Chapter 259 - We Have A Secret

When Feng Xuan finished at the office, she had a change of clothes. She opted for army pants and boots and a white shirt. She pulled her hair in a low bun and wore the sunglasses that hid her features.

Recently, she was getting easier to be recognized and she loved taking pictures but she just wanted to shop on her own without someone asking her if she was part of YANG.

She went down to the mall and into her first stop which was Gretel's. With Wang Yimin getting busy with their fashion line, everything was put on the shoulders of Feng Xuan's schoolmate, Jiang Lijun.

"Well, hello there, superstar," he greeted her the moment she stepped inside.

"Shh!" she said with a finger on her lips. "I'm trying to hide from people, you know?"

He was wearing the light pink apron over a light blue shirt. "I have to say I am proud of your success."

She leaned on the counter. "Thank you for helping me here. It has been a wild ride."

"Must be so nice married to a rich man."

Feng Xuan let out a laugh. "It's really hectic to be honest. It gets tiring too."

"I'm going to find myself a rich woman and maybe she would share her riches with me," Jiang Lijun joked, pushing his glasses up his nose.

"If we expand some more and Gretel's turns out to be a bigger thing that I thought, then I would have no qualms hiring you as an officer."

"Really?!"

"Yeah, you're on the top of the list." Feng Xuan rounded the counter and saw today's income. There were a lot of people inside. "I think I should come up with some new recipes."

"Yeah, there are some that don't get sold that much. I was actually thinking about a new marketing strategy for you. I'll send you the email within this week."

Feng Xuan's suddenly remembered all the things that she had to be busy with but she couldn't also refuse his offer. Not when she was going to die on the thirtieth of next month.

"Sure! You know," she began. "If ever that I leave Gretel's, I'll give it to you. I don't think Qing Chen would mind. Wang Yimin already has YANG."

"Why would you leave? You loved this cake shop."

"I do," she said. She remembered all the sleepless nights and hours that she put in just to make sure that everything would be up and running perfectly. "But, just in case I get too busy with The Kingly, I'll give the majority of it to you." She smiled at him, "So you don't have to find a rich woman. Because you're going to be a rich man."

"Aw, that's sweet of you to think."

Deep inside, everything in her felt like it was short-circuiting. "I'm going to the grocery for a little while. I'll drop by again soon."

When she got out of Gretel's, she took a deep breath. Everything just felt suffocating. She did not need anything from the grocery as the Qing's chef were the one who prepared all the food. But she needed to be moving or else she would go crazy and think about how she was going to die on the thirtieth.

She took her sweet time, scanning aisle to aisle like she had not single care of the world. Her mother used to take her food shopping every weekend and each time she hated it because of the amount of walking involved. She was so bored. But now, it was something that she did because it was ther.a.p.eutic. It was quiet and she was alone.

Until she wasn't.

"I'm sorry," said the woman who had dyed light brown hair that it was almost blonde when she hit Feng Xuan's cart.

"It's ok—" Feng Xuan's eyes squinted. "Ma Min, what the hell are you doing here?"

"Is it that obvious?" Ma Min turned to her reflection on one of the metal bars. "I really need to work on my disguises."

"I mean it, what are you doing here? Are you following me?"

Ma Min laughed. "I'm not following you!" she denied. "I just happen to be here and saw you so I approached."

"You also need to work on your lying." Feng Xuan turned away and continued walking.

"Well, I don't really need that much lying when my blades can do the talking for me." Feng Xuan heard Ma Min's footsteps follow her. "Have you thought about our offer?"

"Should I just say no so you won't follow me and jump out of nowhere?"

"No," said Ma Min. "I'll still be sent to do regular check-ups with you. We really want you with us. You're going to be a great addition in our team."

"As much as I would like to give it a try, I got my hands full at the moment."

Ma Min pushed Feng Xuan to the side so the two of them were pushing the cart. "Right, The Zookeeper. I heard he sent you a message."

"How did you know that?"

"Word gets around, you know? He had been quiet the past few months."

"Gee," she said. She just got out of a fashion war and now she was serving entertainment to other mafia lords. Just great. "What do you know about The Zookeeper?"

"Join us and I will tell you." Ma Min pulled something off a shelf and dropped it to Feng Xuan's cart without looking what it was. "We really can help you with this one. We got people everywhere."

"We also have people everywhere." She looked around and saw that they were alone in the aisle of foreign products. "But if things get worse, promise I'll pay you a visit and avail your services."

"Sure, but the cost would be your membership."

Feng Xuan stopped walking. "Why on earth do your people want me so much?!"

"Because we have a secret. One that you would love to know."