KA | Chapter 16

Chapter 16. Selling Myself

“The car is stuffy. I’m getting out to breathe some fresh air!” Before Shen Yuesheng could say anything, I got out of the car in a flash.

Roadside assistance was too expensive, so I chatted with the Volkswagen driver behind us for a couple of sentences, spent 50 yuan to borrow a bit of fuel, and topped up the Wuling brother.

When I started the engine again, the traffic police had just finished handling the accident.

Shen Yuesheng asked, “How many years have you worked in sales?”

“5 years.”

“How much outside debt does your family have?”

Not knowing why he asked that, I scratched my head and said, “None.”

Shen Yuesheng said, “Oh, so it’s not enough, then.”

“Huh?”

No, you haven’t even tried, how are you already saying I’m not enough?

I was just about to argue back when Shen Yuesheng said, “If your annual salary isn’t over 1 million, why do sales? Isn’t it better to go drive an excavator?”

Uh, so he was looking down on me for being poor, not questioning my ability.

But the key thing was, clients were not something you could just sign if you wanted to. My sales ability was a bit lacking compared to KA, and a bit more than enough compared to small and medium-sized clients, so I still counted as decent, right?

I said, “I studied marketing. It was hard to find a job after graduation. When I first graduated, I had thought about going to drive an excavator, but my mom wouldn’t let me. She said: she paid for me to go to school, not so I could be a migrant worker for the rest of my life.”

Shen Yuesheng crossed one leg over the other, “I studied marketing too.”

Huh? So it looked like if your dad wasn’t rich, you also wouldn’t have been able to find a job.

Turns out, the only difference between me and a CEO was a dad who ran a school!

Though I thought that in my head, I was too embarrassed to say it, so I changed to a slightly more tactful way of expressing it,

“Does our dad still need a son?”

Shen Yuesheng’s expression became complicated. A minute later, he said the longest, most verbose sentence in history: “I graduated from Stanford. During my studies I got dual degrees in BBA and BPA, the full name of my major is Finance and Marketing, I received offers from 5 Fortune 500 companies, if not for Pinnacle’s education reform in 2022, I…”

He stopped here.

I blinked and waited for him to continue, but he refused to say any more.

Maybe he felt that it was pointless to compete with a sales person with poor ability.

I said good-naturedly, “You really are amazing!”

He said angrily, “You dare to be sarcastic with me?”

The fox spirit who usually hid everything away was now showing his emotions so easily, it had to be because he had gotten drunk.

Even though we both studied marketing, unlike a half-baked loser like me who couldn’t find a job, Shen Yuesheng was a top university graduate. If not for the family business, he could have gone on to further study abroad.

I had thought it was a son relying on his father, but it turned out it was the father relying on his son.

The apartment was still 2 km away when Shen Yuesheng’s phone rang.

“Dad, yeah, it’s over. The bet agreement they proposed was too harsh, and they also wanted priority subscription rights and veto rights, so I don’t want to keep talking.”

“If it falls through with them, I can still talk to others. It’s not like we can’t raise money. Don’t worry, I’ll handle it.”

“Yeah, I’m in the West District. I’m going to be busy pretty late these few days. You and Mom should rest early, I won’t be coming back.”

Xiaoyu had mentioned the West District before too. Shen Yuesheng must have been socializing with investors in the West District, and because work often ran too late, he had bought the apartment nearby so he wouldn’t disturb his parents by going home.

I had thought he was some spoiled rich kid born with a golden spoon in his mouth, but it turned out he was a young master carrying the whole load on his shoulders.

Financing meant dealing with rich and powerful investors. They invested at least several million, and at most over a hundred million. Usually, the higher the funding amount, the harder the deal was to negotiate. Investors should have been much harder to handle than key clients.

I was desperately trying and still couldn’t sign key clients, but Shen Yuesheng lightly said, “If it falls through, we can find someone else,” like he was reporting good news and not bad to his family.

Losing investors, feeling upset, coming to me to vent, inviting me twice on impulse, it looked like Shen Yuesheng really wasn’t good at controlling his emotions.

But that also wasn’t really his fault. He had to handle too many matters every day, under the crushing pressure of high-intensity work. Even a god wouldn’t be able to control his emotions well, right?

When the client had a demand, sales could raise the price very well.

Even though Shen Yuesheng had just lost a deal and was pretty depressed, that didn’t stop me from taking the chance to fleece him.

We arrived at the destination, I parked the car, and got straight to the point, “Give me 20,000 first.”

The upper limit of Shen Yuesheng’s offer was 200,000. Like last time, going straight for a lion’s mouth open wide could easily make the talk collapse, so we had to go step by step.

20,000 was enough to shut my second aunt up and keep my mom from blaming herself.

Shen Yuesheng asked back, “Why should I give you money?”

“You looked for me and didn’t give me money?”

“What did I look for you for?” Shen Yuesheng unfastened his seat belt, opened the door, and walked off.

I trotted after him, chattering nonstop, “You made me pay for the meal, you took me home and still didn’t give me gas money, and now you want to squeeze me dry, you…”

As he got into the elevator, Shen Yuesheng said coldly, “I don’t want to squeeze you dry anymore.”

Huh?

I hadn’t even done anything, and you didn’t want to anymore?

No way, if you didn’t want to, you still had to want to!

I rushed close to the elevator with lightning speed, forcing the issue, “Then why did you look for me so late at night!”

Shen Yuesheng said impatiently, “You’re poor and tasteless. I had to split the bill if I treated you to Shaxian snacks; your crappy car’s bumper was smashed to pieces, and it ran out of gas halfway; and you shamelessly chased after me asking for money. Who would have any interest?”

The elevator door opened. Shen Yuesheng slipped out with one big step, and I hurried after him, blocking the door to his home, like a migrant worker demanding debt from a black-hearted contractor.

“I don’t care whether you have any interest or not, I’m already here!”

Late at night, voices echoed in the hallway. The apartment had one elevator for ten units. Shen Yuesheng didn’t want to embarrass himself, so he opened the door and pushed me inside.

Coming here again, looking at the familiar big bed and imagining intense scenes, my heart started pounding fast.

Shen Yuesheng had a lot of strength. He yanked me onto the bed in one pull, his knee pressing between my legs.

“If you didn’t want it, you wouldn’t have come looking for me.” Shen Yuesheng patted my face, dark fire burning in his eyes.

At 11 p.m., we were on the bed, and he was pressing me down.

Those clever peach blossom eyes saw through my filth, his wicked little mouth said whatever was harshest, and his unrestrained movements carried temptation.

Before, he was the one who brought up the need first, but now he was turning the tables. It was obvious he wanted to renege on the debt.

I locked my hand around his slim waist, staring at his tempting collarbones, and took back the initiative in the negotiation: “The last time you asked me out was by chance. Since you dislike me for being poor and tasteless, then why not change and ask someone else this time?”

Shen Yuesheng probably had never thought about this question before. He tilted his head and thought for a moment, but didn’t come up with anything.

“Because you have a good feeling toward me and want me to do it.” I guided him, “You’re the demand side, I’m the supplier. The supplier asking the demand side for money, isn’t that right?”

Shen Yuesheng gave a light laugh, “Twisted logic.”

His thin chest was pressed against me. When he laughed, his chest trembled, and the alcohol breath from his lips seeped in, making me a little drunk too.

Alcohol could numb reason. Today I wasn’t wearing jeans, so the moment I reacted, it was discovered.

He looked at me in contempt. Faced with the facts, the words for haggling got stuck in my throat.

Time passed minute by minute. Shen Yuesheng hung on my body, with no next move.

I felt terrible, so I went into the bathroom and took a shower. When I came out, Shen Yuesheng was still keeping the same posture, lying on the bed, eyes closed, breathing even, as if he had fallen asleep.

He couldn’t even wait for the time it took to take a shower, how could he be so sleepy!

You didn’t thank me for the skateboard I gave you, you didn’t give me gas money for taking you home, and now you even stood me up while I was working for free. Did you really think I was easy to bully?

It was all because you were sleepy. Anyway, when someone is asleep they don’t know anything, and once they wake up they can’t blame me.

I walked to the bed, looking at his pale face and slender neck, my thigh facing his face.

A Chinese knot was tied to the key on the bedside table, threaded through with fine gold wire in the middle. The weaving method was exactly the same as the one in Shen Yuesheng’s office. His family cared about his work and life, and if they knew their son had been… they would definitely chase me and beat me.

At a time like this, why wasn’t I focused, thinking about those things?

Stop dragging your feet, enjoy yourself first and talk later.

Shen Yuesheng’s face was very small. If I did to him what he had made me do, I should, should be able to thrust into his stomach.

Just as I was measuring the distance from below, Shen Yuesheng suddenly woke up.

He slapped me across the face, knocking me crooked.

“Ah ah ah!!!”

The pain made my lower abdomen cramp, cold sweat broke out all over me, and I knelt on the floor wailing.

Any man hit in the vital spot would not have a good face. I bent over and trembled for half a minute, then opened my mouth to retort, “You don’t support me, you don’t give me money, you’re not my sugar daddy, what right do you have to hit me!?”

Shen Yuesheng cursed angrily, “You have no shame and still think you’re in the right?”

“You insulted me last time, and I didn’t even say anything. What’s wrong with letting me do it once this time?”

“Then let me do you once too, otherwise I’ll never be done with you.”

Shen Yuesheng didn’t say anything. He took out a cigarette from his pocket, lit it, and held his phone while lost in thought.

I held onto the edge of the bed and struggled to stand up.

Shen Yuesheng took a puff of the cigarette, and I took a puff of secondhand smoke.

He hadn’t given me money, so why was I the one inhaling secondhand smoke?

All the grievance burst out at this moment. I slipped my arms under his armpits and shook his thin little body back and forth, just like shaking a teddy bear.

Shen Yuesheng pushed me, but couldn’t push me away. I sped up the shaking, and the headboard went bang, bang. I was afraid I would hurt his spine, so I grabbed his arm and pulled him forward while shaking him, and said viciously, “You only know how to bully me. I’ll shake you to death, let’s see if you still bully me!”

“Sto~p shaki~ng me~!”

I wouldn’t listen, I wouldn’t listen, the turtle recites scriptures.

“Mone~y~’s tr~ansfer~red!”

I wouldn’t listen, I wouldn’t… huh? The money’s transferred?

I let go of Shen Yuesheng. He tapped on his phone a few times and showed me the transfer record.

【Transferred to ‘Bad at it and clingy’ 20000 yuan】

Although the WeChat name was unfamiliar, the avatar looked pretty familiar.

I pulled out my phone and opened the chat history.

Wow, it really was me!

After half a year and many twists and turns, I finally successfully sold myself.

*

A mouth fed short, a hand receiving short, I had lost all my previous momentum and said quietly, “I shouldn’t have shaken you just now. Sorry.”

He let out a cold snort and leaned against the headboard, rubbing his temples.

He had drunk alcohol and then been shaken like that. His head must have been dizzy.

I hurriedly tried to flatter him, “Let me help you…”

“No need.”

“Oh.” I drooped my head and muttered softly, “Why did you suddenly transfer the money so readily?”

Shen Yuesheng closed his eyes and said, “If I didn’t give you money, I was afraid you’d force yourself on me.”

Wasn’t he inviting me out just to be forced on? Saying he was afraid of being forced on, that logic was contradictory and didn’t make sense at all.

Oh, I knew. He wanted to use money to create a status gap, satisfy the control desire of someone in the upper position, and enjoy it actively instead of passively enduring it.

I touched my nose and asked the last question of the night, “Why me?”

Why introduce clients to me?

Why waste time dealing with me?

Why was it me both times?

Asking these things was nothing more than wanting to confirm that I was different from any random passerby he had just casually hooked up with.

A dark current flashed through Shen Yuesheng’s eyes for a moment. I thought he probably didn’t want to answer all these meaningless things.

So he gave me money so I could find a reason that made me feel at ease for my own words not matching my actions, and not create any ties with him beyond money.

Shen Yuesheng said, “You repay kindness, at least you’re a person.”

Alright, the sugar daddy’s support condition was, just being a person was enough.

I knelt by the bed and looked up at him. He reached out and messed up my hair, like he was patting a little dog.

Those beautiful peach blossom eyes easily saw through my thoughts, deliberately twisting emotion with money, refusing to admit he had any good feeling toward me.

Money was the express train to bliss, and also the barrier that kept feelings apart.