Chapter 17: Encounters Missed

The yellow Ferrari weaved through Zone 3, its narrow backseat littered with shopping bags, while the woman in the passenger seat had her long hair unknowingly crawling onto Hang Yishao’s shoulder. His short curls were lifted high by the wind, revealing a broad forehead, and the woman beside him prattled on endlessly about the clothes they’d just tried on. Hang Yishao freed one hand to crank up the car stereo to its maximum volume, the treble trailing back along the highway behind them, stretching far into the distance. "Women are such a hassle," Hang Yishao said without paying attention to the protest of the woman beside him. "The second-rate little star from Qiu Sheng Jewelry had already been ditched by him, and now seated beside him was a new female companion, a Jade Girl singer newly launched by a record company, who just debuted last week and had already landed in his car this week. Hang Yishao thought that a woman with an innocent look should at least be quiet, but who knew that all women were the same; when it comes to shopping, their true nature showed. After prowling through all the shops in Zone 3 and still suggesting heading to Zone 5—what kind of clothing stores could Zone 5 have? A baffling irritability overcame him, and Hang Yishao, in response, turned the air conditioning’s cold blast to maximum. This morning at the breakfast table, his parents’ conversation dragged him into it out of the blue. "Yishao, have you been having conflicts with Ziceng lately?" Hang Mu asked as she took the soup porridge passed by the servant. "No," Hang Yishao had been enjoying some rare quiet, not having been harassed by Su Ziceng’s calls for several days, and was just feeling relieved when his mother brought it up again. Indeed, there were several calls a few nights ago, but at that time, he was in the heat of a passionate moment with a second-rate starlet and had ignored her. "Then did she discuss with you about turning down the offer from Daquan University?" Hang Yishao was sipping orange juice when he heard this and was taken aback, suddenly feeling a fire building up. "When has she ever discussed anything with me?" "You should get in touch with her when you’re free. I heard she’s currently at odds with her family and has really angered your Uncle Su." Hang Mu had watched Su Ziceng grow up since she was little and had long regarded her as her prospective daughter-in-law. "Finally, she’s learned to stay quiet for a while." Hang Yishao finished breakfast quickly and, on his way out, glanced at the pager subconsciously, not seeing that familiar number. Hang Yishao stopped the car, and his companion let out bursts of cheers. On the corner of Zone 5, "Admiration" stood quietly, awaiting the passing female customers. The Jade Girl singer didn’t even take the time to grab the shopping bags in the car’s rear before pushing open the glass door. Hang Yishao was somewhat distracted, not even noticing when the familiar and slightly tense female voice slipped out with the utterance "Welcome to Admiration," just as the glass door was about to close. Inside the store, Su Ziceng was in a completely different situation, focusing intently, trying hard to recall, and only after a good while did she remember the customer’s name: "Miss Chen Xuan." Having not settled on a salary with Sister Mu, Su Ziceng had oddly enough ended up staying on; she later learned that "Admiration" had all sorts of quirky rules. For example, every woman who visited the store would have her information recorded so that the next time she entered "Admiration," the sales associate would accurately call out the customer’s name. Another example was that it wasn’t that Sister Mu hadn’t given her a clear salary, but rather "Admiration" had no set salary—in fact, they earned a service fee of five percent from the price of each piece of clothing sold. Other than that, there was no other income. Su Ziceng watched Miss Chen Xuan, the Jade Girl singer, intently, and didn’t even notice Hang Yishao, who was conspicuously outside next to the Ferrari. Today was her third day on the job. For the entire two days, not a single customer had come to her. This was not to say that business at "Admiration" was bad, but rather that everyone who entered "Admiration" either headed straight for the wardrobe to select new clothes or found Sister Mu, whom they were familiar with, and left satisfied under her recommendations; Su Ziceng, however, was even less noticed than the bottles of wine on the shelf—at least those wines had Sister Mu, the female wine lover, to take care of them. "These are all the latest styles," Su Ziceng said, staring round-eyed at Miss Xuan as she efficiently pulled out a series of clothes: trending miniskirts and rhinoceros leather handbags. These items were all favorites of hers at that age, and she figured the lady before her would like them as well. "Are you blind? How could I wear any of these out?" The Jade Girl singer pouted, flicking her long, jet-black hair and then gesturing to the silk knee-length dress she was wearing. As a swiftly rising Jade Girl star, she couldn’t possibly be caught dead in the getup of a streetwise spicy girl. "Little Xuan, those few pieces are quite nice, suited for going out with your boyfriend," Zimu timely stepped in, taking over from a disheartened Su Ziceng, with an evening gown and a pink pearl necklace in hand. "There’s also this new set, perfect for attending a fan meeting." When she saw the valuable gown, Miss Xuan’s expression finally softened a bit. Now that was more her style. "Yishao, come in and have a look!" Su Ziceng quickly withdrew the handbags and skirts she was holding and looked outside the window. Miss Xuan’s expression morphed, and she scurried outside, whispering a number into Hang Yishao’s ear. Sweat began to dot Su Ziceng’s nose, her grip on the leather bag and the skirt tightening. Su Ziceng felt a string of pressing questions getting stuck in her throat, anger flaring in her eyes. "Aren’t you going to wrap them up?" Zimu mechanically stepped in front of her, blocking her view and also obstructing Hang Yishao from looking inside. Zimu’s prosthetic leg was stretched out in front of Su Ziceng’s eyes, its cold, steel support calming her down. Su Ziceng turned her head away. "Can’t we just not sell these clothes?" Sister Mu’s cold glare made Su Ziceng shiver. True, with no clothes sold, she was in no position to be picky about her customers. Su Ziceng could only wisely pick up the clothes and head over to the card reader. Miss Xuan came back with Hang Yishao’s bank card. Su Ziceng fiddled with the POS machine; these past few days, she had learned nothing else but how to operate it. "Hang Yishao’s card." Su Ziceng stared at the shiny gold card. "It's indirectly like taking money out of my own pocket. Su Ziceng, you can’t forget your pain once the wound is healed and use your own money to buy yourself things again," said Su Ziceng, not yet freed from her legal marital relationship, her fingers frozen, the POS machine silent. After a few moments, she lifted her head, speaking in an unusually pleasant tone, "Miss Chen, I’m sorry, but the card machine is broken. Could you pay in cash?" Hang Yishao had a bad habit of not liking to carry cash. "Zimu, what kind of sales assistant did you hire?" The Jade Girl Star looked at the figure with five zeros and complained dissatisfiedly. Glancing outside, Hang Yishao was standing in the closest phone booth making a call, visibly displeased. "Yishao?" Chang Chi, filled with excitement, answered the call. Her cheerful tone vanished quickly as she mechanically responded to a few inquiries, wondering why Hang Yishao was calling about Su Ziceng. "She’s been gone from home for quite a while now; who knows what friends she’s gone off with?" Chang Chi prepared to smear Su Ziceng when the line went dead. "Also, I’m also at Daoquan..." The Jade Girl Star didn’t dare bother him further; her new posh boyfriend had quite the temper, and she couldn’t afford to lose too much over something trivial. She reluctantly paid for the clothes herself, and before leaving, she didn’t forget to glare at Su Ziceng, then turned and flounced out. Outside the store, Hang Yishao seemed very impatient, urging Miss Xuan to hurry up and get in the car. He didn’t see Su Ziceng standing behind the display window, watching the vehicle drive off. She was dressed in a pitch-black store attendant’s dress, standing in the gleaming window, a cunning glint in her eyes.