Take My Breath Away

"What do 999 stars mean?" Matthew asked.

The two female employees looked at each other and one of them explained, "It's like giving someone 999 roses, but 999 hand-made stars mean more. It's a personal gift to the one you love."

Owen, who had come downstairs, happened to overhear Matthew talking to the two women. "Where did you buy these colorful plastic tubes for folding stars?" he asked.

The two employees became more and more confused, but they honestly answered his questions anyway. "I can't remember, exactly. Still, these plastic straws are pretty cheap. You can find them all over the place."

Hearing this, Matthew took out his wallet, pulled out a wad of bills and handed it to the girl on the right. "Buy me a thousand pieces. I want them on my desk by tomorrow, just before your shift starts."

He found the best way to punish the naughty gal who called him "Matthew Xitala."

The girl stared at the stack of crisp hundreds he held in shock. It must be at least a few grand, at least. "No, I—"

"Not enough?"

As he asked, Matthew dipped his hand in his wallet once more. The woman waved her hand and tried to calm herself down. "No, Mr. Huo. It's not that expensive. I can buy tons of straws for a buck. It's my honor to buy something for you. I'll have it on your desk tomorrow morning."

Matthew took a look at the money in his hand, and then handed a thousand dollars to her. "Better use my cash. I'd never ask you to use your own money on something like this. Take it, and keep the change."

Unable to refuse, the woman took the money and said, "Thank you, Mr. Huo."

"Thanks for your help." Matthew tucked his wallet in his back pocket and left, leaving the two female employees stunned. It took them a while to process what just happened.

They couldn't help but wonder if Matthew was going to fold stars himself and then give them to someone.

As soon as Matthew arrived at the door to the office of the financial manager, his phone began to vibrate in his pocket. He didn't intend to answer it, because what he was going to do was very important.

But when he saw the caller's ID was the principal from Erica's school, he turned around and slid the answer key at once. "Hello, Mr. Zheng."

"Hello, Mr. Huo. I hope I'm not interrupting your work, but Mrs. Huo...caused trouble at school."

Matthew felt a headache coming on as he listened to the other man.

Meanwhile, Erica and Hyatt had bought a box of fish balls from a street vendor near the school. While they were eating, she got a call from Matthew. "Hi, what's up?"

"Come to my office now!"

"Now? That important, huh?" Erica was confused. Did Ma

g them in her mouth.

She looked suspiciously at the thin man. "So did you get through it?"

Matthew looked into her eyes and said, "Of course. As long as I set my mind to it, there's nothing I can't do."

Erica took another bite of the rice noodles. She found it more and more interesting to chat with Matthew sometimes. "Now that you're among the richest men in the world, what else do you want to do besides earning more money?"

"Sleep with you."

"Ahem, ahem, ahem!" Erica was choked by the soup. She couldn't help but cough a few times as the soup was hot with pepper, and she sucked it down the wrong pipe.

While coughing, she reached out her hand to Matthew. "Water... Help!" she said, hoarsely.

Matthew fetched a glass of warm water for Erica and handed it to her. "That was dumb. What did you do that for?"

Erica felt like she was going to explode. She had no mood to argue with him. She drank a glass of warm water. She felt better, but it still hurt to breathe.

She used the tissues one by one, and the trash can was almost full.

Matthew took another glass of water and set it beside her. He patted her back gently and said, "Sorry, it's my fault."

"What?" She stared at him with her big tearful eyes.

Matthew explained, "I shouldn't have tried to talk to you while you were eating. I'll pay more attention next time."

"That's not the point..." She paused as she coughed again. "The point is that I... Ahem, ahem, ahem... God, I can't catch my breath!" She didn't want to die yet!

Truth was, she often chatted with others at mealtime, but they never discussed sex. That was pretty taboo, and he offered that suggestion out of the blue.

"You'll be okay," Matthew said with certainty. He figured she was too stubborn to die.

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