Chapter 32: Big Shopping Spree

  Plans really can't keep up with changes.

  According to Tang Xiaosheng's original plan, he was going to buy things for Little Dragon Girl. However, after arriving at Walmart, it turned out that not a single item Little Dragon Girl bought was for herself.

  Because they usually eat at home, the three of them first went to the food section in the mall. Little Dragon Girl picked out a lot of food, including nutritious oatmeal, milk, soybean powder, sesame paste, lotus seeds, dried dates, longan, red jujube, peanuts, eggs, chicken essence, soy sauce, vegetables... over thirty varieties, it was like a big food purchase.

  Tang Xiaosheng looked at the shopping cart and found that there was no instant noodles, which he loved to eat. He immediately took ten bags of Uni-President instant noodles from the shelf. As a result, he was seen by Little Dragon Girl, who said: "Xiao'er, instant noodles are not nutritious, so try to eat less in the future."

  "Dragon, I'm used to eating instant noodles, if I don't eat them, I feel uncomfortable. Besides, as for the nutrition issue, just add some seasonings and it's fine." Tang Xiaosheng said frankly. He was indeed a bit addicted to eating instant noodles, if he didn't eat them for several days in a row, his whole body would feel unwell, just like a smoker who couldn't smoke.

  It seems that Little Dragon Girl didn't believe his explanation, as she didn't think instant noodles could be addictive. She said: "Don't lie to me, I know you're trying to save money. After all, the body is everything's foundation, and saving money can't come at the expense of food." Having said that, she gently put the Uni-President instant noodles back on the shelf and picked up two bags of walnut powder instead.

  Although his beloved instant noodles were replaced by her, Tang Xiaosheng felt a warmth in his heart. He also understood that Little Dragon Girl did this out of concern for him. Anyway, there was still half a box of instant noodles at home, which could last for a while, so he didn't mind it for the time being.

  Then they continued to stroll in the food area, during which Guo Xiang did nothing else but kept taking pictures of various foods on the shelves with her DV camera, shooting whatever she saw, everything was full of freshness for her, and she was busy with joy.

  However, her behavior caught the attention of a security guard in the mall, who approached and reminded her: "Little girl, sorry, this mall prohibits taking pictures and filming."

  After being warned, Guo Xiang was very depressed, but since it was a rule of the business world, she had no choice but to follow it.

  After walking through the food area, Little Dragon Girl said she wanted to buy some meat for Tang Xiao Sheng to nourish his body, so they came to the meat area and bought three catties of pork ribs. Then they went to the seafood area and selected a carp weighing over two catties.

  When Guo Xiang was in the seafood area, she found it quite interesting to see various fish swimming around in the fish tank. She couldn't control her desire to take pictures and looked around cautiously, making sure there were no security guards nearby. Then, she secretly took out her DV camera and started filming the fish.

  As a result, in just a few minutes, the security guards of the mall appeared again. It turned out that they had found Guo Xiang taking pictures on the mall's surveillance cameras once more.

  The security guard found Guo Xiang again and suspected that she might have some ulterior motive, intending to confiscate her DV camera. Fortunately, Tang Xiaosheng intervened in time to explain, and after a round of communication between the two parties, the security guard decided not to pursue the matter further, and the incident was settled.

  After this little episode, the food and other things had been bought more or less. Little Dragon Girl suggested going home immediately, but Tang Xiaosheng did not agree, instead taking her to the clothing area of the mall, intending to buy a few down jackets for her.

  Little Dragon Girl, due to her practice of internal skills and mental methods, was able to use her own inner strength to resist the cold. Therefore, although it was now winter and the temperature was very low, she was still only wearing a thin white dress.

  But considering her poor stomach, once the weather gets cold, the probability of relapse of gastric disease will increase greatly. Tang Xiaosheng thus prepared to buy a down jacket for her.

  At first, Little Dragon Girl did not agree and stubbornly thought she didn't need it. But Tang Xiaosheng was even more stubborn, no matter what she said, he insisted on buying the down jacket, in the end, she couldn't resist him and reluctantly agreed.

  "Welcome!"

  When I arrived at the clothing district, a female attendant in a black uniform came up to me and said in a sweet voice, "Sir, buy clothes for your girlfriend!"

  Tang Xiaosheng hesitated for a moment and said: "Right, I want to pick out a few down jackets. Do you have any recommendations?"

  The waitress looked at Xiaolongnv and smiled: "Your girlfriend has such a good figure, any style suits her."

  Tang Xiaosheng cleared his throat and teased, "You mean I should buy the entire Walmart clothing section?"

  The waitress giggled and said in a sweet voice, "I didn't mean that. How about this? We've recently received some new French down jackets, I think they'd suit your girlfriend quite well. Would you like me to take you to have a look?"

  "Take a look."

  Tang Xiaosheng then came with Little Dragon Girl to the exhibition area in front of the clothing district and saw the legendary new French down jacket.

  Then, with the help of the waitress, Xiaolongnv chose two white down jackets and went to the fitting room to try them on. Tang Xiaosheng stood quietly outside the fitting room waiting, when he saw Guo Xiang running over from the front holding a DV camera.

  "Xiang Er, where have you gone?"

  "Big brother, I just took a picture of two very strange people." Although the mall security guard had warned her twice and almost confiscated her DV camera, she couldn't help but continue filming.

  "What a strange person, let me take a look."

  Tang Xiaosheng took over her DV camera and replayed it, only to see two men in black suits on the screen, looking serious. At first glance, he felt that these two men were a bit familiar, but after careful consideration, he found that they were actually the two bodyguards beside Xia Bai, whom Tang Xiaosheng had met at the White Egret Hotel yesterday and even fought with.

  "What is Xia Bai's bodyguard doing here?"

  Tang Xiaosheng realized that he might be followed, but didn't know what the other person's purpose was. It was a big deal, and he didn't dare to take it lightly either. He turned his head and asked Guo Xiang, "Xiang'er, where did you see these two people?"

  Guo Xiang pointed to the eastern area of the shopping mall's clothing district and said in a childish tone, "Just took it there."

  "Xiang Er, stay here and don't move around, big brother will be back in a moment." In order to figure out the purpose of Xia Bai's two bodyguards, Tang Xiao Sheng decided to go investigate and see if he could find any clues.

  As he quickly walked towards the area pointed by Guo Xiang, he did not see the two bodyguards' figures. He walked all the way to the end and finally arrived at the entrance of the shopping mall's public restroom.

  When he reached the door, he heard a man seeming to be talking in the bathroom, so he stuck to the wall and sneaked a peek inside, finding one of Xia Bai's bodyguards chatting on his cell phone.

  "Boss Xia, Long Xiaoxue and Tang Xiaosheng have arrived at Walmart for shopping. What should we do next?"

  "From the other end of the phone came Xia Bai's voice: 'What did they buy?'"

  "Many foods, vegetables, seasonings, fish and meat, nutrients. Now, Long Xiaoxue is selecting clothes in the clothing district."

  Xia Bai Dao said: "You immediately go to the shopping mall's cashier, tell the cashier, a while later Long Xiao Xue and others no matter what they buy, all of it will be recorded on my account."

  Bodyguard asked: "Mr Xia, you mean pay for Long Xiaoxue in advance?"

  Xia Bai Dao said: "Right. I want Tang Xiao Sheng to have money but can't spend it."

  Bodyguard said: "Understood, Mr Xia, I'll go and handle it right away."

  Xia Bai and the bodyguard's conversation, although Tang Xiaosheng standing outside the bathroom couldn't hear very clearly, he also made out the general idea. Xia Bai had gone to great lengths to pursue Long Xiaoxue, not only sending someone to follow her but also rushing to pay the bill as soon as she started shopping.

  Tang Xiaosheng decided to take advantage of the situation, since Xia Bai liked paying so much, he would let him pay with relish. Afterwards, he hastily returned to the clothing area of the mall, where Little Dragon Girl had already tried on a down jacket and picked one out.

  "Alright, I've also chosen a down jacket, let's go." said Little Dragon Girl.

  "No rush." Tang Xiaosheng turned his head to ask the waitress, "Waitress, does your mall sell children's clothing?" Little Dragon Girl was confused and didn't understand why he wanted children's clothing.

  "Sir, are you looking for children's clothing? I can take you to have a look." The female salesclerk said.

  "I won't look anymore." Tang Xiaosheng waved his hand and said, "We need 200 sets of clothes now, the style is random, can you help pick some out?"

  "200 sets of children's clothing?" The waitress was slightly surprised, thinking she had misheard.

  "Yes, 200 sets of children's clothing. Also, we need 200 sets of elderly clothing, the style is random, can you also help pick some out?" Tang Xiaosheng said.

  The waitress saw that he didn't seem to be joking, so she said: "Sir, since you want a large quantity of goods, it may take some time to prepare them. I don't know if you are waiting here or..."

  Tang Xiaosheng interrupted, "I won't wait any longer. After the goods are adjusted, please send 200 sets of children's clothing to the Beijing Huaxia City Orphanage and 200 sets of elderly clothing to the Beijing Huaxia City Nursing Home."

  For customers with a large quantity of goods, Walmart has a delivery service. The female staff member said: "Okay, but you need to pay the bill first before we can arrange for delivery."

  "No problem, we can settle the bill now."

  Then, Tang Xiaosheng took Little Dragon Girl to the cashier in the clothing area. After the cashier calculated the bill, he said: "Sir, 200 sets of children's clothing, plus 200 sets of elderly clothing, a total of 65,455 yuan."

  "6,545 yuan? Okay." Tang Xiaosheng reached into his pocket and pretended to pay, when the cashier said, "Sir, your bill has already been paid by a Mr. Xia, you don't need to pay again."

  Her response was well within Tang Xiaosheng's expectations and didn't surprise him at all.

  Although 200 sets of children's clothing and 200 sets of old people's clothing were paid by Xiaobai, Tang Xiaosheng's food and Little Dragon Girl's down jacket were their own money. At first, the cashier didn't accept it, saying that someone had already paid for it, but Tang Xiaosheng insisted on paying, and the cashier couldn't do anything about it.

  After settling the bill, Tang Xiaosheng and Xiao Longnv, Guo Xiang carried big bags and small bags together to go shopping, then took a taxi back home.