this chapter is brought to you by mio
as translator, proofreader and editor!
Xu Yao knows how to leverage opportunities for advertising; free positive trending topics are too good to for her to pass up.
After posting the advertisement, Xu Yao directly changed her profile picture and WeChat name to match her reputation of being ‘professional’ and then happily went to sleep, knowing that the calls wouldn’t reach her directly.
[… Xu Yao really knows how to advertise; it’s so hard for me to resist temptation.]
[Hahaha, I really received the dividend; I want to rent Yao Yao’s house again!]
Of course, there were also many rational netizens who liked to assume the worst outcome: [I always feel like Xu Yao is doing this for marketing; no capitalist has a conscience, and landlords are the same.]
But Xu Yao indeed gained quite a bit of advertising from this trending topic; the phone calls kept coming in from that night until the early morning of the next day without stopping.
The night in Haicheng was as brilliant as ever, the river shimmering under the night sky, the cool river breeze making people feel particularly awake.
A tall, thin boy skillfully crawled under a bridge tunnel, taking out a second-hand smartphone worth a few hundred from his tattered pant pocket, and was shocked when he saw a notification. He tried to click into Alipay.
The phone was too laggy, taking nearly five minutes just to get into the app. Just a few hours ago, a user named [*Yao] had transferred over a thousand yuan in community dividends to him.
He was momentarily stunned. It seemed like… he wouldn’t have to live under a bridge anymore.
*
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:
When Lu Ye and the others said they hadn’t slept well, it really meant that they hadn’t slept well at all.
Since Xu Yao posted that advertisement on Weibo last night, the phone has been ringing off the hook, all of them from eager people wanting to schedule viewings!
Lu Ye was well aware that the vast majority were just curious netizens and paparazzi; many netizens simply wanted to know how many properties Xu Yao actually had when she said “owning properties in multiple locations,” while the paparazzi just wanted to ride on Xu Yao’s popularity.
Seeing the faint dark circles under Lu Ye and the others’ eyes, Xu Yao felt that her rental team needed to expand.
The current rental team was the original team from Xu Real Estate, with only a few people brought in by Lu Ye, and also Li Xiaoli who had been the only one she hired externally. She needed to urgently recruit more staff.
“Miss Yao Yao, since last night, there have been a total of 465 calls for viewing appointments excluding malicious harassment calls,” an employee stifled a yawn as they reported to Xu Yao.
Xu Yao was very distressed about this, “From now on, it is strictly forbidden to take work calls during break time. I’ll also double your salaries.”
As soon as the mention of a salary increase was made, the employees instantly felt less tired, their eyes filling with joy as they chorused, “Thank you, boss.”
Although Lu Ye had little reaction to the salary increase, Xu Yao understood. Ever since Lu Ye was saved by her grandfather, he had been working tirelessly for the Xu family and believed it was only natural for him to work for her.
Xu Yao reminded him, “By the way, this advertisement was done well, but I don’t wish to rent my property to someone like Sheng Zhou again.”
Her properties were all vacant, and she refused to rent to tenants with poor character. Renting is a two-way street; Xu Yao also had the right to be selective about her tenants and would be strict in her selection.
As for how to find suitable tenants, Xu Yao already had a plan in place.
Lu Ye acknowledged this, holding a tablet dedicated to rental inquiries, and checked the schedule for the day, “Miss Yao Yao, we need to go to Tai’an community in the next few days to hold a homeowners meeting and establish a homeowners association.”
Was it all just to receive the community dividends from the past five years?
No, of course not! This was just an appetizer prepared by Xu Yao; her real goal was to change the property management company for Tai’an community!
Only a landlady who can meet her tenants’ needs is truly a good landlady!
People are just this pragmatic; the entire Tai’an community was buzzing with excitement over receiving the community dividends, and the homeowners meeting turnout was packed to the brim.
Only tangible benefits can move people.
“Hello fellow homeowners, I’m Xu Yao, the owner of Building 3. Welcome to the homeowners meeting to establish our community’s homeowners association1.” Xu Yao instructed Xie Zhengtian to distribute the materials to everyone. “I know that many of you have suffered under the current property management, so I’m her to propose that we replace Tiansheng Property.”
All the homeowners present were taken aback. Replace… the property management? Can property management even be changed?
Although they often cursed the garbage property management for being ineffective, most homeowners had never considered changing property management and had no idea it was even possible.
“After replacing Tiansheng Property, we can sign a new cooperation contract with the new property management company with an agreement on how the community’s public revenue should be distributed.”
Immediately, a neighbor’s eyes lit up. “Does this mean we might have a chance to receive community dividends in the future?”
They had thought receiving it once was like winning the lottery; could there be more?
Xu Yao smiled and said, “The revenue from the community’s public areas rightfully belongs to the homeowners collectively. If there’s profit, of course it should be shared with everyone.”
The property fees for the Tai’an community were actually quite high. Hearing that the community profits could not only offset the expensive property fees but that any surplus would also be distributed as dividends to all homeowners, the excitement among all the homeowners present soared to unprecedented heights!
Trash property management companies should be eradicated!
Tiansheng Property, get out of Tai’an community!
Xu Yao, Xie Zhengtian, and several neighbors invited by Xu Yao smoothly became members of the HOA.
Xie Zhengtian felt a complex mix of emotions, looking at his neighbors with an indescribable sense of trust. This feeling… seemed quite nice.
His father always thought he wasn’t serious enough about his work. Who had ever trusted him like this?
Xie Zhengtian was in high spirits, his desire to seek benefits for the collective homeowners swelling wildly.
“Yao Yao, do you have a property management company in mind for collaboration? My buddy who just returned to the country is quite knowledgeable about this subject,” Xie Zhengtian asked excitedly.
Xu Yao recalled her fiancé—the inheritance tool—who had sent her a lot of information on recommended property management companies, “I already have a few in mind.”
However, this would not be a decision made solely by Xu Yao; it required the agreement of the collective homeowners.
Xie Zhengtian had previously been annoyed by advertisements in the community, but now his eyes lit up when he looked at the billboards in Tai’an community. “Yao Yao, to maximise the benefits for the majority of us homeowners, we can select many high-revenue advertisements!”
Since they couldn’t stop the community from having advertisements, they might as well maximize the profits!
Let’s go for the most profitable advertisements!
Xu Yao was curious, “What kind of advertisements have high revenue?”
“I just got the advertising details from the property management company,” Xie Zhengtian pulled out a stack of materials, winking at Xu Yao with pride. “For example, men’s health clinics, infertility treatments, circumcision, and the like—the prices are all quite high!”
Xu Yao: “…”
Xu Yao earnestly said, “Little Xie, there’s some kinds of money we shouldn’t earn.”
Xie Zhengtian thought this was clearly a very feasible idea!
*
Recently, Tai’an community had become quite popular. Aside from one of the guests from My Home Life living here, Xu Yao was also another hot topic.
A swarm of paparazzi was closely monitoring the community’s every move, ready to send out a direct report on any news online.
[Entertainment News: Big Scoop! Xu Yao organizes the collective homeowners of Tai’an community to replace Tiansheng Property! The reason seems to be multiple tenants complaining to Xu Yao about the property management’s inaction!]
The comments were filled with question marks.
[??? Xu Yao organized the homeowners to fire Tiansheng Property just because the tenants are dissatisfied with the property management?]
[Holy sh*t, holy sh*t, this must be Xu Yao’s real trump card, right? Dividends are just small benefits but helping tenants replace the garbage property management is the real deal!]
[Is it really Xu Yao? Is this some fake news? Is there really such a good landlord?]
Zhou Qi was also a bit confused. Wait… is this for real?
Because of the video where Xu Yao shared dividends with him, and with Sheng Zhou now gone, the multi-talented Zhou Qi had recently gained a bit of popularity, increasing his followers by several hundred thousand with which he was quite satisfied with.
So Zhou Qi simply returned the favor by posting a photo on Weibo, showing Xu Yao refusing to accept his past property fee payment, along with Xu Yao’s reply:
[Xu Yao: You don’t need to pay the property fee for now. I’m currently teaming up with other homeowners to prepare to replace the property management.]
The timestamp was from over half a month ago!
This screenshot almost directly confirmed—
Half a month ago, Xu Yao was already planning to replace the property management; this wasn’t an impulsive decision!
[Damn? So Tiansheng Property suddenly sent money to all homeowners, not because they suddenly grew a conscience, but because of Xu Yao? No, to be precise, it was because of Xu Yao’s tenants?]
[Yes, yes, yes, I remember! The day Xu Yao asked Sheng Zhou for rent, Yang Guofa, the general manager of Tiansheng Property, also came. The property’s payment was really because of Xu Yao!]
[Oh my god, what kind of sweet group pet drama plot2 is this? Isn’t this landlady Xu Yao too kind to her tenants? She changed the property management just because her tenants were dissatisfied?]
[Facing terrible property management, my landlord: Just endure it; Xu Yao: Get rid of it.]
[My worldview has been shattered. What kind of amazing landlord is this? She changed the property management just because her tenant complained about it? Is being Xu Yao’s tenant so satisfying?]
[Emmmm, am I the only one paying attention to Xu Yao’s WeChat avatar and name? I’m about to die laughing.]
Giving tenants a dividend is one thing, but replacing the property management company they’re not satisfied with? Even novels wouldn’t dare write this sort of plot!
A group of Tai’an Community owners belatedly realized that they were benefiting from Xu Yao’s tenants?
#What kind of divine landlord is Xu Yao# directly jumped to the top of the trending topics once again.
Those who have rented before feel a strong sense of camaraderie to the topic. In fact, there’s an invisible boundary, a subtle sense of discrimination. In society, many people look down on renters despite the fact that they pay rent and as a result, also have the right to use the property.
Xu Yao doesn’t; not only does she not discriminate, but she also pays great attention to the feedback her tenants give her.
[Sob sob sob, I’m seriously moved to tears. So there really are landlords who take their tenants’ words to heart?]
[I apologize and repent. I previously thought Xu Yao’s dividend was just a way to spend a small price in return for marketing, damn me!]
[Is it too late to contact Xu Yao’s team to schedule a viewing?]
[Sob sob sob, Xu Yao really ought to be wealthy, she really deserves it!]
Zhou Qi saw that Weibo was full of comments envying him for renting Xu Yao’s property, and his heart couldn’t help but leap with joy.
He was a renter, no mistaking it, but his renting experience is much more enjoyable than that of majority of homeowners!
Xu Yao looked at her soaring number of Weibo followers and the emotionally charged comments.
Isn’t this all just what a landlady should do?!
Shouldn’t a competent landlady work to improve the happiness of her tenants? Isn’t that right, Little 6?
Little 6 choked up: “Yes, host. It’s really been hard for you. You’re truly competent.”
Xu Yao went completely viral. Almost everyone in Haicheng who considered renting would immediately think of renting Xu Yao’s property!
Lu Ye and the others’ phones were almost ringing off the hook. In just a few days, thousands of people had made appointments to view properties.
Xu Yao’s rent collection team’s employees spoke with incredibly sweet voices on the phone, “Sir, before viewing the property, we need to understand your basic situation, which will take a considerable amount of time. Is this alright with you?”
“Yes.”
A young man with exaggerated blond hair readily agreed. It’s normal for a landlord to understand the basic situation before renting, right?
This guy was a small-time influencer. After making an appointment with Xu Yao’s team, he flipped the camera, speaking in an exaggerated tone, “Family3, I’ve made an appointment to view the property. Let’s all see what other properties Xu Yao has! I’ll be live streaming when the time comes, see you in the livestream!]
[You’re too incredible, Brother Huang! You actually got a chance to view the property?]
[Can’t wait, can’t wait. I really want to know what Xu Yao’s rental properties are like.]
Some netizens were puzzled: [?? Brother Huang, your appointment to view the property was also scheduled during tomorrow afternoon? How is my time slot is also for the same time?]
[+1, it’s so strange, mine is also scheduled for tomorrow afternoon.]
[??? What’s going on? Is everyone scheduled for tomorrow afternoon?]
The influencer, Little Brother Huang, wasn’t quite sure either. He scratched his blond hair and made a guess, “Family, maybe there are too many people making appointments to view Xu Yao’s properties, so they’ve all been grouped together to save time.”
Real estate agents sometimes do this, taking two people to view a property at the same time. Whoever takes a liking to it and pays the deposit first gets it.
Seems like this Xu Yao really understands the situation with her methods!
The next afternoon, the influencer Little Brother Huang arrived at the appointed location right on time.
A beautiful female employee in the lobby smiled and asked Little Brother Huang, who was looking around, “You must be Mr. Huang, No. 103 who made an appointment to view the property yesterday? Please come in.”
Little Brother Huang held his live-streaming phone in one hand and looked around.
Something felt… strange?
[Little Brother Huang made an appointment to view a property, right? Why is he going to an office building?]
[Is Xu Yao’s team taking Little Brother Huang to see a commercial apartment?]
[Damn, so many people made appointments to view the property.]
[Some people are just here to ride on the popularity of Xu Yao’s rental business. They’re not genuinely looking to rent. Those sort of people are so annoying, wasting Yao Yao’s team’s time.]
[+1, I’ve recently considered genuinely renting, but couldn’t get an appointment to view the property.]
Influencer Little Brother Huang was a professional property viewing content creator. He himself has naturally viewed hundreds of properties, yet never before had an appointment to view a property been so strange.
Full of questions, Little Brother Huang held his live-streaming phone and walked inside.
“Family, this really doesn’t seem to be a residential property…” Little Brother Huang muttered as he walked down the seemingly endless corridor, following the employee’s guidance to a room which was filled with people.
Little Brother Huang glanced inside and was instantly confused!
The room seemed to be an empty office, about three to four hundred square meters, with white walls and white tiles, and rows of desks and chairs inside.
Little Brother Huang: “?”
Did he come to the wrong place?
[??? What’s going on? Isn’t this an appointment to view a property?]
[Oh my god, what a familiar feeling—why does this look so similar to my university exam hall!]
[+1, seeing this scene, my heart sank. This looks like a f*cking exam hall! My most feared place!]
Confused, Little Brother Huang walked in, found a seat, and started chatting with the people around him.
“Brother, did you also come to view a property as well?”
The nearly bald man chuckled, “Not exactly. Isn’t Xu Yao’s rental business just too popular? I came to see what kind of properties she has for rent.”
A young girl near the front looked confused and said, “I genuinely came to rent a house, so what’s going on now?”
With every seat filled, it felt like a f*cking exam room—a parent-teacher meeting!
Little Brother Huang was full of questions as he looked at the densely packed crowd—at least two to three hundred people. There’s no way this many people are all here to view properties, right? Even a big villa wouldn’t be able to accommodate so many people at once.
At that moment, an employee walked in, standing at the very front, and smiled at everyone, saying, “Thank you all for trusting Xu Yao Rental with your rental needs. Before we start the viewings, we’ll need to gather some of your basic information.”
When the sheet of A4 paper was handed out, everyone present at the scene looked bewildered. The customer service line had indeed mentioned that they would need to gather some of their basic information before the viewing, and that it would take some time, but no one expected it would involve answering questions!
Aside from basic information like the desired place of rental and range, preferred rental price, and current employment, there were even stranger questions—
[Assuming you are cleaning the entire house, which of the following cannot be used together?
A. Toilet cleaner and mite removal spray,
B. Toilet cleaner and bleach,
C. Bleach and kitchen degreaser,
D. Kitchen degreaser and high strength drainage and blockage cleaner.
Little Brother Huang was instantly dumbfounded: “…”
What… is this?
No way, landlady, is an exam really required just to rent a house???
When fans in Little Brother Huang’s livestream also saw the content on the blank paper, the chat instantly erupted!
[? F*ck, Xu Yao really knows how to joke, she’s really making people take an exam just to rent her house!]
[Ummmmm which option should I choose? I feel like they can all be used together.]
[Is Xu Yao getting too carried away? It’s just renting a property, why is she making it difficult for tenants with exam questions?? She just helped replace the property management company, and now she’s acting like this? Who would want to rent her lousy house with all this hassle!]
[Oh my gosh, renting a house requires an exam? I hate answering questions the most; if I were Little Huang, I would just turn around and leave.]
[… Xu Yao has really overdone it with her marketing. She should just rent out her house properly and stop with these gimmicks.]
Renting even requires tenants to attend an exam. Truly, like an unmarried girl getting on a sedan chair4, it’s truly a first!
It’s simply toxic!
The main point was that there were quite a few bizarre questions on that paper, and with all the strange problems as well, it was clear the exam couldn’t be finished in less than half an hour.
Questions about the use of fire safety equipment, how to handle a burst water pipe, and even what to do if an elderly lady downstairs square dances until late at night.
What kind of nonsense is this!
Someone couldn’t take it anymore and suddenly stood up, demanding, “What’s Xu Yao playing at? I came to schedule a house viewing, not to take an exam! Whoever wants to write can write!”
The man angrily crumpled the paper and left in a huff.
“Xu Yao’s marketing is too much; asking basic information is fine, but why check for other things?”
Another middle-aged woman also stood up with a sullen expression. “I’m not renting anymore. There are plenty of real estate agencies in Haicheng. I’ll just find another one.”
“I won’t answer either. I’m leaving to look at other houses.”
“……”
The scene was chaotic, and soon more than half the people had left.
However, a young boy twirled the black pen in between his fingers, slowly filling out the information and taking his time—
At least it was air-conditioned here, much more comfortable than a bridge filled with mosquitoes.
#Xu Yao’s rentals requires exams# spread like wildfire and even made it to the trending topics.
Previously, those who praised Xu Yao for giving tenants dividends and changing property management couldn’t help but turn against her, with public opinion shifting rapidly!
[If renting requires an exam, then I better not rent anymore, ha.]
[?? I’m stunned; I’m the one paying to rent the house! I’m paying, and I still have to take an exam? Has Xu Yao lost her mind?]
[If renting requires answering questions, she can forget about renting out her house; everyone’s time is valuable. What’s the point of wasting so much time?]
[Ermmm, is it really necessary to react this way? If you don’t want to answer questions, then just don’t schedule a viewing; it’s actually quite good, preventing those who just want to ride the hype from wasting Xu Yao’s time without actually renting.]
[Xu Yao’s marketing stunt has backfired. She’s gotten a bit too high and mighty. It would have been simpler to just ask a couple of questions and rent it out.]
Xie Zhengtian looked at the trending topic on Weibo and couldn’t help but say, “Yao Yao, you’re getting scolded again.”
Xu Yao remained calm, “It’s just a two-way selection.”
Rather than renting to some weird person, she preferred to carefully screen her tenants. If it couldn’t be rented out, then the worst that could happen would just be leaving it empty.
She would never rent her property to someone like Sheng Zhou ever again.
Xie Zhengtian understood—not renting the property out wouldn’t starve her to death.
Remembering Xu Yao mentioning something about a short drama, he said, “Yao Yao, I’ve already spoken with the supervisor at Shark. They’ll create a special column for you, and they’ll contact you to sign the contract by tonight at the latest.”
Yin Fate has already finished filming, only taking Zuo Ning and another editor a day to finish the post production editing. The short drama also needs to be submitted for review, and if all goes well, should be out in the next few days.
Zuo Ning was moved to tears when he heard that Xu Yao had even arranged a broadcast distribution platform for him.
In Zuo Ning’s view, he could just post it directly on a short video platform; who knew Xu Yao would collaborate with Shark Short Videos and even have them create a special column just for them!
Did their insignificant short drama even deserve this?
If Xu Yao said they deserved it, then they deserved it!
Shark Short Videos had only entered the short video market in the past year, and carving out a piece of market share hadn’t been easy.
Father Xie didn’t mind that Xie Zhengtian had someone create a special column for Xu Yao—just think of it as helping his son make more friends.
Three days later, Yin Fate officially launched on Shark Short Videos, with five episodes released on the first day.
Xu Yao simply shared it across all her social media platforms, not even leaving out her Moments5.
[Xu Yao, are you really not going to change the criteria a bit? Why do you require people to take an exam to rent your property?]
[F*ck is this a web drama? Only five minutes per episode?? Are there really web dramas this short?]
[OMG, I clicked in and got scared to death. Xu Yao, you’ve won. My reasons for not renting your property—besides having to take an exam—have just increased by one.]
[Finally finished waiting for Yin Fate, sob sob sob, Director Zuo Ning has fulfilled his dream. I almost thought he wouldn’t be able to finish filming.]
Ji Zhengqing had already returned to the country for two or three days, and finally found the time to meet his fiancée, whom he had only seen once.
He sat in his home in Jing city, scrolling through his contacts, staring blankly at the WeChat name and profile picture. He clicked in to check their chat history and couldn’t help but stare at the WeChat name and profile picture again.
It had only been a few days since they last contacted each other, how had she… already changed her name and profile picture?
[AAAA6 Professional Rental Little Xu: [link] Yin Fate short drama is now on Shark Short Videos, click to watch!]
Ji Zhengqing silently looked at Xu Yao’s profile picture with the big red background and the words “Professional Rental” written on it: “…”
[Ji Zhengqing: Okay, I will take a look.]
Xu Yao was a bit surprised. She didn’t expect that just sharing the link casually would get a reply from this fiancé whose face she could hardly remember. She had no choice but to awkwardly reply.
[AAAA Professional Rental Little Xu: Ok, thank you.]
[Ji Zhengqing: I’m back in the country. Are you free these days, Miss Xu? I’d like to invite you out for a meal.]
[AAAA Professional Rental Little Xu: I’m free.]
After the two of them agreed on a time, Xu Yao planned to let him lie in her contacts7.
Ji Zhengqing stared at the chat interface and ultimately deleted the message “Your previous profile picture was very nice,” and clicked on the link Xu Yao had just mass shared.
Ji Zhengqing already had the Shark Short Videos app because it was developed by Xie Zhengtian’s family. That kid had tearfully begged him to download it, so he did, but after registering an account, he had never used the app.
Upon clicking in, he was surprised to find the short drama had its own dedicated section with a total of five episodes.
He could choose between landscape or portrait mode, and it also supported bullet comments.
Xu Yao didn’t like watching on her phone, so she simply cast her phone to the large LCD TV. The eerie singing began, and the first scene was a damp, dark cobblestone path at night, where a pair of red embroidered shoes with white socks suddenly appeared, leaving a trail of footprints.
The story is set during the Republic of China8, featuring a young lady named Xiuxiu, who, after her parents passed away, lived with her uncle and returned to her hometown with him to pay respects to her ancestors…
Little Ou, an ordinary worker who had been extremely invested in this short drama, downloaded Shark Short Video at the first opportunity. Every frame made him breathe nervously, and before he knew it, he had finished watching the fifth episode.
The doll-faced and incredibly cute Xiuxiu, dressed in a bright red wedding gown, pushed the male lead into a pitch-black coffin with one hand. Laughing heartily, she sat on the constantly banging coffin with her legs dangling carefreely, nearly scaring away what was left of Little Ou’s soul.
Little Ou was so scared he didn’t dare to breathe. “Is… it over? Already?”
The five episodes only totaled 25 minutes!
The short drama Yin Fate had already gained some popularity due to the viral platinum suite incident, so there were quite a few people already watching.
Many netizens instinctively switched to 2x speed, and before they could react, an episode had already ended. They hadn’t even fully digested the drama’s content, so they hurriedly went back to the first episode and watched it again at the original playback speed.
It seemed… quite interesting.
Seeking Immortality aired its first episode tonight. In this world, most TV dramas are filmed and aired simultaneously. This was Liu Yingxia’s first time as the female lead, and after being dragged down by Sheng Zhou, this drama was her last hope.
Since the summer vacation prime time was approaching, and since Liu Yingxia was just a rising starlet who couldn’t compete with true first-tier actresses, she specifically chose to air the drama during this period when there were no competing dramas.
Seeing Liu Yingxia sitting at the table, nervously staring at the tablet, her manager advised her, “Xia Xia, there aren’t any S+ dramas airing recently, our Seeking Immortality is definitely safe.”
Liu Yingxia was still anxious, but she had no choice and could only take this gamble.
Three hours after the first episode aired, Liu Yingxia clicked in to watch and sighed in relief when she saw that the majority of the bullet comments were positive. It didn’t seem too bad.
[Long-winded and draggy. The first episode took forty minutes just to set up the backstory and show the initial meeting of the male and female leads. Isn’t that too slow? I even thought 2x speed was slow!]
[Maybe the plot hasn’t fully started yet, let’s wait for the next episode. Liu Yingxia is quite pretty.]
[There’s a short drama on Shark Short Videos called Yin Fate that’s quite good, only five minutes per episode and not a single wasted line.]
[What short drama? The one that rental question master Xu Yao shared?]
Current web dramas have a common flaw—the first episode is filled with foreshadowing and lore creation, and the male and female leads don’t end up meeting for more than a few minutes. Then, news comes about a short drama with only five minutes per episode; you can watch two or three episodes in the time it takes to go to the bathroom. Many netizens were drawn in and, upon seeing it, decided to download Shark Short Video to take a break.
[…This short drama is actually quite good, the pace is incredibly fast, every line is useful, and most importantly, Xiuxiu is both beautiful and creepy!]
[OMG, with a doll face and bangs doing such terrifying things, this female lead’s acting is really amazing. She seems to be a newcomer, right?]
[Xiuxiu is so pitiful. She clearly brought all her possessions over to live with her uncle, but not only did he embezzle her wealth, he even plotted to take her life and sacrifice her to the mountain god.]
The main point is that the reviews were quite good!
After watching all five episodes, Zuo Ning was very satisfied to see the views had reached a few thousand before he went to sleep.
“Zuo Ning, wake up, stop sleeping! Our short drama has gone viral!” Zuo Ning, who had gone to bed late, was almost shaken awake by Ran Lingfeng early the next morning.
Zuo Ning, originally still groggy, instantly woke up at these words, “Viral? It got taken down?”
Zuo Ning’s first reaction was that this was a possibility, nearly scaring him to tears. He had invested 800,000 through Xu Yao, plus a seven-day platinum suite experience at Cloud Peak Hotel!
“It’s not that it was taken down, but… you see for yourself…” Ran Lingfeng couldn’t help but get excited as he handed over his phone.
Last night, when Zuo Ning went to bed, he remembered that each episode had only a few thousand views, but now: Episode 1 had 330,000 views, and the fifth episode, which had ended on a small climax, reached 370,000 views!
Zuo Ning was quite confused: “Uh… shouldn’t the views decrease steadily?”
How did it go viral like this?
Did someone buy fake data?
Zuo Ning and Ran Lingfeng stared at the comment section and bullet comments for each episode; they didn’t look like bots, they were all real netizens.
The two exchanged glances and asked in unison, “What’s going on?”
They only had one investor, and the only person they could think of was Xu Yao.
[AAAA Professional Rental Little Xu: Just bought a Weibo splash screen9.]
Xu Yao only bought a splash screen. The trending topic #Yin Fate# was purely due to netizens boosting it.
[This short drama is really good. Watch it at 0.5x speed to appreciate the many folk elements— paper-cutting, opera, shadow puppetry… worth savoring!]
[The pace is so fast, will Xiuxiu and the male lead fall in love? Isn’t that a separation of living and dead10? BE aesthetics11?]
[Damn, I’m both scared yet itching to watch it; looking for a buddy to watch this short drama with me, or I’ll be too scared.]
[@Director Zuo Ning, what’s the update schedule? Is it weekly, like the drama that continues filming while airing?]
Zuo Ning was quite bewildered. Aside from the last time when the platinum suite had inexplicably gained a bit of popularity, this was the first time so many netizens had commented.
Zuo Ning also honestly replied to the netizens’ comments.
[Zuo Ning: The short drama is fully filmed, with one episode updated daily.]
This made many netizens perk up; the worst thing about watching a drama is the long wait for updates— daily updates are great!
Liu Yingxia never expected that they had specifically chosen this time to air Seeking Immortality to avoid first-tier male and female actors, and yet… a short drama called Yin Fate inexplicably emerged?
Can even a short drama compete with them?
A netizen on Red Note couldn’t help but ask: [Looking for honest reviews, is it really good? Can only watch on Shark Video?]
Netizens immediately replied underneath.
[Girl, this short drama is really good, worth downloading!]
[Xiuxiu is so beautiful, really both cute and scary at the same time. I’ve already taken a lot of screenshots for wallpapers!]
[I heard this short drama almost got canceled because the director couldn’t pay their own rent. Luckily it was noticed by an investor.]
Ran Lingfeng and Qu Xi’s Weibo followers also started to increase.
Originally, Qu Xi’s Weibo followers were only a few tens of thousands, and getting over a hundred comments on a post was already considered quite good for her. But now, a single post could exceed ten thousand, with comments all being like—
[How did you manage to be so cute yet so scary?]
[Found a treasure sister! Her acting is too good. Daily photos are super sweet, yet in the drama, she’s simply the real demon!]
[Sob sob sob, will you do a livestream?]
Qu Xi touched her face. Was she really that scary? Yao Yao even said she looked super well-behaved.
Looking at her rapidly increasing Weibo followers, Qu Xi felt a bit light-headed. It seemed she had gained a little bit of fame…
Qu Xi couldn’t help but check her camera roll again. Late last night, she had been pushed to the trending topics list. Although only in the thirties, there was indeed a hot search called #Qu Xi#, so she had taken a screenshot to commemorate this historic moment.
It was really magical and inexplicable. She had only wanted to thank Xu Yao for introducing her to this guest appearance.
Qu Xi couldn’t resist entering WeChat and saw Xu Yao’s profile picture and WeChat name.
It seemed Yao Yao wasn’t having much luck with renting out her place these days.
Feeling a bit sorry for Xu Yao, Qu Xi made a small suggestion to Zuo Ning.
That night, the creators of the short drama Yin Fate, including director Zuo Ning gathered together for a livestream. Seeing the rapidly surging view count quickly surpassing hundreds of thousands, the group of people felt a bit nervous.
They clearly hadn’t expected it to be this popular.
Ran Lingfeng and Qu Xi sat together, watching the bullet comments in the livestream, answering netizens’ questions, the atmosphere very harmonious.
Some netizens asked Zuo Ning how he managed to secure investment, bringing the short drama back to life.
Seeing this question, Zuo Ning felt a pang in his nose, took the microphone, and faced the live stream camera, saying, “This… I need to start from when I owed the investor a month’s rent…”
[Zuo Ning owes the investor a month’s rent? Isn’t he renting Xu Yao’s building in the urban village?]
[Wait… Xu Yao is the biggest investor? Didn’t she just spend money to get Qu Xi in?]
[?? Xu Yao invested because you owed rent? Just for this reason?]
The netizens in the live stream were still confused, waiting for Zuo Ning to continue telling the arduous behind-the-scenes story of the drama’s creation.
“It’s time! It’s half past eight.” Screenwriter Yan Xiang, was also invited over. He looked at the time and immediately whispered a reminder.
The fans in the live stream were still a bit confused. What do you mean it’s time? Is the livestream ending?
It’s only half past eight, and they’re ending the livestream? At this time, just a little longer and it’ll be the peak time for traffic in the evening! Many netizens were only just entering the livestream now.
As soon as it hit half past eight, the main actors Ran Lingfeng and Qu Xi, along with Zuo Ning, screenwriter Yan Xiang, the editor, post-production team, and others, all pulled out a sign from below the camera—
[Xu Yao Professional Rental, Reliable Rental Company Based in Haicheng, Direct Rental from Landlord with No Agency Fees, Team Contact Number: XXXX]
Netizens stared blankly at this scene, then couldn’t help but come to the realisation:
It really was Xu Yao who invested in Zuo Ning, who was still just a tenant at the time. Then renting a place which required taking an exam, it seemed… wasn’t unacceptable.
The author has something to say:
[Assuming you are cleaning the entire house, which of the following cannot be used together?]
A. Toilet cleaner and mite removal spray,
B. Toilet cleaner and bleach,
C. Bleach and kitchen degreaser,
D. Kitchen degreaser and high strength drainage and blockage cleaner.
Choose B.
6.5k words QAQ wordpress says it’ll take 30 mins to finish reading HSDFLKJDSFJ DON’T GET ME STARTED ON THE FOOTNOTES TOO HAGLKDSJDFS
sorry for the vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv late update orz i’ve been going through personal issues and not feeling the best but someone commented on my recent tl and another donated a kofi (but didn’t leave which series they wanted another chapter of qwq pls lmk via kofi orz) but here’s another chapter! i’ll try tl more TT
in regards to the chapter though, idk if it’s legit or not but i never knew bleach couldn’t be used with toilet cleaner (just searched it up and apparently it’ll cause chemical reactions.) who knew reading cnovels could save lives
also how would u guys feel if you had to take that sort of exam to rent a place, BUT the landlord/lady is as conscientious as XY?
- Homeowners Association (commonly referred to as HOA) refers to an organization that governs a residential community, collecting fees from residents to maintain shared spaces and amenities, like pools and gardens, and to enforce community rules and restrictions. ↩︎
- [甜宠文] sweet (group) pet plots refer to when the main character is pampered and loved like a pet/baby by other characters in the story ↩︎
- “Family” is a popular internet term.In the live streaming industry, anchors often use this term to address their audiences, aiming to establish an emotional connection and virtualize the audience into “family” members. It can also appear on short video platforms, such as in online slang such as “Family people who understands”, to express exaggerated or sarcastic emotions. Think of it as a friendlier way of saying ‘everyone’ or ‘chat’. ↩︎
- [大姑娘上花轿] This allegorical saying is often used to describe someone (in this case, an unmarried girl) doing something for the first time (riding a sedan chair to get married), or experiencing a certain situation for the first time (getting married), with a hint of ridicule or reminder. ↩︎
- [朋友圈] Moments is a social media feature on WeChat that functions as a private, small-scale social network where users share and view updates on each other’s lives within a network of acquaintances and friends. It allows users to post text, photos, and videos, and to comment on or like their friends’ posts, creating a shared space for social interaction and connection. I’d say it’s more private than Weibo since only people you’ve added via phone number/qr code can see your posts—imagine whatsapp with a posting feature ↩︎
- I’m guessing it’s referring to tourist attraction ratings in china: rated on a scale of A–5A with 4A being just below the government standard. I’m guessing XY chose 4A because maybe 5A can only be awarded by the government and 4A is the highest you can self-appoint(?) someone tell me if they have another explanation^^ ↩︎
- 【躺列】or lying (staying idle) in your contacts refers to people you have in your contacts who you haven’t had any chat communication with. Hence they end up ‘lying’ in your contacts and remaining inactive. ↩︎
- 【中国民国】 refers to the period between the fall of the Qing Dynasty to the founding of the People’s Republic of China ↩︎
- The main ad screen as you just click into the app. Think the first ad that pops up when you open tiktok. e.g. https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcS-kFBz93T3ahhhA16EgA5AVERQLKrfXW8kNg&s ↩︎
- Yin refers to the dead and Yang naturally refers to the living. Women are also believed to have yin energy while men have yang energy. ↩︎
- BE stands for Bad Ending—angst. Commenter is probably asking if the director/screenwriter has a particular preference for bad endings and if this is foreshadowing a BE or HE (happy ending) ↩︎
–‘{@
Bleach contains Chlorine,
Which can react and become
A poisonous gas.