this chapter is brought to you by mio
as translator, proofreader and editor!
The harsh reality: No middle-aged woman can refuse a supermarket coupon! Especially a no-minimum coupon! None!
One hundred yuan may not seem like much, but it can buy quite a few daily necessities.
The news spread quickly, and before long, many tenants from the two buildings in the urban village came down to join the excitement.
An elderly lady who collected cardboard for money looked at the line of people and curiously asked, “Is this for real?”
Just then, a middle-aged woman returned, waving a large bag of daily necessities in her hand, and enthusiastically said, “Aunt Huang, how could it be fake? I just came back from that new supermarket. Guess how much I spent on this bag of stuff?”
The elderly lady glanced at the items in the bag—fruits, toothpaste, toothbrushes, and various seasonings—all things that most people could use.
The middle-aged woman continued, her tone quite cheerful, “It only cost five yuan.”
It felt like finding a hundred-yuan bill on the street, something that could make a person happy for the whole day.
As soon as the middle-aged woman finished speaking, another young girl came back, huffing and puffing, carrying a durian weighing about four pounds. The bag had the logo of Fuhui Supermarket, and the pungent smell of the durian immediately invaded the noses of those around.
The young girl was very pleased, saying, “It really is a no-threshold coupon! This durian was discounted to 102 yuan for four pounds, and I only spent two yuan to buy it! The shape is perfect; it should have a lot of flesh.”
Durian is not a cheap fruit for an ordinary working-class young girl, but its delicious taste makes it very popular.
Who doesn’t know Xu Yao? The one who is hated all over the internet. This girl couldn’t help but want to be her fan! The first durian of the year was given to her by Xu Yao!
Hearing this, the elderly lady was also tempted. She temporarily set aside the cardboard she was collecting and thought about asking a young neighbour for help to take a photo since she didn’t have a smartphone.
The line of people paying rent grew longer, and the young people, showing good manners, formed an orderly queue.
There were many delicious little shops in the urban village, and some internet celebrities often came here to explore food, just in time to stumble upon this scene!
[Wow, is that Xu Yao! Didn’t she retire? Wow, she’s really beautiful; her skin is so fair in the sunlight!]
[I’m out, I just came to watch a food exploration, and I ended up seeing this woman. I’m leaving, I’m leaving.]
The comments in the live stream were filled with criticism, but the data was quite honest. The moment Xu Yao appeared on camera, the viewership of this food blogger’s live stream skyrocketed, increasing by tens of thousands.
[What’s going on? Are they really collecting rent? Is Xu Yao really a second-generation landlord?]
[This is the urban village of Haicheng; landlords have to come to collect rent and check the water, electricity, and gas meters. Do you think just setting up a stall lets tenants pay by themselves? Wanting money without working, how beautiful!]
“Actually… I can, wuwuwu, I can really get a two-yuan durian! Xu Yao, the woman who made me fall in love with a durian.]
Soon, the viewers in the live stream discovered that they could bring their latest water, electricity, and gas meter photos to pay rent and receive a one-hundred-yuan no-threshold shopping coupon.
[If that’s the case… I can too! Why doesn’t my landlord do this kind of activity? I want to participate.]
[What’s the point of a one-hundred-yuan no-threshold coupon? Xu Yao spreading rumours about Brother Zhou and Liu Yingxia dating is bad character; I wouldn’t want that coupon even if you gave it to me for free!]
[Give it to me, I want it, I have thick skin.]
[Xu Yao’s flip-flops are studded with diamonds; I want to sneakily take one off.]
The live stream became increasingly lively, not needing to generate topics.
The line grew longer, and even Li Xiaoli showed up. When she saw Xu Yao, her face turned bright red because her idol was Sheng Zhou. Previously, when there were rumours about Sheng Zhou and Xu Yao, she didn’t have a good impression of Xu Yao! Now, she felt a bit embarrassed to come and get a no-threshold coupon.
“That’ll be 1620 yuan in total.”
Li Xiaoli was still staring at Xu Yao’s face, momentarily not reacting. She only knew that the tall bodyguard next to her announced a number that was different from what she had calculated before coming down. She blurted out, “You calculated it wrong!”
The afternoon sun was just right, and Xu Yao was feeling a bit drowsy. Hearing Li Xiaoli’s words, she opened her half-closed eyes and looked at Lu Ye.
Lu Ye affirmed, “It’s not wrong.”
The tenants behind couldn’t help but lean in to listen.
Li Xiaoli recalculated, muttering, “The rent is fifteen hundred, and the water, electricity, and gas fees total eighteen hundred…”
As she calculated, Li Xiaoli’s voice grew softer; her calculation of eighteen hundred was clearly too high!
Li Xiaoli quickly checked the ledger in front of Lu Ye and was shocked to exclaim, “You calculated the electricity fee at fifty-two cents?”
Not only was the electricity fee correct, but the water and gas fees were also at the standard rates set by the government!
Xu Yao elegantly yawned and said to Li Xiaoli, “Miss Li, you’ve been PUA1‘d in your rental situation. We all charge normal water and electricity prices,” Xu Yao said earnestly, “I’m just collecting rent, not a bandit.”
Nearby, the second landlord, Li Qiang, felt awkward standing there. The second landlords made profits by charging high rents and skimming off the water and electricity fees, and Xu Yao’s words seemed to be aimed directly at him.
Li Xiaoli had been having a terrible time lately, facing setbacks everywhere. She had almost gotten into a fight with the second landlord earlier. Looking at Xu Yao’s righteous and charming face, her nose suddenly felt a bit sour.
She must have really been PUA’d; clearly, this was the normal price for civilian water, electricity, and gas, yet she felt unusually happy. Saving on living costs was also great.
Li Xiaoli sniffled lightly, scanned the QR code with WeChat to pay the rent, and tremblingly took the one-hundred-yuan no-threshold coupon.
Then she heard Xu Yao’s clear voice say, “I apologise for the inconvenience caused to all the tenants. Thank you for choosing to rent my house. From now on, I will personally handle all matters related to the house.”
Xu Yao glanced at the one-hundred-yuan no-threshold coupon in front of her and smiled, “Just a small gift; I hope you all won’t dislike it.”
Gaining favour, Xu Yao was quite skilled at it.
Little 6 praised: [The host is indeed an excellent employee of the quick-transmigration bureau.]
Xu Yao: Mhm~
Xu Yao signalled for Li Xiaoli to leave the line, “Next.”
Li Qiang stood there, listening to the “Payment received—”, “WeChat received—”, “XX Bank received—” notification sounds that rang out every minute. He gradually realised… that he, the second landlord, might really be unemployed now.
Xu Yao didn’t go to read the meter and let the tenants do it instead, but everyone was very happy…
[What to do, I suddenly have a bit of a crush on Xu Yao, the beautiful landlord sister is quite likeable.]
[Wuwuwuwu why isn’t Xu Yao my landlord? My landlord only refuses to return the deposit!!]
[I’m dying of laughter, is this how you buy people off? A bunch of people being PUA’d, it’s illegal for the second landlord to charge high prices, if there’s trouble, just call the police or even sue directly!]
[The people upstairs clearly haven’t suffered from society’s harshness, the second landlord is really the norm, everywhere you look. No matter Xu Yao’s intentions, I still hope my landlord is someone like Xu Yao, shedding tears of hardship from being beaten by life.]
[Uh… am I still in the state of ‘Xu Yao really has a house’??]
After Xu Yao officially announced her retirement, she once again made it to the trending topics on Weibo, but this time it wasn’t for negative reasons.
#XuYaoReallyHasAHouse#
#XuYaoCollectingRent#
These two topics trended one after the other.
[Wow, so her retirement declaration wasn’t just bravado? Xu Yao really is a second-generation landlord?]
[Yes, both buildings in the urban village belong to her, not just a unit, but entire buildings!]
[Two buildings, and they’re in the best location in the urban village in Haicheng… My goodness, if it were me, I would just lie flat.]
An ID named “Xu Yao Yao Yao Yao” commented: [Wuwuwu I’m crying, I saw Yao Yao again, I was so sad for too long after she retired, the entertainment industry really lacks a goddess like her! I beg Yao Yao to go live, I really want to see her QAQ I’m just a humble fan of her looks.]
This Weibo post received a lot of likes from Xu Yao’s fans who are obsessed with her looks. Not to mention her retirement, it’s a huge loss for the entertainment industry!
Nothing else, just wanting to see the fairy Yao Yao again~
Sheng Zhou also saw the trending topics while filming. Upon seeing a fan’s skeptical comment, [If Xu Yao’s retirement and going home to collect rent is true, then is what she said about Sheng Zhou and Liu Yingxia dating also true?], Sheng Zhou felt a bit unhappy and directly reported it.
*
pls do not share this anywhere or u will always stub ur toe when u walk past a door frame !! this translation has been stolen from mioscorner.com, pls only read there i’m begging u :kneels:
The line of tenants coming to pay rent was getting longer, and after Grandma Huang happily received a hundred yuan no-threshold coupon, she seemed to remember something and patted her grandson’s shoulder, saying, “Good grandson, go tell your Uncle Zuo Ning at the alley entrance to stop taking pictures there, come here to pay rent and get the coupon.”
Grandma Huang was missing some teeth and kept mumbling, “I’ve never seen a camera that can take pictures like a TV drama, I really don’t understand these young people.”
Grandma Huang is a straightforward person who likes practical things, like the coupon in her hand!
Today was a small but happy day in the urban village.
Xu Yao was really tired; the repetitive sounds of ‘Alipay/WeChat payment received’ were too hypnotic. The weather was neither too hot nor too cold, and the afternoon sun was warm and not glaring.
Under the large sunshade, Xu Yao leaned back on a beautiful lounge chair, her face covered by a hat that had been deliberately lowered, her eyes gradually closing.
Nearby, Lu Ye and the others were diligently collecting rent, while Xu Yao’s phone, set to a lower volume, kept chiming with payment notifications.
Xu Yao didn’t know how long she had slept; she only felt that this lounge chair was not as comfortable as her million-dollar mattress at home. Someone was calling her name beside her, and she slowly woke up.
Little 6 was heartbroken: [Host, you clearly came to retire and enjoy life, and now you can’t even take a proper nap, it’s really too hard!!]
Xu Yao took off the hat from her face. Her eyes, which hadn’t opened for a long time, were slightly stung by the sunlight, and she blinked a few times to adjust.
She saw a middle-aged man in a suit getting out of a luxury car not far away. The man was holding a delicate box of pastries and high-end tea drinks, placing them on Xu Yao’s table, and spoke respectfully, “Miss Xu Yao, I am the manager of Pinxian Pavilion. This is afternoon tea sent by Mr. Xu for you. I hope you enjoy it.”
Pinxian Pavilion, a five-star restaurant in Haicheng, with the manager personally delivering it!
Xu Yao thanked him and opened the afternoon tea and pastries in front of her, casually asking Lu Ye beside her, “How much have we collected so far?”
Lu Ye looked at the bill and wiped out the zeros: “The two buildings in the urban village have received a total of 273,600.”
Oh, that was pretty quick, all that in the duration of just a nap.
Xu Yao took a bite of the exquisite pastry, feeling a bit of soreness in her neck. She agreed with Little 6’s concern for her current state but seriously told Little 6, “I’m used to hardship, it’s no big deal.”
Little 6 was heartbroken: [Host, you clearly came to retire and enjoy life, and now you can’t even take a proper nap, it’s really too hard!!]
i’m about to spit blood, are those even human words ?! i want that problem !!!
- pua is derived from ‘pickup artist’ and normally refers to somebody being gaslighted, abused, hypnotised into doing something or thinking something is normal ↩︎