Tianbao was only three-and-a-half years old and Shu Yan didn't feel comfortable leaving him with his kindergarten teacher. Plus, he couldn't really fall behind in the kindergarten, so she just took some time off for him and brought him with her to her shop.

"Boss, how come you brought Tianbao with you?" asked Zhang Huaxiu in surprise, when she saw Tianbao trailing behind Shu Yan.

"My landlord wanted his house back immediately. I didn't have time at all these couple of days to look for a new place to stay, so I had Jingjing staying with her teacher and will be bringing Tianbao with me to the shop for a while. I have already told your sister-in-law about this arrangement." Shu Yan pulled Tianbao over to her and said, "Tianbao, this is Aunty Xiuxiu. You have met her before. This one is Aunty Yingying. You need to be good, no running around madly, and definitely no running outside of the shop, okay?"

"Okay," said Tianbao as he looked left and right. This was the very first time he has been to his mother's shop.

A boutique was relatively busy and Tianbao was still interested in looking around at the beginning, but he eventually lost his interest and just sat around behind the cash register and played with his toy car after a while.

As the balloons had dwindled, there were always some who came to try out their luck. Someone won an electric fan and then more people came to buy clothes.

After lunch, Shu Yan and the others tidied up the clothes that had been tried on by customers in the morning. By the time they were done with that, more customers came. When they were finally able to take a break, Shu Yan saw that Tianbao had already fallen asleep on top of a pile of clothes.

She walked over to fix the clothes to make it more comfortable for him to sleep on. Many in the past had said that one should always keep their children with themselves and that it wasn't the same when the kids grew up with their grandparents. That may be true, except that many didn't have that option. In a normal family, one'd need to work to be able to earn money to support both their parents and their children. But it wasn't easy to earn money and take care of the kids at the same time.

Shu Yan only fully comprehended fully what it was like to be parents when she had experienced this herself. She had no idea how her mother did it. She had to manage the fruit shop and do laundry, cook, and take care of the kids on top of that.

That's why it was always said that one could only understand what their parents had gone through when one was parents themselves. Too bad she no longer had the opportunity to take care of them. It saddened her every time she thought about that.

"Boss lady, someone is asking for you outside."

Shu Yan looked up and saw Lao Hu standing outside the front door. She quickly walked over and propped open the door for him. "How come you didn't come inside?"

"I didn't want to bother you." This was a women's clothing shop. Lao Hu felt that it might not be appropriate for him to go inside.

"It's fine. Many men come with their wives to shop." Shu Yan didn't want others to know that she was looking into Le. When one person found out then another person would also find out then, one thing leading onto another, soon everyone would know about it. But she couldn't bring Lao Hu to the storage area either. With so many people watching, there would for sure cause some crazy rumors.

"Xiuxiu, can you watch Tianbao for me for a bit? I am going to go check out a couple rental places." Shu Yan explained herself before she took off with Lao Hu.

There was a little park not too far away from West City Nan Road. They picked a slightly secluded spot and had a seat before Shu Yan asked, "What did you find out?"

"I did find out something. I don't know if it would be useful to you so you can see for yourself?"

His tone suggested that he found out something very useful. Shu Yan took the information from him and on the very top was Fan Xiaomei, owner of the kid's clothing store. The information on her was relatively simple. She was from Province Ning, married, and has a 2-year-old son. She was also a cousin of Le and she just opened up the kid's clothing store with Le's help earlier this year.

The second set of documents was on Zhu Hung. She was a native of City Nan. Her husband was a manager at a factory and she has a men's clothing store. She used to live on Fujian Road Block X, Floor X, Building X. Shu Yan paid particular attention to the address. That was the rental that she had. So that house belonged to Zhu Hung?

Shu Yan couldn't help but wonder about the timing of the incidents. She had just got into a spat with Le then the landlord brother-in-law came? That sounded very much like an excuse for Zhu Hung to take her place back.

She immediately opened up Le's information. Le was 20 years old. She came to work in City Nan after graduating junior high school when she was 16. She was referred by a friend to be a nanny for a wealthy family. When her female boss found out that she was having an affair with her husband later on, she beat Le up and tossed her out.

The female boss's own family was no ordinary family. The male employer owed his success to his father-in-law. He knelt and begged his wife for forgiveness at the time; but shortly after that, he had resumed his affair with Le. He even bought her a house in City Nan and helped her open up a clothing store.

Shu Yan looked up at Lao Hu in disbelief, "Are you sure about this?"

"Very sure. This was a big deal at the time and many knew about it. The news only didn't spread too much out of respect for the female boss. If I didn't look into it specifically, I wouldn't even know that he was keeping her outside. His reputation had been quite good recently. He always acted like he was very in love with his wife." The magnitude of the information surprised even Lao Hu. He pulled out another piece of paper and handed it over to Shu Yan. "This is the man's address and his home phone number."

Shu Yan looked up and smiled at Lao Hu, "You are so thorough in your work."

"You know, being thorough is very important in our field." Lao Hu was quite proud of himself.

"Alright. Thank you so much." Shu Yan added an extra 100 yuan when she paid him the remaining amount. "I don't want anyone else to find out about it."

"Oh, don't worry. That goes without saying. I have a reputation to keep."

With the information in hand, a look of viciousness flashed through Shu Yan's face. She thought all Le did was just pranks like poking a few holes in her merchandise. She didn't expect her to go as far as having Zhu Hung take her house back. It wouldn't have been a big deal if it was just her by herself; she could easily find a motel or something. But she has two children. If that was how she wanted to play it, Shu Yan would play with her.

Shu Yan wasn't one to sit around. She went over to a public phone on her way back and called the man up. It was lunchtime and someone picked it up right away.

"Hello? Who is this?" It was a very tender voice.

"Hi, is this Zhang Baizong's house?"

"Yes, who is this?" The woman frowned slightly. She had been having a bad feeling lately as though something bad was going to happen.

"Do you know of a Yang Le?"

The woman's heart dropped. She turned her head and glanced over at the man who was eating lunch at the table and said, "Of course. Is this she?"

"I am not going to beat around the bush. I have had some issues with Yang Le and had someone look into her. I want to know who is backing her to allow her to be so blatant about her actions. The investigation turned up something interesting. That Le came to City Nan when she was still very young. She had an affair with her employer and was kicked out by his wife. The employer, however, sought her out again shortly thereafter. Bought her a house and helped her open up a clothing store. No need to doubt my words. You can ask around in City Nan's Post & Telecommunication Unit."

Shu Yan felt that the person on the other end of the phone was a bit too calm. Per the information that she has received, this woman was very much in love with her husband. Why else would she have insisted on marrying a poor man despite her parent's objection? Not to mention that she had chosen to forgive him after what had happened. How would she react when she found out that her husband was still with Le?

"Okay, I get it. Can you tell me who you are?" The woman's fingers that were holding onto the phone turned pale, but her tone was calm.

"You don't need to know who I am. Let's just say someone in the same boat as you. As someone who has been through the same, let me give you some advice. Once a cheater, always a cheater." Shu Yan couldn't help but add that last bit and regretted right away. She didn't need to say that.

"Who is it?" asked Zhang Baizong tenderly.

"A friend of mind." The woman smiled and said to Shu Yan. "I know what I need to do. I'll look into this. If it turns out to be real, keke..."

The evil laugh from the woman at the end of the conversation gave Shu Yan the creeps. But, whatever. A cheating scum and his mistress. Neither one of them was good people.

On the last day of the promotion, Shu Yan posted a few bright red advertisements and had the two temporary workers go to pass out flyers. They had attracted many and it was even busier than the last few days. Shu Yan wasn't able to tend to Tianbao, so she bought him a bag of snacks to snack on behind the counter.

When she was finally able to take a break, Shu Yan took a sip of water and felt that there was tugging on the corner of her shirt. "Mom, I want to poke a balloon too."

"Okay, I'll let you poke one too." Shu Yan had noticed that Tianbao wanted to poke a balloon for a while now, but she wouldn't let him. Now that it was the last day, she let him poke one.

He casually poked one and won an electric fan. Shu Yan took a look at Xiuxiu to make sure that she didn't arrange for it. It was all Tianbao's luck.

"Mom, did I win something?"

"Yes, our Tianbao is so mighty. We will put this electric fan in your room for you to use." Shu Yan pinched his little nose.

"Really? Thank you, Mommy!" Tianbao struggled to pull the electric fan over behind the counter and wouldn't even let Shu Yan help him. He couldn't be happier.

After the promotional activities were over, Shu Yan, Zhang Huaxiu and Yingying started with inventorying before they analyzed which styles were more popular, which ones weren't, and why...

All in all, older customers prefer more practical items. For example, they would want to buy something that they could wear in both fall, winter, and spring. The younger ones wouldn't care about that as much. They cared more about the style; as long as they are pretty.

Truth was, anyone who'd come shopping at West City Nan Road was more affluent. Mostly, they looked at the style and quality of the clothing.

"Now that the promotional activities are over, you need to be prepared that businesses won't be as good as before. You should learn to mix and match the clothing during your free time. In addition, how to handle unforeseeable circumstances. For example, when the customer brought the item back for return, never talk to them in a dubious tone. Once the customers get upset and start fighting with us, we will always get the short end of the stick at the shop."

"I'm sorry," said Yingying with her head lowered, embarrassed.

"I am not blaming you, but next time that happens, we should try to resolve it with a better approach. In addition, from this point forward, you will take turns serving the customers. Meaning, when the first customer comes, Xiuxiu will help them and Yingying will get the next one. Whether you are able to make a sale will be on you. The other one can help out. Help each other out. It's easier to make a sale when there's someone else chiming in. These are all sales techniques.

Remember to put your name on the receipt, otherwise I will not be able to pay you your commission. We have been too busy the last few days. From now on, you will track them on a notebook and I will keep a separate one as well. We will cross check the two at the end of the month when we calculate your commissions. It's your own pay so you'd want to pay it particular attention."

"Okay." The two of them exchanged a look with each other. If they hadn't thought much about commission before, they certainly do now.

"That's all I have to say. I might be in a little bit later tomorrow. I need to go take a look at a rental. I don't think it will take long, and I will be in as soon as I can." Shu Yan had been staying in a motel with Tianbao the last few days. She'd go visit Jingjing before she headed to the shop. She didn't want to disturb Teacher Liu too late at night after she was done.