Chapter 176

At the Flair Apparel Store…
Lu Xinyi stepped inside the office, completely flustered and exasperated. She should have known something wrong was going on when Yuan Jin and Xia Yuhan desperately tried to convince her to use Xia Yuhan’s latest collection. If she had known that Flair Apparel was on the verge of bankruptcy, she would never agree to accept Xia Yuhan’s proposal.
“Why didn’t you tell me?!” she exclaimed, slamming her fist at Xia Yuhan’s table. Xia Yuhan blinked her eyes and put down the burger she was eating before Lu Xinyi decided to interrupt her.
“Tell you what? What’s with you?” Xia Yuhan replied. She was barely clueless of what Lu Xinyi was talking about. With all the problems her family was dealing with at the moment, she was reluctant to ask for their help.
“Your business. Why did you insist on sponsoring me if I attend Silver Leaf?” While Lu Xinyi knew that Xia Yuhan wanted her to introduce her clothing line to other rich students of the academy, she couldn’t understand why her new friend chose to sponsor her which could also put a lot of strain on her business.
“If your business isn’t doing good, at least let me pay for the clothes you provided.” She was Shen Yi’s wife after all. What would people say if they found out that she was taking clothing sponsorship from Xia Yuhan’s failing business?
Seeing the Xia Yuhan was refusing to meet her gaze, Lu Xinyi was irritated by the defeated look on Xia Yuhan’s face. The door suddenly opened again, revealing Xia Yuhan’s store manager. He was supposed to say something important, but seeing that his boss had a guest made him freeze on his spot.
“You! Come here.” Lu Xinyi called the manager who was giving her a confused look. She took her VIP card from her purse and gave it to the manager. “I’ll pay for all the clothes Miss Xia sent to me last week. Charge everything to this card. Make sure you don’t put a discount on the bill!”
“You don’t have to do that!” Xia Yuhan jumped from her seat and confronted Lu Xinyi, “I don’t need your pity!”
“Who said I’m pitying you?” Lu Xinyi retorted. She was really upset that Xia Yuhan and Yuan Jin hadn’t mentioned anything about Flair Apparel’s problems. If she had known, she wouldn’t agree to accept her sponsorship.
“Why should I pity you? If there’s someone I should be concerned with, it’s your employees. That decision you made to sponsor me was very reckless and inconsiderate. Haven’t you realized what will happen to them if your shop kept on losing sales, or you just don’t care about us being kept in the dark about what was going on?”
Xia Yuhan turned to see her manager’s concerned look. She might have known all along that their sales were failing and hadn’t improved for the past weeks. There were rumors that Xia Yuhan’s latest collection was copied from Starlight’s, and that made her customers wary of her shop’s reputation.
She sighed and let herself fall back into her seat. Rubbing her temples, she took their sales record and presented it to Lu Xinyi. This document shouldn’t be seen by outsiders unless they were hired by the company, but it was only what Xia Yuhan could do to pacify Lu Xinyi’s anger.
“Do whatever Miss Lu asked you to do. Leave so we can talk privately,” she told the manager who promptly walked out of the office, leaving the two women alone to discuss Flair Apparel’s future.
Lu Xinyi sat across the table and silently read the contents of Flair Apparel’s book. She couldn’t believe the drastic decrease in sales for the past three months. What happened to Xia Yuhan that led to this problem?
Xia Yuhan felt dejected and stupid for letting her own business fall like this. If only she had known that Starlight had planted a mole in Flair Apparel. Her desperate eagerness to get married and get her inheritance to save Flair Apparel had also blinded her from making better decisions.
“This is bad, really bad.” Lu Xinyi gave back the book and rubbed her chin.
“I know.” Xia Yuhan admitted. “I want to save this shop, but I don’t know what to do anymore.” She did a quick survey of her office and saw the awards and certificates she received over the years. Was this the end for her? Was there any way to save Flair Apparel?
A smile crossed on Lu Xinyi’s lips which made Xia Yuhan uneasy in her seat.
“I don’t like that look on your face.” Xia Yuhan said.
“What? I’m just thinking if you’re willing to receive investments for Flair Apparel.” Lu Xinyi’s smile widened, catching Xia Yuhan’s off-guard.