There was a sea of people here. Fortunately, the entrance wasn’t also the exit door. Otherwise, the door would have been blocked.
The driver kept up with her pace in fear that something would happen to her.
He was a driver cum bodyguard. Making sure of Lin Xinyan’s safety was his job. Or else he wouldn’t know how to explain if he went back without her.
There were three floors and each of it was very spacious. They could find everything and anything in here.
Her eyes were automatically attracted to a toy store. Maybe because of the fact that she was a mother of two. She felt the need to go to the store and see if there were any toys that her children would like.
Lin Xichen liked brainy toys. He wouldn’t bat an eye on stuffed toys. On the contrary, Lin Ruixi liked fluffy toys the most.
A polygonal Rubik’s Cube caught her attention. She picked it up and studied the toy. Each of the side had approximately fifty module of blocks. They were as small as a tiny fingernail and there were a total of six sides.
This looks difficult. She thought as she turned the cube around.
“A lot of people can’t solve that. If you’re buying for your child, I suggest you to buy this.” The owner of the store approached her and pointed to a shelf. There were different types of Rubik’s Cubes on it. Some were triangle and some were the normal square ones. “These are suitable for children between five to ten. How old is your child?”
“Five,” she replied but she still liked the one she was holding. Those are too easy for Xichen.
“I suggest you this one.” The shop owner picked up a triangular one which was more novel than the square one. There were only a few sides and it seemed relatively simple which was very suitable for a five-year-old.
Lin Xinyan smiled as she took out her purse, “I still want this one. Please pack it up for me.”
The owner could only beam out a smile. It didn’t matter if she didn’t listen to his suggestion as long as he made sales.
“I’ll get a new one for you.” He went inside and fished out an unopened package of the same toy for her, mumbling softly, “What a weirdo. Does she think her child is a genius or something?”
The toys were originally put inside boxes. People would only look at them and not buy them. There was no way they were going to be sold out if this continued. So he decided to take them out for the customers to try playing them. He managed to attract a lot of people after that but there were still no buyers.
However, he sold one today and he was very happy with it. The cube was difficult and quite pricey so he didn’t expect that it would be bought.
He went back to the woman with a smile while putting the toy into a bag and handed it to Lin Xinyan. “Your kid must be very smart.”
She returned the smile wordlessly. For her, her son was the smartest child in the world. She was no different from the other mothers who thought that their children were the best. “How much?” she asked.
“Three hundred and sixty.”
Lin Xinyan gave him four hundred and he refunded her fifty, saying, “I’ll spare a ten for you. This cube’s opening price is three hundred fifty. The poor toy has been here for two years and someone finally bought it. I’m not at a loss.”
She took the money and walked out of the store as the driver approached her. “Let me carry it.”
“No need,” she answered while waving her hand.
The driver had been guarding her going between the various shops. It was so crowded that they were unaware of a man wearing a blue parka, a baseball cap and a black mask stalking behind them.
This floor was full of toys and accessories. She couldn’t find her materials here so she decided to go to the second floor. When they were in the elevator, Lin Xinyan felt eyes on her. She turned her head around but didn’t see anyone looking at her.
“What’s wrong?” the driver asked.
She shook her head but glanced back again. Indeed, no one was looking at her.
She turned to the front suspiciously. The elevator reached the second floor in no time. She found that the materials that she needed were here and immediately quickened her footsteps. The suspicion of someone watching her was quickly pushed to the back of her mind.
She rounded the floor for a good few minutes before finally coming across the type of lace that she wanted. The texture of the yarn was soft, delicate and thin. Exactly what she was looking for.
“This is kind of expensive.” The shop owner voiced out as he saw the fascination on Lin Xinyan’s face.
As a fashion designer, she had a broad knowledge about fabrics and the price that it should come with. “Is this sold by feet?”
“Yes, one thousand eight hundred and eighty per foot.”
“Can’t it be cheaper?” She looked at the boss and smiled.
“That’s the cheapest price. In this entire mall, this fabric can only be found in my store. No one wants to sell it because it’s expensive.”
Lin Xinyan rubbed the fabric in her hand and said, “This material is woven from silk. That’s why it’s soft and delicate. But the price that you’re offering is a bit expensive.”
The boss didn’t dare to argue seeing that she was an expert that could make out the element just by touching it, “Uh, how much do you want? I’ll make it cheaper for you.”
“I’ll need maybe a few feet.”
The boss smiled brightly as soon as she said that, “I’ll give you a discount then.”
It wasn’t like she couldn’t afford the price. The material was indeed expensive but it shouldn’t be as expensive as what he was offering. “One thousand and eighty per foot.”
“That’s too low.” The smile on his face was quickly wiped off.
“It’s not. You earn around eighty per foot with that price. I need six meters. Three feet per meter which makes it eighteen feet. You still can gain around one thousand four hundred and forty.”
He was dumbfounded. This isn’t a bargaining tactic. She’s actually a pro.
“You’re also in this field?” It would be impossible to know the price this clearly if she wasn’t.
“Kind of,” she answered without clarifying anything.
“Okay, then.” He finally agreed. It wasn’t everyday he could get customers after all. Her showing up and buying a few feet was already a huge blessing.
There were a lot of imitation products similar to this with a lower price. It was hard to sell the original one.
“You have a good eye.” He gave her a big thumbs up.
After cutting the fabric accordingly, he neatly stacked it into a delicate box before putting it into a shopping bag.
He gave her the bag as she fished out her card and handed it to him, saying, “No password.” She didn’t carry that much cash on her.
“Okay.” He took the card with both hands and walked to the cashier to swipe it. He printed the receipt then gave it to her along with her card. “I have other materials here. Do you need it?”
“No. By the way, do you know which store sells pearls?” she asked as she put her card back into her purse.
It was really unfamiliar for her. She used to have her own purchase channel and all the clothes’ accessories had their own sources. She wasn’t in Country A nor B City now so she could only rely on the locals here.
“If you need only a few, you can go to the jewelry store. But if you need lots of them, you can go to the factory. It’s affordable. You can even personally choose them.”
She thought for a while and concluded that she needed quite a lot. “Do you know where the factory is?”
“Do you need a lot?” the boss asked. She nodded her head in response.
“How about this? Give me your address and tell me which type of pearls you want. I’ll get it for you.” He smiled, “I can earn a bit more with this. And you can save yourself some trouble.”
“Sure,” she agreed after pondering for a moment. It would cost her a lot of time if she went there by herself. Someone was offering to help and she only needed to pay a bit which was rather convenient for her. She wrote down her address and the pearls’ specifications. “Can you give me by tonight? I’m really in a rush for it.”
“I will. Don’t worry,” he reassured.
When she exited, the driver carried her things. They were ready to drive home as she had already bought everything that she wanted.
“You can wait for me in the car,” she said to the driver when they were on the first floor.
He looked at the sea of people and feared that it wouldn’t be that safe for her. “I’ll wait for you at the door.”
Lin Xinyan only wanted to use the restroom. She nodded.
She asked someone for the restroom’s direction and when she was done, she walked out. She was looking for the driver at the door when she was suddenly grabbed by the wrist.
