FADE IN.
Act 1
INT. STUDY - MORNING
Phone in hand, PETER checks an answer request.
PETER (V.O.): What are my happy moments in 2020? One from each month?
Peter looks interested.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Today is Dec 14. Time to appraise how I've lived in the past 12 months.
Finding images and adding subtexts, Peter begins to insert them into a draft.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): The answering process is delightful as it brings back fond memories.
Peter selects his images and edits the texts.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): It has been quite colourful despite the pandemic.
After tapping the Submit icon, Peter checks the time.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Oh, it has taken me an hour - a happy hour.
Act 2
INT. STUDY - CONTINOUS
After checking some new phone notifications, Peter is in thoughts.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Yesterday, about 200,000 Quorans have viewed my story about the Tenant. And today, the number of views has risen to over 420,000.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): The one posing the answer request must be very happy with the number of views as she might be remunerated.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): For me, I've already enjoyed myself in the answering and documenting process.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I don't care if my work is viewed in the very present. It isn't uncommon that viewers would give me upvotes for works that I wrote since my joining of Quora in July 2019.
Peter reads some small prints on his phone.
PETER (V.O.)(Cont'd): And yesterday, a Quoran has translated my answer into French!
Peter checks some small prints in French.
PETER (V.O.)(Cont'd): There are over 1,600 views now.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.)(Cont'd): Why do they find the story in 4-para work so interesting?
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): The French translation with some phrases in bold types are indicative.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.)(Cont'd): First, the tenant offered a rent increase by offering me the whole of his rental allowance.
Thinking.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Viewers don't know in the 1990s, it was the landlord's market in Hong Kong, and that the tenant's rental allowance might not be enough to cover the rent increase if proposed by me.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): But I found that the tenant's offer was an equitable one and so I wouldn't object to that.
Thinking.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Second, when the premises needed refurbishing, I let the tenant live in a hotel at my expenses.
Recalling.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): The tenant made the proposal and I thought it was a reasonable thing for a good landlord to do.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I was so busy with my professional work then, and money wasn't my prime concern in my landlord and tenant relationship.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Lastly, the tenant said that he felt sad to make a move.
Recalling.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): It was from his mouth and I could feel it.
Recalling.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I thought it natural for tenants to be sentimental in premises that they've once lived.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I felt that way myself too. I once was a tenant in a village house in Kam Tin and a unit in Tai Po. I lived in University Halls in London and in Strasbourg. I was a lodger in Den Haag as well.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Must tenants never offer a rent increase? Must landlords never pay for hotel costs for tenants' substitute premises? Must tenants never have feelings in places they once lived?
Act 3
INT. STUDY - CONTINOUS
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.): When did I answer the question?
Peter checks his phone diary.
PETER (V.O.)(Cont'd): It was Dec 3, 2020. I had two Webinars to attend that day. I entertained the answer request in minutes.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.)(Cont'd): It was an old story. But I thought it was worthy of documenting what a landlord and tenant relationship could be.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I believe the elements in my concise and precise work should establish the story's images, mood and meaning.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): The French version is helpful. Tres bien! This is also one of my happy moments in the month of December in 2020.
FADE OUT.
THE END
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