Chapter 1: - Welcome

“Hello, Yafei? What is it?”

“Nothing. I just missed you, my dear Lily.”

“Why is it so noisy over there?”

“I’m at a bar.”

“Oh. Jealous. Look at you, living the good life.”

“Heh, don’t even start. By the way, why are you still awake this late?”

“How would I answer your call if I were asleep?”

“Ha, fake as hell. What are you doing?”

“Rushing to finish a report. I have to hand it in tomorrow.”

“Tsk, tsk. Working this late? You don’t want your skin anymore?”

“Can good skin feed me? Can it pay my rent? Besides, I’m not as lucky as you. Your family had connections and got you into a bank.”

“Oh, stop it. You know exactly what my family’s like. Standard working class. Don’t stand there making sarcastic remarks. My parents begged everyone they could and finally got me into a bank. Now whenever they meet anyone, they brag that their daughter has an iron rice bowl in a state institution and think I must be living beautifully. In reality, I’m just a teller. I smile at customers all day, get saddled with a huge pile of sales quotas every month, have endless work and lousy benefits, and anyone can push me around. I feel like I’m about to be kneaded into a dried longan.”

“Isn’t that just how life goes?”

“I don’t want my life to go like that. How long have we even been out of college? If I keep living this way, then later I find some man, have a kid, and my whole life just drifts by in a fog. A woman only gets a few years of youth. Even I feel cheated.”

“You broke up with Zhao Yang?”

“Yeah. Ages ago. We split not long after graduation. His family wanted him to go back to his hometown, and he wanted to take me with him. Why the hell would I go? If I could go back with him and be some pampered young mistress, fine. But his family’s rural. Am I, Sun Yafei, supposed to travel a thousand miles back to his village, struggle and grind alongside him, bear his children, do the housework, and help him pay off a mortgage?”

“Actually, Zhao Yang was a pretty decent person.”

“If you want him, go contact him yourself. We’re best friends. Why bother separating yours from mine?”

“Peh. Shameless.”

“Hahahaha... Oh, my friends are here. I’ll stop talking. Let’s meet up sometime when we’re free. Good night, Lily. Go to bed early.”

“Good night. You be careful too, staying at a bar this late.”

“All right, all right. Hanging up.”

...

“Hello, Lily. What are you doing?”

“Eating.”

“At this hour? Late-night snack or dinner?”

“Dinner.”

“Working overtime again?”

“Mm. Endless overtime.”

“I need you to do me a favor.”

“Go ahead.”

“In two hours, call me and see if I answer. If I don’t... then... then... call the police.”

“Sun Yafei, what are you doing?”

“I’m at the Four Seasons Hotel on Chunxi Road. Remember that.”

“Hey, Sun Yafei! What the hell are you going to do?!”

“Beep... beep... beep...”

...

“Hello...”

“Sun Yafei! You finally answered. I was about to call the police!”

“I’m... I’m fine. Lily, I’m fine. Nothing happened. I’m okay.”

“What did you go there to do?”

“Wuu... wuu...”

“Yafei, why are you crying? What happened?”

“Lily, I’m shameless. I’m a shameless woman. For money... I really threw away every scrap of dignity. I’m a filthy XX...”

“Yafei, you...”

“Lily, I can’t accept it! Why do other women get to use the good stuff, wear the good clothes, while I can only sit behind a bank counter every day getting treated like dirt? Why? I’m not worse than them. I really am not worse than them. I want that kind of life too. I want it too...”

“Yafei, calm down...”

“Lily, it’s okay. I’m home now. I’m going to shower. You should rest early. I’m sorry. Having a friend like me must embarrass you.”

“No, that’s not—Yafei...”

“Beep... beep... beep...”

...

“Hello, Lily.”

“Yafei, I’m here. Are you okay?”

“The Impression Hotel at Hongpailou. Same as last time.”

“This...”

“Lily, I’ve thought it through. I don’t care anymore.”

“I don’t think you should keep doing this, Yafei.”

“Call me in two hours. When I’m done, I’ll come find you and we can get a late-night snack.”

“Yafei? Hey, Yafei...”

“Beep... beep... beep...”

...

“Hello, Lily. What are you doing? You’re off for the holiday, right?”

“No. I’m working through the holiday. The company’s busy with a project.”

“You’re even working overtime during the holiday? Your boss really has no humanity. Capitalists are all the same breed of bastard. Can you take leave? Worst case, forget the holiday overtime pay. I’ll take you to Thailand.”

“I can’t. The project’s at a critical stage. It wouldn’t be convenient to ask for leave.”

“Aiya, projects, projects, work, work. Even if the project succeeds, how much of the bonus will you actually see? Why keep grinding away like an idiot at that company?”

“What about you? Did you quit your job?”

“Quit? Why the hell would this old lady quit? Hahaha. I’d have to have water in my brain to quit. Having that job means one booking with me brings in what other girls need two or three bookings to make. One booking pays more than your entire monthly salary plus bonus.”

“Yafei, are you really planning to keep doing this?”

“For now. Lily, honestly, I’ve seen things clearly. In this society, you can lack anything except money. Without money, life is miserable. Without money, people look down on you!”

“But don’t you think about the future?”

“The future? Why think that far ahead? Live in the moment first. Honestly, Lily, are you tempted? Back in college you were prettier than me. Way more boys chased you than chased me.”

“I...”

“Don’t touch this, Lily. I was joking just now. This is a pit. Once you jump in, you can’t climb back out. You’re a good girl. I can’t drag you down with me. Seriously, after doing it two or three times, I knew I wasn’t getting back out. The money comes too fast. Way too fast. What I make from one booking, tips included, is so much more than what I earned grinding away at a normal job. My values collapsed. If you told me to go back now and work properly for that dead salary, I genuinely couldn’t do it. I can’t go back anymore.”

“Yafei, I sincerely think you should stop. Otherwise you’ll sink deeper and deeper.”

“But I’m different from the girls in clubs. I’m expensive. The men willing to book me have money to burn. Hehe. I tell them I only just started because my parents are sick and I need money for their treatment. Lily, someone has already offered to keep me. I’m still thinking about it.”

“Keep you?”

“Yeah. The money’s good. He’s just a little old, and he has a family already. I’ll see. Honestly, doing this isn’t much different from going on blind dates, except the candidates are much richer than anything you’d find at a matchmaking agency.”

“Yafei, stop while you still can. Go back to a normal life. I think that’s what’s truly—”

“All right, enough. I’ll contact you when I get back from my trip. I’ll bring you a gift.”

...

“Hello, Lily. Did you see my Moments?”

“I saw it. That bag.”

“More than a hundred thousand yuan. One of my clients gave it to me. I got someone with connections to authenticate it. It’s genuine, not some fake.”

“Mm.”

“And he’s young too, only two years older than me. His family’s rich. Second-generation rich kid. Pretty innocent.”

“What? You interested in him?”

“I’m telling you, the kid’s a little introverted, and right now he’s completely obsessed with me. He’s booked me six times just this month. I feel like if I work him a little more, I can land him.”

“Well... congratulations.”

“Right? I think so too. You can’t stay in this line forever. Everyone gets old eventually. Just like in *Song of the Pipa*. I finally understand why all those female celebrities fight like mad to marry into rich families.”

“If his family is that rich, his parents...”

“I know. Relax. I’ve already got this silly boy so bewitched he doesn’t know north from south. Once my belly gets big, we’ll do a paternity test. It’ll absolutely be his! By then his parents will definitely agree to let me into the family. Besides, he isn’t stupid. He’s not going to tell his parents what I used to do.”

“I even asked if he would look down on me. Know what he said? He said everyone has a hard life, that he admires and respects me for earning money to pay for my parents’ medical treatment, and that he wants to be with me forever.”

“Aiyo, I nearly died laughing.”

“Then it sounds like he really is a decent person.”

“All right, all right. I’ll stop talking. I’m going to get my hair done. Talk later.”

“Mm. Talk later.”

...

“Hello, Lily. I’ve got something hilarious to tell you.”

“What happened?”

“He said he wants me to have his child. Holy shit, he thought of exactly the same thing I did.”

“Sounds like he really has fallen for you.”

“Yeah. Haa, I actually feel a little guilty. I’ve fooled this silly kid so thoroughly. He’s dead set on being with me, and he says he’s going to take me to meet his parents soon.”

“Then congratulations, Yafei.”

“Oh, right. His family seems to be in foreign-trade apparel. Just wait, Lily. Once I really marry into their family, I’ll arrange a job for you too. Then you’ll have to call me Boss Lady.”

“Hehe. I’ll pass. But Yafei, since he’s sincere about you, you should settle down too.”

“What do you think I’m doing? I settled down ages ago. He’s the only one now. I’m not stupid enough to pick up sesame seeds and throw away the watermelon. In a while, I’ll have him take me to buy a car. Then the two of us can drive out to some farmhouse resort in the suburbs and relax.”

“Sure. I’ll be waiting.”

...

“Hello, Lily! Hahahahaha...”

“What good news has you laughing that hard?”

“Lily, you know what? He just called and told me to go to that KTV on Jianguo Road. He was acting all mysterious on purpose.”

“Sounds like he wants to surprise you.”

“Aiya, boys these days are still too inexperienced. He thinks he can hide things from this old lady? I think he’s going to propose. Last night when we were together, I saw receipts for cake and flowers in his wallet.”

“Then congratulations. Looks like you’re finally going to belong to someone.”

“I’m already at the KTV... Hello, excuse me, which way is the Emperor Room? Over there? Okay, thanks, handsome.”

“Ah-ha, give me a cup of forgetfulness, let me pass one night without tears...”

“I’ve grown used to your sudden self, scattering free and easy, seeing nature through...”

“So noisy. Honestly, why choose a KTV for a proposal?”

“You’re showing off now, aren’t you? Don’t forget, I’m still single.”

“All right, all right, Lily. Don’t worry. I know a few of his buddies. They’re all from the rich-kid circle. In a while I’ll introduce one to you too. It’s not like your conditions are bad.”

“Phew... finally found it. No, no, I have to pretend I know nothing. Hahaha. I need to act completely surprised.”

“Aiya, dating a younger guy really is like being his mother. You have to think of everything for him.”

Creak...

“She’s here! She’s here!”

“Woooo!”

“Welcome! Welcome!”

“Woooo!”

“Sounds like there are a lot of people. He invited all his friends to witness it, huh? Yafei, congratulations.”

“Welcome to the club!”

“Welcome to the club!”

“Welcome... to the AIDS Club!”

[End of Chapter 1]