The Shady Planner's Guardianship Deal

Chapter 1: Can a down-on-his-luck writer dream of cheap rental housing?

"Now I announce that the author who has won the 2020 Donggua Literature Network's Newcomer King award is—"

The male host on stage smiled and opened the envelope in his hand.

"Congratulations to Teacher Yao Yao Ling!!"

Zhu Yao, dressed in a red evening gown, stood up from her seat and waved to the people behind her with a smile.

"Ms. Yao, what are your thoughts and feelings after winning the award?"

"Mr. Yao, could you please share your experience on how you went from being a complete failure to a platinum player in just one year?"

"Teacher Yao, is there any special reason why you have always insisted on writing supernatural yuri stories?"

"Teacher Yao..."

Zhu Yao held the trophy, smiled at the camera, and was about to say those motivational platitudes she had prepared when she flopped in order to win the award.

"Ring ring ring..."

Zhu Yao struggled to reach one hand out from under the covers, and after feeling around the headboard a few times, she finally grabbed the phone that was pressed between the headboard and the mattress.

She relied on muscle memory to swipe across the phone to answer the call, held the phone to her ear, and weakly said "hello."

"Yaoyao, why did it take you so long to answer the phone? Are you still asleep? It's already 2 pm," it was her roommate Xiaofang's voice.

"Wake up, wake up," Zhu Yao said, her eyes still closed. She kicked off the covers and struggled to sit up. "Why did you suddenly call me?"

Zhu Yao and her roommate Xiao Fang were not close.

Zhu Yao writes novels full-time, leading a chaotic work-rest schedule with working during the day and sleeping at night; Xiao Fang works for an internet company and is often stuck at the company and unable to return to his rented apartment. The two rarely see each other and are just familiar strangers living under the same roof.

Recently, Zhu Yao noticed from her WeChat Moments that Xiao Fang had a boyfriend and was spending even less time at her rented apartment. The two hadn't seen or spoken to each other for almost a week.

"Here's the thing, our shared lease is about to expire, and I'm going to live with my boyfriend, so I don't plan to renew it."

On the phone, a male voice came from Xiao Fang's end, muttering, "Why bother explaining to her?"

But Xiao Fang shut him down with a simple "Don't talk."

Upon hearing that Xiao Fang did not intend to renew the lease, Zhu Yao, whose mind was still in a daze and immersed in the awards ceremony, instantly snapped out of her daze.

She finally opened her eyes, which she had kept tightly closed in an attempt to go back to sleep.

Now I'm completely unable to sleep...

After exchanging a few polite words with Xiao Fang, Zhu Yao hung up the phone and went to the bathroom to wash her face with cold water to clear her head.

There are ten days left until the lease renewal date.

Zhu Yao now has three solutions:

1. Quickly find someone to share an apartment with.

2. Quickly find yourself a new house.

3. Use the royalties from unsuccessful authors to cover all rent.

Unfortunately, the social skills and social circle of a female writer who stays at home writing online novels are limited, and she really can't find a reliable roommate for the time being.

It's even more impossible for me to use my meager royalties to pay rent; I'm almost at the point where I can't afford to eat.

Zhu Yao was inwardly wailing.

She opened the rental app, browsed nearby apartments, and called some landlords offering cheap rentals.

Four of them have already been rented out, but I forgot to update the information on the app. Two are currently being looked at and will be signed soon. The last one is a bare-bones apartment without even a bed.

An adult's breakdown often happens in an instant.

But Zhu Yao was an optimist, and her breakdown only lasted for a moment before she secretly began planning to renovate the unfinished house.

No bed? Then sleep on the floor, in a Japanese style!

No painted walls? Then wallpaper, custom-made!

There are no dilapidated houses that are uninhabitable! There are only poor people who are wise and love life!

So here's the question—

She needs to find a roommate to share the joys and sorrows with her, to renovate the unfinished apartment together, to turn the sleeping floor into a romantic Japanese tatami room, and to use the dusty cement walls as poster boards.

After going around in circles, the problem has returned to the social circle of the stay-at-home girl.

Suddenly, Zhu Yao saw that Xiao Fang recommended someone to her: Sister Wang, a real estate agent.

It turned out that Xiao Fang, knowing the inconvenience that suddenly breaking the contract would cause Zhu Yao, asked a colleague for help and found a "reliable" intermediary who was rumored to have many channels and resources.

Zhu Yao saw the string of A's at the beginning of the person's WeChat name and felt a little apprehensive. She hesitated for a moment before dialing the number.

Sister Wang answered the phone quickly and greeted Zhu Yao warmly, asking about her basic situation and requirements for the house.

Even when she heard that the rent she could afford was very low, Sister Wang's enthusiasm did not diminish, which shows that she is quite reliable in this respect.

But Sister Wang started asking some more personal questions.

"Xiao Zhu, what do you do for a living?"

Asking about jobs is normal; nobody wants a tenant who's a shady character.

"I'm a freelancer. I write articles in my spare time to earn a living."

Zhu Yao was a little embarrassed to tell people in real life that she wrote online novels, especially since she wrote yuri novels—she didn't want to be comp

……