Another spring weekend. Usually, it would be for enjoying a day at a picnic or taking a walk to view the cherry blossoms. For Xuemei, this meant trouble.
"I'm so sorry, but we need more staff and you're the makeup influencer Mingzhai's cousin who owns this store..."
"So if I'm Mingzhai's cousin then does that mean I have to help out?" Came Xuemei's reply. She had a habit of tilting her head to retort or mock someone's words whether she wanted to or not –– now, she felt as if tilting her head was losing its meaning. "If I were a dog, would you be the type to throw something and expect me to catch it and run back?"
Although she had a large mouth and was able to silence the staff members, she still found herself stacking up different types of moisturising creams on the shelves. It was not because the staff had pushed her into helping them nor was it because she would be paid a certain amount by the end of the day, Xuemei was the type to think: 'if I were to help them with this, the karma I have glued to my back would also feel lighter'.
She certainly did not expect the fancy cosmetics store to be only a speck of the stores that her idiotic cousin had owned. Certainly, on the magazines that were left outside for people to take and the large digital screen embedded on the skyscrapers all had her elegant, smiling face that was much different than the lopsided, grins given to Xuemei.
Whilst she aligned the packaged products on one of the shelves, a staff member with dyed blonde hair gasped at her face. "Oh my, are you okay? You don't have to force yourself to help...you've done plenty."
Xuemei lifted an eyebrow and thought: what is she talking about?
"Your eyes are tearing up and you've been sniffing..."
She then made an 'o' with her mouth and returned a relaxed smile. "It's just because I have heavy hayfever during the spring. Spring is my most hated season, after all."
"I see," the blonde nodded in understanding. As if a light bulb had comically flashed over her head, the woman told Xuemei to wait a moment until she had found something to give. In a matter of seconds, the lady returned with a surgical mask and some hayfever pills. Claiming that one of the other staff members also had hayfever and allowed her to use a pill.
Giving her thanks, Xuemei swallowed the pill through a gulp of water and hung the surgical mask around the back of her two ears.
"Uhm, it's my first time in this store...do you sell the Jade Teardrop gift set that was released officially yesterday?"
Turning her head to meet the origin of the soft voice, her eyes met mocha orbs as she slipped the final item on the shelf. The male customer was only slightly taller than her, perhaps it was because she was quite tall herself. "It's my first time here as well, so you should ask one of the staff members over there."
Pointing to the blonde woman who glanced at the customer as if there were hearts in her eyes, the male merely nodded and approached the latter worker for assistance. Xuemei furrowed her eyebrows, studying the male's chocolate brown locks and kind expression plastered on his features.
For some reason, she felt as if she had seen the face somewhere before, yet not like some Korean drama trope where they have met back in their childhood.
Shrugging her shoulders, she continued to take care of the shelf maintenance.
****
At 6:00 in the evening, poor and exhausted Yue Xuemei realised that maintaining the neatness of the shelves and carrying boxes and boxes of products was no more than attending a gym session at early dawn. By the time she got home, it was already 8 pm –– meaning that as long as her older brother did not realise she had gotten home late, there would be no 'family time' (which was basically being lectured by her brother until midnight) to sit through.
To her dismay, once she had hopped out of her car there was already a familiar figure waiting by the entrance with a disappointed expression.
"Where were you?"
Xuemei blankly stared at his identical eyes. "Working."
"On a weekend?" He asked, munching on a bag of honey soy chips resting on his other hand. Xuemei recalled that there should not have been any more chip packets in the drawers of their home and that he probably left the residence to buy some more.
That on its own was good enough to use against him.
She decided to retaliate. "Then what about you, gege? Just how much did you crave chips that made you leave the house and buy more? If Ma knew––"
"Okay you win, get in."
"Shouldn't have tried me, you expired potato."
With a smug, she entered the house in triumph. As she pulled her sneakers off, her phone sounded with the quacking of ducks as a ringtone, causing her brother to scrunch up his face and run away. Picking up her device, her eyes rested upon the same name that had bugged her several times.
For a moment Xuemei thought: Should I just ignore this call? That damn Mingzhai...
She picked up anyway.
[I heard from my girls that you helped with the shelving and all? I can't believe you're so sweet~!]
"Use that tone again and I'll forget about the deal on the 12th."
[My bad. Anyhow, as thanks, I'm shipping around...10 boxes of samples and newly released editions from the luxury brands just for you to try out. I know you don't hate makeup or anything, but it doesn't hurt to spend a little of your salary on your own appearances. I heard you usually a simple shirt and dress pants every single day and only wash your face with water...poor you.]
"Get to the point in 3...2..."
[Alright, alright! I won't bug you any further, but the customer who's meeting you tomorrow is some cute guy. I checked his Tieba the other day and his face is absolutely stunning. Do you mind asking him whether he could come and model for my––]
Beep!
Xuemei tossed her phone on the couch and decided to snooze, only to backtrack on the conversation that Mingzhai initiated a few seconds ago.
The 12th was tomorrow.