NOVEL NEXT Ch. 20
Chapter 20: An Encounter at the Mall
The morning air carried the chill left behind by the night’s rain.
After Bai Lengci tidied herself up, she stepped out of the slightly old apartment building.
She passed through a narrow back alley and walked onto the overpass that connected two blocks.
Beneath the overpass, traffic on Jiefang West Road was gradually increasing.
As she descended the overpass and merged into the flow of people on Jiefang West Road, the atmosphere and sounds around her slowly grew more complex.
Although Jiangcheng was not a top-tier metropolis, as a regional center—
the pedestrian street area at this moment still carried a kind of first-tier bustle.
Cold wind occasionally blew through the gaps between tall buildings, stirring up the rainwater and fallen leaves left on the ground.
Bai Lengci pulled her coat tighter. Her skin was highly sensitive to changes in temperature.
But the chill did not make her uncomfortable. On the contrary, it brought a touch of clarity.
“Pretty lady! New store grand opening! Come in and have a look!”
A young man bundled in a thick down jacket, his face flushed red from the cold, shoved a brightly colored flyer in front of Bai Lengci.
Huge discount numbers and food images were printed on the flyer.
Bai Lengci’s gaze lingered on it for less than half a second. She did not reach to take it. Instead, she simply shifted her body slightly, bypassed the man handing out flyers, and continued forward.
Her destination was a large shopping mall located in the central section of the pedestrian street.
As she stepped through the revolving doors, warm air mixed with the scents of perfume and cosmetics.
Instinctively, she held her breath, her brows faintly knitting.
She took the escalator up to the third floor, where women’s clothing brands clustered together.
Bright lights, soft background music, and plastic mannequins showcasing the season’s new styles surrounded her.
Following the address she had agreed upon over the phone yesterday, Bai Lengci walked to the entrance of a women’s clothing store named “Honey Whisper.”
The store’s décor leaned toward sweet and fresh.
“Pretty lady! Good morning! Come on in and have a look, all new arrivals!”
A young girl with a round face noticed Bai Lengci standing at the entrance. Her eyes lit up, and she greeted her enthusiastically.
Her gaze lingered on Bai Lengci’s face for several seconds, full of undisguised amazement.
Bai Lengci stepped into the store. Warm air and a stronger fragrance of clothing enveloped her.
She did not look at the clothes on display. Instead, her calm gaze rested on the round-faced salesgirl.
“I’m the one who called yesterday to apply.”
Her voice was not loud, but it was clear and cool.
“Huh?”
The round-faced salesgirl froze for a moment, then suddenly realized.
She looked Bai Lengci up and down, her focus staying on that overly outstanding yet expressionless face.
“Oh, oh, it’s you. Come with me.”
She led Bai Lengci to the office at the back of the store.
A middle-aged woman dressed more formally, who looked like the store manager, sat there flipping through account books.
“Manager, this is the one who called yesterday about the job.”
The round-faced girl spoke once, then left.
The store manager lifted her head and adjusted her glasses.
Her gaze swept over Bai Lengci, from her face down to her figure.
After the initial amazement, her brows furrowed slightly.
“Sit.”
The manager pointed at a plastic stool by the desk.
“Our hiring requirements are simple: good image and temperament—which you do meet.”
She paused.
“But you need to smile more… warmth and initiative are the basics.
Working hours are from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m., with one hour of rest in between.
The base salary is 2,500 a month, with 2% commission on sales.
The probation period is three months, during which salary is paid at 80%.
No insurance or benefits.
You get four days off a month, but no weekends or holidays.
Being late or leaving early deducts pay. Missing sales targets deducts pay. Customer complaints deduct pay. Can you do that?”
The manager spoke quickly, almost like reciting from memory.
Bai Lengci quietly listened to the end.
9 a.m. to 10 p.m.—thirteen hours. Four days off per month, no weekends.
A base salary of 2,500.
No security.
And all these penalty rules.
This was no longer a job, but more like a contract of servitude.
They were treating her as if she were a slave to be endlessly exploited at no cost.
Even Bai Lengci’s expression twitched slightly.
“Sorry, this job doesn’t meet my expectations. Excuse me.”
After speaking, she didn’t bother to look at the manager’s face again.
She turned and walked straight out of the store.
Behind her, the faint grumbling of the displeased manager seemed to follow.
“…What’s the use of being pretty if you can’t endure hardship? Still want better conditions…”
Bai Lengci ignored it completely.
Over the next few hours,
she followed the marks on her phone map, moving between various shops that had “Help Wanted” signs.
At a café-bistro that looked somewhat higher in style—
the female manager was satisfied with her appearance, but when she heard Bai Lengci had no prior experience in food service, her enthusiasm immediately halved.
The conditions were equally harsh: alternating shifts, mandatory work on weekends and holidays, pitifully low hourly pay, and memorizing over a hundred drink recipes—any mistake resulting in pay deductions.
Bai Lengci quietly listened to the end, then stood up and left.
At a skincare store that claimed to hire “image consultants,” the manager’s greasy gaze lingered on her face.
Between the lines, he implied: “As long as you’re willing to drink tea and chat with customers, the income is limitless.”
Bai Lengci replied with one sentence: “I’m male.”
In return, the man gave a stunned look, then laughed even more crudely: “Handsome young guys are even more popular. Think about it?”
……
By noon, the crowds grew denser.
Standing by the railing of the third-floor circular corridor, Bai Lengci looked down at the bustling people in the atrium.
“Bai Lengci?”
A hesitant, uncertain female voice came from behind her.
Bai Lengci slowly turned her head.
A girl with delicate makeup stared at her in surprise—it was her classmate, Cheng Jiajia.
Beside Cheng Jiajia stood a man, around thirty years old, dressed in a well-tailored dark gray suit, carrying the air of a typical business elite.
The man held several shopping bags emblazoned with luxury logos.
When Cheng Jiajia clearly saw Bai Lengci’s face, her eyes instantly lit up with shock and disbelief.
“Wow! It really is you! Oh my god…”
She quickly stepped forward, looking Bai Lengci up and down, her tone full of amazement.
“You’ve… you’ve changed so much! You’re getting more and more beautiful! I almost didn’t dare to recognize you just now, only thought your back looked familiar!”
“Mm, it’s me.”
Bai Lengci’s voice held no fluctuation, simply confirming her identity.
Cheng Jiajia was still in shock. She tugged at Bai Lengci’s arm.
“Aren’t you going to introduce us, Jiajia?”
The man beside her spoke.
Only then did Cheng Jiajia remember, affectionately linking her arm with his.
“This is my friend, Zhou Zheng.Brother Zheng, this is my high school classmate, Bai Lengci—our school’s… well, the face of beauty!”
She playfully winked.
“Hello, Bai.”
Zhou Zheng extended his hand, his smile warm yet politely distant.
“Hello.”
Bai Lengci did not extend her hand, only replied briefly.
Zhou Zheng naturally withdrew his hand, showing no trace of awkwardness, as if he were long used to all sorts of personalities.
Cheng Jiajia did not notice the subtle exchange, her attention still fixed on Bai Lengci’s stunning transformation.
“Bai, what are you doing here? Shopping? Or…”
She glanced at Bai Lengci’s side, noticing there were no shopping bags.
“Looking for a job.”
Bai Lengci spoke bluntly, with nothing to hide.
“Looking for a job?”
Cheng Jiajia froze for a moment, then seemed to realize something. Her expression showed understanding tinged with sympathy.
“Oh, right, with school starting soon, you want a part-time job? So, how’s it going? Have you found one?”
Bai Lengci shook her head.
“No suitable ones.”
“Ah, yeah, part-time jobs these days are really hard to find—lots of demands, little pay.”
Cheng Jiajia immediately agreed.