TLSMLMMM Chapter 30

It was unclear what exactly Chu Junlie had thought of, but right as Si Yunyi finished speaking, he saw the young man looking at him with deep emotion, his gaze trembling slightly.

Like a shivering puppy wrapped suddenly in a warm blanket, held gently in someone’s arms staring dazedly at the one who gave it warmth, overwhelmed by the unexpected affection, wishing to carve this person into his heart forever.

“Thank you, Mr. Si.”
Chu Junlie turned his face slightly, trying hard to suppress the waves of emotion in his chest. He picked up the bowl of fruit from the table and carefully presented it to Si Yunyi.

Mr. Si had helped him so much, and yet he could do so little in return.

“No need to thank me.”
Si Yunyi took the glass bowl from his hands. The money had all been spent by his two nephews anyway they had already maxed out their monthly quota, so they should be staying quiet for a while.

Glancing at the time, he set the fruit aside and took a sterile dressing out of the first-aid kit in the living room, replacing the bandage on Chu Junlie’s forehead.

Junlie’s physical constitution was good, and he had been eating well lately. His wound was healing quickly what used to be bloody had now nearly closed up.

“Use a dressing to cover the wound from now on.”
Si Yunyi looked briefly at the used band-aid thrown into the trash.
“Wet healing prevents scarring.”

“Yes, Mr. Si.”
Chu Junlie obediently lifted his head, feeling the cool touch of fingertips against his forehead. His heart felt sweet like being fed honey.

No one cared about him more than Mr. Si.
Only Mr. Si cared for him, protected him like this!

The next morning, following Si Yunyi’s instructions, Chu Junlie returned to the floor of the mall where he used to work, taking a slow walk around the area.

He wasn’t sure if it was just his imagination, but it felt like many people were watching him. He hadn’t even reached the store where he used to work when the store owner suddenly rushed out.

The moment the shop owner saw Chu Junlie, it was as if he had just met his savior. With tears welling in his eyes, he rushed forward and grabbed Junlie’s arm.

“Xiao Chu, please come back to work! What I did before was wrong. Just come back, okay?”
The owner’s eyes were almost spilling tears. After the whole day yesterday, he even dreamt about Chu Junlie at night, waking up drenched in cold sweat.

Junlie took a step back, turning his arm inward to break free from the owner’s grip.

“Xiao Chu, I wrongly accused you. You actually did a great job.”
The owner took a deep breath and looked earnestly at the young man in front of him.
“I’ll give you a raise, okay? I’ll add two thousand to your base salary — how about that?!”

“A good horse doesn’t graze on old grass.”
Junlie’s expression was firm.
“You fired me in public. So don’t come looking for me again. I’ll still work here, but definitely not in your store.”

Hearing this, the surrounding shop owners who had been watching the drama suddenly perked up. One of them immediately stepped forward, eagerly offering an olive branch.

“Brother Chu, come work for me! I’ll pay you more than he ever could!”

Junlie thought for a moment, then looked up at the store owner.
“Straight to work?”

“Of course straight to work!”
The owner was so excited that his hair was practically standing up. With talent like this, how could he not make money!

“We can hire you immediately too!”
Two more clothing shop owners chimed in eagerly.

“What are you doing stealing my staff?!”
The original store owner almost started a fight, but they all stopped when they saw Junlie shake his head.

He remembered Mr. Si’s reminder: find a store that would test his sales ability. Getting hired instantly, that would lead to the same problems as before.

“Hey, young man.”
A salesperson in business attire waved enthusiastically.
“I’m the supervisor from the store across the hall. Want to come take a look?”

Junlie glanced at the store opposite them, it sold suits as well, so it was the right field.

He followed the supervisor inside and saw the store manager reviewing the books. Upon noticing visitors, the manager immediately stopped what he was doing.

“Manager!”
The supervisor rushed over with little steps, lowering his voice as he spoke excitedly:
“This is Chu Junlie. He’s job-hunting, and I brought him over!”

The manager looked up and noticed several neighboring shop owners gathering outside, waiting to snatch the candidate away at any moment.

“Hello, my name is Chu Junlie. Are you currently hiring sales staff?”
Junlie asked seriously, looking every bit like a proper job seeker.

“Hello, I’m the manager of this store.”
After another glance outside, the manager steadied himself, then smiled at Junlie.

“I know who you are, but we still need to follow proper procedure. Otherwise, it wouldn’t be fair to our other employees. And I want to hire someone who truly has ability.”

The supervisor’s heart dropped instantly. Being able to bring this guy in was already a huge stroke of luck and instead of putting him straight to work, the manager insisted on a process?!

If the kid got unhappy and walked away, there were plenty of other stores waiting to snatch him up!

The supervisor frantically blinked hints at the manager, only to see the young man nod.

“Alright,” Junlie answered seriously.

“Please fill out this form.”
The manager handed him a form. Junlie took it, sat aside, and carefully wrote.

The supervisor stood behind him, practically wishing he could fill the form out for him.

Junlie gripped the pen and filled the blanks quickly:

Name: Chu Junlie
Gender: Male
Age: 21
Birthday: …

He tried to recall the date on his ID, it was issued by the Yan family after his accident. He wasn’t sure if the date was even accurate.

He left the birthday field blank. The next question was marital status.

He couldn’t help smiling as he wrote, stroke by stroke: Married.

After finishing, he handed the form in. The manager reviewed it carefully, then pointed at the single blank field.

“You forgot to fill in your birthday?”

“No,” Junlie replied truthfully.
“I had an accident before and forgot a lot of things. I can’t clearly remember my birthday.”

“Your parents never told you?” The manager looked puzzled.

“My parents… they may have already passed away.”
Junlie tried to smile. Ever since learning the Yan couple weren’t his real parents, he had searched online missing persons platforms but no one had ever been looking for him.

“I’m sorry.”
The manager glanced at the form again, not expecting him to have gone through so much.

“You know the basic knowledge about suits, right?”
The manager asked, starting the next stage, testing his sales ability.

“Yes.”
Junlie’s eyes were firm.

The manager picked up a suit and placed it before him.
“Tell me by appearance alone, what features does this suit have?”

Junlie looked once.
“Peak lapel, pagoda shoulders, three-button front, dark gray. Very conservative style. I would recommend it to customers over thirty-five with established professional status.”

The manager nodded. Behind him, the supervisor was already clapping excitedly under his breath.

“Last question, from which detail can you tell the quality level of a suit?” the manager asked.

Almost instantly, Junlie stepped forward and flipped the jacket open to show the inside pocket label.

“Just look at the material tag. Higher-end suits always have one inside, showing the brand.”

“Excellent.”
The manager put the suit away and smiled at him.

“First of all, welcome to the team. Second, let me explain our salary package. The first month is probation, base salary three thousand plus commissions. Starting the second month, once officially hired, your base salary becomes five thousand, plus bonuses.”

Hearing the base salary, Junlie pressed his lips together.
“How high is the commission rate here?”

“The commission during probation is 3%, but once you’re officially employed, it will be 5%,” the store manager stated honestly.

Chu Junlie’s eyes brightened. At his previous clothing store, the commission had only ever been at probation level—just 3%. Last month he sold six items and earned 1,200 in commission. If he earned the same number of sales here, he’d get at least 2,100!

“Alright.” Chu Junlie nodded, decision made. “When do I start working?”

“You can start right now,” the manager replied with a relieved smile. “If there’s anything you’re unsure about, you can ask anyone here. We’ll all help you.”

Chu Junlie looked around and saw all the shop assistants smiling warmly at him.

“Then I’ll start now.” His expression turned determined, mind filled with one clear goal, the beautiful ruby ring.

That afternoon, not long after Chu Junlie started work, the third of the younger Si family generation, Si Beixin, entered the suit store with a few friends.

“Oh—little uncle’s husband.” Si Beixin draped an arm over Chu Junlie’s shoulder, picking suits for each of his friends, then lowered his voice.

“We were out playing yesterday, so we didn’t make it—don’t tell my uncle that I only came today. I’ll buy two extra to keep your lips sealed.”

“I don’t lie to Mr. Si,” Chu Junlie whispered back. “But I think Mr. Si already expected you’d be late.”

Once Si Beixin left with his friends, the shift leader hurried over to congratulate Chu Junlie.

“Xiao Chu, you’re incredible! First day on the job and you’ve already sold what I usually take half a month to achieve!”

“It’s all thanks to my beloved,” Chu Junlie lowered his head shyly, thinking of the man waiting at home, a smile spreading across his face.

At the same time, Si Yunyi stood outside the Si family’s old residence, calmly facing his sister-in-law who was blocking his way.

“Yunyi, please don’t be mad at me,” she said helplessly. “I don’t want to stop you either, but this was Father’s request. I really can’t do anything about it.”

“He said it himself?” Si Yunyi’s voice dropped slightly, gaze behind his glasses fixed on her.

“He said it himself, and when he was completely lucid.” She looked guilty. “It’s my fault… when he woke up, I thought it was safe and brought Qizai to see Grandpa. Then Qizai asked where Grandpa would go after turning into a crescent moon again. The minute Father realized something was wrong, he asked about that day and he learned that… he almost hurt you.”

Si Yunyi looked toward the villa, eyes landing on the window of his father’s bedroom.

“You know Father dotes on you the most,” his sister-in-law sighed. “If he couldn’t control himself and ended up hurting you, he’d be devastated once he recovered.”

She wiped the corner of her eye.
“Don’t worry, Yunyi. Your eldest brother, second brother, and third sister—we’ve talked about this. We’ll take turns watching over Father. You’ve been the one caring for him all this time. Take a couple of days off and rest. We’ll handle things. Father will be fine.”