Chapter 37: Wind in the Reeds
The landlord stood at the door, his whole body exuding shrewdness and calculation, "Little girl, last month's water bill was 150 and the electricity bill was 200. Please pay it."
Ye Zhenzhen crossed her arms and frowned, "Don't bully me! Even if I swim in my room every day, I won't use 30 tons of water!"
The landlord shook his head and said, "I don't know why you use so much water?"
Ye Zhenzhen's eyes widened, and she became more and more angry as she spoke. "Two days ago, I told you that the toilet tank was leaking, but you didn't come to fix it. Even if it was leaking these two days, it couldn't have leaked so much! Why would you waste so much water if you came to fix it earlier? I won't pay for it!"
The landlord collected the water and electricity bills today, and the eight tenants on the third floor were all at home.
When the tenants heard the quarrel, they opened their doors and looked out. The tenant next door brought in a plastic stool and leaned against the door frame to watch the fun.
Ye Zhenzhen and the landlord were in a tense standoff, and the landlord went into the bathroom to check the toilet.
He put down the tank cover and clapped his hands, "It's okay for the little girl to fix the toilet, but you have to pay for the water."
Ye Zhenzhen's hair stood on end, and her chest rose and fell violently, "Why? I won't hand it over!"
Landlord: "You still have a deposit and rent, it's okay if you don't pay!"
The landlord's meaning was very clear. Since there was a deposit anyway, the worst that could happen was he could just deduct the money from the deposit. Ye Zhenzhen had to bear the loss.
Ye Zhenzhen bit her lower lip, this is simply bullying!
The landlord left in a flash and came back with a toolbox not long after. He was sweating and panting. He opened the water tank cover in the bathroom and water flowed out of the overflow pipe.
"Look, little girl, the drain valve is broken. Just buy a new one and replace it."
The landlord held up the broken drain valve and waved it in front of Ye Zhenzhen.
He ran downstairs again, and soon bought a drain valve and installed the new water valve in a hurry.
Ye Zhenzhen's expression relaxed a little. Fixing the toilet and stopping the leak was better than anything else.
"Landlord, the water bill is 150 yuan, which is too much. You should pay 50 yuan. I'll give you 300 yuan for water and electricity."
Ye Zhenzhen took out three hundred cash and handed it to him. The landlord scratched his head, hesitating and reluctant to take the money.
"Landlord, you won't suffer any loss."
Ye Zhenzhen raised her arms in the air and forced a smile. She stuffed the money into the landlord's hand, and the landlord held the money and turned away awkwardly.
In the houses rented out in Yuncheng, each tenant has an independent water and electricity meter, and the landlord can tamper with the specific number of degrees. Collecting an extra hundred yuan in water and electricity bills from each household every month is a considerable income.
The tenants are all migrant workers from other places. They are exhausted from work and just want some peace and quiet after get off work. Few of them will argue with the landlord over a hundred dollars.
With so many workers, there is no problem renting out houses, so landlords are fearless.
Ye Zhenzhen knew she was being ripped off, but she could only bargain with the landlord. If you don't have the ability to buy a house, it's normal to live in a private house.
As soon as the landlord left, the neighbors who came to watch the fun started discussing.
"Beauty, you are amazing!"
"These landlords are shameless and rip us off every day!"
In the past two days, the sound of running water in the bathroom kept Ye Zhenzhen awake. She went to work every day with dark circles under her eyes and yawning.
She was in no mood to chat with her neighbors right now, she just wanted to go to sleep. She got off work at 3:30 and came back just in time to meet the landlord collecting the fees, it was almost 5 o'clock now.
She went to the bathroom, took a shower, closed the curtains and went to sleep.
The room was dim, and her face was as soft as water, like a tired butterfly resting among the flowers. Her breathing gradually became even and gentle, and she soon fell into a peaceful sleep.
In a daze, she was holding an umbrella, wearing a white dress, and the Jiangnan area was shrouded in mist and rain.
A vague figure walked beside her, and the person smiled and took her hand.
"As long as you stay in Jiangnan, you will see such beautiful scenery every day."
Ye Zhenzhen suddenly woke up from her dream. The curtains were drawn tightly and there was not a trace of light in the darkness.
The couple next door gasped in primitive gasps at the top of their lungs, the bed creaked as it shook, and the pig-slaughtering joy made people blush.
The sound of dripping water was heard, and it was faint and echoed in the room.
I pricked up my ears; the sound of dripping water was getting faster and faster.
She sat up in shock, reached out for the switch on the wall, got out of bed and went to the bathroom to check.
There was a crack in the water pipe beside the wall, and water dripped out from the crack, forming a puddle on the ground. The water drops became bigger and faster, and the water flowed to her feet.
Ye Zhenzhen squatted down and reached out to cover the water pipe, and water gushed out from the cracks in her hands.
She got up and ran back to the bed, and frantically called the landlord, "Hello! Landlord? I'm the tenant of 305. The water pipe in the bathroom is leaking, and it's leaking more and more. Please come and fix it as soon as possible..."
The landlord said helplessly, "I just returned to the countryside..."
Ye Zhenzhen's long hair was scattered wantonly. She reached out and tucked her hair behind her ears. "What should I do? The water pipe is going to burst!"
Hurrying back to the bathroom, she took off the towel and covered the water pipe.
The landlord said: "I'll think of a way..."
"Then you better think of a solution quickly. Where am I going to stay tonight if the water pipe bursts?"
The landlord hung up the phone, and she clutched the water pipe tightly, jumping anxiously. Water gushed out from the cracks, and she dodged left and right, with water droplets all over her face and her hair getting wet and sticking to her neck.
The water pressure in the pipe was getting higher and higher, and water gushed out of the cracks like a fountain, soaking Ye Zhenzhen. She turned her head to the side, closed her eyes and mouth, and anxiously hoped that the landlord would come up with a solution quickly.
"Dong dong dong" came the knock on the door.
A man's voice came from outside the door: "The landlord is fixing the water pipe!"
Although the man also had a local accent, he sounded younger than the landlord.
The landlord didn't call her back, and a strange man knocked on the door late at night, and fine particles appeared on Ye Zhenzhen's skin.
She was a little confused: "Isn't the landlord in the countryside?"
The man said, "The landlord asked me to come here. Hurry up and open the door, or the water pipe will burst!"
The cracks were getting bigger and bigger, and more and more water was gushing out. Ye Zhenzhen seemed to be standing in a heavy rain, with wrinkles at the corners of her eyes and her lips tightly pursed.
Ye Zhenzhen was choked by the water and could only hold her breath.
The water in the bathroom was above my feet and flowed into the room through the crack in the door.
The knocking on the door turned into banging.
Ye Zhenzhen stood up and wiped her face with her hand. After hesitating for a moment, she rushed out of the bathroom, stepped over the puddles, and suddenly pulled the door handle.
The man outside the door was wearing glasses and carrying a toolbox. "Is that you?"
The water on her hair slid down her forehead, blurring her vision. She rubbed her eyes with the back of her hand. The man in front of her looked familiar.
The man squeezed into the room and strode towards the bathroom.
Ye Zhenzhen had just stepped into the bathroom when the man was wrapping a towel around the water pipe. The water seemed to be flowing a little less.
Ye Zhenzhen relaxed a little, took a long breath, and reached out to smooth her wet hair.
"Oh!"