##Chapter 5 Mock

The weather today was great. The sun shone on my face, making me feel

warm.

It was downtown. Many were hanging out on the street. We were at a

grocery store.

We saw a contact sticker on the door as we approached the store. The

quiet ambiance was at odds with the atmosphere nearby due to the products it

sold. I observed it and found the shop was not far from an amusement park.

Plenty of young couples came around on holidays, so it was not a bad idea to

have a flower shop here.

The door of the shop was half-opened. A downcast mid-aged man was

sitting inside. I guessed he should be the owner of the shop.

"Sir, you wanna sell the shop?" I asked as I got in with

William.

"Well..." the boss answered after hesitating for a while. He

scanned us up and down.

"How's the rent looking?" asked I.

"It isn't too big. Let's make it three grand a year," said

him. That price was a bargain in this city, but it definitely wasn't a small

amount for me.

"We can do two grand," William suddenly blurted out and

shocked me.

William looked at me and smiled. Then he turned to the owner, "How

do you like that? We'll do our best to take care of the shop. We can offer a

bonus as our business grows."

That caught the owner with a surprise. William was offering a better

bargain, and the owner was clear about that. So he looked at William all

confused.

"Is that so?"

"Yeah," William held my hand and hinted me to rest assured.

Then he smiled at the owner shyly.

"As you can see, we're nothing well off. We're trying to save up

just as well. I know you've worked hard on this shop, so you must treasure it.

That's why I made such an offer. What do you say?"

As the owner heard that, he was finally reassured. "Alright

then," said the owner with a sigh, "I used to run this place with my

wife. Now that she's gone, I'm all alone here."

We looked at the owner, not knowing what to say. We were too afraid to

make him worse.

Suddenly I realized William was already inches taller than me. I may

have treated him as a kid, but he was already able to take care of himself and

even me. Time went by fast.

We then reached an agreement with the owner to give him the money and

take over the shop a week later. Before we left, I took a few photos with my

phone so that I could start planning things out.

Suddenly, the sound of cloth ripping came to me.

I looked over and found that a tag tore William's trousers open,

revealing his fair and slim thigh.

I hurried to check on him, "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine. But these trousers are as good as gone..." William

behaved just like a little kid in trouble.

"No worries. It's worn out anyway. We're getting a new pair,"

I grinned at him.

"But..." William frowned. Before he refused, I had already

pulled him to the next shop.

The entire shopfront was white with some black decorations. Everything

looked polished and exquisite. It was definitely a top-grade clothing store.

Two receptionists in red gowns standing at the door were smiling at the

passersby.

"Let's check out another store. It's all hard-earned money, and

this ain't worth it," William mumbled. He tugged on my hand, refusing to

move forward.

I patted on his hand, "It's alright. That's what money's for,

right? Besides, we just got our flower shop. We haven't celebrated it

yet."

I then dragged William to the door.

"What can I do for you today?" the receptionist started her

drill.

We opened the door and entered the shop. The furnishings inside looked

even better. The color schemes of clothing were mainly black, white, and blue.

It was the kind of clothes that wouldn't look stunning but would be the

comfiest.

William never had anything as luxurious as these. All of his clothes

were bought online. He said those bought online were cheap and almost as good

as ones bought in the stores. But I knew there were essential differences

between clothes bought online and in the stores.

It was like the difference between a Starbucks latte and an instant

coffee.

We stood there scanning their stock. I stole a glance at the price. Even

an ordinary shirt was something like a hundred bucks.

William grabbed my hand and whispered, "Now that's some scary

pricing. Let's get out of here."

To be fair, the price tag also shocked me. But I gazed at William and

made up my mind, "Don't worry. I got this. Go and try something out."

While I urged William to choose a pair of trousers, a salesperson came

to us, "Hello. What can I do for you today?"

Their courtesy somehow weirded me out. Maybe it was because everyone was

judging us.

William stepped back subconsciously. I smiled at the saleswoman and

answered, "Yeah, we'll look around first."

Hearing that, the salesperson decided to start following us. I never

liked hanging around in stores like these, and her gaze made me feel even

worse.

I tried getting my brother away, but she was determined to stick to us.

I calmed myself down. She was the salesperson, after all. This was her

workplace.

"Buzz-"

My phone in my bag was vibrating. I took it out, and Anna's name was on

the screen.

I got nervous and rejected the call. I was afraid someone would

recognize me as a pole dancer in such a place. Everyone was hypocritical and

ridiculous. I was afraid that I would be looked down on and laughed at. But in

terms of occupation, I didn't have a second choice.

I held the phone to my chest, and William was busy picking something for

himself.

"Please don't take pictures here."

The sudden voice freaked me out. I turned around and saw the sarcastic

look of the saleswoman.

I was indeed scared, and I didn't understand why she stood so close to

me. Maybe she had been doing that all along, but I didn't notice it.

"Excuse me?" I was wondering why she said that to me.

"Please don't take pictures here," she repeated. She sounded

harsher.

"I didn't..." I tried to retort and tapped on the screen. But

it was indeed the camera. I felt I was a lying clown at that moment. I had no

idea what I could say. I must have forgotten to get back to homescreen after I

took photos in the shop just now.

Her tone and attitude made me feel as if I was a thief. I felt terrible.

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