Chapter 61: No Subletting for Group Rentals

Han Mo was a little displeased: "Does Uncle Gu know about all the hardships you've endured?"

He had been to the Gu family many times, but he had never seen a trace of heartache or guilt toward He Huanhuan in Mr. and Mrs. Gu Chengye.

Their biological daughter had suffered so much in the village, while Gu Chacha lived a life of luxury and wealth right beside them.

Didn't they feel any pain at all?

Unexpectedly, He Huanhuan gave a sly smile: "Let me tell you a secret—I'm not actually the Gu family's daughter."

Han Mo was completely stunned: "What did you say?"

The Gu family had already made this kind of mistake once—how could they make it a second time?

That was absurd!

He Huanhuan put away her smile and looked at him seriously: "Have you ever read Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio? There's a story in it called Xiaoxie. Have you read it?"

Han Mo nodded. He had read it with his parents when he was a child.

He Huanhuan touched her face: "I'm that Xiaoxie, just living inside this body."

Her expression was grave, nothing like someone joking around.

Han Mo hesitated for a moment, then chose to believe her: "Then who were you before?"

He Huanhuan touched her face again: "Amazing, right? I used to look like this too! It's just that all the tattoos I paid for are gone now. I had tattoos all over my body—cost a small fortune!"

"Tattoos?"

Han Mo couldn't quite imagine her covered in tattoos.

It was probably a stereotype, but a body full of tattoos inevitably made people think of danger, aggression, and impulsiveness.

He Huanhuan sighed: "Tell me about it! My tattoos!"

She reached for her right arm: "Here I had a Doraemon tattooed, bright blue, it was gorgeous!"

Then she touched her left arm: "And here I had a SpongeBob. Those two took a ton of ink—it hurt like hell getting them done!"

Han Mo looked at her now-clean arms: "Why did you get those two?"

He Huanhuan said enviously: "Doraemon has that magic pouch—how awesome is that?"

"And SpongeBob?"

He Huanhuan laughed: "That was a buy-one-get-one-free deal. It was free, so why wouldn't I get a tattoo that uses tons of ink?"

When it came to getting a bargain, looking good didn't matter—what mattered most was getting your money's worth!

Han Mo smiled helplessly: "So are you going to get tattoos again now?"

He Huanhuan shook her head: "Forget it. That stuff hurts like crazy. I don't want to suffer through that again!"

At first, she got tattoos to scare people off—to look fierce and intimidating so no one would dare bully her.

Later, she got tattoos to fit in with her circle. Everyone had them—how could she not?

That scene didn't tolerate nonconformists. You had to do everything the same way.

Now she wasn't afraid of bullies anymore, and she didn't need to please anyone else either.

Why the hell would she get more tattoos?

They hurt like hell!

When she said she wouldn't get any more, Han Mo secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

A body full of tattoos—he still couldn't appreciate that.

Besides, tattoos faded over time.

An image involuntarily flashed through his mind: the two of them in their forties or fifties, lying in bed, searching each other's bodies piece by piece—which one had faded, which one was half-faded...

Hmm, that didn't sound so bad either.

A faint smile tugged at his lips, and he couldn't help feeling a bit curious about He Huanhuan's past: "So... your soul, I mean, the original you—where did you live? Do you want to go back and take a look?"

He Huanhuan quickly reached out and covered his mouth: "Pfft, pfft, pfft... I just decided to stay here for good, and you want to send me back?"

"You can't go back?"

His eyes flickered. Was her father really as easy to handle as she'd said?

Or was she actually...

"How can I go back when it's not even the same world?"

The very thought of it frustrated He Huanhuan. If she had to be transmigrated into a book, couldn't they have brought Qi Meili along with her?

Her parents weren't that good to her anyway. It would've been great to have her come into the book and become a rich heiress with her.

In the modern world, the person she missed the most was Qi Meili.

With her gone, would Qi Meili still be able to out-argue those people?

"Ugh..."

She let out a deep sigh, then kicked Han Mo: "No more questions. You're so annoying!"

They pushed the scooter to the sales office. Wang Qiang, as the new guy, was still stationed at the entrance.

Seeing the two of them pushing the scooter toward him, Wang Qiang hurried over: "What are you two doing here? The scooter's out of battery? Why didn't you take it back to charge?"

The sales office didn't allow employees to charge personal scooters there. He'd told them that before.

"What are you talking about! We got busted!"

"Huh?"

Wang Qiang didn't understand. What did "got busted" mean?

Han Mo parked the scooter to the side and explained: "That house has an owner, and they live in the village. The owner thought some homeless person had taken over the place, so today they installed surveillance cameras."

They couldn't stay there anymore.

"Ah? Then what are you going to do?"

Wang Qiang was worried for them: "So where are you two going to sleep tonight?"

He Huanhuan sighed: "Under a bridge, I guess. It's not like we have any other options—we're both down on our luck..."

Han Mo lowered his gaze despondently: "I'm sorry I've put you through all this. I..."

The two of them looked so miserable that Wang Qiang's heart ached for them.

While sneaking peeks on his phone at work this morning, he'd searched their stories. These two rich kids were worse off than an ordinary guy like him.

He Huanhuan was the real daughter who'd been switched at birth, only brought back home not long ago.

As for Han Mo, his mother had been driven to death by his father's mistress and illegitimate son, and then he was shipped off abroad and only returned after several years.

Whatever had happened, the two of them were now reduced to hiding out in a run-down house.

They couldn't use their phones, and they couldn't spend a single cent.

How pitiful!

He couldn't help but pull out the key to his rental room: "How about you two crash at my place for now? It's small, but the three of us can manage if we squeeze in."

Han Mo looked up in a flash: "Deal."

Huh?

Before he could react, He Huanhuan hopped over to Wang Qiang, snatched the key, and stuffed it into the pocket of Han Mo's school uniform.

Then, grinning, she patted Wang Qiang on the shoulder: "Sis knew it—you're the best, Xiaoqiang!"

Something felt off.

Wang Qiang scratched his head: "Wait... were you two just putting on a show for me?"

He Huanhuan smiled innocently: "Xiaoqiang, what are you talking about? When would we ever trick you!"

Han Mo nodded seriously: "Right."

"Really?"

Wang Qiang looked at them suspiciously: "So you didn't have your eye on my place from the very start?"

He Huanhuan raised her hand as if swearing an oath: "If I'm lying to you, then let Han Mo have no place to sleep tonight!"

Han Mo: ...That doesn't sound great?

Wang Qiang still had work to do, so after they got the exact location of his rental from him, the two pushed the scooter and left.

He rented a room in a residential building too, about ten kilometers from the sales office.

They pushed the scooter for over two hours before finding the three-story building he'd mentioned.

Wang Qiang's single room was on the second floor. They had just carried the battery up and plugged it in to charge when a loud knock pounded on the door!

"Open up! Now!"

Han Mo went to open the door. Standing outside was a middle-aged man in his forties, with a thin, gaunt face that looked somewhat mean-spirited.

He scanned the two of them and asked in a hostile tone: "Who are you to Wang Qiang?"

Han Mo replied: "Friends."

He asked again: "Where's Wang Qiang?"

Han Mo continued: "He hasn't gotten off work yet. We brought his scooter back to charge."

He gave them another once-over: "I don't do group rentals for this house. You two aren't staying here tonight, are you?"

......