“Of course. It seems Miss Shi hasn’t quite understood what I meant — having a few pieces custom-made doesn’t stop you from picking out a few more off the rack.”

Shiyao lightly curved her lips. “But Ayu insists on having everything custom-made for me.”

In truth, none of her clothes — not even the card she had just pulled out — had anything to do with Xuan Yanyu.

From the moment he had met her, Xuan Yanyu had never spent a single cent on her. Even her stay at the Xuan residence had been paid for with rent.

He Qingxia puffed out her cheeks, momentarily at a loss for words.

Was she showing off? Did anyone actually want to hear this?

“Miss, I’m the sort of person who falls for things at first sight,” Shiyao said with a smile directed at Yan Yunning. “I wonder if you’d be willing to part with that piece and let the staff bring you the same style instead?”

It wasn’t as if the boutique was out of stock. Shiyao’s demand was thoroughly unreasonable, and even the staff found themselves at a rare loss for words — they had never encountered anything quite like this, and the person being unreasonable was none other than their young CEO Xuan’s girlfriend.

“Sister.” Shiyu frowned and tugged at Shiyao’s sleeve.

Shiyao shook off her hand and, composed as ever, folded her arms across her chest, watching Yan Yunning.

“Sure,” Yan Yunning said pleasantly. “Pay ten times the price, and I’ll part with it.”

Shiyao drew a sharp breath. She pointed at the dress Yan Yunning was wearing and said in disbelief, “You want me to pay ten times the price for something you’ve already worn?”

Yan Yunning spread her hands. “I never told you to buy it. Weren’t you the one insisting I part with it?”

“Oh my, Ningning, this has put Miss Shi in quite the bind. Perhaps there isn’t quite enough on her card, and she’s too embarrassed to say so — just look at that troubled expression of hers.” He Qingxia covered her mouth with a coy little laugh.

Yan Yunning raised her eyes, a languid amusement dancing in her gaze. “So Miss Shi is giving up on the thing she fell for at first sight?”

Shiyao bit her lip, caught between a rock and a hard place. Out of the corner of her eye she caught the staff watching her, and her face burned all the more.

“Does your boyfriend know you’re out here embarrassing him like this?” He Qingxia’s lips curved ever so slightly upward.

Shiyao clenched her fist, struggling to keep her emotions in check. She pressed her lips together and turned to Yan Yunning. “Half price. Let me have it at half price — you’ve already worn it, after all.”

“Ha.” Yan Yunning laughed out of sheer exasperation. “Unbelievable.”

Fortunately, the Yan Shiyao written in that historical novel had never been this insufferable. Comparing the two now, she found herself almost missing that endearingly foolish version of Yan Shiyao.

But the Yan Shiyao in the novel had been modeled after the real Shiyao — and that bumbling, sweet-natured Yan Shiyao no longer existed.

An inexplicable heaviness settled in Yan Yunning’s chest. She had no idea what had become of Yan Shiyao in the end — and somehow, whatever that ending was, it no longer seemed to matter, because that was nothing more than a fictional character written into existence by an author’s hand.

Fictional. Nonexistent.

“Miss Yan’s own upbringing leaves something to be desired,” Shiyao said with a cutting smile.

Yan Yunning understood immediately — Shiyao was calling her “unbelievable” comment ill-bred. Still, that “Miss Yan” felt oddly deliberate. It seemed Shiyao knew who she was and had sought her out on purpose.

But why?

This was the first time she had ever laid eyes on Shiyao.

“Miss Yan, perhaps you’d like to reconsider.” Shiyao’s lips curved with a certain gleam of amusement. “Because if I call Ayu, this situation will become very difficult to walk back.”

He Qingxia’s heart seized. She grabbed the hem of Yan Yunning’s skirt, shooting her a helpless look.

Yan Yunning patted her hand, glanced briefly at Shiyao, and said, “Then call him.”

Surprise flickered across Shiyao’s face.

“Xuan Yanyu knows right from wrong, doesn’t he? He wouldn’t use his position as heir to the Xuan Group to make things difficult for two young women, would he?” Yan Yunning looked calmly toward the boutique staff. “You can be the ones to contact him, or I’ll find a way to do it myself — or Miss Shi can contact him. Whatever you prefer.”

The staff shrank back, not a single one making a sound.

Shiyao frowned at Yan Yunning. “What exactly are you implying?”

“Miss Shi, you stopped us without cause and then without cause asked me to give up the piece. I agreed — pay ten times the price, you get the dress, I get the money.”

“Then you asked me to give it to you at half price. The same style is right there on the rack. I had just bought it at full price, and you wanted it at half. I can only take that as deliberate provocation.”

“So if you don’t give me a satisfying explanation today, you can have your boyfriend explain himself on your behalf.”

Those two words — “boyfriend” — were like three silver needles driven straight into her heart, each one sharp and stinging.

The color drained from Shiyao’s face. She relented. “Ayu is busy. Let’s consider today’s matter closed — you can go.”

“Too late.” Yan Yunning’s temper had quietly taken hold. She took out her phone and called her father’s eldest brother, her voice laced with deliberate tearfulness as she laid out the situation in full, then repeated everything to her father’s second brother, and finally dialed her own father.

He Qingxia, watching all this, promptly called her own father — and delivered an even more heartbreaking account than Yan Yunning had.

Yes, the Xuan Group was the leading conglomerate in Yuzhao Prefecture, and in ordinary circumstances no other company would dare offend it and bring trouble upon themselves.

But with this many heads of companies calling in, she simply refused to believe CEO Xuan would not give her and Ningning an explanation!

Every last trace of color vanished from Shiyao’s face. She had no one to back her up — her mother and father were both ordinary working people. She couldn’t understand why they were making such a mountain out of this, running to their families over something so small.

In this moment, she had completely forgotten that only moments ago she had threatened Yan Yunning and He Qingxia using Xuan Yanyu’s name.

If they had no one to stand behind them, would they have had no choice but to quietly hand over a brand-new dress at half price just because Shiyao demanded it?

The phone calls produced results with remarkable speed. In under ten minutes, the store manager and general manager had arrived before Yan Yunning and He Qingxia, offering apologies in a steady stream.

The rest of the staff, witnessing this, followed suit with their own apologies.

“Miss Yan, Miss He — the full payment for the garments has already been refunded. CEO Xuan has also said that going forward, for any brand under the Xuan Group, no matter how much you or Miss He purchase, it will be complimentary for life.”

“Furthermore, CEO Xuan has instructed that all brands under the Xuan Group will no longer sell to Shiyao or to her family and friends. If this is not satisfactory, you are welcome to discuss the matter directly with CEO Xuan.”

“CEO Xuan said he will accommodate any request you make, and will continue to do so until you are fully satisfied.”

He Qingxia opened her mouth, utterly speechless.

She had expected the store manager and general manager to offer a simple apology at most. She had never imagined this.

This CEO Xuan was actually quite reasonable to deal with!

No wonder he had built the company this far!

Yan Yunning was also taken aback. All brands under the Xuan Group refusing to serve Shiyao — was this really the attitude one had toward a future daughter-in-law?

Or was the refusal to sell to Shiyao precisely because he intended to give everything to her instead?

“Miss Yan?” The store manager smiled, obsequious and eager.

Yan Yunning curled her lips and looked at Shiyao, whose composure was visibly crumbling, then offered a slow, unhurried smile. “Would making her apologize work?”

“But of course. It was Shiyao who was disrespectful toward you in the first place. Even before you said anything, CEO Xuan had already stated that Shiyao owes you an apology.” The store manager exchanged a glance with one of the staff members.

The staff member understood at once, stepping forward to remove the unpaid-for dresses from Shiyu’s arms.

Shiyao stood stiffly, every gaze in the boutique settling on her, and all she wanted was to flee. The humiliation was unbearable.

The only mercy was that the other customers hadn’t been particularly eager to crowd around. From the moment Shiyao had deliberately called out to Yan Yunning, they had collectively drifted far away from this corner of the store — and had that not been the case, the humiliation would have been far worse.

What Shiyao did not know was that those customers had moved away precisely because they had watched her harassing two young women and had wanted nothing to do with the trouble.

Everyone understood: the kind of person who could afford to shop at a boutique under the Xuan Group banner was never going to be ordinary.