Seeing that Mei Jie didn’t speak, Hou Jun changed his tone and said,

“It should be an 800 yuan fine.

But Chu Liu has been absent for consecutive days, which is serious. So, his fine should be doubled. That way, the other employees won’t get any ideas…”

Double?

A murmur ran through the crowd.

Our server’s monthly salary is only 1,000 yuan.

Doubling the fine would mean deducting one and a half months' worth of my salary.

Luckily, I had saved up a bit of money before.

Otherwise, for the next two months, I would have been living off nothing but air.

If it were someone else, they might just quit on the spot.

But I remained silent, gazing out the window.

It felt as though everything happening right now had nothing to do with me.

After finishing, Hou Jun turned back to Mei Jie and respectfully asked,

“Mei Jie, do you think that’s okay?”

Mei Jie didn’t respond immediately. Instead, she glanced in my direction and asked,

“Chu Liu, do you have any objections?”

Once again, the eyes of everyone in the room were on me.

They all thought I would argue or say something.

But I just shook my head slightly and muttered two words,

“No.”

It was Mei Jie who took me to the casino last night; she should have explained for me. But she purposely didn’t bring it up.

I knew she was still angry.

A highly positioned professional manager,

A woman of heavenly beauty, with charm and grace.

Countless men regarded her as a goddess.

Yet, this woman lowered her dignity in front of me, took off her dress, and apologized.

And yet, I still rejected her request to turn off the lights.

So, she didn't stop Hou Jun from making things difficult for me.

And I was indifferent to Hou Jun.

If the blue path and the world of the cheats were a pack of wolves,

Then I, a lone wolf, sought to become the wolf king.

If you want to be the king of wolves, how could you care about the barking of a few pups?

Seeing that I had no objections, Hou Jun assumed I was afraid—afraid of losing my job.

He became even more arrogant, pointing his chin at me and saying,

“No objections? Then pay the fine now…”

I turned and looked at Hou Jun, and he was staring right back at me.

His gaze was full of provocation, dominance, and more importantly, an air of certainty that I was in his control.

Just as I was about to speak,

A woman’s voice suddenly rang out from the crowd.

“I’ll pay for him!”

The words startled everyone, and all eyes turned toward her.

Even Mei Jie was looking now, though her expression was one of disdain and disgust.

The woman who spoke was Chen Xiaoxue.

She seemed to enjoy the attention, walking up to Hou Jun with a swagger, holding her handbag and wearing high heels.

Her long legs in black stockings and her slender waist swayed with every step,

And she gracefully approached Hou Jun.

Opening her handbag, she swiftly pulled out 1,600 yuan and handed it to Hou Jun, saying,

“I’ve paid for Chu Liu. 1,600 yuan, check it…”

Looking at Chen Xiaoxue,

Hou Jun’s face shifted from surprise to anger.

Although they had broken up, it was clear that Hou Jun still had lingering feelings for Chen Xiaoxue.

And for someone who was well-known as his ex-girlfriend to pay a fine for another man—this was a great humiliation for him.

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

“Chen Xiaoxue, what do you mean by this?”

Chen Xiaoxue acted nonchalant, as though she couldn’t care less, and replied,

“Nothing at all. Chu Liu doesn’t earn much, so I’m just helping him out. We’re all colleagues, it’s just a little favor…”

Her words were clever.

Those who were watching must have admired her magnanimity.

And for me, it was a way to relieve the embarrassment I had in front of everyone, while also doing me a solid.

She knew I would repay the favor, and once I did, it would definitely be doubled.

Hou Jun’s lips trembled with fury, his face turned pale.

He turned to glare at me and asked,

“Chu Liu, do you want to be a kept man, living off a woman’s money?”

A "kept man" refers to someone who survives off a woman’s financial support—typically a man who doesn’t earn his own living.

In Ha Bei, such men are usually looked down upon.

Before I could respond, I heard a cold snort from Chen Xiaoxue.

“Talking about others being a kept man, Hou Jun, how much money of mine have you spent?”

As soon as she finished,

The crowd erupted in a low chuckle.

Everyone knew about their past together.

Chen Xiaoxue was a technician,

But occasionally she would take on a few more lucrative jobs.

She made a lot more money than Hou Jun did.

It was widely whispered among the people at Tianxiang that Hou Jun was just a kept man, supported by Chen Xiaoxue.

The one who had tried to insult me, Hou Jun, ended up insulting himself.

Hou Jun trembled with anger.

He even clenched his fist, as though he wanted to slap Chen Xiaoxue,

But this was a staff meeting, and he didn’t have the guts to do that.

The situation had become awkward for a moment.

Mei Jie, who had been silent with a cold expression, suddenly looked at me and asked,

“Chu Liu, are you sure you want Chen Xiaoxue to pay your fine?”

I didn’t answer right away. Instead, I stepped out from the line.

As I walked past Chen Xiaoxue, I casually said,

“Thanks, but you don’t have to pay.”

Then I walked up to Mei Jie.

“I’ll pay the fine myself, but Mei Jie, don’t you think it’s time to pay me back the money you owe?”

My tone seemed respectful, but in reality, it was cold and indifferent.

As soon as I finished speaking,

Everyone in the room was shocked.

I, the lowest-level server at Tianxiang,

And Mei Jie, the manager who controlled everything here,

How could she possibly owe me money?

Even Mei Jie looked confused and asked in return,

“What money do I owe you?”

“Last night’s 10,000 yuan.”

The 10,000 yuan from last night was used to buy chips at the casino.

I ended up winning 2 million worth of chips, which I gave to Mei Jie.

After we had our disagreement, she never gave me back the 10,000 yuan.

Though it was originally money Mei Jie had given me as a gift,

Once she gave it to me, it became mine.

“I see, you have a good memory,” Mei Jie said mockingly,

But she still opened her handbag, took out a wad of money, and handed it to me with a cold look.

“Here’s the 10,000 yuan. Is that enough?”

I looked at her but didn’t take the money. Instead, I slowly shook my head.

“Not enough.”

Mei Jie froze for a moment.

I had just asked for 10,000 yuan, but now I was saying it wasn’t enough?

Her face grew even colder.

She lowered her voice and spoke harshly,

“Chu Liu, you don’t still expect the money you won last night, do you? I already told you, that was just a test. And it was a kind test…”

She glared at me, her words tinged with a hint of threat.

“Chu Liu, forget about that money. Otherwise, if things get messy, you won’t be able to handle the consequences.”

Perhaps in Mei Jie’s eyes,

I was just a skilled cheater, but also someone who was never satisfied.

I didn’t care to explain to her.

“It’s not that money.”

“Then what money is it?” Mei Jie asked, puzzled.

There had only been two financial exchanges between us so far.

Mei Jie couldn’t figure out what else she owed me.

“Taxi fare! The 87 yuan I spent on the taxi fare when you took me to that casino. You should pay for it…”

Mei Jie was speechless.

My request seemed ridiculous, even laughable to her.

I could win millions in a game of cards,

I could easily turn down her offer of a million-dollar salary,

But here I was, haggling over a mere 87 yuan.

But Mei Jie didn’t understand.

The rules of the world of cheats:

What’s mine is mine.

What the benefactor should pay, must be paid by them.

It wasn’t that I didn’t understand etiquette,

But in the world of cheats, you have to respect the rules.

Otherwise, no benefactor will respect you;

They’ll just see you as a tool with some useful skills.

Mei Jie took out 100 yuan, along with the previous 10,000 yuan.

She slapped the money into my hand with a “thud,”

“Is this enough? By the way, there’s still 13 yuan left, but you don’t need to give it back. Consider it a tip…”

Saying that, Mei Jie angrily turned and walked upstairs.

She didn’t even care about the employees standing in the hall, all of them staring at each other in confusion.

No one knew what had happened,

But they could guess that something unusual was going on between Mei Jie and me.

Exactly what kind of connection we had, however, was something they couldn’t figure out.