"Mm," she said in satisfaction. "That looks more proper."
Then she simply turned and walked away.
Outside, the workers in the yard were still moving around as if nothing had happened. Some were carrying boxes. Some were washing tools. Some were muttering to one another about dinner and sore backs and whether the boss's bad mood would last until tomorrow.
No one looked inside and no one heard a thing.
Bai Lingling's spell wrapped the room so neatly that the shop owner could only kneel there and suffer in private like a greedy sinner being steamed by his own fate.
He watched in horror as Bai Lingling left.
Then the door closed behind her.
The room somehow felt even colder after she was gone.
The shop owner knelt there sweating and trembling, and for the first time in many years, he sincerely felt that money was not always the best thing in the world.
Sometimes money brought disaster.
Sometimes money brought a scar-faced little girl who smiled sweetly while ruining your life.
