Chapter 10

“Little sister, step out for a bit, I’ll check your brother’s physique.”

Li Yan hesitated, dawdling, glancing at the manager and then at Cao Yang. What kind of bullshit “check his physique”? Wasn’t it just an excuse to look at that? Maybe even eat him alive.

She was torn. She wasn’t sure if this guy really didn’t know what being a male host meant, or if he was just pretending not to know.

Anyone with half a brain would realize a salary of eight thousand a month wasn’t some ordinary job. He should know. But when he misunderstood her for a prostitute, he reacted so strongly—yet now it was okay for him to go be a gigolo?

Could it be that he was a double standard dog?

“Hurry up, little sister.” The manager urged.

Cao Yang, casual as ever, said: “It’s fine, wait for me outside a couple minutes.”

Li Yan stepped out, sat in a chair, her thoughts in a mess.

The villagers sent Cao Yang to rely on her, and she was about to let him go sell his body? That didn’t feel right.

The main issue was: if he actually knew what a host was, fine. But what if he didn’t, and ended up getting tricked, then came back blaming her for not warning him?

The more she thought about it, the more she wanted to drag him out right now.

Whether he knew or not, she had to explain it clearly.

And besides, this manager—she hadn’t even offered her a single sweetener, and already wanted to gobble up Cao Yang’s virginity?

Why should she get to? I haven’t even had a taste yet!

She got up, ready to knock. But before she reached out, the door swung open.

“Go, go, go!” Cao Yang grabbed her hand and bolted like lightning.

“Fuck your mother! You little bastard! Fuck your ancestors!” The manager’s furious curses followed, slipping into Sichuan dialect from pure rage.

The two ran until the Nightingale Club was out of sight before stopping.

“What did you do? Why was she cursing you?” Li Yan, gasping for breath, clutched her chest.

“That woman’s a pervert. She told me to eat her thing!” Cao Yang said with lingering dread. “You don’t know how nasty it was—fishy and stinking—I almost puked!”

“I just said, ‘it stinks,’ and then she started cursing me!” He looked pitiful as he said it.

Li Yan punched him. “Do you even know what a host is?”

“Nope!”

“Idiot! A host is a gigolo, a man who sells his body!”

“What?!” Cao Yang exploded. “Why didn’t you say so earlier?! If I knew, I would’ve beaten that woman up for trying to pimp me out!”

“Oh, please. The fact she even considered you means you’re lucky. Not everyone qualifies for that job!”

“And you—if you didn’t want to do it, fine, but why insult her by saying she stank? That’s harsh! Now I don’t even know if I should show up tomorrow. It’d be so awkward if I see her again.”

“What? You still want to work there?”

“Of course. If not, how else do we eat?”

“Get another job. You’re not going to a nightclub. You’re coming into the factory with me to suffer through it.”

“You’ve lost your mind! You knew I was going for a waiter job, and you’re still whining? If you like suffering so much, you go alone—don’t drag me down with you!”

“I don’t care! You’re not going!”

“You little punk, trying to boss me around? Did your mom tell you when you’re outside, is it you who listens to me or me who listens to you?”

“She said I have to listen to you.”

“Then shut your trap. I’m starting work tomorrow!”

“I don’t care. If you dare go, I’ll…”

“You’ll what?”

“I’ll tell your mom and the villagers you’re working at a nightclub!”

“Are you nuts? What’s wrong with a nightclub? I’m just a waiter, not a prostitute!”

“Heh… Doesn’t matter. I’ll say it anyway. Whether they believe you’re a waiter or a prostitute, that’s up to you to explain!”

“Cao Yang, I regret ever taking you in!”

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Because of his threat, Li Yan had no choice but to compromise. She knew how the villagers’ mouths worked—if Cao Yang dared to say it, they’d dare to believe it, and who knew how they’d twist the story. She herself didn’t care much, but her parents wouldn’t be able to handle the shame.

So the two found work at an electronics factory and started that very night.

At that time, jobs were plentiful. As long as you didn’t care about pay and conditions, finding work was easy. Factories also hired easily.

Li Yan had worked in a factory before when she first came to Guangdong. She was experienced, a skilled worker. Plus, she was pretty. The team leader had his eye on her, so he gave her an easier position.

Cao Yang wasn’t so lucky. Too good-looking, he caught the team leader’s resentment and was assigned to scrub circuit boards.

Li Yan sat at the end of the line, checking the boards for defects and tossing back the bad ones. It was relatively easy work, but still sweaty.

The factory was small, crammed with people, and outside it was sweltering. Just a few shabby ceiling fans turned overhead, barely making a breeze.

Wiping sweat, she shot a resentful glance at Cao Yang, who was scrubbing away, and cursed him in her heart: Idiot! You had an easy waiter job and chose factory hell. And you dragged me in too. What a dumbass!

By the third day, the supervisor came to inspect the line. He noticed young, pretty Li Yan and told her she could be promoted to team leader, since she was skilled and experienced. He invited her to dinner to “discuss the promotion.”

Li Yan saw right through him. He either wanted to sleep with her or start some romance. She ignored him.

Not because she was especially virtuous, but because she didn’t care about a silly team leader role—just two or three hundred yuan more a month. She had bigger ambitions.

The supervisor, ignored, grew annoyed. He wanted to teach her a lesson but still harbored fantasies about her, so he didn’t want to cause too much trouble. Instead, he decided to target her “brother.”

Since she had brought a little brother along, fine—he’d pile the workload on him.

Poor Cao Yang had no idea what was happening. He only noticed that, while usually two people scrubbed boards, today it was just him alone.

He worked like mad—because slowing down would hold up the whole line. Everyone else was at normal speed, while he was forced into double speed.

The supervisor thought he could trip him up, but was shocked to see that Cao Yang was blazing fast. He finished the work of two people without holding up the line.

But then nature called. Cao Yang asked to use the restroom, but the team leader, following the supervisor’s hint, refused.

He said if Cao Yang left, the line would stop, so he had to hold it.

Cao Yang held it for ten minutes, then couldn’t take it anymore, asked again, and was denied again.

Finally, he ignored them and went to the bathroom.

As soon as he left, the team leader halted the whole line.

When Cao Yang returned, he heard the supervisor cursing, asking what happened.

The team leader shoved the blame on him, saying he had left his post, causing the line to shut down.

The supervisor ripped into Cao Yang, shouting in his face, spittle flying.

As he scolded, he kept glancing at Li Yan, waiting for her to come plead for Cao Yang so he could act magnanimous.

But Li Yan sat motionless, even hoping the supervisor would scold harder, maybe even drive Cao Yang to quit.

“You still want this job?!”

“Fuck you!” Cao Yang finally snapped. He grabbed the supervisor by the throat and hoisted him up like a chick.