The Fisherwoman - Chapter 4

To save the taxi fare, I left two hours early the next day and took the bus.

The long, swaying ride lulled me to sleep against the window. Perhaps because the contract was on my mind, I dreamed for the first time in ages about the day I met Zhuang Jinyu.

After leaving the school cafeteria, I applied everywhere for a suitable job. By virtue of my willingness to work hard, I gloriously became a cleaner at a five-star hotel.

I was very satisfied. The pay was high, and meals were included.

I expected to stay for at least a year. But just after receiving my first month’s wages, while I was happily imagining my future, I stumbled upon an attempted assault.

Zhuang Jinyu had been drugged. Barely conscious, he was being dragged toward a room by his tie like a dog. His face twisted in pain and tears stood in his eyes. He struggled desperately, but the drug had left him unable to move the woman at all.

Just before she pulled him inside, I ran over, hauled him behind me, and forced them apart.

The woman glared. “You’re a cleaner, aren’t you? This has nothing to do with you. Go clean somewhere else—”

I ignored her and turned to Zhuang Jinyu.

“Sir, do you need help? If this is a game between a couple, I apologize. If you need help, I can call the police.”

Too proud to involve the police, Zhuang Jinyu leaned on my shoulder until his head cleared. Then he straightened his disordered tie and made two calls.

Three minutes later, a group of men in black “invited” the cursing woman away.

With the villain gone, I assumed my part was over. I had just started pushing my cleaning cart away when a scorching hand dragged me into the neighboring guest room.

The room was so quiet I could hear his violent heartbeat. He stared at the place where his skin touched mine, disbelief flickering through his hazy eyes.

After a moment, he released me, only to loosen his tie himself.

Heat had roughened his voice, but his tone retained the cool calculation of a man accustomed to command.

“I’ll pay you three times your monthly wage. Help me deal with the drug.”

I instinctively refused. “Sir, I’m not a casual woman.”

I might not fuss over small matters, but I respected men. I would never take advantage of someone and ruin his virtue.

“Five times,” he persisted.

“It isn’t about the money…”

“Ten.”

So many zeroes stunned the refusal in my throat.

By the time I resisted temptation and prepared to refuse again, Zhuang Jinyu had cupped my face and kissed me.

At such close range, I saw every detail. Even doing this, the powerful man wore a stern frown, as though lust and reason occupied separate places inside him.

Yet the lips rubbing clumsily against mine were hot and soft.

After kissing without the slightest technique for a long while, he opened eyes as wet and bright as his lips and stared at me with offended embarrassment.

I lost myself in his face.

He had a mature, steady air, severe and handsome features, and—at odds with all that severity—a narrow waist and a broad, sensual chest.

He was a perfect copy of my ideal man.

The realization made the hand meant to push his shoulder tremble and sink accidentally into the generous muscles of his chest.

Being pushed away humiliated him. “What exactly do you find unsatisfactory about me?”

“Nothing…”

I swallowed with difficulty. “But are you sure you won’t regret this? I can call an ambulance.”

His answer was another furious kiss.

Very well.

If he wanted only my help, I would help him.

My hands slid silently from his chest and closed around the elegant curve of his waist.

In the end, I couldn’t bring myself to push him away again.