Weakness Trap - Chapter 38

“What did she bother you about this time?” Back at the hotel, Zeng Lan pulled Yu Qingluan to sit down, her tone laced with exasperation.

“Begging to get back together, what else?” Yu Qingluan applied her eye drops, put on a soothing eye mask, and leaned back in her chair to rest.

“You didn’t agree, did you?” Zeng Lan sounded even more anxious than Yu Qingluan.

“How could I?” Yu Qingluan even chuckled.

“If I had agreed, would she be in that state? Don’t worry, Lanlan. I made it very clear to her she won’t come looking for me again, and I won’t go back to her either.” Some mistakes can only be made once, and will only be made once.

Yu Qingluan had already given that one chance to Yu Lingxue. That was enough.

After what Yu Qingluan said to her, Yu Lingxue probably wouldn’t seek her out again.

It would be best if she didn’t even think about her anymore.

Let them return to their separate worlds, with no further intersection.

“True. It’s been so long, and she still hasn’t given up Forget it, let’s not talk about her. The certification will take a few more days. What did the factory say?”

The two of them were handling different tasks: Zeng Lan was busy with the company, while Yu Qingluan took over liaising with the factory.

“They’re still making samples. Since we’ve never done this before, the first version I showed you was especially ugly.” Yu Qingluan thought of something, pulled down her eye mask, and reached for her phone.

“We gave them the designs and texture references, how could it still turn out ugly?” Zeng Lan shook her head.

Initially, Zeng Lan had wanted to focus on traditional Chinese style clothing but was more inclined toward the high-end market.

She aimed to build a brand, promote designs, and advocate for culture not just mass production. Startup funds would have to be allocated elsewhere for now.

Their current plan was to print traditional Chinese patterns on small items like cups and perfume decanters. They would open a shop in Chucheng, and even with mass production, they could still make a profit.

Then Zeng Lan saw the first sample and nearly fainted, clutching her forehead as she leaned back.

“See? Not a single detail was replicated. Honestly, I think if we’re opening a shop in Chucheng, turning it into a tailor’s alteration shop wouldn’t be a bad idea. At this stage, we’re just testing the waters even if we lose, we won’t starve.” Yu Qingluan had been considering this idea for several days.

She could design patterns, but most of her designs were for embroidery, which didn’t quite align with Zeng Lan’s current plan. If she could leverage her strengths more effectively, it might work out better.

“But you’d exhaust yourself. Sis, you’re still in school. Drawing designs and urging the factory is already enough. Besides, once these products are made, we can sell them online nationwide. It’s very convenient.”

In their era, online shopping was just beginning to develop, with relatively few users. Most people still preferred shopping in person, feeling more assured about their purchases.

So Yu Qingluan had her doubts.

She had tried online shopping once or twice but found it inconvenient, and the product quality didn’t meet her expectations, essentially wasting her money.

“Can this really make money?”

“Why not? Let me tell you, my classmates in Beijing and Yuecheng are all into online shopping. It’s new and convenient just wait and see.”

After discussing it for a while, Yu Qingluan eventually gave up on her idea.

After all, she truly didn’t have the time to customize items for each customer.

Her mother might be able to handle such tasks, but she definitely wouldn’t have time during her studies.

The plan was tentatively settled. Over the next few days, the two of them busied themselves visiting various departments, preparing documents, and obtaining stamps and approvals.

When things were nearly settled, Zeng Lan mysteriously brought Yu Qingluan to a commercial street.

The place sold everything imaginable food, clothing, daily necessities, decorations…

Yu Qingluan initially thought Zeng Lan wanted to show her other stores’ designs or products.

Instead, Zeng Lan led her to a standalone shop next to the street.

Tilting her head, Yu Qingluan looked at the “For Rent” sign above, utterly confused.

“What do you think of this location?” Zeng Lan pushed the door open and took Yu Qingluan inside.

“How do you already have the key? You… you didn’t rent it, did you?” Her partner’s efficiency seemed almost too impressive.

“Well.” Zeng Lan suddenly looked a bit embarrassed.

“I stumbled upon it by chance. I think the location is great lots of foot traffic here. Hong Kong is quite open to domestic trendy culture, so there’s a customer base. And most importantly, the rent ”

Zeng Lan paused for dramatic effect, and under her expectant gaze, Yu Qingluan had no choice but to play along.

“Three thousand a month?” That was the highest price Yu Qingluan could imagine.

Or rather, the highest she could accept.

“Sweetie, you’re thinking of Chucheng prices. This is Hong Kong every inch of land is worth its weight in gold. Look at the shops outside their rent starts at twenty thousand a month.”

Yu Qingluan was stunned.

She even held out her hand and started counting.

Ones, tens, hundreds, thousands, ten-thousands five digits.

Per month.

Yu Qingluan nearly fainted. “You, you spent twenty thousand?”

Zeng Lan patted her shoulder with a look that said, “Oh, youth.”

“This much.” She leaned closer and held up five fingers.

“Five thousand?” Yu Qingluan suddenly felt that price was quite acceptable.

“Right. Five thousand a month. I figured since we’re planning to sell our products anyway, and I’ll be staying in Hong Kong for the next two months, we might as well rent it.”

“But why is it so cheap?” Yu Qingluan ran her hand over the counter, which was a bit old and covered in a layer of dust, as if it hadn’t been used in a long time. The shop was already fully decorated, with empty shelves, almost as if it were waiting for them to move in.

Yu Qingluan’s intuition raised suspicions, but she couldn’t figure out what might be wrong.

“The previous owner retired and said they didn’t want to run a business anymore. They put up the rental notice, but no one inquired. I was the only one who asked, so they offered it to me cheap. Plus, the foot traffic here isn’t as heavy as on the main street. But I think it should be enough for us.”

Zeng Lan’s reasoning sounded plausible.

A drop from twenty thousand to five thousand seemed unbelievable.

But this street wasn’t the one Zeng Lan had mentioned with twenty-thousand rents it was the one next to it, with less customer flow.

If you thought of it as a fifty percent discount it made sense.

For the time being, Yu Qingluan set aside her doubts.

Afterward, Yu Qingluan returned to Chucheng to continue her studies and oversee progress at the factory.

It wasn’t until the seventh major revision that the final design finally satisfied both Yu Qingluan and Zeng Lan.

Yu Qingluan handed a pile of perfume bottles she’d collected to her mother, asking her to try them out for a while and even give some away. They wanted to see if there were any further design improvements to make.

A few weeks later, Yu Shuhua offered her feedback.

“The dispenser isn’t convenient. I don’t like having to use that syringe every time your mom’s just lazy. If I pour it directly, I end up wasting a lot.”

Yu Qingluan fell silent for a moment.

“We’ll improve it next time.” She suspected it was more her mother’s laziness than a design flaw.

The factory had shipped the goods to the store in Harbor City. Zeng Lan stayed in Harbor City and immediately opened her shop, starting to sell the products.

Yu Qingluan continued her studies in Chu City.

She finally achieved an overall IELTS score of 7, with all subscores meeting the requirements. Coincidentally, her final semester in Chu City was also coming to an end.

Since she was transferring schools, her semester ended early, and she decided to go to Harbor City to help Zeng Lan.

Zeng Lan had been complaining to her every day about how busy she was. Before finishing her exams, Yu Qingluan couldn’t offer any assistance, but now she was finally free to go.

“How much have you earned?” Yu Shuhua asked her daughter one more question before she boarded the plane.

“I don’t know, Mom. She hasn’t shown me the profits yet. She just said there are a lot of customers and she’s busy. It should be doing alright, right?” Yu Qingluan hugged Yu Shuhua and once again boarded the plane to Harbor City.

This was her third time going to Harbor City.

This time, she was going alone.

Yu Qingluan sketched on the plane and, upon landing, looked at the sky over Harbor City with a calm heart.

She no longer felt that the sky in Harbor City was obscured by skyscrapers, suffocating and oppressive.

Nor did she feel that the silver-white and pitch black buildings were intimidating, making her want to flee.

This time, Harbor City was just a city to her.

Like many other cities, it had tall buildings and parks. Some areas were bustling, while others were quiet.

Harbor City was not Yu Lingxue. She would no longer let that person stir up delusions or emotional turmoil within her.

Yu Qingluan breathed a sigh of relief and headed to the small shop Zeng Lan had rented.

From a distance, she could see several customers browsing inside.

Before entering, she felt as if something was scratching her back a gaze. Yu Qingluan turned around, but the street was crowded with people. She figured she was overthinking it.

Zeng Lan had renovated the shop, dividing it into sections and filling it with merchandise arranged in rainbow and heart shapes by color. In the empty spaces, she had placed a few embroidered pieces provided by Yu Qingluan as a friendly gesture, each labeled with a price,

This was what Yu Qingluan had seen in the photos.

When she entered the shop today, she noticed her embroidered pieces were gone. Only about one shelf of products remained.

This was quite surprising was their shop doing this well?

As soon as Zeng Lan saw her, she didn’t even bother with greetings and immediately assigned her a task. “Hurry, hurry, help me restock! Don’t worry about how it looks just make sure there are no empty spots!”

“Alright.” Yu Qingluan had no energy to complain.

After all, even when the company expanded in the future, Zeng Lan would still be her boss.

And she would still be the humble designer working under Zeng Lan.

As an employee, she had to follow the boss’s orders.

After restocking, Yu Qingluan was even approached by customers asking which color would best match their outfits and how to use and portion the products.

“Our almond milk coffee shade would pair beautifully with your outfit today and complement your makeup tone, highlighting your elegance. As for portioning, let me demonstrate for you.”

Without any prior training, Yu Qingluan stepped into the role of a salesperson, handling it with ease and confidence.

Zeng Lan was very pleased with her.

Wanting to challenge herself, Yu Qingluan worked as a salesperson in the shop for a few days.

During that time, she kept feeling as if someone was watching her from time to time. But whenever Yu Qingluan looked up or stepped outside, she only saw crowds of people.

She thought that with so many people around, it was natural for someone to glance at the shop it didn’t necessarily mean they were looking at her so she didn’t dwell on it.

Once she gradually figured out what needed to be done, she took over Zeng Lan’s responsibilities, allowing Zeng Lan to go out and negotiate other business deals.

June was approaching.

Yu Qingluan was busy every day, dizzy with work tired, but fulfilled.

Occasionally, before going to bed at night, she would scroll through her phone and catch a glimpse of Yu Lingxue’s face. Only then would she suddenly realize that nearly half a year had passed since she broke up with Yu Lingxue.

Yu Qingluan felt a wave of disorientation.

That heart-wrenching pain seemed as fresh as yesterday.

It felt like only yesterday that she tore up her embroidery at Yu Lingxue’s engagement party, declaring the end of their relationship.

But when she thought about it carefully, it really had been a long time.

She had finished a semester of school. She had opened her own shop with her own designs. She had sold her first piece of embroidery, and then many more.

She had returned to Harbor City once again, experiencing the life of being both boss and employee before starting her study abroad journey.

The pain was only the pain of yesterday it no longer affected her today.

So much so that when Yu Qingluan suddenly saw Yu Lingxue’s face in the news, she no longer felt that sharp tightening in her chest.

Yu Qingluan took another look at the news.

It was nothing more than the upcoming wedding of Yan Lanshen and Yu Lingxue, probably the day after tomorrow. Either Yan Lanshen or the Yu family was buying up news coverage again, drumming up publicity.

Yu Qingluan thought to herself that she still couldn’t manage to smile when she saw Yu Lingxue.

But at least now, she had reached a point where she could let go and no longer harbor negative emotions.

She could offer her a blessing.

Wishing her good health. Hoping she wouldn’t have too hard a time in the Yan family.

Yu Qingluan turned off her phone and closed her eyes.

Tomorrow, she still had to calculate this month’s revenue, analyze with Zeng Lan which colors were selling the worst, and reduce inventory.

The next day, Yu Qingluan went to the shop to work. All morning, only a handful of scattered customers came in.

This was very unusual.

Based on Yu Qingluan’s experience, Sundays were the second busiest day of the week. Although mornings were usually slower, there shouldn’t have been so few people.

Moreover, some of the customers who did come gave her strange looks.

Yu Qingluan didn’t think much of it at the time. But when she tallied the numbers during lunch, she found that today’s sales were only one tenth of what they usually were. Unable to sit still, she opened her phone to contact Zeng Lan.

Before she could dial, however, she saw the likely reason.

Her phone was still on the news page from last night.

And on that page, a headline stood out in bold: “Scandal in the Wealthy Family’s Engagement: A Showdown Between the Real and Fake Mistresses!”