Su Wan was pondering how to find tenants in such a godforsaken place when she heard a faint sound outside, like something dragging and crawling through the snow.
Her heart tightened, and she quietly moved to the window, cautiously peering out.
On the snow not far away, a startlingly thin figure was crawling toward the unfinished building in an agonizingly slow, almost worm-like manner.
It was a boy, barely ten years old!
His thin, tattered clothes offered no protection against the bitter cold.
Large snowflakes fell on him, quickly melting into icy water before freezing into a layer of frost.
His face was a bruised purple, his lips cracked and bleeding, with droplets of blood congealed into dark red scabs.
His exposed hands were swollen and covered in purplish-red chilblains; some areas were festering with pus, only to be frozen solid by the sub-zero temperatures.
Most horrifying were his legs. The injured areas were swollen and shiny, and through his torn pants, she could see the skin turning an ominous black-purple. The infection was clearly severe, and the cold was accelerating the necrosis.
With every inch he dragged himself forward, he left a trail of mud, blood, and pus in the snow.
The boy, Ah-Hao, seemed to use the last of his strength to finally reach a spot about two meters from the window—
He tilted his head up, his pained, twisted, yet youthful face looking directly at Su Wan behind the window.
His eyes were unfocused, yet he desperately tried to find a point of clarity. They were filled with the most primal, humble desire for survival, along with a carefully calculated look of pity and despair.
He opened his mouth, his cracked lips trembling as he let out a faint, almost inaudible whisper:
“Sis... Sister... help... help me...”
Before he could finish, the light in his eyes suddenly vanished. His head slumped to the side, and he collapsed completely onto the frozen ground, motionless.
Ah-Hao’s body was cold and stiff, but the slight twitching of his eyelashes beneath his eyelids revealed that he wasn't truly unconscious.
All his senses were concentrated on his ears, listening intently for any movement inside the building.
The taste of that bread had been too wonderful. At the thought of the woman having two more pieces, he couldn't restrain himself. Having finally managed to send his sister, Ah-Lan, away, he had to seize this opportunity to carry out his plan.
He was taking a gamble.
He bet that this woman, who looked kind and inexperienced, wouldn't be able to resist coming out to check on him or even rescue him after seeing his miserable state.
As soon as she stepped outside, she would be as good as dead!
Heavy snow quickly began to cover him, as if it intended to bury him along with the ruins.
The wind howled, and time ticked by.
Inside, Su Wan held her breath, her heart pounding.
The system notification for the task “Acquire the First Tenant” seemed to echo in her mind.
Just as she was wondering where to find a tenant, one had delivered himself right to her doorstep!
However, looking at the figure slumped in the snow, Su Wan felt conflicted.
Her target tenant was right there, yet he might as well have been on the other side of the world.
She didn't dare rush out.
The system had stated clearly that she only possessed the “Absolute Safety Zone” and “Domain Sovereignty” within the range of the bound building.
The world outside was full of unknown dangers. Even this seemingly dying boy could be a trap.
She couldn't risk her only source of security.
“Hey! Wake up! Can you hear me?” Su Wan opened the window and raised her voice, trying to rouse the unconscious boy.
“Crawl to the base of the wall! Quickly! Get to the wall!”
Ah-Hao sneered inwardly, thinking that this woman was indeed a coward.
He remained motionless, waiting for her to lose her patience.
Another few minutes passed. The cold was like countless needles piercing through his thin, tattered clothes and into his very marrow.
The weakness from blood loss and infection, combined with the biting cold, was making his charade dangerous.
If this continued, his fake unconsciousness might turn into a very real death.
The woman in the building only kept shouting without showing any sign of coming out.
“Damn it...” Ah-Hao cursed silently. This woman was even more cautious than he had anticipated.
He couldn't wait any longer; he had to change his strategy.
He had to find a way to get her to open the building door. As long as the door opened, there would be a chance!
After all, he had brought backup just to be safe.
Thinking of the man currently hiding in the shadows, Scar Wolf, Ah-Hao felt a sense of reassurance.
That man was a true ruthless character who only cared about profit and had no room for sentiment.
Ah-Hao had traded his precious small pack of slightly contaminated, expired military rations and information about the potential existence of clean food for Scar Wolf's promise to “act as the situation dictates.”
Thus, after Su Wan’s latest anxious shout, the boy in the snow let out an almost imperceptible spasm and a faint groan.
He moved his fingers beneath him with extreme slowness, then struggled to drag himself forward inch by inch, his small body leaving an even more jagged trail in the snow.
Watching the boy struggle for survival, Su Wan felt a slight sense of relief, but her vigilance did not waver.
She watched his progress intently, calculating the distance.
One meter... half a meter...
Finally, when his frostbitten hand tremblingly touched the cold, rough concrete at the base of the wall—
【Warning! Unit detected (Designation: Visitor-001) has entered the Absolute Safety Zone.】
【Host Control Authority activated.】
【Performing shallow consciousness scan (Basic Domain Authority)... Scan complete.】
【Notice: The unit’s surface consciousness is currently active, accompanied by a strong desire for survival and deceitful intent.】
【Threat Assessment: Moderate (Clear malice toward the host, but current physiological state is extremely poor, limiting threat execution capability).】
【Host, please proceed with caution.】
The cold system notification rang out in Su Wan’s mind without any emotion. Having anticipated this, she wasn't overly surprised.
After all, no child who could survive in such a harsh environment was a simple character.
She looked at Ah-Hao huddled at the base of the wall outside, and the corners of her mouth curled into a cold, mirthless smile.
Her first tenant candidate had delivered himself to her. Even if his motives were impure and his heart full of schemes, now that he was on her turf, he would have to fall in line, no matter how fierce he thought he was.
Standing behind the window, she spoke in a clear, calm voice to the figure outside:
“I know you’re wide awake, and I know exactly what you’re thinking.”
In the snow, Ah-Hao’s body stiffened almost imperceptibly for a split second.
“Now, you have two choices.” Su Wan’s voice carried through the glass and the wind, imbued with an undeniable authority.
“First, stay lying there until you freeze to death or get eaten by whatever might wander by.”
“Second,” she paused, “sign a rental contract with me and become a resident of this building. I will give you a room to shelter you from the storm. Of course, you will need to pay rent.”
“I’ll give you ten seconds to decide.”
The ten-second countdown began.
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