Category: Retiring From the Circle to Collect Rent Everyday

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

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Xu Yao actually planned to keep a low profile until the court date, so as to not put too much pressure on Bo’en Law Firm and let Pan Xianmin and the others prepare their litigation materials in peace.

But now that another person had jumped from Runda Apartments, the weight of a human life far outweighed everything else, and she also believed in the capabilities of Pan Xianmin and his team.

With He Fan’s manipulation, the topic easily climbed to the top three of the hot search, dropping like a bombshell. Netizens could hardly believe such things still happened in this day and age; it was simply infuriating.

[Holy crap, Xu Yao’s legal team is suing Runda and Junyi Long-term Apartments, with the trial date coming up? Is this a lawsuit on behalf of her tenants?]

]So the reason young people have been jumping off buildings at Runda Apartments these past two days isn’t just because they’re ‘too fragile’—it’s because Runda and Junyi teamed up to pull some predatory scam?]

[Wahhhhh, it’s finally exposed! I was one of the victims who got scammed. Runda kicked us out claiming we hadn’t paid rent, yet we still have to repay the bank loan. I really just want to die.]

[Holy sh*t, just what kind of goddess is Xu Yao? Just a landlady, yet she’s really helping her tenants with their lawsuit?!]

Previously, the whole internet was buzzing about how Xu Yao’s legal team could provide legal assistance to tenants, but everyone had only thought it was just for minor disputes. But now, the situation is entirely different.

Runda and Junyi Long-term Apartments were both publicly listed companies!!

Minor squabbles and truly taking on capitalists were two different concepts, okay? Xu Yao and those tenants had no other connection apart from their landlord-tenant relationship! Moreover, lawsuits also came at a heavy expense.

Moreover, it’s obvious to anyone with eyes that this trending topic had come out of nowhere, suddenly shooting up to the top three, a clear indication of someone pushing things forward behind the scenes.

Xu Yao truly wasn’t afraid of trouble; anyone who dared to mess with her tenants was offending her personally! This woman had gone completely rogue ever since she withdrew from the entertainment industry.

Xu Yao’s dozens of tenant groups were flooded with comments going crazy, but she remained silent as if she were pretending to be invisible.

[Sister Yao, I love you! I will always cheer for you!]

[I want to be Xu Yao’s tenant for life; it feels so secure! Sister, I can be your little wolf dog or your little milk dog, just look at me!]

[Landlady sister, don’t be too rigid about gender! I’m open-minded! I want to renew my lease for another five years!]

Xu Yao sighed as she was bombarded with tags from this excited group of tenants. These people were just too young and passionate.

Xu Yao didn’t speak up in the tenant groupchat, but that didn’t stop the enthusiastic tenants from directly consulting the head of the rental team in a moment of impulse, immediately requesting to renew their lease for five years.

“That’s not possible,” the head of the rental team said apologetically, “Miss Yao Yao believes you all have the potential to own your own homes in the future one day.”

The group of young people was momentarily stunned, their eyes starting to redden all of a sudden. They weren’t sure if they would be able to survive in this highly competitive society, but Xu Yao believed they could.

Xu Yao is the best in the world! Who were those heartless people who had attacked and slandered her name online? A bunch of corrupt individuals¹!

Those still living in Runda Apartments, and were inexplicably burdened with loans, felt as if they had suddenly received a shot of adrenaline when they saw the trending topic online. They had almost suffocated from the pressure when suddenly someone reached out to pull them out.

A young man sitting by the window seemed to suddenly come to his senses, immediately withdrawing from the windowsill.

Sometimes, it wasn’t that they wanted to jump, but rather that something had suddenly set flame to their last hope in life, leading them to act impulsively.

[This matter doesn’t seem to be simple. I can understand Xu Yao suing Junyi Long-term Apartments, but why is she also suing Runda at the same time?]

[+1, there’s definitely more to the story for this matter.]

Junyi leased the apartments under Runda to operate as long-term rentals, then used rental loans to rent to ordinary tenants. Logically, if something went wrong, the problem should have laid with Junyi Long-term Apartment.

Just like the last incident at Zhengde Academy, the landlord could just sell off the property in the end. As long as they were unaware of the situation, they wouldn’t be affected.

Unless—Runda not only knew about the matter but also cooperated with the culprit!

Mu Xiyuan’s face had turned as dark as the bottom of a pot. He never expected that this matter would be exposed so abruptly, now escalating to the level of nationwide discussion on the internet.

With Xu Yao’s actions, it would be difficult for Runda to clear their name in this situation!

“President Mu, several of our partners are inquiring about the lawsuit situation,” an assistant rushed in from outside.

“President Mu, a client has changed their mind and postponed tonight’s business dinner.”

“President Mu, there are tenants who are downstairs in our apartments holding banners, demanding that we and Junyi pay with our lives.”

“President Mu…”

Mu Xiyuan felt a headache coming on, his expression growing even darker. With Xu Yao causing such a stir, it was bound to affect the company’s stock price. The situation was also especially delicate since it hadn’t even been that long since his adoptive father had handed the company over to him.

The assistant immediately said, “President Mu, the public actually only cares about the outcome. As long as we win the lawsuit, public opinion will turn around immediately!”

Mu Xiyuan nodded repeatedly, as if grasping onto a lifeline, “Yes, that’s right! All that matters is that we win this lawsuit. Have the legal department do everything they can to win this case! If we lose, they can all just pack up and leave!”

Mu Xiyuan’s anxious heart gradually calmed down. Surely, his legal department wouldn’t be so incompetent as to lose to the rookie lawyers he had just fired, right?

“President Mu, the chairman is calling you,” the assistant hurriedly said, holding a vibrating phone.

Mu Xiyuan’s heart, which had just settled, instantly became uneasy again. He cautiously called out, “Dad.”

On the other end, his father immediately launched into a tirade, “What on earth are you doing? How did you get involved in this rental loan issue? I only found out about it when I overheard the nurses discussing it in the hospital.”

Mu Xiyuan stammered, wanting to explain something to his father.

Chairman Mu interrupted him directly, “Stop with the nonsense. Just tell me, did you get involved or not?”

Mu Xiyuan fell silent. It seemed Chairman Mu came to some sort of realisation as he scolded, “Xiyuan, I know you want to show us outstanding results, but you can’t just act recklessly like this! You’re not even as good as Xiao² Chan!”

What the outside world didn’t know was that Mu Xiyuan was actually their adopted son. He had always been resentful at the fact that he wasn’t their biological child, fearing that this would be the ultimate reason why Runda Corporation wouldn’t be handed over to him in the end. So, in order to achieve outstanding results, he had stubbornly insisted on boarding the pirate ship of Junyi Long-term Rental Apartments that was bound to sink.

Mu Xiyuan had always known that his adoptive parents had high hopes for his ex-wife, and he couldn’t help but say, “Mingchan only managed to secure some measly investment. That lousy game has no chance of succeeding.”

Mu Xiyuan didn’t want to continue being longwinded to his adoptive father. As long as he won the trial and corrected the public opinion, they would understand that his abilities were definitely not inferior to Mingchan’s!

The online community was paying close attention to the upcoming trial. Upon learning that Xu Yao’s legal team came from an unknown Bo’en Law Firm, and that the people taking this case were all rookie lawyers, many couldn’t help but feel anxious.

[When I saw Xu Yao being so arrogant in withdrawing from the entertainment industry, I assumed her legal team must be extremely formidable, but it turns out they’re all a bunch of rookie lawyers? Can they really compete with a listed company’s legal department? I’m so worried.]

[Worried +1, I originally thought Xu Yao was so arrogant because she had a team like Xu’s Pizza Hut behind her. Whether this lawsuit can be won is really uncertain.]

[Regardless of whether they can win, Xu Yao is already a goddess in my heart. Is this trial being live-streamed? If it is, I’ll definitely watch it on time!]

[According to reliable sources, Attorney Pan, one of the lawyers under Xu Yao, was fired from the Runda legal department. My heart is completely chilled by this fact.]

[Hey, buddy upstairs, please don’t scare me like that!]

Even though Xu Yao hired rookie lawyers, she was clearly willing to wade through this murky water. The online praise was overwhelming, and anyone who dared to speak ill of Xu Yao would be bombarded to the point of deactivating their Weibo account.

Inside Heavenly Star Game Studio, the company was still in full swing when Huang Qiang took the time to find Ming Chan.

“Boss Ming, I’ll need to take leave tomorrow to attend a court hearing. I’ll make sure to finish my work tonight.”

Ming Chan patted his shoulder, “Just go ahead and go. Your salary will be paid as usual. Our game is almost completely done, so things aren’t as busy as before.”

They were merely modifying an existing game, not making a completely new one from scratch. After a month of all-nighters and hard work, they were finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. Ming Chan directly packaged up the game build and sent it to the first major investor, Xu Yao, for a beta trial.

Xu Yao happily received the game application, which was a whopping  2GB in size. She didn’t plan to attend tomorrow’s trial and had just decided to check the livestream of it instead.

As her phone was downloading the game, she received a comforting WeChat message from her wealthy brother, the country’s richest man.

[Xu Jing: Yao Yao, do you need my legal team to help with the lawsuit?]

Xu Jing was indeed a bit worried, having heard that her team were all rookie lawyers and was unsure of their reliability.

Xu Yao smiled and sent a voice message back, “No need, I trust my judgment in people.”

By seven in the morning, a group of reporters had gathered at the entrance of the courthouse. At eight o’clock, they saw a nanny van approaching from a distance. Pan Xianmin, Yao Zongze, and others, dressed in formal attire and carrying briefcases, accompanied Huang Qiang and several plaintiffs as they got out of the vehicle.

The reporters, who had been waiting for a long time, immediately rushed over, thrusting microphones in front of them:

“Attorney Pan, there are rumours online that you were fired from Runda’s legal department. What are your thoughts on today’s lawsuit against your former employer?”

This question was indeed quite pointed. Pan Xianmin frowned, and soon, another reporter pressed on, “Bo’en Law Firm has never had any notable successful cases in Haicheng. Why did Miss Xu Yao hire your firm as her private legal team? Is it because your fees are lower?”

“Attorney Yao, are you confident about the outcome of today’s trial?”

“…”

The netizens in the live stream were immediately provoked to cursing and swearing. This was clearly them trying to mess with the attorney’s mindset before the hearing!

Pan Xianmin took the microphone, his voice calm and steady, “The outcome of a case is never determined by rookie lawyers or elite lawyers, but by the fairness of the law.”

With that one sentence, the reporters on-site were all rendered speechless.

Who would dare to say another word? Wouldn’t doing so mean questioning the fairness of Chinese law?

“Please, gentlemen, come in,” Yao Zongze smiled slightly, signaling the extremely nervous Huang Qiang and the others to enter the courthouse, leaving the reporters with only a view of their broad and upright backs.

[Wow, Attorney Pan is so cool! That statement immediately gave me a sense of security. So what if they’re rookie lawyers? The law of the country is paramount! No matter how amazing a lawyer is, can they even defy the law now?]

[I was worried about their skill level before, but after hearing that, I suddenly feel at ease. I look forward to them winning the lawsuit!]

[I will always believe in Xu Yao’s judgment; her choice of people is exceptional.]

For Huang Qiang and the other young adults, this was their first time in court, and their nervousness was comparable to when they took their college entrance examination. They were putting all their trust in Xu Yao’s legal team.

In accordance with the court proceedings, the identities of the plaintiff and defendant were verified, and Huang Qiang and his group, as the plaintiffs, made their statements.

Pan Xianmin looked at his former colleague across the room and calmly submitted his evidence, “This is the rental agreement signed by Mr. Huang and others with Junyi Long-term Apartments, along with chat records with the intermediary, which failed to inform Mr. Huang and the other tenants that the project included a loan.”

The defense attorney immediately raised an objection, and a back-and-forth debate ensued.

“Plaintiff’s lawyer, the evidence you presented cannot point to Runda Group.”

Yao Zongze and Pan Xianmin immediately exchanged a glance and proceeded to submit their latest piece of evidence, “This is the physical and testimonial evidence showing that Runda was indeed aware of the loan business in cooperation with Junyi Long-term Apartments.”

His former colleague’s face suddenly darkened as he looked at the witnesses who were walking in from outside.

The f*ck? Submitting evidence in court? Pan Xianmin, you bastard! You clearly weren’t this diligent, even when you were at Runda!!

Pan Xianmin smiled contemptuously. How much did their legal department earn? Their law firm has an annual salary of fifty million! These people would never be able to earn that in a lifetime. He was determined to win today, even if it cost him his life!

For the past month, Bo’en Law Firm had been running around collecting various pieces of evidence for this lawsuit, all to prepare for today.

Attorney Pan and Attorney Yao proceeded with their presentation and evidence submission in an orderly manner, their calm tone rendering the opposing lawyer speechless.

Legal bigwigs from major political and legal departments were also watching this trial closely, only growing  increasingly amazed as they watched on. This trial could almost become a classic case study, making them directly tag their colleagues in group chats.

Teachers who were originally lecturing in class simply turned off their teaching PPTs and clicked on the livestream button of the trial to learn from these alumni on the spot!

In the official livestream of the trial, whenever Pan Xianmin and his team made a statement, the teachers below would explain it, nodding continuously, “Which political and legal university did these two graduate from?”

Once the opposing side made even a slight mistake in their arguments, these two would immediately seize the opportunity to relentlessly attack their weak points.

The students in the audience stared at the livestream in shock. The more Pan Xianmin and Yao Zongze spoke, the more confident and aggressive in their arguments they became. The courtroom had almost turned into their battlefield, and it was even a one-sided slaughter—anyone who stood in their way would simply be crushed!

In other court hearings, it was usually a back-and-forth exchange, but here, it was only their one-sided attacking without any defense from the other side!!

“My goodness, these two seniors are way too strong! The Runda legal department’s lawyers are all speechless!”

Originally tense, Huang Qiang and his group became increasingly relaxed, watching this elite legal team hired by Sister Yao dominate the courtroom on their behalf.

Wow, is this what it feels like to be carried to victory?

[Hahaha, shouldn’t the entire Runda legal department collectively be sacked? They were so thoroughly criticised they’ve basically been silenced. Are they just earning their salaries for nothing?]

[We all have mouths, so why are lawyers so articulate while I can’t even say a word at critical moments?]

[I can fathom Bo’en Law Firm winning against Junyi Long-term Apartments, but to drag Rundas down with them? Consider me genuinely impressed.]

[I don’t want to be a doctor anymore; I want to study law. It’s just too cool!]

Xu Yao woke up particularly early today. She was nestled on a beanbag chair on the balcony, playing games while watching the livestream of the trial.

A glance at the screen revealed that if the defense attorney was sitting any closer, Yao Zongze’s spittle would’ve already been all over their face.

“This game is pretty good, it’s really 3D now.” After downloading the game last night, Xu Yao clicked in to see the new 3D figure of the female protagonist, with her even being able to rotate the character for a 360° view.

While listening to the trial’s proceedings, she admired the game’s graphics, “Wow, my daughter³ has become so much more beautiful.”

The trial lasted from morning until nearly noon. Under the despairing expressions of Runda’s legal team, who looked as if they had just lost their fathers, the judge announced the plaintiff’s victory in court. Junyi Long-term Apartments would bear all losses, and the tenants would not be held responsible, while Runda would also be required to compensate all tenants.

Paying up means paying even if it means going bankrupt! If they can’t afford it, they will face enforcement—with no one able to escape it!

“This… does this mean we won? We don’t have to pay back the loan anymore?” Huang Qiang looked at the court’s judgment document, uncertainly asking Yao Zongze beside him, “And we’ll even receive a substantial compensation?”

Yao Zongze nodded with a smile, “Yes, not only do you not have to pay back the loan, but it also won’t affect your credit score.”

The two let out a heavy sigh of relief, their palms still sweaty under the table.

Despite the two having been so dominant in the courtroom, it was only now they were just realizing how tense they had been.

Pan Xianmin looked at his former colleague’s grief-stricken expression, which was as if they had just lost a loved one, and couldn’t help but curve his lips.

Although lawyers were expected to be serious and rigorous, he just wanted to burst out into laughter. This group of bastards who had kicked him out and treated him like a scapegoat never expected to see this day coming, did they?

They never thought they would lose to him, did they?!

Pan Xianmin stretched happily, his shirt riding up to reveal a section of his abdomen, prompting his assistant to rush over to cover him up again.

Pan Xianmin felt a tickle in his nose and rubbed it without any regard for his image, “What are you doing?”

The assistant hurriedly said, “Attorney Pan, pay attention to your image! You and Attorney Yao are famous right now!”

The two exchanged confused glances: “Huh?”

Trending?

What’s trending?

#Bo’enLawFirmWins#

#RentalLoan#

#ClassicCourtCase#

#XuYao’sEliteLawyerTeam#

The trending topics dominating the top spots on Weibo were all related to Xu Yao!

Bo’en Law Firm had taken on two major listed companies and won, instantly becoming famous from this one battle!

[I apologize for doubting Bo’en Law Firm yesterday, I was literally just on my knees watching the trial live!]

[I don’t have to bear this inexplicable loan anymore! Thank you, Bo’en Law Firm, thank you, Xu Yao. Wahhhh, thank goodness I didn’t jump off a building! I’ve waited for so long, and now I’m debt-free—what a liberating feeling!]

[My high school classmate from the political and legal college told me that this trial’s livestream is being used as a case study in various political and legal academies. I’m genuinely impressed by Xu Yao’s vision; this woman is crazy but you can’t deny she has a keen eye.]

Yao Zongze and Pan Xianmin were both bewildered. They were just going through the motions of a normal lawsuit, just hoping to receive the fifty million annual salary from Xu Yao next year. They never expected that in just one morning, they would… suddenly become an internet sensation?

The assistant, who was holding a constantly ringing phone and was busy answering call after call, was overwhelmed.

“Attorney Pan, Attorney Lu, there have been so many calls, all asking whether you’re taking on any other cases. They want to hire you as their lawyers.”

“Oh my god, another appointment calls! Stop calling, damn it.”

Pan Xianmin was still fine, but Yao Zongze was completely stunned. His Bo’en Law Firm had been established for three to four years, and the number of cases they had received combined didn’t even match the calls coming in today… 

From being rookie lawyers to becoming well-known elite lawyers, they achieved this in just one morning, and this opportunity to rise to fame was given to them by Xu Yao!

Pan Xianmin was still struggling to cope with the enthusiastic reporters and appointment calls. He swallowed hard and finally managed to say, “I only work for Miss Xu Yao. I’m her personal lawyer.”

Not only was their future salary of fifty million secured, but they also instantly became the hottest lawyers in the industry. A lawyer who doesn’t want to be a top lawyer isn’t a good lawyer!

Xu Yao, you are forever my goddess!

If it weren’t for the need to maintain their image, Pan Xianmin would have cried along with Yao Zongze. Good heavens, they never expected to make such a breakthrough.

Once the court ruling was announced, the stock prices of Junyi Long-term Apartments and Runda, both publicly listed companies, plummeted collectively, as if they were on a roller coaster, directly hitting the daily limit down and evaporating over a billion in market value, setting a record for the largest single-day drop.

Xu Yao estimated that if this continued, delisting would definitely be a sure thing.

Capitalists don’t care about the lives of others; they only mourn their own disappearing assets!

Xu Yao praised Bo’en Law Firm on WeChat and sent her game feedback to Ming Chan, saying she thought it was quite good.

At the very least, she felt that her investment of 150 million had not been in vain.

The official account of Shining Star announced that it would soon reopen, but due to the lawsuit regarding rental loans, aside from some fans in the gaming circle who were following along, most netizens were still immersed in the thrill of taking down the listed companies.

It was truly a joy. Those trash capitalists who exploited young people just entering society have finally taken a hit and fallen, haven’t they?

Xu Yao was truly a goddess!

[Xu Yao Rental Official Account: The boss said we can prioritize renting to the affected Runda Apartment tenants~ Everyone has suffered.]

As soon as this Weibo post was published, some Runda tenants could no longer hold back and burst into tears in their rental rooms.

Since leaving the ivory tower of youth and entering society, there were no longer any teachers to tolerate them, nor classmates to encourage each other. The cold competition in the workplace suffocated people, and at this moment, only Xu Yao said to them, “Everyone has suffered.”

Even though Xu Yao was just an online stranger, they felt an immense sense of closeness to her.

#IRaiseTheFlag⁴ForXuYao# shot straight to the top of the trending topics, with Xu Yao’s Weibo followers skyrocketing, surpassing ten million in just a few days, now rivaling that of even top-tier female stars!

So what if she already retired from the entertainment industry? Xu Yao could still be a top star!

That night, the brightest LED screen on Haicheng’s Pearl Tower lit up with the message, “Xu Yao is the best landlady in the world.” A certain unknown rich fan of Xu Yao had directly rented the LED screen to express their love for her!

This was clearly a grand display specifically prepared for Xu Yao, as countless citizens and tourists watching the night view also saw it clearly!

[Ahhh, my Sister Yao has such a rich female fan now? So cool, I want to tell Xu Yao like this too!]

[Apparently Xu Yao’s residence is at Haicheng Bay No. 1, so this LED confession of love for Xu Yao can definitely be seen by her.]

[Wahhhhh, I’m just a poor person and can’t chase Xu Yao like this, it’s driving me crazy with anxiety!]

[Sister Yao is just too low-key! Her elite legal team helped tenants win the lawsuit, and the stock prices of the two listed companies are plummeting towards forced delisting, yet her personal Weibo hasn’t let out even a single peep?]

[This is called ‘accomplish the task, then leave quietly, hiding both your presence and your name⁵,’]

[Pfft—According to a tenant who added Xu Yao on WeChat before, she seems to be recently obsessed with a game and has no time to respond…]

A game? What game?

We also want to play the game that our Sister Yao plays!

Although they couldn’t replicate the rich fan’s act of expressing love for Xu Yao on an LED screen, they could still play the same game as her.

Is it “Honor of Kings”? That’s the hottest game right now! From office workers to elementary school students, everyone is playing it.

[…Judging from her shared WeChat Moments post, it seems to be a dress-up game.]

Netizens were instantly confused. What dress-up game? Is this sort of game that fun?

*

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:

Mu Xiyuan never expected to lose. The entire Runda legal department had lost to a once downtrodden dog. He really hadn’t realised that Pan Xianmin had such talent.

The guy practically stepped on Runda and Junyi Long-term Apartments to achieve his title of top lawyer!

Runda was definitely better off than Junyi Long-term Apartments in terms of avoiding delisting, but the stock price drop was still hard for him to bear. Various cooperative partners had announced they were halting cooperation with them, and the company’s image plummeted. Even celebrities in the entertainment industry were seizing the opportunity to kick them while they were down—

Liu Yingxia, along with a group of male and female celebrities announced the end of their endorsement with them.

Once the wall falls, everyone pushes—this is exactly what it looks like!

His adoptive father was already hospitalized, and his adoptive mother had been busy taking care of him this whole time. Now, upon hearing this news, his adoptive father was so enraged that he fainted and had to be rushed for emergency treatment overnight.

It was said that when he fainted, his adoptive father was still muttering “Xiao Chan.”

From the looks of it, his adoptive father would rather the person in charge of Runda Group be his ex-daughter-in-law, not him, his adopted son, whom he had raised for over twenty years!

Mu Xiyuan looked at the employees outside continuously handing their resignation letters in, his face darkening as he roared for his assistant to come in.

“How has Ming Chan been doing lately?”

Sure, he ran into some minor issues whilst taking charge of Runda, buteven a starving camel is bigger than a horse⁶! That crappy game Ming Chan made—how could it possibly be doing much better than him?

Could that game even be expected to make any money?

The assistant’s expression was extremely strange, seemingly reluctant to touch upon Mu Xiyuan’s sore spot again at this moment.

Mu Xiyuan gritted his teeth, “Speak, what’s there to hide?!”

The assistant had no choice but to lower his head and say softly, “Madam Ming Chan’s game ‘Shining Star’ has been updated.”

The assistant paused and spat out a few words: “It’s gone viral.”
Mu Xiyuan was momentarily stunned, incredulously raising his voice in disbelief, “What did you say? That crappy game ‘Shining Star‘ can actually become a hit?”

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changed mingchan -> ming chan (didn’t know ming was her surname before until ‘boss ming’ TAT)

support mio on kofi! ◡̈

1. 脏心烂肺 (lit.) dirty heart, rotten lungs. Used to refer to people who are morally filthy, disgusting people. ↩︎
2. 小 (lit.) little. Used in front of a name as a term of endearment for someone younger. ↩︎
3.  女鹅 (lit.) female goose. Used as a cutesy typo version of 女儿 (lit.) daughter (same pronunciation) in fandom and gaming spaces to refer affectionately to a female character you love ↩︎
4. 举大旗 publicly supporting or championing someone, often in a dramatic or humorous way. ↩︎
5. 事了拂衣去，深藏身与名: When the deed is done, he brushes his sleeves and leaves, deep in hiding his person and fame,” Meaning after completing a task (often a heroic or decisive one), the hero departs quietly, concealing their identity and achievements from the world, embodying the ideal of a humble, selfless hero. From Li Bai’s “Knight Errant” (侠客行) ↩︎
6. 瘦死的骆驼比马大 (even a starving camel is bigger than a horse) is a Chinese idiom meaning that even if a powerful entity has weakened, it’s still stronger than most others. ↩︎

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

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The collective announcement by internationally renowned designers that they would release new designs in China also caused a huge earthquake abroad.

China? Why would it be China? That place practically had no fashion roots at all!

Could it be that they now have to fly to China specifically for a show? Wouldn’t that be even worse than killing them?!

However, not going would be even more unbearable. It had been five years since Master Absalom announced his retirement from the fashion world due to old age. During these five years, new talents continued to emerge, but still, none of them could eclipse the master’s brilliance. How could one dare to continue staying in this circle if they couldn’t see the master’s latest design after five years with their own eyes first?

A group of foreign rich second-generation heirs were extremely conflicted and caught in a dilemma, but nothing they could do would change this fact.

Domestic reporters were on the verge of a collective high. This incident alone was enough for them to write countless articles. Almost as soon as dawn broke the next day, various major media outlets immediately dispatched reporters to investigate and film.

Follow up on the matter!

These reporters also had connections in the industry, contacting various relevant insiders and friends to try to obtain some inside information.

The other party could only helplessly state, “We only know that several masters were indeed invited by a wealthy person from our country, while the rest of the masters said they wanted to keep it confidential.”

The reporters were a bit stunned. Is this really all the information you have?

“If they’re holding a show in our country, they would need to arrange for a venue, right? It’s really strange, it seems like these masters haven’t even booked a venue either.”

A group of reporters who specifically report on the international fashion industry were also confused. They often attend events like Paris Fashion Week, but they had never seen a situation where not even a hint of the design was leaked!

“Brother Li, I feel like there’s something amiss here,” a rookie reporter followed closely behind a middle-aged reporter, eagerly offering him a cigarette as they chatted. “It’s one thing not to have information about the show venue, but we’ve contacted several of the masters’ go-to supermodels, and they don’t seem to have any information either. None of them have been booked in advance.”

Supermodels have their own schedules too, so it’s normal for the employer to notify them in advance.

The middle-aged reporter took the cigarette and took a puff, squinting his eyes as he said, “This whole situation is a bit strange.”

If it’s fake, well, the masters collectively announced it themselves, so how could that be? If it’s true, well, then this situation is completely different from the usual style of previous fashion weeks.

“Brother Li, we don’t have any information in our hands now, so how are we supposed to write our articles? The editor-in-chief is messaging me again to speed things along.” The rookie reporter squatted by the flower bed, his face full of frustration as he humbly asked for advice from the middle-aged reporter beside him.

As reporters, although they wanted to grab attention with their headlines, they couldn’t just make things up regardless of the facts, could they? So how could they write an article without any definite information?

This was really making things difficult for ordinary officeworkers.

The middle-aged reporter took a heavy drag of his cigarette, glanced at the young man, and smiled, “How can you say we didn’t get any useful information? Didn’t they say that they were invited by a wealthy person from our country? Just write about that.”

After all, reporters from all the major media outlets couldn’t find out any news, but now domestic netizens were very concerned about this topic, it was impossible for them not to report on it, so—

All major media outlets collectively reported, using various exaggerated and flowery prose to emphasize that this had all been organised by a low-key domestic tycoon, describing this tycoon as full of mystery, whetting the appetite of netizens.

Always believe in the power of words. These reporters all have excellent writing skills, and now, they’ve forcefully created an image of a luxurious yet extremely low-key successful persona for this domestic tycoon.

[So the reporters don’t have any inside information, they only know that this was organised by some big shot? They don’t know anything else? What use are you guys!]

[Let’s guess who it is, is it Xu Jing, the country’s richest man? He’s the first one I thought of!]

[The first one to rule out is Xu Yao, this woman is accustomed to utilising marketing tactics, so being lowkey definitely isn’t her style]

[Ahhhh the less information you have, the more I look forward to what’s going on! I dare say, this fashion week held in our country for the first time should be more innovative than those abroad!]

[…Is it possible that it’s not a fashion show at all?]

[Sister upstairs, how could it not be a fashion show when so many internationally renowned designers are releasing designs at the same time? I can’t think of any other reason for them to!]

Netizens were cursing the reporters for being useless and having not found out any information, while eagerly anticipating more updates.

Netizens also found that these fashion reporters who often mingle in globally renowned fashion weeks were actually not as informed as Xu Yao, who seemed to know much more inside information than them.

While online media was reporting on  it like crazy, even traditional print media was generously reporting on this event that made the nation proud on the front page of the next day’s newspaper.

Ji Zhengqing was sitting by the window of his private jet, taking the latest newspaper handed over to him by the flight attendant and reading the front-page news.

Sitting opposite him was his newly promoted assistant — Assistant Li.

The private jet took off on schedule from Beijing to Haicheng, flying smoothly above the clouds.

Assistant Li had also seen today’s front-page news, with the whole internet frantically reporting about the masters releasing their latest designs in China, with some mischievous netizens deliberately screenshotting comments from foreign netizens on Twitter.

Those comments dripping with jealousy made the domestic netizens extremely happy. He had also actually felt quite happy scrolling through them, but then he realized something.

Assistant Li looked at the man across from him, hesitated for a moment, and said, “President Ji, there’s a matter I’m not sure if I should bring up or not.”

Ji Zhengqing glanced at the newspaper, his voice calm, “If it’s not appropriate to say, then don’t say it.”

Assistant Li whispered, “…But I can’t hold it in any longer.”

Ji Zhengqing looked at the newspaper again. Besides the extensive coverage of the fashion legends, Xu Yao’s name also appeared in the paper in relation to her rental team’s nationwide recruitment of moving companies.

He took out his phone, snapped a picture of the article, and stored it in his gallery, not even bothering to lift his head as he told Assistant Li, “Then go ahead and say it.”

Assistant Li carefully chose his words, “President Ji, have you noticed that the few internationally renowned fashion designers reported in the newspaper seem… seem to be the masters you arranged to tailor the engagement dress for Miss Xu?”

All ten masters, including the retired Master Absalom, had been accounted for!

Isn’t that a bit strange?

What exactly does Miss Xu Yao want exactly by keeping these ten masters behind?

Assistant Li always felt like this operation process didn’t seem like it was meant for customising an engagement dress. After all, who customizes a dress to such a globally recognized level?

Ji Zhengqing’s fathomless dark eyes were fixed on the headline of the newspaper, his brows slightly raised, and the already attractive space between his brows seemed to gather even closer.

Seeing Ji Zhengqing’s expression, Assistant Li felt relieved. It seemed the boss understood the meaning behind his words.

Ji Zhengqing put down the newspaper and rubbed his temples lightly.

He had mentioned to Xu Yao that their engagement should be kept private, with only a few close friends and family invited to witness. Xu Yao had readily agreed at the time, and he had thought this had been a mutual idea without giving it much further thought.

But it seemed he had misunderstood. Xu Yao had already agreed with him to keep the engagement private, so she could only subtly flaunt their engagement through the dresses designed by the designers.

Since one of them lived in Haicheng while the other was in Jing City, they didn’t have many opportunities to meet often, with most of their communication being through WeChat. He also occasionally kept an eye on news about Xu Yao online.

In public, Xu Yao always presented herself with an image of someone who could dare to offend anyone, yet in private, she would still feel aggrieved. The sister of Xu Jing, the richest individual, shouldn’t have to compromise herself like this.

Ji Zhengqing deeply reflected on himself, “Seems like I didn’t seriously consider her true feelings.”

Assistant Li, who was sitting across the table, was stunned: “?”

No, wait, isn’t the boss’s thought process veering off course way too much?

*

Today, Xu Yao received news from her fiancé that he had arranged to fly to Haicheng to see her. Xu Yao was quite satisfied with this big fat sheep of a fiancé of hers. Without him, she would have had to waste much more time scouting for talent.

If he invited her out for dinner, then of course she would go.

He Fan and Lu Ye accompanied Xu Yao to the restaurant they had agreed on. As soon as the car parked, Xu Yao spotted a familiar figure stepping out of a black luxury car not far away.

It was her fiancé.

Xu Yao also got out of the car and quickly walked towards Ji Zhengqing. Seeing that there was only the driver in the driver’s seat, she curiously asked, “Did you come here by yourself?”

Ji Zhengqing was dressed differently from their last meeting. Instead of casual wear, he wore a hand-tailored black suit, with a dark red tie accentuating his prominent Adam’s apple, the tie clip subtly shimmering in the dim evening light, making his figure appear even more upright.

He was indeed quite handsome, and his elite temperament made Xu Yao’s eyes light up.

Ji Zhengqing glanced at He Fan behind Xu Yao, a faint smile on his lips, “Yes, the assistant felt a bit unwell, so I sent him back to rest.”

Although Assistant Li’s voice wasn’t as pleasant to hear as He Fan’s, he had gradually gotten the hang of his tasks and couldn’t afford to be led away by Xu Yao as well, so he had come alone.

Xu Yao felt a bit disappointed upon hearing this as she had wanted to see who could replace He Fan as his assistant.

The two entered the restaurant together for dinner, choosing a different place to dine at tonight.

“You only brought the two of them along with you?” Ji Zhengqing asked, looking at Lu Ye and He Fan, “Where’s the kid?”

Xu Yao, who was chewing on her steak, realized what he was asking, “You mean Han Zhao? He went to learn how to drive.”

She had arranged for Han Zhao to learn how to drive during his spare time, specifically choosing a good VIP driving school with professional one-on-one coaching, where the instructors wouldn’t be sarcastic about poor driving skills and there wouldn’t be any strange extra fees.

There were also a few young men and women in the team who, upon seeing Han Zhao being sent to such a good driving school, shyly came over to inquire about the price.

Without hesitation, Xu Yao arranged for them as well; it was better for a few of them to learn together for mutual support.

After all, their team generally didn’t work in the mornings and finished early in the afternoons, making it quite suitable for learning to drive.

Xu Yao actually supported learning more skills, but unfortunately, she had learned a lot during those 999 quick transmigration tasks already. Otherwise, since she was now currently retired, she would have also liked to arrange some learning courses for herself.

Learning without the pressure of exams and not relying on it for a living was actually quite enjoyable.

“Learning to drive in summer is quite tough.”

Xu Yao agreed, thinking summer was too hot, and some driving schools didn’t allow the use of air conditioning, making the wind coming in through the windows stiflingly  hot.

Xu Yao thought for a moment and said, “With this weather, it’s more suitable for swimming lessons.”

A little longer and they would also be able to go to the islands to play. She had several villas on the islands, where she would be able to go snorkelling in the sea.

“You want to learn to swim? I can…” Ji Zhengqing suddenly paused, not sure if he should continue.

After Xu Yao returned to the Xu family, Xu Jing had secretly investigated her past, and as his friend, Ji Zhengqing knew quite a bit.

Xu Yao had once nearly drowned, so she was actually quite resistant to swimming. He shouldn’t have brought it up.

Xu Yao’s eyes suddenly lit up, “Can you arrange for someone to teach me? That would be great, I’m willing, I’m willing!”

Although she hadn’t been able to swim before, after going through so many quick transmigration experiences, even if she couldn’t, she would’ve already been able to pick it up now. If Ji Zhengqing could help her find some talent, she would gladly accept!

This world actually pays a lot of attention to sports. Xu Yao knew that there was a variety show in the entertainment industry called Celebrity Sports Games that was about to be filmed.

Ji Zhengqing looked at Xu Yao’s sparkling eyes. He knew how fearful someone who had nearly drowned could be of water, yet Xu Yao was so eager to learn.

He looked at Xu Yao with gentle eyes and said, “In the future, you can tell me your genuine thoughts and how you really feel directly.”

Xu Yao: “?”

But she had been expressing her genuine thoughts all along!

Before leaving, Ji Zhengqing still had the time to chat with his former subordinate, asking He Fan, “How have you been doing lately at Xu Yao’s workplace?”

He Fan was stunned for a moment. He had many things he wanted to say, but in the end, he summed his whole experience up in one sentence, “President Ji, I’ve even been able to grow my sparse hair out while working for Miss Xu Yao.”

Ji Zhengqing: “…Alright then.”

Ji Zhengqing remained speechless for a while before choosing to leave. It seemed that He Fan had no lingering attachment to Ji Group anymore.

Ji Zhengqing felt somewhat defeated, but fortunately, this sense of defeat came from Xu Yao.

*

Runda Apartments, downstairs.

A girl wearing a long red dress, tightly clenched her fists, her cheeks flushed with anger as she angrily said to the driver of the moving truck, “You’re directly raising the price on the spot? We clearly agreed on the phone earlier that it would be 450 yuan for one trip, and that was including the fee for moving the furniture into the house. Why are you suddenly asking for 500 yuan?”

The girl was so angry that her nose started to sour, and tears began frantically swirling in her eyes, yet she stubbornly refused to let them fall.

Although the difference of 50 yuan wasn’t that big, it was still enough to make her completely break down. With 50 yuan, she could eat for several days if she budgeted properly and cooked for herself.

She really couldn’t take it anymore. She had just graduated this year and was thrust into the fierce job market before she could prepare. She hadn’t graduated from a very prestigious university and hadn’t found a job despite attending so many recruitment fairs.

Runda had rented the apartments to Junyi Long-term Rental Apartments, and this long-term rental company had told her the deposit could be one month’s rent along with an upfront payment of one month’s rent, with rental payments deducted monthly thereafter. The location of the property had been quite convenient as well.

The young girl was tempted, after all, for a recent graduate, the requirement of three months’ deposit as well as one month’s rent upfront that many landlords stipulated was quite stressful. It was hard for her, a fresh graduate, to come up with that much money all at once.

Only after she signed the contract did she discover it was a rental loan, inexplicably saddling her with debt. Runda was now trying to evict her this month, claiming they hadn’t received her rent.

She couldn’t live in the apartment, had to repay the loan she owed, and hadn’t found a job. She didn’t even dare to tell her family and ended up crying in her room every day.

The girl sniffled and said, “If you’re raising the price, then I don’t want you to move my things.”

The driver, who was sitting in the driver’s seat with a cigarette in his mouth and his left arm resting on the car window, said, “Little girl, you can’t let me come all this way for nothing though, right? Doesn’t the gas cost money? If you don’t want me to help you move, that’s fine, but you need to pay me 80 yuan for the wasted trip.”

The girl in the red dress was dumbfounded, as if she had never seen such an unreasonable moving company before.

Wasted… trip fee?

“Don’t you even know you have to pay for a wasted trip? Which school did you graduate from, little girl? Trying to cheat us hardworking people out of our money? Do you have any conscience?” The driver flicked his cigarette butt away and continued his relentless questioning.

More and more onlookers gathered around. The girl, being anxious, had no choice but to pay the wasted trip fee and return to the apartment with a dazed look.

She stared at the eviction notice pasted on her door, her breathing becoming rapid. She didn’t know where she found the courage to open the door and run to the window, staring fixedly at the ground below.

The moving truck driver uncle enjoyed moving for young people because they were well-mannered and didn’t like to argue, while also being relatively naive.

The uncle was putting on his gloves, preparing to drive away, when suddenly something flashed before his eyes. There was a terrifying loud noise, and bright red blood splattered everywhere a few meters in front of his truck.

In that instant, the uncle screamed in terror, almost wetting himself.

Immediately, many people gathered around, everyone looking panicked as they hurriedly took out their phones from their bags.

“Another one jumped? Quick, call the police and an ambulance! See if there’s any chance of saving them.”

“Is there something wrong with the feng shui of Runda Apartments? It’s only been a few days since the last young man jumped, and now a young woman has jumped too.”

“Didn’t I just see this girl arguing with the moving man?” A concerned citizen prevented the moving truck driver from leaving, with the scene soon descending into chaos.

The news of another person jumping from Runda Apartments again topped the trending topics. Even with the image blurred, one could still make out that it was a girl in a red dress. Netizens were horrified by the sight.

[I just don’t understand, why are so many people jumping from Runda Apartments these days? And it seems that they’re all even from the same building!]

[Jumping off a building in a long red dress… Oh my god, this is truly terrifying. Could it be that the apartment building is haunted?]

Apart from some superstitious netizens discussing the bad feng shui of the apartment building, other netizens were analyzing the situation.

[Let’s not encourage feudal superstition, okay? I heard it’s because this girl was moving, and when the moving company arrived, they raised the price on the spot. The young girl, in impulsive rage, couldn’t bear it and jumped.]

[Moving company… Oh my, my psychological trauma is resurfacing! When I moved, we had agreed on a price, but then they insisted that the price was only for delivery to the ground floor. To deliver to the unit would be a different price. I ended up paying an extra 200 yuan, it was heartbreaking.]

[+1, renting these days is really tough, and the cost of moving is so high, it’s unbearable.]

[Heh, the Runda Apartments jumping incident isn’t as simple as just the moving company raising prices.]

Countless netizens sympathized with the young girl who jumped to her death and resonated with the experience of moving companies exorbitantly raising prices on the spot.

These days, it seems like everyone is trying to take advantage of the other, and there’s no one left with a conscience.

Some observant netizens noticed that a new small tag had appeared on the left side of Xu Yao Rental’s website, with [Moving Services] at the top.

Clicking on it revealed the logos of several moving companies, clearly indicating that they were collaborating.

This model is actually quite common. Many websites, as they develop, branch out into other industries and often collaborate with other businesses.

Xu Yao may be a conscientious landlady, but she also needed to make money, so netizens who noticed this small change didn’t pay much attention to it.

*

pls do not share this anywhere or u will always stub ur toe when u walk past a door frame !! this translation has been stolen from mioscorner.com, pls only read there i’m begging u :kneels:

Yuan Yiqing was supposed to have moved into Xu Yao’s apartment long ago, but because Bo’en Law Firm provided her with legal assistance, the landlady, seeing that she had really hired a lawyer, and moreover, it was Xu Yao’s entire legal team, became much more compliant. The landlady, who had been so aggressive before, was now much more docile and no longer mentioned anything about her daughter-in-law needing to recover from childbirth.

The landlady was also afraid of being summoned to court, so after mediating with Bo’en Law Firm, Yuan Yiqing agreed to stay for the rest of the month before moving to Xu Yao’s place. The landlady had no choice but to refund the deposit honestly to her and, during this period, could no longer harass Yuan Yiqing anymore.

At first, Yuan Yiqing was worried that if she didn’t move to Xu Yao’s place soon, the team would rent it out to someone else, but to her surprise, Xu Yao actually preferred to leave it vacant rather than rent it to anyone else, with the month it remained empty not counting against Yuan Yiqing’s rent.

Today, she had booked online for a moving company to move to her new home.

Yuan Yiqing also saw the news about the girl who jumped from the building at Rundar Apartments, feeling quite sympathetic towards her. Therefore, she specifically inquired with the moving company over the phone and confirmed with them that the price was 480 yuan.

When the moving company staff arrived, they neatly loaded all of Yuan Yiqing’s bags and boxes onto the truck, arranging them in an organised manner.

Yuan Yiqing handed over the keys to the grumpy landlady and finally left the place with a joyful expression.

Finally, her days of hardship were over. She would truly be Xu Yao’s tenant from now on!

“Young lady, you can sit in the front passenger seat with me,” the friendly driver from the moving company said.

Yuan Yiqing first checked to make sure her belongings were all placed firmly to avoid them getting damaged when the truck started moving.

Seeing this, the driver immediately reassured her, “Don’t worry, young lady. Although our moving company has just been newly established, our service attitude is top-notch, and your things will definitely not get damaged.”

Yuan Yiqing was a bit surprised, thinking that perhaps the recent incident had made the industry more conscientious.

Sure enough, the moving driver who had pressured the girl in the red dress to jump off the building had been summoned for questioning by the police immediately, and apparently that uncle had been on his knees in tears.

Yuan Yiqing got into the truck, and the driver drove towards the residential complex of Silver Sea Elegant Court where she had rented.

When they reached the entrance, the driver asked which building it was, and Yuan Yiqing replied it was Building 4. The driver’s expression suddenly changed.

The moving truck soon stopped at the entrance of Building 4, but the driver didn’t get out right away. Instead, he took out his phone and sent a message in the work group chat, as if he was consulting them about something.

Yuan Yiqing felt something was off and immediately asked, “Uncle, your moving company should be able to bring my things into the unit, right? We agreed on that over the phone before.”

Although she lived in an apartment with an elevator, there was still some distance between the elevator and her door. As a girl, it would be exhausting for her to move everything in by herself.

“You’re renting Xu Yao’s property, right?” The driver looked at the nervous Yuan Yiqing, and when she nodded, he continued, “The furniture will definitely be moved into your home, but there’ll be some change in price.”

Yuan Yiqing’s eyes widened in disbelief. After the incident at Runda Apartments, was there really still a moving company trying to raise prices?

“Uncle, what do you mean by that? I asked about this four or five times over the phone, and you said there would definitely be no price increase midway. What are you trying to do? Don’t you know Xu Yao provides legal assistance to her tenants?”

Yuan Yiqing was not the same as the girl who jumped. After years of struggling in society, she was bolder than anyone else and immediately started to raise her voice.

The moving uncle was taken aback and chuckled innocently, “You’ve misunderstood! Why didn’t you say earlier that you were Xu Yao’s tenant? Our Haitian Moving Services has a cooperative relationship with Xu Yao Rental, so the price will be much more favorable for you.”

“You just need to pay us 288 yuan later.”

Yuan Yiqing was momentarily stunned. Huh? It wasn’t a price increase but a discount?? Wasn’t it supposed to be 480 yuan? That was a 40% discount!

The moving company staff got out of the truck and walked to the back door, and the uncle kindly reminded her, “Young lady, if you need moving services next time, it’s best to book directly on Xu Yao Rental’s website. It makes things less hectic for us.”

The uncle, still a bit shaken, added, “Otherwise, if I charged the original price for Xu Yao’s tenants, I could get reported and lose my bonus when I get back to the company. Fortunately, I have a good memory, remembering that Building 4 in Silver Sea Elegant Court seems to be Xu Yao’s property.”

Yuan Yiqing stood by the moving truck, utterly stunned, as if the wind itself had short-circuited her brain: “…”

Is that how it is?!

Xu Yao’s rental team had quietly collaborated with a moving company?

Aside from the excellent moving service, the key point was that the price was actually cheaper! This was definitely a benefit for their tenants!

Seeing that she saved nearly 200 yuan, Yuan Yiqing was very pleased. She thought for a moment and asked, “If I move next time, it should probably be to another place, and I won’t be Xu Yao’s tenant anymore. Will you still provide the same service at that time?”

The uncle, dressed in the moving service’s uniform, huffed and puffed while moving the furniture and replied breathlessly, “Isn’t that a given? Xu Yao Rental has a partnership agreement with us. Whether you’re moving in or out, as long as you were once a tenant of Xu Yao, you’ll get a discount on the moving services.”

Yuan Yiqing suddenly felt like the day she would move out would never come, and she vaguely sensed that the moving company’s customer service seemed to have gotten even better than before!

Once all the furniture was moved into her new home, the moving company indeed only charged her 288 yuan, with no extra fees at all. Yuan Yiqing looked at the piles of boxes in her home. She almost didn’t have any space to even stand.

With so many things moved for just 288 yuan, she felt a bit impolite and quickly handed each of the staff a bottle of mineral water before sending them off.

In the end, Yuan Yiqing couldn’t help but send a message in the tenant group chat.

[1204-Yuan Yiqing: If anyone needs moving services, you can go directly to Xu Yao Rentals website. The partnered moving service is super good, and the main thing is that it’s 40% off!]

The tenant group chat in this building immediately became lively.

[Is this true? When I moved in, I found a moving company myself and spent over 600 yuan. @1204-Yuan Yiqing, how much did you spend?]

Yuan Yiqing quickly replied: [Originally agreed on 480 yuan, but when they heard I was Xu Yao’s tenant, they gave me a 40% discount, bringing it down to 288.]

The group erupted in envy and excitement, quickly checking the website, and sure enough, the moving service had quietly been added!

[Ah, is that true? I’m also moving in a couple of days, thanks for the reminder, neighbor. I’ll also book the moving service on the official website when the time comes.]

As Xu Yao’s tenants, they had an almost unconditional trust in Xu Yao’s team.

In the group chat, the conversation quickly shifted from moving services to the girl who jumped from the Runda Apartments building a couple of days ago, all of them feeling a sense of sympathy.

Truly, there was no harm without comparison, Xu Yao was truly a good landlady.

Being young and impetuous, one should never end their life over something like moving. It truly wasn’t worth it.

Xu Yao also saw the news; the girl in the red dress was a tenant in the same apartment as the boy who jumped before.

Scrolling through her phone, she noticed many people in the tenant WeChat groups, which she had muted, were tagging her to thank her for providing moving services.

This was clearly something she, as a landlady, should do.

Xu Yao didn’t respond to those tenants. Instead, she browsed through various social media platforms, where many were discussing the case of the girl in the red dress jumping off the building. Some even jumped in to lament that today’s youth had such poor stress tolerance. They recalled how they used to struggle to get enough food but never saw anyone jumping off buildings over such trivial matters as moving.

Some so-called “rational commentators” even popped up, lamenting with self-righteous grief that young people these days just couldn’t handle pressure. They then went on to say things like back in their day, they didn’t even have enough to eat, yet you didn’t see them jumping off buildings, and that killing yourself over something as trivial as moving apartments was unnecessary.

“Has the news about Runda and Junyi Long-term Apartments’ rental loan scheme not been leaked yet?” 

He Fan nodded, “It hasn’t, they’ve been suppressing the trending topics.”

How could it escalate without a few more people dying?

Xu Yao tossed her phone aside and said calmly, “Tell Pan Xianmin and the others to announce that my legal team will be filing a lawsuit against Runda for launching their ‘rental loan’ scheme that caused multiple people’s death, and that the case is about to go to trial.”

An hour later, #XuYao’sLegalTeamSuesRunda# suddenly shot to the top of Weibo’s trending topics!

They wanted to cover up the truth, but unfortunately, she just refused to let them!

---

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Don’t be fooled by Pan Xianmin and Yao Zongze’s seemingly harmless and gentle demeanor now. In the original novel, the Bo’en Law Firm that was run by them had practically represented the two villainous kings of the legal world, ruthless to the extreme in their approach.

At least Xu Group’s Pizza Hut still cared about its corporate image, at most sending people to squat in prison for a few years. But the cases Bo’en Law Firm took on? Every case was deadly, with the legal team not only sending people to prison, but also sending them their last hot meal.

Nowadays, the legal world is teeming with talents, but Xu Yao knew that her team’s problem wasn’t a lack of ability, but lack of opportunity. They needed a high-profile case that would attract national attention. Once they made a name for themselves, everyone would know the terror of the legal world’s Black and White Duo of Doom¹.

In the original novel, this legal team was described as such: When Attorney Yao smiles, life and death hang in the balance. When Attorney Pan speaks, it’s means a one-way trip to the guillotine.

Who told Runda and Junyi Long-term Rental Apartments to bully her tenants and run into her line of fire? Since they had put her in such a difficult position, then they shouldn’t blame her for using them as stepping stones!

Capitalists always have many ways to glean information, and Xu Yao’s legal team has recently gained quite a bit of their attention. By now, many of them probably already know that the legal team behind Xu Yao just consists of some unknown rookies. After all, Xu Yao had previously boasted on Weibo, publicly taunting Zhengde Academy with “Come and sue me,” but Zhengde Academy never actually dared to sue.

No one knew how capable this legal team was, with many actually just enjoying the spectacle, waiting for Xu Yao to crash and burn due to the low-level of her legal team.

Pan Xianmin and Yao Zongze were nervous. After being dismissed from Runda, they had initially planned to help ordinary people with their legal disputes, but now, they were actually about to clash head to head with their former employer instead.

The Runda legal department was definitely not to be underestimated. Pan Xianmin and Yao Zongze were afraid their law firm wouldn’t be able to live up to Xu Yao’s annual salary of fifty million as well as the other countless benefits and privileges that were attached to their job.

However, their current purpose was to follow Xu Yao’s lead. Wherever Xu Yao pointed toward, they would go and get it done.

The two could only cheer themselves on internally, determined to show these capitalists who didn’t value human life a thing or two. Why did they just have to provoke Xu Yao’s tenants, especially these tenants that were fresh graduates, when there were so many other people for them to provoke? 

Both of them noticed that Xu Yao seemed to favor these students who had just entered society. She was willing to provide assistance and extend a helping hand.

“Miss Yao Yao, then we will prepare the litigation materials meticulously.”

From filing the case to the official court hearing, it would take at least a month, so they needed to prepare thoroughly during this time frame.

Xu Yao smiled with satisfaction and nodded to the two of them before leaving the law firm.

Everyone remained busy. Although Ming Chan hadn’t moved out of Haicheng Bay No. 1, she practically lived in her studio, rarely being seen outside of it at all.

Xu Yao was bored amd planting flowers and grass at home while feeding her goldfish.

He Fan watched Xu Yao sitting on a high stool, tossing fish feed into the pond. The fish rushed over, mouths open, eager to eat the feed. He Fan knew that each ornamental fish here was worth hundreds of thousands.

Xu Yao felt that she couldn’t just laze around like this, otherwise, how else would she take advantage of the Quick Transmigration Bureau next month?

Xu Yao asked, “How’s Han Zhao doing?”

He Fan replied, “He’ll go to scout out the college entrance exam venue tomorrow.”

Xu Yao nodded. Although it’s true that the academic qualifications of people that are truly outstanding isn’t emphasised as much, it still can’t be denied that having a degree is indeed a helpful stepping stone. So having a good university degree is indeed quite important.

“Have you booked a hotel near the exam venue?” Xu Yao recalled that Han Zhao was quite frugal and added, “He won’t stay at a hotel near the exam venue, so you all need to pay more attention when you pick him up and drop him off.”

On the day of the college entrance examination, the streets would be crawling with traffic police, and although they could seek their help if really necessary, it was still better for her to arrange her own staff than trouble others unless it was absolutely unavoidable.

Han Zhao was indeed a true prodigy. At just eighteen, he was already very skilled with computers and was a master programmer. Since he still had to attend university, he could only remain as the deputy team leader of the rental team’s programming department.

“How’s the program development going?” Xu Yao was quite concerned about this.

“The website is still being developed in an orderly manner. Many netizens hope for us to develop a mobile version, and we’ll start working on it as soon as Han Zhao finishes his exams.”

Xu Yao didn’t understand these things. She just threw money at them to get the work done.

In recent days, whether it was Xu Yao or other major internet influencers, none could compete with the most talked-about college entrance examination. Online discussions about the exam essays were rampant everywhere.

Han Zhao’s college entrance examination had been going smoothly these past two days. He didn’t expect to get into Tsinghua or Peking University, but just set his goal as aiming to enter Haicheng University, which was a 985 university. After all, he wasn’t planning on moving up north anyway.

After finishing the English exam, Han Zhao happily walked out of the exam venue and quickly headed towards the black sedan about a hundred meters away.

The rental team had great benefits, with Lu Ye arranging for someone to pick him up from the Tai’an Community these past two days. Han Zhao got into the car just like yesterday, and as soon as he opened the door, he was taken aback to see Xu Yao also sitting in the back seat.

“Sister Yao Yao?” he exclaimed softly, quickly climbing into the car and closing the door.

Xu Yao congratulated him on finishing the exams, saying that after he became an adult, he would have fewer restrictions. “Now that you’ve officially graduated from high school, take a good rest. Do you have any places you want to travel to or things you want to do?”

Han Zhao immediately shook his head, “The team is busy with the website construction and software development. I need to get back to work right away.”

This kid was a bit stubborn, was he worried about not being able to work? Please. There would be plenty of work waiting for him in the future, enough to grind him down to exhaustion.

Seeing that Xu Yao didn’t agree, and noticing Lu Ye driving skillfully in the driver’s seat, Han Zhao’s fair face flushed with embarrassment, and he could only whisper, “I want to learn to drive in my spare time, so I can drive for Sister Yao Yao in the future.”

Xu Yao teased, “What if I want to fly? Lu Ye can’t pilot a plane yet.”

Han Zhao was momentarily stunned and stammered, “Then should I learn how to pilot a plane? Is that easy to learn? Will it cost a lot of money?”

He Fan, who had been sitting in the front passenger seat, was filled with regret, wishing he could become ten years younger just so he could also take the college entrance examination! What kind of divine boss was this? Just because her employee had finally finished the exam, not only did she give him time off to rest, but she also arranged for him to travel and booked driving lessons for him.

However, Lu Ye, who was driving, didn’t think much of it. This Brother Lu seemed to have no desires, not indifferent to houses, cars, or even his own salary, and didn’t seem to have any hobbies or interests. His eyes only seemed to hold Xu Yao, as if wanting to follow behind her every day as her personal bodyguard.

Xu Yao was amused by this little brother Han Zhao. After rubbing her face that had started feeling sore from laughing, she got back to business, “I plan to select some companies to collaborate with, so you guys in the programming team will have to work on designing the mini program for the plugins.”

A professional landlady who collects a tenant’s rent money should indeed make things convenient for the tenants.

The cost of moving for tenants is actually quite high. Aside from the time it costs, hiring a moving company also costs money, with some moving companies daring to charge exorbitant fees.

Many people end up paying four to five hundred yuan for a single move, which was no small expense for most working people.

Now, with so many moving companies now in the market, it’s become difficult to distinguish one from another, which makes it even harder for tenants who have just paid their rent and are now tight on funds.

He Fan, who was seated in the passenger seat nodded, “Miss Yao Yao, I also think that’s a good idea. We can collaborate with moving companies to lower their moving prices as much as possible. I’m sure those moving companies will also be very willing to do so.”

Firstly, there are too many moving companies on the market, leading to fierce competition. Secondly, having a collaboration with the landlady Xu Yao, who has a huge following, is equivalent to free advertising for their company!

For example, if moving costs four hundred yuan, they could reduce it to three hundred, or even around the two hundred yuan range.

Of course, this is purely a convenience provided by the big landlady Xu Yao, for her tenants. If tenants don’t want to use the partnered moving company, that’s also fine, after all, it’s their choice.

Han Zhao immediately entered work mode and agreed, “Okay, Sister Yao Yao, the programming team will follow up and quickly produce the small plugin.”

Xu Yao nodded, “You can leave the matter of contacting various moving companies and their bidding to He Fan.”

Xu Yao couldn’t help but sigh in her heart. Is there any other landlord in the world like her, who is wholeheartedly dedicated to her tenants? She’s truly amazing! She just wants to crush all those real estate companies!

*

Liu Feifei is an ordinary high school girl who doesn’t have a lot of disposable income and is unable to shop since she’s always busy with her studies, so she’s developed a habit for relying on shopping online to buy her clothes.

After finishing her homework, she took out her phone as usual and opened the game called Shining Star.

To be honest, she did feel a bit embarrassed to say it out loud. Unlike her classmates who enjoyed various competitive battleground games, she just took a particular liking to these easy mini-games that didn’t require you to expend much brainpower.

She loved clothes and fashion, often finding joy in these dress-up games. Recently, she had been playing Shining Star, practically alternating between critiquing it and enjoying it at the same time while playing.

When she clicked in and found she couldn’t access the server, Liu Feifei stared at the glaring line of text on the page, stunned, “Server temporarily down??”

Games normally do get updated, usually during a certain time in the early morning, generally taking only a few hours.

But the game displayed — [Server reopening time to be determined.]

Liu Feifei: “??”

Opening time to be determined? Does your little game really need this long for an update? Aren’t you afraid the old players will all leave en masse?

Liu Feifei’s first reaction was that this crappy game was probably about to be shut down. She felt a bit sad at the thought since she had forgotten to screenshot many of her outfits.

This had been the consensus reached after the team at Heavenly Star Game Studio had a discussion, with Ming Chan deciding to temporarily suspend the server.

For the next update, they intended to give players a huge surprise!

Originally a team of just over ten people, it suddenly expanded to a medium-sized team of more than two hundred. The original studio space was no longer sufficient, so Ming Chan could only boldly rent out the entire floor below them as well from the landlord.

Although she couldn’t dare to imagine renting an office building at Haicheng Global Financial Center like Xu Yao mentioned, now with such a large investment in hand, she could still afford to rent an office in a remote area.

Once the money reached their hands, the employees who had been slacking off at their desks became even more diligent.

Ming Chan looked at the latest design drafts from the artist and then silently glanced at her previous works. It was hard to believe that these had been drawn by the same person. It was like the skill difference between a university student and an elementary school kid.

This young artist confidently said, “That’s because you raised my salary, boss. I was so excited that I suddenly got inspired, that’s why the draft turned out so well.”

What a joke! After years of struggling in society, did she not know what kind of salary matched what kind of work quality?

A group of bosses paying employees four to five thousand yuan in salary, yet you expected your employees to produce work that’s equivalent to a salary of twenty thousand? Do you really treat people like livestock?

At that moment, Ming Chan once again felt the thrill of having money.

She praised the young artist and then asked, “How are the teachers responsible for the concept art doing?”

The employee immediately replied, “Several of the teachers are just about to finish.”

Ming Chan pondered for a moment before making a final decision, “We can’t remain so passive. While improving the game, we must also keep up with its promotion and marketing.”

In this day and age, even the best wine fears a deep alley, with poor promotion still being able to drag down an amazing product.

The head of the marketing department immediately said, “Boss Ming, we plan to begin promotion in the major concept art groups.”

With this strategy, several pictures were able to appear on various gaming platforms, and even Weibo and Red Note, instantly catching people’s attention.

[King of Games² v: Teacher Sang Sang and Teacher Si Qiao’s latest masterpiece: it’s absolutely gorgeous! [image][image]]

A beautiful girl with long black hair stood amidst the cosmic stars, wearing a matching starry deep blue long dress, her hands clasped together in front of her chest. The artwork was so exquisite that you could see each of the protagonist’s eyelashes clearly. The deep river of stars and the unfathomable galaxy in the background was atmospheric and visually striking, dreamlike and ethereal.

Stunning!

Although those outside of the industry might not know, game fans were all aware that Teacher Sang Sang and Teacher Si Qiao were exceptional concept artists who seemed to have an endless source of inspiration, with each piece capable of dazzling viewers.

[Ahhh, my Teacher Sang Sang is so skilled at art. It’s super beautiful and so full of emotion. What game is this commissioned for?]

[I’m sneakily picking up my Teacher Qiao Qiao and stealing her away. She really knows how to use light and shadow contrasts, feels like I can never catch up T^T She even put such particular detail into the protagonist’s dress. It’s so cute, she’s like a princess.]

[I’m just a pure bystanding netizen, but these illustrations are really beautiful, and the clothes are stunning, is this for a new game?]

[These images all have watermarks! I’m going to find out what game is so formidable that they could bring Sang Sang and Si Qiao as well as others together.]

The fans of these concept artists were filled with excitement and quickly tracked down the official Weibo of a game, only to find it only had 571 followers, meaning it indeed was a new game!

When they clicked in, they were stunned to see over a thousand posts already published. Wait a minute… is this a game that has already been released?

The point was, it looked like some crappy little mini-game.

The latest Weibo post was their official announcement.

[Official Shining Star Weibo: Dear players, the game is temporarily offline, with the reopening time still to be determined. In the meantime, we welcome everyone to enjoy these beautiful illustrations by @SangSangWhoCantDraw and @SiQiaoSQ. [image][image]]

There were only a few comments under the official Weibo, all from fans and friends who had been tagged

[What the heck did your game do to get such amazing concept artists? I’m seriously suspicious now.]

[I’m literally crying, is my Teacher Qiao is taking gigs for money now? Even for some tiny, crappy game?]

[Sis upstairs, this game doesn’t even look like it has the budget to afford that… 囧³]

[Hmm… judging by the artstyle in their previous Weibo posts, they’re pretty broke.]

Some eagle-eyed netizens discovered the secret. This crappy game seems to come from the game studio that Xu Yao mentioned in her private tenant group when posting job recruitment info!

[Oh my god, did you guys just get investment from Landlady Xu Yao herself?]

[If Xu Yao really gets involved, with her “money is nothing” attitude, she could probably make even a dead pig fly.]

[@Official, respond already!!]

The official Weibo account didn’t respond directly, only replying with a shy emoji.

These concept artworks, after various fermentations, went viral online, almost instantly appearing on all social media platforms.

Some newbies with the expertise in art shared these images in major concept art groups:

[Teachers in the group, what do you think of the latest works from these masters?]

Everyone in the group were very attentive to the news in their industry. They had seen these images a couple of days ago and all expressed how beautiful they were, showing a high level of professionalism.

Masters are indeed masters, you can tell their quality at a glance.

A little rookie surfaced, enviously saying: [I really envy those big names, with one painting able to sustain them without working for months. When will I also be able to sell a drawing for tens of thousands?]

[Envy +1, I also want to draw full-time, don’t want to work for a boss anymore.]

[Envy + ID number.]

… 

Someone in the group replied: [I heard that the commissions for Si Qiao and the others aren’t just in the tens of thousands, but commissioned at a higher price.]

The novice artists in the group were practically drooling, speculating about the price in response: [It can’t possibly be six figures, right?]

[!! It really is six figures! Teacher Sang Sang confirmed in her live stream that one concept artworkwas commissioned for three hundred thousand!! My god, what kind of game spends this lavishly?]

As soon as these words were spoken, it was like a stone had been thrown into a small pond, causing ripples and creating a huge uproar.

Damn, they had already thought it was impressive if the big boss could spend tens of thousands on art, and there were a few larger game companies whose commissions reached up to six figures.

But three hundred thousand for a single artwork? What kind of game is that extravagant?

[I’m kneeling to the big boss, oh no, I’m kneeling to this ‘Shining Star’! What  big thigh did they cling so tightly on, to the point where they’re being so generous with their commission?]

[Three hundred thousand… three hundred thousand… I’m numb, three hundred thousand is not thirty bucks, my god!]

[I’m suddenly super hyped about this game. If they’re willing to spend this much on commissions, they must be really confident in it, right?]

Originally, netizens were just watching for fun, thinking the art was really gorgeous. But once they found out each piece in the group was commissioned for three hundred thousand, ordinary netizens couldn’t sit still anymore, their eyes had practically reddened with envy.

[Three hundred thousand? I’m screaming with my head in my hands, three hundred thousand for an artwork? I can only earn three hundred thousand in five f*cking years!!]

[Mom asked me why I was kneeling while scrolling through Weibo. Does your company still need more artwork?]

[‘Shining Star’ is amazing! It seems like they going to pull off a successful comeback! Reliable insider info: Boss Ming Chan got a huge investment.]

[Ahhh, why is the server currently offline? I’ve already gone to download it, okay? I just want to know what kind of fun this game can offer.]

Netizens went to download it, but the result was frustrating, with the server still down.

News had already spread within the gaming industry that Ming Chan, the boss of Shining Star, had secured a massive investment. If initially, they had predicted that Xu Yao had invested at least several million in Ming Chan, then…

Now seeing this news online, a game producer speculated in shock, “These few pieces of concept art must have cost over a million, right? So it can’t just be a few million, could it be…”

A group of friends in the industry exchanged glances in shock and guessed in unison, “Tens of millions?!”

They heard that two hundred people had been hired, that they were going to switch to 3D animation, and that they had invited industry leaders to oversee it. This couldn’t possibly be something that could be solved with less than eight figures, right?

One game producer was so astonished that his mouth fell open, “Xu Yao… just how much money does she collect from renting out properties?”

Short drama investments, changing property management for Tai’an Community to a new international realty company, and that only seemed to be the beginning. It seems she has also secured the land for Zhengde Academy to build an entertainment city. Yet even in such a situation, she still had the money to spare to casually throw tens of millions at a small game?

Heavens, this landlady’s worth is simply unimaginable.

Most of these game producers were already homeowners themselves, so they had only watched Xu Yao Rental’s marketing schemes with the mentality of spectating. But now they couldn’t help but think—

Otherwise, why don’t they rent a property from Xu Yao as well?

*

Mu Xiyuan also learned about his ex-wife’s recent situation. He had initially been pleased to see Ming Chan unable to afford rent, but who would have thought this woman had suddenly secured an investment?

Moreover, people in the industry were saying that Xu Yao had been the one to invest tens of millions into it.

Mu Xiyuan frowned, unsure of what Xu Yao saw in Ming Chan. Clearly, his ex-wife had little ability aside from her looks.

Not only had she managed to get Xu Yao to invest, but even her in-laws had been extremely satisfied with her during their marriage, even scolding him after their divorce.

Because of this incident, despite the fact that Mu Xiyuan had never once met Xu Yao, he still ended up  subconsciously developing a grudge against her.

Sitting at his desk, Mu Xiyuan twisted the exaggerated ring on his left index finger and said coldly to his assistant, “We must win the lawsuit against Xu Yao’s tenant!”

It wasn’t just about not giving up, it was about saving face. If he lost, he would be utterly humiliated, his reputation ruined.

The assistant agreed and reminded him, “President Mu, your schedule this afternoon is to accompany Miss Li for shopping at the mall.”

After the divorce, Mu Xiyuan had dated several women, with his latest fling being an influencer surnamed Li. The influencer constantly wanted him to accompany her shopping, with the sole intention being to buy, buy, buy.

Although Mu Xiyuan looked down on her as a gold digger, being flattered and complimented by a beautiful woman gave him a sense of satisfaction that he had never received from Ming Chan.

After all, it was just spending a little money; he wasn’t short on cash.

In the afternoon, Mu Xiyuan took the influencer to various malls for a shopping spree. As long as she liked something, he bought it for her without hesitation.

Behind them, bodyguards carried the large and small shopping bags, and because this scene was so eye-catching, it drew the attention of passersby, greatly satisfying their vanity.

“Xiyuan, these aren’t pretty, I don’t really like them,” the little influencer clung to Mu Xiyuan’s arm, pouting coquettishly in a sweet voice.

“Then let’s go to Europe tomorrow. I’ll take you to see the fashion show in Paris,” Mu Xiyuan coaxed, pinching the influencer’s chin. “Isn’t that international designer Master Jesse Blair going to that show?”

Mu Xiyuan painted a rosy picture for the little influencer, but whether he would take her depended on whether he had gotten tired of playing with her by then.

However, the influencer pouted, “But I heard Master Jesse is coming to China.”

Mu Xiyuan was taken aback as he had never heard of this. Wasn’t it rumoured that there was a show in Europe that he had to participate in? Why was he here in China?

There’s a time difference between domestic and foreign news. Just as night was falling, someone posted a message abroad on Twitter—

[Master Absalom is making a comeback, with his new work about to debut in China.]

As soon as the news broke, Twitter was buzzing, with screens filled with exaggerated English words like “Oh my god,” as if no one could believe the authenticity of the news.

That night, it was reposted across all major social media platforms in China.

[Whoa, Master Absalom? This guy is a global fashion legend! He retired five years ago and stopped designing, and now you’re telling me he’s coming back out of retirement?]

[Absalom has been a top-tier fashion powerhouse from last century to this one, only making custom clothes for royalty before. He’s actually making a comeback? Is this rumour true?!]

[Ah, this has to be fake news, right? Putting aside whether the legend even wants to design again, the key question is: debuting in China? Honestly, our Chinese fashion scene isn’t even big enough to hire someone of his caliber…]

[Hahaha I can’t stop laughing, people actually believe this? Can’t get any faker than this. I have no idea who even started this rumor.]

Inviting a legend who’s been in retirement for five years is one thing, but actually releasing his comeback debut in China?

It was just… quite bewildering.

Netizens were in a frenzy online, just hoping for new information to come to light or have the rumours entirely debunked.

Some even sent private messages to Xu Yao asking about it, and Xu Yao, who was about to go to sleep, replied with a simple, [Yes.]

The fan who received Xu Yao’s private message reply was completely confused. What did “Yes” mean? Does it mean the news is true? Or was it just Xu Yao’s automated reply to private messages?

The fan quickly asked around and found that the automated replies other people received from Xu Yao were: [Want to rent a property, dear? Xu Yao specializes in professional and honest house rentals, integrity first!]

So, was that “Yes” a specific reply to her?

Before this little fan could share the news with others, Absalom’s team had already officially announced that he was indeed coming out of retirement, and this design would debut in China first.

This news shocked the entire fashion world!

It must be said that when it comes to the fashion industry, domestic fans could only look to foreign countries. This couldn’t be helped, since many luxury goods would first be launched abroad before coming to China for launch.

This was the first time Master Absalom would debuting exclusively in China! Countless people in the international fashion industry find it hard to understand!

[The news is real ahhh! I just want to know which big shot in our country managed to hire this fashion legend. Can’t wait to see what he’s created after five years of seclusion! I want to buy it!]

[Grabbing onto the rich lady above lol, I’m just here to watch the excitement. There’s no way I can afford this kind of luxury. [bitter smile]]

[Feeling so honored ahhh, I’m seriously proud, the master is debuting the work in China! Spinning around with happiness.]

Although these kinds of fashion legends are far removed from ordinary netizens, it still makes people feel incredibly elated. At least today’s China can make such big names take notice. Wasn’t this progress? Isn’t progress worth being proud of?

The only thing was, they were just shy of begging online for someone to reveal which domestic deity had invited this legend out?

The fan who was had received Xu Yao’s reply was shocked — could it be Xu Yao?

Late at night in China, another bombshell was dropped, making it hard for the group of night owl netizens to fall asleep.

First, Master Absalom officially announced his comeback in China, then several internationally renowned designers simultaneously announced they would be releasing new designs in China as well!

This news was enough to cause an earthquake in the fashion industry. How come this group of big shots are all going to China to release their collections?

Could it be that, with Master Absalom leading the way, they’re going to hold a fashion show for their newest collection in China? It seems like the level of China’s fashion industry is about to rise in stature!

One Master Absalom was already exciting enough, and they could still contain themselves, but a group of masters collectively making moves? Netizens really can’t take it anymore!

[!!! What explosive news! I’m so excited I twisted myself into a pretzel in bed, now I can’t sleep at all.]

[Is our Chinese fashion scene about to rise? So cool! I really want to know who’s behind this, the scale of this move is simply insane.]

[Internationally renowned designers all debuting in China! Who got this lucky, I won’t say! As a fashion student, I’m so happy I want to run laps around the school playground, help!]

Some bold netizens online guessed: [I think it’s Xu Yao, there are screenshots of her replying to fans “yes.”]

[I’m a fan of Sister Yao, but seriously, stop jumping to conclusions. How could a landlady like Xu Yao possibly have anything to do with the international fashion scene?]

Although after thinking about it, it really doesn’t seem impossible for it to be Xu Yao. After all, Xu Yao likes to help her tenants, but which tenant would possibly need so many fashion design big shots to collectively debut their works in China? There simply aren’t any at all!

At most, Xu Yao might know some inside information, which is already quite something.

In short, it was true that this night would continue to make some people so happy they can’t sleep.

Originally, many people weren’t interested in fashion collection releases and international shows, at most glancing at it when it came up in the news. But now it’s different. This is happening in our country, so how can we not follow and pay attention to it?

As soon as the news came out, domestic media rushed to report it, all afraid of falling behind the other. These extremely sensitive journalists sensed that this news would definitely go viral.

Sure enough, the hashtag #InternationallyRenownedDesignersCollectivelyDebut NewDesignsInChina# was followed by a big explosive tag. It was still only 3:30 AM, yet the news had already exploded to such an exaggerated level!

*

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 was the last person to hear about this news when she woke up close to noon the next day.

Qu Xi, who was on set, couldn’t help but send her many WeChat messages about this news.

[Qu Xi: Huh? Yaoyao, you just woke up? Then you must be the last person to know this news, right? Ahh, hurry up and check Weibo! All the internationally renowned designers are going to release their designs in our country! I’m going to save money to buy Master Absalom’s designs formed in his seclusion! I need to work hard on my acting!]

[AAAA Professional Rental Little Xu: Huh? I’ll go take a look then.]

After scanning Weibo, Xu Yao was confused. Are netizens this unconfident? What’s so surprising about being able to invite a big shot like Absalom? After all, it seemed like she had more than one fashion legend working for her.

Oh, and she couldn’t forget to thank her tool-like fiancé, as without him, it wouldn’t have been easy to find such impressive fashion designers.

Recently, Ji Zhengqing has been very keen on discussing trivial engagement matters with her, like venue selection and drinks, despite the fact that these things could all be handed over to an assistant.

Since it was just an engagement, Xu Yao and Ji Zhengqing both almost simultaneously agreed that there was no need to make it public, and that just inviting a few close friends to witness the ceremony would be enough.

But Xu Yao still found it very cumbersome, to the point where she didn’t even want to hold an engagement banquet anymore. After all, her engagement to Ji Zhengqing was already finalised even without the ceremony, and their relationship as an engaged couple couldn’t be changed anymore.

Xu Yao even hinted at this idea to Ji Zhengqing. She really just wanted to be a landlady who plays around and collects rent!

[AAAA Professional Rental Little Xu: Fiancé, I think the engagement banquet is too troublesome, I don’t even want to have one~]

In fact, Ji Zhengqing also disliked trouble, especially the kind that might have to be experienced twice, with the second time being even more complicated and exhausting. Just thinking about it felt troublesome.

He stared at Xu Yao’s message for a long time, raising his hand to rub his forehead with some difficulty, sighing silently.

Xu Yao didn’t want to have an engagement banquet, yet she kept all the fashion designers to design dresses, indicating that she was indeed eager to get engaged to him. Did this message mean… could it be that she wanted to marry him directly?

Skipping the complicated engagement party and going straight to marriage? But he didn’t seem to have properly prepared for marriage at the moment.

He found it quite difficult to respond equally to the young girl’s enthusiasm.

Ji Zhengqing looked at his assistant that had already gone completely numb and instructed in a deep voice, “Arrange for the flight route and clear out my remaining schedule. I’m going to Haicheng tomorrow to see Xu Yao.”

He should continue to push himself to the limit so as to match Xu Yao’s enthusiasm.

He… kind of wanted to see Xu Yao.

---

xu yao: excuse me, do you have some kind of misunderstanding about me?

ugh he may just be a tool fiance rn but rest assured hehehehe this is 1v1 HE !!

ALSO all series, including this one, will be on a one month long break until DECEMBER bc i’ll be overseas on holiday !!! updates will resume beginning of december except for rhrpaw since i have a phat backlog of chapters :3

support mio on kofi! any typos or broken links, pls lmk! ◡̈

1.  “黑白双煞” (literally “the black-and-white twin fiends”) is a colorful nickname referring to a formidable duo, typically ruthless but highly skilled — borrowed from wuxia and martial arts fiction where such nicknames denote legendary partners known for their deadly coordination. ↩︎
2.  游戏王 literally means “King of Games,” which is also the official Chinese name for the Yu-Gi-Oh! franchise. ↩︎
3. The Chinese character “囧” (jiǒng) is an emoticon-like expression commonly used online. It conveys, embarrassment, a facepalm or “oh no” moment. It visually resembles a face with wide eyes and a frowning mouth, so in English it’s often rendered as “😳”, “Ugh…”, “facepalm” ↩︎

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

---

Little 6 felt a wave of relief. At least the host wasn’t just taking advantage of their Quick Transmigration Bureau, that fiancé was clearly worse off.

Little 6 also thought Xu Yao had it too tough on her. It was one thing to invest in tenants who couldn’t pay rent, but now she had to help them find employees too?

Xu Yao sighed, who told her to be the best landlady in the world?

The circle of internationally renowned fashion industry leaders looked at Xu Yao as if they had misheard: “?”

The mixed-race Chinese designer from Italy even wondered if his Chinese wasn’t good enough and if he should study more diligently when he went back.

What did Miss Xu Yao just say? To let them design the clothes for this game?

That broken, trashy little game? Did it even deserve it?!

One designer gently reminded her, “Miss Xu Yao, President Ji invited us here to design your engagement dress.” It wasn’t for anything else, okay?!

“That’s right, Miss Xu, I still have other appointments to attend to the day after tomorrow.”

Once someone started what seemed like a chain reaction, many designers proceeded to chime in, “Yes, I have a show in Paris next month that I’ll need to attend.”

See, Miss Xu Yao, everyone is very busy.

Xu Yao smiled slightly and said softly, “Your usual commission rates for your designs will be doubled.”

“…”

The once noisy luxury villa hall fell into an instant silence. The words used in Xu Yao’s sentence had clearly been simple, yet that simplicity carried an undeniable attraction to them.

Their prices had already reached their peak, with profits only fluctuating slightly around that range, and yet Xu Yao’s statement didn’t just promise a fluctuation, but was directly multiplied by two! That was double!! This was a steep rise!

Just one simple sentence doubled their income — was this the charm of a wealthy lady?

A group of people stood frozen in place as if they had been struck by a paralysis spell. Xu Yao leaned back on the soft sofa, her slender fingers holding a shiny silver fork that leisurely speared fruit, sending piece after piece to her mouth.

It tasted quite sweet. She liked it a lot. It seemed that being shipped via international air freight had indeed preserved its freshness.

Lu Ye and He Fan stood behind Xu Yao like two door gods while holding documents, their expressions indifferent as if they had long grown accustomed to it.

Silence.

The living room of the most luxurious penthouse in Haicheng Bay No. 1 was eerily quiet, with only the crisp sound of the silver fork clinking against the vintage dessert plate ringing out. It wasn’t until the sound of the heavy doorbell rang out that everyone seemed to be startled awake..

At Xu Yao’s signal, the butler went to open the door for Ming Chan, while the others in the room, as if just waking from a dream, looked at Xu Yao with increasingly fervent eyes.

One designer with a square face and a righteous demeanor was the first to speak, “Miss Xu Yao, I actually thought that game had many excellent aspects.”

Ming Chan, who had just come in with the butler, felt increasingly uneasy upon hearing this.

Could it be that Miss Xu Yao was comparing her little game to other excellent games?

Dressed in a fashionable and avant-garde style, another designer chimed in, “Yes, Miss Xu Yao, although that game is still a bit rough around the edges, you can still clearly see the developer’s dedication behind it. Fashion is an aesthetic that resonates with people all over the world, so creating a game with this theme is quite innovative.”

Upon hearing that it was a fashion game, Ming Chan suddenly had a guess in mind. They couldn’t possibly be referring to her Shining Star, could they?

Another person chimed in confidently, “Yes, that ‘Sparkling Star’ dress-up game does indeed have great potential.”

Standing behind, He Fan gave the speaker a look. This designer was clearly saying whatever it took to make money. And if you’re going to butter someone up, at least do it right! It’s not Sparkling Star, it’s Shining Star!

The older designers stood tall and straight, as if they were embodying the spirit of artisans. They didn’t say much in agreement but nodded silently, nodding, and nodding again.

Ming Chan: “…???”

Wait, were they really talking about her game? She was so flattered she could blush.

Ming Chan was, after all, at least a former wife of a wealthy aristocratic family. Although Mu Xiyuan had been reluctant to spend money on her during their marriage, she had still more or less heard of these people to some extent in the circles of their upper class. They all seemed to be internationally renowned designers, one of whom was a top-tier big shot who had retired and had already announced he would no longer be making anymore clothes.

What qualifications did her little game have to be deserving of all this praise from these internationally renowned fashion designers?

Was it really not just sarcasm?

That was simply impossible, after all, Miss Xu Yao was just offering too much.

Internationally renowned designers still needed to make money, and the key point was that these people were all incredibly sharp. Seeing that ten of their peers had been called to design a dress for Xu Yao, and that this was just for an engagement that hadn’t even been announced yet, how could they possibly fathom how much of a spectacle their wedding would be?

Although the Ji Group may not be as famous domestically in China as the Xu Group that was led by the richest individual President Xu, who didn’t know of President Ji in Europe? Even internationally renowned designers couldn’t resist the allure of the richest capitalists.

Sometimes, money is just a trivial matter, while the network of relationships is what truly matters.

Although it’s true that they want to make money, it’s also true that they want to please Xu Yao and President Ji — both desires can coexist.

Xu Yao put down the silver fork in her hand and leisurely took a deep brown cashmere handkerchief from the walnut tray held by the butler to wipe her hands, smiling as she said, “Is that what everyone thinks? Truly, great minds think alike. Then I’ll trouble you all.”

For a dress-up game, of course, there should be hundreds of outfits to mix and match. Why the overkill and use a sledgehammer to crack a nut? The clothes designed by these top international designers must be SSR!

And they must be limited-time SSRs, not the permanent ones, you understand?

The designs for the other game outfits can be handled by some of the better domestic designers. After all, money should be used where its needed to its full potential, right?

Ming Chan, who had been standing there like a stone pillar, tentatively spoke up, “Miss Landlord…”

Xu Yao looked at Ming Chan. Unlike the youthful and cute Qu Xi, Ming Chan had shoulder-length hair, wore exaggerated dangling earrings, and was dressed in a sharp suit jacket paired with jeans, giving off a the vibe of a successful career woman.

Xu Yao smiled and introduced Ming Chan, “They are here to customize dresses for me.”

Ming Chan knew they were renowned fashion designers and felt a bit awkward recalling Xu Yao’s earlier conversation with them, already guessing that Xu Yao had shown her little game to these designers.

She felt a bit like she was brandishing her sword in front of Guan Gong¹, utterly ridiculous.

Xu Yao continued, “From now on, you’ll be half colleagues.”

Ming Chan was momentarily stunned, not quite understanding Xu Yao’s meaning. Xu Yao, on the other hand, found it strange and asked, “Didn’t I just say I would invest in you?”

Xu Yao turned slightly to ask Lu Ye and He Fan behind her, “Has the final amount for last month’s rent been tallied?”

Lu Ye replied, “The staff is doing the final calculations, please wait a moment.”

Xu Yao had reached a point where she had so much rent that she didn’t even know the exact amount… 

Seeing that Xu Yao wasn’t joking, Ming Chan didn’t dwell too much on the half-colleague comment, her mind racing with the realization that what was said online was true… 

Xu Yao truly was the best landlady in history. If there really were any difficulties, she would help.

In the #Xu Yao Rental# supertopic², yes, Xu Yao’s Rental even had a dedicated supertopic, with hundreds of thousands of fans, their fandom name being Sister Yao’s Tenants.

Some of Xu Yao’s tenants posted on Weibo saying that whenever there was a problem, they would contact Xu Yao’s team, and they would help resolve it.

These tenants were all selected through exams by Xu Yao, with sixty percent being relatively high-quality young people who wouldn’t take advantage of her for no reason, only tentatively seeking help from Xu Yao’s team when truly in need, and their problems were indeed resolved by the team.

So, was she really going to invest in her just because Xu Yao was afraid she wouldn’t renew the lease and found it troublesome to look for new tenants?

Ming Chan’s heart raced, unable to help but guess the final amount. It had to be at least several million, right?

“Miss Yao Yao, your rent income from last month has been finalised.” An employee walked out from the room, and Xu Yao instructed her to round it off and report the whole number.

“Approximately 153.2 million.”

Xu Yao nodded. This was still only a small portion of her rental income. After all, Han Zhao and the others in the IT department had just developed the website and hadn’t organized all her available properties for listing yet. The number of idle properties was enough to give her a headache, and the two most valuable office buildings in Haicheng hadn’t even reached the rental collection period yet.

Xu Yao looked at Ming Chan and asked, “Is this enough?”

Ming Chan didn’t dare to speak, her legs trembling slightly. 150 million?! For a broken game, pulling in 150 million in investment was something she wouldn’t even dare to dream about.

The fact that Xu Yao collects over 100 million in rent in a month… My goodness… Ming Chan’s mind suddenly started to race. She really wanted to confront her ex-husband and ask him if he could gather so much liquid assets in a month!

In their circle, all the “overbearing CEOs” looked down on Xu Yao, who was only a landlady who merely sat back and collected rent. But now, how could they possibly look down on her? Were they looking down on her from where they were kneeling? That bunch of idiots!

Seeing her tremble, the butler kindly brought over a comfortable long bench for Ming Chan to sit on. Unable to hold back, Ming Chan said, “W-well, why don’t you keep some for yourself?”

Xu Yao tilted her head and said, “I don’t just have this little money.”

Xu Yao was puzzled as to why she was giving her the impression of being short on cash.

The short drama Yin Fate had already earned her quite a bit, and even now, after it had finished airing, it was still being discussed all over the internet, with the derivative earnings being even more astonishing. Merchandise, game production, and entertainment store licensing were all being followed up on simultaneously. As long as Qu Xi and Ran Lingfeng didn’t break the law or violate any moral codes, this short drama would continue to bring in revenue for her.

Moreover, she still had shares and dividends in the Xu Group, as well as the monthly pension from the Quick Transmigration Bureau that would be doubled next month

Did she lack money? Xu Yao now felt that money was just a number.

Xu Yao smiled, “Don’t worry, I won’t starve to death.”

Ming Chan and the designers fell silent.

Xu Yao added lightly, “As for these people, let them create a few design drafts for your game. The clothes in your game aren’t appealing at all.” Xu Yao was already being quite polite in wording and didn’t say they were absolutely hideous.

Ming Chan nearly wanted to kneel before Xu Yao. These were internationally renowned fashion designers, and now they were condescending themselves to create designs for her crappy game. Ming Chan’s mind was filled with thoughts of what she had done to deserve this.

Ming Chan even thought… if only she had known earlier, she would have gone bankrupt sooner so she couldn’t afford to rent from Xu Yao!

This truly was the best landlady in the world, no doubt about it.

“I understand what you mean, Miss Yao Yao. I will definitely make this game the best it can be,” said Ming Chan earnestly. She took a deep breath, allowing herself time to digest the fact that she had just been hit with such a massive investment.

Xu Yao finally nodded in satisfaction, “Can your game be changed to 3D? Everyone is playing 3D games now as it feels more realistic that way.”

“Find a few more skilled concept artists and someone who can write scripts to design the plot and get it going! I have high hopes for you.”

“And isn’t that card-drawing setup in your game too simple? Why draw a whole set? Break down the whole set into individual pieces to draw! That way, there’s more fun in collecting.”

Xu Yao was frantically outputting her ideas, “And also…”

Ming Chan’s eyes were slightly red, and she nodded continuously, as if she had encountered her life’s benefactor.

Ming Chan had actually made a lot of plans and ideas, but was hindered by a lack of funds. In this day and age, having money makes things easier. With money, she could fully unleash her creativity with knowledge that she could afford to bring it to life.

“By the way, where is your studio? Do you want me to help you find a new place? The Haicheng Global Financial Center is nice.” This was another office building under her name.

Ming Chan suppressed her impulse to agree and shook her head, saying, “Miss Yao Yao, my studio’s lease hasn’t expired yet.” Adhering to the principle of not wasting money excessively, Ming Chan wanted to continue working on her game there until the lease was up.

Of course, Xu Yao also hadn’t forgotten what she was doing today. She was here to customize her engagement dress, so Xu Yao simply let all the designers design it for her.

After all, the beautiful clothes they designed could also be worn by her offline~

*

Ji Zhengqing got off work quite early today and planned to go home and work out.

The assistant had organized all the documents for him to take back, as President Ji would likely review them in his study. He reported promptly to Ji Zhengqing, “President Ji, Miss Xu Yao has kept all the designers behind, saying she wants them to help her design clothes.”

Ji Zhengqing’s gaze was surprised for a moment, then he couldn’t help but burst out laughing, “Let her be.”

For the engagement banquet, having two or three sets of dresses would be enough, yet Xu Yao had kept all the designers behind to design dresses for her, meaning that there would be at least ten sets of engagement dresses. Obviously, Xu Yao was too lazy to even go shopping at the mall, preferring to have brands send the latest seasonal styles to her home for selection.

It seemed she really attached a great importance to her engagement with him.

Ji Zhengqing glanced at his assistant, who was momentarily stunned, then replied, “Yes, President Ji, I think Miss Xu really loves you.”

Time to go home and work out.

*

The amount for this investment was truly significant, so Xu Yao needed to arrange for someone to follow up on Ming Chan’s game development, and whenever expenses arose, she would need to report to this person.

This employee had clearly adapted to Xu Yao Rental’s working hours and said somewhat bitterly, “Boss Ming, it’s almost five in the afternoon, are we still going to have a meeting? Isn’t it too late?”

Ming Chan looked at the time. Wasn’t it only half past four in the afternoon? This was still prime office hours.

The office workers of today didn’t even dare to dream of a nine-to-five job anymore as most small companies operated from nine to six with only one day off.

“You take a break. I’ll go to the meeting.”

Ming Chan told the moving company to stop moving, and had her personal housekeeper to deliver her belongings to her home. She wasn’t moving! She intended to remain Xu Yao’s tenant for life!

This rental relationship was her strongest connection to Xu Yao!

Ming Chan immediately went to her game studio, which was relatively remote but had cheap rent. The studio only had about eleven or twelve people, making it a small team.

As soon as Ming Chan entered the studio, she pulled over her 360° camera in front of the meeting whiteboard and clapped her hands, “Everyone, meeting time. I have important news to announce.”

Everyone’s minds were filled with the thought—“Ah, the studio is disbanding.”

After all, who would want to spend money on that crappy game? Which player with a brain would want to spend money on it?

Ming Chan directly announced, “Miss Xu Yao has invested over a hundred million in us, so we need to improve this game.”

“Okay… wait, what???”

Everyone was collectively stunned. Was… Xu Yao that player with a brain problem? No, that’s not right… she was the new investor?

The key point was that the investment was over a hundred million? What??

Had this boss lost her mind?

“I apologize for the inconvenience you’ve endured during this time. Your salaries will all be doubled,” Ming Chan looked at the dumbfounded HR staff, “Immediately start recruitment, urgently. Don’t be afraid to offer high salaries, as long as the candidates are excellent.”

Did they really secure an investment? Office workers only cared about their salaries, and upon hearing that salaries would be doubled, they instantly perked up, all of them ready to fight hard for Boss Ming.

Were these people without talent? Of course they weren’t, but after spending so much time in society, they understood what level of salary corresponded to what level of work.

After all, they had been working on this game for so long and it was inevitable that they held some attachment toward it. Hearing about the new investment instantly energized them, to the point where they even wanted to work overtime.

Ming Chan didn’t forget about the talented people Xu Yao had brought in and specifically instructed, “By the way, Xiao Wang, please add the contact information of these few designers later, and coordinate with them on the design drafts.”

Xiao Wang nodded and hurried back to his workstation to receive the messages from Ming Chan. The more he looked, the more impressive it seemed, until he blurted out, “Holy sh*t, boss, how did you this contact information? Isn’t this the private contact information of internationally renowned fashion designer Jesse Blair?”

The studio’s staff were dumbfounded, their jaws nearly dropping.

Ming Chan corrected him, “It’s through Miss Xu Yao’s connection.” Not hers.

The people in the studio couldn’t contain their excitement. So Xu Yao was her to back them up! They had never heard the boss mention any connection with Xu Yao before.

In a great mood, Ming Chan even bought a more expensive takeout for everyone. They worked energetically while quietly discussing, ultimately reaching a consensus:

“Seems like the boss is Xu Yao’s tenant.” Although what the boss rented wasn’t a regular apartment, but actually a luxury apartment.

A girl drawing on a digital tablet bit into a fried chicken drumstick and said enviously, “I’d also love to be Xu Yao’s tenant, but I didn’t pass the rental exam last time I signed up QAQ, I was so sad.”

The closure of their crappy little game was almost a foregone conclusion, but then Xu Yao suddenly appeared, throwing money at it without hesitation. Who could possibly resist this?

Even a dead pig could be saved and turned into a living one!

HR was urgently recruiting people, but whether they were truly excellent was still uncertain.

Xu Yao contacted Xie Zhengtian, a rich second-generation heir who played games all day and knew many people in this field. Without hesitation, Xie Zhengtian introduced to her several big shots who were excellent in game production.

A studio, aside from these big shots who had a good grasp on the overall direction, also needed many assistants, and of course, these assistants had to have actual skills to back them up too.

Xu Yao was actually quite optimistic about university students. First, outstanding university students that had just graduated were diligent and ambitious. Second, Xu Yao knew all too well the pressure fresh graduates faced in finding jobs, and that those without work experience were like headless flies at job fairs.

It just so happened that she was willing to be this talent scout.

Xu Yao had quite a few tenant group chats, all organised by building, so Xu Yao edited a message and set it out to dozens of group chats.

[Landlady Xu Yao: @Everyone, urgent recruitment [image][image] Anyone who’s interested can apply.]

As soon as Xu Yao sent it out, dozens of WeChat groups instantly became lively.

As a landlady, Xu Yao never showed up, as if she was always playing dead inside, like an invisible person.

The tenants who passed the rental exam were all of high quality, so the group was generally harmonious, unlike other community groups that were noisy and chaotic.

[!!! Who did I find?! It’s my favorite landlady, Sis Yao! Snuggle snuggle!]

[Recruitment? And it specifically states that “recent graduates are preferred”? Ahhh, she totally gets me! I’ve been going crazy looking for a job lately, the employment pressure is just too much, it’s so hard, I don’t even know why I want to be a person instead of a dog. Sorry for bringing everyone down with my negative vibes.]

[I clicked in to check and… oh my gosh, the salary is so high! Way above the normal pay for the same position. Consider me successfully tempted.]

[So happy… being Yao-jie’s tenant is really joyful. I’m going to submit my resume~]

Xu Yao had an extremely high level of credibility among many people, and the incident at Zhengde Academy had further boosted goodwill toward her. Many job seekers were willing to apply after looking at the recruitment information she posted without worrying that it was a scam company.

Huang Qiang, a recent university graduate, was filled with confusion in Haicheng, a big city where opportunities and crises coexist.

The soaring housing prices and rent, along with employment pressure, made it hard for him to breathe. He had previously shared a rental apartment with several graduates at Runda Apartment, only to later realize he had somehow inexplicably taken out a loan.

The rental loan became the last straw that broke the camel’s back. His roommate could no longer bear the pressure and jumped from the high building to his death.

Two or three days before his death, this roommate had jokingly said to him, “Ah Qiang, do you think there would be an even bigger commotion if I jumped from here? Then this black-hearted apartment wouldn’t dare to scam people anymore?”

Huang Qiang hadn’t taken it to heart at the time until his roommate really jumped, and they were summoned to the police station for investigation.

The incident did not escalate as the roommate had hoped, rather, the whole internet only knew that a young person had jumped from Runda Apartment, but didn’t know the main cause.

Huang Qiang did not have the courage to jump like his roommate. He moved into a house rented from Xu Yao, still burdened by that inexplicable loan, and sought help from Xu Yao’s private legal team along with a few other unfortunate young tenants, but so far, there had been no response.

Looking at the recruitment information, Huang Qiang felt it matched his major, so he submitted a resume.

Regardless of whether it works out or not, he thought it was worth a try.

Sixty percent of Xu Yao’s tenants were young people, so this matter couldn’t be kept under wraps and was quickly leaked by this enthusiastic group of tenants onto the internet.

They couldn’t stand it anymore, they had to give the best landlady in the world a boost in publicity!

Won’t change my name until I find a job: [Waaahhh I have to tell everyone — I’ve been looking for a job in Haicheng for three months, and I finally got one! I have a job now, big thanks to my Sister Yao! #XuYaoRentals #BestLandladyEver #JobHunting #Hiring]

Because the post included Xu Yao’s tag, a bunch of curious onlookers popped in, confused about why someone would thank Xu Yao for getting a job.

This little girl replied enthusiastically: [It’s because the job listing was posted by Xu Yao in our tenant-only group haha! I applied and got it! The salary is 3,000 yuan higher than other graduates in the same field, I’m so satisfied, tonight I’m going out to celebrate with my bestie.]

[?? No way, being a tenant of Xu Yao even provides job opportunities? I won’t say who’s currently stewing in jealousy!]

[Actually, it’s still because you’re outstanding, I saw on your Weibo that you’re from a prestigious university, but it’s also thanks to Xu Yao for giving the opportunity!]

[Is this new info? Xu Yao is advertising a job through a little dress-up game? Reminds me of last time she promoted ‘Yin Fate’.]

[So jealous of those who got jobs… I haven’t had a job for almost half a year, haven’t bought clothes in ages. But at least I can live vicariously through dress-up games, that’s fun too.]

In the past, they envied Xu Yao for being able to lie back and collect rent. Now they were super envious of Xu Yao’s tenants.

They were just renting a house, yet this divine landlady even provided job recruitment information. The most important point was—

Although this game studio was small, they offered high salaries! In this day and age, what else matters if not salary? Sentiment?

There was truly no harm without comparison. Today was another day of envying Xu Yao’s tenants.

[Just want to ask the official Xu Yao Rental account when their next exam is? I can’t wait.]

[The news is true, my brother rented from Xu Yao, submitted a resume to that game studio, and has already passed. He can start work tomorrow, yet I still have to go to various job fairs tomorrow QAQ]

[I bet Xu Yao definitely invested heavily in this game. Just by looking at the scale of that little game, it should be at least a few million.]

“It should be more than just a few million,” a friend in the gaming industry saw these discussions and confidently analyzed, “It should be several million.”

Games burn money much faster than short dramas, and just by observing the urgency in hiring of the game’s boss, with salaries collectively doubling, it seemed they weren’t at all short on cash. Xu Yao probably invested several million, right?

There are many popular games nowadays, most of which are competitive battlegrounds. Dress-up games are something that had only been seen in 9934, with only little girls under twelve liking to play such game, However, this demographic didn’t have much money to spend.

So a group of gamers after analysis concluded that if Xu Yao had really invested, it probably was just a few million.

The group of friends sighed while snacking on sunflower seeds and drinking beer, “This landlady really is too rich. A few million spent just like that, and for this kind of game. Is she really not afraid of it going all down the drain?”

The employees of Heavenly Star Game Studio couldn’t care less about that. Although they didn’t know if the game would be a hit, they just knew that if the boss raised their salary, they had to work hard.

Huang Qiang was one of them. He had passed the studio’s interview and was told to start work immediately tomorrow.

Huang Qiang couldn’t help but jump for joy in his rental apartment, and his first thought was to buy some clothes to go to work. He was momentarily surprised, suddenly feeling that this dress-up game might have some potential.

There was a knock at the door, and Huang Qiang went to open it. Standing at the door were a few people he recognized, and his eyes brightened as he greeted, “Attorney Pan, Attorney Yao, good to see you both.”

Pan Xianmin and his team came in with briefcases, getting straight to the point: “Last time, Mr. Huang, you sought help from our legal team. After going back to study the case, we also consulted with Miss Xu Yao.”

Huang Qiang suddenly remembered his roommate who jumped from Runda Apartment. He and another roommate had rushed down in a frenzy to see, and what they encountered was a scene filled with blood, a sight he would never be able to forget.

Huang Qiang knew in his heart that this was a serious matter, and that if it escalated, it would definitely not end well.

Huang Qiang didn’t dare to think that Xu Yao would help, but Pan Xianmin said, “Miss Xu Yao has agreed to let us represent you in your lawsuit. We are here today to help you in filing a lawsuit with the court.”

Huang Qiang was taken aback. Xu Yao actually agreed?

*

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:

Mu Xiyuan had been much happier since his divorce. Being single meant he could pursue anyone he wanted. Moreover, Ming Chan, that woman, had been married to him for three years without having children and was quite assertive, showing great interest in entrepreneurship.

A woman should just stay at home and be a good wife, but she actually wanted to start a business. The key was that her in-laws were quite satisfied with her and supportive of her in this matter.

However, Mu Xiyuan really wanted a child to maintain family ties. After all, outsiders only knew he was the son of the Runda CEO but didn’t know that he was actually an adopted son. So, a divorce was fine as it would bring him much more freedom.

Thinking about how his ex-wife had probably received the court’s ruling on marital property by now and was on the verge of bankruptcy, while he had achieved an unprecedented 99% occupancy rate, Mu Xiyuan couldn’t help but curl the corners of his lips slightly.

He inspected various departments within the company, and his employees, upon seeing him, immediately greeted him respectfully. Mu Xiyuan nodded in acknowledgment.

When he arrived at the legal department, everyone was busy.

Mu Xiyuan wasn’t particularly satisfied with the people in the legal department. The last person who had sued them for raising the rent excessively had actually won the case, which was truly frustrating.

Some people had been dismissed recently as a warning to the others, so the legal department staff were likely to be more compliant now.

“President Mu,” someone stood up immediately upon seeing Mu Xiyuan, “we received a court summons. The other party is suing us and Junyi Long-term Rental Apartments pushing a rental loan that allegedly caused Li Wei to fall to his death.”

Mu Xiyuan’s expression turned cold. He narrowed his eyes and asked in a deep voice, “Do you know the details of the plaintiff? Who is the lawyer representing them?”

“It’s a tenant under Xu Yao’s name,” the legal department manager replied with a smile, “but their lawyer is Pan Xianmin from Boen Law Firm.”

Mu Xiyuan felt a moment of anxiety upon hearing Xu Yao’s name, but then he noticed the legal manager’s smile and asked what he found so funny.

The manager replied, “President Mu may not know, but this Pan Xianmin used to work in our company. He was dismissed not too long ago, but I didn’t expect him to be working for Xu Yao’s legal team now.”

Mu Xiyuan was somewhat surprised. He also knew of Xu Yao, the landlady who had accomplished nothing but only knew how to collect rent. He had originally speculated that she had a powerful legal team behind her, comparable to that of Xu Group’s Pizza Hut, but it turned out she just hired some unknown rookies?

But it’s actually their discarded trash?

The rumors online were indeed not true.

Mu Xiyuan said lightly, “Well, then let’s proceed with the case.”

Although their Runda legal department couldn’t be said to be as strong as the Xu Group’s Pizza Hut, they could still land a hit on this kind of prodigal dog with any random punch of theirs.

Meanwhile, Xu Yao was patting Pan Xianmin and Yao Zongze on the shoulders, reassuring them, “Prepare well, and let’s send them all off to step on the sewing machine³.”

Don’t be afraid, after all, the new nickname “Xu’s Pizza Hut, Bo’en’s Invincible Hand” is on the way. Bo’en Law Firm is about to make a name for itself in one decisive case!

---

i just adore how delusional and love-brained JZQ is TAT

support mio on kofi! ◡̈

1.  关公 (Guan Gong), also known as 关羽 (Guan Yu), is a legendary general from the Three Kingdoms era, famous in Chinese culture for his unmatched martial prowess, loyalty, and righteousness. It’s used humorously or self-deprecatingly to describe someone showing off or trying to demonstrate skill in front of an expert — like “trying to teach Shakespeare how to write” or “bringing sand to the beach.” ↩︎
2.  A supertopic (超话 chāohuà in Chinese) is a feature on Chinese social media platforms—most famously on Weibo—that acts like a dedicated fan community or discussion hub centered around a specific topic, celebrity, show, or interest. ↩︎
3.  a popular internet term that implies “going to jail” or “serving jail time,” because in some prisons, sewing is a common labor reform project, and prisoners need to repeatedly step on pedals to sew clothes. ↩︎

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

---

Little Six, who had just doubled Xu Yao’s pension, chimed in weakly: [Not strange at all…]

Little Six really wanted to beg Xu Yao to stop managing those tenants, otherwise, it would end up triggering the bug for doubling her pension every month. Little Six secretly glanced at next month’s payment. If it triggered again, it would have to give Xu Yao forty million in retirement funds… 

The benefits from the quick transmigration bureau would eventually be cleaned out by Xu Yao.

Xu Yao also didn’t think it was strange at all. After all, it was quite normal for a little rich woman to enjoy looking at a few handsome little puppy types.

It wasn’t until the next day, close to noon, when Xu Yao was still snuggled in bed and reluctant to get up. She suddenly heard the WeChat notification sound from her phone on the bedside table. Yawning, she stretched out her fair arm to grab the phone, the screen’s glare making her squint her eyes.

A tenant had sent her a rather ambiguous photo via WeChat. In the picture, a handsome yet somewhat baby-faced boy in a white shirt lazily leaned his tall figure against a bean bag chair, the slightly lifted hem of his shirt revealing firm abs, with a few droplets of water trickling down them.

The instantly woken up Xu Yao who no longer felt sleepy: “??”

F*ck, sending her something this stimulating so early in the morning?

[Golden Age Court 02-15 Tenant: Ah, sorry, Sister Landlady, I sent it by mistake. I actually wanted to ask about the rent.]

This tenant was also feeling anxious inside. He had seen online that Xu Yao seemed to like little puppy types and couldn’t help but “slip” and send her a photo.

He heard that Xu Yao only got up around noon, so he timed it perfectly to send it at exactly twelve o’clock.

These were the first batch of tenants. Xu Yao had wanted to experience the joy of a landlady waking up every day to collect money, so they all had Xu Yao’s WeChat.

But being a landlady was unexpectedly hard work. Just clicking the [accept payment] button on WeChat transfers everyday made her fingers ache, so Xu Yao had handed this tiring task over to her employees.

Xu Yao looked at the photo and immediately caught on to the R-rated implication from the younger tenant.

This isn’t too appropriate, right? After all, she’s very professional.

[Xu Yao: If you sent it by mistake, why not unsend it?]

[Golden Age Court 02-15 Tenant: …]

The tenant waited for half a minute before hesitantly sending a voice message, saying that the message couldn’t be unsent after two minutes had already passed.

Xu Yao clicked her tongue with no intention of continuing the conversation with this tenant. She was a professional landlady, and the only relationship between them should be one of a landlady and her tenant.

A tenant with poor moral character would greatly affect the standard rental relationship between them. It seemed like a tenant with good character is truly hard to come by.

Xu Yao sent a message to He Fan, saying that the rental contract for this Golden Age Court tenant shouldn’t be renewed after it expired. She didn’t want to wake up one day and find that she had received explicit photos on her phone.

Xu Yao also went to look for Ji Zhengqing.

[AAAA Professional Rental Little Xu: Do you work out?]

The other side didn’t reply to her question but instead asked Xu Yao a question in return.

[Ji Zhengqing: You you like little puppy types? Why not little wolf types?]

[AAAA Professional Rental Little Xu: As a rich woman, can’t I like a person? Must I only like dogs?!]

Xu Yao seemed very angry and threw several reaction stickers over.

[Ji Zhengqing: …I do work out.]

Xu Yao had never expected that despite Ji Zhengqing being a busy CEO, he would still find the time to pay attention to online gossip and actually knew that netizens were teasing her about her love for little puppy types!

Xu Yao suddenly felt a sense of guilt, as if her fiancé had seen through her.

[Ji Zhengqing: I will arrange for a fashion designer to come over in the next few days to take your measurements for your engagement dress. Do you have time?]

Although the engagement could be kept low-key, what others had, Xu Yao should also have. The designer Ji Zhengqing booked was a designer who was renowned both domestically and internationally, and had originally only served foreign royal families.

As a landlady, Xu Yao had nothing else to do all day aside from collecting rent and arranging rentals. If it weren’t for her current popularity, she would really want to experience the feeling of driving her luxury car out to deliver takeout.

When Xu Yao replied that she had time, Ji Zhengqing immediately arranged for the designer to fly directly to Haicheng.

The housekeeper downstairs notified her that lunch was ready, so Xu Yao went to freshen up first. When she picked up her phone again, she found another tenant had sent her a message.

[Haicheng Bay No. 1 02-11 Ming Chan: Sister Landlady, I’m planning to move to Jing City for my career development, so I won’t be renting after the contract expires next month. So about the security deposit…]

Xu Yao felt very sad, as it wasn’t easy to find a tenant with good character these days. Many people were filtered out during the rental exam, and yet the one she was about to lose now was actually a wealthy tenant from Haicheng Bay No. 1!

Xu Yao had seen the name Ming Chan in the original novel. Without mentioning anything else, her character was definitely beyond reproach.

[AAAA Professional Rental Little Xu: There’s no need for a refund on the security deposit, I have a place in Jing City as well, so you can stay there. The place is in Nine Chapters Northern Garden and the rent will the same as the one you’re renting now.]

[Haicheng Bay No. 1 02-11 Ming Chan: …]

Nine Chapters Northern Garden in Jing City is definitely a luxury residence that isn’t at all inferior to Haicheng Bay No. 1, with the rent being even more expensive than Haicheng Bay No. 1. If it had been anyone else, they would have agreed immediately.

[Haicheng Bay No. 1 02-11 Ming Chan: Um, Landlady, I often go on business trips abroad and I’ll be working abroad after moving.]

[AAAA Professional Rental Little Xu: Oh? I also have properties abroad. Which country in Europe? Or America?]

[Haicheng Bay No. 1 02-11 Ming Chan: South Africa.]

Xu Yao suddenly felt a pang of heartache. After all, her properties hadn’t spread all over the globe and gone truly international yet, but it didn’t matter.

[AAAA Professional Rental Little Xu: I truly don’t have any in South Africa, but I can buy a few so it’ll be more convenient to watch the World Cup in the future. Why don’t you wait for me to buy them first before moving?]

Xu Yao sighed inwardly, marveling at how much effort she put into retaining her tenants.

She was a landlady who worked hard for her tenants.

Ming Chan almost couldn’t hold back her emotions upon seeing this. Just how wealthy was Xu Yao? She actually owned a top-tier luxury apartment like Nine Chapters Northern Garden in Jing City and didn’t hesitate to rent it out, now even able to casually buy properties all over the world just for tenant retention.

In this day and age, when a person’s net worth is over a hundred million, it usually includes real estate, company stocks, and so on, with very few actually being able to produce over a hundred million in liquid assets.

One must understand that a single luxury apartment is often valued in the hundreds of millions, and Xu Yao had actually bought all her properties outright. Ming Chan couldn’t even dare to imagine the wealth of this Landlady Xu.

After a long while, Ming Chan had no choice but to call Xu Yao, feeling utterly helpless as she said, “I’m sorry, Miss Landlord. Actually, I’m not moving out of town for career development. I’m actually going bankrupt and can’t afford to rent your apartment in Haicheng Bay No. 1 anymore.”

What she had just said earlier was merely an excuse for her to save face, but alas, she still had to face reality—

She was on the brink of bankruptcy.

Haicheng Bay No. 1 was the most expensive luxury community in Haicheng, and the rent for the apartment she lived in was four hundred thousand yuan a month, which she could now no longer afford to pay.

Ming Chan had been married to Mu Xiyuan, the son of the Runda’s CEO, for three years before getting divorced. During their marriage, she filed a lawsuit against her ex-husband for transferring their marital assets, and in the end, they had to divide the marital property.

Ming Chan still remembered the text her ex-husband sent her a few days ago: [What’s the use of suing me to get them to split my assets? Aren’t you still going to be bankrupt anyway? With that money, you might as well be like that useless landlady Xu Yao and buy a few apartments just to sit back and wait to collect rent.]

In the eyes of wealthy second-generation heirs who were career driven like Mu Xiyuan, Xu Yao, who was just a rent-collecting landlady, was the most unambitious person to them.

Clearly sitting on hundreds of millions in assets, yet she only knew how to collect a bit of rent each month to get by, completely lacking any business acumen at all.

Recently, despite Xu Yao frequently trending online, people like them regarded her as a joke, sitting on a pile of gold mountains yet clueless in how to make the money work for her instead—truly laughable.

In reality, Ming Chan hadn’t received much alimony. Even that unknown mobile game had been a gift given out of pity from her father-in-law, who had felt sorry for her.

Unfortunately, she had now lost even a place to stay because of that game.

Ming Chan smiled bitterly. Starting a business wasn’t something anyone could do. Being a landlady was clearly much more stable.

Xu Yao knew of Ming Chan. In the original novel, she had been a game developer on the verge of bankruptcy, an orphan who had been admitted to a 985 university in Haicheng despite being from a small rural village. Many had envied her for marrying Mu Xiyuan, the son of the Runda’s CEO, but now, there were just as many who were secretly mocking her for getting divorced and facing bankruptcy.

Fortunately, after gritting her teeth and struggling to develop this game for three to four years, Ming Chan finally successfully attracted investment and created the game that became a hit at the time. The game had been so successful that she even had the original female lead, Liu Yingxia, endorse it, making it a hot topic for a while. Just as Ming Chan was about to succeed, her apartment suddenly caught fire, and she was burned to death inside. When firefighters found her, her body had already been charred black and showed no signs of life.

Xu Yao felt a pang of regret and sighed before asking Ming Chan about the name of her game.

Ming Chan was taken aback. She hadn’t expected Xu Yao to know she was a game developer, but considering Xu Yao’s involvement in creating a rental exam, it seemed reasonable.

The name of her little game was “Shining Star.” Xu Yao glanced at it on the app store and saw that it only had about a hundred downloads, with fewer than ten reviews, which were all negative.

Xu Yao clicked to download it and took her phone downstairs to eat.

The game file wasn’t very large, so it downloaded in just a few seconds. Xu Yao enjoyed her exquisite lunch while tapping on the screen.

Upon seeing that it was a dress-up game, Xu Yao immediately felt a wave of nostalgia for early internet gaming culture, reminiscent of her childhood days on 4399¹.

A 2D model clad only in underwear stood in the center of the screen, with various clothes, skirts, shorts, and short sleeves on the right. Xu Yao swiped her finger to scroll through her wardrobe options, her delicate brows furrowing tighter, unable to suppress the urge to shout in her heart—

Why are there so many ugly clothes? They’re so ugly, really so ugly.

“Miss Yao Yao, the latest batch of rentals has already rented out 102 apartments,” Lu Ye reported from the side.

Xu Yao was still frowning, selecting a few clothes that she thought were somewhat acceptable, occasionally responding with a few absentminded hums of acknowledgement.

She dressed her character in a crisp set of shorts and a short-sleeved shirt, pairing it with flip-flops. What a pity, too bad the flip-flops were only plastic, it wasn’t even studded with diamonds!

Can this game even make any money? No wonder Ming Chan was going bankrupt.

“Miss Yao Yao, recently several tenants have had consultations with us about legal issues they’re facing. We’ve already responded to them, but this matter still needs to be brought to your attention.”

Pan Xianmin spoke up, catching a glimpse of Xu Yao playing the game. Despite seemingly not enjoying competitive games, Pan Xianmin and the others thought Xu Yao would at least play casual games like Happy Elimination² or Fight the Landlord³, yet here she was playing a dress-up game!

He Fan was even considering the afternoon’s schedule. Perhaps Xu Yao could go shopping at the mall? She must have become obsessed with this kind of dress-up game since she hasn’t been able to buy many clothes recently!

Xu Yao continued to frown while playing, all the while not forgetting to respond to Pan Xianmin, “Mmhm, go ahead and tell me what the matter is.”

Pan Xianmin hesitated before saying, “Miss Yao Yao, some of your tenants who are recent university graduates have sought help from our law firm, saying… they used to rent from Runda Apartments but ended up with massive debts from loans.”

Although the news about the incidents of young people jumping from Runda Apartments had gone viral amongst netizens recently, the real cause still hadn’t been uncovered yet!

However, Xu Yao knew that Mu Xiyuan, who was the son of Runda’s CEO, had partnered with long-term rental apartments to launch rental loans in order to achieve an impressive 99% occupancy rate.

Most of those who needed to take out loans for renting were fresh graduates with little income. They were suddenly inexplicably burdened with loans just to rent an apartment, with some even finding themselves homeless and living on the streets despite having loans, which could also negatively affect their credit scores.

Nowadays, credit scores impacted every aspect of life, and with issues with one’s credit, even taking a high-speed train would be difficult.

Xu Yao’s hand paused slightly while playing the game. This matter had actually been mentioned in the original novel, but this matter wouldn’t fully be exposed for another couple of years. It would take more university graduates jumping off buildings before the issue became fully exposed to the light.

“This isn’t a trivial matter. Do you think we still need to provide legal assistance to the tenants?” Pan Xianmin asked hesitantly.

Runda rented the apartment to a long-term real estate agency, which then exploited naive young people who aren’t familiar with the deep waters of society with predatory rental loans. Whether it was suing Runda or that long-term real estate agency, getting involved in a lawsuit against large enterprises on behalf of unfamiliar tenants wasn’t cost-effective at all.

Although as lawyers, they naturally wanted to do something about it, right now, they were Xu Yao’s personal legal team, and every case they took on would depended on Xu Yao’s opinion.

Capitalists are all about self-preservation after all… but Pan Xianmin couldn’t help but feel a spark of hope when he thought of Xu Yao involvement in dealing with Zhengde Academy.

Xu Yao lowered her head and continued playing the game in her hands while saying casually, “Help my tenants sue them. Sue them all until they’re all packed up and sent to jail.”

Preventing a few more university graduates from jumping to their deaths was them doing a good deed. After all, whose life isn’t precious? Who doesn’t feel heartache for their parents?

After all, she’s a landlady who works for her tenants.

*

The tenant at Golden Age Court was asked to leave after the rental contract expired, and Xu Yao’s rental team soon refunded the four thousand yuan deposit to the young man.

This young puppy-like tenant moved out of Xu Yao’s rented house while crying and sobbing, to the point where the news was even reported online to netizens by some nosy gossip accounts.

[This brother is so miserable, having managed to rent one of Xu Yao’s properties really isn’t easy. I’m afraid he probably won’t be able to rent another in the future, right?]

[What on earth did he do to incur Xu Yao’s wrath and get refused renewal for his lease? I’m so damn curious. Although his face is blurred out, he must be very handsome.]

[Wasn’t someone spreading online a few days ago that Xu Yao likes young puppy types? And then today, she ended up kicking out the puppy tenant.]

[There are also unspoken rules in renting. My former roommate had to sleep with a man in his forties to save on rent… so disgusting. Xu Yao is doing a good deed, cleaning up the rental industry.]

Xu Yao’s actions were somewhat akin to killing a chicken to scare the monkeys⁴, with some good-looking young men immediately giving up on their ulterior motives upon seeing the news online out of fear.

Don’t miss the chance to cling onto a rich lady’s thick thighs only to end up not even being able to rent their apartment.

It was… just a bit of a pity… why would such a wealthy woman like Xu Yao want to keep herself so chaste?!

Inside Ji Corporation.

As soon as he saw the news reported online, Ji Zhengqing curled his lips, “Assistant Li, is she giving me an explanation?”

Assistant Li, who had privately consulted He Fan on the art of conversation, responded immediately, “That should be the case.”

Ji Zhengqing swiped away from the gossip account and twirled the black pen between his fingers.

This marriage was arranged by Xu Yao’s grandfather on his deathbed. If things had gone according to Xu Jing’s original suggestion, the engagement could be quietly called off if both parties were disinterested after two years. But now, it seemed like the relationship was developing in a good direction, with Xu Yao even valuing this marriage more than he did.

Xu Yao’s special attention toward this matter made him feel a bit pleased, yet he was also inwardly fretting over whether his subtle responses were measuring up to her expectations.

“Have the arranged fashion designers arrived yet? Call over a few more,” Ji Zhengqing instructed his assistant, pressing his slender fingers on the shiny black pen.

Assistant Li replied, “…Understood, President Ji.”

No, just what was the boss imagining in his head again?

*

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:

Ming Chan was packing her items for the move. She planned to move her essentials into the game studio and could only comfort herself by brainwashing herself into thinking she could save on rent since she could work and rest there.

Ming Chan called for a moving company, and when she went downstairs to deliver her things, she saw a nanny van parked in front of the building of Haicheng Bay No. 1. It didn’t seem to be Xu Yao’s rental collection RV.

A few people got out of the car, and at a glance, they seemed to be full of artistic flair. Ming Chan didn’t have time to take a closer look before she saw them enter the elevator under the guidance of the property manager.

Ming Chan sighed, “Let’s pack up and move.”

Her  disgusting ex-husband’s words had hit the nail on the head. Even if she asked the court for a split in assets, she would still be on the verge of bankruptcy either way.

The housekeeper at the door smiled and said, “Miss Xu Yao, the designers arranged by President Ji have arrived.”

Xu Yao was sitting cross-legged on the oversized sofa in the first floor’s lobby, with several plates of freshly washed and sliced fruits in front of her, along with plate of dainty snacks. Her mobile phone, which was running a game, was resting on her calf.

Several fashion designers proceeded to greet Xu Yao, who then curiously asked about their respective fields.

In order to bolster President Ji’s reputation in front of his fiancee, they had no choice but to directly state their titles and accolades.

A mixed-race man wearing a black top hat said in not-so-fluent Chinese, “Hello, Miss Yao Yao, I was born in Italy and specialize in incorporating contrasting elements into clothing. I have won seventeen major awards, both domestically and internationally.”

A girl with a princess cut hairstyle next to him said, “Hello, Miss Yao Yao, I am one of the former designers for Chanel and also the founder of the brand Zero. I also specialize in vibrant design styles. I have also received the highest honor in the fashion industry, the International Design Award Gold Prize.”

An elegant middle-aged woman in a qipao smiled and said, “Hello, Miss Yao Yao, I’m a bit different from them. I specialise in custom qipaos and incorporating the traditional elements of our country into my clothing. I also love niche designs and look forward to designing your engagement dress.”

“…”

There were many people gathered in rows, each with a title, all sounding extremely impressive.

At least judging from their dressing styles, it was clear that they were all truly trendsetters in the fashion industry and held formidable sway and reputation in the international fashion market.

One of them had even officially announced his retirement and was no longer making clothes.

Xu Yao was a bit surprised, “Didn’t Ji Zhengqing only arrange for three people to come? How come there are suddenly ten of them here?”

None of them were fakes as they were all big names in the fashion industry.

Xu Yao took out her phone to check and saw that Ji Zhengqing had sent her a WeChat message.

[Ji Zhengqing: Yao Yao, pick out your favorite styles from amongst them to make your engagement dress, or you can even keep them all.]

Xu Yao: Is that so?

Since her fiancé had already said so, then she wouldn’t be polite.

The designers spoke gently, even with a hint of flattery, asking, “Miss Yao Yao, do you have any favorite styles or types?”

Xu Yao had no particular thoughts about how she wanted her engagement dress to look like. After all, she had only been thinking about her inheritance at the beginning.

Xu Yao had no choice but to ask, “Are there any design drafts that I can browse?”

The designers had come prepared and immediately had their assistants bring out the design drafts that could be shown to outsiders, which was akin to a resume when applying for a job.

Ji Zhengqing really hadn’t treated her perfunctorily at all. All the designers he invited were indeed impressive. Every design sketch made Xu Yao feel a spark of inspiration.

Internationally renowned designers were truly a different breed. Even though they were just pieces of clothing, they managed to perfectly capture the viewer’s attention and perfectly showcased the female form.

The key was the variety of styles.

Xu Yao looked at the design sketches before her and then the clothes in her mobile game, which was simply unbearable to look at.

Xu Yao shared some of her ideas, and the group of designers began to help her take her measurements.

After all, President Ji had mentioned that as long as Miss Xu Yao liked it, she could keep everything. Even if she didn’t wear it for the engagement banquet, it could still stay in her closet.

After all, President Ji had spent a lot of money hiring them, so their service attitude was absolutely up to par.

So what if they were international renowned designers? Didn’t internationally renowned designers still have to make a living?

Xu Yao was curious, “How long does it usually take to get everything done?”

“If the handmade customisation goes smoothly, it might take just a little over a month,” a designer beside her smiled. “If we need to source the fabric from abroad, then it might take a bit longer.”

Their customer service was impeccable. After all, this was just for the custom engagement dress, whereas the main event would be the wedding dress.

Once the engagement dress was finalised, negotiating the design for the custom wedding dress would be much easier than before.

Xu Yao blinked, “No, I mean, how long does it take for you to draw those design drafts?”

“That depends on the designer’s inspiration. Sometimes inspiration strikes instantly and it can be done in one or two hours, while other times, it might take a month or even half a year before anything can be completed.”

That was quite frustrating.

Xu Yao allowed their assistant to take her measurements and casually handed her phone to them, “What do you think of these designs?”

The designers initially thought Xu Yao had pulled up some masterpiece of fashion and eagerly gathered around to take a look, only for a question mark to pop up collectively over their heads when they saw the phone screen!

“???”

What… is this?

It looked like a dress-up game?

The key was that it wasn’t even 3D.

It was really hard to imagine that Xu Yao, the young lady who was cherished above all else by President Ji, actually liked a game like this?

Looking at the collection of outdated and ugly clothes, as leaders in the fashion industry, these designers could have squashed dozens of flies with their frowns!

“Oh my god, what kind of ugly clothes are these? I bet this game has no players at all,” a designer with long hair criticized bluntly.

The Italian designer covered his head dramatically, looking pained as he said, “Who taught them to design clothes like this?”

“The clothing style looks like it’s from twenty years ago,” a middle-aged female designer added. “But is this outfit the one that Miss Yao Yao put together? It’s the most eye-catching among them all.”

Xu Yao: “…”

She really tried her best with this rental-collection look..

This game was just too terrible. It had a nonexistent plot and was just a simple outfit-matching game. However, one you finished matching outfits, that was it. Moreover, it had even lagged, with the screen crashing to black once while she was playing just now.

Boring, it was really super boring.

However, the fact that Ming Chan managed to attract her first investor and went viral online three years later surely had its reasons.

Did Ming Chan not know these clothes weren’t pretty? Of course she knew, but she didn’t have the money to continue making them! In this day and age, no matter how many ideas and excellent concepts you have, they’re all useless without money.

Xu Yao could also see the potential market this game had. Most girls are born naturally with a love for beauty, and it was perfectly normal for them to play around with outfits when bored.

When she had just become a landlady, hadn’t she also spent all day shopping at the mall?

As Xu Yao was thinking, the group of designers who had been critiquing the clothes handed the phone back to her, “Miss Yao Yao, someone is calling you.”

When Xu Yao saw that the caller was Ming Chan, she smiled slightly.

“Miss Landlady, I’m moving to the studio apartment today. Could I ask when you will refund my security deposit?” Ming Chan asked.

Although the security deposit was originally her money, so there wasn’t any need for her to feel embarrassed, Ming Chan still felt a bit uncomfortable at the fact that she had fallen so low to the point of caring so deeply about this security deposit.

The four hundred thousand yuan security deposit would be more than enough to keep the studio running for a while.

She had grown up as an orphan in a small rural village, and when she was a child, she hadn’t been able to wear pretty clothes. All her clothes had been hand-me-downs that had been donated to her by kind-hearted people. Even back then, she had dreamed that when she grew up and had money, she would also be able to wear beautiful clothes like everyone else.

Later, she infused this idea into her game, where she still had many ideas for the game that remained unfulfilled. She had even arrogantly thought that if she had money, Shining Star would definitely be a big hit.

So, she had to get that deposit, and with a landlady like Xu Yao, she probably wouldn’t care about such a small amount of money.

On the other end, Xu Yao said, “How about we drop the idea of refunding the security deposit?”

Ming Chan’s eyes widened in disbelief: “What? No refund for the security deposit?”

Was Xu Yao really that short on money?

With her current popularity, as long as she mentioned advertising, there would definitely be a swarm of advertisers rushing to her to promote their products.

Ming Chan suddenly recalled Sheng Zhou, and assuming Xu Yao had concerns in this regard, she stammered, “Miss Landlady, please don’t do this. You can send someone to check the appliances in the property, I absolutely haven’t damaged anything, and…”

Xu Yao interrupted, “Finding a new tenant is too troublesome. I don’t want to go through the hassle or lose a tenant like you, so I’ll just give you one month’s rent.”

Ming Chan’s voice was cut off abruptly: “?”

What?

Just because she found it too troublesome to find a new tenant? Although it was true that renting out the property required her rental team to conduct various examinations and psychological inquiries… was she going to get a month’s rent, just because of this halfhearted reason??

Ming Chan suddenly remembered that Xu Yao had given two months worth of the urban village’s rent to Zuo Ning. Now Zuo Ning was thriving with his career on the right track, and she had heard that he was now preparing for his second project.

Her heart was moved.

Ming Chan was even more excited than she was on her wedding day, “Miss Xu Yao, may I ask how much the one month’s worth of rent is…?”

One month’s rent, could it be four hundred thousand yuan?

That definitely wouldn’t be enough.

Xu Yao thought for a moment, “They haven’t sorted it out yet, so I’m not sure yet.”

Ming Chan asked eagerly, “Can I come over right now to see you?”

Xu Yao agreed, and Ming Chan immediately instructed the moving company to temporarily halt their operation, sprinting towards the presidential complex of Haicheng Bay No. 1 with the speed of a hundred-meter sprinter. The property manager at the entrance received Xu Yao’s notification and personally escorted Ming Chan into the elevator.

Yes, that’s just how it was in wealthy communities. Even neighbors living in the same complex couldn’t just go to each other’s doorsteps casually.

“Miss Yao Yao, should we continue measuring your clothes or wait until you finish your business?” the fashion designers asked gently after overhearing their conversation.

Xu Yao waved her phone in the air and asked instead, “Do you all think the costume design for this game is terrible?”

A group of people nodded in unison. It was truly unbearable to look at. They couldn’t even bring themselves to say a white lie against their conscience.

Xu Yao smiled and said, “Well, since you’re all here already, don’t leave just yet. Why don’t you design the clothes for this game yourselves?”

Thanks to President Ji for sending over some talent to her √

He really is her great fiancé, hahaha.

---

JZQ is truly just XY’s tool fiance HAHAHAHAH

support mio on kofi! ◡̈

1.  “4399” refers to a hugely popular Chinese online flash game website from the 2000s–2010s, where kids played casual games (like dress-up, farming, or puzzle games) for free. ↩︎
2.  “Happy Elimination” (开心消消乐) is a match-3 style game on the App Store (similar to candy crush). The game’s objective is to match and eliminate game pieces.   ↩︎
3.  Popular card game in china (doudizhu) ↩︎
4.  To make an example of someone ↩︎

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

---

Yao Zongze was Pan Xianmin’s close friend, and their bond was strong, their friendship beginning when they had been roommates in college.

Unlike Pan Xianmin, who joined Runda’s legal department right after graduation, Yao Zongze, who had a bit of money, opened a law firm named Bo’en Law Firm. Unfortunately, even after barely struggling by for a few years of struggling, the firm had gained little fame, the firm so poor he was almost unable to pay the rent for the firm.

On his way home from work, he passed by a fortune-telling stall under an overpass, where the fortune teller suggested he change the name of his law firm. Yao Zongze even considered changing the name to “Certain Victory Law Firm,” but suddenly, Xu Yao just happened to appear.

Xu Yao was willing to sign them on as her exclusive legal team, but she specifically stated that she wanted a Bo’en Law Firm that had Attorney Pan.

Wasn’t that just too easy?!!

On the other end of the line, Xu Yao laughed, “Anytime you want.”

Yao Zongze was overjoyed and immediately arranged a meeting time with Xu Yao, telling her to take her time as they could wait, and only after Xu Yao hung up did he switch off his phone.

Pan Xianmin looked at the beaming Yao Zongze with a complicated expression and teased his friend unreservedly, “Your eager attitude just now was like a eunuch meeting the Empress; you were just short of grovelling to your phone.”

Yao Zongze was not at all offended by this metaphor. Instead, he happily replied, “Is that so? Then when I see Xu Yao later, I’ll make sure to bow and scrape to her. I want to be her chief eunuch, hahaha!”

Pan Xianmin: “…”

Had he gone crazy after failing to take on those few cases? What happened to the steadfast will of a lawyer? What about the seriousness and professionalism of a lawyer?

Pan Xianmin asked Yao Zongze what had influenced him to sell him out so quickly, and Yao Zongze simply replied that Xu Yao had asked for him specifically to be brought into Bo’en Law Firm.

“Do you know how much Xu Yao mentioned the annual salary for her exclusive legal department was?” Yao Zongze asked mysteriously, raising one palm high in the air.

Five?

Pan Xianmin subconsciously replied, “Five hundred thousand? …No, wait, could it be five million??”

Five hundred thousand was indeed a considerable amount, but if it was for hiring an entire legal team, five hundred thousand wouldn’t be enough when divided up. Pan Xianmin could only think of five million, and in that instant, his breathing started to speed up.

Don’t think that being a lawyer is all glamorous; there are many lawyers who don’t earn very much.

Five million for the whole team would mean that each person could take home an annual salary of at least two to three hundred thousand a year. That was already way better than working in Runda’s legal department.

Yao Zongze looked at Pan Xianmin with disdain, “Can you have be a little more imaginative? Five million? Are you looking down on our great landlady, Xu Yao? My Sister Yao is a top-tier landlady who owns over a hundred properties, okay!”

According to online statistics gathered by netizens, Xu Yao had now publicly announced that she owned more than a hundred properties.

Yao Zongze shouted, “Fifty million! The entire legal team’s annual salary is fifty million¹!!!”

Pan Xianmin’s eyes nearly popped out of his sockets. Was this… some new type of scam?

Divided up, an annual salary of several million was right in front of him.

Pan Xianmin’s face grew tense as he held a cardboard box containing his personal belongings and walked away in the opposite direction, his pace quickening, leaving Yao Zongze with a brisk silhouette of his back.

Yao Zongze looked at Pan Xianmin in disbelief. Even fifty million couldn’t move Pan Xianmin’s heart? That was fifty million! Had the harsh realities of society made him despise money as dirt? Truly a role model in the legal world.

Just as admiration was about to burst forth in Yao Zongze’s eyes, Pan Xianmin suddenly stopped and turned back to urge him, “Hurry up, it’s faster to take that small back street to the law firm!”

Sure enough, there was still no one that could refuse Xu Yao.

The two planned to call a taxi to return quickly to Bo’en Law Firm, but they suddenly spotted a crowd ahead, with many people looking up at something.

Runda actually wasn’t a particularly large company in China, but had taken advantage of the real estate boom to acquire a large amount of land and built several commercial buildings. Besides businesses, many young people also liked to rent apartments from here.

Pan Xianmin and Yao Zongze followed the crowd in looking up and saw a desperate young man sitting at a window on the tenth floor, cursing about something.

Pan Xianmin’s heart sank, and he immediately flung the cardboard box away to free his hands so he could pull out his phone to call the police. Just as he took his phone out of his pocket, screams erupted around them, and a loud thud came from the ground a few seconds later.

A young life had come to an end, just like that.

Pan Xianmin looked at his scattered personal belongings on the ground, listened to the approaching sound of police sirens, and glanced back at the bloodied body, feeling his mood plummet to the pit of despair.

The two took a taxi back to Bo’en Law Firm. Before Xu Yao arrived, they scrolled through Weibo, and sure enough, some netizens were already discussing the incident of someone jumping from the Runda apartment.

“Attorney Yao, Attorney Pan, Miss Xu Yao has arrived,” the assistant came over to remind them.

Upon seeing a black luxury car worth tens of millions parked outside through the glass window, they quickly composed themselves and got up to greet Xu Yao.

Xu Yao had high hopes for Bo’en Law Firm, since this law firm had been quite impressive in the original novel. The saying was that while Xu’s Pizza Hut could send people to jail, Boen Law Firm would send people directly to the guillotine!

After searching for so long, she had finally found them.

As soon as Xu Yao entered, she got straight to the point, “I mentioned on the phone that my exclusive legal team’s annual salary is fifty million. Do you have any objections?”

Bo’en Law Firm had an impressive track record. Just a single lawsuit could lead to a settlement of two million in compensation from the other party, so fifty million in annual salary was her snagging a bargain.

If Yao Zongze was Xu Yao’s Head Eunuch, then Pan Xianmin would be her Grand Steward of the Imperial Household²! 

The two replied in unison, “No objections, no objections at all.”

Did they even dare to have any objections? Were they greedy to the point of being blinded by it? Even Pan Xianmin felt a bit guilty. Did they even deserve this sort of salary? Their elite legal team was just the two of them after all.

Xu Yao was very satisfied and signed an employment contract with Bo’en Law Firm, officially gaining a private elite legal team.

He Fan took out a contract from his briefcase and said, “This is the initial rental contract for our Xu Yao Rental team. Miss Yao Yao would like the two of you to revise it.”

The previous rental contract had been drafted by Xu Yao and Xu Jing’s legal team, and although it was already quite fair compared to the rest of the market, it still leaned heavily in favor of the landlord.

Yao Zongze and Pan Xianmin quickly read through the contract and immediately understood Xu Yao’s purpose for hiring them. This rental contract was very favorable for the tenant! Was this contract to be changed so it would be more beneficial for the landlord?

Xu Yao pointed at several clauses in the contract and advised them, “I think several of these clauses are not tenant-friendly enough. Please help me in making them more accommodating.”

Pan Xianmin and Yao Zongze: “…”

Make them more accommodating?

Aren’t they already accommodating enough?!

Pan Xianmin had seen the rental terms and conditions from Runda before and couldn’t help but feel a bit speechless.

No wonder so many netizens were desperately trying to rent from Xu Yao! Just this rental contract alone could attract a large crowd of people!

After all, the landlady Xu Yao treated every tenant equally.

Xu Yao continued, “Also, if my tenants encounter any legal issues in the future, you’ll need to work a bit harder.”

An excellent landlady should be able to provide legal assistance to her tenants, right?

Pan Xianmin and Yao Zongze were almost laughing their heads off. What do you mean by “work harder”? With the legal team being paid an annual salary of fifty million, they wouldn’t even complain at being asked to recite the Civil Code on the spot from memory!

*

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 Rental: Congratulations! You have successfully made a reservation. Please arrive at Haicheng Silver Sea Elegant Court at 1:00 PM on XX month, 20XX for the house viewing.]

After Yuan Yiqing received this text message, she immediately checked the official website to confirm it wasn’t a scam, and then she immediately felt overjoyed. She… had she passed Xu Yao’s rental exam? Could she officially start looking at apartments now?

Yuan Yiqing had been greatly distressed. Her previous landlady had now changed her mind and refused to return her deposit, even finding reasons to say she had breached her contract, even coming to her door last night to cause a scene.

Upon receiving the news, Yuan Yiqing arrived punctually at the entrance of Silver Sea Elegant Court. 

The staff from Xu Yao’s rental team were already waiting at the entrance. She was the first to arrive, and within ten minutes, three or four other people who had made appointments for viewings also showed up.

They followed the staff into the community and took the elevator up to view the apartment. All the while, Yuan Yiqing paid attention to the community’s environment and maintenance.

“Excuse me, can I livestream this?” a young girl who had made an appointment to view the house asked shyly.

After the staff agreed, the girl took out her phone and started the livestream.

“Silver Sea Elegant Court is only three hundred meters from Metro Line 5, and there are two large supermarkets nearby. You all can go in and take a look first,” the staff introduced calmly.

This apartment was estimated to be about one hundred square meters, very clean, and while the furniture didn’t look high-end, it didn’t seem cheap either.

In Haicheng, most working-class people primarily share rentals since it’s hard to afford the high rent otherwise. Yuan Yiqing immediately set her sights on the largest master bedroom.

[Not bad, it looks very clean, and the lighting is excellent.]

[Xu Yao’s rental properties are pretty much the same as those of other landlords.]

[You get what you pay for after all. If you want a high-end rental, you’ll have to pay more rent. Xu Yao is a landlady, not a charity worker.]

[Ahhh, I work night shifts and can’t view properties in person. Does the official website not have any rental viewing videos?]

The staff added, “Using the answers in your rental exams, we have meticulously categorized the tenants who made appointments for viewings. Several of you work day shifts and do not have pets.”

Yuan Yiqing suddenly remembered that the rental exam did indeed ask about whether the candidate was working day or night shifts, whether they had pets, and even whether they had a habit of staying up late, and so on.

So, it turns out… Xu Yao’s rental team had categorized them all?

Grouping similar types together, so they wouldn’t have to worry about incompatible living habits with their roommates?

Yuan Yiqing recalled her previous rental experience, where her neighbor across the hall would study English loudly every night. It was one thing to study, but they would also make sure to read aloud, making it impossible for Yuan Yiqing to sleep at night. Xu Yao’s rental approach was indeed very appealing to most people.

Yuan Yiqing immediately said, “I want to rent the master bedroom. I can pay the deposit right now.”

Good landlords are hard to find, and Yuan Yiqing didn’t want to miss out on a landlord like Xu Yao.

“Of course, miss,” the staff said, taking out the rental contract that had been prepared in advance for the tenants to fill it out. “If everything is correct, you can go ahead and sign here.”

Yuan Yiqing had been paying close attention to Xu Yao’s rental properties lately and had even rewatched the videos where Xu Yao appeared. She had reviewed the contract Xu Yao had given to Li Xiaoli and others in the urban village, so she was surprised, “Has the rental contract been revised?”

“Yes, Miss Yao Yao’s legal team has revised the rental contract.”

Netizens were still astonished by the words “legal team.” While others hire a lawyer, Xu Yao had immediately assembled a whole legal team dedicated to serve her.

Since Xu Yao wasn’t afraid of being sued by Mars Entertainment, Sheng Zhou, Liu Yingxia, or Zhengde Academy, it was clear that this legal team must be an elite group of lawyers.

[Is this the happiness of a rich woman? A whole legal team serving just her. No wonder she wasn’t afraid of being sued, she has nothing to fear.]

[How much is Xu Yao worth now? I only know that big companies like Xu Group have entire legal teams that serve the whole company. For her to have a team just for herself, how extravagant.]

[Am I the only one concerned about whether Xu Yao’s new rental contract is exploitative? Have you guys heard about the suicide incident at Runda Apartment? I heard it was because the tenants had no other choice, it’s so tragic.]

[I also know about the suicide incident; Runda raised the rent too inhumanely, without any regard for people. The more I think about it, the more I want to hurry up and sign with Xu Yao. What a sh*tty world, sigh.]

[I’ve heard about the Runda suicide incident. It wasn’t just about raising the rent. The incident wasn’t that simple.]

Thinking of the young tenant who had been driven to suicide a few days ago, Yuan Yiqing suddenly felt more accepting of Xu Yao’s changes to the rental contract.

Yuan Yiqing murmured uncertainly, “It seems… a bit more conscientious?”

Anyway, she couldn’t find any hidden traps even after going through it so thoroughly, and for some reason, she felt very reassured in putting her trust in Xu Yao, so she went ahead and signed the rental contract.

Just as she finished signing her name, Yuan Yiqing hadn’t even had the chance to carefully examine her new home before her phone in her handbag vibrated.

Yuan Yiqing glanced at it and realised it was her neighbor from across the hallway. This neighbor was the receptionist at her company, and they had exchanged contact information so they could look out for each other.

The neighbor peered through the peephole at the situation across the hallway and said anxiously, “Yiqing, you should come home quickly! Your landlady hired a locksmith to break into your apartment and has thrown all your things into the hallway!”

The entire hallway was filled with Yuan Yiqing’s personal belongings, with her intimate clothing haphazardly thrown on top of the pile.

Yuan Yiqing was almost dumbfounded by what she heard, her voice rising incredulously, “The landlady brought people to break into my house and threw my things out? Is the landlady crazy? I’m coming back right now!”

The netizens in the livestream felt that Yuan Yiqing was truly unfortunate. In comparison to that landlady, Xu Yao was practically a celestial being.

“Ms. Yuan,” an employee suddenly called out to her as she was about to leave in a hurry. Seeing her confusion, they continued, “Do you need legal assistance? We at Xu Yao Rental can provide tenants with legal assistance.”

Yuan Yiqing, who had been eager to leave, turned around as if she had heard some earth-shattering news, “Provide… me with legal assistance??”

The employee smiled and nodded, “Yes, Miss Yao Yao’s goal is to ensure that all tenants living in her properties will remain happy and joyful.”

Yuan Yiqing stared blankly at the employee, unable to believe that any of this was real.

In fact, Yuan Yiqing could also consult a lawyer to sue the landlady herself, but the professional legal team that Xu Yao had would definitely be stronger than any she could hire on her own.

What sort of landlord would even offer their tenants legal assistance?

But according to Xu Yao, when paid with an annual salary of fifty million, the people she hired couldn’t just earn that money while doing nothing, right? They had to work for it!

The viewers in the livestream could no longer sit still, practically screaming like groundhogs.

[?? Providing legal assistance to tenants? My Sister Yao is forever amazing!]

[Oh my god, I’ve rented for over a decade, and this is the first time I’ve encountered such a kind landlady!]

[I’m literally bowing to Xu Yao, I thought her legal team only served her, but it turns out they can help tenants too? Sorry, Sister Yao, I was way too narrow-minded.]

[Ahhhh Xu Yao is seriously so clever. Having a private legal team help tenants also sends a clear message: don’t mess around in her apartments, or she’ll sue you down to your underwear!]

Not everyone has legal awareness, nor do they have the relevant connections. Many ordinary people subconsciously reject the idea of going to court for lawsuits. Xu Yao believes that when people need to rely on the law to solve problems, they are already in an extremely critical situation, and if she has the ability, she can naturally step in to help.

When it comes to retirement, happiness is the most important factor. And being able to help others also brings Xu Yao joy.

With Runda Apartment having driven young people to jump off buildings, and Xu Yao now providing legal assistance, who else could be more popular than Xu Yao, if not her?

Netizens online enthusiastically discussed how many tenants Xu Yao’s move could attract, while Xu Yao herself was unconcerned, her eyes sparkling as she looked at the handsome men and beautiful women in front of her.

Wow, the entertainment industry is truly a gathering place for handsome men and beautiful women! Even the lesser-known artists at the bottom of the industry have striking looks that stand out among ordinary people.

Zuo Ning opened a bottle of mineral water for Xu Yao and handed it to her, saying, “Miss Yao Yao, if you see anyone you like, just let me know.”

In such a short time, Zuo Ning had transformed from a small-time director who had been on the verge of jumping off a bridge in despair over not securing investments to a rising young director in the entertainment industry, with many actors—including top-tier actors—wanting to participate in his next project.

Zuo Ning now had some connections.

When Xu Yao mentioned wanting to invite some handsome men and beautiful women to shoot a few short videos, Zuo Ning immediately had everything arranged for her.

Xu Yao still really enjoyed looking at good-looking people; after all, it was pleasing to the eye and made her happy.

Her rental website was still quite lacking, with only very simple information available, and devoid of even any pictures or videos of the available apartments.

Moreover, most people were extremely busy with work, with many working night shifts, so it was impossible for all of them to view apartments in person, making shooting rental viewing videos crucial.

Xu Yao planned to invite several attractive actors to shoot rental viewing videos for her. After all, people love beautiful things, and having an attractive presenter would definitely make renting the place out easier.

Xu Yao took a sip of the mineral water Zuo Ning handed her, and propped up her head to admire the artists in front of her.

“Each person only has one minute to perform, please do not waste the time of those behind you,” Zuo Ning picked up the megaphone to remind them.

There were still dozens of people waiting behind, all young men over 1.8 meters tall and beautiful women with fit bodies.

This was simply a paradise for beauty lovers!

Each one of them looked well-behaved, as if they were just waiting for Xu Yao to choose them, their beautiful eyes gazing nervously at her, all hoping to seize this opportunity.

She was so happy. So happy that she had taken a step back from the entertainment industry to rent out her properties.

Xu Yao smiled so much her cheeks felt sore, selecting over a dozen people.

Most of them were relatively unknown artists in the entertainment industry, but they all had extremely attractive faces. There were obedient puppy-like boys, handsome guys with serious faces, sweet girls who could charm anyone with just a word, fresh-looking fairies, and even short-haired women women with powerful auras.

Xu Yao picked out everything you could possibly want!

“I’ll arrange for all of you to shoot videos, each being about three minutes long,” Xu Yao said with a smile.

Xu Yao’s traffic that had been brought about by her recent popularity was immense, with her newly launched rental website apparently hosting hundreds of thousands of visitors daily. They were all small artists who were usually busy running around as extras in productions, with being cast as a supporting character already considered a lucky break for them.

So even if they weren’t in the limelight, they were eager to help Xu Yao shoot rental videos, to the point where they were even fighting to do so!

Zuo Ning had high requirements for the celebrities acting. Not only did he demand acting skills, but also a solid grasp of delivering lines. The selected small artists had no problem with their lines, and memorizing the rental property introduction was a breeze for them.

Moreover, each video was only three minutes long, so many could be shot in a day!

Zhang San never expected that he not only secured an appointment for Xu Yao’s rental exam but that he had also passed it. Unfortunately, it conflicted with his work schedule, and he wasn’t able to go to the site to view the apartment in person.

Zhang San felt very upset. If he hadn’t gotten the chance to make a viewing reservation, then he would’ve just felt a twinge of regret, but now, the situation was that he had the opportunity to do so, but no time to go!

Seeing how many netizens online were unable to seize the opportunity and the amount that were lamenting their failure in passing Xu Yao’s rental exam, he seemed to feel even more miserable.

Zhang San couldn’t help but consider whether he should take the day off to go view some houses in person. But his boss, Zhou Skinflint, probably wouldn’t allow it, would he?

Xu Yao’s rental website sent him a private message, “Hello, dear tenant! Since you are unable to attend the in-person property viewing, please click the following link: …”

Zhang San was momentarily stunned, thinking the link was to reschedule the viewing. He quickly clicked on it, only to find it was a video.

That’s right, the entire page was blank except for a small video in the center that lasted about three minutes.

He instinctively clicked play, and a remarkably beautiful young girl appeared on the screen. “Hello, dear tenant! This is Xu Yao Rentals. Today, I will show you a house located at No. 16, Jian’an Road, Sunshine Waterfront Community in Haicheng…”

The girl had her hair tied up in a high ponytail, full of energy, and her features, specifically her eyebrows and eyes, were exceptionally beautiful, resembling that of a celebrity from the entertainment industry. She confidently walked into the rental property on camera, clearly articulating the details of the house.

“This is a four-bedroom apartment with an indoor area of 123 square meters, suitable for shared rental or for a family to live in. Here is the dining and living room, which is over 50 square meters…”

Zhang San had some understanding of cinematography and filming, and he was sure that this was definitely not something that could be casually filmed with just a phone because the camera… wasn’t shaking at all!

Moreover, this young lady was very pretty.

Zhang San almost forgot he was there to rent a house, staring at the girl during the first viewing, and only paid attention to the rental details during his second viewing.

He didn’t know what kind of camera had been used, but the room was captured exceptionally clearly. Zhang San was very satisfied with this apartment. He had been working in Haicheng and was planning to bring his wife, children, and parents, who were still in the countryside, to live with him. After all, the children were growing up, so studying in Haicheng, where the educational resources were better, would be more ideal. So, he wanted to switch from a single apartment to a larger property like this one.

“Who is this rental agent? Why would she be a rental agent? She should just become a celebrity instead,” Zhang San muttered.

At the end of the video, the rental presenter introduced her name, and Zhang San casually searched for her on Weibo, and actually found her to his surprise.

She really was a small artist in the entertainment industry, with only about 50,000 followers on Weibo, but she had a few fans due to her good looks.

“F*ck, Xu Yao actually hired an artist as a rental presenter?” Zhang San exclaimed in disbelief.

The news spread online immediately, and some people took screenshots and posted them on Weibo.

[OMG, my little Hudou went to help Xu Yao shoot a rental viewing video! He was so serious about it, really cherishing this opportunity!]

[Xu Yao really knows how to play. She hired all these handsome men and beautiful women as rental presenters? OMG I’m totally dizzy from being charmed, I would have signed the electronic rental contract on the spot!]

[Ahhhh, has anyone seen that rental video with Little Jiu? She’s standing on the balcony, and the sunlight hits her hair like it’s literally glowing. I dare say, after so many years in her trashy company, her resources are still not as good as helping Xu Yao shoot a short rental clip.]

[Who is that short-haired girl? So cool! Wait, how many houses does Xu Yao actually have?!]

Who would have thought that Xu Yao would hire small artists from the entertainment industry to shoot rental videos? Many people received more exposure from this than they had in their entire careers.

Many netizens even counted how many people Xu Yao had hired to shoot introduction videos, and they dug up all the details about these artists. This is how exposure happens.

The fans of little Hudou have never been this happy in their lives; they were like, [Dig deeper! Yes, yes, yes, the little puppy guy introducing that house is our brother!!]

These tenants had great taste.

#RentalIntroductionVideo# became a trending topic simply because the presenter’s looks were too good-looking.

[Hahaha, I can already feel Xu Yao’s joy. She gets to see handsome guys and beautiful women while making them work for her!]

[I think my little Hudou is very suitable for shooting. It’s not shameful at all for him to be working for Xu Yao.]

[Emmmm, Xu Yao, do you want to take a look at my guy? He can sing and dance, has great acting skills, and a strong foundation in delivering lines, he can even film for free.]

[Xu Yao, Xu Yao, take a look at mine; let him introduce the rental villa for you, it will definitely be several times better! That’s right, I’m just this confidently delusional.]

In this day and age, who hasn’t supported a small artist? Watching their management companies neglect them, seeing them drown in the tide of the entertainment industry, their fans were anxious and regretful. Such good people should be famous!

Unfortunately, the entertainment industry is just this ruthless, and many people remain nameless their entire lives.

But at this moment, Xu Yao appeared, shining like a ray of light!

These days, those in the entertainment industry will do anything to become famous and rise to the top, let alone just filming a mere rental video. This is a legitimate business and proper employment!

Xu Yao could have easily found two random people to shoot some introduction videos, but unfortunately, her standards were too high, and she insisted on hiring handsome men and beautiful women.

“Sob sob sob, I actually gained followers, several tens of thousands,” a small artist looked at his phone and burst into tears.

In his years at the entertainment company, the fans he had gained were actually fewer than the amount he gained when shooting a three-minute rental video for Xu Yao.

The key was that Xu Yao had even paid them! A single introduction video could earn them several tens of thousands. Normally, these small artists didn’t even make that much in a month.

Netizens discussed the artists Xu Yao hired to shoot introduction videos, and then they proceeded to dig into the equipment used for filming the videos.

Some content creators even made several episodes introducing it.

[Detailed analysis of the filming equipment used for Xu Yao’s rental introduction video—super luxurious!]

[Is the rental industry really this competitive? A detailed analysis of the filming aesthetics used in Xu Yao’s rental introduction video!]

Some content creators even directly stated online that Xu Yao’s rental introduction videos were definitely shot by professional photographers, with top-notch filming skills!

In no time, more and more unknown small artists from the entertainment industry wanted to shoot rental introduction videos for Xu Yao. The discussion thread was absolutely flooded!

[I noticed there are quite a few little puppy guys in there. Does Xu Yao like this type?]

[Ahhhh, Xu Yao and I actually like the same type! On the surface, a well-behaved little puppy in a white shirt, but once the shirt is off, eight-pack abs flaunting in my face! Bring more, bring more, I love it.]

[+1+1, I also noticed that Xu Yao seems to really like the little puppy type, Han Zhao is like that too, hahaha.]

[So… does renting Xu Yao’s apartment get you get a little puppy type? [dog holding rose.jpg]]

Xu Yao thought that since she was happy, the tenants were happy, and those little artists were also very happy—wasn’t this simply a win-win-win situation?

As for the abundance of little puppy types… it might just be a coincidence.

After all, was it strange for a retired wealthy woman to like obedient and well-behaved younger guys?

---

late update QAQ — a few changes: changed boen law firm to bo’en law firm. just looks better and probably helps you guys phonetically on how it’s pronounced.

i’ll probably proofread the whole novel once it’s completely translated and change a few terms so it reads more cohesively but yah! i’m looking to translate the residential names more literally now!

support mio on kofi! ◡̈

1. Around 7 mil usd ↩︎
2. Yao Zongze = the loyal enforcer doing her bidding (personal aide).
   Pan Xianmin = the capable bureaucrat running her empire (manager). ↩︎

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

---

The website of Xu Yao Rental has officially been launched!

A large number of netizens flocked to the website on the first day of its launch. Although most of them were just passersby, they still had an eye for aesthetics.

As soon as they clicked in, they saw the entire website dominated by gray tones, complemented by a slender white font. In the top left corner was the logo of the website that had been specially designed at a high price by a well-known designer that Xu Yao knew, giving the website an initial impression of classy sophistication.

After receiving a reminder from the staff, Yuan Yiqing immediately opened the website on her computer. At first glance, she felt like she was browsing the website of a luxury company.

Yuan Yiqing quickly slapped her face to stop herself from pondering the website’s appearance and hurried to sign up for Xu Yao’s rental exam.

She had been under too much pressure from her landlady lately, who kept pushing for her to move out under the excuse of her daughter-in-law needing to recuperate after giving birth. They had already argued four or five times just over that. A young woman couldn’t possibly win against a woman in her forties or fifties, with each argument almost driving her to tears.

Yuan Yiqing had been considering whether or not she should rent one of Xu Yao’s properties. After all, Xu Yao has gone viral these days, and renting from her would at least mean not having to worry about being forced to move out for various inexplicable reasons during the lease period.

Yuan Yiqing maneuvered her mouse to find the registration portal for the rental exam on the website. The portal was clearly visible, and upon quickly clicking in, she saw the words [Registered 374/1000] displayed above.

There are only a thousand slots available for the second round of rental exams!

Yuan Yiqing hurriedly clicked the registration button, filling out her basic information with the quickest speed shes moved at in her life. Her heart raced as she successfully submitted her registration, the page finally showing that she was the 978th one to register.

This rental registration made her feel so anxious. The only other time she’d felt this way was during her college entrance exam and university graduate thesis defense, right?

Yuan Yiqing was utterly astonished. She had only taken half a minute to fill out her basic information, and yet she had ended up in 978th place? How could so many applicants have suddenly appeared in just that short half-minute?

The competition for renting a place was unexpectedly so fierce now!

The key point was that among these thousand applicants, perhaps not even a third of them would pass Xu Yao’s exam. Xu Yao seemed to have a “better to have no tenants than a bad tenant” attitude, preferring to leave a place vacant rather than renting it to someone like Sheng Zhou again.

When Yuan Yiqing clicked again, the page showed that all the slots had been filled, making her marvel at Xu Yao’s popularity. After all, she had already retired from the entertainment industry now.

The page indicated that the second rental exam would take place tomorrow at 1 PM and that it would be conducted online this time.

Yuan Yiqing firmly engraved the exam time in her mind and began to carefully examine the website.

Perhaps because it had only just been established, the website didn’t have much content. Aside from the rental exam subpage, there was also a [For Lease] button.

Many netizens who had clicked in, like Yuan Yiqing, were instantly stunned!

The most eye-catching was the large commercial space for lease on Haicheng West City Commercial Street, which was originally the plot of land belonging to Zhengde Academy!

It was confirmed, Zhengde Academy was now in Xu Yao’s hands. The crucial point was the other information that was also displayed on the website.

The page showed [Prime Retail Space For Lease] or [Leased], with the tenants information displayed on the [Leased] page.

Of course, this rental information was only published after obtaining the permission of business owners like Sun Faxiang. After all, if it were just for personal rentals, Xu Yao wouldn’t have allowed it to be published in order to ensure tenant privacy.

Sun Faxiang and the others were willing to agree purely so they could take advantage of Xu Yao’s popularity to start advertising in advance.

The [Leased] section displayed the listings Mr. Horror’s Immersive Escape Room: Yin Fate, Madman’s Asylum Murder Mystery, Utopia Internet Cafe, and Beware of Evil Cats Inside Cat Cafe…

In short, there were more than a dozen entertainment project stores, all originally from the East District’s Runda Commercial Center!

The plot of land that had been Zhengde Academy was large, with many vacant shops still available for lease, making a large number of business owners sorely tempted to lease.

Xu Yao was so bold, aiming to create a new entertainment commercial district in the west of Haicheng.

The key point was: young people also need to eat after they get tired from playing, right? Then those in the food and beverage industry could also consider leasing a storefront on the first floor of Zhengde Academy! The main point was that the lease for those storefronts would definitely not be as expensive as those in the eastern district.

This announcement completely confirmed the rumours that were circulating online. Xu Yao had indeed secured the land of Zhengde Academy, and she intended to transform it into an entertainment hub!

[I used to think it was just a rumor, but now it’s been confirmed. This girl is really impressive.]

[Who is crying tears of joy? I’ll definitely make sure to check this place out, even if it’s just to compensate for the countless tears those students used to shed over this godforsaken place.]

[How bad must her mental state have been for her to actually go to the entertainment industry to act? Fortunately she’s retired now. Xu Yao is just perfectly suited to be a landlord!]

[Xu Yao saved Han Zhao, and that’s how Zhengde Academy got exposed. Xu Yao really deserves credit for this. Just for that, I will also go and play here someday.]

The entertainment city that would be renovated by Xu Yao hadn’t even opened yet before it had already gone viral.

It was rumoured that Xu Yao had torn down the entrance sign and gate of Zhengde Academy, and that any students in need of legal assistance could contact her for help. Countless haters of hers turned into fans on the spot, and Xu Yao’s Weibo followers surged by the millions!

The key point was—

In addition to Zhengde Academy, there was also a large batch of properties displayed as available for rent on the official website of Xu Yao Rental!!

It’s one thing when it comes to the well-known Tai’an Community, but there was also Haicheng’s must-mention when it comes to the wealthy district, Boyue Mansion, the Binhe Garden complex, where even the smallest unit goes for no less than twenty million, and over a dozen shopfronts in the most impressive commercial building in the city’s east. And also…

There was still a line of text at the bottom of the page that read—“To be continued.”

The onlooking netizens were dumbfounded.

[For the rich, owning dozens of properties isn’t a big deal, but… Xu Yao’s are actually up for rent ahhhh!]

[Is this the world of a rich landlord? For rent, to be continued… and this doesn’t even include the properties Xu Yao has already rented out.]

[Mom asked me why I was kneeling to find a rental. Xu Yao is too terrifying—she has properties in Boyue Mansion too? The one displayed for rent is a villa… a villa…]

[If she’s even renting out a villa, it shows she has so many properties to the point where she doesn’t even care about villas at all!]

[Help! I didn’t expect Xu Yao to have so many properties. The website just launched, so there’s definitely more that couldn’t be listed in time. I bow to this sister.]

So it turns out that Xu Yao’s initial announcement of retiring from the entertainment industry to collect rent was indeed true. She had so many properties that it was hard to wrap your mind around it.

In response to this, Xu Yao Rental’s official account apologized: Sorry, the website has just launched, and many of the properties available for rent haven’t been fully organised yet.

Netizens could easily tell that the website had just launched and still had many shortcomings. For instance, the website was still missing a company introduction, with not even a single property tour video uploaded either.

The official account of Xu Yao Rental also organised an event for promotional purposes.

[Xu Yao Rental Official Account v: Since the boss has requested for us to do so, we’ll now hold a giveaway to draw ten fans to waive three months of their rent.]

As more and more netizens suggested lowering the odds of winning, they flocked to see the spectacle of Xu Yao’s numerous properties, repeatedly checking her official rental listings, causing the number of views to rise sharply.

Then netizens belatedly realized—

This website was surprisingly smooth!

So many onlookers had rushed in to watch the spectacle without any lag at all. Aside from the content being sparse like that of a newly established site, how could the smoothness be nowhere near that of a new website?

As a landlady who came to this world to enjoy her retirement, Xu Yao insisted on using only the best. She absolutely would not allow her website to lag.

Her answer was just to directly throw money at her programmers. Need more servers? Let’s get dozens first, then equip them with the best data center and increase its bandwidth. As long as it can be solved with money, it’s not a problem.

[Weibo, come out to get roasted. You crash every time there’s a big scoop. Don’t you find that embarrassing at all?]

[It’s really so smooth, I hate lagging sites so much, it makes me super annoyed! Will Xu Yao and the team make an app version? I prefer using my phone!]

[Making a website and now you want her to develop an app too… who even remembers that Xu Yao is just a normal landlord…]

[I saw on Zhou Qi’s variety show livestream that this site was made by poor little Han Zhao? This guy’s impressive, Xu Yao really knows how to pick tenants.]

[Xu Yao even recruited programmers from the Ji Group. And sis, don’t say that—I may be useless, but I still want to rent from Sister Xu QAQ]

[Um… do you guys know the real reason Xu Yao developed this website? Because she thought it was too hard for her staff to answer phone calls…]

Netizens jumped around on Xu Yao’s rental website, first marveling at her grand investment in building the site, then admiring her choice of Han Zhao as a tenant, next complaining about Weibo’s laggy performance, and finally a bunch of them wanting to work for Xu Yao.

Sister Yao is just too popular!

Xu Yao sighed. She really was just an ordinary landlord hustling for her tenants.

“The website is very smooth,” Xu Yao praised Han Zhao without holding back, “not bad.”

The tall and slender boy blushed, his fair face flushing with two patches of red, “Thank you, Sister Yao Yao.”

“What’s there to thank me for?”

Hearing this, Han Zhao quickly pointed to the pure black computer on the table, “Then thank you for buying me this computer, Sister Yao Yao.”

After Han Zhao had returned the old computer to Zhou Qi, Xu Yao gave him thirty thousand yuan to buy a new one. This kid not only carefully selected a five thousand yuan computer but even still wanted to return the remaining twenty five thousand to Xu Yao after that.

Xu Yao naturally didn’t take it back, saying it was an advance on his salary.

Han Zhao had never received such a large sum of money before, and after some reminders, he finally bought some rental supplies and study materials online. This small rental unit gradually came to life, and his future suddenly seemed to brighten.

“You can’t just keep doing this, at least get a diploma,” Xu Yao reminded upon looking at Han Zhao’s youthful face.

Han Zhao quickly replied, “I’ve signed up for the college entrance exam, but… I might not do well.”

His biological father hadn’t gone so far as to prevent him from taking the exam. He had already registered last year. With the exam coming up soon, all he needed to do was just to show up.

Han Zhao felt a bit anxious. He definitely couldn’t get into Tsinghua or Peking University, and could only aim at most for a 985 school. In Han Zhao’s mind, Xu Yao’s employees should be the best, but unfortunately, he couldn’t be the best.

He Fan immediately chimed in, “Reject the rat race!”

The academic competition for degrees is still a rat race!

He Fan had already discovered the joy of not participating in endless internal competition, because he had hair now!

That’s right, by adjusting his sleep schedule to 10 PM, working happily every day, eating three meals regularly, and taking traditional Chinese medicine for conditioning, He Fan was astonished to find that the sparse hair on his head had actually sprouted tiny fuzz this morning!

He Fan was stunned for a while, then fell into immense joy. He was actually growing hair, even if it was less than a centimeter.

The hair that hadn’t grown at all after working under President Ji had now finally sprouted after working under Xu Yao!

Keep in mind, he’s only a 28 year old young man who hasn’t even found a girlfriend yet. Outside of work, he still pays quite a bit of attention to his appearance—after all, no girl could tolerate having a bald boyfriend.”

He Fan stared at the tiny fuzz that had grown, and could almost envision himself with a full head of lush hair in half a year. The image in his mind was incredibly impactful.

By then, he could be a top-notch handsome guy!

He Fan’s current goal was to reject the rat race and take good care of his hair!

Xu Yao smiled as she looked at He Fan, then turned to Han Zhao. She knew this younger brother was introverted and shy, and that after spending too long at Zhengde Academy, he didn’t like to appear in public, unwilling to accept the sympathetic or strange looks of outsiders.

After taking this into consideration, Xu Yao said, “If you don’t want to go to school and prefer to study at home, I can also hire a few tutors for you.”

Just look, what kind of divine boss and landlord is this!

Han Zhao’s face turned crimson again. He swallowed hard and shook his head softly, “No need, I can manage studying by myself,” he quickly added, “Um… but if I need a tutor, I’ll definitely ask Sister to help me find one.”

Xu Yao smiled, “Don’t put too much pressure on yourself. Not everyone can get into Tsinghua or Peking University.” After all, her own academic qualifications could only be described as average, graduating from a 211 university.

What’s more, outstanding people can make others overlook their academic qualification.

“Even if you don’t do well, you’re still my employee. That won’t change,” Xu Yao gently reassured him.

Han Zhao’s eyes lit up as he nodded vigorously at her.

He had suddenly been sent to Zhengde Academy by Feng Meijun, and had already completed all of his high school courses before being sent off, so it was only natural for him to take the college entrance exam soon.

They were still chatting when several employees hurried in from outside, each carrying several large thermal bags, “Sister Yao Yao, we’re here!”

They took out the food from the thermal bags and set up over the entire dining table, with various enticing aromas wafting through the air.

Xu Yao nodded in satisfaction, took the chopsticks that Lu Ye handed her, and didn’t forget to invite the others to eat with her, “Let’s all eat together.”

This was today’s work task.

“After you finish eating, give your feedback on which place is better.”

Many restaurants and snack shops were eyeing the renovation of Zhengde Academy into an entertainment city. After all, once the young people flocked there to have fun, they would definitely need to eat, and wouldn’t that mean business for them?

However, Xu Yao didn’t agree to them outright and started with a new round of screening.

Xu Yao was enjoying various delicacies, her mouth full as she confidently declared, “I’m protecting the interests of my tenants. Unpalatable restaurants are not allowed in the entertainment city!”

“As a landlord, shouldn’t I help my tenants by screening the options in advance? This chicken feet tastes pretty good, quite fragrant.”

Xu Yao happily gnawed on the spicy chicken feet, not forgetting her role as a landlady, “We can contact the owner of this place to rent our shop at Zhengde Academy.”

A group of people continued to indulge in food, the aroma filling the surrounding air.

One girl, munching on crispy fried chicken pieces, lamented painfully, “I need to lose weight! At this rate, when will my weight ever drop to two digits? Boss Yao Yao, these chicken pieces are so delicious, you should try some too.”

The guy next to her had no worries about dieting, encouraging her while he ate, “Xiao Mei, this is your job.”

How could there be there a job that isn’t hard? Just bear with it.

Xiao Mei, the female employee, nodded painfully, her speed in grabbing food only increasing.

Xu Yao took a sip of milk tea and asked He Fan, who was drinking herbal tea beside her, “Have you found a reliable legal team yet?”

In the original novel, there was a top-notch law firm called Boen Law. But when she had Lu Ye investigate, he couldn’t find any trace of them. She wasn’t sure if they were still relatively unknown or if they hadn’t started operations yet, so she could only hope for another legal team.

He Fan shook his head, “Not yet.”

Most legal teams serve large conglomerates directly, with the most renowned in the legal field being the Pizza Hut legal team of the Xu Group.

In fact, President Ji’s legal team was also quite good, not at all inferior to President Xu’s. It was just a pity that Xu Yao didn’t want to exploit Ji Zhengqing any further.

To only target one sheep for fleecing wool—even Xu Yao felt a bit guilty.

Xu Yao thought for a moment and said, “This is all my grandfather’s fault!”

Lu Ye immediately looked up at Xu Yao. Lu Ye has been working for the Xu Family ever since being saved by Old Master Xu. He held the old man in high regard, so how could this possibly be blamed on him?

Xu Yao sighed sadly, “It’s all my grandfather’s fault for only arranging one fiancé for me, how stingy.”

If he had arranged a few more, she could have fleeced a few more fiancés of their wool.

Everyone: “…”

Alright, whatever the boss says makes sense.

Initially, the fiancé had just been a tool for her to inherit the estate, but now her fiancé was just her first choice for taking advantage of their resources.

He Fan couldn’t help but feel sympathetic. No matter how you looked at it, President Ji was truly unfortunate.

If he didn’t know that Xu Yao’s fiancé was President Ji of the Ji Group, he wouldn’t have been able to resist joking that Xu Yao should go ahead and find a few more fiancés.

Because his boss truly deserves it!”

Just as this thought crossed his mind, Xu Yao’s phone rang. She looked at the caller ID and saw it was from Ji Zhengqing, wiped her hands, and answered.

Why was he calling at this time?

On the other end, Ji Zhengqing’s voice was still gentle as he got straight to the point, “Have you found a legal team yet?”

Xu Yao paused for a moment, then asked, “Not yet, so are you offering me your legal team?”

Ji Zhengqing hesitated, “Not exactly.”

The entire legal team of Ji Group was signed under the company. They weren’t individuals who could easily jump ship and run away.

Moreover, if the legal group were to collectively flee en masse, how would the outside world speculate about the internal developments of the Ji Group? It would inevitably affect the company’s stock price. Otherwise, given Xu Jing’s extreme doting on his sister, he would have already sent his Pizza Hut legal team to Xu Yao long before.

Xu Yao immediately felt disappointed, unsure where to find some legal wool to fleece from, “Oh.”

So why did you call?

To maintain our relationship?

Ji Zhengqing leaned against the long table, his slender fingers playing with a black pen in front of him, “A few days ago, I had a business lunch meeting with the President of Runda.”

Xu Yao took a moment to respond while enjoying her food, “Ohhh, you’re so cool.”

Ji Zhengqing: “…”

Ji Zhengqing could tell Xu Yao was disinterested, seemingly only interested in business matters. He changed the subject, “I’ve got some interesting news to share. Runda lost the lawsuit. It should spread in the next few days.”

Xu Yao’s eyes immediately lit up, “Runda lost the case?”

In recent years, Runda Commercial has been continuously raising rents year after year, causing the tenants to suffer. Just last year, an angry tenant took Runda to court.

Runda had been raising rents recklessly during the lease period, which was completely unreasonable for them to do. This tenant was also quite stubborn, and after a year of fighting, they finally won.

As a result, someone in Runda’s legal department was bound to suffer.

“Yes, my legal department manager said that the new lawyer surnamed Pan at Runda is quite good.”

Xu Yao almost stood up, “Attorney Pan? Is it Pan Xianmin?”

Ji Zhengqing was surprised, “You know him?”

She didn’t just know him! In the novel, Pan Xianmin and his friends established Boen Law Firm, which would later be able to surpass the legal team of the male lead’s company!

Xu Yao suddenly became curious, “Aren’t you collaborating with the President of Runda? Why are you telling me this?”

Ji Zhengqing chuckled lightly, “I can still distinguish between a business partner and a fiancée.” Plus, he hadn’t revealed any business secrets either.

Xu Yao felt a bit sad hearing this. Having just one fiancé like him was truly a pity.

Xu Yao thanked him and proceeded to chat with Ji Zhengqing about other things. He Fan quietly reminded her, “Boss Yao Yao, the online rental exam is about to start.”

Upon hearing He Fan’s familiar voice, Ji Zhengqing felt his head start to ache, his mind filled with the image of gaping holes in his wall that had been dug up because of Xu Yao. Ji Zhengqing said, “I have other matters to attend to…”

Xu Yao quickly said, “Okay, I’ll hang up first if you’re busy then.” Now that she already knew where Attorney Pan was, it would be easier for her to investigate.

Then, the call was abruptly ended!

Ji Zhengqing stared at the phone screen for a while, while Assistant Li beside him considered whether to remind President Ji about the meeting that was about to start.

Ji Zhengqing frowned, pondering, “Does she only like discussing business with me? Isn’t it bad for a couple to only talk about business?”

His mother was always extremely displeased with him discussing work matters at home, which resulted in Ji Zhengqing always leaving work-related issues behind at the office.

But Xu Yao seemed to do the opposite.

Ji Zhengqing raised his eyes and looked at Assistant Li, “So does this mean she’s already recognized my work capabilities?”

When they met officially for the first time, he hadn’t worn formal attire, making Xu Yao think he was just a freeloader at the company. This seemed like things were going in a good direction.

Assistant Li hesitated, and after a while, managed to squeeze out a few words, “T-That’s right.”

At that moment, Ji Zhengqing seemed to feel a bit nostalgic for He Fan, who had been poached away by Xu Yao. It seems he still preferred Assistant He, who had strong work capabilities and a flowery tongue.

*

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 online exam for Xu Yao Rental’s housing had begun!

The thousand netizens who had earned their place in the qualifications were ready and logged in collectively.

Yuan Yiqing was one of them, and after having verified her personal information, she sat in front of her computer, watching the incredibly smooth page switch to the exam page when the time came.

Yuan Yiqing was completely stunned by the questions that appeared.

The questions had changed!

This second set of questions was entirely new. Xu Yao’s rental team had actually created a whole new set of questions!

These questions were crafted by a question setter specifically commissioned by Xu Yao, covering various common sense and psychological questions.

In the end, her rental team would evaluate each tenant to determine whether the house was suitable for renting to them.

After all, renting to a tenant with psychological issues could pose significant risks.

“Daughter, come take a look.” A middle-aged man, seeing the exam, felt a headache starting to form and simply called his high school daughter over to answer the questions.

After all, many people rent houses as a family, so answering questions together was quite normal, with many even mobilising the whole family to participate.

#XuYaoRentalNewExamQuestions# quickly trended on social media.

[I memorized the entire last set of questions, and now you’re telling me they’ve changed the questions?]

[Xu Yao, I give up. This time she even threw in psychology questions, there’s literally no standard answer.]

[Thinking about it carefully… could Xu Yao’s rental team have actually hired a psychologist to oversee this?]

[The big landlord Sister Xu really is afraid of anyone causing trouble in her properties. She’s even prepared psychology questions, and the crazy part is a bunch of people are still rushing to take them.]

[People say Xu Yao is cautious, yet she’d dare to take on Zhengde Academy for her tenants. But then again, she’s so cautious she makes all these psychology questions, just in case a tenant has psychological issues.]

Netizens watched the excitement for a while and then noticed a trending topic called #RundaLosesLawsuit#.

[Mr. Gossip Eater: Apparently, Runda Commercial was sued by tenants over a rent increase, and XX Court has made the following ruling on the case…]

The article was quite long, and netizens quickly skimmed through it to understand that Runda had lost the case.

After all, not every landlord was like Xu Yao, and it’s common for many landlords to want to raise their rents.

[Suddenly, Xu Yao setting psychology questions doesn’t seem like a big deal anymore.]

[Runda losing the case only meant paying a few hundred thousand—just peanuts for Runda, along with a slight hit to their reputation.]

[I feel like Runda’s legal department is in for it. Didn’t the last case also end badly for them? Someone is definitely going to get laid off. Ha, life is truly tough for the working class.]

Pan Xianmin looked at the comments from the online spectators and couldn’t help but let out a helpless laugh. Many netizens were quite perceptive to realise he was in trouble.

The fact that Runda Group, a large corporation, had lost to an ordinary tenant made it a topic of conversation among netizens.

They had previously signed directly with Runda’s legal department, which was specifically responsible for resolving the legal issues of Runda.

Although just losing one lawsuit didn’t mean much, Pan Xianmin and his team had also previously received a case assignment from President Mu to represent his son in a lawsuit.

President Mu’s eldest son was embroiled in a divorce case, and it turns out that during the marriage, he had been secretly transferring marital assets. His wife was no pushover either, so they lost the case outright.

As a newcomer, it was clear he was going to be made an example of, so it was time for him to prepare to leave Runda.

Pan Xianmin’s college friend had opened a law firm called Boen, and at this moment, he extended an olive branch to him, inviting him to join as a lawyer there.

But with his current reputation, wouldn’t going to his friend’s Boen Law Firm just be causing trouble? Even though his friend was genuinely quite enthusiastic about the offer.

Moreover, Boen Law Firm wasn’t doing very well in the bustling Haicheng either. The city was simply too prosperous, and legal talents were emerging constantly. What could they possibly count as in comparison?

And for lawyers, reputation was crucial to them.

How does one become a top lawyer? It’s built up through your reputation of numerous cases, by winning one lawsuit after another.

Why is the legal department of the Xu Group affectionately nicknamed as Pizza Hut? Isn’t it because of they fought hard to achieve their glorious history of winning thirty lawsuits with no losses in a year?

Now that he had essentially been kicked out of Runda, who would want to hire him in the future? Just mentioning his name might even scare people away into running.

But he noticed that his college friend who had come to pick him up, could hardly suppress the smile on his face. He seemed to be forcing himself to keep his lips from curling up, saying, “At worst, we’ll just provide legal assistance to ordinary folks. I mean, it’s not like we could possibly die from holding in our pee¹, right?”

Pan Xianmin: “?”

He was in such a dire situation, and his friend was this happy? What’s the meaning of this?

Pan Xianmin was confused and quickly packed his personal belongings into a box as he had to leave Runda’s legal department by today. His colleagues in the company looked on with pity.

As Pan Xianmin and a few others walked out of Runda, though they looked up at the blue sky, their hearts were shrouded in gloom, seemingly overshadowed by dark clouds.

His friend beside him was still so excited he could no longer contain himself and, in front of Pan Xianmin, pulled out his phone and made a call, “Miss Yao Yao, I’ve brought Attorney Pan on board. When will you sign with our law firm to make us your exclusive legal team?”

Pan Xianmin was left dumbfounded: “???”

Wait, hold on, did his friend just sell him out? Sold him out to that internet-famous landlord Xu Yao?

Xu Yao: Thank you to the President of Runda for the generous gif package. Boen Law Firm, led by Pan Xianmin, will surely become a formidable opponent against the Xu Group’s Pizza Hut.

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changed my website domain and wordpress plan and suddenly all the image formats are out of whack QAQ

support mio on kofi! ◡̈

1.  The idiom in your sentence—“活人还能被尿憋死？”—literally translates to “Can a living person really die from holding in their pee?” In context, it’s a humorous, exaggerated way of saying that a situation is not actually dangerous or threatening. It’s less about literal urination and more about mocking over-caution or fear ↩︎

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

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Xu Yao has gone mad. This is the general consensus of everyone around her, including those fans still in the influencer’s live stream!

Xu Yao has truly lost it. This kid is a truant and a liar who is also a minor, yet she still wants to sign a rental contract with him? Just what on earth is Xu Yao thinking?

[Don’t mess with minors; it could lead to trouble. Xu Yao, run away, don’t get involved in this mess!]

[I just checked, and minors over sixteen can rent a place as long as they have their own income as the main source of living. The problem is, this kid is clearly just homeless, so where could his income come from? Did it just fall from the sky?]

[Actually, Han Zhao is quite good looking. I suspect Xu Yao has some thoughts… Sorry, don’t hit me.]

Opinions were divided. Besides her haters, Xu Yao finally had some fans who urged her not to get involved in this situation, as it could lead to trouble for her.

But is Xu Yao afraid of trouble? If she were, she wouldn’t have let Han Zhao step through the gate of Tai’an Community in the first place!

Xu Yao looked at the tall, thin boy in front of her, who was on the verge of tears. His already frail body looked even more pitiful. Her voice was gentle, “Will you sign it or not?”

Han Zhao’s stepmother, Feng Meijun, suddenly turned pale with anger. “You want to rent to a minor? Are you that desperate for money?”

Feng Meijun wanted to approach Xu Yao, but upon seeing the imposing Lu Ye, her expression turned sour. She could only shout angrily at Han Zhao, who had shrunk behind Xu Yao, “Why aren’t you coming back with me? I see you haven’t changed your bad habits, and now you’ve even learned to start skipping school.”

“You went to borrow a computer as soon as you got out. Is your internet addiction acting up again? You really are a dog that can’t stop eating sh*t¹.”

Feng Meijun had most likely been keeping a close eye on Zhou Qi’s variety show live stream for the past few days and saw Han Zhao borrowing a computer from Zhou Qi, immediately using it as a weapon against him.

Lying about not being a minor, skipping school, and having an internet addiction at a young age—each of these issues was enough to make the people around this unfamiliar young boy feel disappointed.

This was the first tenant to pass Xu Yao’s rental exam, and yet this was the character he had to show for it.

From this perspective, Xu Yao’s rental exam truly seemed like a joke, with those who were eager to participate in the exam seeming like even bigger fools.

The tension that Han Zhao had been holding onto finally snapped, and he shouted in despair, “I don’t have an internet addiction! I’ve won many certificates, and I’m skilled at making websites and various computer programs.”

“Am I skipping school? I’m running for my life!”

In fact, Han Zhao didn’t want anyone to know about his painful past, but he didn’t want to drag Xu Yao down with him even more. The usually introverted and shy boy suddenly dashed out from behind Xu Yao, as if he had gone mad, rolling up his black long sleeves to reveal his arms, which were covered in shocking whip marks.

Han Zhao had always been an introverted boy. Unlike his peers who loved to run around, he preferred to lock himself in his study and tinker with computers, a passion he had been obsessed with since childhood.

He enjoyed learning about these things which gave him a sense of accomplishment. Even after his parents divorced and his mother struggled to make ends meet, she still bought him a computer and helped him set up an internet connection in their rental apartment.

However, even such a hobby had not been tolerated. A year ago, Feng Meijun sent him to Zhengde Academy, marking the beginning of the nightmare of his life.

He had once begged his father and stepmother for mercy, but it was all in vain.

Half a month ago, he found an opportunity to steal two hundred yuan from the instructor. He climbed down the wall and escaped through the fence, running like a madman without daring to look back. But he also didn’t dare to go home, fearing he would be sent back once found.

With over a hundred yuan, he bought a second-hand smartphone and began wandering in Haicheng, initially planning to work at a construction site or fix computers in internet cafes to earn some money, until he met Xu Yao.

When he was caught on Zhou Qi’s live stream, Han Zhao felt a sense of unease, yet he still held onto a glimmer of hope in his heart. Who knew that in the end, he still wouldn’t be able to escape?

His stepmother really saw him and even came looking for him.

The boy’s arms which were scarred with whip marks, tensed with bulging veins from his agitation. He glared at Feng Meijun like a venomous snake, recklessly trying to lift his shirt irregardless of consequences. But a hand reached out to grab the hem of his shirt..

Xu Yao shook her head at him, indicating that he had done enough.

Behind her, He Fan immediately took out a medical report from his briefcase. “This is Mr. Han’s medical report, which states that aside from his face, there isn’t a single piece of intact skin on his body.”

The security guard at Tai’an Community gasped, “Who did this? How could someone be beaten like this?”

The security guards hired by Tai’an Community now weren’t retired uncles but strong and young professional security officers.

Whose child isn’t a treasure these days? Especially a child like Han Zhao, who was probably in his senior year of high school; they would be given anything they needed.

The fans in the influencer’s live stream were also stunned.

[Did a teacher do this? My God, what kind of school is this?]

[This is just the arm. His body is probably in even worse shape. Poor little Han, no wonder Xu Yao took pity on him and took him in.]

[Help! Is this something a legitimate school would do? Is this even his biological mother? How cruel!]

[Did you hear what that assistant said? There isn’t a single piece of intact skin on his body… My God, I can’t even imagine… ]

Han Zhao scoffed, “I’m a guy so I’m fine, but it’s the girls who have it hard and have probably been molested and raped.”

Han Zhao had once witnessed a beautiful girl being dragged into a bathroom. When he had just entered the academy, he wanted to save her, but of course, he didn’t have the ability and ended up being taught a harsh lesson instead.

The live stream went wild, with the comments filled with question marks.

Xu Yao looked at Feng Meijun, whose face had turned pale, and said calmly, “Ms. Feng, you’ve been vying to be Han Zhao’s mother, and his biological mother has already stepped aside for you. Now that you’ve finally gotten what you wanted, why aren’t you seriously fulfilling your role?”

Xu Yao’s words were quite loaded, and a young girl watching the commotion couldn’t help but blurt out, “A mistress?”

Didn’t Xu Yao’s words just imply that this woman was a mistress who had pushed out the biological mother to become a stepmother?

A mistress taking the place of a mother + abusing the child—this was just stacking buffs!

Feng Meijun’s face instantly turned a ghastly shade, a mix of green and white, as if she wished she could just find a hole to hide in.

Xu Yao’s popularity was so explosive that even a middle-aged woman like Feng Meijun was aware of it. Right now, there must be at least several million netizens watching those influencer live streams!

It was very likely that all her relatives, friends, and colleagues would soon know about her disgraceful matters in no time.

Feng Meijun looked at Han Zhao’s arm that was covered in scars and couldn’t help but shudder.

She had heard that Zhengde Academy was under a fully militarised management, which was supposed to ensure the children would endure some hardships, but she never imagined Han Zhao would suffer so miserably.

With just one sentence from Xu Yao, she was pretty much immediately branded a “malicious stepmother,” a label that would likely stick with her forever. From now on, all her relatives and friends would look at her through that warped view, and just thinking about it was enough to drive her to despair.

Social death could happen in an instant!

In that moment, Feng Meijun lost her earlier arrogance when wanting to barge into Tai’an Community. She was just about to pull Han Zhao back, repeatedly saying, “Let’s not mention anything else. Anyway, he is still a minor and can’t rent a property.”

Then she snapped at Han Zhao, “Hurry up and come back with me to see your dad.”

Han Zhao immediately shrank back behind Xu Yao, not even daring to return.

Xu Yao scoffed lightly, “Uncultured and ignorant.”

He Fan stepped forward with a smile, saying, “Madam, as long as a minor over the age of sixteen has their own income as their main source of living, they can rent a property.”

As long as they are financially independent!

“Ms. Feng, you may not know, but Miss Xu hired Mr. Han Zhao a few days ago to be part of the rental team, and he is receiving an income.”

Got it? You uncultured mistress and stepmother.

Xu Yao raised her hand and gently patted Han Zhao’s dazed head, “You silly boy, why are you still standing there? Go home to sign the rental contract. Isn’t it hot outside?”

She was both the landlady and his sister!

Han Zhao glanced at Xu Yao, then fearfully stole a look at Feng Meijun, tentatively taking two steps toward the entrance of the Tai’an Community.

The security guard at Tai’an Community caught Xu Yao’s eye and immediately understood, stepping forward to block Feng Meijun from entering the community.

The security guards formed a human barricade. Want to get past them? No way!

Xu Yao softly massaged her temples and lazily said, “It’s so hot today.”

An employee held an umbrella for Xu Yao as she led the rental team in leisurely walking into Tai’an Community without another look behind, leaving behind only a chic silhouette.

The netizens were instantly stunned.

[Wow, Sister Yao is so cool!! She really isn’t afraid of trouble and even dares to rent to minors!]

[Xu Yao is truly amazing. Usually, most landlords avoid such situations, yet she extends a helping hand.]

[Ahhh, I’m dead, I finally understand why my little brother likes older women. I like her too! Sister Yao is so cool, I apologize for hating on Xu Yao before.]

[Xu Yao is the best landlord, with no one else even coming close. My husband abused me in our rental apartment, and when I went to the police, the landlord’s first words were for me to compensate for his furniture—a plastic stool.]

[Malicious stepmothers deserve to be punished. If you don’t like someone else’s child, why send them to be abused? You deserve to be universally condemned, you stupid b*tch!]

[Does anyone know what school Han Zhao is talking about? I’m terrified just thinking about it.]

Xu Yao is cancelled?

No, no, no, Xu Yao would never be cancelled, and she was even super bold! She was definitely number one when it came to protecting her tenants.

So what if he was a minor? Xu Yao still dared to rent!

Wasn’t renting Xu Yao’s house truly reassuring?

Other landlords only show up when collecting rent, vanishing at all other times. But not Xu Yao!

Only the landlady Xu Yao was truly working hard for her tenants!

A group of netizens were clamoring, wanting to call the rental team for rental enquiries. When they couldn’t get through the phone line, they rushed to the team’s official Weibo to send the account private messages.

Looking for a rental!

The moment Han Zhao walked out of the elevator lobby, he couldn’t help but cry silently, hot tears flowing uncontrollably down his face.

Zhou Qi was peeking out from his door, clearly having seen the commotion below from the balcony. He never expected Han Zhao to not only come back, but even be specially led back by Xu Yao herself!

Zhou Qi whispered, “The computer and USB drive are still at your place.”

Hearing the words, “your place” made Han Zhao cry even harder, his nose turning red as he hiccupped repeatedly.

Xu Yao had Lu Ye open the door, and they all entered the apartment.

The place was incredibly clean, looking as if no one had ever rented it.

Han Zhao cried while explaining that he cleaned three times a day, which is why it was so tidy.

Xu Yao asked Lu Ye to bring the rental contract. Although they agreed that Han Zhao would pay zero rent, signing the rental contract was still a necessary procedure.

Han Zhao signed his name with great seriousness, each stroke written with care. His hand trembled as he held the pen, taking a full minute to finish writing his name.

He took in his surroundings one more time. This was still his home, and from now on, it would be his home with paperwork to back it up too.

And this home was given to him by Xu Yao.

Han Zhao looked at Xu Yao with red eyes, the young boy’s gaze firm and powerful, ready to give his life for her from today onward.

A prisoner, who in the depths of despair, encounters the light and wishes to chase that light forever.

“Miss Yao Yao, I’m really stupid and can’t make up for your rental loss, so I can only help you with something, though it’s still very rudimentary…”

Han Zhao obediently took the tissue Xu Yao handed him to wipe his tears and snot. He plugged the USB drive back into the computer and opened it, showcasing his recent work.

Han Zhao felt ashamed. He knew Xu Yao’s rental team had high standards, and that Assistant He Fan had apparently been the chief assistant of the Ji Group’s CEO. His grades at school were only slightly above average, just enough to scrape by and barely make it into an ordinary 985 university.

He had no artistic talents. The tenant next door, Zhou Qi, could act as Xu Yao’s own personal lark, singing, dancing, and playing instruments, while he was just a homebody.

Xu Yao and the others fell silent as they looked at the website: “…………”

You are really too humble about your abilities.

Although the website was still only a half-finished product, it ran very smoothly, and the light gray design was full of stylistic flair, which at least left Xu Yao satisfied with Han Zhao regarding his aesthetic sense.

Even He Fan had to look at Han Zhao with new respect. He had actually managed to create something presentable in just a few days using a borrowed computer.

Xu Yao gave him a thumbs up, affirming him with praise,  “No, you did a great job.”

Han Zhao revealed a somewhat shy smile.

Xu Yao glanced at the time and said, “Let He Fan help you apply some medicine on your back.”

Han Zhao repeatedly gave his thanks. He could handle the other wounds himself, but his back was indeed a bit tricky.

The two entered the bedroom and closed the door to apply the medicine. Xu Yao was still admiring the website Han Zhao had created when a knock sounded from outside, and Lu Ye went to open the door.

“Your takeout has arrived.”

“I ordered it.” Just as everyone was surprised, He Fan’s voice came from inside.

Xu Yao looked at the foam box with curiosity. When she opened it, she found it was filled with Haagen-Dazs ice cream.

Lu Ye couldn’t help but glance at He Fan. Was it just because Miss Yao Yao said, “It’s so hot today”? 

Lu Ye: “…”

No need to be so overly competitive.

Lu Ye suddenly felt like fanning Xu Yao.

Xu Yao opened a box of vanilla ice cream and said to the other employees, “Don’t just stand there, take whatever flavor you like, it’s on me.” She would just transfer the money to He Fan later.

Everyone naturally went to grab their favorite flavors, “Thank you, boss~”

Han Zhao stood there, hesitant to move. Xu Yao placed a spoon on the box of vanilla ice cream and handed it to him, saying, “It’s very sweet and refreshing, want to try?”

Han Zhao’s eyes turned red again. He held the small tub of ice cream, scooped a bite into his mouth, and nodded heavily, smiling as he said, “Mm, very sweet.”

After enduring so much hardship for so long, he had finally tasted a hint of sweetness.

*

#Feng Meijun#

#Stepmother#

Weibo’s hot searches are essentially the realm of celebrities, and while there are occasionally some news topics trending, it’s quite rare for an ordinary person to make it to the hot search list. It must take a lot of public outrage for netizens to push someone to the top.

Various marketing accounts frantically reposted screenshots of the situation at the time, leaving netizens in awe.

[This is a truly malicious stepmother, sending someone else’s child to be abused. Shouldn’t she bear some sort of criminal responsibility?]

[Han Zhao’s father is also a piece of work. How could he treat his own son like this? Does anyone know about his father?]

[Xu Yao is so cool! She really didn’t let that venomous woman take Han Zhao with her! I’m almost becoming a fan of hers.]

[I’m the neighbour of that old witch, Feng Meijun, and this woman destroyed a family, even going to the door to claim that she was pregnant, forcing them to divorce. At the time, it caused a huge scene in our community. I heard she sent Han Zhao to some Zhengde Academy; truly a woman with a kind heart.]

[Zhengde Academy? Is the person who leaked the information upstairs sure about the facts? I graduated from this private school ten years ago, and although the conditions were average, it wasn’t a bad school. Be careful not to spread rumors or you might get sued.]

Feng Meijun had suffered a complete social death. Upon returning to the community, the elderly residents spat at her in front of her face, and when she went shopping, people recognized her and refused to sell anything to her. Even some of her relatives and friends had blocked her on WeChat!

Han Zhao’s biological father wasn’t doing much better either. He was originally an executive at a company, but due to the recent uproar, the company directly laid him off!

After Han Zhao’s father and Feng Meijun had their second child, their expenses had already increased significantly. With Feng Meijun insisting on buying a house for the second child, they had nearly exhausted their savings and were still in debt.

After being suddenly laid off, Han Zhao’s father had to deal with the online backlash while also worrying about their finances. He tried to borrow money, but none of his friends or family were willing to help.

In their anger, Feng Meijun and her husband even considered consulting a lawyer, who suggested they start by attacking the reputation of the academy.

But at that moment, Xu Yao updated her Weibo with a single sentence and a picture.

[Xu Yao v: Speaking up for my poor tenant, @Zhengde Academy, please respond [image]]

The image was a lengthy article, with Han Zhao’s handwritten signature and fingerprint at the bottom.

This article was written by Yan Xiang, the talented junior from the Chinese literature department, based on Han Zhao’s dictation.

You must always believe in the writing skills of a Chinese literature department genius. Without distorting any facts, Yan Xiang polished the lengthy article, which was simply filled with blood and tears!

In the end, Yan Xiang didn’t even ask for any payment from his senior. He just wrote it for free!

Han Zhao had always been afraid of offending the academy. After all, being able to open such an institution in Haicheng must mean they had some sort of backing. An ordinary person like him was just like an ant trying to shake a tree.

But then Xu Yao appeared, this beautiful landlady sister who gave him hope.

This lengthy article of over three thousand words accused Zhengde Academy of shameless acts such as corporal punishment, abuse, imprisonment, and even sexual assault and rape. At the end, Han Zhao even declared he was willing to take responsibility for truthfulness of the above content.

Once the article was released, shares, comments, and likes skyrocketed, directly surpassing a million!

[…I felt my scalp tingle reading this. What kind of hellish place is this? Is this still even a school?]

[When I read that the instructor used a burning cigarette butt to burn a nipple, I was so scared I almost cried. This is too unfiltered.]

[This Zhengde Academy is near my home and surrounded by iron fences. I used to think it was a legitimate school.]

[It’s really a bit helpless and somewhat funny that in the end, Han Zhao couldn’t rely on his parents but on Xu Yao, his landlord. Regardless of anything else, Xu Yao was seriously too cool this time.]

[Thank goodness Han Zhao met Xu Yao +1]

Generally, such schools for treating internet addition are located in more remote areas in the suburbs, but this Zhengde Academy was different. It was in located the west of Haicheng, with students even being able to see the bustling streets outside through the iron fences. This was the meaning of true despair.

The most prosperous area of Haicheng is in the east, where various entertainment facilities are concentrated in the city center and east, but in recent years, many citizens have also moved to the west.

[I just checked and found out that this Zhengde Academy is actually a rented school. Which landlord is so unfortunate to rent to such a trash school?]

[I suddenly seem to understand where Xu Yao is coming from. No wonder she treats renting like a serious business, conducting rental exams and forcing people to get health checks to avoid dying in her house. She’d be doomed if she encountered a tenant like this crappy academy.]

Zhengde Academy responded immediately, calling it slander, which Xu Yao calmly replied with, “Then go ahead and sue me.”

Netizens were stunned by Xu Yao.

This retired celebrity sister had been really cool lately, doing whatever she wanted ever since she went crazy and withdrew from the entertainment industry.

[Is this the demeanor of a rich lady? Just suing casually!]

[Hahaha, renting Xu Yao’s property really gives such a strong sense of security. When will the second batch of rental exams open? I can’t wait any longer.]

[Xu Yao directly ignored her breach of contract penalty back then and even refused to play the role of the second female lead in Seeking Immortality. She definitely has a powerful legal team behind her. Without Xu Group’s Pizza Hut legal team, Zhengde College probably can’t win against Xu Yao.]

[Zhengde College, hurry up and sue Xu Yao, I’m super looking forward to it! Hahaha, back then, even Sheng Zhou and Liu Yingxia hadn’t dared to sue Xu Yao together.]

Xu Yao wasn’t afraid of this ridiculous Zhengde Academy at all. After all, once they were exposed, they would be doomed. The so-called dean of the academy can just wait to be sued and sent to prison.

Then Xu Yao felt a slight sense of crisis. She said, “I can’t keep borrowing my brother’s legal team every time something happens, can I?”

Although Xu Jing’s Pizza Hut legal team was very useful, if she always kept borrowing them, it would make her feel she didn’t have the classiness befitting a rich lady!

He Fan immediately revealed, “President Ji’s legal team is also very strong.”

Xu Yao: “…”

Going to fleece her fiancé again would be too much, Assistant He.

Xu Yao stroked her chin and considered, “I think I should hire a legal team specifically to serve my rental business.”

Having a legal team ready to protect her at any time would be more reassuring. Besides, she prided herself on being an excellent landlord—what if one of her tenants needed legal help?

Xu Yao seriously felt that she indeed needed to hire a legal team. Once the website was up and running, after this busy period was over, she would have to find time to recruit a legal team.

However, Xu Yao had already planned to help Han Zhao sue Feng Meijun, that stepmother.

Little 6 was in tears: [The host is really too hard on herself.]

Little 6 was really sad. The system automatically detected that the host’s retirement situation was very tough and so to mitigate that, the pension next month would also have to be increased as well.

As a little sprite that was responsible for perfectly assisting retirees in their retirement, Little 6 felt that its worldview had been completely shattered.

Xu Yao was very satisfied with the system’s automatic detection function. Her lips curled up subtly as she asked, “Zhengde Academy is a rental property, so who did they originally rent from?”

Xu Yao thought of the Xu family’s vast property map and couldn’t help but ask, “Is it from our Xu family?”

Lu Ye immediately shook his head, “No.”

Xu Yao felt a bit disappointed. If it had been their family’s property, just wait and see how she’d clean up this sh*tty academy!

Beside her, He Fan directly sold out his former employer, saying, “Boss Yao Yao, the property of Zhengde Academy actually belongs to… President Ji’s family. The rental period was for twelve years and should be expiring soon.”

The Ji family had been developing overseas, and it was only Ji Zhengqing in this generation that decided to return to develop domestically. Therefore, their domestic properties had always been entrusted for leasing, so it was understandable that the Ji family didn’t know what Zhengde Academy had been up to.

Leasing to an educational institute is actually a very common model in the country as it’s more convenient to rent to schools.

Xu Yao stroked her chin, feeling that she needed to have another deep conversation with her fiancé.

[AAAA Professional Rental Little Xu: Is my fiancé busy?]

As soon as Ji Zhengqing saw this message, he knew Xu Yao had something to discuss with him.

[Ji Zhengqing: Not busy.]

[AAAA Professional Rental Little Xu: Fiance, did you know I’ve been really worried about you lately? Did you know that the recently controversial Zhengde Academy is your family’s property?

Ji Zhengqing had heard a bit about this recently. It was nothing more than shutting down Zhengde Academy and then subleasing it to others. In fact, it was actually very easy to sublease such a venue to a legitimate specialised arts academy.

But seeing Xu Yao say this, Ji Zhengqing knew she wouldn’t just bring this up for no reason; his fiancée probably had some ulterior motive.

[AAAA Professional Rental Little Xu: How about selling it to me at a low price? I’m helping my fiancé solve an urgent problem, so how about giving me a 50% discount?]

Ji Zhengqing: “…”

So turns out she was here to fleece his wool again.

First, she poached his talents, and now, she was here to take advantage of him again.

In reality, if a tenant did something illegal in a rental property, as long as the landlord remained unaware, they wouldn’t be too affected by the tenant’s controversy. They just needed to transfer the property to someone else after the shutdown.

Ji Zhengqing stared at this WeChat message for a while. He suddenly asked Assistant Li who was beside him, “Why would she reach out to me to buy my property at a low price?”

Assistant Li also knew about the Zhengde Academy incident. This was clearly his fiancee taking advantage of his misfortune to fleece him of his wool!

Assistant Li was mentally rolling his eyes when he suddenly heard his boss say, “It seems like she’s only ever fleeced my wool.”

Assistant Li: “?”

*

The Runda Commercial Center in Haicheng planned to raise rents and had already notified all the business owners.

Sun Faxiang, Zhou Meilan, and other small business owners were quite worried. There were already many entertainment facilities like escape rooms and murder mystery roleplay games around, and they were all aware that they were easily replaceable.

Now, Runda Commercial Center insisted on raising the rent, with the increase being quite significant, making it hard for them to bear.

Runda Commercial Center had never lacked tenants—if you don’t want to rent? Fine, someone else would immediately rent it anyway..

Sun Faxiang was in a particularly difficult position, fearing that if he changed locations at this time, his customers would leave and that when he returned, the place would be rented by someone else.

But the cost after the rent increase was simply too high, leaving Sun Faxiang in a dilemma, unsure of what to do.

He had previously thought of impulsively contacting Xu Yao, but she hadn’t disclosed any of the commercial properties she owned, and had always rented to individuals.

Sun Faxiang was worried, smoking continuously by the window. In the midst of puffing away at the smoke, he received a call from an unfamiliar number. However, it was the string of numbers with 8888 that caught his attention.

“Hello, am I speaking to Mr. Sun Faxiang?” A clear, cheerful voice came from the other end.

Sun Faxiang felt the voice was somewhat familiar, and the other side continued, “I have a property for rent right now, would you be interested in renting it?”

It turned out to be… Xu Yao!

“The address of the rental property is in the west of the city, with a monthly rent of 250,000 yuan, and no transfer fee.”

This price is actually quite favorable, considering it’s not in the east of the city where every inch of land is precious.

Sun Faxiang, however, remained hesitant, “Miss Xu, it’s not that I’m unwilling, but if my family’s business moves out, I’m afraid the business won’t be able to sustain itself independently.”

One of the reasons for Runda’s rent increase is that there is a cohesive entertainment ecosystem here, with the area surrounded by entertainment venues. If his escape room moves away, the rent may be cheaper, but without a steady stream of customers, his business would still be doomed.

Nowadays, many young people come to hang out for a whole day to play. While there are some that come specifically for an escape room, they are in the minority.

Xu Yao smiled and said, “I’m aware of Runda raising their rent, and that many small business owners are considering looking for other places, so I plan to rent my properties to them as well.”

Sun Faxiang was taken aback, the cigarette butt burning quickly until it scalded his fingers, jolting him back to reality, his pupils filled with shock.

In other words… Xu Yao wasn’t talking about a single shop, but an entire batch? Just how many properties does she have?

Sun Faxiang was burned quite badly; he quickly tossed the cigarette butt and extinguished it with his foot, becoming serious as he asked, “Miss Xu, where exactly in the west of the city are you referring to? The hottest place in the west recently…”

Sun Faxiang had recently heard the gossip about Zhengde Academy and had even posted several angry comments online. Could it be that Xu Yao was talking about…

Xu Yao smiled slightly on the other end, “That’s right, it’s the property that used to be Zhengde Academy.”

Zhengde Academy has a good geographical location, plus the school is large and has an ancient charm, making it very suitable for this kind of escape room.

Ji Zhengqing hadn’t been angry about her wool-fleecing scheme, but on the contrary, had agreed directly, making her subsequent operations much easier to enforce.

Sun Faxiang couldn’t help but marvel at how Xu Yao had been dealth such a big hand, feeling somewhat tempted but also still a little worried.

As Sun Faxiang hesitated, Xu Yao dropped another bombshell, “Boss Sun, are you planning to change the theme of your escape room any time soon?”

Sun Faxiang was indeed anxious. After all, the theme of an escape room can’t remain unchanged forever. They usually changed the theme about once a year, so it was indeed time for a change, but they had been struggling to come up with a good theme, to the point where they were practically pulling at their hair.

Xu Yao curved her lips into a smile and said, “I wonder if Boss Sun is interested in Yin Fate?”

Sun Faxiang jumped up in shock!

Yin Fate?!

This supernatural short drama had been a huge hit, even overshadowing the popular star Liu Yingxia’s Seeking Immortality. It has been widely discussed recently, with Ran Lingfeng and Qu Xi becoming famous overnight.

The setting of Yin Fate was particularly suitable to become a theme for an escape room, and Sun Faxiang suddenly remembered that Xu Yao was also the largest investor in Yin Fate.

To squeeze the most profit out of a drama, besides the script for the drama itself, there were also its derivative earnings that had to be taken into consideration.

Zuo Ning and the others would release various merchandise at the request of fans, and licensing the escape room could also be considered!

If their store was authorised, just how many customers would that attract? It was simply unimaginable!

Sun Faxiang felt as if a pie had fallen from the sky—low rent and the licensing of a trending short drama. This was truly a divine landlord!

Sun Faxiang couldn’t control his excitement and repeatedly said, “Miss Xu, may I ask if you have time recently? I would like to treat you to a meal.” He wanted to seal this deal right away!

Xu Yao smiled and said, “Let’s have dinner with Ms. Zhou Meilan, Mr. Chen Hong and the other business owners 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:

Zhengde Academy had gone viral recently, almost trending every day. Parents who had received the news rushed to pick up their children overnight, even shedding their tears before the camera, expressing their regret.

However, the students who were picked up all wore blank expressions, scoffing at their parents’ remorse, even finding it amusing.

How many times had they dreamed at night of their parents coming to pick them up? But unfortunately, dreams are just dreams after all.

The parents they were closest to were even less reliable than Xu Yao, a retired celebrity they had never even met!

Zhengde Academy was completely shut down, with rumours reporting that the principal and other associated staff already being taken into police custody, and that it was only a matter of time before they were prosecuted.

The residents living nearby simply wished they could spit on that piece of land—just looking at the place made them feel disgusted.

“Quickly change it to something else. Just seeing this place makes my heart feel heavy,” a passing elderly lady said with a frown.

She had a granddaughter about the same age, and just imagining her granddaughter being sent here and suffering such inhumane treatment made her heart ache.

Yet she had to pass by this cursed place every day to buy groceries, making her feel quite upset since there was simply no way for her to avoid the place.

As the elderly lady spoke, she saw a group of people entering the place, seemingly there to visit.

That afternoon, an anonymous source leaked the information online.

[Haicheng Gossip King: Holy sh*t, I have some solid news! The land belonging to the recently popular XX Academy is now in the hands of a certain retired celebrity sister. I heard this sister is planning to rent it out and turn it into an entertainment hub! They’re going to run escape rooms, murder mystery games, haunted houses, internet cafes, and other entertainment projects. This sister is seriously insane, I’m practically bowing down to her.]

As soon as this leaked news came out, the comments were filled with question marks from netizens.

That certain retired celebrity sister was undoubtedly referring to Xu Yao! No need to guess.

The XX Academy they were talking about was most likely Zhengde Academy, which had been trending and dragged out to be criticized every day.

So… was the owner of the Zhengde Academy’s property Xu Yao???

F*ck, it clearly wasn’t her before!!!

Could it be that the original landlord, fearing indiscriminate attacks from netizens, hurriedly sold it off at a low price?

[My God, is this the world of the wealthy? Just directly taking that land for herself?? I suddenly remembered she also owns a building in Tai’an Community. Just how much wealth does Xu Yao actually have?]

[Did Xu Yao really not do this on purpose? Hahaha, I’m really enjoying this turn of events. She’s so bold, to actually dare to make a move at this time.]

[I’m about to be thrilled to death by Xu Yao. Everyone knows what Zhengde Academy is for, right? Their advertising says it’s not just for curing internet addiction, but also that kids who are addicted to entertainment facilities can also be sent there! Sister Yao is truly amazing, she’s about to turn this place into an entertainment city!!]

[Zhengde Academy bans entertainment, yet Xu Yao insists on setting up a bunch of entertainment facilities there. Who benefits from this? It’s me!! I’m going to check it out!]

A group of netizens screamed like groundhogs in excitement. This trash academy really did deserve to be shut down, but having it lingering there was still headache-inducing. If the landlord rents it out to another specialised arts academy, who knows how many students would be too scared to go? But Xu Yao is directly turning it into an entertainment city!

Why not change it to something else, you may ask? Well, it just so happens that she only wants to change it to an entertainment city.

This is a direct provocation! After Xu Yao withdrew from the circle, it was as if she had been unleashed, going completely wild, but her actions were just too likable.

Zhengde Academy is banning internet addiction, huh? Well, Sister Yao insists on renting it out to an internet café, just right for people to surf the web, hahaha!

It wasn’t hard to imagine the former president of Zhengde Academy seeing this scene and being so furious he might vomit blood.

Parents should never blame their educational failures on their children. Computers, games, and the recent rise of short videos have lifted countless people out of poverty and into wealth. Yet some parents treat these things as vices, never confronting their own failures in education. It was truly both pathetic and ridiculous.

Although there is a large population in the west of Haicheng now, there still aren’t any entertainment and commercial malls like Runda. Young people living here have to travel from the west to the east to have fun, which is particularly exhausting.

Now Xu Yao is directly turning it into an entertainment city, and her comment section is completely filled with 666².

Netizens are hopping all over the place, frantically searching for reliable leaks and information online. Some say the escape room inside will have official licensing from Yin Fate, inviting everyone to come experience it when it opens. A large number of fans of Yin Fate are so excited that they can’t wait to go right now.

Although netizens are still unsure about the authenticity of the information, Han Zhao can confirm since he received an affirmative reply from Xu Yao immediately.

That’s right, their Miss Yao Yao is going to turn that so-called internet addiction academy into the entertainment city they dislike the most.

Can’t stand it? Then go ahead and hit me!

Han Zhao covered his face and burst into loud cries again, sobbing until he was choking and shaking. After a long time, he replied to Xu Yao in a hoarse voice, “Then I will definitely make sure to check it out as soon as possible.”

Xu Yao smiled and said, “Mm.”

Xu Yao thought that she could organize a team-building event then, and have everyone go together.

She wants the laughter and joy of the entertainment facilities to overshadow the original disgusting and terrifying nature of Zhengde Academy.

At that moment, Xu Yao truly realized that the joy of having money is not about material satisfaction, but about spiritual fulfillment.

Although Xu Yao sincerely hoped he could forget his past at that disgusting academy, she knows he will probably never forget it in his lifetime. But she doesn’t want to talk about that disgusting place any longer, changing the topic and asking, “Little Zhao, is our website ready?”

Han Zhao wiped his tears and nodded, “Yeah, I’ve tested it many times with the uncles from the programming department and it runs very smoothly.”

The bald programmer who had been poached from the Ji Group was shocked by Han Zhao’s talent. This kid is a genius. Apparently he was mostly self-taught. In a few years, he’ll be incredible.

Xu Yao has clearly struck gold.

Xu Yao nodded in satisfaction, very good.

Her rental team members are busy answering calls all day, and it’s really been hard on them. Xu Yao feels distressed for them, vowing that it’s time for them to change their approach.

[Xu Yao Rental Official Account v: Dear friends, the second batch of rental exams is about to go live soon! You can make reservations on the website tomorrow afternoon at 2:30 PM!]

Although Xu Yao’s way of doing things are a bit unconventional, she has attracted a lot of fans. Aside from those who still want to ride on Xu Yao’s popularity, there are still many who are genuinely interested in renting.

After all, landlords like Xu Yao, who take care of their tenants, are rare in the world, so they don’t mind waiting.

Some netizens even said that as long as they can secure a house from Xu Yao, they would immediately terminate their current lease, even if it means forfeiting their deposit!

As soon as they saw that the trash official account who had been pretending to be dead for a long time had finally spoken up, many renting netizens were instantly delighted and rushed to spread the news.

Get ready to participate in the rental exam!

Many people didn’t clearly see the website mentioned in that Weibo post and were almost counting down the seconds to call the previously announced number at 2:30 PM the next afternoon.

Among them was Yuan Yiqing. She didn’t expect to be so lucky as to get through!

She suppressed her wildly racing heart and nervously asked, “Hello, may I reserve a spot for the second rental exam?”

“Thank you for supporting Xu Yao’s rental,” the sweet voice on the other end replied, “However, we are now conducting all reservations online.”

Online?

Yuan Yiqing was dumbfounded, what online?

Then, after carefully reading the Weibo post, she discovered—

Xu Yao, this landlord, has set up a website, and it’s even a particularly classy one.

Netizens couldn’t help but sigh after staring for a while:

Xu Yao, truly a professional in rental properties—to think a landlord renting their properties out would be even more professional than those real estate agencies selling houses.

---

brooooo this was a long ahhhh chapter almost 7.5k words r u serious TAT

also i love how delusional ji zhengqing is lmAOOO he immediately self-soothes I’M CRYING

support mio on kofi! ◡̈

1.  Someone who can’t change as the habit is pretty much engrained in their DNA ↩︎
2.  Slang that refers to someone being awesome. Equivalent slang might be similar to be 8, like ‘you ate that’, or ‘what’s 4+4?’. ↩︎

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

---

All the secretarial assistants in the president’s office paused in the midst of their busy tasks, staring at He Fan in shock.

Assistant He was here to resign? 

This could make the top headline at Ji Group today!

He Fan was undoubtedly the most competitive employee in Ji Group, aside from President Ji himself. He had climbed to the position of chief assistant to the president through sheer involution.

And he was actually going to resign!

This was simply unbelievable!

It should be noted that Ji Group is an international corporation with excellent benefits, a dream company for many. Their high salary packages make the intense internal competition seem quite normal, after all, the boss is a capitalist, not a saint.

And now Assistant He was leaving…

Because of He Fan’s words, Ji Zhengqing also paused in his busy pace. After some consideration, he quickly dismissed the thought of “someone poaching him” and called He Fan into his office.

Ji Zhengqing thought it probably wasn’t due to poaching; after all, the only one who could poach him would be Xu Jing from Xu Group, but since Xu Jing was his friend, he couldn’t possibly do such a thing. He Fan’s desire to leave must be for another reason.

Ji Zhengqing set down the documents and took a moment to ask him, “Is there some sudden unexpected difficulties in your life? I can give you a raise.”

To be honest, Ji Zhengqing really didn’t want to let He Fan go. After all, it was still quite hard for him to find such a capable assistant.

He Fan smiled awkwardly, “No… no difficulties.”

President Ji’s raises were indeed quite generous, but could he give him three days off a week? Could he give him a three to four hour workday?

He couldn’t!

But Xu Yao could!

Ji Zhengqing fell silent for a moment. Since there were no difficulties, it meant he really was being poached.

Ji Zhengqing felt a bit sad, “Who?”

He Fan: “Miss Xu Yao.”

Ji Zhengqing was stunned: “…”

His fiancée??

At this moment, Ji Zhengqing’s mind was filled with the thought that his fiancée had poached his assistant in just two days. To be honest, he had never considered Xu Yao as someone who could poach him.

He Fan had made up his mind to resign and now spoke with more freedom, even kindly advising him, “President Ji, aren’t you and Miss Xu engaged? That means you’ll be family sooner or later. Although I’m leaving, aren’t I still theoretically working for your family?”

Rounding it off, he could still be considered half an employee.

“…” Ji Zhengqing felt a headache coming on; his assistant was always quite good at giving him advice.

Ji Zhengqing didn’t know how Xu Yao had managed to poach him, but seeing that He Fan was determined to leave, he could only say, “Then you can hand over your work to Xiao Li and go handle your resignation.”

He Fan suppressed the smile that was trying to break through, repeatedly thanking him, and left the president’s office without any reluctance. Ji Zhengqing watched his back in silence, and a few minutes later, he couldn’t help but open his WeChat.

[Ji Zhengqing: Did you poach my assistant?]

[AAAA Professional Rental Little Xu: ? I didn’t poach him, you’ve wronged me.]

[AAAA Professional Rental Little Xu: QAQ Your assistant insisted on switching jobs, I couldn’t stop him. Brother Zhengqing, you won’t be angry, right? Don’t be too sad or I’ll feel heartbroken for you T-T.]

Xu Yao sent several scared emoticons, like a rabbit that had been greatly frightened.

[Ji Zhengqing: …]

He had originally been a bit upset about his assistant suddenly switching jobs, but seeing Xu Yao’s playful words, he suddenly felt amused. Xu Yao was even more lively than he had imagined.

[Ji Zhengqing: It’s okay, I have plenty of employees.]

This was also the truth. The reason He Fan was so competitive was that the competition at Ji Group was fierce. If you weren’t careful, someone would take your place. Although He Fan’s departure was a bit uncomfortable for him to bear, as long as the handover was done properly, the Ji Group would still continue to operate as normal.

Thinking of this, Ji Zhengqing’s mood improved significantly, and he continued to focus on his work.

He Fan went to handle his resignation.

In less than half an hour, the news of Assistant He’s resignation and job change spread throughout Ji Group, becoming the number one gossip piece of the day.

He Fan looked at the inside of the bustling company where a female employee hurriedly ran past to deliver documents, only to trip and fall on the carpet in her high heels. Despite the pain, she gritted her teeth and quickly got back up, limping as she continued to go and deliver the documents.

Ah, how busy, how tragic.

He Fan glanced at his watch; at this hour, Xu Yao’s rental team hadn’t even gotten out of bed yet.

Oh no, wait, he almost forgot that Xu Yao’s team doesn’t even work on Wednesdays. They don’t even have to get up until eleven in the morning, so it wasn’t impossible for them to sleep until the afternoon if they wanted to.

He Fan was definitely the first to reciprocate kindness. In fact, seeing his pitiful former colleagues stirred a sense of compassion in him.

He sent a message to the overjoyed Xu Yao.

[He Fan: Boss, do you still need more people?]

Xu Yao, who was still reveling in the joy of having poached her fiancé, was even more delighted upon seeing He Fan’s message.

[AAAA Professional Rental Little Xu: Yes!]

With the boss’s affirmation, He Fan felt no burden in proceeding with the following operation.

The key point was that his new employer was Xu Yao, who was also Ji Zhengqing’s fiancée. He wasn’t worried about President Ji holding him accountable, hehe.

Some employees nearby saw He Fan busy with his resignation handover and couldn’t help but ask, “Assistant He, are you really resigning? Have you found a new job?”

Finding a company better than Ji Group wouldn’t be easy; they really couldn’t understand why He Fan wanted to leave.

While He Fan was handling his resignation, he casually replied, “I found one. Ah, if it weren’t for the high salary, I wouldn’t want to go to such a busy place.”

High salary!

The colleagues’ eyes lit up, and they started chatting with He Fan, exclaiming, “Assistant He, since you say it’s busy, how busy must your new job be?”

He Fan filled out the paperwork while chatting, “The boss is quite ruthless. There are only three to four hours of work to do in a day, yet she expects us to be as efficient as if we worked eight hours.”

Colleagues: “…”

Three to four hours of work time? Is their definition of “ruthless” a bit too different to He Fan’s?

He Fan made a round through various departments, and most colleagues had heard about his new job to some extent.

The boss wanted to set up a rental website and probably found it too tiring to do it alone, so they were looking for some help. That bald guy in the programming department would be a great choice.

Oh, and this finance person is also good.

Wow, and this one too…

So, in just a few days of He Fan’s resignation handover, Ji Zhengqing discovered that another group of people also wanted to resign.

Ji Zhengqing: “?”

What’s going on? Are they all leaving with He Fan? He had quite a few employees under him, but they couldn’t all just up and leave like this!

It was one thing for He Fan to leave, but now he was taking people with him. He Fan, what happened to your professional ethics?

He Fan: Miss Yao Yao is now his moral standard!

The key was that Xu Yao was the one who took the initiative!

[AAAA Professional Rental Little Xu: Brother Zhengqing, why are they all coming to help me collect rent? I’m a bit anxious.]

[AAAA Professional Rental Little Xu: Brother Zhengqing, you’re not really angry, are you? Why haven’t you replied to me in three minutes? I’m so scared.]

[Ji Zhengqing: … I’m not angry. Also, please speak normally.]

He was just having a headache—all the talents he had nurtured were being poached by Xu Yao.

The key point was that this person was his fiancée. He couldn’t hold a grudge against Xu Yao over this, otherwise Xu Jing might turn against him, and it would be even more impossible for him to hold her accountable.

[AAAA Professional Rental Little Xu: It’s good that you’re not angry. How about I treat you to a meal?]

Ji Zhengqing saw this message and suddenly felt it wasn’t such a loss after all. It seemed they weren’t just awkwardly chatting anymore. Xu Yao was quite interesting and even a bit cute.

Ji Zhengqing called over his newest assistant, Assistant Li, “Check my schedule for the next few days.”

If Xu Yao wanted to treat him to a meal, he needed to see if he could free up some time to meet her in Haicheng.

After checking, Assistant Li said, “President Ji, you have time the day after tomorrow afternoon.”

Ji Zhengqing replied to Xu Yao with a time, but she responded with a question mark instead.

Ji Zhengqing stared at his phone screen, wondering if there was a generation gap between him and Xu Yao. Didn’t she say she wanted to treat him to a meal? Of course, he wouldn’t let Xu Yao pay if he went, but why send a question mark and then say, “You don’t need to come”?

Ji Zhengqing didn’t quite understand, but work tasks came in, and he couldn’t spare a thought for Xu Yao, diving into company emails.

“President Ji, it’s time for lunch,” Assistant Li reminded.

At that moment, a delivery guy’s voice came from outside the president’s office, “Excuse me, who is Ji Zhengqing? Your takeout has arrived.”

Ji Zhengqing was momentarily stunned; he hadn’t ordered any takeout. He usually ate in the company cafeteria.

The cafeteria at Ji Group employed chefs from various parts of the world, and the food was not only delicious but also hygienic, which was one of the reasons it attracted many job seekers.

The delivery guy continued to ask outside, and Ji Zhengqing gestured for his assistant to help bring it in.

[AAAA Professional Rental Little Xu: Enjoy your meal~]

Ji Zhengqing silently stared at the takeout. So this was what Xu Yao meant by treating him to a meal…

Treating him to takeout.

Although it was a very expensive takeout—probably ordered from a five-star restaurant—Ji Zhengqing still felt it was a bit strange.

During his lunch break, Ji Zhengqing casually mentioned this to his friend Xu Jing.

Xu Jing was greatly shocked; his sister had quietly poached so many of Ji Zhengqing’s talents? His friend’s corner must be full of holes now, right?!

For a moment, Xu Jing felt a bit of sympathy for Ji Zhengqing.

Ji Zhengqing indifferently threw out a remark, “Think about why your sister didn’t dig your corner but had to dig mine.”

Xu Jing naturally thought Xu Yao was protective of her brother, but soon realized his friend’s tone seemed a bit off since he seemed to be in a good mood.

Xu Jing: … Wait, what is he so happy about?

*

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 Top Marketing# somehow made it to the trending topic on Weibo.

[Entertainment Pioneer: From replacing property management in the community, having to take exams to rent a property, to now recruiting for the rental team, Xu Yao really understands marketing tactics.]

Many netizens felt a strong sense of agreement upon seeing this post from a popular verified account.

As a retired internet celebrity, Xu Yao’s popularity during this time is even higher than that of current starlets. Although she is no longer in the industry, she’s still a legend in it.

[Recently, the recruitment information for Xu Yao’s rental team has become increasingly outrageous, this amateur sister really has gone overboard with her marketing.]

[My silly friend actually submitted a resume to Xu Yao’s rental team. I really want to knock her wooden head open to see if it’s just filled with water.]

[It’s really absurd, isn’t it? They asked me about my acceptable working hours, and I said 9 to 6 with one day off, and they said I didn’t fit the team’s philosophy and eliminated me. I really doubt that Xu Yao’s rental team genuinely wants to recruit people. It feels more like a marketing stunt.]

Xu Yao’s operations made it seem like she was a bodhisattva that had descended to the mortal realm; it was simply too outrageous.

Some netizens even speculated whether Xu Yao was trying to scam people out of their kidneys, since the last time a company had such good benefits, it was still because they wanted to harvest people’s kidneys.

Xu Yao was shocked by this. Her requirements weren’t actually low, but rather high.

She truly does not hire idle people. She only hires employees with strong work capabilities, just with slightly shorter working hours, a bit more rest time, and slightly higher salaries.

Lu Ye came to report, “Miss Yao Yao, we can get ready to depart.”

Xu Yao nodded and got into the car heading to the airport with Lu Ye.

He Fan had finished his resignation handover and returned, bringing a wave of people with him.

At this moment, Xu Yao deeply felt the joy of drawing an SSR; look, this SSR even brought back a bunch of SRs for her!

With such talent, shouldn’t she personally go to the airport to pick them up?

Xu Yao suddenly had an idea, “Lu Ye, do you think I should buy a private jet?”

Little 6 immediately chimed in: [Yes, yes, host! Even actual retirees love to buy private jets! You should match them!]

Hearing this, Xu Yao restrained her smile, “I’d better just focus on collecting rent for now.”

Upon arriving at the airport, Xu Yao and Lu Ye went in to greet the newcomers. The surrounding travelers recognized Xu Yao to varying degrees, pointing and whispering about her.

He Fan and the others pushed their suitcases off the plane and saw Xu Yao waiting for them. He Fan immediately waved, signaling, “Boss, we’re over here.”

Xu Yao looked at the people behind He Fan and smiled with satisfaction. Her SSR had indeed poached quite a few from her fiancé’s side.

Seeing the other slightly nervous individuals, Xu Yao reassured them, “Assistant He promised you all team benefits, and not a single one will be missing.”

The seven or eight people instantly brightened. They had initially thought He Fan was exaggerating, and they would be very satisfied with even just 80% of the mentioned benefits. Who knew Xu Yao personally promised that not a single one would be missing?

They immediately felt that switching jobs was the right choice.

Lu Ye arranged for a car to take a few of them back to settle in, and they quickly left the airport.

“Those just now were all employees recruited by Xu Yao,” a passerby exclaimed in shock amidst the bustling airport crowd. “She really is hiring, it’s not just a marketing stunt!”

“The person leading them just now looks so familiar. I went to check it out and do you know who it is?” A young girl nearby, carrying a bag, nearly jumped up.

Seeing she had attracted the attention of those around her, she exclaimed, “It’s the most capable assistant to the President of Ji Group! He actually jumped ship to Xu Yao’s rental team! The salary and benefits must be better than those at Ji Group.”

The surrounding onlookers suddenly felt a sense of chaos. Is Xu Yao that formidable? Her small team could actually poach employees from Ji Group?

Immediately, someone posted the news of encountering Xu Yao’s airport pickup team and new employees online.

[Xu Yao is amazing! If you’re thinking of submitting a resume, don’t hesitate. Her rental team’s benefits are so good that even the President’s assistant from Ji Group is switching jobs!]

[Once again, I regret not studying hard in the past. I definitely can’t get into Xu Yao’s rental team.]

[Bro upstairs, if you can’t get into Xu Yao’s team, you can become her tenant! Being her tenant is an amazing experience!]

[Yes, the experience is indeed super good. I am a tenant of Xu Yao in the urban village. I asked Li Xiaoli if I could go for a health check, fearing I might die in the house and affect the property value, and she replied that I could… I could…]

They said Xu Yao was just doing marketing, but it turns out she was serious—she really is hiring!

He Fan’s recruits for Xu Yao were indeed quite capable, and after everyone quickly finished processing the team’s benefits, they got right to work.

The immediate priority now is to create their own website.

The phone rang, and Xu Yao saw that the caller ID was from the property management of Tai’an Community, feeling puzzled.

“Is this Miss Xu Yao, the property owner? There’s a woman at the entrance insisting on entering the community to find your tenant, and we’ve stopped her,” said the 24-hour security personnel arranged by the property management on the other end of the line.

Compared to the previous Tiansheng Property, Dailishi International Realty is now very well-received by the community owners, with 24-hour security on duty. The key point is that, it’s unlike before, where just about anyone could come and go freely.

Xu Yao inquired about who the woman was looking for, and upon hearing it was Han Zhao, she immediately said, “Do not let her in. I’ll be there shortly.”

The woman at the community entrance was visibly displeased, “What’s wrong with you security guards? I’m here to find my son, let me in quickly!”

“We’ve confirmed with the property owner, and you are not allowed to enter.”

The woman was furious, “This is simply unreasonable! I can’t even go find my son?”

Noticing that more and more people were gathering around to watch, she simply shouted, “Does Xu Yao rent her house to anyone without checking their age? She actually rented it to my underage son! Is she so desperate for traffic that she has no shame left?”

Because of Xu Yao, Tai’an Community has now become a popular community online, often attracting influencers to livestream and shoot videos outside. Of course, they cannot enter the community and will be stopped by security. Hearing the woman’s words suddenly made their eyes light up!

Xu Yao’s “collapse” immediately appeared in their mind, and these little influencers even felt a bit excited.

[Xu Yao rented a house to a minor? My goodness, minors don’t have full civil capacity and cannot rent a house.]

[Isn’t that the neighbor caught on the live broadcast of Zhou Qi’s variety show a few days ago? I thought that boy looked really young at the time, and it turns out he’s a minor, which has completely refreshed my worldview.]

[Don’t scare me! I have a great impression of Xu Yao Rental. I trust Xu Yao, not this random woman who popped up!]

Zhou Qi was live streaming while cooking at home when he noticed the program staff reminding him, and the number of viewers in his live stream increased.

Zhou Qi was a bit puzzled. He thought it was his charm that was boosting his cooking enthusiasm. Seeing the audience in the live stream urging him to go find his neighbor, Zhou Qi didn’t think too much and smiled, saying, “I was planning to do that too. I’ll share my food with my new neighbor later.”

A few days ago, Zhou Qi lent his rarely used computer to Han Zhao. After observing for a few days, Zhou Qi felt that this new neighbor was indeed quite ordinary, even a bit shy with a bit of an inferiority complex.

Is this the tenant who stood out among so many rental candidates? He at least should have some talents.

Zhou Qi brought the food to Han Zhao’s door and knocked. After a while, a head peeked out.

Zhou Qi was as enthusiastic as a little sun, greeting him, “I made some food. New neighbor, come and try it! It’s a bit hot, so you better step aside.”

The bottom of the bowl was so hot that Zhou Qi hurriedly squeezed past Han Zhao, clumsily placing the food on the dining table. Han Zhao didn’t have a desk, so he simply put his computer on the dining table. Zhou Qi glanced and saw it was something he couldn’t understand at all, looking quite high-end.

“Not good, something’s happened.” A staff member from the program suddenly wailed.

Zhou Qi quickly looked at the live stream comments where the atmosphere had changed.

[So this new tenant is really a minor? He does look quite young.]

[Xu Yao, do you know you’re in trouble now? This kid is a minor.]

[Little buddy, your mom is looking for you outside the community, why aren’t you hurrying back? Don’t drag my Yao Yao down, it’s not easy to find such a wonderful landlord.]

Zhou Qi was completely stunned, and seeing Han Zhao’s nervous expression, he blurted out, “You’re a minor?”

Han Zhao’s face changed dramatically, and he didn’t dare to look Zhou Qi in the eye, his demeanor clearly suggesting he was guilty.

[Shouldn’t minors be in school at this time? This kid can’t be skipping school, right? Xu Yao renting a property after taking an exam is simply a joke, going through all that just to rent to a minor who’s skipping school?]

[I bet a #XuYaoCancelled# entry will hit the trending searches soon!]

Han Zhao didn’t answer. Instead, he walked to the balcony to look outside. Their building was right next to the street, and Han Zhao squinted to vaguely catch sight of a familiar figure, causing him to shiver uncontrollably.

He once had a happy family; at least his childhood memories were happy, and his family conditions were quite good. At a time when everyone was just starting to have personal mobile phones, his family already had a computer.

Later, his father had an affair, and his mother resolutely divorced him, taking him to rent a house in Tai’an Community. Although that period in middle school was tough, at least he had a home to call his own.

After his mother passed away, he had to return to his father’s house as a minor still needing to go to school, and by then, that woman had already gone from being a mistress to the rightful madam of the house.

Han Zhao had always loved computers. Unlike others who were obsessed with online games, he taught himself C language, becoming proficient in various computer programs, and obtained several highly valuable certificates.

Unfortunately, his obsession with computers led to his stepmother sending him to Zhengde Academy, a place that felt like a devil’s incarnate.

Han Zhao felt anxious; in fact, he had told a lie. When filling out the rental application, he wrote that he was eighteen, but he was actually still three months away from adulthood.

It seemed he had dragged Xu Yao into this.

Leaving immediately was the only remedy Han Zhao could think of. He quickly returned to the dining table, took a USB drive from the computer, and handed it to the stunned Zhou Qi, “Please help me pass this to Miss Xu Yao. I’ll return the computer to you.”

The USB drive was bought with the leftover money from the community dividends.

Han Zhao paused and said, “I didn’t sign a rental contract with Miss Xu Yao, she just kindly took me in temporarily.”

So Xu Yao couldn’t be blamed!

Han Zhao glanced longingly at the room, closed the door, and strode toward the elevator hall, heading downstairs and out of the community gate.

As soon as the woman outside the community saw him, she immediately got angry, “You dare to skip school? If I hadn’t seen you on that variety show online, your dad and I wouldn’t even know you ran away.”

“Renting a house outside, do you have the money for that? When you get back, let’s see if your dad doesn’t break your legs!”

The woman scolded incessantly, and Han Zhao hung his head in despair, not saying a word. But when the woman’s hand, like a fan, unceremoniously slapped his back, he couldn’t help but tremble.

A gray-white RV appeared at the entrance of the community, and the people around brightened up; this was Xu Yao’s special rental collection vehicle!

Xu Yao had arrived?

In the little influencer’s live stream, the fans’ comments were increasing.

[Xu Yao shouldn’t come, right? This has caused a problem, why would she still show up?]

[You can’t blame Xu Yao, she was also tricked. Besides, it’s not like she signed a rental contract, right?]

[Wow, it really is Xu Yao!]

Lu Ye was the first to get out of the car and opened the door. A slender figure stepped down from the RV. Xu Yao ignored the woman and walked towards Han Zhao with a beaming smile.

The frail boy’s eyes turned red the moment he saw Xu Yao, his mouth tightly pressed together, and after a long time, he timidly said, “I’m sorry, Miss Xu.”

Xu Yao really came!

Just like that night when he saw Xu Yao in the KFC store, she was like a goddess saving him from fire and floods, saying the same unbelievable words as that night, “I brought the rental contract. Let’s sign it.”

---

bro the chapters from this novel is almost double/triple the length of running a hotpot store QAQ

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

---

The employees under Xu Yao sent Han Zhao to the Tai’an community and personally handed him the keys.

“It’s getting late, we should head back,” one employee said to the somewhat reserved Han Zhao, “The house only has basic furniture and no blankets. I’ll go to the supermarket to buy one…”

Although summer would soon be upon Haicheng, it could still get chilly at night without a blanket.

The boy, who had been keeping his head down, hurriedly said, “No need, I’m not afraid of the cold.”

He had been living under the bridge for many days. The river breeze at night was cold and attracted mosquitoes, but his body still young and strong, so he could endure it.

Zhou Qi, who lived across from him, heard the commotion and poked his head out of the half-open door, saying kindly, “I have an extra thin blanket… how about you borrow it for now?”

Zhou Qi certainly knew that Xu Yao was currently conducting rental exams; to rent her house, one had to the test. He had found the questions online and secretly tried to answer them, only to instantly feel like someone who had lived their entire life in vain—a nine leaky fish¹.

If it weren’t for the fact that he had been early in renting her property, he probably wouldn’t have qualified to rent from Xu Yao.

Moreover, Zhou Qi knew the reason why he had become somewhat popular and wanted to make a good impression on the landlady, Xu Yao, so he was very accommodating towards this new neighbour of his—Han Zhao.

Thinking of this, Zhou Qi didn’t wait for Han Zhao to refuse. He turned back and went to his room in slippers to fetch a thin blanket from the cabinet.

[Ahhhh, is this a new tenant of Xu Yao? He’s as dirty as a homeless person. Can he even afford to rent in Tai’an Community? The rent there is ridiculously high now.]

[The comment from upstairs is way too vicious. I think this young man is probably quite capable and impressive. After all, to stand out in Xu Yao’s rental exam is already quite a feat in itself.]

[Is Xu Yao really not trying to PUA us? It’s just renting a property, yet she makes it feels like a job recruitment. I’m still the one f*cking paying to rent a house!]

[Sob sob sob sob, I’m so envious that this little brother can be neighbours with Qi Qi. I also want a friendly celebrity neighbour like Zhou Qi.]

[This new tenant looks so ordinary. I definitely won’t tell you all that I didn’t receive any calls from Xu Yao about renting and am feeling envious and jealous [biting handkerchief.jpg]. Besides, he looks so young, is he even eighteen years old?]

Han Zhao, with his back to the camera, repeatedly thanked him.

“Since that’s the case, we’ll head back first. Call us if you need anything,” the employee said, glancing at the time.

Han Zhao tightly hugged the thin blanket, nervously glancing at the livestreaming camera pointing from Zhou Qi’s room, then lowered his head to thank Zhou Qi again before quickly opening the door to go inside.

“Let’s go then, Brother Fan,” the employee said to He Fan while yawning.

Actually, He Fan didn’t need to come with them; he insisted on joining to quickly get accustomed to Xu Yao’s rental team work.

The elevator in Tai’an Community had internet access, and the employee stood in the elevator lobby scrolling through his phone. He Fan didn’t have the bad habit of peeking at others’ phones, but he couldn’t ignore the sound of the notification, ‘WeChat received 200 yuan.’

“Miss Yao Yao sent a bonus.”

As soon as He Fan heard ‘bonus,’ he perked up, “Bonus? Bonus for what?”

“Our working hours with Miss Yao Yao are generally until three in the afternoon. After that, we go home,” the employee continued as they exited the elevator, “But didn’t something come up today? We had to take a tenant to their new home, so Miss Yao Yao sent us a little bonus.”

He Fan’s eyes widened in disbelief. A bonus was given just for such a small matter? It hadn’t even taken twenty minutes—wasn’t this just a simple task?

Upon seeing He Fan’s shocked expression, as if his eyes were about to pop out, the employee quickly added, “Although Brother Fan just joined our team, Miss Yao Yao definitely won’t forget your bonus tonight either.”

He Fan: “……”

Was that what his main point was?

He Fan lowered his head in deep thought. Had he fallen into a nest of fortune?

No, wrong! The saying that relying solely on rental income could easily lead to a loss of ambition—turns out it was indeed true. Just look at Xu Yao and her employees; they were all devoid of any competitive drive.

He Fan stared at the black flip-flops worn by his colleague and quickly realized that the philosophy of Xu Yao’s rental team clashed with his life principles!

What was the difference between a life without struggle and a salted fish²? Only through hard work could one have a beautiful life. He probably still preferred the cutthroat environment of the Ji Corporation.

He Fan’s heart was filled with struggle until he heard the employee say, “Brother Fan, Miss Yao Yao arranged accommodation for you, saying that you can stay while you help her with her tasks.”

He Fan’s throat tightened, and his previously conflicted expression instantly returned to its usual seriousness as he straightened up, “Then many thanks to the boss.”

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:

*

Tai’an Community originally had a terrible reputation due to Tiansheng Property, with its housing prices always lower than several of its surrounding communities. But now things were different. Thanks to Xu Yao, Tai’an Community had transformed into a viral community online, collaborating with the international property management company Dailishi, becoming a hot spot in the eyes of many second-hand home buyers.

The housing prices and rents in Tai’an Community had risen, with rents reaching five figures, with most tenants sharing the costs.

Han Zhao was very familiar with Tai’an Community; after all, he and his mother had rented Xu Yao’s property from here before.

He didn’t turn on the lights but stood in the dark for a long time, clutching the soft thin quilt. He sniffled, then switched on the light.

Perhaps because the glare of the light was too bright, but Han Zhao felt a bit of soreness in his eyes.

The rental wasn’t like a hotel, so there weren’t any slippers provided. Han Zhao looked at the clean white ceramic tiles that were clearly new, afraid of dirtying them. He placed the thin quilt down and carefully changed out of his worn-out sneakers at the entrance, walking inside barefoot.

This apartment had the same layout as Zhou Qi’s across from him, but its orientation was not as good.

The indoor area wasn’t large, just over sixty square meters, with two bedrooms in total, and a large balcony in the master bedroom.

In the master bedroom, there was a bed frame with a medium-thickness mattress covered with a protective cover, and a wall-mounted air conditioner hung on the snow-white wall.

Han Zhao turned back from the bedroom to the living room, where there was a pure gray fabric sofa for three, and opposite it was a medium-sized LCD TV, about 55 inches—all basic furniture that would be provided in a rental apartment.

Gentle light fell directly from above, and here there were no rattan canes,, no imprisonment, and no surprisingly poor sound insulation. Han Zhao suddenly couldn’t control himself and squatted down, crying loudly.

Mom, this might really be another home for him.

Even if in the future, it would only be him left—alone.

Han Zhao cried for a long time, until his throat was dry and his lips were chapped. Only then did he go to the kitchen, turn on the faucet, bend down, and drink directly from the spout.

Knock, knock, knock—

Han Zhao heard a knock on the door, his body instinctively jolted, a look of tension flashing in his eyes, but then he remembered he was in Xu Yao’s house, and his shoulders relaxed. He walked to the door and looked through the peephole. It was Zhou Qi, that little celebrity.

Probably because it was late at night, Zhou Qi and the others had already stopped their variety show livestream.

Han Zhao opened the door slightly, looking at Zhou Qi in confusion. Zhou Qi smiled and said, “Neighbor, I was worried you might not have any toiletries tonight, so I brought some over.”

Seeing Han Zhao still not taking them, Zhou Qi pushed them into his hands, saying, “These are the ones I used to take when I stayed in hotels. Throwing them away would be a waste.”

Indeed, they were all disposable hotel items, a very cheap toothbrush, a toothpaste the size of a pinky finger, and a small packet of shampoo.

Han Zhao thought for a moment and ended up accepting them. He had been wandering outside for many days and felt very dirty. If he couldn’t clean himself up, he wouldn’t be able to bear sleeping on such a clean mattress tonight.

Seeing Han Zhao accept them, Zhou Qi was pleased and continued, “Do you need internet? My home WiFi name is ZQ…”

Before Zhou Qi could finish his sentence, Han Zhao’s expression suddenly changed, his voice turned cold, and he quickly interrupted, “I don’t need WiFi, thank you.”

Han Zhao immediately closed the door, leaving Zhou Qi with a mouth full of dust.

Zhou Qi: “?”

Wasn’t everything fine just now? The new neighbor seemed a bit weird.

Han Zhao washed himself from head to toe, then climbed into bed. The soft mattress finally allowed him to have a good sleep.

In a daze, he had a dream where he met a kind-hearted deity at the brink of death, who provided him with shelter from the wind and rain, giving him the courage to survive.

*

Xu Jing had always been unhappy with the inheritance conditions left to Xu Yao by his grandfather before he passed away. Although he had been friends with Ji Zhengqing for many years and trusted his character, but now is the era of free love.

So after their first private meeting, Xu Jing immediately sought Xu Yao’s opinion.

If Yao Yao really didn’t like him, he would find a way to resolve it.

Xu Yao was applying expensive face cream to her face while on the phone with Xu Jing. “I think he’s pretty good.”

Xu Jing felt a bit relieved but still said with some concern, “Yao Yao, don’t feel pressured because of your brother and grandfather’s thoughts. If you don’t like him, just say so directly.”

Xu Yao thought about Xu Jing’s tendency to help his close family over outsiders in the original novel. If it weren’t for the friendship between the two of them, she believed that just by telling her brother the words ‘I don’t like him’, Xu Jing would probably think of a way to exile the guy off to Africa, the type where he would never appear before her eyes again.

Xu Yao glanced at the royal blue velvet gift box containing a pearl necklace on her vanity and said, “I really don’t have a problem with him.”

Xu Yao’s initial impression of Ji Zhengqing was indeed quite good; he had given her an SSR³ right upon arrival—she believed anyone would be fond of that.

Xu Jing felt a bit uncomfortable upon hearing this, feeling as if Ji Zhengqing had deceived his little sister.

After hanging up, Xu Yao finished her skincare routine and sank into the lazy sofa, calling out to Little 6.

Except for being very proactive in helping with retirement funds, Xu Yao generally wouldn’t call for Little 6, so Little 6 was a bit surprised.

Little 6 cheerfully said: [Host, the retirement assistance spirit Little 6 is at your service.]

Xu Yao didn’t beat around the bush and said directly, “I think Han Zhao approached me on purpose. My life’s safety might be at risk.”

Little 6 felt a familiar sensation: [?]

Little 6 sensed something was off, but the system had already automatically detected certain keywords from Xu Yao: [Suspicious person — ‘Han Zhao’ has been automatically detected. Now issuing Han Zhao’s original life history to the host.]

Xu Yao was very satisfied, happily exploiting the system’s glitch. As long as she wanted to, even if the person wasn’t a character in this novel, she could still check their life history.

Han Zhao was mentioned in the novel, but only briefly, stating that he had made outstanding contributions to the network security of the male lead’s company, and that the male lead highly praised him.

Aside from that, his life and past were not mentioned at all, even more of a cannon fodder than she was.

Xu Yao quickly read through the life history of Han Zhao sent by Little 6, gradually falling silent. She even regretted checking his past at night, fearing it wouldn’t be easy for her to fall asleep.

At this moment, it was 10 o’clock at night. He Fan took off his wig, revealing a sparse head of hair. It was more comfortable not wearing a wig at home—more breathable for his head too.

As a ‘King of Involution⁴‘, He Fan wasn’t tired at all. He even ordered a cup of coffee to be delivered to him.

The housing prices in Haicheng are extremely high. Even though He Fan is the executive assistant to Ji Zhengqing, it would still take him several years of hard work to buy a decent house in a good location with a reasonable indoor area.

He overheard that his housing conditions were based on Lu Ye’s, and he is a person who understands what it means to repay kindness with gratitude.

He Fan had already obtained the information from Xu Yao’s rental team at the first opportunity. In his view, the difficulties faced by this small rental team were insignificant compared to the vast Ji Group.

After some consideration, He Fan switched on his computer and began writing a plan. The balding young man showed a satisfied smile in front of the computer, occasionally sipping on a bitter cup of coffee to stay alert.

Perhaps because he had slept too late, by the time He Fan woke up, it was already half past eight the next morning.

His body was more honest than his brain. He sprang out of bed, rushed into the bathroom to wash up, and then grabbed his briefcase, planning to head out, taking no more than five minutes.

Suddenly, He Fan remembered what an employee had said last night about their working hours being aligned with Xu Yao’s. Xu Yao would sleep until noon every day. He was jolted awake, unsure if he should go out at this time, so he had no choice but to call that guy from last night.

After waiting for nearly half a minute, just when He Fan thought the call wouldn’t be answered, a groggy voice came through the phone, “Brother Fan, so early in the morning, what are you doing not sleeping?”

He Fan glanced at his watch on his left wrist. Dude, is this what you call early in the morning? It’s almost nine o’clock, okay!

The employee’s voice became increasingly unclear, “Brother Fan, you can still make it if you wake up at eleven. I’m going to sleep a bit more, I’m too tired.”

The call was quickly hung up, leaving He Fan standing in his room, unsure whether to leave or stay.

Should he go back to sleep? He had never slept past eight o’clock except on weekends. Now, if he were to lie down, he would feel restless, and since he was already awake, he found it hard to fall back asleep.

After hesitating for a while, He Fan simply ordered another cup of delivered coffee and returned to his study to handle the team’s documents.

The Xu Yao rental team’s first set of challenges was filtering out a bunch of unreliable tenants while leaving the decent ones.

Currently, there are both residential and commercial rentals. Aside from personal rentals, there are also those hoping to rent commercial spaces for business purposes.

So, as noon approached, He Fan and the others went to Haicheng Bay No. 1 to meet Xu Yao, who was having lunch.

To save time, He Fan immediately began presenting the organized materials, “Boss, after preliminary review, Mr. Sun Faxiang hopes to rent a space over three hundred square meters for an escape room, and Ms. Zhou Meilan is interested in moving her arcade out of the Runda Commercial Center…”

He Fan summarized, “While personal rentals can provide a significant source of income, commercial rentals should be the main focus.”

No matter how expensive personal rentals are, they only reach around three to four hundred thousand a month at most, but commercial rentals can be much higher, especially in prime locations.

Upon hearing this, Xu Yao immediately understood why those domineering CEOs liked to bring along an all-around assistant. Just look at He Fan’s efficiency!

Now this is called professionalism!

Xu Yao nodded, “That’s pretty good.”

He Fan was taken aback when he noticed Xu Yao didn’t provide much feedback. He had no choice but to pull out a stack of printed documents from his briefcase and hand them over. “Boss, this is the plan I drafted for our rental team Please take a look?”

The people around stared in shock at the plan, which was half a centimeter thick, their jaws nearly dropping.

He Fan took in their expressions and discreetly curved his lips.

I’ll involute you guys to death!

This is how hard he worked to climb from the bottom of the Ji Group to become the executive assistant standing by the president!

Xu Yao held the plan, her expression growing increasingly serious. He Fan’s heart sank as he sensed something was off.

Although it was written overnight and might not be perfect, given his abilities, it shouldn’t be bad enough to make his boss angry.

Xu Yao placed the plan on the table, her expression very serious as she said, “Assistant He, this won’t do.”

“Did you work overtime to write this plan?” Xu Yao shook her head in dissatisfaction. “This is where you went wrong. Your work pace doesn’t match with our team’s, which will affect others’ work pace and cause discord.”

“We’re in the rental business; happiness is the most important thing. I borrowed you from the President Ji to help our team, not to disrupt the team’s work efficiency, understand?”

He Fan: “?”

What do you mean, ‘he affects the team’s work efficiency’? Is there anything wrong with improving efficiency?!

Xu Yao became increasingly pained as she continued, “And you wrote this plan while pulling an all-nighter? Our team doesn’t allow anyone to pull all-nighters. Do you know that staying up late and pulling all-nighters also affects your work efficiency?”

“Although my employees only work three to four hours a day, I am a very strict boss. I require those three to four hours to be used to the fullest! If you stay up late and affect the efficiency of those three to four hours, how will you compensate me for the huge losses?”

He Fan: “…”

So you do understand work efficiency, huh…

After a long while, He Fan’s eyes lit up as he said earnestly, “I’m sorry, boss.”

Xu Yao, who understood the art of using a stick and then a carrot, added, “However, the plan is still well written. I’m quite satisfied, so I’ll give you a raise.”

He Fan swallowed hard, momentarily unsure of what to say. A raise? Isn’t this…part of his job?

What is Xu Yao’s purpose in coming to this world?

To retire!

To enjoy life!

To happily collect rent!

She absolutely wouldn’t allow anyone to disrupt this rhythm; if someone did, she would correct it.

“Seems like many of these people, including Mr. Sun Faxiang and Ms. Zhou Meilan, are coming from the Runda Commercial Center?” Xu Yao asked while looking at the compiled information.

Beside her, Lu Ye nodded, “The Runda Commercial Center will significantly increase rents this year due to funding issues, and many entertainment venues are planning to sublet their rental because of rising costs.”

Sun Faxiang and Zhou Meilan are among the worried business owners trying to find a location that is both good and relatively affordable. They came to Xu Yao to give it a try, but they were unsure if Xu Yao had any commercial properties available for rent.

This matter is actually quite troublesome. She has quite a few commercial properties in her hands, but running an escape room business requires a surrounding entertainment business system. The owner also doesn’t dare to rashly switch to a standalone shop, which is one of the reasons why Runda Commercial Center dares to increase the rent.

Xu Yao nodded, keeping this matter in mind, and soon issued a new order, “By the way, Assistant He, please take the new tenant for a full physical examination.”

Such trivial matters actually don’t require He Fan to handle personally, but He Fan understands a principle: to never question the boss’s decisions.

He Fan promptly went to Tai’an Community. Dailishi International Realty had already taken over, and the community’s landscaping, elevator maintenance, and underground parking maintenance were all underway, making the owners very satisfied.

Xie Zhengtian has been wandering around Tai’an Community recently. He felt that being a member of the HOA to protect the rights of the other homeowners—although unpaid—is very spiritually rewarding.

He Fan knocked on Han Zhao’s door and said, “Please follow me to the hospital for a checkup.”

Han Zhao looked confused: “??”

Huh?

Zhou Qi was still peeking in from across the hallway. After providing Han Zhao with some toiletries last night, their relationship remained pretty good.

He Fan said with a righteous tone, “This is to ensure the tenant’s health, so that they won’t suffer from various diseases or sudden death on our property.”

“You should know that if you suddenly die in the house, it will cause a serious loss to Miss Yao Yao’s property value. Future tenants will be afraid to rent it, and selling it will also be difficult, so please understand our actions.”

Although Han Zhao’s mind was still in a haze, he still felt that He Fan made a lot of sense.

If he suddenly died here, it would indeed affect the property value.

After hesitating for a moment, Han Zhao had no choice but to put on his shoes and go to the hospital for a checkup with He Fan.

Meanwhile, amidst the reality show My Home Life recording across the hallway, Zhou Qi and the recording crew looked bewildered.

[What’s going on? Just because they’re afraid a tenant might die in their house and affect the property value, they’re sending the tenant for a health check??]

[F*ck, is Xu Yao really this much of an involution king? Just renting a property, yet they’re even giving tenants a free health check?]

[Yes, yes, I’ve seen news like this before. There was a tenant who suddenly died in the landlord’s house, and the landlord had to sell it at a low price. Both the tenant and landlord were so so miserable.]

[I’ve also seen something similar on the news, where a group of mentally ill kids rented houses to commit suicide by carbon monoxide poisoning, turning the houses into haunted properties. The landlord really had nowhere to cry.]

[Xu Yao’s operation is toxic, but… but let me do it!!]

Xu Yao’s move directly left netizens dumbfounded.

Because they’re afraid of deaths affecting property values, they send tenants for health checks…

That’s quite a vicious statement.

Although Xu Yao’s actions are somewhat off-putting, I have to say—I like it!

Aside from companies that conduct pre-employment health checks, many freelancers won’t go for health checks just to save money. After all, the price isn’t cheap.

What kind of divine landlord is this? It’s just a matter of renting a property, yet they’re arranging health checks for tenants and investing in those with overdue rent!

You call this a landlord? Just fully change the title to Bodhisattva!

Many netizens planning to rent in Haicheng couldn’t hold back and immediately called Xu Yao’s rental team. Isn’t it just a matter of taking Xu Yao’s exam before renting? Who hasn’t gone through nine years of compulsory education?

But when they called, the line was always busy or already engaged.

Does it really have to be that exaggerated?

[Xu Yao Rental, can your team handle this? The line is always busy! I just want to schedule a rental exam!]

[Is this all just hype? Besides Haicheng’s urban villages and Tai’an Community, how many properties does Xu Yao have for rent? Is there any clear information?]

[Lousy team, don’t affect my Yao Yao’s rent collection! If you can’t handle it, hire more people, okay?]

[I’ve heard that Xu Yao’s rental team actually has quite a few people, but they’re all being salted fish, working only three to four hours a day. Can you believe it?]

Soon, the online discussion shifted from the toxic landlord forcing tenants to get health checks to Xu Yao’s rental team.

Li Xiaoli, who collects rent in the urban village, isn’t an exception in Xu Yao’s team; they all have this work schedule!

The boss is a salted fish, and the team under her is also a salted fish!

Furthermore, some directly found Xu Yao Rental information from job recruitment websites like 51job, Zhaopin, Boss Direct, etcetera and posted it on Weibo.

[Oh my god, I just humbly wanted a nine-to-five job, and these people work less than half a day?]

[I’ve submitted my resume. It’s nothing else, I just want to help Yao Yao collect rent.]

[F*ck, the most important point in this job listing is— ‘rejection of involution maniacs,’ because it doesn’t align with the team’s philosophy? Isn’t this tailor-made for me? Perfect for me!]

Xu Yao’s team even registered several social media accounts, all officially verified.

[Xu Yao Rental Official Account v: Dear friends, please don’t worry, the appointment function for viewing houses will be launched soon, stay tuned~ 

Meanwhile, when Han Zhao’s health check report came out, He Fan wished he could cover his face with the report. The surrounding doctors and nurses looked at him with an almost suspicious gaze, as if they were about to call the police at any moment.

He Fan said with a serious face, “I didn’t do it, don’t look at me like that.”

No wonder Han Zhao covered himself so tightly; he was covered in injuries. The most obvious was a burn scar on his nipple from a cigarette, with marks on his back from being whipped with a rattan cane. There was hardly a piece of intact skin on his body.

The doctor looked at him strangely and could only say, “The external injuries are quite severe, but the rest of his body is in good condition. I’ll prescribe some medicine.”

Han Zhao was in a tense state, following He Fan and repeatedly asking, “Will Miss Xu Yao not let me rent her apartment anymore?”

Isn’t Miss Xu Yao afraid that tenants might get sick and die in her house, causing the property value to drop?

Han Zhao felt a bit dazed. He had just spent a night in a warm room, and now he had to go back to the underpass of the bridge to drift aimlessly.

However, when the boy, who was only seventeen or eighteen, thought of this, he suddenly felt his eyes redden, his hands tightly clenched behind his back.

He Fan couldn’t answer rashly before receiving Xu Yao’s instructions, so he could only take Han Zhao back to Tai’an Community first.

As Han Zhao entered the house, he looked around. Although it was still furnished with rental furniture and lacked the warmth of a lived-in home, this small room was the home he had dreamed of last night.

The items in the room were all provided by the landlord, and Han Zhao had no right to take them. He planned to wash the thin quilt in the bedroom, but since he couldn’t wait for it to dry to return it to Zhou Qi, he would have to let Zhou Qi go to the rooftop to fetch it himself.

He Fan placed the medication on the dining table, his voice sounding from behind Han Zhao, “Wait, Miss Yao Yao asked you to rest well.” He Fan had just received a message from Xu Yao.

Han Zhao stiffened, turning around in disbelief, staring at He Fan in shock. “Asked me… to rest well?”

Wasn’t Xu Yao afraid of him, a dirty tenant covered in wounds, causing trouble in her house? 

He Fan nodded in a businesslike manner. “That’s what Miss Yao Yao said verbatim.”

He Fan reminded him to remember to apply the medicine before leaving Tai’an Community. Han Zhao sat dazedly at the dining table, unable to muster any reaction for a long time.

It was Xu Yao who let him live rent-free, it was Xu Yao who arranged for someone to take him to the hospital, and it was still also Xu Yao who didn’t drive him away.

At that moment, Han Zhao somewhat understood what Director Zuo Ning meant when he said Xu Yao was his life’s benefactor.

He got up and went out, and for the first time, actively knocked on the door across the hall. Zhou Qi opened the door.

Han Zhao awkwardly avoided the livestream camera, his dry, chapped lips murmuring as he timidly asked Zhou Qi, “Excuse me, could I borrow a computer?”

He was just a useless waste, so this little talent of his was the only way he could repay Miss Xu Yao.

*

Since they met, Xu Yao and her fiancé had started to keep in touch, chatting occasionally.

[Ji Zhengqing: Yao Yao, is Assistant He working well with you?]

They weren’t familiar with each other and didn’t know each other’s preferences. Their only common topic now was—Assistant He.

[AAAA Professional Rental Little Xu: Quite good.]

[Ji Zhengqing: Mm, I really like Assistant He’s work efficiency. I hope he can be of help to you during this time.]

Xu Yao clicked her tongue. What should I do, President Ji? I like the assistant you like as well.

If she couldn’t dig her biological brother’s corner⁵, then she could only dig from her fiancé… Xu Yao thought for a moment and immediately sent a WeChat message to Lu Ye.

After He Fan left Tai’an Community, he promptly reported back to Xu Yao.

Xu Yao was very satisfied with He Fan’s work efficiency, saying, “You did well. Remember to rest well tomorrow.”

He Fan wasn’t on the same wavelength as her, not quite understanding what Xu Yao meant by ‘remember to rest well tomorrow.’ He glanced at his phone screen—he had remembered correctly. Tomorrow was indeed a workday.

He Fan was still confused. He lived very close to Lu Ye, and on his way home, he happened to run into Lu Ye, who was taking a walk downstairs. He humbly asked Lu Ye, “Lu Ye, when Boss Yao Yao just told me to ‘remember to rest well tomorrow’, did that have some kind of deeper hidden meaning?”

Lu Ye glanced at him. “Just the literal meaning.”

Literal meaning?

He Fan’s mind was a bit slow to process. After thinking for a while, he said, “Does it mean… a day off tomorrow? But isn’t tomorrow Wednesday?”

Lu Ye replied, “Our team implements a four-day workweek, with Wednesdays and weekends off.”

At that moment, He Fan felt like a cluster of fireworks was exploding wildly in his mind, making his head buzz.

A four-day workweek…??

Initially, the other team members weren’t quite used to this four-day workweek model, but after experiencing it, they all found it quite wonderful.

Going back to work on Monday wasn’t so painful anymore; after all, they could rest again after just two days, and when they returned to work on Thursday, they could look forward to the upcoming weekend. This way, employees were full of energy at work, and their efficiency actually improved a lot!

He Fan’s rationality was constantly collapsing. Was a four-day workweek something he could dare to fantasize about?

In Ji Group, they followed the standard two-day weekend. He Fan would take the initiative to work an extra day each week, and even under such conditions, he was already very, very satisfied. Yet Xu Yao’s rental team was even more terrifying.

He Fan couldn’t help but repeatedly ask himself in his heart, did he really enjoy working? What benefits did internal competition and grinding bring him besides preventing his hair from growing?

Could he gain a sense of psychological achievement? That was all f*cking bullsh*t!

Only money mattered. He worked hard to climb to the position of President Ji’s assistant purely for promotion and salary increases—he wanted to earn his paycheck!

He Fan swallowed hard and asked cautiously, “Brother Lu, may I ask about your salary?”

Xu Yao had mentioned that his salary during this time helping the team would be benchmarked against Lu Ye’s.

Lu Ye didn’t care about his salary. He had no special hobbies and didn’t worry about food and housing, so he could save about ninety percent of his money each month.

Lu Ye answered, “About a million⁶.”

He Fan breathed a sigh of relief. This salary was still much less than what he earned at Ji Group. With bonuses and various allowances, he could earn over four million a year at Ji Group.

He Fan’s previously restless thoughts calmed down a bit. After all, he was always thinking about making money and could only force himself to ignore the happy working atmosphere of Xu Yao’s rental team. Perhaps he was just better suited for the highly competitive Ji Group.

Then Lu Ye added in the most casual tone, “Monthly salary.”

He Fan: “…………”

At that moment, He Fan’s pupils were experiencing a magnitude nine earthquake: “!!!”

A million monthly salary?!!

Annual salary of ten million+⁷? Are you forreal, big bro?

In that instant, He Fan suddenly felt that internal competition and involution was detrimental to both his physical and mental health.

Lu Ye quietly watched He Fan clutching his wig, and then delivered a fatal blow: “By the way, Miss Yao Yao has shares in the Xu Group.”

Xu Yao’s rent collection team may not sound as prestigious as the Ji Group, but… the Xu Group, led by the richest man, is certainly no less impressive!

Working for Xu Yao would still make for an impressive entry on a resume, as evidenced by Yan Xiang, who is a living example.

He Fan’s psychological defenses had completely collapsed at this point. He quickly shifted from the shock he had just experienced to his usual serious and calm demeanour, as if nothing had happened, and said, “I want to return to the Ji Group tomorrow.”

He Fan took out his phone and immediately booked the fastest flight back to Jing city that night.

*

The Ji Group is located in Jing city. Before it even hit nine in the morning, the entire company had already started operating, with employees occasionally jogging past while clutching documents to save time.

It was a typical busy Wednesday.

The scene in the president’s office was still bustling. As soon as Ji Zhengqing arrived at the company, he took the documents from his secretary and quickly reviewed them while the secretary reminded him of the day’s schedule.

There was a morning meeting, which would run past ten o’clock.

As Ji Zhengqing walked out of the conference room, his gaze fell on a young man not far away—it was He Fan.

Ji Zhengqing glanced at his WeChat. Xu Yao hadn’t said anything, which meant she tacitly approved of He Fan’s return.

Back so soon? But given He Fan’s style of doing things, Ji Zhengqing could understand.

He was very busy today, with a business lunch meeting with the president of Runda scheduled for noon.

“Back already?” Ji Zhengqing strode past He Fan, heading quickly to his office, while saying, “Xiao Li, hand over the itinerary for the next couple of days to He Fan.”

“Assistant He, I need the project proposal summary within an hour, and also in regards to the lunch preparation…”

Not hearing He Fan’s response, Ji Zhengqing turned back, his deep gaze slightly surprised as he asked, “Assistant He, is there some sort of problem?”

He Fan smiled awkwardly, “Um, President Ji, I… came back to resign.”

Ji Zhengqing: “…?”

Who’s digging his corner?

---

assistant he and president ji’s next assistant are one of my fav characters in this novel GHLDSKFJSDF the fastest face swap—could probably compete with sichuan opera face changing,,,,ahhh intangible cultural heritage [smokes cigarette]

you’ll see how the biggest victim in this novel ends up being ji zhengqing, the inheritance tool fiance constantly getting fleeced of his wool

also, when will chinese authors stop the trope of exiling to africa,,,WE ARE TIRED acting like the gobi desert isn’t right there

also, retiring from the entertainment circle to collect rent everyday will no be updated weekly @ sunday 12pm aest! i’m trying to finish translating running a hotpot restaurant in a post-apocalyptic world and then i’ll see if i can ramp up the updates for this novel or my upcoming novel
(yes i alr have one planned out QAQ spare me)!

1.  【九漏鱼】’Nine leaky fish’ refers to ‘the fish that slipped through nine years of compulsory education’. An internet buzzword that was originally used to mock the low cultural literacy and academic qualifications of some celebrities. It is now also used to mock oneself or to refer to people who have not completed compulsory education, especially those who have not mastered the Chinese language ↩︎
2.  【咸鱼】refers to a person lazy, unmotivated, devoid of drive, a slacker. ↩︎
3.  Term used in gacha (lowkey gambling/probability/pay2win) games where an ‘SSR’ grade card/item represents the highest tier and lowest drop rates, usually with powerful stats. ↩︎
4.  【卷王】popular internet term. In an environment of internal competition, those who eventually stand out with extraordinary efforts and become the only winner are called “King of Involution”. Chinese equivalent to the term ‘try hard’ or overachiever I guess ↩︎
5.  ‘Digging someone’s corner’ (the corner referring to the junction between two walls) means to poach someone, since when you dig at the junction of two walls, the wall ends up collapsing. Poaching refers to stealing someone else’s talent or technology, usually with the intention of damaging the interest or foundation of your competitor ↩︎
6.  Approximately 460k USD ↩︎
7.  Approximately 1.4million USD ↩︎