Chapter 37 The little tiger, its little mouth alone stole his soul.

Upon hearing this, Jiang Wanqiu did not get angry but smiled instead, her lips curving slightly, though there was no hint of a smile in her beautiful almond-shaped eyes.

"Oh?" she drawled, "How do you know we can't afford it?"

The sales clerk was taken aback by her reaction; she hadn't expected this seemingly down-on-her-luck woman to have such a commanding presence.

Jiang Wanqiu said, "I've been a regular customer here for a while now. When did your shop change its rules? Are you planning to open but not do business?"

Upon hearing this, Zhao Wenchang's eyebrows twitched almost imperceptibly.

He leaned against the counter, watching with amusement what the sharp-tongued woman in front of him was going to do.

The sales clerk was a little embarrassed by Jiang Wanqiu's question. She avoided eye contact for a moment, but still tried to stick to her guns: "A regular customer? I don't remember... Besides, the things inside are expensive, not just anyone can look at them."

"Whether you think it's good enough or not, just take me inside and you'll know," Jiang Wanqiu retorted, not backing down an inch.

As she hesitated, Jiang Wanqiu added coolly, "What, are you afraid we can't afford it? Don't worry, if you don't find anything you like today, I won't let you work for nothing."

These words were both soft and firm, offering a way out.

Seeing this, a woman next to her whispered a reminder that she hadn't sold any clothes for half a month, and if she couldn't sell any more, the manager would have to talk to her.

Upon hearing this, the shop assistant could only reluctantly say, "Okay... then come with me."

After saying that, she turned around and led the two of them to the innermost part of the area, where she pushed open an inconspicuous wooden door.

Behind the door lies a hidden world.

It was more spacious inside than outside, with rows of brand-new clothes racks filled with stylish dresses, shirts, and coats made of fine fabrics. The air was filled with the scent of luxurious incense.

Jiang Wanqiu's gaze swept quickly across the clothes rack, finally settling on a champagne-colored dress. The style of the dress, with its combination of silk and lace, was something she had never seen before.

She reached out, her fingertips just about to touch the smooth fabric, when a scream rang out from the side.

Don't touch it!

The sales clerk hurriedly came over and slapped her hand away, yelling in disgust, "I told you not to touch this! This material is very delicate. Can you afford to pay for it if you damage it?!"

Jiang Wanqiu's hand paused in mid-air, then she suddenly stretched out her hand, her slender fingers tracing a path from one end of the clothes rack to the other.

"Whoosh—"

She touched every single piece of clothing in the row with her fingertips, then turned to the other person and asked, "I've touched them all, can you tell me which one is broken? I'll buy it now."

"You!" The saleswoman was so angry that her face turned white.

Jiang Wanqiu seemed not to have seen it, and slowly withdrew her hand. From the row of clothes, she casually pulled out the dress from before, held it up to her face, and then looked up at the saleswoman.

"I want to try this one on."

The sales clerk, as if she'd heard the funniest joke, put her hands on her hips and sneered, "Try it on? We don't accept try-ons here! If you want to buy, pay up. If you can't afford it, get out of here!"

Jiang Wanqiu frowned slightly: "How am I supposed to know if it fits if I can't try it on?"

"Does it fit?" The saleswoman looked her up and down, then scoffed, "Two hundred yuan a piece, plus twenty kilograms of cloth coupons! Can you even afford to try it on?!"

Just then, Zhao Wenchang, who had been silent all along, suddenly moved.

He had been leaning casually against the wall, but now he stood up straight.

The man was over 1.8 meters tall, with a straight and upright posture like a pine tree. Even with his stern face, he exuded a compelling pressure.

"Illegal business operations, reselling 'smuggled goods,' and you still dare to be so arrogant?" His deep voice rang out, his tone icy. "Who gave you the guts? Aren't you afraid that one phone call from me will get your entire store shut down?"

The saleswoman's heart skipped a beat, but she retorted sharply, "Who are you trying to scare? Who do you think you are?!"

Zhao Wenchang stopped wasting words with her.

He took out a dark red ID card from the inside pocket of his Zhongshan suit, casually flipped it open, and handed it to the sales clerk.

The sales clerk glanced down instinctively and saw that under the three large gold-embossed characters "Military Officer's Certificate" on the document, his name and position were clearly written.

The rank column reads: Battalion Commander.

Battalion... Battalion Commander?!

In this era, she knew better than anyone how important soldiers were. The biggest fear with this kind of clandestine business was getting involved with government officials, especially powerful military officers.

If he really goes up there, not only will she, the temporary worker, be in deep trouble, but even their boss will be in big trouble!

The boss will definitely skin her alive when that happens!

Before she could think of anything to say to smooth things over, a chorus of greetings suddenly came from outside the door.

"Hello, Miss Zhou!"

It's the boss's eldest daughter!

The sales clerk's eyes lit up, and without paying attention to the two people inside, she hurriedly went out and said, "Miss Zhou! You've finally arrived! There's someone causing trouble here. They can't afford the clothes and want to report our store!"

Zhou Ling had just returned from out of town today and had come to the store to check the accounts, but she didn't expect to encounter this matter as soon as she entered the door, and her brows couldn't help but furrow.

"What happened?"

She walked in, asking questions as she walked in, her heels clicking.

But when she saw who was standing in the inner room, her face was instantly filled with surprise and delight.

"Comrade?!"

Jiang Wanqiu also recognized the person who came, and was equally surprised.

Isn't this the generous woman on the train who bought "fruit wine" from her? So, this shop belongs to her family. No wonder.

Zhou Ling rushed forward and grabbed Jiang Wanqiu's hand, her joy overflowing: "Oh, comrade! I'm so glad to have run into you! That thing you gave me... it's so useful! I was just worried about not having your contact information and was thinking of buying some more. I never expected to meet you here. What a coincidence!"

After the initial excitement subsided, Zhou Ling remembered what had just happened. She turned to look at the stunned saleswoman, her face immediately darkening: "You said you reported it, what exactly happened?"

Before the sales clerk could speak, Jiang Wanqiu said calmly, "It's nothing serious. I came to look at clothes, and this lady said that we can't touch or try on the clothes here. I have a bad temper, so I argued with her a bit."

In a single sentence, the whole story was explained clearly.

Zhou Ling's face instantly turned extremely ugly. She glared fiercely at the sales clerk: "Is this how you serve customers?! What's the first rule in the employee handbook? Have you forgotten it?! The customer is God! Go back and copy the rules a hundred times. You're not allowed to come to work until you've finished copying them!"

After she finished speaking, she immediately put on a smiling face, took the dress from Jiang Wanqiu's hands, and stuffed it into the sales clerk's arms: "You brat, hurry up and help the customer try on the clothes! Bring out all the new styles in the store, as long as she likes them, and let her try them on!"

The sales clerk didn't dare say a word of "no" and tremblingly took the clothes, bowing and scraping as she invited Jiang Wanqiu into the fitting room.

Over the next half hour, Jiang Wanqiu leisurely tried on almost all the new styles in the store. For each item she tried on, she had the sales clerk run around fetching, organizing, and helping her put on and take off the clothes.

When Jiang Wanqiu finally changed back into her own clothes and came out, the saleswoman was already sweating profusely, and the back of her clothes was soaked.

Just then, a woman's sharp arguing voice and the sound of things being smashed came from upstairs.

A shop assistant rushed down the stairs, shouting in a panic, "Miss Zhou, something terrible has happened! Upstairs... upstairs Miss Wang and her friends are fighting!"

Zhou Ling rubbed her temples, feeling a headache coming on, and smiled apologetically at Jiang Wanqiu: "Comrade, please sit down and choose for yourself. I'll go upstairs to take care of something and come right back down."

After saying that, he hurriedly went upstairs.

The third floor is the store's most upscale bespoke area, catering exclusively to Shanghai's dignitaries. Every dress and suit there is incredibly valuable.

As soon as Zhou Ling went upstairs, she was so shocked by the sight before her that she gasped.

In the center of the store, the expensive wedding dress, considered the store's prized possession, lay on the floor, its petticoat torn and askew. A woman in another dress, her hair disheveled, was fighting with a woman in a fashionable suit.

Beside them, a short, stout middle-aged man stood indifferently, watching from the sidelines.

Amid the chaos, the woman in the suit shrieked, "Jiang Wanxia! You shameless slut! What else can you do besides spend our family's money?!"