Chapter 101: Gratuity
Today was Christmas Eve.
Although it was a foreign holiday, it was still beloved by many young people in China, especially university students with plenty of free time.
Gu Wanrong was no exception. Today, she received many apples carefully packaged by her friends, symbolizing peace and safety.
The Four Seas Club embraced the festive atmosphere, launching special entertainment projects exclusive to Christmas Eve. That evening, Gu Wanrong and her friends, having no classes, arrived at the club.
With something weighing on her mind, Gu Wanrong quietly slipped away from her partying friends. She took the elevator down from the 16th floor and found the manager of the Four Seas Club.
“Miss Gu, why did you come personally?” Although the manager was suspicious, his face was piled with smiles as he respectfully invited Gu Wanrong into his office.
Once inside, the manager quickly arranged various snacks and fruits popular with young girls on the coffee table in front of her. He greeted her warmly, ensuring that even Tong Shenba standing nearby wasn’t neglected.
Inside his head, however, the manager was racing to figure out what connection the club had with Gu Wanrong that would bring her here personally.
Is it because of the previous rumors saying there was an improper relationship between us? Even though I don’t have her contact info, I apologized through her lawyer! And we clarified it online!
Could it be that Miss Gu is in a bad mood today and decided to stop forgiving me? Oh god, please don’t let it be that!
Wait, maybe it’s because she ordered Yi Huan and the other three last time? After all, recently those four…
I need to think carefully about how to answer.
Thoughts flooded the manager’s mind.
After arranging the food on the coffee table, he sat diagonally across from Gu Wanrong and asked, “Miss Gu, do you have any instructions for me?”
“Mm, I want to ask you about a few people.” Gu Wanrong pursed her lips.
Today followed the same process as last time. The waiter asked if they wanted companions. Gu Wanrong noticed the four she had hired previously were missing.
After her friends made their choices, she couldn’t help but ask the waiter, “Why don’t I see the people I ordered last time?”
The waiter looked troubled. “I’m terribly sorry, I’m not clear on the specific situation regarding the staff’s departure.” But his expression was odd as he spoke, raising Gu Wanrong’s suspicions.
Could it be that after she gave them each a million-yuan tip, their words about hoping she would find them again were just perfunctory flattery? Did they actually decide they had earned enough and quit in unison?
But having entered the companionship industry, how could they be satisfied with a mere million and just quit? The waiter’s vague answer and forced composure suggested something strange was going on.
If not for a bug in the database preventing her from finding their information due to their fake names, Gu Wanrong wouldn’t have come to the manager personally.
Various questions lingered in her mind, making her eager to understand the reason.
Hearing Gu Wanrong, the manager instantly understood whom she was asking about. He followed up, “Are you asking about the situation with Yi Huan, Xia Qingmu, You Ai, and Yan Ran?”
Gu Wanrong nodded.
As expected, the manager guessed correctly. Outwardly calm, he cursed inwardly: The person who received Miss Gu must have leaked something. How can we let this pampered young lady know about those dirty matters!
He heard Gu Wanrong continue to press, “Did they quit? Didn’t they say last time I should look for them again? I asked the person who led me up, but he wasn’t clear. If I don’t understand this, it feels like a cat scratching at my heart.”
Listen to that. Miss Gu clearly understands that a mere million isn’t enough to make them all resign.
I have to explain this well.
And not too bluntly, I can’t upset her.
…
The manager’s internal commentary scrolled like a bullet screen as Gu Wanrong questioned him.
When Gu Wanrong finished, the manager stopped his mental chatter. After careful consideration, he spoke slowly:
“Miss Gu, you are generous, and Yi Huan and the other four were filled with gratitude and respect for you. After that day, not only did everyone from the staff to the boss know about it, but even the guests knew.
“Because of this, Yi Huan and the others became stars in our club. Nine out of ten guests looking for companions would ask for the four of them.
“However, their price wasn’t something ordinary guests could afford—after all, they had a ‘million-yuan’ status. Only those from wealthy families engaged them. These people all have their own tempers. Similarly, the four of them have their own personalities.
“Regrettably, the four of them suddenly left our club later on. As for exactly where they went, I don’t have the ability to know.”
As the manager finished recounting the sequence of events triggered by the million-yuan tip, Gu Wanrong gripped her water cup tighter and tighter. She knew very well that the manager’s words had been polished and sanitized.
After leaving the manager’s office, Gu Wanrong didn’t go back to the 16th floor.
She walked in silence all the way to the club’s garden.
The garden was quiet. The holiday-themed decorative lights flickered faintly, like scattered stars in the night sky, adding a touch of vitality to the silent garden.
Gu Wanrong saw a swing ahead with no one nearby. She walked straight to it and sat down gently.
Sitting on the swing, Gu Wanrong stared wordlessly at the personnel forms the manager had given her—the ones filled out by the four when they were hired—lost in thought.
The day after she gave the tip, it was known to everyone. Whether they couldn’t help showing off or someone with ulterior motives spread it, the manager didn’t give a clear answer.
As for the guests they accompanied at the club, it was highly likely they treated them poorly. Although Gu Wanrong hadn’t experienced this dark side personally, she had seen enough novels and movies to guess it wouldn’t be easy.
It had only been a few months, and they had resigned. Judging by the manager’s tone, they might be doing poorly, perhaps even miserably.
The source of all this was her ignorance of the unspoken rules and a hidden desire to show off, resulting in the huge tip.
Gu Wanrong closed her eyes, trying to suppress the overwhelming guilt threatening to swallow her.
She couldn’t be controlled by her emotions.
The manager’s words also seemed to reveal another piece of information: the four of them had issues of their own.
But to know the specific situation, she had to find out the truth first.
Using the dim lights of the garden, Gu Wanrong leaned in to look at the personal data in her hand. Suddenly, a bright beam of light shone from above onto the paper.
Gu Wanrong instinctively looked up. It was Tong Shenba standing quietly behind her, holding his phone flashlight.
Gu Wanrong, who had been distracted since leaving the office, couldn’t help but curl the corners of her mouth, offering a faint smile to Tong Shenba.
Then, she lowered her head again and, with the help of the light, read the real names of the four people.
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