LRAB Chapter 54 Translation
Chapter 54 Translation
"Hello, are you looking to rent a house?"
Sun Rui listened to the machine translation voice coming from his phone.
"Yes, I heard that the houses here are very cheap, so I'd like to rent one for a few months," Sun Rui said.
The phone translated his words to the boss.
The apartment owner was a middle-aged man with a full beard, wearing a shirt and a waistcoat, without a tie, and with a key hanging from his waist.
"It's $800 a month, utilities not included, and each room has its own bathroom..." the owner rattled off a long list.
It was roughly about the apartment room situation. Sun Rui listened with confusion through the translation software, and some words were translated in a strange way.
"Sure, I'd like to find a translator first. Do you know where I can find a translator around here?" Sun Rui asked.
"You can go ask around the street corner; there are a lot of unemployed people there," the shopkeeper said.
Sun Rui nodded, then confirmed his intention to check in and booked room 404.
"Are you sure you want to stay in 404? Or should we change to another room?" A hint of displeasure flashed across the boss's face.
"Is there something wrong with this room?" Sun Rui asked instinctively.
The boss suddenly became agitated.
"You damn detectives, what are you trying to do? The police have already investigated and found out that the man disappeared outside the apartment. I don't care who hired you, get out of here right now," the boss said.
His voice was loud, attracting the attention of some people who peeked out from their rooms on the first floor to watch.
These must be the tenants on the first floor.
Sun Rui glanced at it.
There are more than ten rooms on the first floor, and three of them are occupied. One of the occupants is a woman in her thirties with bloodshot eyes, clearly indicating that she has not had a good rest in a long time.
The other man, wearing a vest, was a middle-aged man in his forties with greasy, tangled hair. He was holding a wine bottle and looked like an alcoholic.
Another person was a relatively normal young man with blond hair, wearing gold-rimmed glasses, carrying a briefcase, and with an indifferent expression. When he passed by other people, no one greeted him.
"Boss, I think you've misunderstood. I'm just here on a business trip. If you don't want room 404, you can rent me another room on the fourth floor. Don't get me wrong, I just prefer sunlight; it makes me more comfortable." Sun Rui said calmly, without getting angry.
He took out his work ID from his pocket to prove that he was only there on a business trip.
The boss looked at him with suspicion: "Really? There are other vacant rooms on the fourth floor of the apartment building. You can choose any one."
Sun Rui glanced at a wooden board the boss had brought out, which listed the vacant rooms on each floor.
On the fourth floor, rooms 401-403 and 406 are vacant.
"Then I'll stay in 402. The sunlight here should be quite nice. I'll rent it for a month first," Sun Rui said.
"Sure," the boss readily agreed.
Sun Rui took out the money he had prepared in advance, paid the money, and got the key.
"We need to find a translator now to figure out what's going on here. The disappearance... might be related to paranormal events."
Sun Rui left the apartment with the message's request: it had to be delivered to the true owner. If it was the boss, he had to live to the seventh day; if not, he had to uncover the secret behind the apartment.
Arrived at the street corner.
Many people here had cardboard boxes hanging on their bodies with English writing on them, which Sun Rui couldn't understand.
He wrote down his translation needs on his phone.
This immediately attracted a lot of people.
"Sir, I speak both Chinese and English, and I can be your translator perfectly. It only costs $80 a day..." a somewhat disheveled man hurriedly introduced himself.
"Sir, that's fine too, only... $60 a day..."
……
The group chattered around Sun Rui, introducing themselves in Chinese.
"If you want to be a translator, you'll have to live in the gray brick apartment." As soon as Sun Rui finished speaking, the group of people looked at each other and immediately lost their desire to compete.
"Sir, someone went missing at the Gray Brick Apartment recently. It's said the owner offended a demon from hell. You'd better find somewhere else," the disheveled man said.
"If you don't want to, you can leave," Sun Rui said.
The people who had been surrounding him dispersed and returned to their own positions.
Sun Rui changed the information on his phone. He had heard everyone's quotes, most of which were around 80. He raised the price significantly to about 180 US dollars a day. With such high prices, there are bound to be some reckless people.
Although the adjusted price was very tempting to those people, no one went up to talk to Sun Rui.
After a while, a young woman walked over. Her clothes and face were covered in dust, but it was clear that she was of Chinese descent. She was tall and of normal build.
"Hello, my name is Huang Mengjie. Is the price you quoted above real?" the woman who identified herself as Huang Mengjie asked.
"Of course, it's the real deal," Sun Rui said.
Huang Mengjie gritted her teeth and said, "Okay... but could you pay me one day's wages first? I haven't eaten for two days."
"Sure, as long as you're willing to live in the gray brick apartment," Sun Rui said.
Huang Mengjie nodded in agreement.
"Then come with me. I need to know some of the rumors about this apartment building. Tell me everything, no matter how small."
Sun Rui walked in front, with the woman following behind him.
We arrived at a restaurant, which was very quiet and deserted.
When the boss saw that someone had arrived, he greeted the two of them warmly. Although Huang Mengjie was very dirty, so what? The gentleman next to her looked very rich.
"The owner said he was very happy to see us and then let us order from the menu," Huang Mengjie said.
"Okay, you order. I'll just order the same thing as you. I'll pay in the end. This meal isn't included in your payment," Sun Rui said.
Huang Mengjie nodded and started talking to the boss, pointing to several dishes on the menu that Sun Rui couldn't understand.
After the boss left, Sun Rui said, "Take this time and tell me about the rumors you've heard about the gray brick apartments."
Huang Mengjie told what she knew: "Three days ago, someone went missing at the Gray Brick Apartment. I heard from the homeless people in the neighborhood that he was eaten by a demon, but I don't believe it. The police came and said that they had captured the person's image on the camera outside the apartment, so he didn't go missing inside the apartment."
"Besides that, this apartment is rumored to be haunted at night... in our words, or as they call it, haunted by demons. It's said that homeless people have seen white figures hanging outside their windows at night, but they disappear in the blink of an eye."
"That's about it. There's nothing else I'm sure about."
"Who owns the apartment?" Sun Rui asked.
"Let me think... I don't really know much about it, but it must have changed owners recently. I saw the owner change when I worked around here before. You can ask the owner of this restaurant for details; he should know more about it," Huang Mengjie said.
"One last question: why did you agree to be my employee?" Sun Rui said, leaning back in his chair.
"Do you want to hear the truth or a lie?" Huang Mengjie asked, realizing that the man in front of her was no ordinary person.
"Of course it's the truth."
"Because I'm starving. Since I was laid off, I've lost my stable source of income, and my landlord kicked me out. If I can't find a job, my debts will completely crush me. As for those ghost stories, I don't really believe them; most of them are just rumors," Huang Mengjie said.
Sun Rui nodded, realizing that this person was a materialist, which was why he was willing to come over.