Branded By You

The poker lady.

The vision that graced his eyes was by far the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. A little woman sat, legs crossed, a black stone in her hand as she stared intently at the go ( Chinese chess) board. No one could fool those eagle eyes.

She wore a white formal blouse tugged into a pair of black pleated formal pants and a pair of white heels. Her hair was held up in a neat ponytail that looked very tight. So tight, it pulled her face upwards, accentuating her defined jawline, high cheeks and beautiful neckline.

Since her hair wasn't cascading over her shoulders, he could see her neck run all the way to the point just above her collar bone. But that was the point at which the vision ended. The blouse she was wearing was long sleeved and went all the way up to her neck, covering her collarbone and everything else.

She was so different from his expectations. One would expect a regular gambler to be around the age of the men she was playing with. Even though young ladies often frequented places like this, it was never on a Thursday night and certainly not to play.

The ones who did, were never dressed like her. The expectation would be a girl in a mini dress hanging around the bar, waiting for the man she was coming with, or looking to meet some loaded rich man.

The look on this young woman's face, however, was stern. She seemed to have a goal, one purpose for coming to this place. She held a black stone in her hand as she looked at the board. Her eyes fluctuated from the board to her opponent's face and back to the board.

He Muyang felt his heart throb. He wanted to know her. He felt an inexplicable attraction towards her. As if hypnotized by her, he continued to stare. The voices blurred around him as he watched her every move.

“Forget it. I'll play whatever.” The old man called song said hastily before he picked up one of the stones and randomly placed in on the board.

The poker lady looked at the little white stone on the board. The expression on her face was one of slight amusement as she c****d a brow.

“That is a good move. You should have done this earlier. I'd have let you stay in the game if we had more time.” She said articulately, drawing a laugh from all the men as well as old Song.

“Ha-ha, good? Good! Then do I have a chance? Will you need more than one move to beat me?” he asked playfully.

“Two moves?” she asked rhetorically as she exhaled quietly “there will be no need for that. It is indeed a good move. But it was out of impulse. When has impulsiveness ever prevailed over skill?” she finished, with that she placed her little black stone on the spot she had been looking at.

“Wah!” someone shouted out from the crowd.

Then a clamor followed, clapping, hooting and cheers. She stood up and bowed respectfully to her elderly opponent. Then she released her hair from the tightness of the ponytail, picked up the chips she had won from the game as well as her purse.

“One more game!” Mr. Song, who had yet to accept his defeat, yelled out.

“I can't play past 9. See you next week.”

“I'll bet ten thousand! Yes, ten thousand yuan! Play one more round, let me choose another game.” He insisted.

“Mr. Song, does your wife know that you are here? Think about the poor woman. I don't accept bets over a hundred yuan. Use your money to buy her a nice dress.” She said and continued on her way, walking right past Muyang on her way to cash out.

The clamor continued as some people teased the song for being relentless. Others told him that it was impossible to beat her, and so he just had to accept his defeat.

Amidst the noise, He Muyang and his assistant made their way to the VIP rooms upstairs. As they walked silently, his mind flashed with images of her. He didn't even know her name, but his mind was rather restless for the 2 minutes he had spent in her presence.

Her demeanor, her composure, and the elegance she exuded. Her hair, her hands, her skin, her beautifully tanned skin; no black, it was black. Light black, almost brown. Her eyes are so light brown and mono-lid, so beautiful. He couldn't see more. That damned long sleeved blouse.

It was about 9:07 pm when the men were finally rallied into the room for the introduction. They walked in to find president He seated on one of the lounge chairs. The expensive leather seat was huge, and yet he made it look so small. Maybe because his frame was rather large.

6'6, with a broad shoulder range and incredibly long legs, with a figure like that, he could easily make anyone, anything look and feel small. Or maybe it was his aura that was even larger than his body frame. His commanding presence had a way of making people bend and fold over for him. That icy-cold personality was extremely oppressive and made people feel small and inadequate when next to him. No one dared to go out of line.

Whatever the case, the room felt a lot smaller and the atmosphere a lot tenser.

“Greetings to the new chairman!” the men yelled out in unison. Most of them had heard about his ruthlessness and how cruel he was towards anyone who pitched themselves against him. They bowed submissively before taking a seat before him. The introduction began with the old chairman He Qiaoyan addressing the men via video conference from Switzerland. The meeting went rather smoothly. They were worried that he might bring up their tardiness, but he didn't.

Each one of the men took his turn to introduce himself to Muyang and state his business and relationship to the organization.

And just like that, the meeting came to an end. Young secretary Mu followed behind President He and opened the door for him. It had been a long day, and now it was almost 1 AM.

“That woman, find out about her” Muyang commanded from the back seat.

“The one they call the poker lady? I know her. I can tell you what you want to know.” Mu Feiyu replied politely.

“You know her?” he asked, his voice deep and dark demanding an explanation.

“Yes boss, we went to high school together and graduated from the same college. She might not recognize me but I know her because I was head of the school council. And she was her badge's valedictorian. Her brother and I also…. Get along. I didn't know she was the poker lady my father kept talking about until now.” He articulated, only to be dismissed by a simple “hmm”.

After following president He around for a few years, it was no longer too hard to understand him. He was indeed a man of few words, the tone of each not varying and so his mood was highly unpredictable. But Feiyu was dedicated to this position, so he learned to understand his boss even without him speaking, and when he did speak, he could tell the most subtle of differences and what they meant.

“Shall I submit a file?”

“Never mind, just talk. What is her name, how old is she, what does she do for a living and where does she live?”

“Her name is Chen Chu Chu, but she goes by her English name, Cherry Chen. She is 26 this year, and she works as a university professor. She lives uptown in the Marietta suburb with her family on the weekends. But during the week she stays in town. She has an apartment 20 minutes away from the state university where she works.”

“You said you went to high school together. Should she not be in her early thirties like you?”

“She was on some government program for gifted kids. Since she is really smart, she ended up skipping a couple of grades and got into high school at 14. That's the most I know. I could have someone submit a detailed report. I don't know much about her family, except that her mother's family emigrated from the Congo to France. There, she met her father, who is Chinese”

“Clear up the schedule so I can visit the state university tomorrow.”