Chapter 34 Temporary Rental
Li Ping almost burst into tears upon hearing this, and said, "Thank you for your concern, sister. Where do you want to go now? I'll take you there."
Gu Yanxu said, "Let's find a place to rent a house first. I think it's called the Base Housing Rental Center."
Li Ping said, "Okay, just follow me. The place isn't far from here."
On the way, Lin Fan asked Li Ping: Is there anyone else in your family?
Li Ping said, "Only my sister and I are left at home. My parents are out of town and we can't contact them. Our family is located in this mountain resort. Our city selected this place as a rescue base, so we were able to barely survive."
It turns out that there is a small town inside Nanshan Villa, and people still live there.
Bai Tang asked, "So where do you and your sister live?"
Li Ping replied, "We are being taken care of by the government, who even let us live in their homes."
As they talked, they arrived at the rental center.
It was already dark by then, but the rental center was still open. Li Ping explained, "They and the staff at the base gate are on duty 24 hours a day. They have people taking turns working to serve those who come to the base at any time."
As Bai Tang and his group entered the rental center, a staff member approached them and said, "Are you looking to rent a room? We offer absolutely affordable and fair deals."
Bai Tang listened to the staff's introduction of their place: renting a single room costs 10 contribution points per day, 65 contribution points per week, and 295 contribution points per month.
However, Bai Tang and her group consist of six people and one cat, so they definitely can't stay in six small single rooms. They need to rent a small courtyard.
The staff member added, "If you'd like to rent a courtyard, it costs 50 contribution points per day, 340 contribution points per week, and 5900 contribution points per month. We don't know where you'd like to rent."
Bai Tang felt a pang of regret upon hearing this, but she could accept it if spending so many contribution points could rent a suitable house.
But let alone their single rooms, they were practically pigeonholes.
The photos of those courtyards that the agent showed Bai Tang and the others were also appalling; the houses didn't even have a single window, let alone any furniture.
At this moment, Li Ping walked over and quietly said to Bai Tang, "Sister, my house is a little better than this one. Why don't you go and take a look at my house? If you don't like my house, then you can come and look at houses here."
Li Ping wanted to try his best because he and his sister were almost out of food.
Bai Tang thought it was a good idea; besides, he was just a child, and he couldn't very well sell them off.
The reason was simply because the place recommended by the agent was so dilapidated that it wasn't worth the contribution points at all. If it were worth the money, Bai Tang would have rented it without hesitation.
Bai Tang said to the agent, "Forget it, let's look around some more. I just remembered that we have a relative here. Let's stay at our relative's house for the night. Thank you for your help."
Looking at the large order in front of him, the agent could only reluctantly see Bai Tang and the others off as they walked out of the rental center.
Bai Jiyang asked, puzzled, "Sister, what relatives do we have here?"
Gu Yanxu understood what Bai Tang meant, so he said to them, "The house recommended by the agent is too dilapidated. Li Ping just said that his family has a small courtyard and asked us to go and check it out first."
Lin Fan and the other two agreed, since the rental center's rooms were indeed not very good.
So Li Ping led the way, and after about half an hour they arrived at a town. Li Ping led them through a maze of turns until they reached the entrance of a small courtyard.
Li Ping knocked on the door and called inside, "An'an, open the door, your brother is back."
Hearing a knocking sound, the door in front of them opened, and they saw a little girl who looked somewhat like Li Ping and was also very thin.
When Li An saw that his brother had returned with people, he hurriedly came over and grabbed Li Ping's arm.
He asked, "Brother, who are they?"
Li Ping told his sister, "They are guests I met today. They want to rent a room now. I'll bring them to our house to have a look. These brothers are very nice to you, so don't be afraid."
Li Ping held his sister's hand with one hand and pushed open the door with the other, letting Bai Tang and the others in.
Although the courtyard is now deserted, traces of the owner's past care can still be vaguely seen.
Further inside, their house is laid out as a small courtyard house.
At least there are glass windows and doors inside. Although the air conditioning is very strong inside, at least there is a bed.
Bai Tang immediately made the decision and said to Li Ping, "We'll rent this place for about two weeks. You can set the rent."
Li Ping was flattered and said, "Could the rent be replaced with food or instant noodles? I'm afraid someone might steal our ID cards. If you give us food, we can eat it or hide it."
It seems that Li Ping and his group were also robbed, which is why there was only a bed and an empty cabinet in the room, with no other furniture.
Bai Tang said, "How about we rent your house for two weeks and give you seven catties of rice?"
Bai Tang wanted to help them out, so she decided to give them a little more, which was twenty more contribution points than the rental center.
Li Ping was more than willing after hearing this.
However, Bai Tang did not forget to pay Li Ping for guiding the way today. She handed the canned food to Gu Yanxu, and then took out two bags of bread from her backpack and handed them to Li An.
Li An kept swallowing her saliva when she saw the bread, but since her brother hadn't spoken, she didn't dare to accept the bread Bai Tang offered.
Li Ping said, "Sister, we originally agreed on two bags of instant noodles. This bread is too expensive. You can take it back. We'll just take the two bags of instant noodles."
Bai Tang said, "But we don't have instant noodles, we only have bread to pay for."
Li Ping understood Bai Tang and the others' good intentions, so he had his sister accept the two bags of bread.
Li Ping said shyly, "We don't have any extra blankets at home, sisters..."
Bai Tang said, "It's okay, we have some in our car. Can you show them the way?"
Li Ping became even more enthusiastic after receiving Bai Tang's two bags of bread.
Bai Jiyang and the others put their backpacks into the room they had chosen, and then followed Li Ping to the car in the parking lot to get their bedding.
Bai Tang had anticipated this, so she had prepared their bedding in the car beforehand.
Bai Tang, meanwhile, stayed at home with Li An, clutching the canned food, waiting.
Ang Lee led Bai Tang into the room where she and her brother lived. There were two beds in the room, covered with thick quilts.
Although Li An is still young, Li Ping already understands the difference between boys and girls. However, he is not comfortable letting his younger sister stay alone in another room, so he put two beds in the room so that he can take better care of her.
There was also a stove in the room that was about to go out.
Seeing this, Li An quickly put a few pieces of wood into the stove, and the fire slowly started to burn.
Ang Lee brought Bai Tang a nicer stool so she could sit in front of the stove and warm herself by the fire.
Bai Tang said, "Don't bother with all that, come and warm yourself by the fire."
Ang Lee moved another slightly worn stool and sat down next to Bai Tang.
"Sister, your cat is so cute."
When Bai Tang heard someone compliment the canned food, she said, "Your name is Li An, can I call you An An?"
Ang Lee said, "Sister, you can do it. My family calls me An'an."
Bai Tang asked, "An'an, do you live alone with your brother?"
An'an said, "My parents aren't home, so my brother goes out every day to earn food and brings it back to me."
Bai Tang took out a few milk candies from her pocket and handed them to An An.
Seeing this, An'an said, "Brother said we can't take things from others for free."
Bai Tang said, "It's not just anyone. I rented your house, so we have a business relationship now. Here, have some food."
An'an initially wanted to refuse, but being a child after all, she took the candy from Bai Tang's hand.
An'an ate one candy, then stood up and put the rest of the candies under her pillow.
An'an turned to Bai Tang and explained, "I'll wait for my brother to come back and give him the rest."
Bai Tang smiled as she held the can of food and said, "You two siblings have such a good relationship. My brother and I are the same way, and he's a very good brother too."