Chapter 127 : Buy, Buy, Buy
"The weather is getting a bit chilly, huh~"
Ling Ning felt the cool breeze blowing in from outside as she spoke to herself.
It had been a month since the incident with the traffickers. The semester was more than halfway through, summer had quietly passed, and autumn had arrived. Ling Ning loved this not-too-hot, not-too-cold time of year.
But in S City, where there were only essentially two seasons—winter and summer—autumn was always fleeting. Probably just a short while longer, and winter would be here.
"Yeah, I was actually thinking of finding some time to buy a few sets of winter clothes," Xu Qing said from beside her.
Hearing this mention of winter wear reminded Ling Ning of last week.
Qin Qing's assistant had visited, taken photos of the autumn-winter clothing collection, and left her with a pile of those clothes. So, for now, Ling Ning herself didn't need to buy anything new.
However, her daughter still needed clothes. All of her old clothes had been thrown out during the move. After some thought, Ling Ning decided she would go out this weekend to pick up some clothes for her daughter.
Over the past month, two magazines had contacted her through He Miaomiao, offering additional work. With this new workload, Ling Ning's pay had gone up. Time, however, was a constant problem—one day a week was too little to make extra money, especially with two new magazine photoshoots to juggle. Sometimes, she found herself overwhelmed.
Fortunately, thanks to Yang Bing's special training, Ling Ning had nearly mastered her skills in modeling for shoots, significantly improving her efficiency. Otherwise, she wouldn't have been able to manage at all.
And there was also her novel. The royalties for this month alone had exceeded ten thousand yuan—something that totally caught Ling Ning off guard. She had expected to make only a few thousand at best in her first month. It turned out to be a pleasant surprise, so now, she had a bit of spending money.
Besides, when it came to spending on her daughter, Ling Ning didn't feel the slightest pinch.
"What should I have for lunch~" Ling Ning murmured as she lay down on the desk.
"Hey, wake up. It's only the morning reading session, and you literally just finished breakfast." Xu Qing stared at Ling Ning with a bemused expression. Breakfast was barely over, and here she was already thinking about lunch—Xu Qing felt that Ling Ning was hopeless.
"Hehehe."
Ling Ning chuckled sheepishly. But it couldn't be helped. After all, she had that lifelong free lunch pass, so she looked forward to lunch every day—how could she not think about it?
Li Qian, who was reading and previewing lessons, suddenly shivered and instinctively pulled her jacket tighter.
"Oh, right. When I was on my way to school this morning, I saw a new supermarket nearby. They’re doing some sort of grand opening sale, with a raffle and everything. Want to go after school?" Ling Ning, feeling flush with cash, wanted to indulge a little. Plus, both her place and Qin Qing's house were running low on daily necessities.
"After school, huh." Xu Qing thought for a moment before shaking her head with a sigh. "Sorry, I've got something I need to take care of after school. I can't go."
"How about you, Xia You?"
"I... I also have something after school, really... I'm really sorry," Xia You apologized, clearly torn. She really wanted to go shopping with Ling Ning, especially since Ling Ning had been so busy lately that they hadn't had much time to hang out. But she genuinely had something important to deal with and had no choice but to decline.
"Eh?" Ling Ning tilted her head, looking at both of them curiously. Xu Qing declining wasn't surprising, but Xia You had never refused her for anything. Why now?
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After school in the afternoon.
After packing her things, Ling Ning slowly walked out of the classroom. She couldn't help but feel that going to the supermarket alone was kind of boring. She rarely wanted to splurge a bit, and yet, no one could go with her.
When she stepped out of the classroom, she found Ye Xuan waiting by the door.
"Supermarket. Want to go?" Ye Xuan had overheard Ling Ning mention wanting to go to the supermarket during class.
"Yes! Absolutely!"
Ling Ning had been feeling down about having no one to go with her.
The new supermarket was not far from the school, and because of the grand opening sale, there were a lot of people shopping. Ling Ning had already made a list of what she needed back at school, but for items outside her plan, she'd just decide on the spot.
Upon entering the supermarket and seeing all the discount signs, Ling Ning felt her "King's Power" stirring, struggling to control itself. But she'd learned to be smart—before buying anything, she'd scan the barcode with her phone to compare it to prices on Taobao.
Sometimes, even items on sale were more expensive than online prices. Even if it was just a small amount, those small savings added up.
Ye Xuan watched Ling Ning with an exasperated expression. She couldn't believe anyone actually did this. If it were her, she'd just swipe her card for whatever she wanted, not caring about the price.
Ling Ning moved excitedly through the store, browsing all the items, while Ye Xuan trailed behind, equally excited—though for different reasons. It had been so long since she got to see those long legs of Ling Ning's up close. Wrapped in tights, they were just as captivating as she remembered. She wanted to touch them so badly.
But if she really did touch them, Ling Ning would definitely run away.
"This tissue pack is way cheaper than online!" Ling Ning was about to put it in her cart but then remembered she still had plenty of tissues left at home. If she bought more now, who knew when she'd get around to using them.
"But tissues are something I'll need eventually, right? If I don’t use them this year, there's always next year~" Ling Ning reasoned with herself, and decisively tossed the tissues into the cart.
"What?! 'Feisu' is this cheap? Buy, buy, buy!"
"No way, this brand of laundry detergent is actually priced like this? Buy, buy, buy!"
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"Aren't you going to buy anything, Ye Xuan?" Ling Ning asked. After being in the supermarket for so long, she had filled her cart, but Ye Xuan's cart was still empty.
Ye Xuan shook her head.
Ling Ning shrugged and went back to shopping.
When it was finally time to pay, Ling Ning looked at the long list of items on the receipt and shed a tear of regret. At least there was a raffle—it wasn't much, but maybe she'd get a pack of tissues as a consolation.
Near the supermarket's entrance, there were a few employees stationed behind several tables. All you had to do was hand over your receipt, and they'd give you some raffle tickets. Scratch them, and you'd know right away if you had won.
Ling Ning handed her receipt over to the staff, and based on her purchase amount, she got three chances to draw.
Holding the three tickets, Ling Ning took out a coin and began scratching. As she scratched, she thought, "It’d be great if I could win that first-prize computer. Then I wouldn’t need to share one with my daughter."
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Author's Note:
Another chapter coming soon~