Recently, she had something both exciting and troubling. Not long ago, the deputy manager of the branch, Qi Rong, approached her with an intention to promote and cultivate her. Although it was a rare opportunity, she hesitated. The potential for a significant increase in income was obvious, but it came with many complications. She had always performed her dance routines strictly at the branch, and although some had taken a fancy to her, they were few and far between. “Heaven” was full of clearly priced princesses and hostesses; who would focus solely on a dancer? But if she agreed to Qi Rong’s proposal, she could no longer just dance. She would have to engage in social entertainment, drink, and smile, unless she could reach the level of the Four Beauties, becoming a valuable commodity, and only then would “Heaven” offer her special protection from unwanted advances. However, she knew her own limits; her looks, figure, and dance skills were all just above average, but her overall quality was high, though her face wasn’t fresh enough. In the past year or two, there had been a noticeable gap in quality among the female dancers; those who danced well weren’t pretty enough, and those who were pretty didn’t have the right figure. Those who had everything were too busy trying to climb the social ladder, jumping blindly into whatever opportunities came their way. It seemed Qi Rong had no other choice, and Doris was lost in these thoughts as she pushed open the door to the lounge.
In the room, a slender girl with black-framed glasses was setting the table. Seeing her enter, she looked up with a smile: “You’re back, the food is just ready!” Doris exclaimed with delight, “It’s great to have you here! How long has it been since I’ve had a hot meal waiting for me when I come home? The food at the cafeteria isn’t even fit for humans, and although I have a small kitchen here, all I know how to do is cook noodles. What a waste of years.” Looking at the steaming, translucent crystal dumplings on the table, she sighed again, picked one up with her fingers, and popped it into her mouth, “Oh, my crab yolk bun, no, Tangtang, I need to hide you!” …Lianzi has something to say… The heroine appears, but she only has seven lines. Don’t hit me, I’m running away first… Chapter 43: Xin Peipei (Part 1)
Tangtang smiled. She was dressed in a white shirt, a dark silver-gray vest, and matching trousers with a butterfly bow tie – the common attire of a server at “Heaven and Earth.” Her slender figure and tiny waist were somewhat undermined by a very plain mushroom cut hairstyle and large, round black-framed glasses. She gently patted Doris’s hand, “Go, wash your hands.” Then she chided, “What Tangtang, you’ve forgotten again, I’m now called Fu Xiaotang.” “Back in the day, our group, some left, some ran away, now I’m the only ghost left, who knows who Tangtang is?” Doris quickly washed her hands, sat at the table, and served herself a bowl of preserved egg and lean meat porridge, not caring if it was hot or cold, she took a big gulp, scalding her mouth, causing her to fan her face with her hand. Fu Xiaotang couldn’t help but laugh at her grimace, her face half-hidden by her glasses and hair, but her smile revealed a small dimple on her cheek, making one imagine she was a sweet and charming girl.
As Doris ate the dumplings one by one, she sneered, “Those rich people are just perverse, they’ll stop at nothing to force you into a divorce, take not a penny from them, and now they won’t stop chasing you. What’s that all about?” Fu Xiaotang frowned slightly, put down the spoon she was about to use, and after a moment, gave a self-deprecating laugh, “Since I left the Song family a few months ago, every job I’ve taken has ended within five days, and I was mysteriously fired. The last boss was even funnier; after three days, he stuffed a month’s salary into my hand and told me to come back often. I threw the money back and ran out, but halfway, I stood there laughing to myself.”
Doris scoffed, “You can still laugh? It’s obvious they’re messing with you. If it were me, I’d take the money and confront them to get to the bottom of this. They’re trying to squeeze you to death!” Fu Xiaotang’s face turned cold, she paused, then said lightly, “They want me to go back begging, no way. I refuse to believe they can reach everywhere.”
Doris patted her hand reassuringly and thought for a moment, “There’s one thing I want you to know, just in case you run into it and get scared.” Fu Xiaotang, seeing her serious expression, felt a shiver but forced herself to remain calm, “What should I be afraid of now? If soldiers come, I’ll block them; if water comes, I’ll build a dam. Even if they confront me, I’ve done nothing wrong, so I have no reason to fear!” Doris laughed, “Well, it’s not just confronting you, I’ve run into Cheng Yu three times in the past two weeks, you might bump into him any day!” “Really?” Fu Xiaotang was surprised, covering her mouth with her hand, “What’s he doing here?”
Doris said, “It’s because of Xin Peipei, the seventh of the Twelve Beauties, Cheng Yu is promoting her heavily.” Fu Xiaotang thought for a moment, “Xin Peipei, who’s that? I have no memory of her.” Doris gave her a meaningful smile, “I pointed her out to you that day. I even said she looked a bit like you.”
Fu Xiaotang inexplicably blushed, mumbled, “What like me, she’s like Liu Yi.” “You know, she really does resemble your sister, both are good at playing the damsel in distress,” Doris sneered disdainfully, “But that’s just in front of people, when they see us, they stick their chins up to the sky. I can’t stand their arrogance. What’s the point of stepping on others to climb up when you’re already in a place like this!”
Fu Xiaotang suddenly exclaimed, “Oh, I remember now, you’ve mentioned her, she dances too, she’ll be your fierce rival in the ‘dance battle’.” Doris sighed dramatically, “What can I compete with her? With Cheng Yu’s support, she doesn’t even need to compete, the championship is hers for the taking. If it were just dancing, I wouldn’t even consider her a threat.” She glanced at Fu Xiaotang, who was lost in thought, and gave her a playful push, “If you were competing, she wouldn’t even be worthy of carrying your shoes.”
“Look at what you’re saying,” Fu Xiaotang chuckled dismissively, “I used to just dance the can-can. She didn’t provoke you, there’s no need to be so harsh.” “Oh, come on, others might not know, but I do. Who brought me into ‘Heaven’ when I first arrived? There was this one time when you went crazy on stage during the big clearance, not even turning on the lights. I saw everything,” said Doris, gently brushing Fu Xiaotang’s hair aside and sighing softly, “Such a beautiful face, it’s a sin to cover it up. If you changed your clothes and went out, you’d dazzle their eyes, and Qi Rong wouldn’t have to worry.” Fu Xiaotang playfully swatted her hand away, pouting. Doris laughed, poking at the dimple on Fu Xiaotang’s cheek, “Silly girl, after half a year with those people, you haven’t picked up any of their sharpness, still as naive as ever.”
…
