Nastasia smiled at Jiang Ya Lin. Though her face was covered beneath a black mask, the bottom half was still visible. Her red hair was hidden beneath a black wig. Part of the dark hair of the wig was piled on top of her head and held in place by a single silver hairpin. A white skirt was worn up above her breasts that stretched down to cover her feet from view. A long wide-sleeved, white robe with red trim and embroidered plum blossoms along its length was held together at the waist with a red sash. The sash also had plum blossoms embroidered along it.
She had been dressed by the servants after getting their opinion on what would make an impressive appearance for the people of this world. As she wanted to leave a good impression on those who would soon become her employees.
Jiang Ya Lin excitedly left the front entrance of the shop, the green tea colored skirt fluttering about with her jaunty steps. With a cute and amused laugh, she said. "I'm surprised you got here so quickly."
Nastasia returned her amusement with a light chuckle of her own. "Liu Yating is good guide."
Perturbed, Paoxiao wanted to say something in retaliation but held his tongue. Luckily he realized in time, if he had opened his mouth he would only be inviting trouble. Instead, he kept his silence, following after them to the building's entrance along with their kid guide.
"I, Paoxiao, and the servants of my Jiang family have prepared everything as you wrote it. I've never seen such a test before and tried it myself. I didn't do too bad and through the test, I've also discovered some skills I wasn't aware my family's servants possessed."
Understanding only half of what the younger girl was chatting about, Natasia gave her a smile and nodded her head as she tried to follow along. Not having the confidence to respond, in case she misunderstood something, she listened attentively as Jiang Ya Lin led her inside and toward the waiting people.
That the jubilant young girl readied everything properly, and that she had fun playing around with the test that had been prepared for the potential hires, were things that Nastasia grasped well enough. It was the things mentioned after that, that got a little hazy. Luckily Ya Lin didn't seem to mind it as she continued to ramble on about this and that.
Once they climbed the stairs to the second floor and walked down a corridor to where a large room stretched out, there was a group of people waiting. The room had been sectioned off by thick curtains. The people were quiet and did not converse among themselves, opting to observe those around them while considering the possibilities of the test they were to soon partake.
Seeing this type of silent, contemplative attitude, Nastasia was rather pleased. From the first impression, it would seem that Jiang Ya Lin had found some rather promising potential hires.
Staying at the side with Paoxiao, she watched as Ya Lin walked forward to address those gathered. Over the last three days, she had carefully worked out how this event would proceed down to the last word. With Paoxiao's help, this had then been conveyed to Jiang Ya Lin.
She knew that she wouldn't be able to articulate herself well enough to act the part of the host. So Nastasia had decided, with her dark mask and elegant dress, to stand at the side keeping up a cool and mysterious front. It was both a means to wow and to distract those present. Already, a few eyes slid in her direction curiously.
The reason they were here was already known, so there was no need for Jiang Ya Lin to reiterate it for them. Instead, she got right to the point. "You've all had time to prepare yourselves for this trial and from the hints, you should have understood what is expected of you should you obtain a position in this shop." She then gestured toward the curtain where two of her servants stood at the center.
"To begin with, we'll have you all lineup. After you've lined yourselves up, for ten seconds the curtain will be opened. You will have that long to take notice of as many things behind the curtain as you are able. Once the curtain is placed back you will write everything you can recall seeing and you're observations of those things.
"After that, you will then have to talk with some of my servants to see how well you are at getting them to tell you their information. So get lined up because we'll be starting in a moment, and" she threw a glance toward Nastasia, "don't forget to do your best as the Mistress of this shop is watching."
The corner of Nastasia's lip kicked up slightly into a semi-smirk as she watched multiple eyes cast toward her, both appraising and nervous. She maintained her stance, appearing detached even as she steadily returned their gazes. As she saw their reactions, she was quite satisfied and couldn't help but be eager to see how they would perform under the pressure she gave them.
The curtain was pulled back to reveal the mini setup of a storefront. Various carved dolls dressed in various ways and place in various positions dotted the area, presenting what the store may look like once it's bustling. The size of everything was diminutive to its actual thing, but it was large enough to cover most of the room that had been sectioned off. It was a beautifully crafted model of what she envisioned the store to look like once everything was finished.
From their position, everything crafted was easily seen, as it was almost like a bird's eye view. One shouldn't have any problems with completing the test.
After a few seconds, the curtains were swiftly pulled shut. The people were made to write out their answers a distance from each other, to make it difficult to see what other was writing. The idea for this test came from the game she and her siblings would play with their grandfather.
Whenever they would eat out at a restaurant, whenever they went shopping, or whenever they were out for vacation, their grandfather would play this game to keep their senses sharp. He would have them glance in a direction and then tell him everything they noticed from that one look. He would point out a person and say, "after observing them a moment, what do you think of them?"
It had gotten to the point that each one of his grandchildren could easily take stock of the situation around them, reading the people and their intentions to near perfection, which later greatly aided them in their lives and in their chosen professions.
While Nastasia had this skill, she, unfortunately, inherited her mothers wish to see the good in others rather than the bad. Thus, she often found herself tripped up though she had the ability to not get her feet tangled. This blindness, unbeknownst to her, also extended to matters of the heart. Though she was highly intelligent and highly perceptive, the amount of shatter hearts trailing her steps was tragic.
Even Li Yu Rong's straightforward and forthright approach for the longest while had been seen as nothing more than a play boy's teasing antics. It was only recently that she noticed his sincerity, creating, even more, fear to envelop her heart though it brought with it a sense of warmth.
As she was observing their deft skills with the brush, Nastasia noticed that Liu Yating had also joined in. A brush dabbed in ink gracefully and artfully dashed across his page. Although from her position she could see that he had written a lot, taking it seriously, she thought that he was doing it for fun like Jiang Ya Lin.
As the last person finished their writing, she felt herself anticipating being able to read all of those papers. She was rather curious to see what each individual observed in the model she created with everyone's help. After it was made sure that names were written on the papers and they had been properly collected, without mixing anything up, it was time to move on to the next half.
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A/N:
So, my older brother and sister said I should start a Patreon to help save up money for a laptop/netbook (we only have one computer in our house so I've been saving up for one), so I took the advice... but I didn't really think I would get anyone willing to do so. Cause, I can't offer advanced chapters like other's on this site and only have the promise of an extra chapter for every five patrons. So when I checked my email and saw that someone had become my patron, I was both shocked and really excited.
To my first Patron,
Govindec
You have my heartfelt gratitude, thank you very much! XD