Pats Little Shrike's Tail - Chapter 77

Chapter 77

After making a decision, Xu Wentao and Shan Ling arranged to meet at a nearby mall on Wednesday afternoon to look for suitable gifts.

Back in the bedroom, Shan Ling saw Shen Qingyi sitting on the bed, holding the book The Longest Confession. Hearing the movement, Shen Qingyi looked up from the book.

“Were you just on the phone?” Shen Qingyi asked.

“Yes, with Taotao.” Shan Ling took off her shoes, climbed into bed from the other side, and burrowed under the covers before saying: “Sister Anxin’s new shop is about to open, and I was discussing with her what kind of gift would be best to get.”

Shen Qingyi closed the book, placing it on the bedside table, and asked: “Do you know what kind of shop she is opening? Is she still selling porridge?”

Shan Ling shook her head: “I don’t know. But I heard it’s quite big, so it’s probably not just selling porridge. Plus, the original shop is still operating, so she’ll likely be running some other kind of business.”

Thinking of Anxin’s culinary skills, Shan Ling felt inadequate. She was good at cooking, but compared to Anxin, she was somewhat inferior.

Fortunately, Shen Qingyi didn’t mind.

“I see.”

Shen Qingyi took out her phone, scrolled through a certain person’s Moments, and seeing the person constantly complaining three times a day with posts like ‘Sister won’t spend time with me,’ she smiled and told Shan Ling: “She probably doesn’t lack anything. She mostly wants to see you all.”

“But we still have to bring a gift, we can’t show up empty-handed, right?” Shan Ling insisted.

Shen Qingyi nodded: “Then you and Xu Wentao can discuss and buy something together. If you find something suitable, buy one for me too.”

Shan Ling happily reached out and hugged Shen Qingyi around the waist, rubbing her soft cheek against her, and praised: “Yiyi, you are so kind. I’ll thank Sister Anxin on your behalf!”

Shen Qingyi felt the person around her waist, and her eyes flickered slightly. Finally, she just chuckled, stroked Shan Ling’s head, and said: “Get some rest early. You have to work tomorrow.”

Shan Ling softly hummed, rolled back into her own covers, and whispered: “Good night…”

Hearing the sound of steady breathing from the other side, Shen Qingyi sighed softly, turned off the light, and went to sleep.

On Wednesday, Shan Ling and Xu Wentao arranged to meet at a nearby mall, and Shen Qingyi acted as the driver, dropping her off at the mall entrance.

“Are you absolutely sure you don’t need me to pick you up?” Shen Qingyi asked, still a bit uneasy.

“No, I don’t.” Shan Ling sat in the car, double-checking that she hadn’t forgotten the autographed photos. She smiled at Shen Qingyi and said: “The subway entrance is right next to the house, and I’m not a child. You don’t need to worry about me so much.”

Shen Qingyi was still worried and told Shan Ling: “The subway stops operating at 10 PM. If you two stay out too late, call me, and I’ll drive Xu Wentao home.”

“Okay~” Shan Ling cheerfully agreed, then tilted her head to look at Shen Qingyi: “Any other instructions? If not, I’m getting out now.”

“No more,” Shen Qingyi sighed, leaning back against the seat, and said: “Remember to come home early.”

Shan Ling smiled, got out of the car, waved to Shen Qingyi, and walked towards the mall.

Shen Qingyi watched wistfully as Shan Ling walked away without looking back, and could only drive off forlornly.

Meanwhile, Shan Ling had found Xu Wentao at Entrance B of the mall.

“It’s so cold, why didn’t you wait inside for me?” Shan Ling saw Xu Wentao hunching her shoulders from the cold and couldn’t help but quickly pull her into the mall.

As soon as they entered the mall, both felt the warmth inside and felt much more comfortable.

“I was bored anyway, and I was afraid you wouldn’t find me, so I waited at the entrance,” Xu Wentao comfortably caught her breath, then turned to Shan Ling and asked: “Why didn’t Ms. Shen come? I thought I saw her car just now?”

Shan Ling said: “She has other things to attend to. She asked me to buy a gift for Sister Anxin on her behalf.”

Xu Wentao commented: “Ms. Shen is a nice person. Your work seems to be going well too. Your skin looks much better, and your dark circles are gone.”

Shan Ling happily laughed: “I never had dark circles to begin with~”

The two chatted and walked, found a place to eat their fill, and then sat down to discuss what gifts would be suitable.

“Cosmetics and clothes don’t feel right, and we don’t know what Sister Anxin likes,” Xu Wentao scrolled through her phone, looking at recommendations: “Didn’t we just pass a winter clothing store? Should we buy her a coat?”

Shan Ling was sipping the barley tea provided by the restaurant. After a thought, she asked: “Won’t that be very expensive?”

She remembered browsing winter clothes with Shen Qingyi before. A coat cost several thousand, and the most expensive one was twenty thousand.

Although she was currently wearing that twenty-thousand-yuan coat, it didn’t stop Shan Ling from thinking it was expensive.

“It is a bit,” Xu Wentao sighed, leaning against the sofa: “Most of my salary goes home, so I don’t have much saved up. I don’t think I can afford anything over one or two thousand.”

Shan Ling had just gotten paid and her wallet was bulging, but she felt a bit awkward showing off to her friend. She just sipped her barley tea and said: “How about buying something to eat?”

Xu Wentao glanced at her and said: “Sister Anxin is in the catering business. Are you going to buy her food?”

Shan Ling was curious: “You still haven’t told me what kind of shop Sister Anxin is opening.”

“She’s opening a restaurant,” Xu Wentao said: “The kind with three floors, mainly serving home-style dishes, and it has private rooms too.”

“That must be a huge space she rented, right?”

“It is. I wonder where Sister Anxin got so much money,” Xu Wentao rested her chin on her hand: “I thought she was just planning to open a small shop for home-style food. I never expected her to take over three entire floors. Did she sell her house?”

Shan Ling smiled and consoled her: “Don’t worry. Sister Anxin must have her own methods, and the bigger the shop, the better the business.”

Xu Wentao sighed: “That’s true. Let’s focus on what we should buy her first.”

Just then, a commercial started playing on the large screen in the center of the mall. Shan Ling clearly saw a familiar figure.

Xu Wentao also turned to look. “Hey,” she exclaimed: “Isn’t that Song Qinglan? What new product is she endorsing now?”

On the large screen, Song Qinglan’s delicate face appeared, next to a set of skincare products. The red and white packaging looked very festive.

Xu Wentao then remembered and told Shan Ling: “Where’s my autographed photo?”

Shan Ling took the photo out of her bag and handed it to her.

Looking at the person in the autograph, Xu Wentao looked at the endorsed skincare product on the big screen, then looked up at Shan Ling and said: “Let’s go look at this. The new product looks very suitable as a gift.”

Shan Ling thought about it and didn’t refuse. She put down her cup, settled the bill with Xu Wentao, and went to the international luxury beauty store that Song Qinglan was endorsing.

“Welcome,” a sales associate enthusiastically approached them and asked: “What can I get for you?”

Xu Wentao pointed to the advertisement in the store and asked: “Do you have this in stock right now?”

“Yes, we do,” the person smiled: “It’s over here, please come this way.”

Xu Wentao and Shan Ling followed her to a display counter. Song Qinglan’s large photo was hanging right above it, which made Shan Ling feel a bit awkward. She resisted looking at her and focused only on the products in front of her.

“This is the New Year’s set. We have stock available now, so no need to order separately,” the tall sales associate introduced enthusiastically.

The red and white set included a serum, face cream, and a box of face masks. Currently, purchasing it came with small-sized samples and a New Year’s gift box.

The kind with Song Qinglan’s big face on it.

“The price we can offer you here is 2899,” the sales associate smiled and told them: “We also provide additional small samples.”

Xu Wentao was stunned when she heard the price—nearly three thousand yuan.

Shan Ling also hesitated, glancing at Song Qinglan’s large face. She felt the price was a bit high.

“We’ll look around some more. Thank you.” Xu Wentao pulled Shan Ling and hurried away.

After leaving the store, the two wandered aimlessly again.

Xu Wentao scrolled through her phone, seeing that the reviews for the skincare set were excellent, but the price wasn’t very attractive. She didn’t have enough money to buy it as a gift.

“Everyone says it’s good, but the price is too high,” Xu Wentao put away her phone, looked far back in the direction of the store, and sighed: “I wish I had money.”

Shan Ling nodded in agreement. A three-thousand-yuan item was indeed quite expensive. It was almost half of her monthly salary.

But if all three of us give the gift together, wouldn’t that be better?

Thinking this, Shan Ling turned and asked Xu Wentao: “Taotao, I’ll call Yiyi and ask if she wants to chip in with us. If so, it won’t be that expensive.”

Xu Wentao’s eyes brightened. She nodded: “Great, go ahead and ask. If it works out, we’ll buy that.”

Soon, Shan Ling got a reply.

Shen Qingyi wasn’t too bothered by such things. As long as the two wanted to buy it, she was happy to join in.

In the end, Xu Wentao used her years of bargaining experience to negotiate with the sales associate and finally secured many samples and free gifts. The free samples alone added up to more than the actual product, which was a real eye-opener for Shan Ling.

The main product was, of course, for Anxin, and the two split the remaining samples and gifts equally.

After buying the gifts, the two walked around a bit more. To catch the last subway train, Shan Ling and Xu Wentao parted ways at 9:30 PM, taking the subway back to their respective homes.

The subway ride from the mall to the residential area didn’t require any transfers. Shan Ling rode the subway swaying gently. As soon as she emerged from the subway exit, the cold night wind hit her face.

The body heat she had managed to build up in the subway car was completely gone with the blast of wind.

It was already past 10 PM. Shan Ling was the only person exiting the subway. Besides the gift box in her hand, the only company she had was the cold night wind.

Just then, Shan Ling saw a figure standing under the streetlamp.

The person felt incredibly familiar to Shan Ling. She took two steps closer and realized it was Shen Qingyi.

“You…” Shan Ling was about to speak, but another gust of wind blew, making her swallow the words she was about to say, along with two gulps of air.

So cold, so cold. She really shouldn’t have chosen to go shopping late at night.

Shen Qingyi saw her condition and walked over, taking off her mask and putting it on Shan Ling’s face.

“I just put it on not long ago,” Shen Qingyi then took Shan Ling’s hand and glanced at the gift set in her hand, meeting Song Qinglan’s large face on the box: “Is this the gift you two picked out today?”

“Mhm.” With the mask on, Shan Ling felt less cold. She could even smell Shen Qingyi’s scent on the mask.

Wearing the same mask felt so intimate, almost like an indirect kiss.

As soon as that thought popped up, Shan Ling quickly shook it off and told Shen Qingyi: “Let’s go home now. It’s so cold. I feel like it’s going to snow again tomorrow.”

“It is,” Shen Qingyi smiled, holding Shan Ling’s hand: “It’s going to snow again.”

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