Readers think I'm a fantasy comic artist, but I'm not. I'm a genuine realist.
The comic I'm currently serializing online is called "Vampire Series – Vampire Prince Dui's Heartbreaking Chronicles," and the protagonist is none other than Li Duidui, depicting his rent collecting and roasting people's daily life.
Readers find it extremely interesting. Although I don't quite understand why anyone would think that Li Duidui, who roasts people like this, is handsome beyond the heavens, the reader pays the money, and the one who provides the food is the boss. I'm an author without much ambition, and my highest mission is to support myself, so if the readers like it, I'll draw it for them.
That’s why I’m still grateful to Li Duidui. Thanks to his daily sass, sharp tongue, and savage comments, I’ve got material to draw. Truly, thank you.
Of course, I’m even more grateful for his arrogance and aloofness. Thanks to that, he has no interest in reading my comic. And that’s probably the only reason I’m still alive.
Otherwise… based on what Li Peipei’s told me about vampires, if he ever did want to kill me, it would be ridiculously easy.
Thank you again to him.
So when I got my manuscript payment, I didn’t delay at all. I withdrew the cash immediately, planning to hand it over in person, properly and respectfully.
This is the rent I owe, and it's also the first rent I've paid him. Ever since I accidentally moved into this building, I haven't had the money to pay rent. Although I earned a little bit before, it was all because of other things that…
"Ahhhh!" I heard a scream from the roof, piercing through the eight floors with full force. Clearly, it was Li Peipei.
It's rare to see her awake during the day. Logically speaking, I should go ask her what's wrong, but Li Peipei is really a vampire who is used to making a fuss, so I ignored her and calmly knocked on Li Duidui's door on the first floor.
But after knocking for a long time, Li Duidui didn't come to answer the door.
Daytime is the sleeping time for vampires, but Li Duidui and Li Peipei are both "daywalkers" who can be active during the day. Especially for Li Duidui, no matter which minute of the twenty-four hours, as long as he smells the scent of money, he can get up at any time.
While I was still wondering, I heard hurried footsteps from upstairs.
I turned my head and saw a pair of long legs wearing cartoon coral fleece pajama pants rushing down, and as for her upper body… it was completely blocked by the Alaskan Malamute in her arms.
That's Li Peipei's dog, named Mangzi. Besides eating, drinking, pooping, and sleeping, it doesn't know anything else, but it's Li Peipei's beloved treasure.
"What's wrong with Mangzi?" I asked Li Peipei. Mangzi’s head was flopped down, tongue hanging out, drooling everywhere. Basically indistinguishable from a dead dog.
"It swallowed the magic artifact I dropped on the ground!"
I was shocked.
Each of these non-humans has a defensive magic artifact that is unique to them. This is very important to them. It will protect them and follow them for life.
Li Peipei's magic artifact is a whip that can change shape. She calls it the "Egg Whip." Because when this whip isn't in use, it's a round ball.
I've been to her messy room and seen her Egg Whip carelessly thrown into her coffin, and the coffin wasn't even closed, just like how humans don't make their beds when they wake up, not bothering to tidy up.
At the time, I guessed and warned her, "Your Mangzi might eat your egg."
But Li Peipei answered me very casually, "There's a murderous aura on my egg. Mangzi is so timid, it wouldn't dare to eat it."
Well, here we were. Time for the slap of reality.
"What do we do now?" I asked her.
“I need to take him to the hospital to get it removed!”
"Then hurry up and go!"
"I don't have money!"
"..."
Now, I have one hand on Li Duidui's door and the other hand holding bright red bills. I looked at the money, then at Li Peipei, then at Mangzi. Finally, I sighed.
“I’ve got some. Let’s go.”
That's right, it may be hard to believe, but every time I'm able to pay the rent, my royalties are spent because of these neighbors' various chaotic, bizarre, utterly absurd emergencies.
After sending Mangzi to have the foreign object removal surgery, Li Peipei and I sat outside obediently waiting.
She looked at the money in my hand, which was a little less than half of what I had, and asked me, "Were you going to find Li Duidui to pay the rent?"
"Yeah."
“Don’t. If you pay, it’ll make the rest of us look even more useless!”
"..." I rolled my eyes at Li Peipei. "Li Duidui is annoying, but money is money. I have to give him what I owe him."
“He literally named us the ‘Four Delinquent Rent Kings.’ If you pay up now, you’re no longer part of our little club!” She argued passionately. "Besides, you can't pay the rent these few days anyway."
"Why?"
She pouted. “The Vampire Association just got an emergency call. I think it’s something from Xiangxi. Corpse herders stirred up some old corpses from decades ago. The higher-ups want the Vampire Association to investigate before things spiral out of control. Li Duidui’s busy with that and doesn’t care about your rent right now.”
The Vampire United Association is abbreviated as the Vampire Association. Li Duidui is the head of the Vampire Association. I've heard people call him Director Li. The director has been busy with official duties recently, so it's no wonder I haven't seen him in the apartment.
Speaking of which, this Vampire United Association is also a very magical existence.
In recent years, because Chongqing's urban construction is good, the real estate market is well controlled, the housing prices are low, and the commodity prices are low, it has attracted a large number of non-human residents to live here. In addition, Chongqing's terrain is complex, and it is often cloudy and foggy, with little sunshine and weak ultraviolet rays, which is most suitable for vampires to live in, so it is deeply loved by vampires from all over the world.
So in January 2015, the Vampire Association officially moved its headquarters to Chongqing, vowing to take root in this beautiful mountain city and serve the glorious future of vampires worldwide.
Back when I first arrived, Teacher Li Peipei had solemnly explained all this to me. At that time, I only thought she was talking nonsense. Of course, now I realize just how shallow and wrong I was…
"Li Duidui will probably be busy for a while. You can't pay the rent for a while, so why don't we go celebrate?"
"Celebrate what… celebrate that your dog almost choked to death on the egg?"
“Xiaoxin, you’ve been living here too long. You’re starting to roast people like the rest of us.” She waved it off. “We’re celebrating that Egg didn’t kill him. And celebrating that you can finally afford to pay rent! I heard there’s a new bar with amazing drinks! Money you spend can be earned back, but time wasted is gone forever! Come on!”
And just like that, I was convinced by Li Peipei’s utterly worldly reasoning…
After taking Li Mangzi home, Li Peipei and I went to indulge ourselves.
Jiefangbei is as lively as ever. Li Peipei and I went straight to the small bar she mentioned. The atmosphere of the bar was good. There was a singer singing on stage, but no blaring beats. It was a good place for casual chatting and banter.
Two-three drinks in, Li Peipei’s eyes started scanning the men around us. Before long, guys started coming over to chat with her.
I held my glass of wine and sat quietly to the side.
Li Peipei has always wanted to find a romantic partner, but she lacks channels. The bar is a very important social occasion for her. She judges people here, looking for the person who can bring her a sense of excitement.
And I'm a person with some prejudice in my heart. I think that the playboys who hang out in bars and the men who easily chat up women are not good people.
I roughly looked around. In this bar, there were people sitting together in twos and threes chatting, there were people who came to drown their sorrows alone, there were people who came to have fun and joke with friends, there were people who were pragmatic, and there were people who were just looking for entertainment. The waiters shuttled back and forth, persuading the guests to drink more. The bartender wiped the glasses, looked up at the people sitting at the bar, and his eyes reflected the numbness of working day after day.
The various aspects of life were all briefly displayed in this small bar.
As far as I'm concerned, the most dazzling person here is probably Li Peipei. She is so different from the world, so she is so radiant and dazzling…
Wait.
My gaze paused and stopped on a man sitting alone in the corner.
He was wearing a black down jacket and was quietly staring at the glass in front of him, doing nothing. The air seemed to freeze around him. His calmness was so out of place with the atmosphere of the entire bar.
I only saw the side of his face under flickering neon lights. His features were sharp, and in his glass-like eyes burned a cold intensity I’d never seen before. Though seated, he gave the impression of a sword about to be unsheathed.
I couldn’t look away.
Perhaps, people can feel when others are watching them.
He blinked lightly, turned his head slightly, and his gaze accurately locked onto me.
Our eyes met, and at this moment, I felt like a blade had been pressed to my throat. A chill ran down my spine.
This person…
Li Peipei called out, snapping me out of it. I broke eye contact and turned to her. She’d already brushed off all the guys trying to chat her up and was now standing beside me, staring at that man with an oddly grim expression.
"What's wrong?" I asked her.
"Let's go, let's go." Li Peipei directly grabbed my wrist and dragged me out of the bar.
After rushing out the door, Li Peipei led me around several streets before stopping. Then she started shivering, touching her arms. "Ugh, I was scared to death. I was so scared that I got goosebumps all over. I should still keep the egg on my body in the future. Damn it, this world is really dangerous."
I was a little confused. "What's wrong? Was that also a vampire? Have you already had a battle at a speed invisible to my naked eyes?"
Li Peipei rolled her eyes at me. "What speed invisible to the naked eye? You've watched too much anime." She rubbed her arms. "That person just now wasn't a vampire. I couldn't tell what he was, but he's definitely not human."
In this world, there are many monsters, elves, legendary creatures, or so-called psychics. In their words, they summarize themselves as non-humans.
After World War II, with the establishment of the United Nations, in order to cope with the era of exploding information and weaponry, the vastly outnumbered non-humans decided to form an alliance to help each other in order to prevent large-scale killings. Vampires, elves, monsters, and the like decided to form an alliance to help each other and live with each other's strength in an increasingly human world. Therefore, the World Non-Human Alliance (WNHU) came into being.
The WNHU is probably their United Nations. Under the WNHU, there is also the China National Non-Human Management Committee, abbreviated as the National Non-Human Management Committee or NNMC, which is further divided into provincial and municipal subcommittees.
Different races have their own racial associations, such as the Vampire Association, the Werewolf Association, the Mermaid Association, and all kinds of other things.
The non-humans who mix in human society are actually a huge group.
I'm no longer surprised by these non-humans appearing in my life, and I'm no longer afraid. Li Peipei has even less reason to be afraid. After all, in my opinion, Li Peipei is already very powerful. At least Xiao Lang and Meimei can't beat her. As for Li Duidui's strength, I have no way of knowing. In Li Peipei's words, "If we really fight, ten of me wouldn't be enough for him to play with."
But even though Li Duidui is so powerful, Li Peipei is not afraid to fight him. It's really surprising that she would be intimidated by a stranger without even fighting.
Although that person's gaze was indeed…
"Anyway, don't go to that bar again." Li Peipei looked down at the time. "Oh, it's almost ten o'clock. I have to go to class. You go back by yourself first, okay? Be careful on the road."
I waved goodbye to her and then took the bus back slowly.
The bus went up and down several mountains and got stuck on several overpasses. By the time I got off the bus, it was already past eleven o'clock. It still takes twenty minutes to walk back from the bus stop, but at this time, it started to drizzle.
In Chongqing, this kind of weather is also very common. I put on my hat, intending to jog back. As soon as I took a step, my toe stepped on a black shadow on the ground.
I looked up and saw Li Duidui in a suit and tie, with his hands in his pockets, holding a big black umbrella, standing in front of me.
"Where did you go?"
Maybe he’d been too busy lately and was just worn out, but his voice was low, tinged with a faint, familiar edge of temper. Mixed with the soft sound of rain, it strangely felt like… he cared.