After the bump in at the mall, Xia Biming blocked Xue Changmin's number. She didn't want to listen to his lies anymore. She hid her emotions and thoughts under the pretense of work. She kept herself busy with the launch of her spring collection and continued making trips to each boutique to ensure the smooth sailing.
She received a call from Fang An Xi late that afternoon, "Ming! You're the best! Even though the five minutes you gave me were really short I managed to get everything I wanted and then some! You're my favorite sister ever!"
Xia Biming couldn't help but smile when she heard Fang An Xi. She needed a pick me up and her sweet cousin did the trick for her mood. "Xi Xi, you're so silly. I told the store attendants to open the store after you left and not one minute early. You really had all the time in the world."
"Ming! I could've gotten more things!"
"Hahaha, you don't need anymore. Leave some for the other customers."
They hung up feeling happy with how the day was going. Until Xia Biming got hit with the storm. Like literally.
Her phone rang again and it was the manager at the big boutique near her penthouse. "Boss Xia! We have a little issue here at the boutique…" The manager didn't know how to bring this up to Xia Biming.
"What's the issue are we short on something? We made sure to have enough."
"No… its um… Mr. Yu Tianhao and Miss Zhao Liling. They're causing a ruckus…"
"I'll be right there. Hold them where they are and call security. I'll be there in ten minutes." She cut the travel time from twenty minutes to a short nine minutes violating many traffic laws. Luckily she didn't get caught by any officers.
Nearing the boutique she could hear shouting from a familiar voice, "What do you mean I can't shop here?! Isn't this store discriminating against me by not letting me shop here?!" Zhao Liling shouted at both the security officer and the store manager.
"No Miss Zhao, it's just that our boss has put a ban on you. You are not allowed in our stores…" The little manager told the two as she stood behind the officer.
"How could I be banned?! Do you all not know that I'm an A-list model and could easily bring your brand down by just the flick of my wrist!?"
A confident booming voice came from behind them, "Miss Zhao! I didn't know you were interested in my clothing. I'm sorry but some things just aren't forgivable. You should know the reason already. Why are you still here trying to lose more face? Have you any shame left?"
Xia Biming needed to put these two in their places.
"Ming, how could you be so cold-hearted to Liling?" Yu Tianhao tried to subdue Xia Biming. "Just let us in. We'll pay whatever price you want."
Biming crossed her arms on top of her chest and rolled her eyes, "It's not about price. It's about morals. I don't want my clothing to be worn around the streets on such degenerate ingrates. It doesn't suit my clothes."
"You B*tch! What did you just say?!" Zhao Liling lunged towards Xia Biming.
Xia Biming wasn't afraid of her, "Did I say something wrong? You lost the chance to wear my clothing when you stabbed in the back all those years ago. And you!" She then averted her deathly gaze to Yu Tianhao.
"You don't even deserve an ounce of my sympathy. When you betrayed me and slept with her, you lost any relation you had with me."
Yu Tianhao continued to beg her, "Biming, please. It's not for her, her auntie really likes your clothes and asked us to buy something for her."
"Don't give me that bullsh*t." She turned to the officers, "Get them out of here. Be careful with the woman, we wouldn't want the child inside her to become a liability for us. Who knows what other dirty tricks they have?"
After giving her command, she walked into the boutique with the store manager and compliment her, "You did the right thing. Those people have no shame." She patted the manager on the shoulder and strolled through the boutique.
She wanted to call her mom to ask what she was doing but found that she left her phone in the car since she was in such a rush to get to the boutique. She told the manager she left something in the car and would be right back.
When she reached the entrance of the mall, it was storming outside as if a wet monsoon was brewing in the skies. She didn't park in the parking garage since it would have taken her too long.
She had instead parked in the parking spaces on the side of the road next to the mall. At the time, it was the smart thing to do. Who knew a physical storm was about to rain down on her?
Xia Biming ran to her car; she didn't even have on a coat so her thin black blouse was completely soaked through. Even her hair and shoes were wet. She grabbed her phone and ran back inside the mall only to be soaked all over again.
She left her bag in the boutique since she was planning on organizing the back stock before heading home. She didn't expect the storm outside. But now that she was soaked and cold, she decided to grab her bag and just head home.
The rain seemed to increase in speed and size as she made her second trip to the car and third time getting drenched in the rain. She opened the back door and threw her bag into the backseat and shut the door. As she shut the door a car zoomed past her, splashing water all over her.
She was already dripping in rainwater, but then that car had to splash her whole body with the cold rain as well!
'The gods must be against me!' Xia Biming's mood lowered and she shivered her way into the driver's seat. Good thing her car had a full leather interior.
She turned the heat on in the car to try to warm up but was still freezing when she entered her penthouse. She quickly took a warm bath and heated up some leftovers before passing out on the couch in the living room.
She woke up late the next morning as the sun didn't penetrate the windows and wake her up with warmth. It was still cloudy out with a light drizzle of rain. She was instead woken up by a phone call at 8:30 am. She picked it up without looking at the time or caller ID.
"Boss Xia! We're in trouble now! A customer came in and bought out all of the blouses at our boutique and the other shops don't have enough to spare as they need to keep their inventory stocked as well. What do we do?"
With her eyes still closed and annoyance in her tone, "Which boutique number are you? I already expected this to happen. You should have let me know earlier if your stock was low and we could have easily avoided this. Now the customers are lining up and angry, aren't they?"
She made a call to the warehouse and ordered them to drive a truck with the specified inventory out the to the boutique. This boutique was located at the edge of the city. Since Xia Biming didn't have any other plans for today and it was Saturday, she decided to head down and check on the incompetent workers.
By the time she headed back from the underperforming boutique, it was already approaching the evening. Maybe it was because she left the house in a hurry in the morning and didn't get to dress properly, but she felt cold all day. She also left her umbrella at home again and kept getting wet with the rain outside. She was extremely exhausted and just wanted to go home and sleep.