My cousin-in-law helped me achieve my ambitions.

Ma Xiaomei laughed: "Not every store has that. Only Wu Yumin dares to do this, and he only serves regular customers. If a regular DVD store did this, it would have been investigated long ago. Wu Yumin has connections; he knows people in the Hunan gang, so he dares to do it."

Su Ming nodded thoughtfully, then asked, "How many customers can a private room like this have in a night?"

Ma Xiaomei thought for a moment and then began to calculate the accounts for him.

"Regular DVD shops don't have rooms this big. They usually only have a bed, and some only have a sofa. These places are basically just for temporary workers to take care of their business. It usually only takes five to ten minutes, and then the next person comes in. They can watch five or six DVDs an hour, and the gross profit per room is no problem at forty or fifty yuan an hour. If you have ten rooms, you can earn five or six hundred or even a thousand yuan a night if business is good. Of course, business isn't good every day; there are more people on weekends."

Su Ming listened attentively, silently calculating in his mind.

Five yuan a disc, ten discs would be fifty yuan. Ten private rooms, if they could take turns using them several times a night…

As he was calculating, Ma Xiaomei suddenly asked curiously, "What's wrong? You want to get one too?"

Su Ming snapped out of his reverie and casually replied, "Just asking."

He paused, intentionally changing the subject, and asked Ma Xiaomei, "By the way, why did you take on this part-time job?"

Ma Xiaomei's expression changed instantly.

She snorted coldly and cursed, "Don't even mention it! I was corrupted by that son of a bitch, Wu Yumin!"

Su Ming asked curiously, "What's wrong? Did he force you to do this?"

"Pah!" Ma Xiaomei spat in annoyance. "He doesn't have that ability!"

She paused, her tone softening, and began to speak.

It turns out that she and her boyfriend used to frequent these kinds of DVD bars. One time, Wu Yumin recognized her, and that guy started flirting with her all the time. At first, he treated her to meals and gave her small gifts, and later he slowly lured her into bed.

"I was stupid too," Ma Xiaomei said with a bitter smile, "I thought he really liked me."

Later, Wu Yumin began to persuade her to do this job, saying it was a quick and easy way to make money. She was initially unwilling, but Wu Yumin used various methods, both soft and hard, and since she was indeed short of money, she finally agreed.

"But I also have my bottom line," Ma Xiaomei said. "I only charge 100 yuan at a time, and I don't take jobs from just anyone. I only take jobs from people I like. Wu Yumin still occasionally asks me to hang out; he doesn't want me to be too dirty."

After listening, Su Ming didn't know what to say. He remained silent for a moment, then stood up and nodded to Ma Xiaomei:

"Alright, I understand enough. You can go now."

Ma Xiaomei paused for a moment, then looked up at him: "You really won't do *that* with me?"

Su Ming decisively shook his head: "No, thank you."

Ma Xiaomei looked at him, a complex emotion flashing in her eyes. She nodded, stood up, straightened her clothes, and walked to the door.

As she placed her hand on the doorknob, she suddenly turned around and glanced at Su Ming.

"You...you're quite interesting," she said softly. "Let's meet another day, and I won't charge you."

After saying that, she opened the door and went out.

As soon as Ma Xiaomei stepped out of the private room, she saw Wu Yumin standing at the bottom of the stairs, waiting anxiously.

Seeing her come out, Wu Yumin quickly went to greet her, pulled her to a corner, and asked in a low voice, "How was it? Is that kid satisfied?"

Ma Xiaomei gave a bitter smile and shook her head: "He didn't even touch me. He doesn't like me, there's nothing I can do."

Wu Yumin's face instantly darkened, and he couldn't help but curse, "Damn it, what exactly is this guy trying to do?"

Anxiety began to creep into his heart. The more indifferent Su Ming appeared, the more frightened he became. These days, it's not greed that's scary, it's indifference. People who want nothing are the most terrifying.

Ma Xiaomei looked at him curiously and asked, "Why do you want me to come with him?"

Wu Yumin waved his hand impatiently: "Alright, that's all for you. You can go now. By the way, just pretend nothing happened tonight."

Ma Xiaomei nodded, said "Then I'm leaving," and turned to leave the DVD shop.

She had just left when Su Ming also came out of the private room.

He walked to the door of the next private room, knocked, and called out, "Dude, should I head back now?"

Bao Yazhong's voice came from inside, panting: "Ming-ge, are you feeling good? Why not book the whole night? I already made arrangements for you!"

Su Ming smiled and said, "Never mind, I need to go back."

Bao Yazhong shouted, "Alright, I'll sleep a little longer. I won't see you off."

Su Ming nodded, said "I'm leaving," and went straight downstairs.

Just as I reached the door, I suddenly heard a series of hurried footsteps behind me.

"Ming-ge! Ming-ge! Wait!"

Su Ming turned around and saw Wu Yumin chasing after him like a lapdog, his face full of ingratiating smiles.

He ran up to Su Ming, bowing and scraping, and said, "Brother Ming, do you think Ma Xiaomei isn't hot enough? Or, I can find you another one with long legs and big breasts another day..."

Su Ming's face darkened, and he interrupted him, "Alright, I didn't have that idea. Let's leave it at that."

After saying that, he turned to leave.

Wu Yumin's smile froze for a moment, but quickly returned. He pulled a thick envelope from his pocket and presented it to Su Ming with both hands.

"Hey buddy, this is just a small token of my appreciation. If you're kind enough not to make things difficult for me and let my CD shop stay open, I'll give you this every month from now on."

Su Ming was stunned.

He looked down at the envelope and wondered: Is there money inside?

Seeing that he didn't speak, Wu Yumin assumed he had agreed and his smile widened. He shoved the envelope into Su Ming's hand, nodding repeatedly, "Take it, take it, this is what you deserve. Alright, I'm going to do my business now. Come visit me sometime!"

After saying that, he turned around and quickly went back to the disc bar, as if afraid that Su Ming would change his mind.

Su Ming stood there, staring at the envelope in his hand, stunned for several seconds.

He pulled out the envelope and peeked inside—good heavens, there was a neatly stacked wad of banknotes inside, at least two thousand dollars!

He was startled and quickly turned around to shout at Wu Yumin's retreating figure, "Hey! What are you doing? I didn't ask you for any money!"

Wu Yumin didn't turn his head, just waved his hand, and his voice drifted out from inside: "Hey buddy, take it! It's yours! I won't feel at ease if you don't take it!"

As soon as he finished speaking, his figure disappeared into the depths of the DVD bar.

Su Ming stood at the door, clutching the two thousand yuan in his hand. The night breeze carried a chill.

He looked down at the stack of banknotes, then looked up at the dimly lit DVD bar, his heart filled with mixed emotions.

Two thousand yuan.

His monthly salary is only 800 yuan. This 2,000 yuan is enough for him to work for two and a half months.

But can we accept this money?

He recalled Wu Yumin's ingratiating face and the implication in his words—this was "protection money."

If he accepts the money, it means he agrees to protect Wu Yumin. Then, if anything happens to Wu Yumin in the future, he will be implicated.

But if we don't accept it...

Su Ming stood in the night wind, thinking for a long time.

Finally, he put the envelope in his pocket and turned to walk into the night.

It wasn't a decision to accept it, but rather a decision to take it first and see how it goes.

Anyway, Wu Yumin said that this was what he "deserved".

As for whether he should or shouldn't, he needs to go back and think it over carefully.

The night was deep, and the streetlights cast a dim yellow glow.

In the distance, the neon sign of the DVD bar flickered, like an ambiguous eye blinking in the darkness.

As Su Ming walked home, the wad of banknotes in his pocket felt heavy, weighing down his heart.

He didn't know what would happen next.

But he knew that starting tonight, many things would be different.

Who cares? Once the money's in my hands, it's mine. Wu Yumin was just afraid of Jiang Jian, the man behind his cousin's wife. He figured he might as well use Jiang Jian's influence to his advantage. He took the money, and if there were any problems, he could just quit and not ask for any more money from him.