My fishing raft will ask for help.

Chapter 9 The House Lu Xingyu Rented

Of course I'll check it out. Isn't all that effort I put in this morning for this moment?

[The Fishing Raft's Reward: The fishing raft thanks you for cleaning it. Seeing you've caught two groupers and seem pleased, it tells you about a fish habitat as a reward. About 60-70 meters southeast, there's a small reef where a group of small red fish live. They like to come out to feed after 6 AM and continue until 11 AM.]

"A little red fish?"

Zhou Miao's curiosity was piqued. He didn't care about the words "small fish"—small fish might not be worthless. The important thing was what kind of fish it was.

However, the fishing time is quite good; it's after six o'clock tomorrow morning, so it won't interfere with my afternoon plans.

Zhou Miao put the cleaning tools back in the house, locked the door, and went to eat first.

I stayed at the hotel until 1 p.m. before calling the landlord to arrange a viewing of the apartment.

The landlady was a woman in her fifties. The house was a self-built house, and the room she rented was on the third floor.

The entrance leads directly to the living room and kitchen, followed by the bedroom, bathroom, and balcony. The new house is nicely renovated, with a good environment, and the monthly rent is only 600.

The water and electricity are charged at normal residential rates, which is much cheaper than apartment rent.

The high cost-performance ratio made Zhou Miao feel like he had gotten a great deal, and he almost signed the contract on the spot.

But there seemed to be some nice houses nearby, so he decided to take another look.

As I went downstairs and was about to call another landlord, a call came in from an unknown number.

Zhou Miao hung up instinctively, but the unfamiliar number kept calling.

Could it be related to Lu Xingyu?

Thinking of this, Zhou Miao immediately answered the phone.

"Hello, is this Zhou Miao?" A man's voice came through the receiver.

"Yes, who are you?"

"I'm a police officer from Nanzhen Police Station... I'd like to ask you about Lu Xingyu. Would you be able to come over here when you have time?"

"Okay, I'm free, I can go now."

After hanging up the phone, Zhou Miao frowned.

The police called him to investigate, indicating that the situation was more serious than he had imagined. Perhaps Lu Xingyu hadn't simply hidden himself, but had actually encountered an accident.

Zhou Miao lost interest in looking at houses, went out to the roadside, found an electric scooter, and immediately headed to the police station.

After registering at the entrance, he found the police officer who had called him earlier and discovered that he wasn't the only one there; there was also a young woman who was of average appearance but had a great figure, and looked to be in her thirties.

Zhou Miao learned that Lu Xingyu had rented a two-bedroom apartment with her, clearly intending to live with her.

The police summoned her to ask her some questions.

When the police saw Zhou Miao arrive, they took him to a room and asked him about the last time he had contacted Lu Xingyu and their chat history.

Unfortunately, he didn't know much either. At that time, he hadn't even arrived in Nanzhen yet, and it was only after he arrived that he couldn't contact Lu Xingyu.

After understanding the basic situation, Zhou Miao was able to go back.

The police did not tell him the last footage of Lu Xingyu captured by the camera, in which he left the dock in a white speedboat and then disappeared.

Therefore, the police can basically determine that Lu Xingyu went missing after encountering some situation at sea.

So next, he needs to visit the fish rafts to see if the surveillance cameras on them have captured anything.

Zhou Miao was unaware of all this. As soon as he stepped out of the police station, he was stopped by his landlady, a young woman who had left earlier.

"Hey, handsome guy."

There was no one else at the door, and the "handsome guy" was clearly calling her. Zhou Miao looked at her in confusion.

"Handsome, are you Zhou Miao?" The young landlady, wearing high heels, walked up to him and asked with a smile.

"Yes, what can I do for you?"

Seeing him nod, Luo Shuang's smile deepened.

"That's it! Your friend Lu Xingyu told me he was renting a place and would be living with a friend. He must have been talking about you!"

"He's already paid three months' rent as a deposit and signed the contract, so I'm asking if you'd like to stay there?"

Normally, if this happens, and Lu Xingyu's family comes looking for her, she would at least have to return the deposit.

But as long as someone moves in, then not a single penny of the money needs to be refunded.

When Luo Shuang rented the house, she asked Lu Xingyu and learned that they were going to build a fish raft here.

This means they will stay here long-term, so as long as Zhou Miao is persuaded to come, her house will not need to find other tenants and will not be vacant for a long time.

"Sure, I was just looking for a place today, you've come at the perfect time." Zhou Miao agreed without hesitation.

I've already paid three months' rent, so I might as well stay here.

And strictly speaking, this money actually belongs to him.

That dilapidated fishing raft is only worth a few dollars to sell, a total of 50,000.

The couple's original plan was to use 200,000 yuan to build the power system, and keep the decoration simple, spending about 100,000 yuan.

Buy another small passenger boat, and use the rest as working capital for daily expenses.

So, after deducting the money from the transfer of the fish raft, Zhou Miao still had 200,000 yuan with Lu Xingyu, so it was only natural for him to live in this house.

Following Luo Shuang to her house, I was surprised to find that it was a self-built house in the alley opposite the dock.

There are six floors and an elevator, but it seems the whole building is for rent.

Lu Xingyu rented a room on the sixth floor, which had a large balcony outside.

In summer, direct sunlight can make a room very hot, which will increase the electricity bill for air conditioning compared to normal.

Zhou Miao thought Lu Xingyu probably came for the balcony; he could set up a small table at night, have some drinks and barbecue, and it would also be convenient to dry clothes and blankets.

The front door had an electronic lock, which the landlord opened with a press of his finger, causing the landlord to frown.

Luo Shuang noticed his expression and smiled, "You can reset your fingerprint and password yourself. Your friend didn't change them before, otherwise I would have had to call a locksmith to open the door."

"Okay." Zhou Miao nodded, feeling somewhat relieved.

Once you rent a house, it's your personal space. It's not nice if someone can come in anytime.

"Take a look at the environment. If you're satisfied, we can sign a new rental agreement, starting from today. What do you think?"

Zhou Miao glanced around and was quite satisfied.

This place can be considered fully furnished. He went into both rooms and found that the master bedroom was empty. The bedroom had an ensuite bathroom, so it was clear that Lu Xingyu intended to keep this room for him.

The second bedroom was covered with a straw mat, clearly indicating that someone had lived there.

Zhou Miao glanced at the bedside table; could the fish raft transfer documents be there?

But instead of going to look for it right away, he closed the door, turned around, and asked, "How much is the monthly rent here?"

"Rent is cheap in Nanzhen. My well-furnished two-bedroom apartment only costs 1,000 yuan a month."

"Can."

The income of 26,000 yuan from the two red-spotted sea bream gave Zhou Miao a lot of confidence.

Furthermore, the reason why Lu Xingyu agreed to rent this place was not solely because he had already paid the money.

He hopes his good brother can return safely, then he won't need to look for another house.

"Okay, I'll go get the contract now." Luo Shuang left with a happy expression.

Zhou Miao closed the outer door, immediately went into the second bedroom, and opened the bedside table drawer to look for documents.

As soon as he opened the first drawer, he saw the rental contract.

Pick up the rental agreement; below it is the transfer document for the fish raft.

Zhou Miao picked it up and opened it. It had his and Lu Xingyu's names written on it, followed by the remaining three years of the lease for the fish raft.