Cang Xuehe returned to the bar. Zhao Yi was still sitting in her original spot. She walked over quickly and patted Zhao Yi on the shoulder.
As if she had expected her return, Zhao Yi turned around and gave her a teasing smile. “Running back so fast? Did you realize you forgot your phone?”
“Exactly!” Cang Xuehe sat down beside her and said to the bartender, “A glass of ice water, please.”
“Who was that person just now?” Zhao Yi asked curiously. “Seeing you so flustered, I thought you were meeting a lover.”
Cang Xuehe choked for a moment. Realizing she had said the wrong thing, Zhao Yi corrected herself: “Oh, my mistake. You like men. So, how was it? Did you find that handsome guy you’ve been dreaming about?”
“Yiyi,” Cang Xuehe struggled with her thoughts for a moment. “There’s something I feel I need to tell you.”
“I like women.”
As she spoke those words, Cang Xuehe felt a sense of trance, as if she had been transported back several years to the scene where she came out to her parents. She had said those exact same words then.
It happened when she had just started university. In her spare time, she worked as a private tutor for a family; her student was a girl about to enter her senior year of high school. The girl was bright, studious, and quick-witted, with a delicate and pitiful face that would turn red at the slightest joke. Cang Xuehe had grown very fond of her.
It wasn’t until the day the student suddenly confessed her feelings—and Cang Xuehe realized she didn’t feel any aversion at all—that she knew she was in deep. To ensure the student could focus on her studies, she hurriedly resigned from the tutoring job. After various self-tests, she concluded that she truly was attracted to women.
Realizing her sexual orientation made Cang Xuehe feel uneasy about the future. During a conversation, she resolutely came out to her parents.
She thought her open-minded parents wouldn’t have a strong reaction, but the reality was the most intense argument of her life. The result was her parents cutting off her financial support, determined to “correct” her. Proud and unwilling to admit defeat—and seeing nothing wrong with loving the same sex—Cang Xuehe worked her way through university. She hadn’t contacted her family since graduation.
Clang—
The wine glass slipped from Zhao Yi’s hand and shattered on the tiles. The crisp sound was buried by the music, but Zhao Yi’s head was spinning; Cang Xuehe’s words “I like women” replayed in her ears on a loop.
“You…” Zhao Yi was stunned, unable to recover for a long time. “Are you joking with me? Even if you’re disappointed in men, you shouldn’t…”
“It’s not like that.” Cang Xuehe interrupted her, pursing her lips. “I don’t know how to explain the specifics to you. I just don’t want to hide it from you, so I’m telling you that I like women. It has nothing to do with Ding Hongyuan.”
Zhao Yi’s expression was complicated. After a long pause, she sighed as if accepting the fact, then asked, “Then that girl just now was…?”
“Uh…” Cang Xuehe didn’t expect Zhao Yi to pivot the topic so suddenly and was momentarily speechless.
Originally, she had intended to find Ding Hongyuan just to mess with him, but she hadn’t expected his new target to be Xiao Youyi. Thinking about the plot in the original book, Cang Xuehe couldn’t contain her emotions and scared Ding Hongyuan away.
When she heard Xiao Youyi mention being “supported,” the first thing that popped into Cang Xuehe’s mind was the feasibility of “sponsoring” Xiao Youyi herself.
Since Xiao Youyi and the scumbag had already met, they might actually follow the original plot. The final result would be Xiao Youyi getting pregnant by that jerk Ding Hongyuan, while his malicious mother would look down on Xiao Youyi for having no background. She would likely become the second tragic female lead.
The thought made Cang Xuehe’s skin crawl. Why should a trashy, mama’s-boy scumbag be paired with such a beautiful woman!
If all Xiao Youyi wanted was money, the eldest Miss Cang had plenty of it!
“That… that’s a long story…” Cang Xuehe chose to dodge the question.
“Don’t try to lie to me,” Zhao Yi said with certainty. “She’s the one you’ve been thinking about these past two days, isn’t she?”
“…” I only dreamed about her once or twice; does that count as “constantly thinking about her”?
“But this is actually good,” Zhao Yi said.
“What do you mean?”
“Her.” Zhao Yi scanned the surroundings, where beer girls were visible everywhere. She had seen too many combinations of rich heirs and commoner girls in their circle. “You aren’t from the same social class. She can only rely on you, so you don’t have to worry about her betraying you. That part is actually quite good.”
“Is it?” Cang Xuehe wasn’t quite willing to accept the word “rely.” She had offered a high monthly salary and Xiao Youyi hadn’t immediately agreed, which meant the girl had her own thoughts and wasn’t just a simple gold-digger.
Zhao Yi smiled; some things were better left unsaid. “Speaking of which, I saw Ding Hongyuan looking like he’d seen a ghost just now. What did you do to him?”
“Nothing,” Cang Xuehe shrugged. “Just said a few words and he ran away on his own.”
“Actually, while Ding Hongyuan’s character isn’t great, his work ability is decent,” Zhao Yi noted. “Didn’t your family acquire the Ding Corporation? They fired a lot of people, but he stayed on.”
“So what!” Hearing praise for the scumbag made Cang Xuehe indignant. “I can do it too!”
Zhao Yi: “???”
“Yes!” Cang Xuehe suddenly stood up, remembering the career discussion she’d had with her older brother earlier. “I’m going to start my own company!”
No sooner said than done. Cang Xuehe called her older brother to explain her idea. Upon hearing it, he readily agreed, praising his sister for being ambitious and feeling very comforted.
He sounded so touched he was on the verge of tears.
Cang Xuehe: “???”
There was still no news from Xiao Youyi. Cang Xuehe began to wonder if she had written her number down wrong; she checked her phone several times, but there was still no movement.
The next day, unable to contain herself, Cang Xuehe headed to the bar to find her.
The bar had almost no customers during the day. A few cleaners were tidying up, and the bartender was nowhere to be seen, making the place feel somewhat desolate.
“Miss Cang?” the floor manager walked over. “Why are you here so early today? Please wait a moment, the bartender stepped out for a bit, I’ll call him back right away.”
“I’m not drinking today.” Cang Xuehe raised her hand to stop him. “Just give me a glass of water.”
The manager hurriedly poured her water. Since she was the only customer and a VIP at that, he stayed to chat with her after serving the drink.
“Are you alone today, Miss Cang?”
“Mm.” Cang Xuehe scanned the room and saw a few beer girls sitting in a booth chatting. She recognized some of the faces, but Xiao Youyi was missing.
“You don’t operate during the day?”
The manager caught her drift and quickly explained, “We are open, but as you know, most people come to relax at night. During the day, there are basically no customers.”
Following Cang Xuehe’s gaze, the manager added, “Is there a specific PR lady you fancy, Miss Cang? I can have her come over and share a few drinks with you?”
“Do you have someone here named Xiao Youyi?”
Upon hearing the name Xiao Youyi, the manager wasn’t too surprised; the customers looking for her were no longer limited to just men.
“There is such a person. But she took the day off today.”
Cang Xuehe frowned. “Took the day off?”
“Yes.” The manager thought for a moment. “I think she said she was going to an interview.”
“An interview?”
Cang Xuehe toyed with the corner of Xiao Youyi’s job application resume—which the manager had brought over—and thought it over. She truly couldn’t imagine which company’s benefits would be higher than the salary she had offered, given Xiao Youyi’s credentials.
“Hey, Yiyi.” Whenever she was stuck, Cang Xuehe turned to Zhao Yi. “What was the name of that company under the Ding Group that our family acquired? Where can I see their job listings?”
The ever-reliable Zhao Yi directly sent over a mini-program for a recruitment app. Upon checking, sure enough, the company where Ding Hongyuan worked was hiring in bulk.
Great. Ding Hongyuan again.