Seeing a lead, Nan Yue lowered her voice and asked cryptically, "What is it, Uncle? Tell me. I only just moved in."
The man scratched his head. "Well, they say Everpeace Apartments used to be very lively. But later, because the location was so remote, a lot of desperadoes started moving in, and people gradually stopped coming."
"Hardly anyone lives there anymore, yet you managed to move in. Isn't that just asking for ghosts?"
Nan Yue couldn't help but twitch her lips. She thought she was about to get some real information, but the owner was clearly just an onlooker who didn't even have the full story.
As Nan Yue was about to leave, she suddenly saw something placed by the store entrance. "Uncle, can I have these?"
"I'll buy them."
At noon, only Nan Yue and Zhang Ping were eating at the apartment, while the others had gone out to look for clues. Zhang Ping had stayed behind because she desperately needed to catch up on sleep.
Zhang Ping hurriedly shoveled a few mouthfuls of food, planning to head back to her room, when a young girl emerged from the kitchen.
"Are you the new guests? Are you settling in well? Is the food good?"
Zhang Ping was in a hurry to leave and nodded dismissively. "The taste is quite good."
The girl smiled upon hearing this. "That's good. I'm Xiao Min, the one on the day shift. I'm also the one who cooked your meal."
The girl's gaze moved to the lunch box. "Are you not eating anymore? Is the food not to your liking?"
Because of the Tenant Rules, everyone was making a conscious effort to eat every scrap of food, and Zhang Ping was no exception.
Knowing she hadn't violated any rules, Zhang Ping's voice grew louder, but she didn't want to ruin her relationship with Xiao Min, so she could only say with a stiff face.
"I didn't rest well last night. Otherwise, I definitely could have eaten much more. You two chat, I'm heading out first."
Xiao Min's gaze followed Zhang Ping until she left, then she turned back to Nan Yue.
"And you? Are you only eating this much because the food isn't good?"
Nan Yue had eaten every bit of food in her lunch box. She wiped her mouth with a tissue before saying, "It's delicious."
"Then I'll..."
"But I'm full."
Nan Yue blinked. "I have a small appetite. I can only eat this much."
Xiao Min didn't push the matter after hearing that. She cleared the dishes and left.
Nan Yue returned to her room to continue reading the old newspapers she had bought from the convenience store.
There were a lot of these newspapers, and it would probably take three or four days to read them all. However, Nan Yue felt this mission was a bit strange.
Their mission point was the apartment, so the clues should be found in the apartment, yet the map provided was far too large. She wasn't sure where the buses went, so she decided to wait for the others to return and ask them.
While Nan Yue was focused on flipping through the newspapers, Zhang Ping had already laid down on her bed.
Although they were trained to go two or three days without sleep, the first few days of a mission were usually the easiest. If she didn't rest well now, she wouldn't have the energy to clear the mission later.
Just as Zhang Ping was about to fall into a deep sleep, there was a 'knock, knock, knock' at the door.
Zhang Ping didn't want to deal with it. From everyone's experiences yesterday, as long as it was within a reasonable range, they could refuse a neighbor's request.
It was currently the lunch break, so she could choose not to open the door.
Zhang Ping was determined to ignore the person outside, but they were persistent.
'Knock, knock, knock.'
'Knock, knock, knock.'
The continuous knocking gave Zhang Ping a headache. Finally unable to take it anymore, she rushed to the door in a fit of rage and pulled it open.
"It's the lunch break! Can't you let someone rest!"
When she saw the person outside, Zhang Ping froze.
It wasn't the strange woman she had expected, but Xiao Min, whom she had just seen.
Xiao Min was dragging a metal bucket, standing at her door with an extremely exaggerated smile on her face.
"Didn't you just say that if you had the time, you'd be very willing to eat more of the food I cooked?"
...
Nan Yue spent the whole day reading newspapers in her room and actually found something.
Everpeace Apartments was opened by a father and daughter using their own old house. In the early days, they had even advertised in the newspapers.
Later, it seemed there was some illegal construction, and several rooms were sealed off. Those should be the ones Nan Yue saw on the lower floors. Because of that, Everpeace Apartments gradually faded into obscurity.
Nan Yue started reading from the earliest newspapers. She was now certain there were clues in them and planned to share them with everyone to look through tonight.
Seeing that it was almost time for dinner, Nan Yue carefully sprayed insecticide throughout her room before preparing to head out.
Just as she was about to open the door, Nan Yue felt something was off. She then remembered that the soundproofing here was poor.
Normally, the sound of the elevator operating could be heard. Additionally, the hallway had sound-activated lights that only turned on when there was noise.
While she was flipping through the newspapers earlier, Nan Yue had heard the 'click' of the sound-activated lights turning on, but she had been too focused for her brain to register it.
But now, as she was about to leave, she remembered. It was normal for someone to go out, as four people lived on this floor.
However, she hadn't heard the sound of the elevator running or stopping.
Which meant...
The person who went out was still in the hallway.
Nan Yue slowly leaned toward the peephole, prepared to see an eye staring back.
But there was nothing. The hallway was dark, as the sound-activated lights had long since gone out due to the lack of movement.
What Nan Yue saw was a dark shadow pressed against her door.
What was that?
Nan Yue frowned, evaluated her actions since entering the mission, and then threw the door open.
The figure of Li Ge abruptly appeared outside.
He seemed to have been leaning against the door to listen to the movement inside. When the door opened, his body even stumbled forward.
"Li Ge, what are you doing at my door?"
Li Ge hadn't expected Nan Yue to be so quiet or to open the door so suddenly.
He straightened up and gave a sheepish smile to Nan Yue, who was about his height.
"Noth... nothing. I just wanted to come by and say hello. I didn't know if you were in."
Nan Yue looked at him expressionlessly. "Li Ge, I'm a newcomer and a young woman living alone. Safety is my first priority."
"I don't think we need to involve the police in this, do we?"
Li Ge's expression was exaggerated. "I just wanted to show some concern! Why are you thinking like that, little girl? Calling the police... the police won't care about this."
Watching Li Ge's expression, Nan Yue threw out the next test.
"Then I'll mention it to the Apartment Manager."
To her surprise, Li Ge, who hadn't been afraid of the police, suddenly had his eyelids twitch. He instantly became a different person.
"No, no, no! I really just wanted to hear if there was any noise. I apologize. I promise this will never happen again!"
While Li Ge was begging and pleading, Nan Yue gave a gentle smile. "I'm just joking with you, Li Ge. Why would I make trouble over something like this? Harmony between neighbors is the most important thing, right?"
Li Ge's smile looked somewhat ridiculous. "Yes, yes, you're right."
Li Ge slunk back to his room. Before Nan Yue could process what happened, she heard the sound of a nearby door opening.
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