My Good Life - Chapter 2
Li Weiwei’s name fits him perfectly.[1] He’s capable of indiscriminately hating everyone—no exceptions.
I didn’t know why exactly, but it seemed to me that this vampire called Li Weiwei simply hated everyone in this world.
Seeing him coming, Xiao Lang choked on a mouthful of corn that he still hadn’t swallowed. Meimei hurriedly dived into the fishpond while I continued on roasting the meat. Li Peipei, who has the most fighting spirit among us, rolled up her sleeves to fight off his brother. However, her brother’s question struck her weak spot.
“Have you paid your rent?”
“…” Li Peipei meekly drew her sleeves down and answered, “The school hasn’t issued my salary yet…”
Li Peipei was currently a teacher at a vampire school, working from 10 p.m. to 4 a.m. She could be regarded as a civil servant in the non-human world. She didn’t get paid much, yet she still spent her money freely so now, she’s in debt and was living in her brother’s dilapidated apartment building and paying the monthly rent.
“Why did you stand up?”
“Well, I’ve been sitting for a long time…I need to get up for a bit.” Shei awkwardly replied, nearly tripping on her feet as she took her seat.
With Li Peipei being suppressed, Li Weiwei turned to the mermaid who was struggling to hide herself in the fishpond. The eyes behind those gold-rimmed slightly narrowed. “Yu Meimei, you’re spilling the water from the fishpond. Stop trying to hide and get up.”
The mermaid sat up, water dripping from her hair. “Hello landlord… I’m just a little dehydrated.”
“Where’s your rent for this month?”
Yu Meimei had a bitter expression on her face. “In winter, the water gets cold. The fishes in the river also seemed to get smarter. Deceiving them isn’t as easy as before and there’s not a lot of big ones. Business isn’t good…”
Yu Meimei sold fish in the market for a living. She would use her mermaid powers to trick the fish from the bathroom, pick a few big ones, and drag them to the market. In a way, she’s like the human trafficker in the marine world.
Personally, I think she’s one terrible mermaid, but according to her, her line of work was ethical. After all, she never took small fish, nor did she use nets. She only fished enough to pay for her daily expenses.
Li Weiwei stared at the remains of the grilled fish in her hands. “Yet you can still eat fish?”
She threw the fish bones into the fishpond with a start. “I was just…licking the fishbone.” She pointed her hand to the side, “Xiao Lang is also eating meat!”
Our landlord turned his attention to his other tenant curled up in the corner, quietly coughing from the corn incident. “You do?”
Xiao Lang’s face flushed and blew out a breath, some pieces of his hair fluttering from his face. He swallowed hard before speaking with a stutter, “I’m vegetarian—I—I’ll go back to work immediately!”
He owed the landlord half a year’s worth of rent.
Xiao Lang was an amateur composer and professional non-profitable drummer. Although he usually seemed docile, even after transforming, once he started playing the drums… He’s without a doubt a werewolf.
He used to be in a band playing the songs he wrote. After the band broke up, he became a tenant in this building. He continued to write songs and send them to labels, but nothing came back so far which makes the boy gloomy.
Li Weiwei snorted. “No one pays rent on time.” Even though that’s what he said, the tone seemed to say, “such a bunch of garbage.”
And then…
His eyes fell on me. “Su Xiaoxin.” He didn’t look angry. ” You owe me three months of rent. A total of four thousand five hundred yuan.”[2]
This old eight-storey building had two apartments on every floor with its own necessary spaces—one bedroom, a living room, a kitchen, and bathroom. The rent costs one thousand yuan, but because I live on the top floor that had a “rooftop garden”, even though Yu Meimei’s fishpond in the said garden often leaked into my living room, Li Weiwei still made me pay an additional five hundred yuan.
But not my next-door neighbor, Li Peipei. No. He said she had a discount since he’s her brother, so he only collected the usual rent.
Li Weiwei definitely had something against me. He didn’t like everyone, especially me. That’s because he’s an old-fashioned person. He didn’t like that I, an ordinary human, got involved in their world and was now his tenant, interacting with the other non-humans in his building.
So, when my three yaoguai friends told me he liked me, I didn’t believe it.
Still, even if Li Weiwei didn’t like me, I’d stay here anyway. Even if my life had deviated from how normal it used to be, I’d still live here. And even if there were times I’d be in life-threatening situations by being with these non-human creatures, still, I would stay!
Not because I liked it here, nor was it because of how I enjoy the company of my yaoguai friends. No. It’s because being here freed me from living such a dreadfully monotonous life. I finally have stories to tell. I…
Finally got paid for my comics!
Although the fee was not enough! But I was still glad that on that one foggy, hazy night, I chased the thief who snatched my rations because it led me to seeing the other side of the world.
“I’ll pay for it next week.” I replied indifferently to Li Weiwei’s attitude.
I realized that for people like him, trying to win their favor was futile. It’s better to just treat him the same way, talk back, and do my hardest in keeping him from trampling all over me.
And when you’re in a disadvantageous situation and backed into a corner, like right now, it’s best to act indifferent. Keep a neutral expression, make your voice flat, and look confident. If he intimidates you, don’t let it show. That way, it wouldn’t be fun for him.
And from the way he crossed his arms, it worked.
Li Peipei elbowed me twice, just like how my deskmate reminded me of the teacher’s eyes pointed in our direction.
“If I remember correctly, a few days ago, your editor came. Didn’t he give you a manuscript fee? Does this mean that you have money to spend on this, but nothing for paying rent?”
I looked around the rooftop and the barbecue that had been set up for a group of four. Apart from me, the three were as quiet as dead chickens. On the issue of money, no one dared to say a word in front of Li Weiwei.
I didn’t want to be like a dead chicken, so I held my head high, looked straight at Li Weiwei’s eyes and calmly said, “The roof was leaking, the hallway lacked lights, the toilet was often clogged, the water heater was also broken. I spent my own money fixing all of that when it should’ve been the landlord’s role to pay for all the expenses in maintenance.”
I couldn’t help pointing out more of the building’s shortcomings. “The nearest bus stop is three hundred meters away, but because of Chongqing’s terrain, it would take fifteen minutes to get there. Your price matches the current housing price in Chongqing, but you should know that your old eight-story apartment is in a remote location. Transportation is inconvenient, the elevator isn’t working, and the property management is poor. It’s only a forty square meter room that should only cost eight hundred yuan, but you’re charging me double the amount. Are you bullying me for being a human?”
When I was done talking, the rooftop was dead silent, and the three non-humans were staring at me with reverence in their eyes.
After a while, Li Weiwei replied coolly, “To bully you for being a human… Yes, I am.” Then he asked, word for word, “What’s wrong with that?”
This shameless vampire!
I really wanted to dump all of this charcoal on his face, but…I had to endure. I swallowed hard, filling my belly with anger, and faintly smiled. “I will pay rent next week.”
Li Weiwei narrowed his eyes then walked away. Before closing the door of the rooftop, he waved his hand and said, “Clean up the roof. The next time I find you having a private barbeque, I’ll make you pay a fine.”
Pong!
When the door closed, the four of us sighed and slumped like defeated chickens. Li Peipei patted me on the shoulder. “Xiaoxin, try harder next time.”
I took a bite of the slightly mushy skewer and thought to myself, in today’s update, I’d draw Li Weiwei as a pig.
Translator Notes:
1. ? in Li Weiwei (???) means hate or dislike in English. ?
2. That’s around $622 ?