It was only three or four months later that they began to tell stories. Right after they were found, they did not feel willing to talk about what happened. Don't get me wrong, I understand. Maybe they experienced some kind of trauma. But after hearing their stories, I felt something strange. "
"What kind of weird thing?" Jenqyih asked.
"I can't explain it accurately. All I can say is that I got the impression that those people weren't telling something they had been through. Instead, they were telling something they had memorized."
Jenqyih fell silent after hearing Shannchyuan's words. Shannchyuan patted Jenqyih on the shoulder. Before leaving his hometown, Shannchyuan was a teacher. The way those people told stories was similar to the style of students when they said things they only memorized. For someone who had been teaching for almost thirty years, it was not difficult to distinguish students who really understood the lessons from students who only memorized the text without understanding the contents.
There was the sound of the bathroom door opening. The sound was not loud. It actually sounded muffled, but Shannchyuan could still hear it. Shannchyuan turned towards the bathroom door. Iren finished showering. Wearing a dark yellow shirt, he came out of the bathroom. Shannchyuan had never seen Iren wearing that shirt before. It must be new. His face was so bright. From the look on Iren's face, Shannchyuan guessed that Iren already knew that the others were waiting for the excellent news he brought.
Iren walked towards the living room. He sat next to Yihshyong. Then he said to Shannchyuan, "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 answering.
"I met him today. He offered to help us. So, it turns out his family is the owner of Shindongchaang."
Everyone knew Shindongchaang was a large company that operated in various fields. One of the Shindongchaang business fields was warehousing. Their warehouses and lockers were scattered all over this city.
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. Then he 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. Of course, we still have to pay."
As far as Shannchyuan knew, the Shindongchaang warehousing business comprises large warehouses in particular locations. In addition, their lockers were scattered in various places, such as train stations, shopping malls, and other spots.
"We can store items in the Shindongchaang small warehouse, which is more like a locker. We can choose the Shindongchaang locker, which is at a nearby station or another station. 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 is exactly like their warehouses; we can rent it monthly or annually. Tsaehorng said we can use it for up to three years," Iren said. He seemed overjoyed.
"So, how much do we have to pay?" Shannchyuan asked. His face was serious.
"We get a ninety-nine percent discount," Iren answered quickly. "This payment is just a formality because they can't provide this service for free, so we have to rent it."
"Wow...," Shannchyuan nodded. He was smiling. Hearing that, Shannchyuan thought they just got a jackpot.
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 we just get?"
"Two-by-two-by-two meters," Iren explained. That's the most enormous locker size in the station."
"Is it enough to hold all of our stuff?" Jenqyih uttered in a slightly worried tone. Among them, Jenqyih's items were the most.
"Of course, that's enough. We will rent six units. Chioujen must be agree. So each of us gets one." Iren explained clearly.
"It's awesome then," Jenqyih laughed. Instantaneously, he got up from the couch and started dancing excitedly. Shannchyuan, Yihshyong, and Iren laughed at Jenqyih's childlike behavior.
Suddenly Shinnshiow, the fifth occupant, appeared from the kitchen. It turned out he had not taken part in the conversation because he was cooking. A big smile appeared on his face. Then he said to all the people who were there. "Dinner is ready. Let's eat now."
And the five of them rushed to eat the dish Shinnshiow had prepared. Tonight Shannchyuan could sleep soundly because there was one less thing to think about.
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