After hearing the news of the heavy rain, Xu Yan also fell silent. Even though she already knew this, her heart still sank a little.
"Alas... what's coming will always come..."
When Xu An returned to the lighthouse, she was informed that their new resident welfare period had ended, and taking an elevator now cost 2 trading coins.
"Then let's hurry and rent a place, or we won't have anywhere to stay tonight."
Xu An nodded, which was exactly what she wanted. As she spoke, the two headed towards the rental center.
As they walked through the corridor, Xu An saw people still queuing at the sky ladder, registering for accommodation. However, compared to the previous few days, the flow of people had noticeably decreased.
"It seems the population of the lighthouse is nearing its saturation point," Xu An murmured softly.
As soon as they entered, a sweet-looking girl greeted Xu An, "Hello, are you here to rent a place?"
"Yes."
Xu An nodded blankly. It was her first time inside. If she hadn't been told this was the lighthouse, she would have thought it was a sales center from before the apocalypse. The hall was crowded, and in the very center, rows of building models encased in glass display cabinets were arranged.
"What kind of apartment are you looking to rent? I can show you around," the young lady said sweetly and gently.
"Uh... what types of apartments do you have? Can you introduce them?"
"If you have the budget, of course, I'd recommend an apartment. You can also rent a single room," the young lady said sincerely, glancing at Gou Dan, whom Xu An was holding by the hand.
Single rooms were too cramped to even keep a dog, let alone comfortably house a person. However, this was unavoidable, and everything depended on the client's financial situation.
As she spoke, the young lady led Xu An and her group to the glass display cabinets. Miniature houses, scaled down, were neatly arranged on the sand table, allowing Xu An to clearly see the location and north-south orientation of each house.
"Excuse me, can we not directly visit the rooms to inspect them before deciding?"
Xu An was a little confused. Why would the lighthouse invest so much effort in building sand table models? After all, it was important to see a rental property in person.
"It's not that you can't view properties in person, but you'll need to cover the transportation costs along the way, all expenses for the staff guiding you for the day, and there's an additional viewing fee of 5 trading coins for each room you wish to see," the young lady explained.
Upon hearing this, Xu An decisively abandoned the idea of viewing properties and focused on studying the sand table. With such complications, 100 trading coins wouldn't even be enough for the whole day.
Xu An hadn't stopped questioning the rationality of the lighthouse's capital division. It was clearly an extreme scenario where the rich would get richer, and the poor would get poorer. This was not a "healthy" operational model for long-term social development. For true long-term development, there should be a social structure that forms a "small on both ends and large in the middle" pattern, rather than a "one-size-fits-all" approach of dividing everything exactly in half.
However, these were not Xu An's immediate concerns. Her biggest headache was the sand table in front of her. As a seasoned sufferer of indecisiveness, she was overwhelmed by the choices.
Xu Yan, remaining calm, directly asked, "Do you have floor plans or actual photos of the houses? Can we refer to them?"
"Yes." As she spoke, the young lady swiped a card in a slot on the glass display cabinet, and the glass cabinet transformed into an LCD screen.
"This is our latest 6D projection technology, supporting 360-degree panoramic viewing, detailed down to every blind spot," the young lady continued to explain.
After experiencing so much shock, Xu An no longer felt surprised. The lighthouse always brought her endless new surprises. This also made her feel that choosing to come to the lighthouse was an incredibly correct decision.
After a long conversation, Xu An realized she had forgotten the most crucial matter. "Oh, right, I forgot to ask, how is the housing price calculated here?"
The young lady smiled slightly, showing no impatience. "It's fine. Housing prices are determined by floor level, location, orientation, and size. We still have a sufficient number of listings available, and you can choose any unit below the second floor freely."
"Below the second floor? Does that mean units on the second floor and above are not available for rent?"
The young lady nodded, without much explanation, and continued to discuss housing prices. "The cheapest are the dormitory-style beds, like those in the relief shelters, costing 300 trading coins per month, with shared utility fees of 50 trading coins per month. Then there are single rooms, costing 580 trading coins per month, with utilities paid separately based on actual usage."
"Next are the second-floor apartments. The cheapest is 880 trading coins per month for a one-bedroom, one-living room, one-bathroom unit with a total area of 38 square meters, also with utilities paid separately. Then there are units costing 1280 trading coins per month for two bedrooms, one living room, one bathroom, with a total area of 68 square meters, also with utilities paid separately."
"Of course, we also have larger apartments, generally around 100 square meters, but they are relatively more expensive, with monthly rents starting from 2500 trading coins and above."
"Which type do you need?"
As the young lady introduced the options, Xu An had already made her decision. After discussing it with Xu Yan, both of them reached the same conclusion.
"We'd like to see the 68-square-meter units. Please find a few for us with a north-south orientation, facing south, so we can take a look."
The young lady seemed taken aback. She had expected these two to rent at most a small single room, but she didn't anticipate their "generosity." She immediately became more attentive and quickly selected a few units on the LCD screen according to Xu An's request for her to choose from.
In reality, most people who had passed their initial period chose the "single rooms," which were crowded but cheaper. After all, food was a considerable expense for everyone, so they wouldn't allocate so much money to rent. Xu An and her mother didn't need to worry too much about "food," so within their budget, they chose relatively spacious apartments.
There were people renting those "luxury homes" of over a hundred square meters, and even duplex villas of two to three hundred square meters on the second floor. However, those levels were not areas open to ordinary citizens.
Looking at the few rooms that had been selected, Xu An discussed them with her mother.
Ten minutes later.
Finally, Xu An chose an apartment with a small balcony.
"The apartment you've chosen comes with a two-square-meter balcony but is unfurnished. Are you sure you want this one?" the young lady asked, with a hint of persuasion in her voice. Even with simplified living, some basic furniture like a bed, desk, and chair were necessary. The unit Xu An chose had a good orientation but was the only one without furniture.
"Yes, we'll take this one. Where do I pay?"
"Follow me."
Xu An nodded. She had plenty of furniture in her spatial dimension. This apartment had basic water and electricity supply, and the bathroom was equipped with a shower, which was sufficient. What she valued was the small balcony. The apartments in the lighthouse were too enclosed, as if there was no consideration for floor separation, natural light, or greenery. The separation between buildings was no more than five meters, almost at the distance where she could see into her neighbor's bedroom from her own balcony. With this extra balcony, Gou Dan could also get some fresh air.
"We accept monthly payments. How many months would you like to rent for?"
"Four months."
"Four months, that will be 5120 trading coins."
Xu An handed her card over. After the payment, she had 5480 trading coins left.
"Hello, your apartment is located at Sunshine City, Building 234. You can take the Line 1 hovercar directly to the entrance. Someone will escort you in. Once inside, swipe your card, and the apartment will automatically authenticate. No key is needed. You can freely enter and exit using your ID card from now on."