Chapter 93: Beauty Without Utility Has No Value

Conspiracy?

Qin Hongfei glanced up at Shou, sizing him up from head to toe until Shou nearly bristled with irritation. What kind of look was that?

After scrutinizing him, Qin Hongfei curled her lips ever so slightly and said coolly, “What value do you have left that’s worth my scheming? Look, when I tell you to work, you work. When I tell you to run errands, you wouldn’t dare refuse. Your value… well, it’s down to your body.”

Shou: …

Tang Jin’nan: …

Was that even something a human would say? Listen to her, what does it mean that your only value is your body?

Shou was nearly murderous with rage.

Qin Hongfei, having provoked him, couldn’t be bothered to care. She set down the sheets and tilted her head, explaining briskly, “You don’t need to be overly grateful. I’m not being nice to you for no reason. I don’t like to suffer losses, but I don’t like to take advantage either. Though you’re living under someone else’s roof, you handle chores and tasks for me, so buying you quilts and pillows is just compensation. We owe each other nothing.” Pausing, she added, “Besides, you two are quite useful.”

One of you is worth many!

She bought quilts and pillows.

The clerk named the price: over four hundred.

Qin Hongfei thought it was a bit steep and casually offered, “Two hundred and fifty.”

She paused, noticing the clerk’s smile had turned stiff, suspecting she’d bargained too hard, and said, “Three hundred?” She knew the price of computer parts, but bedsheets were a mystery to her.

Shou was left speechless. “Are you slaughtering pigs?”

Cutting the price in half like that.

Live pigs cost two a pound, but sell for five and a half at the market! That’s a fifty percent profit—bedsheets don’t have profits like that.

Qin Hongfei turned to him, unruffled, and asked sincerely, “Then how much should I bargain?”

Shou was stumped. You ask me? Who am I supposed to ask: “…” Why bother bargaining? If it were up to him, he’d just take the goods and leave.

Tang Jin’nan stepped forward, his tall frame separating the two, and said gently to the clerk, “Three hundred fifty. The shop next door is doing promotions. If you can’t match it, we’ll buy from them.”

The clerk had planned to play the pity card, but looking up at this man’s gentle, yet exceptionally clear eyes, felt a pang of conscience and nodded.

Qin Hongfei’s eyes sparkled. After leaving the bedding shop, she bought some daily necessities and returned to the restaurant just as the dishes began arriving. Qin Yun asked, “Why were you gone so long? Qin Fei said she saw you enter the bedding shop across the street.”

Qin Hongfei nodded slightly. “Yes, I bought them two quilts and pillows.”

Xia Shangxu popped open a beer can and asked offhandedly, “How much did you spend?”

Qin Hongfei thought for a moment. “Three hundred fifty. The original price was four hundred twenty, but Tang Xiao Jin bargained it down.”

Several pairs of eyes immediately turned to Tang Jin’nan, filled with admiration.

Tang Jin’nan was already used to this kind of look, though usually it was for his professional skills; this was the first time it was for haggling. It felt novel, but nothing more.

Qin Hongfei, however, seemed to have thought of something. Her eyes shone as she asked, “Tang Xiao Jin, have you bargained before?”

Shou immediately sensed she was up to something and warned, “What nonsense are you thinking…” Buying supplies like this, those people would never let Tang Xiao Jin handle it—there were always people assigned for that. As for bargaining, they never haggled! They weren’t short on money! How did it come to this?

Tang Jin’nan replied briefly, “This was the first time.”

Qin Hongfei said it didn’t matter. “Practice makes perfect. Bargain a few more times and you’ll be amazing.” She could bring him along for shopping in the future and save money.

Qin Yun couldn’t help but look at Tang Jin’nan. Though, honestly, he wasn’t as handsome as himself and his figure was just average, but really, it was fine—after all, few could compare to his own unbeatable looks. He teased, “Hongfei, can you really bear to use his face as a bargaining tool? Where’s your conscience?”

Qin Hongfei found Qin Yun’s words odd. She looked at him, then at Tang Jin’nan’s face, peeled a large lobster with practiced immunity and popped it in her mouth, asking, “Why shouldn’t I? If he’s useful, why wouldn’t I use him? Wouldn’t not using him be foolish?”

Good looks had nothing to do with her.

If someone was attractive but useless, they had no value.

In Qin Hongfei’s world, men and women were no different, nor was appearance. Only those who were useful earned her attention.