Chapter Five: Haggling
Back in the dormitory, Ning Qingmin sat at her desk, recalling all the important events since she started college. She flipped through her calendar again, and tomorrow night was the day she first met Guo Shangliang. Her heart was filled with a mix of emotions, unable to distinguish between sweetness, sourness, bitterness, and astringency.
The next day, Saturday, Ning Qingmin took Zhou Ling to the glasses store at the university entrance, picked a pair of light purple small frame glasses, replaced the thick black frame glasses on her nose bridge, and turned around to ask Zhou Ling: "How is it?"
"Finally see your true face!" Zhou Ling nodded fiercely, "This look, looks much more delicate."
Ning Qingmin leaned in close to the mirror, looking left and right.
In the mirror, a thin and pale girl appeared, with long and narrow eyes that narrowed into two slits when she smiled, exactly the kind of eyes commonly known as "alluring eyes", but unfortunately her eyelids were slightly swollen, looking like she hadn't woken up from sleep.
"This frame, plus the ultra-thin fiber lenses, is discounted to 88% off, for a total of 530 yuan." The shopkeeper took out the calculator and calculated the price.
Ning Qingmin took a deep breath of cold air. With only 500 yuan for living expenses per month, if he were to buy this pair of glasses, wouldn't that mean he'd have to go hungry for a whole month?
She pushed her black-framed glasses up the bridge of her nose and Ning Qing pulled Zhou Ling out of the eyeglass store, sighing: "Come back to change your glasses when you have money!"
Zhou Ling also didn't expect that a slightly better-looking frame would be so expensive, and could only rub his hands together and say: "Forget it, I'll accompany you to get a haircut instead!"
"Thin out the back a bit, and let the hair lie flat naturally!" Ning Qingming told the barber her requirements. After finishing the haircut, Zhou Ling hurried over, nodded and said: "Not bad, this haircut makes your neck look slender, and you seem taller overall."
Ning Qingmin took a glance at herself in the mirror and suddenly felt more spirited.
Zhou Ling saw that Ning's nape had dandruff, and hurried over to help her brush it off. After casually adjusting her collar, he caught a glimpse of the skin underneath, which was fair and tender. He couldn't help but pretend to steal a glance and say, "So you're not as rough as you seem on the outside, you're actually so white inside!"
Ning Qingmian shook off her hand and sighed, saying: "If only my face could be as white as this!"
"You're not dark-skinned, just a bit sallow and looking unspirited." Zhou Ling examined Ning Qing's face carefully and said: "Eat more nourishing food usually, get rid of the yellow complexion on your face, guaranteed to look better."
"Hmm!" Ning Qingming responded with a murmur. After the college entrance exam, she had been bedridden for a long time due to illness, and her originally weak physique made her complexion naturally poor.
"Speaking of which, you dared to invite Xiao Yesen as your dance partner last night, and even I was shocked!" Zhou Ling smiled, "After entering university, it's really different, and one's personality changes too."
"I was forced to at that time." Ning Qing said that a thin and stinky man walked towards her, Zhou Ling heard it and burst into laughter.
After leaving the barber shop, two people decided to go out and buy clothes.
After all, they were poor students and didn't dare to enter a branded store, so they went to a small private shop. Ning Qing habitually picked up a gray outfit and took a look at it.
"Your skin is originally yellowish, and wearing gray clothes makes you look dull all over. Why not choose something brighter?" Zhou Ling suggested from the side.
"Also!" Ning Qingming put down the gray clothes, no longer insisting that gray was a safe color, most suitable for himself to wear, but instead picked up a white sweater with a small peach collar and compared it in front of the mirror. White, indeed made his face look more spirited.
When asking the price, the shop owner played the big bad wolf pretending to be a little white rabbit, saying with a very affectionate tone: "You two classmates really have good taste, picking out this one at a glance. This is indeed our store's treasure, of course, it's also a bit pricey!"
"How much is it? Just say it quickly!" Zhou Ling urged, "We still need to go check out other stores!"
"The price might give you a shock, so be prepared, but it's worth the value!" The shop owner smiled and said, "180 yuan."
Ning Qingmin and Zhou Ling were frightened, hastily wanting to leave the store. The owner hurriedly stopped them, saying: "I'm just making an offer, if you really like this dress, then make a counteroffer!"
Ning Qingmin patted his chest and said: "The price I'm going to quote might scare you, boss, so be mentally prepared!"
"Don't worry, I'm the bravest person around! Go ahead and say it!" The shop owner joked.
"18 yuan!" Ning Qingming didn't want to haggle with the shop owner, so he casually gave a price and pulled Zhou Ling to leave.
The shopkeeper stopped them again, his face dark and menacing, saying "Deal!"
Ning Qingmin and Zhou Ling were stunned, and when they picked up their clothes to leave the small shop, they saw two familiar figures standing at the door.
"A 180-yuan piece of clothing, you managed to haggle it down to 18 yuan, that's impressive!" Jiang Mingzhi said with a hint of a smile.
Zhou Ling saw Jiang Mingzhi and Xiao Yesen, smiled and said: "Originally didn't want to buy it, casually quoted a price, ended up closing the deal."
Xiao Ye Sheng's eyes sparkled as he looked at Ning Qingming and Zhou Ling, saying: "We want to buy pants, we asked several families, the prices are not reasonable, now we see a lifesaver, help us haggle!"
Zhou Ling laughed and said: "What pants are you guys buying? Go take a look!"
They came to another small store, Jiang Mingzhi and Xiao Yesen each took a pair of casual pants, and whispered to Zhou Ling and Ning Qingmin that the owner quoted 120 yuan, originally wanted to bargain for 100 yuan, but later thought about strolling around other places before deciding, so they didn't rush to buy.
Ning Qingmian felt the texture of the pants and whispered: "One more for 50 yuan, the store owner guarantees to sell it to you immediately."
"Boss, will you sell it for 50 yuan?" Xiao Yesi immediately opened his mouth to haggle with the shopkeeper.
"Brother student, if we sell it for 50 yuan, we won't make any money! Let's meet halfway and say 80 yuan!" The shopkeeper was beaming with a smile, his eyes shining brightly as he looked at Xiao Ye Sheng, even patting him on the shoulder in a friendly manner.
"For 50 yuan, don't sell it to us if we go elsewhere." Ning Qingmin saw that Xiao Yesheng and Jiang Mingzhi were already somewhat satisfied with the price of 80 yuan given by the boss, fearing they would nod in agreement, so she hastily chimed in.
"Come on, I just saw it in another store for 48 yuan, why do you have to buy it here?" Who doesn't know how to pretend to let go?
Seeing Xiao Ye Sheng and Jiang Mingzhi put down their pants, the shopkeeper panicked and pretended to be in pain, saying: "Alright, alright, 50 yuan is sold, no profit, just treat you as a few friends, familiar customers, remember to come here often to buy things."
As they left the small shop, Xiao Ye Sheng laughed and said: "Just now I was thinking of bargaining for 100 yuan, didn't expect to get it for 50 yuan, really unexpected!"
Jiang Mingzhi looked at Zhou Ling and Ning Qingmin, feeling a bit embarrassed. "I wanted to invite you guys for a midnight snack last night, but you didn't give me the chance. Today, I got a discount on these pants thanks to your help, so let's go eat McDonald's, are you coming?"
"Great!" Zhou Ling quickly responded, while pulling Ning Qing's hand and saying: "Didn't you want to eat fries?"
"Alright, let's make him poor!" Ning Qing whispered to Zhou Ling, handing her the bag she was holding and crouching down to tie her shoelaces.
