Chapter 7 Did you do this on purpose?

A rather difficult customer came to the store today.

This customer had previously ordered a pair of pants from her, but today she brought the pants back saying that the quality was poor, the seams had come undone after only a few days of wear, and that she almost exposed herself in public on the street.

Chen Yao'an was certain that the fabrics she used were of very good quality, the stitching of the clothes was very meticulous, and she had carefully inspected the clothes before handing them over to the customer, so there shouldn't be such a basic problem.

She quickly grabbed the clothes and glanced at them.

There was indeed a fairly large slit on the inside of the pants thigh, and the stitching was broken, but the break was very neat.

It's obviously done by someone!

"Miss, this doesn't seem to be a quality issue with our pants..."

Before she could finish speaking, the customer became agitated: "How can it not be a problem with the quality of your pants? It's clearly because your clothes are of such poor quality that my pants suddenly ripped in the street, making me so embarrassed, do you know that?"

Is she trying to force herself to back out?

"But this is clearly not a problem with the quality of the clothes. You should know very well how the clothes got torn."

Chen Yao'an made her point clear all at once.

The guest nervously rolled his eyes a few times, then, trying to intimidate her with his presence, slapped the front desk with a loud "bang."

"What do you mean by that?! Are you saying I'm deliberately trying to frame you?"

Chen Yaoan was startled by her rude actions.

Isn't it her fault?

Chen Yao'an guessed that she wore the clothes for a few days and then didn't like them anymore, so she didn't want to waste the money and wanted to find a reason to return them.

"Miss, we do not accept returns or exchanges for clothing damaged due to your own fault."

Seeing that Chen Yao'an was not easily fooled, and that the guest was unwilling to give up, they became even more impatient.

"How can you speak so rudely as the boss! How can you prove that I damaged the clothes myself? It's clearly a quality issue with your own clothes!"

"I can't prove that, but we both know it's not a problem with the quality of the clothes."

Having run the shop for several years, Chen Yao'an had encountered customers like this before. She didn't want to compromise. Experience had shown that being nice to customers was fine, but she couldn't be taken advantage of, otherwise there would be another one.

Seeing that she wouldn't budge, the customer became even more unreasonable, glaring at her with an air of utter arrogance, "Do you even want to keep this shop in business? If you don't give me a refund, don't blame me for posting your shop online and telling everyone not to buy clothes from your store!"

Chen Yao'an hesitated, trying to keep a calm tone, "Beautiful lady, let's talk this out..."

The guest suddenly exploded, pointing a finger at Chen Yao'an as if she was about to start a fight.

"How am I being unreasonable? It's you, the boss, who's being unreasonable!"

"Give me my money back right now, I'm leaving, and I'll never come back again!"

Chen Yao'an: "..."

How did it become her fault?!

Chen Yao'an's expression darkened. "In short, I won't give you a refund for the clothes."

The customer started acting unreasonably and kept making a fuss.

Chen Yao'an's phone rang suddenly, but she ignored it.

"Beauty……"

The phone rang and stopped, the ringing urgent, as if something urgent had happened.

Chen Yao'an had a strange bad feeling. She stopped talking and answered the phone first.

The phone call said that Yan Shumei had been admitted to the hospital.

Chen Yao'an's heart skipped a beat. Without bothering to argue with the customer, she simply paid the money to settle the matter.

After seeing the person off, she closed the door and headed straight to the hospital.

Xu Jialan hung up the phone, only to realize later that the voice on the other end sounded somewhat familiar.

Back in the consultation room, Xu Jialan said to Yan Shumei, "I've already called your granddaughter, she'll be here in a bit."

"Thanks!"

"However, I'd like to ask what your granddaughter's name is?"

"My granddaughter's name is Chen Yao'an."

Xu Jialan couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. Could it be that she had run into an acquaintance?

_

Upon arriving at the hospital, Chen Yaoan quickly entered the emergency room.

The emergency room was bustling with people. Because she had forgotten to ask Yan Shumei which examination room she was in, she wandered around aimlessly like a headless fly.

As a result, they unexpectedly ran into Xu Jialan.

Xu Jialan leaned casually against the hospital corridor, not looking like she was there for a medical appointment.

However, Chen Yaoan had no intention of greeting someone like him.

So, just walk past him and move forward.

"Chen Yao'an".

Unexpectedly, Xu Jialan called out to her.

Chen Yao'an was anxious, so her expression wasn't good when she turned around to look at him.

He better be busy!

Xu Jialan didn't mind her attitude and pointed to the examination room next to him, "Your grandmother is here."

Chen Yao'an was stunned for a moment, but quickly understood.

It turned out he was the one who brought his grandmother to the hospital?

Without much hesitation, Chen Yaoan strode into the examination room to check on Yan Shumei's condition.

Yan Shumei sat in a wheelchair at the hospital, her trouser legs stained with blood and dust, and her legs wrapped in several layers of gauze, looking disheveled and shocking.

Chen Yao'an panicked for a moment.

She asked the doctor next to her, "Is there any bone damage?"

"No bones were broken, but the superficial injuries are quite serious, and the wound is large. She's so old, you all need to be careful in the future and not let her travel far alone, especially since she has difficulty walking."

The doctor gave a few brief instructions and left quickly, leaving only the three of them in the examination room.

Chen Yao'an had rushed over, her heart pounding the whole way, and only now did she relax a little, though her expression remained calm.

"Grandma, where did you go today?"

Yan Shumei lowered her head, not daring to look at her. "I didn't do anything, I just went out for a walk and got bumped by an electric scooter."

Her evasive gaze aroused Chen Yao'an's suspicion.

She turned directly to Xu Jialan and asked him, "Did you bring my grandmother to the hospital?"

Xu Jialan nodded slightly.

Where did you meet her?

"It's probably in Chunxi Road."

Chunxi Road is quite far from their home.

She asked in a low voice, "Is there something you need that makes you want to run away?"

Yan Shumei felt this was a blaming act, and her anger flared up even more. She glared at Chen Yao'an and said, "My legs aren't good, so I can't go out?! I think you'd be happy if I just crashed and died!"

Chen Yao'an gritted her teeth, not wanting to argue with her in front of outsiders and become a laughing stock.

Xu Jialan was taken aback by Yan Shumei's temper.

He stepped forward, blocking Chen Yao'an's path, and reminded him, "We're still in the hospital."

Yan Shumei remained silent.

Chen Yao'an fell silent and didn't speak for a long time.

Seeing her like this, Xu Jialan raised her chin and nodded towards the door, "Would you like to come out with me for a bit?"

Chen Yao'an thought he was going to talk to her about medical expenses, so she followed him out.

In the hallway, Xu Jialan asked, "Did something happen to you today?"

In his opinion, Chen Yao'an was not a person with such an outgoing temper. After all, no matter how much she disliked him, she would only secretly put extra sugar in his coffee.

"Huh?" Chen Yao'an didn't react for a moment, and she subconsciously shook her head, "No."

Xu Jialan nodded. He was a casual person and didn't like to pry.

His gaze shifted downwards, landing on her trouser leg. "Is your leg alright?"

Chen Yao'an followed his gaze and saw that her pants were covered in dust. She had fallen off her electric scooter while turning too sharply on the way here.

She rushed to the hospital without checking if she was injured.

Chen Yaoan was surprised by Xu Jialan's keen observation; even Yan Shumei hadn't noticed her disheveled state.

"Do you want to see a doctor?"

Chen Yaoan bent down and lifted her trouser leg to take a look. There were no broken skin or bruises on her leg, and she didn't feel too much pain, so it should be nothing serious.

"It's okay, I'll just put some medicine on it when I get back."

Xu Jialan didn't insist, and handed her the medicine he had, saying, "Just use the medicine according to the instructions."

Chen Yao'an then remembered to thank him, "Thank you for today. Also, I'll pay you back how much money you owe me."

"We'll talk about it later," he replied casually, as if he didn't care about the money at all.

Since Yan Shumei didn't need to be hospitalized, Chen Yaoan decided to take her back.

The only inconvenience is that they don't have a car.

Xu Jialan was naturally aware of this, and offered to take you there.

Since he had nothing to do anyway and was bored, he figured he might as well go all the way and be a good Samaritan.

Yan Shumei seemed to remember something: "Didn't you just say you had something urgent to do and needed to leave?"

"It's alright now."

Chen Yao'an chimed in, "I'd rather not trouble you."

"It's no trouble at all."

In Chen Yaoan's eyes, Xu Jialan was overly enthusiastic.

Finally, the group left the hospital together. Chen Yaoan and Xu Jialan helped Yan Shumei, who was in a wheelchair, into the car. Xu Jialan drove, and Chen Yaoan rode an electric bike back home.

The alley in front of Chen Yao'an's house was a bit narrow, and the car couldn't go in, so Xu Jialan had to park the car at the entrance of the alley.

Chen Yao'an opened the car door, didn't look at Yan Shumei, and squatted down directly: "Get in."

By this time, Yan Shumei's arrogance had subsided, and she felt somewhat guilty in front of Chen Yao'an, so she remained silent and did not make any move.

Xu Jialan glanced at her small frame and thought she might not be up to the task, so she reached out and pulled her up.

Chen Yao'an looked at him, puzzled. "What's wrong?"

"I'll do it."

Xu Jialan naturally squatted down in front of the car door.

Chen Yaoan was surprised, after all, he didn't seem like the kind of person who would do such a thing.

Xu Jialan had already carried Yan Shumei away, and Chen Yaoan hurriedly chased after them to get the key and open the front door of the house.

Once inside the gate, Yan Shumei pointed to the rocking chair in the yard, "Just put me there."

Xu Jialan did as she asked and placed her on the rocking chair in the yard.

Chen Yao'an's yard is very large. On the east side of the yard, there is a tall catalpa tree. The rocking chair is placed under the catalpa tree, and there is a table next to it.

After putting Yan Shumei down, Xu Jialan couldn't help but look her over.

This courtyard looks... rather desolate.

There are two rooms on the west side of the courtyard. They look drab and the paint has peeled off in some places.

In the courtyard, apart from a catalpa tree that was growing relatively lushly, there was no sign of life anywhere else.

In Chen's yard, flower beds were built on both sides of the gate, but the left side was empty, with only a pile of soil left, while the right side had some things planted, but they were all withered branches and fallen leaves.

He went over and took a look. He guessed that the flower bed was probably planted with flowers, but there was only a bunch of withered branches tangled together.

By chance, Xu Jialan caught a glimpse of a few green leaves, which were not very noticeable under a pile of withered branches.

Xu Jialan had no knowledge of flowers and wasn't interested in them, so she glanced at them and left.

Chen Yaoan went into the house to check on Zhou Yao. Zhou Yao was watching TV in the living room, and it seemed that nothing had happened. Chen Yaoan was relieved and went to pour a glass of water.

She took the cup out and handed it to Xu Jialan, who was standing in the courtyard.

"Have some water."

"Thanks."

Xu Jialan reached out to take it, but quickly withdrew her hand after touching the cup.

"You did this on purpose?"

His words instantly brought Chen Yaoan back to that night in his car.

He locked the car door with a "click" as she got out, then moved closer to her, cornering her.

He said, "You did it on purpose. The lights in the corridor of the Ginno Bar aren't voice-activated, and the coffee in the restaurant isn't that sweet."

Chen Yaoan felt guilty and couldn't say anything at all.

The two remained locked in a stalemate for several dozen seconds, Xu Jialan's gaze conveying a strong sense of pressure.

Just when Chen Yaoan was about to give up, she heard the sound of the car unlocking.