No wonder all the previous boxing coaches were fired, leaving only her. With her qualifications, no matter how many managers ca and went, none of them could touch her. Besides, she had a very good relationship with the current manager.
"Alright, cut the gossip and get back to training," Wu Yue’s command spurred them back into action.
She really gave off the vibe of a senior martial sister in the boxing world.
The office had undergone a complete style overhaul. Much of the furniture and many of the decorations inside had been changed, better suiting a woman’s aesthetic.
The mont the door closed, Xiang Yiren threw herself at him impatiently. She was stopped by Sun Dasheng, who chuckled, "Are you that thirsty?"
She paid him no mind and began to undress him, saying, "You haven’t been ho for days. Who knows which woman you’ve been off benefiting, leaving the two of us to pity ourselves in an empty house."
"Ahem... The way you say that... Even machines need downti for maintenance. You can’t expect to work non-stop like a commune’s donkey, can you?" Sun Dasheng said, cooperating as she removed his clothes.
"I don’t care. I want you now." After she finished with his clothes, she started on her own. She then pushed him onto the couch and began to move on top of him.
The ti it took to play a few dozen songs passed.
Exhausted, she finally collapsed on top of him, contentedly drawing circles on his chest.
Sun Dasheng patted her bottom. "Get up. Put your clothes on first, I have sothing to ask you."
But she just twisted her body, refusing to get down as she wrapped her arms around his neck. "Whatever it is, just ask like this."
It seed she still had designs on him, just waiting for him to recover so they could go another round.
"Has Jiang Ziyan been troubled by sothing lately?" he asked, not beating around the bush.
Hearing this, she buried her head in his chest. "I thought you didn’t care about us. Turns out I misunderstood. You’ve been concerned about us all along."
Did she get the wrong idea? Still, it seed like a lucky misunderstanding.
"Yes. So, tell , has she run into so kind of trouble?" Sun Dasheng asked, holding her close.
"Zi Yan has seed troubled lately. She even took the whole day off today and didn’t co to the gym at all," Xiang Yiren divulged everything she knew. "I think it has to do with her family problems."
"Oh? Do you know the specifics?"
"I’m not too clear on the details. How about you co over to my place tonight? I’ll find out for you," she proposed, laying out her terms.
"Alright, then. But get off for now. We’ll save the rest for tonight," Sun Dasheng said, giving her bottom another pat.
This ti, she obediently slid off him.
***
「Ten o’clock at night.」
There was still no sign of Jiang Ziyan at their apartnt. Xiang Yiren made several calls, but each one went unanswered. Sothing felt wrong.
"Brother Sun, Zi Yan isn’t answering my calls. Do you think sothing’s happened to her?"
"Don’t panic. I’ll call a friend in the police," Sun Dasheng reassured her.
This police friend was the very sa station chief from the ti he’d been brought into the station. The chief had later hosted a dinner specifically to apologize and also to forge this "friendship." Sun Dasheng was naturally happy to foster the connection. Although he knew a few well-placed leaders in the district governnt, he couldn’t trouble them with every minor issue. One might not think much of a station chief, but in Shanghai City, such a position carried significant weight. He ranked half a level higher than a township head, making him a deputy-division level official.
It wasn’t long before he received an update. Jiang Ziyan had indeed returned to her family’s ho at ten o’clock that morning and had not left since.
He thanked his friend profusely over the phone, promised to treat him to a al next ti, and then hung up.
"How is she?" Xiang Yiren asked anxiously. She had been the one to approve the leave of absence and now blad herself for not having gone with her.
"It’s alright, she’s still at her parents’ house right now," Sun Dasheng said reassuringly.
"Then should we go to her house and find her?" Xiang Yiren asked.
"We can’t just show up there. First, tell everything you know about her family situation in detail," Sun Dasheng said, pulling her into his arms to soothe her.
Nestled in his embrace, she instantly felt much calr, and her racing heart soon steadied. She recounted everything she had learned about Jiang Ziyan’s family from their casual chats, not omitting a single detail.
Jiang Ziyan’s family situation wasn’t complicated. Besides her parents, she had an older brother who was desperate to get married. The problem stemd from this brother, who had a girlfriend from their hotown and wanted to buy a house in Shanghai City to marry her. Since his family couldn’t afford the down paynt, they naturally turned their sights on their only daughter. They planned to use their daughter’s bride price to pay for their son’s down paynt.
In most places, this would be an outrageous proposition. Most parents hope for their newlywed children to have a good life together. The bride price is typically treated as start-up capital for the new couple, with the bride’s parents often returning it to them. Well-off families might even add a substantial dowry on top. It was unheard of for the bride’s parents to simply confiscate the money for themselves.
But in a "Bride Price Province," this was standard operating procedure. This was why they had tried to force her to marry that man of ill repute last ti—he had been able to offer a large bride price. Now they had tricked her into coming ho again, likely to employ the sa old forced marriage tactics.
"Brother Sun, I want to tell you what I’m really thinking, but please don’t be angry," Xiang Yiren said.
"Go ahead. When have I ever been angry with you?" Sun Dasheng replied, gently pinching her cheek.
"If her parents want that money, you absolutely must not give it to them," Xiang Yiren said, keeping her eyes fixed on his to gauge his reaction. Seeing he wasn’t angry, she continued, "A family like hers is a bottomless pit. Who knows how much money it would take to placate them? If it were just a one-ti paynt to buy her freedom and let her cut ties with them for good, I would definitely support you giving them the money. But it’s impossible for it to be that simple. They see you have money. Right now, they claim they’re just short a down paynt, but who knows if they’ll ask you for the rest of the mortgage later? After that, will they want a car? A luxury car? Then what about having children, raising them, their education... there’s no telling how much that will all cost. That family is a bottomless pit, you can’t let yourself get sucked in."
Sun Dasheng smiled, gratified. She was a good woman, wholeheartedly looking out for his interests.
She might be a little conniving and a bit of a gold-digger, but so what? In his heart, she was a good woman.
He held her tenderly for a mont. "Don’t worry, I’m no easy mark. No one can get money out of unless I give it willingly. No one is capable of forcing my hand."
"Brother Sun, I’m really not saying this out of jealousy. You know how close we sisters are. But even the deepest sisterly bond can’t compare to your place in my heart."
"I know," Sun Dasheng said, giving her a reassuring look. "You don’t need to explain."
"So, what do we do now?" Xiang Yiren asked.
The situation was thorny, but not without a solution. The crux of the matter lay with Jiang Ziyan herself. If she still harbored lingering emotional ties to her family, what was the point of rescuing her this ti? The sa situation would only repeat itself.
"First, we need to find a way to contact her directly. We’ll hear what she plans to do, and then we’ll decide on our next move."
Being a very clever woman, Xiang Yiren imdiately understood his line of thought. She nodded obediently, as it mirrored her own thinking. After all, bringing a woman with so much baggage into Brother Sun’s life wouldn’t do her any favors.
"Is there any other way to reach her?" Sun Dasheng asked.
"She almost always has her tablet with her. Her family confiscated her phone, but I don’t know if she still has the tablet."
With that thought, Xiang Yiren picked up her phone, opened WeChat, and sent Jiang Ziyan a ssage. She had guessed right; a reply ca back almost imdiately.
*Is it convenient for a voice call?*
*Sister Yiren, I can’t. They’ve locked in my room and could co check on at any mont. If they find out, they’ll take my tablet away too.*
*Okay, we’ll just text then. Why didn’t you contact us sooner?*
*Sister, I didn’t bring my charging cable. The tablet only has a few bars of battery left. I kept it off, just waiting for you to get off work and contact .*
Xiang Yiren showed the phone to Sun Dasheng.
He nodded. "Ask her about the choice we discussed. Let’s see what she decides."
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