FY - 12

With Si Wen as the boss beside her, Zhou Yan dropped her professional fake smile. She was accustomed to dealing with him with a poker face.

Si Wen took a drag from his cigarette and said, “Not taking off your clothes? Rose.”

Zhou Yan let out a silent scoff. How shameless. Sister Hong even arranged a wiretap for him.

That’s why, what’s considered low-class? This is low-class.

Zhou Yan unbuttoned her top, got halfway, then buttoned it back up, looking at Si Wen: “Boss, are you going to follow the rules?”

Si Wen seemed more interested than usual: “What rules?”

Zhou Yan turned her upper body towards him and said, “Boss does the undressing.”

Si Wen had never properly undressed Zhou Yan; everything he handled ended up in tatters, not a single piece left intact. He confirmed with her: “Are you sure you want me to undress you?”

The light in the private room was hazy, and the groups of two or three people were also hazy. They were already one step away from crossing the line, and Si Wen, like a late-night radio host, said something like that. Zhou Yan suddenly felt a bit hot.

She didn’t answer Si Wen immediately, as if silently assenting.

Si Wen crushed his cigarette in the ashtray and reached for her.

They were sitting a bit far apart. Si Wen couldn’t reach her by just moving his arm without moving his body. “Come a little closer.”

Zhou Yan stubbornly refused: “Can’t move.”

Si Wen raised his arm again, about five or six centimeters short. Then he picked up a bottle of wine from the table and, with a bang, smashed it on the surface.

Everyone in the private room looked over, not daring to make another sound.

Si Wen picked up a piece of broken glass and extended it towards Zhou Yan. Indeed, he could reach her now.

Zhou Yan didn’t move as she said she wouldn’t, letting the glass shard slide across her collarbone.

Si Wen used the glass shard to lift the front of her top, revealing her bra and a bruised, uncovered half of her breast.

Zhou Yan saw him staring at her chest and slightly lifted her lip: “Looks familiar? You bit it.”

Si Wen paused, wondering if Zhou Yan had been drinking. She never dared to speak like that before. Or did this atmosphere embolden her?

Zhou Yan seemed to have read his mind. She pulled the drink tray closer, grabbed a bottle of beer, and said, “Boss, have a drink.”

The commission for drinks sold during table service was high; normally she’d get 30%, but for table service, she could get 50%. She had been doing this for so long that she didn’t even need to think; her body would guide her actions.

Si Wen threw the glass shard away. “How much do you get for one set?”

Zhou Yan calculated for him: “A set like this is two thousand eight, and I get 50% commission. The sets already on the table are part of your package, so I don’t get a commission unless there’s additional consumption.”

Si Wen then ordered six more sets.

Zhou Yan was very pleased, and driven by the money, she smiled at him.

Money, what a truly wonderful thing. It was for money that she willingly hammered herself into Si Wen’s bones with long nails. From then on, his sweetness was her sweetness, and his bitterness was her bitterness.

As for herself, she would be neither sad nor joyful, fearless, and all moral ethics could go to hell!

Si Wen liked the smile: “Smile again, and I’ll order six more sets.”

Zhou Yan moved a little closer, facing him directly, and put on a big, emotionless smile.

If the previous one was merely perfunctory, this one was a forced performance.

Si Wen didn’t mind. He grabbed her outstretched arm, pulled her into his embrace, wrapped his arm around her waist, and rubbed his thumb around her lower back: “Zhou Yan.”

“Hmm?” Zhou Yan responded, lifting her eyelids to meet his sharply defined features.

Si Wen looked at her slightly parted lips, that gap that couldn’t even fit a finger was so alluring. “I don’t like toys anymore.”

Just as Zhou Yan understood him. Others hearing his words wouldn’t know what nonsense he was spouting, but Zhou Yan did. He didn’t like her being passive anymore; he wanted her to be occasionally proactive, he wanted their relationship to change from passive submission to a give-and-take.

Just like last time when she took the initiative to climb on him.

Zhou Yan reached for his tie and untied it: “Like this?”

Si Wen tacitly allowed her actions.

Zhou Yan unbuttoned his shirt one by one, his chest slowly revealing itself.

Her hand moved inch by inch downwards, listening to Si Wen’s breathing rate increase.

Zhou Yan felt playful and pulled her hand back: “Boss, settle the six sets you owe from earlier, then we can continue.”

Si Wen only gave her the right to take the initiative, but he didn’t say he would let her control him. Her words were too provocative, almost testing the limits of his patience. He didn’t allow it, picked her up, and headed to the elevator.

Candy’s VIP private rooms were also categorized. Rooms like Si Wen’s were on the third basement floor, with high security, allowing for a safe escape even during police raids. Each private room here had a built-in elevator that led directly to the rooftop.

The rooftop, with its million-dollar decor, was charged by the minute, 1,200 per minute. Few bosses ever booked it.

Si Wen was wealthy and didn’t care about the billing method or the cost. He only cared about the woman on his shoulder, who seemed especially alluring today. Not giving her some feedback would feel like a disservice.

He pressed her against the steps and went straight to the point, his formidable assets swallowed by Zhou Yan countless times.

Zhou Yan’s cries were scattered by the wind, sounding alternately near and far, like a warning, yet she didn’t hold back, becoming even more uninhibited, truly arrogant under the starry sky.

Si Wen brought her to climax twice, feeling incredibly satisfied as he watched her melt into a puddle.

Zhou Yan hadn’t even regulated her breathing yet, but she was eager to speak: “Do you know about the G-spot?”

Si Wen had already moved to the booth, picked up a stemmed glass, and poured himself some wine.

Zhou Yan continued: “I know many girls who do this not for money, but because their G-spots are sensitive, and making love brings them pleasure. When I was young and ignorant, I couldn’t understand, but then I achieved it.”

Before the wine could even be sampled, Si Wen held the stem of the glass and swirled it, watching the purplish-red liquid cling to the glass wall, over and over again.

Zhou Yan rested enough. She stood up, walked to the windy edge, and stood facing the wind.

Her hair furiously flew backward, allowing Si Wen to admire her unhindered body.

Under the moonlight, she was like fine porcelain, pure white and translucent, irresistibly captivating.

Si Wen was also entranced, unaware that his hand movements had stopped.

She was truly beautiful.

Hard to describe, but one glance, and she would be deeply ingrained in your heart, never to be forgotten.

Zhou Yan turned her head, saw Si Wen staring at her, tilted her head, and her smile was sweet: “Am I pretty?”

Si Wen dearly missed Zhou Yan looking like this, just like the first time he saw her, she was equally naive, always asking him silly questions. He subconsciously recorded this moment on his phone.

Zhou Yan didn’t mind, still smiling: “Later, settle the portrait rights fee too.”

She immediately changed her mind after saying that: “Or tell me, are you very concerned that I’m having side effects from the drugs?”

________________________________________

“Or tell me, are you very concerned that I’m having side effects from the drugs?”

Si Wen didn’t answer.

Zhou Yan took a shower, then splashed her face with cold water.

Looking at herself in the mirror, she thought for a long time but couldn’t understand why she had asked him that.

Didn’t she already know the answer?

She let out a breath and walked out of the bathroom.

Picking up her phone, Si Wen’s transfer had already arrived, along with a WeChat message—

“I’ll give you 100% commission.”

Zhou Yan smiled and tossed her phone aside.

Wiping her hair, she walked to the balcony, pushed her clothes to one side of the drying rack, letting the night embrace her dreams.

________________________________________

In a blink of an eye, half of spring had passed.

Zhou Yan wanted to go shopping that afternoon to buy Zhou Siyuan some new clothes. Originally, this was just her idea, but then a few of the girls from Candy also felt like it, so they went together.

They almost never put themselves in public view because they didn’t have the courage to face unfriendly glances and pointing fingers. Sometimes, doing something is one thing, but admitting it is another.

So most of the time, whatever they wanted, they bought online, trying to isolate themselves from the world outside Candy.

Going shopping like this was almost wishful thinking.

Perhaps it was a collective moment of madness, but they actually went out.

Qizhou, even stretching its definition, was only a third-tier city. It wasn’t large, the population was small, and there weren’t many high-end shopping malls—one in the east and one in the west.

Finally, they split into two groups: Zhou Yan went east with Fang Nana and Bubble Tea, while the others went west.

Bubble Tea was a shopaholic. She wanted to buy everything she saw. All fourteen of her credit cards were maxed out. She received debt collection calls almost every day, and it wasn’t uncommon to see her cursing into her phone in the Candy hallway.

Everything was new to her. At a trendy women’s clothing store, she held a dress from a mannequin up to herself: “Do you think this looks good?”

Zhou Yan glanced at it. It was okay; it made her face look small: “You can try it on.”

Bubble Tea then excitedly asked Fang Nana: “Nana, what do you think? Does it look good?”

Fang Nana was distracted and didn’t hear her.

Bubble Tea stomped her foot: “Oh! Nana! I’m talking to you!”

Fang Nana finally came back to herself: “Huh? What’s wrong?”

Bubble Tea waved the dress in her hand: “I said, do you think this dress would look good on me?”

Fang Nana gave a perfunctory smile: “It looks good.”

Bubble Tea saw she wasn’t paying attention and didn’t ask again, turning to the sales assistant: “Can you find this in my size?”

Fang Nana touched a T-shirt nearby, her eyes unconsciously drifting towards Zhou Yan.

Zhou Yan was looking at dresses. She unexpectedly looked up and met Fang Nana’s gaze, seeing her quickly look away in a panic.

She didn’t pay it any mind, assuming Fang Nana was still awkward about the previous gig.

She picked out a dress and was about to enter the fitting room when Fang Nana rushed over, pushing her aside: “Let me try it first. You can at least let me have this, right?”

The curtain was pulled shut. The sales assistant was a bit embarrassed and tried to smooth things over: “Friends are just more informal, aren’t they?”

Zhou Yan didn’t respond.

Fang Nana came out after changing, her face pale, as if she had just run a 400-meter sprint.

Zhou Yan found it alarming: “You should drink some water.”

Fang Nana’s expression was evasive; she didn’t dare to look at Zhou Yan, and nervously walked out.

What’s wrong with her? Zhou Yan ignored her and went in to change.

She had worn wide-leg jeans and a fitted tank top when she left, which were a bit troublesome to take off. She decided to sit down, but then stepped on her pant leg and fell to the ground, scraping her elbow.

She flexed her elbow to look. It was fine, just a little red.

It was this glance that also showed her a sharp pin sticking up from the leather chair.

She frowned, looked closer, confirmed she hadn’t misread it, and took a tissue from her bag to pick up the pin.

This was used for pinning clothes, with a pearl-like head and a thin, long needle. It seemed quite normal for such an item to be in a clothing store, but considering Fang Nana’s recent state, there seemed to be another problem.

She wrapped the pin in the tissue, tucked it into her wallet, and then put on the dress.

Coming out of the dressing room, Bubble Tea had already changed and was chatting with Fang Nana. Fang Nana’s eyes had followed Zhou Yan the entire time, and when she saw her come out, she immediately turned her face away, pretending not to have seen her.

Bubble Tea saw Zhou Yan come out and ran over: “This one’s great! So ethereal! What should I do, I want this one too!”

The sales assistant also offered awkward praise, and they went back and forth like a crosstalk performance.

Zhou Yan, however, didn’t have time to listen. She was trying to capture as many of Fang Nana’s expressions as possible.

In the end, Zhou Yan bought the dress, giving the reason: “When I was changing earlier, something pricked me. I think it might be trying to send me a message that I absolutely must buy this one.”

Clearly, Fang Nana’s lips moved.

Zhou Yan let out a slight scoff through her nose, full of mockery and coldness.

After buying clothes, Bubble Tea wanted to eat, so Zhou Yan parted ways with them and drove to a substance testing center.

She handed over the pin, and it took about ten minutes for the results to come back.

The young man doing the testing said: “HIV, Human Immunodeficiency Virus.”

As expected. Zhou Yan asked again: “If this thing pricks me, will I get infected?”

“If the needle stays dry when it pricks you, you won’t get infected. But if the needle is wet and has HIV-infected blood on it, and it comes into direct contact with your blood...”

Zhou Yan finished his sentence: “Then I’m doomed.”

The young man sighed: “There really are all sorts of people these days.”

Zhou Yan didn’t join him in lamenting: “Can I have that needle back?”

The young man brought it to her: “I’ve already handled it for you.”

Zhou Yan took it, nodded: “Thank you.”