Sis, Do You Need a Dog? - Chapter 1

Chapter 1: The Photograph

Late spring turning into early summer brought a torrential downpour.

Every time the seasons changed, Jiang City had to endure a grueling rainy season. Today was no exception; the rain began to fall just as dusk set in. Heavy droplets hammered the ground, thinning the crowds on the usually bustling bar street. Beneath a red and blue alternating LED sign, a small puddle gathered over a drainage grate.

In stark contrast to the pelting rain outside, the interior of the bar was noisy and warm.

Si Tingbai leaned against the bar counter in a waiter’s uniform—a small tuxedo vest—waiting for an order. Beneath the fabric, her snow-white skin had broken out in a rash; it itched and stung whenever her sleeves brushed against it. The cheap material of the uniform was triggering an allergic reaction.

Yet, Si Tingbai didn’t tend to it. She leaned casually against the bar, her long fingers slightly curved as she tapped rhythmically on the tabletop. Even in this relaxed posture, her frame remained upright and striking, drawing frequent backward glances from the surrounding patrons.

“You’ve been staring at her all night, just go ask for her contact info,” urged a voice from a table directly facing the bar.

The gaze fixed on Si Tingbai flickered away momentarily as a girl laughed shyly. “You go. If you go, then I’ll go.”

“If I go, won’t she just become my girlfriend?” another female voice lowered, laced with a smile. “She’s sitting there probably just waiting for you to hit on her. Be a little brave and romance will follow!”

The girl being encouraged was still hesitant. “But what if she’s already been ‘pre-booked’ by the E-Zone…?”

“Then we’ll intercept her!” the voice grew louder. “I’ll pay double the price to book her for you, okay?”

The bold promise wasn’t quiet, and the table of drinkers burst into raucous laughter. This was the most famous LES bar in Jiang City, restricted to female guests only. Looking around, any random guest walking by was a polished beauty with exquisite makeup.

The waiter leaning against the bar wore no makeup at all, but her natural looks were undeniable. Even among a sea of beauties, she frequently attracted suggestive stares.

Unlike the guests hoping for a romantic encounter, Si Tingbai was focused on the instructions in her earpiece. Invisible cameras were filming her in real-time from the shadows. The phone tucked inside her trousers had long been turned off, and her long hair draped down to hide the earpiece. So far, there were no instructions to move or retreat.

The bartender was currently carving ice; there was still some time before the next drink was ready. Si Tingbai allowed herself a moment to zone out, and she began to shamelessly think of the woman who had occupied her thoughts all night.

Even Si Tingbai found it surreal. A month ago, she was the pampered third young lady of the wealthiest tycoon family in the capital. Fueled by her obsession with that person, she had rebelled and fled home on the night of her coming-of-age ceremony, arriving in the unfamiliar Jiang City only to end up on the streets. After spending all her money, she had crouched by the roadside, nearly dying in a rainstorm.

But now, a month later…

“Finished.”

Just as she was feeling bored, a command crackled in her ear. The mission was complete; she could leave.

Si Tingbai instantly perked up. She set the tray back on the bar and met the bartender’s eyes.

“Ordered by the guest at table E888,” the bartender pushed a glass forward. “And they specifically requested you.”

The scarlet alcohol refracted the light, with an ice cube carved into a heart shape floating in the middle. Si Tingbai had delivered this same drink to that table six times tonight. This was the seventh.

“But—” Si Tingbai began to refuse.

“Deliver this, then exit through the back-left door. Sue-jie’s car is usually parked there,” the bartender whispered, sensing her reluctance. “Sue-jie never waits for anyone.”

At the mention of that name, Si Tingbai swallowed her rejection. She nodded obediently, picked up the tray, and murmured a quick thanks.

As she walked toward the E-Zone, the table of guests let out a collective sigh of disappointment. But soon, their attention and gossip shifted back to the bartender. The bartender swept the ice shavings off the counter, watched the door to the E-Zone VIP room close, and curled her lips in a satisfied smile.

The girl Sue-jie found this time was quite an obedient one.

The E-Zone was a dividing line, separating vastly different social classes within the same bar. Holding the drink, Si Tingbai hurried toward table 888 under a barrage of predatory stares.

“Your ‘Not Going Home Tonight,’ please enjoy,” Si Tingbai placed the highball glass on the table and politely took a step back.

The guest at the table was a mature woman in her thirties. When she spoke, her breath reeked of nicotine. “Enjoy? How slowly should I enjoy it? And how should I ‘use’ it? What if I still don’t want to go home after I’m done?”

Si Tingbai’s brow furrowed slightly. The flash of impatience in her eyes instantly curdled into disgust. As she had set the drink down, the guest under the table had kicked off her shoes, and her bare toes were now shamelessly sliding against the fabric of Si Tingbai’s trousers.

An undisguised flirtation.

This was the seventh “Not Going Home Tonight” ordered by table 888. The high-proof cocktail was a catalyst, pushing desires to a peak. This bar also offered “booking services”—if the price was high enough, a waiter could be requested to sit down for a drink. All seven of this guest’s drinks were for the sake of Si Tingbai.

The E-Zone was at its rowdiest. On stage, the DJ swayed to the beat, and the drunken crowd followed suit. People reveled in the heavy metal music and the pleasure brought by the alcohol.

This was Si Tingbai’s first time in such a place. It was also her first time being exposed to so much low-quality, foul-smelling alcohol and human stench.

The reckless foot under the table became bolder, the toes attempting to probe into the hem of her trousers to touch her skin. The drunken guest squinted, her smile deepening. Despite the generic uniform and the dim lighting, she couldn’t hide the waiter’s incredible beauty. The well-tailored shirt and vest paired with a somewhat youthful face suggested she had just turned of age, yet her aura and features suggested she shouldn’t just be a waiter.

Especially those slightly upturned “fox eyes.” Just as the guest’s toes pushed further, those dark, pool-like eyes lit up.

The guest thought her seduction had finally worked. To her shock, in the next second, her foot was violently stomped upon. The waiter’s small leather shoe, which had a slight heel, ground forcefully into the unprotected top of her foot.

“If you don’t want to go home, you can just die,” Si Tingbai whispered with a cold curl of her lip, her heel slowly and meticulously grinding down. “Legs that can’t be controlled can be removed.”

The waiter, who had looked as pure and innocent as a little white rabbit, suddenly sneered, the pressure from her foot increasing. The guest’s face flushed red with intense pain, her eyes wide with disbelief. It was still that same innocent, slightly childish face, yet she seemed like a different person now, her brow shadowed with a bloodthirsty ferocity.

“If you dare reach out again, I’ll cut your toes off,” Si Tingbai said. With every word, the ruthlessness in her eyes deepened, yet her tone remained flat. “Let me think… first I’ll skin them, then strip them from the bone, and finally, I’ll break them inch by inch and feed them to you.”

“How does that sound?”

Si Tingbai’s voice was as cold as a ghost’s. Despite the loud music and the body heat of the dancing crowd, the guest felt a chill run through her entire body. As the pain in her foot reached its breaking point, the guest—either from terror or agony—turned deathly pale. She trembled, accidentally knocked over her drink, and fell off her stool.

The crimson alcohol spread like blood, but the commotion was drowned out by the piercing music. No one noticed.

“Sister!”

The car door was pulled open from the outside, and a person carrying a slight chill and the scent of alcohol closed her umbrella and climbed in.

Before even sitting down, Si Tingbai called out, her fox eyes shining. “Have you been waiting long? I had to deliver a drink to a guest at the last minute, so I’m late.”

Though she brought the cold rain into the car, her cheerful tone brightened the stifling interior. Hearing her voice, the woman didn’t turn her head. Her fingers slid across a screen, flipping through photos on a tablet—every single one featured Si Tingbai.

The glowing tablet was the only light source in the car. Si Tingbai remained in the darkness, staring shamelessly at the woman beside her.

The woman’s shirt sleeves were rolled up to her forearms, revealing beautiful lines. She wore no jewelry except for a watch; the emerald diamond face glittered in the dark cabin. Her long fingers moved across the screen, her scarlet nail polish looking inexplicably sexy.

Shuyi… Shuyi…

Cheng Shuyi.

Si Tingbai repeated the name in her mind, her eyes filled with an uncontrollable, surging desire.

A month ago, when Si Tingbai fled home, a massive scandal had rocked the entertainment industry. The famous superstar, Laura, was exposed by her girlfriend with explicit photos of her cheating with multiple people, causing her to lose the Best Actress award at the last moment. Public opinion turned against her instantly, and the overwhelming backlash forced her to hold a press conference that night to announce her indefinite retirement.

Pushed onto the trending searches alongside Laura’s termination statement was her manager—Cheng Shuyi.

In her nine years in the industry, Cheng Shuyi was hailed as a “Divine Creator.” The artists and idols she managed not only stayed scandal-free but also produced numerous Best Actresses and A-list stars. Yet, she herself was a mystery.

Her only public exposure was a paparazzi shot from three years ago. While countless artists struggled to trend, that one blurry capture successfully took the number one spot. In that silhouette, a long red dress hugged her graceful figure; she stood by a car with one arm crossed over her chest, a cigarette between her slender white fingers, berating someone with a cold face.

Black hair, a red dress, and a beauty so arrogant it couldn’t be hidden by low pixels—the person being scolded was Laura at the height of her fame. The surge of interest was quickly suppressed, and after that, no paparazzi dared to follow her. Fans called her the “Creator,” and because of that photo, they called her “Queen Cheng.”

An actress who won a Golden Horse award once thanked her through tears, calling her “my artist” and saying she was grateful to be her “muse.”

With Laura’s downfall, the entire industry waited for this undefeated woman to fall from her pedestal. But Cheng Shuyi never appeared in public and her whereabouts were unpredictable. No one knew her status after Laura’s incident.

And now, this god-like woman was sitting right beside her. Si Tingbai felt a bit dazed and instinctively leaned toward her. With the armrest separating the seats, Si Tingbai pressed half her body against it, looking exactly like a puppy tilting its head, waiting for its master’s praise.

Just as Si Tingbai was about to cross the line and rest her head on the woman’s shoulder, a voice rang out in the darkness.

“Take it off.”

“Huh?” Si Tingbai blinked, seemingly startled by the directness of the command.

“I don’t like the smell of that alcohol,” Cheng Shuyi said, turning on the overhead light and glancing at the stunned girl.

Though she didn’t understand, Si Tingbai followed the first command she had ever received from Cheng Shuyi and quickly stripped off her jacket. Half of that “Not Going Home Tonight” drink had splashed onto her coat in the bar. Between the cold alcohol and the rain, the air in the car had become tainted with the scent of hard liquor.

Si Tingbai was fast; soon she was left in just her shirt.

“Then… should I take this off too, Sister?” Si Tingbai’s hand paused on the third button of her shirt—the most suggestive position. Above it was her fair, slender neck and collarbone. Below it was the forbidden fruit of Eden, ripe and fragrant, waiting to be picked.

The words were highly suggestive, yet the speaker’s face was full of pure innocence. Si Tingbai’s expression was guileless, her long lashes fluttering, her clear eyes reflecting a hint of childishness. Under the warm light, she had already obediently stripped off her jacket and vest.

Total submission and docility.

Cheng Shuyi was pleased. She reached out and lightly patted the girl’s face as a reward. “This one… you can take off when we get home.”

As the words fell, Si Tingbai lowered her head and obediently re-fastened the button. Every button was done up to the very top, as orderly as the person herself.

“Heh,” a soft, light laugh escaped Cheng Shuyi. She was once again charmed by Si Tingbai’s eagerness to please, and her mood improved significantly.

“Did someone harass you just now?” she asked casually, her eyes still on the tablet. Si Tingbai had superior features; when she wasn’t smiling, there was an aggressive sharpness to her gaze. Especially in those photos of her waiting bored at the bar—in the interplay of light and shadow, she looked like a lazy viper coiled in the dark. Even in such a chaotic environment, she made a common uniform look like high fashion.

She was truly born for this industry.

“It’s okay, Sister.” Si Tingbai had finished the last button. She looked up at Cheng Shuyi before speaking. Her beautiful fox eyes blinked, and with the light reflected in her pupils, her eyes sparkled like stars in the dark car. “Even though I don’t know the rules of a place like this, I know I shouldn’t get into conflicts with people. So, I just endured it!”

She smiled purely, her brow still holding a trace of youth. The subtext of “not knowing the rules” was that she had never been to such a place before.

Cheng Shuyi caught the implication and simply smiled, her finger tapping the screen.

“Tonight’s photos aren’t bad. Delete the ones that are too clear or look unnatural. Keep this blurry one and this distant one to sell to the paparazzi later. Also,” Cheng Shuyi’s tone paused, her voice turning cool, “I will deal with the person who harassed you.”

The “waiter” role-play was over; the two people in the car returned to their roles as superior and subordinate.

“Then, Sister, can I go with you tonight too?” They had only known each other for a month, but Si Tingbai had already learned to read Cheng Shuyi’s moods. There was a hint of indulgence in that last sentence.

“Even though you got yourself dirty…” Cheng Shuyi turned off the tablet and looked up into the expectant eyes of the girl beside her. “But, you were well-behaved.”

Seeing those eyes light up at her words, Cheng Shuyi’s lips curled imperceptibly.

These eyes… they really look like hers.

After a brief moment of distraction, Cheng Shuyi withdrew her gaze and suppressed her thoughts. No one spoke again, and silence returned to the car.

Back when they had locked eyes, Si Tingbai’s brain had already crashed. She had truly witnessed what “natural seduction” meant. Even though the woman before her wore no makeup and only a simple shirt, Si Tingbai couldn’t help but swallow every time those thin lips parted to speak.

Having received the command of permission, the last trace of anxiety in her heart vanished. Si Tingbai gave a cheerful response and sat obediently beside Cheng Shuyi.

As the car passed the last bar and turned the corner, Si Tingbai’s gaze lingered on the turn for a moment. A month ago, this was where she had met Cheng Shuyi.

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