Pain and Pleasure

After finally entering the house, both of them were exhausted. Yan Di was tired from carrying such a big person like me, while I was uncomfortable from enduring it all.

Why uncomfortable?

Of course, as a young man full of energy and having had some drinks at night, being half-carried by a charming and beautiful girl for so long, wouldn't you feel "uncomfortable" too?

As soon as we entered the house, Yan Di looked stunned at the two large suitcases in the living room. I smiled and explained: "I'm moving out in a week. These are my packed belongings."

Yan Di helped me to lie down on the bed before going to the bathroom. After a moment she came back with a warm wet towel for me to wipe my face with. Then she hurriedly brought over hot water and antibiotics for me.

Looking at her sweating forehead, I realized that when we went upstairs just now, I almost deliberately hung onto her body so that this weaker girl almost bore all my weight up three floors.

"Okay, sit down and rest." Moved by her kindness towards me, I took the cup from her hand and swallowed the pill under her gentle gaze. Yan Di then smiled again.

Underneath the light bulb's glow,I found that she had an attractive smile; there was even a small dimple on one side of her mouth which curved upwards like crescent moons - giving off an adorable look.

"Wu Ge, are you hungry?" Yan Di asked softly: "I smell alcohol on your body; you must have drunk quite heavily tonight. My mother told me that people often get hungry after drinking."

I laughed: "You know quite well about these things huh? Alright then,I'm fine now.You can go home.I'll call tomorrow morning to reimburse your taxi fare."

After saying this sentence,I felt dizzy,and seeing how unwell i looked,Yan Di leaned over and gently helped me lie down, then took off my coat. I realized that I was still wearing my work suit with a stain on it - the one from when that guy in the private room vomited after being kicked by me. It made me feel nauseous.

Yan Di covered me with a blanket and wiped my face again before leaving the bedroom while closing the door behind her.

The fragrance of Yan Di's body lingered in the air of the room; for some reason, I slept soundly that night, as if dreaming about childhood memories.

At that time, I practiced kung fu with my master and life was tough. I often got spanked by my master with a bamboo board, but after the spanking, he would always make us a pot of pork rib soup to drink at night.

That pork rib soup was so fragrant it made your mouth water! As time went on, we little kids were conflicted almost every day. Some even intentionally didn't practice well just so they could get spanked because everyone knew that if you gritted your teeth through the spanking, you'd get to drink delicious pork rib soup at night.

It was also during that time that I understood what "pain and pleasure" meant.

After dreaming such a warm dream all night long, when I woke up in the morning my face had a smile on it and when I touched my head it wasn't as sore anymore.

I walked out of the bedroom and saw a suit hanging in the bathroom - it was the one I took off last night but it had already been washed clean. Not only the suit but even several pieces of dirty underwear thrown into a basin in there had been washed clean and hung up. The hot water bottle in the kitchen was full; everything inside looked very neat and tidy. The floor had obviously been swept clean; even the cabinets in the kitchen looked like they'd been wiped down.

This silly girl is so cute - even though she knows I'm about to move away she still helped me clean up this house!

Looking at all this suddenly gave rise to an inexplicable feeling of emotion within me. So much so that I didn't dare touch anything around me for fear that if I did touch something then these clean things would become dirty again.

In the morning Huan called me on his phone.

Huan is my boss; Golden Wall Entertainment Center is his business venture.

Speaking of him, he's considered quite legendary here in town. It's said that twenty years ago he went to a southern coastal city with only one thousand yuan in his pocket. It's said that he smuggled electronics and gold, and later opened a seafood restaurant. Eight years ago he brought back some money to his hometown and now is considered quite the hero here! Besides "Golden Wall Entertainment Center" in his hands, there are also two Western restaurants and one seafood hotpot shop. Two years ago he even invested in shares of a local taxi company; now on the streets of this town, one out of every four taxis is owned by his company.

This person is considered quite well-connected here in town - you can tell just from Golden Wall Entertainment Center never having been inspected by any official authorities.

To outsiders it looks like Golden Wall Entertainment Center is located inside a famous five-star hotel here in town. But this entertainment center has nothing to do with the hotel at all; they're just renting space from them - it's completely Huan's private enterprise.

Huan treats those under him very well; he's generous towards people and has treated me pretty well too. He often says: "If you work for the company and receive their salary then you belong to the company, so naturally they'll take care of you!"

Nowadays I often say this same thing to my subordinates at nightclubs.

Huan once said that in two years, he would let me stop working at the nightclub and follow him. He trusts me a lot, which is why I was able to become a supervisor at the luxurious Golden Wall Nightclub at such a young age. Especially since I've been working here for five years, starting from washing dishes as an entry-level worker and gradually making my way up - this is something he admires about me. He also takes care of me on regular days. Others don't know it, but my salary is the highest among the four supervisors at the nightclub because Huan supports me. When he's not around, I'm practically in charge of everything.

"Xiao Wu, I heard there was some trouble last night and you got hurt?" Huan's voice came through on the phone; his tone was very gentle with a pleasant male baritone voice that always sounded calm and confident as if he were always in control.

"Yeah, it's nothing serious though; just some drunk customers causing minor issues."

"Young man, be careful out there. You know how much I value you; when handling things in the future don't be so impulsive - sometimes it's better to delegate tasks to your subordinates instead of doing them yourself. And Ah Wei and them...I pay them every month for a reason; they're not just being kept around for no reason. If you have to personally handle these kinds of situations then maybe we should let them go." Huan continued: "Take today off and rest well; don't come into work tonight either. Remember to go back to see your doctor too or else if anything happens to your head then who will practice boxing with me?"

He mentioned Ah Wei earlier who was one of our security guards.

We didn't have any people from "the streets" watching over us.

Don't think that everyone involved in our line of work has connections to the underworld. People like Huan who have a lot of power in this city aren't part of the mafia, but which gang would dare provoke him?

Moreover, we work at high-end establishments where only wealthy people or those with some status can come and spend money. If there were several burly and fierce-looking gangsters watching over the place every day, wouldn't that scare away all our customers?

I knew Huan was joking with me so I smiled and said: "I'm fine,sir."

"Okay good; as long as you're okay." After pausing for a moment he suddenly asked me: "How's Ah Qiang been doing lately?"

I was taken aback for a moment while trying to figure out what he meant by that question before cautiously answering: "He's still the same; hasn't done anything out of line."

"Hmm," Huan Ge pondered for a bit before saying: "Xiao Wu, you know that Ah Qiang isn't one of us. Amongst the four supervisors at the nightclub right now, only you are my direct subordinate - you need to keep an eye on things here because I treat you like family."

I felt touched inside when he said that and replied earnestly: "boss, I understand."

"Good; you're very smart so I won't say much more." There was laughter from his end before he continued speaking again: "It's been awhile since we've had any activities planned...was thinking about asking you to spar with me today but since you're injured then let's wait until next time."

After finishing his sentence he hung up.

Everyone in the nightclub knows that I am the youngest manager. I'm only 23 years old, but I can lead such a big establishment. Many people speculate that I have connections.

Only I know that my success is entirely due to Huan 's kindness.

I am from this city, but later went to another city for high school and studied martial arts under an old master for a few years. As a young man with some skills, it was inevitable that I got into fights and neglected my studies, so naturally, I didn't get into college. Five years ago when I returned to this city, I was alone.

My parents passed away early on and left me with a house which had to be sold after getting into trouble defending my friends in a fight and having to pay compensation. So, five years ago when returning home penniless, I started working at nightclub as a dish carrier through sheer luck.

Huan noticed me and after working there for one year as receptionist followed by another year as waiter he promoted me first as manager then eventually made me the supervisor within four years of joining his team.

Nowadays he rarely comes here anymore; effectively leaving the nightclub under my management except for financial matters which are beyond my expertise. Everything else is handled by me.

I don't care what Huan 's intentions were in grooming me; perhaps he just wanted someone loyal by his side. But at least now everything good about myself - job security, salary or even being respected - is all thanks to him! This alone makes it worth giving him everything!

One more thing: Huan loves boxing very much; His skills are very good, not just for show, but really impressive! I have studied martial arts for a few years and he likes to practice boxing with me when he has free time. I saw many scars on his body once and asked him about it. His eyes became deep at that moment and he told me one sentence:

"Xiao Wu, in this world, the more you want to get, the more you have to pay!