Reborn as a landlord in Shanghai

Around 6:30 p.m., Li Mingyue did not go out for social engagements. Instead, she carried the cooked vegetables she had just bought from the roadside and returned to her rented room.

The rental apartment isn't very big; it has one bedroom, one living room, one bathroom, and one kitchen, with a total space of about 30 square meters. The rent is 800 yuan per month. Although the space isn't large, it's more than enough for one person.

Upon returning home, the first thing Li Mingyue did was place the groceries she was carrying on the table. Then, she carefully took off her suit jacket and hung it in the wardrobe as if it were a precious possession.

Then she started taking off her clothes and pants. After she had taken them off, she went to the bathroom and took a shower. After showering, she put on her pajamas and came to the dining table.

Li Mingyue plopped down, opened the half-finished bottle of wine from yesterday, poured herself a glass, frowned, and downed it in one gulp. Only after placing the glass back on the table did she let out a heavy sigh. "Sigh!"

This sigh is also a sign of helplessness in the face of life!

Just yesterday, it was the birthday of the mother of the department manager of the company's loan department, who was also Li Mingyue's direct supervisor. As a subordinate, she had to go. So, all the employees in the department went. Just this one trip cost 1500 yuan. Although the meal that night was not bad, it still made Li Mingyue feel bad all day.

Thinking of yesterday's birthday party, Li Mingyue silently drank another glass of wine.

If it's true that an elderly person only celebrates their birthday once every ten years, then giving 1500 yuan is acceptable, since it's a big birthday and everyone wants good luck.

The problem is that my boss's mother is 63 years old this year, but because her son is filial, he holds a grand birthday celebration for her every year.

Last year, because Li Mingyue hadn't arrived yet, he wasn't included and didn't know much about his department manager's mother's situation. This year, he's finally included, which is an honor for him.

However, Li Mingyue didn't know whether to feel fortunate or not about this honor, since only she knew the truth about it.

Thinking about the 1500 I spent yesterday, then thinking about the 20 or 30 yuan I still have in my pocket, and then thinking about how many more 10 days it will be before I get paid!

Li Mingyue was worried about how she would get by from now on. Did she have to borrow money again?

Thinking about borrowing money, Li Mingyue couldn't help but sigh again!

Since the New Year, Li Mingyue has been quite troubled lately, and the reason for her trouble is that she is short of money! In fact, she is extremely short of money!

To outsiders, Li Mingyue's monthly salary is over 7000 yuan. With performance bonuses, meal allowances, housing allowances, full attendance bonuses, and all sorts of other miscellaneous subsidies and bonuses, she can earn about 1 yuan a month.

Ten thousand yuan! In this day and age, that's already considered high income.

However, despite her seemingly glamorous life, Li Mingyue felt that she was earning a lot but also spending a lot, and that the money was becoming increasingly insufficient!

Thinking back to when she got this job last year, Li Mingyue was quite excited. After all, the company had just entered the Chinese market and needed talent, but because the company had no reputation in China, there were very few applicants. So Li Mingyue got the job opportunity. In addition, the company had a large staff shortage, so they didn't even have to go through an internship period. She could become a full-time employee as soon as she joined the company.

Moreover, a monthly salary of up to ten thousand yuan is unimaginable for ordinary people, let alone children from the mountains of your province who have never known that they can earn tens of thousands of yuan a month.

After all, my parents work hard all year round and can only earn three to five thousand yuan, which is already a blessing.

Therefore, Li Mingyue was very satisfied with this job, but when she actually started working, she realized that the salary of tens of thousands of yuan was not that great, and it was not so easy to earn.

Because the company is a foreign-invested enterprise, it pays great attention to its image. Therefore, the company has uniform requirements in this regard. As for how to achieve uniformity, of course, it is through uniform attire.

So after Li Mingyue joined the company, the company gave her two suits, four pairs of leather shoes, eight ties, two belts, as well as brooches, shirts, socks, and so on.

The company seems very nice; I received so many things as soon as I arrived. But unfortunately, all of these things cost money, and at high prices. Just the two suits alone cost tens of thousands of yuan each, not to mention the shoes, belts, ties, and so on.

These clothes, inside and out, are quite valuable. To put it nicely, they represent face; to put it bluntly, they are luxury goods; and to put it even more bluntly, they cost money.

All these odds and ends added up to more than 40,000 yuan. It could be said that Li Mingyue owed her own company more than 40,000 yuan on her first day of work.

Of course, the company is also humane. Knowing that employees may not be able to come up with that much money, they deducted it over 11 months, 4000 each month. Only after these clothing expenses are deducted can employees receive their normal salary.

Moreover, this company is a foreign enterprise, so it has stricter requirements for paying social insurance and housing fund contributions. Therefore, although Li Mingyue has a salary of nearly 1 yuan per month in name, after deducting social insurance and housing fund contributions and taxes, she can only get 8500 yuan in hand. However, 4000 yuan is deducted from this 8500 yuan for clothing expenses every month, so she only gets 4500 yuan in hand.

With only 4500 yuan, there are still housing expenses, living expenses, and social obligations to pay each month. Moreover, as a child from the mountains, Li Mingyue also thoughtfully sends 1000 yuan home every month to give back to her family.

This economic pressure also made Li Mingyue very nervous about the money she could control, and she could save very little money each month.

Of course, hope was just around the corner. Sometimes Li Mingyue thought that if she just endured it for 11 months until her clothing expenses were deducted, she would have an extra 4000 yuan every month. In that year, she would have about 4 to 5 yuan to save. That would not be bad. At least there was still hope for life.

However, Li Mingyue never imagined that while her imagination was always beautiful, reality would not allow her to do so.

Take this Spring Festival for example. When Li Mingyue returned to her hometown, she happily shared her joy of going to work with her family and told her parents that she earns about 10,000 yuan a month, allowing them to enjoy their retirement at home with peace of mind.

Who knew that such boasting would bring such swift retribution? After the New Year, Li Mingyue returned to work. At first, things were fine, but later she frequently received calls from her parents, asking for money here and there. This caused Li Mingyue, who was already struggling financially, to go from living paycheck to paycheck to being in debt at the end of the month.

Li Mingyue had been thinking of just enduring it a little longer, that the clothing expenses would be paid off in another month or so, and then her finances would be better. But who knew that her parents would call again today, and it was the same thing again—they were asking for money.

As for her parents' reasons, they said that everyone in the village knew Li Mingyue earned around ten thousand yuan a month, and many relatives and friends came to borrow money. Many of these relatives and friends had helped the family in the past. In short, they hoped Li Mingyue would send back at least 3000 yuan each month to make the family more comfortable. This demand left Li Mingyue feeling quite helpless.

After all, on one hand are the parents who raised me, and on the other hand is my life in Shanghai. If I follow my parents' request and send 3000 yuan back home every month, how much money can I save each month? Should I get a girlfriend and settle down in Shanghai?

After all, I'm 23, not young anymore, and I need to plan for my future. If I send 3000 yuan back home every month, even if I don't have to pay for clothes here, after deducting all kinds of expenses, I can only save two or three thousand yuan a month. What can that amount of money do?

Moreover, Li Mingyue is now dealing with more and more money, and she really doesn't care about the little bit of money she saves each month anymore.

In addition, Li Mingyue has lived in Shanghai for almost a year and has gotten used to life here. She has also fallen in love with the city and wants to settle down here. However, whether it is to live a normal life in Shanghai or to settle down, the prerequisite is money!

But the problem is, with the current housing prices in Shanghai, new houses cost six or seven thousand yuan per square meter. Even if Li Mingyue saves 3000 yuan every month, when will she be able to save enough for a down payment?

Li Mingyue also wants to settle down in Shanghai!

However, if you want to settle down in Shanghai with your current salary, it will take at least more than ten years to save enough for a down payment. But the question is, will housing prices still be like this in more than ten years?

Li Mingyue felt a little lost about the road ahead and didn't know which way to go.

Because of this mindset, Li Mingyue has been drinking a little every night since she came home, trying to get a bit tipsy before going to sleep, so that she can temporarily forget her troubles.

…………

Mao Xiaoyu rode her electric scooter to Li Mingyue's apartment complex and went straight to the building where Li Mingyue lived. She saw that the lights were on in Li Mingyue's apartment. Mao Xiaoyu knew that Li Mingyue should be home.

Since she was at home, there was no rush. Mao Xiaoyu first took out the genuine property certificate she had obtained from the housing management bureau from under the seat of her electric scooter, and then went upstairs.

I finally arrived at room 302, took a deep breath, and knocked on the door.

…………

"Bang bang bang, bang bang bang."

Li Mingyue heard a knock on the door and felt a little strange. After all, it was late at night, who would be knocking? She just asked, "Who is it?"

Of course, while she was being questioned, Li Mingyue stood up and started walking towards the door, preparing to open it and see who it was.

"I am Xiao Mao."

Mao Xiaoyu gave a routine introduction, after all, Li Mingyue had called her "Little Mao" for over ten years in her past life. After Mao Xiaoyu finished introducing herself, she realized that she and Li Mingyue were at most nodding acquaintances now, and if she said she was "Little Mao," the other party probably wouldn't even know who she was.

"Little Mao, which Little Mao?"

Upon hearing Mao Xiaoyu's introduction, Li Mingyue was a little confused. She began to recall if any of her colleagues or friends were named Xiao Mao. Of course, despite her thoughts, she habitually opened the door and immediately saw Mao Xiaoyu's face.

"Excuse me, who are you? Do I know you?" Seeing Mao Xiaoyu's face, Li Mingyue felt a little confused. She had a vague impression of him, but she didn't seem to know him. She scratched her head and asked, feeling a bit confused.

"I'm Xiao Mao, the son of Old Mao from the barbershop in the back of the neighborhood. You even had your head shaved by my dad, have you forgotten?" Mao Xiaoyu looked at the confused Li Mingyue, helplessly tugged at the corners of his mouth, and pretended to say.

After all, the two of them were very familiar with each other in their past lives. Although they didn't have the three-fold ironclad relationship of men, they had both been intimate with women before. Now, they could only pretend not to know each other, which made Mao Xiaoyu feel a little strange.

"Oh, I remember now, you're Xiao Mao from the Mao family behind here. May I ask what brings you here?"

Upon hearing Mao Xiaoyu's introduction, Li Mingyue suddenly realized why she had a vague recollection of him; it turned out she had gotten her hair cut by his father a few times.

"It's not appropriate for us to talk here standing at the door. Why don't we go inside and talk?" Mao Xiaoyu suggested.

"Please." Li Mingyue then realized she had been a bit rude and quickly made way for Mao Xiaoyu to come in.

After Mao Xiaoyu came in, Li Mingyue closed the door and said as she walked forward, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I didn't know you were coming. The house was a bit messy and I didn't know it was coming."

"It's alright, it's alright," Mao Xiaoyu said politely.

"Come, sit down. Would you like some tea or water?" Li Mingyue invited.

"No need, no need. I have something I'd like to trouble you with this time." Although Mao Xiaoyu sat down, she didn't bother with water or anything, and then directly handed the property certificate to Liu Mingyue.

Li Mingyue looked at the property certificate that was handed to her, a little puzzled, but still took it and opened it to take a look. "Your father is quite wealthy, he actually bought you such a big house. You're showing me this property certificate, are you planning to take out a loan?"

After looking at the property certificate that Mao Xiaoyu handed her, and thinking about her own work, Li Mingyue couldn't help but wonder what Mao Xiaoyu had come specifically for this time.

"I'd like to take out a loan, but I'd like you to see how much I can borrow on this house," Mao Xiaoyu said.

"The loan isn't up to me; it's determined by the property's valuation. If the valuation is high, I can borrow more; if it's low, I might only be able to borrow less. It all depends on the property's value," Li Mingyue said, dodging the question directly.

"As you can see, my house is 115 square meters. At 5500 yuan per square meter, I'll get a loan of 8 yuan with an 50% discount. Do you think I can get the loan?" Mao Xiaoyu asked.

"It's not easy. It's rare for an old house to get such a high rating," Li Mingyue said, shaking her head. Of course, she wasn't being absolute; she said it was not easy, not impossible.

Seeing Li Mingyue like this, Mao Xiaoyu knew that Li Mingyue hadn't caused any trouble yet. After all, if she really did cause trouble, the kind of loan she had just mentioned would still be possible.

This prompted Mao Xiaoyu to change her mindset and decide to have a proper talk with Li Mingyue first.