Everyone has a dark side.
If you claim that you don’t have one, then you are simply not being forthcoming, or perhaps you have yet to encounter what will bring out your dark side.
Three years ago, I inherited this old apartment house from my heirless uncle. The building is over thirty years old, not including the rooftop it has five floors, and it also has an old but simple lift installed since my uncle became a cripple after the car accident.
I would be lying if I said that I wasn’t happy inheriting this apartment house without so much as lifting a finger. Even though its location is a bit far away from the bustling eastern sea villa district, it is only three minute walking distance from the cheap dining district, and five minute on bike will get you to the high-class restaurants at the international street.
Getting an apartment house without effort is always a good thing. At the very least, it lets a lazy middle-aged guy like me appear to have achieved something, no longer a useless bum.
So I sold my uncle’s old Mercedes and borrowed a couple hundred thousands from the bank in order to renovate the house. I added toilet and bathroom to couple of the apartments, put in some more beds and painted the walls etc.
I decided that no matter what, I have to rent out my apartments, that way I will be able to live out the rest of my life on the rent I collect. I have always envied those who lived a care-free life collecting rent, now it is finally my turn.
After the renovation, I managed to clear out several bathroom suites, two on the second floor, two on the third and two on the fourth, leaving the fifth floor to myself. First floor is the drawing room and the public kitchen, on the rooftop we have a wash machine and place for people to dry their laundries. If I can get five thousand a month for each apartment, my monthly income will be thirty thousand, which is more than enough. The thing is though that I don’t want to be doing anything at all. At most I will help out with some repairs, changing some light bulbs and perhaps learn a trick or two on how to press the tenants for rent.
Unfortunately, not sure if it is the apartment house looks too old or nobody out there needs an apartment right now, no matter how many rental posters I put up, I wasn’t getting any replies. I even got fined for the ones I put up on the electric poles. In the end I ended up paying for an ad in the newspaper, but still no one showed any interest.
Other than being disappointed, I could only try to lower the rent, from five thousand to four thousand, then from four thousand to three thousand five hundred, but still, nobody replied.
Is this old apartment house cursed or something?
I sighed in defeat, perhaps it wasn’t the right place, or perhaps the economy was really as bad as the opposition claimed. Either way I decided to lower the rent to three thousand.
However, these greedy tenants will have to sacrifise a little bit of their personal life as compromise.
The peep-hole cameras have cost me a fortune, in the corridors, in the lift, every room has one. I connected the cameras to the TV in my room, facing my bed. I plan to use their private performance as my bed time entertainment program, all part of the rent.
If you ask me if I feel guilty about it, I’ll have to admit yes, perhaps a little, but my inspiration came from my uncle.
When I first inherited this building, I found a hidden camera embedded in the walls inside the room of the maid working for my crippled uncle, and its signal goes straight to the little TV hanging on top of his bathtub.
Perhaps it is all genetic; uncle’s choice of entertainment has piqued my interest. I blame it on our family genes.
So I put up the new ad on the electric poles, waiting to interview the potential tenants.
[[1]] Original wording means “their involuntary reactions”.
[[2]] Original wording means “change of study plans”.