The flower shop was rather empty on Saturday afternoon.
"Ye Lu, let's have steak after work. I heard a new steakhouse opened nearby. They offer a set meal for only 49!" was Ni's excited suggestion.
A sweating girl with flushed cheeks, carrying a big bucket of flowers that weighed dozens of pounds, charged into the store. She turned angrily at the sound.
"What? 49? Crap, that's still extremely expensive for a new opening. Scammers are really common these days. I can go to a supermarket, buy a piece of steak and sear it myself for only 15. Why would I let them rip me off for 34? Nope, not going. I have a job as a tutor."
"You're such a workaholic. You're working your butt off, reading your postgraduate courses, and you even take up extra part-time jobs at night and on weekends until you're dog-tired. Aren't you afraid of turning into an old hag and ending up unwanted? You're good-looking and well-educated, why not just find a rich man to marry, become a pampered mistress, and enjoy life?" Ni's eyes sparkled as she daydreamed about romantic fairy tales.
Ye Lu jabbed her forehead hard: "Hey, you think rich people are as cheap as the cabbages on the street to pick? I wish I could."
Ni sighed: "Yeah, that's true. Those big shots at the top of the pyramid, they marry ladies from prestigious families, hang out with celebrities, they move in high-end circles. We don't even get the chance to bump into them. Sigh, we can only dream about Cinderella's story."
"What Cinderella? Get some ambition. I'm going to rely on myself, become a general manager, be appointed as CEO, marry a wealthy, handsome man, and reach the pinnacle of life!!!" Ye Lu's eyes sparkled, and she clenched her fists excitedly.
"Ugh, your dream is even more unrealistic than marrying a rich man, stop dreaming." Ni dismissively waved a hand and left work.
After the rest of the staff arrived for their shifts, Ye Lu quickly grabbed her handbag, ran to the street corner, bought two buns, took a few bites, jumped on the bus, and confidently set off for her next job.
On her way, she received a phone call. The name flashing on the screen — She-Devil.
Ye Lu had a headache but had no choice but to answer the call.
"You, come to xx store on xx road immediately." A domineering and sharp-edged female voice came from the phone, then the call ended.
"Damn She-Devil. Always making me run errands. Are your hands broken? You're so fat, you're going to end up a pig in a slaughterhouse someday."
Ye Lu glared at her phone, having no choice but to call her tutoring family and ask for leave.
After all, this She-Devil was her stepmother, Chen Yan in name. Her mom divorced her dad, Ye Wanli, when she was very young, and she went to live with her mom.
But her dad was very kind to her. Even after the divorce, he took good care of both her and her mom.
Unfortunately, her weak and honest father married a mean stepmother. The stepmother was upset about him giving money to her and her mom, making it difficult for her father. So, she put up with the stepmother out of compassion for her father.
Chen Yan liked to use her as a maid and get her to carry stuff when shopping.
She rushed to the commercial street and entered an upscale beauty shop.
She saw Chen Yan comfortably getting a beauty treatment.
Chen Yan, in her forties, had white skin and was well-maintained, making her somewhat beautiful. Her family, who had made their fortune in small-scale real estate and earned quite a lot of money, afforded her the luxury of wearing branded clothes, making her vain and shrewd.
"You're here. Give her a beauty treatment, style her hair, and don't let her shabbiness embarrass me." Chen Yan, with her hair in curlers, looked Ye Lu up and down disdainfully.
Ye Lu was astonished, 'Did the sun rise from the west?'
This woman never spared a cent on her.
"Aunt Chen, you called me here to get a beauty makeover?" Ye Lu asked suspiciously.
"Hmph. It's your lucky day. I'm going to a high-profile banquet tonight, and you're coming with me."
It immediately clicked for Ye Lu: this vanity-obsessed She-Devil had heard that at a high-end banquet, rich young mistresses were usually accompanied by female life assistants as an accessory to assert their status. So, Chen Yan was just using her as an overqualified nanny for a show-off.