Fu Tingyuan stood under the light with a smile that did not resemble a smile playing on his lips. His perfect features and gentle smile made him look amicable and approachable, yet Luo Nanchu only felt cold and trapped from watching him.
"Oh? Who are you gonna play with if not with me?"
Upon hearing this, Luo Nanchu lifted her head slightly, revealing her petite and delicate chin. She smiled as well.
"Anyone but you."
Under the light, the man's smile faded instantly, and a faint icy darkness glinted in his long, narrow eyes.
Luo Nanchu lifted her head slightly to observe the man in front of her. He had been divorced from her for half a year, but had only grown more noble and gorgeous. The thought of her hustling for her livelihood almost to the brink of death made him pleased as punch.
"Fu Tingyuan, I have a question for you," said Luo Nanchu out of the blue.
Fu Tingyuan replied mildly, "Speak."
"You're spending money to mess with me right now when you could have done so in the past free-of-charge. Are you out of your mind?"
These words were spat out calmly. Upon seeing maliciousness flash across Fu Tingyuan's face, a satisfied Luo Nanchu opened the door and walked out.
It was especially cold in the bitter winter night of Tong City.
Luo Nanchu struggled as she stepped from the warmth of the Western restaurant into the blowing winter wind. Gathering her thin clothes about her, she marched into the dark, silent street.
All the lights had already been turned off, with only the 24-hour convenience stores still open to patrons.
She could not help but think about her failure this time. She wondered how Jie Ling would react when she found out she had offended Fu Tingyuan.
Her thoughts flowed uncontrollably to Fu Tingyuan's hazy smile under the lights of the booth. It seemed to have been mocking her.
That's right. She was still a virgin after being married for three years. He had not touched her even once. Thinking about how he specially sought out Jie Ling to arrange a blind date after they divorced made Luo Nanchu feel extremely frustrated. This was his naked and humiliating revenge.
Luo Nanchu was unable to pinpoint if she was shivering from head to toe due to the cold or her anger. She could not bear to part with the money to call for a taxi. Thus, she could only wrap her arms around herself tightly as she sprinted back home.
Luo Nanchu only arrived home after running in the winter night for half an hour, and she felt frozen solid.
Her home was a basement. It was really tiny and could only fit a single bed, so she had to clean herself at a designated shared shower. She could not bear to rent a larger space for herself because the money had to be used to pay for Luo Yi and her father's medical bills as well as Luo Zhiying's school fees.
She had to protect the people she had let down and do her utmost to compensate them. Thus, she could not fall.
At the very least, she had to stay alive until Father woke up, until Luo Yi had his kidney transplant, and until Luo Zhiying graduated from university.
Luo Nanchu only felt complete exhaustion as she lay on her little bed. In the darkness of the room, her mind conjured up the image of Fu Tingyuan's face once more, and she felt her heart twist in pain. She opened her eyes. She needed a smoke.
But she didn't have any.
When she was chasing Fu Tingyuan, she decided to quit smoking because she thought Fu Tingyuan did not like girls who smoked.
In order to woo him, she had done so many things that seemed foolish and ridiculous when she thought about it now. Currently, the remembrance of every single thing made her feel disgusted.
Luo Nanchu recalled her thoughts. A mocking smile painted her lips as she held a hand to her heart and curled up into a fetal position, doing her best to resist the waves of pain that bombarded it.
It had been a long time since her heart hurt. She thought she had already forgotten Fu Tingyuan. However, this merely transient meeting was making her relive all of her past feelings again.
She felt like this on the day Fu Tingyuan had thrown the divorce papers at her; the divorce papers which, left unsigned, would mean that her father would not receive money for his surgery.
That day, Fu Tingyuan had sat in the office chair that was once her father's and looked down from above as she knelt in front of him. Sobbing embarrassingly, she had begged him to give her money for the surgery to treat her father's stroke. In response, he threw divorce papers at her which robbed her of all her possessions.
Half a year had passed since then, yet on this winter night, she could still feel the throbbing pain she had felt that day and could still recall the experience of being unable to hold a fountain pen properly in her trembling hand.
This should be what hatred feels like, Luo Nanchu thought.
At Dark Night Bar.
Luo Nanchu finished changing into her uniform and walked out of the changing room. Just when she was thinking of serving some drinks, Tang Qing hurriedly ran toward her and said, "Nanchu, the supervisor has asked you to see her."
"Hmm?" Luo Nanchu blinked her eyes.
A trace of worry appeared on Tang Qing's beautiful and elegant face. She walked closer, lowered her head, and whispered, "Sister Ling looked irate… Wh-what have you done to provoke her?"
It was Jie Ling who had introduced Fu Tingyuan to her, and she did not know how the two of them had collaborated.
She had turned her back on him yesterday evening—it would be suspicious if Fu Tingyuan did not exaggerate his complaints to Jie Ling. Luo Nanchu laughed before stretching out her hand to pat Tang Qing's shoulder.
She passed the drinks that were in her hands and said, "These drinks are for the guests in Booth No. 3. Qing, please help me deliver these to them."
Tang Qing reached out to receive the beer and urged her again with apprehension, "You'd better hurry up, Nanchu. Sister Ling will rage again if you make her wait around for too long."
She paused for a bit and added, "Be more accommodating to her later—don't go head-to-head with her. She's still your supervisor after all."
It was Jie Ling who recruited them. As they were in the probationary period, Jie Ling wielded the authority to determine the hiring or firing of such people.
Tang Qing feared Luo Nanchu would talk back to Jie Ling in the heat of the moment and get fired by Jie Ling. She knew Luo Nanchu was undergoing some difficult times recently and was in dire need of money.
Luo Nanchu thought Tang Qing's concern for her was adorable. She reached out to pat Tang Qing's head and said, "Good girl."
Retracting her hand, she laughed and continued, "I know how to handle this."
Luo Nanchu went to the staff lounge and saw Jie Ling sitting at the side and smoking.
Looking grave and cold, she wore a black business suit with her hair coiffed high and her face made up simply. She presented more like a businessperson than the supervisor of a bar.
Luo Nanchu walked over and asked softly, "You called, Sister Ling?"
Jie Ling stubbed out the cigarette and raised her head to look at Luo Nanchu before asking bluntly, "How was the man I introduced to you yesterday? Did you guys get along?"
Luo Nanchu bent her head and said quietly, "Yesterday was unsuccessful. He… Mr. Fu did not like me."
She threw the blame onto Fu Tingyuan.
In any case, he had never touched her in the three years that they had been married; he really had no interest in her to the point where he would not get hard under the sheets even in the dark, or so she thought. Therefore, he surely must have been toying with her when he asked her out last night. How could it be possible that he actually wanted to develop a relationship with her?
She wasn't exactly lying, was she?
Jie Ling threw a glance at her and did not say a word.
She did not actually have a reason to disbelieve Luo Nanchu's words.
She knew Luo Nanchu was in dire need of money—there was no way she would let go and not curry favors with a rich man. Therefore, the natural conclusion was that there had to be a problem with Fu Tingyuan.
Luo Nanchu saw that Jie Ling had fallen silent and knew that Jie Ling believed her.
She breathed a sigh of relief and, affecting even more adorableness, said in a soft cottony voice, "Sister Ling, if there's nothing else, Nanchu will resume serving drinks."
Jie Ling called out to her, "Wait."
Luo Nanchu's footsteps came to a halt as she turned her head and asked, "Is something else the matter, Sister Ling?"
Jie Ling squinted and looked her up and down.
Luo Nanchu was a pretty lady. Her beauty could be ranked highly in the bustling city of Tong City, though there were flocks of pretty women. Although she was not as beautiful as Qin Su, who was dubbed "Tong City's Prettiest Lady," Luo Nanchu had a unique kind of appeal. To put it simply, she had a kind of docile face that was well-liked by men and women alike. Her eyes were big, round, almond-like, and had very dark pupils; one would think she was very obedient when she looked at you. Her smile was also very sweet. All in all, she had a countenance that could sway men at first sight.
You may also Like
Paragraph comment
Paragraph comment feature is now on the Web! Move mouse over any paragraph and click the icon to add your comment.
Also, you can always turn it off/on in Settings.
GOT IT