this chapter is brought to you by mio
as translator, proofreader and editor!
Little 6: The host is really so understanding it’s heartbreaking.
Xu Yao slowly finished the pastries and drinks, telling Lu Ye, “It’s about time to go home, we’ll come back tomorrow.”
It was clearly unrealistic to collect all the rent in one day; the tenants had different free times, and some tenants hadn’t come to pay rent yet.
As a landlord, there are always a few days in a month when collecting rent is a bit harder; she needed to learn to adapt to her new profession.
Lu Ye was very efficient, arranging for people to take away the sunshade and long table, watching Xu Yao get into the car with her bulging tote bag.
Some tenants in the urban village were middle-aged and elderly who didn’t use smart devices; they paid their rent in cash, filling Xu Yao’s oversized tote bag to the brim.
In the car, Xu Yao asked Lu Ye for his opinion, “Do you think it would be more convenient if I brought a snake-skin bag?”
Lu Ye: “…As long as you’re happy.”
Xu Yao thought her idea was good and took out her new phone to scroll through Weibo, finally having a chance to play with her phone after a busy day.
Aside from the trending topic about Xu Yao having a house, she also saw #FuhuiSupermarket#, creating a wave of publicity as she single-handedly promoted her own supermarket by giving tenants no-threshold coupons.
[The chain supermarket under the richest family is indeed better than others, good quality and low prices, and the customer service is also great.]
[Ah, I saw this trending topic and realised I haven’t been to the supermarket in a long time, I’m going to Fuhui Supermarket tonight to stock up.]
[The steak at Fuhui Supermarket tastes super good, and the large bottles of milk are very fresh, highly recommend!]
[@FuhuiSupermarket, you’re trending! Is the gold master not giving Xu Yao any money?]
[Curious about where Xu Yao got so many no-threshold coupons for Fuhui Supermarket?]
Xu Yao thought it was standard practice to advertise her own supermarket, but she soon received a transfer from Xu Jing.
[Xu Jing: Yao Yao knows how to promote her own supermarket, that’s great!]
Xu Yao paused for a moment. If she told Xu Jing that she learned 1+1=2 today, this doting brother would probably praise her with a loving smile, saying, “Our Yao Yao is amazing!”
To show her gratitude for Xu Yao renting a place to her, Qu Xi had just messaged her to come over for a barbecue at home. As Xu Yao returned to Haicheng Bay No. 1 and was about to enter the elevator, Qu Xi, drenched in sweat, came back carrying a large bag from Fuhui Supermarket, and Lu Ye stepped forward to lift it with one hand.
Since moving into the luxurious apartment rented from her landlord friend, Qu Xi had been eager to barbecue on the spacious balcony that was over six meters high, as she had never experienced anything like it before!
Lu Ye arranged for someone to come over and skewer the food, while Xu Yao and Qu Xi sat in front of the grill, enthusiastically barbecuing, the meat skewers sizzling under the high heat.
As night fell, the enormous balcony without windows lit up with LED ambient lights, which Qu Xi had bought online for decoration. Although her salary wasn’t much, Qu Xi was still a girl who loved life.
Qu Xi sighed inwardly, feeling pleased for her landlord, as she didn’t even have to prepare the ingredients for the barbecue herself.
Qu Xi first handed Xu Yao a skewer of lamb, then took one for herself, looking at the river view and saying to Xu Yao with great satisfaction, “Yao Yao, I never even dreamed that one day I could eat barbecue while enjoying the night view in the most expensive flat in Haicheng. It’s just too blissful. If I become famous, I’ll save up for a few years and buy one too!”
From here, overlooking the entire Haicheng, it truly felt different; one could have both the warmth of human life and the luxury of wealth.
Xu Yao completely agreed with Qu Xi’s viewpoint and, while eating the skewers, asked her, “So how did your audition go?”
Qu Xi’s shoulders slumped, but she quickly turned her frustration into appetite, biting into the meat skewer and said, “Not successful. The assistant director said I look too much like a little girl to play the lead role, but I never even thought about being the lead! I coudln’t even get cast as the third female lead.”
Just as expected.
In the original text, Qu Xi never landed any notable roles until she died at thirty in a basement in Jing City, but in the book, her acting skills were quite good, easily surpassing her own wooden acting.
Qu Xi didn’t want to pass on her negative energy to Xu Yao, so she quickly perked up and changed the subject, saying, “Yao Yao, I saw your trending topic today. Even as a regular person, there are still so many videos of you collecting rent. Why don’t you just start a live stream yourself?”
Xu Yao thought the same; starting her own live stream would give her control, which was much better than being overshadowed by other internet celebrities. She heard that the food blogger who happened to meet her today gained over a hundred thousand followers, making them the biggest winner of the day. Plus, she had many former fans crying and begging her to live stream so they could see more of her.
Xu Yao nodded, seeing Lu Ye coming over with the skewers he had prepared.
She tucked her hair behind her ear, which had been blown by the wind, and said, “Come on, let’s keep barbecuing. Lu Ye, you should join us too.”
Lu Ye paused for a moment and replied, “Okay.”
*
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 mornings in the urban village start earlier than in other places. As the first light of dawn broke, the breakfast stalls downstairs were already set up, including one selling jianbing guozi.
Li Xiaoli smelled the delicious aroma of jianbing guozi from the stall across the street, and her biological clock woke her up. She had two interviews today.
After washing up, she looked at the walls of her room plastered with posters of Sheng Zhou, encouraging herself, “Come on, I must find a job today.”
Having left her hometown, Sheng Zhou, as an idol, had always been her spiritual support.
As Li Xiaoli opened the door with her bag, she saw a black rat darting away as if fleeing for its life, with someone chasing after it.
The urban village had a poor environment, and encountering rats was too common; exterminating them was something they often did.
But soon, Li Xiaoli noticed something unusual—the corridor… was much cleaner! The puddles on the floor had vanished without a trace, making it feel very refreshing!
Li Xiaoli went down the stairs, running her fingers along the handrail, and found no dust on her fingertips, clearly indicating it had been cleaned.
The entire building looked as if it had been thoroughly cleaned, which lifted her spirits considerably.
When Li Xiaoli reached the first floor, she was shocked to see a pile of rat corpses stacked together like a small mountain, including some weighing two pounds. It frightened her quite a bit.
A group of people in matching uniforms was there, and the cleaning team leader explained to them, “We are a professional cleaning team and also provide extermination services.” As long as the payment is sufficient.
Clearly, Xu Yao had paid very well.
The tenants in the urban village also paid sanitation fees, but this fee was for the removal of their household waste; there was no cleaning of the corridors or wiping of the handrails.
With a dirty and chaotic living environment, it was naturally easy for rats and cockroaches to thrive.
Xu Yao said matter-of-factly, “I want a good environment for collecting rent; is that a problem?”
She couldn’t possibly be a top landlord with over a hundred buildings and end up stepping on garbage, right?
Collecting rent was her profession; what was wrong with creating a good working environment for herself?
Of course, there was no problem!
Many tenants wore smiles on their faces; in fact, everyone loved cleanliness, but since the public areas were not cleaned, they felt it was a loss to do it themselves, so they could only turn a blind eye to the mess.
They actually disliked the second landlord, Li Qiang, because every time he came to check the rooms, he not only nagged but also always tried to deduct some money. However, they found Xu Yao much more pleasant to look at.
The old lady didn’t understand the internet and didn’t know that Xu Yao was a target of online criticism; she only felt that Xu Yao was rich and beautiful, which made her feel very pleased.
Grandma Huang was doing exercises at the door, constantly praising, “This environment is clean now, and the air is better. I can do my exercises much more smoothly.”
They were indeed benefiting from it.
Xu Yao’s people had already set up the stall in the same spot yesterday, and her payment code was placed on the table.
Today, she arranged for one group to collect rent and another to re-sign rental contracts with the tenants.
After finishing her exercises, Grandma Huang couldn’t help but come over and ask, “Landlady, are you still giving out supermarket coupons when you collect rent today?”
Xu Yao nodded, “Yes, I’ve sent for it.”
Grandma Huang was instantly delighted, “Then I need to hurry and call Zuo Ning to collect it. This young man is quite a nice lad! I wonder what he was busy with yesterday. My grandson asked him to come, but he seemed to be delayed by something.”
When Xu Yao heard that name, her eyes brightened slightly, and she noticed Li Xiaoli was planning to head to the subway.
“Miss Li, I heard that the leg of your bed is broken? I’ve arranged for a repairman to come by,” Xu Yao called out to Li Xiaoli, seeing her expression tense for a moment, and added, “Don’t worry, the bed leg was already broken when you rented the place, so you won’t have to pay for the repair.”
Collecting rent wasn’t as easy as it seemed; aside from receiving the rent, she also had to address the tenants’ needs.
If the furniture in the house was broken, it was her obligation to handle it.
Little 6 began to feel heartache for Xu Yao, thinking she worked too hard.
Li Xiaoli’s face showed gratitude, but she also felt a bit complicated looking at Xu Yao.
Because of Sheng Zhou, she had a poor impression of Xu Yao; however, Xu Yao didn’t seem as terrible as the online rumors suggested. At least in terms of renting out properties, she was quite a competent landlord.
Li Xiaoli immediately took the carpenter upstairs to fix the bed leg. She couldn’t help but think that if she weren’t a fan of Sheng Zhou, she might have been completely charmed by Xu Yao.
Xu Yao was enjoying the morning breeze when, just a few minutes later, the repairman she had called came down, clicking his tongue and complaining, “What kind of furniture is that? Just a rotten wooden frame. If a heavier person sleeps on it, they’ll fall sooner or later. Miss Xu, do you really want to fix it? It’s not worth it at all.”
Li Xiaoli, who followed him down, felt a bit disappointed but said, “I can sleep just fine with a red brick under it, no need to trouble yourself.”
“From Li Xiaoli’s social experience, it was best to avoid getting involved in money matters with the landlord. As long as she didn’t deduct money from her, she would be grateful.
The worst rental conditions in the urban village were having only a bed, without even a mattress!
Xu Yao understood the principle of “to let the horse run, you must feed it grass1.” Her two buildings in the urban village could provide decent furniture, which would increase her rental income.
Moreover, according to the carpenter, that bed frame was so rotten it couldn’t support the weight of a slightly heavier person. If a tenant fell and got hurt in her property, she would be responsible.
After considering for a moment, Xu Yao cheerfully invited Li Xiaoli to go to the furniture city together, planning to buy some furniture and conveniently take her for an interview afterward.
Because Xu Yao noticed that Li Xiaoli had a resume tucked under her arm.”
Li Xiaoli’s interview wasn’t time-sensitive, and taking a car would definitely be more comfortable than squeezing onto the subway. She also saw Xu Yao’s luxury car parked at the entrance of the urban village and couldn’t help but nod.
Beside them, Lu Ye clumsily helped Xu Yao open the live streaming room on her social media account. Miss Yao Yao suddenly announced this morning that she would start live streaming herself.
Before she withdrew from the scene, Xu Yao was being criticized all over the internet, but she had accumulated over a million fans.
Although she started the live stream without any prior notice, nearly ten thousand viewers quickly flooded in, including many fans of Sheng Zhou among the haters.
[Wow, Yao Yao is live streaming! Did we hear the prayers of us beauty fans? That’s great! Yao Yao is so beautiful!]
[Xu Yao looks so much better after leaving the entertainment scene, with fair skin and beauty. Her withdrawal is a huge loss for the entertainment industry.]
[Is this the urban village in Haicheng?? I rented a place there when I was broke, and the environment was a total mess! How did it become so clean?]
[Xu Yao, this vicious woman, oh my god, I’m so scared! Why are you showing me a mountain of dead rats? I almost threw up my breakfast.]
[So yesterday’s rent collection and supermarket coupons were just to become an internet celebrity and start live streaming, huh? I knew it. Being an internet celebrity is not as good as staying in the industry as an artist.]
The live stream chat was noisy, with only a small number of Xu Yao’s beauty enthusitasts, while Sheng Zhou’s fans were jumping around in the chat.
They got into the car heading to the furniture city, while another group continued to stay at the flowerbed stalls in the urban village to collect rent.
Li Xiaoli looked at Xu Yao’s profile. As a fan of Sheng Zhou, she felt a bit guilty and didn’t dare to talk much with Xu Yao, while Lu Ye, holding the live streaming phone, was even quieter.
So during this not-so-long car ride, it was filled with—’Alipay received XX yuan,’ ‘WeChat received XX yuan’…
It just kept ringing all the way!
[The office workers shed tears of envy, suddenly understanding why Xu Yao wanted to withdraw! Even in the entertainment industry, you have to work; where’s the joy in being a landlord?]
[The two buildings in Haicheng’s urban village can earn three to four hundred thousand, just lying down and making money.]
[If I were Xu Yao, you wouldn’t see me on screen; I wouldn’t even go into the entertainment industry!]
The car slowly entered the outdoor parking lot of Yisen Home Furnishings. Li Xiaoli’s mind was still trying to catch up as she followed Xu Yao and the others out of the car.
Li Xiaoli thought the new landlord was kind enough to buy some furniture, at most taking her to a second-hand furniture market, but instead, they arrived at… Yisen Home Furnishings?!
Although Yisen Home Furnishings wasn’t a luxurious high-end brand, the furniture inside wasn’t cheap either; it was a popular choice for many ordinary renovations.
Xu Yao was collecting rent, not doing charity, so the furniture for the rental properties wouldn’t be too good. Moreover, using overly high-end furniture in the urban village buildings would make tenants afraid of damaging it and having to compensate, which would be counterproductive.
Li Xiaoli looked at Xu Yao’s figure, and the salespeople’s pitches, which were simply unbearable. She couldn’t help but quietly tell her idol Sheng Zhou, whom she regarded as her spiritual support, that she would slightly betray him for just a moment, but after this, she would still be his most loyal fan!
Li Xiaoli began to introduce to Xu Yao, “Miss Xu, I used to work in a related field. If you’re looking to buy furniture for the rental property, I actually recommend this type of furniture. It’s not only cheap but also very durable.”
“Since it’s for immediate occupancy, it’s best to choose furniture that has been in stock for a long time to avoid formaldehyde exposure and also to lower the price further.”
“Xu Yao looked at Li Xiaoli a few more times and suddenly smiled, “Then let’s get a hundred bed frames first, a hundred sets of dining tables and chairs, and oh, also sofas…”
Xu Yao came here purely to stock up!
Although the prices were very cheap, Xu Yao bought in bulk, enough to fill her up!
The furniture store owner was all smiles, assuring Xu Yao that he could deliver everything to her destination today, even up the stairs!
[@my landlord, come learn what a good landlord looks like.]
[Although I don’t like Xu Yao, I can’t criticize her for this. I also want to rent a furnished place; an empty apartment is very inconvenient.]
[Don’t be too naive, there are no good landlords in this world. You get what you pay for. The moment I saw Xu Yao buying furniture, my heart sank.]
[Just wait, the rent is about to go up. All landlords are the same shade of black!]
After buying the furniture, they got back in the car. Li Xiaoli sat next to Xu Yao, and through the car window, she could see a large truck following them, loaded with furniture. Like other netizens, her initial joy of new rental furnishings was gradually replaced by a sense of unease. She realised one thing—
Is the rent going to increase?
She had just heard that Xu Yao had terminated her contract with the second landlord, Li Qiang, and was going to sign a rental contract directly with them? This seemed like a prelude to a rent increase.
However, Li Xiaoli could also understand Xu Yao wanting to raise the rent; buying all that rental furniture costs money, after all. The landlord can’t just invest without return. But from her personal perspective, she didn’t want the rent to go up, and if she had to move out, she might not find such a cheap place in a good location again…
Li Xiaoli was almost at her wit’s end when Lu Ye, sitting in the passenger seat, suddenly turned to her and handed over some documents.
Lu Ye: “Miss Li, please sign here if the two contracts are correct.”
Li Xiaoli took the rental contract, her eyes scanning the document, and immediately saw the monthly rent amount—1500 yuan, with the words written out in full, stating that water, electricity, and gas fees would be calculated separately according to national standards.
Li Xiaoli was instantly stunned. “The rent hasn’t changed?”
How is it still 1500?
There are so many more pieces of furniture now; how could the rent not go up? Li Xiaoli was a bit confused. Is Xu Yao really running a charity as a landlord?
Xu Yao sipped her milk tea, bit into the pearls inside, and simply said, “I’m not the second landlord; I don’t profit from the difference.”
So even though Xu Yao had actually increased the rent, the amount they were paying was exactly the same as what they had given to Li Qiang, and they even got a lot more furniture! Li Xiaoli and the others were very accepting of this.
[Hahaha, those who said Xu Yao would definitely raise the rent can come and get hit; the written contract shows it hasn’t changed.]
[Oh my, is there really such a conscientious landlord in this world? Is it true? I’ve never encountered one before.]
[So the second landlord is truly detestable!!]
[Giving out no-threshold supermarket vouchers, buying furniture, and not raising the rent—what kind of divine landlord is this?]
[Don’t celebrate too early; didn’t you hear that handsome bodyguard say? Two contracts, who knows if there are any hidden clauses that could trap you. I fell for that before when renting, and I really regretted it.]
[Let’s see the second contract before celebrating +1]
Li Xiaoli was a cautious girl. She suppressed her excitement and quickly checked the second contract, fearing there might be a trap inside.
However, the second one seemed… not to be a rental contract.
But rather… rather…
Li Xiaoli looked at the clearly written labour contract above. This was what she had longed to see since looking for a job. Li Xiaoli could hardly believe her eyes.
At the same time, Xu Yao’s gentle voice came from beside her: “Miss Li, are you interested in working for me? The monthly salary is 15,000, with five insurances and one fund.”
A monthly salary of 15,000? Li Xiaoli felt a twinge of shame for doubting the new contract earlier. She felt as if she had just won a huge lottery, and her head was spinning. At this moment, she didn’t care that Xu Yao was the rival of her idol, Sheng Zhou.
What Li Xiaoli craved most now was a job; she needed a job to sustain her life!
Originally, she had planned to apply for a waitress position today. She didn’t look down on waitressing; she just knew that a waitress’s monthly salary could never be as high as 15,000!
Even in the economically developed Hai City, a monthly salary of 15,000 was not something just anyone could easily obtain.
Li Xiaoli hadn’t even asked about the specific job details. She watched as the furniture was carried into the building in the urban village, with workers hauling it up since there was no elevator. She could use this furniture too. Li Xiaoli’s mental defenses were gradually being broken down by Xu Yao, and she thought to herself:
Oh my, it seems like she really has encountered a female bodhisattva.
No matter how great a spiritual support is, it doesn’t compare to the actual bodhisattva who saves her from the fire and water!
The workers carried the bed frame to Li Xiaoli’s room, and she rushed to open the door. The room didn’t have much in it, but it was quite clean.
Xu Yao, who followed behind, noticed the decorations in the room were all related to Sheng Zhou—posters, photos, merchandise, and little trinkets. She curiously asked Li Xiaoli, “Are you a fan of Sheng Zhou?”
Li Xiaoli stood in the middle of the wall covered with Sheng Zhou posters, her expression filled with confusion and disbelief, as if she had never heard that name before. She asked, “Who is Sheng Zhou?”
SOMEONE GIVE HER THE OSCAR NEOWWWW
- you can’t expect to reap benefits without giving something in return ↩︎
