He Siyao bit her lip. "But I need good reviews from my customers."
"I may not have been a great student, but I have some basic decency. I’ll definitely give you a good review."
Lin Jiang brought the fruit and tea over.
"Relax. We can eat and chat."
"The club has a rule against employees eating on the job. They’ll dock my pay."
"If I don’t tell anyone, who’s going to know?" Lin Jiang said, taking a sip of tea.
"I remember your family was in the furniture business, right? You had two storefronts. Back in school, people even thought you were a rich kid. What happened? Bad management?"
"No, we were scammed," He Siyao said.
"The manufacturer held a meeting for all the regional distributors and said that the more stock we ordered, the lower the price would be. My dad wanted to get a bigger edge in the market, so he borrowed some money. But the manufacturer took the money and disappeared. We still haven’t gotten it back, so... I have to do this to help pay off the debt."
He Siyao said, her head bowed,
"But my dad didn’t gamble it away, and my mom isn’t sick. They’re both working hard to pay back the debt, too."
In short, they were strapped for cash.
"Regardless, we were classmates. Just rest here for a while."
As he spoke, Lin Jiang looked at the list of services on the menu.
"Add the 899 Mirror Flower Water Moon service. We’ll total it all up later."
"Lin Jiang, you don’t have to pity me. I wasn’t telling you all that to get you to feel sorry for me."
"I’m not some naive kid. If I didn’t want to spend the money, you could talk until you’re blue in the face and it wouldn’t matter," Lin Jiang said.
"Besides, you were a hot topic of conversation in our dorm after lights-out back in the day. Just think of it as me paying for a piece of my youth."
"But the more you act like this, the more uncomfortable it makes me. I know you look down on me. I’d rather just perform the service."
With that, He Siyao opened her kit.
Corrupting the virtuous, redeeming the fallen—Lin Jiang had no mind for such theatrics. He wasn’t about to lecture her, nor did he want to indulge in some sappy melodrama.
’If she wanted to perform the service, then he’d let her.’
’But he had to admit, her technique was excellent.’
’It was a perfect example of the old saying that every trade has its experts.’
’She might have been a poor student, but she was outstanding at this.’
’Combined with her good looks and figure, the experience was off the charts.’
"With your looks, you must get a lot of requests, right?"
He Siyao kept her head down, not daring to look at Lin Jiang.
"I’m on good terms with Manager Feng. She doesn’t assign me any troublesome clients."
"What time do you usually get off work?"
"Around midnight. If a client books a lot of services, I stay until they’re all finished."
Lin Jiang glanced at his watch. "It’s about 10 PM now. Just keep doing this... Mirror Flower Water Moon thing. Keep going until your shift ends."
"Lin Jiang, you really don’t have to give me charity."
"This isn’t charity. I actually wanted to ask you about something."
"What is it? Go ahead."
"How’s business at this club?"
"Business?"
A hint of surprise colored He Siyao’s voice. This question was not what she had expected.
"It’s just average, I guess. Several new clubs have opened in Zhonghai over the last few years and stolen a lot of our business. We’re just barely hanging on now."
"Has your boss thought about selling the place?"
"I think so? But I just focus on my own work, so I’m not too clear on that side of things."
Even back in school, He Siyao had always been aloof and didn’t pay much attention to things that didn’t concern her. It seemed she was still the same now that she was working.
"This Manager Feng you mentioned earlier... who is she? Your direct supervisor?"
He Siyao nodded, lifting her head to cast a rare glance at Lin Jiang.
"Are you planning something?"
"As a matter of fact, I am. Is this manager a man or a woman? Can you help me set up a meeting?"
"She’s a woman. I can pass on a message, but I can’t say for sure if she’ll agree to meet."
As if feeling she hadn’t phrased that quite right, He Siyao quickly added:
"When would you like to meet her? I’ll do my best to get her to come out."
"How about now?"
"Not today. Manager Feng has the day off," He Siyao said.
"How about tomorrow? I’ll talk to her and try to set it up for you."
"That works," Lin Jiang said. "Besides, I’m not really dressed to meet with a manager today. Any time is fine. You can set the time."
"Okay."
Lin Jiang took out his phone and pulled up his QR code.
"Add me as a friend. We can coordinate on WeChat."
"We’re not allowed to have our phones on us while we work," He Siyao said.
"I have a pen and paper here. You can just write down your contact information for me."
"Mm."
Lin Jiang left his contact information, leaving the rest to He Siyao.
’Thinking back on the time since he’d arrived, he realized the club wasn’t as busy as he’d expected.’
’It even felt a little desolate, which was more than enough proof that business was slow.’
’But to know the specifics, he’d have to wait until he met this Manager Feng and see if he could dig up some information.’
"Lin Jiang, you should take your shirt off," He Siyao said softly. "I’ll start the Mirror Flower Water Moon treatment."

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