Chapter 8 - Jewelry shop disturbance
Hearing the words spoken, Gu Man didn't have anything to say. She compromised and urged Gu Ning, "Pay attention to your security, if you feel uncomfortable anywhere, call mother, okay?"
"Yes." Gu Ning nodded.
Leaving the house, Gu Ning looked down at the cell phone… Where is the cell phone, could anyone tell her? This was a god damn brick!
Because of her profession, she was used to operating with intelligent machines; this thing, on the other hand, was barely a machine.
Gu Ning noted down one more thing under her list of things that she would take care of once she had money.
Because there wasn't a direct bus to the antique market, Gu Ning could only go to the urban area and then take a bus from there.
Arriving at the urban district, Gu Ning only took another 20 minutes to arrive at downtown.
The station where she got off didn't have another bus linking to the antique market, so she walked 300 meters, turned right, and walked another 100 meters before reaching the bus stop at the antique market.
Because it was located in the center of the city, there were many businesses in the area. Therefore, many famous jewelers gathered in the district.
Looking around, when Gu Ning's vision fell on the jewelry displayed in a window, she saw many jades. Suddenly she got an idea, to take a look at the jades inside the store.
Although she knew how to absorb Lingqi from the instructions that the Phoenix Blood Jade had, she didn't have any practical experience. She was quite curious about what actual Lingqi absorption would be like.
She had just entered the store when a somewhat shrill and mean female spoke, "Yo! Isn't this our dear classmate Gu Ning? What's going on? A person who can't even afford food can unexpectedly come to the jeweler's!"
Yes, Gu Ning was known at school as a person who couldn't even afford to buy rice at the cafeteria.
Although Gu Man gave her spending money every day, sufficient enough or a decent meal, the frugal Gu Ning rarely ate. She usually made do with a steamed bun.
Otherwise, how could Gu Ning even save up 500 Yuan?
The young girl who had just called out to Gu Ning was called Shao Feifei, her classmate and a literature and arts committee member. When at school, it was as if she couldn't breathe if she didn't torment Gu Ning. She would shame her in front of the other students, throw balled paper at her, fill her desk drawer with garbage, and doodle all over her textbook. Anything that she considered bullying, she would do.
She wasn't just so horrid to Gu Ning because the other girl was poor, it was because she was even prettier than her. Shao Feifei held the title of the Class Flower, how could she stomach some rat from an inferior background outshining her?
With Shao Feifei was another girl from their grade who Gu Ning was unfamiliar with.
When people heard Shao Feifei speak, they turned to look at Gu Ning. Contrary to what one might expect, the people with truly good upbringing looked as if they couldn't care less, it was the more conceited and lower class people who showed disdain.
Especially when they saw her old yellowing clothes, which only God knew was how old, they couldn't bring themselves to like her. They could only think that a poor devil like Gu Ning appearing in the store only lowered the standards of the store.
Regarding the looks that the people gave her, she couldn't be bothered. But Shao Feifei's attempts to shame her, Gu Ning couldn't let matters slide. She countered, "This isn't your house, why can't I come?
"You've come but can you afford it?" Shao Feifei ridiculed. As if she had come to a realization all of a sudden, Shao Feifei made a face as if she was enlightened. "It shouldn't be… Did you come to steal?"
Hearing this, the way that the onlookers saw Gu Ning changed, especially the employees. Their eyes revealed their bare vigilance, thinking that Gu Ning might truly try to pocket something.
Gu Ning looked at Sao Feifei coldly. In a freezing voice, she spoke, "Shao Feifei, if you continue to spout nonsense without evidence, I can sue you for slander."
"You…"
Shao Feifei was shocked by Gu Ning's gaze, and even more so when she heard her speak. Gu Ning dared to refute her?
It must be known, no matter how much people taunted Gu Ning before, she always had the same depressing atmosphere.
"Tangjie, let's walk away first." The female student who followed Shao Feifei timidly urged after thought. She couldn't take the responsibility if Shao Feifei really caused some trouble. (Older female cousin)
"If you want to walk, go out and walk on the street. I want to see for myself if this beggar can buy anything." Shao Feifei ignored the girl, completely not paying attention to her. Although she had been startled by Gu Ning a moment ago, it wasn't sufficient enough for her to fear her.
Gu Ning was a poor student without any background; she wanted to see what this girl could do.
Hearing the provocation, Gu Ning only looked as if she was watching a good show.
"Who said that it's necessary to buy?" Gu Ning was rather speechless.
"If you're not going to buy, then why would you come in?" Shao Feifei also knew that Gu Ning was right but she refused to back down.
"Can I not come and look?" Gu Ning asked.
"You…" Shao Feifei felt as if the air was stuck in her throat. She was speechless.
Gu Ning no longer paid any attention to Shao Feifei and passed by her and strolled around.
Although the people in the store weren't fond of her, there was nothing that they could do.
Just like she said, it wasn't necessary to buy.
However, because of Shao Feifei's words, the store employees started keeping an eye on her, as if she would rob the store if she was left unattended.
It seemed as if they had forgotten that the store had a CCTV camera and that the jewelry was locked inside glass cases. Even if she wanted to steal, she wouldn't do it in such an obvious manner!
Although their suspiciousness rubbed Gu Ning the wrong way, she didn't say anything.
Gu Ning arrived at the jade area, focusing her mind, she looked at the jade. Within 10 seconds she saw faint white mist on the surface of the jade. This was the Lingqi.
It was quite thin; evidently, the quality of the jade wasn't that good.
Gu Ning didn't want to give up but the jade was encased in the glass, she was unable to absorb the Lingqi.
Gu Ning could only look forward to the day when started to bet on the jades, she couldn't help but sigh lightly.
However, this sigh was interpreted as something completely different to the people hearing it.
"Some people can't afford, they can only look and sigh. How pitiful!" The female satirized.
"You think so too? This poor person wouldn't be able to afford it her entire lifetime, only able to look." Another woman echoed.
Gu Ning was somewhat speechless; it's as if her body was inviting ridicule. But looking at her state, she herself couldn't help but sympathize.
They thought that she couldn't afford for her entire life? She might be poor and broke now, but it was only a matter of time.
Gu Ning looked at the two women; both were around 40 years old and looked good. They were dressed up extravagantly; only the extravagance was a bit too excessive to the point where it circled back to shabby.
Especially the woman on the right. She was wearing three rings, one diamond, one gold, and one jade.
She was also wearing a jade bracelet on her wrist.
-> This is a Cherry Clan translation, if you are reading this anywhere other than the wordpress or wattpad account, it's been stolen.