Chapter 2: Four Years Later

Proofreader: Feng Lei
Four years later, Jiang City.
This is another year's plum rain season. Even if the dehumidifier in the room is on, it's still terribly humid.
In the afternoon, Florence finishes cleaning the boxes on the last floor and then goes back to the lounge. Once entering the lobby, she sees Nelson, her son, falling asleep in the chair. Because of the wrong posture, the child sleeps unsteadily, with his innocent young face still wrinkled.
There grows in her mind a surge of bitterness, and she moves to him softly, picking up the child and puts him in the small bed aside.
Ruth Gao, Florence's colleague, comes in with a lunch box, seeing that Florence is carefully applying the ointment on the eczema on Nelson's face. She can't help frowning, "This child is a typical northerner. How many times he has got eczema ..."
Florence is also somewhat helpless. Nelson has no one else to blame in that he takes after his father excessively, including the physique. If it is a bit humid, he would feel uncomfortable. After applying the medication, Florence takes the box from Ruth.
The rice has become cold, which tastes like gravel. After having several mouthfuls, she stopped eating because of the stomachache.
On seeing she doesn’t look good, Ruth asks anxiously, "Are you okay?"
Florence waves her hand, "Nothing, I will be OK in a while.”
In the entertainment club, the waitresses are those who are more or less out of money, let alone Florence, who is a single mother with a son only three and a half years old. So it's hard for Ruth to advise that Florence should take some time off.
"Drink something hot first. There will be a lot to be busy about after 7 p.m. It is tiring to raise a child." says Ruth while pouring a cup of hot water for Florence.
Florence thanks Ruth. Turning back, Florence sees that Nelson is fast asleep. The child changes every day, but on the way taking after his father all the time. Thinking about that, Florence is a bit scared.
The situation of the past is still vivid before her eyes. If it hadn’t been Brian's father who intervened to save her, she and her child might have already died.
In spite of the hardships these years, with Nelson in her life, Florence is a happy woman. As long as she doesn't meet the people of the Si family, it's also good to live plainly in this way.
After eating and resting for a while, someone calls her to go to a private room to serve wine. She looks at sleeping Nelson, a bit reluctant. Fortunately, the child is so considerate that if he wakes up without seeing her, he would not begin mischief. Having requested Ruth to take care of Nelson, Florence changes her clothes and leaves the lounge.
After working in Mengyu Entertainment Club for more than a year, she has always been cautious and clever. The supervisor in charge of this floor has always been very reassured by her. Thinking of the big shot on the 16th floor, the supervisor was once in a dilemma and finally found Florence the most suitable candidate.
With the supervisor's repeated warning, Florence knows that the guest in Box 309 is not easy to deal with. She opens the door with a fruit plate and a bottle of red wine, even not daring to raise her head.
The room is enchanting with dim lights and the air filled with the aroma of wine and women's perfume.
She bows her head and squats in front of the marble coffee table, trying to open the bottle. Suddenly one hand snatches away the goblet from her hand. Before Florence realizes what happens, some of the red wine in her hand has already sprinkled out.
She is shocked and hurries to wipe the table nervously, apologizing, "I'm sorry, sir, I will come back with a new bottle..."
"Damn it, get out of the way..." The culprit lifts his leg and kicks Florence to the floor, and then looks at the man sitting in the sofa, smiling, "It's so rare for Mr. Si to come to Jiang City that the wine is boring. Let's have Maotai (a kind of liqueur)."
"Alright." The man seems to smile. His eyes fall on the woman next to the coffee table with her hands on the lower abdomen, and suddenly there appears a strange light in his eyes.
"Hey, waitress, go and bring some bottles of Maotai!"
Florence has already had the stomachache and the pain is growing fierce after being kicked. Her vision gets a fit blurry. She struggles to her feet and walks out when she is asked to change the drink.
But as soon as she turns around, she hears a low voice behind, "Wait."
She is frozen, with her fingers holding the bottle suddenly tightens.
In a moment, the man stands up from the sofa, approaching her step by step, and stops one step from her.
With his eyebrows slightly knitted, and he snaps, "Turn around!"