The Cold, Aloof Dominatrix After Parasitically Entering a Rich Family - Chapter 31

Chapter 31: The Ledger is Missing — A Kiss on Both of Gong Shayu’s Cheeks…

Tu Si wanted to warn them: There’s nothing under that lousy mango tree except a lousy box and a lousy notebook.

But the icy glint on the iron clothes hanger reminded her that now was the best time to keep her mouth shut.

After the call ended, Gong Shayu looked up, meeting Tu Si wrapped in a bath towel emerging from the bathroom. The towel was wrapped haphazardly, like a hastily rolled sushi roll, with water droplets dripping from the edges.

Usually, when Gong Shayu returned home, Tu Si was either sleeping on the sofa or lying on it watching TV. This was the first time in their cohabitation that she had seen Tu Si just out of the bath.

A moment ago, Gong Shayu’s mind was consumed with the thought of teaching the kid proper behavior, to prevent her from being exploited because of her foolishness.

But now, her gaze was fixed on Tu Si’s blindingly white, gravity-defying long legs, and it was hard to look away. Of course, Miss Gong was not consciously aware of this.

Tu Si, for her part, didn’t sense anything inappropriate. She just cared that the other woman wasn’t reaching for the iron clothes hanger.

Tu Si’s skin was very fair, with a healthy pink undertone, like a peach blossom in spring, softly blooming on the whiteness, exuding a vibrant vitality. Especially the vine-like tattoo on her collarbone—it looked red and gold, seemingly flowing or perhaps burning. In short, it was an unparalleled beauty Miss Gong had never encountered before.

After an unknown duration, Gong Shayu seemed to snap awake. She abruptly stood up, pulled a silver USB drive from behind her back, and handed it to Tu Si. “Take this, give it to Wang Wei.”

Tu Si couldn’t believe her ears. Not only did Gong Shayu not beat her, but she also gave her a USB drive. Goodness knows how much time she’d spent looking for that thing over the past two days.

“Remember,” Gong Shayu’s voice suddenly dropped, carrying an undeniable pressure, “This USB drive has always been yours, and the list inside was copied by your own hands.” She leaned in slightly, her perfume mixed with a faint tobacco scent enveloping Tu Si. “Now, repeat that back to me.”

Tu Si nodded, “This USB drive is mine, and the contents were copied by me.”

Only then did Gong Shayu nod in satisfaction, instructing Tu Si that she could give the USB drive to Wang Wei tomorrow. She then changed her clothes and went back to the study.

Tu Si, turning misfortune into a blessing, was in a great mood and devoured four roasted sweet potatoes. Sweet potato skins and crumbs fell all over the table. Fortunately, she had her versatile old notebook. The flower demon casually tore off a page, using it like a rag to sweep the debris directly into the trash can.

She checked repeatedly twice, finding no suspicious particles, and confidently turned the TV on again. Unfortunately, her favorite street dance show was over.

Tu Si’s mind went blank for two seconds, then returned to street dance. She opened her phone, wanting to ask Ma Yi for the class location so she could follow her tomorrow and sneakily learn… no, copy a few moves.

“That’s weird,” Tu Si muttered. She couldn’t find the cool-looking girl’s profile picture in WeChat. Exiting and logging back into the WeChat app, she found that not only was Ma Yi’s WeChat gone, but Wu Li’s WeChat was gone too.

The Dodder Flower instantly felt that these human things were unreliable: shows disappeared mid-watch; dramas always stopped at the most anticipated cliffhanger; and now, when she needed to find someone on WeChat, they were gone.

Tu Si sat on the sofa in frustration, then suddenly remembered Ma Yi saying she could earn money by being something related to learning English. With money, she wouldn’t have to rely on Ma Yi to copy dance moves.

Ah!

Wang Wei had also said that empty plastic bottles and waste paper could be sold for money. She instantly brightened up, picking up the piece of waste paper from the trash can and carefully placing it back in the iron box.

She turned on the TV—Children’s Channel—My Little Pony in English, and started watching intently.

At 3 AM, Gong Shayu was woken up by a ringing phone.

“Boss Gong, the ledger is missing.” Fang Yu’s voice on the other end was exceptionally tired. “We dug up a 500-meter radius around the mango tree in People’s Square, and didn’t find the ledger.”

“There’s a fresh pit on the right side of the tree roots, just the right size for an A4 ledger,” Fang Yu’s breathing suddenly became ragged. “The soil is still wet… we were one step too late.”

“We were still too late, Boss Gong…”

Gong Shayu’s sleepiness was mostly gone. She rubbed her temples, signaling for Fang Yu to go back.

Things were getting increasingly complicated!!!

After hanging up, Gong Shayu walked barefoot to the floor-to-ceiling window. Searchlights from the distant port cast stark white beams across the night sky. As a top student at Yale Law School, she knew better than anyone: when the scales of law begin to tip, justice is often the first thing to fall.

As she turned, her gaze swept over the open Criminal Law Code on her desk, still on the section regarding “Duty-related Crimes.” She hadn’t expected to only read two pages and then fall asleep here…

Damn Tu Si. From now on, she must be required to wear long pants and turtlenecks!!!

Waking up at this hour, Gong Shayu knew she wouldn’t fall asleep again tonight. She got up and pushed open the study door—

The next second, the remaining two parts of her fatigue vanished completely.

Tu Si, this unlucky child, was up all night watching… My Little Pony?!

Tu Si probably heard the study door open and turned to look at Gong Shayu. The colorful ponies bounced happily on the liquid crystal screen, illuminating the entire room in vibrant hues, leaving nowhere for the dark circles and fatigue under Tu Si’s eyes to hide.

“Sister?” Tu Si suddenly spoke, in English!!!

“…” Gong Shayu thought her ears were ringing. She tentatively replied in English, “You didn’t sleep just to watch cartoons?”

Tu Si answered fluently, “No, I am learning English. This cartoon is very good. Sister, would you like to join me?”

The bizarre thing was, Tu Si’s English was better expressed than her Chinese, with almost no grammatical errors, perhaps because she only learned from My Little Pony?

Learned it in one night?

This hit Gong Shayu harder than the loss of the ledger. She had anticipated trouble with the ledger, so she had contingency plans B, C, and even D. But… what kind of person can master a language just by watching TV dialogue for one night, or a few hours? IQ 210 isn’t meant to be used like this, is it?!

Gong Shayu felt her years of atheism were being challenged.

“Tu Si, can you write?”

Gong Shayu rarely called Tu Si by her full name. Being called so seriously now made the latter sit up straight instantly, like a poor student whose name was called by the teacher.

Tu Si shook her head. “But, she said I can earn money just by being able to speak.”

Money! This woman truly would do anything for money. Even abstract things like learning English overnight—she managed it.

Gong Shayu scoffed, “You’ll be very rich in the future.”

Tu Si’s lips stretched into a bright smile. “Thank you. Then I’ll pay you a salary when I get rich.”

“…” Gong Shayu turned to leave expressionlessly, not wanting to delay Tu Si’s dreams any further.

Tu Si suddenly said, “Sister, Ma Yi said when I have money, I can go dancing with her.”

Gong Shayu paused. “Repeat that.”

“Sister, when I have money, I can go learn street dance.”

Gong Shayu: “Who told you that?”

“Ma Yi.” Tu Si was confused but instinctively explained, “Ma Yi is very pretty, she dances very well, I like her a lot…”

“Does that girl have a red mole on her nose?”

Tu Si’s eyes widened. “Sister, you know her!!!”

Gong Shayu snorted. Of course, she knew her. Mark’s daughter.

“You can go with her. The tuition can be advanced from your salary.”

“Ahhhhh! Really! Sister…!! You are absolutely the best…” Tu Si said, already sprinting toward Gong Shayu, and with lightning speed, she planted a kiss on each of the latter’s left and right cheeks.

This time, it wasn’t for nutrients.

…

Crisis

The next day, Gong Shayu went for her run—and then to work—on time.

Tu Si slept in.

In the afternoon, Tu Si was woken up by a phone call. Wang Wei had good news for her: “The hotel doesn’t have many guests today, so I can get off work early. Shall we go catch some lobsters?”

Tu Si: “I have good news for you too. The list is copied.”

The two agreed to meet at the seaside. Tu Si arrived first.

The sea at Yalu Port was Tu Si’s favorite place. She could dive underwater and freely spread her true form in uninhabited areas; she could also lie on the soft sand and bask in the sun. Although the Dodder Flower couldn’t directly photosynthesize, it didn’t stop Tu Si’s innate love for sunbathing.

Most importantly, here, she could eat what she considered to be the most delicious human food so far. Tu Si even thought that if she didn’t need to rely on Gong Shayu’s nutrients, she could just live with A Jie. Anything that passed through A Jie’s hands turned into a top-grade delicacy.

Er… if A Jie were as beautiful as Gong Shayu, it would be perfect.

“What are you thinking about?” A Jie poked her with a stick unceremoniously. “Go gather some firewood. Is your little friend not coming today?”

Tu Si pointed to the phone A Jie was wearing on her chest and asked, “Is the live stream not on today?”

A Jie sighed deeply. “No stream. No traffic.”

Tu Si immediately offered a bad idea, “Why don’t you bring it to the sea with me next time? It’s really beautiful in there.” She was actually just thinking of filming herself underwater.

A Jie’s eyes lit up. “I can do that. I’ll bring some underwater shooting equipment next time.”

At the same time, in the ICC Hotel conference room.

Gong Shayu’s gaze was colder than the 16-degree air conditioning. Mark had one day left before being transferred to the procuratorate, and the damned ledger was still missing… Most crucially, its only clue had dried up!

Simultaneously, the hotel faced its biggest crisis ever—the hotel occupancy rate and future booking rate were both 0. What did that mean? Forget new guests checking in; even the long-term clients, considered the stable foundation of ICC, had checked out and fled.

Everyone present was feeling threatened. The Sales Manager broke the frozen silence with a sneeze.

“Excuse me… excuse me, please continue. It’s just a little cold,” the Sales Manager waved his hand in apology.

Gong Shayu: “Since that’s the case, then perhaps you, the Sales Director, could also suggest how to break this stalemate.”

The Sales Director looked around, cleared his throat, and spoke, “I have nothing to say, Boss Gong. If I were a tourist and saw so many online warning posts, plus the real-life missteps, I wouldn’t choose to stay at ICC either.”

Upon hearing this, everyone’s resentful and accusatory gazes fixed on Gong Shayu. Everyone felt that the layoff controversy, coupled with the successive incidents in HR and finance, had made the hotel staff feel personally threatened. Negative emotions had spread like a plague to every department.

They were passively slackening off, moving like zombies except when enthusiastically gossiping. Let alone the service industry, for any business, this was a suicidal path to destruction. Even employees who wanted to resign were holding out, waiting for compensation.

Fang Yu secretly gasped. Although she knew Gong Shayu’s general strategy and admired her step-by-step approach, perhaps… except for that cursed ledger.

Boss Gong’s original words were: She must root out the cancer cells of ICC. Internal stability first, then external defense!

So, was all of this within her prediction range?

(1) —Excerpt from Mo Yan’s Frog