Chapter 129: Neighbors

When she recalled the events later, Yukinoshita Yukino understood why Li Mo had asked such a puzzling question on Friday.

She saw him at her doorstep.

Yukinoshita Yukino didn't live with her family but instead lived alone in a high-end apartment. This was something she had fought hard to secure from her mother.

Living alone meant taking care of everything herself. Yukinoshita didn't hire a maid or even a part-time cleaner. She managed her household perfectly well on her own, so she had no need for such services.

Yukinoshita cooked her own meals, which meant she had to go out to buy groceries. This required her to leave her apartment and head to the supermarket, which wasn't far away. Familiar with the route, Yukinoshita returned home with today's ingredients.

Then, she ran into Li Mo at the elevator on the first floor.

"So, you're looking for a place to rent?"

After exchanging a brief greeting with him, Yukinoshita returned to her apartment.

She noticed that Li Mo was accompanied by a middle-aged man in a suit. From their conversation, Yukinoshita learned that Li Mo was searching for a new rental property.

She was about to get a new neighbor.

As a resident of this high-end apartment, Yukinoshita knew that the occupancy rate wasn't particularly high. There were still vacant units on her floor waiting to be rented.

*Ding dong—*

The doorbell rang.

Standing in the kitchen, preparing lunch, Yukinoshita didn't stop what she was doing. She added the final ingredients for the curry into the pot and turned on the stove.

After finishing these tasks, Yukinoshita went to the entrance to open the door.

During this time, the doorbell didn't ring again. But Yukinoshita knew that a familiar face was standing outside.

"Good morning, Yukinoshita-san."

It was Li Mo.

Not Japanese.

A member of Yukinoshita's club and also her front-row desk mate.

A person with a thick skin.

"It's the weekend, and I don't want my rest time to be wasted," Yukinoshita said.

"No, no, I just wanted to ask what kind of housewarming gift you'd like. I remember in Japan, when you move, you're supposed to give your neighbors a gift, right? I wasn't sure what you'd like, so I came to ask you directly. What kind of gift would you prefer?"

Japan was different from China. Renting a place here was more complicated. Besides the preparations before moving, having an agent made things easier—it was mostly a matter of money. After moving in, you also had to build good relationships with your neighbors.

If it were China? Neighbors? I wouldn't even know how many people lived next door.

"A housewarming gift? What if I said the gift I want is not seeing your face?"

"Ah… I thought my face would help lift your spirits," Li Mo replied.

Yukinoshita asked, "Why would you think that?"

"Weren't you up all night reviewing Zaimokuza's manuscript a couple of days ago? You were dozing off in class. But when you saw me, you stopped dozing. During the critique session, you were full of energy, even though Yuigahama was still half-asleep," Li Mo explained.

Yukinoshita said, "Next time, please don't make such baseless claims, okay?"

Her tone was cold, and her eyes fixed on Li Mo, as if demanding that he correct himself. But who was Li Mo?

He said, "Sure."

"So, you've decided to move here?"

"Of course. It's not far from Soubu High. I've seen the interior, and it's quite nice. All the furniture is included, so I don't need to buy anything else. Plus, I'm too lazy to look at other places."

Li Mo wasn't short on money.

So, renting a place was a simple matter for him.

He shamelessly added, "I smell curry. Yukinoshita-san, can I join you for lunch?"

"Fine," Yukinoshita Yukino didn't refuse.

"Remember to change your shoes. I have spare slippers," she reminded him.

Li Mo said, "Wow! I'm so touched, Yukinoshita-san. You even prepared slippers for me? How can I accept such kindness?"

"It's just that a certain woman came over randomly once and didn't have slippers. So, I bought a few extra pairs just in case," Yukinoshita explained.

"I won't stand on ceremony," he said, pretending not to hear her explanation.

The aroma of curry filled the air. Even though it had just been put on the stove, the smell was unmistakable. Li Mo could smell it clearly.

Thanks to his keen sense of smell—though not as absurd as Tanjiro's from *Demon Slayer*, it was still much sharper than an average person's.

Li Mo changed his shoes and followed Yukinoshita into the apartment.

"You don't make tea at home?"

"I ran out. The tea leaves are under the coffee table, and the kettle is on the shelf. If you want tea, make it yourself," Yukinoshita said.

Straightforward and clear—this was the familiar Yukinoshita Yukino.

Li Mo didn't hesitate and immediately started rummaging through Yukinoshita's tea leaves. In fact, he had already looked at several properties with the agent that morning, but none of them had satisfied him. He wanted to see more.

This behavior was unusual for Li Mo. Given his usual personality, he would have settled on the first place he saw. His requirements for a place weren't high—just livable.

But for some reason, he kept looking. Maybe it was a subconscious premonition or something else. In any case, it felt like a spur-of-the-moment decision.

Running into Yukinoshita and becoming her neighbor was purely a matter of luck.

Since fate had arranged it this way, he decided to settle here. He stopped giving the agent a hard time and confirmed the unit next to Yukinoshita's.

—Yes, that's how fate worked. The unit the agent showed Li Mo was right next to Yukinoshita's. And coincidentally, they ran into Yukinoshita while she was out grocery shopping.

It was Saturday morning when they met. Normally, Yukinoshita would have done her shopping the night before, not on the same day. But there it was, right in front of them.

Fate works in mysterious ways.

"Do you usually study on your own?" Yukinoshita asked, standing in the kitchen again.

She had noticed that Li Mo's Japanese language skills had improved rapidly over the past two days. His history knowledge, however, was still lacking. But that wasn't surprising—not many people were interested in foreign history.

Li Mo replied, "Yeah, self-study."

With the help of spells and translation tools, he filled in the gaps. The system, though initially incomplete and unclear, had improved over time. Even the prompts that popped up were no longer missing characters.

Now, the translation function worked much better, and the spells enhanced his thinking.

His learning efficiency was high.

"At this rate, your tutoring will be over soon. Congratulations."

"Then… can I slow down a bit?"

"No."

"Tch."

Li Mo clicked his tongue, and the two of them dropped the topic once the curry was ready.