The complexity of Yang Ru’s feelings as she departed was beyond description, inadequate for the tangle of emotions she experienced.

She longed to brand this experience as a pillar of shame, either to be buried deep within her heart for all time or deliberately forgotten until it vanished into the ether. Yet, the suffocating ecstasy Wang Zhuo had bestowed upon her seemed to have permeated her very first cell, momentarily erasing everything else, leaving only pure bliss lingering in her mind. Contradiction—nothing but contradiction, over and over again. Never mind. She would simply treat it as a bewildering dream, hoping that upon waking tomorrow, everything would revert to how it was originally.

Her limbs felt weak, her legs soft, and walking felt as if her feet were barely skimming the clouds—a truly miraculous sensation for Yang Ru. Wang Zhuo’s “torture,” which had lasted over two hours, had left her utterly lost, to the point where she had forgotten where she even was. It wasn't until Wang Zhuo walked her to the door that she was jolted back to awareness: she had completely forgotten about the two girls, Yingying and Yanyan!

Lying in the hotel’s large, comfortable bathtub, Yang Ru realized that perhaps in the very next minute, Wang Zhuo’s embrace would shift to those twin sisters, and a faint, wistful melancholy touched her heart. She suddenly slapped her own cheeks forcefully, driving this unwelcome emotion from her mind. He was just a man proficient in Yin-Yang Kung Fu; since Liu Jieming was so disappointing, she refused to believe Wang Zhuo was the only one in the world. Once she returned, she would find a gigolo to test out!

...

After seeing Yang Ru out, Wang Zhuo, slick with sweat from the satisfying exertion, still had a little tag-along pair to deal with. How should he handle this pair of twin flowers who had practically delivered themselves to his doorstep?!

Using his X-ray vision, he glanced into the bedroom. Yingying and Yanyan were sitting in front of the television, watching an entertainment program. Wang Zhuo felt a wry amusement rising within him. While he and Yang Ru had been getting tangled up in the living room, the bedroom, and the bathroom, the girls had heard the sounds, exchanged ambiguous glances, and even whispered amongst themselves. Now, hearing him open the door to see Yang Ru out, they were playing the part of good children! These two little lasses were certainly sharp!

Straightening his clothes, Wang Zhuo walked over, pushed the door open without knocking, and faced the two who turned their heads, saying with a half-smile, “Come out. We need to have a talk.” Yingying and Yanyan responded in crisp voices, gracefully slipping off the bed and out of the bedroom. “Sit,” Wang Zhuo gestured toward the sofa.

Once they were settled, Wang Zhuo smiled and inquired, “Yang Ru mentioned that you two signed an agent contract with her, nominally as her exclusive artists?” Seeing one of the girls nod, Wang Zhuo pointed at her. “You must be Yingying, the elder sister?” Yingying’s eyes brightened, and she asked in surprise, “How did you recognize us?” “Of course, I can tell.” Wang Zhuo gave a faint smile. His super-vision wasn't for show. Forget a pair of twins; even two identical cups, bearing minute differences in scratches and fingerprints, wouldn’t escape him. A few subtle variations in skin texture were enough for him to distinguish between the two easily! In law and medicine, fingerprints are often used to determine identity. Yet, human characteristics extend far beyond fingerprints. Some popular science shows have detailed that human nail striations are also unique, and analyzing the cross-section of a nail can similarly verify identity. For Wang Zhuo, it was even simpler. In fact, besides fingerprints and nails, many human characteristics are never exactly the same—the arrangement of pores, the texture of the skin, even lip prints and pigment deposition. No matter how alike twins look, they cannot evade his discerning eyes! “You truly are amazing,” Yanyan nodded, her face full of adoration. “Don’t rush to flatter me yet. You’ll learn later that I’m not guessing; I see it with my eyes,” Wang Zhuo said, pointing to his own eyes with a smile. “Tell me, what are your plans from now on?” “We will naturally follow your arrangements. Miss Yang said that going forward, we…” Mid-sentence, Yingying stopped, smiling shyly. “With acting skills like that, you’re better than those idol-types,” Wang Zhuo teased, pointing at her. “How long have you been practicing that move?” Yingying instantly blushed crimson, and Yanyan let out an embarrassed chuckle. Such perfect acting, yet it was seen through in an instant! However, talking with Wang Zhuo felt like bathing in a spring breeze. His attitude was like that of a friendly, elder brother next door, far superior to the haughty demeanor he displayed while talking with Sister Yang. He was practically the perfect Prince Charming! “Tell me the story,” Wang Zhuo said, picking up a water glass and drinking deeply. After sweating so much, he needed to rehydrate. “How did Yang Ru manage to lure you here?” Yanyan immediately curtsied and rose, coming forward to refill his water. The little lass clearly had tact. Wang Zhuo gave a slight nod of approval.

The sisters recounted their background to Wang Zhuo, taking turns, sometimes supplementing what the other missed. Though not perfectly linear, they made the story clear. They came from a poor family in the outskirts of the capital. They were sent to an art school specializing in performance arts early on. Later, their parents had a younger brother, and their focus shifted to him. Fortunately, the performing arts school frequently organized commercial performances, which provided the children with some economic subsidy, supplemented by government relief, so they never lacked food or basic necessities. Children of poverty mature early. By the time they finished junior high, they were already capable of planning for their own future. A male classmate had tried to trick them into going to the prosperous southern cities to work as escorts under the guise of earning big money working abroad. After thwarting several such attempts, they realized their own value. After much discussion concerning their future, they chose an unconventional path. Through a senior student they knew from school, the two contacted a "flower broker." This broker understood that his small pond couldn't hold such prized fish, so after giving them a few days of preliminary coaching, he passed them on to Little Xu, who was running a larger operation involving painting murals. “We never want to return to those hard days,” was Yingying’s stance. Yanyan added, “We don’t have any special skills, but thankfully, Mom and Dad gave us good looks. We had no choice but to wager our youth on tomorrow.”

Wang Zhuo fell silent for a long time. Generally speaking, men and women who come from the entertainment circle tend to have more liberal views on intimate matters. This wasn't to say they were wrong, but rather there was a gap in their frame of reference and consciousness. People like Ning Yao were rather exceptional. And that popular singer named Bai Shuang—the one who performed during the confrontation between the Tao brothers and Wang Zhuo—was rumored to be quite unrestrained in the circle, even engaging in the wild act of swapping boyfriends. The deciding factor for Yingying and Yanyan not going south with male classmates to become escorts wasn't fundamentally about their views, but rather that they still held aspirations for the future and were concerned about safety. This could be analyzed from the attitude they displayed during their narration. The path they ultimately chose proved this point: the grade was elevated, but it was still a form of selling oneself—only selling it once, waiting for the highest bidder. Were they wrong? Wang Zhuo believed they were, in a way. But forcing two young girls, deprived of affection since childhood and possessing skewed values, to prematurely determine the course of their lives at this age—they could only make such a decision. Can you expect a wolf raised on meat since birth to suddenly change its appetite and decide to become vegetarian? So, the fault lay not with them, but with the society that molded them into thinking this way.

For the past two years, one point of high praise for Jiangzhou from tourists was the absence of humiliating beggars and pitiful street children in scenic spots and city streets. Few people knew that the originator of this clean sweep wasn't Qin Xue, but Wang Zhuo, who facilitated it. Those children coerced or trafficked into begging are blameless, but they grow up in such an environment, and their values and life philosophies become twisted. The phrase “male thieves and female prostitutes” is the best interpretation of their future. Are they wrong, or is society wrong? If Si Yuan hadn't met him, she probably would have strayed down the wrong path sooner or later, right? Wait, when he first met her, she seemed to already be on that path...

Tsking, Wang Zhuo pulled his thoughts back and re-examined the sisters, who were looking slightly embarrassed after their sincere outpouring. He smiled and asked, “Do you two want to go to university?” The sisters exchanged a look. Yanyan replied, “Who wouldn’t? Wouldn't it be such a regret to go through life without ever attending university?” Wang Zhuo followed up, “Then have you ever thought about which university you’d like to attend?” “Film Academy Beijing (Beiying) is our first choice. We grew up in performance schools and love acting,” Yingying asked with a hint of anticipation. “Will you send us to study?” “Why not?” Wang Zhuo shrugged dismissively. “I’m loaded with cash. Never mind the two of you; I could support two hundred more. If you can’t pass the entrance exams, I’ll just buy the entire Film Academy Beijing.” This was just hyperbole. Buying the Beijing Film Academy wasn't a matter of wealth; that institution wasn't privately owned—no amount of money could buy it! This was meant as a joke, yet Yingying and Yanyan didn't laugh. Instead, their faces were filled with delight, their eyes shining with expectation and adoration. Wang Zhuo scratched his head awkwardly, thinking he had cast pearls before swine this time. He made a boast as a joke, but the two inexperienced little lasses took it seriously! However, this also gave him a new realization: these two, who appeared like little adults, were still just inexperienced children at heart. Their environment forced precociousness, but experience required time to accumulate. It was this pair of lovely girls whom everyone adored, yet they made the bold decision to “gamble their youth on tomorrow”—irritating, lovable, and somewhat pitiable... Shaking his head, Wang Zhuo asked, “Yingying, Yanyan, are those your real names?” “No,” Yanyan replied, revealing two sweet dimples. “Our real names are quite dull. We chose these names ourselves. If you don’t like them, please help us change them.” “They should be changed. Yingying and Yanyan have negative connotations; they don’t sound nice,” Wang Zhuo agreed. “What is your surname?” The sisters looked at each other. Yingying pouted slightly, sounding somewhat dejected. “Our surname is Chou. It’s the character composed of the radical for 'person' plus the character for 'nine,' not the character for 'request' or 'hatred.'” Wang Zhuo suddenly understood why they hadn't mentioned their surname. For a pair of lovely twin girls, bearing the surname Chou was indeed a mood killer, and it was also a character with multiple pronunciations, often misread as the character for 'hatred' (chóu).