At first, he thought it was a hallucination. After all, his previous life in a bustling city had left some psychological shadows, and occasional hallucinations were normal. But soon, he realized this terrible sound was real.
He rubbed his sleepy eyes and looked out the window.
A large truck was parked below the apartment, with workers moving furniture back and forth. It seemed a new tenant was moving in.
It was understandable for moving to be noisy, and Pei Jiale was feeling magnanimous. Not wanting to quarrel with neighbors, he decided to turn on the CD player and use a symphony to mask the noise.
Unexpectedly, as the cello, violin, flute, clarinet, and trombone played in unison, he frowned while listening with his eyes closed.
Knock, knock, knock… Knock, knock, knock…
What was making this continuous sound? Drums? No, not quite!
Opening his eyes and looking around, he finally discovered the sound was coming from outside the door.
Who was knocking? Was it the landlord coming to collect rent?
Pei Jiale reluctantly got up to answer. The moment he opened the door, he was stunned.
Standing outside was a strange girl.
She seemed strange for two reasons: first, he didn’t know her, so why was she knocking on his door? Second, she had a sweet and cute face, but her expression was as cold as ice, giving people a chilling feeling, like encountering a thousand-year-old zombie.
The girl was holding a huge hammer in her right hand – was this what she had been using to “knock” on his door?
“Miss, who are you looking for?” Pei Jiale asked, eyes wide.
Since everyone pays the same rent, you can’t take advantage of others.” She raised her hand, pointing directly at his nose.
“But I live on the top floor!” Pei Jiale complained aggrievedly, “This old apartment has no elevator, and I climb the stairs more laboriously than others. Don’t I deserve some compensation?”
“Did anyone force you to rent this floor?”
“Well… no.”
“Then that’s your own fault!” The girl spoke sharply, “Stop making excuses! I give you until today to move those messy things from the rooftop, otherwise I’ll throw them downstairs.”
“Miss, who are you exactly?” The landlord’s heir?
“My surname is Qiu. I’m your neighbor, just moved in today.” She answered expressionlessly.
