Hearing Liu Lan call her name, Zhang Yuxi, who was lost in self-doubt, snapped out of it and responded with a smile, "Ms. Liu, you're here!"
"What were you spacing out about? You seemed so lost in thought," Liu Lan asked.
"Oh, nothing…" Zhang Yuxi shook her head with a smile. She was too embarrassed to tell Ms. Liu that she had been like that because she'd invited Lin Li to dinner, only to be flatly rejected, which had sent her into a spiral of self-doubt.
Liu Lan didn't think much of it and turned to look at the large bamboo baskets in the office, each one filled with flawless white pearls.
"Ms. Liu, we've been having such a headache over our supply source being snatched away, and now, I can't believe the problem was solved so quickly," Zhang Yuxi said with a beaming smile as she looked at the baskets of pearls before them.
"I know! They paid a premium to steal our supplier, hoping to cut off our inventory and drive our shop out of business.
