The Fang Fang Store was louder than usual that morning.
Customers crowded the first floor, voices overlapping in a restless hum as staff members moved briskly behind the counters. Crystal display cases glimmered under white lights, reflecting the silhouettes of monsters resting inside incubators and the eager faces pressed close to the glass.
Business was good. Too good, some would say.
And then, as usual, the General Manager of the store, Zhi Yan, appeared.
She stepped through the front entrance in her officer's suit, tailored sharply enough to turn heads without trying. The dark fabric hugged her figure cleanly, practical yet elegant, and her ponytail swayed with each step she took across the polished floor.
As her heels clicked softly, the reception staff straightened instinctively.
Conversations dipped, then surged again the moment she passed.
"Is that her?" someone whispered.
"That's Manager Zhi, right?" another murmured.
"No, no… she's Owner Lin's mistress."
