Zhang Su's home is located nearly three kilometers away from the Yileiwen Convenience Store at Sheng Qin Home, and with a twelve-story design, the population density of the entire community is not high. Coupled with a low plot ratio, it can be considered mid-to-high-end in the apartment field of Qin City!
Building No. 3, 801, as Zhang Su opened the door, a strong, pungent smell hit him in the face.
"Back already? I just finished my livestream and cooked a big~~~~ bowl of snail noodles. Are you hungry?"
In the living room, a girl in a loose T-shirt sat cross-legged on the sofa. On the coffee table was a steaming bowl of snail noodles, with a white porcelain bowl and spoon beside it, indicating she had planned to share some with Zhang Su.
Zhang Su noticed these details and smiled, shaking his head: "I just ate at the store. Um... Xinyu, next time don't rush to turn off the exhaust fan after cooking snail noodles."
"Oh!" Zheng Xinyu answered slightly disappointed, suddenly recalling something, and hurriedly said, "Oh right, Brother Su, those things I bought, you said you'd bring them back for me tonight, didn't you?"
Zheng Xinyu was the streamer Zhang Su mentioned who planned to challenge staying in her room for a month. However, Wu Lue did not know that this beautiful streamer was Zhang Su's flatmate.
In the eighty-something square meter two-bedroom, aside from the bedrooms, everything was a public area, clear-cut boundaries, with no impact from mixed-gender renting.
Because she had just finished streaming, the makeup on Zheng Xinyu's face had not faded and she looked charming and cute. Plus, being in her early twenties, she exuded a strong youthful aura. Her long legs extended from under the large T-shirt, appearing extra snow-white under the light, quite pleasing to the eye.
Zhang Su changed his shoes, sat by the bay window, lit a cigarette, and said lightly: "A few hundred kilos of stuff, you expect me to carry them up? I'm a salesman, not a mover. Bringing them back for free was generous enough!"
"Anyway, you work out every day, really..."
Zheng Xinyu, slurping noodles, muttered quietly, not understanding why she couldn't capture Zhang Su's attention. If it were a young guy renting with her, he would've already been infatuated, obeying her every whim, unlike this unromantic quasi-uncle.
Thinking back when she moved in, Zheng Xinyu had laid out three ground rules with Zhang Su, but after some time realized it was all self-indulgent, Zhang Su had no interest in her?
Sometimes Zheng Xinyu even doubted Zhang Su's orientation was normal.
"Um..."
Seeing Zhang Su's indifferent attitude, Zheng Xinyu searched for a topic: "Did the landlord tell you that next year's rent will increase by ten percent?"
Zhang Su took a deep drag on the cigarette, extinguishing the butt in the ashtray, looked outside the window, and said nonchalantly: "Of course he notified me. Let it rise, prices rise every year, rent rising isn't unusual."
"I think there's something off about this! Just the other day, I was lamenting to you that I got used to living here and don't plan to move even if the rent is a bit high, and then the landlord immediately announces a rent increase. You think it could be..."
Zheng Xinyu put down the bowl, looked mysteriously at Zhang Su.
"Could it be what?"
Zhang Su was caught off guard by Zheng Xinyu's mischievous gaze, but showed no reaction, casually asking.
"Could it be the landlord installed an eavesdropping device?"
Zheng Xinyu widened her big eyes, her gaze scanning the room, her eyebrows furrowed, putting on a serious look: "A friend of mine, a streamer in Shanghai, encountered this, later sued the landlord and got eighty thousand compensation!"
"Brother Su, I think we should thoroughly inspect the house. It's best to use those specialized detectors from movies, it's really necessary. We might strike it rich!"
The more Zheng Xinyu spoke, the more she believed there was a possibility.
Eavesdroppers?
More than just eavesdropping, it could be surveillance!
High-tech, composed of over three billion pairs of base pairs, able to intelligently detect, identify, and analyze various useful information...
"Paranoid delusion? Haha..."
Zhang Su laughed, stood up, took off his T-shirt, shook his head as he walked toward the bathroom, meanwhile saying: "You want to look, be my guest, I don't have the time. Going to shower, clean the living room after you eat, don't leave any smells!"
"Oh, okay..."
Watching Zhang Su's muscular silhouette, Zheng Xinyu swallowed the words of refusal she originally wanted to say. Besides, the public area always followed the principle of whoever pollutes, cleans.
"Hey!"
As Zhang Su was about to enter the bathroom, Zheng Xinyu couldn't help but call out again, seeing Zhang Su's puzzled expression, she slightly embarrassedly said: "Weather alert says there's a cold wave, be sure to dress warmly, don't catch a cold."
Zhang Su felt her concern, smiled and nodded: "You keep warm too."
"I know, I know, go shower. I'm full, time to clean up!"
With that, Zheng Xinyu stood up, stretched comfortably, the snail noodles still half a bowl left.
...
Zhang Su dawdled in the bathroom for half an hour, the stinging smell dissipating significantly, Zheng Xinyu had also returned to her room, the tightly closed door adorned with a half-meter high pink melancholic bear, faintly hearing the sound of mechanical keyboard clattering inside, likely gaming.
Accustomed to a night owl lifestyle, even if the streaming job was finished, it's hard to calm down and sleep immediately.
Swoosh...
A draft blew in through the still-open window, and Zhang Su, with droplets of water still clinging to him, felt a chilly sensation.
"It really got colder, meteorological alert is rarely accurate..."
Muttering, Zhang Su walked to the window and looked out into the distance. Since the building wasn't high, the night view wasn't spectacular. Security personnel patrolled the complex with flashlights, the landscape lights illuminated a corner, soft and tranquil.
Shutting the window and drawing the curtains, Zhang Su returned to his room, opened his computer to enter CSGO, engaging in a thrilling battle until after three in the morning, finally tossing the headset aside and dove into bed, snoring away.
He liked this routine, not the early-to-bed, early-to-rise life of office workers and students, but a rhythm of his own.
Sleeping at two or three every night, waking naturally around eleven or twelve the next day, eight or nine hours of sleep kept him refreshed, yet... this time Zhang Su didn't get to wake naturally!
"Ah!"
A shrill scream shattered the slumber, followed by a loud pounding on the door.
"Su, Brother Su, are you up... Zhang Su, hurry open the door!"
Panicked calls from outside, clearly terrified.
Zhang Su picked up the Titan King from the bedside table to check the time, ten thirty!
"Zhang Su, hurry up, something happened, something big happened..."
The door-pounding and frantic calls persisted.
"What is this crazy girl doing!"
Zhang Su frowned, tossing off the quilt, unmistakably feeling the temperature had dropped quite a bit since yesterday morning. Agreeing "coming," he pulled up his pants.
Swung the door open, Zhang Su was about to question Zheng Xinyu, but she pointed toward the window, chest heaving, face terror-stricken: "Mur- murder, dismemberment, there's been a murder downstairs, not just one dead person!"
Finishing, Zheng Xinyu surprisingly didn't admire Zhang Su's abs, grabbed his wrist and sprinted to the living room window.
"A murder case?"
Zhang Su's heart skipped a beat. The Celestial Dynasty usually had good security, coupled with Sheng Qin Home's excellent security system, how could there have been a murder, with multiple deaths?
Wondering if Zheng Xinyu was messing around, he kept pace with her to the window and leaned out.
From the eighth floor, roughly twenty-five meters above the ground, with decent daylight visibility, Zhang Su quickly saw the scene, unable to resist swearing: "Holy sh*t..."
In the garden below, blood stained the white cobblestone path, scattered severed limbs and what looked like clusters of organs, someone lay on top of the victim performing mouth-to-mouth.
Mere moments later, Zhang Su erased the absurd thoughts from his mind!
That's no CPR, it was clearly feeding...
The person on the corpse buried their head into the neck of the body, head bobbing up and down, ripping off large chunks of flesh.
"Wake-up adrenaline rush..."
Zhang Su's startled expression faded into a grin, turned to look at the frightened Zheng Xinyu, comically gesturing: "Wake-up rush actually made me see cannibalism, I'll go nap a bit more!"
After saying this, he headed back to his bedroom, contemplating that perhaps last night's CSGO zombie mode had impacted him too deeply, causing this absurd sight.