Reborn as the Villain's Wife, I Shine in 80s-Chapter 468 - 453 Have you seen her husband?

The second floor of Blooming Seasons, the windows were closed, and there was barely any light.

A woman stood in front of Ji Qin, still wearing her ragged clothes, laughing slyly, "Boss Ji, I’ve already done what you asked. Where’s my money?"

"You still want money?" Ji Qin sneered as if she’d heard a ridiculous joke. "I told you to stir things up and leave immediately, but you insisted on staying there and tangling with Tian Sangsang. Do you think Tian Sangsang wouldn’t notice the state of your face? You nearly exposed me, and you still want money? Not a chance!"

The woman felt uneasy. Ji Qin had indeed told her to stir public opinion and vanish quickly. These days, making things too explicit is useless; you need to create an air of ambiguity to intrigue the masses, prompting them to speculate. The truth didn’t matter as much as leaving something shrouded in shadow.

"It’s not like I wanted to stay," the woman said. "The girl beside Tian boss is formidable and even knows martial arts. When I tried to slip away, she spotted me. You never mentioned they had someone trained there; you can’t blame me for that!"

Ji Qin scoffed, "Someone claims they know martial arts, and you believe it? At the end of the day, she’s just a young girl — where would she learn martial arts from?!" She outright dismissed the notion that Guan Kunling could wield martial arts; a refined and elegant girl—how could that be possible?

"This must be Tian Sangsang’s ploy, meant to scare you deliberately."

The woman suddenly realized, perhaps it was true she’d been played.

She looked at Ji Qin and raised her voice. "But I don’t care! I’ve done the job you asked. You only told me to do the task; you didn’t say whether the task had to succeed. Regardless, you promised me twenty bucks—you must give me my money!"

Ji Qin, being someone who grew up in the countryside, naturally carried with her the frugality and profit-driven mindset typical of some rural folk. She was willing to spend money when it was convenient, but now her business had taken a loss, inventory was piling up, and the matter hadn’t been resolved. The thought of parting with money left her feeling unwilling. Twenty bucks—it wasn’t a negligible amount!

Fearing things might escalate, Ji Qin waved her hand, "I’ll give you five bucks; take it and leave quickly. Nothing more. If you’d handled things well, I could’ve given you more. But since you lack the ability, don’t come extorting money from me!"

The woman burst out laughing, "Boss Ji, you’re too stingy. Five bucks, and you think that’ll get rid of me? Let me tell you, in this line of work, payment for services is a given. Works haven’t seen anyone like you, shirking on debt. If you don’t pay me today, don’t think you can keep hiding those dirty schemes—I’ll expose them all!"

Ji Qin let out a snicker, a cunning glint flashing in her eyes, "Even if you blabber, I have ways to make it look like you’re causing trouble. You’ve caused a scene at Fragrant Delights and then came here to stir up chaos—who’s going to believe you? Allergy isn’t fatal, after all—how big of a deal can it be? To get evidence, you’d need hospital tests. With such trivial matters, no one’s going to bother."

The woman was unwilling to be dismissed with just five bucks and issued a harsh warning. "Boss Ji, is it worth ruining relations over twenty bucks? I don’t want to be your enemy; I only want what’s mine. If you really refuse to pay me, you should worry about getting tangled up with the local thugs."

In Beijing, there were indeed local tyrants. This woman, being someone who roamed the streets, knew a few small-time gangsters. Times had been tough recently, and these low-level thugs were practically starving—who wouldn’t want to pick up some work? Seeing that Ji Qin wasn’t a local, the woman was sure she lacked any backing.

Stumped by one plan, Ji Qin hatched another. Her smile disappeared as she said, "You’re right, it’s just twenty bucks—I’ll give it to you. Harmony breeds wealth; harmony breeds wealth."

She reached into her pocket for the money and handed it over. The woman happily took it, counted the bills, and then glanced at Ji Qin with a strange look, "An extra ten bucks."

"The extra two is for your referral fee, and the rest is an advance. I have a favor to ask after this; I’ll pay you more when it’s done. Didn’t you say you know some gangsters?"

Ji Qin whispered a few words to her.

The woman hesitated, "Fragrant Delights has wide connections, and many of their patrons are the wives of Beijing officials. Stirring up trouble there might be risky." On this street, people weren’t entirely sure of Tian Sangsang’s background, but they vaguely guessed she had ties. Especially with many official wives among her clientele, it seemed likely she had important connections. Picking a fight there wasn’t unlike pulling a tiger’s whiskers.

"Don’t worry, just get the job done and make it quick. Do you think two women alone could catch you? Those official wives wouldn’t bother interfering."

"But... I heard Tian boss’s husband is in the military. If her family has ties to a military officer, then this..."

"Have you seen her husband?"

The woman shook her head.

Ji Qin said, "Let me be honest with you—Tian boss and I go way back. She’s in the process of divorcing, abandoned by her husband’s family. What backing could she have?"

The woman was stunned. A woman like Tian boss being rejected by her husband’s family? Are they blind? Could this mean someone like her still had a chance...?

After giving the instructions, Ji Qin acted as though nothing had happened. Her shop remained open for business as usual.

But the customer flow was pitifully low.

To clear out the inventory, she hosted a discount promotion the next day, mimicking Tian Sangsang by hanging up an advertisement board outside: "Store-wide discount—A bottle of rose skincare lotion for just two bucks! Don’t miss out—come grab yours now!"

"Blooming Seasons is having a sale?! Two bucks a bottle!"

"Don’t go—it’s lousy stuff; that’s why it’s so cheap."

"Exactly. It was three bucks yesterday, and now it’s two bucks? Clearly, they can’t sell it and are desperate to dump stock."

"Her rose skincare lotion caused allergies when I used it—I wouldn’t dare buy it again."

"Allergies? What do you mean?"

"You haven’t heard? Yesterday..." And on and on went the chatter. 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

Ji Qin sat with a dark expression, listening to the gossip outside but was unable to retaliate. The frustration was beyond words. She gritted her teeth and spat out three words, "Tian Sangsang!"

**

"By the way, why not come to my place for dinner today?" As the sun set, Tian Sangsang set aside her ledger and said to Guan Kunling, "Zhao Chun wants to talk to you about something. He was going to bring it up yesterday, but got delayed because of that woman’s commotion."

Guan Kunling nodded, her expression laced with faint suspicion. She and Zhao Chun were acquaintances but rarely spoke. Now Zhao Chun had something to discuss—this caught her slightly off guard.

Tian Sangsang had forgotten to ask exactly what it was about. Remembering Zhao Chun’s occupation, she began to guess—could it be related to her alter ego, Yadan? She hadn’t used the identity of Yadan in ages and felt rusty. Thinking of Yadan, her thoughts wandered to Li Yibai. She hadn’t heard any news of him lately, though bookstores everywhere were restocking Heroic Legend of the Condor Heroes, which hinted at his success at Beijing University. Then there was Zhang Ying and her son, who had been quietly working in her factory. Zhang Ying was no fool—though just a cook, she cultivated strong relationships with the staff and even spent her free time observing their processes. Once, Tian Sangsang visited the factory and saw them showing Zhang Ying how to make skincare products—she was clearly someone who loved learning.