Back Then, I Adored You

After she had finished talking, she made sure there was nothing else she needed to pass along to Liang Doukou. “I’m done.” She looked up at the desk in front of her and saw a large unsealed paper envelope with stacks of cash inside. “Is this my last payment?”

“Yes.” Liang Doukou was shocked at how confidently Qin Zhi’ai had handled everything after she entered the room. She hesitated for a moment before pushing the envelope in front of Qin Zhi’ai and stating the total. “There’s $20,000 in each stack. You can count it.”

Qin Zhi’ai picked up the envelope and responded, “Bye.” She had no intention of staying any longer and turned around to walk to the door.

“Miss Qin, hold on a second.”

Qin Zhi’ai stopped, but she did not turn around. Instead, she laid her suitcase by the door and unzipped it. She took the money out of the envelope and started packing it.

Liang Doukou sat silently on the sofa. She took a smaller thick envelope out of her purse and passed it to Zhou Jing, giving her a knowing look as she did.

Zhou Jing nodded, took the envelope, and walked to Qin Zhi’ai with her high heels clicking at every step. Looking down at her, she said distantly, “Take this, too. Xiaokou wants you to have it. She appreciates your help. You did a good job without making any mistakes or letting anyone onto you. She hopes you will forget everything after you leave this room—like you never met Gu Yusheng.”

Qin Zhi’ai’s hands trembled as she continued packing the money in her suitcase. She had only heard the last few words that Zhou Jing said. She neither looked up at Zhou Jing nor said a word to her.

“In addition,” Zhou Jing began carefully, “I’d wanted you to stay at Gu Yusheng’s house in our initial agreement. We didn’t think you would lose your virginity over it. Therefore, we would like to make it up to you with an additional payment.”

Make it up?

Qin Zhi’ai felt like someone had slapped her. She kept her head down as her face became pale and her hand gripped the money she was packing.

“No matter what, Xiaokou and Gu Yusheng are legally married. They are a couple. Even though you had sex with Gu Yusheng, it had nothing to do with their commitment to each other. You were an extra in their marriage. You’ve been Xiaokou’s body double for many years, and she wants to make you feel good about the arrangement. You should know she is a nice woman, and because you’re such a young lady she does not want to see you having had sex for no compensation.”

Before Zhou Jing finished, Qin Zhi’ai zipped her suitcase and stood up.

She did not look at the envelope in Zhou Jing’s hand. In fact, she ignored her entirely and calmly counted out several bills she had not packed and handed them to Zhou Jing. “You gave me $4,000 extra. Here you go.”

Zhou Jing stopped talking in midsentence.