Su Kun was a bit confused about the landlord's repeated reminders, but there must be a reason for his reminder.

So, when he received a call from the owner of the red bean paste shop the next day saying that the lease contract was ready, Su Kun hesitated for a few seconds and used the excuse that there were some issues with the demolition of the old house and he couldn't leave for the next couple of days to temporarily delay it.

The owner of the red bean paste shop was an easy-going person, which Su Kun had already noticed when they were discussing the specific rental matters before.

He just fell silent for a moment on the other end of the phone, thought for a bit, and then said, "Alright, since it's urgent, you can take care of the demolition matters first. But can we sign the contract within this week? You see, I also have some family matters back home waiting for me to handle."

Su Kun repeatedly agreed, "No problem, no problem! It will only be delayed for these two days. I sincerely want to rent it and won't drag it past next week, don't worry."

The other side seemed quite busy. With a vague response and a quick goodbye, he hurriedly hung up the phone.

Just before the receiver completely turned to a busy tone, Su Kun vaguely heard the owner sighing and muttering something, though he wasn't sure if it was his imagination. Because it wasn't said into the receiver, he couldn't hear it clearly. But judging from the tone alone, it seemed like he was a bit troubled.

In fact, the rental information for this red bean paste shop had only been officially posted recently. Su Kun remembered that when he first searched online for rental storefronts near S University, he didn't see this red bean paste shop.

In the first few days when he was wandering around S University, he also didn't see any rental information posted at the door of that shop. It was only two days before Su Kun officially decided on those three storefronts that it hastily put up the rental transfer information, just in time for Su Kun to come across it.

And the price the owner offered was much lower than Su Kun's estimate, making him too embarrassed to bargain further. Plus, with Geng Zimo's support, it was settled just like that.

Now it seems that not only are the owner's family matters urgent, they may also be quite tricky, which made Su Kun, who intended to delay, feel a bit guilty.

However, the demolition issue he used as an excuse wasn't entirely made up.

Among the older residents of Li City, there has always been a saying about demolition: either leave quickly or stay until the end.

It means that in the many demolitions in Li City, those who ended up with relatively better compensation conditions in the end were either those who moved out as soon as they were told, handing over the keys before the demolition deadline and receiving the early relocation reward, or those who were more stubborn and resolutely stayed until the very end.

However, most of the people in Li City have a softer temperament, and there aren't many who dare to be real nail households. So the majority chose the former, basically taking some time to make a show of it, then obediently packing up, handing over the keys and going to rent a place.

Sure enough, in just a little over ten days since the last official notice from the demolition office, it's said that three or four households in the old district have already signed, taken the money, and moved away. With them making a move, other families also started getting restless and planning to hand over their houses.

But as enthusiastic as they are, they still try to squeeze out what they can. After all, no one minds getting a bit more compensation - the households all invited decorators to help install those low-cost built-in wardrobes in every room of their homes to put on a show, in order to earn the sizable difference between the construction cost and the demolition compensation.

Some also bought a bunch of half-grown tree saplings, hurriedly planted them in the yard, applied some fertilizer, watered them a bit, and tended to them for a few days, which apparently can also be exchanged for compensation in the end.

Su Kun also found two decorators, planning to install those wardrobes in both his old house and Aunt Zhang's home. Anyway, it's very fast, and the two homes can probably be done in three or four days.

The few out-of-town workers renting the old house, after receiving the news of the demolition, had already informed Su Kun, found a new place in the past two days, packed their luggage and moved out. The old house is empty now, so Su Kun has to go over when they install the wardrobes these two days.

In the afternoon, after talking to the two decorators on the phone, Su Kun packed his bag and was about to head out.

He changed into an older set of clothes to avoid getting any paint on them when they install the wardrobes. He also knocked on the coffin lid and said goodbye to Gu Yan, who was curled up inside to avoid the sunlight.

Their interaction mode has made qualitative progress in the past two days. During the day when Gu Yan doesn't come out, Su Kun will tell him when he goes out or comes back through the coffin, as naturally as if they were roommates.

After the sun sets, Gu Yan will drift out of the coffin in a ghostly manner, expressionlessly pressing a claw towards the jade pendant on Su Kun's chest, absorbing the dark energy it gathered from wandering around all day, as skillfully as a vacuum cleaner.

Although the remnant souls Su Kun encountered these past two days were all ordinary ones, Gu Yan still absorbed them quite enjoyably. The transparency of his body is also changing at a speed visible to the naked eye, making Su Kun unable to resist reaching out a finger to poke it a couple of times each time to test the texture.

Of course, other than his gaze showing a hint of helplessness and vexation, Gu Yan, who was being poked, didn't show any particularly averse reaction.

Just as Su Kun heard Gu Yan respond with a deep "Mm" from inside the coffin and turned to step out of the room, the tightly closed front door was suddenly pushed open from the outside. Geng Zimo, who was supposed to be at work, walked in with a coffin-like face, closed the door behind him, and tossed the keys onto the shoe cabinet.

"Holy crap, why are you back?" Su Kun was startled by him.

Without even lifting an eyelid, Geng Zimo changed into slippers and said, "The signing event ended, and I just sent that weirdo boss away. He suddenly gave me half a day off."

Su Kun was puzzled, "Shouldn't you be happy then? What's with that expression, looking like you just got back from sweeping a grave?"

"Mm, I estimate that before long, I'll have to go sweep my own grave..." Geng Zimo walked over to the sofa in his slippers and sat down, his gaze fixed straight on Su Kun, his eyes quite eerie.

"...Just what happened? What did you do that you have to be buried for?"

In a flat tone, Geng Zimo said, "Nothing much... Just accidentally spilled a cup of boiling water on the boss, along with the tea leaves at the bottom of the cup."

Su Kun gasped, "Where did you spill it?"

Geng Zimo's gaze slowly moved downward and stopped at Su Kun's crotch, three inches below his navel.

=口=

After a while, Su Kun put away his jaw, twitched the corner of his mouth and said, "Are you sure he gave you time off and didn't just directly fire you?"

"I'm sure, because he said I don't have to wait until three months later. At the end of this month, I'll be directly transferred to the headquarters in H City."

Su Kun comforted, "...I'll light a candle for you, no need to thank me."

Geng Zimo: "..." He looked at Su Kun with a distant gaze, then got up and drifted into his own room, tactfully shutting Su Kun, his troublesome friend, outside the door.

Su Kun, feeling uneasy, chattered on and on through the door to "comfort" him for a long time. Finally, Geng Zimo opened the door a crack, raised his chin, and elegantly flipped him the middle finger, seemingly recovering his usual annoying state.

Only then did Su Kun sling his bag over his shoulder and quickly roll out the door.

The two decorators he found were probably old hands, having helped who knows how many people put up these temporary facade wardrobes. Decorating the seven or eight rooms in the two houses took much less time than he had estimated, and they finished everything the next afternoon.

To express his gratitude, Su Kun originally wanted to treat them to a meal, but they politely declined. In the end, he went to a nice private restaurant in the city, planning to pack up a few signature dishes and bring them back to treat them at Aunt Zhang's house.

By the time he stepped into the restaurant, it was already near dusk. He sent Geng Zimo a message with the address, telling him to come straight to the old house after work to eat together before going back, saving the trouble of cooking at home.

Just as Su Kun tossed his phone into his satchel, he suddenly heard someone call out to him.

He looked up towards the source of the voice and saw a portly middle-aged man waving at him from a table for two by the window on the right. The man's sparse hair was blown up slightly by the air conditioning behind him, revealing his smooth scalp.

Su Kun recognized him at a glance—it was Zhang Fuquan, the owner of that red bean paste shop.

However, he wasn't alone. Sitting across from him with his back to Su Kun was a thin, elderly man, judging from his slightly hunched back. The man seemed to have finished talking with Zhang Fuquan and was picking up a grayish-blue rectangular cloth bag from the table, standing up to leave.

Su Kun was stunned for a moment, his first thought being: could this person also be looking to rent a place from Boss Zhang?

But he dismissed this idea as soon as it popped up. He had never seen anyone who was looking for a new buyer actively greet the old buyer.

While he was lost in thought, the man with his back to him had already turned around and was walking towards the entrance, clutching the cloth bag. He wasn't tall, and his figure looked even thinner from the front, probably related to his slightly sunken cheeks.

Perhaps because of his prominent cheekbones and the narrow spacing between his brows and eyes, although he had a smile on his face, he gave off a feeling of being difficult to get along with.

Almost instinctively, Su Kun took a small step back to make way for him.

This action caused the man to glance over, and Su Kun could only give him a polite smile. Unexpectedly, the man didn't immediately look away, but instead looked Su Kun up and down before pausing his steps and nodding back with a smile before stepping out of the restaurant.

Su Kun couldn't help but feel that the man's gaze was a bit strange as he looked at him, strange in a way that didn't seem at all like looking at a complete stranger.

It was more like... seeing someone who seemed familiar but not being able to place them, so giving them an extra glance or two.