"Anything will do." Allen Zhang lay down feeling totally relaxed.
"Maybe I could start by cooling you off." Mary tied up her hair and went down to business.
After about ten minutes.
Mary gargled, her voice a bit hoarse, "Oh my god, you are really high maintenance. Guise definitely won’t envy me now."
What could Allen Zhang say?
"Service not over yet?"
"Of course not." Mary smiled slightly and unbuttoned her shirt, "A hundred bucks for an upgraded service, I said it’d keep you happy all day."
"Do you like seafood, Hanberger?"
Mary’s next move left Allen Zhang totally mystified.
One hour later, the show was over.
Allen Zhang felt refreshed and thought the upgraded service was remarkably conscience-driven; for a moment, he couldn’t tell if he was the server or the client.
"You definitely need to come look after my business more often. I’ll give you a discount!" Mary said with lingering affection, "I could even make it free for you this time! Darling."
Allen Zhang was ready to pay, but who would’ve thought he could trigger a freeloading project?
"Are you serious?" Allen Zhang was a bit surprised and said tactfully, "But you do have a boyfriend."
Ours is just a transaction.
"Please, a time or two means nothing; I do this kind of work, and he’s not oblivious to the nature of it. For you, I’m willing to be shameless." Mary’s eyes brimmed with pink bubbles.
Allen Zhang just had to marvel at his own immense charm. He also felt she was a bit impulsive, but she’d calm down soon enough.
Mary’s colleague Guise came to look for her, "Mary, what are you doing? Why aren’t you doing your job? Oh shit!! Are you sneaking a man during work hours?"
"I’m serving a client!!" Mary straightened her clothes, "Fulfilling my duties while at work. OK!"
"Does your client need any more services?" Guise asked, glancing at Allen Zhang with eager anticipation.
Whispering in Mary’s ear, she said, "I’ve never seen one so big just lying there, your client is in such good shape? He’s premium stock!"
Mary wasn’t pleased, "Sorry, he’s spent all his energy on me. You should go do your job, you little minx."
"So stingy." Guise rolled her eyes, turned, and left.
Allen Zhang glanced at the stirring desire and wanted to say that it wouldn’t be impossible for the two of them to team up.
After getting dressed, Allen Zhang walked out of the private room, and Mary handed him a glass of lemonade from the front desk to quench his thirst.
With the blush fading from her face, she said a bit embarrassedly, "Sorry, Hanberger, for letting you see me in such an ungraceful state. I’m not usually , you know, it’s just a kink! Sometimes I just can’t help myself."
"It’s fine, I understand. Even in disarray, you’re beautiful. I can never get tired of this in my life."
Allen Zhang was smooth with his words, but still took out a hundred-dollar bill and handed it over, "You’re a good girl, this is what you deserve!"
Naturally, Mary was happy, "Then you must come and support my business more often! I can change into a special outfit just for you; do you like Bunny Girls?"
"Of course." Allen Zhang agreed.
The two of them sat down and started chatting, but Mary was getting closer and closer, even seeming to have an urge for a second round.
Fortunately, a call from David came through and made the atmosphere a little less charged.
Allen Zhang found an excuse to step out and directed David to back up the truck for cleaning. David put on the epic gear left by Old Mike, looking formidably efficient, and quickly took care of the garbage in the backyard.
"Good job, here’s your reward, boy." Mary handed David a bottle of soda.
"Thanks." David took the soda and chugged it down, then happily got into his truck, waved goodbye, and drove away from the backyard with a rumble, heading to the suburban waste treatment center.
Allen Zhang also said goodbye to Mary; continuing would definitely interfere with her work.
Luckily, riding the bike, his legs still felt strong!
At an intersection waiting for the traffic light, Sieg sent him a message, informing him that all the cans had been recycled for a total profit of 3,650 US dollars! Fifty bucks more than he had anticipated.
They agreed to meet at a street corner.
It took Allen Zhang some time to arrive at the scene. He biked through the traffic lights, greeted Sieg, and got the money.
Sieg handed him a thick greaseproof paper bag filled with cash, "All in twenty-dollar bills. The can recycling machines can only handle this denomination."
"Well done. This money’s enough for us to have a good meal! Now, I’m off to give Old Karl his 1,000 dollars for the cans. See you later."
Allen Zhang bade Sieg farewell in high spirits and rode his bike to Eito Street.
Upon arriving, he saw Old Karl opening for business, a pity there weren’t many selling cans, mostly just household trash saved by local residents. While the homeless could pick garbage off the streets, they surely couldn’t collect the cans from other people’s homes.
"Dad, I want to go to Paradise."
A family of three exchanged their bags of cans for 46 dollars at Old Karl’s, holding hands, and left happily.
Old Karl fell into thought.
"What, missing your family?" Allen Zhang parked his bike in the yard, entering to wake him.
"Of course, I’m not all alone, I have a family too. My son’s a graduate from a prestigious school! Only they don’t get along with me much, because of my drinking, hanging out in bars, playing around with women. Speaking of which, I do feel a bit sorry for them." Old Karl said with a hint of helplessness.