My Dating Sim Just Got an Update - Chapter 36

First of all, they definitely weren’t going to stay in the Tin Houses. Setting aside the living conditions, the mere thought of hundreds of people sharing a single room and with men and women mixed together was enough for the girls to reject it outright. Although patrol officers checked the perimeter of that area at night, they only monitored the exterior and gave the interior a cursory glance. Who knew what kind of filth and depravity occurred behind closed doors?

The more people there were, the more complicated things became. In the apocalypse, one shouldn’t be naive enough to hold onto idyllic fantasies about the people around them.

Since the Tin Houses were out of the question, the only other choice for Ren Chenxi and her group was the teaching building. Although that building was also full of strangers, at least a classroom had a door and windows, providing a semblance of private space. As long as they remained vigilant, the classrooms were relatively safe for a group of ability users like them.

When they learned of Ren Chenxi’s choice, Chen Gu and his team stared with wide, shocked eyes. Mu Ning shook her head slightly in disapproval.

“Sister Xi, your group is so strong—why wouldn’t you stay in the villa area? Most ability users in our base at Level 3 or higher choose to team up and stay there. You… Sister Xi, you can’t just because of our Boss, you—”

“We just don’t have enough crystal nuclei!” Ren Chenxi interrupted Chen Gu’s bizarre speculation with a huff. No matter how much she disliked Mu Ning, she wouldn’t deliberately force her companions into a terrible living environment just to spite her.

“But Sister Xi, you didn’t even ask about the cost of the villa area!!!”

“It’s definitely expensive!”

“N-no, it’s not that expensive! I bet you could afford it, Sister Xi. Besides, you have so much medicine, and right now, medicine sells for astronomical prices in the base…”

“How much is ‘not that far’?”

“Uh… 5,000 Level 1 nuclei a month?” Chen Gu stole a glance at Mu Ning before answering tentatively.

“Liar!” In the South Sea Base, the conversion rate for nuclei was the same as the system’s crystal rate: one Level 2 nucleus equaled ten Level 1s, one Level 3 equaled one hundred, and so on. If a villa really only cost 5,000 a month, Ren Chenxi could certainly afford it. The problem was, anyone with eyes could see that rent for a villa area couldn’t possibly be that low.

In reality, rent in the villa area was as high as 20,000 Level 1 nuclei per month. Because of this, several teams often shared a single building to split the cost.

Ren Chenxi might have been able to handle 20,000, but she still needed to save crystals to draw cards and build her strength. Spending the equivalent of twenty gacha pulls just to live a bit more comfortably made her heart ache.

Seeing Ren Chenxi’s internal struggle, Mu Ning spoke up calmly: “5,000 Level 1 nuclei is the price I’m offering you. I have two houses. The other one is just sitting empty, so I can rent it to you.”

“Two houses!!!”

The S-University students gasped in unison. Even Ren Chenxi felt a surge of envy and annoyance. From Mu Ning’s tone, both houses were her private property; she didn’t have to pay rent and even had the right to lease them out. If they belonged to the base, she wouldn’t have that authority. So, while other ability users had to scramble for rent, how did Mu Ning end up with two houses?

Sensing Ren Chenxi’s confusion, Mu Ning explained softly: “Qi Sheng gave them to me.”

Damn, that sounds like a humble brag. Are you trying to show off that only you have private housing? But don’t forget, Fan Juntian’s entire family lives in the luxury district—what are you acting so proud of!

While Ren Chenxi was grumbling internally, Chen Gu quickly added: “During the last zombie tide, the Boss made the biggest contribution, so she was rewarded with two houses. She risked her life for these!” His subtext was clear: Don’t misunderstand; the Boss earned these through blood and sweat, not through any shady means.

Under the worshipping gazes of her juniors, Mu Ning kept her eyes fixed on Ren Chenxi. “The house is mine. Normally, I wouldn’t let anyone else stay there, but you are… you are his sister. It’s only right that I look after you. So, how about 5,000 Level 1 nuclei?” Truthfully, Mu Ning didn’t want to charge her a single crystal, but she was afraid Ren Chenxi wouldn’t accept.

How about it? What else could she say? For that price and a standalone house, she was obviously tempted! No sharing with strangers, her own bedroom, kitchen, and bathroom… it would be so much easier to use the toilet and shower.

Except… it was Mu Ning’s house. Mu Ning was renting it to her at a discount. Hearing Mu Ning constantly talk about “looking after” her made Ren Chenxi’s blood boil. she didn’t want to be indebted to her at all!

Keenly sensing Ren Chenxi’s intent to refuse, Mu Ning spoke again before she could open her mouth. “I know you don’t want to owe me. How about this? You have a lot of medicine in your space, right? We aren’t sure how much medicine Sun Jia will need to fully recover, and those supplies are incredibly valuable. Just treat this as a trade. If you fully heal Sun Jia, I’ll rent the house to your group for 2,000 Level 1 nuclei.”

Ren Chenxi’s rejection was on the tip of her tongue, but she swallowed it back down. Right, I’ve already decided to treat her as a stranger. It’s perfectly normal to conduct a fair trade with a stranger, isn’t it? Chen Gu had just mentioned how expensive medicine was; using it to secure cheap rent… was actually a good deal. A house rented through a fair trade didn’t carry the weight of a personal favor. She could live there with a clear conscience and in total comfort.

So, under the eager gazes of Jian Dan and the others, Ren Chenxi gave a slight nod. Seeing her agree, Jian Dan’s group cheered and high-fived. After all, life in the apocalypse was hard; who wouldn’t want to live in a better, bigger house?

As the girls happily surrounded Ren Chenxi and started chatting, the S-University students looked at one another. Finally, Tang Ying summoned her courage, stepped forward, and asked tentatively: “Sister… Sister Xi… about… about us…”

It wasn’t just Ren Chenxi and Jian Dan who wanted a big house; the other students wanted a decent place to live too. They had traveled a long way to seek out Senior Mu. While they hoped for her protection, they didn’t want to be parasites. Now Mu Ning only had two houses—one for her own team and one for Ren Chenxi. Compared to the size of Mu Ning’s team, Ren Chenxi only had a group of five girls. Tang Ying wanted to ask if they could split the rent and share the house.

However, as the request reached her lips, Tang Ying found she couldn’t say it. Sister Xi had already taken care of them so much on the road and even got hurt protecting them. Asking to move in now felt shameless, and she was afraid of being rejected. If Ren Chenxi said no, the students would simply head to the teaching building.

Ren Chenxi looked at Tang Ying, then at the nervous students behind her. She spoke up first: “Actually, a big house is a bit empty for just the five of us. If you don’t mind… would you like to share the rent and live with us?” They were her former juniors, after all. More people meant lower rent per person. Furthermore, five girls alone in a house might attract predators; there was safety in numbers. As for whether they were reliable or could live together in peace… she had a mini-map with red-dot warnings, so what was there to fear?

“Really? Can we really live with you, Sister Xi?” The sudden surprise left the students excited and overjoyed.

“Is that okay?” Ren Chenxi turned to consult Jian Dan and the other two. Since they were a team now, her partners’ opinions mattered. Jian Dan’s group already knew Yang Xiangrui and the others and had a good impression of them. Besides, the house was being secured by Ren Chenxi’s medicine anyway. Without hesitation, all three agreed. That only left Huo Keyu, who was still in isolation. But it likely wouldn’t be an issue; while she was cautious, she usually deferred to the group’s consensus.

Ren Chenxi’s side was settled, but Mu Ning felt inexplicably unhappy. For some reason, while she didn’t feel anything about her own team being mixed-gender, the thought of Ren Chenxi living with a group of guys made her feel stifled.

“You all…” Facing Ren Chenxi’s confused look, Mu Ning paused before asking: “Are just going to live together, men and women?”

“…Don’t you guys live together, men and women?” Ren Chenxi asked, bewildered. What was wrong with that? They could just split up by floor!

“…” Mu Ning didn’t know how to respond, so she signaled Chen Gu with her eyes again.

Chen Gu caught the hint. Although he didn’t quite understand why, he realized the Boss was very bothered by her boyfriend’s sister living in a mixed-gender house. His mind whirred, and he said immediately: “Actually, mixed-gender living is very inconvenient. The Boss’s two houses are very old-fashioned rural-style self-built homes. The first floor is the kitchen, dining room, and one shared toilet. The second to fourth floors are the bedrooms…”

Born in a modern era of high technology, Ren Chenxi was confused. If there were so many people in one house, wouldn’t there be a line for the bathroom?

Before she could ask, Song Xin beat her to it. Chen Gu helpfully explained: “Well, in the old days, rural people… were used to using chamber pots…”

In truth, when they first received the houses, the bathroom situation was abysmal. They had spent a lot of effort and paid workers to renovate them, specifically partitioning off a shower area. Originally, they only planned to renovate one house, but the Boss insisted on doing both. Chen Gu always felt the Boss intended to keep the second house for her and her boyfriend to live in one day. But now that the boyfriend was gone, giving it to his sister was the next best thing. And… living with the boyfriend’s sister would be even better?

Wait, based on the Boss’s earlier comment, she wanted the two groups to combine and split by gender between the two houses? That way, the Boss could naturally live in the same house as the sister. Realizing this, Chen Gu had a sudden inspiration: “Actually, since there are so many of us now, why don’t we just split up by gender and have the men live in one house and the women in the other?”

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