Release that Man

It was when Ye Shuang arrived at the so-called business meeting that she realized she had been tricked. Champagne, snacks, shopping bags and a bunch of socialites drinking and chatting… what kind of business meeting is this‽

Ye Shuang’s mouth twitched as she became even more confused at Miss Fang’s purpose for calling her there.

In terms of personal relationship, they were barely above acquaintances. After all, she hadn’t met Fang Fei officially once in her female form before. In terms of professional relationship, they were even more unrelated. Before she resigned, she had been an employee of Fang Mo’s company who had nothing to do with Fang Fei. After her resignation, she had even less to do with her former boss’ younger sister.

Earlier, Miss Fang had used her brother as leverage to force Ye Shuang to join the ‘business meeting’. From the looks of it, that was obviously a lie; however, Miss Fang didn’t seem like she was interested in explaining herself. At the end of the day, it was still that same rule of thumb—the party with more trump cards had the bigger voice.

Miss Fang had so many trump cards in her hands; just ‘payment for the advertisement’ alone could make Ye Shuang do whatever she wanted.

With a helpless sigh, Ye Shuang rubbed her temples, trying her hardest to ignore Fang Fei’s feigned calmness. Instead of going around in circles, she asked directly, “I’m not going to ask for the details, but why did you call me here?”

Thankfully, it was a roomful of girls; if the door had opened to a bunch of dudes, Ye Shuang would have left instantly. Even though she had no idea what Miss Fang was up to, the situation didn’t seem bad enough for her to up and leave.

The room was more than a hundred square feet wide; in other words, it was about half the size of the entire floor. It was located on the 12th floor of San Lin City’s most famous private club; its clients were either the rich or the famous.

The group of socialites sat around the table in the middle of room, playing mah-jong, sipping champagne or tea. When Ye Shuang and Fang Fei entered the room, no one was paying them any attention, but someone soon turned her head their way, and this caused the rest of the room to turn to look at them in unison. The gazes that fell on Ye Shuang were mostly friendly with an underlying tone of curiosity.

“I don’t need you to do anything,” Fang Fei whispered from the corner of her mouth, maintaining the smile on her face as she led Ye Shuang into the room. “Just make sure you don’t make me lose face.”

“…”

After they took their seats, the group of girls moved their gazes back. After all, these were all educated socialites, so despite their interest, they wouldn’t stare too long lest it be perceived as rude.

In the beginning, they were merely curious about the identity of the mystery number in Fang Fei’s phone, and now that their curiosity had been sated, they were satisfied. With the aid of the alien DNA, Ye Shuang’s skin was fair, the proportion of her body a perfect ratio, but it was not as eye-catching as when she was in her male form.

Furthermore, Brother Ye, at least, had a few brand name outfits sponsored by Mother Ye to match his impressive aura, but Sister Ye only had an outfit from the night market on. Therefore, the group of girls, who couldn’t see what was so ‘not-normal’ about Ye Shuang, naturally turned their heads away with disappointment.

“This is my friend…” Miss Fang walked toward her friends and was beginning to make the introduction when she realized something. F*ck! What is this woman’s name‽

Of course, in everyone’s eyes, they thought Fang Fei was pausing for emphasis, not expecting her not to know her ‘friend’s’ name.

Ye Shuang added tactfully, “My name is Ye Shuang, nice to meet everyone.”

“…” Miss Fang, who was saved from an awkward situation, had surprise flash her eyes. Then she nodded as naturally as she could before adding, “I’m sorry to leave you so soon, but I have to use the bathroom.”

Then she turned haughtily and escaped from the room.

The room was baffled.

Ye Shuang almost ran to drag her back. My young miss, you have to at least make some return introductions!

She had no clue that Fang Fei had left because she didn’t know how to deal with the situation. The phone number of the man who she had a little crush on had been discovered by her group of friends, and the call had been answered by the man’s girlfriend; this was awkward point number one.

She had been half-forced by her friends to ask said girlfriend out, and it was only half-forced because she also wanted to see how outstanding the girlfriend was. As it turned out, Ye Shuang was someone who couldn’t have been more mundane, and this was a conclusion drawn not only by her group of friends but herself as well; this was awkward point number two.

Awkward point number three had less to do with awkwardness and more her personal annoyance. The fact that the two Ye Shuang’s shared the same name… Fang Fei felt weirdly annoyed by this coincidence. Are you trying to announce to the world how destined you two are‽ Even the phone number is registered to the same name…

Based on all these reasons, Miss Fang felt like she needed some alone time to calm herself. Once Fang Fei left, the group of socialites suffered the sting of her rashness because they didn’t know how to include this newcomer in their activities. Eventually one of them asked, “Do you know to play mah-jongg?”

The rich didn’t like to mingle with the poor, not because they looked down on them but mainly because there was no shared topic. This was discernible from multiple angles. For example, their shopping locations, one side liked that which others couldn’t afford, and the other didn’t like that which others could afford. For example, conversational topics, due to the lifestyle they had been exposed to since they were young, the experience rich people had was different from others; they talked about stuff like shares, investment, golfing, cruises, parties… Just what was normal citizen supposed to say in such a conversation?

The difference between the two was simply too big. Since both parties knew they shared no similarities, why should they force such a relationship and cause awkwardness to each of them‽

However, when both parties did meet in certain situations, the rich wouldn’t purposely gang up on the outsider and isolate him or her.

Male friendships were built over alcohol while female friendships were built over mah-jongg tables. This was something common for both the poor and the rich. Even though Fang Fei had left, her group of friends couldn’t just ignore Ye Shuang; therefore, to salvage the awkward situation, they naturally invited her to join them. Of course, they didn’t bring up the details of the chip tally, or else, it might have seemed like they were bullying her.

Ye Shuang smiled and took a seat at the table. With her enhanced memory, winning a few games of mah-jongg was no biggie. Even chatting in between games was easy because her good memory meant that she had a great store of knowledge.

Therefore, when Miss Fang returned to the room, she discovered with a great shock that Ye Shuang had practically merged herself into her group of friends.

“Five Bamboos! Shuang Shuang, you’ve won three rounds already, do take pity on us,” one of the girls said as she tossed a tile into the pool. “Actually, I still think the powder base from XX brand is not bad. It sticks to the skin and will not be ruined so easily; it is also an internationally famous brand, what do you think?”

“Thanks for the tile!” Ye Shuang smiled before adding, “With just a sniff, it’s obvious that the glue content is more than the approved standard. So, of course, it’ll stick to your face. Sister Liu, if you really want, go have it tested, but believe me, if you continue to use this, it’ll damage your skin.”

Another girl chimed in to move the topic away. “Have you heard the latest gossip about XXX, the recently famous actor? Last time, I saw him dancing with the host’s daughter at the Lee family’s ball. Do you think that they’re really in love, or is he just out looking for a sugar mummy?”

This gossip was a welcomed change in topic. “You must be kidding. I seem to remember that the Lee family was planning to become in-laws with the Wang family, could it be that the engagement is not for Miss Lee but Mr. Lee?”

Ye Shuang didn’t know much how the familial politics of the rich, but she could still find something to comment, “If someone did slurp up that XXX, that person sure is unlucky because the man’s face has obviously been under the knife before. The ratio of his face is completely off, at least one-third of his jaw has been shaved away.”

“For real‽” the group of girls exclaimed with shock.

Miss Fang stood there silently. What in the world is happening‽