The shelves for mineral water were not yet fully stocked when Gu Xijue's relentless calls came pouring in.
After scanning the surroundings and verifying there was no sign of the shift manager, she answered the phone in a flash. "Brother, is something the matter?"
The large Sino-Japanese shopping mall was strict with its employees, and even harsher with part-time workers like her; they seemed to want to squeeze every second out of her work shift.
Gu Xijue leaned against a low-key, black Porsche coupe looking graceful and refined, his features handsome and smile brimming, causing a wave of infatuated screams from the girls passing by. "Didn't I remind you to keep your noon free today? I'm taking you to see a renowned surgeon recommended by a friend. It's hard to get an appointment with him, and he has quite a reputation. He's only free this noon for the past week, and it would be a shame to miss it."
Although it was through a friend's introduction, it still took a great deal of effort and quite a few favors to finally arrange for him to consult Aunt. This person had turned away many powerful and wealthy figures, not caring for status or wealth. Most of the time, he took on cases based on his mood.
Fortunately, when his friend was negotiating, the man was in a particularly good mood.
"Brother, where are you right now?" Gu Xiaonuan asked, hunched over by the shelves, barely able to contain her excitement.
"Downstairs from your mall," Gu Xijue replied with a faint smile.
"Okay, wait for me, I'll be right down."
Since this job paid by the hour, leaving work early wouldn't cost her much. Yet, the chance to help her mother recover was once in a lifetime.
She frantically stacked the remaining bottles of mineral water onto the shelf and made her way to the mall's exit.
"Ah..."
A scream rang out in an instant of lightning-fast chaos.
The man responsible for delivering goods to the freezer suddenly stopped his pushcart; however, Gu Xiaonuan unexpectedly dashed out from beside the shelves, moving so quickly that, despite his prompt reaction, two boxes of fruit from the front of the pushcart still flew out, hitting her and scattering across the floor.
"Are you okay?"
The man walked over to see Gu Xiaonuan kneeling on the ground, her face a bit pale as she clutched her stomach, unable to speak.
"Little sister, if it's really bad, I should take you to the hospital. You've got to be more careful, rushing around like that."
He noticed she was wearing the mall's uniform, so he recognized her as a colleague rather than a customer, and his attitude became much friendlier.
It took Gu Xiaonuan a long time to recover from the sharp pain. In the moment she was hit, the pain was so intense it felt like her intestines were being knotted together.
"I'm sorry..." She slowly pulled herself up using the shelves, presenting a smile more pained than crying, and her pale, almost translucent complexion made her look like a fragile Barbie doll. "It's okay, I don't need to go to the hospital… Thank you, uncle, and I'm really sorry for disrupting your work."
She was the one who had gotten hit, yet her earnest apology impressed the other person greatly.
Her situation was a classic case of joy turning to sorrow; she had fallen on her backside hard.
"Nuannuan, this way."
He recognized Gu Xiaonuan as soon as she stepped out of the trade building.
"Shh, brother, keep it down."
When her brother greeted her loudly, she could feel the jealous glares coming from all directions. Were these girls jealous that she had a brother who was gentle, handsome, and strong?
"Nuannuan, you've sweat a little." As usual, he took out a handkerchief and carefully wiped away the sweat from Gu Xiaonuan's forehead.
She awkwardly averted her gaze, "Brother, aren't we in a hurry? Let's go!"