A transaction

My lips moved, but it felt as though cotton had clogged my throat. In the end, I only shook my head gently.

My mother's face twisted, despair welling in her eyes. The next instant, her voice rose to a shriek that stabbed painfully at my eardrums:

"That heartless bastard! What an ungrateful wolf! Back then, he was just an illegitimate son everyone despised. If our family hadn't overlooked his lowly birth, why would you have married beneath you! And now he shows us no mercy at all, driving us toward a dead end!"

I didn't dare recall Gu Hansheng's icy gaze just now, much less acknowledge the suffocating ache deep inside me.

"Mom..." I forced out the word, my chest feeling as though a boulder were pressing down on it. "Please stop. I'll think of something else. Just take care of Dad first, okay?"

But she seemed possessed, unable to stop her endless tirade.

Just then, my younger brother came stumbling over. Sweat covered his forehead, and his clothes were rumpled.

"How did it go? Did you borrow any money?" my mother immediately demanded.

My brother slammed his fist against the wall, gritting his teeth. "No! Those people used to be all smiles when we ate, drank, and had fun together. Now they're all hiding from me. They wouldn't even let me through the door! I ran all over the place and didn't get a single cent!"

He laughed in fury, his eyes filled with humiliation. "I must have been blind to call those people my friends!"

Watching his frustrated rage, I felt such a bitter ache that I couldn't speak.

Yes, this was all there was to the warmth and coldness of human relationships.

When you had status and standing, there was never any shortage of people flocking to your power.

But once you fell on hard times, every friendship vanished overnight.

Reality was as brutal as a slap across the face, striking so hard my vision went dark.

"Hanhan!"

My mother suddenly seized my hand again, her gaze filled with hysterical pleading:

"All my hopes are pinned on you! We have to pay the hospital bill this week, or they'll throw your father out. If anything happens to him, I won't go on living either!"

All I could do was nod. "I'll think of something."

The moment I said it, I felt completely hollowed out.

That night, I returned to my rented apartment in a daze.

I dug out everything I had left at home. Old clothes, handbags, jewelry-all of it lay scattered across the bed.

Looking at these things I had once treasured, I felt a surge of bitterness.

I had already sold everything worth selling. What remained was out of fashion, unwanted.

I laid them out one by one, until my fingers suddenly brushed a small box.

It held the ring Gu Hansheng had given me when we married.

An emerald was set into the ring. It wasn't large, but its clarity was dazzling.

I remembered it clearly. The first time I saw this ring back then, I had sneered and tossed it into a corner.

With his status and financial means at the time, he couldn't possibly have afforded something like this.

I had always assumed it was just a cheap imitation he had brought to fool me.

But now, with the ring in my palm again, I froze.

It still shone with a deep green luster, and the brilliance it refracted beneath the light looked nothing like a fake.

If it was real... I could at least get some money for it. Even if it wasn't much, it would be enough to cover the immediate hospital bill.

My fingers closed tightly around the ring.

So he really had... put thought into preparing something for me once.

Sadly, back then, I had never given this ring a proper look.

Tears blurred my vision. I hastily raised a hand to wipe them away, not daring to dwell on it.

This wasn't the time for memories.

The next day, I went to a jewelry shop and handed the ring across the counter.

The owner put on his glasses and examined it carefully, his eyes immediately brightening.

He looked up at me, his expression serious. "It's genuine. A natural emerald of exceptional quality. At market price, it's worth at least five hundred thousand."

I froze, rooted to the spot.

Five hundred thousand?

The owner sighed and shook his head. "But if you're selling it to us, we can only offer you a hundred thousand at most. After all, not many people recognize its worth, and it'll be difficult for me to resell."

A hundred thousand... It was already far more than I had imagined. Right now, I had no other choice.

On my phone, my mother's messages urging me on arrived one after another.

I forcibly suppressed the ache inside me and nodded through gritted teeth. "I'll sell it."

The moment the money reached my account, I felt an emptiness in my chest.

Selling it meant I had severed even the last connection between Gu Hansheng and me with my own hands.

I took the card back to the hospital and handed it to my mother.

Her eyes were red as she nodded repeatedly, then turned to pay the hospital bill.

For years, my mother had been a wealthy wife who lived in comfort and luxury, never worrying about money. Now she was anxious to this extent.

I knew living off what remained without earning anything wasn't a solution. One day, we would reach a dead end. I needed to find a job. At the very least, I had to survive first.

I took out my phone and called one of my father's business partners from before his death.

He remained silent for a long while. Only when he heard me say I wasn't calling to borrow money, but to find a job, did his tone noticeably soften.

He cleared his throat. "You don't have any previous experience, so you'll have to start from scratch. I have a few wineries that need staff. Selling red wine. The base salary isn't high, but the commission is."

He paused, then added, "You're beautiful. That's an advantage. As long as you know how to make use of it, the connections and resources will naturally come back."

Of course I knew what being this sort of so-called high-end wine saleswoman meant. It looked glamorous, but beneath it lay clinking glasses, drinking-table rules, and work that wasn't entirely clean.

But I had no way back. My brother idled his days away and couldn't be relied on. Every burden rested on my shoulders.

"All right," I said quietly. "I'll do it."

I slept in my rented apartment for two days before regaining some energy. On the third day, I went to report for work at the winery.

The winery was on a private estate, elegant, luxurious, and members-only.

I had come here a few times with Dad before. I had never imagined that by the time I set foot inside again, my status would have changed completely.

The receptionist took me to the staff changing room.

The wine saleswomen's uniform was a dark green qipao, its silk bearing subtle patterns. Knotted buttons ran along the diagonal fastening to the collarbone, and the waist was cinched into a slender curve. The slit rose from mid-thigh, revealing the pale, clean lines of the legs.

The moment the person in the mirror raised her eyes, I let out a bitter laugh. I had never imagined that one day I, too, would have to rely on this skin of mine to please others.

The rules here were simple: as long as you sold wine, you earned money. The commission was paid weekly, too. Work with quick returns suited me well.

I heard it was common for the top salespeople here to earn hundreds of thousands a month in commission. If they met a big client, landing a million-value order wasn't just a legend either.

I picked up a tray, placed a few stemmed glasses on it, forced a professional smile onto my lips, and walked out.

At first, I really couldn't loosen up. I made two rounds, talking about flavors, regions, and vintages until my throat was dry, without selling a single bottle.

I understood that many people came here wanting to buy more than just red wine.

A potbellied middle-aged man saw me standing to one side and came over of his own accord, smiling as he slipped a room key card into my hand.

"Come see me tonight, and I'll order ten cases of Supreme wine. How about it?"