Side Story: Rich Boss Lady

After smoothly passing my graduate school entrance exams, I casually bought a few apartments near campus to make commuting easier. I kept one unit for myself and put the rest up for rent. Less than half an hour after posting the rental listings online, my phone was buzzing non-stop.

I spent the entire evening screening applicants, eventually shortlisting a few “high-quality” candidates. Sitting across from me, Song Yan casually picked up my phone to take a look. “Huh?” He raised an eyebrow. “Isn’t this guy my junior from the basketball team?”

I paused for a second before nodding. “Yeah. Out of respect for you, I even gave him a discount.”

“Look at you being all considerate.” Song Yan nodded in satisfaction, continuing to scroll down. “And this guy is my gym buddy… Wait, this one too…”

Suddenly, he went completely silent. Then, he slowly dragged the screen back up to re-read my rental posting:

[Rental Listing]: Beautiful room, great price.

Requirements: Male, under 23, over 6 feet tall, 4 to 8-pack abs. Exceptions can be made if exceptionally handsome.

Note: Neighbors are all gorgeous young women, guaranteed you won’t feel lonely living here.

The corner of Song Yan’s mouth twitched. “Yu. Si. Si.”

I blinked innocently. “What’s wrong? I mostly chose people you know.”

“Are you renting out apartments or recruiting a harem?” He let out a frustrated laugh. “No wonder I’ve been hitting the gym so hard lately. Yu Sisi, you truly have no conscience.”

“That’s not true,” I began spouting utter nonsense. “I’m just trying to build a positive study environment.”

“Positive how?”

“Think about it.” I rested my chin in my hands, analyzing the situation with utmost seriousness. “If I open my door every day and see tall, long-legged guys with eight-pack abs walking back and forth, would I even be in the mood to go look for fun at a bar?”

Song Yan’s face darkened instantly. “Are my six-pack abs not enough for you to look at? Now you’re upgrading to eight?”

I looked at him with a deeply wronged expression, adding in a soft murmur, “Looking is enough… but you don’t let me touch.”

“Fine.” Song Yan stood up abruptly. “I’ll let you touch.”

With a quick rip, he yanked his t-shirt up and over his head. In less than two seconds, his top was off. With his abs right in front of my face at such close proximity, I felt like I could hear my own heart pounding just by ducking my head.

I swallowed hard.

When faced with a perk like this, who in their right mind would run?

Usually, I only managed to sneak a feel here and there. Now that I had official authorization, I was obviously going to exercise my legal rights to the fullest. But the more I touched, the darker Song Yan’s eyes became. He stared down at me, his Adam’s apple bobbing slightly.

Only then did I realize something was terribly wrong. I hastily yanked my hands back and stuffed his shirt back into his arms. “Ahem… that’s enough quality control for today.”

Song Yan let out a low laugh, wrapping one arm around my waist to scoop me up into his arms. “Too late. You started the fire, so you’re responsible for putting it out. You made this mess, now deal with it.”

By the time the “fire” was completely extinguished, it was already midnight. My phone was vibrating non-stop. Lying in Song Yan’s arms, I opened my phone, distinctly feeling his dark, brooding gaze locked onto me from behind.

Aside from a few messages from the young male tenants, the rest were frantically flooding in from Xuanxuan and Chen Jiajia in our group chat:

Xuanxuan: Sisi! How are things going with that athletic guy? You HAVE to rent to him! If he’s short on rent, I’ll cover 50%!

Chen Jiajia: Make sure to put him in the room right next to mine. And send me his WeChat as soon as the lease is signed. Tell him I’m his sweet, gentle neighbor.

Xuanxuan: Don’t forget to ask if he likes older women.

Chen Jiajia: Can I borrow your white dress? I’m going for the ‘angel casually passing by his front door’ look.

I looked at the screen, feeling a massive headache coming on. Right on cue, Song Yan wrapped his arms around my waist from behind. “So you’re running a matchmaking service for your squad now?”

I switched off my phone screen. “What do you know? This is called sisterhood.”

Xuanxuan had broken up with her ex last year, and Chen Jiajia had been single since birth. Every single day, the two of them watched Song Yan and me romance each other until their eyes turned green with envy. I had no choice but to leverage the resources around me to rescue my girls’ love lives.

Song Yan laughed out of sheer jealousy. “How about you just move in with me? The thought of you opening your door every day to a house full of young guys with abs is giving me a heart attack.”

“No way,” I rejected him instantly. “I have to stay here to protect my girls’ safety.”

(Naturally… it had absolutely nothing to do with wanting to enjoy free views of abs every day).

“Is that so?” Song Yan’s warm hand slowly settled onto my waist. “Then keep comforting me.”

“Huh?”

“Comfort me until I actually believe you have zero interest in other men’s abs.”

Me: “?”

—

Despite Song Yan putting his very life on the line to protest, the group of “high-quality young men” eventually moved in one by one. From that moment on, Chen Jiajia and Xuanxuan officially entered full “smitten maiden” mode.

Every single day, the two of them dressed to the nines. They wouldn’t even take out the trash without a full face of makeup. One day, Xuanxuan even sprayed perfume just to go downstairs and pick up a delivery package. Meanwhile, Chen Jiajia put on a white dress to go buy instant noodles at eleven at night.

I watched them in utter awe. It really is true, once women encounter handsome guys… even taking out the trash can be turned into a runway walk.