“Hey, sis, Ah Ye’s drunk. Can you come pick him up?”
When she received that call, Shi Sheng was in her room, rushing to meet a deadline.
The line on her drawing tablet curved for a moment before she erased it in frustration.
On the other end of the line was the blaring DJ music of a nightclub, mixed with the sweet, flirtatious laughter of women.
“President Qi, have another sip~ Just one more, keep me company for a little while longer~”
From the other side came the teasing voice of Qi Ye’s childhood friend, who seemed to have pulled the phone away, making the sound somewhat muffled:
“Still drinking! Bro’s girlfriend is on her way!”
“…So what? President Qi~”
Shi Sheng calmly lowered her gaze to check the time.
1:30 AM.
She let out a resigned sigh as she glanced at her unfinished drawing, thinking to herself that Qi Ye really was a grown man-child—at his age, he still needed someone to come pick him up when he got drunk.
Shi Sheng turned off her tablet.
“Send me the address.”
The person on the other end gave her the name of a very famous nightclub in the city center, down to the private room number.
Shi Sheng grabbed her keys and headed out.
The streets of Jing City were brightly lit through the night.
Amidst a dazzling array of neon lights bright enough to blind a person, Shi Sheng located the private room with precision, opened the door, and walked in.
She made quite a bit of noise entering, which quickly drew the attention of everyone in the room.
Qi Ye’s childhood friend Wang Duan spotted her and smiled.
“Yo, sis is here.”
Shi Sheng nodded at him.
After scanning the room, her gaze landed on Qi Ye, who was surrounded by a crowd.
He was strikingly handsome—his sharp, angular features looked even more defined under the flashing lights. He held a glass of red wine in his hand, his fingers slender and strong.
And in Qi Ye’s arms… sat a woman in revealing clothing.
Shi Sheng acted as if she hadn’t noticed. She walked straight over and placed a hand on Qi Ye’s shoulder.
“Ah Ye, time to go home.”
Qi Ye seemed quite drunk. He turned his head slowly, his gaze tracing over Shi Sheng’s face inch by inch before he finally registered what was happening.
“Why are you here?”
“Wang Duan asked me to come get you.”
As she spoke, Shi Sheng gathered his keys, wallet, and ring from the table, then made an effort to pull Qi Ye up from the sofa.
Her movements were quick and practiced.
Clearly, this wasn’t the first time she’d handled this kind of situation.
Ever since they’d confirmed their relationship five years ago, she’d been coming to clean up Qi Ye’s messes every night like this.
Seeing that he was really about to leave, the woman who had been sitting in Qi Ye’s arms grew displeased.
“Hey! President Qi hasn’t had his fill of fun yet—why are you leaving!”
Discontent flickered across the woman’s face as she shot Shi Sheng a covert glare. Her hand, adorned with cheap red nail polish, clung to Qi Ye, her fair face and largely exposed chest pressing close as she spoke in a soft, coaxing voice:
“Didn’t President Qi say he’d keep me company? We haven’t even gotten to the main event yet…”
Qi Ye’s peach-blossom eyes narrowed slightly. He curled his lips into a smile, his gaze lingering on the woman’s face for a moment before he coaxed, “Be good. It’s too late tonight. I’ll keep you company tomorrow.”
The woman was clearly still unsatisfied.
“But who knows when you’ll come back next time. If I happen to miss you when you’re…”
She trailed off suggestively.
Qi Ye was evidently susceptible to this.
He pressed a kiss to the woman’s cheek.
“What’s your name?”
The woman’s cheeks flushed pink. “…Linda.”
“Alright, Linda. I’ll come find you next time.”
Qi Ye’s sweet talk flowed endlessly, charming the girl into delight.
Shi Sheng, while supporting Qi Ye’s body, spared a pitying glance at the woman in her spare moment.
This kind of sweet talk from the pleasure circuit—she was amazed the girl could actually believe it.
Let alone coming from Qi Ye.
After much persuasion, she managed to hoist Qi Ye out of his seat, and Wang Duan came over to lend a hand.
He flashed Shi Sheng a ingratiating smile:
“Sister-in-law, aren’t you staying to have some fun?”
Shi Sheng: “It’s too late, I need to get back.”
Wang Duan had never once succeeded in persuading anyone to stay, so he didn’t push it further—just waved his hand and let it go.
Once they were gone, two young heirs in the private room sidled up to Wang Duan, gossiping:
“So that’s Brother Ye’s girlfriend? She sure can take it.”
“That girl was practically writhing in Brother Ye’s lap like a spider from the Spider Cave, and she didn’t even blink?”
Wang Duan lit a cigarette and sneered:
“What do you idiots know? That’s Sister Shi being magnanimous.”
One of the heirs licked his lips, itching with desire:
“She’s a looker though—fair and tender. What do you say I ask Brother Ye to lend her to me for a couple days…”
Before he could finish, his mouth suddenly felt wet.
He froze slightly, realizing Wang Duan had shoved the lit cigarette into his mouth.
“Brother Wang, what are you—”
Before he could react, Wang Duan smiled at him—a smile that looked utterly harmless.
But the next second, Wang Duan raised his hand and slapped him hard across the face twice.
“Smack! Smack!”
The private room went silent.
The heir was stunned: “Brother Wang…”
Wang Duan lit another cigarette, his hand trembling slightly as ash fell onto the heir’s neck.
His gaze was dark and sinister:
“Do you think a piece of trash like you has any right to meddle in matters between my Brother Ye and his woman?”
“Think you’re somebody, do you?”
With that, he cast a sidelong glance at the woman who had been sprawled across Qi Ye’s lap on the sofa, contempt dripping from his eyes.
He pointed at her from a distance with the cigarette between his fingers:
“Linda, is it? Don’t bother coming to work tomorrow.”
By the time she got home, it was already past two in the morning.
Shi Sheng struggled to dump Qi Ye onto the bed, finally catching her breath.
She shot a disgusted look at Qi Ye, who was sleeping like a dead pig, then called the housekeeper to come back and help clean him up.
She went to the kitchen herself to brew hangover soup.
Shi Sheng’s hair was slightly mussed, and the lines of her collarbone flowed elegantly with her movements.
The fragrance of the hangover soup gradually spread through the air.
She and Qi Ye were, in truth, only bound by a contract—the relationship of a sugar daddy and his kept canary.
The reason this arrangement began was simple.
Shi Sheng’s father had owed gambling debts, and after he went to prison, those people set their sights on Shi Sheng, who was still in university.
A father’s debt, the daughter pays—they said it was only natural.
But where was Shi Sheng supposed to come up with that much money?
She’d always been lucky, though. Just as she was fretting over what to do, Qi Ye appeared before her with a contract in hand.
Even back then, Qi Ye was already showing the early signs of the profligate playboy he was now—though he was more restrained at school, still the heartthrob and campus celebrity of A University.
Qi Ye said she looked like his first love. Two hundred thousand a year, a lookalike kept bird—was she in or not?
Shi Sheng looked at the amount she’d receive by the end of the contract and, without a moment’s hesitation, nodded in agreement.
Are you kidding? What was chastity compared to money?
Not to mention that Qi Ye had never once touched her afterward.
Qi Ye’s exact words were:
“Being noticed by me is already the luckiest thing that’s ever happened to you. You think I’d actually touch you? Tsk.”
He also said he was saving himself for his first love.
But watching how Qi Ye would bring female companions home every now and then, Shi Sheng really couldn’t see where he was keeping himself chaste.
Maybe for rich young heirs like them, chastity had nothing to do with the body—it was purely spiritual.
Cyber-chastity, worth having.
Although as time went on, Qi Ye always liked to tell people outside that she was his girlfriend, and his circle of friends would cheerfully call her “sister-in-law” left and right.
But…
Shi Sheng turned off the stove and brought out the freshly made hangover soup.
Her delicate, luminous face was cold and indifferent.
Yeah, right.
Feelings were feelings, money was money.
Who in their right mind would fall for a rich playboy?
Wouldn’t that just be plain stupid?