Chapter 9

"Is that right, boss, are you the landlord?" Ge Dongxu nodded and asked.

"Yes, I am the landlord. However, I only rent my rooms to high school students from Changxi No.1 High School. If you are not a student from Changxi No.1 High School, I'm afraid I cannot rent a room to you." The landlord said.

"I am a high school student who just got admitted to Changxi No.1 High School this year." Ge Dongxu smiled.

"So you are a first-year high school student this year, that's great. Which town are you from, and what score did you get on the middle school entrance exam?" The landlord's eyes lit up when he heard this.

"I am from Baiyun Mountain Town, and I scored 550 on the middle school entrance exam." Ge Dongxu was a bit puzzled by why the landlord was asking these questions, but he answered honestly.

"550, that's a very high score! Good, good." The landlord nodded in approval, and his gaze towards Ge Dongxu became much warmer.

At that time, the full score for the middle school entrance exam in Jiangnan Province was 590, and the admission score for Changxi No.1 High School was 512. Ge Dongxu's score was considered very good.

"Uncle, how much is the rent? Can you show me the room first?" Ge Dongxu came to rent a room, not to discuss academic performance, so he was unwilling to continue this conversation.

"Yes, yes, I'm being forgetful. The rent around here is about 150 yuan per month. Since your academic performance is so good and you are from the countryside, I'll give you a discount, 100 yuan. As for the room, wait a moment, I'll call your aunt to help watch the store, and then I'll show you." The landlord suddenly remembered that Ge Dongxu came to rent a room, patted his head, and then looked Ge Dongxu up and down, smiling.

"Thank you, Uncle." Ge Dongxu's family was not well-off, so he was happy to save on rent and bowed slightly in gratitude.

"You are a very sensible child." The landlord, seeing Ge Dongxu's politeness, looked at him even more warmly and praised him. Then he opened the door behind the counter that led to the back room and called out.

Soon, a middle-aged woman who looked kind and gentle came out from the back room.

"Auntie, this young man, oh, what's your name?" The landlord suddenly remembered he didn't know Ge Dongxu's name as he was introducing him.

"Auntie, my name is Ge Dongxu, I came to rent a room." Ge Dongxu politely smiled at the middle-aged woman.

"Are you from Changxi No.1 High School?" The middle-aged woman, called Auntie, asked.

"Yes, Changxi No.1 High School, and I scored 550 on the middle school entrance exam." The landlord said.

The middle-aged woman's eyes lit up slightly, and she nodded, saying, "That's a very high score, much higher than the admission line."

"Yes, if only a few points could be given to my son Le Hao, it would save us tens of thousands of yuan!" The landlord sighed, and then, under Ge Dongxu's somewhat puzzled gaze, led him through the back door of the store into the back room on the first floor.

The first floor was divided into two rooms, the front one used as a store, with customers coming and going, somewhat like a public place, while the back room, separated from the store by a wall and a door, was a private space.

Inside were some cardboard boxes, bicycles, brooms, dustpans, and other miscellaneous items. The stairs to the other floors were also here, with a few pairs of slippers placed at the entrance.

"You can go up with your shoes on, anyway, your auntie will be giving the place a thorough cleaning in the next few days!" Seeing Ge Dongxu about to take off his shoes, the landlord waved his hand and smiled.

However, seeing that the stairs were very clean, Ge Dongxu insisted on taking off his shoes before going up.

The stairs were a spiral wooden staircase, painted a rich brown, and felt very good to walk on.

The spiral wooden staircase was in the middle of the house, dividing it into front and back rooms.

"The kitchen and dining room are at the back of the second floor. The living room and bathroom are on the street side." When they reached the second-floor landing, the landlord pointed to both sides of the stairs and introduced them.

These naturally belonged to the landlord, so he just mentioned them casually and then led Ge Dongxu upstairs.

"The floors above the second floor are all rooms. The third floor is where my wife and I live, the front room is the master bedroom, and the back room is the study. The fourth floor is my son Cheng Le Hao's bedroom and a guest room. The fifth floor is for rent, and each floor has a bathroom." The landlord introduced as he climbed the stairs. When they reached the fourth-floor landing, he turned to look at the main bedroom, saw that the door was closed, and went straight to knock on it, "Knock, knock, knock."

"Classes are starting in a couple of days, can't you let me sleep in for a couple more days?" A dissatisfied voice came from inside the room, followed by the door opening, and a young, fat boy, about the same age as Ge Dongxu, wearing large shorts and no shirt, walked out.

"Sleep, all you do is sleep. Look at this guy, he's already run from Yunheng Mountain to the county to find a place to live!" The landlord, seeing the fat boy's dissatisfied and complaining face, couldn't help but glare and scold him.

"Hey, buddy, are you coming to Changxi No.1 High School for high school?" The fat boy, clearly knowing his father's conditions for renting, his eyes lit up when he saw Ge Dongxu, and he asked in a very familiar manner, completely ignoring his father's anger, which made his father shake his head in frustration.

Looking at the father and son, and recalling the previous interactions, Ge Dongxu finally understood why the landlord specified the identity and was so concerned about his academic performance. He wanted to find a study partner for his son to encourage him to study!

However, seeing that the family was quite nice, Ge Dongxu didn't mind taking on an extra task.

"Yes, my name is Ge Dongxu!" Ge Dongxu smiled and nodded.

"Then we will be classmates from now on. Come on, Dongxu, I'll show you your room." Cheng Le Hao put his fat arm around Ge Dongxu's shoulder and said warmly.

Seeing that his son seemed to like Ge Dongxu, the landlord's frown lessened, and as he followed behind, he said to his son, "Le Hao, Dongxu scored 550 on the middle school entrance exam. You were admitted through a quota, so your foundation is worse than most people. From now on, you must study hard and ask Dongxu for help when you don't understand something, and strive to get into a good university."

"Got it, got it!" Cheng Le Hao, who was clearly used to his father's nagging, said impatiently.

"You, you!" The landlord, in a bad mood, hit the back of his son's head from behind.

"Dad, you'll hit me stupid!" Cheng Le Hao shouted.

The landlord, who was about to hit him again, finally stopped, either because he was really afraid of hitting him stupid or because Ge Dongxu was present.

The layout of the fifth floor was the same as downstairs, with a large master bedroom at the front, over 20 square meters, and a smaller bedroom at the back with a small balcony.

The interior was decorated very elegantly and was very clean, with all the necessary furniture, including a bed, a desk, and a wardrobe.