Chapter 107: He Bought Everything

When Zhong Xiao said that, her eyes were bright with a dazzling light, and a radiant smile bloomed on her lovely face.

It was noon on Taizhou Island. The sun was just right. Warm golden rays slipped through the mottled shadows of the trees and danced across Zhong Xiao’s fair skin and clear eyes, making her look especially beautiful.

Song Tingshen seemed so stunned that he could only stare at her without blinking. His handsome features were faintly dazed, and he mechanically managed to say three words:

"Mm. I believe you."

Zhong Xiao looked at the expression in his eyes, seemingly aloof yet actually a little blank, and suddenly laughed.

"Believe what?" she asked on purpose.

She had already noticed that Song Tingshen had not really heard a word she had said.

As expected, his expression turned awkward at once. His brows knit slightly, his thin lips tightened, and he said rather stiffly:

"No matter what you say, I believe you."

At that, Zhong Xiao let out a soft laugh, glanced at him again, said nothing, and turned to walk into the department store.

Because they had come into the city today, Zhong Xiao was dressed more vividly than she usually was at the military district. She wore a white blouse with ruffled trim and a red pleated dress, with a beautiful purple azalea embroidered at the hem.

She had a graceful figure, the sort of presence that stood out at a glance even on a dreary street.

Song Tingshen’s eyes darkened. Watching Zhong Xiao’s back, his throat moved slightly. He drew in a quiet breath, then followed her into the department store without a word.

The first floor was filled with furniture. Because it was too bulky to haul upstairs, the second floor sold women’s and children’s clothing as well as all kinds of silk and fabric. The third floor was for men’s wear, and the fourth for bedding sets and curtains.

Song Tingshen said, "Do you want to go upstairs first and buy some fabric and clothes?"

That happened to suit Zhong Xiao perfectly.

She loved shopping for clothes.

When she left Yue City, she had known that all the imported silk and patterned gauze she had bought before could not be worn in the military district, so she had tucked them all away safely in her storage space.

What she could take out now were only a few ordinary styles she had rarely bought before, and she had worn them back and forth so many times that there were hardly any left.

She had long wanted to buy new ones.

Smiling brightly, Zhong Xiao said, "Okay," and headed upstairs at once, delight obvious on her face.

Song Tingshen watched her and a faint smile rose in his eyes.

As he walked, he counted the fabric and clothing vouchers in his hand. There were more than thirty, which should be enough.

In fact, the Song family only had seventeen. None of them cared much for buying clothes, and the unit issued clothing every season, so they did not have many fabric coupons.

But Song Tingshen had guessed that Zhong Xiao liked shopping for clothes. When he had gone to ask Liu Guangmin to submit the marriage application, he had borrowed all the fabric vouchers from home.

A total of thirty-seven.

Zhong Xiao first chose some corduroy and denim, which would be perfect for dresses, and then picked out some linen suitable for summer.

When it came to silk and rayon, she hesitated for a moment before choosing rayon in the end.

The texture was a little inferior to silk, but it was much cheaper.

After buying the fabric, Zhong Xiao began selecting clothes.

She picked up a pair of bell-bottoms and held them against herself, looking very pleased and pleasantly surprised.

Bell-bottoms had only become fashionable in Yue City in the past two years. They were fairly expensive, but stylish and attractive. Apart from dresses, Zhong Xiao liked wearing bell-bottoms the most. Unfortunately, the few pairs she had brought with her had been left at the dry cleaner when she left, and she had not had time to pick them up.

She had never expected that even on the remote Taizhou Island, bell-bottoms would be for sale!

Without hesitation, Zhong Xiao bought two pairs.

The saleswoman in the department store cheerfully wrapped them up for her and said, "Comrade, you have such good taste. These arrived just yesterday. Our manager brought them back personally from Yue City. They’re rare indeed. There are only these two pairs here, and even if you wanted more, you couldn’t buy them."

Zhong Xiao grew even happier.

More than new styles, what she loved most was "limited edition."

There were only two pairs of these trousers on the entire island, and she had bought both of them. Was that not the same as making herself the only person on the whole island who could wear them?

But the price of bell-bottoms was truly not cheap. One pair cost fifty yuan.

Two pairs made one hundred yuan, already more than many people earned in over a month.

Zhong Xiao herself was not short of money, but she was choosing from the betrothal gifts now, and all the money she spent was Song Tingshen’s.

So she turned to ask him, but before she could even speak, Song Tingshen said directly:

"Buy them. Buy both pairs."

Zhong Xiao was overjoyed at last. She hurriedly turned back to the saleswoman and said, "Wrap them both up!"

Watching Zhong Xiao’s delighted expression, Song Tingshen let out a long breath of relief, and the corner of his mouth lifted ever so slightly.

He had contacted the department store owner two days earlier and asked him to bring these two pairs back specially from Yue City.

He had seen photographs of Zhong Xiao taken in Yue City before, and in them she had worn trousers much like these.

They looked very good on her.

And now it seemed she really did love them.

Lowering his eyes, Song Tingshen went back to the fabric counter while Zhong Xiao continued happily choosing clothes. In a low voice, he said to the saleswoman there, "Please wrap up those two bolts of pale goose-yellow and light apricot silk. Thank you."

Anything Zhong Xiao liked.

He would buy all of it.