To earn money for tuition, Xiangxiang, a poor girl who had just turned eighteen, found a very well-paid internship.
She would be the personal assistant to the conglomerate's top executive, and also look after his teenage son.
Though the young master was five years younger than Xiangxiang, he was already taller than an Australian kangaroo, with broad shoulders, long legs, and a burly build. His face, however, was that of an innocent puppy-like boy.
Xiangxiang followed him around every day. The young master had grown up in America and spoke poor Chinese. He could not read a single character.
"Auntie Assistant, I asked for a hundred guinea pigs online today. Oh, I used your account. I left comments everywhere asking if they'd give me some, and they said I'm a beggar of the internet. What does that mean?"
Xiangxiang stared at her phone, frozen solid.
"Waaah, Henry died! I don't care, Auntie Assistant, you have to bring him back to life."
In the middle of the night, Xiangxiang carried the potted plant named Henry from place to place, desperately seeking help, completely at a loss.
"Auntie Assistant, I want a frog, the most brightly colored one. Look, it looks like this. Go catch one for me."
Xiangxiang's fingers trembled when she saw the picture. Wasn't that a South American rainforest poison dart frog? It was poisonous!
The young master came every year, and his winter and summer vacations were Xiangxiang's annual time of torment.
"Auntie Assistant, I've gotten darker. Hurry and buy me sunscreen. Oh, right, I'm a male athlete, dark-skinned, 195 centimeters tall, a high school boy, with eight-pack abs."
"Sorry, Auntie Assistant, I didn't mean to rip my shirt, but my chest is so big it just split somehow."
"Waaah, I'm a good boy, but what should I do if everything about me is so big? Waaah, will Daddy stop wanting me? But Daddy seems to be this big too."
"Auntie Assistant, I want a kids' meal. Oh, I can't? But look, all the other kids get one... I'm done eating, Auntie Assistant. I want you to kiss me, hug me, and lift me up high too."
Xiangxiang looked at the giant puppy in front of her, whose height rivaled a polar bear. ...Huh? Me? Lift you up high? Why not just crush me to death?
All summer, the young master's enormous, well-developed chest muscles left Xiangxiang bruised and battered. After the Nth time she refused his hugs, kisses, and cheek-to-cheek greetings to no avail, she slapped him in a fit of anger and shouted, "Sit!"
Half his face turned red from the slap. Hearing the command, the young master obediently sat down and looked at her excitedly.
Xiangxiang: ...Oh my, there's something a little weird about this, but I can't quite put my finger on it.
At last, summer vacation ended and the young master was going back to America. Xiangxiang was overjoyed.
At his much-anticipated coming-of-age ceremony, the young master, wearing an innocent expression, demonstrated his Chinese skills to the executive in person. He enunciated every word perfectly: "Waaah, Daddy, I'm a virgin."
Xiangxiang: ??? Who asked you?
Wait, who taught you to say that?
The room fell silent. Under the executive's deadly glare, Xiangxiang wished she could disappear.
Year after year, Xiangxiang endured his torment. At last, she graduated from college and officially joined the company.
At the company annual gala, she unexpectedly won a two-person luxury vacation lasting two whole months. She went onstage to accept the prize, tears of excitement in her eyes.
The atmosphere was lively, and the host asked who she planned to take with her.
She grew a little shy and stammered.
"Is there someone you like?" the host teased.
Xiangxiang blushed bright red and nodded.
The young master sat beside the executive. Father and son, both dressed in suits, looked up at her. Their hearts raced, their chests growing warm.
"I'd like to go with my boyfriend. We've been dating in secret for a long time, and we're planning to get married and go on our honeymoon during those two months."
Xiangxiang said with a blissful smile.
_
Coercive pursuit, disparity in status
2026.1.5
Theme: Face the puppy-headed boy with optimism
