Tag: 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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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.

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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

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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!

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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.”

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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 ↩︎

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

---

When Ran Lingfeng and Qu Xi shot the short drama Yin Fate, they never expected it to become a hit. So, the sudden explosion of popularity online took them by surprise.

Tonight was their first livestream facing fans, and they had no prior experience. In front of the camera, they were quite reserved, worried that if they weren’t lively enough, it would lead to an awkward silence, yet they were also afraid of talking too much and saying something that might upset the fans. They were nervous and didn’t seem very natural in front of the camera. Sometimes, when they saw fans discussing topics that veered wildly off topic in the comments, they couldn’t help but blush, unsure of how to respond.

These two were truly the epitome of newcomers—young and inexperienced—which excited the fans.

But now it was different. Qu Xi, holding a promotional sign that had been prepared a while ago, switched from her anxious appearance earlier and spoke passionately, “To all the friends facing the challenge of renting a house, are you afraid of encountering unscrupulous real estate agents? Afraid of meeting malicious landlords? Then please put your trust in Xu Yao Rental—neatly resolving all of your concerns!”

Ran Lingfeng, known for his witty tongue, was not willing to fall behind Qu Xi. Upon recalling the joyful seven days spent in the platinum suite at Cloud Peak Hotel, Ran Lingfeng’s enthusiasm instantly surged. He stood up, placing one foot on the chair he had just sat on and resting the promotional sign on his thigh, shouting, “My dear fans, when renting a place, please feel reassured in placing your trust in Xu Yao! I promise you from the bottom of my heart, Xu Yao is definitely the best landlord you will ever meet, bar none! She helps struggling tenants without batting an eye.”

Zuo Ning, even more unabashed, pushed through the back to get to the front, saying in a loud voice, “Xu Yao isn’t only my landlord, but also my life’s benefactor! I thank her for investing in me during my most difficult time in need, which is why you all can no watch Yin Fate on Shark Short Video. For renting, please choose Xu Yao!”

Yan Xiang was even more exaggerated. This talented Chinese literature student not only had excellent writing skills but also had eloquence to match. Holding the promotional sign in one hand and his framed internship report from Xu Group in the other, he passionately quoted classics, crafting an almost perfect image of Xu Yao as a landlord throughout history!

Zuo Ning and the others looked at screenwriter Yan with admiration, clapping for him in unison.

Although he still hadn’t managed to showcase even half of Xu Yao’s good points, the talent of the screenwriter was indeed impressive, far surpassing their own.

The speechless fans in the livestream: “……”

What happened to their earlier awkwardness and fear of saying the wrong thing?

Even the top e-commerce livestream salesperson wouldn’t be able to promote like they did!

Moreover… why did Yan Xiang’s internship report have Xu Group’s seal on it?

After thinking it over, netizens could only conclude—Xu Yao indeed had some skills, even managing to secure Yan Xiang an internship report from Xu Group! So envious!

At that moment, Xu Yao was in the luxurious Haicheng Bay No. 1 mansion. She had just taken a shower and changed into her silk pajamas. She sat on the balcony, watching the livestream on the TV while sipping red wine, with a view of the bustling city in her line of sight.

Xu Yao tilted her head and sighed. Didn’t it seem like they thought too highly of her as a landlady?

Zuo Ning still owed her a month’s rent. If she didn’t help him, and he ended up jumping off a bridge, wouldn’t that mean her rent for that month would go down the drain?

That was a month’s rent! As a landlady, that was her only source of income! So she could only take it seriously, had to force Zuo Ning to pay the overdue rent, right?

Little 6 felt something was off, but the logic seemed fine.

After pondering for a while and not knowing what to say, Little 6 finally said: [Host, it’s been too hard on you, running around for your tenants every day.]

Little 6: [The system has automatically detected that the host is still living a more difficult life in retirement this month than last month. Next month, it will automatically apply for a higher pension for you from the Quick Transmigration Bureau.]

Xu Yao took a sip of red wine, which she heard was more expensive than gold despite not knowing its age, appreciating the neon lights of Haicheng, and nodded deeply:

Conveying her thanks to the Bureau.

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:

*

After the entire crew of Yin Fate, in a joint collective effort, promoted Xu Yao’s rental services, netizens gradually realized that Xu Yao was the short drama’s biggest and only investor.

She was the one who invested in Zuo Ning, the one who booked the platinum suite at Cloud Peak Hotel for the crew, and the one who arranged for their collaboration with Shark Short Videos. Yet, she was also just a simple landlord who wanted to recover the overdue rent she was owed from Zuo Ning.

[I’ve grown tired of saying the term ‘divine landlord’, please let all landlords require a paper like Xu Yao from now on.]

[If you have difficulties, find the landlord. So even if Xu Yao is a bit of a control freak, I still find having to take an exam to rent a house acceptable…]

[Hahaha, I’m dying of laughter. The foolish ones are still hesitating whether to take Xu Yao’s rental exam while the smart ones have already started making phone calls.]

[F*ck, just found out today that toilet cleaner can’t be mixed with bleach! I was planning to go home and clean the toilet today, and I had both bleach and toilet cleaner ready… I’m sweating bullets.]

[Who has the actual questions? Looking for the question key for Xu Yao’s rental exam.]

[Seeking actual questions +1.]

Some netizens who had stormed off that day suddenly regretted it. A landlord who invested 800,000 in anger just to get back a rental payment was truly a divine landlord. Renting a property of hers would be great.

They had left too quickly that day, not even looking at the questions, and could only follow this group of netizens online to ask for the actual questions.

The influencer Little Brother Huang immediately jumped in to hop on this trend. He posted a few pictures of the actual questions on his Weibo, instantly gaining tens of thousands of followers.

Even after leaving the entertainment industry, Xu Yao was still a walking traffic magnet!

Some netizens who genuinely intended to rent a property took the questions seriously, writing down their answers on paper and posting them online for discussion.

[… Ever since graduating, I haven’t taken an exam this seriously in years. It’s really not easy to rent a place these days.]

[Isn’t that right? I didn’t even take the college entrance exam this seriously. Is there a genius who can provide a version with the answer key? I’m begging for help.]

[I have the answer key version. Message me if you need it.]

[To the heartless person upstairs with no conscience: does Xu Yao know you’re selling the question and answer key?]

Isn’t the only requirement just that you have to take an exam to rent a property? Just do it! Who amongst them hasn’t been honed by the sea of questions from nine years of compulsory education?

This was even more of the case for recent graduates—this was no big deal!

Many people, full of confidence, called Xu Yao’s rental team.

On the other end, a very sweet female voice answered: “I’m truly sorry, dear, but our current batch of rental collaborations has ended. You can stay tuned for any further updates!”

…So, it’s just over?

What’s going on? They suddenly felt as if they had just lost millions. 

There was a flurry of discussions online. Some believed Xu Yao was employing a hunger marketing tactic, while others thought she was just too in demand now, with too many tenants vying for her rental properties and she simply didn’t have enough houses to rent out.

Opinions varied, but there was no consensus reached.

However, the explosive success of Yin Fate was already a foregone conclusion. In just a few days, the view count for a single episode had reached seventy million and was expected to surpass one hundred million in the next couple of days at the plot’s climax!

Major platforms were buzzing with discussions, with content creators passionately analyzing the upcoming plot twists in dedicated videos.

“Family, I stayed up all night last night and watched every episode of Yin Fate twenty times at 0.5x speed, so I can safely say I’ve figured out all the foreshadowing plot points.”

As for Seeking Immortality? Liu Yingxia’s remaining fans were still struggling to hold on, but the plot was slow to unfold, and with the simultaneous filming and airing, it was dragging on for too long. It wasn’t long before the viewers, who had extremely rebellious personalities, couldn’t resist the enthusiastic recommendations that flowed like tap water from newcomers and completely transformed into fans.

The morale of the Seeking Immortality film crew was quite low. They were particularly sensitive to audience feedback since they were filming while the drama was airing. The more enthusiastic the audience was, the more serious and energetic the actors became. But with the situation as it is now, the collective mindset at the set wasn’t good.

Who would have thought that despite it not being the summer vacation period, a dark horse would inexplicably emerge?!

And it was a short drama with an investment of less than a million?

Xu Yao was originally the second female lead in Seeking Immortality. After she went crazy and with withdrew from the entertainment industry, she not only terminated her contract with the agency but also stopped her participation in the filming of this web drama.

So, it was Zhao Rumei, an artist from Spark Entertainment, who took Xu Yao’s place after having a few meals with President Zhou, successfully snagging the role of the second female lead in Seeking Immortality.

Zhao Rumei looked at the stills of Qu Xi that were flooding the internet; particularly the one where Qu Xi, dressed in a bright red wedding gown, sat on a coffin under the full moon, which fans dubbed the ‘Immortal Shot’. She felt an indescribable sensation welling up in her heart.

Hadn’t they both been Xu Yao’s roommates before? So why…

*

Xu Yao had a ‘better to have fewer than to have many’ mentality when it came to her tenants.

Xu Yao was holding a large stack of ‘exam papers’ and appraising them, while Xie Zhengtian was passionately sifting through community advertisements with several members of the HOA.

That’s right, they were at Tai’an Community today as well.

Xu Yao’s fiancé and tool for inheritance, Ji Zhengqing, had recommended several highly cost-effective property management companies to Xu Yao. After much discussion, they chose Dailishi International Realty.

This property management company was a foreign brand that had long wanted to enter the Chinese market but had been unsuccessful. As an internet famous landlady, Xu Yao was in a position where promotion was easy, so after some back and forth, she reached a five-year agreement with them.

This property collaboration was nothing like the muddled one with Tiansheng Property; everything was clearly stipulated, and all homeowners had the right to receive detailed income and expenditure reports.

With summer approaching, the swimming pool that had been idle for two to three years would be cleaned and opened to the community after it was determined to be safe.

Xu Yao wanted all homeowners to know that the property management had been hired to serve the community, not to spend money to be managed. The homeowners were the true masters of the community!

“Young Master Xie, why do you always want to run men’s health ads in the community?” The other members of the HOA were all wealthy, leisurely, and legally conscious homeowners. The reason they called him ‘Young Master Xie’ was probably because they knew who Xie Zhengtian was.

Whether it was men’s health ads or circumcision ads, who the hell wanted to see those sorts of advertisements that were an assault to the eyes in the community all day? It’s not like they had a need for them either.

A few association members couldn’t help but look Xie Zhengtian up and down—really can’t tell you’re like this, Young Master Xie.

Xie Zhengtian’s face turned red in an instant. “I’m doing this all for the collective benefit of the homeowners, okay?!”

Xie Zhengtian cast a pleading glance at Xu Yao. “Isn’t that right, Yao Yao?”

Xu Yao was busy admiring the ‘exam papers’ and didn’t have time to pay attention to him.

Xu Yao knew that many people wanted to jump on her hype. She estimated that half of them weren’t actually looking to rent a property but were just curious about ‘how many properties Xu Yao actually has’ and ‘what makes Xu Yao’s properties better than others’.

Through this questionnaire, she could roughly understand the tenant’s style of conduct and determine whether renting the property to the tenant was worth it. Otherwise, encountering someone like Sheng Zhou—who was late on rent, would be a minor issue; if she ended up with some odd individual, the entire property might need to be renovated again.

Without the exam questions, she really wouldn’t know that tenants could be so bizarre. There were truly all kinds of people!

[What would you do if you encountered an elderly couple square dancing until midnight?]

One humorous person wrote: “If I can’t beat them, I’ll join them. I’ll bring a speaker and dance disco in front of their house every morning at dawn.”

As for the question about mixing bleach and toilet cleaner, half got it wrong.

Mixing bleach and toilet cleaner could lead to a disaster for an entire village; would you dare rent to such a tenant lacking common sense? If something happened to the tenant in the property, not only would the landlord jointly liable, but they might even face legal action as well.

Others were just trying to jump on her hype without any real intention to rent, hastily filling out the paper with messy handwriting that was completely illegible.

Xu Yao’s eyes hurt just from reading it, but when she flipped to the next paper, she couldn’t help but be amazed.

Xu Yao suddenly understood why those examiners marking tests liked neat handwriting; it was truly a sight for sore eyes.

The handwriting on the A4 paper was clear and neat, with even the short answer questions being filled with at least four or five lines, clearly showing a that their attitude toward taking the test was correct.

Xu Yao glanced at the basic information.

— —

Name: Han Zhao

Age: 18

Occupation: Unemployed

Desired Rental Price Range: 0-200.

The cheapest properties under Xu Yao’s name were the two buildings in the urban village, but even the cheapest room in those buildings would cost seven to eight hundred yuan. With a maximum desired rent of two hundred, he probably wouldn’t be able to find anything in the entire Haicheng, and could only live under a bridge.

Xu Yao recalled that there was also a minor character named Han Zhao in the original novel, who would join the male lead’s company in a few years. She wondered if this was the same person.

Xu Yao took note of this person and set the paper aside with extra care.

“Yao Yao, you’re too busy. Your rental team needs to bring in new talent,” Xie Zhengtian said with some sympathy for Xu Yao, the busy landlord.

Look, here’s another person saying she works too hard. If next month’s pension from Little 6 isn’t doubled, then she won’t work anymore!

Xu Yao also planned to do so, but the recruitment information had already been released. The issue was whether or not they could find a gem—that was uncertain.

Xu Yao thought that if she couldn’t find any outstanding candidates, she might as well go to Xu Jing’s company and poach a few from there. After all, anyone who could work under the richest man should have strong capabilities.

And Xu Jing, that brother who dotes on his little sister to a monstrous degree, would probably agree.

With a witness, they signed a contract with Dailishi International Realty in Tai’an Community and took a group photo.

To promote it, Xu Yao posted it on Weibo after getting permission.

[Xu Yao v: New property, new atmosphere @Dailishi International Realty, [image][image]]

After leaving the entertainment industry, Xu Yao initially lost some followers, but then gained another large amount, to the point where she has now surpassed two million followers.

Every time she posts, many fans comment.

[Dailishi International Realty? Their official account only has a few thousand followers, is it really a good property management? Don’t just escape from the tiger’s den just to enter a wolf’s lair¹.]

[Dailishi International Realty isn’t just some small property management company, it’s super well-known overseas! It’s consistently been rated in the top three for it’s property service attitude overseas. I experienced it while studying abroad, and the customer service compared to domestic properties is truly exceptional.]

There were also other comments mixed in: [Sob sob sob, thank you Xu Yao for saving my worthless life². If it weren’t for your exam questions, I would have almost cleaned myself into the afterlife today.]

[Ahhh, Xu Yao is really decisive. She said she would replace the property management, and she really did. Her connections are too broad, she can even collaborate with an international property management like this. Sob sob sob, why doesn’t Sister Yao buy a house in my community? I want to be her neighbor!]

Today is another day of envying Tai’an Community!

Some netizens saw the announcement posted by the Tai’an Community HOA, stating that starting today, all internal expenses of the community will be open for review, with every owner having the right to check.

The community’s advertising revenue and outdoor parking income will be uniformly distributed at the end of the year, all clearly written in the contract.

Moreover, with Dailishi International Realty collaborating with Tai’an Community and in order to enter the domestic market, their property management team will undoubtedly provide unprecedented meticulous property services to Tai’an Community, making a huge profit.

Now, netizens who can only rent are eager to rent Xu Yao’s properties, while those who don’t need to rent want to be Xu Yao’s neighbors.

Having such a landlady sister as a neighbor means they can only benefit!

After being firmly rejected by the other members of the HOA regarding the excess men’s health ads, Xie Zhengtian, feeling quite frustrated, asked Xu Yao, “Yao Yao, are you free tonight? My dad and I would like to invite you to dinner.”

Xu Yao replied, “I already have plans.”

Xie Zhengtian was taken aback and hurriedly explained, “I don’t have any other ulterior motive, I just want to thank you.”

Neither Xie Zhengtian nor his father expected that the small short drama, Yin Fate, would bring such a wide download volume!

Back then, his dad had run various ads to attract new users, even organizing activities for new users to watch videos and earn cash, yet wasn’t the app still half dead and barely alive?

Many netizens downloaded Shark Short Videos just to wait for more episodes.

There were also quite a few middle-aged netizens who didn’t usually chase dramas but stumbled upon it while scrolling through short videos, and from then on, they couldn’t stop.

Seeing the engagement, Father Xie thought it was too powerful; even S+ blockbuster dramas aired during the summer vacation period couldn’t compare. The two leads, Qu Xi and Ran Lingfeng, saw a surge in their fans and received many scripts after it.

Father Xie decisively made the decision to give Yin Fate greater exposure.

Moreover, Father Xie keenly realized that this new path was also another direction he could invest in, turning his attention directly to short dramas.

Short dramas require less investment but yield high returns, perfectly meeting the needs of short video users.

Father Xie immediately established a short drama team, planning to quickly follow up and shoot more short dramas since a short drama could be completed in just ten days to half a month!

With the daily active users of Shark Short Videos increasing, Father Xie was very pleased. Who could’ve imagined that he initially just wanted to help his son expand his social network? So the father and son duo really just wanted to invite Xu Yao to dinner.

Xu Yao didn’t misunderstand, explaining, “I really already have plans.”

Her fiancé—the inheritance tool—Ji Zhengqing, flew from the Jing city to Haicheng, just to invite her to dinner.

On top of that, Dailishi International Realty was also introduced to her by him, so it was clearly not feasible for her to skip their appointment.

Hearing this, Xie Zhengtian had to give up and planned to ask for the next day.

“Let’s go. To Pinxian Pavilion for dinner.” Xu Yao handed the large stack of papers to Lu Ye, slipped on her slippers, and left  Tai’an Community, getting into the rental collection van.

This time she was going to meet her fiancé, so Xu Yao planned to change out of her rental outfit and into an elegant French-style off-shoulder sheer coat paired with straight leg pants the colour of milk.

The car was guided by the valet, stopping in the outdoor parking lot of Pinxian Pavilion. Xu Yao was then received by the hostess as she went to the fourth floor.

The last time she came to Pinxian Pavilion was to meet Xu Jing for a family recognition.

The waiters standing on either side opened the door for her as she approached, and Xu Yao walked in wearing high heels.

A man sat at the window seat, dressed casually in simple leisurewear, not in formal attire. His side profile was warm and distinct, exuding an elegant temperament.

Behind him stood a very serious-looking assistant in formal attire.

Hearing a sound, Ji Zhengqing turned to look, standing up to greet Xu Yao, “Hello, Miss Xu, I am Ji Zhengqing.”

The man was very handsome, his features sharper and more prominent than others. His dark eyes, reflecting her delicate face, held a faint smile, looking every bit like a very gentle man.

Xu Yao originally had no impression of this nominal fiancé, but upon seeing him, she gradually remembered.

Initially, she had only agreed to meet with her manager, Sister Fan at Pinxian Pavilion to have dinner with President Zhou just so she could acknowledge her brother, the richest individual, Xu Jing, in advance. But in an instant, she changed her mind and went to the fourth floor.

This top-tier private room naturally has bodyguards, and since Xu Jing has just been appointed as the richest individual, the security measures were also very stringent. It clearly wasn’t easy to get in and meet him.

It just so happened that Ji Zhengqing came out from the inner room, giving her the opportunity to speak with Xu Jing inside.

Xu Yao took her seat, and Ji Zhengqing signaled his assistant to bring over the gift. He pushed it in front of her and said, “I’m sorry, I’ve been on business trips during this time. This is just a small gift.”

Xu Yao couldn’t help but stare at the assistant. To be able to get to the position to work alongside such a powerful CEO—surely he must be quite capable, right?

Ji Zhengqing paused and asked, “I wonder what Miss Xu’s likes and preferences are?”

Xu Yao opened the box in front of him, revealing a lustrous pearl necklace inside. The gift wasn’t particularly surprising, but it looked very luxurious and was definitely expensive.

Xu Yao thought for a moment and replied earnestly, “I love my family³.”

In this world, there are countless hobbies, but her only love is her villa!

Ji Zhengqing had heard that Xu Yao had been in an orphanage before recognizing Xu Jing, so she must be particularly eager for familial affection. Since the Xu family, apart from the collateral families, only had Xu Jing and Xu Yao as the main family, it made sense for Xu Yao to say she loves her family. Ji Zhengqing’s gaze softened even more.

Xu Yao initially thought they would engage in awkward small talk, but he was very adept at keeping the conversation flowing, speaking without a hitch and always responding appropriately.

No wonder Old Master Xu, even on his deathbed, found such a fiancé for his granddaughter.

“Miss Yao Yao, why do you keep looking at my assistant?” Ji Zhengqing turned to look at Secretary He Fan.

He Fan was also puzzled. Was there something wrong with him?

He just hadn’t changed out of the formal attire he wore at the company. After all, he wasn’t the main character tonight, unlike Ji Zhengqing, who had changed several casual outfits and watches before arriving.

Xu Yao’s eyes sparkled. “Assistant He, you must be quite capable at your job, right?”

Ji Zhengqing glanced down at his casual wear that emphasised his youth, realizing Xu Yao thought he… was just a freeloader at the company?

Ji Zhengqing shot a glance at He Fan and smiled lightly. “Not too bad.”

He Fan: “…”

Ji Zhengqing placed his hand on the dining table and guessed from Xu Yao’s gaze. “Yao Yao, are you thinking of poaching my assistant?”

Xu Yao realized Ji Zhengqing was indeed clever; it would be better to poach his assistant than her own brother’s.

In the original novel, Ji Zhengqing was also quite mysterious. It was said that his family had moved to Europe before the founding of the People’s Republic of China, and it wasn’t until his generation that he finally planned to return to the country develop domestically.

Ji Zhengqing smiled and asked casually, “Shall I have He Fan help you collect rent?”

Xu Yao certainly wouldn’t state her thoughts outright. She smiled and said, “Can I really? Isn’t it just that I don’t have enough labour? I want someone capable to help me steer the ship. Just consider it borrowing someone for a side job.”

Ji Zhengqing noticed that his fiancée might not be interested in the pearl necklace he had chosen, but rather appreciated He Fan’s business acumen.

There is never a lack of capable people around Ji Zhengqing. The positions beside him were filled with those who had fought across mountains of corpses and seas of blood, with He Fan being the top representative among the elite. Aside from being the special assistant beside the richest individual, Xu Jing, He Fan wouldn’t be tempted anywhere else.

Just borrow then.

Ji Zhengqing agreed, and He Fan, following his boss’s orders, knew he would eventually return. His ambitions wouldn’t allow him to collect rent for the rest of his life.

Xu Yao immediately held Ji Zhengqing in higher regard; this fiancé was quite easy to talk to.

After dinner, Ji Zhengqing offered to drive Xu Yao home, and she did not refuse.

She got into Ji Zhengqing’s car, while Lu Ye and the others followed in another vehicle. He Fan, who had already entered work mode, also sat in Lu Ye’s car, beginning to read through the various documents from Xu Yao’s rental team.

He Fan flipped through the materials and asked Lu Ye, who was intently watching the car ahead, “Brother Lu, what time will I need to arrive at the company tomorrow?”

Lu Ye didn’t turn his head. “No set time.”

He Fan was startled. No working hours? When he was at the Ji Group, he had to be at the company by eight o’clock every day. After all, the company was so competitive, and everyone was an academic overachiever. If you didn’t work hard, you would eventually be surpassed.

He could only be even more diligent, losing hair by the handful, and even the hair that couldn’t be regrown with traditional chinese medicine had turned into money.

An employee beside him said, “Actually, our working hours follow Miss Yao Yao, but she usually sleeps until noon. If we’re talking about work, she usually arrives by three o’clock in the afternoon.”

The only exception had been when she went to collect rent from Sheng Zhou and had to get up early. Other than that, Xu Yao had been sleeping in every day lately.

He Fan’s pupils shook. Does having a landlady boss who collects rent allow even the employees to be this relaxed??

He cautiously asked, “Is there a need to clock in?”

“We haven’t even seen what a clock-in machine looks like.”

He Fan: “…”

Is… it really like this?

He Fan could hardly focus on the materials in his arms. He couldn’t help but ask, “Is there overtime? I heard many people are booking viewings. It should be quite busy, right?”

He Fan didn’t really pay attention to online entertainment news, as it didn’t help him with promotions or raises, but his boss had been paying attention.

He Fan could only follow along, so he knew that Xu Yao, this landlady, had recently gone viral, with many people booking viewings to ride the hype.

The employee thought for a moment and said, “We actually don’t really do overtime since Brother Lu often gets called in for overtime.”

He knew it! Capitalists can’t possibly avoid the overtime routine!

“Miss Yao Yao sometimes spontaneously wants to go eat something delicious and calls us to go with her. It’s so annoying, I want to lose weight, but I’ve gained several pounds instead. The barbecue from that place last night was just too delicious; I ate several skewers, it was such a sin QAQ⁴.”

The female employee said this while pinching her chubby face in distress.

He Fan swiveled his head, stretching his neck to stare at the talking employee: “…?”

No, wait… you all call this overtime?

He Fan couldn’t help but secretly touch the wig on his head, falling deep in thought.

Xu Yao sat in Ji Zhengqing’s comfortable luxury car, listening to him say that he had a house in Haicheng, and whenever he came to Haicheng on business, he would stay there.

The driver waited for the green light to turn on, counting down the seconds, gradually easing his foot off the brake, preparing to set off in the luxury car.

A figure in black hurriedly crossed the pedestrian crossing, startling the driver. “Why is this person running a red light?”

Xu Yao also looked over at that black figure that swiftly crossed the pedestrian crossing, running towards the nearby KFC.

Little 6 popped up: [Host, that’s Han Zhao.]

Xu Yao wasn’t sure if the Han Zhao Little 6 mentioned was the one from the original novel, or the one who had diligently filled out the entire paper.

Xu Yao turned to Ji Zhengqing and asked, “Can you take me to that KFC over there?”

Ji Zhengqing was momentarily stunned but nodded with a smile.

Xu Yao quickly got out of the car and walked towards the KFC.

Ji Zhengqing felt this was a very unsuccessful meeting; she didn’t like the gift, his outfit was stereotyped as a corporate freeloader, and even the meal he ordered was inferior to KFC.

At this hour, there weren’t many customers inside KFC.

Han Zhao spent money to buy the last discounted burger, refusing a drink add on, and hid in a corner to sit.

At least KFC was better than the bridge underpass; at least they were open 24 hours and couldn’t kick out customers.

Han Zhao planned to sleep here for the night.

Xu Yao stood outside the glass window and saw the frail young boy finish his burger. He looked dirty, hunched over, and dozing off on the table, appearing very weak.

Xu Yao asked, “Is that survey filled out by this person?”

Lu Ye, who had followed her in, stared at the person inside and recalled, “It’s this young man.”

Xu Yao looked down at the neatly written ‘exam paper’ and couldn’t help but smile.

She was worried her rent collection team was still to understaffed.

Xu Yao walked in and saw the frail young boy still dozing off after finishing his burger.

She gestured for Lu Ye to hand over the information, then walked over to Han Zhao and pushed a beautifully written ‘exam paper’ in front of him.

A pleasant voice burst in Han Zhao’s ear, “Excuse me, did you write this?”

Han Zhao opened his eyes, looking confused at the smiling young girl in front of him and the tall bodyguard behind her.

His pupils gradually focused, recognizing that it was Xu Yao in front of him, and the paper was the one he had answered two days ago.

“Yes, I wrote it.”

Xu Yao took out a business card from her pocket and pushed it in front of Han Zhao. “Are you interested in renting my property?”

The young boy with scars on his face stared blankly at the business card, unable to tell what it was made of. It read—

‘Xu Yao Rental,’ ‘Specialised Rental Without Loss,’ along with Xu Yao’s personal contact number!

He reached out to pinch the card and suddenly realized… it was platinum.

Platinum is more expensive than gold. The cost of just this card couldn’t be low.

In fact, he had already received Xu Yao’s kindness. He had received over a thousand in community dividends, otherwise he wouldn’t even have money to buy a burger tonight.

Han Zhao’s face was filled with embarrassment as he quietly said, “I don’t have enough money to rent a property.”

He later heard that Xu Yao’s urban village had changed dramatically, with the lowest rent starting at seven or eight hundred.

Xu Yao asked, “Didn’t you fill in the desired rental price as 0-200?”

Han Zhao nodded, somewhat confused, and then heard Xu Yao say, “Isn’t 0 also within your range?”

Zero… zero rental fee?

Han Zhao was quite bewildered. He had written zero to two hundred but never considered that any landlord would offer a zero rent option.

Xu Yao, like tempting a wandering lamb, said, “You can help me with some work in exchange for rent.”

Li Xiaoli was also fell in that same situation. Ever since she became her employee, Xu Yao felt that just giving her a salary of fifteen thousand was a bit unfair.

After all, she worked hard to help her collect rent in the urban village and had recently been supervising the elevator installation.

Li Xiaoli had been supervising the elevator installation recently, and since she didn’t understand those professional things, she could only sit on a stool, bored, enjoying the breeze and playing games.

Xu Yao knew that sitting like that would be very uncomfortable, and there was a risk of developing a herniated disc. It’s been really on Xiaoli recently.

So starting next month, Xu Yao decided to waive her rent, treating it as the boss covering her housing.

Since Li Xiaoli didn’t have to clock in at the company, Xu Yao couldn’t provide her meals, only a little meal allowance.

Han Zhao could do the same!

This guy was a computer genius in the original novel. After joining the male lead’s company, he helped strengthen the company network’s firewall, preventing the male lead from suffering heavy losses after a failed strategic decision.

Xu Yao felt her employees were really, really working too hard. Ever since their company had gone viral, she felt particularly sorry for Lu Ye and the others, who had to answer calls every day and record appointments for house viewings.

It was too troublesome!

So Xu Yao had an idea: why not try to set up a website? Put the rental appointments on there.

Her employees needed to rest well to help her collect rent, right?

Seeing that the boy was still dazed, she smiled and said, “You can think about it some more. That’s my personal number. Contact me if you need anything.”

Xu Yao suddenly remembered something and quickly added, “Oh right, don’t contact me in the morning or before three in the afternoon.”

Xu Yao left with Lu Ye, while Han Zhao watched Xu Yao’s slender figure shrink further away. He immediately stood up, his tone a bit urgent, “I’m willing!”

Mom, he… seems to have really encountered a female bodhisattva.

*

Xu Yao had her employees arrange housing for Han Zhao. Han Zhao actually wanted to go to the cheapest urban village under Xu Yao’s name, but the urban village building was already fully rented.

“How about Tai’an Community? The small unit across from Zhou Qi hasn’t been rented out yet.”

Han Zhao could live under a bridge, let alone Tai’an Community, which was already fully furnished.

Han Zhao’s eyes turned slightly red. “Actually, my family used to rent a house in your Tai’an Community.” Otherwise, he wouldn’t have received community dividends.

How could he afford to rent a house in Tai’an Community? The smallest unit there started at a five-digit monthly rent! He couldn’t even afford a toilet here.

But actually, having a small toilet room to live in would be pretty good.

Xu Yao wasn’t in a hurry to ask him, she just let Lu Ye take him over first.

Then Xu Yao took Ji Zhengqing’s car back to Haicheng Bay No. 1, and the two bid each other farewell.

Ji Zhengqing sat in the back of the luxury car, watching as the private butler opened the entrance door for Xu Yao.

He remained in the car without driving. The interior was pitch black, with only the occasional flicker of button lights from the driver’s seat.

Suddenly, Ji Zhengqing asked, “Assistant He, does Xu Yao’s ‘I love my home’ have another meaning?”

The car was silent, with no response.

It was the driver in front who spoke up, “President Ji, didn’t you lend Assistant He to Miss Xu?” He had driven away in the rental collection vehicle that belonged to Miss Xu Yao.

Ji Zhengqing then remembered that his assistant had been borrowed by someone else. He hadn’t quite adjusted to it yet.

“President Ji, do we need to urgently expedite for another assistant to come over?”

Ji Zhengqing thought for a moment but shook his head. After He Fan helped Xu Yao with some matters, he would surely request to return. After all, the position of the president’s special assistant had been something He Fan had worked tirelessly to earn. There was no need to find another assistant to fill in; it would only create awkwardness between both parties, and there were already enough secretaries.

---

feel like the length of the chapters is definitely getting longer… [sweating bullets] wdym 7k words,,,QAQ ORZing rn

1.  Don’t escape from one dangerous situation just to jump into another ↩︎
2.  【狗命】 literally translated to ‘dog life’. It’s a self deprecating word, also can be translated to ‘lowly/worthless life’. ↩︎
3.  【家】can be used interchangeably to refer to one’s own home as well as family.  ↩︎
4.  Popular crying expression used on chinese social media ↩︎

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

---

Xu Yao knows how to leverage opportunities for advertising; free positive trending topics are too good to for her to pass up.

After posting the advertisement, Xu Yao directly changed her profile picture and WeChat name to match her reputation of being ‘professional’ and then happily went to sleep, knowing that the calls wouldn’t reach her directly.

[… Xu Yao really knows how to advertise; it’s so hard for me to resist temptation.]

[Hahaha, I really received the dividend; I want to rent Yao Yao’s house again!]

Of course, there were also many rational netizens who liked to assume the worst outcome: [I always feel like Xu Yao is doing this for marketing; no capitalist has a conscience, and landlords are the same.]

But Xu Yao indeed gained quite a bit of advertising from this trending topic; the phone calls kept coming in from that night until the early morning of the next day without stopping.

The night in Haicheng was as brilliant as ever, the river shimmering under the night sky, the cool river breeze making people feel particularly awake.

A tall, thin boy skillfully crawled under a bridge tunnel, taking out a second-hand smartphone worth a few hundred from his tattered pant pocket, and was shocked when he saw a notification. He tried to click into Alipay.

The phone was too laggy, taking nearly five minutes just to get into the app. Just a few hours ago, a user named [*Yao] had transferred over a thousand yuan in community dividends to him.

He was momentarily stunned. It seemed like… he wouldn’t have to live under a bridge anymore.

*

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

When Lu Ye and the others said they hadn’t slept well, it really meant that they hadn’t slept well at all.

Since Xu Yao posted that advertisement on Weibo last night, the phone has been ringing off the hook, all of them from eager people wanting to schedule viewings!

Lu Ye was well aware that the vast majority were just curious netizens and paparazzi; many netizens simply wanted to know how many properties Xu Yao actually had when she said “owning properties in multiple locations,” while the paparazzi just wanted to ride on Xu Yao’s popularity.

Seeing the faint dark circles under Lu Ye and the others’ eyes, Xu Yao felt that her rental team needed to expand.

The current rental team was the original team from Xu Real Estate, with only a few people brought in by Lu Ye, and also Li Xiaoli who had been the only one she hired externally. She needed to urgently recruit more staff.

“Miss Yao Yao, since last night, there have been a total of 465 calls for viewing appointments excluding malicious harassment calls,” an employee stifled a yawn as they reported to Xu Yao.

Xu Yao was very distressed about this, “From now on, it is strictly forbidden to take work calls during break time. I’ll also double your salaries.”

As soon as the mention of a salary increase was made, the employees instantly felt less tired, their eyes filling with joy as they chorused, “Thank you, boss.”

Although Lu Ye had little reaction to the salary increase, Xu Yao understood. Ever since Lu Ye was saved by her grandfather, he had been working tirelessly for the Xu family and believed it was only natural for him to work for her.

Xu Yao reminded him, “By the way, this advertisement was done well, but I don’t wish to rent my property to someone like Sheng Zhou again.”

Her properties were all vacant, and she refused to rent to tenants with poor character. Renting is a two-way street; Xu Yao also had the right to be selective about her tenants and would be strict in her selection.

As for how to find suitable tenants, Xu Yao already had a plan in place.

Lu Ye acknowledged this, holding a tablet dedicated to rental inquiries, and checked the schedule for the day, “Miss Yao Yao, we need to go to Tai’an community in the next few days to hold a homeowners meeting and establish a homeowners association.”

Was it all just to receive the community dividends from the past five years?

No, of course not! This was just an appetizer prepared by Xu Yao; her real goal was to change the property management company for Tai’an community!

Only a landlady who can meet her tenants’ needs is truly a good landlady!

People are just this pragmatic; the entire Tai’an community was buzzing with excitement over receiving the community dividends, and the homeowners meeting turnout was packed to the brim.

Only tangible benefits can move people.

“Hello fellow homeowners, I’m Xu Yao, the owner of Building 3. Welcome to the homeowners meeting to establish our community’s homeowners association¹.” Xu Yao instructed Xie Zhengtian to distribute the materials to everyone. “I know that many of you have suffered under the current property management, so I’m her to propose that we replace Tiansheng Property.”

All the homeowners present were taken aback. Replace… the property management? Can property management even be changed?

Although they often cursed the garbage property management for being ineffective, most homeowners had never considered changing property management and had no idea it was even possible.

“After replacing Tiansheng Property, we can sign a new cooperation contract with the new property management company with an agreement on how the community’s public revenue should be distributed.”

Immediately, a neighbor’s eyes lit up. “Does this mean we might have a chance to receive community dividends in the future?”

They had thought receiving it once was like winning the lottery; could there be more?

Xu Yao smiled and said, “The revenue from the community’s public areas rightfully belongs to the homeowners collectively. If there’s profit, of course it should be shared with everyone.”

The property fees for the Tai’an community were actually quite high. Hearing that the community profits could not only offset the expensive property fees but that any surplus would also be distributed as dividends to all homeowners, the excitement among all the homeowners present soared to unprecedented heights!

Trash property management companies should be eradicated!

Tiansheng Property, get out of Tai’an community!

Xu Yao, Xie Zhengtian, and several neighbors invited by Xu Yao smoothly became members of the HOA.

Xie Zhengtian felt a complex mix of emotions, looking at his neighbors with an indescribable sense of trust. This feeling… seemed quite nice.

His father always thought he wasn’t serious enough about his work. Who had ever trusted him like this?

Xie Zhengtian was in high spirits, his desire to seek benefits for the collective homeowners swelling wildly.

“Yao Yao, do you have a property management company in mind for collaboration? My buddy who just returned to the country is quite knowledgeable about this subject,” Xie Zhengtian asked excitedly.

Xu Yao recalled her fiancé—the inheritance tool—who had sent her a lot of information on recommended property management companies, “I already have a few in mind.”

However, this would not be a decision made solely by Xu Yao; it required the agreement of the collective homeowners.

Xie Zhengtian had previously been annoyed by advertisements in the community, but now his eyes lit up when he looked at the billboards in Tai’an community. “Yao Yao, to maximise the benefits for the majority of us homeowners, we can select many high-revenue advertisements!”

Since they couldn’t stop the community from having advertisements, they might as well maximize the profits!

Let’s go for the most profitable advertisements!

Xu Yao was curious, “What kind of advertisements have high revenue?”

“I just got the advertising details from the property management company,” Xie Zhengtian pulled out a stack of materials, winking at Xu Yao with pride. “For example, men’s health clinics, infertility treatments, circumcision, and the like—the prices are all quite high!”

Xu Yao: “…”

Xu Yao earnestly said, “Little Xie, there’s some kinds of money we shouldn’t earn.”

Xie Zhengtian thought this was clearly a very feasible idea!

*

Recently, Tai’an community had become quite popular. Aside from one of the guests from My Home Life living here, Xu Yao was also another hot topic.

A swarm of paparazzi was closely monitoring the community’s every move, ready to send out a direct report on any news online.

[Entertainment News: Big Scoop! Xu Yao organizes the collective homeowners of Tai’an community to replace Tiansheng Property! The reason seems to be multiple tenants complaining to Xu Yao about the property management’s inaction!]

The comments were filled with question marks.

[??? Xu Yao organized the homeowners to fire Tiansheng Property just because the tenants are dissatisfied with the property management?]

[Holy sh*t, holy sh*t, this must be Xu Yao’s real trump card, right? Dividends are just small benefits but helping tenants replace the garbage property management is the real deal!]

[Is it really Xu Yao? Is this some fake news? Is there really such a good landlord?]

Zhou Qi was also a bit confused. Wait… is this for real?

Because of the video where Xu Yao shared dividends with him, and with Sheng Zhou now gone, the multi-talented Zhou Qi had recently gained a bit of popularity, increasing his followers by several hundred thousand with which he was quite satisfied with.

So Zhou Qi simply returned the favor by posting a photo on Weibo, showing Xu Yao refusing to accept his past property fee payment, along with Xu Yao’s reply:

[Xu Yao: You don’t need to pay the property fee for now. I’m currently teaming up with other homeowners to prepare to replace the property management.]

The timestamp was from over half a month ago!

This screenshot almost directly confirmed—

Half a month ago, Xu Yao was already planning to replace the property management; this wasn’t an impulsive decision!

[Damn? So Tiansheng Property suddenly sent money to all homeowners, not because they suddenly grew a conscience, but because of Xu Yao? No, to be precise, it was because of Xu Yao’s tenants?]

[Yes, yes, yes, I remember! The day Xu Yao asked Sheng Zhou for rent, Yang Guofa, the general manager of Tiansheng Property, also came. The property’s payment was really because of Xu Yao!]

[Oh my god, what kind of sweet group pet drama plot² is this? Isn’t this landlady Xu Yao too kind to her tenants? She changed the property management just because her tenants were dissatisfied?]

[Facing terrible property management, my landlord: Just endure it; Xu Yao: Get rid of it.]

[My worldview has been shattered. What kind of amazing landlord is this? She changed the property management just because her tenant complained about it? Is being Xu Yao’s tenant so satisfying?]

[Emmmm, am I the only one paying attention to Xu Yao’s WeChat avatar and name? I’m about to die laughing.]

Giving tenants a dividend is one thing, but replacing the property management company they’re not satisfied with? Even novels wouldn’t dare write this sort of plot!

A group of Tai’an Community owners belatedly realized that they were benefiting from Xu Yao’s tenants?

#What kind of divine landlord is Xu Yao# directly jumped to the top of the trending topics once again.

Those who have rented before feel a strong sense of camaraderie to the topic. In fact, there’s an invisible boundary, a subtle sense of discrimination. In society, many people look down on renters despite the fact that they pay rent and as a result, also have the right to use the property.

Xu Yao doesn’t; not only does she not discriminate, but she also pays great attention to the feedback her tenants give her.

[Sob sob sob, I’m seriously moved to tears. So there really are landlords who take their tenants’ words to heart?]

[I apologize and repent. I previously thought Xu Yao’s dividend was just a way to spend a small price in return for marketing, damn me!]

[Is it too late to contact Xu Yao’s team to schedule a viewing?]

[Sob sob sob, Xu Yao really ought to be wealthy, she really deserves it!]

Zhou Qi saw that Weibo was full of comments envying him for renting Xu Yao’s property, and his heart couldn’t help but leap with joy.

He was a renter, no mistaking it, but his renting experience is much more enjoyable than that of majority of homeowners!

Xu Yao looked at her soaring number of Weibo followers and the emotionally charged comments.

Isn’t this all just what a landlady should do?!

Shouldn’t a competent landlady work to improve the happiness of her tenants? Isn’t that right, Little 6?

Little 6 choked up: “Yes, host. It’s really been hard for you. You’re truly competent.”

Xu Yao went completely viral. Almost everyone in Haicheng who considered renting would immediately think of renting Xu Yao’s property!

Lu Ye and the others’ phones were almost ringing off the hook. In just a few days, thousands of people had made appointments to view properties.

Xu Yao’s rent collection team’s employees spoke with incredibly sweet voices on the phone, “Sir, before viewing the property, we need to understand your basic situation, which will take a considerable amount of time. Is this alright with you?”

“Yes.”

A young man with exaggerated blond hair readily agreed. It’s normal for a landlord to understand the basic situation before renting, right?

This guy was a small-time influencer. After making an appointment with Xu Yao’s team, he flipped the camera, speaking in an exaggerated tone, “Family³, I’ve made an appointment to view the property. Let’s all see what other properties Xu Yao has! I’ll be live streaming when the time comes, see you in the livestream!]

[You’re too incredible, Brother Huang! You actually got a chance to view the property?]

[Can’t wait, can’t wait. I really want to know what Xu Yao’s rental properties are like.]

Some netizens were puzzled: [?? Brother Huang, your appointment to view the property was also scheduled during tomorrow afternoon? How is my time slot is also for the same time?]

[+1, it’s so strange, mine is also scheduled for tomorrow afternoon.]

[??? What’s going on? Is everyone scheduled for tomorrow afternoon?]

The influencer, Little Brother Huang, wasn’t quite sure either. He scratched his blond hair and made a guess, “Family, maybe there are too many people making appointments to view Xu Yao’s properties, so they’ve all been grouped together to save time.”

Real estate agents sometimes do this, taking two people to view a property at the same time. Whoever takes a liking to it and pays the deposit first gets it.

Seems like this Xu Yao really understands the situation with her methods!

The next afternoon, the influencer Little Brother Huang arrived at the appointed location right on time.

A beautiful female employee in the lobby smiled and asked Little Brother Huang, who was looking around, “You must be Mr. Huang, No. 103 who made an appointment to view the property yesterday? Please come in.”

Little Brother Huang held his live-streaming phone in one hand and looked around.

Something felt… strange?

[Little Brother Huang made an appointment to view a property, right? Why is he going to an office building?]

[Is Xu Yao’s team taking Little Brother Huang to see a commercial apartment?]

[Damn, so many people made appointments to view the property.]

[Some people are just here to ride on the popularity of Xu Yao’s rental business. They’re not genuinely looking to rent. Those sort of people are so annoying, wasting Yao Yao’s team’s time.]

[+1, I’ve recently considered genuinely renting, but couldn’t get an appointment to view the property.]

Influencer Little Brother Huang was a professional property viewing content creator. He himself has naturally viewed hundreds of properties, yet never before had an appointment to view a property been so strange.

Full of questions, Little Brother Huang held his live-streaming phone and walked inside.

“Family, this really doesn’t seem to be a residential property…” Little Brother Huang muttered as he walked down the seemingly endless corridor, following the employee’s guidance to a room which was filled with people.

Little Brother Huang glanced inside and was instantly confused!

The room seemed to be an empty office, about three to four hundred square meters, with white walls and white tiles, and rows of desks and chairs inside.

Little Brother Huang: “?”

Did he come to the wrong place?

[??? What’s going on? Isn’t this an appointment to view a property?]

[Oh my god, what a familiar feeling—why does this look so similar to my university exam hall!]

[+1, seeing this scene, my heart sank. This looks like a f*cking exam hall! My most feared place!]

Confused, Little Brother Huang walked in, found a seat, and started chatting with the people around him.

“Brother, did you also come to view a property as well?”

The nearly bald man chuckled, “Not exactly. Isn’t Xu Yao’s rental business just too popular? I came to see what kind of properties she has for rent.”

A young girl near the front looked confused and said, “I genuinely came to rent a house, so what’s going on now?”

With every seat filled, it felt like a f*cking exam room—a parent-teacher meeting!

Little Brother Huang was full of questions as he looked at the densely packed crowd—at least two to three hundred people. There’s no way this many people are all here to view properties, right? Even a big villa wouldn’t be able to accommodate so many people at once.

At that moment, an employee walked in, standing at the very front, and smiled at everyone, saying, “Thank you all for trusting Xu Yao Rental with your rental needs. Before we start the viewings, we’ll need to gather some of your basic information.”

When the sheet of A4 paper was handed out, everyone present at the scene looked bewildered. The customer service line had indeed mentioned that they would need to gather some of their basic information before the viewing, and that it would take some time, but no one expected it would involve answering questions!

Aside from basic information like the desired place of rental and range, preferred rental price, and current employment, there were even stranger questions—

[Assuming you are cleaning the entire house, which of the following cannot be used together?

A. Toilet cleaner and mite removal spray,
B. Toilet cleaner and bleach,
C. Bleach and kitchen degreaser,
D. Kitchen degreaser and high strength drainage and blockage cleaner.

Little Brother Huang was instantly dumbfounded: “…”

What… is this?

No way, landlady, is an exam really required just to rent a house???

When fans in Little Brother Huang’s livestream also saw the content on the blank paper, the chat instantly erupted!

[? F*ck, Xu Yao really knows how to joke, she’s really making people take an exam just to rent her house!]

[Ummmmm which option should I choose? I feel like they can all be used together.]

[Is Xu Yao getting too carried away? It’s just renting a property, why is she making it difficult for tenants with exam questions?? She just helped replace the property management company, and now she’s acting like this? Who would want to rent her lousy house with all this hassle!]

[Oh my gosh, renting a house requires an exam? I hate answering questions the most; if I were Little Huang, I would just turn around and leave.]

[… Xu Yao has really overdone it with her marketing. She should just rent out her house properly and stop with these gimmicks.]

Renting even requires tenants to attend an exam. Truly, like an unmarried girl getting on a sedan chair⁴, it’s truly a first!

It’s simply toxic!

The main point was that there were quite a few bizarre questions on that paper, and with all the strange problems as well, it was clear the exam couldn’t be finished in less than half an hour.

Questions about the use of fire safety equipment, how to handle a burst water pipe, and even what to do if an elderly lady downstairs square dances until late at night.

What kind of nonsense is this!

Someone couldn’t take it anymore and suddenly stood up, demanding, “What’s Xu Yao playing at? I came to schedule a house viewing, not to take an exam! Whoever wants to write can write!”

The man angrily crumpled the paper and left in a huff.

“Xu Yao’s marketing is too much; asking basic information is fine, but why check for other things?” 

Another middle-aged woman also stood up with a sullen expression. “I’m not renting anymore. There are plenty of real estate agencies in Haicheng. I’ll just find another one.”

“I won’t answer either. I’m leaving to look at other houses.”

“……”

The scene was chaotic, and soon more than half the people had left.

However, a young boy twirled the black pen in between his fingers, slowly filling out the information and taking his time—

At least it was air-conditioned here, much more comfortable than a bridge filled with mosquitoes.

#Xu Yao’s rentals requires exams# spread like wildfire and even made it to the trending topics.

Previously, those who praised Xu Yao for giving tenants dividends and changing property management couldn’t help but turn against her, with public opinion shifting rapidly!

[If renting requires an exam, then I better not rent anymore, ha.]

[?? I’m stunned; I’m the one paying to rent the house! I’m paying, and I still have to take an exam? Has Xu Yao lost her mind?]

[If renting requires answering questions, she can forget about renting out her house; everyone’s time is valuable. What’s the point of wasting so much time?]

[Ermmm, is it really necessary to react this way? If you don’t want to answer questions, then just don’t schedule a viewing; it’s actually quite good, preventing those who just want to ride the hype from wasting Xu Yao’s time without actually renting.]

[Xu Yao’s marketing stunt has backfired. She’s gotten a bit too high and mighty. It would have been simpler to just ask a couple of questions and rent it out.]

Xie Zhengtian looked at the trending topic on Weibo and couldn’t help but say, “Yao Yao, you’re getting scolded again.”

Xu Yao remained calm, “It’s just a two-way selection.”

Rather than renting to some weird person, she preferred to carefully screen her tenants. If it couldn’t be rented out, then the worst that could happen would just be leaving it empty.

She would never rent her property to someone like Sheng Zhou ever again.

Xie Zhengtian understood—not renting the property out wouldn’t starve her to death.

Remembering Xu Yao mentioning something about a short drama, he said, “Yao Yao, I’ve already spoken with the supervisor at Shark. They’ll create a special column for you, and they’ll contact you to sign the contract by tonight at the latest.”

Yin Fate has already finished filming, only taking Zuo Ning and another editor a day to finish the post production editing. The short drama also needs to be submitted for review, and if all goes well, should be out in the next few days.

Zuo Ning was moved to tears when he heard that Xu Yao had even arranged a broadcast distribution platform for him.

In Zuo Ning’s view, he could just post it directly on a short video platform; who knew Xu Yao would collaborate with Shark Short Videos and even have them create a special column just for them!

Did their insignificant short drama even deserve this?

If Xu Yao said they deserved it, then they deserved it!

Shark Short Videos had only entered the short video market in the past year, and carving out a piece of market share hadn’t been easy.

Father Xie didn’t mind that Xie Zhengtian had someone create a special column for Xu Yao—just think of it as helping his son make more friends.

Three days later, Yin Fate officially launched on Shark Short Videos, with five episodes released on the first day.

Xu Yao simply shared it across all her social media platforms, not even leaving out her Moments⁵.

[Xu Yao, are you really not going to change the criteria a bit? Why do you require people to take an exam to rent your property?]

[F*ck is this a web drama? Only five minutes per episode?? Are there really web dramas this short?]

[OMG, I clicked in and got scared to death. Xu Yao, you’ve won. My reasons for not renting your property—besides having to take an exam—have just increased by one.]

[Finally finished waiting for Yin Fate, sob sob sob, Director Zuo Ning has fulfilled his dream. I almost thought he wouldn’t be able to finish filming.]

Ji Zhengqing had already returned to the country for two or three days, and finally found the time to meet his fiancée, whom he had only seen once.

He sat in his home in Jing city, scrolling through his contacts, staring blankly at the WeChat name and profile picture. He clicked in to check their chat history and couldn’t help but stare at the WeChat name and profile picture again.

It had only been a few days since they last contacted each other, how had she… already changed her name and profile picture?

[AAAA⁶ Professional Rental Little Xu: [link] Yin Fate short drama is now on Shark Short Videos, click to watch!]

Ji Zhengqing silently looked at Xu Yao’s profile picture with the big red background and the words “Professional Rental” written on it: “…”

[Ji Zhengqing: Okay, I will take a look.]

Xu Yao was a bit surprised. She didn’t expect that just sharing the link casually would get a reply from this fiancé whose face she could hardly remember. She had no choice but to awkwardly reply.

[AAAA Professional Rental Little Xu: Ok, thank you.]

[Ji Zhengqing: I’m back in the country. Are you free these days, Miss Xu? I’d like to invite you out for a meal.]

[AAAA Professional Rental Little Xu: I’m free.]

After the two of them agreed on a time, Xu Yao planned to let him lie in her contacts⁷.

Ji Zhengqing stared at the chat interface and ultimately deleted the message “Your previous profile picture was very nice,” and clicked on the link Xu Yao had just mass shared.

Ji Zhengqing already had the Shark Short Videos app because it was developed by Xie Zhengtian’s family. That kid had tearfully begged him to download it, so he did, but after registering an account, he had never used the app.

Upon clicking in, he was surprised to find the short drama had its own dedicated section with a total of five episodes.

He could choose between landscape or portrait mode, and it also supported bullet comments.

Xu Yao didn’t like watching on her phone, so she simply cast her phone to the large LCD TV. The eerie singing began, and the first scene was a damp, dark cobblestone path at night, where a pair of red embroidered shoes with white socks suddenly appeared, leaving a trail of footprints.

The story is set during the Republic of China⁸, featuring a young lady named Xiuxiu, who, after her parents passed away, lived with her uncle and returned to her hometown with him to pay respects to her ancestors…

Little Ou, an ordinary worker who had been extremely invested in this short drama, downloaded Shark Short Video at the first opportunity. Every frame made him breathe nervously, and before he knew it, he had finished watching the fifth episode.

The doll-faced and incredibly cute Xiuxiu, dressed in a bright red wedding gown, pushed the male lead into a pitch-black coffin with one hand. Laughing heartily, she sat on the constantly banging coffin with her legs dangling carefreely, nearly scaring away what was left of Little Ou’s soul.

Little Ou was so scared he didn’t dare to breathe. “Is… it over? Already?”

The five episodes only totaled 25 minutes!

The short drama Yin Fate had already gained some popularity due to the viral platinum suite incident, so there were quite a few people already watching.

Many netizens instinctively switched to 2x speed, and before they could react, an episode had already ended. They hadn’t even fully digested the drama’s content, so they hurriedly went back to the first episode and watched it again at the original playback speed.

It seemed… quite interesting.

Seeking Immortality aired its first episode tonight. In this world, most TV dramas are filmed and aired simultaneously. This was Liu Yingxia’s first time as the female lead, and after being dragged down by Sheng Zhou, this drama was her last hope.

Since the summer vacation prime time was approaching, and since Liu Yingxia was just a rising starlet who couldn’t compete with true first-tier actresses, she specifically chose to air the drama during this period when there were no competing dramas.

Seeing Liu Yingxia sitting at the table, nervously staring at the tablet, her manager advised her, “Xia Xia, there aren’t any S+ dramas airing recently, our Seeking Immortality is definitely safe.”

Liu Yingxia was still anxious, but she had no choice and could only take this gamble.

Three hours after the first episode aired, Liu Yingxia clicked in to watch and sighed in relief when she saw that the majority of the bullet comments were positive. It didn’t seem too bad.

[Long-winded and draggy. The first episode took forty minutes just to set up the backstory and show the initial meeting of the male and female leads. Isn’t that too slow? I even thought 2x speed was slow!]

[Maybe the plot hasn’t fully started yet, let’s wait for the next episode. Liu Yingxia is quite pretty.]

[There’s a short drama on Shark Short Videos called Yin Fate that’s quite good, only five minutes per episode and not a single wasted line.]

[What short drama? The one that rental question master Xu Yao shared?]

Current web dramas have a common flaw—the first episode is filled with foreshadowing and lore creation, and the male and female leads don’t end up meeting for more than a few minutes. Then, news comes about a short drama with only five minutes per episode; you can watch two or three episodes in the time it takes to go to the bathroom. Many netizens were drawn in and, upon seeing it, decided to download Shark Short Video to take a break.

[…This short drama is actually quite good, the pace is incredibly fast, every line is useful, and most importantly, Xiuxiu is both beautiful and creepy!]

[OMG, with a doll face and bangs doing such terrifying things, this female lead’s acting is really amazing. She seems to be a newcomer, right?]

[Xiuxiu is so pitiful. She clearly brought all her possessions over to live with her uncle, but not only did he embezzle her wealth, he even plotted to take her life and sacrifice her to the mountain god.]

The main point is that the reviews were quite good!

After watching all five episodes, Zuo Ning was very satisfied to see the views had reached a few thousand before he went to sleep.

“Zuo Ning, wake up, stop sleeping! Our short drama has gone viral!” Zuo Ning, who had gone to bed late, was almost shaken awake by Ran Lingfeng early the next morning.

Zuo Ning, originally still groggy, instantly woke up at these words, “Viral? It got taken down?”

Zuo Ning’s first reaction was that this was a possibility, nearly scaring him to tears. He had invested 800,000 through Xu Yao, plus a seven-day platinum suite experience at Cloud Peak Hotel!

“It’s not that it was taken down, but… you see for yourself…” Ran Lingfeng couldn’t help but get excited as he handed over his phone.

Last night, when Zuo Ning went to bed, he remembered that each episode had only a few thousand views, but now: Episode 1 had 330,000 views, and the fifth episode, which had ended on a small climax, reached 370,000 views!

Zuo Ning was quite confused: “Uh… shouldn’t the views decrease steadily?”

How did it go viral like this?

Did someone buy fake data?

Zuo Ning and Ran Lingfeng stared at the comment section and bullet comments for each episode; they didn’t look like bots, they were all real netizens.

The two exchanged glances and asked in unison, “What’s going on?”

They only had one investor, and the only person they could think of was Xu Yao.

[AAAA Professional Rental Little Xu: Just bought a Weibo splash screen⁹.]

Xu Yao only bought a splash screen. The trending topic #Yin Fate# was purely due to netizens boosting it.

[This short drama is really good. Watch it at 0.5x speed to appreciate the many folk elements— paper-cutting, opera, shadow puppetry… worth savoring!]

[The pace is so fast, will Xiuxiu and the male lead fall in love? Isn’t that a separation of living and dead¹⁰? BE aesthetics¹¹?]

[Damn, I’m both scared yet itching to watch it; looking for a buddy to watch this short drama with me, or I’ll be too scared.]

[@Director Zuo Ning, what’s the update schedule? Is it weekly, like the drama that continues filming while airing?]

Zuo Ning was quite bewildered. Aside from the last time when the platinum suite had inexplicably gained a bit of popularity, this was the first time so many netizens had commented.

Zuo Ning also honestly replied to the netizens’ comments.

[Zuo Ning: The short drama is fully filmed, with one episode updated daily.]

This made many netizens perk up; the worst thing about watching a drama is the long wait for updates— daily updates are great!

Liu Yingxia never expected that they had specifically chosen this time to air Seeking Immortality to avoid first-tier male and female actors, and yet… a short drama called Yin Fate inexplicably emerged?

Can even a short drama compete with them?

A netizen on Red Note couldn’t help but ask: [Looking for honest reviews, is it really good? Can only watch on Shark Video?]

Netizens immediately replied underneath.

[Girl, this short drama is really good, worth downloading!]

[Xiuxiu is so beautiful, really both cute and scary at the same time. I’ve already taken a lot of screenshots for wallpapers!]

[I heard this short drama almost got canceled because the director couldn’t pay their own rent. Luckily it was noticed by an investor.]

Ran Lingfeng and Qu Xi’s Weibo followers also started to increase.

Originally, Qu Xi’s Weibo followers were only a few tens of thousands, and getting over a hundred comments on a post was already considered quite good for her. But now, a single post could exceed ten thousand, with comments all being like—

[How did you manage to be so cute yet so scary?]

[Found a treasure sister! Her acting is too good. Daily photos are super sweet, yet in the drama, she’s simply the real demon!]

[Sob sob sob, will you do a livestream?]

Qu Xi touched her face. Was she really that scary? Yao Yao even said she looked super well-behaved.

Looking at her rapidly increasing Weibo followers, Qu Xi felt a bit light-headed. It seemed she had gained a little bit of fame…

Qu Xi couldn’t help but check her camera roll again. Late last night, she had been pushed to the trending topics list. Although only in the thirties, there was indeed a hot search called #Qu Xi#, so she had taken a screenshot to commemorate this historic moment.

It was really magical and inexplicable. She had only wanted to thank Xu Yao for introducing her to this guest appearance.

Qu Xi couldn’t resist entering WeChat and saw Xu Yao’s profile picture and WeChat name.

It seemed Yao Yao wasn’t having much luck with renting out her place these days.

Feeling a bit sorry for Xu Yao, Qu Xi made a small suggestion to Zuo Ning.

That night, the creators of the short drama Yin Fate, including director Zuo Ning gathered together for a livestream. Seeing the rapidly surging view count quickly surpassing hundreds of thousands, the group of people felt a bit nervous.

They clearly hadn’t expected it to be this popular.

Ran Lingfeng and Qu Xi sat together, watching the bullet comments in the livestream, answering netizens’ questions, the atmosphere very harmonious.

Some netizens asked Zuo Ning how he managed to secure investment, bringing the short drama back to life.

Seeing this question, Zuo Ning felt a pang in his nose, took the microphone, and faced the live stream camera, saying, “This… I need to start from when I owed the investor a month’s rent…”

[Zuo Ning owes the investor a month’s rent? Isn’t he renting Xu Yao’s building in the urban village?]

[Wait… Xu Yao is the biggest investor? Didn’t she just spend money to get Qu Xi in?]

[?? Xu Yao invested because you owed rent? Just for this reason?]

The netizens in the live stream were still confused, waiting for Zuo Ning to continue telling the arduous behind-the-scenes story of the drama’s creation.

“It’s time! It’s half past eight.” Screenwriter Yan Xiang, was also invited over. He looked at the time and immediately whispered a reminder.

The fans in the live stream were still a bit confused. What do you mean it’s time? Is the livestream ending?

It’s only half past eight, and they’re ending the livestream? At this time, just a little longer and it’ll be the peak time for traffic in the evening! Many netizens were only just entering the livestream now.

As soon as it hit half past eight, the main actors Ran Lingfeng and Qu Xi, along with Zuo Ning, screenwriter Yan Xiang, the editor, post-production team, and others, all pulled out a sign from below the camera—

[Xu Yao Professional Rental, Reliable Rental Company Based in Haicheng, Direct Rental from Landlord with No Agency Fees, Team Contact Number: XXXX]

Netizens stared blankly at this scene, then couldn’t help but come to the realisation:

It really was Xu Yao who invested in Zuo Ning, who was still just a tenant at the time. Then renting a place which required taking an exam, it seemed… wasn’t unacceptable.

---

The author has something to say:

[Assuming you are cleaning the entire house, which of the following cannot be used together?]

A. Toilet cleaner and mite removal spray, 

B. Toilet cleaner and bleach, 

C. Bleach and kitchen degreaser, 

D. Kitchen degreaser and high strength drainage and blockage cleaner.

Choose B.

6.5k words QAQ wordpress says it’ll take 30 mins to finish reading HSDFLKJDSFJ DON’T GET ME STARTED ON THE FOOTNOTES TOO HAGLKDSJDFS

sorry for the vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv late update orz i’ve been going through personal issues and not feeling the best but someone commented on my recent tl and another donated a kofi (but didn’t leave which series they wanted another chapter of qwq pls lmk via kofi orz) but here’s another chapter! i’ll try tl more TT

in regards to the chapter though, idk if it’s legit or not but i never knew bleach couldn’t be used with toilet cleaner (just searched it up and apparently it’ll cause chemical reactions.) who knew reading cnovels could save lives

also how would u guys feel if you had to take that sort of exam to rent a place, BUT the landlord/lady is as conscientious as XY?

1.  Homeowners Association (commonly referred to as HOA) refers to an organization that governs a residential community, collecting fees from residents to maintain shared spaces and amenities, like pools and gardens, and to enforce community rules and restrictions. ↩︎
2.  [甜宠文] sweet (group) pet plots refer to when the main character is pampered and loved like a pet/baby by other characters in the story ↩︎
3.  “Family” is a popular internet term.In the live streaming industry, anchors often use this term to address their audiences, aiming to establish an emotional connection and virtualize the audience into “family” members. It can also appear on short video platforms, such as in online slang such as “Family people who understands”, to express exaggerated or sarcastic emotions. Think of it as a friendlier way of saying ‘everyone’ or ‘chat’. ↩︎
4.  [大姑娘上花轿] This allegorical saying is often used to describe someone (in this case, an unmarried girl) doing something for the first time (riding a sedan chair to get married), or experiencing a certain situation for the first time (getting married), with a hint of ridicule or reminder.  ↩︎
5.  [朋友圈] Moments is a social media feature on WeChat that functions as a private, small-scale social network where users share and view updates on each other’s lives within a network of acquaintances and friends. It allows users to post text, photos, and videos, and to comment on or like their friends’ posts, creating a shared space for social interaction and connection. I’d say it’s more private than Weibo since only people you’ve added via phone number/qr code can see your posts—imagine whatsapp with a posting feature ↩︎
6.  I’m guessing it’s referring to tourist attraction ratings in china: rated on a scale of A–5A with 4A being just below the government standard. I’m guessing XY chose 4A because maybe 5A can only be awarded by the government and 4A is the highest you can self-appoint(?) someone tell me if they have another explanation^^ ↩︎
7.  【躺列】or lying (staying idle) in your contacts refers to people you have in your contacts who you haven’t had any chat communication with. Hence they end up ‘lying’ in your contacts and remaining inactive. ↩︎
8.  【中国民国】 refers to the period between the fall of the Qing Dynasty to the founding of the People’s Republic of China ↩︎
9.  The main ad screen as you just click into the app. Think the first ad that pops up when you open tiktok. e.g. https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcS-kFBz93T3ahhhA16EgA5AVERQLKrfXW8kNg&s ↩︎
10.  Yin refers to the dead and Yang naturally refers to the living. Women are also believed to have yin energy while men have yang energy. ↩︎
11.  BE stands for Bad Ending—angst. Commenter is probably asking if the director/screenwriter has a particular preference for bad endings and if this is foreshadowing a BE or HE (happy ending) ↩︎

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

---

You’ll understand how fierce a person is when they’re unable to win an argument—his old man perfectly embodied that sentence!

Xie Zhengtian said smugly, “If they don’t give any, then that’s that; it’s not like I’ll laugh at you or anything, hahaha.”

Xie Zhengtian felt an extreme sense of satisfaction; his dad was always proud of his real estate investments, yet the result was that he never received any dividends either, hahaha.

The community dividends could only come from the property management side. Father Xie had heard of the Tiansheng Property Management that was responsible for the apartment that his son had bought. He also knew that the boss, Yang Guofa, was a notoriously stingy guy; so how could it be possible for that person to spit out the fatty meat he had already gotten into his mouth?

“Dad, I won’t talk to you anymore; I’m busy expanding my social network,” Xie Zhengtian had won an argument against his father today and felt quite pleased, “I’ll hang up first then.”

Xie Zhengtian saw Xu Yao who was busy with something nearby. She had just received her share of the community dividends for the past five years, which seemed to total around four to five hundred thousand.

Xie Zhengtian, no longer calling her Little Sister Yao, suggested, “Yao Yao, just consider it as having picked up tens of thousands for free; let’s go shopping at the mall!”

Xu Yao owned three entire buildings in the Tai’an community, making her the largest property owner in the entire community. Thus, in Xie Zhengtian’s view, the property dividends naturally belonged to her too.

Although four to five hundred thousand in their circle was indeed only small change to them, it could still buy the kind of luxury handbag that appealed to young girls. Xie Zhengtian’s invitation was made purely with the intention of getting to know Xu Yao.

Xu Yao raised her head and said seriously, “I won’t embezzle.”

Xie Zhengtian was stunned: “?” Embezzle? How could this be called embezzlement? Wasn’t this from her own properties?!

Some owners in the Tai’an Community had already gone to the property management office with their property deeds and ID cards, wanting to see just what sort of tricks this trash property management wanted to pull.

The owners of the entire community all held deeply resentment toward Tiansheng Property Management; they charged such high management fees, yet were so stingy. In other communities, you might even receive a can of oil or a sack of rice if you paid the property management fee for the whole year in full; but if you were with Tiansheng Property Management? You could forget about even receiving anything in return.

This property management company seemed to be intent on slacking off with an nonchalant attitude, as if they were simply unafraid of getting bitten despite there being so many lice¹. The management fee had to be paid, but don’t expect them to send anything, ha.

“I live in Unit 1303 of Building 7,” an uncle walked into the property management office, reported his address, and stated his name, looking puzzled as he asked, “What dividends are you talking about? How come I’ve never heard of it before?”

The property management staff asked the owner to take out his property deed and ID card to confirm his identity, then checked and said, “Our community’s dividends are calculated based on the area of your property. Mr. Wang, your family is eligible to receive 3,345 yuan spanning over the past five years. Please confirm and sign here and we’ll transfer that amount to you.”

As the staff spoke, they pushed the bill in front of the owner for him to confirm.

The uncle looked at them as if he had seen a ghost: “Is this your property management company going bankrupt or avoiding arrest?”

The property management staff who fell silent instantly: “…”

Forget it; who in the property management sector hasn’t been subjected to a homeowners’ sarcastic remarks?

After the uncle signed the confirmation, the staff transferred the money to him on the spot.

The uncle looked at the WeChat transfer information he had just received, still a bit dazed: “Is the property management actually doing something human? How strange.”

As more and more property owners went to the property management office for confirmation, even the owners of the smallest units received at least a four-digit dividend since it had accumulated over five years.

Elderly men and women gathered in the community’s exercise area, discussing this matter with great interest; it was undoubtedly the biggest news in the Tai’an Community today.

The trash property management had actually turned over a new leaf! It was simply unbelievable!

“Are they giving dividends because our community is filming some sort of home life variety show? I just saw some stars from the entertainment industry enter Building 3,” an old lady said, turning the exercise wheel in front of her and speaking to the old friend beside her.

These old ladies didn’t understand what directors or photographers were, so they just referred to them collectively as ‘stars from the entertainment industry.’

“This property management has always been shameless, yet they’re actually afraid of being exposed by a variety show?”

It was indeed quite strange; there wasn’t any publicity surrounding the community at all, yet without rhyme or reason, they suddenly announced that they’d be distributing dividends to everyone today.

This kind of thing was what the media loved the most. Journalists who caught wind of it rushed over for interviews and filming, and sure enough, it didn’t take long for the news to spread.

# Haicheng Community Property Management Dividends in the Millions #

[Haicheng Watch: According to reports, a property management company in Haicheng has recently distributed millions in dividends to over a thousand of its community’s property owners… Conducting a small survey: does your property management give you dividends?]

The media even attached several photos of the property management office’s dividend distribution.

Netizens were so envious their eyes were almost red!

[The community giving out dividends? There are property owners who even receive thousands in dividends? I really want to @ my property management to come out and get beaten up; if I say anymore I’ll burst into tears.]

[Why is the community giving out dividends? I’ve lived in a community for over ten years, and the most I get is a sack of rice when I pay the management fee. Are they doing this just for show?]

[+1, I also never knew that a community would distribute dividends.]

Of course, some netizens working in property management came out to explain: [Actually, 90% of communities have advertisements, both inside and outside the elevator waiting area, at the main entrance, not to mention the revenue they also receive from parking spaces. The common area within the community does indeed belong to the property owners, so this part of the revenue, after deducting costs, truly does belong to the owners.]

However, in a hundred communities, it’s hard to find even one that would give out dividends.

Netizens reading this couldn’t help but feel envious; what kind of divine property management is this?

Many prospective homebuyers couldn’t help but leave comments asking what kind of property management this community had, as they might consider it in the future.

After all, when buying a house now, the service attitude of the property management is also very important.

[It’s Tiansheng Property Management. However, I’m a property owner in the Tai’an community and I’m telling you; don’t ever buy a property with Tiansheng Property Management—you’ll regret it to death if you do.]

There were also angry netizens online cursing, trying their best to stop potential homebuyers from jumping into the fire pit:

[Don’t buy properties associated with Tiansheng Property Management +1; this trash property management is just as bad as they say, doing nothing all day, and when something breaks, it takes them nearly two months to fix it. I want to curse this trash property management to death!]

[I’m also a home owner in the Tai’an community. To be honest, Tiansheng Property Management is really terrible. Giving out dividends—I don’t know if they’ve gone insane for them to do such a thing.]

……

Netizens were a bit dumbfounded as a bunch of owners from the Tai’an community came forward to share their experiences. Ah this…

Such a trash property management, and they still give dividends? Ermmmm, do you think this is normal?

[Let’s not mention anything else—although the dividends are a fact, you still need to buy a house to get them. Only by buying a house can you possibly get these dividends; renting a house means paying rent and management fees without any return. In any case, it won’t benefit the renters.]

[Yeah, those who bought houses can still fantasise about when their community will distribute dividends while we renters don’t even dare to think about it.]

Many variety show fans quickly caught on to the community’s name; isn’t this the community where the only renting participant in “My Home Life” lives?

Could it be because of the variety show?

When the director saw this news, he was quite puzzled; they indeed made headlines because Sheng Zhou owed rent, but could a variety show like theirs really affect a property management company? Wasn’t this simply too ridiculous?

How could a small director like him influence a company’s CEO? No matter how he thought about it, he simply couldn’t make sense of it!

The director could only say that the timing was too coincidental.

Zhou Qi’s rented apartment wasn’t large by any means, so with the production team’s filming equipment, the suite ended up too cramped. To ensure the place still had ventilation, they simply left the main door open.

Zhou Qi mentioned that the apartment across from his was vacant, so they didn’t need to worry about disturbing the neighbours.

Dissatisfied with the small space and poor ventilation, the director simply found a small stool in the corridor to sit on to get some fresh air.

As the director gazed out at the scenery outside the corridor, he became somewhat distracted, his mind filled with the tragic events of the show being sabotaged. Suddenly, he heard the sound of the elevator arriving on their floor and the doors opening from the direction of the elevator hall.

While he was still lamenting his miserable life, a trembling hand rested on the director’s shoulder, shaking him repeatedly with the voice becoming increasingly urgent, “Director, stop looking at the scenery, she’s here, Xu… Xu Yao is here!”

The director, who was already feeling somewhat melancholic, immediately felt irritated, but upon hearing the two words, ‘Xu Yao,’ was instantly startled awake and hurriedly looked over.

Appearing at the elevator hall entrance, Xu Yao led a group of people toward them, even having the mood to smile brightly at them.

Damn, wasn’t this the group that Xu Yao brought last time when she collected rent from Sheng Zhou? The director’s face turned pale in an instant; the production team had a vivid memory of that tall, handsome bodyguard who was nearly two meters tall.

As Xu Yao approached, the director felt like crying, “Miss, Miss Xu, hello, hello.”

Why did she end up coming here again?

Xu Yao couldn’t help but touch her fair and smooth cheek beneath her sunglasses, feeling somewhat depressed, “Am I really that scary?”

Just look at how terrified a director of a variety show had become.

Xu Yao quickly cheered herself up again— just look at this, retiring from the industry was definitely the right move. After all, which director would react like this if she were still an artist in the industry?

[??? Xu Yao? Why is she here again? I have a bad feeling about this…]

[Damn, I just started to like this little brother, Zhou Qi. This guy can’t be behind on rent too, can he? Am I at the site of another instant crash?]

[The production team should have investigated after the incident with Sheng Zhou, right? There won’t be another mishap, right?]

[Ahhh no, the point I’m focusing on is: why did Xu Yao come all the way here to collect rent? Is this also one of her properties?? Just how many properties does she have?]

Without Sheng Zhou, the fans of the variety show had dispersed themselves among the various remaining guests. With Zhou Qi also gaining some fans through the show, his career seemed to slowly get back on track.

The director couldn’t help but walk over and quietly ask, “You haven’t fallen behind on rent, have you?”

Zhou Qi shook his head vigorously. He paid his rent on time every month and had never missed a payment. It was just that this month’s property management fee…

Zhou Qi’s expression was somewhat unnatural, but he was the one that really wanted to cry! It wasn’t that he didn’t want to pay the property fee; as soon as Sheng Zhou’s incident happened, he had immediately transferred the property management fee, but it was the landlord that refused to accept it!

Seeing Zhou Qi’s expression, the director’s heart sank. No way, it couldn’t be, right?

Their production team couldn’t possibly be this unlucky, first being sabotaged by a former top star, then by a regular person, right?

“Miss Yao Yao, this is the room where you can take a break.” Lu Ye held a tablet specifically for rent collection, confirming that the apartment across from Zhou Qi was still vacant.

An employee next to him lifted a belt full of keys, rummaging through it for nearly a minute before finally finding the key. “Miss Yao Yao, I’ve found the key to this apartment.”

[…Seeing that belt full of keys, I fell silent.]

[So Xu Yao is going to the unit across from Zhou Qi, not looking for Zhou Qi, right? I was scared to death, I thought a regular person was crashing as well.]

[Oh my god, does that mean this whole bunch of keys belongs to Xu Yao? That adds up to at least dozens of properties, right?!! And that doesn’t even include luxury homes like those with fingerprint locks in Haicheng!]

[This girl holds dozens of properties; no wonder she’s so arrogant, saying she would retire from the industry…]

As soon as Xu Yao appeared in the corridor, the attention of the fans in the live broadcast shifted entirely to her.

Xu Yao instructed Lu Ye to open the door. This apartment had not yet been rented out, but the inside was fully furnished.

Xie Zhengtian was just about to step inside when Xu Yao, who was following behind, suddenly stopped, turned her head, and looked at the nervous Zhou Qi inside. “Since you’re here, I’ll give you the community dividend now.”

Dividend? What dividend?

The director had seen the news about the Tai’an community dividend and remembered that Zhou Qi was the only guest on the show renting a place. He was immediately stunned and blurted out, “Isn’t he renting?” What dividend could you possibly get as a renter? That’s something only legitimate home owners are entitled to receive.

[??? What’s going on? Could it be that this apartment isn’t rented by Zhou Qi, but is under his personal name? Damn, I initially had an urge to pamper him when I first saw him in the trailer and thought him confessing that he was renting while participating in the show was quite magnanimous of him.]

[I’m convinced; I said when Zhou Qi saw Xu Yao earlier, he looked so nervous it looked like he was constipated.]

[Did the director not check the almanac before filming this variety show? How did he encounter so many mishaps? Xu Yao is like a plague; wherever she goes, someone gets unlucky.]

[Speechless, so Zhou Qi was pretending to rent to gain attention for the show, and now the prelude to a crash seems to be looming ahead again?]

Zhou Qi was nearly scared to death, insisting, “I am renting! I really am renting the apartment!”

Of course Xu Yao knew he was renting. She took the tablet from Lu Ye’s hand and looked at his information: “Zhou Qi, started renting six months ago and paid this quarter’s rent a week ago. Then just transfer the dividend for this half of the year.”

Xu Yao took out her phone and said to Zhou Qi, “I’ll transfer you four hundred yuan for the community dividend via WeChat; remember to accept it.”

After saying that, Xu Yao led her rent-collecting team into the apartment across the hall to take a break, the door closing gently with a soft click.

Everyone on site was momentarily stunned, unable to react until they heard the notification alert from Zhou Qi’s WeChat.

Zhou Qi couldn’t help but take out his phone to check. The landlord had refunded the property management fee he had previously paid and had been returned to his account a few days ago. Not to mention just a minute ago, she had also transferred him four hundred yuan!

Zhou Qi looked at the landlord’s WeChat profile picture, which was a selfie of Xu Yao. He had previously thought the landlord was a fan of Xu Yao, but now it seemed… his landlord was actually Xu Yao herself!

After all this time, it turned out that he, like Sheng Zhou, had ended up renting Xu Yao’s property?

Zhou Qi stared at the freshly transferred four hundred yuan, somewhat confused as he repeated, “I really am… just a tenant.”

Renting a house and still getting dividends? What kind of bodhisattva is this?

[Fuckkkkk, there are hardly any communities in the country that give out dividends, yet Xu Yao still shares it with the tenants? Does she have so much money she doesn’t know what to do with it? Or is her sense of morality just too strong?]

[Although four hundred yuan isn’t much, just looking at that long string of keys Xu Yao had just now means that she must have quite a few properties in the Tai’an community. If it’s accumulated dividends over five years, it should be in the six figures, right? That’s not a small amount, yet she’s willing to share it with the tenants…]

[Wasn’t there even a bunch of people that said they were afraid of renting from Xu Yao because they might damage the furniture and get into trouble with her earlier?]

[Wuwuwuwuwu², this is exactly the sort of treatment I thought proper landlords were meant to observe! Xu Yao, I’m really crying to death—if anyone speaks badly of Xu Yao again, I will be the first to disagree!]

…

Meanwhile, inside, Xie Zhengtian clicked his tongue in amazement, genuinely impressed, “You really did end up sharing it with those tenants, huh, Yao Yao?”

Lu Ye and several other employees were sitting at the desk, confirming all the tenants who had rented from the Tai’an community over the past five years.

The community’s advertisements were actually calculated monthly, just like the rent, so as long as they figured out which tenants rented during which time periods and matched the monthly dividend earnings, they’d be all set.

Xu Yao sat down on the fabric sofa in plain grey, feeling a bit uncomfortable as she adjusted her posture, thinking it wasn’t as comfortable as her own sofa.

Xu Yao looked around the clean and tidy suite and sighed, “Just because they’re renting a house, doesn’t mean they’re inferior to others.”

After quick transmigrating 999 times, many of her transmigrations were started in poverty or difficult situations. She had rented countless homes and had encountered extremely terrible landlords. At least now, since she was a landlord herself, she definitely wouldn’t be that kind of landlord.

“Besides, it’s not like it’s me who sees those advertisements every day when coming to and from home; it’s those tenants.”

Xie Zhengtian turned to look at Xu Yao, who was nestled on the not-so-comfortable fabric sofa and changing her position repeatedly. He couldn’t help but give her a thumbs up, “That’s quite self sacrificing of you.”

Xie Zhengtian had originally planned to get to know Xu Yao to expand his social network, but now he genuinely wanted to be friends with her! Her work ethic and vision were both higher than his.

Seeing that he couldn’t help with anything, Xie Zhengtian simply sat down next to Xu Yao, “Wanna play a game? Shall we play a round together?”

Xu Yao glanced at Lu Ye and the others who were calculating the dividends and realised they might not have enough hands on deck. It seemed like she could hire more people to help her collect rent.

“Sure.”

Xu Yao took out her phone and sat on the other side of the sofa with Xie Zhengtian. Then she added Xie Zhengtian as a friend and started playing the game.

Xie Zhengtian talked a lot while playing games, and after a few rounds, he had already spilled everything about his family, even mentioning how his father was stressed out over the new short video platform he had just started.

Xu Yao recalled the plot of the original novel; Xie Zhengtian appearance in the plot was due to his family’s own financial issues, causing him to seek help from Xu Jing. Could it be because of his dad’s involvement in the short video platform sector?

Xu Yao’s slender fingers controlled the hero’s avatar as she chimed in casually, “Oh, so that’s the situation? A while ago, I also happened to invest in a short drama that’s quite suitable for airing on short video platforms. What do you think about your Shark Short Videos opening a special column for us? Just treat it as a small collaboration? Hurry up and use your ultimate move, bro!!”

Xie Zhengtian didn’t know what a short drama was, but as he was trying to make friends, he was also willing to show this bit of sincerity, “Sure… but let me say this first—my dad’s short video platform is lacking in many areas, and there aren’t many users… What the, quickly heal up!”

After playing for a while, Xu Yao even bought herself a few skins³, and only then did she log off at Lu Ye’s inquiry.

“Miss Yao Yao, everything has been settled. Would you like to verify it? We’re ready to transfer the funds now.”

Xu Yao didn’t bother to check; she trusted their work capabilities.

They had retained all the information of the tenants who had rented her properties in Tai’an community over the past five years along with the tenants’ phone numbers.

In this day and age, phone numbers were all registered under real names, so it was rare for people to have changed them.

Lu Ye and the others then shortly transferred the community dividends to each tenant via the online payment method that was linked to their phone numbers.

*

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, an ordinary office worker, was striving hard to live in the bustling and population dense Haicheng. As usual, she dragged her weary body out of the subway and walked back towards her home.

When she arrived at the entrance, she unexpectedly saw her landlord, exclaiming in surprise, “Landlady Auntie, what brought you here? Are you here to check the unit? You can rest assured; I’ve maintained the furniture very well and haven’t damaged anything. Let me open the door for you right now.”

The landlady was a middle-aged woman who gave a somewhat awkward smile, “Little Yuan, it’s like this; our daughter-in-law gave birth two days ago, and we plan to take back the house for her to do her postpartum confinement⁴ care here. You need to hurry up and tidy up here so you can vacate the place.”

Yuan Yiqing was taken aback, finding it a bit unbelievable, saying, “Auntie, I’ve only just rented this place! On what grounds do you want me to move out?”

Hearing this, the landlady’s expression immediately soured, “It’s my house; can’t I make the decisions regarding it anymore? Is my daughter-in-law and grandson not more important than you? Aren’t you just looking to get your deposit back? I’ll refund you, but you need to move out quickly. My daughter-in-law will be discharged from the hospital in a couple of days to do her confinement here.”

After saying this, the landlady left. Yuan Yiqing wearily returned to her rented unit, curling up on the small single sofa, frantically searching Baidu⁵ about how to claim compensation if a landlord breached the contract. After days of working non-stop at the company, she was utterly exhausted. The more she searched, the more aggrieved she felt, with tears as big as beans soon rolling down her cheeks.

Landlords are all terrible people!

She missed her mom.

Ding~

Yuan Yiqing casually wiped the tears from her face, her reddened nose sniffling as she checked her messages. Initially thinking it was a push notification, she paused.

Online payment transfer?

She received a transfer of 1,021 yuan!

Yuan Yiqing’s first reaction was that she had encountered a scam, but then who would’ve thought that the other party would even include a message—

“Yuan Yiqing, 202X Tai’an community dividends.”

With tears still hanging halfheartedly on her eyelashes, Yuan Yiqing stared blankly at the message.

Gradually, she began to have some sort of impression of it; she had indeed rented in the Tai’an community for a year in Building 3 before, but later had to change residences as her new job was too far away.

At that time, she had never met the landlord, only having heard that the landlord was very wealthy and owned many properties, never concerning themselves about them as the tenants.

What’s going on??

What is a community dividend?

Yuan Yiqing couldn’t help but search for the term ‘Taian community dividend’ on Weibo, wanting to see what was happening, and was soon stunned by the news that was updating in real-time.

[Is there anyone who has rented a house in Tai’an community before? This afternoon, I suddenly received a payment on my Alipay, saying it was my community dividend!]

There were many replies under this Weibo post from users who were in the same situation: [Sister, you received it too? Two years ago, I also rented a unit in Tai’an community for half a year, and I received over four hundred as well.]

[So it turns out it wasn’t just me; I got it too! I saw the trending topic on Weibo this morning but didn’t pay much attention to it. After all, I’m just a tenant, such good fortune like dividends couldn’t possibly fall on us.]

[Wuwuwuwu, what’s going on? I also rented a unit in Tai’an community, why didn’t I receive a community dividend? Sisters, which building was the unit you rented in before?]

The bunch of replies from netizens all said they had rented a place in Building 3.

[By the way, did you guys notice? The transfer sender is [*Yao]. Could it be… Xu Yao?]

Having Yao as the last character in a name is quite rare, with the key point being that someone had seen Xu Yao appear in Tai’an community today on the variety show “My Home Life”!

A group of fans couldn’t help but rush to Xu Yao’s Weibo comment section to leave messages: [Xu Yao, did you transfer the community dividend to former tenants of Tai’an community today?]

This comment was posted by Yuan Yiqing, and whether or not it was because her luck was good, her question ended up being liked by many netizens, with the likes continuously increasing, subsequently pushing it to the top of the comment section.

The hashtag #XuYaoTransfersCommunityDividendToTenants# also climbed to the trending topics on Weibo.

[…Holy shit, I just saw her transfer the community dividend to Zhou Qi this morning and thought she was just showing off, but turns out she really did it?]

[Ahhh, oh my god, I received it too! Yes, yes, yes, I rented for three months in Tai’an community four years ago, and I got over a hundred bucks.]

[I received it in my Alipay as well. Wuwuwuwu, I had a terrible day today, but this made me cheer up in an instant, I can’t help but want to become a fan of Xu Yao!]

[What kind of divine landlord is Xu Yao? Ahhh save me, if it weren’t for the fact that Tai’an community is too far from my current workplace, I would definitely rent her place.]

More and more netizens who had previously rented in Building 3 of Tai’an community came out to share this sudden joy.

This morning, when they first saw something about the community dividend, they didn’t even dare to imagine it; but who knew happiness would come so quickly? Xu Yao really transferred the dividends!

Regardless of if the tenant had rented three months or five years ago, they all received it. Doesn’t it just… feel so miraculous?

Not to mention… just how many properties does Xu Yao actually have? Just the tenants appearing in the Weibo inquiries add up to nearly a hundred! The key point is they are all from Building 3 of the Tai’an community; surely the whole building couldn’t be hers, right?

As the person involved, Xu Yao remained oblivious to the overwhelming inquiries online. She took her rental team to a very luxurious hot pot restaurant in Haicheng for dinner. Xu Yao was very satisfied with the beef there; it only needed a quick dip in the hot pot to cook and was particularly tender.

It wasn’t until late at night when she was escorted back to Haicheng Bay No. 1 by Lu Ye that Xu Yao lay back in the round bubble-filled bathtub, and came across Yuan Yiqing’s question while leisurely scrolling through her phone. Her question, which had been liked by many netizens, had already climbed to the top of the comment section and had also made it to two trending topics. Xu Yao’s eyes lit up instantly.

Wasn’t this just the perfect moment for her to promote her business?!

After all, it’s necessary to note that although she was a landlord with hundreds of buildings to her name, two thirds of those properties hadn’t even been rented out!

Yuan Yiqing was still searching for what to do if the landlord breaches the contract when suddenly a notification popped up on her phone—Xu Yao seemed to have responded!

Yuan Yiqing’s heart couldn’t help but race as she quickly clicked in to check.

[Xu Yao v: I own multiple properties in various locations, a professional rental company with sincere treatment to old and young alike. Please contact the team’s phone number if you have the intention to rent.]

---

fun fact abt confinement — my mum did it twice when she gave birth to me, then when she gave birth to my brother, and she said she nearly went insane bc my grandma—her mum— is insane about the restrictions. she wasn’t allowed to wash her hair for a month and had to sneak around with my dad so he could cover for her while she washed her hair GHSDIFKS while i do think there’s some truth in doing confinement since your body does lose lots of nutrients and blood during childbirth and most of confinement is about consuming food that replenishes blood and nutrients, i could never go a month without washing my hair GSDFLIJSJ

1. 虱子多了不怕咬 (proverb) (lit.) too many lice won’t bite. (fig.) it means that things have reached a point where they cannot be changed and one has no choice but to let things take their course ↩︎
2. sobbing onomatopoeia ↩︎
3. in game cosmetics that you can buy for your character to change their appearance. ↩︎
4. confinement is commonly observed in china where the pregnant mother will recover for a month after childbirth, following a special diet, and observing various taboos to protect the body from exposure to the “wind” ↩︎
5. baidu is a search engine; pretty much chinese equivalent to google ↩︎

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

---

These past few days have been the hardest for Sheng Zhou. The variety shows and brand endorsements he cared about the most all announced their termination of contracts with him, and his career came to a standstill almost instantly.

Sheng Zhou hurriedly moved out of his luxury home, only to be urged by Xu Yao’s side about the compensation at market value. Many unique items had to be valued based on estimated future appreciation since they could not be purchased, and it seemed only a matter of time before he ended up broke.

Sheng Zhou’s mental state was stretched to the limit, and he didn’t know who ended up posting and leaking a blurry video of him drunk online. In the video, Sheng Zhou choked back tears as he self-reproached, “I definitely shouldn’t have rented a luxury home, and I definitely shouldn’t have rented Xu Yao’s house…”

This video made many people sigh; the former top star had fallen to such a state in just a few days.

[Let’s not mention Sheng Zhou’s disgraceful act of owing rent; renting from a meticulous landlord like Xu Yao is indeed terrifying. If you accidentally bump into something, the tenant would probably end up compensating it to death, right?]

[Who told Sheng Zhou to damage someone else’s luxury home? I say he deserves it.]

[This situation brings back bad memories. When I graduated, I rented for the first time and encountered a penny-pinching landlord. The faucet was old and ended up breaking, so I paid to fix it myself, but the landlord deducted a hundred bucks from my deposit for the ‘poor quality’ faucet I replaced it with. QAQ]

[Tenants in Xu Yao’s urban village, be careful! If you damage her second-hand furniture, you might end up paying a fortune!]

Qu Xi was very angry looking at these comments. Many short dramas were filmed at night, so Qu Xi slept in the morning and missed Xu Yao’s live stream collecting rent at Haicheng Shangpin.

Qu Xi’s cheeks puffed up in anger: “Yao Yao is not a penny-pinching landlord!”

Qu Xi lived in the Bay City No. 1 that Xu Yao lent her. A few days ago, while mopping the floor, she accidentally bumped into a small extravagant floor lamp, shattering the frosted glass lampshade as well as the bulb inside. Qu Xi was immediately scared stupid and froze.

When she hurriedly checked online, she felt like dying. That small little luxury floor lamp was worth eighty thousand!

Qu Xi almost cried as she called Xu Yao, already prepared to use her salary for the next two years to pay Xu Yao back. However, Xu Yao was very concerned and asked, “Did you get hurt?”

“As long as you’re not hurt, it’s fine. You didn’t break it on purpose,” Xu Yao thought for a moment and added, “Don’t mop the floor anymore. I’ll have my housekeeper come over every day after finishing her work to help you out.”

After moving into the mansion, Qu Xi seriously considered one thing—

Cleaning such a large luxury home was really hard work.

Qu Xi was so touched she burst into tears, sobbing, “Wuwuwu, Yao Yao is so nice, how can I ever repay you?”

Xu Yao remained calm: “You’ll have the opportunity to when you become famous.”

Qu Xi sniffled, feeling confused. When she becomes famous? She didn’t even know if she would ever be famous in her lifetime!

So Qu Xi was very angry about these online comments. Xu Yao was definitely not a penny-pinching landlord; Sheng Zhou was simply self-destructive, not only owing rent but also deliberately damaging the furniture in the mansion!

Qu Xi was quite worried about this. “Yao Yao, what if others are afraid to rent your place because of this?”

Qu Xi still remembered Xu Yao’s platinum business card, which had the words “Professional Rental” on it!

Xu Yao smiled confidently at her words: “That’s impossible.”

Since she retired to this world to enjoy her life as a landlord, she would be the very best landlord that she could be!

Qu Xi didn’t think much of it, just assuming that time would reveal people’s true nature. She then worriedly said, “The short drama ‘Yin Fate‘ is about to finish filming. I wonder if anyone will even watch it?”

After all, it was just a short drama, barely over an hour long when combined. The energised Zuo Ning could finish filming it all in just ten days.

Xu Yao was very confident about this short drama. After the script was revised, the quality of the plot was solid, and with Zuo Ning having her investment, the outcome would only be better.

*

Counting the days, Xu Yao clearly remembered that today was the day wherfe her pension would be distributed to her.

Little 6 popped up right on time: [Detected that the host is having a hard time enjoying retirement in this world. The Quick Transmigration Bureau feels guilty and has specially issued a pension of ten million this month.]

Xu Yao’s eyes lit up instantly. Ten million in pension?

For the sister of a tycoon, ten million wasn’t much, but pensions would increase! As long as she lived long enough, it would keep growing.

Previously, Little 6 said it would apply for more pension for her. Xu Yao had thought it would be at most six million, but she had never expected it to be ten million.

Seeing the freshly deposited ten million in her bank account, Xu Yao suddenly had an idea—

Could it be that by being a ‘hardworking’ landlord, she could eventually reap the benefits from the Quick Transmigration Bureau and become the world’s richest person?

Little 6 was instantly dumbfounded: [???]

No, host, what are you thinking?!

It detected that the host was having a hard time collecting rent every day, so it submitted an application to the Quick Transmigration Bureau for a pension increase!

As a little spirit assisting with retirement, Little 6 was new to the job and was a bit flustered: [Host, you can go enjoy shopping now and go buy buy buy.]

Little 6 had heard from its peers that the standard for determining whether the Quick Transmigration Bureau retirees were enjoying their retirement was based on how much they shopped. The host should be buying luxury bags, beautiful clothes, and shiny jewellery, not running around every day for tenants!

Having made up her mind to crazily exploit the Quick Transmigration Bureau’s resources in the future, Xu Yao remained calm: “No, I need to help my tenants deal with the trash property management issue now.”

As a qualified landlord, isn’t it normal for her to help resolve the difficulties and property issues of her tenants?

An employee knocked and walked in, reporting, “Miss Yao Yao, Mr. Xie Zhengtian, one of the owners from Tai’an Community, has arrived.”

A young man wearing a loose white sweatshirt and expensive sneakers walked in. When he saw Xu Yao, his eyes lit up, “Hello, neighbour.”

Xie Zhengtian had also appeared in the the original text and had entered the scene by seeking help from the richest man, Xu Jing, due to his family’s financial issues. Though of course, in the original, even Xu Jing had been ultimately defeated by the female protagonist, let alone a minor character like Xie Zhengtian.

Xu Yao had Lu Ye and the others pour tea for Xie Zhengtian and got straight to the point: “Mr. Xie, as a homeowner in Tai’an Community, you should be aware of the situation with Tiansheng Property, right?”

Before coming, Xie Zhengtian had done a quick search on Xu Yao’s basic information and knew her age, so he smiled and said, “We’re all young people, no need to be so formal! I’m just a year older than you, so you can just call me Brother Tian like everyone else!”

Xu Yao didn’t mind and called him Brother Tian.

Xie Zhengtian took the tea that Lu Ye had poured and recalled, “To be honest, I don’t actually live in Tai’an Community. But I’ve heard a bit about Tiansheng Property; they take the money but don’t do their job, and their style of working is quite perfunctory.”

The property fees for Tiansheng Property were actually quite high—five yuan per square meter—yet even the most basic maintenance of the community left homeowners collectively dissatisfied. This value for money simply wasn’t worth it.

Xu Yao nodded and said, “So I plan to establish a homeowners’ committee through a homeowners’ meeting to then replace Tiansheng Property through the committee. I’ve already submitted all the applications to the relevant departments.”

Xie Zhengtian felt overwhelmed just hearing this and frowned, saying, “Little Sister Yao, this sounds quite troublesome. Anyway, you don’t live there; it’s just rented out to someone else, so why not just make do?”

In Xie Zhengtian’s view, as long as he was comfortable, why bother with others?

Xu Yao curved her lips and smiled, asking, “Brother Tian, are you perhaps looking to sell your apartment in Tai’an Community? But it hasn’t sold yet?”

The current housing market had gradually become a buyer’s market, with buyers having a wide range of choices which gave them the luxury to be particularly cautious about second-hand homes.

After all, a poor property management would only accelerate a house’s decline into an old and shabby state, which would then affect the subsequent price of the home when put on the second hand market.

Xie Zhengtian had always wanted to sell the property he bought when he was young and naive. Xu Yao had indeed hit the heart of the issue. He fiddled with the teacup in his hand while pondering and said:

“But Little Sister Yao, although ideals are often beautiful, reality is harsh. Tai’an Community mostly consists of middle-class residents; some homeowners are abroad and find it inconvenient, while others might think changing property management is too troublesome. It might not be easy to handle.”

Despite neighbors complaining daily about how terrible and disgusting the property management was, if they were actually gathered together to hold a meeting to change it, they might hesitate.

They would worry whether the new property management would be worse, whether the process would be too troublesome, and whether they would have to fight legal battles with the old management, not to mention those who simply didn’t want to stir up trouble.

Little 6 detected this and instantly felt heartbroken: [Host, this is really tough.]

So, this landlord of it was having this hard of a time, huh? Better add a bit more to the pension next month.

Xu Yao smiled: “I understand what you’re worried about, but I have a way to make Tiansheng Property cough up some money first.”

Xie Zhengtian was confused: “??”

Make Tiansheng Property cough up some money??

He was a capitalist; how could he not know that a capitalist’s heart is dark? What kind of capitalist could spit out what they had already swallowed?

*

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:

Although Sheng Zhou was already out of the picture, the variety show “My Home Life” still had to continue filming, with the other four guests still having to participate.

The director could only try and find the silver lining in the situation; after all, at least the scandal involving Sheng Zhou had made their show known nationwide, right?

The director urgently confirmed with the other guests, even carefully checking the property deeds. Except for the ordinary person Zhou Qi, the rest owned their homes, ensuring there would be no more issues with rent arrears or damaging the landlord’s furniture.

Worried that there might be problems with Zhou Qi, the director took the crew to Tai’an Community for filming.

The fans in the live broadcast room were still very upset, constantly shouting that the show was no longer interesting without Sheng Zhou.

[Wuwuwuwu, I wanted to see the luxury houses. Now they’re just going to film an ordinary person’s home; there’s really nothing interesting about it.]

[Although this sounds a bit bad, it was still interesting when Xu Yao collected rent from Sheng Zhou…]

[?? I think I saw Xu Yao!]

[+1, I think I saw her too. What’s up with the cameraman? Why are they avoiding her? Take a closer look to see if it’s Xu Yao.]

The production team was a bit flustered now. The assistant director rushed up from behind and urgently whispered to the director, “Xu Yao is here; it seems like Xu Yao is coming again.”

The director jolted, still haunted by the psychological shadow from the incident with Xu Yao collecting rent from Sheng Zhou a few days ago. He quickly instructed the cameraman to change the shot and cautiously looked in the direction the assistant director had pointed in.

Xu Yao was wearing casual short sleeves and shorts, with sunglasses perched on her nose, even donning a pair of slippers specifically for collecting rent! A young man in a hoodie stood beside her, but judging by his sneakers, he was also a rich second generation.

Damn, don’t scare him; he actually is quite timid at heart!

Whilst the director felt anxious, he noticed Xu Yao and Xie Zhengtian heading towards the property management office. He breathed a sigh of relief and quickly said, “Go go go, let’s first go to Zhou Qi’s house.”

Fortunately, Xu Yao wasn’t coming to find them this time.

The moment the director saw Xu Yao coming, he immediately resolved to ask Zhou Qi if there were any issues with overdue rent or utility bills!

“Little Sister Yao, the small apartment I bought in high school is in Building 2 on the top floor. Which unit did you buy?” As they walked towards the property management office, Xie Zhengtian looked up at the surrounding high-rise buildings and asked.

Xu Yao pointed: “Building 3.”

Xie Zhengtian nodded and continued to ask, “Building 3 is nice; it’s the best building in Tai’an. Which unit did you buy? Or how many units?”

Since Xu Yao was busy solving property management issues, Xie Zhengtian felt that she must own more than one unit in Tai’an Community; otherwise, she wouldn’t be so invested. It was probably several units.

Xu Yao added another few words, “Building 3, the whole building.”

Xie Zhengtian suddenly stopped in his tracks, looking up at the tall building in front of him, falling into silence.

Xu Yao asked, “Brother Tian, what’s wrong?”

Xie Zhengtian’s face tightened as he stammered, “…How about you just call me Little Xie instead?”

Damn, the whole building? Oh no, even if one unit is nearly ten million, the entire building would still definitely be worth more than two luxury apartments in Haicheng Shangpin.

Moreover, it should be noted that the Tai’an Community is definitely better for renting than the Haicheng Shangpin luxury apartments, which could very well be the true source of Xu Yao’s rental income.

Thus, Xu Yao led the dazed Xie Zhengtian into the property management office. The staff there nearly cried upon seeing Xu Yao walk in; she really ended up coming.

Xu Yao directly addressed the property staff in the office, “I spoke with CEO Yang a few days ago. Is the share from the advertising revenue for the past five years ready? I’m here to collect my share for that building.”

Yang Guofa actually didn’t want to deal with Xu Yao, but who told Xu Jing, the richest individual to personally call him asking to contact Xu Yao? The Xu family was not someone he could afford to offend so he had no choice but to comply!

Although property management revenue has always been a muddled account, it would be a guaranteed lawsuit once it escalated to the housing authority. From the incident with Sheng Zhou, it was clear that this young lady Xu Yao was quite tough. As the largest owner in the Tai’an community, Xu Yao might really dare to sue the property management!

After much consideration, Yang Guofa could only grit his teeth and have them calculate the various public revenues of the Tai’an community over the past five years.

The Tai’an community resident group was a large group chat, where residents often argued, and business owners occasionally advertised. The property staff usually stayed out of it unless something urgent came up.

[Tiansheng Property Xiao Zhang: @All members, please come to collect the community dividends this month with your property deed and ID. This is a formal announcement.]

As soon as this message was sent out, the entire WeChat group was filled with question marks.

[?? Dividends? What dividends? Did you send this by mistake?]

[The trash property management can barely handle their own duties; I’d be grateful if they just did that, let alone giving out dividends!]

[Property management, the elevator on the left side of Building 8 is broken again! I want to go home! Hurry up and report it for repairs!]

[Does dividends mean receiving money? I’ve never seen property management give out money, or are you saying you’re starting a pyramid scheme from today?]

The WeChat group was in an uproar, with many owners sarcastically criticising the property management, hardly paying any attention to the issue of dividends.

In this day and age, people have only seen property fees being collected, never money being given out.

The staff at Tiansheng Property had long been accustomed to the owners’ mockery, copying and pasting that message several times in the WeChat group.

The owners were somewhat puzzled; what did this mean? Were there really dividends to receive?

And Xie Zhengtian ended up being the first owner, besides Xu Yao, to receive the community dividends for the past five years. The apartment he bought was the largest in the entirety of the Tai’an community, so he received over four thousand in community dividends.

Xie Zhengtian looked at the WeChat notification of the deposit, and his mood was quite complicated.

Initially, he had secretly used his pocket money for several years to buy this apartment to play games in, and when his father found out, he almost got beaten up. That apartment had been left vacant all these years, yet he still had to pay property and sanitation fees every year. Today was the first time he received money from it.

He didn’t know who his dad must have received insider information from to call him.

As soon as the call connected, the other side immediately asked, “I heard you went back to that lousy apartment of yours again?”

Xie Zhengtian pouted; his dad had been in a bad mood lately and liked to take it out on him.

Last year, the old man discovered that short videos were trending and insisted on entering the short video market, even starting Shark short video platform. However, he couldn’t compete in that market and the platform had pitifully few users. Now, it only was barely hanging on by. thread, and Xie Zhengtian wanted to avoid him whenever he saw his father’s long face.

He probably wasn’t feeling well again.

Seeing his son silent, Xie Father got even angrier. This kid was in his senior year and not studying properly, yet he dared to secretly buy a million-dollar apartment to play games.

Investing in real estate is fine, but this kid didn’t even consider anything else before buying. Is this how one thinks when investing in real estate?

Xie Zhengtian glanced at the community dividends that had just arrived in his WeChat, wondering how much he had been scolded by his family for buying that apartment. He couldn’t sell it at a high price and was reluctant to let it go at a low price, leaving it idle.

As a result, what ended up happening today? He had some pocket money now!

Xie Zhengtian felt a bit smug and said, “Dad, the dividends from my apartment’s community came in today!”

Father Xie: “…” Dividends? What dividends?

Father Xie didn’t care much about these so-called dividends: “Your apartment gives out dividends? How much can it possibly be?”

Xie Zhengtian was a bit displeased; although it wasn’t even enough for a full meal, it was still money! Even mosquito meat is still meat¹!

Xie Zhengtian retorted, “Dad, just tell me; does the property you invested in give you dividends too?”

Father Xie was momentarily speechless: “…”

Well, it definitely didn’t.

Father Xie desperately tried to save his face: “The properties I, your father, invest in appreciate every year; selling your apartment wouldn’t even compare!”

Xie Zhengtian didn’t care about that and simply asked, “Dad, does your investment property give you dividends?”

Father Xie , ruthlessly stabbed with another poke of a knife: “…”

Father Xie gritted his teeth: “Unfilial son, shut up!”

---

not sure bc i don’t rent but do apartments actually give out dividends, or is this just fiction? maybe it happens in china but this is the first time i’m hearing of it

also i can’t count. should’ve been 2 chapters for the past 2 weeks i’ve missed. next week should be normal but the week after should be one chapter each bc they’re all over 9k words TAT

1. 蚊子再小也是肉 lit. even a mosquito, though tiny would still provide nourishment — it’s better than nothing ↩︎

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

---

He still had to pay the breach of penalty? That’s a full 630,000 yuan!

Everyone stared dumbfounded at Xu Yao. This… isn’t this a little… unseemly? For a wealthy woman who owns two luxury homes in Haicheng Shangpin, insisting on the breach of penalty makes her seem a little petty.

[Xu Yao should have a lot of money. Sheng Zhou just paid the overdue rent. Yet she’s still pursuing the penalty, making the scene so awkward. It’s a bit… hard to comment on. Maybe the richer you are, the stingier you are.]

[Isn’t it perfectly legal and compliant with the law to ask for it? If it were me, I’d also ask Sheng Zhou to pay the penalty!]

[Are fans still trying to whitewash? How much money would that over two million yuan earn if put in the bank for financial management? Interest is money too! Should a wealthy woman suffer this loss? She should properly punish this deadbeat!]

Xu Yao, a retired celebrity, didn’t care what the fans of certain celebrities said online. Only the money in her hand was real.

Wouldn’t this money be better used to support the short drama Yin Fate? She had to have it!

Xu Yao’s expression was completely businesslike as she continued to address Sheng Zhou, “Then while you’re free, let’s inspect the household items with the presence of a third party. If there’s any damage, you’ll need to compensate accordingly. These are all stipulated in the rental agreement.”

Xu Yao now strongly doubted Sheng Zhou’s character. A top-tier celebrity deliberately taking advantage of the situation and owing half a year’s rent—would he really treat her furniture well?

The Xu family’s mansion in Haicheng Shangpin, even the one rented out, was luxuriously decorated, showing no signs of being a rental property.

There’s a saying in the interior design industry: the amount you spend on a house should equal the same amount you spend on interior designing. For interior designing on the luxurious side, the decoration cost can even be higher than the purchase price.

Sheng Zhou stumbled back two steps, his face tight as he stared at Xu Yao, his expression slightly panicked, “You… you…”

Sheng Zhou never imagined that Xu Yao would be so shameless and petty.

Lu Ye held the rent collection tablet in one hand, pulling out the photos and videos saved when he first rented to Sheng Zhou, making it easier to compare them one by one later.

Lu Ye asked, “Miss Yao Yao, Mr. Sheng, shall we start the inspection from the living room?”

Xu Yao nodded, and Lu Ye led several employees to change into special shoe covers before entering the living room. He knelt on one knee to inspect the soft, high-end sofa, not even missing the gaps beneath it.

Sheng Zhou had never been this scared in his life! He had never been this nervous, even during exams in school.

[Actually, it shouldn’t be a big problem. Although the live broadcast only showed the living room and kitchen, Sheng Zhou should be someone who cherishes furniture. It really is decorated luxuriously, so there shouldn’t be any issues.]

[I also feel like there shouldn’t be a big problem. Not wanting to pay rent is one thing, but the facilities inside the house shouldn’t be damaged by the tenant themselves.]

Lu Ye held the tablet with one hand, staring at the most prominent television in the living room, his magnetic voice calmly asking, “Mr. Sheng, may I ask where the 110-inch Stuths Starry Sky Edition LCD TV we provided you with went?”

Sheng Zhou: “…”

Sheng Zhou froze in place, feeling as if he were in an ice cellar, the words stuck in his throat and unable to come out.

Today’s televisions can connect to major video platforms. He had seen a netizen deliberately editing a parody video of him on a certain site, and at that moment, feeling upset, he had angrily grabbed the red wine bottle on the table and smashed it against the TV.

The TV made a cracking sound, and only then did Sheng Zhou realize what he had done, staring blankly at the broken screen, regret doing him no good.

Because he needed to record “My Home Life” soon, Sheng Zhou hurriedly bought a new LCD TV to hang up. This new LCD TV wasn’t cheap either, worth over a hundred thousand!

After all, televisions are quite similar, so neither the production team nor the audience noticed any issues. Who knew Lu Ye would catch him red-handed?

Xu Yao looked at Sheng Zhou’s precarious state and asked suspiciously, “Where did you take my TV?”

Sheng Zhou jolted and immediately replied, “The TV broke, so I sent it for repair and bought a new one.”

Xu Yao pressed on, “Why didn’t you inform the landlord about the repair?”

Sheng Zhou fell silent again.

[…What other reason could there be? He definitely broke it! Would he dare to tell the landlord he broke it?]

[The landlord has the obligation to repair the equipment in the house. If I rent and the fridge or TV breaks, I would notify the landlord. As long as I didn’t break it, the landlord would handle it. Sheng Zhou’s actions are clearly guilty.]

[!!! We’ve found it everyone! The Stuths Starry Sky Edition LCD TV is worth a million, a favorite among the wealthy. This is definitely a luxury item.]

[What? It’s that expensive? That’s not a TV; it’s clearly an ancestral relic in the house.]

“My Home Life” has completely exploded in popularity, with over fifty million viewers online on just a weekday morning.

Xu Yao looked at Sheng Zhou, who seemed to be on the verge of death, and was too lazy to continue questioning him, signalling Lu Ye and the others to keep inspecting the items in the house.

Soon, Xu Yao realised that Sheng Zhou had only served her an appetiser.

“Mr. Sheng, may I ask why you unilaterally changed the decorative wall we provided?”

“Mr. Sheng, there are issues with the handles on the wardrobes and cabinets; there are traces of it having being yanked too hard.”

“Mr. Sheng, all the ornamental koi in the terrace pond have disappeared.”

“Mr. Sheng…”

In the end, Lu Ye couldn’t help but lose control: “Sheng Zhou, why did you graffiti on someone else’s wall? Are you a master painter?”

Lu Ye felt that perhaps he didn’t understand artists; he simply couldn’t comprehend why a wall designed by a world-renowned designer would be less artistic than Sheng Zhou’s colourful doodles.

Sheng Zhou: “…”

Sheng Zhou completely gave up struggling, his face filled with despair.

Handle it privately!

His mind was filled with thoughts of why he didn’t handle it privately.

It was because he had blocked Xu Yao—because he regarded Xu Yao as a ferocious beast of a pursuer!

[I’m stunned; how much has Sheng Zhou damaged? I heard this luxury apartment’s interior decoration costs over a hundred million… ]

[I’m collapsing. What kind of bizarre person have I been a fan of all these years? I rent and have a cat and I’m terrified of damaging the landlord’s furniture. I even specially bought a cover for the sofa to prevent the cat from scratching it.]

[+1, I’m also a renter, and I’m very careful with the furniture provided by the landlord, afraid of breaking anything.]

[Does Sheng Zhou think he’s an artist? Randomly painting on the walls? Only foolish fans would fall for that!]

[As a landlord, watching this live broadcast makes my heart bleed. Those are all furniture purchased by the landlord with real gold and silver! It’s clear that it isn’t cherished when it’s not paid out of their own pocket. The more I watch, the angrier I get. With my bad temper, I would have already gone up to beat Sheng Zhou, that trash!]

…

Previously, even the netizens who complained about Xu Yao being too calculating fell silent at this scene. Both renters and landlords were stunned.

Such a person who doesn’t cherish someone else’s property is rarely seen in the news.

When netizens originally saw Sheng Zhou’s luxury apartment live broadcast, they had thought it was grand and extravagant. That was until they saw the original state of the luxury apartment in the tablet held by Lu Ye. Their hearts bled; how could this luxury apartment worth over two hundred million be turned into this by Sheng Zhou?

Pay up, hurry up and get to paying it you dog!

The director, who had finally come to his senses, shouted after seeing this scene: “Quick, move the filming equipment away from the walls and furniture!”

“Oh, right… quickly lay a layer of padding on the tiles before placing the filming equipment!”

“Whoever bumps into something will pay for it; don’t even think about looking for me! Put on shoe covers and gloves!”

“Ah, ah, ah, you little brat, don’t lean against the wall, stand up straight!”

The production team was in a flurry, quickly moving the equipment away from the walls, hurriedly putting on shoe covers, fearing that this ancestral-level luxury apartment would get scratched or bumped, and Xu Yao would turn around and demand they pay for the damages.

Little 6 popped out: “Host, you’re too pitiful.”

Xu Yao almost couldn’t control her expression; she wanted to beat Sheng Zhou up!

It really was a disaster!

This house is hers now, and it has been ruined by Sheng Zhou. Ordinary people can’t afford to rent it, and wealthy people with taste wouldn’t want to rent it either, unless it was demolished and renovated anew. This luxurious apartment has fallen into her hands like this.

Xu Yao deeply felt that if she were to rent out a place in the future, she must ensure the character of the tenant; otherwise, it would be better not to rent at all.

Xu Yao’s face was full of disbelief: “Compensation!”

“After deducting the 30% late fee for your six months of unpaid rent, all damaged items in the house must be compensated at their market value!”
Sheng Zhou’s face turned ashen; he earned a lot as a top star, but this money wasn’t all his. There were companies and teams that needed dividends. The compensation for the furniture in the luxurious apartment was not a small sum, and the most critical point was—

Some of them were unique pieces!!

It’s over, it’s really over this time.

And what about his reputation?

Xu Yao didn’t want to stay in this luxurious apartment any longer; even looking at Sheng Zhou made her feel unlucky: “I’m leaving.”

Before Lu Ye left, he pointed to the rental contract in the transparent file bag to remind Sheng Zhou, then turned and left the apartment with the others.

The private property manager immediately followed up: “Miss Xu Yao, we will urge Mr. Sheng to vacate and repair your house and handle all related matters.”

Xu Yao nodded to indicate she understood, and Yang Guofa, the president of Tiansheng Property who had been waiting in the elevator hall for a long time, saw Xu Yao come out and greeted her with a big smile: “Miss Xu Yao, hello, hello.”

Yang Guofa had been waiting so long he wanted to smoke, but suppressed the urge upon seeing the famous species planted at the elevator hall entrance.

Xu Yao smiled: “Sorry, President Yang, I was dealing with some personal matters and kept you waiting.”

“Not at all! I had nothing to do either,” Yang Guofa stepped ahead to press the elevator button, letting Xu Yao and the others enter first, then followed in.

“Miss Xu Yao, do you have time? Let’s have lunch.”

Since she didn’t plan to continue cooperating, Xu Yao didn’t intend to have this meal with Yang Guofa.

After they exited the elevator hall, Xu Yao spoke up: “President Yang, I won’t beat around the bush; I’ll get straight to the point.”

Yang Guofa straightened up, showing a listening expression.

“I have a building in the Tai’an community. I know your company is the property management for the Tai’an community. I have only one request now—terminate the cooperation.”

Yang Guofa was stunned in place.

“A building? In the Tai’an community?

The Tai’an community could only be considered a mid-range community in Haicheng, neither too high nor too low, but… that was still a whole building!

The total value of that building was probably higher than Xu Yao’s two top luxury apartments in Haicheng, no wonder she was so concerned.

Yang Guofa gradually came to his senses; he looked at the young girl in front of him and couldn’t help but say: “Miss Xu Yao, terminating the cooperation between the community and the property management is not as simple as you just kicked Sheng Zhou out.”

“You do have a building in the Tai’an community, but the entire Tai’an community has other owners as well. You need the consent of two-thirds of the owners. Also, if you want to bring in a new property management company, has your community established a homeowners’ committee?”

Yang Guofa wasn’t angry; he knew the character of his property management and said after a moments hesitation: “Miss Xu Yao, I must say there must be something our property management has done poorly. How about I get them to rectify it?”

After going through so many worlds, Xu Yao knew that these so-called rectifications were always just superficial fixes.

Xu Yao’s attitude was quite firm: “No need, I will seek the consent of all the owners. Additionally, please have your company settle the earnings from the Tai’an community over the years for our community owners. Thank you.”

Yang Guofa’s face stiffened; he hadn’t expected that a young girl like Xu Yao would understand so much.

It should be known that aside from collecting property fees from each owner, the property management company also had other sources of income—

Parking fees, venue fees, and advertising fees.

Yes, aside from top luxury apartments like Haicheng Shangpin and Haicheng Bay No. 1, 90% of the communities in Haicheng had advertisement billboards of some sort.

The hanging advertisement boards in the elevator hall, the ads on the entrance gates of the community, and the internal advertisement walls were all sources of income.

According to national laws, the remaining money after deducting all maintenance fees belongs to the collective owners of the community.

But in this day and age, people only knew to pay property fees; the idea of getting money back? Don’t even think about it.

Seeing Yang Guofa silent, Xu Yao smiled slightly: “Since there’s nothing else, President Yang, I’ll take my leave.”

Yang Guofa forced a smile and nodded, watching Xu Yao leave Haicheng Shangpin with her people, increasingly puzzled—

What exactly is Miss Xu Yao’s background?

Xu Jing, the richest man, personally called him to contact this Miss Xu Yao.

Yang Guofa had only heard of the Xu family having Xu Jing as the only grandson; he had never heard of a granddaughter. Could it be that Xu Yao is a relative of Xu Jing?

However, Yang Guofa had long heard that Xu Jing was someone who helped relatives but not principles, so this matter might really be handled as Xu Yao said.

But having to give up those earnings still made Yang Guofa feel quite uncomfortable.

*

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:

You can always trust the influence of a top star; in just one hour, the internet exploded. Not only was he at the top of the trending list of Weibo, Sheng Zhou was also at the top of all other major news platforms.

Now, everyone in the country knew that Sheng Zhou had owed Xu Yao half a year’s rent.

Not only that, but Sheng Zhou also damaged various pieces of furniture in the luxurious apartment, with estimated losses exceeding tens of millions.

#ShengZhou# was immediately followed by #Unfollow#, and aside from a few younger fans still holding on, countless fans unfollowed him.

[Was there any fan who watched that live stream and didn’t unfollow? I feel heartbroken for Xu Yao.]

[According to rumors, the Stuths Starry Sky version LCD TV that Sheng Zhou sent for repair was denied coverage because it was broken with a wine bottle.]

[Xu Yao is really unfortunate; she was dragged by Sheng Zhou and Liu Yingxia to take the blame and ended up being hated by the entire internet. Now her perfectly good house has been ruined by Sheng Zhou; the beautiful rich woman is so unfortunate.]

This immediately sparked outrage among Liu Yingxia’s fans, who immediately retorted on the Weibo post: [You guys can bash Sheng Zhou all you want, but don’t drag our Yingxia into this. Xiaxia and Sheng Zhou aren’t close, thank you very much.]

[Taking our Yingxia away, we’re not involved in this rent arrears business.]

[Let’s all look forward to Liu Yingxia’s upcoming drama “Seeking Immortals.” This gossip has nothing to do with Xiaxia.]

Liu Yingxia herself was also among the first to hear about this explosive piece of gossip. She had no idea about Sheng Zhou’s six-month rent arrears; he had never mentioned it.

Liu Yingxia had always thought that the Haicheng Shangpin mansion Sheng Zhou constantly boasted about was his own, but it turned out to be rented? And he was six months behind on rent!

Liu Yingxia wasn’t close to Xu Yao; they only had a brief acquaintance when they almost collaborated on “Seeking Immortals.” Later, when the scandal broke out and Xu Yao went crazy making wild accusations, Liu Yingxia developed a dislike for her.

Her assistant, munching on the gossip, whispered to Liu Yingxia, “Sister Xiaxia, you made the right decision breaking up with him. Sheng Zhou’s character isn’t worthy of you.”

Liu Yingxia wholeheartedly agreed with her assistant. During their breakup, Sheng Zhou had contacted her many times, hoping to reconcile.

Liu Yingxia still had feelings for Sheng Zhou, but rationally considered her rising career, so their on-again, off-again relationship remained unresolved.
Now, it seemed like it was time for a clean break.

“Alright, don’t say anything inappropriate during the interview later,” Liu Yingxia sternly reminded her, referring to an upcoming interview.

The nanny car pulled up outside the venue. The assistant got out first to open the door for Liu Yingxia. Countless reporters swarmed around, snapping photos. Liu Yingxia smiled and waved amidst the flashing lights.

A reporter pressed for a question to be answered at a sensitive time, “Yingxia, what are your thoughts on the news this morning about Sheng Zhou’s six-month rent arrears to Xu Yao?”

Liu Yingxia inwardly cursed the reporter’s malicious intent. The actress’s skills reached their peak at that moment. A look of confusion flashed across her pretty face as she said, “What do I think? I’m not close to Mr. Sheng or Miss Xu. I hope they can resolve this through legal channels.”

Most reporters knew better than to pursue the matter further. Liu Yingxia quickly noticed the reporters’ strange expressions.

A paparazzi, brimming with excitement, tiptoed and shouted, “Liu Yingxia, you’re not close to Sheng Zhou? Not close to the extent that you can even make out in an underground parking garage?”

Liu Yingxia: “……?”

Just five minutes ago, a marketing account with over a million followers had posted a message, adding fuel to the already fiery situation.

[Top Entertainment Gossip: Exclusive! A top-tier celebrity with 40 million followers and a popular actress’s romance exposed! Passionate kiss in the underground parking garage last night! Pictures as proof! [Picture][Picture][Picture]]

What a feast for gossip lovers today! Another scoop!

The paparazzi’s photos clearly showed Sheng Zhou and Liu Yingxia’s faces; Sheng Zhou was kissing Liu Yingxia against a car window!

The news instantly overshadowed the Sheng Zhou rent arrears story, shooting to the top of the trending searches.

At this moment, the remaining loyal Sheng Zhou fans crumbled.

[Sheng Zhou is really dating Liu Yingxia? Yesterday, he sarcastically responded to Xu Yao, saying he only cared about work and not women…]

[No wonder Xu Yao’s Weibo post when she quit the industry. Sheng Zhou and Liu Yingxia didn’t dare sue Xu Yao for defamation, wuwu, my idol has collapsed.]

[Judging by the time, Xu Yao went to the studio to demand payment, and Sheng Zhou went to see Liu Yingxia?]

[So it’s true? Xu Yao said Sheng Zhou and Liu Yingxia were dating, but no one believed her. Now, Yao Yao’s innocence is proven.]

[I’m going to throw up. So Sheng Zhou and Liu Yingxia were really dating and used the innocent Xu Yao as a shield? Forcing her to leave the industry? Heavens, what a huge victim Xu Yao is!]

[I’m sorry, Xu Yao, I’m going to follow you!]

…

It was all fake. Sheng Zhou’s mansion was fake, Sheng Zhou and Liu Yingxia’s single status was fake; only Xu Yao’s claim of quitting the industry to collect rent was true!

As a retired celebrity, Xu Yao’s fan base was still growing, the total nearing two million followers.

Li Xiaoli, who had been a Sheng Zhou fan ten days ago had just woken up today.

Yes, because she didn’t have a nine-to-five job, Li Xiaoli had been supervising the elevator installation yesterday, so she woke up late today, almost noon, and only then discovered the chaos on Weibo.

After reading for a long time, Li Xiaoli sighed in relief, “Luckily, I’m now a fan of Xu Yao.”

What’s the use of being a Sheng Zhou fan? Being a Xu Yao fan gives her a great job, some money, and most importantly, being a fan of a retired celebrity landlord won’t lead to disappointment!

Sheng Zhou didn’t expect one problem to be followed by another.

His PR team was still scrambling to respond to the six-month rent arrears issue when the paparazzi silently exposed his relationship with Liu Yingxia, seemingly determined to bury him.

His Weibo following of over 40 million was plummeting at a visible rate, already down to 39 million.

Sheng Zhou’s side had already posted an apology on Weibo, admitting to his negligence in delaying Xu Yao’s rent. They had already paid the arrears and would compensate Xu Yao with 630,000 yuan in compensation, plus various other losses.

[Get lost, you idiot Sheng Zhou, I’m blind for being your fan.]

[Goodbye, Sheng Zhou, forever goodbye.]

[I’m so disappointed in you. I can tolerate you owing Xu Yao rent, I can even tolerate you drawing graffiti on your mansion walls, since I think that’s you showing your authentic self, but I can never tolerate you actually dating Liu Yingxia! Goodbye.]

[Hahahaha, trash Sheng Zhou finally crashed and burned. I’m going to follow Xu Yao, the rich lady with two buildings in Haicheng’s urban villages and two top-tier mansions in Haicheng Shangpin deserves it!]

Sheng Zhou and Liu Yingxia were heartbroken. The fans they lost had all flocked to follow Xu Yao!

What’s the use of following a retired celebrity?!

Today was destined to be incredibly lively. After Sheng Zhou’s official apology statement was released, various programs and endorsements quickly responded.

[Official account of ‘My Home Variety Show‘: Due to personal reasons, Sheng Zhou will withdraw from the program effective immediately. We thank the audience for their strong support of this show.]

[Sincere Luxury Perfume official v: We have currently terminated all cooperation with Mr. Sheng Zhou.]

[Beloved Jadeite Earl Watches v: Our brand has hereby ended our contract with Mr. Sheng Zhou.]

…

As a top celebrity, Sheng Zhou had numerous brands endorsing him, all of which announced the cessation of their endorsements.

There are many people who have indeed defaulted on rent, but this clearly indicates a problem with one’s character, and as a public figure, character is extremely crucial. There are countless stars in the entertainment industry with plenty of new endorsers to choose from.

Xu Yao felt quite pleased. Watching her fan count soar, she decided it was time to strike back and posted a Weibo update:

[Xu Yao v: Feeling a bit happy today, let’s do a giveaway for a fan to have half a year’s rent waived.]

The comments section was instantly flooded with Xu Yao’s fans:

[Hahaha, Yao Yao knows how to be sarcastic, today’s revenge is sweet!]

[Wow, a giveaway? Pick me, pick me! Waive my rent for half a year, I’m about to be crushed by the rent in Haicheng, it’s really expensive QAQ.]

[I’m dying of laughter, Xu Yao! Sheng Zhou defaulted on half a year’s rent, and she immediately offers a fan half a year’s rent waiver. This girl is so real.]

[I wonder which weirdo in the entertainment industry will dare to default on rent in the future!]

Zhou Qi was in a panic. As an ordinary person participating and planning to debut through the variety show ‘My Home Life‘, he was now extremely anxious.

Zhou Qi certainly couldn’t afford to live in a top luxury apartment like Haicheng Shangpin; he couldn’t even afford the rent.

He directly explained to all the program’s fans that he was renting a 100-square-meter apartment in the Tai’an community in Haicheng, but recently the entire community was boycotting the property management. He had been trapped in the elevator for half an hour and was severely frightened, and the property management’s indifferent attitude made him furious, so he hadn’t paid the property fee either.

Now he was a bit scared. With Sheng Zhou defaulting on half a year’s rent, his career was essentially over. What if it was also revealed that he was defaulting on the property fee? He hadn’t even debuted yet but would already be packing his bags to go home.

Zhou Qi hurriedly transferred four hundred yuan to the landlord, noting it was for the property fee.

[Xu Yao: ?]

[Xu Yao: You don’t need to pay the property fee for now, I’m currently uniting with other owners to replace the property management.]

Zhou Qi: “??”

Zhou Qi rented the apartment from an agency and had never met the landlord, but he knew that the landlord didn’t even live in the community. Where did she get the leisure to help replace the property management??

Xu Yao was indeed planning to replace the Tiansheng property management, and her fiancé Ji Zhengqing had recommended a few decent property management companies.

“Lu Ye, have you sent the message to the owners?”

Lu Ye nodded: “I’m already working on the vote to change the property management, and I’ve sent invitations to the few owners you selected.”

Changing the property management in the community was indeed quite troublesome; first, a homeowners’ committee had to be established.

The members of the homeowners’ committee should ideally be owners who have legal awareness and time. Xu Yao selected a few and sent invitations to several owners, but it was still uncertain whether they would agree.

Xie Zhengtian was one of those who received an invitation. At that moment, he was playing billiards with a few friends, with several strikingly beautiful women standing nearby.

“Little Xie, why have you been hanging out with us lately? Aren’t you always with Young Master Ji?” a friend asked, holding a cue stick and watching the young man bend over to aim.

Xie Zhengtian squinted, sinking the ball with one stroke. He straightened up and changed positions, smiling: “Zhengqing has been on a business trip for a month, he’s just about to come back.”

Someone walked into the billiard room, looked at the group of young masters, and respectfully said to Xie Zhengtian: “Brother Tian, didn’t you buy a house in Tai’an community? There’s a neighbour who is planning to establish a homeowners’ committee and wants to know if you’re willing to be a member.”

Mentioning the house in Tai’an community made Xie Zhengtian flinch.

When he was in high school, he was foolish and spent all his time gaming, so he specifically bought a small house to play games. Now that he had graduated from university, he was no longer that high school student, and the house had been left vacant, with only the property and sanitation fees being paid.

In recent years, Xie Zhengtian had been considering selling that small house, but potential buyers were deterred upon hearing it was managed by Tiansheng property management, so it had never been sold. He wasn’t in a hurry and had just left it idle.

Recently, with his finances a bit tight, Xie Zhengtian had been planning to lower the price again.

His friends immediately burst into laughter: “Little Xie, what sort of neighbour is this? They’ve even come looking for you?”

Tai’an community isn’t considered too bad in the whole of Haicheng; it’s mostly bought by the middle class, but in the eyes of these young masters, it wasn’t impressive at all.

Xie Zhengtian didn’t even live in Tai’an community, so how could they be considered neighbours? To put it bluntly, they only socialised with people from the same social circle.

Xie Zhengtian leaned over the billiard table, his eyes fixed on the scattered balls while saying, “Forget it, where would I have the time for that? Who’s neighbours with her?”

The newcomer nodded knowingly and said, “Then I’ll immediately reply to Miss Xu Yao saying that you won’t participate in the candidacy.”

Xie Zhengtian was about to make a move to hit the ball when he paused, straightening up: “Xu Yao? Which Xu Yao?”

“Which other Xu Yao could it be? The landlord Xu Yao who’s been all over the internet today.”

Xie Zhengtian had also been online today, enjoying the gossip from the entertainment industry, having a good laugh at Sheng Zhou.

Xie Zhengtian squinted his eyes and continued to ask, “The Xu Yao who owns two luxury apartments in Haicheng? One of which is the luxury penthouse worth over four hundred million?”

The luxury penthouse in Haicheng Shangpin isn’t something that just anyone can buy if they have money. It was said to have been purchased by a big shot long ago, and according to what his family’s old man said, it was a big shot they couldn’t afford to mess with. Now the house is in Xu Yao’s hands…

“It’s exactly that Miss Xu Yao.”

Xie Zhengtian handed the cue stick to a nearby waiter, took off his gloves, and seriously adjusted his clothes, saying, “Reply to Xu Yao saying that I accept.”

The surrounding people: “???”

Xie Zhengtian adjusted his collar and said very seriously, “Distant relatives can’t be compared to close neighbours; and after all, I am a good neighbour who is dedicated to the neighbourhood’s overall harmony.”

---

i think the parasocial relationship between fans and idols are always worse in the specific country that idol is from — e.g. chinese celebrities and chinese netizens, etc, and i’ve never understood the problem with celebrities dating. however, i think the issue i have here is both sheng zhou and liu yingxia lying about it and also involving an innocent third party.

also, sorry for the lack of updates QAQ i’ve gone on holiday to singapore to visit my grandparents for a month and these past two weeks have just been me spending time with them! if you have any recs so far for where to go in sg, pls lmk! i’ve mainly just been having hawker food that’s near their hdb as well as going to coffee bean to do my online uni classes owo

next update will also be next week because this chapter was actually insanely long for no reason,,, but it’ll be back to 2 chapters next week^^

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

---

Half a year!

Damn, that’s half a year, not half a month!!

Since Sheng Zhou was not the male lead in the original text, but merely the female lead, Liu Yingxia’s ex-boyfriend, his daily life had not been detailed by the author. Therefore, Xu Yao had no idea that this guy had been in arrears for half a year.

Xu Yao said decisively, “Quick, check to see if there’s been a mistake.”

Although she found Sheng Zhou disgusting, Xu Yao didn’t intend to slander him or create a misunderstanding. It was also possible that he had paid but it just hadn’t been recorded in the rent collection’s electronic form.

Lu Ye’s face darkened as he immediately arranged for the rent collection team to investigate the records, checking WeChat, Alipay, and bank transfer records.

About twenty minutes later, Lu Ye’s face had turned as dark as the bottom of a pot. He hesitantly reported, “Miss Yao Yao, Sheng Zhou rented your luxury apartment 3-1102 at Haicheng Shangpin a year and two months ago, but he indeed hasn’t paid rent for six months.”

They had scoured all the accounts, and there had been no income related to Sheng Zhou during these six months.

Xu Yao fell silent: “…”

After all, he was a top celebrity, yet he could actually do something like this¹. Xu Yao felt as if her worldview had been shattered at that very moment.

Xu Yao looked Lu Ye up and down, curiously asking, “Did you not have any reaction when you didn’t receive the rent? The key point is that it’s been six months!”

Six months worth of luxury apartment rent! Just thinking about it made Xu Yao’s heart ache! This was all their Xu family’s money; it was her hard-earned money from quick transmigrating 999 times!

Lu Ye, with a guilty expression, said, “It’s because the luxury apartments we rented out at Haicheng Shangpin have their rent paid mostly quarterly or bi-annually, but our initial agreement with Mr. Sheng Zhou had the rent paid monthly.”

Ir was likely because Sheng Zhou’s payment schedule was different from other tenants at Haicheng Shangpin that they later mixed it up, thinking he was also paying bi-annually, leading to such a significant error.

Xu Yao raised her hand to gently rub her forehead, feeling somewhat speechless. Indeed, being a landlord wasn’t that easy; collecting rent was genuinely hard work, encountering all sorts of oddities every day!

Xu Yao carefully reviewed the rental contract. It should be due to the monthly payment; the luxury apartment at Haicheng Shangpin originally had a monthly rent of 320,000 yuan, but the contract stipulated 350,000 yuan yuan per month.

Xu Yao recalled Sheng Zhou’s variety show trailer and truly admired his courage and audacity.

Xu Yao considered herself to have a good temper. She allowed tenants to have difficulties and could forgive them for temporarily forgetting to pay rent, but to forget for half a year? That was clearly intentional. Impressive!

After returning home, Xu Yao flung her rent collection slippers at the entrance, sat down on the sofa, and entered Sheng Zhou’s personal phone number on her phone, dialling it.

Sheng Zhou was still shooting a magazine these days and was set to participate in a variety show shoot tomorrow. Such high work efficiency was truly commendable.

Sheng Zhou was wearing the season’s latest high-end gray suit, skilfully posing for the camera as the photographer frantically searched for angles, the camera clicking away.

Suddenly, the ringtone of his phone, tucked in the pocket of his suit, rang out. Sheng Zhou immediately walked out of the studio as if jolted by electricity.

The photographer: “?”

Did he say to stop? They were in the middle of a shoot!

Recently, Sheng Zhou was in great distress. Was this how it was going to end with Xia Xia? He was truly unwilling to accept it. He could accept if it were because of their own issues, but he couldn’t accept breaking up because of an outsider like Xu Yao.

He was afraid that Liu Yingxia would suddenly remember to call him, so he kept his personal phone close at hand, ensuring he could receive her call at the first moment.

When he saw it was an unknown number, disappointment flickered across Sheng Zhou’s face. When he answered, his disappointment deepened as a pleasant voice came through: “Hello, Sheng Zhou, this is Xu Yao, you owe…”

Sheng Zhou furrowed his brows tightly. He didn’t know whether or not Xu Yao had decided to let loose after being criticized online. She had previously sent him cheesy love messages and now was even directly calling his phone number.

Sheng Zhou also didn’t know how Xu Yao found out that his luxurious mansion in Haicheng was rented. Fortunately, there weren’t many fans of hers, but he feared she might call to threaten him.

Sheng Zhou didn’t even give Xu Yao a chance to say any more. His handsome face was filled with impatience, and after decisively hanging up, he added Xu Yao to his phone’s blacklist, ensuring she had no way to contact him.

Xu Yao: “…”

Xu Yao looked at Lu Ye and the others: “Call again.”

Lu Ye immediately dialed Sheng Zhou’s number again, but to their surprise, the other party had turned off his phone, clearly treating Xu Yao as a calamity.

Xu Yao was extremely impressed. After considering for a moment, she said, “Find out where Sheng Zhou is right now, and go find him directly.”

Xu Yao knew that Sheng Zhou would be participating in the variety show ‘My Home Life’ tomorrow, but as far as she knew, this show was live-streamed, and she had already retired from the industry. Such rental disputes could be resolved privately.

Unless it was absolutely necessary.

Sheng Zhou’s schedule was public and Lu Ye and the others quickly found out that he was currently shooting the cover for a well-known magazine. Xu Yao decisively instructed Lu Ye and the others to arrange a car to go to the shooting location.

As Xu Yao got into the luxury car she had purchased a few days ago, she hadn’t even fastened her seatbelt when she received a call from her brother, Xu Jing.

This wealthy brother of hers was always busy, and they didn’t have many opportunities to talk or meet.

The two siblings chatted for a bit, and Xu Jing reminded her, “Zhengqing will be back from his business trip in a few days.”

Xu Yao nodded, understanding her brother’s implication. She didn’t care much about this fiancé who was merely a tool for inheriting the family fortune; she would just follow the rules.

Seeing Xu Yao accept it so easily, Xu Jing felt a bit more at ease and asked with a smile, “What are you up to now, Yao Yao?”

Xu Yao couldn’t help but vent her frustrations: “Brother, someone owes us money—half a year’s rent! I’m currently on my way to collect it.”

Upon hearing this, Xu Jing’s brows furrowed. At his level, even a luxurious mansion in Haicheng didn’t concern him, but just because he could let it go didn’t mean others could.

Xu Jing took the documents handed to him by his secretary and gently reassured her, “Yao Yao, you’ve worked hard. If you need help, just let me know.”

Xu Yao didn’t decline and asked, “Brother, do you know the property management company for Tai’an Community—Tiansheng Property? I need to contact them.”

Xu Jing didn’t know about Tai’an Community, but he was familiar with Tiansheng Property. It was a mid-tier property management company in the country—not high-end, but not too shabby either.

As for having his sister contact them?

Xu Jing chuckled lightly, “Yao Yao, handle your own matters first. I’ll have the president of Tiansheng Property contact you shortly.”

Xu Yao saw that they were about to arrive at the shooting location through the car window, thanked Xu Jing, and hung up.

The weather was exceptionally nice today, with a clear blue sky and gentle clouds, a refreshing breeze blowing without any heat.

Xu Yao got out of the car wearing a long floral dress, calmly walking towards the shooting studio. She had already grown accustomed to the astonished gazes of passersby at her luxury car.

Not far away, a passerby excitedly took photos with her phone and immediately turned to send a message to her best friend: “I just saw Xu Yao getting out of a million-dollar luxury car! She’s really so thin and fair in person!”

Her friend, however, was quite alert: “Babe, isn’t the building you’re at the one where Zhou Zhou is shooting his magazine cover? What’s Xu Yao doing there?”

The girl paused, feeling that Xu Yao’s intentions might not be pure. She looked up at the building in front of her, realizing that Xu Yao couldn’t possibly be collecting rent in such an office building.

Could it be…

The two of them simultaneously speculated through their screens: “Is Xu Yao going to find Zhou Zhou?!”

Meanwhile, in the photography studio, Sheng Zhou had finished his shoot. The photographer, looking at the gallery, wanted Sheng Zhou to take a few more shots, but Sheng Zhou was feeling a bit displeased, casually scrolling through Weibo.

He was browsing through his super topic when he saw a new post with a picture that shocked him to his core.

Xu Yao came?

She came to the studio to find him?

For a moment, Sheng Zhou somewhat understood why Xu Yao had chosen to retire from the industry; only by retiring could she pursue him without restraint. If she were still in the industry, would she dare?

He had to leave! He had to leave quickly!

To avoid this pursuer, Sheng Zhou disregarded the photographer’s pleas and immediately took the elevator down to the underground parking lot with his assistant.

But once in the car, Sheng Zhou changed his mind and insisted, “Go to the film crew nearby for Xia Xia’s shoot this afternoon.”

Sheng Zhou could no longer endure the days without seeing Liu Yingxia. He could almost picture her smiling at him when he closed his eyes, especially after receiving that harassing call from Xu Yao; his heart felt like it was being tormented.

He had to see her!

He had to see her today!

The assistant was frightened and advised repeatedly, “Brother Zhou, isn’t it inappropriate to see Sister Xia at this stage? If you get photographed, it would be really hard to explain.”

Sheng Zhou’s expression instantly darkened, and he replied coldly, “If I said we’re going, we’re going.”

The variety show would start tomorrow, and the chances of seeing Liu Yingxia would decrease even more. He had to see her.

The little assistant couldn’t argue with Sheng Zhou and could only sit quietly with slumped shoulders, praying not to be photographed.

The nanny car drove out of the underground parking lot and sped away.

Xu Yao went to the studio but found it empty; where was Sheng Zhou?

The magazine staff looked at Xu Yao with a gossipy expression.

Xu Yao rubbed her temples in frustration; Sheng Zhou was quite good at hiding.

Little 6 popped out, expressing concern: “Host, you’re working too hard.”

Xu Yao feigned weakness: “If you think I’m struggling, then increase my pension a bit.”

Little 6 nodded obediently: “Hmm, detecting that the host’s retirement life is quite tough, Little 6 will apply to the Quick Transmigration Bureau for a higher pension this month. Please hang in there, host!”

Hearing this, Xu Yao felt a bit better, but it unfortunately didn’t last long; she was completely speechless at Sheng Zhou’s odd behaviour.

# Xu Yao suspected of pursuing Sheng Zhou to the studio #

[Entertainment Early News: Latest gossip, a certain internet celebrity pursues a male artist in the industry to the studio, with the male artist escaping frantically. [Image][Image][Image]]

The images showed Xu Yao entering the building from behind and the nanny car of Sheng Zhou driving away.

Sheng Zhou quickly responded to this—

[Sheng Zhou v: Thank you for your affection, but my heart is only for work.]

Xu Yao: “???”

Are you seriously that delusional?

[Did Xu Yao really chase Zhou Zhou to the studio? This is too crazy! Xu Yao is definitely turning love into hate!]

[Is Xu Yao getting slapped in the face? Previously spreading rumors about Sheng Zhou and Liu Yingxia being in love, but it turns out she has feelings for Sheng Zhou herself. What else could she be doing at the filming location besides pursuing Sheng Zhou?]

[So happy! Spinning in place with joy, I knew Zhou Zhou only has work in his heart, not women~]

[Although Sheng Zhou did respond, his response is too polite, right? XY is currently an internet celebrity, so he’s basically mentioning an internet celebrity at the top of his Weibo account! Too damaging to his image.]

[Speechless at Sheng Zhou +1]

[You guys upstairs², shut up! If you were constantly harassed by someone like Xu Yao, you would retaliate too! Hope it doesn’t affect Zhou Zhou’s variety show tomorrow.]

……

Xu Yao almost laughed at these comments; she was quite shocked at how narcissistic Sheng Zhou was.

Lu Ye frowned as he read, asking, “Miss Yao Yao, should we start arrangements to send a lawyer’s letter to Sheng Zhou?”

Once the lawyer’s letter arrives, Sheng Zhou will definitely obediently pay the rent for the past six months. The Xu family’s ‘Pizza Hut’ legal team is very intimidating, so they aren’t afraid of Sheng Zhou being uncooperative.

Xu Yao lowered her gaze to admire her crystal manicure and smiled calmly, “No rush, I haven’t collected the rent yet.”

Lu Ye looked at Xu Yao’s calm profile and suddenly realized that Xu Yao and Xu Jing really had a lot in common; the angrier they got, the calmer they became.

Xu Yao said lightly, “If he doesn’t want to resolve it privately, then he can’t blame me.”

Xu Yao smiled and reminded them, “Get up early tomorrow to collect rent from Haicheng Shangpin.”

–

Xu Yao returned home leisurely. Qu Xi came over after finishing her scenes for the day, and Xu Yao only told her not to worry and to seize this opportunity.

Qu Xi was still a bit dazed, not quite understanding what opportunity Xu Yao was referring to. Did Yao Yao think the short drama could become a hit?

After coaxing Qu Xi back home, Xu Yao received a WeChat message from her fiancé, who was merely a tool for her inheritance.

[Ji Zhengqing: Miss Xu, is there anything I can help you with?]

Clearly, Xu Yao’s situation with Sheng Zhou had reached this fiancé, who was about to go on a business trip back to the country.

Xu Yao was about to say no, but then realized that this fiancé was deliberately trying to contact her, as it would be awkward if they were not familiar with each other when they got engaged.

[Xu Yao: Do you know any property companies that are reliable and not too expensive?]

[Ji Zhengqing: Yes.]

After chatting for a bit, Xu Yao ended the conversation, citing the need to rest early, and played a few games before going to sleep.

The next day, Xu Yao woke up early, simplified her makeup, and had Lu Ye prepare the rental contract and the transfer records for Sheng Zhou’s rent.

Just as Xu Yao was about to head out, someone rang the doorbell. It was several staff members who were panting while dragging dozens of suitcases.

Seeing Xu Yao’s puzzled expression, the staff explained, “Miss Yao Yao, these are the property certificates of your various properties. They have all been processed.”

Previously, when Qu Xi visited her home, she was quite curious about one of the huge empty rooms and what it was for. Xu Yao actually planned to use it to store her mountain of property certificates.

The staff dragged the suitcases into the designated large room, opening each one to reveal stacks of bright red property certificates that were dazzling to the eyes.

These are all her little empires!

After considering for a moment, Xu Yao decided to take the property certificate for the luxury apartment in Haicheng Shangpin that Sheng Zhou was renting.

The appearance of these property certificates didn’t have too much difference; the only difference being the building numbers inside, making them easy to confuse.

“Are you ready, Miss Yao Yao?” Lu Ye’s steady voice came from the door. Hearing this, Xu Yao quickly grabbed a property certificate for Haicheng Shangpin and then had Lu Ye put all the documents into a transparent folder.

Xu Yao took out her phone and entered the live broadcast room of ‘My Home Life’ variety show, smiling slightly, “Let’s go!”

*

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 highly anticipated ‘My Home Life’ variety show finally began, with countless fans flooding into Sheng Zhou’s live broadcast room at the first second. The online viewership far surpassed the other four guests, leaving netizens in awe of the top star’s ability to attract fans!

The director watched the soaring online numbers, grinning from ear to ear, feeling it was worth the huge investment to invite the top star Sheng Zhou!

Most fans came for Sheng Zhou while some netizens were purely curious about what the interior of the luxury apartment in Haicheng Shangpin looked like, as such opportunities to see it were quite rare.

As soon as Sheng Zhou appeared, he was quite eye-catching. He wore a pink long-sleeve T-shirt, a floral apron wrapped around his waist, and slides on his feet, waving his hand and saying, “Hello everyone, good morning.”

“Have you all had breakfast? I’m just about to make some.”

[Ahhh, Zhou Zhou is so handsome! He looks so fresh in his home attire! Is he planning to make dumplings? How down-to-earth!]

As the camera moved to the kitchen, the viewers gasped even more.

[Oh my gosh, is this a mansion? The kitchen is so big! Ten chefs could cook at the same time without feeling crowded, right? And there’s even a western kitchen island for juicing, I’m so envious.]

[Just the kitchen is bigger than my master bedroom… Not everyone in the entertainment industry can afford a luxury mansion in Haicheng, Sheng Zhou is indeed impressive.]

[The kitchenware is all top-notch global cooking tools, sob sob sob, did you see that ‘ordinary’ white refrigerator? It’s worth over three hundred thousand yuan…]

[!! A refrigerator worth over three hundred thousand?? Oh my gosh, is this the world of the rich?]

In addition to the live stream camera following Sheng Zhou in real-time, the production team also filmed other scenes for later editing, slowly panning the camera from the kitchen to the living room.

There were quite a few staff members on site, but in this mansion, it didn’t feel crowded at all.

In the incredibly spacious living room, there were elegantly curved high-end soft sofas, and the sunlight streamed in through the 270° large floor-to-ceiling windows, illuminating the generously wide balcony where unknown exotic plants were planted.

The knowledgeable staff secretly admired the decor; previously, some had criticized Sheng Zhou’s taste as being very ordinary, but now it seemed his mansion’s decor was quite sophisticated, filled with understated luxury.

After this variety show, it’s likely that no one would dare to criticize Sheng Zhou on this point anymore.

Sheng Zhou fished the dumplings out of the pot and said to them, “The dumplings are ready, director and everyone, let’s eat together.”

After all, in front of the camera, Sheng Zhou knew how to put on a show.

[Sob sob sob, Zhou Zhou is amazing! He’s so busy with work yet can cook so well, I can smell the aroma through the screen.]

[? No way? He just bought a few bags of frozen dumplings, boiled them in water, and then they’re ready to eat. Even my six-year-old can do that; fans don’t need to praise SZ for being a great cook, right?]

[Wow, look at the tableware! This brand’s tableware is exclusively supplied to the royal family of X country; it looks plain but is actually super expensive!]

The comments in the live stream varied, but the vast majority were quite positive.

When Sheng Zhou invited them, the director and the others naturally had to show some respect.

“Ding ding ding—”

Just as they sat down and quietly observed the tableware, a series of doorbell rings echoed from outside, causing them to exchange surprised glances.

Sheng Zhou looked at the production team, secretly thinking it was an arrangement by them. As the owner of the mansion, he immediately got up and walked towards the door to open it, with the camera following closely behind.

Of course, a mansion wouldn’t have a regular door lock but a professional smart lock with a display screen on the wall that clearly showed the outside view.

When Sheng Zhou saw the figure on the display screen, his expression suddenly changed.

Xu Yao?!

Today, Xu Yao was dressed in a gentle flesh-pink knitted camisole paired with a shawl cardigan, followed by a few people, among whom the tall bodyguard was the most eye-catching, making Xu Yao appear even smaller.

Xu Yao looked exceptionally beautiful today, truly stunning. Sheng Zhou’s Adam’s apple bobbed as he stared at Xu Yao on the display screen, his mind racing—

Had Xu Yao already liked him to this extent??

He avoided her yesterday at the filming studio, so today she simply came to his door?

Seeing that no one opened the door, Xu Yao calmly continued to press the doorbell, the ringing echoing one after another.

The viewers in the live stream also saw this scene immediately, and the moment Xu Yao appeared, the atmosphere became lively, with the online viewership skyrocketing!

[??? Xu Yao? Oh my gosh, Xu Yao is a stalker, right? She chased him all the way to Zhou Zhou’s doorstep!]

[If I had Xu Yao’s shamelessness, how could I not pursue my crush??]

Some viewers were just enjoying the spectacle: [A woman pursuing a man is like a thin layer of gauze³; Xu Yao is really beautiful, and she matches well with Sheng Zhou. Why doesn’t Sheng Zhou just give in? The girl is being so proactive.]

[I’m done, I’m really done. Just yesterday, Sheng Zhou rejected her on Weibo, and she actually came again. I’ve never seen someone like Xu Yao before; if she’s already retired from the industry, she should stop clinging onto him already, right?]

The production team was even more excited; Xu Yao was truly their good partner, creating buzz for them, and it was a huge surprise for them!

Sheng Zhou quickly thought of Liu Yingxia, fearing that she might misunderstand after seeing the live stream. He began to curse Xu Yao for being too high-profile in pursuing him, but he couldn’t show it on camera, so he smiled and said, “I should open the door and explain things clearly to Miss Xu.”

Amidst the barrage of comments praising “Sheng Zhou is such a man,” he opened the luxurious double doors.

Xu Yao shook her sore fingers lightly; this guy finally opened the door.

Sheng Zhou said gently, “Xu…”

Xu Yao didn’t glance sideways, directly walking past Sheng Zhou into the house, with Lu Ye following closely behind.

Sheng Zhou’s smile froze on his face: “??” She just walked in like that?

[Although Sheng Zhou would politely invite her in and then reject her, Xu Yao walking in directly is really rude. No wonder Sheng Zhou doesn’t like her; such a waste of a pretty face.]

[Trespassing into someone’s home, Sheng Zhou should just call the police. Women like this shouldn’t be given a good face; otherwise, they’ll take advantage of it.]

[This situation seems complicated; Haicheng Shangpin is a high-end luxury community in Haicheng, comparable to Haicheng Bay No. 1. The security guard wouldn’t just let an outsider like Xu Yao in. I sense there’s going to be a big show today; I’ll call my best friend to come and watch.]

Sheng Zhou hurriedly followed, “Miss Xu, thank you for your affection…”

Xu Yao sat down on the sofa, and Lu Ye stood behind her with his hands behind his back like a gatekeeper. She rested her chin on one hand and calmly interrupted him, “Mr. Sheng, are you misunderstanding something? I’m here to collect rent.”

The entire mansion fell silent in an instant, as everyone pondered over Xu Yao’s words—“collect rent.”

Yesterday, Xu Yao had replied to a netizen saying that Sheng Zhou’s mansion was rented, but at that time, not many people believed it. However, today, Xu Yao showing up in person carried a different meaning to the audience. Was she here to provide solid evidence??

With a single sentence from Xu Yao, the live stream room was thrown into chaos, the barrage of comments flooding the screen to the point where it was almost impossible to see!

[What the hell? The mansion is really rented? Just yesterday, I was complaining about how Xu Yao knew that Sheng Zhou’s mansion was rented—was it because it was hers? Is she the landlord?]

[Not necessarily, she might just be collecting rent for someone else, but… is it really rented??]

[My God, is Sheng Zhou so thick-skinned? Pretending that a rented mansion is his own? I woke up this early just to see his mansion, and he pulls this?]

The entire barrage was questioning whether Sheng Zhou was really renting. This was truly the biggest twist of the day!

Previously, the whole internet was crazily marketing Sheng Zhou’s luxurious mansion in Haicheng, yet it turned out to be rented? Rented!

There was nothing shameful about renting; who hasn’t rented a place these days? But Sheng Zhou’s team had always promoted this mansion as one he purchased!

Isn’t that lying?

Some fans with a strong sense of morality found this fact hard to accept.

The production team was somewhat dumbfounded. When they saw Xu Yao appear, they thought there would be a big explosive moment today. It seemed there indeed was—but this explosive moment made the director feel it might affect their show—WTF!!

The director’s mind was racing; he even wanted to grab Sheng Zhou and shout at him, why did he deceive the production team??

[Is Xu Yao out of her mind? Even if it’s really rented, does she need to come collect rent now? I remember rent is usually paid half a month in advance, right? Is it necessary to chase after someone because of rent? It’s really disgusting.]

[Exactly, I also rent, and when it’s time to pay, I’m usually busy. The landlord wouldn’t come knocking on my door; I just go over when I have time.]

Xu Yao didn’t seem to intend to let Sheng Zhou off the hook. She changed her posture to scrutinize him and continued, “I added you on WeChat with the note ‘landlord,’ and you blocked me. I called you, and you blocked me. I tried to find you privately to pay the rent, and you ran away,” Xu Yao spread her hands helplessly, “So I really had no choice but to come directly to your front door.”

Sheng Zhou: “…”

Sheng Zhou’s facial expression was about to collapse. His ominous premonition was too strong. He even wanted to rush up and cover Xu Yao’s mouth to stop her from speaking, but the bodyguard standing behind her, like a mountain, made him hesitate.

In the next moment, Xu Yao stared into Sheng Zhou’s eyes, which were gradually shrouded in despair, and firmly said the one thing Sheng Zhou least wanted to be exposed: “Mr. Sheng, please pay me the half a year’s rent you owe.”

Owe!

Half a year!

Rent!

Listen to these words!

Xu Yao gave a signal and immediately, an employee came forward with Xu Yao’s payment code, smiling sweetly, but the words that came out made Sheng Zhou feel like he was facing a venomous woman, just like Xu Yao: “Hello, Mr. Sheng. You owe Miss Xu Yao a total of 2.1 million for half a year’s rent, 60,000 for property management fees, and 120,000 for utilities, totaling 2.28 million.”

The entire venue: “……”

2… 2,28 million yuan??? Such a crazy amount?

Silence fell, and no one dared to speak at that moment; it was so quiet that even the sound of the wind rustling the curtains could be heard.

The news was too explosive, and it was hard to react in time.

The mansion is rented…

The mansion is suspected to belong to Xu Yao…

These could be overlooked, and even the manager present began to think about how to spin this in the future—renting is down-to-earth, even top-tier stars rent, just like ordinary fans!

But the key point, the key point is that Sheng Zhou owes rent! Owes, rent!!

And it’s been half a year, over one hundred eighty days!

Fans went crazy!

The online viewership of the variety show skyrocketed from several million to tens of millions. It was peak commuting time on a workday, and many office workers were crammed into the subway.

Almost every time one turned their head, they could see young people nearby wearing headphones, all watching Sheng Zhou’s live stream, the subway filled with exclamations of “What the hell.”

[My best friend is going crazy. So, Sheng Zhou’s mansion is rented, and he owes rent? A top star in the entertainment industry owes rent?? My worldview is shattered.]

[I took Sheng Zhou as a role model, and it turns out he owes rent? Has he capsized?]

[Am I the only one wondering about Sheng Zhou’s utility bills? 120,000 for half a year, averaging 20,000 a month—how outrageous. Is he using that much water and electricity in a mansion?]

[Tsk, as expected of one of Haicheng’s top mansions, with a property fee of 10,000 a month—666⁴, I can’t even earn that much in a month, haha.]

[Hahaha, where are those who mocked Xu Yao as a little rich woman? This house in Haicheng is hers! I’m thrilled!]

Of course, there were also fans who wouldn’t believe it: [I don’t believe it; right now, it’s just Xu Yao’s word! Whatever she says is true? I will always believe in Sheng Zhou.]

At this moment, Sheng Zhou’s mind was in a daze. His head was buzzing, and he was completely frozen in front of the camera.

Under the lens, every expression of Sheng Zhou could be captured, and all the onlookers could clearly see his flushed face gradually turning pale.

A few days ago, Xu Yao had added him on WeChat, even noting herself as the landlord. At that time, the internet was trending with the cheesy pickup line, “I am your landlord, the owner of your heart,”…

Yesterday, she called him but he blocked her.

Xu Yao had even come to find him yesterday, and he had run away, even hanging her on his Weibo page…

Sheng Zhou suddenly realized that Xu Yao had actually given him many chances, many opportunities to resolve this privately without being exposed! It was he who didn’t take them.

Thinking of this, Sheng Zhou could hardly control his expression; it was clear he regretted it.

[I’m so embarrassed for Sheng Zhou. Xu Yao isn’t chasing him for love; it’s to collect a debt!!]

[I’m still looking at Sheng Zhou’s Weibo from yesterday; I’m digging out a set of Haicheng’s top mansion with my toes⁵!]

[Other than 666, I don’t know what else to say.]

[I put myself in the situation and thought, if someone owed me 2.28 million in rent for half a year and didn’t pay, I’d be tempted to kill them. I’m cursing like crazy; thank goodness Xu Yao can hold it in.]

“Are you going to pay the overdue rent or not?” Xu Yao was feeling a bit anxious; it had been almost ten minutes since she had waited for his response, and she still had to meet with the property management company’s CEO today, so she didn’t have time to waste with Sheng Zhou.

“Lu Ye,” seeing that Sheng Zhou still wasn’t speaking, Xu Yao called out, clearly stating, “Call the police.”

“Understood, Miss.” Lu Ye immediately took out his phone.

Sheng Zhou felt like his head was about to explode; he instinctively lunged forward, “Don’t call the police!”

Lu Ye swiftly raised a foot and kicked Sheng Zhou aside, preventing him from getting close to Xu Yao.

Sheng Zhou stumbled and nearly fell to the ground. He was in a sorry state, beads of sweat forming on his handsome forehead due to his nervousness and fear. The thought of being taken to the police station made him feel like it was all over. He looked at the stunned crowd and the dark camera lens, and the words that were about to spill from his lips were stuck, no matter how hard he tried.

Sheng Zhou was like an ant in a hot pan, completely flustered.

His actions made many fans feel disheartened. Not allowing the police to be called was just confirming that Sheng Zhou indeed owed rent, right? Otherwise, why would he be afraid of the police? It would be better to go to the police station and settle it there.

Xu Yao rested her chin on her hand, watching the spectacle with interest, “Why don’t you want to call the police?”

Sheng Zhou stuttered, repeatedly mumbling, “I… I…”

Xu Yao, that malicious woman, was forcing him to personally admit it!

At that moment, Sheng Zhou truly regretted it. Two million was really not much; for a top star like him, it was merely pocket change. He had just suddenly thought of taking advantage of the situation, thinking he could avoid paying.

Xu Yao raised her eyebrows, urging, “Call the police.”

Sheng Zhou felt both ashamed and irritated, tears almost forced out by Xu Yao. He barely managed to squeeze out a few words through clenched teeth, his voice so soft it was almost inaudible, “…I’ll pay, I’ll pay.”

What nice landlord? It was all a lie; they just wanted to fatten the sheep before slaughtering it!

The fans were stunned: “……”

This sentence was a roundabout admission that Sheng Zhou, the top star, was indeed in arrears with his rent.

All his previous insistence was just a joke!

Sheng Zhou fumbled for his phone, and his manager rushed over, immediately grabbing his hand and whispering in his ear, “Wait a moment, don’t act rashly.”

If Xu Yao was indeed commissioned to collect the rent, such a large sum of money without any written agreement—who would dare to hand it over so directly?

And if Xu Yao was truly commissioned to collect the rent, her aggressive attitude just now would definitely attract haters; she was just a sycophant riding on someone else’s power!

Sheng Zhou suddenly came to his senses. Right, at this point, he could only try and minimize his losses; at the very least, he couldn’t let Xu Yao step on him to gain more popularity.

“I want to see the property certificate!”

Not only did Sheng Zhou want to see the property certificate, but even the netizens were very curious.

Wasn’t Xu Yao just a little rich woman collecting four hundred thousand yuan in rent every month? Could she really own a top luxury property in Haicheng? Whether she was just a sycophant or not could be determined with just a glance at the property certificate.

Xu Yao chuckled; she had long known about Sheng Zhou’s tricks and had prepared the property certificate in advance!

Xu Yao raised her hand and clapped in the air: “Bring it here.”

Lu Ye took out a red booklet from a transparent bag and placed it in Xu Yao’s outstretched palm.

[Wow, Xu Yao looks so cool in this pose!]

[I can’t even express my feelings right now; I want to jump into the screen and beat Sheng Zhou to death. Five years of my feelings…]

[Suddenly understand why Xu Yao withdrew from the industry; who would want to struggle in the entertainment circle when they can afford a luxury apartment in Haicheng?]

[Emmmmm, the only thing I have in common with Xu Yao might just be the red cover of the booklet, crying.]

Xu Yao covered the property number and unit number, facing Sheng Zhou directly, and said just two words: “Pay up!”

Sheng Zhou: “…”

Xu Yao gradually noticed that their expressions were a bit off. Sheng Zhou looked like his eyes were about to pop out of their sockets. Xu Yao curiously asked, “Is there a problem?” How could a government-issued document have a problem? Impossible!

Lu Ye gently reminded, “Miss Yao Yao, it seems you’ve taken the wrong property certificate.”

Huh?

Xu Yao quickly turned the red booklet around to check for herself. The property unit number indeed stated it was a top luxury property in Haicheng, but there was an issue with the building number.

After all, there were too many red booklets, and each line was quite similar; only the minute numbers had slight differences.

At that moment, the entire live stream exploded!

[??? Impressive! Too impressive! This property certificate belongs to the most luxurious apartment in Haicheng! Do you know the penthouse king? This one is the best unit in that building, with a perfect layout and excellent lighting.]

[Over a thousand square meters? I almost dropped my snack.]

[Wow, this unit actually belongs to Xu Yao? This one can reach four hundred million! She is indeed a rich woman; she actually has two luxury apartments in Haicheng!]

[Oh my god, even if Xu Yao took the wrong one, I still wouldn’t dare to doubt that this unit isn’t hers!]

Xu Yao took the wrong property certificate; the one she had was the most expensive luxury apartment in Haicheng…

Clearly, they were all property certificates, yet the wealth was palpable.

Lu Ye immediately said, “Miss Yao Yao, I’ll arrange for someone to bring the correct property certificate right away.”

Just a few minutes after Lu Ye made the call, the property manager entered the room with an employee after knocking on the door.

The employee hurriedly handed the bright red property certificate to Xu Yao: “Miss, I just realized you took the wrong one while organizing your property certificates, so I rushed to bring it to you.”

So that’s why it arrived so quickly.

Xu Yao was very satisfied and planned to give her a bonus later.

This time, there was no mistake; everyone clearly saw that this luxury apartment in Haicheng belonged to Xu Yao in black and white—a government-issued property certificate. Even the most stubborn fans had nothing to say, sitting dumbfounded in front of the screen, as if all their strength had been drained.

Xu Yao sincerely apologized, “Sorry, I have too many houses and took the wrong certificate.”

Everyone: “……”

[……Xu Yao really knows how to show off.]

[I suddenly understand why Xu Yao could let Sheng Zhou owe rent for half a year; she probably forgot because she has too many houses!]

[So… Sheng Zhou really owes rent, and it’s been half a year? Confirmed!]

[This is a hammer blow! Sheng Zhou’s character is really too bad.]

[Unfollowing, I’m completely unfollowing him. I’m so poor I can barely afford to eat, yet I still pay my rent on time, but Sheng Zhou, a top-tier celebrity, earns so much money and still owes rent? I’d have to be an idiot to still be his fan!]

#MyHomeLife#

#ShengZhouOwestoXuYaoSixMonthsRent#

#ShengZhouXuYao#

#ShengZhou’sAverageMonthlyUtilitiesAre20000#

#Unfollowing#

#ShengZhouEntitledMan#

Top celebrities truly live up to their name. In just half an hour, nearly half of Weibo’s trending searches were occupied by him, each followed by the tag ‘breaking.’

This was Sheng Zhou’s realm!

Sheng Zhou’s Weibo follower count was plummeting, while Xu Yao’s was skyrocketing.

The rumors about Sheng Zhou’s luxurious mansion being fake and Xu Yao pursuing Sheng Zhou being fake were all debunked. Only the fact that Xu Yao is a wealthy woman was true!

A middle-aged man in a formal suit who couldn’t hide his protruding beer belly. His hair was slicked back with what looked like hair oil, gleaming under the light. Seeing the overwhelming amount of gossip online, he exclaimed in surprise, “Miss Xu Yao is actually in my community?”

He was Mr. Yang, the CEO of Tiansheng Property Management. However, he wasn’t interested in the downfall of any top celebrity; he only knew that Xu Yao was currently in their Haicheng Shangpin residential complex.

Tiansheng Property Management held an awkward middle-ground position in the property management industry and Mr. Yang didn’t know why the richest man, Xu Jing, would have him contact Xu Yao.

However, Mr. Yang dared not offend Xu Jing. He originally intended to call Xu Yao to schedule a meeting, but upon discovering she was already in Haicheng Shangpin and seeing that her rent had been collected, he figured the matter was resolved. He immediately instructed his personal butler to take him to find Xu Yao.

After receiving permission, Mr. Yang followed the personal butler to the entrance of the luxurious mansion Sheng Zhou rented, ignoring everyone else, his face creased with a smile, incredibly enthusiastic, “Miss Xu Yao, hello, hello, I’m Yang Guofa, CEO of Tiansheng Property Management…”

Xu Yao apologetically interrupted, “Mr. Yang, I’m a little busy right now, please wait a moment.”

Yang Guofa’s smile didn’t falter; he clasped his hands together, “Okay, okay, Miss Xu, please go ahead, I’m sorry for interrupting.”

Yang Guofa smiled and retreated, moving to the elevator lobby beside the entrance to admire the greenery.

The screen was immediately filled with question marks!

[?????]

[WTF, is Xu Yao so amazing? Making the company CEO wait? Has she not finished up with her business here yet?]

[Tiansheng Property Management, that’s not small potatoes either. That CEO is worth at least several billion, right? He waits when she says wait. The CEO is so obedient.]

Sheng Zhou didn’t care about any property management CEOs. He was about to go crazy. He could almost imagine how terrible the online comments about him would be, yet even in this situation, Xu Yao didn’t seem to intend to let him off the hook?

Sheng Zhou fought back tears, his expression furious as he glared at Xu Yao, and growled, “I’ve paid the rent. I’m feeling unwell and want to suspend the show. Please, everyone get out!”

The director’s heart was ablaze with anger. Upon hearing Sheng Zhou’s words about suspending the show, the director could no longer hold it in, his vision blackening as he fainted.

Good job, Sheng Zhou, you really did it! You’re such a jerk!

The rest of the crew rushed forward, applying pressure to his acupoints and slapping his cheeks, repeatedly shouting, “Director, are you alright? Hold on!”

The scene immediately descended into chaos.

Xu Yao sighed, thinking the director’s acceptance capacity was too low. She looked up and stared at Sheng Zhou as if he were an idiot, “Me, get out? I’m the landlord! The rent you paid is the rent you owed me, okay?”

Sheng Zhou was speechless, and no one else on the scene dared to even speak up or offer a word in support. Everyone just wished they could find a hole to crawl into.

Sheng Zhou didn’t understand what Xu Yao was trying to do, especially since he still had a month’s security deposit.

Xu Yao stared at Sheng Zhou’s pale face, her words clear and distinct, “According to the rental contract, you breached the contract for six months. Please pay me 30% of the penalty for liquidated damages, totalling 630,000 yuan. Also, please move out of my house within three days and restore it to its original condition, otherwise, I will see you in court!”

---

i feel like the public scrutiny and standard for chinese celebrities and the ones in my country (australia) and the western world are so different. the way this would be a total non issue in my own country xD

and as said before, next release will be in two weeks (this 10k chapter was a bit insane. the chapter was named ‘three in one’ and i was wondering what sort of relevance that title had with the chapter, but then realised the author probably stuffed three chapters into one, hence the title QAQ orz)

1. this statement has more of a cultural context. celebrities in china are expected to be role models and need to ensure that they’re following the law and abide by strict moral conduct and that they lead by example. hence why xu yao would be so surprised about a top star like sz owing half a year’s worth of rent. just look at examples of fan bingbing’s tax evasion, etc. celebrities are incentivised to do the morally right thing as there is often huge public backlash as well as government crackdown and outright bans if they don’t. ↩︎
2. you’ll often see ‘upstairs’ or ‘level xx’ in comment threads since they refer to the previous comment in the thread as ‘upstairs’ or level xx corresponding to their place in the thread ↩︎
3. “when a woman pursues a man, it’s as easy as a layer of gauze between them; when a man pursues a woman, it’s as difficult as a mountain between them” is a popular but vivid saying. This saying means that in the emotional life and marriage of men and women, it is very easy for a woman to pursue a man, since if she is determined to win him, it is easy to win, because a layer of gauze can not only make it vague, but also can be easily broken through; on the contrary, it is as difficult for a man to pursue a woman as going through earth’s different layers ↩︎
4. internet slang for awesome/respect ↩︎
5. from the phrase ‘digging out a three bedroom apartment with my toes’ — an exaggeration used to describe embarrassment, awkwardness or shame. simply put, when people are embarrassed, they can’t help but curl their toes ↩︎