“You’re the esteemed guest? Bullshit. I don’t recognize you. How could you possibly be an esteemed guest?” Someone there doubted him.
Su Yang snickered and said, “Do you know everybody in the Four Divine Heavens? If so, that’s very impressive. Not even the Heavenly Emperor would dare to claim that he knows everyone in the Four Divine Heavens.”
“You little bastard think you’re smart, huh?” The man frowned upon hearing his response.
“Hey, Manager Shen! How much did he pay you? I will pay twice the amount!” Another person there suddenly said.
The tall middle-aged man turned to look at the man that just spoke and said with a bittersweet smile on his face, “He paid me 2 medium-grade spirit stones.”
“T-Two medium-grade spirit stones?!”
The crowd were shocked to hear this. How could anyone be this wasteful with their money? A single medium-grade spirit stone could easily buy the women working in the brothel, yet someone had actually spent that much just to rent one for a week?
Although Mei Ying is the best worker the brothel has, even she wasn’t worth that much money!
“Why do you all look so surprised? It’s only 2 medium-grade spirit stones. Well? Are you going to pay 4 medium-grade spirit stones now?” Su Yang asked the person that just spoke, but that person immediately lowered his head to stare at the floor in silence and embarrassment.
“What? You can’t afford it? Then keep your mouth shut.” Su Yang suddenly changed his attitude, turning cold, and he narrowed his eyes on them.
“If you still have something else to say, you can tell me at the Heavenly Massage a few streets down tomorrow; it’s where I work.”
After saying these words, Su Yang walked upstairs, but nobody there dared to stop him.
“W-Wait… Did he just say the Heavenly Massage? That immensely popular place that popped out of nowhere just recently? He works there?”
“If I recall correctly, there’s only a single masseur managing that place, and he charges an exorbitant price of 5 medium-grade spirit stones for a single 30-minute session, yet customers line up in front of his store like a group of ants!”
“What? 5 medium-grade spirit stones for a 30-minute massage? No wonder why he can throw money away in such a manner! That man is loaded with money!”
“Fuck! How lucky! I can only see the high-end brothels in the Red Light District earning so much money!”
The crowd outside the brothel eventually left the place after they realized who they were up against.
In their minds, they only needed to wait a week before seeing Mei Ying again, and it wasn’t worth offending someone like Su Yang for a woman in the City of Pleasure.
Meanwhile, Su Yang carried Mei Xing on his back as he slowly climbed the staircase.
Once he reached the third floor, he knocked on the door.
“Who’s there? I already have a customer.” Mei Ying’s voice resounded from inside.
“It’s me.” Su Yang said.
“M-Manager?” Mei Ying was definitely surprised to hear Su Yang’s voice so quickly again.
“Please, come inside,” she then said.
Su Yang opened the door and entered the room with Mei Xing.
When Mei Ying saw Mei Xing unconscious on his back, she began panicking.
“D-Did something happen to Mei Xing?!” She cried out loud in a terrified voice.
“Calm down, she’s just sleeping.” Su Yang said.
“She didn’t sleep last night, right? Although she managed to work the whole day without falling asleep, she was on the verge of falling asleep at the end of the day, so I offered to carry her back, and she fell asleep while I carried her here.”
Su Yang explained the situation to her.
Once Mei Ying realized that Mei Xing wasn’t harmed, she immediately released a sigh of relief.
“Good heavens… You scared me by carrying her back in that condition. I’m sorry for the inconvenience, Manager.” Mei Ying bowed to him.
“I don’t mind it. She did a great job at work today, too.” Su Yang smiled.
After putting Mei Ying on the bed beside her mother, Su Yang prepared to leave.
However, Mei Ying stopped him and said, “Please wait a moment, Manager.”
“What is it?” Su Yang stopped walking and turned around.
“I have been thinking about what you said yesterday ever since I woke up…”
Mei Ying looked him in the eyes and continued, “Do you… Do you really think I have a chance of surviving outside the City of Pleasure?”
Su Yang then said, “What do you think the world outside the City of Pleasure is like? It’s not like you cannot continue to work in your profession outside the City of Pleasure. In fact, although the City of Pleasure is one of the most popular places in the Four Divine Heavens when it comes to these kinds of stuff, it’s not the only place in the world that has such an environment.”
“The City of Pleasure is definitely the most popular and populated, but there are places out there that are far superior when it comes to the quality of workers and the overall cleanliness of the place.”
“And with your appearance, I’m sure you can earn money no matter where you go.”
Mei Ying sighed and said, “Although I may be good at acting, and my body is only good for pleasing others, I actually want to quit this job. I have hated this job ever since I first started, but because I had no money and nowhere to go after my parents dumped me in this place when they could no longer support me, I had no choice but to survive with this job.”
Su Yang raised his eyebrows after hearing that she’d been abandoned by her parents. Is this why she didn’t give up on Mei Xing despite knowing very well that she won’t be able to support both of them at once?
“Then what do you want to do?” Su Yang asked her a moment later.
“I… I had dreams of becoming a performer before… I mean I am technically a performer right now, but this is not what I had in mind. I wanted to be on a large stage, but I am limited to this small bed for almost the entire day every day. I wanted to act and perform in front of a large audience, not for a single individual.”
“However, these dreams are only the dreams I had as a child. Now that I am an adult, I no longer have such passion. Furthermore, as a mother, I desire nothing but the best for Mei Xing. I don’t care what I have to do— even if I have to continue working as an escort, I want Mei Xing to live a good life.”
Mei Ying suddenly got out of bed and approached Su Yang with unstable movements.
Once she was standing before him, she lowered her body until she was kneeling on the floor.
She then bent her body and kissed the floor with her forehead.
“Manager, I want to leave the City of Pleasure with Mei Xing, but I do not have the capability to do so in my current state. Therefore, I can only shamelessly ask you for help.”
“I thought that it would be for the best for the both of us if I’d died, but after hearing your words yesterday and witnessing Mei Xing’s dedication for a better future, I realize that I had made a grave mistake. I don’t want to die prematurely… I don’t want to continue living every day wondering if my next customer will kill me… I want to live… with Mei Xing…”
A gentle smile appeared on Su Yang’s face, and he spoke in a calm voice, “I have asked you this yesterday, but I will ask you again… Do you want to work for me? Although I won’t be in the City of Pleasure forever, I can guarantee you that you will earn more than enough to live comfortably for the rest of your life with Mei Xing by the time I leave.”
“It would be my pleasure.” Mei Ying immediately responded.
After thinking about everything for the entire day, Mei Ying has already decided to try her best to leave the City of Pleasure with Mei Xing— alive.
Su Yang nodded, “Great. Then you can start working tomorrow morning with Mei Xing. However, I don’t really have any job for you at the moment, and you still need to rest, so your job for the next few days is to rest.”
“As for your current workplace, since you will no longer be working here, you will need new living quarters. Until you find a more permanent place, you can stay in a hotel in the meantime. You also don’t have to worry about paying for it since I will take care of everything.”
“I really cannot thank you enough, Manager…” Mei Ying sighed, feeling a little guilty for receiving so much help from Su Yang without doing any in return for him.
“You don’t have to thank me. I am doing this on my own accord— because I want to.”
“Go rest. I will return early tomorrow morning to pick you two up.” Su Yang said to her before leaving the building shortly after.
Once Su Yang left the place, Mei Ying went to retrieve the pill Su Yang gave her yesterday and swallowed it without hesitation.
After drinking some water, Mei Ying returned under the blankets and hugged Mei Xing’s small figure until she fell asleep a few minutes later with a blissful smile on her face.
