After selling all of his equipment and the Skill Book, Lu Li sent a message to Azure Sea Breeze to see how things were going on his end. After confirming that all was well, Lu Li logged off and went to sleep.
The next day was Sunday. Lu Li and his little sister ate some breakfast, then left to look for a new home.
From a sociological standpoint, once private ownership was established, people were bound to be divided into the ‘rich’ and the ‘poor’. Despite how advanced technology was, this was something that could not be changed.
The wealth gap between the rich and the poor was still as present as ever in the 23rd century. There were 3 main Districts: The Slum District, Commoner District and the Rich District. Although these weren’t their official names, that was how reality was.
The people who lived in the Slum District were mostly unemployed and barely scraped by on government handouts. Most of them didn’t have the right to education or healthcare. The reason why the Lu family lived in such poverty was because Lu Li wanted his sister to go to school, so that one day she might be able to find a good job and marry into a good family.
Those who lived in the Common District were mostly the working class who earned low incomes. Although they didn’t have much money, they were handed more rights than those in the Slum Districts and lived in much better conditions because they could at least contribute to society.
As for the Rich District, they were the minority who controlled the majority of society’s wealth, and enjoyed much more in terms of rights and power.
Lu Li now had more than $40,000 in his bank account. It was impossible for him to buy a house even in the Commoner District, but renting a house would be no problem.
Currently, they were looking for a house in the Commoner District with a nice and safe environment, that was close to a school and wasn’t too expensive…
“Big brother, look, there are police here even though it’s still daytime,” pointed out Lu Xin in curiosity.
Lu Xin was a little beauty but had always lacked a feeling of security since she was young. Luckily, her big brother was good at fighting, so she was able to safely grow up in the Slum District.
“It’s because this side of the Commoner District is close to the Slum District,” Lu Li explained. This was quite ironic - Lu Xin was excited to see the police, but the people they were here to guard against were people like Lu Li and Lu Xin.
“Big brother, if we find a house to live in over here, we won’t count as poor anymore, right?” The little girl asked with a look of hope on her face.
“Xin Xin, we weren’t poor because we lived in the Slum District, but because we didn’t have any money. Now that we have money, we aren’t poor anymore.” Lu Li swore to himself that he would never let his little sister feel inferior because of her social status ever again.
“Oh! Big brother’s so awesome; you earnt that much money in just 2 days!” To Lu Xin, her big brother was always the strongest and the most awesome person. A certain bro-con’s eyes were filled with little stars.
“Xin Xin, let’s not look for a house here.” A certain sis-con’s heart started racing as he proudly said, “Let’s go to the Rich District!”
“Big brother, are you sure?!” Lu Xin burst into excitement, but then became doubtful. “Big brother, will we really have enough for that? If… if one day we don’t have enough money, what will we do?”
It was normal for the little girl to worry about this.
However, what she didn’t know, was that sis-cons hated being doubted by their little sisters. What? Not being able to earn enough money? Impossible!
The more Lu Li thought about it, the more he wanted to move to the Rich District. The living conditions there were simply too good. The Slum District was a crappy area that should have been demolished 200 years ago, while the Commoner District was equivalent to the normal suburbs. Only the Rich District could match the 200 years of advancement in technology.
Lu Li and Lu Xin sat in a hover car as they set out for the Rich District.
The Rich District was quite large, but there were not many people. Apart from some special regions, the residential area was filled with trees and some rare plants that had become extinct 200 years ago.
Plant DNA that had been preserved for 200 years had finally been reconstructed using technology. It was very fitting for them to be growing in the gardens of the Rich District.
“You want to rent a house here?” Most of the receptionists came from the Commoner District, so they didn’t have the same condescending attitude that most people of the Rich District had. The receptionist kindly said, “The government regulations require that your account needs to have at least $1,000,000 in order to live here.”
“$1,000,000…” Lu Li’s hopes were instantly dashed.
“Big brother, let’s forget about it then,” Lu Xin softly said as she pulled Lu Li’s arm.
“You could try out the region near the Higher Education Mega Centre,” the receptionist suggested.
“Right!” Lu Li suddenly realised that it wasn’t just the Rich District that had a good living environment.
Seventy years ago, when the location for the Higher Education Mega Centre was being chosen, there had been some complications.
The government had wanted to put all of the universities in the same location to save money and space.
They had originally been planning to build the Higher Education Mega Centre in the Rich District, as all the members of the committee were from the Rich District. After all, who wouldn’t want universities to be close to where they lived?
However, no one thought that those from the Commoner District and Slum District would be so outraged. Factory workers went on strikes, teachers went on strikes, electricity and water was cut, transportation was blocked, and even the military fell into chaos. Soon, members of the committee began to be assassinated.
As such, someone suggested that the Higher Education Mega Centre should be built between the Rich District and Commoner District.
Although some people were still unhappy, most of the chaos ceased, and the Higher Education Mega Centre became a buffer between the Commoner District and the Rich District. While it was affordable for most people of the working class, the conditions there were almost as good as those in the Rich District.
By the time the Lu brother and sister arrived at the Higher Education Mega Centre, it was already 11am. Lu Li decided to go to the Villa District where the Star Moon Union was, since he was familiar with its surroundings.
This was a Garden Villa District. In the front, there were 4 office buildings, and behind them was the residential area.
Lu Li held Lu Xin’s hand as they walked past a Real Estate Agent’s office and into the residential area.
“Big brother, I heard that Real Estate Agents can show you around and give you some information. Why didn’t we go in there?” Lu Xin turned around, wanting to look back at the office.
“Silly girl, Real Estate Agents are all swindlers. They always start with the worst house and work their way up from there. If you meet a really bad one, they sometimes even collude with the landlord to cheat you of your money. So remember, never, ever find a Real Estate Agent,” Lu Li said, as he passed on essential knowledge to his little sister.
Lu Xin completely trusted Lu Li, and she looked at the office with wariness.
“Then how will we know which houses are for rent?”
“There are 2 ways: we can either look online, or look at the District’s bulletin board.” In his ‘previous life’, Lu Li had also moved out of the Slum District with his little sister. However, they had only been able to move to the Commoner District, and the living conditions still weren’t that great.
“Are we going to look online?”
“Most of the photos online are fake. It’s better if we go and take a look in person. We’ll have a look at the bulletin board first,” Lu Li replied. Even after hundreds of years, some things had never changed. Beside the digital bulletin board were some empty spaces for people to put up their own ads.
There were those wanting to buy second hand game helmets, clinics advertising their medicine, as well as advertisements for renting rooms.
The brother and sister pair squeezed in front of the bulletin board together, looking for an ad that caught their eye. Just as they were about to choose one to call, they heard someone impatiently saying, “Are you guys done or not? Can you let me stick something on?”
The person’s voice was slightly hoarse, and Lu Li turned around, he was that it came from a beautiful woman.
Her clothes were not very orderly and she had eyebags as well as an impatient expression, however, she was definitely a beauty. This went to show just how stunning she was.
The Lu brother and sister took a few steps back to make way for her. She was holding a sheet of paper with a sticky back, and she carelessly stuck it onto the bulletin board. She didn’t even bother to look at it after, and yawned, then shakily left.
“Big sister.” Lu Xin called out to the beauty.
The beauty turned around in annoyance. However, seeing that it was the cute little girl who had called out to her, her voice became somewhat more amicable. “What is it little sister?”
Lu Li had been completely ignored.
“Big sister, you stuck your ad upside down!”
The beauty seemed to waken up, and walking over, she saw that it was indeed upside down.
Villa overlooking the Little Mirror Lake. Renting out 3 rooms. Includes a private bathroom, shared gym, kitchen… IV-6 network port for gaming… Monthly rent: $8,000-12,000. For more information, please call 182*****001.
After turning it the right way up, Lu Li was able to read the ad, and immediately called out to the beauty who was about to leave.
“What is it now?” The beauty frowned and her eyes filled with annoyance. Her attitude towards Lu Li was completely different.
“The room you’re renting out has an IV-6 network port for gaming? Are you sure it’s an IV-6?” Lu Li asked.
The IV-6 network port was designed especially for gaming and costed quite a bit of money - about $2,000 per month. Furthermore, because of the network resources it took up, the installation of such network ports was strictly limited. Even if one had money, they might not necessarily be able to access one.
“That’s right, you want to rent?” The beauty gave him a strange look, “Sorry, but we only want to rent to females.”
“Big brother, it’s so expensive,” Lu Xin said as she held Lu Li’s hand. She was simply astounded by the monthly rent. The government handouts given to those in the Slum District would be around $8,000 per year, and it would rarely be given in cash.
“This price is actually quite fair. You know, Xin Xin, it would be quite hard for us to find a cheaper and better place than this in the Higher Education Mega Centre,” Lu Li replied.
“How about we go back to the Commoner District? We’ll come back when we have enough money.” Lu Xin didn’t want her brother to overwork herself. She would already be happy living in the Commoner District.
What a good girl. Lu Li couldn’t help but stroke his little sister’s head. “If we live over here, I can send you to a good school. That way, you’ll be able to go to the No. 1 Affiliated Middle School. I heard that the enrolment rate there is quite good, and the minimum mark for passing is alright. Big brother wants you to get into the best school and best university, alright?”
“But…” Lu Xin wanted to say something, but was cut off by Lu Li. “Don’t worry about money. Big brother will take care of that.”
These people probably weren’t looking for male tenants because there were females living there already. It would be quite awkward for them if he moved in. As such, Lu Li did not push it, and instead continued to look through the ads, searching for one that had an IV-6 network port.
An IV-6 network port was simply too important, especially to a Manual mode player.
A virtual reality game depended on the game helmet, as well as the network port. Only with a decent game helmet and network port would the game run smoothly and actually appear like a virtual world. Lu Li’s game helmet was one of the worst, and combined with the network port in the Slum District, he could definitely feel the effects.
“Oi, you two.” The Lu brother and sister were muttering together about the different ads when they heard the woman call out to them.
“Eh, you’re still here?” Lu Li was a bit surprised.
“Didn’t you say you were looking for a place to rent? Come with me.” Without waiting for them, the beauty started to march forwards.
From behind, the beauty’s figure was quite impressive. She had long, slim legs and had a thick waist with a well-rounded bottom. Even without trying, she was quite sensual.
Lu Li hesitated for a moment before taking Lu Xin’s hand and following her, as he asked, “How much rent do I have to pay at once?”
“Pay for 3 months plus the next 3 as security.” This time, the woman didn’t sound as annoyed at them.
“No problem, but can we start next month? I’ll need to prepare during this month,” Lu Li said.
“Why do you need to start next month? Are you going to become rich in a month?” The woman’s thinking process was a bit strange. Most people wouldn’t have agreed to such a thing, but instead, she had asked them why.
“I won’t be able to become rich, but renting a place should be fine.” Lu Li replied.
As they talked, they had come to the entrance of the Villa. No wonder they said that it was overlooking the lake - this villa had 2 storeys and was right next to it. There was also a decently-sized balcony that extended out over a bit of the lake.
“If you’ve found a good job, then let me see the contract. Otherwise, how can I trust you… wait here.” The beauty opened the door and walked in. However, after taking a few steps, she immediately ran out and turned around while yelling, “I brought some people who are interested in renting; hurry and clean the place up. There’s a guy…”
Lu Li started sweating. He could almost imagine a bunch of almost-naked girls sitting in the living room.
There was a flurry of movement inside and someone yelled back, “Alright, big sis Huan Huan, you can come in now.”
The living room was quite large, but was a bit messy. However, at the very least, there wasn’t any underwear lying around. There were two women sitting on the sofa, looking at the Lu brother and sister in curiosity.
As the saying goes, ‘birds of a feather flock together’. These two women were also exceptional beauties. One of them was wearing a light blue shirt and was quite a lot shorter than the other two women. Her large and sparkling eyes, coupled with her sizeable chest made her appear like a ‘kawaii’ girl from a manga.
The other looked much more delicate and quiet, as if she was from a painting.
“Please take a seat. What were we talking about just then?” the woman who was called ‘big sis Huan Huan’ said, as she found a spot on the sofa and curled up.
“Big sis Huan Huan, didn’t we say that we’d look for a female?” the kawaii girl said unhappily.
“Ah, I saw that he treated his little sister really well, and I felt touched at the time,” Huan Huan said, as she messed around with messy hair, evidently feeling conflicted.
The kawaii girl looked at Lu Xin and suddenly realised something, saying, “Hey, at least she’s shorter than me and she’s super cute. Let’s let her stay.”
“Dou Dou, she’s still young; she’ll definitely still grow,” the delicate girl reminded her.
Although Lu Xin was already in grade 10, she was only 14 years old. She was incredibly pretty, but was only about 1.5 metres or so tall.
“Big sis Yi Yi, will you die if you just agree?” The girl referred to as Dou Dou yelled out furiously. The delicate beauty looked away, and didn’t say anything else.
“Alright, be quiet you guys,” Huan Huan cut them off as she looked at Lu Li and said, “You said that you wanted to start renting next month, right?”
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