Chapter 286 Enthusiasm That Makes You Frightened

This is a clothing store. As soon as she entered, the saleswoman greeted her with a smile and asked what kind of clothes she wanted to buy.

Qiao Xing looked around, picked up the tag on the clothes and glanced at it. When she saw it cost 28,000 yuan, she was so shocked that she put it back immediately.

This basic undershirt costs 28,000 yuan! Qiao Xing admires himself for having the courage to come into this store.

She gave an awkward laugh. "Well, I'm just looking around. You don't need to follow me."

The saleswoman smiled and nodded, then stepped aside, but her eyes remained fixed on her, as if afraid she would snatch the clothes and run away.

Generally speaking, sales assistants can tell at a glance whether a customer can afford the product or not. If they see that a customer can't afford it, they won't continue to follow them. But this store is a bit different.

Qiao Xing had no idea why the shop assistant was watching her. It wasn't because she was afraid Qiao Xing would take the clothes and run away, but because she thought Qiao Xing could afford them.

After all, the man sitting over there was wearing expensive clothes; the price of one of his outfits could buy half the clothes in the store.

Although it may sound exaggerated, it is true.

Qiao Xing looked around and gave up. She awkwardly returned to Qin Ce's side and whispered, "Qin Ce, let's change into something else. These clothes don't seem suitable for Auntie and Xue Ling."

Qin Ce glanced at her, then at the clothes in the store. He didn't understand women's aesthetic sense, so he nodded, got up, and led her out.

They went to another store, and Qiao Xing's first instinct was to check the prices. But what she saw shocked her – this store was even more expensive than the previous one!

Although she looked like she couldn't afford it, the saleswoman still chased after her, introducing the products with unbelievable enthusiasm, which was completely different from when she went to buy a suit for Qin Ce last time.

Qiao Xing was so frightened by the prices in the store that she grabbed Qin Ce and ran away.

Then I went to a few more stores and looked at shoes and bags, each one more expensive than the last.

Moreover, the shop assistants were unusually enthusiastic today, so much so that Qiao Xing was a little scared. Qiao Xing took Qin Ce's arm and said in confusion, "Why are these shop assistants different from the ones I've seen before? Is it because it's the end of the year and they want to boost their sales, so they're not letting any customer who walks into the store go?"

Qin Ce nodded seriously: "Maybe."

But then he added, "Didn't you see anything you liked?"

Qiao Xing was taken aback. "Aren't we picking out gifts for Auntie and the others?"

"You can buy it too."

Qiao Xing nodded vigorously, "No, no, I can't afford it."

Qin Ce said, "I'll see you off."

"Don't spend money recklessly. Let's save the money first. Don't we still have mortgage and car loan payments? Let me think about it again."

Qiao Xing thought for a moment and then said, "Actually, I think the aunties don't need these clothes. Besides, these are available abroad too. We can buy some that aren't available overseas."

Qin Ce thought for a moment and nodded, "Anything is fine. What would you like to buy?"

"Let's go to the market and see. There are lots of local specialties there, and they're still open if we go now." Qiao Xing was afraid he would think she was stingy, so she explained, "If we're going to buy clothes, we can buy them for them when we go abroad, it's the same."

Seeing her trying so hard to explain, Qin Ce couldn't help but smile. "Okay, whatever you say."

Qiao Xing felt relieved when she saw him smile, and she smiled too.

Qin Ce, still unwilling to give up, asked, "Aren't you really going to buy yourself a couple?"

"No, I have so many clothes at home, why would I buy these? I think clothes are fine as long as they are wearable, there is no need to pursue any brand."

Qin Ce remained silent, but he had already noted down the clothes that Qiao Xing had looked at.

Qiao Xing pulled Qin Ce away from the mall, and the two drove to the market.

The lively atmosphere here contrasts sharply with the high-end shopping mall. The place is packed with people, many of whom are buying New Year's goods and local specialties to give as gifts.

Qiao Xing pulled Qin Ce to the store to take a look, and found that Chongqing had quite a few local specialties.

Qiao Xing bought many kinds of sauerkraut and pickled vegetables, as well as cured meat and sausages.

These are all empty packages, so you can take them on the plane.

She took a bunch of things and handed them all to Qin Ce. In no time, Qin Ce's hands were full of piles of things.

Qiao Xing took out his phone to pay. The total price of all the items he bought was only a little over 800 yuan, which was less than a fraction of the price of clothes in the mall.

It's more cost-effective to buy these things.

Qiao Xing weaved through the crowd, hoping to find something to buy, but when she turned around, she found that Qin Ce was gone.

There were people everywhere. Could he have gotten lost in the crowd?

Qiao Xing hurried back to the shop to find him, and sure enough, he was still there, occupying the owner's chair and making a phone call.

Fortunately, the boss was too busy with business to pay attention to him.

Qiao Xing twitched the corner of her mouth and walked over to wait beside him.

After waiting a few minutes, he finally ended the call, looked up at Qiao Xing, and asked, "Have you finished buying?"

Qiao Xing twitched the corner of her mouth. "I bought them a long time ago."

"Okay, let's go then."

Qin Ce bent down and picked up the bags and packages on the ground. He was surprised to see that she had bought so much.

He had originally planned to leave the market, but then he saw Qiao Xing heading to another store.

Qin Ce strode after him again, "Do you still want to buy it?"

Qiao Xing nodded. "There's a place selling dried bamboo shoots up ahead. Their hot pot base is pretty good too. Let's buy some of everything."

Qin Ce's lips twitched slightly. "Are you sure our suitcases can fit everything?"

Qiao Xing glanced back at the things in his hands, which almost drowned him. Qiao Xing scratched his head and said, "Then, let's buy the last thing. Dried bamboo shoots are a must. They're best stir-fried with cured pork."

"Alright..."

Qiao Xing went to the shop and bought five catties of dried bamboo shoots. When she was weighing them, someone suddenly patted her on the shoulder.

"Xingxing, you and Xiaoce bought so much? Are you buying it as gifts?"

Qiao Xing's brow twitched when he heard the voice.

She turned around and saw her aunt standing behind her with Wang Ye. Qiao Xing forced a smile and said, "Yes, I bought it as a gift."

"Wow, you bought so much as a gift. But your grandma and the others probably won't need all of this."

Auntie knew that Qiao Xing didn't have many relatives to visit, except for her grandmother's side, but they hadn't been in contact for many years.

When she was a child, her aunt would always take her to pay New Year's respects to some kind of grandmother during the Lunar New Year.

You can get thousands of yuan in red envelopes by buying a dozen yuan worth of fruit there, but of course, you also get some disdainful looks.

Qiao Xing's grandmother's family was better off than theirs. Her grandmother had six sons, and Qiao Xing's biological father was the fourth. Her uncles were all very wealthy and had built a large villa in the countryside for the elderly couple to live in.

My aunt had tried to curry favor with them, but they completely ignored her.

Her grandparents had many grandchildren and looked down on Qiao Xing, so when Qiao Xing was fifteen or sixteen, she refused to go and they haven't been in contact much since.

Two years ago, when her grandfather celebrated his 80th birthday, her aunt rushed over to deliver a gift for Qiao Xing. As you can imagine, she was not even invited to sit down, which made her feel very embarrassed.

Auntie naturally assumed that now that Qiao Xing had made something of himself, he would definitely go back and regain his lost face.