NOVEL NEXT 106: Jewelry Shopping!
Lin Songmei was beyond glad that she had worn shorts under her dress. Not only was wind beginning to snake its way between the tall buildings, but also a chilly air had descended, permeating every pore of her exposed limbs.
Yan Mingqing was warm though, and Songmei had no qualms about interlocking arms with her, so there wasn’t much to complain about.
So, overall, the plan they had made was simple: start with clothes shopping, do some grocery shopping, cook together, and end off with a cute dinner beside the window.
To start off with clothes shopping, Songmei and Mingqing had made their way to Westriver Central District’s famous central plaza. The central plaza was a circular, open area in the center of the floating island that was the Central District. In the center of the plaza was a mind-bending fountain that not only reached a whole two stories into the air, but also had nine layers to it—four of which floated unassisted somehow.
Having spent some time admiring the fountain—it was a one of one art piece after all—Songmei and Mingqing had turned their attention back to what they had come for: shopping.
The central plaza, in all directions except for the four cardinal ones where there were large boulevards, was surrounded by stores. There were a few smaller places that served food, but most buildings stretched into the sky, jam-packed with stores that sold everything from groceries to clothes to weapons. Of course, because the major sects had laid their roots down in the east, the more eastward in the plaza one went, the more cultivator geared the merchandise became—both in terms of what was sold and for how much it was sold.
Because the plaza was ubiquitous to every shopping trip, more often than not the plaza was packed. The westside a little more than east more often than not because just how many more normal people than there were cultivators.
There were only two reasons a non-cultivator would go to the east-side, either they had a large amount of expendable income and wanted to buy some clothes that’d last them a couple hundred years or they had a need to buy some extreme weaponry to do... something.
Being cultivators with a much too large allowance from their master, Mingqing and Songmei walked straight towards the eastside of the central plaza.
“I’m still... in awe, every time we come here...” Songmei marveled, looking around to just appreciate the sight. Back where she had grown up, there had also been a shopping center; however, it was puny compared to this.
The cultivator section of the plaza consisted of tall building after tall building. Although not individually impressive, the tall buildings were also all connected to each other through a series of web-like passages that soared through the open air.
“One day, one day I want to bring you to the shopping center near my own house,” Mingqing laughed, squeezing Songmei’s arm, “I feel like the surprise on your face would be... amazing.”
“Just say cute!” Songmei squinted as pink appeared once more on her cheeks, reaching up to pinch Mingqing’s nose, “Don’t do that pause where you try and search for another word, and then settle on saying some equivalent to ‘pretty cool.’”
Cracking up while giving Songmei a hug, Mingqing confessed, “You know me so well! Well you’re right, it would be so cute. So that’s why I want to see it!”
“See... ulterior motive meanie head...” Songmei glared in mock anger before clearing her throat in embarrassment as a middle-aged woman glanced in their direction. “Let’s just get going... where do you want to go first?”
“Let’s go to the jewelry store on the eighth floor of the... fifth building I think it is? We can find it once we’re in the area, there’s something I want to buy there.” Mingqing tapped her chin, getting a nod and a “sure, sure” from Songmei.
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Navigating their way through the buildings and sky pathways, Songmei and Mingqing—with the aid of Songmei’s sign reading skills—made it to the jewelry store.
“Is it this one?” Songmei asked, squinting at the sign board in suspicion, “Qingqing’s Jewelry Market...?”
The name just sounded kinda... kinda sketchy. Songmei couldn’t help but feel that the name didn’t match the store’s image. Inside the store was a well-light interior decorated with various display cases of jewelry. There were also a couple of helpers walking around giving the customers a feel for what they might want to buy.
With such professional acting looking store clerks along with such a spotless interior, Songmei wanted to snort at the name that sounded like it came straight from a street stall that would try to scam her and the other orphanage kids...
“No, no, it’s the right place,” Mingqing reassured, grabbing Songmei’s hand and giving it a squeeze as they walked in. “My parents saved the life of the owner of the whole chain a couple hundred years ago. Then they also sponsored her to start the business so our whole family gets a massive discount here. Also, yeah, the name is kinda weird, the owner just doesn’t know how to name things, she’s got a good heart though.”
“I-... I see...” Songmei coughed, a little shocked to find out the very personal and very beneficial connection Mingqing had with the owner of the jewelry chain.
Even now, Mingqing’s wealth still gave Songmei a mini-heart attack when she found out about it. How did she go from worrying every night about what job she should go into to make sure she could afford a house and food to worrying every night that she might sleep through her alarm and miss morning breakfast with miss golden thigh...
“Soo... any specific reason you wanted to come here first?” Songmei murmured, looking around, a little self-conscious again—she couldn’t help but worry that the store clerks would be able to see that she... walked like a poor person or something.
“It’ll be quick, in and out in a couple minutes, I know what I’m looking for,” Mingqing answered with a hand squeeze and a mischievous glint in her eyes. “Just sit tight, I’ll be right back.”
Patting a cushioned chair that seemed to be there just for people like her to wait, Songmei smoothened her dress and wiped her hands of sweat while watching Mingqing. In fact, sitting a few seats to her left was another shopper’s husband, sitting there scrolling through some online forum to pass some time.
Mingqing strode over to the clerk, asking for... a specific piece of jewelry that Songmei couldn’t quite make out from the distance she was sitting. The clerk, credit to him, managed to find that specific piece of jewelry within a couple of minutes to Songmei’s surprise.
Feeling a smile break out on her face as she watched Mingqing crack a couple of jokes—something Mingqing seemed to only be able to do when Songmei was in the general vicinity—Songmei then tilted her head as Mingqing pointed a thumb in her direction.
Confused, Songmei watched as Mingqing whispered a few sentences in the clerk’s ear. With an understanding nod and kind but also mischievous grin, the clerk helped Mingqing pack up the jewelry in a small box out of Songmei’s line of sight before going to the checkout machine.
Having given up on trying to figure out what the piece of jewelry was, Songmei sat back into the chair watching in amusement as the clerk’s jaw dropped and eyes popped out finding out who Mingqing was.
Very relatable Mr. Clerk, very relatable...
As Mingqing walked back over with a bright smile and outstretched hand saying “Let’s go” and “As promised, I was fast,” to Songmei, the clerk rushed over to the other workers to let them know who he had just met.
Taking Mingqing’s hand, Songmei snorted with a smile and pulled Mingqing into a surprise hug, “You were very fast, good job! I never had any doubts, of course.”
