“Mila is amazing!”
Emma took the lead in clapping, looking at Qian Dailan with a smile.
“Congratulations to Luna for training such a great employee. Truly, the waves of the Yangtze River keep pushing forward—the new ones are always stronger than the old!”
Emma had a good relationship with several VIP customers, and they would almost always book her for shopping appointments.
Since she said this, Manager Mai Yi didn’t criticize her, though Linda tugged on her sleeve to stop her from continuing.
Perhaps last night’s tears had washed away her bad luck because today, Qian Dailan was having a streak of good fortune.
At noon, she assisted a young couple and successfully closed a sale worth 4,500 yuan.
Just as she was about to return to the entrance to greet more customers, Ava called out to her.
“Mila,” Ava said, “The coats that arrived yesterday—I can’t steam them alone. Help me out?”
Qian Dailan hesitated for a moment.
Back when she worked at a market stall, she had learned excellent ironing skills from Sister Mai.
Even with an old-fashioned iron, she could make any fabric smooth and crisp.
She could even handle delicate silk without burning it, perfectly controlling the temperature and distance.
In the store, ironing wasn’t assigned to a specific person—it rotated among the employees.
After witnessing Qian Dailan’s skill, Ava loved asking her for “help.”
Previously, when things were slow, Qian Dailan never refused.
After all, both of them had poor sales numbers.
Ava had joked before that ever since Qian Dailan arrived, she was no longer in last place—so Ava was particularly fond of her.
Sisters in misfortune.
But now, Qian Dailan wanted to focus on serving customers.
She was working hard for the upcoming performance review.
“Ava,” Qian Dailan said, “There are more shoppers around noon. I want to serve a few more customers.”
“Don’t worry, most of them are just window-shopping. Even if you serve them, they won’t buy anything,” Ava urged.
“Come on, hurry up!”
Still, Qian Dailan refused.
Ava didn’t push further, just glanced at her and went back inside.
As Ava had said, most customers at this hour were only browsing, not buying.
After talking so much that her throat was dry, Qian Dailan went to the break room for a drink of water and saw a message from Ye Xijing.
Ye Xijing: “I’ll come find you tonight.”
Qian Dailan: “Don’t. Everyone in my apartment is a girl. We agreed not to bring boyfriends home.”
Ye Xijing: “Then can you come see me? Please?”
Before she could reply, someone called from outside:
“Mila? Are you in there? A customer is looking for you.”
She put away her phone and stepped out—only to find that the person who had entered the store was Wu Ke.
Wu Ke was wearing the same outfit as yesterday, but with a pale lavender dress instead.
Her eyes sparkled like the morning sun, and she had a gentle smile.
Wu Ke bowed deeply to her and apologized.
Under the curious gazes of colleagues and customers, Qian Dailan also bowed in return.
Wu Ke had come today specifically to apologize for last night and everything before.
She was filled with guilt and explained to Qian Dailan that when she was sick before, Ye Xijing had come to keep her company—but she hadn’t known that Qian Dailan was coming to Beijing that day.
It was the same last night—she hadn’t known that Qian Dailan worked in this store and had no intention of making things difficult for her.
She also re-explained things for Ye Xijing, gently telling Qian Dailan that tonight’s celebration dinner wasn’t just for his family—many other people would be there, including Ye Xijing’s teachers and Ye Pingxi’s business partners.
If Qian Dailan attended, it might cause some trouble.
Wu Ke spoke tactfully, and Qian Dailan understood.
Just like last night—the kind of “trouble” and humiliation that Lin Yi had brought.
“I’ve always seen Xijing as a younger brother,” Wu Ke smiled lightly.
“It might sound sudden, but in the future, we might become family. I don’t want any misunderstandings.”
Qian Dailan was momentarily stunned by the words “family.”
“I’m sorry,” she said.
“I don’t really understand… Xijing rarely talks to me about his family. May I ask, you are…?”
“I’ve been pursuing Xijing’s older brother,” Wu Ke said openly.
“Xiyan values family a lot. If I marry him in the future, we’ll probably see each other often.”
Qian Dailan smiled politely.
She didn’t actually care anymore.
People were strange that way—when things were uncertain, they were the most painful.
But once a decision was made, even if it meant letting go, it didn’t hurt anymore.
She had already made up her mind to talk to Ye Xijing tonight and end things properly, leaving this messy past behind.
In the past, she had been bitter about Wu Ke—even though they had never met, she had seen her as a rival and resented her.
But now, after letting go, she realized that kind of hatred had been childish.
Wu Ke didn’t ask her to try on shoes this time, but she did sincerely ask for her recommendation on a pair of small heels.
She mentioned that Ye Xiyan’s mother would be attending tonight, and she wanted to leave a good impression on her future mother-in-law.
After yesterday’s shoe recommendations, Wu Ke had come to trust Qian Dailan’s taste and professionalism.
After trying on the shoes Qian Dailan picked for her, Wu Ke walked a few steps in front of the mirror and smiled.
“Please wrap them up for me. I’ll take them. Thank you.”
Another sale—this time worth 3,500 yuan.
At 6:00 PM, just as her shift was about to end, Linda quietly pulled Qian Dailan into the employee changing room and whispered:
“Ava went to the manager to complain about you,” she said softly.
“She said that when you were fitting shoes for a customer at noon, you didn’t kneel on one knee as per store regulations.”
“Huh? But the customer insisted on putting the shoes on themselves…” Qian Dailan said in surprise.
“Ava always likes to exaggerate,” Linda reassured her.
“Don’t worry, the manager knows what’s going on. They won’t punish you over something like this. But still, you should keep your distance from Ava—just to be safe.”
After saying this, Linda patted Qian Dailan’s shoulder meaningfully and hurried away.
Qian Dailan sat alone in the store, thinking for a long time.
She called Ye Xijing three times, only to find that his phone was turned off.
The graduation banquet at 8 PM…
She had no other way to contact Ye Xijing—not even through his friends.
After hesitating for a long while, she finally decided to call Ye Xiyan instead.
He picked up quickly.
“Dailan.”
“It’s like this, Gege (older brother),” Qian Dailan pressed the phone to her ear.
“You were right—Xijing’s graduation banquet is important. I should at least give him a gift… Are you going tonight?”
Her palm was sweating, dampening a large patch.
Ye Xiyan seemed to understand what she was implying and directly asked, “Where are you? I’ll send Yang Quan to pick you up now.”
“Mm.”
Relieved, Qian Dailan told him her store’s location.
“Thank you.”
For some reason, in that moment, Ye Xiyan felt like the Fairy Godmother from Cinderella—the one who magically appeared at the right time, making everything possible.
“You’re welcome. Anything else?”
“No,” Qian Dailan said.
“Thank you, Gege.”
In a bright and spacious office, Ye Xiyan had just set down his phone when he heard his mother’s voice.
“Who did you ask Xiao Quan to pick up?” Ye Jianhe asked.
“Ke Ke? Or Wan Yin? From the way you sound, it doesn’t seem to be either of them.”
“Neither,” Ye Xiyan replied, standing up and reaching for his coat.
“Take a guess.”
Ye Jianhe thought for a moment. “You haven’t mentioned many girls to me… It wouldn’t be Xijing’s little girlfriend, would it?”
The hand Ye Xiyan was using to put on his coat froze for a second.
“Just her.”
Those three simple words suddenly felt incredibly heavy, weighing on his tongue, making it impossible to say them casually.
He should have been able to say it naturally—if not for that chaotic night.
Instead, he smiled and told his mother, “It’s Cinderella—who is now in desperate need of a pumpkin carriage for her rescue.”
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