The white rose I picked up cried and said she liked me.

"Are you the ones who want to rent my house?"

The landlady was a middle-aged woman wearing glasses, carefully scrutinizing Xu Nian and Xu Xi.

Seeing that Xu Nian's clothes were tattered and covered in stains that couldn't be washed off, making her look like someone who wasn't rich, she frowned and looked disgusted.

The agent was very puzzled. He remembered that the landlord who had come to him to rent out his property was a middle-aged man.

Why is a woman here now?

"Maybe it's his wife," the agent thought, without giving it much thought.

"Yes, we really like your house and are interested in renting it."

Xu Nian spoke politely. Although she found the woman strange, she was asking for a favor and had to be courteous.

"Please leave, I'm not renting my house to you."

The middle-aged woman ruthlessly adopted a gesture of seeing the guest off.

Xu Nian looked puzzled. She had only said one sentence, and she was refused a rental?

"Wait a minute, what's the reason you don't want to rent to us?"

"There's no particular reason, I'm just planning to sell this house, so I'm not renting it out anymore."

The agent was stunned after hearing this.

He remembered that the middle-aged man who first approached him to rent the house did not mention any intention to sell it.

I finally managed to bring in a tenant, and now they're saying they don't want to rent anymore and want to sell?

"Miss, when your husband came to see me before, I asked him if he had any plans to sell the house, but he clearly stated that he would only rent it out and not sell it. Is there some misunderstanding?"

The middle-aged woman's face immediately darkened upon hearing this.

"My family affairs are none of your business, and my house is none of your concern. Take your people and leave now, or I'll call the police."

"If you don't want to rent it out, we won't force you. We wish you a successful sale."

After Xu Nian finished speaking, she grabbed Xu Xi's arm and went downstairs without looking back.

......

"Mr. Xu, I'm really sorry, I didn't know the landlord would change his mind at the last minute."

After going downstairs, the agent said to Xu Nian with an apologetic expression.

Xu Nian waved her hand: "It's okay, there's still plenty of time, I'll look for it some more."

After saying goodbye to Xu Nian, the real estate agent left the residential area first.

"Brother, how about we go back to that apartment we looked at before? The rent is definitely much cheaper."

Xu Xi tugged at Xu Nian's sleeve and said in a crisp voice.

Xu Nian pondered for a moment, then shook her head.

He still felt that the area was too dangerous; there weren't many residents in the community, and there was an unfinished construction site nearby, making it very unsafe.

"Let's look around some more. It's still early; we can check other places."

Xu Xi nodded, took Xu Nian's arm, and prepared to leave the neighborhood.

"Waaaaah, my soccer ball...waaaaah!"

Xu Nian looked up at the sound and saw a little boy, about seven or eight years old, crying under a big tree.

A soccer ball was stuck right there in the branch of that tree.

"Don't cry, child, Grandpa Deng is here to help you."

An old man came over and comforted the crying little boy.

Xu Nian recognized him; he was one of the two elderly people who had been playing chess by the pavilion when she entered the community earlier.

He hugged the tree trunk tightly with both hands and squeezed his legs between the branches, huffing and puffing as he climbed up the tree.

Halfway up the mountain, suddenly, the branch he was standing on broke, and he fell heavily to the ground like a kite with a broken string.

Xu Nian reacted quickly and ran to the big tree to catch Grandpa Deng.

"Old man, be careful."

"elder brother!"

Xu Xi quickly followed to check if Xu Nian was injured.

Xu Nian waved her hand to indicate that she was fine.

Grandpa Deng stood up and thanked Xu Nian with a smile.

"Thank you, young man. My old arms and legs are no good anymore, hahaha, I can't even climb a tree."

Xu Nian found a stone on the ground, aimed at the soccer ball on the tree branch, and threw it with a bang.

The stone hit its target precisely, knocking the soccer ball away and causing it to fall.

"Thank you, Uncle. Thank you, Grandpa Deng."

The little boy picked up the soccer ball, thanked the two men, and left.

"Hahaha, Old Deng, not only is your body failing you, but your brain is failing you too. Why didn't you think of hitting me with a rock?"

Another old man came over; it was the same one who had just been playing chess with Grandpa Deng.

"Hey Qu, don't be so arrogant. You're not as good as me at fighting, and you're not as good as me at chess either. All you do is talk a lot."

Grandpa Deng laughed and scolded in an annoyed tone.

He sized up Xu Nian and recognized her as a stranger who had just entered the residential area.

"Young man, you're not from this neighborhood, are you?"

Xu Nian nodded.

"No, I came to look at the apartment hoping to rent it, but I didn't manage to find one, so I'm about to leave."

"Renting a place? Did you go to Grandpa Chen's place?"

Seeing Xu Nian's blank expression, Grandpa Deng pointed in a direction.

Following the direction Grandpa Deng pointed, Xu Nian saw the building he had come from.

"It should be, the apartment I looked at is definitely in that building."

"Was the landlord you met a man or a woman?"

"woman."

"I knew it, it must be Old Master Chen's daughter-in-law causing trouble again."

Grandpa Qu walked over, looking displeased.

"That house belonged to Old Master Chen. He was awarded it by the army for his meritorious service in the war."

"When Mr. Chen's son got married, he transferred this house to him as his wedding home."

"But his daughter-in-law is a real piece of work. She looks down on this family because she is a graduate student from some university, such as Wucheng University or Seoul National University, and is a cultured person. She has no culture and only knows how to be a soldier and fight."

"They're getting a divorce recently. Old Master Chen's son wants to rent out the house and give his parents some money every month to support them in their old age. But his wife isn't happy about it. She says that since they're married, the house belongs to her half and she wants to sell it and split the money."

At this point, Grandpa Qu angrily spat out a mouthful of phlegm.

"I don't know where she got the nerve. When Grandpa Chen and we risked our lives to fight the Japanese, she wasn't there. When her son, Xiao Chen, formed a human wall in the flood to protect the people, she wasn't there. Now she wants to take away the credit that the father and son earned with their lives."

Even Grandpa Deng was indignant.

"I think she wasted her time at university. Either the school didn't teach her anything good, and she doesn't even know what morality and shame are."

Xu Nian couldn't help but feel ashamed.

Thankfully, I didn't manage to rent this apartment. If I had, I might have been drawn into this messy family affair.

"I'm getting off topic, young man. You saved me, and I haven't even asked your name yet."

"Xu Nian, this is my younger sister, Xu Xi."

Xu Nian patted her younger sister's head and introduced her to the two old men.

"It was nothing, Grandpa, don't worry about it. We still need to find a place to rent, so we'll be going now."

"Xu Nian, wait a minute."

Grandpa Deng called out to Xu Nian.

"If you're looking to rent a place, I have a vacant apartment here. Why don't you come stay with me?"