10 Breakfast at Furongji

Once everything was settled, she took the jewelry bags into her arms and had the bigger ones sent directly to her house. Anything big she bought she hated to carry around so she had it sent up that they would go to her home. It was convenient and they had her address on file so there was no extra work for her. Leaving a nice tip to the assistant, she made sure to whisper "let's keep the gifts a secret between us okay" before she left. The comment wasn't too unusual as her mom did like to frequent the same stores and they would understand why this sale was a secret from her. For the big tip she gave she was sure the assistant would keep it as a secret just to say in her good books.

Stepping outside the store she took a deep breath to calm her heart. Everything was going as planned but she was a bit nervous near the end. It was tiring to pretend to be a dutiful daughter when she knew the money had ulterior reasons. Patting her purse lightly there was a gleam of satisfaction in her eyes as her cash had increased. With $5,300 in cash she was feeling infinitely richer despite spending $16,250 on card. The card was not her money anyways, so the bills were never a worry for her. On average, for these shopping trips of hers she would spend around $40,000-60,000 when she was being conservative. If there was an event coming up where she needed a gown, then the minimum spending became $200,000. The numbers seemed low but the currency was USD, if she converted back to yuan it was around two million yuan. The upper class malls would showcase their pricing in multiple currencies so she was used to viewing them in USD since people went to New York frequently to shop.

Continuing her path, she made her way to two more stores and repeated her overcharge in one of them. If she did it at every store then it would become a rumour but occasional stores were fine and the rest were her grounds to find quality resale items. Time went by quickly, as she walked out of the second store two hours had passed and her wallet was another $10,000 dollars heavier. The higher overcharge was only possible because the cheapest item in the store was around that price mark, anything smaller would not have made sense but she was grateful for it. Her cash on hand in the span of couple of hours had raised to $15,250, almost a $100,000 yuan. There was a pang of hunger in her stomach as she remembered that she had skipped breakfast. Feeling satisfied with how much she had made so far she decided to take a break and head towards a small cafe or restaurant in the mall.

Standing off to the side she pulled out her phone and searched up restaurant reviews for the mall. She knew of a couple in the mall that she went to with her mother or 'friends' but there was no harm looking for something new. Her tunnel vision could have easily made her miss a good restaurant that was available for her to eat at. Settling on a small restaurant that has a good dessert menu she put her phone away. It was a fairly new restaurant that had opened on the second floor so it was pretty convenient for her to eat there. If she then went towards the other shops and browsed it would make sense based on where she had her breakfast.

Following the map she memorized she made her way towards "Furongji." The closer she got the easier it was to pinpoint the store, it was a standalone with modern interior. On the outside you could see a bit of greenery and modern Chinese decor. Even the sign was written in a cursive pattern with gold accents. In general, it screamed new and expensive. Entering, she was immediately greeted and lead to a corner table the had a bit more privacy. There were already some people in the restaurant but thankfully it wasn't crowded. It didn't take long before she put in an order for a couple of dishes. She chose their olive oil toasted avocado bread with black coffee to accompany it. For some reason she craved something bitter and nothing was better for it than a nice cup of coffee. There was a moment of silence where her mind was blank and she just surveyed the area, from where she was sitting she was able to see people coming in without them immediately seeing her. Just as she was about to look away a well dressed woman entered the door and directly went to the opposing table as her. The way the store was set up there was an open space for general customers and then there was a slight division where people could sit in semi-booths for more privacy. Since the store was medium sized there were only three of these booths available, she was at one and now the other closest to her was occupied.

Which was perfectly fine, however, the women had an arrogant look on her face when she entered. She hadn't waited to be greeted before she made her way to the table and ordered the waitress to come back later. People that behaved rude towards service staff were trash in her eyes and was just a sign of a narrow mind. Paying her no mind she waited for her food and thanked the waitress when it arrived. Her first bite of the toast was delicious as the smooth creaminess combatted the slight spice they added on top. She took small bites as she bit into the toast and occasionally sipped on her bitter coffee. The combination surprisingly worked in harmony, taking out her phone she start going through her applications. While she had been using this phone for a year now she had never actively looked into it to see if it was tampered with. It made her revisit every application with a different perspective and search through each portion she had ignored before. Things like settings and permissions she never looked at but there was definitely something on this phone that her brother was tracking her through. Her complete attention was on her phone before she heard a glass shatter nearby.

Looking over, she saw the back of a man standing next to the arrogant lady's table. There were shards of a tea cup on the floor by his feet but he casually swept it aside. She couldn't hear what he was saying but she could see the colour drain from the arrogant lady's face.

"What was going on?"