"Waste." She cursed under her breath, but a self-deprecating smile appeared on the corner of her mouth. At least this way she didn't have to worry about him coming home suddenly.
The door opened.
Chen Wanshan stood at the door in a silk robe, his hairline appearing higher than in the live broadcast. He was the "Xinghe." The gold chain around his neck shone with a greasy luster under the light of the corridor.
"Wanwan, you're finally here." He put his arm around her waist, so tightly that she staggered. "I'll wait for you until you sober up."
Xi Wanrong forced herself to smile sweetly, her eyes curved just right. "Mr. Chen, you're joking. There's a traffic jam on the road."
She deliberately hid the bag behind her back - it contained a recorder, condoms, and a bottle of cheap perfume that Zhao Pingchi had given her.
The suite's heater was turned up too high, and the mixed smell of cigars and cologne made her throat constrict. Beneath the crystal chandelier, on the coffee table stood a half-empty bottle of whiskey and two tall glasses, one of which had a lipstick stain on its rim—not her shade.
"Have a drink?" Chen Wanshan had already poured the wine, and ice cubes were floating in the amber liquid.
Xi Wanrong took the wine glass and gently stroked the glass wall with her fingertips. She noticed an orange Hermès box on the bedside table, tied loosely with a ribbon, obviously intended for her to see.
"Mr. Chen, thank you for the expense." She took a sip of wine, the alcohol burning her throat. "I casually mentioned during the live broadcast that I liked that bag..."
Chen Wanshan's hand was already on her thigh, his breath lingering on her ear, carrying the scent of alcohol and cigarettes. "As long as you're obedient, you can have whatever you want. It's much better than following that loser who plays games, right?"
Xi Wanrong's nails dug into her palms. Zhao Pingchi must be wearing headphones and yelling in the internet cafe at this moment, the blue light of the screen illuminating his unshaven face.
Last week was his birthday, and she gave him a set of game skins, which cost her two thousand eight hundred yuan - exactly the amount of money Chen Wanshan gave as a rocket tip.
"Don't mention him." She smiled sweetly and leaned into Chen Wanshan's arms, her fingers unbuttoning the first button of his nightgown. "It's a spoiler."
"I heard that you were bullied by your boyfriend?" Chen Wanshan's hand suddenly rested on her shoulder, his fingertips caressing her exposed skin intentionally or unintentionally.
She tensed up reflexively, then forced herself to relax: "He...he was very mean to me..."
This sentence was like turning on a switch. Chen Wanshan suddenly grabbed her wrist with such force that it hurt so much that she cried.
The next second, she was pressed down on the leather sofa, and the man's weight made her breathless.
"Why are you pretending to be innocent?" The hot smell of alcohol sprayed on her face. "Aren't you good at seducing people in the live broadcast room?"
Xi Wanrong's vision was suddenly blurred by tears. Through the gap above Xu Shichang's shoulder, she saw a photo frame on the bedside table - it was a photo of him hugging another girl with an internet celebrity face.
She also knew that girl. She was dancing a girl group dance on a certain audio platform last month, but she suddenly stopped updating recently.
Xi Wanrong closed her eyes. She remembered last winter, when Zhao Pingchi was playing games on an old computer in their rental apartment while she nestled in his arms, watching TV. The heater was broken, and he tucked her cold feet into his sweater to warm them, not even moving when his game character died.
"Wait, wait a minute..." She struggled to reach for her phone, "I...I'm going to the bathroom first..."
Chen Wanshan sneered, snatched her phone and threw it on the carpet. "A fifty thousand dollar gift, and you only need this little time. Do you really think you're a fairy?"
Xi Wanrong stared at the crystal chandelier on the ceiling, the shadows dangling from it making her eyes hurt. Chen Wanshan's breath blew against her ears, carrying the bitter smell of cigar smoke and stomach medicine.
She should have struggled.
She should have been like the heroines in those melodramatic dramas, pushing him away, running out of the door, returning to the shabby rental house, throwing herself into Zhao Pingchi's arms and crying bitterly.
But she didn't.
Her fingers gripped the edge of the sofa tightly, her nails almost digging into the leather. Chen Wanshan's hand had already reached under her skirt, and his rough fingertips scraped the skin on her waist, making her tremble all over.
"Don't be nervous." He chuckled, his voice seeming to come from far away. "It's not your first time, why are you pretending?"
Xi Wanrong closed her eyes.
"Then I want one hundred thousand!"
Chen Wanshan was stunned for a moment, then burst into laughter: "Okay! I like you to be so direct!"
He took out his mobile phone, and after a few operations, Xi Wanrong's bank app rang a prompt.
Meanwhile, across town, in the "Extreme Internet Cafe," Zhao Pingchi slammed his keyboard: "Fuck! Can you play ADC?"
The screen went gray, and his character died again.
"Lao Zhao, you're not in the right shape today." Teammate A Kun handed him a cigarette. "Is your sister-in-law arguing with you again?"
Zhao Pingchi scratched his greasy hair and said, "She's been working overtime a lot lately and acting mysterious."
He pulled out his phone and checked. There were no new messages. "Women are trouble."
Ah Kun winked and said, "If you ask me, you should change your girlfriend. Didn't that little internet celebrity send you a private message last time?"
Zhao Pingchi didn't respond, just took a deep drag on his cigarette. The resurrection countdown on the screen ended, and he put his headphones back on. "Stop talking nonsense, let's start the fight."
In her hotel room, Xi Wanrong stood in front of the bathroom mirror, wiping the red marks on her neck with a wet wipe. Her lipstick had smudged, her mascara smudged, like two black wounds. Her phone screen lit up, her bank balance showing the newly deposited 100,000 yuan.
There was a sudden knock on the door of the suite, and Chen Wanshan's voice came through the door: "Baby, my wife is checking on me, you have to go through the fire escape."
Xi Wanrong sneered and quickly put her clothes in order. As she passed the bedside, she took the Hermès box—it was at a separate price.
As she left the hotel, the cold wind at three in the morning blew against her face. She pulled out her phone and sent a message to Zhao Pingchi: "Did you win the game?"
Ten minutes later, he replied: "Of course! I'll bring you breakfast tomorrow. What do you want to eat?"
Xi Wanrong stared at the screen and suddenly laughed out loud. As she laughed, tears began to fall, splashing onto the phone screen and blurring the number that had just arrived in the orange app.
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