"Sister Lian, you just started work and haven't even entered your office yet. Where are you going this time?"
Fortunately, Jiang Yu had good eyesight, otherwise she really wouldn't have been able to tell that the person sneaking out of the mall was Sister Lian.
Before the woman could answer, she took a few steps forward, affectionately took her arm, and said with a forced smile:
"I haven't been back to the department store in ages, and it's changed so much. How could a small clothing store with all its licenses and permits attract the attention of the market supervision bureau and get shut down? Did they find something illegal in my store? If that's the case, I need to go and find out."
"You agree, right, Sister Lian?"
When Jiang Yu said these words, her expression was extremely innocent, like a pure young girl who had never been in a dark room. She suppressed her anger; of course, even if she was angry, she shouldn't have vented it on Sister Lian—the administrator was innocent.
The reason I came here is to find out who's business has been threatened, that people are so outraged that they won't even let a small shop that makes a living go unpunished.
"I only heard about this when I was buying breakfast downstairs. I was thinking you haven't had time to come over lately, so I quickly called upstairs to ask what happened. If it's really a mistake, we'll definitely resolve it as soon as possible."
Sister Lian pretended not to know anything about it, but unfortunately her acting was so bad that it was unbelievable.
"Then you can make the call now, and I'll listen in too."
Jiang Yu tightened her grip on Sister Lian's arm, determined not to give up until she got to the bottom of things. Seeing that the other woman was serious, Sister Lian's expression immediately changed, and she became frightened.
"Jiang Yu, you should think about who you've offended recently. To be honest, the boss told us last night that no one is allowed to interfere in this matter."
"What do you mean? Aren't you worried that I'll make a big deal out of this? And what your leader said clearly shows that they're protecting each other, isn't it?"
She wanted to continue questioning, but seeing that Sister Lian couldn't explain herself, she casually said, "Think whatever you want," and then closed the office door, leaving her outside.
Jiang Yu became increasingly confused, and the knocking on the door grew louder and louder. Only after attracting a large crowd of onlookers did she reluctantly give up.
Then, looking dejected, she walked into the store. Thinking about the conversation just now, she wondered who she had offended to be like this, and couldn't help but mutter to herself:
Who could she possibly offend besides Deng Wei and Bai Na? But neither of them should have the power to openly use their connections to shut down her small shop.
Just as he was thinking this, he bumped into Bai Chen, who was going to the cake shop with Liu Cui. Bai Chen's honeymoon was on, and he originally planned to go out and have some fun with his wife. But Liu Cui wanted to continue running the cake shop, so she came along.
After all, being newlyweds, he still wanted to be with his wife all the time.
Seeing the woman's dejected state, she didn't even glance at them as they bumped into her. Sensing something was wrong, they couldn't help but ask:
"Sister-in-law, what's wrong with you?"
Upon hearing the familiar voice, Jiang Yu paused for a moment, gave a listless greeting, and then gave a general account of the situation in the clothing store.
"How could this happen, Ayu? Let's go find Sister Lian and ask her clearly. As long as we promise not to betray her, she should be able to tell us."
Liu Cuitian genuinely took the woman's hand, wanting to seek justice for her. After all, having worked at the department store for so long, they had always helped each other whenever one of them encountered trouble.
"It's no use. She told me it was someone higher up who did it. As for the specifics, she told me to recall who I had offended. Although I do have enemies, they don't have that much power."
As Jiang Yu was reviewing the situation, Bai Chen's mind conjured up the image of Commander Bai. He couldn't help himself and exclaimed, "No way!" startling the two women.
"Do you know something?"
Seeing the man's expression, Liu Cui realized something and questioned him. Now that things had come to this, Bai Chen knew that continuing to hide it would lead to serious trouble, so he recounted how Commander Bai had spoken privately with Shen Ying the previous night about Bai Ling and how he had threatened Shen Ying to marry Bai Ling.
"No, how can you do this? Just to prevent your own family from suffering, you're willing to break up someone else's marriage? Besides, isn't everyone aware that there's nothing between Comrade Shen Ying and Cousin Bai Ling? What exactly is Commander Bai's intention in doing this?"
At this moment, Liu Cui no longer cared about her status as a daughter-in-law of the Bai family, now that she was married to Bai Chen. Whether out of her feelings for Jiang Yu or as a person with normal thinking, she couldn't stand it anymore and wanted to debate the right and wrong of the whole matter.
"Grandma, keep your voice down."
Hearing his wife's indignant rant, Bai Chen couldn't help but step forward and cover her mouth. Worried that someone with ulterior motives might use this incident against them, he, being clear-headed, had to stop them.
Jiang Yu thought about the scene of the man returning home last night. He didn't mention a word about the whole thing, and what he said had nothing to do with Commander Bai and Bai Ling. She thought the matter was over.
But then again, if it's a grudge between her and Shen Ying, why shut down her shop? Is there no justice in this world?
Jiang Yu grew angrier the more she thought about it, and abandoned the couple who were still arguing about the matter, going to the provincial capital alone.
Throughout the journey, she was unable to control her temper and nearly went berserk on the long-distance bus several times, but she was stopped by the last shred of reason she had.
She worried that before she even reached the provincial capital, the driver would take her to a mental hospital.
Bai Family Villa:
Bai Xiuye sat on the sofa, with Deng Wei standing beside him, looking aggrieved. He hadn't been able to sleep since last night because of Bai Ling's situation, and he pressed his temples in distress.
He also blamed himself for bringing his niece to the wedding. Now, Bai Ling and Shen Ying had been framed and the matter was known to everyone. He couldn't even face the Bai family alone.
The nanny in the kitchen brewed him some herbal tea to relieve his internal heat, placed it on a table to the side, glanced at Deng Wei, said nothing, and silently left.
"Weiwei, why did you do this? Is it so fun to frame your cousin? I know you've suffered a lot outside, but it was an accident. Why can't you forget your past life, stay here peacefully, and be a good young lady of the Bai family?"
Our family is large and powerful. I can give you anything you want, but if you do something wrong, it's hard to forgive you.
Bai Xiuye sighed, disappointed. He didn't know how to get along with his 'daughter'. Over the years, apart from a son who was living abroad and supporting himself, he had no other biological children.
When faced with the wrongdoings of his adopted daughter, he would try his best to cover them up, but he feared that one day he would be unable to hide them any longer.
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