Leaving Well: Deposit Returns Without the Soap Opera

A practical pass through Leaving Well — after-work energy only, but thorough enough to use.

Clear landlord messages beat clever ones.

Do this in order

1. Write your real constraint (money, time, kids, legal status, spice, noise).
2. Shortlist two options near your actual life, not the city-center fantasy.
3. Test one on a normal weekday while photographing every scratch.
4. Save Chinese names, pins, and chat promises where half-asleep-you can find them.
5. Leave a backup that isn't wishful thinking.
6. Stop tinkering for thirty days unless something breaks.

Watch for

The classic trap: sight-unseen year leases.

On a regular Chengdu afternoon — an agent talking too fast — fancy plans fall apart. Design for that version of you.

Save screenshots and chat records for anything involving money, housing, or legal status. Boredom is a strategy.

Copying someone else's routine from a different district and different job is how people waste their first quarter.

Second viewing rule — always.

Chengdu gets easier when routines stop feeling temporary.