Pay Up, and I'll Make It All Better

Wen Ying, eighteen years old, a professional people-pleaser. Rates clearly posted, no haggling, no exceptions.

Don't ask why she does this. She has to make ends meet. A father who gambles, a mother who ran off, and a grandfather undergoing chemotherapy. Her goal is simple: make money, lots and lots of money.

So here's what her client list looks like:

Gu Yan, the campus heartthrob admired by everyone. She's a hired companion paid by the Gu family to be at his beck and call all year round. His father handles the bills.

Fu Zheng, a young professor. He pays her to say "I love you," and throws in a set of riding crops. Getting whipped is included in the service.

Jiang Yao, student council president and severe insomniac. Every night he hires her to read scripts aloud, the kind where every word needs to be censored.

Xie Lanzhou, a Kunqu opera star. After each performance, she has to turn in a thousand-word review. If she can't write down the details, she has to do it over.

Wen Ying: The client is king. I'm experienced, emotionally stable, and utterly professional.

She set one rule for herself: take the money, don't get attached. Once she's saved enough, she'll quit for good.

But as she went along, things started to take a turn.

The aloof young master started waiting for someone outside the school gates.

The unhinged professor started remembering her smile.

The sleepless student council president started chasing her voice.

The opera star began winking at her alone amid the thunderous applause.

Dear clients, this isn't what we agreed on.

Pay up, and I'll keep you happy.

Keeping you happy is the job. Falling for you is an accident.