“Your Sister Xiao Lan is busy with her matters.”
If it were Liu Fang, she would have been bragging about her daughter’s achievements everywhere. It wasn’t that Liu Fen didn’t want to brag – she could hold back. She also feared that telling everyone would add pressure on Xiao Lan, so she had to wait until Xiao Lan got into university before telling the relatives.
Liang Huan persisted, “My mom said Sister Xiao Lan was helping at the store. I thought I’d see her. I only saw her before New Year’s, it’s been so long now. I miss my cousin!”
Liu Fen was quite touched.
Li Fengmei secretly rolled her eyes.
How could cousins who hadn’t seen each other for six or seven years have such deep feelings? Besides, last time in the countryside, Liang Huan hadn’t shown any fondness. Why had Liang Huan’s attitude toward Xiao Lan changed so dramatically now? Even Liu Fang didn’t know that Xiao Lan was the real major shareholder of “Lan Fenghuang” – what had caused Liang Huan to change her attitude toward Xiao Lan?
Li Fengmei was very curious.
“Your Sister Xiao Lan is an adult, she surely has her things to handle. Not like you who can study without worries. Do you need something from her?”
How fortunate Liang Huan was, born as the little princess of the Liang family. Xiao Lan wasn’t so lucky – despite her excellent grades, she had to divide her attention to manage the family business. Li Fengmei could understand her niece’s attitude about not being able to let go of the business – it was all because of poverty, people who had experienced poverty were afraid of being poor again.
Liang Huan didn’t catch Li Fengmei’s undertone.
She had made promises to the Fans’ housekeeper – how could she let the housekeeper meet Xiao Lan if she couldn’t even find where Xiao Lan was in the commercial district? Her mother was wrong too, saying her cousin was helping at the store, but it wasn’t the case now.
The store had other businesses, yet several schoolgirls were monopolizing the fitting rooms.
High school students lacked emotional intelligence and couldn’t read the room. Two female customers had waited too long to try on clothes, and Li Fengmei almost lost their business.
“Ma Wei, take these two customers to try on clothes. What are you standing there for?”
Li Fengmei raised her voice, and two female students emerged from the fitting rooms with armfuls of clothes, their faces red.
Liang Huan was a bit unhappy – wasn’t this indirect criticism of her classmates? Seeing the two holding piles of clothes, Liang Huan wanted to save face, “You’ve been trying them on for so long, which ones do you like?”
Which ones did they like?
It seemed they liked them all.
But Lan Fenghuang’s clothes were too expensive – a thin sweater cost thirty or forty yuan, and none of them had brought that much money.
One girl’s ears were red enough to drip blood:
“Liang Huan, it’s too expensive, I didn’t bring enough money.”
Liang Huan was angry – they’d come to the provincial city, and they’d agreed beforehand to visit “Lan Fenghuang.” What was the point of coming if not to buy clothes? And now they’re saying they didn’t bring enough money! She pulled out a sweater, wanting to see just how expensive it was, and saw 49 yuan on the price tag.
The material felt comfortable, and the color was beautiful – peacock blue.
How suitable it would look on a young girl!
The Liang family was well-off, and Liang Huan usually wore expensive clothes, but even she was surprised by the 49 yuan price tag for a sweater.
“Aunt, can you give my classmates a discount?”
The girl also looked at Li Fengmei hopefully. Li Fengmei felt like spitting blood – Lan Fenghuang’s pricing was very strict, discounts were only for the end of the season, and occasional small reductions were only for customers like Liu Fang who spent hundreds at once.
“If she wants it, I can do 45 yuan.”
Liang Huan’s face with Li Fengmei was worth just 4 yuan – Li Fengmei truly didn’t want to discount more. This peacock blue sweater sold well anyway, she could make a few more yuan selling it to others. She was Liang Huan’s aunt by marriage, with no blood relation to Liang Huan, and her relationship with Xiao Lan was built through interaction. Neither Liang Huan nor Li Fengmei were close.
Just 4 yuan less?
Liang Huan was a bit unhappy. She didn’t know how much profit each piece of clothing made, but it must be more than 4 yuan. Her aunt only reduced it by 4 yuan and gave her no face in front of her classmates.
The girl also looked disappointed. If Li Fengmei had cut the price in half to 20 yuan, she would have definitely gritted her teeth and bought it.
45 yuan was still too expensive!
Li Fengmei was nearly furious with Liang Huan. If Liang Huan had bought clothes for herself, when she was younger, Li Fengmei would have grudgingly given her one. But this was Liang Huan’s classmate, someone completely unrelated to Li Fengmei – Liang Huan really couldn’t distinguish between insider and outsider!
Liu Fen wanted to help, but Xiao Lan had emphasized to both of them not to undermine each other in business. Once Li Fengmei stated a price, Liu Fen couldn’t play good cop and intervene. The businesses weren’t unified – doing this once or twice might be fine, but over time it would damage relationships between relatives! So many business partners ended up as enemies, firstly because of profits, and secondly because of small details accumulating over time – by the time conflicts erupted, it was too late to salvage anything.
Seeing her aunt wouldn’t change her mind, Liang Huan, for the sake of face, tried to persuade her classmate to buy the sweater: “If you didn’t bring enough money, I can lend you some. You can pay me back later!”
The girl was very embarrassed.
Borrowed money still needed to be repaid, and a 45-yuan sweater was beyond her spending capacity.
Not many people buy ready-made sweaters now, and for female students like them, the sweaters they wore were usually knitted by family members. Spending 45 yuan on this sweater – she wouldn’t dare tell her family, and the borrowed money would have to be repaid slowly. It was already April – even a beautiful thin sweater couldn’t be worn for many days. It wasn’t worth it.
“Never mind, I don’t want it anymore.”
The girl reluctantly put down the sweater. None of Liang Huan’s classmates were financially independent, and except for Liang Huan, none could afford clothes from Lan Fenghuang. Liang Huan hadn’t planned to spend money on clothes – she was waiting for Li Fengmei to offer to give her something.
Li Fengmei would have to be crazy to give away merchandise, and she hoped Liang Huan wouldn’t ask.
Liang Huan kept pestering her about Xiao Lan’s whereabouts, and Li Fengmei’s curiosity turned to wariness: “Tell your aunt the truth, what do you want with your cousin?”
Liang Huan hemmed and hawed, unwilling to say.
Her female classmates had tried on piles of clothes but bought nothing, making their presence in the store a bit awkward. At least they could now brag about having been to Lan Fenghuang – it was time for everyone to leave.
As both sides were at an impasse, Xiao Lan arrived at the store on her bicycle.
Liang Huan was exceptionally delighted:
“Cousin, why are you only coming back now!”
To Xiao Lan, Liang Huan was a “cousin” she’d only met once, and considering their last meeting had been far from pleasant, while Liang Huan’s presence in the commercial district wasn’t surprising, her enthusiasm was extremely unusual.
Liang Huan came forward and linked arms with her, making Xiao Lan’s whole body break out in goosebumps.
“Liang Huan, if you have something to say, just say it properly.”
The relationship between cousins was more fragile than plastic, and Xiao Lan found it exhausting to pretend.
Liang Huan’s cousin was so beautiful!
When she walked into the store, she made the already glorious shop even brighter.
“Aunt, Second Aunt, I need to have a private word with my cousin.”
As she spoke, Liang Huan kept her arm linked with Xiao Lan’s and led her out of the clothing store. Liu Fen whispered to Li Fengmei: “After all, they’re sisters with blood ties, they’re not so distant this time.”