Yin Qian didn't follow them inside; he was busy prying information from the vendors.
Only two buildings remained standing in the immediate area. Further out, in a section of the community that had yet to be developed, there were more villages, and these vendors had carried their vegetables from there to sell.
Shi Xiaojie didn't come in either, having returned to his room.
To him, this was a common sight. According to Gu Xiang Kai, the young man had previously lived in places even worse than this, where the roofs leaked whenever it rained.
The wonton shop was actually doing quite a brisk business, with locals happy to frequent it.
They pushed two tables together and sat down.
The outside was noisy and bustling, so no one would overhear their conversation.
After comparing their information, they found they were all from Mingmu News Studio. Zhu Xi Ning, Gu Xiang Kai, and Jiang Siyan were senior reporters, Chi Yu and Yin Qian were mid-level reporters, and Jiang Haoyu was an intern reporter.
The division of labor was also different: Jiang Haoyu was responsible for collecting and summarizing messy information and drafting initial reports, while Chi Yu and Yin Qian selected key information and defined the scope.
Consequently, those three held the most information.
Jiang Haoyu opened his notebook. "My identity previously recorded a lot of information, but none of it is particularly detailed."
Jiang Haoyu's notebook contained records of several events that had made the newspapers, and he had even clipped out the articles to create a briefing format, showing a great deal of effort.
The first news item was quite long, primarily discussing how the demolition of the urban village across the street had been obstructed during the development of Oasis Community. During the villagers' protests, a stampede had occurred, resulting in the accidental deaths of about a dozen villagers.
Because so many people had died, the demolition work had been suspended.
However, for the sake of urban aesthetics and development, the demolition of the urban village was irreversible, and the project was set to move forward.
The accompanying photo was not of the accident scene but a perspective showing the buildings on both sides of the street.
At that time, Oasis Community across the way had not yet been built, and it looked even more filthy and chaotic than the urban village.
The remaining news clippings were all very short. Nan Yue glanced at them; there were three in total.
One was about a tenant who had died of illness at home. Oasis Community residents had protested, fearing the spread of germs, and demanded disinfection.
Another stated that Oasis Community had reported someone in this building for engaging in the sex trade, claiming the poor security was affecting public morals.
This news item was accompanied by a photo showing two young women being led away by the police, one of whom had a mole on her left cheek.
The final one reported that several bodies had been unearthed at a nearby construction site. They were highly decomposed, but the autopsies confirmed they were homicides.
As a result, a full-scale search of this building and nearby residential areas was conducted, but no suspicious individuals had been found yet.
This last news item was also the most recent. Because of this incident, the owners of Oasis Community had collectively protested, causing the demolition—which had been stagnant for two years—to be put back on the agenda.
The contractor stated they would definitely complete the demolition before June this year.
The date on this news report was May 29th, only ten days before the rental advertisement they all carried.
They had moved in on June 17th, only a few days away from the end of the month.
The people here likely had no interest in reading newspapers, nor did anyone care about the demolition.
It had been talked about for so many years without ever happening that people just continued with their lives.
That was why Uncle Zhong continued to rent out the rooms, and the long-term tenants stayed put.
After all, what else could they do?
Aside from the first one, these news items were very short, totaling only a few lines, but they had all been circled in red pen with key points noted.
This was a broken building abandoned by the city, where the population turnover was extremely fast. All sorts of businesses operated here without oversight, and no decent person would come here.
However, the fact that it had appeared in the newspaper four times in just two years indicated a problem. Nan Yue guessed her news studio had taken an interest in this place primarily because of the final report.
Several people had died nearby, and the demolition was imminent. If they wanted a viral news story, they didn't have much time left.
What secrets did this urban village, just a few steps away from an expensive, high-end community, truly hold? What kind of lives did the people inside lead?
Whether from a perspective of curiosity or a search for the truth, it would make for a good story.
Nan Yue's finger tapped one of the news items.
"Died of illness..."
She thought of the room she was staying in and suspected it belonged to that former tenant.
"Strange, the timing doesn't match up."
Zhu Xi Ning had thought of it too, but this news item was from a year ago. It was impossible for the room to have remained vacant for an entire year.
Despite how rundown the place was, the rent was cheap, it was close to Oasis Community, and it was convenient for finding work.
Case in point: all the rooms were currently occupied.
Yet, various medicines for treating illness were still left in their room. If the person had died a year ago, why were those things still there?
That trash wasn't hidden in some secret spot; if someone had lived there in the interim, they would have definitely found it and cleared it out.
"It's also possible that the people living here aren't very particular."
Chi Yu frowned. "I'd believe you if you said no one had ever lived in our room. It's deathly filthy. There were pots, pans, and other daily necessities, but the dust on them was too thick. There were even bloodstains on the floor. It looked like an accidental injury—not much, but it wasn't cleaned up either."
They were newcomers, and since none of them had experienced this kind of life before, they could only figure things out slowly.
Yin Qian returned from his walkabout holding a few oranges. They all had some money on them; asking for information without buying anything would only get them snubbed.
The oranges were very sour. The others took one segment, made a face, and set them aside.
Nan Yue didn't want to waste them, so she gritted her teeth and ate two with a distorted expression before Jiang Siyan snatched them away and ate them himself.
The wontons tasted good, which explained why business was so brisk. Most people were still at work and hadn't returned yet, so they were the only ones in the shop. The proprietress sat at the entrance, fanning herself.
"Devil of a weather, so stifling and hot."
Sister Deng glanced at the people eating, then looked at Jiang Haoyu.
"Kid, you're reading a book even while you eat. No wonder you wear glasses."
Jiang Haoyu choked slightly, not expecting Sister Deng to strike up a conversation. He glanced at the others and swallowed his wonton.
"Auntie, where's your family?"
Sister Deng looked at him and sneered. "The old man ran off with a woman from outside. I raised a son, but once he went out to work, he never came back."
Jiang Haoyu let out an "oh." "Doesn't he look after you? I heard this place is about to be demolished."
Hearing this, Sister Deng began to curse, mainly targeting her ex-husband and her ungrateful son. She had worked so hard making and selling wontons to support the whole family and put the child through school, and for what?
Jiang Haoyu carefully advised Sister Deng to contact her son, as she would have nowhere to go once this place was torn down.
Perhaps seeing Jiang Haoyu's innocence reminded Sister Deng of her son when he was younger, and her anger finally subsided a bit. She gave a cold laugh.
"No rush. If they're going to demolish anything, they'll demolish that living mass grave first."
She glanced at the group at the table. "How did people like you end up living there?"
Yin Qian smiled. "We had no choice. We're just making do for a while."
Sister Deng mulled over those words but said nothing more.
Rate on N.U.
