Mud beads

Almost instinctively, Yu Zhu quickly lowered her head.

She didn't know why, but whenever she was presentable or achieved something, Yue Jianche's circle seemed to drift further away from her. And whenever she was in a sorry state, these same people would conveniently appear, witnessing her predicament and embarrassment.

Seeing that she didn't speak, Ji Yong turned to the security guard at the door and asked, "What's going on?"

The security guard immediately approached and respectfully repeated what had happened in a low voice. Ji Yong took a drag of the cigarette between her fingers, squinted at the boy who had just caused trouble, flicked the ash off her cigarette, and walked down the steps.

"Bullying people at my doorstep?" He stopped in front of the boy, smiled, and said, "Bullying the working class?"

The boy froze for a moment, his face flushed red, and he stiffened his neck before speaking: "I—"

Seeing this, the two guys following behind him quickly stepped forward, grabbed the boy, pulled him behind them, and said to Ji Yong with a forced smile, "Sorry, sorry, buddy, I've had too much to drink."

As they spoke, a quick-witted man extended his hand to Ji Yong: "This must be President Ji, right? It's an honor to meet you!"

Ji Yong raised her hand to interrupt him.

"If you guys still want to play tonight, I'll waive the table fee." Ji Yong looked at the three boys in front of her, tilted her head towards the LIMBO entrance, and gestured for them to join.

Before the boy could answer, he smiled, his tone turning cold: "If you don't want to play, get out of here right now."

Yu Zhu raised her head in the silence.

The LIMBO sign flashed overhead, and layers of purple light swept across people's faces. Several boys looked at each other, their Adam's apples bobbing, but they didn't say anything more. They patted each other on the shoulder and turned to go inside.

The security guard glanced at Ji Yong.

Ji Yong said, "Tell the cleaning staff to clean up the floor."

The security guard immediately pressed the button on his headset.

Another security guard following behind him picked up the bags of milk tea at Yu Zhu's feet: "President Ji, these?"

"Send the lemon tea back," Ji Yong said. "Tell the boss the delivery girl will be home late, and I'll cover her lost wages."

Yu Zhu quickly waved her hand, saying as she backed away, "No need, I'll leave now..."

Ji Yong stepped forward and stepped in front of her.

"Where to?" he asked.

"Back to the store."

"Are you going back like this?"

Yu Zhu looked down at herself. Her white work T-shirt was soaked and heavy, clinging to her body and revealing a hint of her underwear. Just now, her mind was filled with costs, orders, Liang Xia, and Sister Liao. Only after Ji Yong said that did those gazes return to her like needles.

Hot, dirty, sticky.

She shrank back, her face burning.

"What, you're addicted to working?" Ji Yong stubbed out her cigarette on the nearby trash can, raised her chin, and said, "Come with me, I'll have someone take you to change."

After a moment's hesitation, Yu Zhu managed to squeeze out a "thank you."

She pulled her phone out of her pocket. The screen was stained with milk, and it took two swipes to unlock. She sent Liang Xia a WeChat message, then followed Ji Yong into the doors of LIMBO.

LIMBO was dark inside, with bass drumbeats pounding from beneath the floor to the soles of your feet. The air was thick with a somber smell of alcohol, cigarette smoke, and perfume. The lights flickered between purple and blue, distorting people's faces into jagged fragments.

Ji Yong called over a waitress in a black suit to escort Yu Zhu. Yu Zhu kept her head down the whole time, not daring to glance around. When someone brushed past her, she quickly moved aside, her arm bumping into another person. That person's arm was bare, skin brushing against skin, slippery with sweat.

The waitress led her through a side door.

The sound faded into the distance, leaving only a muffled vibration from within the walls. The corridor ceiling lights were a stark white, and there was a patch of water on the floor that hadn't been wiped clean. Further inside were the staff changing rooms, with metal lockers, benches, and water dispensers. Shift schedules and fire inspection forms were posted on the walls.

"The bathroom is inside." The female attendant took out a set of work clothes from the cabinet and handed over a plastic bag. "The clothes are size S, the pants are a bit short, but you can make do with them for now. The larger size doesn't have a belt, so your waist won't hold up. This small bag contains disposable underwear, all of them are new."

"Thanks."

Yu Zhu took the clothes and went into the bathroom.

The bathroom was small, with only three cubicles. Once the door was closed, it became completely quiet.

She stood under the shower and quickly rinsed herself from head to toe; the water rushed into the drain, turning an opaque white.

She watched the disappearing swirling water and suddenly gave a self-deprecating laugh.

After leaving the bathroom, she changed into a LIMBO suit and disposable underwear. She folded the previously soaked underwear, carefully stuffed it into the dirty clothes, and then put them together into the plastic bag containing the disposable underwear.

There was a hairdryer in the bathroom, but she didn't want to linger too long. She quickly dried her hair a couple of times, and when she saw that it was no longer dripping, she put it down and went outside.

The waitress was waiting for her outside. When she came out, she said, "Mr. Ji wants you to go to the second floor."

Yu Zhu originally wanted to leave directly, but since she had received a favor from someone, she thought about it and nodded.

Moth

The second floor was much quieter than the lower floor. Private rooms with the same main entrance were lined up in a row, and the doors were closed tightly, so that not a sound could be heard.

At the end of the corridor was a thick wooden door. The waitress knocked twice, and Ji Yong's voice came from inside: "Come in."

The door opened, revealing a brightly lit interior.

This room was completely different from the private room she had imagined. There was no swirling smoke or scattered bottles of liquor, no dim ambient lighting, and no men and women with glazed eyes. By the window was a huge desk, with a monitor on each side. On the wall behind the desk hung a boneless flower-and-bird painting, and against the wall was a long sofa. In the corner stood a large fish tank with only one red-tailed arowana swimming around alone.

Ji Yong was sitting behind her desk playing on her phone when she saw Yu Zhu standing at the door and waved to her.

"Come in and sit down."

Yu Zhu had only taken two steps when the door behind her was gently closed by the waiter. She subconsciously turned around, then quickly turned back, stood awkwardly in place for a moment, and said, "Thank you... Senior Ji Yong for today."

Ji Yong looked at the girl in front of her and burst out laughing.

"Afraid of me?"

The black workwear top had a mature style, but on Yu Zhu's serious face, it looked incongruous, like she was trying too hard to be mature. Her short hair, which had just been washed, wasn't completely dry; after air-drying for a while, the outermost strands were slightly curled. She was carrying a plastic bag containing dirty clothes, her knuckles clenched tightly, her small chin slightly tucked in, and her fair and full skin made her eyes appear bright and hard, revealing a stubborn streak.

Ji Yong sees countless beautiful girls at LIMBO every day.

A woman who is glamorous, sweet, innocent, or aloof might offer a glass of wine as if it were a subtle hint. But Yu Zhu is different. She possesses a strong animalistic quality, like a certain herbivore in the animal kingdom—fast and resilient.

Ji Yong was often reluctant to admit that Eshima Toru had a strong aesthetic sense. But at other times, he had to acknowledge the uniqueness of Eshima Toru's vision.

"Sit down, why are you standing there like an idiot?" he said, getting up to take a bottle of water from the small refrigerator under his desk, unscrewing it, and handing it over. "It's nothing, it's been a long time, let's chat for a bit."

Yu Zhu took the water he offered and sat down on the single sofa closest to the door. She sat very low, not leaning back.

"good……"

Ji Yong took two steps back, not returning to his office chair, but stretching out his long legs and leaning casually against the desk. Seeing that Yu Zhu was only holding the water and not drinking it, he almost laughed again.

"You're not going to school anymore?"

Yu Zhu paused for a moment: "Read it."

"Where did you get accepted?"

Yu Zhu answered truthfully: "Chang'an is great."

"Oh my." Ji Yong's eyebrows twitched. "Not bad, little sister."

Chang'an University isn't a place you can just sneak into. You can throw money at it, but even if you get in, you won't stay if you don't want to study. Top students from all over the country flock there; even someone as lazy and incompetent as him knows about this prestigious, long-established university.

Seeing that Yu Zhu remained silent, Ji Yong looked at her for two seconds and asked, "Not busy with your studies? Do you have time to do part-time work?"

Before she could answer, he asked again, "Yoshima Toru isn't going to take care of you anymore? I knew he wasn't some kind of philanthropist—"

"No!" Yu Zhu shook her head reflexively, then realized she had raised her voice and her face flushed.

She lowered her eyelashes: "Uncle Yue gave me a lot of money."

Ji Yong looked at her, crossed her arms, pursed her lips, and didn't say anything.

She added, "But I have to pay it back."

Ji Yong tilted his head and smiled, picked up the lighter on the table, then put it down again: "Why give it back? The Yue family doesn't need your money."

"I'm lacking," Yu Zhu said.

Ji Yong couldn't understand. Based on his understanding of the Yue family, this was like buying a sausage for a cat or dog at a convenience store—it wasn't even a proper transaction. But looking at Yu Zhu's tight lips, he felt that it was better not to explain.

"I'm short-staffed here," he said. "We're short-staffed even during the day. It's office work: reconciling accounts, running errands, monitoring inventory. No on-site work, no alcohol. The pay is higher than at the bubble tea shop."

Yu Zhu didn't hesitate: "No."

"Don't you believe me?"

"I have to go to class," she said. "Nongningcha is close to school... I'm used to it."

Ji Yong stared at her for a while, then picked up his cigarette case, took out a cigarette, and held it in his hand. He flicked the lighter and then extinguished it. Suddenly, he straightened up, took two steps to her, and extended his hand.

Give me your phone.

"Huh?" Yu Zhu was stunned, moved her buttocks back a little on the sofa, and pressed her hand on her pocket.

"Your phone," Ji Yong said, his cigarette still tucked between his fingers, moving back and forth slightly, "give it to me."

Yu Zhu lowered her head, took out her phone from her pocket, and handed it over.

"password."

Yu Zhu stared at him.

Ji Yong waved her phone in her palm: "Would I steal your study materials?"

Yu Zhu pursed her lips and gave the password.

The most basic six zeros.

Ji Yong unlocked her phone and tapped on the contact.

She had very few contacts on her phone; you could look them all at a glance. Ji Yong entered her own number, pressed the dial button, and then hung up. She exited the app, opened WeChat, and sent herself a friend request.

Her WeChat chat page was very clean, as if she had a habit of cleaning it up regularly. Only one chat window remained on the homepage, belonging to Toru Echizen.

Ji Yong handed the phone back: "Yuejian Tetsu returned a few days ago."

Yu Zhu paused, her fingers moving slightly.

The mineral water bottle in her other hand made a soft rattling sound as she gripped it.

Ji Yong raised an eyebrow without making a sound and tossed the cigarette in his hand into his mouth.

"They left last night."

He lit his lighter again, lit the cigarette in his mouth, and said slowly, "He's only back for a few days this time, to take care of some business."

Yu Zhu said "Oh," nodded, put her phone in her pocket, and didn't ask any further questions.

After putting her phone away, she stood up, bowed slightly, and said solemnly, "It's too late, I have to go back. I'll wash the clothes and bring them over tomorrow."

Ji Yong looked at her lowered head, the exposed section of her slender, fair neck could arouse a destructive urge in him.

He mumbled, a cigarette dangling from his lips, "No need. This isn't a good place anyway, don't bother. I'll get it tomorrow."

After saying that, he walked to the door ahead of her and opened it for her.

"My number is in your phone. Call me if you need anything, understand?"

Yu Zhu paused for a moment, picked up her dirty clothes bag, and walked past him without looking up, her tone still submissive: "Okay."

Ji Yong watched her walk away, the smoke from the cigarette between his lips dissipating and rising to his eyes, making them sting a little.