Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Zhou Xi was brought to my office that afternoon.

Sunlight poured through the floor-to-ceiling windows on the thirty-second floor and fell across his Balenciaga T-shirt, Yohji Yamamoto pants, and Louis Vuitton shoes.

Fake.

Fake.

Still fake.

But unfortunately, he had a very good face.

Unlike Shi Jin, who looked cool and clean, with something almost proud and aloof in his bones.

Zhou Xi was more like a product of technology, a plastic-surgery template.

Delicate, cheap, with a faintly worldly air.

But after eating too much fine grain, today I wanted something rough.

Since they were all selling anyway, why should I pick someone who sold himself so reluctantly?

The moment he opened his mouth, I knew I had chosen right.

“I heard you want to be my mom?”

“Should I call you that directly?”

He caught on far too quickly.

But I was not into that.

I had a feeling that today, he would ask me to make him debut.

Tomorrow, he would ask me to find him resources and make him the male lead.

The day after tomorrow, when his kept-man scandal broke, he would beg me to suppress the dirt.

Exactly the flavor. Exactly.

I ignored him and flipped through the files Secretary Wang had brought me.

He came from a small eighteenth-tier county city. His family was not poor, and his circumstances were far better than Shi Jin’s alcoholic father and gambling-addict mother.

His grades were middling too, much worse than Shi Jin’s.

But he was actually five centimeters taller than Shi Jin.

I looked up at him. He smiled at me, showing all eight teeth.

Good-looking, yes. A little too ingratiating, though.

I curled my lip, somewhat disgusted.

“How many have you been with? Men or women?”

Zhou Xi’s expression was perfectly natural. He showed no shame at being offended.

“Only you!”

Bullshit.

I said, “Secretary Wang will take you to the hospital for a full checkup later. If there are no problems, come see me in a week.”

“All right, sis.”

He left in high spirits.

When he turned around, I saw that perky butt.

For two seconds, I wondered whether he had padded it.

A week later.

Before Zhou Xi came, I saw Shi Jin first.

He was wearing a washed-out shirt, faded jeans, and a pair of canvas shoes.

Fresh, handsome, the perfect poor campus heartthrob.

He got off a bus, reluctant even to take a taxi.

I truly had no idea where the three hundred thousand I gave him every month had gone.

Do not misunderstand.

He had not come to see me. Usually, I was the one who went to him.

He was working part-time at the cafe downstairs from my company.

Looking like that, as usual, he attracted young girls asking for his contact information.

Shi Jin refused, saying he already had someone he liked.

In the past, I would have confidently assumed that person was me.

After all, I was beautiful, rich, and generous.

The last part was the most important.

What difference was there between not liking me and not liking money?

It was not as if I needed him to love me to death.

We were all adults. After taking so much from me, refusing to give even that little bit of affection felt both hypocritical and shameless.

I walked in and casually chose a seat.

Shi Jin did not notice me.

Just then, a delicately dressed girl came in.

Shi Jin saw her immediately. At the same time, he stiffened with nervousness.

The girl wore a Chanel-style tweed suit and a Miu Miu hair clip, dressed like a wealthy young heiress.

I had not seen her clearly at the university last time.

This time, I got a good look at her face.

I ran through A City’s circle of the powerful and wealthy in my head, but could not recall whose daughter she was.

While my mind drifted, Shi Jin’s face had already gone completely red.

I heard him test the waters carefully.

“Are you here to see me?”

The girl lifted her chin and said,

“No. I just heard the coffee here was good.”

If Shi Jin had a tail, it would have drooped right then.

“Then recommend some coffee to me.”

Shi Jin immediately introduced every coffee on the menu with utmost diligence.

He explained in great detail, going through each bean’s origin and flavor profile one by one.

Several people in line behind her left impatiently.

The girl, however, seemed not to have heard a word. She casually ordered the signature drink.

Shi Jin thoughtfully explained how to drink it and told her the cup was a little bitter.

Now he was nothing like he was in front of me. He was as humble as humble could be.

I did not feel angry.

Only puzzled.

Why was he not like that in front of me?

I was his client.

A moment later, realization dawned, and I laughed aloud.

He seemed to think that his youth and my monthly three hundred thousand, the apartment I had given him, and the countless gifts were an equal exchange.

The men in our family had a tradition of keeping people.

I had seen female college students, actresses, and even professionals.

Some time ago, my uncle almost ended up with a child and paid three million as a breakup fee.

A sugar sponsor as generous as me, and not ugly enough to turn the stomach, was hard to find.

Mutual consent did not mean he was not taking advantage.

Before, because I indulged Shi Jin, I had not cared about this small amount of money.

He took the money, yet stood me up several times.

It was always either tutoring, a part-time job, student council work, or lab work.

I never got angry. I even had the housekeeper make soup and send it over.

Once, when my father happened to see it, he thought I was in love and warned me, “Don’t fall too deep.”

My indulgence toward Shi Jin seemed to make everyone think my fondness for him was something special.

Ridiculous, really.

It was not as if I had never thought so myself.

Before I kicked my brother overseas and took the general manager’s seat, I had never dated.

Of course, I had never wanted to date either.

Watching had become boring, so I got up and left the cafe.

As I walked out, the bell on the door jingled.

The person behind the counter seemed to look over.