Chapter 8 Do You Know How Vile You Are?

A fleeting image of the man who took Deling away last night flashed through her mind.

Ye Hongxiao’s brow gradually furrowed, his expression growing colder and colder. The words he spat out were like icy blades piercing Deling’s heart. “Deling, does your boyfriend know how low you stoop in front of other men?”

Deling’s hand gripping the doorframe instinctively curled inward, her face turning pale, the corners of her eyes growing moist.

If his previous use of “Miss De” had a hint of mockery, now that he called her by her given name and uttered such words, it clearly showed his deep disgust with her current behavior.

There was no time to digest the bitterness in her heart. Deling lowered her head and was silent for a few seconds. When she looked at Ye Hongxiao again, her expression had returned to normal.

But Ye Hongxiao let out a slight sneer, reached out to grab Deling’s arm, yanked her outside, then got into the car, closed the door, and locked it—all in one smooth motion, leaving Deling no chance to react.

Deling watched helplessly as the Maybach’s taillights flashed twice before disappearing from sight.

Feeling somewhat defeated, an itch spread across her body again. She raised her hand to touch her neck—her skin was reacting again to the wine she had drunk last night.

Thinking that she would visit her mother at the hospital after work to pick up some medicine, her phone suddenly rang.

It was her company boss, Li Xiangming.

“Deling, how did the talk with President Ye go?”

“We didn’t get to talk.”

Li Xiangming naturally knew how difficult the Ye Corporation’s project was, otherwise he wouldn’t have sent Deling to negotiate. What had attracted him to Deling initially was not only her professionalism but also her tenacity.

But tenacity aside, without real results, he feared Deling wouldn’t put in her best effort.

“I’ll increase your commission by another fifteen percent. Plus, the upcoming commercial real estate project in Jingzhou will be yours to handle. Can you secure it?”

Deling didn’t hesitate. “Okay.”

Li Xiangming then rambled on a bit, praising her work and outlining future career plans. Deling knew it was half truth, half empty promises, mostly just painting a rosy picture. But with the commission increase and the Jingzhou project, she felt a bit more confident.

The call lasted nearly an hour. After hanging up, Deling noticed several new messages in WeChat—from her assistant Xiao Xiao and some clients. After replying to them one by one, on a whim, she clicked into her Moments.

Her finger swiped, and unsurprisingly, she came across a new post from Song Zigu.

“Graduated smoothly, returning home today! Finally reunited with someone I’ve missed all along…”

Attached was a selfie of her drinking coffee.

Deling’s gaze drifted to the corner of the photo, where a slender hand rested lightly on the table, the sleeve hiding half of a luxurious watch face.

Though only a small part was visible, Deling recognized the watch’s owner.

It was Ye Hongxiao’s hand. She remembered that watch—it was bought after his first successful project, reserved only for important occasions and dates.

So that was why such a dedicated man took his day off—to pick up Song Zigu.

Deling decided to visit her mother at the hospital first, then try her luck at the Xingyue Hotel in the evening.

Most gatherings in Ye Hongxiao’s circle, aside from Lin Shanni’s club, were arranged there. If Song Zigu had returned as expected, she would likely meet up with their group there.

At the hospital, the nurse in charge told her, “There are too many visitors in the ward. Please leave early; the director will be making rounds soon.”

Deling understood. Before Wang Siyang got hooked on gambling, he used to come see her mother every few days.

She pushed open the ward door.

Sure enough, Wang Siyang was there, speaking quietly with her mother. When he saw her, a flicker of awkwardness crossed his face. “You’re here, Deling.”

Deling nodded and placed the porridge she had bought on the table.

“Mom, how are you feeling?”

“Much better. Mom’s passed another hurdle.” De Qiuyu’s voice was faint, hinting at the passage of her life.

Deling’s nose stung with emotion.

After feeding her mother a few spoonfuls of porridge and soothing her back to sleep, Deling called Wang Siyang out of the room.

“Is there something you want to say to me?”

Wang Siyang, scruffy and awkward, stood before her, head bowed, unwilling to meet her eyes. “Deling, I know I was wrong. I won’t gamble anymore.”

Then he pulled out a wad of cash from his pocket and pressed it into her hand. “But I won last night.”

“You know that’s not what I’m asking.”

Wang Siyang fell silent, lowering his head even further. “Deling, I’ve almost finished a program I wrote. Once I get the bonus, I’ll buy that necklace back for you.”

Deling felt deeply disappointed inside. The words “break up” hovered on her lips, but when she caught the dampness in Wang Siyang’s eyes, she swallowed them back.

When she returned to the ward, her mother was still asleep. Deling’s phone kept buzzing with messages from the company group chat reporting daily updates. She glanced over a few, then heard Wang Siyang say, “You go ahead and be busy. I’ll stay here and watch over Auntie.”

Deling hesitated for a moment, then nodded.

She stepped out, picked up some allergy medicine from Nurse Xu Baiyi, took it, and headed straight to Xingyue Hotel.

At the front desk, she cautiously gave Ye Hongxiao’s name, and a staff member came over to guide her upstairs.

Deling intended to go up on her own but was told that floor required a card swipe. Reluctantly, she followed the attendant.

The elevator doors opened, and the staff led her to the door of Ye Hongxiao’s reserved private room. Knocking politely, she was invited inside.

The door swung wide open. The people inside clearly hadn’t expected Deling and were visibly stunned.

Deling stared at the wide-open door and the seven or eight pairs of eyes frozen in place, a chill creeping up her scalp.