Bamboo Forest Manager - Chapter 174: Selfish Love

“Block him.”“He's technically still my boss.”“Then block him with dignity.”The call ended again.And then started again.I let out a sound somewhere between a growl and a sob, then finally answered with the enthusiasm of a snail crawling through salt.“Yes, Mr. Walton?”“Have you changed your mind yet?”I collapsed onto the towel and gazed at the sky as though it might consume me entirely if I pleaded sweetly enough.“Do you ever take a break?” I asked, shielding my eyes with one hand.“You're avoiding the question.”“Because it's a dumb question.”He exhaled, the sound sharp and irritated even over phone. “It's not a dumb question. It's a business offer.”“It's a weird offer-one that I already said no to.”There was a brief pause, and I could practically hear him clenching his jaw through the speaker.“You are acting unreasonably.”“ Unreasonable?” I sat up. “I'm not the one drafting fake girlfriend contracts like it's a normal Tuesday.”“Isabella-”“Certainly not, Mr. Walton.” I mimicked his tone perfectly. “I told you I'm not doing it. You need to find someone else to play pretend with.”SYNOPSISIsabella Miller thought saying no to her boss’s fake dating offer was the end of the story.But Adrien Walton doesn’t take no—especially not when he’s convinced she’s a gold digger.Suddenly, her student loans are piling up, her father’s vet clinic is on the brink of eviction and her brother is about to be kicked out of college. Coincidence? She thinks not.Adrien Walton is calm, calculating—and he's just pulled every string to corner Isabella into the perfect position.Now she’s stuck choosing between pride and survival.So she agrees to his offer: be his fake girlfriend.No feelings attached. No drama. Just business.Or so she thought.“Conference Room B. Fifteen minutes,” he said, passing by without a glance.The folder he pushed across the table landed with a thud.I opened it. The contract. All of it.---Enemies to lovers? Check.Slow burn? Hmmnyea.Banter so sharp it might file your nails? Yes.Delicious workplace tension? Of course.Tension that could melt steel?Absolutely.Smut?? Wanna find out?Welcome to corporate romance warfare. There’s no escaping this contract.

In the pursuit of wealth and land, cultivation was actually a very expensive luxury activity. Having unintentionally received the legacy of the legendary cultivator, alchemist, and medical scholar Ge Hong, the simple mountain man Ge Dongxu began to earnestly make money. While most people were still in high school, he had already started to earn money for his alchemy and cultivation as he studied. While most college students were worried about the expenses of having a girlfriend, he had already become a boss. When most college graduates were busy sending out resumes in search of a job, and rich second-generation kids were showing off sports cars in front of beauties, he had already become a super-rich heir, and of course, a supreme medical saint hidden in plain sight.

A lonely soul, which was placed under the care of the Lord Protector’s Manor, ended up having her lover stolen by the family’s eldest daughter and dying tragically the day before her wedding.

Houjou Yuuji, 30 years old, jobless, hikkomori for 10 years. Using his parents’ death as the impetus, he decides to rid himself of his hikkomori life and leaves the house. What awaited him, however, was a different world that he was not used to, creatures strutting about that he didn’t recognize.

This is the story of a man transported to the another world, as he lives in relative peace with his beloved dog Kotarou – his house, with electricity, water, gas, and the internet somehow still connected.

One day while exploring the forest near his house he finds a girl named Alice, and becomes her guardian. Thus, 4 years after he is transported to this world, Yuuji resolves to venture into his first town.