Xiao Qi first went to the library and stayed there for three hours, then went to buy shoes.
Nike specialty store.
Xiao Qi saw that there was actually a place to measure height in the store, with a wall marked with height scales.
Her original height was 163. She felt that it was pretty good and thought she was already quite tall. However, she used to have the bad habit of hunching her shoulders and holding in her chest, which made her look about 160. Recently, she had a posture buff, and would unconsciously walk without holding in her chest and sit without hunching her back, making her look a bit taller.
She stood in front of the wall and a service clerk came over and measured her―164 centimeters. The service clerk smiled and said, "Young lady, you're quite tall, and it looks like you'll grow even more."
Xiao Qi felt like she hadn't grown at all recently.
Gaining an extra centimeter wasn't bad.
"I want a pair of running shoes and another pair for daily walking," Xiao Qi stated her needs after getting her height measured.
The service clerk felt this young lady was quite aloof. She dressed plainly, but had a nice temperament. Service clerks were quite observant, and she could tell this customer had potential.
Seeing that the young lady didn't ask about prices or anything, the clerk brought out four pairs of shoes―one pair on sale for just over 300 yuan, one regular pair for over 600 yuan, one new pair for over 800 yuan, and another more expensive pair that their shop was heavily promoting lately that was very lightweight and suitable for running, but cost over 1300 yuan.
Xiao Qi tried on the shoes without looking at the prices.
The service clerk noticed this detail―it meant either the customer couldn't afford them for sure, or price didn't matter to her.
Judging by the young lady's nonchalance, she figured it was the latter, and became even more attentive.
It was Xiao Qi's first time buying brand name shoes. Nike and Adidas were brands she was very familiar with since almost all the students in her class had them. Her friend Jiajia also liked Nike, which influenced Xiao Qi as well.
Although Xiao Qi hadn't contacted Jiajia since that night out at the bar with classmates, she would still think of a person like her from time to time. After all, she had always thought Jiajia was her best friend, so it did have some influence.
Just like when buying shoes, she went straight to the Nike store.
In the past, she bought shoes from small roadside shops, including fake Nikes. But she was a little embarrassed and would rather buy shoes without a noticeable brand than fake Nikes from a roadside stall. She had seen students in her dorm bluntly point out and relentless compare when someone bought fake ones.
Xiao Qi tried them on and chose a pair of light blue mesh running shoes for 1,389 yuan that were especially lightweight and suitable for running.
For her everyday walking shoes, she picked a pair of blue and white high-top sneakers―blue leather uppers with the white Nike logo that looked very nice and were comfortable to wear. Plus most of her clothing was dark colored, so she thought the bright colors of the shoes would stand out and the blue and white was very clean looking and matched her outfits well.
These sneakers cost 899 yuan.
The service clerk was very happy that the young lady had chosen some higher-priced new models.
She diligently asked, "Would you like matching athletic socks?"
Xiao Qi thought of her current socks. Although there were no holes, the elastic around the ankles was loose. Sometimes when running she had to stop and pull them up. So she nodded.
The clerk brought out 6 more pairs of socks―three white and three black.
Xiao Qi didn't choose flashy socks. She was afraid they wouldn't match her outfits well, which was just her modest personality. She already felt the blue shoes were a bit flashy.
Each pair had the Nike logo embroidered on, but matching the sock color so it wasn't too obvious. Xiao Qi was pretty satisfied.
She discovered that when she had more money, she was actually less inclined to flaunt it.
In the past, she would have definitely chosen the most eye-catching option and desperately wanted everyone to know she was wearing Nike socks.
The socks weren't cheap either―39 yuan for 3 pairs, so 6 pairs cost 198 yuan. Xiao Qi noticed the store's pricing strategy was interesting.
Individually priced at 800 yuan plus, but actually 899 yuan was 900 yuan. But it gave the impression of being in the 800 yuan range.
The total for the shoes purchase was 2,486 yuan. Under the clerk's recommendation, she also signed up for a membership and got an extra free pair of socks.
Xiao Qi still felt money was hard to spend. She changed into the blue sneakers, but didn't throw away her old white shoes since she could take those home and wear them in the fields or mountains.
The shoe department was on the 5th floor. When Xiao Qi went to pay, she noticed swimsuits for sale next door, priced around 100 yuan each. Auntie seemed to enjoy swimming these days―she'd been going every night. So Xiao Qi bought her a swimsuit, size 4XL, the largest size. Although Auntie was fat, she liked bright colors, so Xiao Qi chose a rainbow colored one that was very showy.
Carrying the shoes and swimsuit, she returned to Auntie's dorm, but Auntie wasn't there to eat lunch with her. She had been taken out to lunch by a patient's family member.
So Xiao Qi made rice with preserved meat and a winter melon shrimp skin soup and ate heartily by herself.
After washing the dishes and tidying up a bit, she rested for a while.
When she woke up it was past 1 pm. She had gone to the library in the morning to prepare lessons. The library had a lot of books, so if she needed any teaching materials she could find them on the spot.
Liang Jiajia said some of her classmates were coming too, so Xiao Qi had to prepare more content and also consider how she would teach.
She compiled half a notebook full of thick teaching notes.
After waking up, she changed into another pair of pants. Liang Huaying's home had air conditioning, and after sitting for a long time her knees felt a little cold in shorts, which was the first time wearing them. The short sleeves were quite cool and fresh though. Her long sleeved clothing was old, and the jacket was a bit thick. Changing made her realize she should buy some new clothes too.
After changing, she brought along the thermos Auntie had brewed chrysanthemum tea with goji berries for her―strangely enough since Auntie didn't used to care about health preservation, but now she had even boiled a whole pot of herbal flower tea.
Xiao Qi packed up the lesson plans she had prepared, along with New Concept English Book 1 that Liang Jiajia was studying, Book 2 in case her students' level was higher as they were middle school second graders, and Book 4 which she was self-studying herself and could use for recitation when she had time.
Today was the last day of her memory buff, which would have made her nervous before, but recently with persistent exercise and proactively studying, it seemed her personality had stabilized somewhat without being as impulsive as in the past.
At exactly 1:30 pm, Xiao Qi arrived at Liang's residence on time, half an hour early as usual.
As soon as she entered, she felt a lively atmosphere and thought there would only be two or three students. Unexpectedly, the sofa in the living room was completely filled!
There were actually seven or eight young ladies.
When Liang Jiajia saw the teacher arrive, she jumped up from the sofa, too eager to wait for Xiao Qi to even change her shoes before rushing over.
Seeing this, Liang Huaying felt sour. Her own daughter was not so enthusiastic when she came home.
She had planned to go to the company early today, but her daughter had somehow gathered so many students. As the parent, she could only stay and observe for a while to prevent any incidents.
She was very satisfied with Su Xiaoqi always arriving on time. The tutoring started at 2 pm every time, yet she would arrive right at 1:30 pm, half an hour early.
"Teacher, you're here!" Liang Jiajia bounced up to her, then stopped short, oddly a little agitated as if not knowing what to say, and ended up stating the obvious.
Su Xiaoqi nodded. It was good she had prepared in advance, otherwise she would be panicking with so many students too.
