A Peach Wood Comb

Zhou Yuxian met Lai Hui four years ago when he was on a business trip to City B. The client hosting him was an old man in his fifties, surnamed Jiang. Zhou Yuxian couldn’t remember his exact appearance, but what stuck was his face, shiny like it was coated with tung oil, and his belly, which seemed to contain a wine barrel, making even sitting or standing a struggle. His employees mentioned that Jiang had worn out several executive chairs, and to stand up, he had to lean on the desk; you could see the handprints worn into the surface. Indeed, when Zhou Yuxian went to his office for business talks, he noticed two faded prints on the shiny desktop. To win over Zhou Yuxian, a major client, Jiang invited him to the “Heaven on Earth” in City B. Entering the luxurious private room, Zhou Yuxian saw five or six pretty college girls sitting in a row. He had been married for three years, and although his marriage wasn’t happy, he rarely strayed. Jiang, having done his homework, thought Zhou Yuxian wasn’t interested in prostitutes, so he had gone to the trouble of finding students from prestigious universities. That night, Lai Hui was among them. Among the college students present, she was considered the most attractive, but compared to Li Yueqin, an actress by profession, she was like a pheasant to a phoenix. Zhou Yuqian didn’t pay much attention to her, had there not been the conflict. The men there that day were seasoned in the ways of nightlife; how could inexperienced students compete? Soon, the female students were almost all drunk. Only Lai Hui remained vigilant, refusing to drink no matter what the men said. Midway through, she slung her bag over her shoulder to leave, but Jiang Zong would not let her go. In the tussle, Lai Hui was slapped and fell onto the sofa. Zhou Yuqian watched coldly from the sidelines; girls who crave vanity deserved a lesson, he thought. To put it bluntly, these students had no backing, and even if these men did something to them tonight, they would have to swallow their grievances. It wasn’t until Lai Hui, with a few buttons torn off her blouse, grabbed a wine bottle and looked ready to fight, that Zhou Yuqian took a sip of his drink and said in a calm tone, “Jiang Zong, let’s end it here for today. I’ll take her home.” Perhaps out of dislike for Jiang Zong, or just being fed up with the murky atmosphere, for whatever reason, he ultimately helped Lai Hui. However, when similar situations arose later, Zhou Yuqian never intervened again. When he could no longer bear to watch, he would simply leave, unwilling to get involved in any trouble.