243 Tenancy Interview

 

The old man in Room 301 was one of the oldest tenants at the building, he was kind and welcoming to everyone. Whenever any of the neighbours was in trouble, he’d be the first to help, thus he shared a good relationship with everyone. When people ran into him, they would greet him kindly by the term of endearment, Uncle Lee. Everyone had their own role at the building. Due to his age and experience, as well as popularity, everyone elected Uncle Lee to be the temporary building manager.

Normally, the old man would be there to negotiate the issues between the neighbours and resolve conflict. If a new tenant wanted to move in, they had to get his approval first too. Uncle Lee’s murky eyes swept the young man who stood in the middle of his room. He remembered the young man who arrived at the building with Xu Qin, his name was Han Fei.

“Uncle Lee, my big sister has already done so much for me, I don’t want to be a burden for her anymore. Is there anything else I can do at the building? As long as you are willing to give me a mask, I’ll do anything you ask.” Han Fei said shyly. He was not that social of a person, he did not dare to meet Uncle Lee’s eyes even when he talked. Uncle Lee had a genial smile on his face. He had met a lot of people in his lifetime. He basically knew Han Fei’s personality from his mannerism and words. The young man before him was introverted and was not used to socializing. He always kept his problems to himself.

“Honestly, I really want to help you too but the problem is I’m not the decision-maker at this place.”

“Uncle Lee, I am very hardworking and I won’t complain even if you give me the hardiest and dirtiest work here.” Han Fei clutched the wound on his shoulder and looked at Uncle Lee seriously. This was the first time Uncle Lee had seen such sincerity and purity in one’s eyes. With the protection of a big sister like Xu Qin, it was understandable why this young man was like a gem which had not been touched by malice. Elation crossed Uncle Lee’s eyes. For people born of malice, the purer the object, the more satisfactorily it would be to destroy them.

“Giving face to your sister, I’ll help you this one time.” The old man frowned like he was really thinking of a solution for Han Fei. “Everyone here has their own responsibility to uphold. Do you have any work experience? Where have you worked in the past? Do you have any worthwhile skills?”

Han Fei was silent for a long time before saying, “Even though I’m still young, I have a wealth of working experience. I started working at a convenience store, I showed great passion in my work and built a strong bond with my colleagues. After solving a great problem that my boss was facing, the boss was touched and it swore to be my best friend. We are now always together. Other than that, I know the importance of the need to continually improve myself so while I work at the convenience store, I’ve been studying up on educational knowledge. Eventually I was accepted by a school to be a teacher. I adore my group of students, they see me as their father figure, bringing them care and concern.” Han Fei thought back to the jobs he had. When he was reminded of these beautiful memories, his lips curled into a light smile.

Seeing the involuntary smile on Han Fei’s face, the hatred in the old man’s heart deepened. Compared to enjoying goodness, he preferred to destroy everything good.

“That’s all? Then that’s going to be hard. We already have a teacher living here and she’s normally the one who looks after all the children.” With a limp, the old man got down from bed. He then looked through his room. “What else do you know?”

“I came from a farming village, I lived next door to a family who was our village butcher. I’ve learned some butchering skills from him.” Han Fei stood there and asked quite openly, “You don’t have a butcher here, right? After all, this profession is quite rare nowadays.”

“A butcher?” The old man was startled. He studied Han Fei multiple times but couldn’t find any flaw in the young man, he did not seem to realize the weight of the meaning behind what he just said, “There are all sorts of people living here but we do not have a butcher. You came at the right time but I have to see your butchering skills first, come with me.” Uncle Lee pushed open the door and went down a path that Han Fei was completely unfamiliar with. “Where’s your sister? And the boy who was with you?”

“My sister is still at the writer’s home looking for clues, the boy is waiting at my sister’s place.” Han Fei had no idea where the old man was leading him. He only saw the ‘kindness’ and ‘trustworthiness’ projected by the senior. The two took a long detour around the building before they arrived at a corner of the first floor. Uncle Lee pushed open the door to reveal a staircase that led underground. The scent of blood lingered in the air, there were uncleaned stains on the steps.

“Uncle Lee, why did you bring me here?” Han Fei showed clear reluctance of going down the steps.

“This is the place we use to slaughter our meat. This will be my test to you. After all, it’s not often we meet someone who has the butcher profession.” However, the old man knew very well that everyone at the House of the Butcher was a butcher, they simply would use other more presentable careers to hide that fact. They would never announce that they were actual butchers. “If you can pass the test, this will be where you work in the future.” Uncle Lee led Han Fei down the long stairs. The basement of this building appeared to be more complicated than the layout aboveground.

When they arrived at the second floor basement, the old man opened a rusted door. A sturdy wooden table was placed in the middle of the room, a large basin covered with black cloth was seated on the table.

“You said you are a butcher so you should be familiar with different types of meat. Go ahead and tell me what kind of meat is sitting inside the basin.” The old man signalled for Han Fei to move to the table while he walked towards a steel cupboard that sat at the corner. Han Fei pulled back the black cloth. The basin was filled with prepared meat. The meat pieces had unique flesh patterns and smell. Han Fei frowned as he studied the meat.

“So? Can you recognize it? As long as you can name the meat, you can stay, get a job and acquire your own mask.” The old man rummaged through the cupboard and asked without turning his head around. After some time, the old man finally found the thing he was looking for. He took out a rusted, dull blade from the lowest drawer. The spotted hand gripped the dull knife and his face that faced Han Fei’s back started to twist with hatred.

“I can’t really tell but I’m sure it belongs to some kind of animal. It looks familiar.” Han Fei examined the meat closer. He did not seem to notice the old man who was slowly approaching him from behind with the knife. The kindness had completely gone from his face.

“Animal meat?” The old man cackled. He flexed his muscles. “Why don’t you take a closer look? Are you sure those are animal meats?” He inched towards Han Fei. The old man’s lips cracked open to reveal yellowing teeth. “Feel the layer of skin and then touch your own skin. Don’t they… feel familiar?” Just as the old man said that, he swung the blade at Han Fei. He moved at a speed that was different from his usual sluggishness. Han Fei, who was prepared, evaded the attack easily. The blade knocked into the edge of the basin. It rang noisily but the old man didn’t care. They were underground, even if the young man screamed, no one was going to hear him.

“I’m sorry but you’re not qualified for the work. As a butcher, how can you not tell human meat at first glance?” The old man’s cunning cackle echoed in the basement.

“That’s because some humans are no different from animals.” Han Fei took out Rest in Peace from his inventory. “I just want to look for a job, how come you people always make things difficult for me? It’s the same at the convenience store, the school and now here.” The reason Han Fei did not attack the old man directly was because he wanted to test the old man, to see if he was the one who took off with half of the writer’s manuscript. Ostentatiously, the old man was testing Han Fei but Han Fei was testing the old man as well. If the old man passed his test, then he would share his secret with the old man. After all, Han Fei was not a cruel person, most of the time, he only acted out of self-defence.

“I knew something was not right.” Blood leaked out from the old man’s murky eyes. The blood turned into a curse and changed the old man’s body. “But can a bladeless blade deal any damage?”

“Why don’t you let me chop you to find out?” Han Fei sent the small wiggling snake into his ghost tattoo, his body was shrouded in light Yin energy. At the same time, footsteps came from outside. Xu Qin and Weep, who had been following them, were soon to arrive at the scene.

“You are not the person I’m looking for and you’ve exhausted your use.” Holding the butcher’s knife, Han Fei said with the same sincerity. “Life is pain, let me help you find eternal rest in peace.”