The off-road vehicle drove through the bustling streets, weaving between tall buildings.
Dazzling signboards, colorful advertisements, and the endless stream of vehicles—the orderly modern civilization of this peaceful era was so seamlessly integrated that it gave one the illusion that the world remained eternal and singular.
The place Wan Yue was taking Jiang Yan and Jiang Yao to was supposedly an old city folk culture preservation area in J District, part of the historical and cultural heritage of C City as a whole. In the current era of rapid real estate development, it was one of the few areas listed as prohibited from commercial real estate demolition and development.
The roads gradually narrowed, and the buildings on both sides gradually changed from high-rises to low traditional residences. Finally, they stopped at the entrance of a small alley where motor vehicles were prohibited, and the group switched to walking.
The alley was very narrow, with traditional-style blue-tiled white walls on both sides, embedded with various local folk culture relief sculptures. Behind the low walls were rows of old-style houses with individual courtyards.
From the outside, the alley and these courtyard residences had all been carefully renovated with special municipal funding, preserving the impression of their aged style while also featuring exquisite modern details.
"...Five years ago, I met a close friend whose ancestral home is here. Her elder recently passed away, so taking advantage of her return home for the funeral, she's planning to rent out this ancestral house. In local terms, she wants to 'nourish the house with the warmth of daily life.' She doesn't care much about the rent—the main thing is that the tenants must be trustworthy."
After walking several hundred meters deep into the alley, Wan Yue finally led the two women to stand before the red-lacquered wooden door of a courtyard residence.
The door wasn't locked. Pushing it open gently, in the small courtyard, a beautiful, tall woman with long straight black hair, wearing a black dress, was sitting quietly at an elegant small stone table reading a book.
After entering the small courtyard, Jiang Yao began looking around, shocked that such an ancient and luxurious individual courtyard could still exist in the heart of this bustling city center.
Jiang Yan, however, focused her gaze on the black-dressed woman at the stone table, and their eyes happened to meet as the other turned her head.
The black-dressed woman wore light makeup and appeared to be not yet thirty based on her looks. She was refined and dignified, serious in expression, with a pair of beautiful large eyes that were clear and bright with a cold gleam.
The moment she made eye contact with Jiang Yan, a hint of surprise flashed in the black-dressed woman's eyes, as if she found her familiar.
Jiang Yan also seemed to sense some kind of resonance in this mutual gaze, and her steps involuntarily came to a halt.
"Sister Wan is here. Let's have some tea together."
The black-dressed woman withdrew her gaze, put down her book, slowly stood up, and made an inviting gesture to the three people.
"Mommy!"
A little girl about six or seven years old, wearing an adorable black princess dress, ran out from the inner room and clung to the black-dressed woman's side, curiously looking at the several strangers who had appeared in the courtyard.
The exquisitely cute little lady, like a porcelain doll, made even Jiang Yan take a few extra glances.
Following closely behind, a tall young man in a suit who also appeared to be at most in his early thirties came out carrying a tea tray. He simply smiled slightly at everyone and placed the tea tray on the stone table.
"This is my close friend—you can call her Sister Xiao Min. These are the Jiang sisters, Jiang Yan and Jiang Yao."
Wan Yue unceremoniously sat down first and deliberately winked at the tall young man who was pouring tea: "Yang Nie, you two should just move back to C City to live, then you could come drink at my place every day!"
"Hehe, you all chat. I'll take Meng Xi for a walk outside."
The young man smiled without committing either way, took his daughter's hand and walked out of the courtyard gate, leaving the space to Wan Yue and the others.
"Xiao Min, what do you think?"
Only after the young man left did Wan Yue turn to the black-dressed woman with an inquiring look: "Children I just brought out. I plan to have them help at my shop. Their personal lives are very disciplined."
"Mm, since Sister Wan is introducing them, I'm at ease."
The black-dressed woman looked at Jiang Yan and then the sisters, then nodded slightly: "Give me two more days to organize things, then you can move in. The rent is twenty thousand per year. Is that acceptable?" (TN: $2776 at 06/25. Yes, I’m jealous)
Such a luxurious individual courtyard plus a three-bedroom, one-living-room layout for only twenty thousand per year in rent!
The black-dressed woman's composure and generosity left Jiang Yan and Jiang Yao completely stunned—they nearly dropped their teacups. At this moment, apart from nodding quickly, they had no way to repay such kindness.
"Jiang Yan, you're the older sister, right... Mm, you're a bit too nervous. You should relax more."
The business was settled extremely efficiently, taking no more than two minutes from start to finish. The black-dressed woman personally refilled Jiang Yan's water, batting her beautiful large eyes with a half-smile.
"Jiang Yan, if you have the chance, you should ask Sister Min for some advice. Her accuracy with throwing knives is quite rare—even I bow down in defeat."
Wan Yue smiled mysteriously as she watched the somewhat oddly atmospheric scene before her, speaking with hidden meaning.
Holy crap, she's that skilled at fighting? Even the old demon woman admits inferiority? Isn't she supposed to be an ordinary person?
Jiang Yao was startled and even wanted to activate her blood-boiling state on the spot to investigate further. But just as she was about to mobilize her body's senses, she discovered that under the table, one of Jiang Yan's hands was gripping her knee tightly.
"Thank you for Sister Xiao Min's trust. Xiao Yao and I will take good care of this house... Um, I also need to organize my current rental place, so Xiao Yao and I will leave first. Thank you, Sister Wan too!"
From the moment she stepped into the small courtyard and made eye contact with the black-dressed woman, Jiang Yan had fallen into a state of strange wild speculation and restless unease.
In that gaze that seemed capable of seeing through her in an instant, there seemed to be a hidden, invisible, ice-cold blade that could pull apart threads and dissect with surgical precision, causing her disguise to crumble to pieces unexpectedly.
Not daring to have any further visual contact with the black-dressed woman's gaze, Jiang Yan immediately stood up with inexplicable nervousness, lowered her head, pulled Jiang Yao along, and walked out of the courtyard gate.
Jiang Yan's seemingly impolite behavior made both Wan Yue and the black-dressed woman in the small courtyard burst into laughter.
"Sister Wan, I've seen many interesting people at your shop, but today's two are more interesting—they remind me of some past events."
With no outsiders present, the black-dressed woman changed her expression. Her tranquil elegance quietly receded, and her demeanor gradually became more casual. She somehow produced a pack of cigarettes from nowhere, lit one, and casually tossed one to Wan Yue.
"Mm? Tell me your impression," Wan Yue said, cigarette dangling from her lips, eyes squinting with a smile.
"That Jiang Yan doesn't seem much like a woman... Hehe, let's not talk about this anymore. I'll come drink at your shop tonight. Though I’ll miss it, I can’t wait to return to S Province. This past half month has been suffocating me!"
The black-dressed woman suddenly burst into unrestrained laughter. Not far away, the tall young man who had just been about to re-enter the courtyard gate with his daughter saw his wife and Wan Yue, these two female ruffians, brazenly smoking in the courtyard without regard for anyone, and quickly retreated and closed the door again.
If his daughter saw her mother smoking, wouldn't that spawn another female ruffian in the future?
"Haha, your husband is really hopeless!"
Wan Yue laughed until tears came out.
...
With Zhao Peng's help taking over, in just a few short days, the transfer of the Ling Zui’er Cold Cup shop was completed smoothly. After paying the penalty of half their security deposit for early termination of their rental contract, Jiang Yan and Jiang Yao officially moved into their new home on July 14th.
The traditional folk culture alley under special municipal protection was very quiet. The exquisite small courtyard with its three-bedroom, one-living-room inner layout was somewhat old but extremely well-maintained, with all appliances and furniture complete.
Flopping onto the spacious master bedroom bed, Jiang Yao was so comfortable she almost melted. To prepare for the move, they had packed at their old rental until midnight yesterday, then rushed to the new house early in the morning. Jiang Yao had long been unable to resist wanting a beautiful nap.
Jiang Yan, meanwhile, wandered through each room with curious eyes, appreciating the traces left by the passage of time.
Now, she and Jiang Yao had essentially chosen a dependent relationship with Wan Yue. No matter how prettily the other party phrased it out of consideration for their self-respect, it couldn't change this fact.
Wan Yue's personal strength was unquestionable, the resources at her disposal were unfathomably deep, and moreover, she had finally helped resolve one of Jiang Yan's mental burdens.
To truly live freely and safely, one first had to know what kind of existence one really was, and secondly, one needed the strength to protect one's current life. She had seen enough of the cruelty of the Blood Clan world these past days—she didn't want to become the next Sister Tan.
"Xiao Yao, stop fusing with the bed and get up quickly. We need to do another thorough cleaning. The appliances we moved need to be connected, and we need to go out and buy some household items. Let's get the house organized these next few days—we start work at Sister Wan's shop next Wednesday."
Smack!
"Ah!"
She directly slapped the light golden-haired girl's bottom. That bouncy, tender feeling made Jiang Yan feel good for several seconds, and her tense, oppressed mood improved somewhat.