81: Chapter 81 Canary

Jiang Chen stared at that streak of blood, remaining silent for a few seconds.

Things had come to this.

He leaned back in his chair, his thumb unconsciously rubbing his chin as his gaze fell upon the top of her lowered head.

It was her first time.

He had known this since last night.

That kind of raw, clumsy uncertainty of not knowing where to put her hands, the way she silently endured by biting the back of her hand, and finally, that stain on the sheets.

His gaze drifted back to that patch of red without him even realizing it.

Under the morning light, it looked even more glaring than it had just moments ago.

He looked away.

If she hadn't been a virgin, he might have treated this as a consensual one-night stand.

But she was.

This fact was like a nail, driven into a place he couldn't ignore.

He was a germaphobe.

He wouldn't even touch things others had touched, let alone people.

This thought had been present since he woke up, becoming clearer and more specific, like a stone at the bottom of a river having the silt washed away by waves to reveal its hard edges.

He needed to know why she appeared there.

“Why are you working at a night club?”

He asked very directly, even a bit bluntly.

Her body visibly stiffened; her lips moved, but no sound came out.

“I'm asking you,” his voice dropped a bit, but his tone didn't soften, “did you go there yourself, or were you introduced by someone?”

“...I went myself.”

Her voice was very small, as if squeezed out from her throat.

“Why?”

She fell silent again.

Her fingers twisted the corner of the quilt, twisting so hard her fingertips turned white.

Jiang Chen didn't rush her.

He leaned back in his chair, his gaze fixed on her—not pressuring, but not looking away either.

After a long time, she finally spoke.

“My dad... had a fall last year.”

Her voice was very soft, as if afraid of disturbing something.

“There was an issue with his lumbar spine. He's bedridden and can't move. My mom isn't in good health either—high blood pressure and diabetes. She's on medication year-round.”

She paused, her throat bobbing.

“I also have a younger sister in high school. Her grades are very good, top ten in her year.”

At this point, a hint of emotion finally entered her voice, as if mentioning her sister caused something buried deep inside to finally loosen a bit.

“I don't want her to drop out.”

Jiang Chen said nothing.

“I tried other jobs. Working at a convenience store during the day, washing dishes at a restaurant at night, and handing out flyers on weekends.”

She sniffled. “But it wasn't enough. Rent, medical bills, tuition... every month we were short by a huge margin.”

“So you went to Liujintai?”

“...Yes.”

She finally looked up and glanced at him.

Her eyes were red, but she wasn't crying.

They were brimming with moisture, yet she stubbornly refused to let it fall.

“I knew the money came fast there. I knew what would happen once I went.”

Her voice began to tremble. “But I thought, as long as I could endure these few years, until my sister gets into university, until things at home get better...”

She didn't finish.

It was as if she felt she was saying too much to a stranger, or perhaps she felt that saying it wouldn't matter anyway.

She lowered her head again, her fingers gripping the corner of the quilt.

The room remained silent for a long time.

Jiang Chen leaned back and sent a message to Lin Hao, asking him to look into Su Xiaoxi's family situation.

Lin Hao replied quickly.

A brief summary of the situation was sent over, followed by a final line: “Something is definitely up with you, kid.”

The situation was exactly as she had described.

Jiang Chen placed his phone face down on his knee, his gaze returning to the top of her lowered head.

Her hair hung down, obscuring half her face, leaving only a glimpse of a pale chin and slightly trembling eyelashes.

He straightened up, crossing his hands over his knees, his gaze deepening.

“Su Xiaoxi.”

She looked up.

“If I give you a sum of money every month.”

His voice was moderate, his tone as flat as if he were discussing a business deal. “Enough for your sister's tuition, your family's medical bills, and your living expenses.”

Her eyes widened slightly.

“The condition is...” He paused, his gaze fixed on her face as he spoke every word clearly.

“You serve only me.”

Her eyelashes fluttered.

“Don't go to Liujintai anymore,” his voice deepened.

“I will call for you when I need you. I won't interfere with your life, but you cannot have anyone else. Can you accept that?”

He finished and watched her.

Su Xiaoxi was silent for a long time.

Her head was buzzing.

It wasn't because of shock.

During training, the instructors had repeated those words over and over again.

“You can't trust a man's words, especially this kind.”

“Saying they'll keep you all to themselves, making you a canary—it's all a lie. Once you actually agree, he'll think you're his property, to be summoned and dismissed at will. By then, you won't be able to leave even if you want to.”

“I've heard it all before. Every girl who believed it ended up coming back in tears. Some couldn't even manage to cry.”

The instructor's tone had been heavy, her eyes carrying the brutal clarity of someone who had seen it all before.

Su Xiaoxi had sat in the audience then, listening and memorizing seriously.

She knew why the instructor said those things.

It wasn't easy for Liujintai to train a girl, from image management to table etiquette, from reading people to knowing one's place—it took three months at least, half a year at most.

If the girls were all coaxed away by a few words from customers, there would be no one left in the establishment.

So they had to make the girls believe.

That all men's promises were fake.

Su Xiaoxi believed that saying.

She had always believed it.

But.

She looked at Jiang Chen sitting in the chair.

He was wearing the same shirt from yesterday, with two buttons undone at the collar, revealing his collarbone.

His hair was a bit messy, looking like he'd just woken up and hadn't had time to tidy it, and there was a faint layer of stubble on his chin.

His eyes were deep. When he looked at her, his gaze wasn't frivolous or evasive; it fell upon her directly and heavily.

Images from last night flashed through her mind.

He had pulled her hand away from her mouth and pinned it to the pillow, their fingers interlaced.

Palm to palm, fingers slotted into the gaps, fitting perfectly.

“Tell me if it hurts.”

That voice, that strength, that temperature.

She had never been treated like that before.

She lowered her head and stared at her fingers.

There were still crescent-shaped marks on her fingertips from her nervousness last night; some had already scabbed over.

She knew very well in her heart.

This outcome was undoubtedly the best.

Leaving Liujintai, leaving that place that made her afraid every single night.

Serving only him.

She didn't know if this counted as being lucky.

But she knew that if she refused, the instructor would pat her on the shoulder today and say, “That's right, no man is any good.”

Then tomorrow night, she would still show up at Liujintai, beginning that fearful and numb life once again.

She looked up at Jiang Chen.

His expression was calm, as if waiting for the answer to a question he already knew.

“I... can.”

Three words, as light as a feather landing on water.

Jiang Chen's brow twitched slightly, as if he hadn't expected her to agree so readily.

“Have you thought it through?”

“I have.”

Her voice was steadier than before.

“During training, they all said that a man's words can't be trusted.”

As she spoke, the corners of her mouth curved slightly—not quite a smile, just a bitter, self-deprecating arc. “But...”

She paused.

“But I feel like you won't lie to me.”

She said this in a very soft voice, as if speaking to herself.