Chapter 129: Hero Saves Beauty? (1)

  In a room somewhere in Huaiyang City, a girl was preparing for a bath.

  The girl's name is Gu Xuejie, and using the phrase "emerging from the water like a lotus flower" to describe her would not be an exaggeration. At this moment, Gu Xuejie slowly took off her clothes, gazing at her beautiful reflection in the bathroom mirror, she couldn't help but feel a little intoxicated. She stretched out her hand, admiringly touching her slender twin peaks and slim waist, as well as her long and straight legs, as if in a dream.

  Gu Xuejie's life was very difficult due to her family's poverty. Since she was young, she had been raised by her foster father, who worked in a factory and was introverted and lonely. However, he loved Gu Xuejie dearly. Her foster father had given up on the idea of getting married because he had suffered severe burns on his face while rescuing the factory's property during a fire, despite being hailed as a hero.

  Gu Xuejie was also afraid of her foster father's appearance at first, but she gradually got used to it, especially since he took great care of her in every aspect of life. As a result, Gu Xuejie had some unforgettable happy memories from her childhood.

  Later on, the factory's performance declined, and her foster father's salary decreased. Despite this, he continued to love and care for Gu Xuejie, but their living situation became increasingly difficult. Growing up in such an environment, Gu Xuejie also learned to be sensible and responsible. After graduating from high school, she secretly entered a song and dance hall to earn money without telling her foster father.

  Gu Xuejie wanted to repay her foster father's kindness and decided to earn as much money as possible to give him a good life in his old age. Due to her beautiful appearance, Gu Xuejie received many tips at the dance hall, and their family situation gradually improved. Her foster father was unaware of what she did and thought she had found a good job.

  Unfortunately, tragedy struck again when her foster father discovered what she did and fell ill due to his poor health and the lingering effects of his burns. By the time he arrived at the hospital, it was too late, and he passed away soon after. Before his death, he told Gu Xuejie who her biological father was and asked her to find him and leave the dance hall.

  Her foster father's passing had a huge impact on Gu Xuejie, making her feel guilty for causing his death. She almost gave up on life but decided to search for her biological father instead. However, she found out that he was not from their hometown and had returned to his old home in the south. Gu Xuejie did not want to find him, and after her foster father's passing, she felt lonely and without a family or home.

  To make ends meet, Gu Xuejie continued working at the song and dance hall.

  The dance hall is not a good place, with all sorts of people mixed together. Fortunately, Gu Xuejie has been living a hard life since she was young and knows how to defend herself. Those who get drunk and ask for her attention are uniformly ignored by Gu Xuejie. However, in this environment, Gu Xuejie's views have also become more extreme. Her fellow sisters who work with her see that she is outstanding and warn her to be careful about self-protection. The sister closest to Gu Xuejie tells her that as long as a woman opens her legs, money will come rolling in, but women who do such things are hard to end well. Although they have money to spend, their lives are ruined. Men are not good things, only thinking about wanting your body, paying money and thinking it's justified, completely forgetting you. When people get old and their reputation is gone, it's unknown what to rely on.

  Gu Xuejie had a very poor impression of men, thinking that they were all despicable and lustful, and that whenever they interacted with women, it was always with the intention of taking advantage of their bodies. She believed that the kind of people who came to dance halls were not good people, and under this mindset, Gu Xuejie navigated through her interactions with men, constantly being mindful of protecting herself.

  Gu Xuejie almost got into trouble once. A wealthy businessman from out of town took a liking to Gu Xuejie and bribed the boss with a large sum of money, putting medicine in Gu Xuejie's drink. When Gu Xuejie fell asleep, he was about to make his move, but fortunately, Gu Xuejie's best sister stepped forward and quietly moved Gu Xuejie away, sacrificing herself for a night.

  After going through this ordeal, Gu Xuejie's heart was cold and she thought about leaving the song and dance hall, but she had no means to support herself and didn't know what she could do in the future. One accidental opportunity arose when a group of thugs caused trouble at the song and dance hall, also because of Gu Xuejie's insistence on not drinking alcohol, the thugs made a big scene at the song and dance hall, and everyone was taken to the police station. At that time, Zhu Zongxiang, the deputy secretary in charge of politics and law in Huaiyang City, was inspecting work at the police station and saw Gu Xuejie. From this moment on, Gu Xuejie's good luck quietly arrived, she was recruited by the Huaiyang City Judicial Bureau as a temporary worker, mainly responsible for typing, although the salary was not high, but Gu Xuejie cherished this opportunity very much, studied hard, and gradually became familiar with her work.

  What Gu Xuejie did not expect was that Zhu Zongxiang and those men were the same, they liked her body, not her talent. Zhu Zongxiang was not being kind-hearted either, he also thought about Gu Xuejie dedicating herself to him. Gu Xuejie was very hesitant at first, her view of life had become somewhat distorted. If it was said that she should marry a rich man or something, Gu Xuejie would scoff at the idea, thinking that rich people were not good things. So, Gu Xuejie hesitated, wondering if she should dedicate herself. In today's society, everything is fair and square, no one will do things for you without reason. But deep down, there was a natural tendency that made Gu Xuejie resistant to the idea. Zhu Zongxiang was old, had some baldness, and didn't look good, could her first time really be given to such a man?

  Tonight is the moment when Gu Xuejie must make a decision. In three hours, Zhu Zongxiang's driver will come to pick her up and take her to the Huaiyang Hotel. It's said that they'll be having a conversation, but Gu Xuejie isn't so naive - what conversation could it be other than him wanting her body? Due to her special experiences, Gu Xuejie has closed off her heart and never thought about making friends. In all her years at the song and dance hall, the phrase she's heard most often is "beautiful women are destined for a short life".

  Gu Xuejie didn't know what to do. If she couldn't agree to Zhu Zongxiang, it was simple: Gu Xuejie would continue to go back to work at the song and dance hall. In a place like that, something like this was bound to happen sooner or later; it was just a matter of when.

  Xu Shaojie rarely had the opportunity to rest. Today is the weekend, and Secretary Ding Yuan is attending a meeting in the provincial city. He called back to say that Xu Shaojie was free to arrange his own schedule for the weekend, an opportunity that rarely arose. Originally, Xu Shaojie was supposed to accompany Secretary Ding Yuan to the provincial city for the meeting, but it seemed that Secretary Ding Yuan had some other business, and even driver Ma Yaping hadn't been taken along.

  Just before getting off work, Ma Yapeng came over, entered the office, picked up a cigarette from Xu Shaojie's desk and lit it, speaking slowly.

  "Director Xu, there's nothing going on today, let's go out for a meal together, it's just the driver team, are you coming?"

  "What did Ma Ge say? I was thinking about where to have lunch in the afternoon, and you just said that. How can we not go? Wait a minute, let me gather my things, and we'll set off right away."

  Xu Shaojie hastily gathered the materials on the table, and a few minutes later, he and Ma Yaping arrived at the driver's class. The only two people still waiting inside were Labor Master, Zhu Zongxiang's driver, and Little Liu, who did not have a fixed leader to drive for.

  Lao Shifu drove the car and everyone arrived at the restaurant. Xu Shaojie found it a bit strange, as Zhu Zongxiang should be at home, did Lao Shifu also have time?

  "Director Xu, we made a special appointment today. After dinner, we're going to sing songs too. It's just a matter of time for Labor Master to finish some things quickly. Today is the weekend, it's rare to relax, you are the leader, and now is the time to have fun with the people."

  "Ma Ge, don't say that. Both Lao Shifu and Liu Shifu are usually very busy, it's rare to have such an opportunity. I'd die for a gentleman like you, but I'm not good at drinking, so please spare me later."

  Everyone burst out laughing and entered the private room.

  When they were free, there was no need for so much courtesy. Labor Master took out two bottles of Maotai wine from the trunk of the car and brought them into the private room. Ma Yapeng repeatedly said that Labor Master was stingy, only bringing two bottles of wine. Xu Shaojie hurriedly said it was okay, after dinner they would go to the song and dance hall to sing songs, so don't drink too much. Everyone knew that going to the song and dance hall meant they couldn't avoid drinking, so no one said anything more.

  According to reason, driving a car should not involve drinking wine, but the drivers of the municipal committee office were all like wine jars - even if they drank a little, there was no problem with driving. However, Labor Master still had things to do later and could not drink too much, so after pouring himself one cup of wine, he did not add any more.

  Xu Shaojie and Ma Yapeng shared one bottle of wine between the two of them, while Liu Shifu's share was the lightest, naturally leaving him with the remaining bottle. The group laughed and chatted as they ate and drank, finishing quickly - within an hour, they were full and satisfied.

  Liu Shifu's drinking capacity was not great, and after downing nearly 8 liang of wine, he became very excited, repeatedly shouting to go to the song and dance hall. Xu Shaojie went to the bar halfway through and had already signed the bill. As the secretary of the municipal party committee, eating out was no problem, and with time, it was common to have dinner outside while handling affairs together. Generally, it was the unit that footed the bill, but today was a special case.

  After Ma Yaping came down, he saw Xu Shaojie had already settled the bill and smiled wryly, repeatedly saying sorry. At this moment, Lao Shifu took out his phone and dialed a number, mentioning something about going to a song and dance hall. Xu Shaojie knew that Lao Shifu was inviting someone to treat them, and the expenses at the song and dance hall were not ordinary. If it were an individual treating, everyone would not be able to afford it, but with the unit footing the bill, it didn't matter.

  The boss of the Starlight Dance Hall, Luo Xuan, was waiting at the door and saw Xu Shaojie and others, hurriedly came forward to shake hands, and took everyone into the best private room. The Starlight Dance Hall is a place where city officials often come to play, Xu Shaojie guessed it was because of Luo Xuan's character.

  Xu Shaojie and Luo Xuan were talking, saw Labor Master answering the phone, thought Labor Master had something to do and went to his side.

  "Master Lao, if you have something urgent to attend to, just go ahead and take care of it. We'll wait for you."

  "Director Xue, it's nothing major, just going to pick up a girl, the typist from the Judicial Bureau, Gu Xuejie. How about this, I've had some wine too, Director Xue can come with me to pick her up, and Gu Xuejie is extremely beautiful."

  Lao Shifu said with a smile, this kind of joke is nothing. Xu Shaojie hesitated for a moment and nodded in agreement. He didn't think that this nod would get him involved in a trouble. Ma Yaping didn't mind, also considering Lao Shifu had been drinking, it wouldn't be good for himself to accompany him, let alone Liu Shifu.

  The sedan stopped in front of a very inconspicuous house, and Labor took Xu Shaojie into the dimly lit corridor. Suddenly entering, Xu Shaojie was still a bit unaccustomed. When they reached a door, Labor knocked gently on the door while saying something to Xu Shaojie.

  "Gu Xuejie's father has passed away, this is where her father lived."

  Xu Shaojie nodded, knocked on the door for a while, but there was still no response from inside. Xu Shaojie had also been drinking and was getting impatient, so he used a bit more force and knocked twice.

  The door opened and a girl in a bathrobe stood at the entrance, it was Gu Xuejie.

  Xu Shaojie felt dizzy, Gu Xuejie was indeed beautiful, and her body still had a wild flavor, she actually dared to wear a bathrobe to open the door, for a moment, Xu Shaojie and Labor Master forgot to speak.

  Gu Xuejie was hesitating at the moment, her mood was already bad. She knew Labor Master, but she didn't know Xu Shaojie. Perhaps it was because the knock on the door was a bit loud, Gu Xuejie's face had an angry expression. Seeing Xu Shaojie standing at the door, Gu Xuejie was also stunned. Was Zhu Zongxiang sending someone to pick her up again? Besides, the time hadn't arrived yet.

  After a brief silence, Gu Xuejie said nothing and walked into the house by herself. Xu Shaojie looked at Lao Shi Fu, both of them were at a loss, unsure whether to follow her in or not.

  "Come on in, I'm just getting ready for a bath, you guys wait a minute."

  The decorations in the house are very simple, all of which are old houses from before. It's said that there is no bathroom, however, Xu Shaojie noticed slightly that there was a bathroom in the inner room, probably added by himself later on.

  When Gu Xuejie entered the bathroom, she felt a bit strange. Normally, in such a simple house, it would be inappropriate for men to stay outside while she took a bath. If it were just Labor coming alone, Gu Xuejie would have definitely asked him to wait in the car. However, seeing Xu Shaojie standing next to Labor, Gu Xuejie suddenly wanted them to come in. Nevertheless, Gu Xuejie quickly adjusted her mindset and thought that teasing them wouldn't matter anyway. After all, they were under Zhu Zongxiang's command; calling them Zhu Zongxiang's watchdogs wouldn't be an exaggeration. If she had to devote herself to Zhu Zongxiang, then playing a trick on this young man wouldn't be a big deal either.

  When the sound of splashing water appeared, Xu Shaojie's face turned red and white. What does this mean? A big girl is taking a bath in the house, and two big men are standing guard outside. If someone comes to find them at this time, they will think that the two are doing something. Xu Shaojie thought about getting up and leaving, but it's not good to say anything.

  The old master looked at Xu Shaojie, his eyes filled with apology, probably also feeling that Gu Xuejie's approach was a bit too much. He took out the cigarettes from his body and handed them to Xu Shaojie. The two lit up their cigarettes and patiently waited outside.

  Two minutes later, Labor Master felt a bit embarrassed and explained to Xu Shaojie in a low voice.

  "Director Xue, this is Gu Xuejie, who has just started working at the Judicial Bureau not long ago. I'm not entirely clear about the specific situation either. Today, I asked Director Xue to help pick him up, and unexpectedly encountered such a thing. Later, I'll treat you to a drink as an apology, please don't be angry, Director Xue."

  Xu Shaojie smiled and didn't say a word, which couldn't be blamed on Labor Master.