Chapter 27 Part 2

The store manager hadn’t come in that morning, so she had placed it in the cabinet under the cash register.

Luo Qingmeng wasn’t great at giving gifts. She had bought bird’s nest worth over six hundred-yuan, a three-hundred-yuan toy airplane for the store manager’s child, plus some snack gift boxes—totaling more than a thousand yuan.

If the store manager pulled any tricks because of yesterday’s incident and didn’t give her the manager position, Luo Qingmeng wouldn’t trust her with anything anymore. She would keep her distance completely, not even remaining friends. Luo Qingmeng steeled her heart, treating it as a lesson bought with her own money.

She had done everything meticulously, handling the etiquette and sentiment perfectly.

When lunchtime came, the store manager arrived. She first walked a lap around the store. Seizing a moment when no one was around, Luo Qingmeng took out the gift and gave it to her.

The store manager was momentarily stunned but still accepted it.

“Thank you, Store Manager. I know you’re a good person.”

With those words, the store manager felt a twinge of guilt. Recommending someone for manager wasn’t a big deal; having one of her own in the position was beneficial for her too, avoiding cutthroat competition between the two stores later.

Both publicly and privately, she had her own selfish motives.

“Thank you so much for recommending me for the manager position and giving me this opportunity,” Luo Qingmeng said warmly.

The store manager felt a pang in her chest and said, “I’m really sorry about yesterday. It must have put you in an awkward spot, making it hard for you to show your face. How should I put it? I really was thinking of using work as an excuse to spend time with you.”

Luo Qingmeng murmured in acknowledgment.

“Thank you for appreciating me.”

She deliberately avoided saying “like,” because she felt the store manager didn’t like her that much—it was mostly just thinking she was suitable.

A kind of “suitable” affection between the two of them.

The store manager could tell she was drawing a clear boundary. She said, “I went over there this morning to push for it. You’ll definitely get the contract in the next couple of days.”

She was still frustrated and brought up personal matters again. “Why don’t you take some time, think it over some more.”

Whether it was anger or something else, the store manager just couldn’t let it go. “She’s a perverted little third, after all.”

Before their falling out, Luo Qingmeng definitely wouldn’t have dared say it.

Now she just shook her head, rejecting the store manager once more. “It’s really not possible. I’m not ready, and I don’t want to date or think about that stuff yet.”

“Besides—” she said earnestly.

“It doesn’t have much to do with her at all. It’s not that I don’t want to date because of her. I’m just a bit tired and want to focus on making more money.”

In the past, Luo Qingmeng had always believed for her family, for love, that others would see her goodness and love her a little more.

For that, she had given too much, too much. Now at twenty-eight, she had barely saved eighteen thousand in her account.

The store manager fell silent. As someone who had been through it herself, she felt a bit sorry for her. Thinking back carefully, it was all because that Qiu Shuxue had made her look like a complete fool over and over. She asked, “You wouldn’t really end up with that woman, would you?”

Luo Qingmeng didn’t answer right away, but she still shook her head—as if telling the store manager yeah, she wouldn’t. In truth, she just couldn’t quite control herself; she didn’t know what the future held.

If they truly parted ways completely, her heart would feel torn apart in pain. It was like she had gotten used to it, grown too fond of how Qiu Shuxue treated her.

“How did you end up living with someone like that?”

Luo Qingmeng had guessed she would ask. Half-truthfully, she said, “Back when we divorced, Li An promised to give me fifty thousand yuan, but he only gave me ten thousand and ran off. So I went to find Li An, planning to stake out and demand the money from them. I gritted my teeth and moved in.”

“At first, I really didn’t know. I just… at the beginning, I thought she was just my customer.”

The store manager tried to piece together their relationship but couldn’t make sense of it. She said, “That person’s a case of playing dumb but actually being shrewd. She looks stupid, but she’s really clever. Don’t let her fool you. I bet she’s not even some little third—Li An’s too old, she probably wouldn’t look at him. Stay vigilant.”

Luo Qingmeng said bitterly, “I have proof.”

Mentioning the proof made Luo Qingmeng feel even worse. If she went to make a scene at the company, would she drag Qiu Shuxue into it too?

What a pain.

The store manager was about to talk more about relationship matters when her gaze flicked outside. She saw a strikingly beautiful person standing at the door, one sleeve rolled up, hands in her pockets. The store manager was just about to say the pervert had arrived when Qiu Shuxue pulled her hand from her pants pocket, revealing a Cartier bracelet on her wrist. She was also carrying a new-model Hermès bag. The store manager blurted out, “That Hermès-wearing perverted little third is here.”

Luo Qingmeng didn’t catch it at first and looked outside. Qiu Shuxue walked in. The store manager propped herself on the cash register, curious to see what this pervert would do next.

Qiu Shuxue placed the bag on the cash register and said, “This is for you, sis.”

Luo Qingmeng said dully, “I don’t want it. You should leave.”

Qiu Shuxue said softly, “I know ways to make myself seem older than you.”

Luo Qingmeng bit her lip hard and shoved Qiu Shuxue’s bag back at her. She said to the store manager, “Store Manager, I’ll make things clear with her. It won’t delay this afternoon’s work.”

The store manager nodded and shot a glance at the pervert beside them.

Luo Qingmeng led Qiu Shuxue to the break room inside. She clenched her fists tight. As soon as they entered, she slammed the door shut.

Luo Qingmeng looked up, wanting to say something but feeling utterly aggrieved. She shoved Qiu Shuxue hard. “We fought so badly yesterday—you made me spill our relationship—and now you come here today for what?”

“Is there anything shameful about our relationship?” Qiu Shuxue countered.

Luo Qingmeng’s eyes widened. How could she say something like that? A little third and the original partner—did she really think this was a match made in heaven?

“Are you actually sick? Are you a real pervert?”

She thought of how skilled Qiu Shuxue was at it, always plotting one move after another. What if she kept being with a pervert…

Luo Qingmeng felt a chill crawl up her scalp. Qiu Shuxue looked at her and said, “Are you only realizing it now?”

Luo Qingmeng watched her warily. “You—you, where are you perverted? What’s wrong with you?”

Qiu Shuxue thought seriously for a moment and said, “Hmm, ever since I was little, my teachers said I had issues. My classmates thought I was a pervert too. They’d often ask, ‘Qiu Shuxue, what kind of person do you like?’ When I’d describe the person I liked, they’d say, ‘You have such high standards—you must be a pervert.'”

Then she looked at Luo Qingmeng again. “Maybe it’s…”

“Qiu Shuxue!” Luo Qingmeng caught on—Qiu Shuxue was deliberately teasing her. She began to tremble, her hands clenching tight.

Qiu Shuxue said, “If you don’t want to work there, I can recommend a position for you. My uncle has a friend who runs a big bookstore and coffee shop chain at Commercial Corner. My uncle’s helping him find a book guide manager right now.”

It was essentially a business networking venue, with far more books than here, specifically for wealthy, leisurely people seeking relaxation. The salary and benefits started at a minimum of ten thousand.

Luo Qingmeng shook her head, showing no interest at all. She said she wouldn’t go.

Qiu Shuxue said, “I knew you wouldn’t.”

Luo Qingmeng didn’t want any entanglements with her—more precisely, she didn’t want entanglements with anyone she had feelings for. She feared that if they parted later, the other wouldn’t hold onto old affections, and she’d have to pack up and leave.

Even for a job, she wanted to find it herself. She didn’t want to rely on others, especially not beg Qiu Shuxue for it. That way, if they split, she’d feel inferior, thinking, Ah, what’s wrong with me? I can’t even find a job.

Even when the relationship had run its course, her lack of confidence would make her belittle herself excessively, as if the sky had fallen.

“You can open a bookstore too, I…”

“No need.”

Luo Qingmeng insisted, “Don’t come here anymore in the future.”

“I’m a VIP customer of this store.”

Luo Qingmeng held back her anger.

“But if you tell me not to come next time, then I won’t come,” Qiu Shuxue said.

Luo Qingmeng had already cursed her out many times after calming down, but she had a soft heart. She knew part of the reason Qiu Shuxue had done it was for her sake, so she couldn’t bring herself to scold her too harshly.

She looked toward Qiu Shuxue.

No wonder the store manager called her a Hermès freak.

This Hermès stood in the narrow space, a fine sheen of sweat beading on her forehead. She didn’t belong here at all—like a handcrafted doll, exquisitely sewn with golden thread, stuffed into a cheap cardboard box.

It was truly a disservice to have such a noble and delicate person standing here.

Luo Qingmeng stepped back, avoiding facing her directly, to give the space a greater sense of distance.

Luo Qingmeng restrained the urge to hand her a tissue to wipe away her sweat.

She shouldn’t demand that Qiu Shuxue stop coming to buy books. Qiu Shuxue liked books too; she had her own freedom. Luo Qingmeng was just relying on…

“You…”

She didn’t finish her words before her waist was encircled.

Qiu Shuxue took the apron from the wall and tied it around Luo Qingmeng. Only then did Luo Qingmeng realize she had forgotten to put on the store apron today.

Qiu Shuxue’s fingers tied the knot.

“I’ll take care of you and treat you well. I’ll listen to you, learn to cook, buy you clothes, buy you bags. If you really don’t like us being sisters, you can call me big sister too…”

“What?” What on earth?

Luo Qingmeng sensed something was wrong. She shouldn’t have brought her back here or closed the door. “Qiu Shuxue, restrain yourself a little…”

“But it’s already been twenty-five hours since you last kissed me.”

“In the future, I’ll take the initiative to hug you, kiss you, take the initiative to…” She cradled the back of Luo Qingmeng’s head and kissed her directly.

Luo Qingmeng’s eyes widened.

After a long while, Qiu Shuxue pulled back slightly, pressing her forehead against Luo Qingmeng’s as she said, “I’ve always wanted to kiss you here. Doesn’t big sister want to? I’ll do all the bad things; big sister just needs to be happy. Trust me—I can turn little sister into a really good big sister too.”

She didn’t care if anyone outside could see them. She still turned her head to glance at the door, her gaze provocative. It’d be best if they could see, anyway. She was a freak with nothing to fear.

“Big sister can slap me later too. That way, the store manager will know you resisted to the death, think you put me in my place, that living with me was just a coincidence, that you were protecting me.”

She even said they could make love right here with big sister.

She was crazy, deranged.

Qiu Shuxue was a freak.

Luo Qingmeng retreated until her body pressed against the table. Her waist bent from the kiss, and she dropped onto the chair with a thud. Qiu Shuxue braced both hands on the table and continued kissing her.

In this stuffy, airtight cardboard box—Luo Qingmeng’s work and rest space—Qiu Shuxue, the noble doll, kissed her without restraint.

When Luo Qingmeng was gasping for breath, on the verge of suffocating, a memory suddenly resurfaced: all those countless Saturday and Sunday afternoons in the past, as she untied her apron and headed to the cramped rest room, there had always been a book customer standing by the bookshelf, flipping through books before turning her head to steal a glance at her…

Now, the book customer had come inside.

Qiu Shuxue’s heart had burrowed in too, ruthlessly churning hers up.