Dual Cultivation

"How old are you?" Su Yang asked the girl her age again despite asking it a minute ago.

"12 years old." The girl answered without any pauses.

"Why do you want this job?"

"I need the money to support my mother."

"Are you okay with working 10 hours a day for seven days a week?"

"Yes."

"How did you hear about this place?"

"From the workers working at the same brothel as I am."

"Do you have any experience as a receptionist?"

"No."

"What do you consider to be your weakness?"

"Being poor."

Su Yang chuckled inwardly at the little girl's straightforward answer.

Despite asking so many questions, Su Yang didn't actually care about the answers, as he only wanted to see how well the little girl would be able to handle them.

"Tell me about yourself." Su Yang then asked.

"My name is Mei Xing, and I was born by accident when my mother accidentally got impregnated by a client, so I do not know my father. Despite only having enough to support herself, my mother still decided to keep me, working even harder than before to provide for the both of us, and I want to repay her kindness by helping her financially."

The little girl named Mei Xing gave a brief yet deep background about herself. Despite growing up in such an environment, she was well-spoken and quite intelligent, especially for someone at her young age.

"Alright… Final question… Why should I hire you?" Su Yang then asked her.

"You should hire me because I will do everything you ask of me, and I will never complain! I am also very good at keeping secrets, so whatever you decide to do with me, I won't utter a single word!" Mei Xing quickly responded with a firm expression on her face.

Su Yang smiled at her words and said, "Do I look like someone who will take advantage of a little girl? I am a scholar— or at least I tried to become one."

He then pondered for a moment before nodding, "Okay, I will hire you."

"Really?" Mei Xing looked at him with a slightly surprised face, as she didn't expect it would be this easy.

Su Yang nodded.

When Mei Xing said that she'd keep a secret no matter what, regardless of her intentions when saying such words, Su Yang had decided to hire her.

"When do I start?" Mei Xing then asked.

"Can you start tomorrow?" Su Yang asked her.

"I can start today!" She replied.

"The store opens at sunrise. Be here before then, but you can come here whenever. And when you leave the store later, help me take down the hiring sign."

"I understand! Thank you for giving me this opportunity to work for you! I won't disappoint you!" Mei Xing bowed to him before leaving the store.

Once outside, she took down the hiring sign.

When the others still waiting outside for their interview saw this, they frowned and asked, "What are you doing, little girl?"

"The store owner told me to take down the sign." Mei Xing said to them without revealing that she'd received the job.

"What? Why would he tell you that?"

"I am just following what I was told." Mei Xing responded before walking away, leaving the others speechless.

'What an interesting little girl…' Su Yang laughed from inside the store when he saw Mei Xing's smart play with his spiritual sense.

A few moments later, the woman that was supposed to be next in line entered the building and asked Su Yang what was going on.

"I have already found my new receptionist. Thank you for your interest. And for the inconveniences, I will give you a free massage on your next visit." Su Yang told her the truth.

Although the woman was upset that she had waited the entire day, she wasn't angry in the slightest since she got a free massage out of it.

The woman then left the store and told the others that the hiring had ended, leaving them speechless.

Meanwhile, Mei Xing returned to her store to bid farewell to the people there before resigning from the place.

After that, Mei Xing went back home, which was the same place her mother worked at.

However, her mother was currently with another client, so Mei Xing had to wait until she was done before she could see her.

An hour later, Mei Xing entered her mother's room.

"What's the matter, Xing'er? Don't you usually work at this time? Did something happen at work?" Her mother asked her in a worried tone while sitting naked on the bed, looking a little exhausted.

"Mother! I have found a new job! And it pays much better than my previous job!" Mei Xing announced this news to her.

"A new job? What are you doing now? If it's anything—"

"Don't worry, mother. It's nothing illegal. I will be working as a receptionist in a nearby massage parlor. The manager there is a self-proclaimed scholar, and he didn't look like a bad man." Mei Xing quickly said.

"A receptionist in a massage parlor? And a scholar?" Her mother raised her eyebrows.

She has lived in the City of Pleasure for her entire life, but she doesn't recall any massage parlors with a scholar working as the manager.

"What is this place called?" She then asked.

"People call it Heavenly Massage," Mei Xing responded.

"Heavenly Massage? I have never heard of it before… Are you sure you can trust this place?"

Since she rarely leaves her room, it was natural that she hasn't heard about Su Yang's new massage parlor.

"Yes! It was recently opened, and it's already very popular from what I heard." Mei Xing nodded her head.

"Be careful, Mei Xing… There are a lot of bad people in the City of Pleasure who kidnap children and sell them to perverts…" Her mother warned her.

"I know, mother. You tell me that every day." Mei Xing said.

And before her mother could respond, someone knocked on the door and said, "Sister Mei, you have another customer!"

Hearing this, Mei Xing's mother said, "I will talk to you again later tonight. I know you're a smart girl, but be careful, Mei Xing."

Mei Xing nodded and left the building shortly afterward. However, since she'd quit her job, she had nowhere else to go, so she decided to go back to Su Yang's place.