The first thing he saw pleased him. Li Du nodded, decided to keep looking, and released the little bug.
The road was to the south of the hill, and the villa was to the north. The hill itself was lush and green. While it was not very high, it was rather long and rolling. This season was the most beautiful season for mountains. They were a sight to see. Along with having a deep green color, there were also vibrant flowers on them everywhere.
The villa was the only building, and it was surrounded by a wooden fence. The door in the fence had a fingerprint entry system, which Li Du felt was very funny, considering the villa's fence was only a meter and a half tall. People could easily climb over it if they wanted to get in, so what was the use of the door relying on fingerprints?
The owner of the villa happened to be there. Hans rang the bell and introduced himself. Inside the fence was a manicured lawn with a small playground and a clean outdoor pool. The house itself was a three-story building in the middle.
The owner of the house was waiting at the door. He was a white man in his forties. He was plump with a big belly and fat cheeks, and looked a bit like a bulldog. He shook hands with Li Du. Cole introduced the owner, Abel Klein, an executive at a luxury goods company in Phoenix.
After simple greetings, Li Du put on shoe covers and went into the building to start the tour.
The house was well preserved, and the solid wood floor was coated with a layer of wax. The sunlight shined in through windows that showed a lively view.
There were all kinds of furniture and appliances in the house including a family theater in the living room, a sofa, tables, and chairs. All were high quality. There was a large terrace upstairs with an area of more than 50 square meters. It had a 180-degree view, so they could see the surrounding scenery.
The area of the villa was more than 300 square meters. With the upper, middle, and lower levels, they had 12 bedrooms total. It could be described as a small castle. Li Du and the others could fit quite nicely.
There were no problems at all with the house. There was also a garage under it. Li Du opened the door and looked at it. It was very messy with all kinds of trash. Apparently, the owner of the house was not a diligent man. He kept the house clean, but instead of throwing away the trash, he threw it into the garage.
Looking at the garbage in the garage, Abel smirked. "I have an outdoor parking lot. You don't have to park in the garage. It would be a waste of energy and time driving in and out the garage anyway, right?"
Once inside the garage, the little bug plunged headlong into a battered wooden box.
"Yes, but we have a big family. We have a lot of people, and we don't have enough space outside for the cars. We have to use this garage, so we have to tidy it up," said Li Du.
Abel was not a good-tempered man and frowned at this remark.
There was nothing wrong with the house except that the garage was full of trash. Sophie was satisfied. She was looking forward to moving in. She came from a middle-class background and had never lived in a luxury villa like this. The Martin couple's villa in the university city was a functional villa.
Seeing this, Li Du winked at Hans, then gestured toward the garage and asked, "How much is the rent?" Cole had only given him the address and contact details without specifying the rent. While Li Du was looking at the house, Hans went to talk to Abel about the rent.
"The monthly payment is $20,000. It is one to six. You know what I mean, don't you?" Hans laughed.
Li Du knew what he meant. He must have remembered the previous experience of renting a house in the crown of pines when Luo Qun said to pay one for one, and the result was to pay one year's rent for one year's rent.
This payment method was very reasonable, so Li Du nodded and agreed. He decided to rent this house.
The owner shook his head and asked, "Mr. Fox, so you are not the who is renting the house? It is that Mr. Li?"
"It could be me, it could be him. We're brothers, and we're going to live together. You should understand, your villa has a dozen rooms. How can only one person be living here?" asked Hans.
The owner's expression was turning unhappy. "President Cole didn't tell me that it was a Chinese person with pets and so many people who wanted to rent the house."
When it came to the pets, Li Du had nothing to say. Indeed, renting a house with a pet was not popular anywhere. However, this man had unexpectedly said, "Chinese person." Li Du was immediately dissatisfied and said, "What about we Chinese?"
The homeowner was even more upset and said, "I rented it to one of your countrymen, and he used it as a place of work and treated my house so badly that I had to sue him to get rid of him."
"You've expanded it too far. Haven't blacks, whites, and Mexicans had problems renting houses? You should watch the news. They have caused more problems."
Instead, the owner simply said, "If you're a black Mexican, I would not rent to you! I have a good impression of Chinese, otherwise, I wouldn't let you in!"
When it came to race, the tone on both sides was harsh.
Looking at the situation, Hans quickly interjected saying, "Calm down and listen to me first." He looked at the owner. "You can check both of our credit records, Abel. We have no problems. I don't know how long your house has been empty, but I know that an average person doesn't rent a house this big and this expensive. If you miss this opportunity, I am not sure how much longer your house would be empty."
Then he looked at Li Du, "Brother, this is not racial discrimination. Let's understand Abel. He must think of all the consequences of renting out his expensive house."
In the United States, landlords could check the income and past credit records of renters through banks and tax authorities. If the records were fine, then the customer was fine, too.
Hans was quite reasonable. The landlord thought about it and reluctantly said, "Well, I'll let you stay if your credit history is clean, but the deposit becomes a quarter of the rent."
It was still discrimination, and Li Du was reluctant. He looked at Sophie and the others and said quietly, "Ok, we'll give you a quarterly deposit, but you'll have to clear out the garage."
The owner of the house was unhappy again. He thought Li Du was troublesome.
Hans got in the middle and said, "We'll take care of it ourselves, man. Abel, you can see what's left in the garage that you need, and we'll take care of the rest."
The owner was satisfied and said, "You can throw everything away. If you want to dispose of it, you can do it yourself. I'm not going to do it."
Both sides agreed and contacted a lawyer to start the paperwork.
Abel was a wealthy American with his own doctors and lawyers, so he rented his house without a real estate agent. A private lawyer was more reliable than an agent, anyhow.
The next day, after the lawyer investigated Li Du, Hans, and Sophie's credit records and police records, he told Abel there was no problem. The two sides began to sign the contract, and Li Du paid the rent.