Frankly speaking, this was my first time being the one in charge—I’d never held such a high position before. Luckily, since I was dealing with young girls, bossing them around felt relatively smooth sailing…

“Dear Lady Xiao Xi, what would you have me do?”

Her assets filled my vision, along with those strands of dazzling blonde hair.

I take back what I just said. Young girls aren’t exactly easy to handle… Some of them radiate way too strong an aura.

Ugh. We’re practically the same age—why is the difference in development so extreme?

“Ellie, go help restock the shelves,” I told her. “As a full-time employee, you need to know where everything is.”

“Sure~”

The blonde girl floated away. I squinted—and spotted a petite little girl hiding behind her. The moment Ellie left, the girl had nowhere to hide and stepped into view.

“X-Xiao Xi-jie,” Xu Wei said cautiously, “What should I do?”

I gave the genuinely petite girl a thorough once-over. Ah, much better. *This* is the normal size for her age!

“You handle the cash register,” I said. “Get familiar with the system and check the accounts.”

Given Xu Wei’s tiny frame, I decided against assigning her as a server running between floors. One careless customer could accidentally knock her over…

Same goes for me—I shouldn’t be dashing around after opening either. Don’t wanna get bowled over myself.

After handing out tasks, I headed upstairs to review the layout changes. Halfway up the stairs, I overheard the girls waiting above deep in heated discussion.

“Is *that* really our store manager? No way.”

“I heard Ellie mention it, but I thought she was exaggerating! She’s actually such a little girl—so tiny and adorable!”

“Is the manager even of legal age?”

“Heard she’s a college student.”

“Still… a manager this young? Unbelievable. Never heard of anything like it.”

“Isn’t it nice? The boss seems cold and strict. Having a boss who’s easy to… I mean, a *kinder* boss is great, right?”

*You were totally gonna say ‘easy to bully,’ weren’t you?* I forced a dry chuckle and stepped up. “What’re you all chatting about?”

They instantly fell silent, faces flushing crimson. “N-nothing! Just… casual talk!”

I tugged the corner of my mouth and waved. “Just walk me through the layout changes.”

As expected, the store hadn’t changed much. Even the bigger adjustments didn’t interfere with my plans, so we could proceed with my prepared strategies. But the final call—which plan, how to tweak it—wasn’t mine to make. I’d need to discuss it with Qin Ning.

“Got it,” I told the part-timers. “Head downstairs and help out. I’ll go find the boss.”

I went down first, pulled a stack of multi-page A4 documents from my bag, and climbed back up. She claimed to be napping—but her WeChat Moments just showed her still glued to a Mini Program!

Fake sleep. Real phone addiction.

A faint unease stirred in my chest as I walked upstairs. This wasn’t just about reporting work or finalizing plans. There was something personal I needed to ask… about staying over.

When do I bring it up?

If I mention it too early and she dislikes the report later—what then? But if she’s already unhappy with the work, asking to stay over afterward would be even less likely to succeed.

Knock, knock, knock.

“Come in.”

Hearing Qin Ning’s voice, I clenched my back teeth and steeled myself.

Screw it. Finding a place to stay matters most! I’ll say it the second I step inside!