Wooing my Bodyguard Wife

Chapter 4 Brewing Disaster

His night just improved exponentially! Jingwei's eyes roved all over Snow. Now he could see her more clearly and he liked what he saw. Black hair tied into a short ponytail, big doe eyes, a cute button nose and full lips. Her soft round cheeks looked very pinchable.

She was glaring at him. It reminded him of petulant kittens he used to have that would bite and scratch when provoked, before his father made him give them away, claiming they were unsuitable as pets.

So adorable.

"Surely you jest," she says, still trying to discreetly escape. He smirks at the way she's trying to sneak away from him. "I'll be on my way. Have fun! Goodbye!"

Just like before, she all but leaves before he can get the last word. Why does this keep happening to him when it comes to her?

The first time could be an accident, because she didn't know who he was.

This time, it was deliberate! She must know who he is, one of the girls called him by his surname. What was her name again - was it Xiao Chun? Or Xiao Hua? He honestly couldn't recall, they all blurred together in his mind, the same perfumed bodies and sweet, almost saccharine, voices, even their features seemed to be almost copy-pasted from one another.

The plastic surgeon responsible for them must be rich. Not as rich as him of course. But still.

And of course, they all wanted the same things. Either his body, heart, or money.

"Young Master Sun, how could you tease us like this?" One of them said, pretending to sulk. "Ignoring us for the bartender is so mean!"

"Exactly!" The other one echoes. "How are we not as beautiful as her?"

"Isn't beauty in the eye of the beholder?" He asks curiously, a hint of steel lurking underneath his cheerful demeanour. He smiles with all his teeth. The girls flinch. "Are you saying that my eyes are flawed?"

"Well… no…of course not! But…" the girls splutter and hesitate. That was all the excuse he needed to send them away.

"Go. The both of you are ruining my mood." He pretends to scowl and points a threatening arm at the door.

"But Young Master Sun! We'll get scolded!" The girls panic, and one of them grabs at his arm with her long manicured nails. He shakes her off.

"And is that my business?" He retorts. "I'll call you to return if I feel better! Now scram before I really get angry."

They fled in a haste. He hopes they don't wait by the door, he had no intention of calling them back. He was going to get Snow to bring up more drinks (especially water) so that he can stare more at her cute face while she tries not to punch him.

He smiled to himself as he recalled their short interaction.

Many people want to punch him in the face, but she's the only one other than his father that made it look so obvious. It was hilarious, because her nose scrunched up in disgust before she remembered that she was supposed to smile.

She smiled so painfully. Her lips barely moved up before they settled into a natural downturn. Paired with her doe eyes winged with sharp eyeliner, it gave him the impression of a particularly disgruntled cat that accidentally stepped in water.

That settles it. He's going to make Snow his woman. How hard could it be?

=

Xue Ning sneezes as she's cleaning the countertop. Qiu Tong shoots her a concerned look, but she shakes her head. She's definitely not coming down with a cold. She refuses to. 'Come on, immune system,' she mentally orders, 'do your job. Destroy those germs!'

"Are you sick?" Qiu Tong asks. "If you are, don't sneeze into the glasses!"

"I'm not sick. I just sneezed once." She protests.

"Oh… then… is someone thinking about you?" Qiu Tong asks mischievously, nudging her playfully. "A special someone?"

"No!" She refuses to remember the look in Sun Jingwei's eyes as he stared at her in the room. Definitely not.

"Really?" She observes, still cleaning the same shot glass. "There's no one? You're 25, girl. It's best to start looking now - if not all the good ones will be snatched up!

"Oh man, not you too…" Xue Ning grumbles. "My mom gave me this exact same speech when I called her three days ago!"

"And she's right, take it from someone who's been there - the dating pool only gets shittier with time! You've got to take advantage of your youth!" Qiu Tong declares adamantly.

"I am! I'm working to earn money!" She asks, not expecting an answer.

"What if you end up a leftover woman?" Qiu Tong asks in concern. "I just don't want you to get more trouble from society."

"There'll be someone that likes to eat leftovers, I guess," Xue Ning replies, touched by Qiu Tong's concern.

"Besides, being single isn't so bad. I don't have to spend money dolling up to look good!" She adds.

And that is true - if not for this job, she wouldn't have bothered to even buy eyeliner, mascara and lipstick to look presentable. She hates spending money - and because of this she even has to buy makeup remover!

"Still… we should treat ourselves sometimes. Life is too sad otherwise." Qiu Tong says, patting her shoulder. "You are too young to be stingy with self-care."

"I guess," she says, not really believing it.

Then she sneezes again. Crap. There was now snot on her face. Was it Sun Jingwei's fault or did she really catch a cold?

"Ah! The glasses!" Qiu Tong exclaims, "Xue Ning-ah, just go to the restroom and clean up first. I'll handle it. Take some medicine too!"

Xue Ning protests weakly, but is still shooed away to the toilets. She needed to wash her hands and blow her nose at least. She made her way to the nearest toilet - it wasn't the staff one, but it was empty and blessedly clean enough.

She might as well take a short break; she enters the cubicle meant for cleaning supplies, locks it and promptly sits on an upturned bucket.

Ah. Finally her feet get to rest after hours of standing up. She took off her shoes and flexed her toes, encased in socks. Her muscles nearly cried in relief.

She hears the sound of high heels as someone enters the loo.

"Jie, what do we do now? The plan is foiled!" A woman frantically asks.

"Shhh, not so loud, do you want people to hear?" Another woman scolds her.

"It's all that bartender's fault! Hua-jie, why did she have to appear?" The first woman angrily exclaims. Even in a softer voice, Xue Ning can still hear her clearly. Her skill of eavesdropping on people who were shit-talking about her has been honed for years since she was a student dealing with asshole schoolmates.

"Well, Xiumin, you made things worse!" The second woman, Hua-jie, whispers just as furiously in return. "Why did you make him angry? You know his temper!"

"He's a brat." Xiumin bitterly grumbles. "I'm going to make him lose everything."

Wow. She raises an eyebrow in amazement. Someone really has a bone to pick with that man. She stops massaging her feet to listen more carefully.

"And we will… the night is not over. Everyone is still in place. Look, knowing him, he's going to look for the bartender again. We'll just have to find her and stay close to her! The plan can still proceed."

"Hua-jie, you're right." Xiumin sniffles. "That man is not leaving this place unscathed!"

They leave the restroom, unaware that said bartender was massaging her feet merely a cubicle away.

Well. What does she do now? Go back and warn that man that the two women he was cuddling with wanted to end him?

Was it her business?

She waits a while longer, before putting on her shoes and leaving the restroom. She'll just… play it by ear. Maybe the women just wanted to slap Sun Jingwei, instead of something more serious like stabbing him with a knife. It was just impossible. There was no way to hide a knife in their skimpy outfits.

Xue Ning takes a deep breath and calms herself down. She doesn't need to interfere. What she does need to do is return to work. She can't let Qiu Tong handle the entire bar by herself.

"You're back! But you don't look so good, are you sure you're alright?" Qiu Tong asks.

Well, she just overheard a potential conspiracy to murder. In bed. Perhaps.

"I'm fine really," she assures Qiu Tong. "It's just work stress and I'm tired."

Qiu Tong looks dubious, but she doesn't press any further.

Xue Ning sighs in relief; there is no point pulling Qiu Tong into a possible shitstorm. If the news spread, it would create a huge wave of panic and the customers would leave in droves.

What's more, nothing truly happened yet. And she has no clue what could actually be the plan. What if the women just wanted to kick Sun Jingwei in the balls? Why should she stop them?

What's the sense in raising the alarm for nothing?

Doing this would affect the club's reputation.

More importantly, she would be fired!

Even with all these rationalisations, Xue Ning can't get rid of the niggling feeling at the back of her mind that she was missing something important.

If she had known what was going to happen, she would have just stayed in the toilet the whole night until morning came.