Forty minutes later, Lin Bei arrived at Emerald Bay, the most upscale residential community in Jiangcheng.

She was wearing a plain cotton T-shirt that cost only 29.9 yuan with free shipping, sandals on her feet, a plastic bag in her left hand containing change of clothes, and a cellphone in her right. Among a crowd of residents walking their expensive breeds of dogs and dressed in designer labels, she stood out as exceptionally… fresh and refined.

Security guard Lao Zhang had worked at Emerald Bay for six years and developed a keen eye. He immediately recognized that this young woman wasn’t here to deliver food—delivery guys all ride electric scooters, whereas she had walked right in. Nor was she here to do renovations—renovation workers usually carry toolkits. And she certainly wasn’t a resident—the residents never wear flip-flops.

“Miss, may I ask who you’re here to see?” Lao Zhang politely stopped her.

“To view the apartment—Building 8, Unit 2201.”

Lao Zhang sized her up from head to toe for three seconds, his mind racing: the owner of Unit 2201 in Building 8 was Mr. Su, a young, handsome, Porsche-driving rich second-generation heir rumored to be in the real estate business. He had indeed mentioned renting out the secondary bedroom before, but weren’t all the people who came to view apartments successful professionals driving BMWs and Mercedes-Benzes? This one…

Professionalism trumped personal judgment. Lao Zhang smiled and said, “Please come in—turn left at Building 8.”

“Thank you, sir,” Lin Bei said sincerely. “Your uniform looks pretty cool—much better than the security guards at my company.”

“…Thank you.”

“No problem—we’re all working folks; we should encourage each other.”

As he watched her walk away, Lao Zhang suddenly found her rather endearing.

The elevator reached the 22nd floor, and Lin Bei rang the doorbell.

The door opened.

Standing in the doorway was a man. No, to be precise, it was a man who would make any normal woman freeze for more than three seconds.

He was about twenty-five or twenty-six, with short, neat hair and sharply defined, three-dimensional features—as if he’d stepped straight off the cover of a magazine. He wore a simple black T-shirt and dark gray casual pants, with a pair of slippers on his feet.

Even though he was dressed casually at home, he somehow managed to look like he’d just walked down the runway at a haute couture show.

Lin Bei was stunned for a moment.

Not because he was handsome—well, okay, partly because he was handsome.

But because she noticed a detail: he was holding a book titled “How to Deal with People You Hate.”

Lin Bei decided she would rent this apartment.

And not for any other reason—just for that book.

The man frowned and gave her a quick once-over, his gaze moving from her flip-flops to the plastic bag, then back to her face.

“Lin Bei?”

“Yes, yes, yes—it’s me!” Lin Bei quickly extended her hand. “You must be Mr. Su Chen, right? Hello, hello—I’m here to view the apartment.”

Su Chen didn’t shake her hand. He glanced down at her hand—her fingers were still stained with milk tea.

“…Your hands are dirty.”

Lin Bei calmly withdrew her hand, wiped it on her T-shirt, and held it out again: “Now they’re clean.”

Su Chen’s lips twitched, but in the end he still didn’t shake her hand.

He turned around and walked into the apartment, saying, “Come on in—the slippers are by the door, in the third row.”

Lin Bei looked down and saw five neat rows of slippers neatly arranged on the shoe cabinet, sorted by shade of color.

A cleanliness obsession. A severe cleanliness obsession.

She made a mental note of the first piece of information: this landlord is not someone to mess with.

The apartment really was great.

One hundred and twenty square meters, two bedrooms and two living rooms, with minimalist yet tasteful decor, bright and airy, and from the balcony you could see half of Jiangcheng’s skyline.

Lin Bei took a quick tour and already began mapping out in her mind where the best spot would be for the lazy sofa.

“So, what do you think?” Su Chen leaned against the kitchen doorway, arms crossed.

“Good,” Lin Bei nodded. “Very good. But I have one question.”

“Go ahead.”

“The monthly rent is two thousand—seriously?”

“Seriously.”

“Why?”

Su Chen was silent for two seconds, then said lightly, “Because I’m not short of money, but I am short of a tenant I can stand looking at. The previous tenants were all too noisy, and I don’t want to go through that hassle again.”

“So you’re picking your roommate?”

“You could put it that way.”

Lin Bei thought for a moment. “Then do you think I’m someone you can stand looking at?”

Su Chen gave her another thorough look. This time his gaze was even more direct, scanning her from head to toe like an X-ray.

“I wouldn’t say I can stand looking at you, but at least I don’t hate you.” He paused. “What do you do for a living?”

End of Chapter 2: The Cleanliness-Obsessed Handsome Landlord