A life of success begins with being a landlord.

The blond-haired man stared at me menacingly without saying a word.

The guy called Lao San, along with another man, stood behind me, forming a pincer movement against me.

I know these guys won't actually do anything; they're just trying to scare me so I won't dare go to their door to collect the rent anymore.

So I didn't say anything, and just stared at the blond guy.

That's how psychological warfare works: if the enemy doesn't move, I don't move; whoever moves loses.

The two sides remained deadlocked for a minute, then the blond-haired man smirked.

"Brother, how about this? Dongguan is paved with gold. You come with us and pull off a heist. If we succeed, I'll double your rent."

He's still bragging and trying to scare me.

If you really have the guts, just go out and do something big yourself. Why drag me into it?

If you were truly capable, you wouldn't be here bragging and arguing with me after owing three months' rent!

"Let's do one more job. Tonight's not an option, I don't have time."

I brushed the blond guy's hand away: "You guys wait for me tomorrow night. If you've got the guts, we'll go and pull off a big heist."

The blond guy was surprised, nodded, and opened the door for me.

I breathed a sigh of relief as I walked out of 505.

I was a little nervous just now, after all, we were outnumbered and we were new to the area.

Back in 302, I found that Sister Li was sleeping on the floor with her butt sticking up.

He must have been drunk; he rolled off the sofa.

"Sister Li, wake up."

I shook Sister Li: "The floor is cold, let me help you to your room to sleep."

After some shaking, Sister Li finally woke up and hooked her arms around my neck: "Hold me, hold me... to the bedroom..."

I had no choice but to carry Sister Li in my arms and walk towards the master bedroom.

Li Jie was thrown onto the bed, reaching out haphazardly: "Give me a glass of ice water..."

I turned around, poured a glass of warm water, helped Sister Li up, and fed it to her.

I rubbed a towel and used it to wipe her face, hands, and arms.

"Yaozu, thank you."

Sister Li kept her eyes closed, but held my hand tightly, saying, "Don't go, stay here... talk to me."

I had no choice but to sit by the bed and listen to Sister Li's ramblings.

Sister Li struggled and twisted a few times, then rested her head on my lap:

"I came here five years ago... to work. I worked for a year and saved up three thousand yuan... The boss of that clothing factory was as fat as a pig, and he even groped me. Many young girls in the factory... had been slept with by the boss..."

I couldn't respond.

In this situation, I don't need to respond; I just need to listen attentively.

But soon, Sister Li's voice grew softer and softer, and then it went completely silent.

However, she was still resting her head on my lap.

I moved Sister Li's head away, but she was startled in her sleep and grabbed my hand again.

I had no choice but to sit on the bed, leaning against the headboard to keep Sister Li company.

I don't know when, but I got sleepy and fell asleep.

……

When I woke up, I was startled.

It's absurd that I ended up sleeping in the same bed with Sister Li for one night.

Thankfully, my clothes were intact, and I didn't do anything to betray Sister Li.

Then look at Sister Li, she's sleeping soundly.

I quietly got out of bed and sneaked out like a thief to the bathroom to wash up, take a shower, and change my clothes.

I had just finished showering and was walking out of the bathroom when I ran into Sister Li.

Sister Li's hair was messy, but it gave her a kind of lazy beauty.

"Yaozu, what did you do to me last night? You took a shower first thing this morning, trying to destroy evidence?"

Sister Li smoothed her hair and looked at me with a half-smile.

"No, Sister Li."

My face flushed: "I drank too much last night... and went to bed without showering, so I took a shower this morning..."

"Liar. How come I remember you sleeping in my bed last night, and even holding me?"

"No, no, I really don't have that."

I panicked even more and couldn't explain myself: "Sister Li, you drank too much. You were holding my hand and talking to me, not letting me leave. So I sat by the bed and stayed with you for a while."

"Did I say anything last night?"

"No. I meant... the rent for room 505."

"Oh, that's good."

Sister Li seemed relieved as well: "Go downstairs and buy breakfast next to Aunt Pang's. Have the owner put it on your tab. I'll have sweet tofu pudding and two spring rolls; buy whatever you like."

I nodded and was about to leave.

"Wait, you're not familiar with the breakfast shop, so you should just take the money."

Sister Li called me back and gave me a large bill: "Take this, keep the rest for spending money."

I had no money on me, so I didn't stand on ceremony, took the large bill, and left.

Next to Fatty Sister's fried rice noodle shop is a breakfast shop that sells fried dough sticks, spring rolls, and meat buns.

When I came back with breakfast, Sister Li had already washed up.

"Yaozu, let me tell you a story."

Sister Li sat at the coffee table, eating her breakfast with a serious expression.

"Okay, go ahead."

I nodded, biting into a fried dough stick.

"A young man and a beautiful woman were on a business trip and stayed at a hotel, but there was only one room left. The woman drew a line on the bed and told the young man—'If you cross the line, you're a beast.'"

Sister Li looked at me with a mischievous grin: "Guess what happened the next morning?"

I thought for a moment: "Did the young man cross the line?"

"No, young man, you didn't cross the line."

Sister Li laughed again: "But the beautiful girl got very angry and slapped the young man. Guess why?"

"How could I have guessed that?"

I was a little embarrassed and didn't dare to say anything.

I suspect that although the young man didn't cross the line, he must have done something shameless.

Sister Li shook her head: "Because that young man is worse than an animal."

"Worse than an animal? What bad thing did the young man do?"

"You're so stupid."

Sister Li rolled her eyes: "If you cross the line, you're a beast; if you don't cross the line, you're worse than a beast."

Oh my god, so that's how it is.

Although I'm not very smart, I still understood the joke.

But Sister Li told this story to blame me for not taking the initiative last night, saying I was worse than an animal?

You are Hu Xiaogang's sister. Even if I'm worse than a beast, I can't let Hu Xiaogang down, right?

Thinking about it, I blushed again, lowered my head to eat breakfast, and didn't dare to look at Sister Li.

Sister Li had finished eating and stood up, saying, "After breakfast, I'll take you to each household and introduce you to the tenants. From now on, collecting rent will be your responsibility."

I wolfed down my breakfast, wiped my mouth, found the account book and a large stack of rental contracts, and followed Sister Li to inspect the buildings.

First, there were the storefronts downstairs.

The ground floor of Building 27 has eight apartments, all of which are rented out to businesses.

Besides the Pang Sao fried rice noodle shop and breakfast shop, there is also a hardware store, a tobacco and alcohol department store, two beauty salons, and a barbershop.

There's a difference between a hair salon and a barbershop. It seems that barbershops shave heads, while hair salons don't. That's how it is in our county town too.

There's another karaoke place called Celebrity Karaoke City, with two billiard tables in front of it.

Apart from two beauty salons, all other shops are open.

Sister Li introduced him to the landlords: "This is my cousin, Wang Yaozu. He'll be collecting the rent for me from now on. If you need anything, call my old mobile phone number to find him. But make it clear, don't give him any trouble."

The bosses were all very kind, praising me one after another: "Sister Li's brother, tall, strong, and handsome!"

My heart feels very comfortable, as if it has been ironed, warm and cozy.

Being a manager is pretty good; it gives you a sense of being superior!

"Little fox, so early."

Bobo, wearing a tank top and a miniskirt, walked over with keys in her hand, swaying her hips and raising an eyebrow at me: "Hey, you little brat, what's your name again? Do you even know me? We slept together the day before yesterday..."

Sigh, I was just a moment ago a tall and mighty man, and now I've turned into a scoundrel.