The farce that unfolded in the department store had drawn everyone’s attention.
After all, it was a small county town with no entertainment to speak of. People’s usual hobbies revolved around gossip.
Unfortunately, the protagonists of the ‘gossip’—He Meijun and her daughter, along with that sharp-tongued salesgirl—had all been taken to the office. The customers who had come to shop at the department store were left without any more gossip to watch.
But while the customers couldn’t see, the department store employees could.
Aside from those staff members stuck behind the counters who couldn’t leave, a small group of employees had gathered near Manager Wu’s office, hovering around.
After all, some of them had long been fed up with that salesgirl who acted like her eyes were on top of her head.
So while they watched the gossip unfold, they were also waiting to see her get her comeuppance!
However, what they hadn’t expected was that they had come to watch a joke, only to unexpectedly catch sight of a peerless beauty.
“Shushu, come, try this scarf.”
He Meijun glanced at the salesgirl, whose face had stiffened as she followed along apologizing. With a cold snort, she took the red scarf that the girl had offered as compensation, then turned to her precious daughter with a face full of smiles.
Qiao Shu had no interest in the red scarf—after all, scarves of poor quality generally irritated her skin.
But seeing the delighted smile on her mother’s face, she obediently leaned her head over anyway.
Fortunately, the scarves of this era were of decent quality—light and thin. Though the material was a bit rough, Qiao Shu, whose skin sensitivity had slowed due to constantly drinking the mutated spiritual spring water, could tolerate it.
Originally, Qiao Shu had kept a sweat towel over her face to block the sun and prevent tanning. She should have taken it off upon entering the department store to buy clothes, but as soon as they had stepped inside, He Meijun had started arguing with a salesgirl.
So Qiao Shu had simply forgotten to remove the sweat towel covering her face.
Now, as she tried on the red scarf, He Meijun suddenly pulled off the sweat towel from Qiao Shu’s face and draped the bright red, lightweight scarf over it instead.
In an instant, everyone caught an unguarded glimpse of a face so beautiful it didn’t seem real.
The girl’s face was as exquisite as a work of art meticulously sculpted by Nüwa herself. Her features were flawless, her skin as fair and tender as the finest mutton-fat jade, glowing with a soft luster that drew every eye. It was a beauty that held people captive.
At that moment, everyone seemed to have been hit by a pause button. They stared wide-eyed, held their breath, and gawked dumbly at Qiao Shu.
Faced with those dazed gazes, Qiao Shu’s lovely brows furrowed slightly.
Her appearance was growing more and more like it had been in her previous life. Now, it had already recovered seventy percent of her past life’s beauty.
And even this level of beauty was enough to leave others staring in a daze. She could already foresee that once her looks fully restored to their previous peak, she would have to resume her life cooped up at home.
Alas~ In her previous life, at least there had been computers, phones, and the internet to keep her happily holed up as a homebody.
But in this era of backward technology and scarce resources, being a homebody might just bore her to death.
“Shushu, why the sudden sigh, child?”
After securing the red scarf around Qiao Shu’s neck, He Meijun asked, a bit puzzled.
Qiao Shu blinked and said softly, “It’s just that they’re all staring at me. I’m not used to it.”
Hearing her daughter’s words, He Meijun finally noticed how unnaturally quiet it had become around them. She looked up and saw Manager Wu in the office and the salesgirl both staring stupidly at her precious daughter.
And at some point, a large crowd had gathered at the office door!
Instinctively, He Meijun stepped in front of Qiao Shu and bellowed, “What are you all staring at! Have you no manners!”
Startled back to their senses by the shout, everyone who had been stunned by Qiao Shu’s beauty snapped out of it.
They all swallowed hard. Though their gazes lingered reluctantly on Qiao Shu, they no longer stared so brazenly at the girl.
“Ahem! Big Sis, I had no idea your daughter was so beautiful. This incident was indeed our department store’s fault! I’ll make sure to severely reprimand Xiao Fang!”
Manager Wu spoke in a very serious tone. Of course, it would have been more convincing if his eyes didn’t keep drifting toward Qiao Shu.
“Yes, yes, yes! Auntie! I’m truly sorry! I was way out of line! I even scared the little sister! Manager Wu, I’ve deeply realized my mistake! I think compensating the sister with just one red scarf isn’t enough! Don’t we have some good fabric left over from staff allocation? Why not give it all to her to make clothes!”
Qiao Shu took the sudden change in attitude from Manager Wu and the salesgirl in stride—after all, she had experienced plenty of such scenes in her previous life.
Going out to buy something, they wouldn’t take her money and even chased after her to give her more things. It had been utterly troublesome, which was why she had grown accustomed to online shopping later on.
While Qiao Shu was used to such scenes, He Meijun had never witnessed anything like it!
Even someone as bold, brash, and fond of a bargain as He Meijun was stunned speechless by the sight.
Once she realized that this abrupt shift in attitude toward her and her daughter stemmed entirely from her daughter’s ridiculously beautiful looks, she still found it a bit outrageous.
“This isn’t right…”
Before He Meijun could finish her words, an even more outrageous scene unfolded.
The group of employees crowded at the door quickly chimed in.
“Nothing wrong with it at all! We all agree! Let this sister have the staff’s good fabric.”
“Yeah, yeah! A sister this pretty needs several nice outfits!”
…
Seeing the department store employees all say this, He Meijun finally realized for the first time that her precious little daughter’s looks might be… a bit too bewitchingly beautiful???
In the end, even a bargain-hunter like He Meijun couldn’t bring herself to accept so many free things from the department store without a guilty conscience!
Of course, even if He Meijun could have stomached taking all those free items, Qiao Shu wouldn’t have let her.
Ultimately, He Meijun only accepted the red dress and the red scarf for free. As for the so-called staff allocation fabric, she paid for it with money and fabric coupons.
Even so, He Meijun felt delighted inside, convinced she had scored a huge bargain~!
“Oh my! Good daughter! Bringing you to the department store for shopping got us so many discounts, Mom doesn’t even want to let you marry far away anymore!”
He Meijun held fabric and clothes in her left hand, daily necessities in her right, radiating a joyful aura from head to toe.
Hearing her mother’s words, Qiao Shu—who was also carrying things in both hands—curled her lips in amusement.
“Mom, after I marry, if you want anything, just tell me. I’ll buy it and send it back. The Feng Family has plenty of money anyway.”
Qiao Shu didn’t mind taking advantage of strangers, but taking advantage of her rich husband’s resources? Why not?
Besides, he was marrying her out of gratitude!
If she didn’t spend, they might even feel uneasy!
“You child, what nonsense! Once you’re married over there, just be dutiful. Our family lacks for nothing—we don’t need you subsidizing us with the Feng Family’s money.”
He Meijun’s smile froze at her little daughter’s words, and she grew unusually stern toward Qiao Shu.
“And once you’re married, you’re the Feng Family’s daughter-in-law. Just live your own little life well. Don’t worry about your paternal family, and don’t think of helping out those cousins of yours. If they have any ability, let them make their own way. Relying on you—what kind of ability is that…”
Qiao Shu could tell these were He Meijun’s sincere words.
She also understood that He Meijun harbored some resentment toward the Qiao Family. After all, she truly loved her daughter and hoped she would marry a man who genuinely loved and cherished her—not wed some ‘old man’ with two kids out of gratitude, whom she had never even met.
“Mom, marrying Feng Xiao won’t be a grievance for me. I’m doing it for his family background. Mom, look at me—I’m so pretty and delicate, I can’t handle any hardship. Marrying him means I’ll live well, protected by his family. I’ll be safe and comfortable.”
Qiao Shu didn’t want He Meijun to agonize over her marrying an ‘old man’ as a stepmother, so she laid her true intentions out plainly.
Hearing her daughter’s sincere words, He Meijun—who had been uneasy and resentful toward the Qiao Family over this matter—finally set aside her lingering grudges.
She gazed earnestly at her daughter’s face and truly realized for the first time that her girl was too beautiful; she indeed wasn’t suited for an ordinary man.
Even in these peaceful times, a beauty like her daughter’s couldn’t be protected by an average family.
“Daughter, you’ve really grown up…”
“Mom, no matter how much I grow, I’ll always be your good girl~”
Since both had their hands full, Qiao Shu could only lean her head against He Meijun’s shoulder, rubbing affectionately as she coquettishly said.
He Meijun, who had been feeling a bit sentimental about her daughter growing up and leaving, had all that melancholy melt away with the coquetry. Her heart turned to mush from her little girl’s antics, her face instantly blooming with happy smiles.
And just as the mother and daughter had talked through the marriage issue, dissolving all barriers, they remained unaware that a certain reborn individual who had been secretly tailing them was filled with endless regret.
If only there were recording equipment! She could have captured Qiao Shu’s ‘ugly true colors’ and let the Feng Family know she was nothing but a vain gold-digger!
As Qiao Hui grumbled furiously to herself in her mind, she followed He Meijun and Qiao Shu all the way to the State-run Restaurant.
In an instant, Qiao Hui realized that this might be the moment Qiao Shu met that man!
She grew immensely tense at once. Thinking of Qiao Shu’s face, pretty as a vixen, she steeled her resolve: She absolutely could not let them meet!