174: Chapter 174, how much?!

After the door closed, Lu Li looked down at the suit in his hands and muttered.

"Wearing such expensive clothes on me, I always feel like it is a bit of a waste."

But his hands didn't stop moving; he neatly took off his T-shirt and casual pants, and put on the suit.

After getting dressed, Lu Li stood in the fitting room, glanced at the mirror, and then froze.

The person in the mirror was practically a different person compared to his usual self.

The fabric of the suit had a great drape, and the tailoring was very form-fitting, making his entire silhouette look sharp and neat.

The light gray color wasn't dull at all; instead, it had a gentle, high-end feel to it.

He scratched his head with a somewhat odd expression.

"Hiss… I actually clean up pretty well."

Without realizing he was roasting himself, he took a deep breath, pushed open the fitting room door, and walked out.

Shen Qingxue was standing in front of the mirror outside, looking down at her phone.

Hearing the footsteps, she raised her head, her gaze falling on Lu Li, and she was clearly taken aback for a second.

Standing at the entrance of the fitting room, Lu Li felt a bit uneasy under her gaze and instinctively tugged at his collar.

"Why are you looking at me like that? Does it look a bit weird?"

Shen Qingxue didn't speak, staring at him for several seconds.

"It's fine, not bad."

Her tone was calm, but the fluctuation in her eyes was clearly hard to hide, and the corners of her mouth twitched slightly.

"It's just that the tie wasn't tied well; it's crooked."

With that, she walked over and came to a stop in front of him.

Before Lu Li had time to react, Shen Qingxue had already reached out, pinched his crooked tie, skillfully adjusted it a few times, and retied it properly.

Her movements were very natural, as if she were doing a routine, mundane chore.

But the distance between the two of them was so close that Lu Li could smell the faint, refreshing fragrance on her hair.

"All done."

Shen Qingxue took half a step back, looked him up and down, and then nodded slightly.

"Let's go with this set."

Lu Li stood in front of the fitting mirror, still feeling a bit dazed.

He looked down at the suit on his body, then looked up at the brand-new self in the mirror, instinctively tugging at his collar.

"No… Do we really need to buy these clothes? There's no need, right?"

Shen Qingxue had already withdrawn the hand that helped him tie his tie, took half a step back, and then nodded slightly.

"Keep wearing it. It's quite good."

Then she turned around and walked casually toward the cashier counter.

Lu Li quickly followed, lowering his voice.

"Sis, I'll call you my big sis, wait up! You still haven't told me how much it costs!"

Shen Qingxue ignored him and had already walked up to the cashier counter.

"Checking out, thank you."

On the other side, the store clerk had already packed up Lu Li's old clothes, and then put on a professional smile.

"Hello, this suit is our new model. The fabric is imported from Italy, and the tailoring is custom-made by hand. The original price is thirteen thousand eight hundred."

She paused and continued smiling as she spoke.

"However, because we are having a promotion recently, and you are the first customer to purchase this suit today, you can enjoy a discount. The discounted price is eight thousand eight hundred and eighty-eight yuan."

When Lu Li heard the first number, he completely broke down inside.

When he heard that string of "eight thousand eight hundred and eighty-eight" that followed, his brain completely crashed.

"How… How much???"

The clerk was stunned by his reaction for a moment, but still maintained a smile and patiently repeated it.

"Eight thousand eight hundred and eighty-eight yuan, sir? Would you like to pay by card, cash, or mobile payment?"

Lu Li opened his mouth and closed it again.

Eight thousand eight hundred and eighty-eight?

The clothes he wore before transmigrating cost at most two or three hundred a set, and the clothes he wore after transmigrating were wholesale items from Pinduoduo for 9.9 yuan.

Yet today, a single suit directly skyrocketed to eight thousand eight hundred and eighty-eight?

Lu Li abruptly turned his head to look at Shen Qingxue, about to speak, but before the words could come out, he saw that Shen Qingxue had already handed her card to the clerk.

"Card."

The clerk took the card and smoothly operated the POS machine without even lifting her head.

"Alright, please enter your PIN."

Lu Li felt like his brain crashed right at that moment.

He watched helplessly as Shen Qingxue pressed a few keys on the PIN pad and then saw the POS machine print out a receipt.

Before long, the clerk respectfully handed the receipt and the card back to her.

"Alright sir, this suit is now yours. Have a pleasant life."

The clerk said with a smile.

Lu Li stood in place, frozen as if hit by an immobilization spell, unable to even lift his feet.

Shen Qingxue put the card back into her bag and tilted her head to glance at him.

"Let's go, what are you standing there stunned for?"

Lu Li finally snapped back to his senses, swallowed a mouthful of saliva, and his voice was still a bit dry.

"Um… Just now… This clothes… Eight thousand eight hundred and eighty-eight? You just bought it like that?!"

"Mhm."

Shen Qingxue nodded, her tone nonchalant.

"What's wrong?"

"What's wrong???"

Lu Li's voice rose by an octave, but considering they were in a shopping mall, he forced it back down.

"Eight… Eight thousand eight hundred and eighty-eight! You didn't even blink an eye?! Where did you get so much money?!"

Shen Qingxue watched his shocked appearance and gave a rare smile.

"Douyin creators have earnings, you should have them there too, didn't you check?"

"Besides, I'm just buying you a set of clothes. I remember when you spent money on me, you didn't blink an eye either."

After saying that, Shen Qingxue playfully made a funny face at him.

Lu Li opened his mouth and closed it again.

This seems like fallacious logic, right???

"Th… That's different…"

Lu Li muttered.

Shen Qingxue ignored him further, turned around and walked two steps towards the door, then stopped and turned back to look at him.

"Keep wearing it, don't change."

After saying that, she walked out first.

Lu Li stood in place, looked down at the suit on his body, sighed with a bitter smile, and eventually followed her.

The two of them walked side by side in the mall, with Shen Qingxue walking half a step ahead, her pace neither fast nor slow.

Lu Li followed beside her, raised his hand to adjust his tie, feeling that something was off everywhere.

"Can you stop tugging at it?"

Without turning her head, Shen Qingxue felt somewhat amused.

"If you keep tugging, it's going to be completely crooked."

"No… Wearing these clothes feels so uncomfortable."

Lu Li wore a look of unease.

"How should I describe this feeling… It's like wearing someone else's skin, making me feel completely uncomfortable all over."

Shen Qingxue's footsteps paused, she tilted her head to glance at him, and the corners of her mouth twitched.

"The way you put it, wouldn't taking off your jacket mean you're turning into Skin-Flaying Lu??"

Lu Li was stunned for a moment, and then left speechless by this refutation.

Good grief, she's learning bad habits.

"Have you been corrupted lately? You must have been surfing the internet way too much."

"Mhm."

Shen Qingxue nodded, her tone very affirmative.

"It's because of you. After all, 'one who stays near vermilion gets red'—though this pig isn't that Zhu."

Lu Li's mouth twitched, feeling like he had been counter-attacked, and said with annoyance.

"Then are you raising a pig here? It cost eight thousand eight hundred and eighty-eight yuan, you know."

Shen Qingxue didn't reply, but her pace unconsciously became a lot more cheerful, almost to the point of skipping.