After Snagging a Stuffy Giant-Wealthy Daddy - Chapter 1

1982, Hong Kong.

The neon sign of the Westin Bar blurred into the boisterous night. Inside a cramped dressing room, Li Chu took one last look at his makeup in a grimy mirror.

“Sister Sitong, is this really okay?”

The “girl” in the mirror was both strange and familiar. The blush and nose contour were applied heavily, and his eyeliner was deliberately elongated and flicked upward, making his features appear more three-dimensional, almost non-Oriental.

The most eye-catching part was the wig: voluminous blonde waves that reached his waist, their exaggerated flaxen hue gleaming with a plastic sheen under the dim lights.

The tall girl beside him looked him up and down before pulling a bottle of perfume from her bag and giving him a few spritzes.

“Why wouldn’t it be? You look absolutely stunning! You must have confidence!”

Wen Sitong pinched Li Chu’s cheek, marveling internally at his natural beauty. Even the cheapest makeup could not hide his exquisite features, especially those shimmering “peach blossom” eyes. If she were a man, her heart would surely skip a beat.

“Ah Chu, hurry up! The show is starting!” A voice urged from outside the door. It was Ah Lok, the bar manager. “It is crowded tonight. Sell well, and your commission will not be small.”

“Coming, coming,” Li Chu called back.

“Little Chu, I am heading out first! Work hard and make that money!” Wen Sitong gave him an encouraging smile and pushed the door open to leave.

Li Chu had been living in this era for a month now.

In the twenty-first century, he had been an ordinary university freshman. However, his gambling uncle had sold him to debt collectors to settle a debt. Driven into a corner with nowhere to run, Li Chu had jumped into the sea, only to wake up lying on the cold shores of Victoria Harbour.

He stayed there until Wen Sitong, passing by, crouched down and patted his face, asking in Cantonese, “Hey? Are you okay? Do you want me to call an ambulance?”

Every time Li Chu looked up at the towering skyscrapers, he still found it hard to believe.

This was Hong Kong in the eighties, a period of economic takeoff where gold seemed to line the streets. However, he had no identity documents and no money; his first priority was simply surviving.

During the day, Li Chu washed dishes in the back kitchen of a tea restaurant in Yau Ma Tei. After a grueling day that left his back too stiff to straighten, he earned only a few dozen Hong Kong dollars. The only perk was the free staff meals, which kept him from starving.

With food sorted, he needed to solve his housing situation.

Wen Sitong was an orphan who rented a rooftop shack that was freezing in winter and sweltering in summer. Li Chu had spent the past month sleeping on her floor, getting stepped on several times in the middle of the night.

Though he had a roof over his head, he did not want to overstay his welcome. Through a recommendation from a kind security guard downstairs, Li Chu ended up at this bar as a liquor promoter, selling “imported” fake booze while dressed in drag.

Before this, Li Chu’s only experience with women’s clothing was playing a princess in the school drama club. Naturally, he had refused at first.

However, when Ah Lok slapped several hundred-dollar bills in front of him, Li Chu went silent. Who could blame him when he needed the money?

“Remember, you are ‘Bella,’ a mixed-race girl from London. Your Cantonese is poor, but you are a great drinker.”

Ah Lok was around the same age as Li Chu and very efficient, a typical “smart kid” of old Hong Kong cinema. Seeing Li Chu’s dazed expression, he offered some friendly advice.

“If a customer asks anything, just smile. Make it sweet. If they touch your hand, do not dodge, but anything below the waist is off-limits. The more alcohol you sell, the more you earn.”

Li Chu’s stomach churned. Just as he was about to back out, Ah Lok shot him a look. “Do not say I did not warn you. There are plenty of people fighting for this job. I am only giving you this chance because you are pretty and have a good figure.”

“I understand, Brother Lok.”

At ten o’clock sharp, the bar’s atmosphere was in full swing.

A mixed-race “beauty” in a schoolgirl uniform, teetering on ill-fitting high heels, moved between the booths. In the dim, hazy light, many men were drawn to the long, fair legs visible beneath the skirt. Following the line upward, the waist looked narrow enough to be circled by a single hand.

In one word, stunning.

“Sir, would you like to try our new Scotch whisky? It is very authentic.” Li Chu stopped by a booth, offering a practiced smile to several men wearing floral shirts and gold chains.

A portly man eyed him up and down, his greasy gaze lingering on Li Chu’s legs. “New here? I have not seen you before.”

“I am Bella. I just arrived from London,” Li Chu replied in heavily accented Cantonese. His voice was not exactly feminine, but it was pleasant to the ear.

“Bella? That is a good name.” The man grinned, revealing teeth yellowed by cigarette smoke. “Sit down and have a drink?”

“I still have to work,” Li Chu acted coy, swaying his body to dodge a wandering hand reaching for his waist.

But Ah Lok had taught him not to be too resistant. He had to play hard to get to lure them in.

Li Chu proactively poured a glass for the man and leaned in closer, letting the scent of his perfume drift toward him. The man, feeling restless from the scent, downed the glass in one go, looking at Li Chu with lingering interest.

“The whisky is good, right? Our boss specifically had it shipped from Scotland. We are the only ones in Hong Kong who have it,” Li Chu lied without blinking, his fingers grazing the bottle’s label. “We have a promotion tonight, buy three and get one free.”

In reality, it was low-quality alcohol from a factory in Sham Shui Po, diluted with water and a splash of genuine liquor for flavor. If a person drank too much, a headache was guaranteed.

“I will buy it! If Miss Bella recommends it, of course I will buy!” The man’s face was flushed, clearly feeling the buzz. With a wave of his hand, he declared, “Give me six bottles!”

Li Chu felt a surge of relief, and his smile turned sweeter. “You are so generous, sir. I will go get them right away.”

One deal was closed. His commission was one hundred and twenty Hong Kong dollars.

Li Chu did the math in his head, but his steps felt heavier. He needed money, a lot of it. A fake ID on the black market cost at least five thousand Hong Kong dollars. How many bottles of fake liquor would he have to sell to save up that much?

Over the next two hours, Li Chu closed several more deals.

By midnight, the crowd only seemed to grow; the night in Hong Kong was just beginning. Li Chu had been walking back and forth for so long that his feet were blistered from the heels, and the wig was making his scalp go numb. He retreated to a corner behind the bar to catch his breath.

“Tired?” The bartender, Jia Ming, handed him a glass of water. “Drink up. Nothing has been added to it.”

Though they had only met a few times, Jia Ming was one of the few people who were kind to Li Chu, likely because they were both bottom-dwellers struggling to survive.

Li Chu took the glass gratefully and sipped carefully, afraid of smudging the lipstick Wen Sitong had so meticulously applied.

“Over there, booth seventeen. A big fish just arrived,” Jia Ming whispered, gesturing with his eyes toward the darkest corner of the bar. “Loro Piana suit. The watch on his wrist is one I have seen in magazines; it is worth at least one or two million. He has been sitting there alone for an hour and only ordered a glass of plain water.”

Li Chu looked over.

The booth was hidden in the shadow of a metal pillar, almost untouched by the lights. One could faintly discern the sharp silhouette of a man with broad, straight shoulders and a poised posture that felt completely out of place in this environment.

“Why has no one served him?” Li Chu asked.

“They tried. Three girls went over, and he dismissed them all with a single word.” Jia Ming shrugged, confused by the man. “He does not say a word more than necessary, just ‘No.’ His aura is too intimidating; nobody dares to linger.”

Li Chu pursed his lips as a small spark of ambition flickered in his chest. A top-tier wealthy man appearing in a place like this was a rare opportunity. If he could land this deal, perhaps his ID would not be so far out of reach, and he could find a normal job.

Li Chu had been a top student since childhood, winning full scholarships every year. He had his own dreams. If it were not for his heartless uncle, he would never have ended up in this situation.

“I will give it a try.” Li Chu put down the water glass and picked up his tray.

“Hey, are you crazy? Did you not see the way that man looks?” Jia Ming tried to pull him back.

Li Chu forced a smile, unsure if he was comforting Jia Ming or himself. “I will just try. At worst, I will be kicked away. It is not like it will kill me.”

Taking a deep breath, he walked toward the shadows.

The man in the booth sat quietly, watching neither the dance floor nor the singer on stage. Occasionally, he raised his hand to take a sip of water, his movements as calm as if he were attending a corporate meeting.

“Good evening, sir.”

Li Chu stopped by the booth, his heart pounding against his ribs. He tried to make his voice sound natural. “Are you alone? Would you like to try our new…”

Before he could finish, the man looked up.

In the dim light, Li Chu’s eyes met another pair: deep, calm, and as vast as an endless sea. The man’s striking features were clearly mixed-race with high brow bones, a straight bridge of the nose, and a facial contour as sharp as if carved by a chisel.

But more shocking than his near-perfect appearance was his unique aura. His gaze fell on Li Chu’s face, devoid of the lust or frivolity most bar patrons showed toward “Bella,” yet it carried a weight that made it hard to breathe.

“What kind of wine?” the man spoke. His voice was deep and rich, vibrating with a magnetic quality.

Li Chu quickly held the tray forward, reciting his lines. “It is a single malt whisky from Scotland, part of our boss’s private collection. The taste is very mellow.”

The man did not look at the bottle. His dark eyes remained fixed on Li Chu’s face. The gaze was so sharp that Li Chu felt as though the man could see right through his heavy foundation and wig.

“Selling this, are you that short on money?” the man asked calmly.