After My Tenant Became My Boss

Qiao Zhuoye, stage name Qiao Mo, was once a hugely popular singer and a prodigious talent who appeared briefly in the music world. After an accident, he left the entertainment industry and went abroad for treatment.

Three years later, Qiao Zhuoye returned to the country, but he could no longer take the stage, and the entertainment industry had long since forgotten him.

Since he couldn't change things, Qiao Zhuoye decided to lie flat.

With five apartments in S City, where every inch of land was worth a fortune, he planned to try life as a landlord.

Living alone on an entire floor was a little lonely, so he put the spacious apartment next door up for rent.

A month later, just as Qiao Zhuoye was starting to wonder if the rent was too high for his landlord dream to come true, the agent suddenly called.

“There's a sucker who wants to rent the place.”

Overjoyed, Qiao Zhuoye prepared to welcome his new tenant at his very best, imagining a future of friendly neighborly relations. Reality, however, dealt him a heavy blow.

Lu Shi looked coldly at the overly friendly landlord. If he hadn't already paid the deposit, he would have walked out that very instant.

Lu Shi was the head of a large internet company, a rising young talent and a workaholic in his field. With his career on the rise, he chose to rent near the office to cut down on his commute.

After viewing over a hundred apartments in the area, he finally found one that suited his taste. The apartment was great. Its only minor flaw was that the landlord next door was a total weirdo.

*

When they met to sign the contract, the two men, who were supposed to be meeting for the first time, both froze. They had seen each other half an hour earlier.

Qiao Zhuoye looked at the impeccably dressed business professional in front of him. Half an hour ago, this man had seen an injured kitten and done nothing to help: cold-blooded and heartless.

Lu Shi looked at the man in front of him, whose clothes were filthy and who was holding a cat. Half an hour ago, he'd seen this man talking to a cat by the roadside: clearly out of his mind.

*

After spending two months lying around at home, Qiao Zhuoye decided, for the sake of his physical and mental health, to look for a nine-to-five job nearby, following a friend's suggestion.

The HR representative looked over Qiao Zhuoye's impressive resume. “What position are you applying for?”

Qiao Zhuoye said, “Something simple, quick to learn, and not mentally demanding.”

The HR representative replied gently, “With a resume like yours, applying here is really beneath you. I'm sorry, but we don't have a suitable position for you at the moment...”

Just then, the meeting room door suddenly opened, and a familiar figure walked in. Qiao Zhuoye's eyes lit up. “Hey! What a coincidence, Lu Shi. You're here too.”

Lu Shi had come in to pick something up. Hearing a familiar voice, he thought he must have misheard. But when he turned around, he saw Qiao Zhuoye smiling brightly.

“What a coincidence.”

“You work at this company too?”

“Yeah.”

Seeing this, the HR representative awkwardly called out, “Boss...”

!!!

Qiao Zhuoye immediately threw an arm around Lu Shi's shoulder, making it look as though they were close.

“Work here for a week, and I'll cut your rent in half for a month,” Qiao Zhuoye whispered in Lu Shi's ear.

Lu Shi thought, Where did this idiot come from? A month's rent is worth more than his salary. He decided to let his naive, adorable landlord experience the power of capital.

A year later, however, Lu Shi realized that he was the fool. He'd paid the rent, handed over his salary, and lost his nest egg for a wife, too.

A laid-back, once-famous singer who keeps living life to the fullest, the pursuer x a cool, elite CEO, a straight man who can't bring himself to admit his feelings, the pursued

(After an accident, the pursuer developed a psychological disorder. He lies flat while still living life to the fullest, and ends up dating a stubborn boyfriend along the way. A story of healing one another and striving together.)

Theme: Healing one another and welcoming happiness.