The landlady returned home, turning the money over and over in her hands.
“Sigh!”
“What are you sighing about?” The moment the landlord came home, he was met with his wife’s sighs. He took a closer look and saw the stack of cash in her hand. “Oh, where did this come from? Did you withdraw it from the bank?”
Given the amount and the condition of the bills, it didn’t seem like rent money.
“It’s from Gu Leizhou in unit 45.”
The landlord was surprised. “He gave it so willingly? What did you do?”
The landlady shot him a glance. “What could I have done? What tricks do I have up my sleeve?” Still, she recounted the process of asking Gu Leizhou for the money earlier that day.
The landlord said, “Then we can’t take this money!”
“Of course I know that, but don’t you think he’s acting too strangely?”
The landlord waved his hand dismissively. “What’s so strange about it? Just like he said, you just happened to miss him when you went to collect rent before!”
The landlady fell into thought.
During dinner, she suddenly spoke up again. “Tell me, what can we do to get Gu Leizhou to move out? If nothing else, could we introduce him to your sister’s building? After all, those units are self-contained, and it would save him from mixing with all those unsavory characters and wasting his time!”
“Weren’t you annoyed with him before? Why are you suddenly thinking about his future?” Their family knew quite a bit about what had happened to Gu Leizhou.
The young man was good-looking and sweet-tongued when he first rented the place. Back then, whenever he bought something, he never hesitated to share it with their family. But later… he changed.
The landlady gave her husband a firm slap. “When was I ever annoyed with him? Don’t talk nonsense! I just thought he couldn’t tell right from wrong, but now that I think about it, maybe he’s just too naive, young, and too free with his money! But he’s also too easily fooled. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have handed over so much cash the moment I asked. And it’s all in cash—if I decided to deny it, he wouldn’t even have proof that he gave me the money!”
The landlord pursed his lips but didn’t correct her. In the past, she hadn’t just thought Gu Leizhou couldn’t tell right from wrong—she had outright called him lazy, greedy, blind, lacking in both emotional and intellectual intelligence, and bad-tempered.
“So what do we do with this money? Will you return it to him when you have time?” The landlord took the money from his wife and counted it. “This… each stack is ten thousand? Two stacks, nearly twenty thousand. Where did he get so much money?”
“Not just twenty thousand? He was also driving a luxury car. Who knows whose it was. Now he’s probably going to attract unwanted attention again. It’s a shame he wouldn’t listen when I tried to advise him, but deep down, he’s still a good kid!” Otherwise, he wouldn’t have so generously handed over a stack of cash the moment she mentioned needing money.
Though the landlady still felt something was off, there was no denying the two stacks of cash were real.
"Yes, yes, he's a good kid. Let's work together to find a way to make him move out, alright?" The people living in their area were a mixed bunch, and since the house was built by their own family, although there were many rooms, they all shared the same courtyard. Staying here, Gu Leizhou probably couldn’t fulfill his wife’s wish of shaking off those with ulterior motives. "But, if I may say, if he really refuses to move out, then let’s keep this money for now. If he can’t pay the rent later, we won’t have to chase him for it. If he continues to have money like this, we can return it to him whenever he moves out. Leaving it in his hands… just doesn’t seem reliable."
Gu Leizhou was unaware of the discussions about him in the landlord’s household. He returned to his rented room, closed the door, and relied entirely on takeout for meals. There was a toilet inside, so he stayed indoors for three days, mainly trying to figure out his two systems—one intelligent, the other not so much.
Then he discovered that the Top-Grade Recovery System didn’t demand much from him. As long as he avoided being discovered that his core had been replaced and didn’t harm others like the original owner had, it would count as completing the task. Of course, if he could bring happiness to those harmed by the original owner in his previous life, he would receive better evaluations, earn more Points, and accumulate enough Points to either be reborn or purchase a habitat in the Galaxy.
He didn’t have any particular desire to be reborn. For him, the present was the best he could have. As long as life wasn’t too harsh, the process itself was something to enjoy.
Thus, his other system was an especially pleasant surprise—the Godly Tycoon Check-in System. True to its name, it sounded like a source of happiness. However, the rewards from checking in were somewhat irregular. Over the past three days, he had received a building, a black card, and a watch. So, although on the surface he only appeared tidier, in reality, he had gone from being heavily in debt to possessing significant assets.
During these three days, people continued to reach out to him on his phone. Aside from replying to a message from Gu Liao Chuan, he ignored all the others. As for the car parked outside, many people murmured curiously about who owned such a nice vehicle. The landlord watched their curiosity but remained silent, claiming ignorance whenever asked.
Until the third day, when his door was pounded loudly.
Song Pengtao’s face was full of impatience. Seeing Gu Leizhou open the door, he tried to squeeze inside but was stopped by Gu Leizhou, forced to speak with him at the doorway.
"What have you been up to these past few days? You didn’t reply to messages or answer calls! Do you still consider me a brother or not?"
Gu Leizhou remained completely unruffled. His face, now somewhat handsome after being well-restored, showed surprise, tinged with a hint of guilt. "Sorry, I haven’t been feeling well these past few days. I’ve just been lying in my rented room for three days, and my phone was turned off. Brother Pengtao, where have you been these days? Why didn’t you come looking for me? But you’ve come at the right time—I was just planning to go to the hospital for a check-up. Since you’re here, why not accompany me?"
The landlord, who had hurried out upon hearing Song Pengtao’s voice to observe: …
She had thought Gu Leizhou’s unusual behavior of not going out to show off or hanging out with those people for three days meant he had recognized Song Pengtao’s true nature and cut ties with him. But it turned out he was just feeling unwell! She had wasted her mental praise on him for nothing.
She even exaggerated her motions as she pretended to wipe the wall with a rag! And she couldn’t help worrying—if you say you’re feeling unwell, why would you just lie in your room all day? If you’re sick, you should go see a doctor! Gu Leizhou didn’t look like someone in good health anyway—what if something happened? Wouldn’t she be held liable?
But seeing both Gu Leizhou and Song Pengtao glance her way, she still stomped off farther away, making a show of it.
Song Pengtao curled his lip, thinking to himself, A couple of days ago, this kid Gu Leizhou lost all his money, and now he wants me to come check on him? Hah.
As for accompanying him to the hospital—he had even less desire to do that. Even knowing Gu Leizhou had money again, he couldn’t be bothered to put on much of an act. After all, this guy was easy to fool. “You look fine to me! You’ve probably just been cooped up here alone for too long. Come on, I’ll take you out for some fun—a couple rounds of cards and you’ll be fine!”
Gu Leizhou hesitated. “But… that doesn’t seem right? I really don’t feel well. Otherwise, why would I have stayed inside for three whole days without coming out? Even though I’ve been itching to play a few rounds… I really am unwell! Brother Pengtao, why does it feel like you don’t care about my health at all?”
Song Pengtao panicked for a moment but pressed on stubbornly. “Come on, I’m telling you—you’re just bored! I’ve been through this too. There were times I felt unwell just like you, but going out to play a couple games fixed it right up. All that discomfort is just in your head! Come on, come on—I’ll take you for a couple rounds. If you still don’t feel well afterward, I’ll go with you to the hospital!”
If it weren’t for someone telling him Gu Leizhou had another 200,000 yuan on hand, Song Pengtao wouldn’t have bothered wasting his breath!
But 200,000 yuan—if he could just get him to the gambling den and make him lose it all, he’d get a 20,000-yuan commission! That was faster and easier money than any job he could find.
What he didn’t expect was that as soon as he finished speaking, Gu Leizhou’s face instantly turned cold. “Brother Pengtao, you really don’t care about me, do you? You just want to go play and don’t care at all about my health! Hah, and here I was thinking of showing you my new car. Now it seems there’s no point!”
With that, he tried to close the door, his eyes even turning red.
The landlady, who was too far away to hear their conversation but saw Gu Leizhou’s eyes redden after just a few words: …
Damn it, is Song Pengtao trying to rob him? Otherwise, why would Gu Leizhou be on the verge of tears after just a few words? And he’s trying to close the door, but Song Pengtao’s forcing his way in!
The landlady felt as if she’d stumbled upon a revelation. Recalling how Gu Leizhou always paid for meals whenever he went out with Song Pengtao and his crew, while Song Pengtao and the others never once treated Gu Leizhou—she was sure something fishy was going on!
And every time Gu Leizhou went out with Song Pengtao, he’d come back nearly broke. Even the rumor that Gu Leizhou had a gambling problem was spread by Song Pengtao and his group.
Once again, the landlady couldn’t hold back and stepped forward. “What are you doing? Song Pengtao, I’m telling you—we don’t allow coercion here! And when are you going to pay the rent? I’ve finally caught you!”
Song Pengtao was shoved and staggered, initially wanting to get angry, but upon hearing the last sentence, an awkward smile reappeared on his face. "Oh, who is it? It's you! I'm just a bit tight on cash right now. You know how it is—construction work is tough these days, my health isn't great, and I have two hungry kids at home. Could you give me a couple more days?"
Before the landlady could respond, he turned to Gu Leizhou. "Hey… Leizhou, do you have any money on you? Could you lend me some for now? I'll definitely pay you back!"
The landlady grew even angrier upon hearing this. Ha, sure enough—he was just scheming to squeeze money out of Gu Leizhou while putting on a pitiful act in front of him. Seeing Gu Leizhou about to speak, the landlady raised her voice and scolded, "All you ever do is talk nonsense! What's wrong with your health? You look perfectly fine to me! Work a few days and you'll have the rent. Instead of making excuses to me, you could've paid it by now! And why are you always borrowing money from others? Whether he can pay his own rent is already a question! If you take his money to pay yours, what about his rent? Do you want me to kick him out?"
The landlady didn’t mention that Gu Leizhou had already paid his rent.
As for Song Pengtao, he really wanted to tell the landlady that Gu Leizhou had money! He really did—two hundred thousand! That could cover not just their rent but several others' as well, no problem!
But he couldn’t say it, because he had no way to explain how he knew Gu Leizhou had two hundred thousand.
Now, he didn’t even have time to think about what Gu Leizhou had just said. He could only manage to transfer part of the rent to the landlady.
As for why he didn’t transfer the full amount—well, of course, it was to keep a low profile. He still had to pretend to be poor in front of Gu Leizhou to keep squeezing money out of him!
Author's Note:
No matter how I revise it, I’m not satisfied, so I’ll just post it unsatisfied. If I don’t post it, it’ll just drag on longer!