MTB - Chapter 7
Chapter 7: Giving In
Yun Yang thought she was going crazy.
Whether it was kissing Tang Yuelou in the car yesterday or standing in front of Dianqing today, she felt a little out of her mind.
Dianqing’s Changshan District store was located in the most prosperous commercial area, on the street with the highest foot traffic. But in modern society, people who would spend a four-figure sum on a teacup to drink water at home were still a minority. The brand’s positioning had never been aimed at the general public from the start, so the store was usually deserted. The two characters for “Dianqing,” written in calligraphy on a wooden sign, stood out conspicuously among the crowd of trendy, internet-famous shops.
Because her eyes were bothering her, Yun Yang was wearing sunglasses. She paced back and forth at the entrance for a long time, probably looking incredibly suspicious to any onlookers. It wasn’t until a passerby shot her a strange look that she finally steeled herself and pushed open the door.
A female shop assistant with a bob cut was by a cabinet, changing the record on a gramophone. When she saw Yun Yang enter, she stared for a good while. Only after Yun Yang took off her sunglasses did she snap back to reality and greet her with a smile.
The store’s decor was exquisite. A faint scent of agarwood and sandalwood hung in the air, and music played from a gramophone. The decor was a blend of Chinese and Western styles, yet it didn’t feel tacky. With the door closed, the clamor of the commercial district was shut out, making the small space feel like a secluded paradise.
“Hello, I’m so sorry,” the shop assistant said apologetically after finishing with the record. “For a moment, I thought some celebrity had walked in. I was trying to place you.”
“It’s fine.” Yun Yang had heard such compliments from many people and was long used to them.
“Is there anything I can help you with?”
Yun Yang didn’t state her purpose right away. Instead, she casually browsed the porcelain displayed in the cabinets. Her appreciation for painterly art was still at the “if it looks realistic, it’s good” stage, and she couldn’t name more than three types of porcelain. Her eyes were first drawn to a set of blue and white porcelain cups. She curiously glanced at the price, then couldn’t help but suck in a sharp breath.
She figured she probably didn’t belong to this brand’s target demographic. The title of “customer” was one she truly couldn’t afford.
“Yes,” Yun Yang said, choosing to pretend nothing had just happened. She nodded. “Excuse me, is your store manager, Miss Tang Yuelou, here?”
“Tang Yuelou… you mean Teacher Tang?” The shop assistant paused, then said politely, “She’s not our store manager, and she rarely comes to the shop. May I ask why you’re looking for her?”
Yun Yang froze.
Oh, right, she thought. For a brand with branches everywhere, why would the owner be hanging around in a shop?
At this thought, she involuntarily relaxed. If she didn’t have to see Tang Yuelou’s face every day, could earn money, had little to do, and was close to school, this job was simply too ideal. Yun Yang even began to wonder: could it be that Tang Yuelou really did just want to help her, with no other intentions?
“Ah, that’s great. It’s nothing, I was just asking casually.” Her face immediately brightened, and she stuffed her sunglasses into her pocket. “Then, is your store manager in? I heard this shop is hiring, so I came to try my luck.”
The manager was a young woman, probably in her early thirties, and very easy to talk to. The so-called “interview” lasted no more than five minutes, after which both parties happily agreed on the working hours and salary and signed a contract. The process was incredibly smooth—Yun Yang even had a senior from the law department help her review the contract, which took a bit of time, but the manager showed no impatience whatsoever.
All in all, everything went swimmingly. Starting next week, Yun Yang would officially begin work.
“Well, that’s great, isn’t it? So much easier than the bubble tea shop,” Guan Yan commented on the matter.
Tonight, a senior from the Student Union was hosting a party. He wanted to confess to a girl he’d been involved with for a long time, so he’d spent a fortune to book a booth at a club’s bar and invited a bunch of his friends to drink and dance. Yun Yang happened to be free and was on good terms with the senior, so she went along.
“Teacher Tang is that impressive?” a girl said, covering her mouth with her hand as she laughed. “I’m starting to like her.”
“You’ve always liked the older sister type, haven’t you,” a friend teased.
Yun Yang took off her sunglasses, her expression unreadable.
The DJ at the bar had excellent taste, playing electronic music with a powerful beat. But perhaps because she had been sick recently, the air, thick with the smell of smoke and alcohol and filled with screams, felt incredibly stuffy. She wanted to add a couple of ice cubes to her drink and reached for the tongs. Just then, the sofa beside her dipped as someone sat down.
“They’re so loud, don’t you think?” One of the girls from their group naturally scooted closer to her, added ice to her glass for her, and winked. “Wanna go dance?”
The girl seemed to be from the School of Foreign Languages. It was the first time they’d met. She had long hair, was tall, and was a lot of fun—the type Yun Yang didn’t mind being approached by and might even want to attract herself. Ordinarily, she would have said yes, but as she was about to nod, she suddenly remembered the kiss in Tang Yuelou’s car two evenings ago.
That day, Tang Yuelou had bitten her lip.
Yun Yang thought of the wound on the side of her neck. The bandage was already off, and a thin scab had formed over it, emitting a trivial ache.
Not receiving an answer, the girl assumed she wasn’t interested. She made some small talk before getting up to join her friends on the dance floor.
By the time Yun Yang realized she had been spacing out, a third of the ice in her glass had already melted. A mix of emotions churned within her. She set down her glass and melancholically lit a menthol crush cigarette.
“Yangyang! Wanna dance!”
A friend shouted to her from across the table. Yun Yang gave a casual reply. At that moment, the DJ changed the music. The slowly sweeping lights shifted, then began to flash in unison. The intense light forced her to close her eyes, and the first drag of smoke made her break into a fit of coughing, sending her tumbling back into the sofa.
Yun Yang hadn’t touched a cigarette in over a month. She never imagined that the next time she smoked would be in a scene like this. She felt the smoke choke her from her lungs to her nose, and her throat felt constricted. She coughed with her head down until tears streamed from her eyes. She got up to pour herself a glass of water and was about to reach for her sunglasses when a warm, slender hand suddenly covered her eyes from behind.
“Who is it!”
Her heart was racing after the coughing fit, the deafening music pounded against her eardrums, and now her vision was stolen. Yun Yang’s first reaction was fear. She tried to pry away the hand covering her eyes, but the cigarette was snatched from her fingers. The person grabbed her wrists, lifted them up, and pinned both her hands behind her head.
She tried to struggle, but the position left her powerless, and her arms began to go numb. Yun Yang felt her face flush. Amid her ragged breaths, the person’s rose scent drifted to her nose.
The strength instantly drained from Yun Yang’s hands. She bit her lower lip and simply gave up resisting. In this half-lifted position, she leaned back against the sofa, the top of her head resting against the other person’s body. She said in a muffled voice, “This joke isn’t funny at all, Teacher Tang.”
“Close your eyes.” Tang Yuelou released the hand covering her eyes. In the dimming light, her fingers slid naturally along the side of Yun Yang’s neck, deliberately pressing lightly on the wound. Hearing Yun Yang’s involuntary grunt of pain, she leaned in, satisfied, and whispered, “I believe a patient who just visited an ophthalmologist shouldn’t be in a place like this, no?”
“Isn’t Teacher Tang here as well?” Though temporarily subdued, Yun Yang was unwilling to be at a disadvantage. She retorted mercilessly, “You just came from the eye doctor, so why aren’t you ‘behaving yourself’ either?”
“Yangyang, in what capacity are we speaking right now?” Tang Yuelou didn’t answer her question. Her voice held a strange gentleness against the chaotic background noise. “Teacher and student? Friends? Exes? Or strangers?”
“If I could choose, I’d choose the last one. What do you think?” Even in this strange position, Yun Yang didn’t want to miss a single opportunity to annoy Tang Yuelou.
“I forgot, there’s one more. Superior and subordinate. How does that relationship sound?”
Yun Yang: “…”
Damn it, who leaked the information!
A soft laugh came from behind her. She awkwardly turned her head, trying to evade Tang Yuelou’s hand, but the other woman wouldn’t let her. Two fingers applied slight pressure, pinching her chin.
“Why are you smoking?”
“In what capacity are you lecturing me? A boss has no right to interfere in an employee’s private life.” Yun Yang kept her eyes closed. She frowned, feeling the hand on her chin tighten its grip. She complained, “Hey, can you be a little gentler?”
“What?”
“…Teacher Tang, that hurts a little.” Yun Yang, who knew when to be flexible, began to give in.
There was no reply, but the grip on her chin loosened. Then, a thumb slid upward, pressing against her lips.
A bit of her lipstick was smudged away. Yun Yang was forced to open her mouth, her jaw a little sore. She could feel Tang Yuelou’s short, neat nails against her teeth.
“Don’t talk,” Tang Yelou said, her tone calm as her finger rubbed against Yun Yang’s lower lip. “And don’t bite me.”
Unable to speak, Yun Yang could only let out muffled sounds of protest.
But the protest was ineffective.
Rose and wood. Today, for the first time, Yun Yang experienced the aggressiveness of this scent combination.
It was a bitter spiciness. In a corner unnoticed amid the revelry, under the dim lights, it pressed gently yet forcefully against her breath, sliding over her lips and the tip of her tongue. It was like a shot of tequila, leaving a thrilling numbness wherever it touched. After the stimulation, all that remained on her lips and teeth was a faint bitterness and saltiness.
Once the grip on her wrists was released, Yun Yang felt completely drained of strength. She was burning up from her neck to the tips of her ears. She slumped back on the sofa, head tilted up, breathing rapidly. Tang Yuelou wiped her fingers with a tissue, helped put Yun Yang’s sunglasses back on to block the light, and gently brushed away the strands of hair stuck to her sweaty forehead.
“Go home early. Call me if you need help with anything.” The person behind her paused. “And unblock my contact information when you get back.”
It didn’t sound like a suggestion. This person had a habit of giving commands in a gentle tone, but this time, you could tell she was in a good mood. Yun Yang swatted her hand away and kept her eyes closed, not responding. Tang Yuelou gently stroked her hair, then turned and left.
As if the transgression just now had never happened.
An unknown amount of time passed before Guan Yan, who had been dancing as if there were no tomorrow, returned with her arm slung around someone. Seeing Yun Yang lying on the sofa, she asked in surprise, “Yangyang, are you sleepy?”
“…Oh, it’s nothing. Maybe a little.”
Even though she hadn’t drunk much, Yun Yang felt as if she were drunk.
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