Author: mio

this chapter is brought to you by mio
as translator, proofreader and editor!

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Furthermore, it was Li Tianjun, the current head coach of the Hua Country national swim team, who flew directly to E Country to personally invite Liu Feiyang to join the team.

Liu Feiyang looked at the amiable Coach Li, his mind still in a daze as he asked, “How come you came in person?”

This was the current head coach, so surely he must have many national team members who needed him, right? Yet he actually came directly?

Li Tianjun patted Liu Feiyang’s shoulder with satisfaction and smiled. “Are you not competing in any other events later? Of course I came to see you competing in person.”

Did you think Liu Feiyang only signed up for one event? No, of course not! He also signed up for the men’s 1500-meter freestyle as well as the men’s 4×200-meter freestyle relay with his teammates.

Such a swimmer, who brings glory to the country and can impress the rest of Asia—how could he not be worthy of the head coach making a special trip?

Moreover, Liu Zhikuan and Wang Zhenxing were also excellent prospects. Even if they couldn’t join the national team directly, they could still be admitted into other teams through exceptional circumstances.

No one expected Liu Feiyang to achieve such legendary status at the New Youth Games. For the next two events he participated in, the majority of the audience was no longer just there for Xu Yao; they were there for Liu Feiyang, Liu Zhikuan, and Wang Zhenxing!

Xu Yao felt quite happy about this. Their efforts deserved to be seen, and she was ultimately just there as a guide.

The swimming venue at the New Youth Games was packed to full capacity, with various groups of red holding ugly yet cute frog mascots scattered throughout the stadium.

“Isn’t the person next to Liu Feiyang the current national team head coach, Li Tianjun?” A sharp-eyed audience member exclaimed upon noticing a plain-looking middle-aged man giving Liu Feiyang last-minute instructions before the competition.

“My goodness, is it really Li Tianjun? Does this mean Feiyang has made it to the national team?” The audience was ecstatic, waving the small flags in their hands wildly.

In the stands, Xu Yao revealed a gratified smile. If Yan Hong, the former head coach of the national swim team, was someone who had been invited by her for Liu Feiyang and the others, then Li Tianjun, the current head coach, was someone who had come purely just for him.

Meanwhile, the official account of the Hua Country national team had publicly announced that they would make an exception to recruit Liu Feiyang into the national team.

Once the news broke, the entire internet broke out into congratulations!

[He really made it to the national team! The head coach even took time out of his schedule and flew over for more than ten hours to E Country, truly dedicated in his sincerity.]

[Waaaah, congratulations to our Feiyang, he’s no longer an ‘independent’ athlete now, but a proper member of the national team, with a bright future ahead of him!]

[Looking forward to our Yangyang appearing on the Olympic stage! Xu Yao really helps every tenant fulfil their dream.]

[It’s so hard to rent from Xu Yao these days, and it’s not easy to become her tenant either. Is it that difficult to get even a little closer to Sister Yao? Isn’t Liu Feiyang a rich second-generation heir? Is he also renting Xu Yao’s property?]

[Do you know who holds the authorization for the New Youth Games merchandise sales in the Asia-Pacific region? It’s Liu Feiyang’s parents! The key point is… his parents are Xu Yao’s tenants in Xinyi Trade City!]

Some netizens suddenly recalled that the last time Xu Yao did a livestream in Xinyi Trade City, that was probably also when the Liu family encountered financial difficulties.

In an instant, netizens were unsure whether to envy the Liu family’s good luck in meeting Xu Yao during their troubles, or to envy Xu Yao, who merely collected rent but unexpectedly encountered a future swimming genius.

Xu Yao’s tenants truly are exceptional. Not only are they good people, but each one is outstanding in their abilities.

At that moment, many netizens deeply resonated with why many companies prioritize hiring tenants of Xu Yao.

Even when the victimized girl came forward in a post, some netizens were still unwilling to believe her. However, the national team must have thoroughly investigated Liu Feiyang before accepting him, so the claims of him being a campus bully during his studies abroad were definitely unfounded.

With no worries about his future anymore, Liu Feiyang showcased his best abilities at the New Youth Games, which almost turned into his personal showcase, and thus a new swimming prodigy was born.

Liu Feiyang seemed to be on fire, dominating his opponents in several swimming events, finishing first in the preliminaries, first in the semifinals, and then scoring even higher to win the championship gold medal in the finals.

As long as he participated in a swimming event, he could guarantee that the medal would belong to Hua Country. So much so that when Liu Feiyang was about to compete in his last event, a foreign competitor turned pale upon hearing that he was in the same heat as him, repeatedly muttering, “I’m done for, I’m going to be eliminated in the preliminaries.”

A middle-aged male spectator, dressed in a bright red T-shirt with a national flag sticker on his face, had just stood up to sing the national anthem with everyone. Noticing the camera panning over to him, he suddenly sighed, looking distressed as he said to a friend beside him, “What’s going on? I just came to watch a competition, but how come all we’re doing is singing our national anthem everyday? I don’t even have the chance to hear what other countries’ national anthems sound like.”

The international netizens watching the livestream: “……”

F*cking hell!

The people of Hua Country truly have a deep understanding in the art of humble bragging!

Hua Country came to their territory and dominated, while the toy factories in Hua Country were also raking in their money.

That’s right, the mascots produced by the authorized factories in Europe for the New Youth Games were not selling well, while the orders from authorized factories in Hua Country were booming through the roof.

He Fan reported to Xu Yao while holding a tablet, “Miss Yaoyao, the news from Boss Liu’s side indicates that the various merchandise related to the Big-Mouthed Ugly Frog mascot is expected to generate at least around two billion yuan in revenue, which is the highest sales volume of merchandise in the history of the New Youth Games.”

Although the Liu family had completely turned their fortunes around, money was just a number to her. Xu Yao felt little ripple in her heart, merely having the fleeing thought that the international scene truly placed great importance on copyrights. She nodded and said, “Then congratulations to Boss Liu for moving from being a millionaire to billionaire.”

Xu Yao had been going to the New Youth Games venue every day to watch the competitions and was feeling quite tired, planning to take a good rest in the next few days.

“Oh right, how’s the situation with those people who illegally occupied our properties?” Xu Yao suddenly remembered and asked again.

He Fan composed himself and said, “Those people are like leeches, insisting that they are legitimately protected under the law, but after we hired a company specializing in handling illegal occupancy, most of them couldn’t hold on and left on their own.”

Xu Yao’s face immediately darkened upon hearing this. She wore a cold smile and spoke without courtesy, “A leopard can’t change its spots¹. Their ancestors were a bunch of robbers over a hundred years ago, stealing our cultural relics. More than a hundred years later, their descendants still shamelessly rob others’ houses.”

None of them are good people.

Xu Yao paused for a moment and then said, “I still need to stay in E Country for a while. He Fan, you all immediately arrange for someone to inspect our family’s properties in E Country, making sure to pay attention specifically to basements and the like.”

With several cases of illegal occupancy as precedents, Xu Yao felt uneasy unless everything was thoroughly checked inside the houses.

Who knows if someone took advantage of the owner’s absence to do something shady in her house?

Xu Yao was going to participate in an auction that was highly anticipated both domestically and abroad, only returning to the country after it was over.

He Fan took note and immediately arranged for a group of employees to go through Xu Yao’s properties in E Country.

Over two hundred employees happily followed Xu Yao for about ten days, and as soon as they heard Xu Yao was going to clean up her properties in E Country, they immediately got into work mode.

After a pleasant vacation without having to spend a single cent, this group of employees felt an unprecedented sense of belonging at Xu Yao Rentals, almost burning with the desire to help Xu Yao collect rent.

“Assistant He, I studied abroad before, and my English is quite good. Let me go with you to check the houses.” A cute-looking girl immediately raised her hand.

Unwilling to be outdone, another young man raised his hand and said, “Brother Lu, I passed the CET-6² exam with a score that can be considered high anywhere in the country. I have no problem communicating with foreigners either, so let me be part of the inspection team too.”

After all, if you’re in a foreign country, it’s definitely more convenient if you know the language there too.

Li Xiaoli looked at her enthusiastic colleagues and felt the pressure coming for her for the first time.

Suddenly, Li Xiaoli remembered something. Xu Yao’s properties were not just in the country, but she should also have many abroad too, with some employees definitely being sent overseas to help her collect rent there as well.

Li Xiaoli had a college diploma, and her English could only be considered mediocre. She knew Xu Yao wouldn’t fire her for this, but having such a good boss made her suddenly feel an urge to continue learning, not for anything else, but simply to become better.

A group of employees with good English followed He Fan and the others to thoroughly check the Xu family’s properties in E Country, while the remaining employees preferred to work remotely rather than continue their vacation.

Only Xu Yao, the boss, remained quite laid-back, leisurely touring E Country’s luxury stores, buying a considerable amount of things to bring back.

An excellent boss shouldn’t only remember the two hundred employees who came along with her, right? There are still so many other diligent employees back home helping her collect rent! So was it wrong for Xu Yao to bring back some souvenirs for them?

Xu Yao spritzed a sample of a luxury perfume that was making its global debut in E Country and found it quite nice. Few girls would probably refuse such a souvenir.

But to just send a single bottle of perfume as a souvenir? Where would that leave Xu Yao’s reputation as the boss? Who would give such a small gift to their obedient employees?

So let’s buy another bunch of cosmetics or skincare sets.

As for the male employees back in the country, they should also receive some decent gifts too. Xu Yao thought the sport products that were newly launched in E Country seemed quite good.

Seeing Lu Ye staring at the pile of gifts she was buying for the domestic employees, Xu Yao asked, “What’s wrong? Is it too much?”

Lu Ye predicted, “We’ll probably need to reserve a private jet just to transport them all back.”

Xu Yao furrowed her eyebrows slightly. “Are we taking a private jet back again?”

When she didn’t own one, Xu Yao thought a private jet was the epitome of luxury travel. But after owning more than a dozen, she suddenly felt as if it wasn’t such a big deal.

The direct flight from E Country to Hua Country takes over ten hours in total. No matter how luxurious a private jet is, its space is only a few hundred square meters. Plus, when you’re flying at ten thousand meters, you can’t exactly open the windows whenever you want fresh air.

Just the thought of spending over ten hours on a plane to go back made Xu Yao’s face drop. Would she have to watch another bunch of palace intrigue dramas with He Fan on the plane again?

Nearby, a blonde sales associate gently suggested, “Would you like to take a cruise back? There are many luxurious cruise trips in Europe, allowing you to have fun while waiting to go home.”

The sales associates at the luxury goods counter were stunned by Xu Yao’s bold shopping style. Is this the terrifying financial power of a wealthy woman from Hua Country?

Their attitude towards Xu Yao was unprecedentedly good, believing she was a top-tier rich woman from the East.

Of course, taking a cruise back home would definitely take longer than ten hours, and it could take nearly half a month. But was there anything wrong with a landlady like her who only collects rent to want to take a cruise back for fun?

Sailing through internationally renowned straits, sunbathing on the cruise deck and admiring the sea view—it would seem like a whole new experience.

Xu Yao owned several small luxury yachts that could accommodate seven or eight people, but she still didn’t have a cruise ship.

She immediately recalled that when they came to E Country, her private jets hadn’t been enough for all her employees, so she had to reluctantly charter another plane for the others.

The employees on the chartered flight were quite good too, and Xu Yao knew of several young people that had been on them who had gone with He Fan to inspect properties!

Are you saying that such excellent employees could only take a chartered flight back? Xu Yao felt a pang of heartache.

A good boss should eat and live alongside their outstanding employees.

A private jet can’t fit over two hundred people, but a super large luxury yacht could definitely accommodate all of them!

Xu Yao’s eyes lit up as she proceeded to praise the sales associate, “Thank you for your suggestion! I think that’s a great idea.”

The blonde sales associate blushed at Xu Yao’s compliment, her fair skin showing a hint of pink. She became even more enthusiastic, saying, “Miss Xu, there are many luxury cruise ships available for charter here.”

Xu Yao was surprised, asking, “Charter someone else’s? Do I have to rent someone else’s cruise ship?”

Although Xu Yao was a landlady who rented out her properties, she herself had never used second-hand items.

Lu Ye immediately understood what she was getting at. “Alright, I’ll look into which of the latest luxury cruise ships are up for sale, Miss Yaoyao.”

The sales associate looked dazedly between Xu Yao and Lu Ye: “???”

Wait… this top-tier rich woman from the East doesn’t plan to charter a luxury cruise back home, but actually intends to buy one herself?

God, are they really discussing buying luxury cruise ships, and not just buying vegetables at the supermarket?

The blonde, blue-eyed sales associate was once again shocked by Xu Yao’s extravagance. At that moment, she even felt it was a mistake for them to have Xu Yao come in person to shop for luxury goods.

Such a wealthy woman shouldn’t be shopping in person!

The sales associate couldn’t help but reveal her thoughts, making Xu Yao smile mysteriously. “Yes, when I’m in my home country, all major luxury brands send their products to my home in advance. I’m normally too busy with my rental business to shop in person.”

The sales associate suddenly felt their service attitude was much worse than that in Hua Country, making her even feel a bit anxious.

However, Xu Yao didn’t mind. After leaving the luxury goods store, she took out her phone and called Ji Zhengqing.

As soon as the call connected, Xu Yao asked, “Fiancé, do you have a luxury cruise ship?”

Ji Zhengqing was taken aback and said, “I really don’t have one, but I do have a few yachts for going out to sea.”

Ji Zhengqing wasn’t interested in cruise ships. After all, a president who placed great importance on high-efficiency wouldn’t be interested in such leisurely cruises, which were only suitable for tourism and leisure.

Hearing this, Xu Yao felt immensely happy; her fiancé didn’t have one!

Before she bought her private jets, her brother, Xu Jing, as well as Ji Zhengqing, both already had their own private jets, but neither of them owned a cruise ship.

Upon hearing Xu Yao’s words, Ji Zhengqing guessed, “Are you planning to buy a luxury cruise ship for your return home?”

Ji Zhengqing quickly realized that Xu Yao probably wouldn’t be taking his private jet back this time.

He couldn’t help but recall his private jet, wondering what Xu Yao was dissatisfied with. It allowed for both work and rest, and he found himself quite satisfied with it, yet it actually failed to meet Xu Yao’s expectations.

Xu Yao got into the bulletproof car and asked the driver to take her to Ji Zhengqing’s private estate in E Country. She smiled and said, “I made a bit of money from the New Youth Games.”

Why do people want to make money? Of course, it’s to make themselves happy, and it so happens that spending money brings her immense joy.

Moreover, cruise ships are different from yachts. While luxury yachts can only dock at islands, luxury cruise ships can be turned into a business, and due to its worldwide popularity right now, she’ll even be able to slowly recoup her investment over time!

Ji Zhengqing was flipping through documents. He could roughly guess how much Xu Yao made from the New Youth Games and smiled. “That little money of yours probably can’t buy a luxury cruise ship. Do you want me to top up some funds for you?”

Sitting at the small desk on the right, Assistant Li paused in his typing, looking at Ji Zhengqing with a deep gaze, his heart roaring.

Who the hell’s first reaction is to immediately offer to pay extra upon hearing someone wanted to purchase something so casually?

This is obviously just a sudden whimsical idea of Miss Xu Yao’s and it’s very likely that it was a spur-of-the-moment decision. And yet, President Ji doesn’t care if it’s just a casual purchase of hers, and he even wants to help her make up the funds to buy it. A luxury cruise ship probably can’t be obtained without at least a few billion, right?

You’re the one with the love-brain, and yet you still dare to slander me every day!

Xu Yao shook her head and decisively refused, “No, I want to own it personally.”

Spending a little more money for it to belong solely to her is definitely better than buying it together with someone else. Ming Chan’s Shining Star has already released its global version, and has stayed in the top three of the game sales rankings every day. The monthly revenue generated from it was more than enough for Xu Yao to live comfortably, and buying a luxury cruise ship is no problem for her either.

Ji Zhengqing let her be, just asking her to notify him when her account balance starts to run low.

Ji Zhengqing was well aware that Xu Yao was planning on going to an auction in a few days, which would definitely attract attention both domestically and internationally. Given Xu Yao’s personality, she would probably spend quite a bit of money there. If she also wanted to buy a cruise ship at this time, there might really be the possibility of her running into a shortage of funds later.

Before returning to the Xu family, Xu Yao had already suffered enough, so if possible, Ji Zhengqing didn’t want her to ever have to worry about money again.

Since Ji Zhengqing was still very busy, he soon ended the call with Xu Yao.

At this moment, Xu Yao was already on her way to his private estate. The gifts she ordered from various luxury stores would be delivered directly to her private castle.

As the car drove into the European-style private estate, she passed through the greenery on both sides, which was meticulously pruned into a symmetrical pattern. After seeing her own private castle, Xu Yao was not particularly shocked by the estate in front of her. She just felt that the saying that foreign lands were vast and sparsely populated was indeed true. Wealthy tycoons could even have their own private manor houses and castles.

The butler saw Xu Yao and immediately invited her inside.

She heard that this was the home where Ji Zhengqing had lived since childhood, and it still contained many items that Old Master Ji had liked during his lifetime.

This was Xu Yao’s first time here, and the interior decoration was vastly different from the purely European architecture outside. What caught her eye immediately was a masterpiece by a calligrapher, as well as an ancient landscape painting that was hung on a nearby wall. In the corner stood two blue-and-white porcelain vases about one and a half meters tall, all exuding an air of wealth.

Ji Zhengqing quickly strode out of the study and saw Xu Yao admiring the grand living room. “Yao Yao, what brings you here?”

Xu Yao smiled and said, “You used to come find me all the time, so this time, I thought I’d come find you too.”

Always being the only one making the effort would eventually become exhausting one day, but if Xu Yao took the initiative to come to him, he wouldn’t feel tired at all.

“Aren’t you busy with work?” Xu Yao asked.

Ji Zhengqing replied, “Assistant Li is handling the documents in the study.”

Xu Yao admired the items in the Ji family’s private estate, with Old Master Ji’s love for collecting truly emanating throughout the entire estate.

Ji Zhengqing took her wrist and said, “Come with me.”

Private estates abroad all had many basements. Ji Zhengqing gently pushed open a hidden door and entered a password, leading Xu Yao to see a whole new world inside.

In the basement beneath this private estate, dim yellow lights illuminated rows of glass display cases, each neatly holding various collectibles.

Xu Yao couldn’t help but think of the Guanya Museum she had visited before and exclaimed, “My goodness, this could be a small museum!”

Through the glass display case, Xu Yao saw collections so beautiful they were practically breathtaking: an exquisitely delicate sapphire-blue lotus cup stand, a tiny golden dragon no bigger than a child’s palm yet lifelike in every detail, and even imposing swords that radiated fierce majesty.

Compared to what had been displayed outside earlier, it was these items hidden inside that were truly something special.

Xu Yao asked, “Many of these collections must have come from tombs, right? Aren’t you afraid of sleeping alone here?”

Ji Zhengqing’s gaze shifted slightly, then he asked, “You… want to stay overnight?”

Xu Yao: “…”

She didn’t want to stay overnight!

Ji Zhengqing walked beside Xu Yao, smiling as he said, “There’s nothing to be afraid of. In fact, Grandpa would frequently anonymously donate several pieces to domestic museums every year.”

Xu Yao admired as she looked around, praising, “Grandpa Ji really has great taste and aesthetic sense.”

Ji Zhengqing’s eyes softened as he looked at her gently. Influenced by his grandfather, he shared a similar appreciation for ancient artifacts. When Xu Yao praised his grandfather, it meant she naturally acknowledged his aesthetic tastes.

Leaning against the glass display case, Ji Zhengqing pondered for a moment before initiating a conversation with Xu Yao, “Yaoyao, the reason this auction has garnered significant attention from collectors both domestically and internationally is because one of the rumoured auction items is the Snake Head.”

The Snake Head is one of the twelve animal heads and is one of the few rare cultural relics that have not returned to the country. Even ordinary netizens who don’t follow auctions would likely be concerned over this.

“There should be a lot of patriotic businessmen participating in this auction,” Ji Zhengqing added.

Xu Yao immediately understood Ji Zhengqing’s meaning. She said, “I get what you mean. Don’t bid too much; just ensure that it’s a Hua Country businessman who secures it, right?”

Competing with foreigners for items is fine, but if it’s a crazy bidding war among compatriots, that would truly just make it more profitable for the auction house! As long as a Hua Country businessman secures it, the item can return to the country.

Is saving face more important than gaining the actual possession?

Ji Zhengqing’s gaze on Xu Yao deepened imperceptibly, and a slight smile curved his lips.

Fortunately, the values they shared aligned with each other.

*

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 Sotheby’s³ Auction House had announced to the world six months ago that one of Hua Country’s Twelve Zodiac Bronze Heads, the Snake Head, might appear in their upcoming auction. This news immediately sparked immense interest in both domestic and international circles.

Many official endorsed museums in Hua Country expressed strong condemnation, demanding that the Sotheby’s Auction House return the Snake Head to them, but the other party simply ignored them and continued with their plans to auction.

The Sotheby’s Auction House took this auction very seriously. Not only did they open a livestream to attract public attention, but they also knew that with many viewers, some wealthy tycoons from Hua Country who cared particularly about their image and reputation would definitely be compelled to raise their bids. They even specifically avoided scheduling it during major events such as the New Youth Games, in case scheduling conflicts prevented them from attending.

The owner of the Sotheby’s Auction House was extremely grateful for the decision he made. The twelve-day New Youth Games had suddenly become a global sensation, attracting countless viewers to tune in, and their auction just happened to coincide with the conclusion of the New Youth Games, ensuring that no VIPs would be unable to attend both events.

For the highly renowned Miss Xu Yao, who was still in E Country, the Sotheby’s Auction House sent a person specially to deliver an invitation letter to her, showing just how much importance they placed on her attendance.

Xu Yao let out a cold observation, “Isn’t this just an invitation for me to spend more money on them?” Did they really think she would think that they valued her? Nevertheless, Xu Yao would still attend.

Liu Feiyang and the others returned to the country with head coach Li Tianjun, while Xu Yao remained in E Country, with various rumors flying around on domestic social networks.

[Is Xu Yao going to return to the country only after attending the auction at Sotheby’s Auction House?]

[I don’t really follow auctions, but I heard the Snake Head might appear, so I have to tune in to see it.]

[Not just the Snake Head, I heard this auction is practically prepared just for the people of Hua Country, with half of the items auctioned off being our cultural relics.]

[Waaaah, I hope our patriotic businessmen will step up their game this time. No matter who wins the bid, even if it’s for personal collection, I will support it a million times over here from Hua Country.]

[Seeing so many Hua Country businessmen express their intention to attend the auction makes me happy that our country is really developing economically, but I also feel a bit complicated on the inside.]

[Complicated feelings +1]

The Sotheby’s Auction House clearly understood how to market their event. Just the news of the Snake Head had piqued the interest of most Hua Country people. As soon as the livestream started, countless netizens from both domestic and international backgrounds flooded in, and the entire comment section was filled with languages from various countries, creating a lively atmosphere.

The elderly curator of the Guanya Museum, Grandma Ke Meiru, immediately put on her reading glasses to watch.

It had been about half a month since Xu Yao went to E Country, and during this time, the Guanya Museum’s situation remained the same, with only a few tourists occasionally coming in to look around.

The old curator could only hold on to the message Xu Yao had conveyed to her through He Fan: “Please make sure the Guanya Museum holds on until I return from E Country.”

The Sotheby’s Auction House had booked out an entire luxury hotel as the auction venue, with the hall bustling with elegantly dressed wealthy individuals of all skin colors.

Netizens in the livestream were dazzled by the necklaces worn by some socialites and the oversized gemstones on the rings on their fingers, all exuding an air of wealth.

At that moment, the expressions of everyone around them subtly changed as they parted to make way for someone.

Amidst a group of bodyguards dressed in black, a young woman with an East Asian appearance walked in. The manager of the Sotheby’s Auction House immediately stepped forward, bowing respectfully and speaking in relatively fluent Chinese, “Hello, Miss Xu Yao, please come in.”

Xu Yao smiled, “Don’t you need to verify my assets?”

That’s right, the auctions at Sotheby’s Auction House were not open to just anyone, and they often required for the individual’s funds to be verified, with those deemed insufficient barred from being able to enter.

Xu Yao’s question made the manager even more respectful as he bowed even lower, “You jest, of course there’s no need for that.”

“Charlie! Take Miss Xu Yao to the private VIP box,” the Western manager turned to a tall auction house employee and instructed.

The auction house employee was extremely handsome, with high cheekbones and deep-set eyes, his features strikingly defined, and his smile was very appealing to women.

The male employees of the auction house were all handsome, while the female employees were all beautiful with great figures.

The Hua Country netizens in the livestream were ecstatic, filling the screen with Chinese characters.

[It’s my Sister Yao, hahahaha, I knew Xu Yao was staying abroad just for this auction.]

[Xu Yao’s status is truly astonishing, just look at how respectful the manager of the auction is to her, and she even has her own VIP box. I, as a mere mortal, can’t even dare to imagine that.]

[Xu Yao is truly formidable. She attended so many events in the New Youth Games and managed to book the private viewing area every time! With such spending power, I’d also treat her like a deity if I were the auction house owner.]

[Disappointed, I thought there would be a scene where someone looked down on Xu Yao and then got slapped in the face by her, but instead, everyone is treating her with overwhelming respect.]

Regardless of what others thought in their hearts, in this world of money, there was no one among them who couldn’t put on a perfect show on the surface!

Xu Yao was arguably the most high-profile and extravagant spender among the wealthy women of Hua Country recently, and the key point was that she seemed to have a strong sense of national pride. Such a person would naturally become a key focus for the Sotheby’s Auction House.

The auction house had private boxes for the truly wealthy, with the exclusive VIP box ensuring the client’s privacy while allowing them a full view of the auction.

Xu Yao hadn’t informed the auction house in advance that she needed a VIP box, but they had already prepared one and even sent an employee who was as good-looking as a male celebrity to guide her there. Such thoughtful service elicited a smile from Xu Yao.

It’s truly great to be rich.

As Xu Yao followed the employee to the private box, she noticed many familiar Hua Country faces among the crowd, including several elderly gentlemen.

“Miss Xu Yao,” halfway there, a dignified middle-aged woman called out to her, “Hello.”

A Hua Country female entrepreneur wearing a pearl necklace greeted her, “It’s an honor to see you here. I hope this auction will satisfy all of us patriotic businessmen.”

Many Hua Country businessmen felt a sense of security upon seeing Xu Yao.

As expected, there are many perceptive people in high society, with even foreign socialites who were unfamiliar with her greeting Xu Yao with extreme enthusiasm upon seeing her. Unfortunately, Xu Yao did not like the custom of cheek-kissing.

[Oh my, does Xu Yao have that much influence? I feel like they’re overpraising her on purpose.]

[+1, the more they flatter Xu Yao, the more awkward it will be if she doesn’t intend to spend money at the auction later. It’s truly foreigners who are the most cunning.]

[Feeling a bit uncomfortable, but I can’t quite pinpoint why. Clearly, Xu Yao is being treated with respect, and I should be happy about it.]

[My goodness, did you see that person in the lower left corner? It’s President Li, the owner of our national enterprise selling domestically made shoes; he actually came?]

[That elderly lady at number 32 seems to be Grandma Ma Xuezheng, the chairwoman of our Hua Country company that sells domestic beauty products.]

[How many big names are going to come? I guess Sotheby’s Auction House marketing the event for so long was all worth it in the end.]

Not only was the attitude towards Xu Yao very good, but they were also very kind to all the wealthy individuals present, especially to those Hua Country tycoons.

When Xu Yao went to the restroom, two incredibly enthusiastic Western socialites greeted her.

The two seemed to be from non-English speaking countries, quietly chattering in their national language and occasionally bursting into laughter.

Xu Yao had completed 999 quick-transmigration tasks and had gained many skills and languages, though others might only think she understood English.

Lu Ye stood waiting about seven or eight meters away. Xu Yao was at the sink washing her hands with soap when she overheard the two Western socialites discussing her in hushed tones:

“Those artifacts clearly originally belonged to their Hua Country, yet they’re still willing to spend a fortune to buy them back. Hua Country people truly are such fools.”

The other girl glanced at Xu Yao, who was bending slightly over the sink, and laughed in reply, “Haha, that’s right! As long as the auction house provides them with good service, they’ll still happily spend their fortunes on things our ancestors stole, and they’ll even thank us for it.”

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1. A person can’t change their nature ↩︎
2. The College English Test Band 6 (CET-6) is a national, standardized English proficiency exam in China for college students, usually taken after passing CET-4. Held twice yearly in June and December, it assesses listening, reading, writing, and translation, requiring a score of 425 or higher to pass, with a maximum of 710. ↩︎
3. There’s one character differentiating this fictional auction house to Sotheby’s but it sounds too weird when literally translated and I’ve pretty much given up on localisation + the author constantly trying to avoid real-world associations/them forgetting about it and not caring at all QAQ ↩︎

this chapter is brought to you by mio
as translator, proofreader and editor!

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Ji Zhengqing then saw his former assistant also walk back from the glass corridor, with He Fan also sporting the same identical bright red T-shirt.

He Fan coughed lightly and pointed at the giant screen that was showing the livestream inside. “President Ji, Miss Yaoyao’s employees are also wearing them.”

As if it had overheard them, the camera swept across the prime spot in the stands, which was almost entirely a sea of red. Clearly everyone was wearing them.

Ji Zhengqing: “…”

It seemed that aside from the bodyguards patrolling inside, everyone was wearing one.

Ji Zhengqing took the ice-cold lemonade that Xu Yao handed him and praised her, “Yaoyao has such a strong sense of patriotism.”

This isn’t a couple’s outfit—it’s clearly a team-building outfit!

Ji Zhengqing sat on the sofa, calmly sipping his lemonade, his peripheral vision casually sweeping over Assistant Li, who had just entered.

Assistant Li felt awkward under that glance, quickly rummaging through his bag, and indeed found a large red T-shirt that fit him.

Assistant Li felt a wave of regret wash over him. Had he known, he would have opened the package immediately when it arrived. Then, he wouldn’t have blurted out, “Why don’t I have this T-shirt?” right after Ji Zhengqing tried it on.

A lively cheer sounded from outside, and Xu Yao saw from the livestream that the competition was about to start. She immediately grabbed the national flag she had prepared and dashed out through the glass door.

To save face, Assistant Li mustered his courage and said, “President Ji, is there a possibility that Miss Xu did this on purpose? After all, you and Miss Xu are secretly engaged, and it wouldn’t be appropriate for both of you to wear it so ostentatiously, so…”

When Assistant Li caught the look in Ji Zhengqing’s eyes, he couldn’t keep holding up his lie anymore.

Ever since Ji Zhengqing learned that Xu Yao hadn’t agreed to the engagement because she liked him, he had stopped indulging in such delusional fantasies.

Ji Zhengqing said flatly, “Assistant Li, keep your distance from me. I’m scared I’ll catch your love-brained mindset.”

If it weren’t for his strong work abilities that rivaled He Fan’s, this hopelessly love-brained assistant would have been fired long ago.

Assistant Li was stunned into speechlessness. All he could do was gaze at He Fan’s figure outside the glass window, utterly fed up with this lousy job.

With Xu Yao’s on-site momentum, more and more netizens entered the sports platform’s livestream. Even though this was just the preliminaries, the online viewership had suddenly skyrocketed to tens of millions!

Liu Feiyang’s parents, Liu Zhentian and Hu Qiuju, were too busy with the merchandise sales to make it to the venue. But luckily, the higher ups at Xinyi Trade City  had arranged for the livestream to be broadcast in the plaza of Xinyi Trade City, where the couple and their friends now sat in front of the big screen, not daring to blink as they watched on.

At this moment, all the competitors in the pool had taken their positions, and the audience had fallen into a sudden hush.

A sharp gunshot rang out, and all the competitors leaped into the water, sending splashes of water flying from their lanes.

Xu Yao was almost lying on the glass corridor, her gaze solely focused on following a few figures in the lanes.

They noticed a competitor swimming incredibly fast, and one anxious spectator asked, “Who’s that in lane three? Is it that Liu guy? No… it’s our athlete from Country A, Kim Jeongha!”

The fastest swimmer turned out to be a competitor from Country A, which sent a shockwave through the Country A’s netizens who had been engaging in fierce verbal battles with the strongest keyboard warriors from Hua Country!

So what if Xu Yao was hyping up Liu Feiyang?

In competitive sports, it’s the results that truly matter! This isn’t the entertainment industry, where someone can be promoted by just having a wealthy backer.

No matter how many fancy tricks Xu Yao tried to pull, it would all be useless. If Liu Feiyang was unfortunately eliminated in the preliminaries, then everything Xu Yao had done would just become a huge joke.

Thinking of this, the fans of Country A were almost going wild, continuously shouting out the name, Kim Jeongha.

Xu Yao clutched the small national flag in her hand tightly, her gaze following the young man in lane four.

Xu Yao was also feeling a bit nervous. According to the original plot, Liu Feiyang was supposed to rise to prominence next year. Could he manage to do so a year early? Getting through the preliminaries should still be doable, right?

“The fourth lane is catching up,” the sports commentator’s voice suddenly rose in the livestream, “Country A’s Athlete Kim Jeongha is in danger, the one in lane four is… Liu Feiyang! That’s right everyone, it’s our young athlete Liu Feiyang!”

Countless Country A viewers watching this scene simply hoped for Liu Feiyang to cramp up right there!

Unfortunately, Liu Feiyang did not fulfill their wish. He displayed an incredible burst of power, seemingly unstoppable once he caught up, overtaking his competitor at lightning-fast speed.

The winner of swimming competitions is often decided quite quickly, with the results often within milliseconds of each other.

In an instant, Xu Yao was staring at the results of the preliminaries, and stands filled with a flood of red T-shirts soon erupted in deafening cheers.

“Liu Feiyang, first in his heat for the 200-meter freestyle preliminaries at the New Youth Games!” the sports commentator announced excitedly, his fist rightly clenched in elation.

Liu Feiyang floated in the fourth lane, removing his goggles and waving towards Xu Yao, feeling a surge of emotion that almost brought him to tears.

He had even thought about how, if he couldn’t even make it to the semifinals, Xu Yao would be ridiculed by the world. Perhaps fueled by this thought in mind, the young swimmer unleashed an unprecedented speed.

At the very least, he made it to the semifinals!

“Wait a minute…” The expression on the sports commentator’s face suddenly changed, completely ignoring the congratulatory messages flooding the live chat.

[The competition results are already out, so why did the commentator’s expression change? What happened?]

[Could it be that Little Liu made a foul in his first major competition? A penalty doesn’t count towards the final score!]

[Bro, don’t scare me, I have a weak heart. This joke isn’t funny at all.]

[Liu Feiyang’s result… Holy sh*t, is it really true?]

Some netizens who understood sports jumped up in excitement when they saw the preliminaries’ results, while another large group of viewers that had been drawn in by Xu Yao’s on-site hype remained bewildered.

The sports commentator, completely disregarded having to interact with the viewers in the live chat, instead confirming the results multiple times before gripping the microphone tightly, barely able to contain his excitement as he shouted, “Dear netizens of Hua Country, our country’s young athlete, Liu Feiyang, has broken the world record for the men’s 200-meter freestyle with a time of 1 minute and 41.93 seconds!!”

The sports commentator was the first to nearly go crazy, his spittle flying as he spoke vigorously into the microphone, “The previous world record for the men’s 200-meter freestyle stood for a full fourteen years, and no one has been able to surpass it during that time… I’m sorry, everyone, I’m just too excited right now.”

What event has the highest prestige in swimming competitions? It’s the men’s 200-meter freestyle, which tests both explosive power and endurance. There are countless competitors in this event, so one can imagine just how intense the competition is.

Who is Liu Feiyang? Just a few days ago, who even knew his name?

But as soon as he appeared, he broke the world record that had stood for a full fourteen years. What kind of god is he, damn it!

As soon as the results were announced, the venue erupted in excitement.

“He broke the world record! Oh my god, he broke the world record! Liu Feiyang is amazing!” A foreign student in the audience could no longer contain himself, standing up excitedly on his seat, grabbing a corner of the national flag with a friend, and wildly waving it in the air!

How many foreign students came to watch the New Youth Games simply because they were attracted by Xu Yao, this wealthy young lady? Almost half of them had actually come just to chase after Xu Yao.

But suddenly, everyone on site realized that this ticket was truly worth every penny; they were such a bargain!

Did they just witness a world record being broken with their own eyes?

[My goodness, just a small preliminary round, and yet this guy directly broke the world record? I heard that the men’s 200m freestyle is like a battle of gods, with extremely fierce competition.]

[I’m convinced, I’m truly convinced now. Liu Feiyang’s explosive power is terrifying. @National Swimming Team, aren’t you going to come and check out this amazing talent? Surely he can be admitted to the national team without any issue, right?]

[I’m kneeling down to this god-like player! I was just thinking that as long as he made it into the top eight in the preliminaries, then it would be enough so as to not embarrass Xu Yao. But you’re telling me he took both the first place position, and also broke the world record at the same time?!]

[Hey, isn’t the scariest part of all this Xu Yao’s eye for talent? She’s never invested in a loss before… whoever she points at becomes famous, whoever she points at becomes incredibly successful.]

Sure, Xu Yao can spend money to build hype, but there’s a kind of person known as “mud that can’t be plastered onto a wall¹”. Simply put, if someone isn’t capable, no amount of marketing will help them succeed.

Not to mention an athlete who can break world records; that definitely is not something that can be bought with money.

Countless netizens online were passionately chanting Xu Yao’s name.

Landlady Xu is a legend!

“Hahaha, my son won first place in the preliminaries!” Liu Zhentian and Hu Qiuju hugged each other tightly.

In his excitement, Liu Zhentian couldn’t help but proudly keep boasting to the store owners passing by, “The one who got first is my son, Liu Feiyang. Yes, he’s visited our Xinyi Trade City before.”

Mother Liu, Hu Qiuju, was even better at socialising than her husband, and proceeded to directly order takeout for everyone watching.

Hu Qiujun started calling out to other store owners, inviting anyone who passed by, “Friends, thank you for your support. Our Feiyang has broken the world record. Have some water and ice cream, it’s very hot today.”

The delivery guys brought in three large foam insulated boxes, filled with ice cream that was still cold, along with several boxes of ice-cold mineral water!

“Old Liu, Qiuju, you guys sure are generous. You even brought out Häagen-Dazs to treat us.” A store owner who was familiar with them said enviously as he took out a box of ice cream from the insulated box.

Who doesn’t know that the Liu family is financially strained right now? Although they’ve been supported by Xu Yao, the sales of the New Youth Games merchandise hasn’t picked up yet, so this generous gesture of theirs was by no means small.

Liu Zhentian laughed heartily and said, “Eat, eat, eat! Everyone gets a share, eat more!”

The couple felt incredibly proud.

This is similar to a whole village throwing a banquet in celebration of children getting into Tsinghua or Peking University. There must be several thousand every year who are admitted to Tsinghua or Peking, right? But how many break world records?

The fact that he didn’t immediately announce a celebration banquet, and just resorted to treating the surrounding store owners to ice cream was already considered as him acting restrained, okay?!

Meanwhile, Liu Feiyang, who was still at the stadium, was still a bit confused, “Did I break the world record?”

He checked for a long time, confirming that not only did he get first place in the preliminaries, but he also broke the world record.

When Liu Feiyang faced the reporter interviewing him, he was still bewildered. He shyly said, “I was just thinking I couldn’t let Sister Yaoyao down. I didn’t expect to break the world record too.”

The netizens in the livestream were completely overwhelmed with his humble-bragging.

[Versailles, isn’t this too Versailles? But I love it, hahaha!]

[My god, this is indeed very impressive. All the major media outlets are lining up to interview Liu Feiyang. Starting today, this name will make everyone tremble!]

[Ermmmmm, Country A really isn’t very classy, shouldn’t they learn from other countries? Other countries are all very excited.]

[Isn’t the sports scene in Country A also extremely dirty? I heard Liu Feiyang got into a fight to stop a few members of A University’s swim team from harassing a Hua Country female student.]

[Can’t even take a loss gracefully? Why roll your eyes? Not only did Liu Feiyang crush you, but the other Hua Country swimmers also advanced through, okay?]

The classmates who came with Liu Feiyang, while not as exaggerated as his result, had also all advanced.

Compared to the wildly rolling eyes of the Country A athletes, the other Asians were much more pleasant to look at.

An audience member, presumably from Southeast Asia, excitedly said during an interview, “Liu Feiyang is so cool! He broke the fourteen-year world record as an Asian, which proves that we, as Asians, are not inferior to white people in swimming! Swimming can also become our strong suit in the future.”

Facing the camera, this audience member gave a big thumbs up and praised loudly, “Liu Feiyang, you are the pride of all of us Asians!”

It is almost universally acknowledged that Black people have unparalleled talent in running and jumping events, while swimming is a strong suit of European and American countries. Research has shown that white people have a 1.5% speed advantage in swimming!

And it is under this natural advantage gap that Liu Feiyang broke the world record.

So, let me ask you, isn’t that impressive?

Although the prestige of the New Youth Games may not be as high as other major competitions, breaking a world record is still a major achievement, okay?

[AHHHH, my sense of national pride is exploding! This Southeast Asian audience member is really gaining a lot of goodwill!]

[That’s right, Liu Feiyang is indeed from Hua Country, but he is also Asian! This can really make all of us Asians feel proud!]

[Winning a competition is nothing, but competing on European turf, and beating them in their strong suit; who enjoyed it—I won’t say!]

[Liu Feiyang, go, go, go!]

In less than half an hour, all major sports headlines around the world featured one name—Liu Feiyang!

#LiuFeiyangBreaksWorldRecordNewYouthGames

#LiuFeiyangTakesFirst200mFreestylePreliminaries

#LiuFeiyangFalselyAccusedOfCampusBullying

#LiuFeiyangXu Yao’sTenant

#Ugly-CuteFrogMascot

On Weibo’s trending searches, out of the fifty spots available, ten of them were related to Liu Feiyang, with the entries all ranked near the top of the trending searches.

The New Youth Games had completely exploded in popularity.

Countless netizens who had never paid attention to this event couldn’t help but say “awesome” after watching the replay. They thought, although they had missed the preliminaries, surely they had time to watch the subsequent matches, right?

Amidst the celebration of countless netizens, a female international student posted a message.

[Little Star: I’m very sorry. I’ve recently been hospitalized for surgery, so I didn’t see the online news immediately. I am one of the victims. I am filing a real-name accusation against Kim Jeongha, captain of Country A University A’s swim team, as well as teammates Park Yooji, Choi Hyukhee, and Lee Taehwa, for sexually harassing me…]

This lengthy post detailed the entire process of how this girl was molested by male seniors during her study abroad. Liu Feiyang had saved this girl at the time, only to be cursed and slapped by this group of people.

Liu Feiyang was also a pampered child at home, so how could he endure such humiliation? Initially, the four of them ganged up on him, but he quickly turned the tables and pinned all four of them to the ground to beat them.

According to Liu Feiyang, he said, “Four people were beating me up. If I didn’t use all of my strength, wouldn’t I have been beaten to death? But who knew they’d all be so trash and be so easily beaten?”

Isn’t that embarrassing? Four people ganging up on one, and in the end, that one person turned the tables and beat them all up! How weak could they be?

Netizens from Country A: …

Embarrassing, this is truly too embarrassing…

Especially after the girl stated she would take legal responsibility for her lengthy post, many netizens from Country A felt ashamed. But verbally, they refused to back down.

[Liu Feiyang, don’t be too arrogant. You only got first in the preliminaries, that doesn’t mean anything.]

[Make sure you don’t just break the world record in the preliminaries only to fail in making it to the top three in the finals…]

[Yes, as the old saying goes, the one who truly wins is also the one who has the last laugh.]

Xu Yao paid no attention to those keyboard warriors. Now that she had attended the preliminaries, of course she had to attend the semifinals and finals too!

If only a small number of international students showed up for the preliminaries, the venue for the finals was almost a sea of red.

A girl with a national flag sticker on her face shouted, “I want Xu Yao to know the power of us international students!”

After Liu Feiyang broke the world record in the preliminaries, tickets for the swimming events were selling like hotcakes!

International students from surrounding countries were frantically grabbing tickets, with even scalpers reportedly appearing. This was definitely a first in the history of the New Youth Games, causing the organizing committee to hold emergency meetings overnight.

It was one thing for international students from Hua Country to snatch tickets, but the even more outrageous thing was—

“We took the red-eye and flew straight to Country E yesterday to support our Hua Country athletes,” a group of young people said while yawning during an interview.

Clearly, they hadn’t even adjusted to the time difference before arriving.

Xu Yao stood in the glass corridor, tilting her head to look down at the venue, and couldn’t help but admire the business acumen of the owner of the Xinyi Trade City.

Among the Hua Country audience present, about eighty percent were wearing Xu Yao’s matching support gear, all sporting that big red T-shirt.

They really were quite serious about making money.

An audience member who was livestreaming exclaimed, “Goodness, the venue is packed! It’s like the Olympics.”

“Hello, sister.” The girl was brought back to her senses by a little girl with golden curls and fair skin, looking about five or six years old, calling out to her.

The little girl pointed at the green frog in her hand and curiously asked, “Is your frog also the mascot of the New Youth Games?”

The little girl brought over the big-mouthed frog her dad bought for her and placed it next to the girl from Hua Country’s frog. Well, there’s no harm without comparison.

The little girl looked back and forth between the two before suddenly pouting and bursting into tears. “The frog my dad bought for me is so ugly!”

One was plain ugly, while the other had a touch of cuteness amidst its ugliness.

The girl was still a bit confused. Seeing the cameras pan over to her, she immediately straightened her back and said, “This is the official authorised mascot plush toy for the New Youth Games, I bought it back in my home country.”

This girl had been attracted by the ugly frog in a video Li Xiaoli had posted and had ordered it as soon as possible.

Hearing this, the little girl’s dad immediately chimed in, “I also bought it from an officially authorized store.”

The authorized stores for the New Youth Games could be found on the official website, so the case was quickly solved.

The little girl had bought the European version, while the girl had bought the domestically produced version from the officially licensed factory. Both were genuine products and were priced the same too.

Liu Zhentian and Hu Qiuju’s eyes widened in shock; their sales were skyrocketing.

Xu Yao taking the mascot plush toy on a private jet had already started to gradually increase their orders.

Since the day of their son’s preliminaries, orders for the New Youth Games’s ugly-cute big-mouthed frog mascot had completely exploded, now in a state of overwhelming demand.

The factory’s machines were working so hard they were practically sparking from the heat, and factory workers were working overtime with triple pay. Apparently, the Island Nation’s factory owner who had previously rejected the New Youth Games’s licensing offer was hospitalized out of anger.

“Boss Liu, some foreign countries are also inquiring about purchasing the ugly frog merchandise,” an employee rushed in to report.

Liu Zhentian was confused, asking, “Don’t they also have officially licensed stores overseas? Why come to buy from us?”

The New Youth Games organizing committee only granted them authorization for the Asia region. Since there are dedicated factories in Europe also providing them with official merchandise, what does it have to do with them?

“Boss Liu, we also told them the same thing, but the other party simply doesn’t agree,” the employee said helplessly. “They feel that, since they spent the same amount of money, why should they have to receive an ugly one to take back?”

Since the prices were the same, who would want to suffer the loss of buying a purely ugly mascot to take back? They weren’t prohibited from purchasing internationally, right? They would rather pay a little extra for international shipping than buy a completely ugly frog.

There was simply no way around it; the comparison was too stark.

The most critical point was—

The speed of the factories in Hua Country were simply unmatched compared to the European factories!

Here, they could work overtime like crazy, while over there, they had requirements to clock out and take holidays. Not only could they ensure speed here, but they could also guarantee the quality of the plush toys.

Made in Hua Country, you deserve it.

Looking at the orders that were pouring in from all directions , especially those from the Asia-Pacific region, Liu Zhentian couldn’t help but but swallow hard.

“My goodness… How much money can we make from this?”

What were the tens of millions in orders they had lost before? Liu Zhentian and his wife, Hu Qiuju, had never dealt with such a large volume of orders in their life before. Over a hundred million yuan? This didn’t just seem to be a case of breaking over a hundred million yuan…

Yet most important of all was… they held the exclusive merchandise licensing rights in the Asia-Pacific region, so they wouldn’t have to worry about other factories copying them. If there’s one thing foreigners are particularly proficient in, it’s definitely their proficiency in handling multinational lawsuits.

In any case, in the entirety of Xinyi Trade City, there wasn’t a single store owner dealing in plush toys that wasn’t envious of the Liu family.

Their son broke the world record and became a global sensation. His parents’ business that was on the verge of bankruptcy had now reached its pinnacle!

All because of Xu Yao!

Countless people had to shout one thing—

“Divine Landlady Xu is amazing!”

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:

Xu Yao kept her promise, attending Liu Feiyang’s preliminaries, semifinals, and finals.

The finals were crucial. If he couldn’t secure a top-three finish, the world record he had broken in the preliminaries would instead become a weapon for some media outlets to attack Liu Feiyang.

Xu Yao stood in a bright red T-shirt in front of the glass corridor, her eyes fixed on the pool lanes.

The finals had begun!

Liu Feiyang once again delivered an extraordinary performance, defying the expectations of many!

His classmates, who had been under immense pressure from Liu Feiyang, not only did not give up but seemed to be inspired by him, completely unleashing their explosive power in the pool!

Under the world’s watchful eyes, in Country E, at the New Youth Games, the men’s 200-meter freestyle final.

Liu Feiyang won the championship, followed closely by his two classmates.

The gold, silver, and bronze medals were all taken by them.

The venue erupted into cheers!

“Congratulations to our athlete Liu Feiyang for breaking his personal best once again!” the sports commentator shouted.

Netizens were momentarily stunned. Liu Feiyang broke his personal best? Wasn’t his personal best… the world record?

[What the hell, Liu Feiyang broke the world record again in the finals! This kid is really amazing!]

[Other athletes break world records, but Liu Feiyang breaks his own personal best, lol.]

[Hey, don’t just remember Liu Feiyang’s name, but second place Li Zhikuan and third place Wang Zhenxing should also be recognized! Their records are impressive too.]

[Isn’t the quality of this year’s New Youth Games absolutely insane? I’m dying laughing—our athletes swept gold, silver, and bronze in swimming. I wouldn’t even dare dream this big in my own dreams, okay?]

[I’m so happy, I’m going to order takeout to celebrate!]

As three identical bright red national flags rose together, countless spectators in bright red T-shirts almost reflexively stood up, proudly singing the national anthem along with the powerful music!

The resounding national anthem of Hua Country echoed throughout the venue, reaching every corner.

In the swimming event, Liu Feiyang breaking the world record again was one thing, but the main point was that they had swept the podium.

This scene was a moment for the ages.

Some emotional spectators sang while shedding tears, overwhelmed with emotion.

Ninety-one years ago, the first Hua Country athlete traveled thousands of miles alone to stand on the Olympic stage, and though eliminated, their spirit lived on.

And now, whether at the Olympics or other global events, those bright red figures could always be seen on the highest podium!

Everyone in the VIP suite stepped out, centering around Xu Yao, facing the three national flags, singing the national anthem together with all the spectators.

Until the three flags had risen high above the venue and the anthem came to an end. Immediately, the  applause following it was like thunder, continuous and unending.

Xu Yao took this scene in, her lips curving into a smile.

All the planning and marketing efforts for this New Youth Games had been exhausting, but just being able to witness this moment made it feel as if all her previous efforts were worthwhile. She was willing to do it, and she even found joy in doing so.

She wasn’t just creating sports superstars—she was creating the necessary conditions for Hua Country to nurture its own sports superstars.

Xu Yao suddenly thought of something and quietly turned to look at Ji Zhengqing beside her. Under the bright lights of the venue, his brows and eyes were filled with determination.

At that moment, Xu Yao was absolutely certain that she and Ji Zhengqing shared the same values.

Xu Yao thought deeply; having the same values was the primary prerequisite for being able to build a future together.

“My fiancé, don’t you think this exciting moment deserves a warm hug to celebrate?” Xu Yao suddenly reached out her hands towards Ji Zhengqing, her smile radiant.

Ji Zhengqing withdrew his gaze from the flags to Xu Yao beside him. He was momentarily taken aback, but the girl had already leaped into his arms.

He Fan immediately pulled the struggling Lu Ye and Assistant Li, who didn’t want to look at this scene any longer, back into the VIP area.

Ji Zhengqing held Xu Yao in his arms. Her body was softer than he had imagined. He gently wrapped his arms around her waist, leaning down to whisper in her ear, “Congratulations to my Yaoyao, for achieving your wish.”

“And what about you?” Xu Yao looked up at him from his embrace.

Ji Zhengqing smiled. “Then congratulations to me as well—for helping fulfill Hua Country’s sporting dream.”

Very good, they had the same idea.

“Were you thinking of something else just now?” Xu Yao asked without pulling out of his embrace.

Xu Yao truly was more perceptive than others. Although they hadn’t known each other for long, she could see through what he had been thinking.

Ji Zhengqing did not deny it, admitting, “I grew up in Europe during my childhood, and influenced by my grandfather, I developed a fondness for cultural relics.”

Although Ji Zhengqing hadn’t finished speaking, Xu Yao understood what he meant.

Indeed, ninety years ago, Hua Country only had one athlete who traveled all by himself to participate in the Olympics, enduring the disdain from many countries, whereas now, Hua Country was already considered a powerhouse in gold medals.

However, many of the cultural relics that had been lost abroad were still drifting outside, and many of their precious artifacts are still displayed in the museums of those robbers, even to this day.

Xu Yao could understand Ji Zhengqing’s feelings, after all, he was likely feeling rather down since he had been influenced by his grandfather, who was a patriotic businessman.

“It’s okay, if we work hard, they can all come back home eventually.” Xu Yao paused and continued, “Even if we can’t finish doing it all now, I’m sure our future generations can.”

Ji Zhengqing smiled as he pulled Xu Yao into his arms, his lips gently brushing against the top of her head.

He had previously been stunned speechless by Assistant Li’s excessive obsession with romance, but now, it seemed that if it were because of this person, it wouldn’t matter if a shrewd person suddenly became lovesick.

The cameras at the New Youth Games definitely wouldn’t sweep over the VIP area without permission, but the audience at the venue still had their own phones and didn’t have the same awareness of privacy as the organisers.

“F*ck, a stinky guy is hugging my Yaoyao!” An audience member accidentally captured a photo with their phone.

It was just a pity that they were too far away and the camera was unable to capture his face!

“This guy must be the pretty boy engaged to Xu Yao. Holy crap, he actually came to watch the competition with Xu Yao? Are they that close? I was still waiting for Xu Yao to break off the engagement and return to singlehood.” The heart of a fan who was on-site immediately shattered.

“Waahhhh, although I’m a bit sad, all I can do is wish the best for my Yaoyao.”

Many fans couldn’t accept it; which dog of a man could possibly be worthy of their Yaoyao!

Why doesn’t he dare to go public? Is it because he’s that pathetic?

On domestic social media platforms, the discussions surrounding Xu Yao’s fiancé had almost 90% of the netizens expressing their deepest regrets—

Sister Yao married too young.

If she ever kicks that guy to the curb, can’t she take a look at me?!

“Feiyang, congratulations on winning the championship.” Coach Yan Hong, who had come along with him, congratulated him at her first opportunity.

Seeing the two walking in from behind, she continued to praise them, “Zhikuan, Zhenxing, your performance in the finals today was truly incredible!”

Liu Zhikuan, who won second place, and Wang Zhenxing, who took third place, touched the medals hanging around their necks and smiled a bit shyly.

They truly hadn’t expected to perform so well.

Competitive sports require both a willingness to admit defeat as well as the unwillingness to accept defeat. They admired Liu Feiyang’s abilities from the bottom of their hearts and continuously encouraged themselves to work harder under the pressure. The two of them truly had a strong mindset that was capable of handling pressure.

In a sudden burst of explosive power, they trampled the Country A athletes who were practically guaranteed to take second or third place.

“It looks like our country’s swim team has some promising new talents.” Coach Yan Hong was in high spirits, even having the mood to joke with the young people.

Liu Feiyang and the others were first taken aback, then quickly figured out what Coach Yan Hong meant.

“I… I have a chance to join the national swim team?” Liu Feiyang asked uncertainly, pointing at his own face.

As the former head coach of the national team, Yan Hong naturally still had some of her connections. She smiled and said, “You’ve broken two world records, and your name is all over global sports publications. If you can’t get in, who can?”

With such talent, how could the national team possibly let him continue to compete by himself? He should join the national team and unleash his full potential.

That night, Liu Feiyang received an invitation from the national team.

Liu Feiyang gradually realized… he seemed to have truly fulfilled his dream. In the future, he might truly have the opportunity to represent Hua Country on the Olympic stage.

The author has something to say:

[Note] The first athlete from China to compete in the Olympics was Liu Changchun, who participated in the 10th Los Angeles Olympics in 1932.

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1. 烂泥扶不上墙 → hype cannot manufacture talent or success ↩︎

this chapter is brought to you by mio
as translator, proofreader and editor!

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Xu Yao, wearing sunglasses, turned back to glance at them. “What are you all staring at? Not used to staying in places like this?”

Everyone suddenly snapped out of their daze, and a girl hurriedly replied, “Used to it! We’re very used to it!”

What a joke, they had only seen such top-tier castles in European fairy tales, how could they have ever stayed in one?

What kind of incredible experience was this?

A group of employees followed Xu Yao, their feet stepping on the red carpet, while a number of maids dressed in matching black and white uniforms rushed towards them at the butler’s signal.

“Ma’am, please allow us to help you with your suitcase.”

Li Xiaoli stared blankly at the foreign-faced maid, whose attitude was exceptionally enthusiastic, and nodded instinctively.

As expected of staying in a magnificent castle—they didn’t even have to carry their own suitcases.

Han Zhao, on the other hand, felt a bit embarrassed and politely declined the maid’s offer to help with his suitcase.

The butler, dressed in a tailcoat, looked unmistakably Western, yet he spoke exceptionally fluent Chinese. “After the renovations, Gries Castle now has a total of 472 rooms. Aside from the main building, Miss Yaoyao allows everyone to choose their own rooms.”

The butler smiled. “I hope you all have a pleasant holiday in Miss Yaoyao’s castle.”

A girl’s voice involuntarily rose, “This is Gries Castle?”

Seeing everyone looking at her, the girl swallowed hard and said with difficulty, “You guys… just take a moment to search online later…”

What are five-star hotels compared to this castle?

What was a presidential suite?! Every room here was bound to be better than a presidential suite!

They had clearly come with over two hundred people, yet the entire castle still had vacant rooms after accommodating all of them, with the castle not even close to being fully occupied.

After receiving permission, Li Xiaoli and a few girls could hardly wait to take out their phones and decisively started a livestream.

There was no helping it; at this moment, their desire to share this with others was truly overwhelming. They just couldn’t stand not showing off!

Li Xiaoli manages all of Xu Yao’s properties in the urban villages of Hai City, and sometimes she would go live to make it easier for out-of-town tenants to choose properties online, so she was quite familiar with livestreaming.

As soon as the livestream started, some fans began to flood in.

[Hahaha, I knew Sister Li wouldn’t just post a video, she had to go live. Come on, let me see what a presidential suite abroad looks like.]

[I just took a shower and lay down in bed: let’s see what kind of dream material Sister Li has prepared for me tonight.]

[Lili, what hotel did Sister Yao arrange for you? I’m studying in Country E.]

Li Xiaoli almost burst out laughing, responding in the chat: [Dear fans, you’re all still too lacking in imagination. We’re staying in a castle, Sister Yao lives in Gries Castle in Country E.]

Question marks flooded the live chat.

C-castle?

With a quick turn of the camera, the massive architectural complex came into view, featuring bright yellow and elegant beige as the main colors, with gray-blue tiled arches and striking red bricks for embellishment. It created a visually striking scene, making it feel like you had stepped into a fairy tale world.

“This is the room I chose.”

Through the camera lens, a room filled with medieval European style came into everyone’s view, with large murals on the walls, European-style tapestries, and various decorative items that offered a glimpse into the lives of European nobility, all seamlessly integrated with modern amenities.

[Holy sh*t, a castle? You’re staying inside a castle? Mom is asking me why I’m kneeling while watching the livestream…]

[Help!!! Xu Yao, isn’t this going too far??? It’s one thing for her to enjoy her wealth personally, but she’s really willing to let her employees stay here too?]

[Waaaah, I didn’t succeed in the interview for Xu Yao Rentals yesterday. The interviewer even comforted me, saying their rental team is actually still just a small company. You call this a small company? Even large state-owned enterprises don’t offer these kinds of benefits, alright?!]

[The entire vacation cost is covered, private jet transfers, and staying in a castle, alright. Thank you, Sister Li, for giving me my dream material for tonight! I’m going to dream of having a divine boss like Xu Yao.]

[Holy crap, it’s actually Griex Castle! Xu Yao is amazing—I’ll only say this once¹!]

It was already ten o’clock at night in the country, and many netizens had already washed up and gotten ready for bed, but upon watching this livestream, they instantly felt wide awake.

A castle!

That’s a castle!

While watching Li Xiaoli’s livestream, some netizens opened their browsers to look up the history of this castle, and upon seeing the news, they were left utterly stunned.

Gries Castle was originally the residence of a famous European duke. Not only is it nestled between mountains overlooking the sea, but it is also equipped with a complete moat to fend off invasions. To enter the castle, the guards inside would have to lower the drawbridge to allow for entry.

Famous literary classics all around the world have been written with this castle set as its backdrop, and renowned European fairy tale masters have also drawn inspiration from it.

There are many private estates and castles all over Europe, but only this one is this famous!

What brought this castle back into the global spotlight in modern times was that—

Ten years ago, a wealthy individual anonymously purchased Gries Castle and began an eight-year renovation project. Yes, this tycoon spent hundreds of millions of dollars renovating the entire castle while ensuring it preserved its original style despite the incorporation of various modern amenities.

Countless foreign media outlets had been secretly waiting for this wealthy individual to move in, eager to catch a glimpse of the true identity of this tycoon, only to find that the tycoon seemed to have left it behind, as if he had completely forgotten about it.

So, this is Xu Yao’s private property?

“The butler just told me that you can ride horses and shoot in the castle, oh, and I heard there’s even a shooting range here.” Li Xiaoli continued to livestream as she wandered around the castle.

She walked through the sprawling garden, circled around the enormous Cupid fountain, and by the lake, she saw several female colleagues taking photos. “Here we have a lakeside garden that spans 5 hectares. Wow, the lake is so clean,” she introduced to the camera.

Upon seeing the clear and pristine surface of the lake, countless fishing enthusiasts couldn’t help but turn green with envy; this was definitely a fishing paradise!

“Meimei, can you help me take a few pictures too?” Li Xiaoli asked her colleague.

Xu Yao valued team harmony, and since the entire team collectively rejected the rat race and corporate grinding, the relationships among colleagues were particularly good. The colleague called Meimei readily agreed, “Of course, let’s take a picture together.”

Another female colleague exaggeratedly said, “I haven’t even explored one-tenth of the castle yet, and I’ve already taken over two hundred photos. I don’t even know if my phone will still have enough storage by the time I get back from this vacation.”

Every scenic spot was so picturesque, it seemed like it had just jumped out from a painting!

They were also people who had traveled abroad, having visited many foreign tourist attractions, and they knew not to overly idolize or worship foreign countries, as many were also dirty and chaotic.

But with money, the experience level immediately skyrocketed; the scenery was just too beautiful.

Netizens were completely unable to sleep, and countless viewers got up in the middle of the night to send their resumes to Xu Yao Rentals, clearly provoked by Li Xiaoli’s livestream.

[F*ck, I received offers from both Xu Yao Rentals and a state-owned enterprise, and I was actually still hesitating about which one to choose, I’m so stupid! I’m going to reply to Xu Yao’s HR immediately; I want to join!]

[Trust me, choose Xu Yao Rentals. The state-owned enterprise isn’t as good as you think. If we’re talking about stability, it depends on the staffing quota. The key is that helping Xu Yao collect rent is also a very stable job. Also, I have a feeling that if Xu Yao ever runs into difficulties one day, everyone will come to her aid.]

Other landlords are constantly getting scolded by their tenants all the time, but Xu Yao isn’t!

Some predicted that if Xu Yao ever ran into trouble one day, not only would her employees collectively come to help her, but her tenants would too!

On Twitter, the hashtag #GriesCastleInteriorExposed began trending.

Although very little was known about this castle domestically, many netizens abroad were well aware.

Two years after the castle’s renovation was completed, the identity of its owner was finally revealed—it was Xu Yao, the one who stirred up the global fashion industry from Hua Country!

It’s worth noting that this castle was sold for tens of billions a decade ago, when money was worth much more than it is now.

Xu Yao was only twelve years old ten years ago, so the person who purchased this castle must have been her elder, which indirectly proves—

Xu Yao is indeed a wealthy young lady! Even tycoons have daughters.

For centuries, from their ancestors onward, one thing foreigners deeply recognized is that the wealthy in Hua Country are truly very wealthy.

Those foreign collectors, whose ancestors were bandits and became wealthy by robbing countless cultural relics from Hua Country, also agree with this statement.

Thus, Xu Yao went viral both domestically and internationally once again thanks to her castle, and countless foreign media outlets dug up the purpose of her trip.

Did Xu Yao come to Country E to vacation at her luxurious castle?

NO!

Staying in the castle was just a side quest for her. Xu Yao’s main purpose for coming to Country E was to attend the New Youth Games!

#NewYouthGames trended once again at the top of various domestic and international social media search bars.

The organizing committee of the New Youth Games was ecstatic. Others had no idea just how much money they had spent in order to promote the event, but aside from the domestic audience in Country E, those from surrounding countries continued to show little to no interest in the event at all!

As for places in Asia like Hua Country, the island nation, and Southeast Asian countries, well, that was even less worth mentioning.

Who would have thought that just days before the event, it would suddenly go viral!

Xu Yao, the mysterious owner of the largest private castle in Country E appeared. The fact that this owner, who didn’t even care about the completion of the castle renovation, placed such importance on a competition, immediately attracted a swarm of attention from netizens.

After all, the desire to gossip is universal.

With tears in his eyes, Boris exclaimed, “My God, our ticket sales have skyrocketed compared to before.”

As the ticket sales soared, the blonde-haired, blue-eyed foreigners and their friends enthusiastically high-fived one another. “Old buddy, I have a feeling this New Youth Games will be the most successful one in history.”

They even began to feel incredibly fortunate for having authorized the merchandise for the surrounding Asia region to Xu Yao and her team.

They even speculated that Xu Yao’s grand entrance to Country E to watch the games was just to promote her own merchandise!

Boris picked up a mascot toy from the table. This plush toy was produced by a designated licensed factory in Europe. The green frog had a mouth so big that he found it somewhat lewd; he just couldn’t see the aesthetic appeal in it.

Boris’s mouth twitched, and he spoke with a hint of sympathy, “Oh, I wish Miss Yaoyao good luck with her sales.” It really was too ugly.

Although Xu Yao was a genius at marketing, whether she could take advantage of this trend to sell out the merchandise… Erm, all he could do was wish her good luck.

Many international students who were originally not interested in the New Youth Games bought tickets just to jump on the hype following Xu Yao. With these international students leading the way, foreign netizens also eagerly bought tickets.

Before the opening of the New Youth Games, it received unprecedented attention. Many netizens were speculating over which national team athlete Xu Yao was there to root for, with the participating athletes from Hua Country also gaining attention as a result.

On Twitter, a university student from Country A passionately posted: [—A detailed account of Liu Feiyang, a swimmer representing Hua Country in the New Youth Games, who was expelled from his university during his studies abroad.]

This post detailed how Liu Feiyang, relying on his strong physique, beat up classmates on campus, sending several to the hospital. After refusing to apologize, he was then expelled from the university and forced to return to Hua Country.

The comments below were filled with insults.

[Tsk tsk, are there no other athletes in Hua Country anymore? Can someone with such poor character still participate in international competitions?]

[Do you remember the incident with a certain Hua Country athlete using performance-enhancing drugs? The sports scene in Hua Country has never been clean.]

[Is Liu a school bully? He actually ganged up on someone. He really deserves it.]

A Hua Country netizen who knew how to bypass the Great Firewall couldn’t help but reply: [Ganging up on someone? If I’m not mistaken, this article should be about a group of people beating up Liu Feiyang, right? You call this school bullying? Just who is bullying whom?]

It’s really strange, how could Liu Feiyang beat up several classmates by himself?

Liu Feiyang and his fellow classmates arrived at the New Youth Village a few days earlier than Xu Yao.

Originally confident, Liu Feiyang suddenly felt defeated upon seeing the post on Twitter; he was truly anxious.

“Damn it, these people are despicable, messing with Feiyang’s mindset before the competition!” his fellow classmate cursed.

Liu Feiyang murmured, “I don’t regret beating those beasts. They deserved it.”

He was just filled with anxiety. So many people believed in Xu Yao. If those netizens knew that Xu Yao might be coming to support him, would they be disappointed in Sister Yaoyao?

Liu Feiyang could only keep hypnotizing himself, telling himself that Xu Yao had come to Country E for other athletes, not him.

Huddled in his small room in the New Youth Village, Liu Feiyang looked at the incredibly ugly mascot of the New Youth Games on his desk. He took out a mascot made by his family’s factory from his bag.

There is still a stark difference between ugly and cute-ugly.

This one in his bag was casually handed to him by Xu Yao… 

Liu Feiyang stared at the cute-ugly big-mouthed frog, its two silly eyes seemingly staring at him, and suddenly his nose tingled sourly, his eyes turning red.

After all, he was still young, and his mindset wasn’t the most stable.

At that moment, his phone in the bag vibrated, and when Liu Feiyang saw the caller ID, he felt even more flustered.

Oh no, it’s Xu Yao!

When Sister Yaoyao rented the Water Cube to him, she probably didn’t know he had beat people up while studying abroad, right?

Is this call to ask about his situation?

Liu Feiyang frantically tried to reassure himself and muster up his courage. He took a few deep breaths and was about to answer the call, but it was disconnected.

[AAAA Professional Rentals Little Xu: I believe in you, looking forward to seeing you on the New Youth Games stage.]

As a later tenant, Liu Feiyang technically shouldn’t have Xu Yao’s WeChat, but he had been shameless enough to ask Xu Yao for her contact information.

Liu Feiyang’s eyes lit up completely.

It didn’t matter how others viewed him, as long as Xu Yao still believed in him, then everything was fine!

The tall young man, who had just been feeling listless earlier, suddenly straightened his back, overjoyed.

*

Xu Yao certainly knew why Liu Feiyang had fought with that group. After all, he was her tenant, and his private morals were definitely fine.

Xu Yao just hoped this kid’s mindset wouldn’t be affected too much before the competition.

As everyone dined in the castle’s enormous dining hall, many couldn’t help but recall scenes from Harry Potter.

Dining in the ten-meter-high dining hall, filled with European-style decor, was truly a uniquely novel experience.

“Miss Yaoyao, we have run into some issues with our properties in Country E.” He Fan reported after Xu Yao finished her meal.

Xu Yao immediately thought of what Ji Zhengqing had reminded her about and frowned. “What’s wrong?”

He Fan sighed, “According to our property investigations over the past two days, we indeed found several estates being illegally occupied by others.”

The Xu family had too many properties; they couldn’t even manage all of the ones in the country, let alone those that were abroad.

For large properties like Gries Castle, the Xu family still remembered to hire a butler and servants for maintenance, but those small houses in the countryside? They had all but forgotten about them.

“Are you kidding me? Are there people trespassing into other peoples countries abroad too? Didn’t they say private property is sacred and cannot be infringed upon?” The employees dining immediately started to stir.

“Why not call the police? Let them handle it.” Li Xiaoli suggested, putting down her fork with some concern.

Going to the police when a problem arises seems to be the instinctive thinking of all people from Hua Country.

But this isn’t Hua Country.

Xu Yao’s face darkened. The laws abroad are different from those at home. These squatters, after illegally occupying the property, were actually protected by Country E’s laws. It was simply absurd.

Xu Yao called Ji Zhengqing, who should be more family with these matters as his family had been developing abroad for a long time.

“You were right. Several of my family’s properties have been illegally occupied.”

Ji Zhengqing chuckled lightly, his gentle voice comforting her, “Don’t worry, it’s not as troublesome as you think. If you don’t mind, I can arrange for a familiar company to drive them away.”

For ordinary people, dealing with squatters in the properties abroad might be difficult, but it isn’t the same case for the wealthy. Xu Yao felt she not only needed to evict them, but also collect some interest. How could they live in her house for free? Not a chance!

Ji Zhengqing then changed the subject, his voice sounding a bit apologetic, “I’m heading back to my home in Europe; there are still some matters I need to handle there. I might arrive late to watch the competition in a couple of days.”

Xu Yao was initially worried that they would be seen together and photographed on camera, so she was quite happy that Ji Zhengqing would be late.

Xu Yao reminded him, “It’s alright, I’ll arrange for someone to send a piece of clothing over for you to wear when you go to watch the competition.”

After they made their arrangements, Xu Yao instructed He Fan to coordinate with the connections Ji Zhengqing provided.

“Evict all of those who are illegally occupying my family’s properties!” Xu Yao frowned and ordered, “After they leave, make sure to conduct a thorough check in the basements and other places. Don’t let those people with low morals cause any trouble on the properties.”

Xu Yao had watched many foreign movies, and many murders were depicted as happening in cellars and basements, so she wanted to avoid all such possibilities.

He Fan promptly noted down Xu Yao’s requests.

*

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 New Youth Games officially began, and this year’s viewership was indeed higher than any previous games.

Unfortunately, fans did not spot Xu Yao during the opening ceremony, nor did they see her during other competitions. Many fans couldn’t help but speculate that Xu Yao might not be interested in the preliminary rounds and would probably only show up for the semifinals or finals.

Among them, swimming was an extremely anticipated traditional sport.

Reportedly, there was a Hua Country swimmer named Liu Feiyang, who had been cancelled on Twitter these past few days.

Is there really no one left in Hua Country? How can such a despicable school bully be allowed to participate in an international competition such as this?

Liu Feiyang and his teammates appeared on the scene, and he was looking around, seemingly searching for someone. He felt a bit anxious inside, unsure if Xu Yao had arrived or not.

Liu Feiyang had been studying in Country A, so he understood their language. A man in the stands stood up and shouted in Country A’s language, “Disgusting bully.”

Liu Feiyang rolled his eyes. Go away, stop blocking him from finding Sister Yaoyao!

The New Youth Games were being broadcast live, although the viewership in the sports livestream was only around a few million.

[This athlete is so arrogant, he just rolled his eyes. Haha, putting everything else aside, I have to say, his mindset is pretty stable.]

[Isn’t he called Liu Feiyang? He’s quite tall and handsome, how could he do something like hitting someone?]

[I also studied at the same university where Liu Feiyang attended. It was obviously Liu Feiyang who stopped those men from harassing girls and ended up getting beaten up himself, okay?]

[Who is he looking for? He keeps looking up at the stands, is he looking for his girlfriend? He should just focus on the competition and let his performance speak for itself.]

Don’t be fooled by Liu Feiyang’s current “negative press is still press” reputation; athletes must rely on their competition results to speak for themselves. Right now, Liu Feiyang is just a rookie without any achievements to his name, and with such a huge public opinion against him, it’s actually detrimental to him.

[I just want to know if Xu Yao has come? She didn’t even show up for the opening ceremony. Is she really here to watch the New Youth Games? She can’t just be here for a vacation, right?]

[Holy crap!! She’s here!]

Just as netizens were discussing whether Xu Yao would come and watch the competition, she arrived, even bringing along with her over two hundred of her employees.

No wonder the prime seats in the stands had been empty—turns out all the tickets were booked by Xu Yao!

“Hahaha, Sister Yao booked us the best seats! These seats must cost tens of thousands, right?” An employee looked around excitedly.

Thinking there would surely be a lot of people in attendance, some of them had even brought a telescope to watch the competition.

But it turns out Xu Yao had booked them the best seats, making the telescope completely unnecessary.

This group of employees waved their small red flags enthusiastically, shouting, “Go Hua Country Swimming Team!”

Nearby, Hua Country international students were not to be outdone, waving the national flag and shouting, “Go Hua Country! You guys are the best!”

Liu Feiyang and his classmates felt a warmth in their hearts upon seeing those familiar faces.

They initially thought the New Youth Games wouldn’t attract much attention, and since they were competing abroad, they wouldn’t be able to see many of their fellow countrymen supporting them in the stands. But who knew that a quarter of the audience was actually Hua Country people!

Having their own people supporting them truly made a difference.

Liu Feiyang noticed that Xu Yao’s employees had all arrived. But had Xu Yao come?

Other netizens were also keeping an eye on Xu Yao’s whereabouts, and she didn’t seem to be with those employees at the best seats.

Suddenly, someone in the crowd shouted, “Xu Yao! Sister Yao!”

Liu Feiyang immediately turned to look in the direction of the voice. Above the best seating area, there was a long corridor that was restricted from entry. Xu Yao was standing inside that glass corridor.

This was the top VIP viewing area introduced by the New Youth Games, even more impressive than the best seats in the stand.

Inside the corridor was a complete lounge area comparable to a presidential suite, featuring a large bed, an open kitchen, and a bar. The most crucial part was the huge screen connected to the competition venue’s livestream.

If one didn’t want to watch through the screen, they could step outside through the glass door, and just a few steps outside was a corridor over twenty meters long!

Watching the competition from this glass corridor gave you the best vantage point for viewing the competition!

It offered the best viewing experience while ensuring privacy, even coming with the inclusion of dedicated security measures.

The livestream cameras would not sweep over to capture her on camera without permission!

And Xu Yao had managed to book this place. Since it was rare for a wealthy woman to come out to watch a competition, of course she had to arrange for the best of everything!

Under the camera, Xu Yao’s slightly curled long hair draped over her shoulders as she leaned gently against the glass viewing area, smiling and waving at the crowd.

The fans on site erupted in excited cheers, with the entire venue filled with voices shouting “Xu Yao,” “Sister Yao, I want to help you collect rent!”

Xu Yao sighed. How did she still have so many fans even after retiring?

[My goodness, Xu Yao is really going all out as a rich woman, she even has her own private viewing area.]

[I thought the prime seats were already impressive enough, but Xu Yao can actually manage to occupy a viewing area meant for dozens of people all by herself. The wealthy woman is impressive.]

[She arranged the prime seats in the stands for her employees while she herself took the top private viewing area, this is simply a plot straight out of an ultra wealthy aristocratic family novel, haha.]

[Are you all focused on how impressive the prime seats are? Shouldn’t you be more concerned about who Xu Yao is here to cheer for? She didn’t even come for any of the other previous events, including the opening ceremony.]

[Let’s rule out Liu Feiyang first. Xu Yao values character highly, so she probably wouldn’t support someone who has beat someone up.]

Netizens both domestically and internationally were stunned by Xu Yao’s display of sheer extravagance. Apparently, there was only one of these top-tier viewing areas in the entire venue… 

Still, many felt that Xu Yao’s actions were justified; after all, she was abroad, and the personal safety of a wealthy woman was very important.

Lu Ye stood at the far left of the glass corridor with his hands behind his back, vigilantly observing the surroundings, while several bodyguards in black were present to protect her throughout.

This venue was crowded with people, and they had to ensure Xu Yao’s safety.

“Where’s the outfit I ordered?” Xu Yao put down her lemonade and turned back to ask He Fan, “Did you bring it?”

He Fan immediately replied, “Yes, I brought it.”

This was an outfit Xu Yao had custom-ordered before going abroad, collaborating with a wholesale T-shirt vendor from Xinyi Trade City. She ordered eight hundred sets in one go, giving each employee three sets in case they wanted to switch things up.

You can always trust in the efficiency of Xinyi Trade City. Once the style was finalized, the vendor worked like they were on steroids, and within a few days, everything was ready. Moreover, at Xu Yao’s request, the quality of the T-shirts was excellent, made entirely out of cotton.

Xu Yao took out her own piece, which was very simple. It was a bright red T-shirt with a few motivational Chinese characters printed on it.

Xu Yao stepped into the changing room, changed into a T-shirt, and walked out. Looking at herself in the mirror, she felt that the way she was dressed finally matched the atmosphere needed when watching a competition.

Xu Yao tied her hair up into a refreshing high ponytail and even had He Fan and Lu Ye change into their own specially customized T-shirts. Only then did she walk out through the glass door again.

Xu Yao picked up the megaphone prepared just for her and leaned over the glass viewing platform, shouting, “Go, go Liu Feiyang! Hua Country on top!”

This megaphone was a perk for wealthy spectators at the New Youth Games. As long as it was used, the sound would echo throughout the venue, allowing every spectator to hear it, and Xu Yao took full advantage of it.

Xu Yao’s voice instantly echoed throughout the entire New Youth Games stadium.

As soon as Xu Yao finished speaking, over two hundred of Xu Yao’s employees sitting in the prime seats in the stands responded in unison. They quickly changed into Xu Yao’s specially ordered bright red T-shirts and shouted at the top of their lungs, “Go, go, Liu Feiyang! Hua Country on top!”

Viewers watching the livestream were stunned: !!

What the hell?! What kind of operation is this?

The name “Liu Feiyang” echoed throughout the venue, and Xu Yao’s level of extravagance raised their understanding to another level. Is this the benefit of being a wealthy lady?

The viewers in the livestream went wild, with the number of online viewers skyrocketing after Xu Yao appeared. The barrage immediately filled the screen with “666.”

[Holy crap, the competition hasn’t even started yet, but Liu Feiyang’s name has already spread throughout the entire venue, omg.]

[Is this the joy that comes from watching a match as a rich lady? Isn’t this just like buying a world announcement in a game?]

[I heard this perk is exclusive to those who reserved the VIP viewing area, so to those foreigners, no need to be envious! You can also learn from Sister Yao and book such top-tier seats to get a megaphone for the whole venue, haha, this level of prestige is just too impressive.]

[Why don’t foreign tycoons learn how to show off properly from Xu Yao? Is it simply because they don’t want to? (jk)]

A person from Country A at the scene was so angry that his eyes turned red, continuously shouting, “Where are our own country’s rich people? Come out and support our athletes!”

The other wealthy people from Country A lowered their heads. They initially thought they were already impressive enough for snagging the prime spots in the stands, but it turned out that this New Youth Games even arranged for such perks for spectators who had bought seats in the VIP viewing area!

Those Country A tycoons who were originally eager to compete with Xu Yao fell silent after checking the prices for the VIP viewing area.

Forget it, let the Hua Country people show off.

[Are there any brothers or sisters who can bypass the Great Firewall? Now we can confidently take on those little bastards from Country A! They’ve been cursing Liu Feiyang for days, and now, even Xu Yao has come out in support of him. This kid can’t possibly be in the wrong.]

[Xu Yao is supporting him, so there must be nothing wrong with Liu Feiyang. I’m going to use a VPN right now. Go Liu Feiyang!]

The post made by the Country A university student was written with great seriousness and included pictures, making it seem as if Liu Feiyang had really hit someone. Many Hua Country netizens who felt uncomfortable about the post wanted to refute the claims but hesitated.

They couldn’t just be biased and help their own citizens without reason, right? Wouldn’t that just give the people of Country A ammunition to mock them?

But now it was different, and Xu Yao had personally stepped in!

It was evident how much Xu Yao cared about character.

Liu Feiyang was definitely fine, so it was that group of people who got beaten that were the problem. A group of online trash-talking experts was watching the match while preparing to “go on an expedition” on foreign networks!

Liu Feiyang was making his final preparations before the match when he suddenly heard Xu Yao’s voice cheering for him echoing throughout the venue.

Wearing swim trunks and swimming goggles on his head, Liu Feiyang looked towards the VIP viewing area under the gazes of thousands. A girl in a bright red T-shirt with a neat high ponytail was holding a megaphone that exuded an air of wealth, smiling at him.

Liu Feiyang’s nose turned slightly red, and his eyes felt warm with moisture.

Xu Yao was cheering for him, and her voice had been heard all over the world.

Xu Yao had come from afar to support him, and the entire nation was now cheering him on.

The heart of the young man, who was not yet twenty, felt like it was surging with hot passion. This burning blood seemed to unleash Liu Feiyang’s hidden potential, and he pumped his fists high in the air.

Liu Feiyang’s mindset underwent an unprecedented change. He didn’t come to the New Youth Games to test the waters as a rookie, to be a mere participant, or to just coast alongside others.

Liu Feiyang looked at the empty space above him. He wanted the red national flag to be raised high, and for the national anthem to ring out throughout the venue!

He wanted the world to know his name, not just because of Xu Yao!

Xu Yao smiled. Starting today, another figure would soon emerge in the international swimming scene.

He Fan gently reminded her, “Miss Yaoyao, President Ji has arrived.”

Upon hearing this, Xu Yao handed the megaphone to He Fan and turned to walk inside, where she indeed saw Ji Zhengqing at the entrance.

The tall and handsome man was wearing a bright red T-shirt, striding towards her. The atmosphere felt very vibrant with him in that passionate T-shirt.

Ji Zhengqing looked at her, also in the same bright red T-shirt, and his lips curved into a smile that never left his lips. “Yaoyao, I really like the T-shirt you had someone specially send over to me.”

He knew this T-shirt was specially ordered to cheer for the Hua Country athletes, but… he and Xu Yao were wearing the same one, as if there was some other hidden meaning behind it.

So, could this be considered as them wearing matching couple outfits?

It wasn’t until Lu Ye walked out of the glass corridor, also wearing the same red T-shirt that Ji Zhengqing raised an eyebrow. “How come you’re wearing this T-shirt too?”

Lu Ye frowned. “Everyone has one.”

Ji Zhengqing: …? Everyone has one?

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1. “I’ll only say this once” is an internet-style expression used for dramatic emphasis, implying the speaker is overwhelmingly impressed and doesn’t even need to repeat it. ↩︎

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Liu Zhentian and Hu Qiuju soon received a notification from Xu Yao. The New Youth Games required samples from their toy factory to confirm the factory’s workmanship quality. It seemed like they had little confidence in the quality of Hua Country products.

Although the couple instinctively felt displeased by the foreigners’ arrogance, they could also roughly tell that the merchandise licensing was already about half successful. They immediately proceeded to make more thorough preparations, and planned to fly to Country E for a meeting and negotiation with the organising committee of the New Youth Games.

Before Liu Zhentian and his wife went to Country E, they reminded their son to seize the last moments before the competition to practice well so as not to let Xu Yao’s efforts go to waste.

In recent days, Liu Feiyang seemed to like he had been injected with chicken blood¹. If it weren’t for Coach Yan Hong specifically emphasizing the dangers of potential injury due to intense training done too close to the competition, Liu Feiyang would have wanted to stay in the pool 24 hours a day.

Several classmates who also qualified for the New Youth Games stood dumbfounded on the side of the pool, stammering as if they were still in a dream, “Feiyang, is this… your home?”

A few days ago, Liu Feiyang said that his family had a swimming pool that was much better than the one they were using to train at school, and had warmly invited them to come over.

When they arrived, they finally realized what Liu Feiyang meant when referring to “his own swimming pool”—it was the Water Cube! This aquatic center not only has several pools, but it’s also equipped with the necessary facilities for high diving.

The school’s training ground was instantly overshadowed.

Liu Feiyang was quite pleased with himself. “Yeah, my family recently rented a place and we just so happened to move here. Coach Yan Hong will be coming over soon to help you check for any shortcomings before the competition.”

His group of teammates hadn’t even had time to fully digest the fact that Liu Feiyang now lived in the most luxurious private swimming center in the capital when Liu Feiyang dropped another bombshell on them.

“Feiyang, you’re not talking about Coach Yan Hong, the former head coach of the national swimming team, are you?” a boy asked in shock, his voice unconsciously growing louder.

“That’s right, it’s that Coach Yan.”

Liu Feiyang looked at their astonished expressions, feeling an indescribable satisfaction well up from inside him.

Yes, yes, yes, their expressions are just like he had been back when he hadn’t seen much of the world, haha.

Several teammates looked around the swimming center, touching here and there, each with the expression of Granny Liu entering the Grand View Garden.

To have such a good training venue before the competition, and with even a professional coach guiding them, this was definitely a stroke of luck! They had heard that Liu Feiyang used to be a rich second-generation heir, and now it seems to be true!

“Feiyang, you rented Xu Yao’s property, right?” A teammate who was holding his phone suddenly asked Liu Feiyang.

Liu Feiyang was a bit surprised that his teammate would think of Xu Yao so quickly, but he became even more excited. “Yes, that’s right! Who else but Xu Yao could be so generous?!”

“It’s already trending on Weibo.”

Liu Feiyang immediately became nervous. “What’s trending on Weibo? Sister Yaoyao wouldn’t publicly support me on Weibo, would she? That can’t happen!”

As it turned out, Liu Feiyang was clearly overthinking things; Xu Yao wouldn’t do something so thoughtless. The attention from so many people before the competition would be another form of invisible pressure weighing on him, and Xu Yao didn’t want anything to affect Liu Feiyang.

What was actually spreading online was—

Xu Yao Rentals’ latest employee benefit: Landlady Xu would be taking her employees to Country E for a vacation, with the senior employees collectively taking Xu Yao’s private jet, while the remaining outstanding employees would take a chartered flight!

How long would they play there for?

Apparently it would be at least half a month.

[Hahaha, I’ve only been in Xu Yao Rentals for three months, so I thought such good fortune couldn’t possibly come my way. But this morning, my boss suddenly asked me if I wanted to go to Country E with her. Of course, I said yes!]

[I got the news too! Waaaah, I never expected that my first trip abroad would be with my boss. With so many people going, I won’t have to be worried about my crappy English!]

[The best part about traveling with Xu Yao is… you won’t have to pay a cent at all! The boss covers everything, from food, to accommodation, and transportation. To be honest, I joined Xu Yao’s rental team with a monthly salary of ten thousand, and in four months, I’ve already saved forty thousand… With the various benefits and subsidies, I’m hardly able to find places to spend my salary.]

Netizens saw many employees from Xu Yao Rentals sharing their experiences, almost turning green with envy.

This morning, news suddenly spread online that Xu Yao thought the summer was getting too hot and wanted to take her employees to Country E to watch the competition and also conveniently escape the heat.

[I saw the news online: Xu Yao is taking nearly two hundred employees to Country E to watch the competition. Who taught her to give her employees such benefits?]

[Xu Yao’s rental team probably only has around four to five hundred employees, right? Is she taking half of them out to play? I really want to tag my boss and tell him to come and take a look!!!]

[What competition is it? I found out online that Country E is hosting the New Youth Games or something. Is this competition really that prestigious?]

[To the sister upstairs, the New Youth Games is an international competition. Its prestige can’t compare to the Olympics, but it’s not bad, just not very well-known.]

Originally, not many people in the country knew about the New Youth Games, but when Xu Yao suddenly decided to take her employees to Country E to watch the New Youth Games, mobilizing two hundred of her employees at once made #NewYouthGames trend, as everyone wanted to see what was so special about this competition that attracted Xu Yao.

Netizens instinctively wanted to see which athletes from Hua Country would participate, and sure enough, they found several national team athletes going to participate, immediately rushing to their comments on Weibo to cheer them on.

#NewYouthGamesMascotIsUgly also trended, with the mascot being a frog with a rather strangely shaped large mouth.

[If it weren’t for Xu Yao, I wouldn’t have even known that Country E has a New Youth Games starting soon. I checked the official website for the mascot, and holy shit, it’s so ugly, I can’t take it anymore.]

[Which designer created this mascot?! Who taught them to design like this?! It’s absolutely hideous.]

[Just because the New Youth Games might flop doesn’t mean they can just throw together a mascot like this. My daughter came over to take a look and said it looks like a monster.]

[Is this competition not even planning on selling merchandise? The mascot looks so ridiculous it’s laughable.]

The previously ignored New Youth Games mascot was thus dragged out to be ridiculed by the netizens of Hua Country.

It really is quite ugly; it doesn’t look like something that could sell at all.

Liu Zhentian and Hu Qiuju, along with the elite employees and factory head sent by Xu Yao to handle this project, had already met with the organisers of the New Youth Games, bringing along the factory’s finished mascots.

As expected, with Xu Yao’s financial power, they successfully secured the merchandise licensing rights for the Asia region after a brief negotiation.

With the licensing now secured, they would be able to produce merchandise without infringing on the copyright.

However, Liu Zhentian wasn’t very happy. In fact, he felt rather anxious inside, and after seeing the trending topics on Weibo, he felt even more faint with anxiety.

Those young people online were already relentlessly mocking the New Youth Games mascot for being ugly…

If it didn’t meet their aesthetic standards, they probably wouldn’t spend their own money on it, right?

“Miss Yaoyao, we’ve secured the merchandise licensing,” Liu Zhentian called Xu Yao as soon as he returned to the hotel.

Xu Yao wasn’t surprised; money is the greatest power in this world. Since this wasn’t the Olympics, she had been quite confident.

Liu Zhentian thought about those comments and felt he wouldn’t be able to fall asleep tonight. “It’s just… those comments online…”

Xu Yao probably knew what Liu Zhentian was thinking, and smiled. “That depends on the factory’s capabilities. After all, even ‘ugly-cute’ designs have their own market nowadays.”

They had only obtained the licensing agreement. That didn’t mean they could change the mascot’s design, but refining the craftsmanship could still yield different results.

It didn’t matter if the design was ugly, as long as they could add a touch of cuteness on top of that ugliness. Then, it would be worth pursuing.

Liu Zhentian vaguely caught on to something. As an excellent businessman, he needed to be good at turning disadvantages into advantages, and this could very well become the key to their profits!

Xu Yao then asked, “Can we finish producing the first batch before I take the employees to Country E? I’d like to take a few to the competition.”

Upon hearing this, Liu Zhentian immediately agreed without thinking, “That definitely won’t be a problem.”

You absolutely couldn’t underestimate the speed of Xinyi Trade City; if they started producing samples today, with a bit of overtime, the finished products could be ready by tomorrow! For small commodities to make money, time is everything. Liu Zhentian was very experienced in this regard, and the timeframe could definitely be guaranteed.

In order to make a profit from the merchandise during the New Youth Games, Liu Zhentian and Hu Qiuju didn’t dare to stay in Country E for too long and booked the next flight directly back to the capital in Hua Country.

Once they returned, the couple didn’t even go and see their son, immediately throwing themselves into the factory, busy making the New Youth Games official mascot merchandise!

*

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 Guanya Museum was as quiet as ever, with only a couple of visitors occasionally wandering in. Ironically, the allure of the exhibits inside was overshadowed by the few fat cats that Grandma Ke Meiru kept in the museum, with several visitors coming in just to pet the cats.

The young woman in charge of selling tickets said with a hint of sadness, “Miss Xu Yao seems to have not helped promote the museum on Weibo after she returned.”

Not only was there nothing on Weibo, but she hadn’t mentioned a word about Guanya Museum on any of her other social media platforms either.

The young woman that sold tickets knew in her heart that helping a tenant was a matter of goodwill and not her obligation, yet she still couldn’t help but feel disappointed. She believed the museum was truly worth it.

The young woman had been working as a ticket seller at the Guanya Museum for nearly two years now. Although the pay was low, the job was leisurely, and most importantly, Curator Ke treated her very well.

Curator Ke was an extremely cultured and patriotic elderly lady. When the former curator wanted to take the donated artifacts away, she stood in front of him, disregarding the risk of her reading glasses being smashed, and shouted angrily, “If you dare take these donated cultural relics away today, I’ll bang my head against the wall and die right here!”

Despite the museum’s dire situation, lunch was still provided. The ticket seller occasionally discovered that sometimes, the meals were cooked by the elderly lady herself. How many people could say they had eaten food cooked by the curator herself? The snacks made by the curator were the best!

With nothing else to do, the ticket seller often listened to the old men in the museum gossip, saying that the old curator’s mother was a wealthy young lady who studied cultural relics during the Republic of China era, and that the old curator had become a cultural relic restorer in her youth due to her parents’ influence.

The ticket seller continued to refresh Xu Yao’s Weibo, with the latest post being a repost of another new rental promotional event from Xu Yao Rentals official Weibo account.

Curator Ke sat in her office, looking at last month’s visitor report for the museum, sighing repeatedly as she took off her glasses.

The old-fashioned landline in the upper left corner of her desk rang, and Curator Ke answered the call.

“Hello, Curator Ke, I am He Fan, Miss Xu Yao’s assistant. We have learned about the museum’s financial difficulties, and after discussion, Miss Xu Yao has decided to waive the museum’s rent for three months.”

Just as Ke Meiru was about to express her gratitude, He Fan paused and added, “Additionally, Miss Xu Yao would like to convey that she hopes the Guanya Museum can hold on until the day she returns from Country E.”

Curator Ke was momentarily taken aback. She had been keeping up with the news about global cultural relics, and if she remembered correctly, there seemed to be an upcoming auction in Country E, with the most eye-catching news about the auction being one of Hua Country’s Twelve Zodiac Bronze Heads²: the Snake Head.

It should be noted that several of the Twelve Zodiac Bronze Heads were still unaccounted for, with the Snake Head being one of them. The news of the auction had sparked significant attention both domestically and internationally, although it was still unclear whether the news was genuine.

Curator Ke instantly stood up, a terrifying guess forming in her mind. Her usually calm voice rose involuntarily, “Could it be that Miss Xu Yao is going to participate in the auction?”

He Fan smiled but did not reveal Xu Yao’s whereabouts.

Curator Ke was startled by her own speculation, muttering, “Okay, okay.”

The elderly lady paced back and forth in her office. If that were the case, not only could they hold on until Xu Yao returned from Country E, but she could even go without eating or drinking just to ensure that the museum could hold on for another year!

Having now stabilised the Guanya Museum, which had been in dire straits, Xu Yao was now preparing to head to Country E!

The invited employees, with the few exceptions of those who couldn’t make it, had all prepared their passports and visas for Country E in advance.

Everyone boarded the plane in turn. Since it was Xu Yao’s private jet, they were able to choose their seats freely once on board.

“Can we take photos and videos?” Li Xiaoli, who was holding a selfie stick, asked the flight attendant assigned to them by Xu Yao.

The beautiful flight attendant smiled and replied, “Miss Yaoyao mentioned beforehand that it’s absolutely fine.”

Li Xiaoli faced the camera and recorded a video: “Friends, if you want to find a boss, you need to find someone like Xu Yao. We are about to set off to eat and drink our fill! This is Sister Yao’s private jet.”

A senior executive nearby nudged his head over and said, “It’s ten times more comfortable than business class!”

He had flown on many planes before, but this was his first time on a private jet!

A group of senior employees looked around, delighted beyond measure. Besides the incredibly comfortable seats, there was also a long table in the middle for dining. But that wasn’t all; one employee was astonished to discover that there was even a large bed and bathroom on board!

Li Xiaoli also noticed that the seats they were sitting on seemed to be made of some kind of rare leather. She secretly checked online and found that a whole piece would cost tens of thousands of dollars!

This was not just flying; it was like they had moved a mansion into the plane!

First class was nothing compared to a truly impressive private jet!

“There’s a professional bartender on board. Would anyone like a drink?” the flight attendant asked with a smile.

Li Xiaoli and a few others couldn’t resist the temptation and nodded in agreement.

Li Xiaoli also applied a simple filter for colour correction to the video and posted it on her social media, attracting a swarm of curious netizens.

People had all heard of private jets, but no one really knew what they were like inside!

[Even working for Xu Yao requires effort. Ordinary outstanding employees can only take charter flights, while hardworking senior executives can fly on Sister Yao’s private jet.]

[Is this the interior of Xu Yao’s private jet? Wow, this is too extravagant! It was previously used to send Old Master Cui Guoqiang because he was worth it, and now she’s even willing to let her employees ride in it. Sister Yao really doesn’t treat money as money!]

[Waaaah, I’m so jealous! I’ll only say that once. I was already very satisfied to be chosen as an outstanding employee to take a charter flight to Country E, but now, seeing Sister Xiaoli sharing the experience of a private jet, I suddenly feel that the charter flight isn’t appealing anymore. I will definitely work hard to help Sister Yao collect rent when I return!]

[Sister upstairs, aren’t you being way too Versailles³? You’re already an employee of Xu Yao, so your starting point is already way higher than ours, okay?]

[What are those plushies? Why is there one at every seat? It looks a bit cute.]

Some netizens noticed that in Li Xiaoli’s video, there was a green plushie at every seat, which seemed to be a gift for each employee.

Li Xiaoli also discovered the plushie, which was a big-mouthed frog, and when she reached out to touch it, the texture felt surprisingly good.

“Uh… this seems to be Froggy, the mascot for the New Youth Games that everyone’s been roasting,” an employee beside her remarked after staring at it for a while.

Li Xiaoli turned the plushie over in her hands and indeed saw the logo of the New Youth Games. She squeezed the plush toy and couldn’t help but say, “I think it’s got an ugly-cuteness to it, definitely not as ugly as other people say.”

Previously, Li Xiaoli had seen screenshots online, and that mascot really did look ugly to her, but when she held the actual plush toy in her hands, she didn’t expect that after looking at it a few more times… it actually seemed quite adorable.

Unable to resist, Li Xiaoli took several selfies with the ugly-cute mascot, Froggy, and shared them on her social media.

“Where’s Miss Yaoyao? I haven’t seen her yet,” someone asked.

The flight attendant replied, “Miss Yaoyao has taken another private jet.”

Xu Yao, accompanied by Lu Ye and He Fan, boarded Ji Zhengqing’s private jet. Her own private jets were not enough for all her employees, so she even had to resort to chartering another plane.

The three of them were heading to Country E to attend an auction for cultural relics, but Xu Yao ended up bringing along an additional two hundred people. To this, Ji Zhengqing remained quite calm, and didn’t seem to be angry at all.

When Xu Yao arrived, Ji Zhengqing had a work laptop in front of him, as the flight from the capital to Country E was long, and he needed it for work.

Assistant Li, who was diligently working nearby, suddenly noticed He Fan behind Xu Yao and showed a hint of envy in his eyes.

“Fiancé, you do your thing, we’ll do ours,” Xu Yao said thoughtfully, not intending to disturb Ji Zhengqing’s work.

The private jet’s cabin was divided into two sections: one part was a workspace that could accommodate seven or eight people sitting around to work, while the other part was a soundproof resting area.

Xu Yao, Lu Ye, and He Fan were in the resting area, lying on luxurious recliners and getting massages while watching a pre-downloaded drama about palace intrigue.

The actress on the oversized LCD TV exaggeratedly exclaimed, “What a huge bed!”

The resting area was filled with the sounds of Xu Yao and He Fan’s laughter. Lu Ye habitually maintained his usual straight face while watching the TV. He didn’t like this kind of drama, but since Miss Yaoyao liked it, he tried to make an effort to watch it.

The plane flew steadily through the air, and at noon, Ji Zhengqing suddenly woke up from his busy state and asked Assistant Li to remind Xu Yao to come out for a meal.

Overwhelmed to the point of dizziness, Assistant Li rubbed his temples and gently knocked on the door of the resting area.

After receiving permission, he entered and immediately heard Xu Yao and He Fan’s laughter, “Haha, catching them cheating in the act, how exciting!”

Assistant Li looked at his former colleague, He Fan, who was laughing joyfully, and his mind was suddenly filled with thoughts—

Why hadn’t he been the assistant who went with President Ji to meet Miss Xu Yao back then?

“Yaoyao, aren’t you hungry after watching TV all morning?” Ji Zhengqing’s magnetic and gentle voice came from outside.

Xu Yao climbed up from the recliner, stretching her slightly sore neck as she said, “I’m tired of lying down. Lu Ye, He Fan, let’s go eat something and continue watching in the afternoon.”

Seeing Xu Yao come to him while twisting her neck, Ji Zhengqing raised his hand and gently touched Xu Yao’s fair neck, applying just the right amount of pressure, “It must be the quality of the recliner, it’s been tough on you.”

Assistant Li’s mouth twitched. Miss Yaoyao really had a tough time; she’d been laughing all morning.

The lunch was also quite sumptuous, consisting of Xu Yao’s favorite dishes.

“He Fan, have the tickets for the New Youth Games been booked in advance?” Xu Yao asked while eating.

He Fan confirmed that he had booked two hundred tickets for each event, as Xu Yao planned to take her staff to watch the games, so naturally, they needed to cover the cost of the tickets.

“Lu Ye, remember to take stock of the Xu family’s properties in Country E. Since we’re going there, we should take a good look at the properties there,” Xu Yao instructed.

Upon hearing Xu Yao’s instructions for him, Lu Ye felt a sense of relief.

He… really didn’t enjoy the “harem-infighting” drama they had just watched and didn’t understand why Xu Yao and He Fan were laughing so happily. He’d rather go and sort out the property documents instead.

Ji Zhengqing reminded, “Yaoyao, there are many cases of squatting and trespassing in Country E. You need to be careful.”

The Xu family had too many properties, and when her rental team went to investigate the situations at her properties, they discovered several cases of squatting. Some people even renovated the Xu family’s houses and lived in them for two years.

However, the domestic laws protect the rights of homeowners, and when those families realized that the long-abandoned house belonged to Xu Yao, they were frightened at the thought of the Bo’en Law Firm under Xu Yao.

Xu Yao thought about how vast and sparsely populated the land abroad was. They could barely manage their properties domestically, let alone abroad, so Ji Zhengqing’s concern was valid.

Xu Yao kept this matter in mind and acknowledged it.

In the afternoon, Xu Yao and He Fan watched TV for a while longer, but Xu Yao couldn’t resist her drowsiness and fell asleep. He Fan simply turned off the TV and sat down next to Lu Ye, and the two began to sort out the Xu family’s properties in Country E together.

One private jet after another landed on the airport tarmac. Back home, it was already dark, while in Country E, it was a sunny afternoon.

Many foreign media outlets, having received the news, were already waiting at the airport, marveling at the private jets, especially since they had a dedicated on-site team to serve them!

“The wealthy young lady from Hua Country has arrived! She’s the one who stirred up the global fashion industry, Xu Yao!”

A photographer operating a camera exclaimed, “How rich is she to bring over two hundred employees to watch the games?”

“I heard that Miss Xu has a private jet filled with bodyguards. Think about it, she brought an entire plane of bodyguards with her.”

Xu Yao indeed brought a plane full of private bodyguards. She wasn’t very confident in public security abroad, and she, Landlady Xu, valued her life greatly.

The Ji family had been developing their business in Europe for many years, and they actually owned a private airport here. However, since their engagement was a secret, Xu Yao thought it over and decided not to land at his private airport. This decision allowed the media to capture her arrival in Country E.

Xu Yao allowed them to take things off the plane, so almost everyone, including Li Xiaoli, took away the big-mouthed frog plushie, with even Xu Yao holding one in her hand. This scene was also captured on camera.

Aside from Country E, who was the host nation and was naturally busy promoting the New Youth Games, the surrounding countries were actually not very interested, after all, this wasn’t the Olympics.

But this set of photos was simply too eye-catching.

Xu Yao, who had once shaken up the fashion industry, had brought over two hundred people to come and watch the competition!

Those who didn’t know the situation might have thought this was just Xu Yao creating hype for the New Youth Games; but surely Xu Yao hadn’t invested in this, right?

However, it must be said that Xu Yao’s grand presence indeed attracted a wave of attention for the New Youth Games.

Not only did some foreign fans start to pay attention to the New Youth Games because of Xu Yao, but domestic fans were even more enthusiastic.

[Waaaah, it’s great to be Xu Yao’s employee! We can even be the first to get all the New Youth Games merchandise!]

[?? What’s going on? I remember this frog was really ugly before, it was even roasted online for having the ability to scare kids. Has my aesthetic sense suddenly changed so drastically in less than a month?]

[Ummm, it shouldn’t be a drastic change in aesthetics, it just looks better than the screenshots. It’s still ugly, but now it looks kind of cute too. Why do I suddenly want to buy it?]

[Ugly things are actually quite cute if you look at it for long enough QAQ, wait—did someone just hold Xu Yao’s hand? It looks like a man’s hand?]

[Holy shit, sis, your eyes are so damn sharp! It really does look like a man is holding Xu Yao’s hand. Hmm, to be honest, the hand looks pretty good; could it be the pretty boy engaged to Xu Yao?]

The screenshot of the mascot had been roasted all over the internet back then. Although the product itself was the same, it felt like the factory had saved its ugliness, and now, it had been turned into something that was ugly-cute.

What Xu Yao wanted was exactly this effect; now this ugly-cute big-mouthed frog had attracted the attention of netizens, just waiting for the New Youth Games to kick off!

“Colleagues, grab your luggage and get on the bus.” He Fan was making arrangements for his colleagues.

“Then I’ll head back to my own place first,” Xu Yao said as she smiled up at Ji Zhengqing.

With so many employees around, Xu Yao didn’t plan to invite Ji Zhengqing to her home in Country E.

Ji Zhengqing smiled. “No problem, I’ll come to pick you up when it’s time to watch the competition.”

After going through a series of immigration procedures, they finally boarded the pre-arranged bus.

This was Li Xiaoli’s first time abroad, and with so many colleagues around, she didn’t feel particularly nervous despite not being very good at English. To her, everything outside the bus window felt exceptionally fresh.

On the bus, a group of colleagues started chatting casually, “Come on, let’s make a bet on where we’ll be staying later.”

Li Xiaoli immediately said, “It must be a five-star hotel; Miss Xu always does this, and I’m already used to it.”

Miss Xu could be quite particular about appearances. She never skimped on herself, and was even more generous to her employees.

Since her own private jet could be provided for her employees, there was no need to worry about their accommodation either! Xu Yao would definitely arrange the best accommodation for them, at least to the standard of a five-star hotel!

“I bet it’ll be at least a five-star hotel. Doesn’t our Sister Yao have hotel investments in Country E?” a girl speculated while holding onto the seat in front. “The hotels are all chains. With Sister Yao’s current net worth, she must own an international hotel chain, right?”

“Ahhh, do you think we’ll have the chance to stay in a presidential suite?” another girl asked with wide eyes full of expectation.

As soon as this was said, many employees recalled when Director Zuo Ning and the others stayed in the platinum suite of the Cloud Summit Hotel, which was comparable to a presidential suite.

Many of them had seen those videos and couldn’t help but feel shocked at the thought of a presidential suite; it was truly the epitome of luxury.

Li Xiaoli cupped her face and said, “I don’t need to stay in the presidential suite. I’d be satisfied just by taking a few beautiful photos.”

They were all in great spirits, feeling extremely relaxed the whole way there. Some chatted with colleagues while taking photos of the scenery outside the window, occasionally sharing them with family back home.

“Wow, is that a manor house? A pure European-style manor house, so beautiful.”

“Is that a castle? I’ve seen it in dramas before, quick, take a few pictures!”

“Looks like a private residence. I wish we could stay there for a night.”

The highly artistic relief sculptures, the stone pillars towering over a dozen meters high, and the Gothic architecture with its soaring spires all gave the place an ethereal artistic atmosphere. This castle was extravagant to an astonishing degree. Beyond the vast interconnected complex of buildings, there was even a river resembling a castle moat.

Even some male colleagues who weren’t fond of taking photos couldn’t help but pull out their phones to snap a few pictures of the artistic building.

The bus took a turn and headed towards the extremely extravagant castle.

The vehicle stopped in front of the small river, and the driver said something into the intercom. In front of everyone, the castle opened its drawbridge!

That’s right, a drawbridge!

Once the drawbridge was lowered steadily, the driver stepped on the gas and drove the bus into the private castle. Through the windows, they could see the neatly trimmed greenery and towering pines lining the road.

The bus stopped at the main entrance. The driver turned off the engine, removed the keys, and turned to the astonished crowd, smiling as he said, “Welcome to Country E, everyone. This is Miss Xu Yao’s private castle.”

Inside the buses, everyone fell silent, staring in awe at the exaggeratedly large private castle, which reportedly covers an area of forty hectares.

A butler in a tailcoat led a group of servants, and a very exquisite red carpet was laid out in front of the bus.

Xu Yao had already stepped out of her private luxury car with Lu Ye and He Fan, and the butler greeted her with the utmost sincerity.

“Miss Yaoyao, welcome home.”

Xu Yao smiled and nodded. “Thank you for your hard work.”

This was Xu Yao’s private property, one of over a hundred buildings she had chosen to inherit.

Li Xiaoli closed her mouth, which had dropped open in shock, and suggested, “How about… we get off the bus first…”

As if waking from a dream, all of her colleagues hurriedly grabbed their luggage and got off the bus.

When the people got out of the vehicle, their senses seemed to be amplified to their maximum sensitivity. Facing the towering, artistically rich private castle before them, they felt incredibly small, and everyone was still in disbelief.

This castle was truly a private estate, not something out of a fairy tale.

A girl, pulling her pink suitcase, looked up in a daze at the castle that could only be described as magical, incredulously saying, “I thought Sister Yao would at least arrange for us to stay in a five-star hotel suite, but…”

Their most audacious fantasy was merely to imagine staying in a five-star presidential suite!

As it turns out, reality proved that their imagination was still too lacking, not daring to dream big enough.

All the employees stared blankly at the building before them, their minds filled with—

Their divine boss had brought them to stay in a top-tier castle!

---

there’s definitely discussions on both sides about the ethics of being able to auction of stolen cultural relics vs. repatriation to the original country, with critics of repatriation arguing that:

1. ‘encyclopediac museums’ can prevent culture from being ‘fixed national culture’ and spreads their culture to a wider audience, and

2. even stating that if not for the cultural artefacts being taken away, perhaps they may not have been preserved to the best of their condition by their original home countries… if that were the case, and the sole argument is that you’ve preserved the relic to the best of anyone in the world’s ability, fine—maybe that might’ve been the case 100 years ago, but now, the gap between the developed west and its previous colonies have drastically shrank, so if you’re doing it purely for the love of the game and those original countries now have the proper facilities to preserve these relics’ integrity, then what’s stopping you from giving them back? especially because many of these cultural relics remain relevant to the native people, whether in terms of cultural relevance or national sentiment.

anyway, my personal opinion that absolutely doesn’t represent the author or anyone else’s is firmly against the auctioning of stolen goods. i think it’s unethical that in the end, the people that took the artefacts/the auction house end up profiting when they themself paid next to nothing to obtain it in the first place.

3. the argument that many cultural relics that were taken “legally” back then were actually done so under coercion and a threat of violence—how could that be considered “willingly given up”? that’s why i think that argument is bullshit.

of course, because these things can be auctioned off, there’s also the monetary incentive it gives to grave robbers and ultimately helps maintainsa lucrative market for stolen goods.

i think the quote below perfectly describes why i’m against the argument that western countries could keep it better than their original home country:

The CEO of Poly Culture (an offshoot of China Poly Group focused on art-repatriation and antiquities), Jiang Yingchun, has been quoted as saying: “The [twelve zodiac bronze] heads represent our feelings for the entire nation; we love them and we weep for them. We can try many ways to get the heads back. The auction is just one method. We can’t ignore that the art was taken illegally,” even if it was being well cared for, he said. “If you kidnapped my children and then treated them well, the crime is still not forgiven.”

anyways, long rant is over. it’s definitely a nuanced discussion, and i’m not saying that there’s a straightforward solution. perhaps i’m just quite passionate about the looting of treasures during the century of humiliation since it hits quite close to home as someone of chinese descent. i’m not too clear on the cultural relics of other countries, but i do cry a little whenever i think of the last greek “lost sister” still standing alone in the british museum and the spot specially reserved for her if she ever returns to greece QAQ WHEN I GET YOU BRITISH MUSEUM ISTG.

if you’d like to watch a short video on a stolen artifact from china, here’s a short video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ajZSAMjjsXM it’s quite a cool watch, tho i can’t lie, i did cry watching this the first time QAQ maybe my threshold for tears is just super low. it’s sad how many cultural relics from india, china, and other previously colonised or looted countries remain in their coloniser’s museums.

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1. “Injected with chicken blood” is a Chinese slang expression meaning suddenly becoming extremely excited, energized, or motivated. It comes from a past health fad involving chicken-blood injections and is now used humorously to describe overenthusiastic behavior. ↩︎
2. The Old Summer Palace bronze heads represent the twelve animals of the Chinese zodiac, serving historically as an 18th-century, European-style water clock fountain in Beijing. Designed by Jesuits for Emperor Qianlong, they symbolize a blend of Chinese and Western culture, and are now considered potent symbols of Chinese national heritage, cultural repatriation, and historical suffering. ↩︎
3. “Versailles” (凡尔赛) is Chinese internet slang for humblebragging—showing off wealth, success, or privilege while pretending to be modest. The term references the luxurious Palace of Versailles and is often used jokingly online. ↩︎

this chapter is brought to you by mio
as translator, proofreader and editor!

---

The faint smile on Ji Zhengqing’s face froze for a moment.

C-close down?

Ji Zhengqing looked at the sign hanging at the entrance of the ticket booth, indicating that the museum was only open on weekends and Wednesdays and Thursdays, while a typical museum usually only closed for one day a week.

Ji Zhengqing walked up to the ticket booth, where there was only one ticket seller inside. She was napping with her head resting on the table, a small fan whirring away beside her.

Ji Zhengqing: “…”

It really didn’t seem like it was being run properly… 

Suppressing the sudden feeling of “getting off on an inauspicious start,” Ji Zhengqing lightly tapped his finger on the window and asked, “Can I buy a ticket here?”

Private museums are different from public ones. Since public museums are state-run, visitors can enter for free with just their ID, but private museums rely on ticket sales for revenue, so admission requires a ticket fee, though the prices are usually quite reasonable.

The ticket seller woke up at the sound, and upon seeing a tall and handsome man wanting to buy a ticket, she was momentarily stunned before quickly responding, “For how many people? One ticket is 58 yuan.”

Ji Zhengqing said it was for two. He took the two tickets handed over by the ticket seller, and walked into the museum with Xu Yao.

Lu Ye and the others hurried off to buy a few tickets as well, planning to follow them shortly after.

“Brother Lu, President Ji sure is something alright, who chooses to go on a date in this godforsaken museum?” one bodyguard grumbled, holding their ticket.

“I’ve had three or four girlfriends, and never once have I thought of taking my girlfriend to a museum,” another bodyguard whispered in agreement.

It was truly quite a puzzling situation. Normally, a museum wouldn’t stir up much of a sweet or romantic ambiance, right?

Lu Ye and his group kept his distance about twenty meters from Xu Yao. Lu Ye’s gaze remained fixed on Xu Yao, his expression tense with vigilance.

“Brother Lu, you can relax a bit, there are hardly any people here.”

Lu Ye felt even more tense upon hearing this, frowning as he said, “Fewer people makes it even more dangerous.”

Xu Yao’s current status wasn’t ordinary anymore. Now that she was in the spotlight, she was practically a walking target for criminals.

Hua Country is a society governed by the rule of law. If President Ji had taken Xu Yao to a crowded place, wouldn’t the criminals have at least been wary of the surrounding crowd? But here, with so few people, it really would be more dangerous if there truly were criminals here.

Lu Ye’s words made all the bodyguards more alert, paying attention to everything around them.

The Guanya Museum had very few visitors. When Xu Yao and her group reached the entrance, they even saw a few plump cats of various colors sprawled out on the cool tiles due to the hot weather, now fast asleep.

When these cats noticed strangers had arrived, they suddenly woke up and darted away to hide in the nearby bushes.

Ji Zhengqing: “…”

It really did look like this museum was about to close down. If there had been more visitors, how could these cats be so skittish at the sight of people?

They scanned their tickets and entered. Xu Yao immediately noticed something unusual—

“Is it still this hot inside the museum?”

Compared to other museums where the indoor temperature could be cold enough to wear a coat in summer, this place felt like a steamer; sweat was rolling down Xu Yao’s forehead.

The elderly man in charge of checking tickets had a flushed face and kept saying, “Isn’t this in response to the national call to save electricity? You all go in and look around; I’ll notify the curator that we have visitors, and turn on the air conditioning on the way.”

Fearing that these hard-to-come-by visitors might leave, the old man even shoved his bamboo fan into Ji Zhengqing’s hands and hurried off to the curator’s office.

There were visitors! About ten had come today, and they had already earned over eight hundred just from ticket sales!

Xu Yao and her group exchanged glances. Was the air conditioning only turned on because there were visitors? Was this museum in such dire straits?

Holding onto the idea that they might as well take a look around since they had already come all this way here, Xu Yao walked inside.

Most of the lights in the exhibition hall were off, leaving only a few dim lights overhead. Even the lights in the display cases seemed rather weak, indicating that the curator was indeed trying hard to save electricity.

Even if the air conditioning was turned on immediately, it would still take a while for the place to cool down completely. Xu Yao was sweating lightly, and given the state of the museum, she didn’t dare hope for any refreshing products like cultural ice creams to cool her down.

A cool breeze suddenly brushed against Xu Yao’s face, one after another.

Xu Yao looked at Ji Zhengqing’s slightly awkward handsome face appearing from time to time through the bamboo fan.

President Ji was personally fanning her!

Seeing that he and that rustic bamboo fan seemed a bit mismatched, Xu Yao found it somewhat amusing.

At that moment, Ji Zhengqing was currently regretting his decision to not consult Assistant Li’s opinion. Although this assistant seemed a bit obsessed with romance, at the very least, he definitely wouldn’t make such a big mistake like this.

To mess up his first date like this—he might as well have just stuck to going to a restaurant.

They first entered the goldware exhibition hall. Even though the lights in the display cases were not very bright, Xu Yao was still stunned by the rows of items in the exhibition hall.

“So much gold,” Xu Yao exclaimed, bending down to look at a gold bowl in the display case. “This bowl is so beautiful, with such intricate and hollowed out patterns. It definitely doesn’t look like it was made just for holding rice.”

Ji Zhengqing fanned her while explaining, “This should be an item from the reign of Emperor Dezong. During that time, gold bowls were used for sacrificial rites. This should be a ceremonial item used for human sacrifices by the royal family.”

Xu Yao couldn’t help but take another glance at Ji Zhengqing. With him around, there was no need for her to rent an audio guide for the exhibition hall.

From small gold hairpins to entire Buddha statues casted in gold, Ji Zhengqing could provide detailed explanations with just a glance, even weaving the stories behind certain artifacts into his explanations.

Telling stories actually requires talent, and he could make a tiny anecdote sound extremely vivid.

This clearly wasn’t something that could be achieved just by doing his due diligence in advance. Xu Yao looked at Ji Zhengqing with curiosity. “You seem to know a lot about this?”

Ji Zhengqing smiled, continuing to fan Xu Yao as he said, “My grandfather loved collecting cultural artifacts during his lifetime. This little bit is just what I’ve picked up from him.”

Xu Yao’s eyes lit up, and she stepped closer to ask, “So your family has many valuable collections?”

In the dim light of the exhibition hall, Ji Zhengqing looked down and saw a round bead of sweat trickling down Xu Yao’s fair and delicate nose. He didn’t know what perfume she was wearing, but it smelled delightful.

Ji Zhengqing unconsciously slowed his fanning motion and said, “In the past, our family focused on developing in Europe. You should also be aware of the fact that many of our cultural artifacts have ended up lost overseas. My grandfather loved to acquire collections, so we do have quite a few.”

Ordinary rich second-generation heirs flaunt their wealth by showcasing villas, luxury cars, and beautiful women, but what truly separates a tycoon from others is their collections. Just the collection of Old Master Ji during his lifetime was worth billions.

Xu Yao immediately said, “Qingqing, I really want to go to your house.”

Her home, filled with luxury bags, clothes, and jewelry, suddenly felt inadequate in comparison to the Ji family’s collection.

Ji Zhengqing’s fanning had completely stopped. Seeing the sweat on his forehead, Xu Yao recalled how he had been fanning her the whole time, while he himself hadn’t felt even a hint of that breeze. Her heart softened, and she took a wet wipe from her bag. “Let me help you wipe your sweat.”

The cool wet wipe touched his forehead, carrying a faint scent of mint.

Her fingertip touched his forehead through the wet wipe, she could feel the warmth of his skin.

Xu Yao had always known he was handsome. Her grandfather had vetted her fiancé in every aspect before he passed away. But today, it seemed like this was the first time she had been close enough to Ji Zhengqing to realise it. His features were exceptionally striking, and even after having seen so many handsome men in the entertainment industry, he was still unmatched.

“It seems… the air conditioning is on,” Xu Yao said, sliding the wet wipe down to cover Ji Zhengqing’s gaze.

Ji Zhengqing removed the wet wipe from his face and smiled at Xu Yao, “Yes, the air conditioning is on again.”

He then whispered, “Come to my house another day to see the collection.”

The museum had indeed turned the air conditioning back on, but the curator had probably set it to a higher temperature, just enough to make the indoor environment comfortable, so that they could also save electricity.

The lights in the exhibition hall gradually brightened, making the venue feel more spacious.

With the lights turned on, Xu Yao suddenly spotted a golden tree in the center!

“Let’s go take a look.” Xu Yao grabbed Ji Zhengqing’s wrist and pulled him toward the tall golden tree.

This golden tree was estimated to be seven or eight meters high, with branches made of gold growing in all directions, and leaves made of jade.

Was this the legendary “golden branches and jade leaves¹“?

Seeing Xu Yao release his hand, Ji Zhengqing stood behind her and said, “This piece should be a replica.”

A replica?

Before Xu Yao could respond, a smiling voice came from not far away, “The young man has a good eye.”

An elegant elderly lady wearing reading glasses approached them, and Xu Yao immediately guessed her identity, “Are you the curator of Guanya Museum?”

The elderly lady nodded with a smile. “Yes, I am the curator.”

She looked at the exhibit with them and said, “It’s true that this is a replica. The genuine piece has long been rented out to another city’s museum for many years now.”

The old curator had originally planned to explain the exhibits to the visitors, but it seemed that wouldn’t be necessary now.

Looking at the exhibit, the elderly lady said in a soft voice, “You should be the last group of visitors to Guanya Museum.”

Tears misted in her eyes that were hidden by the reading glasses, but she forced a smile nevertheless. “It’s an honor to still receive visitors before the museum’s permanent closure.”

This topic felt somewhat melancholic.

Xu Yao knew that while private museums operated independently, the government also provided subsidies for such institutions.

The old curator shared that she had been a conservator in her youth, and some of the collection belonged to her, while others were donations. That was why there weren’t many items in the exhibition hall.

Due to its remote location, the museum had few artifacts on display, with many of the few treasures it had once possessed having been rented out by a shortsighted former curator. As a result, this led to a sharp decline in visitors, with the museum now losing money to the point where they couldn’t even afford to keep the air conditioning running.

These days, there aren’t many people still willing to visit museums.

The elderly lady recalled how the former curator had taken personal collections, leaving only the donated items, and had firmly stated that the Guanya Museum would never thrive.

They were not major collectors, and the items in the museum were not famous enough to attract large crowds.

Although Curator Ke Meiru had been so adamant back then in opposing the former curator taking his previous collections overseas, she still had to succumb to reality.

Xu Yao caught the key phrase in the old curator’s words. “Is the land for this private museum rented?”

The elderly lady nodded, somewhat bewildered by Xu Yao’s question.

Xu Yao looked at Lu Ye not far away. With just a glance, he immediately understood her meaning and walked over.

“Check if this is land owned by the Xu family.”

If it was, then wouldn’t this be their own tenant?

Lu Ye took a moment to quickly check and soon nodded. “It really is.”

Xu Yao’s lips twitched slightly. Just how much did her Xu family ancestors love hoarding land? Turns out this plot of land really did belong to her family.

Truly, the author of this novel was too bold. They were willing to attribute practically anything to the Xu family, just so they could create an aura of wealth for Xu Jing.

Sometimes, when Xu Yao was tired from outings, she would have Lu Ye or He Fan check which of the rental properties belonging to the Xu family she could go directly to rest in.

Xu Jing had now entrusted all of the rental matters of the Xu family’s properties to Xu Yao, so now, all of it was under her management.

Curator Ke Meiru was still quite confused and did not fully understand Xu Yao’s meaning.

A middle-aged man working in the museum excitedly said, “Curator, this seems to be Xu Yao, the super powerful landlady that young people are always talking about! She’s incredibly popular!”

This uncle occasionally browsed short videos and often saw the news circulating about Xu Yao, hearing that she treated her tenants exceptionally well.

However, he had never expected that Guanya Museum would also be on Xu Yao’s land; after all, it was just too exaggerated. Just how much property did this young landlady have?

The old curator looked bewildered. She understood what being popular meant. To keep up with the younger generation, Guanya Museum had also opened their own official Weibo account, frequently posting promotional images and videos of exhibits, though it didn’t seem to be very popular.

“If Xu Yao helps us advertise our museum on Weibo, there’s no way our museum can’t become popular!” the middle-aged uncle whispered to the elderly lady.

However, the old curator showed no signs of happiness; instead, she looked very worried.

She also understood that with this celebrity effect, tourists could still be briefly attracted to their museum. However, the museum’s outstanding collections and artifacts were simply lacking. With museum’s other outstanding pieces having been rented out at a high price to other private museums by that damned former curator, how could their remaining exhibits possibly retain those briefly-attracted tourists?

But the old lady had always regarded these exhibits as her lifelong work, and deep down, she still hoped that more people would come here to learn about the stories behind each collection.

“Were all these pieces restored by you, Old Curator?” Xu Yao asked, pointing at the items inside the display case through the glass.

Since there were no other visitors and seeing that they didn’t seem to mind, the old lady accompanied Xu Yao and the others on their tour.

The old lady glanced at them with a slight smile. “Yes, this piece was donated by a collector. It took me and a few master craftsmen five years to restore it piece by piece.

“When it was first sent here, its beauty was completely unrecognizable. But just look at how beautiful it looks now.”

The old curator could speak about all the exhibits with ease, effortlessly recounting the stories behind them. She had poured her heart and soul into Guanya Museum, and her every word revealed the deep attachment she felt to the museum.

If it weren’t out of necessity, who would choose to shut down their life’s work in their old age?

They wandered around the museum for several hours, and in the end, it was the old curator, Ke Meiru, who personally saw them out.

Xu Yao smiled and said, “I had a great time at the museum today. I hope to come back next time.”

The old lady was a wise and cultured person and was momentarily taken aback upon sensing the deeper meaning behind Xu Yao’s words.

Originally, they had planned to permanently close Guanya Museum a week later.

The old lady smiled and said, “Alright, next time, Grandma Ke will still come and personally explain the meanings behind those pieces to you.”

Xu Yao and the others bid farewell to the old curator. She watched the setting sun cast shadows on the silhouette of their departing car, then turned back to look at the museum, which had returned to its quiet state before, with a cat leisurely licking its fur in front of the building.

The old curator said, “Tell Old Zhou to turn off the air conditioning. We should still save some electricity.”

Indeed, there was now a glimmer of hope. She didn’t want the museum to close down—didn’t want to retire just yet. If she could, she would be willing to stay behind with these cultural relics for as long as possible.

*

A black luxury car sped down the road, with the driver taking them to the restaurant that Ji Zhengqing had reserved in advance.

Ji Zhengqing observed Xu Yao’s profile and suddenly asked, “How about coming to my house tonight?”

Xu Yao was taken aback. The driver in front abruptly hit the brakes, but quickly pretended that nothing had happened.

Rather, the partition in the car was thoughtfully raised by the driver instead.

Xu Yao: “???”

Wait!? Driver, why are you raising the partition all of a sudden?! We’re not planning on doing anything in particular back here!

Ji Zhengqing immediately realized that his words could be easily misinterpreted. He clenched his fist in front of his lips and coughed lightly, saying, “I meant… I still have quite a few artifacts at home. Would you like to come and pick out a few?”

The museum was definitely the hardest tenant for Xu Yao to help. Providing Liu Feiyang with the best swimming facilities was one thing, but what about the museum?

The geographical location was definitely not the main reason for their low tourist traffic!

The main reason was their collection.

It’s one thing for the former curator to be a short-sighted old man with no vision for the future, but the real issue was the lack of rare artifacts to attract tourists.

But as it turns out, his family had quite a few artifacts, with many rare ones too… 

Xu Yao looked Ji Zhengqing up and down. “Qingqing, you must be the only child in your family, right?”

Ji Zhengqing nodded.

Xu Yao sighed, “No wonder.”

If he weren’t the only child, he probably would’ve already been beaten to death by his parents and late grandfather by now!

He had quite a few artifacts at home and invited her to pick out a few? Just look at how casually President Ji puts it.

If his grandfather knew about this from the afterlife, would he be aware that this was how his grandson was treating his collection?!

“You are my fiancée. It’s different,” Ji Zhengqing said nonchalantly. “Grandpa would definitely understand me.”

Fiancée = future wife, so they would definitely be family in the future.

Xu Yao had traversed through 999 worlds. Although she had never dated anyone during her missions, the one thing she never lacked was men professing their deep feelings for her. Yet, she had always remained unmoved, like a machine focused solely on completing her tasks.

She was his fiancée, and that made things different. So even if she acted boldly and crossed the line a little, there was nothing wrong with it.

Ji Zhengqing said it as though it were the most natural thing in the world—not some vow carefully considered and spoken only in a solemn setting. The words seemed to lightly stir up something in Xu Yao’s heart, leaving her with an unusual feeling inside.

The car stopped in front of the restaurant, and Ji Zhengqing got out first to open the door for Xu Yao. “We’re here.”

Xu Yao reached out to him, and after a few seconds, Ji Zhengqing offered her his hand. Xu Yao placed her hand in his slightly warm one, and got out of the car.

Xu Yao felt his long fingers, noticed the thin calluses on his fingertips, and sensed the slight sweat in his palm.

Ji Zhengqing held Xu Yao’s hand and led her to the reserved private room.

Ji Zhengqing sat down in front of her and pushed the menu toward Xu Yao, asking her gently, “What would you like to eat?”

After Xu Yao had finished ordering a few dishes, Ji Zhengqing still asked her for her opinion, “Are you really not going to my house to pick out some artifacts?”

Although there are plenty of sheep, it’s rare to see such a proactive fat sheep that willingly lets you fleece it.

Xu Yao didn’t outright refuse. She just said they could talk about it in a few days.

“In a while, there will be a large cultural relic auction in Country E. Are you interested?” Ji Zhengqing skillfully cut his steak and pushed the plate toward Xu Yao, casually extending an invitation for their next date.

“Really? Will there be many of our cultural relics there?”

Having been influenced by his grandfather, Ji Zhengqing was quite knowledgeable about this area. He nodded. “Yes, there might be items that were lost from the Old Summer Palace. Would you like to go see them?”

Xu Yao’s eyes sparkled, and her lips curved into a smile. “Sure.”

As they enjoyed their dinner, Xu Yao found the steak at this restaurant quite delicious and planned to eat a few more bites.

Just then, her phone in her crossbody bag vibrated. Xu Yao glanced at the caller ID and decided to answer the call.

“Sister Yaoyao, I passed! I got my driver’s license!”

The voice of a young boy, filled with joy, came from the other end.

Ji Zhengqing vaguely felt that the voice was familiar.

“Did you get your license? Congratulations, Zhaozhao, that’s so impressive!” Xu Yao generously praised.

After graduating from high school, Han Zhao went to learn how to drive. He has taken the driving test twice now. When he failed the first time, although the instructor hadn’t made any sarcastic remarks, the boy’s spirits had still remained quite low.

He felt like a failure, believing that apart from being able to write some computer programs, he was utterly useless and couldn’t accomplish anything else.

Fortunately, many people, including Xu Yao, continued to encourage him, and during his second attempt at the driving test, he passed with a perfect score of one hundred.

Han Zhao held the freshly minted license in his hands, his cheeks still flushed as he said shyly, “it’s still Sister Yaoyao who’s the best; you’re the one who arranged for me to have such a great driving instructor. By the way, Sister Huang, Brother Zhou, and Brother Tian have all gotten their licenses too.”

Xu Yao now had too many employees to count, and her memories of the Sister Huang, Brother Zhou and Brother Tian Han Zhao mentioned remained vague, only recalling that they were all young people who had been arranged to learn how to drive together.

“I should celebrate with you all.” Xu Yao thought that getting a driver’s license was indeed something worth celebrating.

Xu Yao particularly loved giving out red envelopes, often sending them in the rental team’s WeChat group, and frequently privately messaging outstanding employees with red envelopes.

Han Zhao quickly said, “Sister Yaoyao, you don’t need to give out any red envelopes.”

The other employees who had passed their driving tests felt the same way, as the money for their driving school lessons had all come from Xu Yao, and it felt inappropriate for them to also accept her red envelopes.

Xu Yao agreed, “Giving out too many red envelopes does diminish its novelty over time. Han Zhao, do you all have passports?”

Han Zhao was a bit confused by Xu Yao’s sudden shift from discussing driver’s licenses to passports.

However, he still honestly nodded, “Yes, I do.”

When his parents were still on good terms, they would travel abroad as a family. But ever since his parents divorced when he was in middle school, he hadn’t had the chance to see the world outside again.

Xu Yao said decisively, “If you have passports, then everything will be easier. How about we go to Country E next month?”

Han Zhao and the others, who were left in a state of confusion: “……”

Just because they got their driver’s licenses, their generous landlady boss wanted to reward them with a trip to Country E?

This was a trip abroad!

Xu Yao thought she had come up with a brilliant idea.

Her employees worked hard collecting rent for her, and now, they still had to constantly run around in this sweltering heat. Wasn’t a trip abroad a reasonable reward for them?

Xu Yao told Han Zhao and the others to head home early from the driving test venue, and hung up the phone to continue eating.

“Are you taking your employees to Country E for a vacation?” Ji Zhengqing asked.

Xu Yao winked at him. “Anyway, I’m only going to the cultural relic auction with you, not with them.”

Ji Zhengqing’s lips curved into a smile, and he continued to use the serving chopsticks to pick food for Xu Yao.

Xu Yao clicked her tongue in her heart. See? Her fiancé really was too easy to please.

*

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:

“Boris! Boris! Some rich sucker from Asia has written to us!” A middle-aged man with blonde hair and blue eyes read the email carefully, gasping in surprise.

Look what they’d received!

It was an email from Hua Country, and the sender was Xu Yao, who had previously stirred up the global fashion industry.

In the message, she mentioned that she intended to work with a Hua Country plush toy factory called “Fluffy” and hoped to obtain authorization for producing merchandise related to the New Youth Games.

The amount of dollars listed nearly made the middle-aged man short of breath. Everyone had known for centuries that the people of Hua Country had money—what was the difference between this and someone coming and basically handing them money?!

The New Youth Games weren’t as popular as the Olympics. Their level of public attention was far from ideal, and at the moment, only Country E as the host nation seemed truly enthusiastic about it.

The mascot for the New Youth Games had also previously been ridiculed on Facebook for being ugly, with netizens pessimistically predicting that merchandise wouldn’t sell well at all.

And then suddenly, a sucker from Asia appeared, wanting to buy the licensing rights.

If Xu Yao and her team managed to sell the merchandise, according to the licensing contract, they would also be entitled to a small share of the profits.

However, due to the low public attention on the New Youth Games, they had initially hoped to collaborate with a well-known toy factory in an island nation in Asia for licensing rights, but had been rejected.

Now it seemed that going with Xu Yao’s side was also quite good too!

The Western man called Boris waddled over with his beer belly, carefully read through the email, and became so delighted he practically looked ready to float into the air. “Charles, reply to them. Tell them to send over factory samples for inspection. If they meet the standards, we can grant them merchandise licensing rights.”

Unfortunately, they still held some doubts about the quality of products from Hua Country, so they still needed to see the samples before making a decision.

When Xu Yao was sent home by Ji Zhengqing, He Fan quickly approached her and said, “Miss Yaoyao, they replied that they’ll need to see our physical samples before coming to a decision.”

Xu Yao knew that this matter was already more than half successful and asked He Fan to contact Liu Feiyang’s parents to arrange for the samples to be sent.

Ji Zhengqing stared at He Fan and suddenly felt nostalgic for this Assistant He. After all, having a love-brained assistant was not as good as having the lifelong bachelor Assistant He.

He Fan felt a bit nervous under Ji Zhengqing’s gaze and kept repeating, “President Ji, look, my hair has grown! It’s really grown now, almost to several centimeters!”

Ji Zhengqing: “…Congratulations.”

Ji Zhengqing felt a bit uncomfortable. Assistant He possessed extremely high emotional intelligence, meaning this was his silent way of telling him that he would never go back to being his assistant again—otherwise, there was no way for his hair to grow.

Xu Yao thought her fiancé looked a bit pitiful and urged him to go home and rest.

“Also, He Fan, make sure to prepare for our team’s group trip abroad.” Now that they were about to secure the merchandise licensing rights, Xu Yao had another plan in store.

In the rental team’s work group, He Fan suddenly popped up, tagging all members to announce the news.

[He Fan: @everyone Dear colleagues, Miss Yaoyao will be taking you to the New Youth Games in Country E next month to watch the competition as thanks for all your hard work so far. Colleagues who are interested should prepare their passports in advance.]

This was the core group for the team at Xu Yao Rentals, which contained the senior members of the team.

Among them was Li Xiaoli.

She is still working in the urban village of Hai City, but the buildings entrusted to her by Xu Yao have recently increased dramatically. She was no longer just in charge of two buildings in the urban village, but an entire area!

It’s worth noting that Li Xiaoli arrived even earlier than He Fan and is a veteran employee under Xu Yao. Her salary has now risen to over tens of thousands, and she also has several subordinates helping her with her work.

Although she is still living in the urban village, her life is incredibly enjoyable.

Who amongst the netizens doesn’t envy Li Xiaoli’s job? She wakes up naturally every day, checks on the situation after waking up, and is only busy during the few days of the month when she reads the utility meters.

Li Xiaoli is also very satisfied with her current job. Given the generous welfare benefits, she didn’t expect that the overseas trip promised by Xu Yao would actually come true!

The group chat suddenly became extremely lively.

[Passport? I have one! Going to Country E for fun? Great!]

[What kind of competition is the New Youth Games? Is it a large-scale competition? This is the first time I’ve heard of it.]

[Sister Zhou, the New Youth Games is a global competition! I found out that many of our national teams will also be participating. This will be my first time watching a competition live, it should be very interesting. Thank you, Sister Yao!]

[Wahhhhh, do I get to go too? I’ve already lived for over twenty years, yet this is my first time going abroad!]

Seeing everyone discussing the situation so enthusiastically, Xu Yao decided to step in.

[AAAA Professional Rentals Little Xu: If the senior management of this group has no issues with their schedules, they can all go. Additionally, I will probably bring some outstanding employees along. Don’t worry, I will arrange a direct flight to Country E, no layovers!]

Previously, some netizens had complained that Xu Yao’s rental team had benefits as good as a company involved in organ-harvesting. Recently, rumors about organ harvesting have been rampant, and many netizens shared their own experiences online.

One netizen once posted that the company would usually be newly established with excellent benefits. After getting along well with colleagues, the higher-ups would likely announce a collective overseas trip in three months or half a year, only to turn around and sell people to a telecom fraud ring.

The key is that this sort of thing is hard to guard against. Some people’s destinations are not countries where fraud organizations often operate. These employees were taken during layovers, and when they woke up, they found themselves inside a scam ring, unable to call for help.

It’s important to know that the benefits of Xu Yao’s rental team are much better than those of fake organ-harvesting companies.

Xu Yao’s words made many employees chuckle.

Who would dare say that their Sister Yao is involved in organ harvesting?!

Have you ever seen a telecom fraud ring that receives official praise from the authorities?

However, some employees in the group noticed Xu Yao’s wording and were instantly shocked.

[Sister Yao, are you saying that you’ll arrange for a direct flight to Country E? Wait… does that mean you’ll let us take your private jet?]

[I can fly on a private jet? I’ve never even experienced business class in my life, and now, you’re saying I get to first experience the joy of travelling in a private jet?]

That’s Xu Yao’s private jet! Something ordinary employees like them would never even dare to dream of.

Apart from Lu Ye and He Fan, only the respected Old Master Cui Guoqiang could sit on it. Could they also take the boss’s private jet to go abroad to watch a competition?

[AAAA Professional Rentals Little Xu: Yes, that’s the plan so far. However, I don’t have that many private jets, so the other outstanding employees will take a charter flight.]

Xu Yao smiled slightly. Didn’t they say that the New Youth Games weren’t popular enough?

No problem, it just so happens that she is particularly good at marketing. Well, looks like she can only help make this international event popular.

The senior management will take her private jet, while she will charter flights for the other outstanding employees!

What for, you ask?

Of course, it’s to watch the competition, and to cheer for Liu Feiyang, the swimmer from Hua Country! Got a problem with that?

---

IM GIVING UP ON KEEPING TO WORLDBUILDING wdym u use hua country as fictional but then directly name europe and africa HELP i’m abt to crash out QAQ

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1. “Golden branches and jade leaves” is a traditional Chinese expression referring to someone of noble or privileged upbringing, especially a refined and well-protected young woman. ↩︎

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Upon hearing President Ji’s words, Assistant Li just knew he had been categorized as his boss as part of the love-brained faction again.

Assistant Li felt utterly aggrieved—How could he possibly be love-brained?

A normal person wouldn’t even see this as a problem, okay? Only President Ji would still consider Xu Yao’s strange aesthetic.

After his suggestions related to Xu Yao were rejected by Ji Zhengqing, Assistant Li actually felt that it was all pretty amusing.

Ji Zhengqing twirled his sleek black phone in his palm, and after a moment’s thought, he decided—

Whether it’s dating or cultivating feelings with your fiancée, the least they needed to do was to meet up more often.

If they only relied on their phones without meeting in person, what was the difference between that and an online relationship?

Just as Ji Zhengqing was about to message Xu Yao, he suddenly stopped upon recalling that today was one of the days where Xu Yao was learning to swim with Coach Yan Hong.

Xu Yao looked at the sweltering heat outside and sent a voice message: “Coach Yan Hong, how about we meet at the private swimming pool in the Water Cube today?”

It was currently scorching hot. Generally, the summer heat won’t start to dissipate until mid-October, so it’ll still be hot for a while longer.

Xu Yao looked through the floor-to-ceiling window at the blazing sun outside. Looks like people working outdoors would be roasted by the scorching sun today.

He Fan noticed Xu Yao’s expression and immediately said, “Miss Yaoyao, we have prepared bottled water at the entrance of every rental building for outdoor workers to take freely.”

She had a compassionate heart, and thankfully, she also had the ability to act on it.

Xu Yao sighed, “It’s so hot, isn’t there anywhere cool to go?”

Lu Ye immediately looked up summer resort destinations and reported with a serious expression, “There are several scenic tourist areas in the ‘Land South of the Colorful Clouds’ domestically that are suitable for escaping the heat. The Xu family also owns many properties there.

“Country E has also been in a mild temperature state for the past month, and Country A is a globally renowned tourist destination with spring-like weather all year round… The southern hemisphere is also still in winter, so if Miss Yaoyao is afraid of the cold, I wouldn’t recommend going.”

Xu Yao nodded. In such hot weather, wasn’t it quite normal for an outstanding landlady to go abroad for a vacation to escape the heat?

As Xu Yao was thinking, her phone vibrated gently. Coach Yan Hong replied to her with an “ok” emoji.

Although Coach Yan Hong didn’t care where she taught her students, she still couldn’t help but secretly gasp in awe.

The swimming equipment at the Water Cube private swimming pool was absolutely comparable to that of the Olympics, and even the facilities inside were more luxurious to meet the needs of the wealthy. Even she had only been there once or twice with the help of colleagues.

It’s really good to be rich. The wealthy landlady was just learning to swim, not participating in competitions, and yet, she could still gain access to the most professional and luxurious venues and equipment.

Xu Yao and Coach Yan Hong took the elevator directly to the underground parking lot. The driver drove straight from the underground parking lot to the Water Cube private swimming pool, ensuring Xu Yao was not exposed to the scorching sun at all.

Since the Water Cube swimming pool had already been rented out to Liu Feiyang’s family for a monthly rent of ten thousand, the swimming pool was very quiet.

As Xu Yao and Coach Yan Hong walked into the swimming pool, they happened to see a figure in the blue pool darting around like a giant shark, wildly gliding through the water, arms swiftly slicing through the surface and spraying water droplets, truly resembling a fish that could fly in the water.

Yan Hong’s gaze was immediately captivated by that figure in the pool, watching Liu Feiyang practice on his own.

After swimming to the edge, Liu Feiyang took off his goggles and wiped his face with his hand, decisively climbing out of the water to greet Xu Yao enthusiastically, “Hello, Sister Yaoyao.”

The swimming pool staff immediately draped a large towel over Liu Feiyang. Liu Feiyang’s eyes shone brightly as he looked at Xu Yao, even seeming to sparkle.

Previously, Liu Feiyang had only been able to overhear others talk about how advanced and impressive the Water Cube private swimming pool in the capital was, but after now experiencing it himself, he realized that the pool here was truly worlds apart from the pool at his school!

Training here means there are still dozens of people serving just him, always paying attention to his every move.

Training here means there’s no need to worry about other students coming to the pool to play and affecting his progress.

Training here means there’s even less need to worry about a few low-quality male classmates secretly relieving themselves in the pool!

Even if it weren’t for this being his final practice before the competition, a simple vacation here would still make him reluctant to leave. Here, the aquatic center also has a professional restaurant that not only provides food to replenish energy after swimming, but it’s also delicious yet nutritious.

Here, the monthly rent is just ten thousand yuan.

Even the dullest person would know that this is definitely Xu Yao looking out for their family, or more precisely, for Liu Feiyang!

Clearly, they were just strangers before, with their only connection being that his parents rented a stall from Xu Yao in Xinyi Trade City.

The three of them live in the rooms attached to the aquatic centre, which primarily catered toward the wealthy second-generation elites of the capital city, so of course, the luxury of these rooms goes without saying.

Liu Feiyang still remembers how his dad gave himself a resounding slap on the face last night, covering his face in pain in front of him and his mom while saying, “I can’t believe I secretly scolded the landlord of Xinyi Trade City for charging such high rent for the store area. I really deserve to die.”

Although it’s expensive, it’s worth every penny.

So when Liu Feiyang happened to see Xu Yao again, he was even more excited than the first time he met her.

Xu Yao looked up at Liu Feiyang, marveling in her heart at how this younger brother had grown so tall, truly a natural-born athlete.

Xu Yao smiled and asked, “Are you all getting used to living in the aquatic center with your family?”

“Yes!” Liu Feiyang nodded vigorously, like a chick pecking at rice, his black hair flinging off cold droplets of water. Seeing the droplets about to splash onto Xu Yao, he quickly stepped back, only to stumble back into the pool, splashing water everywhere.

Xu Yao couldn’t help but laugh at the comical sight of this younger brother, while Liu Feiyang wiped the water off his face and leaned over the edge of the pool, looking up at Xu Yao and laughing joyfully.

“Hey, young man, are you a professional swimmer?” Yan Hong, who had been waiting for the two to finish their small talk, couldn’t help but ask Liu Feiyang as soon as he got back out of the pool.

Liu Feiyang shook his head. “No, I’m an amateur, but I joined the school swimming team a while ago.”

Yan Hong recalled Liu Feiyang’s 200-meter freestyle just now and her eyelids twitched. “No way, major universities often recommend their talents to the national team.”

Who is Yan Hong? She was the former head coach of the national team! Her discerning eye could immediately tell at a glance whether someone was a talented swimmer.

Yan Hong thought, Surely major universities wouldn’t have let Liu Feiyang slip through their fingers, right? Although other coaches might not have her keen eye, they weren’t blind either.

Liu Feiyang casually revealed his own shortcomings, saying, “Uh… I was a complete novice before I turned seventeen.”

The path of sports is actually quite cruel, as athletes start training at a very young age. Many are selected at just eight or nine years old, moving from city teams to provincial teams, before finally being chosen for the national team to compete in the Olympics.

Being a complete novice before seventeen would definitely explain a lot.

But when Coach Yan Hong heard this, she stared at Liu Feiyang with wide eyes, as if she had seen a ghost, asking incredulously, “So you reached this level in just three or four years?”

And without the guidance of a professional head coach?

Yan Hong looked at Liu Feiyang as if she had just discovered a rare treasure.

Liu Feiyang didn’t seem to feel much joy upon hearing such words from the former national team head coach. Instead, he seemed so shocked that his mouth hung open, his shoulders slumped and unable to speak for a long time.

Yan Hong didn’t understand what the young man meant and could only look to Xu Yao for help.

Xu Yao sighed, “Coach Yan Hong, does our Feiyang look that old? He’s only nineteen this year, where on earth did you get that he was twenty or twenty-one years old?”

Liu Feiyang nodded heavily in despair!

Right!

He was still a nineteen-year-old young man, so how did he suddenly seem to have aged two years for no reason? What young person can handle being told they look two years older than they actually are?

Yan Hong almost lost her temper on the spot upon hearing them banter on the same wavelength.

Is this what they were focusing on? Can’t they get their priorities straight?

The point is, this kid is nineteen this year, has only been swimming for two years, and yet has reached that level…

Yan Hong could no longer control her trembling body. She grabbed Xu Yao’s hand, extremely excited, saying, “Miss Yaoyao, you are now the benefactor of the entire national swimming team! What a promising talent you’ve discovered for the national team!”

Xu Yao smiled and said, “To enter the national team through special means, the requirement must be for there to be some impressive competition results, right?”

Since others have been selected step by step through their own hard work, why should he be allowed to be admitted in directly? No one would agree to that.

Yan Hong also understood this reasoning and felt as if she had misspoken out of excitement. Fairness is valued particularly highly, especially by those in sports.

Xu Yao suggested, “Since this younger brother is about to participate in the New Youth Games in Country E, I’d like to ask you to give him some final pre-competition training.”

Liu Feiyang looked at Xu Yao in disbelief. Was the former head coach of the national team going to give him his final pre-competition training?

But he… he was just going to the New Youth Games to make up the numbers.

Liu Feiyang’s mind was filled with thoughts of “What have I done to deserve this?” and “Am I even worthy?”

Having studied abroad, Liu Feiyang had only heard a little about Xu Yao, the landlady, and had only heard from friends in the international student circle that they’d be extremely joyful just being able to rent a place overseas from Xu Yao.

Now he finally understood; it really did seem quite joyful.

Getting Xu Yao’s help just by renting her place made him feel as if he had just taken a huge leap forward in progress.

Naturally, Yan Hong also knew about the New Youth Games being held in Country E, as several national team members would also be participating. Although the New Youth Games was certainly not as prestigious as the Olympics or World Cup, even with low recognition for it domestically, which athlete hasn’t gone through countless competitions to get where they are?

Yan Hong had high hopes for Liu Feiyang. When Xu Yao proposed this, she immediately agreed, but then felt something was off. “But Miss Xu Yao, what about your swimming lessons?”

Liu Feiyang immediately raised his hand enthusiastically and said, “Sister Yaoyao wants to learn to swim? I can teach you.”

Unlike Han Zhao, who was introverted and shy due to the suffering he had faced, Liu Feiyang was a child raised with love from both his parents, so his personality was in fact, actually rather outgoing and was an extremely proactive person.

Xu Yao ignored the enthusiastic Liu Feiyang and instead smiled at Yan Hong. “Coach Yan Hong, you don’t need to worry about me. It’s easy for me to find another coach, and… I think I can go solo now.

“I’ll talk to Ji Zhengqing about it.”

Yan Hong agreed wholeheartedly. With Xu Yao’s current level, she really could graduate from swimming lessons now. Even if she weren’t participating in swimming competitions, Xu Yao’s skills were more than enough for use in an emergency.

Liu Feiyang had already noticed that Xu Yao was followed by two people, among whom Lu Ye was the most eye-catching. He stepped forward to compare heights with Lu Ye and found that he was probably one or two centimeters shorter than him.

Liu Feiyang could only comfort himself, “It’s okay, I can still grow taller.”

Lu Ye didn’t respond, but He Fan, who was standing nearby, was quite satisfied with his height of just over 180 centimeters. He didn’t have any expectations of growing any taller, but it would be nice if his hair could grow a bit more.

“Miss Yaoyao, please take a seat here. We have fruits and some snacks,” the swimming pool director interjected at the right moment. “Or would you prefer something else?”

Xu Yao sat down at the intricately carved round table outside the pool, gently shaking her head as she looked at the exquisite afternoon tea.

So, while enjoying her afternoon tea, she was also able to watch how the future genius of the swimming world practiced in the pool. This kid truly deserved to be called the “monster in the swimming world” by foreigners, with explosive power and learning ability that were top-notch.

Liu Feiyang was already someone who possessed an immense amount of talent for swimming, and with Yan Hong’s professional guidance, he was definitely going to unleash a performance that was sure to shock the world.

When Yan Hong accidentally overheard from Liu Feiyang that their family spent ten thousand yuan a month to rent the Water Cube private swimming pool, she was left in a daze.

This isn’t how you do charity!

If this price were made public, wouldn’t swimming teams from all over the country rent it for decades without letting go?

At that moment, Yan Hong, who prided herself on her judgement, felt a bit ashamed.

Xu Yao not only had an excellent eye for talent, but more importantly, she dared to take action.

Since Xu Yao believed in Liu Feiyang, she decisively rented the best swimming pool to the Liu family for ten thousand yuan a month, then immediately invited her to give Liu Feiyang his final pre-competition training, showcasing her exceptional decisiveness.

“Let’s eat here before heading back,” Xu Yao suggested to Lu Ye and He Fan.

After all, she still had other people to meet today, and it would be a waste for her to leave now.

The restaurant at the swimming pool promptly received them. Having no plans for a diet anytime soon, Xu Yao freely ordered several nutritious dishes.

Xu Yao looked at Lu Ye, who was quietly eating across from her, and proactively picked up a piece of fish fillet for him. “Here, eat more. Our Brother Lu is busy every day collecting rent for me. Not only is he excellent, but he also works diligently, so he needs to eat more to replenish his energy.”

He Fan, who had managed to become Ji Zhengqing’s chief assistant, naturally possessed a high emotional intelligence beyond question. He immediately smiled and ate without interrupting much.

Xu Yao had always known that Lu Ye lacked confidence in himself. Unlike He Fan, who was able to climb step by step to become President Ji’s right-hand man with his exceptional ability, Lu Ye had actually only been a marginal figure assigned by Xu Jing to manage the Xu’s family properties before meeting Xu Yao.

He saw himself as Xu Yao’s bodyguard, and his tall and strong physique seemed to be his only advantage. However, with Liu Feiyang, who had overlapping advantages with him, now appearing, Lu Ye could vaguely assume that Liu Feiyang would be able to earn a significant amount of money for Xu Yao in the future.

Lu Ye looked at the fish fillet in his bowl and then at Xu Yao. “Excellent?”

Xu Yao nodded affirmatively. “Of course. If Brother Lu wasn’t excellent, why would I have asked my brother if I could take you away? I’ve never been wrong in my judgement before, isn’t that right, Brother Fan?”

Suddenly called out, He Fan immediately replied, “That’s right.” Since he was someone Xu Yao had also recognized, he naturally agreed with her judgment.

Lu Ye smiled silently and lowered his head to eat.

While Liu Feiyang stood in front of everyone, accepting the applause of the world, he just needed to stand quietly behind her.

As Lu Ye quietly ate the fish fillet in his bowl, Xu Yao gradually sensed that something was off.

Xu Yao looked at Lu Ye, who was frantically picking at the fish fillets, and said helplessly, “Don’t just eat the fish fillet! Eat some of the other dishes too.”

Lu Ye: “… Oh, okay.”

“Miss Xu Yao, are we interrupting your meal?” Liu Feiyang’s parents rushed over after hearing Xu Yao was at the swimming pool, immediately closing their store in Xinyi Trade City.

Xu Yao was wiping her mouth with a tissue, smiling as she greeted the travel-worn parents of Liu Feiyang.

“My property manager at Xinyi Trade City told me that you don’t plan to sublet your store anymore?”

Upon hearing this, Liu Zhentian immediately caught her underlying meaning. Xu Yao was clearly paying close attention to their family!

Thinking of that envelope, Liu Zhentian spoke tentatively, “Miss Yaoyao, what about what you mentioned before regarding the merchandise for the New Youth Games?”

He Fan and Lu Ye had also finished their meals by now. Lu Ye signaled for the staff to come and clear the dishes, while He Fan stood up to pull out chairs for the two.

“Miss Yaoyao, you know I’m a businessman, and right now, I really need an opportunity to make a comeback,” Liu Zhentian said without hiding anything. “I’ve thought long and hard, but I really can’t figure out how making the merchandise for the New Youth Games could possibly bring in a profit.”

First, the New Youth Games doesn’t attract much attention domestically, let alone internationally, so even if they produced merchandise for it, it was uncertain whether or not it would sell well.

Second, merchandise for such large-scale events often requires licensing that authorises merchandise to be produced. Although their factory did indeed have the capability to produce higher quality items, without authorization, it would be considered piracy, and with how strict foreign copyright laws are, the only result waiting for them would be a multinational lawsuit.

So after thinking it over, Liu Zhentian and Hu Qiuju still couldn’t figure out how they were supposed to make money from this.

Xu Yao didn’t bother beating around the bush either. “You don’t need to worry about the authorization regarding the New Youth Games merchandise for the Asia region. With the cooperation of the factory behind you, Boss Liu, I’ll definitely have no trouble securing the licensing for it.”

Xu Yao deeply understood the importance of connections. Long before she gained fame abroad with Ming Chan’s Shining Star, her team had already established connections with various parties overseas, so reaching out to the New Youth Games wouldn’t be very difficult for her.

The most important thing was that this wasn’t the Olympics! If it were the Olympics, Xu Yao wouldn’t have had the confidence to claim she could secure the merchandise licensing, but in regards to the New Youth Games, she was quite confident. After all, if there were any shortcomings, it was only a matter of having enough money.

Liu Feiyang had given her a life-sized plush toy, which Xu Yao found to be incredibly soft and comfortable, with superb craftsmanship that felt anything but cheap.

Mother Liu, Hu Qiuju, remained unconvinced, saying, “But Miss Xu Yao, the attention surrounding the New Youth Games isn’t that high.”

Although the couple often spoke of it as a major event in front of their son, they were well aware of the reality.

Xu Yao took the warm water that Lu Ye handed her, smiling as she said, “What if Feiyang makes a stunning debut on the field? Wouldn’t the domestic attention explode then?”

The couple exchanged glances in disbelief. Could that really happen? Was Miss Xu Yao that confident in their own son? Even they themselves didn’t have that confidence!

“If he can’t,” Xu Yao set down her cup with a smile, “I also have a backup plan.”

Marketing? Who couldn’t do that? She had even previously managed to make an obscure little game known worldwide. In any case, she doesn’t make a losing deal.

Liu Zhentian and Hu Qiuju were now in an extremely difficult situation. They were already tens of millions in debt due to an absconded order, and if they took another gamble and went all in, only to have made another wrong move, they could very well end up jumping off a building.

To proceed or not to proceed?

Liu Zhentian was still hesitating when his wife, Hu Qiuju, decisively said, “Then let’s proceed according to Miss Xu Yao’s plan. Let’s go for it!”

Liu Zhentian was taken aback, but Hu Qiujun continued, “Miss Xu Yao has no grudge against us and has no reason to harm us. Without us, she could easily find another plush toy supplier.”

After all, there were still plenty in Xinyi Trade City!

Most importantly, Xu Yao was currently famous, known for helping her tenants, and if anything went wrong, she would inevitably end up taking the heat.

Liu Zhentian’s lips twitched as he realized his wife’s reasoning made sense.

Opportunities missed would not come again. Their initial wealth had also been amassed through seizing an opportunity. To make money, one had to be bold and seize the opportunity!

“However, we are currently a bit short on funds.”

Behind them, He Fan chuckled, and the couple immediately understood. What did funds mean to Xu Yao? She was a top-tier landlady who could make money even while lying down!

Liu Zhentian clenched his fists. “In that case, we’ll contact the factory immediately, and cooperate with you, Miss Xu Yao, to obtain the licensing from New Youth Games to produce the related merchandise. Then, we’ll start the customization process right away.”

Although Liu Zhentian might lack confidence in other areas, he was confident in his decades of experience in making plush toys. Their quality was on par with foreign products, and now all they needed was just the copyright label!

Xu Yao looked at He Fan, who nodded in understanding. “Miss Yaoyao, rest assured, we will immediately follow up with Bo’en Law Firm in regards to the cooperation contract.”

Satisfied, Xu Yao stood up. “Then let’s head home. We’ve been out long enough.”

She truly was a hardworking landlady, to the point where she even worried that her tenants might be compelled to jump off a building due to their tens of millions of debt in goods. She really was dedicated to her work.

Little Six had already become completely numb to Xu Yao’s actions of helping her tenants while crazily reaping the benefits from the Quick Transmigration Bureau. The little sprite could only keep comforting itself.

After all, it wasn’t the one being taken advantage of, so who cares?

Xu Yao, along with Lu Ye and He Fan, walked out of the swimming pool restaurant and saw Yan Hong and Liu Feiyang coming over to eat.

Liu Feiyang felt a bit down when he saw Xu Yao was leaving.

As he watched Xu Yao’s back that was gradually growing further and further away from him, he suddenly remembered something and hurriedly asked, “Sister Yaoyao, I have three other classmates who also qualified for the New Youth Games. Can they come to the swimming pool in the Water Cube to practice too?”

There was more than one pool at the aquatic center, and Liu Feiyang felt it was a bit wasteful to use it all just for himself. Besides, they were all competing with the goal of bringing glory to their country. He was an athlete of Hua Country, and so were his other classmates.

Xu Yao turned around, slightly astonished. “Do you need a landlord’s permission to invite classmates to your own home? Also, thank you for the dinner at the restaurant today.”

Momentarily stunned, Liu Feiyang quickly understood Xu Yao’s meaning, a warm feeling welling up in his heart.

Being able to use the swimming pool in the Water Cube just by paying a monthly rent of ten thousand yuan, Liu Feiyang always felt as if he were in a dream. He had always thought of it just as him borrowing the place, but Xu Yao’s subsequent words gave him a sense of security.

So what if the rent was ten thousand a month?

They had a formal rental contract—the Water Cube was now their home! He was the owner here.

Liu Feiyang suddenly understood why those slightly handsome college boys online always liked to keep an eye on Xu Yao’s schedule.

Ah, Sister is too cute!

Besides, Xu Yao was only twenty-two, just a few years older than him!

“Practice well, I’ll be back.” Xu Yao waved her hand and left with Lu Ye and He Fan.

Liu Feiyang watched Xu Yao’s disappearing figure, his throat bobbing as he swallowed back a question he wanted to ask.

One shouldn’t be too greedy. He had just wanted to ask if Sister Yaoyao had time to go to Country E to watch the New Youth Games.

Thinking of that possibility, with Xu Yao sitting in the stands among tens of thousands of others, while he and others would be competing on the world stage, his young body couldn’t help but feel fired up with enthusiasm.

*

As Xu Yao and the others left the Water Cube, the sky had already darkened, yet the temperature remained hot. She quickly returned to the car to escape the heat and took out her phone to pass time.

[Ji Zhengqing: How was your swimming lesson today?]

Xu Yao: “…”

Taking a look at Ji Zhengqing’s message, Xu Yao couldn’t help but feel that her fiancé was quite the fool. Why did he always send her such talented people?

One still had to repay kindness with sincerity. Rather than letting Ji Zhengqing discover from others that he had been taken advantage of by his fiancée again, it was better for her to inform him of the matter herself.

Xu Yao simply called him, and the other party picked up quickly.

“Qingqing, let me be honest with you. I’ve arranged for Coach Yan Hong, who you set me up with, to use her talents elsewhere.” 

As Xu Yao listened closely, she noticed it was silent on the other end. She did a double-take at her phone screen to confirm that they were still on the call.

Was he angry?

Xu Yao glanced at He Fan beside her, recalling the fashion designer from last time, and suddenly understood a principle—

There’s a limit to everything. Even the most patient man is bound to get angry eventually, right?

As far as Xu Yao could remember, she had never seen Ji Zhengqing lose his temper before. She had only ever heard of He Fan occasionally complaining about how President Ji always exuded an intimidating presence in the conference room, making everyone feel like they were facing a formidable enemy. They could only bow their heads down, afraid of being called out by him. Attending his meetings felt like they were going to the gallows.

Meanwhile, He Fan was still smiling, holding a tablet in his hands, looking calm and composed.

Ji Zhengqing finally spoke up, “What… did you call me?”

Xu Yao recalled that she had just called him “Qingqing,” right?

…Wait, his focus was on what she called him? Not on Coach Yan Hong being transferred?

Qingqing, Yaoyao.

Ji Zhengqing smiled slightly. “If you want to arrange for her to go somewhere else, go ahead, it’s fine.”

Ji Zhengqing remembered how Xu Yao had previously sent all the fashion designers to work on a game without telling him, primarily to take advantage of the situation, even if it came with the cost of offending her fiancé.

Now that Xu Yao had called to inform him, what did that imply?!

Assistant Li sat in the passenger seat, keeping his head down and trying to be invisible.

Ji Zhengqing asked, “So, have you learned how to swim now?”

Swimming is different from other artistic or musical pursuits. Although learning how to play the piano or violin could cultivate one’s character, not knowing how to play those instruments isn’t a big deal. However, swimming is different; sometimes, it can save a life.

There was no need to learn the other things, but if Xu Yao didn’t dislike swimming as a sport, Ji Zhengqing personally thought she should learn how to swim.

Xu Yao laughed and replied with a smile, “Then will you teach me?”

“I can teach you,” Ji Zhengqing said smoothly, “but Yaoyao, you’re always like this. Can’t you make it up to me?”

Xu Yao found Ji Zhengqing’s suggestion quite reasonable and asked what he wanted in return.

After thinking for a moment, Ji Zhengqing said, “How about I pick you up and take you out to have fun this weekend?”

Constantly communicating over the phone isn’t a solution. Now that Xu Yao lived so close to him in the capital, they should definitely meet more often.

Xu Yao didn’t refuse Ji Zhengqing’s invitation for a date. She added, “But since our engagement is still a secret, it’s better to choose a place that’s less crowded and more discreet.”

Ji Zhengqing noted Xu Yao’s request for the date location, and they agreed on the date.

He would definitely take Xu Yao out for a meal, but they couldn’t possibly just wander around in restaurants the whole time, right? So how should they spend their time before having their meal?

Ji Zhengqing had never been on a date with a woman before, so he wasn’t very familiar with how a date should go, or the places women liked to frequent.

He instinctively looked at Assistant Li, who had plenty of dating experience.

Assistant Li also thought that Ji Zhengqing was too much of a dating-novice. Just as he was about to offer him some advice, Ji Zhengqing said calmly, “Assistant Li, don’t say anything.” It’s best not to take advice from a love-brained assistant.

Assistant Li immediately swallowed his words. Alright, you handle it yourself then.

*

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:

That night, Liu Zhentian and Hu Qiuju urgently contacted the factory and promptly assisted Xu Yao in applying for the merchandise licensing for the New Youth Games.

The application documents were written by professionals, highlighting the advantages of licensing with their company, and so on.

The organisers of the New Youth Games acknowledged their request but stated that it would take a few working days before they could provide them with an official response.

Xu Yao wasn’t too worried about this. After all, there isn’t anyone who dislikes money, and foreigners are no exception to this. In this day and age, money itself is the greatest superpower.

It’s the power of money, after all.

Xu Yao pondered over what to wear for her first date with Ji Zhengqing, pacing back and forth in the more than 200-square-meter dressing room.

Xu Yao owned a building in the capital, with five floors dedicated to storing her various clothes, shoes, bags, and accessories, even hiring a professional to manage it.

In the end, Xu Yao decided to dress simply and chose a simple white printed T-shirt paired with a denim skirt. She tied her hair up before picking up her phone to send a WeChat message.

[AAAA Professional Rentals Little Xu: Are you here yet?]

[Ji Zhengqing: I’m downstairs at your home.]

Xu Yao immediately headed toward the balcony and really did see a black luxury car parked below. She wasn’t sure how long it had been there for. Xu Yao picked out a brown crossbody bag and headed out.

Since it was a date, Xu Yao got into Ji Zhengqing’s car, while Lu Ye and the others followed closely behind them in another car with the other bodyguards.

“Where are we going to have fun today?” Xu Yao asked, taking the milk tea Ji Zhengqing bought for her and taking a deep sip.

Ji Zhengqing smiled. “You’ll know when we get there.”

Xu Yao didn’t have a strong obsession with shopping in malls. If she wanted clothes, she could have the sales associates bring the latest items to her home for selection. Going to any other places would either be too hot for it to be enjoyable, or too crowded, making it likely for her to be recognized.

In summer, Xu Yao naturally preferred indoor activities.

As the driver drove towards their destination, Xu Yao happily sipped her milk tea, which was exactly to her taste. She wondered if Ji Zhengqing buying it was just a coincidence

After about twenty minutes of driving, they parked in a spacious and picturesque area that seemed like a tourist destination.

Xu Yao looked at Ji Zhengqing in surprise, but he had already opened a parasol for her, leaving her no choice but to get out of the car.

“Is this a tourist attraction?” Xu Yao looked around, realizing she had never been here before.

Recently, she had visited quite a few attractions in the capital, and had already been to many places.

“Not really. Since there are hardly any people here, it’s quiet and has a certain charm to it.”

Ji Zhengqing gestured for Xu Yao to walk with him inside. As they walked under the parasol, Xu Yao finally saw a sign not far away that read: Guanya Museum.

Xu Yao never expected Ji Zhengqing would choose a museum for their first date, but it did indeed meet all her requirements. She stared at him and said, “You must have put in a lot of effort to find this place, right?”

Ji Zhengqing smiled lightly. “It’s fine.”

Xu Yao pointed at the sign hanging at the ticket booth. “But it seems like this museum is about to close down soon.”

---

the constant 11 page chapters for this novel stay making me yearn for death GHSLDKFJDF

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---

Xu Yao turned to look at Lu Ye and He Fan. “Is there a problem?”

Holding their professional rental collection tablets, the two of them replied calmly, “Miss Yaoyao is absolutely right, this is indeed all one building.”

The netizens were bewildered, suddenly feeling a sense of being battered in the wind. They previously thought their unit of measurement for properties differed from Xu Yao’s—they used “units” while Xu Yao used “buildings”—but now, they realized their standards for what was considered a building were also drastically different.

Xu Yao calls the entire commercial area one building? Just because they are connected? No way!

The livestream announcement Xu Yao posted yesterday was already shocking enough.

Since Xu Yao was going to collect rent from a building in Xinyi Trade City, countless rental bigwigs on Weibo immediately began to analyse the situation, ultimately coming to the conclusion that this move of Xu Yao’s was to reassure all her tenants—after all, she still owned a whole building in Xinyi Trade City!

What is Xinyi Trade City? Don’t be fooled by it just being a wholesale market. Its business is  thriving, with many small businesses travelling thousands of miles just to stock up on their goods here.

For Xu Yao, owning a building here is akin to possessing a gold mine. Even if she doesn’t have enough properties for now, she still has money! In this day and age, having money makes solving problems much easier.

This is the signal given by Xu Yao Rentals’ team to her tenants, with the result being: Xu Yao’s building is the entire thirteen districts of Xinyi Trade City!

How big is Xinyi Commercial City? Professional content creators calculated that it would take several months just to finish visiting all the shops in Xinyi Trade City.

[…Mom asked me why I was kneeling while watching the livestream… Is this what Sister Yao means by “building”?]

[Those worried about Xu Yao’s property issues can all rest easy now; this is a woman who owns an entire trade city!]

[But I’ve heard that ever since online shopping has developed, the business in these offline wholesale markets hasn’t been as good as it used to.]

[That’s true, the offline market business really isn’t doing as well as before, but that has little to do with the landlord, and Xu Yao will still collect the rent as usual.]

[I suddenly feel that although being a landlord really is quite unambitious, it’s actually a rather stable job.]

[?? Are you saying that my Sister Yao lacks ambition? Say that again! Which landlord in the world works as hard as my Sister Yao? She even personally goes to collect her rent!]

Nowadays, most landlords collect rent through online transfers, with landlords and tenants rarely needing to make contact with each other, sometimes without seeing the other party for a whole year or two.

Xu Yao didn’t expect her fans to have such low expectations of her—just personally collecting rent was already considered diligent for them.

Xu Yao waved her hand. “Let’s go, let’s go inside and take a look.”

Xu Yao was quite interested in this wholesale market. In the original novel, this wholesale market would become as impressive as Yiwu¹ in a few years, not only selling its products nationwide, but also globally.

Xu Yao had worn a sun-protective jacket today, casually entering the trade city wearing a pair of denim shorts and flip-flops.

The air conditioning was cranked up high inside the trade city, and although the foot traffic inside didn’t seem to be particularly high, the variety of goods was dazzling.

Xu Yao guessed that she had walked into the jewelry section, as all she could see was various kinds of jewelry.

“Can I try this on?” Xu Yao asked the astonished shop owner, who nodded vigorously in response.

Taking off her earrings that were worth over a million yuan, Xu Yao casually set it down on the counter before leaning over to pick up a pair of diamond-shaped earrings to try on.

Although the items were affordable, the pieces were still quite beautiful, with the earrings shimmering under the lights, making Xu Yao look particularly breathtaking.

[So pretty! As expected, beautiful people look great, no matter how cheap the earrings are.]

[Did you see the boss’s excited look? His sensor for sensing the upcoming profit from sales is skyrocketing, haha.]

[Hahaha, once Xu Yao wears these, they’re definitely going to become a bestseller. The factories can start ramping up production, I’m waiting to buy the same style as her!]

[You can always trust Xinyi Trade City—give it five minutes, go search on the “orange app²,” and Xu Yao’s earrings will definitely be there.]

Xu Yao often casually wears earrings worth over a million yuan, making it hard for fans to follow suit and buy the same style as her, but now that she’s wearing these inexpensive versions? Don’t underestimate them!

Xu Yao was quite satisfied and asked the shop owner, “How much?”

The shop owner seemed to have never seen a girl who could be more beautiful than a movie star, replying, “Thirty.”

Thirty yuan is a price many fans can afford, about the cost of a cup of milk tea, and you can get the same style as Xu Yao. The key point being that it’s not even a knockoff.

The shop owner noticed the livestream camera behind him and snapped back to his senses, quickly adding, “Don’t get it wrong—the wholesale price is thirty yuan per jin³, not thirty per pair of earrings.”

[Thirty yuan per jin? They sell jewelry by weight in wholesale markets? Consider my worldview refreshed.]

[Now I suddenly want to go stock up at Xinyi Trade City and start a street stall, how are these costs so insanely low?!]

[Business isn’t that easy. Plenty of shop owners in Xinyi Trade City have gone bankrupt too—don’t fall for overhyped nonsense.]

[This is basically a paradise for broke girls—30 yuan and I can get this much jewelry!]

So, Xu Yao spent thirty yuan and picked a jin of cheap jewelry to take home. Whether she would wear it or not was uncertain; her happiness was the most important.

Xu Yao’s livestream this time simply left netizens in awe. They witnessed her buy a jin of jewelry for thirty yuan, trendy T-shirts for five yuan each, and Christmas hats for five yuan for a hundred… 

There’s no such thing as the cheapest, only cheaper and cheaper.

Even if the profit was only one cent, as long as the sales volume was large enough and discounts are given, business can still gradually pick up.

Xu Yao greeted the shop owners she encountered and quietly observed the situation while walking towards the property management office.

The property manager almost beamed when he saw Xu Yao, repeatedly telling the staff, “Miss Yaoyao, hello! Quick, pour tea for Miss Yaoyao!”

Xu Yao sat down on the sofa and raised her hand to stop them, saying, “Wait, there’s no need to rush to make tea for me. I’m just a bit puzzled. How come I didn’t see any shop owners doing livestreams on my way here?”

With the rapid development of online shopping, Xu Yao didn’t believe that these merchants couldn’t see the profit involved. Yet strangely enough, she hadn’t seen a single livestream sale along the way.

A shop owner who was watching from the entrance couldn’t help but interject, “Miss Landlady, do you still not know yet? Xinyi Trade City has explicit rules against livestreaming.”

Xu Yao gave the property manager an intriguing glance, raising her voice in surprise, “Oh? You don’t allow for merchants to livestream? Quite authoritative of you.”

Before Xu Yao could say anything further, the property manager felt a chill run down his spine from her gaze, and a thin layer of sweat broke out on his forehead.

The instance of Xu Yao replacing the property management for Tai’an Community still remains a legend in the industry to this day.

Back then, Xu Yao only owned one building in Tai’an Community, and though she was the landlord with the largest share there, she still needed collective consent from the other owners in the community. But now, if she wanted to change the property management, it would only take a word for her to change them and wouldn’t be that complicated.

She had the final say. After all, she was the landlord of the entire Xinyi Trade City.

Thinking of this, the property manager was terrified and quickly whispered to Xu Yao, “Miss Yaoyao, the economy isn’t doing well right now. Doing this is also for your rental income.”

The development of online shopping has directly impacted offline physical stores. The explicit rule against livestreaming in wholesale markets is to maintain foot traffic for physical stores as much as possible, thereby ensuring that rental income is not affected.

Xu Yao understood the property manager’s intentions, but wasn’t this just burying one’s head in the sand? Does this mean those merchants wouldn’t livestream just because Xinyi Trade City forbids it? Although this sort of rule might temporarily stabilise rental income, it would eventually be criticised and cause merchants to inevitably abandon the trade city after a few years.

Although Xu Yao does like collecting high rents, she still prefers collecting rent steadily over the long term. To drain the pond just to catch all the fish⁴? Better not; it’s simply too unethical.

Xu Yao smiled and looked at the shop owners that had gathered outside, saying, “Previously, my family entrusted the management of Xinyi Trade City to a property management company, so I only learned of the situation today when I came to collect rent for the first time.

“From now on, everyone can freely engage in livestreaming to drive sales.”

The shop owners outside the property office were stunned. Was it really… resolved so easily?

Since livestreaming was explicitly prohibited in Xinyi Trade City, many shop owners could only rent an additional basement elsewhere for livestreams, incurring additional rental costs.

A middle-aged boss wearing a big gold chain around his neck murmured, “No wonder those young people online all say they really like Xu Yao Rentals coming to collect rent from them…”

With this kind of approach, what sort of problem couldn’t be solved?!

[My good Sister Yao is so impressive! Truly embodying the meaning of ‘putting the tenants first’! Tell me, how could such a landlord possibly lack for tenants?]

[Sister Yao just took a casual stroll in Xinyi Trade City today, but ended up even giving them free advertising.]

[Actually, I can understand the property management’s approach. This way, they’re able to keep the landlord’s rental income stable and prevent them from dropping too drastically. Whether Xu Yao’s decision to loosen restrictions can actually allow her to maintain her current rental income in the future is still uncertain.]

[@Sister Yao, can you come to our community to collect rent in person next time?]

The obvious outcome for landlords coming to collect rent from their tenants should be a mild annoyance, yet on the contrary, Xu Yao’s tenants seem all the more eager for her to come to them in person.

Some tenants even went as far as to leave messages on the official website’s bulletin board, sincerely hoping for Xu Yao to come to their communities to collect rent.

Looking at the anxious property manager, Xu Yao just smiled and patted his shoulder, saying, “I know you just did it for my sake, so don’t worry, and just keep doing your job diligently.”

The property manager let out a sigh of relief. He was genuinely afraid Xu Yao would replace them too.

The property manager hesitated for a moment. “It’s just that the rent might be hard to stabilize in the next two years…”

Once the livestreaming takes off, you’ll be able to ship goods nationwide, as long as there is a warehouse, right? So why would merchants still bother paying such high rents to lease your shops?

Xu Yao laughed and said, “Then we can just target the overseas market and make money from foreigners.” Online shopping overseas isn’t as developed as it is domestically, especially in places like Africa.

The property manager was left speechless. He wanted to say that Xu Yao, being a young girl, was too naive in her thinking, but then he thought about how easily she made money. However, he still thought her idea of expanding into overseas markets still seemed a bit far-fetched.

Xu Yao didn’t say much more to the property manager, but instead, had Lu Ye and He Fan coordinate with him to confirm what the rent collection situation would look like moving forward.

Yes, previously, the Xu family had entrusted the property management to collect the rent for Xinyi Trade City.

The spreadsheet on the computer was clearly just a plain black-and-white Excel sheet, yet the more netizens looked at it, the more envious they became.

[Holy crap, even the cheapest shop here costs tens of thousands! Xu Yao really is rich.]

[Being a landlord is simply my dream job! Why on earth did I want to be a doctor when I was a kid? Help!]

[Apparently there are over ten thousand shops in Xinyi Trade City. You guys should take your time to think about it. [Dog head emoji]

[Those who are worried Xu Yao has no properties to rent out can calm down now. She can still find listings for you, no matter the rent.]

Seeing them seriously calculating her rental income, Xu Yao looked at the long string of zeroes and immediately felt a headache coming on; the more she looked, the sleepier she felt.

Xu Yao stood up and yawned. “You all continue calculating the rent, I’m going to take a walk outside.”

Lu Ye immediately looked up, his eyes immediately snapping to Xu Yao’s receding back with anxiety, clearly wanting to follow her out.

“What are you so worried about? We have bodyguards with us.” He Fan pulled Lu Ye back down to sit, both of them surrounded by professional accountants, all focused on calculating the rent with their laptops.

Xu Yao walked ahead, with several bodyguards following her from behind.

They seemed to have turned into the toy section, with all kinds of plushies filling the screen, from tiny keychain-sized toys to giant teddy bears taller than a person, making countless girls in the livestream squeal with excitement.

A person carrying a life-sized pure white stuffed bear walked over. Because the stuffed bear was so large and fluffy, the person wasn’t able to see in front of them clearly and was just about to collide with Xu Yao.

The bodyguards quickly shielded Xu Yao within their protective circle, and the leader immediately flew into a temper. “What are you doing? Can’t you watch where you’re going?” If Brother Lu found out, he would definitely be furious with them.

The person froze for a moment, finally managing to peek their head out from behind the stuffed bear, revealing a handsome yet youthful face. The boy’s bewildered face instantly turned bright red as he repeatedly apologized, “Huh? I’m sorry, I’m sorry, the stuffed bear was too big and blocked my view.”

Xu Yao then noticed that this boy was about the same height as the two-meter-tall life-sized plush bear, with even her bodyguards falling short of his height. She estimated that he was probably around Lu Ye’s height.

Xu Yao curiously asked, “Are you going to sell that?”

“No, we’re actually planning to take it off the shelves,” the boy said, and with that, he dashed into a nearby plush toy store a few meters away to help his parents.

Knowing that livestreaming was no longer prohibited, a nearby shop owner quietly told Xu Yao, “The Liu family isn’t doing quite well. An order worth tens of millions has suddenly vanished into thin air. I heard even after they sold their house, they still owe a large sum. Not to mention, their son was also expelled from studying abroad and sent back home to Hua Country. Tsk tsk.”

That’s just what it’s like to do business. Sometimes, money can be made easily, but once something goes wrong, the losses can be as terrifying as a flood that can’t be stopped.

The sound of frantic shouting suddenly came from the middle-aged man inside the plush toy store.

“I told you, stop meddling in these things! Just focus on your competition. Why are you worrying about all this?”

“Liu Feiyang, who’s the parent here—you or me? Your mom and I have been in business for decades. What’s this little setback worth? There are still plenty of chances for us to make a comeback. You go back to school and keep training. We’ll definitely make sure to scrape together the money for your trip back to E Country.”

Xu Yao silently withdrew the foot that she was about to step out with. Liu Feiyang?

“Our family has already fallen to the point of needing to rent a house now. So tell me, how can I still be in the mood to participate in some ridiculous competition?” Liu Feiyang looked down at his parents, who were nearly losing their temper. “Don’t listen to those competitions, always bragging about being a world-class global competition. Who on earth knows about that competition besides the host country?”

Besides the Olympics and the World Cup, the attention on other competitions outside of that is honestly not that high.

Not to mention something like this so-called “New Youth Games”—aside from the host organizers hyping it up, what ordinary person has even heard of it?

Their family started in the plush toy business, with Liu Feiyang growing up as a wealthy second-generation heir from childhood, never having to worry about food or drink. His parents even had the means to send him abroad for study.

But who would’ve thought the winds would change so fast, and that their long-time business partner would suddenly run away, leaving them tens of millions in debt?!

His parents had always been honest in their business dealings, so who would have thought they would encounter such a thing? Selling their home, borrowing money from relatives—it still wasn’t enough to cover the deficit. The situation was so dire that they might even need to give up their stall in Xinyi Trade City, which they had already been leasing for many years.

This is Xinyi Trade City; once the shop area was transferred, it would be hard for them to regain the rental right to it later on, especially since their original location had been a prime spot.

Given the current situation at home, whether he could still afford to go to E Country for the competition was still questionable; but how could he possibly even think about going now?

He was just an amateur athlete, without the means to train under a professional coach, yet they really expected him to win an award?

“Dad, enough about this, let’s hurry up and get the house secured first.” Liu Feiyang didn’t want to continue on this topic with his parents anymore, so he changed the subject, making his father so angry he nearly had a stroke.

Liu Feiyang sat down on a stool, clumsily scrolling through various rental apps on his phone. At nineteen years old, this was his first time having to think about renting a place.

At that moment, a girl’s clear and cheerful voice came from behind him, “Returning tenants get discounts on renting!”

Liu Feiyang and the others were taken aback for a moment and quickly turned to look.

Xu Yao leaned against a hanging Paul Frank monkey plush by the doorway, only poking her head inside as she smiled brightly at them.

The viewers in the livestream were incredibly envious. Look, another lucky person had appeared!

Although your family is currently experiencing misfortune, your fortune is yet to come!

[My Sister Yao is about to step in again! My beautiful sister is practically a living bodhisattva—she really can’t bear to see others suffer QAQ]

[Kid, you’re in luck! Once Sister Yao makes a move, at least your family won’t have to worry about your housing anymore!]

[Xu Yao really does give rental perks to long-term tenants. I heard the best deal can go as low as 20% off for three months.’

[An international competition in E Country? What competition? I’ve never heard of it.]

[Wild guess: it’s probably the “New Youth Games” E Country is hosting… yeah, hardly anyone here knows about it.]

Liu Feiyang hadn’t been in the best mood earlier and hadn’t taken the chance to take a closer look. It was only now that he suddenly realised that the girl he had almost bumped into turned out to be that famous landlady on the internet—it was Xu Yao!

Liu Feiyang immediately shot to his feet, his eyes filled with excitement. “Is there really a discount? Thank you so much!”

As he got to his feet up, Xu Yao, who was already 170 centimetres tall, appeared extremely petite when standing next to him, and had to crane her neck up to look at him.

Xu Yao sized up Liu Feiyang, her eyes sparkling. “There is a discount. I’ll give you a special code. Make sure you go to the official website and fill out the rental application for existing tenants.”

Isn’t this the future swimming legend who would dominate the international swimming scene?

Swimming has never really been one of China’s strong events, but this person would go on to dominate the global swimming scene, win countless gold medals, and be hailed as a miracle of the sport—so outstanding that even people from many island nations took pride in him as an Asian, regarding him as almost godlike.

Incredible, incredible, just look at what sort of treasure she has uncovered!

Yet now, this national treasure is still troubled over finding a place to rent.

Seeing that he was much taller than Xu Yao, Liu Feiyang simply sat down on a stool so that Xu Yao wouldn’t have to constantly look up at him. He quickly took out his phone and logged into the official website of Xu Yao Rentals.

Xu Yao provided him with a special code, and Liu Feiyang immediately went in to fill out the application form.

Mother Liu suddenly thought of something and hurried over to tell him, “Make sure to write clearly that it would be best if we could rent near a swimming pool. If you don’t want to write it, I’ll fill it out for you.

Liu Feiyang had no choice but to fill in the rental requirement with “preferably close to the swimming pool.”

After filling in and submitting the form, Xu Yao smiled at him and said, “Our rental team will contact you within the next twelve hours.”

Father Liu came over with red-rimmed eyes, hands clasped together as he repeated over and over again, “Thank you, thank you so much, Miss Xu. This is the best news I’ve received in a long time.”

It’s easy to add flowers to the brocade, but hard to send charcoal in the snow. Facing those relatives who had avoided him like the plague had truly caused him to experience the coldness of human nature these past few days.

The only thing Father Liu was worried about now was his son. How could he give up such a hard-won opportunity to compete abroad?

Although it may not sound as grand as competing in the Olympics or the World Cup, not everyone can immediately step onto the Olympic stage, right? Who doesn’t work their way up, step by step?

Every competition is an opportunity, and opportunities should not be wasted.

Xu Yao subtly observed Liu Feiyang, while her peripheral vision stole glances at the plush toys in the store. The workmanship of the toys didn’t seem to be cheap, and its quality actually seemed to be quite good.

[Yeah yeah, my Sister Yao really should have more than one man! The super tall younger brother in front of her is totally my type! I heard he’s a swimmer, so his physique must be amazing.]

[Yaoyao, you’re still so young—why get engaged to a “pretty boy” so fast? There’s a whole forest out there, you know? (earnest)]

[If I were Xu Yao, I’d definitely be tempted by this brother. Didn’t you see how tall he was when he stood up? Even Sister Yao, who’s over 170 centimetres, looked small and delicate next to him, like a little bird—so cute! Ahhh I’m dead!]

[An engagement isn’t marriage anyway. Who knows, it might get called off. (I refuse to admit this is because I can’t accept Sister Yao being engaged)]

The livestream chat was full of chaos, with a bunch of viewers talking about things like, “the cutest height difference.”

Liu Feiyang brought out the plush toy that had almost caused him to bump into Xu Yao earlier, and said, “Here, this is for you.”

This toy would cost no less than several hundred yuan if sold outside.

The pure white fluffy bear plushie, standing at over two metres tall, almost crushed Xu Yao with its sheer size. Just then, someone came from behind her, reaching out and lifting the bear off her. “Miss Yaoyao, let me.”

It was Lu Ye.

Xu Yao immediately felt a sense of relief.

Lu Ye looked at Liu Feiyang at eye level and followed Xu Yao back to the property office.

Lu Ye suddenly asked, “Miss Yaoyao, is he the new bodyguard?”

Xu Yao found it amusing. She would never recruit a swimming legend to be her bodyguard. “He’s an athlete. Don’t worry, you’ll never be out of a job.”

Xu Yao felt like her rental team had gotten a bit strange. While other companies were rife with internal competition and grinding to win the rat race, her team’s philosophy is to reject the rat race. Yet now, they seemed to take a different approach to compete over—competing over who is her most favoured employee.

Xu Yao walked beside Lu Ye and whispered, “Take good care of Liu Feiyang.”

Although most people experience explosive growth under the suffering of cruel setbacks, some hardships are unnecessary and can be avoided. Not every athlete needs to grow in such a harsh background; he can also be the treasured darling.

At the very least, she could let him continue being that darling.

*

The team behind Xu Yao Rentals really was quite efficient. Although Xu Yao told them they would definitely be contacted within twelve hours, Father Liu received a call inviting them to a house viewing just less than five hours later.

Father Liu confirmed with them repeatedly on the phone, “Are you sure it’s near a swimming pool? It’s okay if the rent is a bit higher.”

The sweet female voice on the other end confirmed with him once again, “Yes, we’ve already taken note of your rental requirements.”

Upon getting this answer, Liu Feiyang’s parents were finally satisfied.

After closing their toy store, the three of them hurried to meet the staff of Xu Yao Rentals at the agreed time.

Looking at Xu Yao’s employees, who could afford cars worth seven to eight hundred thousand yuan, Father Liu felt a little emotional.

They had ended up selling their family car too.

“Isn’t this the way to the Water Cube⁵?” Liu Feiyang sat in the passenger seat, staring in shock at the enormous swimming pool not far away through the car window.

Although there were many swimming pools in the city, Liu Feiyang never expected for his family to be arranged to rent a property near the Water Cube. He had heard that although this swimming pool was a private, top-tier VIP venue, it boasted a vast area and had exceptionally good water quality. Generally, only the top rich second-generation kids from the capital would come here, with ordinary people simply being unable to afford it.

The employee parked the car at the entrance of the swimming pool, and Father Liu couldn’t help looking around, asking, “Where are we renting?”

He hadn’t seen any residential complexes nearby… 

“Please, come this way,” the employee said with a smile, leading the bewildered family of three into the Water Cube, “Miss Yaoyao has learned that you place serious importance on your rental requirement, so she has decided to rent this apartment to you. All the facilities of the swimming pool are included for your use.”

What?

The family of three stood at the entrance of the swimming pool, completely dumbfounded.

This… doesn’t it mean they rented the entire swimming pool to them?

The entire swimming pool… must be over ten thousand square meters… 

“F-Feiyang, what did you set the maximum rent as?” Father Liu was almost frightened when thinking about the potential rent.

After all, their family still owed debts, and at most, they could afford to rent a place with a monthly rent ranging from a few thousand to ten thousand. So how on earth had they managed to rent an entire swimming pool?

Liu Feiyang was also startled and quickly took out his phone to check. “No? I just filled in ten thousand a month. They must have made a mistake!”

Right, they must have made a mistake!

The accompanying staff smiled and said, “There’s no mistake, you indeed filled in ten thousand for the rent, and this was indeed arranged by Miss Yaoyao.”

As they walked in, the family saw the Olympic-sized azure swimming pool with crystal-clear water, and they were left in a state of bewilderment, as if they had just been battered by a fierce wind.

Can you believe it? We rented the private top-tier VIP swimming pool in the capital’s Water Cube for just ten thousand yuan a month…

Liu Feiyang stared at the swimming pool, his DNA stirring.

He actually didn’t know how to swim before the age of seventeen. It was only after he happened to see a soldier diving in to rescue two children on his way to school that his intense interest in swimming was finally sparked, and from then on, it was as if his passion for it couldn’t be contained any longer.

He even discovered that he seemed to have some talent for swimming, learning much faster than others. Later, he even qualified for the New Youth Games, though that qualification wasn’t particularly hard to obtain.

Liu Feiyang’s eyes were fixed on the pool in front of him. This pool was much larger and more luxurious than the one at his school.

“Mr. Liu, if you need any assistance, feel free to call upon any of the staff at the swimming pool for help.” The employee smiled as they called over the staff working at the Water Cube.

Liu Feiyang was shocked that his mouth hung agape, completely unable to utter a word.

Is it really that exaggerated?

The family of three was still immersed in the shock of renting the swimming pool for ten thousand a month when Father Liu finally snapped out of his stupor, asking blankly, “Is this… included in the rent?”

The rental employee nodded. “Of course! All services are included in the monthly rent! Please have faith in us, the staff at Xu Yao Rentals! There are no extra hidden fees apart from the one-month deposit!”

Father Liu fell silent, and after a while, he managed to squeeze out a few words with difficulty, “Can we… can we… discuss the rent again?”

The rental employee said softly, “My apologies, but Miss Yaoyao originally agreed on the price of ten thousand a month for rent. If you want to negotiate for a lower rent, I would need to contact Miss Yaoyao again.”

The rental employee couldn’t help but size up this family of three in front of her, feeling that Miss Yaoyao might have misjudged this time. Their character didn’t seem very good.

It could even be described as insatiable.

A swimming pool of this size even included a housing unit, and this was the top VIP private swimming pool in the capital they were talking about! And they still want to negotiate a lower monthly rent?

Although the rental employee felt a bit displeased inside, they didn’t allow it to show on their face.

With tears welling up in his eyes, Father Liu quickly stopped them from saying any more, “No, what I mean is, how about we ask Miss Xu Yao to raise the rent a bit? Ten thousand a month is just too cheap, and my conscience really won’t allow me to accept it…”

The swimming pool in the Water Cube definitely costs more than ten thousand a month—even adding another zero at the end of that price might not be enough to rent it!

The rental employee was taken aback for a moment, and then their smile deepened.

So, they were proactively asking for a rent increase. Well, they’ve already seen many such tenants.

The employee smiled and said, “That’s not possible. Miss Yaoyao has said that ten thousand a month is the price, and that it can’t be raised any further.”

The family of three: “…”

Are you sure?

So, they really rented out the Water Cube for just ten thousand yuan a month?

Father Liu continuously flipped back and forth through the contract, even showing it to a friend that was a lawyer to confirm that there truly weren’t any issues before proceeding to sign it.

Looking at the massive swimming pool, Liu Feiyang asked, “So, can I practice here before I go to E Country?”

The swimming pool manager, who had been standing nearby, smiled and said, “Of course, Mr. Liu.”

Liu Feiyang gave Xu Yao a new evaluation in his heart: Bodhisattva Sister!!!

Liu Feiyang paced excitedly by the pool, his mind in a whirlwind. Did Xu Yao renting the swimming pool to him mean she had high hopes for his swimming? So if he didn’t compete, wouldn’t that be letting down Xu Yao’s hopes for him?

But what about his family?

“Mr. Liu, Miss Yaoyao has a letter for you.” The rental employee handed over a prepared envelope to Father Liu.

Father Liu quickly opened it to take a look. It was in Xu Yao’s elegant handwriting—

Uncle Liu, would you be interested in mass-producing the merchandise for the New Youth Games?

The New Youth Games is said to be a global event, but in reality, apart from the host country, it doesn’t attract much attention from other countries. He himself had only learned about this sports event because his son was going to compete in it.

Mass-producing merchandise for the New Youth Games would only be profitable if the event was popular.

Liu Zhentian looked at the letter and suddenly recalled all the previous investments Xu Yao had made that were constantly circulating about online. She had never once failed in an investment, with even the elderly dating show Hand in Hand in Our Later Years, which had initially been poorly received, turning a small profit. 

His business acumen sensed something boiling underneath, and a thought immediately flashed through Liu Zhentian’s mind:

To make money, one must be bold!

Xu Yao was clearly extending an olive branch to their family! Oh my, could it really be that their fortune is turning around for the better?

*

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:

Xu Yao took a nice bath, gazing out at the view from her floor-to-ceiling windows, a silk nightgown casually draped over her figure. The summer heat was already quite intense.

Xu Yao glanced at her phone and couldn’t help but smile.

The Liu father and son had already added her on WeChat.

Although Landlady Xu enjoyed helping the unfortunate, she still wouldn’t pass up the opportunity to make money.

Just as Xu Yao had added them back on WeChat, she received another message from Ji Zhengqing.

[Ji Zhengqing: Yaoyao, do you like that “cutest height difference” thing?]

News of Xu Yao collecting rent at Xinyi Trade City had already spread far and wide today, with many screenshots circulating online, including a GIF of Xu Yao’s sparkling eyes as she stared at the younger man, who was Liu Feiyang.

Compared to the nearly 190-centimetre tall Liu Feiyang, Xu Yao appeared particularly petite, and when paired with her gaze, it instantly caused netizens to exclaim they were going crazy over it.

Ji Zhengqing couldn’t understand why these netizens, who scolded him daily for being a kept pretty boy, would think this was something to go crazy over.

“Assistant Li, do all women really like exaggerated height differences?” Ji Zhengqing asked with a frown.

Assistant Li really didn’t want to answer any of President Ji’s questions regarding this topic, but he had no choice. He thought about how his girlfriend always liked to snuggle in his arms and rub her face against his neck, and replied, “Well, some girls are like that. That way, it gives them a sense of security.”

Ji Zhengqing pinched the bridge of his nose, never having imagined in his life that he, who was 186 centimetres tall, could ever be considered short one day.

Ji Zhengqing suddenly thought of Lu Ye, who always followed Xu Yao around everywhere like a small mountain. He had heard that this person had been specifically requested from Xu Jing by Xu Yao.

So this is Xu Yao’s strange taste in aesthetics?

Ji Zhengqing frowned. “Then what should I do?”

There really didn’t seem to be a way for him to increase his height, with no technology currently existing that could make people grow taller after reaching adulthood.

Upon meeting Ji Zhengqing’s probing gaze, Assistant Li had no choice but to reluctantly squeeze out a few words, “Height-increase insoles?”

Ji Zhengqing replied flatly, “Little Li, don’t ever give me any more of your opinions about Xu Yao again.”

Look, this is how scary being “love-brained” is. He’s afraid of being led astray by Assistant Li’s romance-infested mindset.

Assistant Li, who had been about to say “money can make up for most shortcomings,” immediately swallowed those words back down.
This damn job—he didn’t even want to work another day anymore. He just wanted to go work for the boss’s future wife instead.

---

sometimes, when i read these destressing brainless reads, i almost want to laff at how unrealistic these business plans, etc are.

also, the africa comment about e-commerce was weird. it’s weird for me bc the world-building is clearly steering away from mentioning real countries, i.e. e country might be referring to england or europe, hua country for china, even the city names are left as hai city, shen city instead of shanghai and shenzhen etc etc. i checked the novel and it was uploaded in 2023, so i’m not sure what the e-commerce industry was like for africa during that time? africa is a whole continent and i’m sure all the countries in that continent aren’t monolithic in how developed they are either, so i’m assuming it comes from a place of ignorance for the author—maybe because of the way state news frames cooperation with africa as a still developing nation? idk, very dependent on if the author has access to vpn or not ig

would you guys prefer if i translate names of places to real-life places based on the context clues, or would you prefer for me to keep them in their censored versions?

please support the author on JJWXC if possible!
(๑>ᴗ<๑)

any typos or broken links, pls comment or dm me on discord!
support mio on kofi! ◡̈

1. Yiwu, located in Zhejiang Province, China, is the world’s premier wholesale hub for small commodities, hosting the massive Yiwu International Trade City. Known as the “world’s capital for small commodities,” it supplies over 60% of global Christmas decorations and countless everyday items, attracting international buyers to its extensive, multi-district market. ↩︎
2. Naming Taobao without actually naming the app due to copyright ↩︎
3. Jin refers to 500g, a common unit of measurement in wholesale ↩︎
4. Exploiting resources in the short-term at the cost of future gains ↩︎
5. The Water Cube, fully known as the National Aquatics Centre, is a swimming center at the Olympic Green in Chaoyang, Beijing, China. The Water Cube was originally constructed to host the aquatics competitions at the 2008 Summer Olympics and Paralympics. Wikipedia ↩︎

this chapter is brought to you by mio
as translator, proofreader and editor!

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Although Xu Yao knew that Xu Jing had always been a doting brother, she never expected him to be this indulgent toward her.

Wasn’t this level of indulgence comparable to that of being a love-struck fool?

He handed over the rental rights of all the Xu family’s properties to her, with the key point being that she wasn’t just helping him collect rent, but rather, she was actually able to keep all that rental income for herself!

Others in business still had to incur various costs, right? Xu Jing’s move was brilliant; she didn’t even have to worry about costs, and the rent collected every month was pure profit.

Xu Yao had always known that the Xu family’s wealth was exaggeratedly vast, with the author of the novel depicting the Xu family’s riches in a way that gave her goosebumps.

Xu Yao looked at Xu Jing’s regretful expression, then suddenly grasped his hand, saying with all the sincerity she could muster, “Brother, please don’t say such a thing!”

“Now that the Xu family has only the two of us relying on each other, as a member of the Xu family, I should also take on the responsibilities of the eldest daughter and help you in bearing the family’s burdens.” Xu Yao sighed, “I know collecting rent is hard work, but I’m not afraid of hardship! So, Brother, you don’t need to worry about me.”

Hearing this, Xu Jing felt even more heartbroken for Xu Yao. Thinking about how much she had suffered in the orphanage, he felt that she should be out enjoying life now, yet she was still shouldering the family pressure for him.

How much could collecting rent possibly earn? They were just trivial profits, not worthy of her attention. The value of the properties would have nothing to do with her, and when the properties appreciated in the future, she wouldn’t even be able to touch those tangible assets!

And yet, his simple-minded little sister was still willing to work so hard to help him. The more naive Xu Yao seemed, the more Xu Jing’s sense of guilt intensified.

And precisely because of the overwhelming guilt weighing on his heart, he even felt that Yaoyao—who always seemed to be the one losing out—had the worst luck of all, ending up inexplicably saddled with an arranged marriage to his good friend Ji Zhengqing after returning home.

Every time Ji Zhengqing caught the sidelong glances Xu Jing cast his way, that uneasy thought in his heart grew stronger and stronger.

“Are you sure you’re not afraid of the hardships of collecting rent?” Xu Jing confirmed with Xu Yao once again.

Xu Yao was incredibly resolute in her answer. “I’m sure!”

Seeing her so determined, Xu Jing made up his mind.

From today onwards, the rental rights of all the Xu family’s properties would be handed over to Xu Yao. Apart from one-tenth of the properties, which would be kept by the two siblings as a precaution, all other properties could be rented out as Xu Yao saw fit, and he would not interfere.

“Remember, if the work gets too tiring, just let me know,” Xu Jing reminded her.

Xu Jing felt a headache forming just thinking about the countless properties under their Xu family name. The ancestors of the Xu family all seemed to have some strange obsession with hoarding properties. They loved to stockpile land, with their dependence on real estate having reached an almost obsessive level. By their generation, they had already accumulated properties all over the world.

This was a messy, impossible tangle of accounts—if you don’t manage it, you’ll feel heartache just thinking about the loss, but if you tried to deal with it, it would probably be agonising enough to make him wish he were dead.

Xu Yao’s inheritance had given her over a hundred buildings. However, because Grandfather Xu had limited her properties to a certain number, Xu Yao had chosen properties in Hai City, the capital, Shen City, as well as those in coastal scenic areas in order to maximise her wealth, and could only tearfully give up on properties that were located in second-tier cities.

But now, it was different—what she didn’t have, the Xu family had!

Originally, even if she rented out all her properties in the capital, she still wouldn’t be able to compete with real estate companies in the capital. But with Xu Jing’s words, although she might not be able to surpass other real estate companies, she still had a good chance at matching them.

It was truly a case of needing something and having it handed to her—just as she was feeling sleepy, Xu Jing happened to offer her a pillow!

Overjoyed, Xu Yao simply asked Lu Ye to retrieve the information on the Xu family’s properties. From today onwards, Landlady Xu Yao was going to make a big splash, ensuring that all tenants had a happy home, and ideally, outcompete those unscrupulous real estate companies too.

“Fiancé, does your family also own many properties?” Xu Yao suddenly asked.

Ji Zhengqing, who was suddenly called out, said, “…It’s okay, probably not as many as the Xu family.”

Xu Jing set down his briefcase, casually smiling as he said, “Zhengqing has always been quite the modest person.”

Ji Zhengqing: “…”

He Fan couldn’t help but secretly enjoy the show, snickering to himself. Serves you right, President Ji, always pretending to be a rookie at mahjong just to feed wins to a certain someone. Karma’s finally caught up with you.

Xu Yao patted Ji Zhengqing’s shoulder and took the rent-collection tablet from Lu Ye, saying, “Don’t take it to heart, President Ji. I was just asking casually, nothing more.”

Ji Zhengqing watched as Xu Yao nestled into the sofa, eagerly browsing through her family’s properties, his mind racing uncontrollably.

Would Xu Yao think that her husband was less reliable than her own biological brother?

Ji Zhengqing has always believed in one principle: family is bound by an unbreakable tie of blood, while friendships and romantic relationships need an intentional amount of effort to be maintained.

He Fan was very excited. The more properties Miss Yaoyao owned, the more work they, her employees, would have, and with work, there would be wages. The key was that working under Xu Yao meant never having to worry about being laid off.

Especially based on his understanding of his former boss, President Ji; even if he didn’t hand over the rental rights of his family property to Xu Yao before marriage, wouldn’t he definitely do so after their marriage? Then, he would likely never have to worry about unemployment for the rest of his life.

“The Xu family really does own a lot of property all over the country,” Xu Yao exclaimed as she quickly flipped through the information on her tablet, unable to suppress her deep admiration for her ancestors.

Just the Xu family’s real estate in the capital alone—what she originally inherited was only a drop in the ocean compared to that.

“Lu Ye, He Fan, let’s organize an online meeting tomorrow to discuss this. With just two or three hundred people in our rental team, we’re still too short-staffed. We need to increase our manpower.”

Little Six’s voice trembled as he witnessed this: [Host, you… you not only have to hustle for your own properties, but you also have to hustle for your family’s properties in the future?]

Xu Yao smiled and replied in her mind to Little Six, “That’s right, I have to work so hard. So, shouldn’t you apply to the Quick Transmigration Bureau to raise next month’s pension to 200 million?”

Little Six stared in disbelief, completely speechless: [……]

200 million? According to the pension’s normal rate of distribution, Xu Yao should only receive a maximum of twelve million next month! This system bug had been completely exploited by the host.

Xu Yao even had a feeling that even without relying on rental income, she would still be able to secure her position as the world’s richest person just by taking advantage of the Quick Transmigration Bureau every month.

“Miss Yaoyao, the swimming coach that President Ji hired for you has arrived,” The busy butler announced as he walked in briskly from outside.

Ji Zhengqing hadn’t just been all talk. He really had hired a swimming coach for Xu Yao—a woman who looked ordinary, but was full of energy.

“Oh, you’re Coach Yan Hong?” He Fan, who paid more attention to the sports world, immediately recognised the woman.

The woman nodded with a smile, and He Fan excitedly said to Xu Yao, “Miss Yaoyao, Coach Yan Hong was the head coach of the national swimming team and has trained many award-winning athletes.”

Later, Yan Hong resigned from the national team and now spends her time at home, occasionally visiting swimming clubs or schools, particularly enjoying the process of discovering new talents for the country.

Xu Yao immediately looked at Ji Zhengqing, wondering why he would hire such an impressive coach to teach her swimming when she wasn’t even going to be a member of the national team and bring glory to the country.

Ji Zhengqing smiled as he replied, “A great teacher produces great students, that’s why I hired Coach Yan Hong for you.”

Ji Zhengqing glanced at Xu Jing, who was leisurely flipping through paper documents from his own company.

No matter how impressive Coach Yan Hong was, could she possibly compete with the rental rights of his future brother-in-law’s entire family property?

This luxurious mansion came with two swimming pools—one an indoor sky pool, and the other located outdoors.

Since it was too hot outside, they were all staying indoors, hence why they also decided to use the indoor swimming pool.

Xu Yao’s butler was a little old man with somewhat of a cleanliness obsession. Having undergone professional butler training in his early years, he had extremely strict requirements for everything in the house, so even if Xu Yao only used the swimming pool a couple of times a year, he would still arrange for someone to clean it at least once a day to maintain its cleanliness.

Xu Yao soon emerged from the changing room after changing into a swimsuit. Putting on a swimsuit instantly accentuated her figure perfectly—no wonder all those internet celebrities loved taking those poolside photos.

Ji Zhengqing glanced at Xu Yao quickly, then calmly said to Xu Jing, “It’s a bit stuffy inside, shall we chat more outside?”

Xu Jing looked at the scorching sun outside, with the temperature reaching over 40°C, and nodded. “Sure.”

To avoid being dragged out by his love-struck former boss, He Fan immediately pulled Lu Ye toward the study. “Lu Ye and I are going to sort out the rental documents. Coach Yan Hong, we’ll leave guiding Miss Yaoyao to you then.”

Lu Ye was reluctant to go, fearing that Xu Yao, as a beginner swimmer, might struggle in the water. But He Fan insisted, “It’s fine, Coach Yan Hong is here, and there are various alarms in place.”

After they left, Xu Yao first followed Coach Yan Hong in doing some warm-up exercises, and then, under her guidance, dipped herself into the cold water of the swimming pool.

Coach Yan Hong was extremely skilled, and was able to sense the difference in the water quality as soon as she entered the pool. Her eyes lit up as she said, “The water quality in this pool is no worse than  that of professional competition pools.”

Well, who told her to have a butler with a cleanliness obsession?

Initially, Coach Yan Hong thought she was just guiding a swimming novice, but after she instructed Xu Yao to enter the water and explained the essentials, she felt that President Ji was either being overly modest or didn’t understand Xu Yao at all.

As soon as Xu Yao entered the water, she was like a fish in water, swimming back and forth in this vast indoor sky pool.

Coach Yan Hong stared in disbelief at the scene. “Miss Xu Yao, is this your first time swimming?”

Xu Yao thought for a moment. She had experienced 999 quick transmigrations, and had encountered various bizarre plots that caused her to fall in water—but it was also true that this was this body’s first time swimming.

Xu Yao nodded and said, “Yes, today is my first time.”

Coach Yan Hong’s eyes instantly widened in shock: “!!!”

What kind of prodigy was this?

During their conversation, upon discovering that Xu Yao only wanted to be a landlady collecting rent everyday, Coach Yan Hong couldn’t help but feel slightly regretful.

Although Yan Hong was no longer the national team coach, she still cared about the sports industry. “It’s truly not easy to discover new swimming talents these few years. Our country hasn’t won a gold medal in international competitions for several years now.”

Swimming is not one of Hua Country’s strong sports, and without a continuous influx of new talents, its future prospects are quite worrying.

Leaning against the edge of the pool, Xu Yao recalled the original plot and patted Coach Yan Hong’s hand as she smiled. “Coach Yan, don’t be discouraged. Our country is vast with abundant resources. Who knows, one day, maybe a genius will emerge and break all the world records?”

Yan Hong merely took this as Xu Yao’s words of comfort and smiled back at her.

According to the agreement she made with Ji Zhengqing, Yan Hong would come three times a week to provide swimming lessons to Xu Yao.

When Ji Zhengqing came in, he happened to see Xu Yao sitting on the edge of the pool wrapped in a towel, clearly having gone into the water under Coach Yan Hong’s guidance.

Ji Zhengqing glanced at Xu Yao’s slightly exposed fair lower back, water droplets trickling down it, and quickly averted his gaze, secretly relieved.

This time, the swimming coach he hired truly seemed to be of use to her. She probably wouldn’t use her for anything else, right?

Xu Yao went to see off Ji Zhengqing and Xu Jing, then went upstairs to take a shower before coming down to discuss the rental situation with Lu Ye and He Fan.

“Miss Yaoyao, are you not planning on going to dinner with the president of the real estate company?”

Xu Yao was surprised. “Dinner? When did I agree to have dinner?”

Upon hearing this, He Fan immediately went to decline the invitation from the president of the real estate company.

“Miss Xu Yao has urgent matters tonight? No problem, I can wait,” the president replied without hesitation.

This kind of tactic was something President Wang had seen many times in the business world.

Saying there was an urgent matter tonight was likely just testing the other party.

When he first started his business and was looking for investments, he had once waited two or three hours for one of his business partners.

As time ticked by, his assistant behind him couldn’t help but say, “President Wang, it seems that Miss Xu Yao really isn’t coming.”

President Wang frowned and said, “Xu Yao can’t possibly be indifferent to our money. We’ve clearly shown great sincerity in our desire to cooperate with her.”

Since he couldn’t beat Xu Yao, he could only begrudgingly join her.

But it seemed that Xu Yao really didn’t care about this collaboration.

President Wang’s real estate company also allowed for ordinary landlords to list their properties under their company for rent, profiting through commissions instead. Now, all they needed to do was raise the rent slightly and share that subsequent profit with Xu Yao.

Yet, it turns out she really didn’t care about their money.

By the time it was nearly ten o’clock and with Xu Yao nowhere to be seen, President Wang finally stood up from his seat and stretched his sore back, growing increasingly puzzled.

No matter how many properties Xu Yao had, there would eventually come a day when they were all rented out, especially since properties in the capital were even harder to come by. Where did she get the confidence to refuse to collaborate with him?

The next day, just as President Wang was still puzzling over this, a trending topic on Weibo caught his attention—#XuYaoRentalsNewPropertyListingsInTheCapital

Xu Yao Rentals officially announced new listings included 78 properties in Hai City and over 20 properties in several second-tier cities. However, the most eye-catching listing had to be the 210 new rental properties listed in the capital.

Most rentals are shared in the capital, so did that mean those 210 properties could accommodate six to seven hundred people?

This was Xu Yao’s first large-scale expansion into the capital with her rental team. Anyone in business knows that no one would sell all their products in one go, meaning there would definitely be more to come later.

President Wang gasped, leaping up from his office chair in disbelief, asking incredulously, “Does Xu Yao really not lack properties?”

Is that why she was so bold in refusing their offer to collaborate?

[210 properties in the capital, that must be worth tens of billions, right?]

[I’m already getting ready to rent! I’ve finally finished my wait for Sister Yao! Being jealous of Xu Yao’s tenants isn’t just a recent thing.]

[All the service companies working with Xu Yao must be laughing their heads off all the way to the bank. I heard Tengda Moving used to be just a small company in Haicheng, but now that Xu Yao is entering the capital, riding her coattails like this, they’ll probably go public sooner or later.]

[Exactly. As long as Xu Yao keeps expanding her rental properties across different cities, these partner companies, so long as they don’t mess things up, will basically be raking in the profits. The older generation used to say, “Even pigs can fly if they stand in the wind¹.” I didn’t believe it before, but now I do.]

[Xu Yao Rentals is honestly ridiculous. I work at a funeral home, so I put “near a funeral home” as my housing requirement, and she actually rented me a place that fits that exactly.]

[Anyone interested in some gossip? The CEO of King of Fine Living, the biggest real estate company in the capital, invited Xu Yao to dinner, but got stood up. He waited until 10 p.m. before slinking off. It totally cracked me up.]

[I heard about this too! I just want to say that Sister Yao is truly impressive! He’s the CEO of such a big real estate company, yet she still doesn’t give a damn about him, an absolute legend.]

Many renters have been ripped off by rental companies to varying degrees, so seeing a rental company get their comeuppance for the first time made them feel as if Xu Yao had given them a chance to vent their anger.

Some individuals who rent apartments also took to Weibo, expressing their concern for Xu Yao.

The invitation from the CEO of King of Fine Living to Xu Yao for dinner was clearly a signal; if Xu Yao couldn’t resist the temptation of money, it would only be a matter of time before her rental team became a second landlord.

Some influential experts even provided the netizens with an analysis of the situation.

[Rental Assistant Little Two V: The difference between renting through Xu Yao and through real estate agencies lies in the source of properties. Xu Yao’s listings come from her own properties, while agencies source theirs from countless individual landlords. One person like Xu Yao can’t compete with so many landlords. Given how excellent her rental conditions are, tenants who secure her properties rarely move out frequently. This means that within two or three years, Xu Yao may run out of available units to rent out. At that point, if she wants to continue expanding, she will have no choice but to join the ranks of other real estate companies.]

It’s often said that renting Xu Yao’s properties is as hard as getting into top universities like Tsinghua or Peking University. After all, her tenant turnover rate is the lowest among all rental apps!

And having no listings available—that’s a real risk.

[True. If I managed to rent one of Xu Yao’s places, I wouldn’t move out unless I bought my own home.]

[Feels like Xu Yao’s high-quality rental service is a double-edged sword, since tenants just don’t want to leave! Let me tell you something wild: a netizen applied for a job, and the boss was deciding between her and a guy. As soon as the boss heard she was Xu Yao’s tenant, he immediately chose her—because renting from Xu Yao is basically like having an extra layer of screening done for the employer.]

Xu Yao’s rental team officially announced 210 available units in the capital, which made many netizens even more concerned about her situation.

Since renting directly affects people’s real interests, fewer were just watching for entertainment, with most genuinely worried that Xu Yao might run into a shortage of listings.

Some very considerate tenants, after much thought, tagged Xu Yao in the tenant group chat.

[@AAAA Professional Rentals Little Xu, Sister Yao, if you really do face a shortage of properties, I’d be okay with you collaborating with other real estate companies, as long as you can keep at least 80% of your current service attitude, that’s enough.]

Encountering a landlord like Xu Yao in their rental journey is already a stroke of luck.

They had just graduated, and now that they were renting from Xu Yao, they only needed to worry about their careers. With Xu Yao always standing behind them, it was as if she was their safety net.

This tenant’s comment received a lot of agreement from other tenants.

[AAAA Professional Rentals Little Xu: ? Who told you I lack properties? Don’t jump to your own conclusions so quickly.]

When has she ever lacked properties? She currently has an overwhelming abundance of them! These days, Xu Yao has been looking into the countless properties belonging to the Xu family. While high-rise buildings in big cities are still quite manageable, the Xu family’s ancestors, who seemed to have a strong penchant for hoarding land, even owned properties in villages and towns, and it was the kind of village that couldn’t even be found through GPS navigation.

[Ji Zhengqing: Yaoyao, do you have enough rental properties on hand?]

Xu Yao felt as if her head was about to explode when she saw this WeChat message. She immediately typed “Enough” in the input box, but just as she was about to send it, her rationality kicked in, prompting her to add two more words.

[AAAA Professional Rentals Little Xu: Enough, for now.]

Ji Zhengqing sighed when he saw this. Sure enough, giving a gift after the fact doesn’t make much of a difference.

Assistant Li was already numb. Recalling the real estate documents President Ji had asked him to prepare in recent days, he asked, “Is President Ji planning to learn from President Xu and temporarily transfer the rental rights of the Ji family’s idle properties to Miss Xu Yao?”

President Xu is her actual biological brother! President Ji, do you even understand that? Don’t just copy everything! Copying everything will only ruin you!

As Ji Zhengqing organized the documents in front of him, he couldn’t help but frown upon hearing Assistant Li’s words, saying, “Assistant Li, even if I hand over the Ji family’s idle properties to Xu Yao for rent, I would only give her half of the rent.”

If all the rental income really was given away, it would be hard for him to explain to his family. After all, she is his fiancée, not his wife yet.

Assistant Li felt numb. Only giving Miss Xu Yao fifty percent of the rental income? Good thing President Ji is the only child of the Ji family, and both the chairman and his wife are famously known for being reasonable and harmonious, otherwise…

Ji Zhengqing set down the documents and couldn’t help but scrutinise Assistant Li up and down. He said seriously, “Assistant Li, I highly recognize your work ability, in that sense, you’re no worse than He Fan. But I’ve noticed you have a fatal weakness.”

Upon hearing this, Assistant Li immediately tensed up, instinctively straightening his posture.

Ji Zhengqing said to him, “Assistant Li, I think you’re a bit too much of a love-brain², which is not conducive to your career development.”

Assistant Li: “…?” Does that even make sense?

Assistant Li: …So, is the Wang Baochuan³ who dug wild vegetables for eighteen years actually your long-lost sister, President Ji?

*

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:

“Miss Yaoyao, there is a lot of concern regarding our rental properties right now. Besides increasing our publicity and recruitment efforts, do you remember we also have a livestreaming account?” He Fan reminded her at the right moment.

Xu Yao recalled that when she was collecting rent in the urban village of Hai City, many influencers tried to jump on the hype surrounding her and livestream. In order to regain control, Xu Yao sometimes livestreamed while renting out her properties.

Xu Yao immediately grasped He Fan’s intention. While other rich second-generation heirs flaunted their wealth in livestreams, He Fan was suggesting she showcase her properties. He wanted to give the tenants unlimited confidence that she, Xu Yao, absolutely had enough rental properties available for rent. If in a few years, it really wasn’t enough, she could always ask her fiancé for more.

Since she was going to show off, she needed to start with something truly impressive.

“How about Xinyi Trade City? Their lease is up,” Xu Yao suggested.

She not only wanted to reassure individual tenants, but also commercial tenants; they really didn’t need to worry about her not having enough properties!

Doesn’t Xinyi Trade City sound prestigious?

To put it bluntly, it was just a wholesale market! A massive wholesale market.

Xu Yao, who had always been a slacker, posted a livestream announcement on Weibo: Going to collect rent from a building in Xinyi Trade City tomorrow.

Netizens had long been accustomed to Xu Yao’s properties being referred to in units of “buildings,” so they were unfazed.

It wasn’t until Xu Yao got out of her specialized rental collection RV and pointed at the rows of interconnected buildings behind her that the conversation in the livestream chat continued.

The netizens, who were instantly dumbfounded: “??”

Wait, are you referring to this group of commercial buildings as one building?

Xu Yao, who was now in front of the camera, had a surprised look on her face. “Isn’t this all connected by corridors? You can directly walk through all thirteen sections, so how can it not be counted as one building?”

Since they’re all connected, then that’s one building!

---

author needs to send assistant he a psychologist bc the poor man is going crazy due to his completely-not-self-aware love-brained boss LAWL

on another note, i’ll be posting 2 chapters every week after chapter 40, maybe more after chapter 50, depending on my backlog of chapters! hopefully i’ll be able to post everyday like i did with RHRPAW by the last 10-20 chapters! the aim for me is to completely finish translating this novel by mid-end june and have the ebook out by my uni break. that way, i’ll be able to focus on SASCTC next!

please support the author on JJWXC if possible!
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any typos or broken links, pls comment or dm me on discord!
support mio on kofi! ◡̈

1. The phrase “站在风口猪都能起飞” literally means “even pigs can fly if they stand in the wind.” Culturally, it reflects the idea that success often depends on timing and favorable conditions (the ‘right trend’ or momentum), not just individual ability. In this context, it means that companies partnering with Xu Yao can thrive simply by riding the wave of her expanding business empire. ↩︎
2. “恋爱脑” → someone who prioritizes romance over logic/career ↩︎
3. Wang Baochuan is a legendary woman known for waiting faithfully for her husband for 18 years, enduring hardship and living off wild vegetables. In modern usage, referencing her implies over-the-top devotion in love. Here, it sarcastically suggests someone is being excessively “love-brained” and irrationally devoted. ↩︎