Yingying took off the very next day. She brought with her nothing other than the two sets of clothes given to her by Shu Yan.

"This is your salary that I have been keeping for you. Be sure to keep them at a safe place; the train can be a very dangerous place. Follow Boss Zhang closely. She will arrange for you to be trained at one of the franchisee first and have you work at the direct sales office once it is ready. You can spend a few days to familiarize yourself with the environment and do some sightseeing first. There is no need to start working right away." Shu Yan straightened up her collar for her. "We have very similar experiences. If I am able to relive my life, so could you."

"Mmm, I am sure I can. Big Sister, can I call you that?" Yingying looked at Shu Yan with sparks in her eyes.

"Of course." Shu Yan had always thought of her as her little sister anyway.

"I have always been envious of others with big sisters but I don't long need to be envious of them. I am very lucky to have ran into a big sister like you. I will work hard after I have arrived at City Yang and aim to become a stare manager as soon as possible. I will make you proud. What I worry the most is my parents and my brother coming to harass you. No need to hold back, big sister, if they come. Just call the cops." Yingying worried a lot about trouble that she might have brought Shu Yan.

"Don't worry. They won't dare come."

Yingying's parents were the typical bully who only picked on those weaker than them. Her brother wasn't a brave one either. All of them were only bullies in their own house. If they dared come, Shu Yan would just have someone teach them a lesson. She was sure they would avoid her in the future.

"Okay, I should go now." Yingying stuck her head out of the window after she had gotten onto the train. She waved and said, "Goodbye, Big Sister, and thank you."

With one person down, Zhang Huaxiu would not be able to handle the work on her own. Hu Ruixue had been busy with matters of setting up branch offices at Capital City and City Yang. There were also a lot to take care of at City Nan as well. Shu Yan couldn't not help. She felt exceptionally busy all of a sudden. Luckily, it was easy to look for help right now and a few came as soon as she posted the want sign.

A few of them were workers who had just retired from the factories this year. All of them were married with children. Shu Yan wasn't worried that they would nee to take a lot of time off because they were mothers; the problem was that they did not maintain their figures. She wanted very much to help them out but this was a boutique. She needed her employees to have shapely figures. If their clothes didn't look good on the workers, they would not be able to attract the customers to buy them.

See that, Zhang Huaxiu felt an exceptional pressure. Her mother had been urging her to have children. It wouldn't be too bad during the start of her pregnancy but would she be able to work so much during the tail end of it? And she would need to feed the baby after ward as well. She would be gone for over a year? The shop would for sure look for a new manager. If that was the case, what could she do when she returned?

"What are you thinking about?" asked Shu Yan when she noticed the worried look on Zhang Huaxiu.

"Oh, nothing much... my mother is urging me to have a child, I..."

Shu Yan figured out her worries immediately. "You will have children sooner or later. If you can still work during your pregnancy, I can give you a three-month maternity leave. But if you are to breast feed... you know those baby bottles? You can pump ahead of time then heat them up for the baby. But it is not going to be pleasant."

"I am fine with that," said Zhang Huaxiu. She was happy to hear that Shu Yan would be giving her three months off.

Such was the hardship of being a woman. From being pregnant to giving birth to the baby, not only would one body sustain a lot of damages, they also risked losing their jobs in addition to that.

As they were talking, the door was pushed open and someone walked inside. "Are you hiring here?"

Shu Yan looked up at her. She was a very pretty woman with a shapely body. When Shu Yan walked closer to her, she also noticed her charming look and her sexiness. Contrarily, she had a shy look on her and her seemed pure.

Shu Yan had her filled out an application. Glancing over at it, the girl was a college graduate.

"I see that you put on here that you are a college graduate. You should have a job, right? Can I ask what you used to do?" College students were usually assigned managerial roles after graduation. The workers might be let go, but not necessarily the managers.

The woman looked shifty for a second. "I....." She grabbed her resume and stood up. "I am just looking."

She dashed toward the door and bumped into Feng Zeyu. With Feng Zeyu's build, he didn't even move a bit when the woman bumped into him. The woman, on the other hand, stumbled a few steps backward.

Clutching onto her resume tightly, her apologized with her head lowered. "I'm sorry."

Feng Zeyu had a suspicious look on him as he watched the woman ran away without looking back.

"Are you alright?" asked Shu Yan when she saw Feng Zeyu. "How come you are..."

He rarely contacted Shu Yan when they were in City Nan. Particularly when they were around City Nan University, he would pretend that they didn't even her when they ran into each other. This was the first time he came to her shop.

"Yingying's parents will be released today or tomorrow and I worry that they will come and stir up troubles here." Feng Zeyu recalled the woman who had just left and asked, "Was she a customer of yours?"

"No, she was here applying for a job. It was odd. She is a college graduate. I would imagine she has a good position lined up for her. Why would she want to become a salesperson at my shop? And she is from City Ning also. I only brought that up and she took off frantically." Shu Yan felt that the woman was odd.

"Resident of City Ning. A college graduate." Feng Zeyu's eyes narrowed as though he had an idea who she was now.

"Yeah, you know her?"

"I might have met her in the past. It's been a while so I am not 100% sure," said Feng Zeyu with a slight smile.

"Yingying's parents won't be out till tomorrow. You don't need to be here so early. I will give you a call if they come to cause trouble." Shu Yan figured that Yingying's parent would not dare to come over.

"You never know what someone will do when they are pushed too far. It may be too late for a phone call then." Feng Zeyu looked around the shop. "I can't be here but I will be around. Give me a call immediately if something happens."

Shu Yan was going to take him out to lunch but Feng Zeyu said he had something else to attend to and took off. Shu Yan did ask; things were already messy enough between them.

Truth was, Shu Yan felt somewhat conflicted right now.

Feng Zeyu was a very good man. He was reliable, mature, responsible, and has a good temperament. He provided her with a sense of security. Had she met someone like him before her transmigration, she very well might... consider pursuing this further.

But she was now a mother of two.

Once you have kids, there were a lot more to take into consideration. For the first marriage, the two only needed to be fond of each other, or found each other suitable. But when it came to a second marriage, the kids were the most important. Could the kids accept it? Would he be nice to them? Would they have another child later on? If they have another one, would he be fair to all of them? Would she prefer the youngest one of them? All sorts of questions prevented Shu Yan to remarry in a carefree way.

Shu Yan sighed. To be perfectly honest, Shu Yan didn't think she could hold out and never get married again for the two children. She was a normal woman and needed a partner both physically and emotionally. That was the main reason she did not turn Feng Zeyu down.

She felt a little like a scum. She couldn't promise that she will be with Feng Zeyu but she also didn't want to say out loud.

She smiled bitterly. Did that make her the green tea?

Once Feng Zeyu had returned to his own office, he asked Mao Weiping, "When we looked into that Yin Xueqin, I seem to recall that she attended university at City Ning and also works there?"

"That's right. She holds a position with the Yang Province." Mao Weiping nodded.

"I just ran into her, looking for a job. Have someone look into what is going on with her." If she had a government job, why would she return to City Nan to look for a job? His plan was already in its final stage and he did not wish it disrupted by any last-minute changes.

"Sure. I will put someone on it right away."

It wasn't difficult to look into Yin Xueqin. They quickly got news on her.

"This woman..." The man who returned with the news thought about it for a long while and finally spit out, "All pretty women are so unfortunate."

Mao Weiping gave him a swift kick from behind him. "You can only use that if she's dead. All she is is bad news right now."

"Oh, hahaha... potato, po-TAH-to. You know that I never did well in school. You should be impressed that I even remember that one."

"Alright, back to what we were talking about," said Feng Zeyu as he drummed on the table.

"Ah, right." The man stood straight up. "She went with her parents to City Ning and settled down there. Their days had been quiet and she was courted by many when she was studying at the university. One of them was a second-gen and spent a lot of time and effort on her. The two stated dating and her government job was arranged by this boyfriend of hers."

"Ah, I was wondering. She didn't exactly attend a great school, so how was she able to get a government job. And started out as the secretary of a politician at that."

"Don't interrupt. Let him finish," said Feng Zeyu as he gave Mao Weiping a stare.

"Not long after she started working there, the second-gen married a woman of his own status under his family's arrangement. Six months later, Yin Xueqin, too, married the son of a cop through the introduction of county head. Then something happened to the second-gen's family. The county head, also belonging to their faction, was also taken for investigation and, Yin Xueqin, as his secretary, was also taken away. Long story short, everybody in their factor was in trouble. Now the county head, Yin Xueqin's father-in-law, and her husband are all in jail. She, too, was fired from her position. Life was rough with a child so she returned to City Nan with her parents."

"See? I was right, she is nothing but trouble." Mao Weiping added his commentary again.

"Oh, stop with that already."

"Why would I? Just look, it didn't happen to anyone else. Why her? And why would she be fired if she was innocent? Her behavior in City Nan previously could be explained away as her being threatened. Why couldn't she have gone to work elsewhere after she had graduated college?"

"Alright. Let's have a couple of people tail her. It's fine if she doesn't get into contact with that bunch. If she does, let me know right away. I am at the home stretch of our plan and I shall not tolerate any errors," said Feng Zeyu gloomily.

"Don't worry. You have been planning for this for so long. We won't let anything get in its way."

Feng Zeyu nodded. He then stood up and grabbed the car key. "I have something to take care of."

"Going over to that boss lady of the cloth shop again? Look, this is not gonna work. You will never get the girl at this rate." Mao Weiping couldn't hold himself back anymore. "If you truly like her and want to marry her, just tell her the whole truth. How is she suppose to take the first step if you are so timid?"

"We have our own hesitations," said Feng Zeyu after a slight hesitation.

"Your worry is mainly that your reputation will be bad for her. But we are very close to revealing the truth already. Her worry is her two children. That's why you need to be more decisive and more courageous. You can also try to bring her kids to your side. Once you have the kids on your side, you are half way there already."

"And you know that how?" Feng Zeyu gave him a cross eye.

"Well, I at least know more than you. I have kids too. I know what it is like to be parents. Women, especially those with kids, would not have a divorce at least there was no other options. If she had a divorce, that means she had been hurt badly before. If you really want to go after her, you should be prepared for a long and hard uphill battle," said Mao Weiping as he gave him a good-luck look.

Everybody said that it was difficult to be a stepmother. Being a stepfather was no easier.

Naturally, Feng Zeyu knew that before he had planned to pursue Shu Yan. He did not expect her to accept him right away. He would be happy as long as she didn't resent the idea.