Chapter 191

Xie Rongcheng clearly remembers the scene when he first met Liu Tingmei.

During that time, he was in a bad mood, so he stayed in Xiangcheng, asking about the company's affairs every day, eating, drinking, and having fun. He didn't want to go back to his hometown or Hong Kong. Because there were no people or things in those two places that he missed. As for his first wife and daughter, they didn't pay any attention to him, okay?

A friend told him that there were some very pretty and clean girls at Jindu Nightclub, all of them college students, and he insisted on taking him there to “relax”.

"Mr. Xie, stop drinking alone. We are old, so we need to hang out with young people more often to radiate vitality."

Xie Rongcheng went there out of boredom, sneering in his heart. What college student? He was tired of such tricks when he was in his twenties.

The girls in Jindu are indeed good-looking, and not as sleazy as the girls in other places. They are not greasy, which may also be related to the fact that the bosses are not involved in pornography, gambling, or drugs. Xie Rongcheng is quite willing to stay there and kill time.

He had to admit that his friend was right. Seeing the fair-skinned girls surrounding him like stars around the moon could make him forget his age and his aging body, as well as all his worries. In this place of debauchery, prices were clearly marked, there was no emotion, and there was nothing that could be considered a calculation for Xie Rongcheng.

It was among a group of obedient and delicate girls that Xie Rongcheng saw Liu Tingmei, who was like a cold thorn flower.

She only wore a little light makeup, but she was stunningly beautiful. Her dark eyes and eyebrows were naturally innocent and naive. But her temperament was very cold, with her eyebrows and eyes drooping. She just sat there and didn't take the initiative to talk to anyone. Even to him, her big money sponsor, her smile was light and perfunctory. There seemed to be frost and snow in her eyes that could not be melted.

Xie Rongcheng was in a good mood and asked her to stay and let everyone else go. When a girl with a round face left, she looked at Liu Tingmei worriedly, as if she was afraid that she would suffer a loss from him.

Liu Tingmei still looked neither humble nor overbearing. She poured wine when Xie Rongcheng asked her to, fed her fruit when he asked her to, answered every question, and had no extra words. She didn't stick to him, sitting half a person's body away from him, not enthusiastic at all.

Xie Rongcheng was a little amused, thinking that she was really here to work, so he teased her deliberately: "Come with me to the hotel tonight, what's the price?"

"I don't sell myself."

"That's because others didn't give enough. Name your price."

She was stunned for a moment, seemed to struggle, and said, "10."

Xie Rongcheng said sarcastically: "You really dare to bid."

She smiled faintly: "I used to work hard all night and earn more than 10."

For some reason, Xie Rongcheng had a hunch that she was telling the truth. Although he didn't know what she had done before, it was definitely not a good thing.

Xie Rongcheng did not continue the topic.

"Do you have a boyfriend?"

She was stunned again and said, "I'm not that lucky."

Xie Rongcheng was silent for a while and didn't ask any more questions.

After that, Xie Rongcheng came to Jindu more than a dozen times, and every time he asked Liu Tingmei to accompany him. The two did nothing else but sit and chat, listen to music, and eat fruit. Sometimes, Xie Rongcheng would take Liu Tingmei out, fishing, hiking, or eating a big meal. Every time, Xie Rongcheng would give her an additional 3 yuan tip, and Liu Tingmei accepted it all. With the blessing of this money, her work attitude finally improved a lot, she cooperated in everything, and talked more during chats.

Xie Rongcheng actually didn't know why he wanted to get close to a nightclub lady. He was not a saint who wanted to save those ladies from danger. He thought, maybe there was a certain temperament in her eyes that was similar to his; maybe she was quiet enough not to make people upset; or maybe her occasional cold words made him feel real.

During that time, Xie Rongcheng actually thought about committing suicide, but as he spent time with Liu Tingmei from time to time, the desire to commit suicide faded a lot.

Once, Xie Rongcheng took her to the mountains to fish, and brought a five-star chef to cook a picnic by the stream. He was in a bad mood and drank a little too much, so he had to go crazy and listen to her singing. Singing is a necessary skill for nightclub girls, but Liu Tingmei frowned and thought for a long time, but couldn't think of any song she could sing.

Xie Rongcheng asked: "Why, when you were doing that money-making business, didn't you need to sing?"

She shook her head. "If I could make money just by singing, it would be too easy. I didn't learn any songs when I was in school."

"Just sing a random song," he said. "I won't laugh at you if you don't sing well."

She finally spoke, singing an old folk song from her hometown:
"The mulberry wood shoulder pole is so light

I carry tea leaves out of Dongting Lake

The boatman asked me where I came from.

I grow tea by the Xiangjiang River.

The mulberry wood shoulder pole is so light

The magpie above my head keeps singing
I asked the magpie what you were singing
He said I was a happy person..."

Her voice was soft and slow, like spilled milk, flowing gently. The lyrics of this song were simple, and the melody was melodious and graceful, and she sang it unexpectedly beautifully. Liu Tingmei herself didn't know that she sang according to her memory, like a well-behaved student. The light in the mountains and forests was dim, and the stream was gurgling. Only this thin voice rang in Xie Rongcheng's ears.

Xie Rongcheng didn't know when he was already in tears.

After Liu Tingmei finished singing, she looked back at him without saying anything. She pulled out a tissue and handed it to him, then hugged her knees and looked at the shadows in the forest. After a while, her eyes also turned red.

It turned out, she thought, our wishes are the same, we all want to be happy people.

Xie Rongcheng quickly wiped away his tears, his face was calm, he leaned back on the grass with his arms, and said: "This song touched me. I didn't expect to hear this song again after leaving my hometown for so many years. You sang it very well, it's the best version I've ever heard. So, I plan to give you a chance, the only chance - tell me a wish, as long as it is within my ability, I will help you realize it."

Boss Xie’s promise may not be enough to move people to heaven or earth, but for people like Liu Tingmei, it can change their lives.

But she didn't show any surprise. She just lowered her head and thought for a while, then said, "Your business is very big and successful. You must be a very capable person. Can you teach me or show me a way to make myself more capable, make a lot of money, and do what I want to do?"

"Didn't you make more than 10 a night before? Where's the money?"

She doesn't speak.

"Cheated by a man?"

“They didn’t give me a cent.”

Xie Rongcheng was a little angry when he heard this, and was angry at her for not fighting back. But when he looked at her young and stubborn eyes, his anger subsided. After all, she was still a child.

"Why do you have such a wish?"

"I have something I must do. But I don't know how to do it now. I think maybe I need to become very rich and powerful to do it."

"Oh." Xie Rongcheng became interested and teased her again, "It's easy. If you become my woman, you should be able to get a lot of money and accomplish a lot of things."

She shook her head. "If there is another way, I don't want this. I hate this body, it's dirty, and I don't want to use it to make money in my life. And your money is always yours. What I want is not only money, but also the ability to make money. I want to become very powerful and be able to truly understand the people and things around me. Learn the ability to get things done. No matter how difficult the task is, I can analyze it and have the courage and ability to solve it."

This really surprised Xie Rongcheng.

A young lady with great ambitions. She didn't sound like someone who had never been educated. Xie Rongcheng suddenly wanted to know more about her.

"Let me think about it," he said.

Soon, his men investigated Liu Tingmei's background. No wonder he heard the old folk songs from his hometown from decades ago. They were actually from the same hometown. The mess in Liu Tingmei's family, the son-loving parents, the unexpected death of the prospective Peking University student, the fool who ran away from home... But his men could not investigate what happened after that.

Liu Tingmei's current status in the public security system is missing, so Xie Rongcheng asked his men not to leak any news about Liu Tingmei.

Xie Rongcheng suddenly felt that he had met a very interesting person and experienced a very interesting thing.

Didn't her biological parents abandon her? When she was completely useless, wasn't she rejected by everyone? She had been missing for so long, and no one even tried to find her properly.

Did everyone think that Liu Tingmei's life was over? Even she herself was stuck at the bottom of society, unable to find a way out.

He insisted on being the unexpected god in her life.

He wanted to pull her out of the muddy life, pull her back from the endless suffering to the warm world. He wanted to return to her the glory and honor that originally belonged to her.

Why should a prospective Peking University student live a life worse than an ordinary person? Why should every day of her life be as bitter as coptis root? Fuck Tingmei, fuck fate. He was about to die, and couldn't change his own fate, so couldn't he change the fate for a little girl like her?

Xie Rongcheng said to her, "I will give you a way out. Come back to Hong Kong with me. From now on, your surname will be Xie, not Liu. I will support you to repeat your studies and take the college entrance examination. Only by continuing to study can you have a future. I will also teach you some things in person. In this way, you can develop real insights and vision and have the kind of outstanding abilities you want."

Liu Tingmei thought for a moment and said, "Okay. So, what do you want from me?"

"You don't have anything I want. I'm not in love with you. It cost me less than two million to support you as a college student. To me, it's nothing. But in the future, when you succeed in your revenge, you can tell me so that I can be happy too. I always like stories of revenge, and I like cold and cruel endings."

"How do you know I want revenge?"

"It's written in your eyes, engraved on your face, and your soul wails in my ears every day. I've taken revenge before, and you can tell at a glance. But now I don't even have any enemies. I killed them all. I can only help you."

The lyrics are quoted from the Internet, a Hunan folk song.

My state of mind has not yet fully adjusted, and I have not finished writing the planned content of this chapter. Although it looks like it is finished, it is actually incomplete. I will continue tomorrow.