The next morning, Di Juan called her to the counter. "You won't work inside the shop anymore," she said, not l…
The next morning, Di Juan called her to the counter. "You won't work inside the shop anymore," she said, not looking up. "I'm setting up a small stall along the road when folks get off work. You'll run it. It's closer to your home, and besides—"
She looked up and froze. Wuyou's eyes were already full of tears, like someone abandoned without warning.
"Waaah! Sister Di... I won't do it again..."
"I didn't mean to eavesdrop... and I only took a tiny jug, I haven't even finished half..."
"Please don't send me away... I'll change as you say, I swear..."
Between sobs and tangled explanations, Wuyou cried so hard. Di Juan didn't know whether to laugh or sigh. The stall might be small, but it was a proper branch of the business. From today on, Wuyou wouldn't be a helper, but a young keeper of the Di's Wine Shop.
Besides...
Di Juan remembered Wuyou's "perfect crimes"... The forced calm at the end of each shift, the barely hidden itch to misbehave, the faint trace of Sweet Slumber clinging to her clothes the next morning...
Her brows softened. Chin in hand, she just watched Wuyou sob and gasp, a smile curling the corners of her eyes.
Whatever wine was left over at the stall each day? That would be Wuyou's to "dispose of."
She'd tell her that later.