It was getting dark, and the shops along the entire street were closing one by one.
Lu Yao leaned against the storefront entrance, looking toward the neighboring shops or those across the street that were currently under renovation. She thought to herself that it wouldn’t be long before this place became bustling with activity.
She glanced toward the residential complex nearby. The environment was beautifully designed; Lu Yao had been inside to look around, and greenery spread everywhere, featuring rockeries surrounded by water, pavilions, and terraces… it was practically built with the ambition of being an Imperial Garden.
She had thought she was lucky to have occupied a small corner here so early on.
But she discovered that wasn’t the case.
Neither she nor Jiang Yunyun had ever told Chen Shi about their identities, and considering Luo Yueming’s personality, she wasn’t the type to go around introducing Lu Yao to others.
Furthermore, Luo Yueming could only have learned of her address from Chen Shi.
Because Chen Shi was Luo Yueming’s subordinate.
So it wasn’t some coincidence. From the very beginning, it was Luo Yueming who had instructed Chen Shi to rent the place to her. Perhaps it was out of kindness, feeling that Lu Yao’s nature was inherently weak, and after three years of marriage, her edges had been smoothed away entirely; Luo Yueming might have thought she wouldn’t be able to survive on her own.
This act, which felt like charity, made Lu Yao feel very resentful once she found out.
What annoyed her was that without Luo Yueming, she truly wouldn’t have been able to rent such a prime location.
By the time she and Jiang Yunyun had inquired about this place, it would likely have been rented out by the landlord long ago—one only had to look at the surrounding storefronts to know that.
Lu Yao turned around, closed the shop, walked up to the second floor, and poured herself a glass of water.
She had lost her appetite after opening that courier package. Now she was hungry, but she still didn’t feel like eating, so she just drank a glass of water to get by.
Because she couldn’t sleep, she called her mother.
Lu’s mother answered quickly.
“Are you off work and resting?” Lu’s mother didn’t like using words like “closing the shop” or “shutting the door,” feeling they were inauspicious.
“Yes, I just closed.”
“You’re resting quite early today. It’s only eight o’clock; usually, you call me at eleven or twelve.”
“I have to get up early tomorrow, so I need to sleep now.”
“Running a shop is hard work. If you ever feel tired, you can come back anytime…”
“Why aren’t you speaking?”
Lu Yao leaned on the bed. There was only a single bedside lamp in the room. She wanted to say something to shift her attention, to stop herself from thinking about Luo Yueming.
But as soon as she opened her mouth, she couldn’t help but want to say Luo Yueming’s name. Knowing that her mother’s reaction wouldn’t be good if she heard it, Lu Yao could only hold it in.
She had already lost her composure in front of Li Jing that afternoon. Li Jing didn’t know Luo Yueming, so that was fine, but she couldn’t mention it to anyone else at all.
Lu Yao’s emotions fluctuated intensely beneath her expression, and then she became stubborn again.
Liking someone was her own business; what did it have to do with Luo Yueming?
Thinking this way, her heart felt much calmer than before.
She remained silent for a moment, and Lu’s mother also went quiet. After Lu Yao managed to pull her emotions together, she realized that her mother seemed quite unusual.
“Mom?”
“Yaoyao…”
Hearing her mother respond, Lu Yao breathed a sigh of relief and explained with a smile, “I was just so sleepy I almost drifted off.”
Lu’s mother’s expression was full of concern: “Are you busy over there? Do your father and I need to come over?”
Lu Yao shifted her position while holding the phone: “I’ve hired a new employee. She’s very diligent and can do a lot of things. There’s no need to come specifically; it wouldn’t be good if you two got exhausted.”
Lu’s mother didn’t respond, and it was unclear if she had truly listened.
After a few more words, Lu Yao hung up the video call.
She sighed and reached out to turn off the light.
In the pitch-black room, Lu Yao covered her eyes with her hand: “I really do seem tired.”
The next day, Lu Yao woke up very early. Before dawn, she began washing up.
After getting ready, Lu Yao headed downstairs to get the car just as a few rays of light emerged on the horizon. The streetlights were still on, illuminating the road ahead.
She first rushed to the flower market to restock, then transported the flowers back and began organizing them.
At eight-thirty, Li Jing arrived for work. Having two people made the work much faster, and they finally managed to get the flowers for the Western restaurant ready by nine o’clock.
Next, she had to rush to the Western restaurant without stopping; the restaurant would open in just over an hour.
Lu Yao tried her best to speed up, but she was still a bit late when she delivered the flowers.
Standing in the staff elevator, she felt uneasy.
When she entered the parking lot, she called the manager at top speed. The manager told someone to come down and meet her, but the person who came wasn’t very easy to get along with, constantly complaining about how late it was and saying that customers would be arriving to dine soon.
Lu Yao knew this was her fault and pursed her lips without defending herself.
She wasn’t good at saying sweet things; rather than a dry apology, it was better to get the flowers in front of the manager.
Regardless, there was a two-day trial period. If it worked out, they would sign a contract; if not, so be it.
Holding onto this somewhat defiant thought, the originally weary Lu Yao felt her spirits lift significantly.
“It’s a bit late,” the manager said as well after the flowers were brought up.
However, he looked at the flowers Lu Yao had prepared, scanned them, and then praised: “They are categorized very well.”
They could be used immediately by placing them on the tables, so it didn’t waste any time.
Lu Yao breathed a sigh of relief: “I sorted them according to yesterday’s matching style. If there are other requirements, feel free to mention them; I can do it all.”
As for the delivery time, there was really no helping it; she needed the freshest flowers, and they had to have no extra branches. Furthermore, the distance from the suburbs to the city center took quite a bit of time.
Lu Yao had practically timed the traffic lights to get the goods there.
Her heart hadn’t even steadied by the time she parked the car.
If they were still unsatisfied, she truly wouldn’t be able to take the Western restaurant’s orders.
The manager didn’t say anything more. He took the slip from Lu Yao and simultaneously told her to just hand things over to the supervisor in the future. After saying that, he signed his name and gave the other copy back to Lu Yao.
Lu Yao froze for a moment, realizing this meant they intended to place orders long-term.
A stiff “thank you” squeezed out of her mouth.
Manager: “…”
By the time she returned to the parking lot, Lu Yao didn’t want to move anymore.
She sat in the pickup truck, buried her head in her arms, and let out a “Woo~ yeah!” sound.
The slip signed by the manager was clutched in her hand, already crumpled, but she didn’t care. She only looked joyfully at the amount at the bottom.
Great! The flower shop’s income was finally in the positive!
The emotion and heartbeat of the moment affected Lu Yao; her face flushed with excitement. She had never thought she could accomplish such a great thing! To her, it was even more exciting than ranking in the top ten of her grades!
In high school, the distance between her and Luo Yueming was vast, separated by a galaxy that she could never catch up to.
But now, it seemed different. Before, only Luo Yueming would come here; now, she could come too. This kind of success was delightful.
Lu Yao happily gathered her strength and finally had the energy to drive back, but just as she made a move, a new car drove into the parking space next to hers.
She didn’t think much of it until Luo Yueming stepped out of the car.
Their distance now was indeed close.
Lu Yao was stunned, and she hurriedly moved her foot away from the accelerator. As she watched Luo Yueming, dressed in work clothes, walk toward the elevator, for some reason, the excitement in Lu Yao’s heart suddenly went flat.
She was no longer excited, watching Luo Yueming leave with her own eyes. Her mood seemed too different from when she was in love.
How strange.
It had been quite busy lately.
Approaching the end of the year, various meetings increased. Luo Yueming was once again so busy she couldn’t return home, spending all day traveling between the conference room and the office, occasionally going out to negotiate several important contracts.
The person sent from Iran for procurement finally decided on the transaction method.
Luo Yueming wouldn’t need to manage the rest; she only needed to go sign the contract once more for the cooperation to be finalized.
When signing the contract, the Iranian man had a worried expression.
He needed to import this batch of goods from China to Iran but was unable to provide US dollars for the transaction.
Foreign trade cycles are very long, and it was truly not easy for them to use domestic currency for payment over a long period, but they had to do it.
The Iranian man looked miserable. Someone Luo Yueming brought along teased him: “You can go back and have a heart-to-heart with your wives.”
Luo Yueming’s brow twitched.
Speaking of his wives, the Iranian man clearly brightened up: “No, no, it’s not easy either.”
The subordinate followed with a laugh: “True, one wife is hard enough to coax. If four of them start making a fuss together, life isn’t easy.”
Luo Yueming’s expression gradually turned cold.
“I even planned to buy rings for my wives after making money this time; now it seems that won’t work…” the Iranian man was complaining.
Seeing the subordinate about to respond, Luo Yueming tapped her finger on the contract, looked at the Iranian man who had married four wives, and urged him to get on with what needed to be done next.
Are you going to sign or not?
The Iranian man realized, took out a pen, and signed his long string of names on the paper.
He even praised: “Your Manager Luo is very capable.”
Luo Yueming: “Not capable.”
She couldn’t marry four wives.
Luo Yueming took out her personal fountain pen and signed her name on the paper, stroke by stroke, very neatly.
“General Luo’s fountain pen is quite nice.” The Iranian man had the expression of someone who had spotted something good.
Luo Yueming’s expression softened slightly, looking down at the fountain pen in her hand.
Parker is an old brand of fountain pens, and many people are familiar with it. The one in Luo Yueming’s hand was carefully selected; the weight was light, making it very suitable for workplace use.
The person who gave the gift had put thought into it, which made Luo Yueming reluctant to stop using it.
This Iranian man recognized it at a glance. Just as Luo Yueming’s expression softened, she heard him say: “My first wife gave me one.”
Luo Yueming’s gaze shifted over gloomily: “Is your first wife living a happy life?”
The sound of renovation coming from all directions made people feel uneasy.
A flower shop needs a quiet atmosphere for customers to be willing to stop and come inside to browse.
The shops on both sides were under renovation, and passing by meant a bout of noise; people only wanted to leave quickly rather than pay attention to a so-called flower shop.
Business at the flower shop had been very poor these past few days.
It had gone from the original two or three customers a day to this—not a single customer.
Li Jing was so bothered by the noise she wanted to plug her ears with balls of paper.
“I’ll never complain about our shop being simple again,” Li Jing wailed. She looked resentfully at the neighboring shops; she couldn’t scold either of them, so she could only scold the one across the street.
Lu Yao walked out of the shop amidst her complaints.
Li Jing immediately went quiet.
It was strange; Li Jing had always been a bubbly, lively young girl, and anyone who had interacted with her would say her energy was too excessive and no one could control her.
Yet she would only quiet down in front of Lu Yao.
Lu Yao was used to being calm and rarely made any big movements. Over time, those who knew her would lower their volume in her presence.
They wouldn’t clamor for her to do anything, either; after all, doing so felt like a fist hitting cotton—a very powerless feeling.
Lu Yao didn’t give Li Jing a reaction. She went to the neighboring shop alone.
The renovation worker, holding an electric drill, thought Lu Yao was coming over to ask them to be quieter, and an impatient expression was already on his face.
Indeed, someone like Lu Yao looked very easy to bully and deceive.
Before Lu Yao could speak, the worker waved his hand, and the word “Understood” was about to slip out—only to hear Lu Yao ask very seriously: “About how much does it cost to install a glass door?”
Renovation worker: “…?”
Back in the shop, Li Jing was also surprised: “Boss, are you going to install a glass door?”
Lu Yao nodded: “The rolling shutter door isn’t attractive. Now that we have income, it’s better to change the door.”
At most, she could only afford to change a door; there still wasn’t enough money for more.
“But a glass door isn’t safe, is it?” Li Jing was apprehensive. “If someone breaks the glass and breaks in one day, and you live here, Boss, it wouldn’t be good if you encountered danger.”
Lu Yao looked at the raised rolling shutter door: “This door won’t be removed. It will be pulled down at night.”
Li Jing breathed a sigh of relief: “That’s good then.”
Li Jing secretly watched Lu Yao. She actually really wanted to ask about that courier package from that day.
Whether Lu Yao had put that fountain pen away; it looked quite expensive. She also wanted to ask about Lu Yao’s ex-wife—how was it that Lu Yao had already been married and was now divorced?
She thought that if she had a wife as gentle and lovely as Lu Yao, she certainly wouldn’t be able to bear to divorce.
She just didn’t have the capability; otherwise, she would have pursued Lu Yao long ago.
Lu Yao kept her head down, her hands constantly weaving flower baskets, planning to register an online shop to expand the business.
She didn’t feel very tired now; she only regretted it. If she had done this earlier, she wouldn’t have had to accept Luo Yueming’s savings, and she wouldn’t have subconsciously wanted to hide when she saw Luo Yueming, right?
All those continuous memories were beginning to fade. Lu Yao could only remember the scene of the day she told Luo Yueming she wanted a divorce.