Since the entire family disagreed with returning to Akloit, the Lawrence family stayed in Onistead. They had never experienced such poverty before, with only ten thousand dollars to their name and spending five hundred on a rundown house in a poor village far from Onistead. The building was old and dirty, surrounded by homeless elderly people or laborers who sold their physical labor for a living.
When George moved his family of four into the new home, he wore a white shirt paired with black suit pants and carried a brown leather briefcase. He looked like an accomplished businessman; one might mistake him for an executive coming to inspect something.
Sean no longer wore expensive coats but instead opted for an ordinary white T-shirt paired with blue jeans. He was already thin but had become even skinnier due to insomnia.
Despite how cold it was outside, Sean didn’t have even one decent down jacket. Meanwhile, Malaya hesitated at the door and didn’t step inside; her fair face twisted into disgust as she surveyed their new home while wrinkling her brow.
She covered her nose with her hand and spoke in an eerie tone. “What’s that smell? It’s so foul! The floor is covered in green moss! Someone needs to clean this place up.”
As soon as she finished speaking, all of the neighbors who were watching them burst out laughing or whispered among themselves curiously about how out of place they looked there. “They don’t seem like people who would live here,” someone said mockingly.
“They look good on paper but are just superficial – who knows why they decided to live here? Maybe rich people want to experience life?” another person added sarcastically.
Malaya blushed furiously after hearing these comments because she realized that not only had they gone bankrupt but also lost all their servants too.
She wasn’t used to doing things herself since she always ordered others around – it made her feel uncomfortable thinking about it now.
But then again… she came from rural origins too and knew what it felt like being poor when young – wasn’t working hard just part of life?
What hasn’t she done when she was young? Besides, she’s not old at all. She’s only 48 years old and still has the energy to do physical work herself.
She thought so, but when she reached out her fair and tender hands, it suddenly felt inappropriate.
It had been decades since she last did any physical work. Her beautiful hands were going to touch those dirty and black things.
The landlord of the rented house is an old lady in her seventies. The house belonged to her late husband, but now it’s empty.
Her two sons had jobs and bought a house in the city where they took their mother to live with them. So, they didn’t come back here often anymore.
Thinking that leaving it empty was just wasting space, she rented it out for some extra pocket money.
She had rented out this place for many years and met various tenants of different personalities and backgrounds. She could tell what kind of person someone was at first glance.
Seeing Malaya’s pretentious appearance made her sneer. “Hey girlie! This is a poor area; having a place to live is already good enough! There are so many outsiders coming to Onistead for work this year that all houses have been rented out.”
“My room here is already one of the best around here; you’re still complaining? Go ask around if anyone would rent you something at this price!”
Malaya suppressed her anger which was about to burst forth from within as she frowned deeper on hearing these words. Just as she was about to speak up, a spider suddenly dropped onto her shoulder from above without warning.
She instinctively turned sideways only to be frightened by its size.
“Ah… ah… ah…” She screamed.
The old lady immediately covered her ears looking displeased while scolding Malaya, “Girlie! I have heart disease; lower your voice!”
Then seemingly remembering something important, she added, “Oh yeah! I need to remind you guys that I like peace and quietness; don’t make too much noise at night or else I won’t be able sleep.”
“If not, then I won’t rent my room out.”
“That won’t do,” Sean quickly covered his mother’s mouth before lowering his voice so as not disturb their new landlady further, causing Malaya’s anger to rise again.
He gently comforted his mother Malaya, whispering in her ear, “Mommy. This is the cheapest house we’ve found.”
And it was true.
At $500 a month for two bedrooms and a living room, it was hard to find such a cheap price.
Just yesterday evening, they had stayed at an ordinary hotel with two rooms for one night at $160. If they continued to stay at hotels, their money would not last half a month.
After thinking it over carefully, George decided to endure humiliation and believed he could rise again from the ashes.
Without hesitation, he took out five hundred dollars from his briefcase and handed them over to the landlady. “Let’s just rent this place then. Can we move in tonight?”
The landlady didn’t take the money right away but instead gave him an annoyed look before saying, “Don’t young people know any manners? Nowadays renting requires paying two months’ rent upfront plus one month’s deposit. So you need to give me fifteen hundred dollars.”
“Two months’ upfront payment plus one-month deposit? Isn’t monthly payment enough?” George and Malaya were both shocked and spoke up simultaneously, creating loud overlapping voices.
“Who told you that monthly payments are acceptable now? The rule of renting is always paying two months’ upfront payment plus one-month deposit! You can choose whether or not you want to rent!”
Her arrogant attitude successfully made George and Malaya feel angry and helpless. They had no choice but to bear with it since they were under her roof now.
George hesitated for several seconds before reluctantly taking out another stack of bills from his pocket and handing them over.
As they watched the money exchange hands between them, all three felt heartbroken inside.