"Here you go, beautiful. Your flower." Jiang Xia smiled, handing the flower to the lovely girl beside him.
"You actually believed what she said? You know full well that people like that will make up any story to sell their flowers. They’re just looking to trick compassionate people like you."
Lin Yanwan lowered her head and took a gentle sniff. The rose was a budding half-bloom, its fragrance rich and thick. ’Still, a hundred yuan for a single flower? That’s a total rip-off.’
"Maybe so."
Jiang Xia let out a soft sigh. "Her shoes were practically falling apart, and her hands were covered in scratches from the rose thorns. When she spoke, there wasn’t much emotion in her eyes. It seemed real when she said she didn’t have parents. Most people wouldn’t make up an excuse like that."
"Yes, yes, of course, my compassionate hero," she teased. "You were very dashing today. Thank you for the hundred-yuan flower."
"Then why not give me a quick kiss?" Jiang Xia grinned slyly, leaning his face in.
"In your dreams!"
Lin Yanwan refused with a haughty look, but when they found a less crowded corner, she gave him a quick kiss.
"Yu Du TV Station called me today," Jiang Xia said. "They wanted to sign for a second round of exclusive broadcasting rights for *Cat and Mouse*, but I turned them down."
"So the station got a taste of success and now they want to keep it all to themselves? Things don’t work that way in this world," Lin Yanwan said after a moment’s thought.
The two of them slowly left the square, heading for a quieter side street.
"Exactly. They saw I was young and tried to lowball me. So, I did the opposite and jacked the price up to 1,000 per minute. It left Zhou Lu completely stunned."
Lin Yanwan frowned slightly. "Won’t that make the deal fall through?"
"It won’t. The station might have the negotiating power, but they’re just used to being arrogant. A price of 1,000 per minute is high, but they can still turn a profit. As long as the executives aren’t fools, they’ll swallow their pride and agree to my terms."
Jiang Xia flashed a confident smile. "Besides, what they really care about are the exclusive first-run broadcast rights for season two of *Cat and Mouse*. A falling out with me does them no good, whereas I have countless other stations to choose from."
"But didn’t you already promise the station you’d give them season two of *Cat and Mouse* to run?"
"I’m a man of my word. They can have season two. But if the station tries to pull any shady business, they can forget about me ever working with them again for season three, four, or any others!" he huffed.
Lin Yanwan nodded. ’He has a point. From an economic standpoint, as long as the product is good enough, a buyer’s market will inevitably become a seller’s market.’
"You’ve been drawing all day. Aren’t you tired?"
"I’m okay. I’m used to this kind of intensity, anyway." Jiang Xia squeezed her hand and smiled. "Being with you relaxes my body and soul."
"You still need to rest when you’re tired. You said it yourself, there are sixty days left. If you collapse from exhaustion, who’s going to draw the storyboards?"
"Yes, yes, whatever you say, darling." Jiang Xia felt a bit helpless. ’How could my eighteen-year-old body possibly collapse from exhaustion? Even if I spanked the monkey three times a day, I’d still have enough energy to drill through a steel plate.’
"Then you’ll listen to me!"
Lin Yanwan glanced around and spotted a small shop not far away offering foot massages, tuina, and acupuncture. Without another word, she started pulling Jiang Xia toward it.
"Whoa, whoa, what are you doing? I’m a respectable man! I don’t go to places like this," he said hurriedly.
’My girlfriend is taking me to get a foot massage? This feels a little weird. If she wanted me to blow off some steam, I’ve already got a girlfriend. Why would I need to come to a place like this?’
"Where is your mind going? You can tell this is a legitimate place just by looking at it. They don’t have the kind of ’special services’ you’re thinking of," Lin Yanwan said, exasperated.
"Is that so?"
Jiang Xia stood at the entrance and peeked inside. He saw that it wasn’t staffed by pretty young women, but by middle-aged women in their thirties and forties.
’She didn’t believe this guy could possibly get turned on by them.’
Without another word, she grabbed Jiang Xia and pulled him inside.
Jiang Xia said warily, "Hold on a second. You still haven’t told me why you’re bringing me to a place like this."
’He had lived for over thirty years in his past life and had never once set foot in a place like this. In his mind, these kinds of shops were never legitimate; they were almost always fronts for selling flesh.’
"To help you relax, of course! Look at the muscles in your neck and shoulders, they’re practically a solid block. And your back is as stiff as a board."
Lin Yanwan grumbled, "The parts of you that should be hard aren’t, and the parts that shouldn’t be are rock-solid. You think that’s a good thing? Over time, this will turn into all sorts of shoulder problems. You’ll be sorry then."
’Jiang Xia felt like his girlfriend was expertly drifting into the gutter with her comments.’
"Babe, how do you know all this so well? Have you been here before?"
"My mom used to bring my dad here all the time. I would just watch from the side," Lin Yanwan said, quite proudly.
Perhaps having overheard their conversation, a pretty woman in her thirties with delicate features stepped out of the shop. She smiled at the couple and said, "The young lady is right. A massage can help relieve the soft tissue damage and muscle soreness that comes from working long hours. If you sit for extended periods, it’s very important to let your body relax."
’Looking at the woman’s pretty face, Lin Yanwan suddenly started to have second thoughts. Was this place really not one of *those* places that offered special services?’
’What if she started teasing Jiang Xia during the massage? This horny guy wouldn’t be able to resist, and it would be her own fault for delivering her boyfriend right into temptation.’
"Well, if you put it that way, I guess I really should get a massage." Jiang Xia kneaded his own sore neck and shoulders, admitting to himself that they did feel uncomfortable.
"See? Come on, little brother," the woman laughed. "Come inside with me. Big sister will help get your blood flowing and loosen up those stiff muscles."
Jiang Xia hesitantly walked in, and Lin Yanwan had no choice but to bite the bullet and follow.
Once inside the massage parlor, she first scanned the room’s layout. A few anatomical charts of acupuncture points and a price list hung on the walls. There were four beds in total, separated by curtains. Other than that, she saw no hint of the "pink" services she’d been worried about.
Lin Yanwan slowly breathed a sigh of relief. The scene was just as she remembered. In this kind of open-plan massage parlor, anyone with inappropriate ideas would have to keep them to themselves.
"So, what kind of massage are you looking for?"
Lin Yanwan looked at the price list on the wall and said, "A shoulder and neck massage, and an essential oil back massage. Give him the works."
"And for how long?"
"One hour should be enough."
The woman nodded, patting the bed in front of her. "Alright then, little brother, lie down here. Big sister guarantees you a nice, relaxing massage."
Jiang Xia glanced at his girlfriend. ’Being touched all over by another woman right in front of her... it suddenly felt like a betrayal.’
...
(Phew, two Chapters done! Three tomorrow! From now on, call me the Stamina King!)