Chapter 1555 - 1542: An Honest and Upright Man

Marcus Quinn heard the landlord’s voice, frowned slightly, then went to open the door.

The man was tall and burly, about 1.9 meters, and he immediately wedged himself solidly in the doorway. The one coming to collect rent was the slum’s rent overlord; this whole building was a block of apartments his family had built themselves. It wasn’t even rent day today, but the landlord had seen Marcus carrying takeout and fruit home every day lately, and today he even saw Ada come out. He was instantly stunned—like she was a celestial being—and just stood there staring.

The landlord was in his thirties, divorced with a kid, considered well-off in this urban village. He’d always wanted to find another partner, but this one didn’t suit him, that one didn’t suit him. The moment he saw Ada, his backside might as well have been on fire—he couldn’t sit still anymore. As soon as Marcus came home, he used "collecting rent" as an excuse to come over and snoop.

Only when he was about to knock did he realize that after nearly half a year, he still didn’t even know the tenant’s name.

"Isn’t rent due at the end of the month?" Marcus’s voice was low and deep, his eyes dark as ink turning toward him. When the landlord’s gaze fell on that scar along Marcus’s brow bone, his voice suddenly weakened.

"Y-yeah, end of the month. But we agreed before, right? You’re a single occupant, one thousand a month. Have you brought someone back these last couple of days? Then you’ve got to pay more." The landlord stammered, his small eyes constantly darting around, trying to look inside. But the doorway was completely blocked by the man, he couldn’t see anything, and he instantly felt deflated.

"My wife came to find me. I’ll pay more next month." Marcus said coolly. Seeing the landlord’s eyes still trying to peer inside, his brows creased slightly, a faint displeasure rising.

When the landlord heard that, he felt like he’d just swallowed shit. This broke guy could find a wife that looks like a fairy from the heavens? She wasn’t trafficked, was she?

"She’s really your wife? I need to see. I don’t rent to weird people here." The landlord said as he tried to push his way into the room.

Marcus didn’t move an inch, his expression going cold in an instant. He gave the landlord a chilly look; the tall, lanky man in his thirties felt like he’d just been fixed on by a venomous beast and shivered on the spot. He stammered, "Two people living here, next month you need to add five hundred."

He finished and bolted, cursing under his breath as he ran.

Marcus shut the door with a blank face, then saw Ada standing behind him with a worried expression. His voice unconsciously softened as he said quietly, "Don’t worry. We’ll move out next month."

Ada’s eyes lit up. She looked at him expectantly and asked, "Really? We only have a bit over two thousand yuan, and it’s nearly the end of the month. Can we really move?"

"We can." Marcus calculated his earning capacity. When he’d first picked this underground flat in the urban village, it was mainly because you didn’t need an ID to rent here, there was no deposit, and the place was a jumble of all sorts of people. Keeping to himself, he wouldn’t attract any attention. So even if the landlord was greedy, charging one thousand a month for a basement flat, Marcus hadn’t cared.

But now that Ada was here, he naturally wasn’t going to keep living like this.

"Don’t go out during the day. If you need anything, tell me. Don’t open the door if anyone knocks." The man thought for a moment and gave a few instructions.

Ada nodded. She was jumpy at everything now, scared of her own shadow, cautious about whatever she did.

They had dinner, and as usual Marcus took out the trash and then showered. Ada noticed his routine was extremely regular, and he barely talked. He always slept on the floor, bought her a small electric fan, so she wouldn’t wake up from the heat at night.

Without realizing it, she began to trust him a little. He seemed like an honest, dependable man.

The next day Marcus again washed both of their clothes, hung them out to dry in the corridor, bought breakfast for Ada, and only then left with his tool bag on his back. Left alone with nothing to do and no way she was going to just stare at the wall, Ada took the chance at noon to go out once and bought paper, pens, rice paper and watercolor pens from a nearby stationery shop.

She could play three or four instruments and knew how to paint. Once they moved out of here, she planned to become a piano teacher. For now she would just paint a bit and see if any galleries in Fountain City would take her work.

She was idle anyway. Even selling a piece for a few hundred yuan would be good. She couldn’t just rely on the man doing hard manual labor to support them.

She wanted their life to get better, so the whole day Ada stayed in and painted. Without a phone or a watch, she could only guesstimate the time when she went to cook some porridge.

As usual, Marcus came home at dusk with takeout—three dishes, two meat and one vegetable. Seeing that Ada had cooked porridge, the man’s slightly harsh features softened a fraction. He set down his toolbox, washed his hands with soap, dried them, then came out and handed Ada the money he’d earned today along with a nearly new-looking phone.

When Ada saw the phone, her eyes lit up. Modern people basically lived through their phones; having one meant having a tool to connect with the outside world.

"Is this for me?" Ada lifted her small face, eyes shining at him, her voice carrying a hint of joy.

Being looked at like that made Marcus a little self-conscious. He nodded, then glanced at the money he’d turned over. He’d earned more than yesterday, but the girl’s mind was all on the phone. She really was delighted with it.

"It must’ve cost a lot, right? We could’ve bought a phone later, actually." Ada bit her rose-colored lips, feeling that in their current situation buying a phone was a bit of a luxury.

Hearing her say "we," Marcus’s eyes softened a little as he said in a low voice, "Didn’t cost anything. The phone shop owner gave me a broken one. I fixed it."

"You’re amazing." Ada genuinely admired him. You could even do that?

The corners of the man’s mouth ticked up slightly. This was nothing; he’d repaired the most precise, complex instruments. A little phone was no big deal.

"These next few days, use the phone to look for places you’d like to rent. We’ll move in a week." Marcus said in that deep voice.

Ada nodded. Seeing that the phone could get online and make calls, she felt instantly satisfied. Only then did she remember to count the wages Marcus had handed over. After counting, she realized there was more than 1,400 yuan. She was startled and glanced at him. The man was tall and strong, muscles solid and powerful along his arms, his tank top soaked with sweat, the faint outline of his abs visible. He was more robust than any young man she’d seen before—no wonder he could earn so much.

Ada put all the money into the coin purse she’d bought. After counting, there was a bit over 3,000 yuan. At this rate, in a week they really could save up quite a bit and move.

Marcus watched her carefully counting the money in the wallet, her little face fair and pretty, not looking at all like she found life bitter. Something in his chest stirred faintly.

His gaze slid to the half-finished watercolor on the table and he saw it outlined the urban village’s surrounding scene. His eyes deepened. It was clear she’d received top-tier education: in her speech and manners she had the kind of grace only a daughter from a distinguished family would have. And with looks and bearing like hers, she wasn’t someone an ordinary family could have raised.

If she really didn’t plan on going back, then he needed to start thinking about their future. He couldn’t let her follow him and go on suffering.