Chapter 30: A New Beginning

Numbers 2, 4, and 6 Daffodil Street were a row of attached buildings with polygonal hipped roofs, their overall exterior a grayish blue. Three chimneys stood out conspicuously above them.

There was, of course, no lawn, no garden, and no porch. The entrance faced the street directly.

Scarter from the Tingen City Improved Housing Company held a ring of copper keys. As he opened the front door, he introduced the house.

“Our row houses do not have entrance halls. Once you step inside, you are in the living room. It has a bay window facing Daffodil Street, so the light is rather good…”

What entered the eyes of Klein, Benson, and Melissa was a set of cloth sofas bathed in golden sunlight, and a space spacious enough to rival the two-room apartment where they had lived before.

“This living room can also serve as a reception room. On its right is the dining room. On the wall to the left is a large fireplace for keeping warm in winter,” Scarter said with practiced familiarity, pointing as he spoke.

Klein swept the room with a glance and confirmed that the layout was a rough open plan. There was no separation at all between the dining area and the reception space. The dining area, however, lay farther from the bay window and thus looked rather dim.

There stood a small red rectangular wooden table, surrounded by six padded hardwood chairs with backs. The fireplace on the left wall looked exactly like those Klein had seen in foreign films and television dramas.

“Behind the dining room is the kitchen, though we provide no utensils. Across from the living room are the small guest room and washroom…”

Scarter set off, introducing the rest of the first-floor layout in detail.

The washroom was divided into two inner and outer parts. The outside was for washing; the inside was the toilet, separated by a folding door. The guest room was said to be very small, but it was still about the size of Melissa’s current partitioned-off little room. She stood there staring for a moment, slightly dazed.

After finishing the first floor, Scarter led the three siblings to the stairway beside the washroom.

“Below is an underground storage room. The air inside is very stale. Remember to ventilate it before going in each time.”

Benson nodded without betraying any reaction and followed Scarter up the stairs to the second floor.

“On my left is a washroom. On the same side are two bedrooms. On my right, the arrangement is the same, except the washroom is closer to the small balcony.”

As he spoke, Scarter opened the washroom door and stepped aside, allowing Klein, Benson, and Melissa an unobstructed view.

This washroom had more than the one downstairs: it had a bathtub. Beside the toilet there was likewise a folding door. Though there was some dust, it was otherwise not dirty. There was no foul smell, and it did not feel crowded.

Melissa stared blankly at the place. Only when Scarter walked toward the nearby bedroom did she pull her gaze away and follow slowly.

After taking a few steps, she looked back again.

Even Klein, who considered himself a man who had seen the world, felt considerable delight and expectation. The shared washroom at their current apartment, even under the landlord’s frequent supervision and despite everyone taking turns cleaning it, was still not clean enough. It often provoked a desire to vomit, and during certain urgent moments one might even encounter a queue.

The other washroom was the same. Of the four bedrooms, only one was slightly larger and had a bookshelf. The rest were similar in size, each with a bed, a desk, and a wardrobe.

“The balcony is very small. You cannot dry too many clothes at a time,” Scarter said, standing at the end of the corridor and pointing to a place separated by a locked door. “This house also has complete sewers, gas pipes, meters, and other facilities. It is very suitable for gentlemen and young ladies like you. The rent is only thirteen soli per week, with a five-pence furniture usage fee. In addition, four weeks of rent must be paid as deposit.”

Before Benson could speak, Klein looked curiously around.

“If one wished to buy it, how many pounds would this house cost?”

As a transmigrator from the great foodie nation, the desire to purchase and own property still lived stubbornly in his heart.

Hearing the question, Benson and Melissa were both startled and looked at Klein as though he had become some kind of monster. Scarter, by contrast, answered firmly.

“Buy? No. We do not sell property. We only rent.”

“I only wanted to understand. You know? Just to understand,” Klein explained awkwardly.

Scarter hesitated for several seconds.

“Last month, the owner of Number 11 Daffodil Street happened to sell a similar house. On a leasehold term, fifteen years for three hundred pounds. That is far cheaper than renting directly, but not everyone can produce such a large sum at once. If purchased outright, the owner’s asking price was eight hundred and fifty pounds.”

Eight hundred and fifty pounds?

Klein immediately began calculating in his mind.

My weekly salary is three pounds. Benson earns one pound ten soli. Rent is twelve or thirteen soli. If we eat well every day, the weekly household expenses will be close to two pounds. Then there are clothing costs, transportation, social expenses, and so on. At most, we could save a dozen or so soli each week, around thirty-five pounds a year. Eight hundred and fifty pounds would take more than twenty years… Even three hundred pounds for a leasehold term would require eight or nine years at minimum… and that is not even counting future marriage, separate households, children, travel, and everything else…

In a world without personal housing loans, most people could probably only rent.

Understanding the reality at last, Klein stepped back and glanced at his elder brother Benson, signaling for him to negotiate the rent.

As for Melissa’s wishes, one only needed to look at her shining eyes to understand them.

In that instant, Klein felt a strange illusion: close the gate and let Benson loose.

Benson tapped his silverless cane, looked left and right, and said, “We should look at other houses as well. The dining room here has poor light, and the balcony is too small. Look—only that one bedroom has a fireplace, and all the furniture is too old. If we moved in, more than half of it would need replacing…”

He spoke neither quickly nor slowly, picking out a heap of faults. After ten minutes, he had successfully “persuaded” Scarter to lower the rent to twelve soli per week and the furniture usage fee to three pence. The deposit, too, was rounded down to two pounds.

Wasting no more time, the three siblings followed Scarter back to the Tingen City Improved Housing Company, signed two copies of the contract, and then went to the Tingen Notary Office to have it notarized.

After paying the deposit and the first week’s rent, Klein and Benson together had nine pounds, two soli, and eight pence remaining.

Standing at the doorway of Number 2 Daffodil Street, each of them holding a ring of copper keys, they found it difficult to look away. A variety of emotions rose and churned within them.

“It feels like a dream…” After a while, Melissa raised her head and looked at what would soon become the “Moretti home.” Her voice was low and faint.

Benson let out a breath and smiled.

“Then let us not wake up.”

Klein was not quite as moved as the two of them. He nodded.

“We should change the locks on the front door and the balcony door as soon as possible.”

“There is no hurry. The Tingen City Improved Housing Company has a very good reputation. What remains is the cost of your formal suit. Before that, though, we must visit Mr. Franky.”

Benson pointed in the direction of their old apartment.

…

After returning home and making do with rye bread, the three siblings went again to the row apartment building on Upper Iron Cross Street and knocked on their landlord’s door.

“You should all know my principles. I absolutely do not allow rent arrears!” Short Mr. Franky sat on the sofa and declared with great authority.

Benson leaned forward and smiled.

“Mr. Franky, we have come to terminate the lease.”

So direct? Is this really how negotiations work?

Klein, listening beside him, was astonished.

On the way here, Benson had said that his bottom line was paying twelve soli in compensation.

“Terminate the lease? No! We have a contract. There is still half a year left!” Franky glared at Benson, waving his arms.

Benson looked at him seriously and waited until he had calmed. Only then did he say in a steady voice, “Mr. Franky, you should be very clear that you ought to earn more.”

“Earn more?” Franky touched his thin cheek and asked back with obvious interest.

Benson sat upright, smiling as he explained.

“Renting a two-room apartment to the three of us brings in five soli and six pence. But if you rent it to a family of five or six, especially one with two or even three people working and receiving wages, I believe they would certainly be willing to pay more rather than move to Lower Street, where public safety is very poor. Five soli and ten pence, or perhaps six soli, would be quite reasonable.”

Seeing Franky’s eyes brighten and his throat move, Benson continued.

“And you surely know that rents have been rising in recent years. The longer we stay, the more you lose.”

“But… I will need time to find new tenants,” said Mr. Franky, who had inherited the apartment through family property. He was clearly tempted.

“I believe you will find them quickly. You have the ability and the connections. Perhaps two days, perhaps three… We will compensate you for that period using our deposit: three soli. That is very fair.”

Benson “settled” the matter on the spot.

Franky nodded with satisfaction.

“Benson, you truly are a conscientious and honest young man. Very well. We shall sign the termination agreement.”

Klein watched from the side, stunned. At last, he understood exactly how easy Mr. Franky was to “persuade.”

That is way too easy…

Once the problem of the previous contract was resolved, the three siblings first helped Klein buy formal clothes. Then they began the busy work of moving.

They had no heavy or large possessions, as those all belonged to the landlord. Therefore, Benson and Melissa jointly “vetoed” Klein’s suggestion of hiring a carriage. They did everything by hand, going back and forth between Daffodil Street and Iron Cross Street again and again.

Outside the window, the blazing sun leaned westward. Golden light, tinged with a scorching flavor, passed through the bay window and scattered across the surface of the desk. Klein looked at the neatly arranged books and notebooks on the shelves, then placed ink and fountain pen lightly onto the cleaned desk.

Finally done…

He exhaled, felt his stomach growl, lowered his rolled-up cuffs, and walked toward the door.

He now had a bed that belonged only to him. The sheets and quilt were white—old, but clean.

Klein turned the handle and stepped out of the bedroom. Just as he was about to speak, he saw the two doors opposite open at the same time, revealing Benson and Melissa.

Seeing the gray dust and dirty smears on one another’s faces, Klein and Benson suddenly began laughing—laughing with rare and complete delight.

Melissa bit her lip softly. Gradually infected by the two of them, she let out a quiet laugh of her own.

…

Early the next morning.

Klein stood before a full-length mirror with no crack down it, carefully adjusting the collar and cuffs of his shirt.

This set—white shirt, black tailcoat, half-top silk hat, black waistcoat and trousers, leather boots, and bow tie—had cost him eight pounds in total, and the pain of spending it was extraordinary.

The effect, however, was quite good. Klein felt that the reflection in the mirror seemed even more scholarly than before. Perhaps even a little more handsome.

Snap!

He closed his pocket watch, placed it into his inner pocket, took up his cane, concealed his revolver, and rode the tracked public carriage to Zouteland Street.

Only when he was about to enter Blackthorn Security Company did he remember that he had been used to his previous way of life. That morning, he had completely forgotten to give Melissa extra money, letting her continue walking to school as usual.

Shaking his head and making a note of the matter, Klein entered Blackthorn Security Company. He saw the brown-haired Rozanne brewing coffee, filling the air with rich fragrance.

“Good morning, Klein. The weather is lovely today,” Rozanne greeted him with a bright smile. “To be honest, I have always found it strange. In weather like this, do you gentlemen not feel hot wearing formal clothes? I know Tingen summers cannot compare to the south. They are not too scorching. But it is still summer.”

“That is the price of elegance,” Klein replied humorously. “Good morning, Miss Rozanne. Where is the Captain?”

“Same place as always.”

Rozanne pointed inside.

Klein nodded almost imperceptibly, passed through the partition, and knocked on Dunn Smith’s office door.

“Come in.”

Dunn’s voice and tone were as deep and gentle as ever.

Seeing that Klein had indeed changed into a decent formal suit, Dunn nodded slightly. His gray eyes smiled.

“Have you considered it?”

Klein drew a deep breath and answered solemnly, “Yes. I have made my choice.”

Dunn slowly sat upright. His expression swiftly became serious, while his gray eyes remained profound.

“Tell me your answer.”

Without hesitation, Klein replied:

“Seer!”