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.
As a waitress at Dark Night Bar, she had more patrons request her services compared to the other waitresses. Youthfulness made money here, so the prettier and more beautiful girls were naturally more popular.
Jie Ling lit up another cigarette calmly and took a drag.
"How's your father?" she asked mildly.
In a soft voice, Luo Nanchu replied, "He's still in a coma."
Jie Ling watched her as she puffed on her cigarette silently.
Jie Ling was her distant relative. After the Luo family fell to unfortunate circumstances, all of her formerly affectionate elders disappeared into thin air. Jie Ling was the only one who reached out to her and recruited her for Dark Night, making sure she could earn money to survive.
Luo Nanchu was wholeheartedly grateful to this "Sister" who was more than 10 years her senior.
"You didn't manage to settle your father's nursing fees this month," Jie Ling said before looking up at her and asking, "Are you very short on money?"
The attractive smile on Luo Nanchu's face did not fade as she watched Jie Ling's face silently.
"Do you still remember Uncle Sun? He held you before as a kid." Jie Ling's eyes narrowed as she stared at Luo Nanchu's prettier visage through the thin fog of cigarette smoke. "He's been asking me about you recently. If you're interested, I can make the arrangements for you."
"…"
Luo Nanchu's lovely dark eyes shone with wetness, making her look like a confused and innocent-looking little deer. She licked her lips lightly before smiling sweetly and replying, "Sister Ling, I only remember having a Grandpa Sun. Since when did an Uncle Sun exist?"
"…" Jie Ling shot a look at her before a cool expression instantly flooded her face.
She flicked cigarette ash away and said in a neutral tone, "You're short on money now, and finding a man to marry isn't like dating a man. What does it matter if he's a grandpa or an uncle? Listen to my advice and marry while you're still young. As a divorcee, you should thank the Heavens if you can still manage to find a rich man to marry, so stop nitpicking at everything."
Her words made her sound like a pimp instead of a relative.
There were people out there who wanted to squeeze her dry of her benefits, but Jie Ling was going a step further by wanting to upcycle her trashy self. However, Luo Nanchu had absolutely nothing she could be proud of right now. After being slammed into the mud by Fu Tingyuan, she did not contemplate getting back up—nor could she either. The only thing she set her mind on was not dying because the rest of the Luo family would die along with her. She had to live well and earn tons and tons of money. At the very least, she had to live well before the Luo family woke up.
Noticing her silence and her pale face, Jie Ling acted on her own initiative and took out her phone.
"I'll contact him for you now," she said.
Before she could do so, her screen suddenly lit up. Jie Ling's expression changed when she looked at the number on her screen, and she immediately stubbed out her cigarette and stood up.
Turning away from Luo Nanchu, she greeted the speaker respectfully, "Boss, it's me, Jie Ling."
Jie Ling then turned around and shot Luo Nanchu a look, gesturing for Luo Nanchu to wait for her outside the door.
The boss of Dark Night was a mysterious figure in Tong City. Even when Luo Nanchu was still the daughter of the previous richest man in the city, she had not been privy to whether the boss of Dark Night was a lady or a man.
She was a little curious, so she deliberately slowed her pace. She heard the cool, mild tones of a male voice coming vaguely from Jie Ling's phone. Even though she could not hear what he was saying, she now knew his gender.
The boss was a man.
And he sounded young too.
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