However, no matter how much Elaine Hughes pleaded, the landlord showed no signs of being moved.
’Was this a joke? He wasn’t running a charity. He needed that rent money to buy supplies and support his own family!’
’This family hadn’t paid rent for ages; there was no way he could let them stay any longer!’
The landlord looked at Elaine Hughes as if she were a beggar and said with a face full of impatience, "I’ll give you five more minutes. Get out of here right now, or else... I’m calling the police!"
Hearing the word "police," Elaine Hughes didn’t dare say another word. She could only go back inside and tell the others to pack their things so they could leave.
Seeing Elaine Hughes agree to move out, the landlord couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief.
’These days, it was common for tenants to squat in properties, and the police were too busy to handle it all. If Elaine Hughes’s family had stubbornly refused to leave, it would have been a real headache...’
’Good thing they’re leaving on their own.’
The landlord turned and saw Caleb Summers and his family arrive. He said, a bit sheepishly, "Oh, you’re here... Just wait a moment. Their family will be out of here soon."
Caleb Summers offered a polite smile and replied, "No problem."
The family of four waited by the door, assailed by a sour, putrid smell wafting from inside. Howard Fletcher grumbled in discontent, "It stinks in here. Can we please not live here...?"
Before he could finish, however, Zoe Kane clamped a hand over his mouth.
Hearing Howard Fletcher’s words, the landlord chuckled and said, "Well now, little master, you folks are from the South District, aren’t you? Apartments are a rare find here in the North District these days. You’re lucky to have found a place at all, so don’t be so picky!"
Although the landlord’s tone was teasing, his face held an unconcealable smugness. After all, properties in the North District were in high demand these days.
’So what if it’s low-income housing? So what if it stinks a little? It’s still better than being crammed into a hallway with a bunch of refugees!’
’You have to understand, even in the same apartment building, the level of safety between renting your own place and being put in mass housing is night and day!’
’Just yesterday, there were two murders in this very building.’
’And that’s just the murders. Thefts, robberies, brawls, assaults... it’s endless! Even the police can’t keep up!’
’Being able to rent a private apartment is a huge security guarantee.’
Caleb Summers’s family waited at the door for a while longer until the Lancasters finally finished packing and left.
Taking the keys from the landlord, Caleb Summers opened the door.
But unexpectedly, the moment they stepped inside, Chester Summers, who was in Caleb’s arms, burst into tears with a loud "WAAAH!"
Chester Summers cried until his little face turned pale, sobbing, "Boo-hoo-hoo, there’s poo-poo, there’s poo-poo on the floor! Daddy, I don’t wanna live here! Waaah!"
It wasn’t just Chester. After getting a clear look at the room’s condition, the expressions on Caleb Summers, Zoe Kane, and Howard Fletcher’s faces turned grim.
Zoe Kane turned back to the landlord and said with displeasure, "Landlord, look at this place... How can anyone live in this?"
The room was damp all over, with a puddle of stagnant water in one corner. The floor was covered in filth—the color, the shape, combined with the foul stench in the air... Zoe Kane didn’t dare to think about it too closely.
Seeing their reaction, the landlord, still at the door, said nonchalantly, "It’s just some sewage backup. The other units are like this too. It’s no big deal. Just clean it up a little..."
Before the landlord could finish, Zoe Kane cut him off with a shriek, "Clean it up?! How are we supposed to clean this? It’s disgusting!"
’She felt sick just looking at it, and he expected her to clean it?!’

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