Chapter 56: Exclusive VIP Card

After sending the text message, I waited for a long time, but Luo Qing did not reply. Occasionally, when I glanced up at her, I only saw her sitting quietly in her chair, gazing out the window as if lost in thought.

Now, the name Bai Sheng was practically synonymous with an idiot in my mind. Still, he was our first customer of the day, and perhaps thanks to him, business this morning was exceptionally good. Coupled with the reasonably pleasant weather, the thin, warm sunlight spilling gently across the earth all signaled that the day was off to a good start.

Unlike my past days working in cold drink shops, I no longer had to serve tea, pour water, sweep floors, or pick up trash. This tangible shift genuinely gave me the profound realization of having ascended from an employee to a boss. I reasoned that this three-thousand-yuan monthly salary wasn't paid for nothing; at the very least, our service quality had truly and noticeably improved.

"Are you ever going to shut up?" Luo Qing finally lost her patience. She stood up, walked straight over to me, and said with a slightly indignant puff of her cheeks.

"Oh? Well, if it isn't Miss Fiery," Yang Xiaoyu's voice interrupted me abruptly from behind. Then, to my utter horror, I watched Luo Qing's expression undergo a rapid transformation from anger to a smile.

"L—Little girl, what did you just call me?" Luo Qing turned her head to look at Yang Xiaoyu, who was sitting behind the counter with a mischievous look on her face, maintaining a stiff, forced smile. "Say that again. I promise I won't beat you to death."

Seeing how things were escalating, I quickly reached out to pinch Luo Qing's slender waist, lowering my voice to placate her. "Stop messing around. Xiaoyu just loves giving people random nicknames, don't take it to heart... Besides, my shop hasn't been this lively in ages, so don't give her a hard time. This shop was practically set up thanks to her anyway."

"No way," Luo Qing muttered, having harbored resentment toward Yang Xiaoyu for a while. Now that she had an opportunity, she clearly didn't intend to let it go easily.

"Boss's wife," Yang Xiaoyu suddenly switched to an extremely well-behaved tone, her large, innocent eyes gleaming as if they could melt as she looked sweetly at the disgruntled Luo Qing. "Boss's wife, are you blaming me, Boss's wife? Boss's wife, did you just say you wanted to beat me up?"

B—Boss's wife? Luo Qing and I froze on the spot simultaneously, staring at the pitiful-looking Yang Xiaoyu. This girl really had no filter. Coming up with random nicknames was one thing, but throwing around a title like that could cause serious trouble.

"Wh—Who is your... boss's wife..." The usually sharp-tongued Luo Qing suddenly fizzled out, her speech uncharacteristically disjointed as she lowered her head and asked quietly.

"You, of course. Who else could I mean?" Yang Xiaoyu stood up, as if she had successfully seized Luo Qing's weak spot, and said with a grin. "It's settled then. From now on, you're my boss's wife. Whenever anything happens at the shop, Boss's wife, you've got to cover for me and not let anyone bully Xiaoyu."

"Who is your boss, anyway?" Luo Qing's face flushed inexplicably. She glanced at the enthusiastic Yang Xiaoyu and asked, feigning nonchalance.

"Well, who else... Look right there." Yang Xiaoyu pointed a finger at my shoulder. "Boss Yang, of course."

Damn it. I couldn't let Yang Xiaoyu keep running wild like this. Luo Qing and I had ended our brief romance long ago, and we had each returned to our respective lives. Ambiguous jokes like this couldn't just be tossed around casually. As a guy, I didn't care much, but Luo Qing was a wealthy heiress after all; letting this continue would only damage her reputation further.

"Oh," Luo Qing nodded, casually pulling a card from her pocket and placing it on the table. The golden card was embedded with emerald green patterns. To my utter astonishment, the card clearly bore the bold characters: "Imperial Exclusive VIP Card." Below the striking design was a single phone number.

Luo Qing's gesture instantly swept away my intention to scold Yang Xiaoyu. I could only silently watch as Yang Xiaoyu excitedly picked up the card, examining it from every angle. To think this girl just casually called someone a title and was rewarded with an exclusive Imperial KTV VIP card—I was consumed by envy, jealousy, and hatred.

"Boss's wife, what is this card good for?" At that moment, Yang Xiaoyu acted like a completely naive child, asking what I considered to be an utterly brainless question.

"This card is my... Imperial KTV Gold VIP card. Cardholders can sing and drink for free on any floor below the fourth. You see the phone number at the bottom of the card? If you ever run into trouble in Yichun or get bullied by anyone, just call this number and ask for me. I'll do whatever I can to help." With that, Luo Qing turned around and quickly walked back to her seat, casually fiddling with her phone and completely ignoring my lack of speaking rights in the matter.

I turned to look at Yang Xiaoyu, whose eyes were shining with greed, and smiled bitterly, "Just for this piece of junk, you sold out Brother Yang?"

"A piece of junk?" Yang Xiaoyu shot me a look of utter disdain. "What kind of place is Imperial KTV? That's where the wealthy elite and entertainment moguls hang out. You could say it's the number one entertainment venue in Yichun. Do you have any idea how much a single visit costs? Even for a standard session, it's seventeen thousand an hour. Is that something ordinary people like us can afford?"

I hadn't expected this girl to know so much about the subject. I replied with an equally disdainful tone, "Greedy fish, you sold your Brother Yang out just for your pipedream of luxury. It's over, completely over. Your brain has been thoroughly washed by sugar-coated bullets. Your behavior right now is no different from an ungrateful little ingrate."

"Heehee, how could that be?" Yang Xiaoyu tucked the VIP card into her bag and smiled up at me. "Anyway, the two of you have already broken up. Calling her 'Boss's wife' a few times isn't going to make you lose a single pound of flesh. Besides, judging by her reaction just now, she seemed to rather like me calling her that. It looks like the two of you still have lingering feelings. As the saying goes, 'Wildfires cannot burn it out, the spring breeze...'"

"Alright, alright. Stop talking nonsense. We broke up completely. We're just ordinary friends now... If you really like that card, keep it. But we need to get a few things straight beforehand." I let out a sigh and adopted a more serious tone. "Luo Qing is a woman with a fiery temper and a strong sense of loyalty. There are times when you shouldn't drag her into your troubles. I hope you can understand that."

Yang Xiaoyu thought for a moment and nodded.

"Second, even though you can now go to Imperial to sing and drink for free, you are not allowed to hang out there all the time, understand?"

"Why?"

"Because that place is a mixture of dragons and tigers. There are powerful figures who command the winds and clouds, and even more local tyrants with minds narrower than the eye of a needle. Once or twice might be fine, but go too often and you're bound to run into trouble. And any trouble that starts there is never easy to resolve. If you really provoke someone you shouldn't, not only will it end badly for us, but Luo Qing will also be implicated. Is that the kind of outcome you want to see?"

Yang Xiaoyu shook her head obediently, then nodded, pouting as she looked at me and asked, "Anything else?"

"There's a third rule..." Before I could finish, Yang Xiaoyu slumped her shoulders dejectedly and leaned against the chair. "Actually, I know that in your eyes, Luo Qing is just a spoiled heiress wrapped in wealth and glory. But if she were really like that, how could I ever have fallen for—"

"No, no, no. In my eyes, she's just a spoiled heiress wrapped in wealth and glory with breathtaking beauty."

I nodded, ignoring her sarcastic remark, and continued, "After spending some time with her, you'll find that she's actually a very lovable girl who just occasionally acts a little wild..."

"When the two of you hadn't broken up yet, she watched someone beat you up and didn't even lift a finger. A 'good girl'?" Yang Xiaoyu suddenly interrupted me, letting out a cold laugh. "If that can be called good, then I must be an angel, and the world is overflowing with angels."

"She didn't ignore it. Besides, I'm a man. Why should she step in when I get beaten up?" Perhaps this was simply the difference in perspective between men and women when viewing a situation. We both felt our own stance was justified, but true objective logic often didn't exist in such matters. What was the use of endless arguing?

"Fine. I won't say anything. Go on," Yang Xiaoyu turned her head away, looking somewhat petulant.

"Xiaoyu, trust me, you won't go wrong here. She's actually a very pure girl. You must never use petty tricks to deceive her feelings." In truth, this was my greatest worry. Yang Xiaoyu was extremely perceptive. Although she said nothing, I could sense she didn't hold a single favorable impression of Luo Qing. And the root cause of this was the exact moment when I reunited with Luo Qing—when I was knocked to the ground by Xia Tian, and amidst my despair, I also caught sight of the pure sorrow and indelible resentment in Yang Xiaoyu's eyes... I knew Xiaoyu genuinely cared about me. It wasn't romantic love, but a bond forged through shared hardships.

I wasn't clear how she viewed the relationship between Luo Qing and me, but from our casual chats and various details, I could sense her disdain and anger toward Luo Qing. Conversely, Luo Qing was the type of person who acted on her impulses, holding grudges and settling scores swiftly without overthinking or wasting mental energy on trivial details. It was precisely this bizarre clash of personalities that easily gave rise to irreparable injuries.

"I know," Yang Xiaoyu muttered, turning her body away as if she didn't want to speak with me anymore.

I could only sigh, walk over, and sit down in the chair opposite Luo Qing.

"What's wrong? Did you two have a fight?" Luo Qing seemed to have been secretly watching our exchange earlier, though she apparently only observed our changing expressions without hearing the content.

"It's nothing... Did you eat the breakfast I left for you?" I didn't want to dwell on the previous topic and casually steered the conversation elsewhere.

"No. I threw it away," Luo Qing answered indifferently.

"You threw it away?" I stared at Luo Qing in disbelief and blurted out, "Even if you didn't want to eat it, you shouldn't have thrown it away! Couldn't you have heated it up for me to eat tonight?"

Seeing my slightly agitated state, Luo Qing seemed to find it amusing. She reached up to stroke her fiery red hair and remarked, "Is it really that big a deal?"

"How is it not a big deal? You don't have to manage a household, so you don't know how hard it is to make ends meet." I slumped over the table, speechless, looking at the smiling Luo Qing. "I bought that with my last remaining pennies. Every yuan spent is a yuan gone."