“Making things difficult? Did I call her a little slut, a fox spirit, or call her shameless for seducing my darling son?”
Lin Yi said in anguish.
“Sixty-one thousand five hundred yuan—your dad didn’t spend that much when he was courting me!”
“This is different,” Ye Xijing said.
“You’ve forgotten you were the third party? The money he spent was from marital property, and that was because Aunt Ye didn’t mind. Otherwise, you would have had to return the money to Aunt Ye.”
“Now you’re spending your dad’s money!”
Lin Yi said, her frustration growing.
There was no one around, and she vented her anger, no longer pretending.
“Why do you think I like Wu Ke? Because your dad likes her.”
Ye Xijing froze for a moment, thinking deeply.
“Dad likes her? When did that happen? Why didn’t I know about it? No wonder—”
“You really talk nonsense,” Lin Yi interrupted.
“Your dad tried to match Wu Ke with your brother.”
Ye Xijing said, “I know, Wu Ke likes my brother too. That’s good.”
“Good my ass!”
Lin Yi pointed at his nose.
“Your brother’s girlfriend is Wu Ke, a university teacher. She has a degree and grace. You get a beautiful little temptress—what else does she have? How many years of schooling has she had? I’m too embarrassed to say.”
“What else are you embarrassed to say?”
Ye Xijing retorted.
“Didn’t you drop out before finishing ninth grade?”
“That’s why I can only be the third party!”
Lin Yi said.
“Xijing, marriage and finding a girlfriend are different. You need to find someone with a high education and culture, so they won’t drag you down. Don’t believe me? Look at me—your dad married me, and what happened to him over the years?
He’s gotten worse. Look at your brother. What was he like when he was with your dad? And what’s he like now with Aunt Ye?
Back then, it seemed like he was going down the wrong path, but Aunt Ye took him to Hangzhou to raise him for a few years. Now everyone says your brother is doing well.”
Ye Xijing said, “Are you trying to send me to Aunt Ye’s place?”
“Stop being sarcastic,” Lin Yi said.
“Can’t you think about the future? Can’t you have at least some basic sense of morals? I found you a good father, can’t you find a good mother for your future kids?”
Ye Xijing didn’t respond.
“I can see now,” Lin Yi said.
“Your brother doesn’t like Wu Ke. He really doesn’t have any romantic feelings for her. But your dad’s vision is good.
If he likes Wu Ke, she must be good. You have to go after her—get yourself together! You can’t let your brother win at everything. You can’t even lose to him in girlfriends, can you?”
Ye Xijing said, “If my dad really has such good taste, he wouldn’t have—Mom! Mom! Mom!”
Lin Yi slapped herself three more times, her hair disheveled.
She looked at her son through the messy strands.
“Listen to me, Xijing,” she cried.
“You can’t compare to your brother. He’s got great potential, and he has a good mother and rich grandparents. If he fails in business, he has family to back him up. You won’t have that, Xijing.
Your dad has a new wife, and who knows, he might give you a little brother in the future—what will you do? I only have one son, and you’re my only disappointing child. If you can’t stand up for yourself, what will you do in the future, my Xijing…”
Ye Xijing was already used to it.
Lin Yi never hit him.
She only slapped herself and hit her head against the wall.
The first time she found out Ye Xijing was dating Qian Dailan, Lin Yi jumped from the second floor and broke her leg to force Ye Xijing to stop seeing her.
Filial piety didn’t matter; what mattered was that he followed.
Ye Xijing dodged and hid, but no matter how hard he tried to conceal it, he couldn’t hide it.
Just like how he couldn’t keep his relationship with Qian Dailan a secret back then, he also couldn’t stop Lin Yi from going to find Qian Dailan now.
Today, he was really afraid that Lin Yi would go crazy in the store.
He knew what his mother was like when she lost control.
“Mom,” Ye Xijing grabbed Lin Yi’s wrist, “Stop hitting yourself.”
He held her hand, wanting to slap his own face, but Lin Yi stopped, her eyes filled with tears.
After slapping herself so hard, she gently, tenderly stroked Ye Xijing’s face.
“My dad will never have other children,” Ye Xijing said.
“Don’t worry, it’s only me.”
The night was silent, with no wind or moon.
10:45 p.m.
Qian Dailan proactively suggested that the sales from the bags, jewelry, and belts be credited to Linda, which surprised Luna greatly.
“Why?”
Luna asked.
“Mila, you’ve been the one serving them.”
“Ms. Lin is Linda’s regular customer. Today… was an accident,” Qian Dailan said with a gentle smile.
“I can’t steal Linda’s customers.”
Linda, who was opening and closing a drawer, glanced at Qian Dailan, her expression a mix of confusion, surprise, and some emotion.
The items Qian Dailan had proactively assigned to Linda were all high-commission ones.
Under normal circumstances, it would be impossible to say Qian Dailan wasn’t annoyed.
In sales, the store is a battleground—who doesn’t use every tactic to boost performance?
Who doesn’t wear a smile every day to make a sale?
“Okay,” Luna said, not dwelling on it.
She nodded and looked down, seeing the red mark on Qian Dailan’s white cotton socks behind her heel.
“You’ve had a long day. Go home early. You’re on the afternoon shift tomorrow, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Don’t forget.”
“Thank you, Luna,” Qian Dailan smiled sweetly and limped off to the changing room.
She took off her work uniform, changed out of the high heels, placed her items in the designated laundry bag with her name tag, and then set it in its designated spot.
When Linda entered, Qian Dailan hadn’t yet put on her dress.
Her long, beautiful body was pale from not seeing the sun for a while, her arms and legs long, and though she was only 169 cm, her proportions were excellent, and her head was small, making her look at least 175 cm tall.
She was only wearing a bra and plain-colored underwear, and she didn’t shy away from Linda, casually displaying her beautiful body and smiling, greeting her, “Linda, sis.”
Linda, feeling a bit embarrassed, couldn’t look too long.
“Thank you.”
“No need to thank me,” Qian Dailan said as she placed her dress on the floor, held up the sleeves, and stepped into it, pulling it up from her legs.
She said, “Thanks to you, I learned how to recognize customers.”
“It’s nothing…”
Qian Dailan reached behind her to zip up the back of the dress.
Just as she finished zipping it up, she turned and saw Linda standing in front of her, handing her a Band-Aid.
“Put this on the back of your heel,” Linda said.
“High heels are like this. I’ve been wearing them for two or three years, and they still rub. If you put this on, it will feel much better.”
Qian Dailan took the Band-Aid and smiled, “Thank you, Linda.”
Linda bit her lip, watching Qian Dailan smile so brightly, and smiled back.
“Mila,” Linda said, “Listen to me. Rich people aren’t easy to deal with. Don’t get too close to someone like that—it’s not worth it, okay?”
11:00 p.m.
Wearing a black dress with a blue denim shirt, Qian Dailan finally walked out of the store.
At this time, there were no more buses.
Taking a taxi was expensive, so she pulled out her map to consider whether walking the six kilometers was possible.
It didn’t seem very likely.
As she hesitated, her little Nokia received a message from Yin Shenyan.
She pulled at the hem of her shirt, wiping the damp screen, and finally saw the message.
“Are you asleep? If not, how about coming out for a late-night snack? I’ll come pick you up.”
Qian Dailan replied: “How are you going to pick me up? What kind of transportation do you have?”
Yin Shenyan: “A motorcycle, borrowed. If you’re not afraid of dying, you can sit.”
Qian Dailan: “I’m not afraid of dying.”
Qian Dailan, famished and upset, couldn’t help but indulge herself.
As the saying goes, it’s rare to encounter an old acquaintance in a foreign place.
In this unfamiliar city, at least there was someone she had grown up with.
She devoured the grilled meat and drank beer in large gulps, completely unaware that across a green belt, on the road, a black Bentley had just passed by, then slowly backed up and came to a stop next to them.
Inside the black Bentley, Yang Quan took a deep breath.
Three points gone.
Thankfully, in two months, his driver’s license points would be refreshed.
He rolled down the window, adjusted his glasses, and tried to make out who it was outside, the person who had made Ye Xiyan suddenly tell him to reverse the car—turn around and come back wasn’t an option, he couldn’t wait even a minute, it had to be reversed.
Then Yang Quan saw Qian Dailan.
It was impossible to miss her.
She was too pale, too full of energy.
At 11 p.m., among a group of people who had been working late, eating grilled meat with lifelessness, exhaustion, resentment, and dark circles under their eyes, she stood out—not only because of her fair skin but also because of her lively energy.
And then, there was the man across from her, Yin Shenyan, like a red-and-white poisonous mushroom in a dark corner.
“Hey, isn’t that the new intern?”
Yang Quan recognized her, surprised.
“Why are they eating together?”
After a long silence, Ye Xiyan finally spoke.
“What’s his name?”
In the back seat, Ye Xiyan asked, “Do you know his name?”
“Yin Shenyan,” Yang Quan added, “He won the ‘Turing Cup’ last year, and you gave him the award.”
“Mm,” Ye Xiyan didn’t look away, his gaze fixed on Qian Dailan and the gloomy man across from her.
After a long while, he turned to the side and asked, “Last time, when you sent Dailan back, you said you saw a man helping her carry something. Was it him?”
Yang Quan replied, “It was him.”
Ye Xiyan continued looking at the person on the other side of the green belt.
The smell of grilled meat and charcoal blew into the car through the open window.
Two open bottles of beer were at Qian Dailan’s feet, and only half a bottle remained on the table.
The man across from her was laughing at something she had said.
The charcoal used for grilling wasn’t of the best quality, and the wind carried in ash, which likely came from the grass or wood.
Some of it landed on her head, and the handsome but gloomy man reached out, gently patting the hair on her forehead.
Ye Xiyan realized that this man was the “dog” Qian Dailan had referred to on the phone.
And he struggled to forget that chaotic night, wrapped in a down blanket, white as snow, with Qian Dailan, tears in her eyes, during that conversation with him.
In that moment, everything that had been temporarily ignored began to resurface slowly.
“Dailan, haven’t you ever dreamed of doing something like this with someone? Except for Xijing.”
“Actually, I have.”
“Do you like him?”
“I like him… but not in that way. It’s just like between friends. We argue a lot.”
Confirmation.
Ye Xiyan calmly confirmed it.
The man eating grilled meat with Qian Dailan was the one she mistakenly referred to as the “dog man” on the phone.
He was also the man Ye Xijing had gritted his teeth over, “Dailan came to Beijing because of him,” and he was—
One of Dailan’s former spring dreams.
“Yang Quan,” Ye Xiyan said, “Get out of the car.”