Chapter 5: The Fair-Skinned Beauty in Charge

Thinking he might have been mistaken, Chen Ye stopped and looked through the gap in the door again.

It really was Wen Yu. She was wearing a white dress and unzipping it; he could see her clearly.

Suddenly, someone stepped in front of him, her face barely a foot from his. It was the attendant in the qipao.

“Sir, please respect other people’s privacy.” She gave him a professional smile. “President Bai is waiting for you.”

“Oh, I’m sorry.” He quickly looked away, embarrassed.

But he was bewildered. Why was Wen Yu here? Had she come for a treatment, or did she work here? Questions crowded his mind.

The attendant led them to an office and knocked gently.

“President Bai, Ms. Han is here.”

“Come in.”

The door opened. A woman in a long black gauze dress stood alone in the spacious office, her back to them as she studied a map on the wall. She had to be President Bai.

“Qiuya, make yourself comfortable. You don’t need to stand on ceremony here.”

She turned as she spoke. The moment Chen Ye saw her face, he was transfixed.

Stunning.

Her skin was soft and pale as snow. Against the black dress, it seemed to have the cool sheen of porcelain. The phrase *fair porcelain skin* had never seemed so apt.

Her features looked exquisitely carved: graceful brows and eyes, a straight nose, vivid red lips. Her waist-length black hair was gathered loosely into a low bun, with a few strands falling beside her neck, adding to her mature allure.

Chen Ye stared. Han Qiuya had addressed her as an older sister on the phone, yet she looked even younger than Qiuya.

“Bai-jie, this is the man I told you about. Chen Ye,” Han Qiuya said.

Bai Xueyan looked him up and down and nodded. “Good-looking, and he’s in great shape.”

Han Qiuya raised an eyebrow. “Glad you’re pleased, Bai-jie.”

Bai Xueyan’s phone rang. “Excuse me, I need to take this.”

A carefree male voice came through the line. “Mom, why isn’t there any money on my girlfriend’s membership card? Didn’t I ask you to put a million yuan on it last time?”

Chen Ye caught a little of the voice. It sounded familiar, though he couldn’t place it.

Bai Xueyan frowned. “Which girlfriend is this? You get a new one every month, and each of them comes here to spend my money. Have you ever considered how I feel?”

“Mom, I’m serious this time. I’m going to marry her.”

“That’s what you said last time. The answer is no. Goodbye.” She hung up.

“Your Xiaodong has another new girlfriend?” Han Qiuya teased. “I think he’s used up all your romantic luck. He’s with a different woman every night, while you’re still all alone…”

“Qiuya!” Bai Xueyan gave her a warning look. Chen Ye was still there, after all.

He hardly seemed to hear them. He was too astonished. President Bai looked so young and had a figure like a girl’s; there was no sign she’d ever had a child. How could her son already be that old?

“Chen Ye!”

Her voice pulled him from his thoughts. “Present!” he answered, almost raising his hand in salute. It was a reflex he’d acquired in prison.

“Relax.” Amused, Bai Xueyan held out her hand. “Let me introduce myself. I’m Bai Xueyan, founder of Shanghai Beauty Group.”

Given her standing, she had no need to receive him so personally. She was doing it out of regard for Han Qiuya.

Chen Ye hurriedly wiped his hand on his clothes before shaking hers. “It’s a pleasure, President Bai.”

“What was that for?” She frowned slightly. It was the first time she’d seen someone wipe his hand on his clothes before a handshake.

His face reddened. “Your hands are so fair. I was afraid mine weren’t clean enough.”

She laughed again.

He wasn’t trying to flatter her. He really meant it. Born in a small mountain village, he had attended local schools through middle school. He’d finally made it to the county seat for high school, only to go to prison after a little more than a year because of the fight. In his twenty-odd years, he had seen very little of the world.

Now, facing an international metropolis like Shanghai, he naturally felt uncertain, anxious, and inferior. The gulf between him and a beautiful businesswoman worth over a hundred million yuan left him especially at a loss. Yet it also strengthened his desire to make something of himself.

“President Bai, what does the company do?” he asked.

“Didn’t Qiuya tell you? Shanghai Beauty Group provides wellness and beauty services for women. We use physical therapies, medication, massage, spa treatments, and the like to help women stay youthful and radiant from the inside out.”

“A beauty salon?” Chen Ye ventured, using the closest term he knew.

“You could think of it that way. But we cater to high-end female clients. Put simply, the customers here are wealthy women.”

She explained everything carefully and plainly, without the slightest hint of superiority.

“Qiuya told me on the phone that you know the body’s meridians and can give massages. Is that right?” Bai Xueyan fixed her gaze on him.

“Yes.”

“Good. You can start as a massage therapist, working with our clients.”

“Massage?” Chen Ye frowned. He remembered the women at the foot-massage parlors in a back alley in the county seat when he was in high school.

He had misunderstood. Bai Xueyan’s establishment was a legitimate women’s wellness center, and its massage therapists were trained professionals.

“Our treatments are entirely legitimate,” she said. “Male therapists are scarce, so the salary and commission are generous. Earning several hundred thousand yuan a year is quite achievable. I’ll have the business manager explain the details later.”

Several hundred thousand a year? Chen Ye was astonished. He’d worked himself to the bone delivering packages for a month and earned only a few thousand yuan.

“Aren’t you going to thank President Bai?” Han Qiuya prompted.

He nodded quickly. “Thank you, President Bai.”

“You’re welcome. Qiuya sent you, so I trust you.” Bai Xueyan smiled and sat in her executive chair, rubbing her neck. “I don’t know what’s been wrong lately. My neck and shoulders have been bothering me.”

Han Qiuya understood at once and signaled to Chen Ye. “Go on, give Bai-jie a massage!”