Chapter 212 - 129: Nurturing-Type Girlfriend
...
"...You don’t need to worry about the rest; Li Yan will handle it. Come on, let’s go to the spa and relax." After the money was transferred and the contract signed, Qi Shan invited Su Ran to go soak in the hot springs at the spa.
The spa was a separate building Qi Shan had constructed within the residential complex. After all, not everyone came to buy a villa. Some simply wanted to soak in the hot springs, while others came to this remote place to find girls. Uh... it was a club, you know how it is. If you wanted legitimate services, it was perfectly respectable. If you wanted something less than legitimate, they had that too. A business like this couldn’t survive otherwise.
Business was business, so Su Ran didn’t mind these shady dealings. As long as he didn’t partake himself, it was none of his concern. ’Society is a dyeing vat,’ he thought. ’You can get as dirty as you want or stay as clean as you want. It’s all up to the individual.’
As they entered the spa’s lobby and headed up to the second floor, Su Ran happened to see a middle-aged, motherly-looking woman pull a pure-looking girl in a dress toward a guest room. The woman knocked, they went inside, and then the woman immediately came back out and walked away.
’What the...?!" Su Ran was dumbfounded. ’Isn’t that Shen Qingning? Wearing so little on such a cold day, being led into a room by that ’mother’ figure... What is she doing here?’
"What are you looking at? Got your eye on the hostess?" Qi Shan followed Su Ran’s gaze to a hostess with an hourglass figure. "Want her?"
"...I think I saw someone I know." Su Ran shook his head. ’Impossible. I must be seeing things. Shen Qingning isn’t that kind of girl. It had to be a trick of the light.’
They went up to the second floor and soaked in the hot springs for a while, but Su Ran’s mind was elsewhere. He knew Shen Qingning hadn’t gone home for New Year’s Day, staying behind in Jiangning to work. After some thought, he sent her a WeChat message: [Classmate Shen, are you at the Neighborhood Dessert Shop?]
DING DING DING.
Shen Qingning: [I’m not at the dessert shop today (smiley face)]
’Not at the dessert shop?’
Su Ran was now even more certain that the "pure," "freezingly beautiful" girl from before was Shen Qingning.
Su Ran immediately tried to video call her on WeChat. She rejected it instantly.
Shen Qingning: [It’s not convenient for me to take a video call right now. Do you need something, Class President?]
’Not convenient. That confirms it. It was her.’
Su Ran: [I was just wondering where you were. It’s so cold, make sure to dress warmly.]
Shen Qingning: [Thanks for your concern, Class President. I’m dressed very warmly. I’m busy right now and can’t talk. I’ll call you back later. Bye.]
’Busy?’
Su Ran had just seen her go into that room. ’What could she possibly be busy with in there?’
The more Su Ran thought about it, the more something felt wrong. ’As her class president, I can’t let Shen Qingning go astray and end up as a guest on some tell-all interview show.’
’I have to save her!’
"I’m heading to the restroom. You stay and soak." Su Ran calmly climbed out of the hot spring, wrapped a towel around himself, and went downstairs. He didn’t want Qi Shan to notice anything was amiss; a rumor like this could destroy a girl’s reputation. He decided to find Shen Qingning by himself and teach her a good, hard lesson!
Of course, Su Ran still wanted to believe Shen Qingning wasn’t that kind of girl. ’She must have some other reason,’ he told himself. But he couldn’t for the life of him figure out what other reason there could be for wearing such flimsy clothes in the dead of winter and being led into a room by a madam.
Lost in thought, he arrived at the room’s door. He didn’t knock. Instead, he decided to eavesdrop, pressing his ear against the wood. A wave of fury washed over him as he heard shameful words he couldn’t imagine coming from the pure Shen Qingning.
’...One thousand yuan? I get that much just for my first... time? That’s so much more than I make at my part-time job...’
’How could she say something so shameless?’ Su Ran was truly incensed.
’If this keeps up, why would Shen Qingning ever go back to a regular job? Earning fast money, is that it?’
Unable to listen any longer, Su Ran started BANGING on the door.
"Coming."
Footsteps neared, followed by the CREAK of the door opening. "Sister Zhou, you’re ba—" Shen Qingning, wrapped in a bath towel after a shower, trailed off mid-word. She froze when she saw it was Su Ran. "Class President?"
Seeing Shen Qingning wrapped in a bath towel, Su Ran let out a heavy, disappointed sigh.
Shen Qingning tried to shut the door, but Su Ran stuck his leg in to block it.
"Class President, what are you doing?"
"What are you afraid of?"
"I was taking a shower."
"I can see that. Open the door."
"Class President."
"Move."
Su Ran pushed the door open and strode inside. Shen Qingning scrambled to shut the door behind him, clutching her towel tightly. She watched as he paced around the room, finally stopping beside the 1,000 yuan lying on the bed. He scoffed, then turned to face her.
"A thousand?"
"Mhm, it’s a lot."
"This is ’a lot’? After all, you’re... What a disgrace!"
"Class President, what are you doing here?" Shen Qingning was completely baffled. "Are you on vacation?"
Su Ran suppressed his anger. "I’m asking you, was this money easy to earn?"
Shen Qingning: "Much easier than my part-time job."
Su Ran: "So you’re planning to keep doing this?"
Shen Qingning: "Mhm. Why say no to easy money?"
Hearing this, Su Ran was left speechless. He couldn’t believe these words were coming from the mouth of the purest girl in his class. He really wanted to curse her for being so shameless.
*Huuu...*
He took a deep breath, trying his best not to get angry.
He tried a gentler approach. "Qingning, if you’re short on money, you can come to me. I’ll lend you some. You don’t have to do this. Really, I’m just looking out for you."
Shen Qingning: "Is there something wrong with what I’m doing?"
"You!" Su Ran felt a burning urge to slap her. ’She still doesn’t even know what she’s done wrong! Her values are completely twisted!’ "Sigh... You’re my classmate, and I’m your class president. It’s only natural that I’m concerned about y— Holy shit!"
As Su Ran shook his head in frustration, his eyes fell on a box at his feet. Inside, he was stunned to see leather whips, iron chains, masks...
*Hiss~*
He froze, his eyes practically bulging out of their sockets. He pointed a trembling finger at the box and demanded, "There’s this stuff, too?"
Shen Qingning nodded. "Mhm. Those are the props."
