Chapter 11: Mysterious Call
Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
The previous plan was quite good but in the end, Hao Ren still could not find it in him to just chase Vivian away.
As mentioned before, he was a good guy. He never meddled in matters he could not help with. However, if he was able to help, he would not turn people away. If he had chased Vivian away, what would have happened to her? The vampire girl appeared to have lived a tough life. She would have either had to stay overnight on the streets or go to the wild or the graveyard like she said without any food, water, home and job. If she had gone to a train station, she would have alerted the police and be facing force adoption or worse, forced deportation. It was quite pitiful.
Looking at the pretty girl trapped in such a situation, any normal person would not have been able to see her suffer.
Even though Hao Ren felt that a vampire had capabilities and would likely not face such dilemmas, he could not be sure. As the vampire he met was not a conventional one. If one was to refer to all the novels and movies available, there would be no reference of a vampire being that naive. She was poor, different and so fond of human beings.
In spite of that, he did not ask Vivian to stay without paying. There had to be a limit to his generosity and he was not a saint. He also had to take into account Lily’s feelings as she paid her rental as usual. He could only allow Vivian to owe him the rental. He decided to wait until she found her purse, though very unlikely. Another option was for her to find a job and earn money, which was more likely. Only then, would he ask her to pay him back.
"Could this really work?" Vivian was not convinced that she had any good luck. She stared at Hao Ren unbelievably. "It might take me a really long time to pay you back. My financial luck has not been any good…"
Hao Ren raised his eyebrows and observed the vampire girl’s facial expression as he listened to her defeated speech.
"How bad had her life been?"
"You don’t have to overthink it. Just stay here." Hao Ren waved his hand. He noticed Lily discontented expression and said, "The decision has been made! This is my home. I can at least make a call on the rental."
He then turned to Vivian, "An empty room is available upstairs. Let me show you the room. But, where is your luggage?"
He should have asked the question earlier. When Lily moved from the other city, she brought over huge boxes of belongings. He wondered if the vampire girl was so poor that she only had a set of clothing with her.
"Oh, it’s outside!" Vivian remembered her luggage and rushed outdoors. She then brought in her old rugged luggage case. Fortunately, her lack of luck with money did not affect her belongings. Although the huge case was left outdoors for so long, it was not lost.
When Hao Ren noticed Vivian’s luggage, he could not help but sigh. He vaguely remembered his late father who used to carry a case of similar style for work. It was then passed down by his grandfather…
He swore that he would never watch movies about vampires in his lifetime anymore.
Right when he decided to go upstairs to help Vivian tidy her room, he heard a strange sound nearby. Lily embarrassingly caressed her stomach, stood up and said, "Landlord, shall we have some food?"
Hao Ren turned to the clock in the living room and the hands pointed to 10 in the morning. There was so much hassle that morning, he almost forgot about breakfast. The only one at home with a full stomach was Rollie!
"Damn! Our lives are worse than a cat’s these days." He mocked himself and Vivian exclaimed in surprise, "Ah, do you offer breakfast? Do I need to pay extra?"
The vampire girl was delighted but Hao Ren really wanted to tell her that truthfully they did not cook for tenants. Though they were on special terms, he saw her look of contentment and did not want to disappoint her. He thought the vampire had been through a pretty pitiful life.
Breakfast was already delayed so they might as well had lunch. Hao Ren decided to make his best dish, noodles. Lily was an omnivorous werewolf who was not picky and Vivian was already so poor so he was quite sure that she would not care about the food that much. A simple meal would do. When he went into the kitchen, he turned around and asked the vampire girl a question, "Vivian, do you eat normal human dishes? I heard vampires can only drink blood and can’t digest normal food."
He felt a cold breeze around his neck right after he said that.
"I belong to the Blood Clan. I’m not some low-level vampire," Vivian corrected the statement but she embarrassingly covered her face. "Other Blood Clan members can only digest blood but I can eat normal food. It can’t be helped because nowadays, whether it’s human or animal, they are all infected with all sorts of strange diseases. If I drink unclean blood, I might suffer from stomachache for a few days. I have to check if the subject has a health certificate before I drink its blood. But sometimes, even the health certificate can be falsified. I can’t bear that risk so, I haven’t been drinking blood for quite some years."
Hao Ren was speechless.
When he was about to enter the kitchen, the cell phone on his sofa rang. Lily rushed over and peeped. She handed the old Nokia phone over to Hao Ren and said, " Landlord! The phone! The call’s coming from a strange set of numbers!"
Hao Ren walked over to pick up the call. He wondered what kind of phone number could be strange. He was stunned when he saw the set of numbers on his phone screen; 00000012345!
"Is there anyone in the world using such a number?"
The monotonous sound of the ringing phone kept urging him to answer. The screen displayed the creepy set of numbers clearly and Hao Ren could not help but pinch his face to make sure he was not imagining things. He was not sure if it was an illusion. The ringing seemed to grow louder as if it came from every direction. He felt heat emanating from the phone and the ringing becoming faster and faster… The sixth sense he had developed since he was young was activated. His intuition told him that the call would be extraordinary.
As though he was possessed, he pressed the button to pick up the call and placed the phone to his ear. "Hello?"
A sweet voice was heard through the phone, "Hello? Hello? Is this Hao Ren?"
"Er, yes, this is." Hao Ren tried to recall if he ever disclosed his mobile number or met a woman with such a voice. However, he could not. "Who are you?"
"You don’t have to worry about that," the stranger claimed. Judging from the background sounds, the call seemed to be made from a rather noisy place. Some odd whistling could vaguely be heard. It could have been some construction site. "I am at… Oh, an import and export company. A few days ago, you sent out your resume. You were looking for a job right? I would like to inform you that an interview will take place this afternoon."
"An import and export company?"
Hao Ren was stunned. He then remembered his decision to look for a job and the time he sent out his resume. He was just trying his luck as he did not have any working experience and was not a professional graduate from any reputable school. He faced obstacles looking for jobs on-site and did have high hopes for the resume he sent out. He did not expect to be invited for an interview. It sounded like a good company; it was some sort of import and export company.
He thought that he just got lucky.
However, he looked at the two new tenants in his living room. He initially thought that he would not be able to rent out the apartment when he was first looking for a job. A that time, he lacked cash flow from the rental but since then, he had already obtained tenants…
The tenants were not reliable though. One was a dumb werewolf while the other was a poor, starved and naive vampire. He would be surprised if both of them could pay their rental on time so, he figured that he should not fully rely on his rental business.
The woman started to sound impatient over the phone. "Hey, are you still listening? I am telling you to come over in the afternoon for an interview!"
Hao Ren reconsidered and he nodded. "Sure, I’ll be there in the afternoon."
The stranger gave him an address which was not too far from his place. Then she hung up.
Hao Ren was taken aback again when he looked at the phone screen. It showed, "Calling time: 0 minutes 0 seconds." When he opened the log, there was nothing. It was like the number, 00000012345 had never appeared.
Chapter 12: The Village Far Away
Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Hao Ren put the phone down, his expression was just as blank as his mind.
In the past, he would have considered a phone call from an unknown number as another misdial, brushed the whole thing off and continued on with his day. Yet at that moment he was in a very delicate situation.
Staring cautiously at his two uninvited guests secretly getting at each other whilst waiting for food in the living room, it dawned on him that his normal life was long gone. What used to be grandmothers’ stories and urban legends could be true. What used to be myths and imaginations could be true. What was previously thought to exist only in movies… could very well be true.
Hao Ren was already on edge, so much so that he would jump at Rollie the cat’s incessant purr, perceiving it as some sort of ill omen. The thought of that strange phone call he received just a moment ago sent chills down his spine, and most importantly—it just occurred to him that he had never submit his resume to import-and-export trading companies!
True, he had sent out tons of resumes to all kinds companies for all sorts of positions, including one for a male host and another for a pet psychiatrist (whatever that means!). Hao Ren was all too aware of his academic background and miscellaneous skills. He was the kind of oddball who had to use a calculator even when purchasing a celery! How would he have the gall to try out for a trading company? Was he just selling himself short?
As far as he was concerned, trading companies were more or less similar to the Hu Tong mini-market, at least that was how he sees it.
"Landlord? Landlord, sir, what’s gotten into you?" He could hear Lily’s tone of concern right next to him, and it was then that his soul snapped back to reality. He nodded at the two strange creatures, "Oh, a human resource unit scheduled an interview with me in the afternoon…"
"Oh, don’t you worry, landlord! I’ll take care of the house for you!" Lily raised her claws up high and shook it in excitement, as though she was met with an opportune moment. "That’s what I do best! I guarantee you won’t lose a thing!"
"A dog could do better," Vivian would never let go of an opportunity to drop a sarcastic comment, and each one so far had been a direct hit. But Hao Ren couldn’t help but think: Talk about the pot calling the kettle black. You’re homeless, and penniless, and you’re still keeping up with that attitude? Have you no shame in your bloodline!?
Lily glared at Vivian, and later decided to shake it off. Her stomach was growling again and this was the ground for the quick dispersion of her anger along with the gradual weakening of her fighting spirit. She motioned to Hao Ren as she helplessly laid on the table, "Landlord, please can you make us something to eat? After that I’ll definitely help you guard the house!"
Hao Ren was taken aback by how casual these two were with him. Did he just find himself two tenants, or were they actually two of his many ancestors? He had been a landlord for many years and yet this was the first time his tenants responded in the way long lost friends would!
Still, very swiftly, Hao Ren managed a smile, attributing all of the above to mere cultural differences between species and/or subspecies. If anything, he was definitely no match for these two outsiders. So, for the sake of his future livelihood, it would be wisest to maintain, if not improve, his two female guests’ appreciation for him. At least then if ever Lily and Vivian get on each other’s nerves again, he could confidently bark at them… the way a master would to his pets!
It took some effort for him to satisfy the two girls’ hunger, during which he made sure Vivian was really feeding on normal human food, and only then he finally felt relieved. After everything was done, it was already eleven. Obviously, he could do away with lunch and what’s left would be providing the vampire and werewolf with allowances to last until nightfall. Having considered that Vivian was unlucky enough to not have a penny to her name, and that Lily would certainly not offer up her share (canines are especially protective of their food), he had deliberately stocked up on biscuits for Vivian, leaving the latter so moved that tears were rolling in the corners of her eyes.
Due to the vampire’s habit, Vivian slept through most of the day. Not long after her meal, she went upstairs to wash up and prepared to rest. Lily, on the other hand, was extremely energetic when the sun’s out. She would be standing guard on the ground floor. The two of them managed to stay away from each other due to the differences in their lifestyle, and Hao Ren for the time being didn’t have to worry that they would bring the house down when he wasn’t around. He could go in peace to the venue the mysterious woman arranged.
That’s right, despite all the suspicions, Hao Ren eventually decided to go have a look. There’s no point running away from the inescapable. If somehow that woman was related to these "strange" creatures he had come across recently, then he had to get to the bottom of it. Vivian’s and Lily’s fighting abilities were evident—this was not the territory for the average Joe. He wasn’t even sure if he could make this work.
Of course, he contemplated taking Lily along. All things considered, she could come in handy. Eventually, he digressed. First off, they had only known each other for two days and as far as he could tell, the werewolf girl seemed quite innocent. Or rather, "naïve" would be a word more accurate, but that still wasn’t ground to take advantage of her. So, to simply use her as a shield on his adventures based on what little trust they had would most probably be regrettable (that one time she had to stay home to guard against the vampire was an entirely different matter). Secondly, Hao Ren himself was seven feet tall to say the least. For a man of his height and stature to go out with a female bodyguard just for an interview… what would people say? How could he live with himself?
So, he decided to check out the place on his own.
While waiting at the bus stop, he couldn’t stop thinking about Vivian’s and Lily’s abnormalities, and kept muttering to himself whether leaving them at home was a good idea.
Honestly, his career as a landlord (if it could be considered a career at all) had been going on for several years, and he had seen just about every kind of tenants. Even strays and gangsters and those with questionable backgrounds had lived under his roof. The most crucial skill a landlord would need was the ability to differentiate the ‘good’ tenants from the ‘bad’ ones, whether they be dangerous criminals or mere thieves and conmen—examples of landlords being robbed blind were more than he could count. Hao Ren wasn’t worried that his two guests belonged in the latter group, because he knew… these two girls with these mind-boggling skills were hundred times more dangerous than the common crooks!
Was it a mistake to leave them at home just like that? Would he come home to a wreckage? Would he find a SWAT team armed with two hundred explosives and grenades? Would vehicles and representatives from the Scientific Institute seal off the roads in Nan Xiao? Would he see two American men in black suits and sunglasses flashing neutralyzers at him?
All these unrealistic flights of fantasies haunted him as he got on the bus and began his journey from this remote place in Nan Xiao… to another not far away.
The address given by the mysterious lady on the phone was a place Hao Ren had heard of but never been to. It was really far, beyond the city’s radiation range, a village right outside the outskirt of the city. There wasn’t any public transportation in the city that could reach that place, and even from the most desolate region of Nan Xiao, only one lousy bus was available at the moment.
Such a place was queer indeed. Even its name was just as strange. Who would have figured it was called Bastard Barrio?
Hao Ren sat wobbling in the lousy bus for a good half an hour. He could feel the wind in his face as though the walls weren’t there. From what he could tell, it might only take a slightly wider ditch to take apart the bus for good. Along the journey, the number of passengers on board never exceeded three. He even suspected whether the driver, looking somewhat cynical was trying to match the annoying bus ride, but in the end he was delivered to his destination in one piece, in the middle of a barren land, no different than the ones he saw along the way.
The bus clunked off with a 4/4 beat of rickety clanging sound, which was pretty much mirroring Hao Ren’s thoughts and feelings at that moment: surging endlessly as he rolled his eyes upwards and sighed deeply—he was definitely tricked! The woman on the phone didn’t even need a script, did she!?
Once he got off the main road, all he had to do was follow the narrow trail and Bastard Barrio would be within walking distance. He could clearly see the village as he stood on the mound next to the road. It was primitive, with few residents and even fewer mud houses, and more than half of the mud houses were just a disaster away from crumbling. The village in the whole was built with poor architecture, with a landscape dating back to several decades ago. The largest building was a little brick tower at the centre, the size of which was comparable to Hao Ren’s house.
The woman on the phone had invited him here in the name of a ‘trading company’.
No sane person would have believed that!
And yet, he came.
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
200+ Power
Ranking 
10 Power
stone 
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