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Upon hearing that people from headquarters were coming, Manager Chen’s face turned ashen. He felt like he wanted to die.
In his earpiece, the store manager’s furious voice roared.
“Idiot! Do you realize you’ve dragged down the entire store because of your mistake?!”
Meanwhile, the Miss Zhou in front of him continued speaking softly, seemingly unintentionally showing off.
“Honestly, I didn’t want to come at all. Over a million for a bag… it just seems unnecessary and wasteful.”
“But my brother always thinks I don’t spend enough, so I had no choice.”
Manager Chen’s mindset began to crack.
He couldn’t help but think: if it weren’t for her constantly mentioning “brother,” would he have had to offend Miss Ming?
In his earpiece, the store manager’s teeth were gritted with anger. “Mr. Zhou said, you absolutely must return the item that Miss Ming wants. Do you understand?”
“My brother, he…”
“Miss Zhou,” Manager Chen interrupted with a look of utter despair.
“Apologies, Mr. Zhou just personally contacted us. The bag you’re holding is meant for Miss Ming.”
He recited the line like an emotionless AI.
Zhou Siyu froze, her face shifting from pale to flushed. “What did you say?”
Isn’t Ming Zhao still abroad? How could her cousin…
Shang Man sat up abruptly, her eyes wide with surprise and delight. “Miss Ming? Ming Zhao? She’s actually back?”
“Where is she? Is she in the store?”
Manager Chen, now extremely cautious, only repeated Zhou Tingyun’s instructions.
Zhou Siyu’s fingers twitched slightly, her smile becoming more and more forced.
“Manager Chen, you must be mistaken. It’s just a bag. Brother Tingyun wouldn’t make such a fuss over something like this,” Zhou Siyu said, trying to maintain her composure.
The truth was, Manager Chen didn’t fully understand either.
Why not just pick a more expensive bag to smooth things over with her? After all, they’re family. Was it really necessary to make such an awkward situation?
“Perhaps you could contact Mr. Zhou directly.” he suggested.
Zhou Siyu’s expression stiffened for a moment.
She had never even spoken to Zhou Tingyun. She had only used his name to gain various conveniences. There was no way she could reach him directly.
But when someone pretends for too long, they begin to believe in unrealistic fantasies. She had become so accustomed to the benefits of being his ‘sister’ that she unconsciously started to expect that, since he never intervened, it might mean he acknowledged her role in the family.
She hadn’t expected things to turn out this way, with no regard for her at all.
Zhou Siyu dug her nails into her palm. What could the eldest miss possibly lack? And yet, for something as trivial as a bag, they still had to make sure it was taken back for her.
Just as Ming Zhao was about to leave, a senior executive from the regional headquarters hurried in, followed by a large group of people.
From the store manager to the assistant manager and all the staff, they lined up in fear, bowing deeply to apologize.
The executive’s face was incredibly grim. If Zhou Tingyun hadn’t intervened, the headquarters wouldn’t have even known that such an incident had occurred right under their noses.
This was, after all, the SMY center, one of Ming Yue Group’s top international malls, where countless brands were vying to get in.
An unnamed fury burned in his chest, and he could barely contain himself from breaking decorum and lashing out.
“Who on earth promoted this person? No matter how influential the Zhou family is, they should understand who’s backing the store now!”
On the other hand, Ming Zhao didn’t really mind. She wasn’t the type to implicate others by association, and since her mood was still pretty good, she waved them off, telling them to disperse quickly.
The higher-ups, however, were even more cautious, anxiously watching her reaction. They would have preferred that she vent her anger on the spot rather than face potential consequences later.
Noticing their nervous expressions, Ming Zhao teased, “What, are you afraid I’ll raise the rent?”
“Relax, I’m not that petty,” she added as she stood up.
“But you really should work on managing your staff better.”
“After all, I’d rather not suddenly see something like ‘Avoid SMY: first-floor store disaster’ trending online,” Ming Zhao added casually.
The higher-up almost wished he could kick Manager Chen on the spot and quickly responded, “Yes, yes, you’re absolutely right, Miss Ming. We will definitely improve management from now on.”
Manager Chen was no better off. The more he recalled his earlier thoughts, the more embarrassed he became, wishing he could slap himself twice. The entire building belonged to Miss Ming—who would need to placate her with something more expensive?
Looking at the bag that Manager Chen nervously placed in front of her, Ming Zhao felt nothing but disinterest.
It was as if something she had set her eyes on had been touched and toyed with by someone else—now flawed. She no longer wanted it.
Manager Chen quickly spoke up, “It was Mr. Zhou’s request. He insisted that it must be returned to you.”
Her steps halted.
Ming Zhao suddenly recalled her elementary school days.
She couldn’t quite remember which grade it was, but she had received several awards for her outstanding performance.
At that time, the homeroom teacher sat at the podium. When she went up to receive her award, the teacher crossed out her name right in front of her.
Then, in a casual tone, the teacher said, “You already have one. Let’s give this one to someone else; otherwise, it wouldn’t be fair.”
Though she felt a little wronged, she thought the teacher made sense. She had already won several awards, leaving none for the other students.
But when Zhou Tingyun found out, he took her hand and marched her to the teacher to get the award back.
“If you want a reward, you should work hard for it, not rely on others giving it to you,” he said calmly. “Teacher, this is also disrespectful to the other student.”
Ming Zhao didn’t know that the boy who missed out on the award because of his misbehavior was the son of the director. All she remembered was the bright sunshine that day, with Zhou Tingyun crouching in front of her, placing the thin paper award in her hand and patting her head.
“Ming Zhao, what’s yours, you don’t have to give up,” Zhou Tingyun had said.
As she turned back, she suddenly felt that the bag had returned to being something she liked again.
By the time she got home, Aunt Lin had already finished cooking.
Seeing two sets of dishes on the table, she asked curiously, “Is the busy man eating at home today? Isn’t his schedule always packed?”
Aunt Lin’s voice was light with amusement. “It’s just because you’re back these few days, Ming Zhao.”
“Ah,” Ming Zhao blinked, pretending to be troubled, “I guess my charm is just too overwhelming.”
Zhou Tingyun had just walked in the door when he heard her comment.
After hanging up his coat, he walked over and lightly tapped the table with his fingers.
“The charming Miss Ming, could you remove me from the blacklist now?”
How did he walk in so quietly?
Ming Zhao almost choked. She looked up and gave a playful smile. “Brother, you’re back!”
Meeting his calm, gentle gaze, she quickly stood up and dashed to the sofa. “I’ll do it right now.”
When she unlocked her phone, the first thing that popped up was a message from half an hour ago.
Zhou Tingyun: [Blacklist]
Her eyes flickered for a few seconds before she opened WeChat.
The word ‘bastard’ stood out prominently, a nickname she had changed four years ago. She quickly turned around, relieved to see that he hadn’t noticed.
Then she found herself wondering why she felt guilty—after all, it had been his fault from the start.
Her heart was hard, but her actions betrayed her as she prepared to change the nickname after pulling the contact up.
Just as she was about to delete the ‘bastard’ part, her phone was suddenly snatched away.
“Hey!”
Ming Zhao’s eyes widened—when did he get so close?
Panicking, she lunged to grab the phone back, but Zhou Tingyun easily pressed her shoulder, pinning her to the sofa.
No matter how much she squirmed, she couldn’t break free from his grip.
Zhou Tingyun lowered his gaze at the screen. “Bastard?”
…
“Why does it have to be such an ugly word?” he muttered weakly.
“There’s… there’s also an ‘egg’ at the end,” Ming Zhao stammered.
His gaze shifted from the screen to her face.
Ming Zhao blinked and quickly to make up an excuse. “Well, actually, it’s a… uh… nickname! Yeah, a nickname!”
“As the saying goes, ‘hitting is affection, scolding is love,’ so when I call you ‘bastard’…”
Her voice faltered for a moment. “… ‘Bastard’— it just proves how sincere my feelings are.”
Zhou Tingyun quietly listened to her explanation, then handed the phone back to her.
“Then what should I call you? Little bastard?”