Bundling is a kind of unwritten, unspoken rule. The most widely known luxury brand that practices bundling is Hermès, with its three popular handbag styles: Birkin, Kelly, and Constance.
For example, a 1:1 bundling ratio means that for a bag worth 100,000 yuan, you need to purchase 100,000 yuan worth of other designated products from the same brand before the sales associate will even consider giving you a chance to buy the bag. Different locations and stores may have varying ratios.
Ji Mingshu was naturally aware of this practice, but rules, whether explicit or implicit, are meant to be broken.
When you are a top-tier socialite who wears diamond-encrusted Himalaya bags, Chaumet diamond rings, and Chanel haute couture, with an annual spending of at least eight figures, sales associates at any luxury boutique in the world will welcome you with open arms and smiling faces.
Back when Jiang Chun and Ji Mingshu were still at odds, Jiang Chun heard that Ji Mingshu didn’t need to bundle when buying Hermès and thought she was either bragging or secretly buying fakes.
But then she was bombarded and thoroughly schooled by Ji Mingshu’s superficial girlfriends, who basically went on and on about how privileged their Shushu was, how her limited editions were acquired through auctions, blah blah blah.
In the end, Ji Mingshu even smiled and delivered a concluding remark: "There’s no luxury item that money can’t buy. If you can’t buy it, it’s because you’re not rich enough."
She owned nearly 700 Hermès bags, over 100 of which were her beloved Birkins. Her collection was more complete than most boutiques. After years of immersing herself in the luxury world, no tactless sales associate had ever dared to ask her to bundle.
Now, in this backwater place called Star City, she was truly witnessing something she’d never thought she’d see in her lifetime. A second-tier brand selling makeup, with its standards nowhere near the top, was putting on airs and enforcing rules even stricter than those of the most exclusive luxury houses.
A small area on the first floor of the mall fell into silence. Customers and beauty advisors from other cosmetic counters all turned to look at Ji Mingshu.
An Ning, standing beside Ji Mingshu, was completely stunned, even more so than when the sales associate told her she needed to bundle.
Her… this sister-in-law of hers was just too, too domineering.
The sales associate who had the lipstick thrown at her was also still in shock, unable to snap out of it.
Actually, although the lipstick was thrown in her direction, it didn’t actually hit her.
The tester landed just a hand’s width away from her high heels, leaving a rose-red mark on the floor. The lipstick itself had broken into two pieces.
It was the other effeminate sales associate at the counter who reacted more quickly. He hurried over, looking his colleague up and down, and then rudely demanded, "Miss, if you have any complaints, you can just say so. There’s no need to resort to violence, is there? What kind of person are you?"
This effeminate man exuded the vibe of a half-baked, snobbish gay sister from a second-tier city who loved to look down on others. Like his colleague, he shared the brand’s three signature customer service "treasures": eye-rolling, sour expressions, and sarcasm.
Ji Mingshu chuckled lightly. "This is exactly the kind of person I am. Your attitude determines mine."
The effeminate man hadn’t looked closely earlier, but now, scanning Ji Mingshu from head to toe, his attitude suddenly became more restrained. Still, he stood united with his colleague, adopting an overly official tone.
"Miss, bundling is a rule set by our brand. If you’re upset, there’s no need to take it out on us. We’re just lowly employees; we can’t change decisions made by those above us!""Brand policy? Here, I'll start recording. Say what you just said again."
Ji Mingshu was almost amused by her own anger. "Ningning, look up the Consumer Association number. Ask them which brand in our country has been approved to force bundling and engage in coercive buying and selling. Give them an inch, and they think they're a scallion or garlic, believing they can fry up some fragrance."
The effeminate man had spoken impulsively and knew he'd said the wrong thing the moment the words left his mouth. Hearing Ji Mingshu take it so seriously, his face turned deathly pale.
After all, even at Hermès, if you directly ask about the bundling requirement for a certain bag, the sales associate would only smile and say their store doesn't require bundling, then hint meaningfully whether you'd like to look at jewelry or ready-to-wear.
It could be said that no brand dares to openly declare that their policy forces mandatory bundled purchases.
More importantly, bundling is merely a recent trend in boutiques. These beauty advisors only push it on customers to boost their own performance. If this were really brought to the brand's attention, the consequences would be unthinkable.
Ji Mingshu could tell at a glance that these two were guilty. She scoffed lightly, "Being a beauty advisor has really spoiled you. Who are you making faces at with all that passive-aggressiveness? I think your delusion that standing behind a counter means you own the brand could be ranked among the world's top three misconceptions."
She flipped her hair, crossed her arms low in front of her, and continued nonchalantly, "I don't want to waste my breath on the likes of you either. Apologize to my sister. If she's satisfied, then I'm satisfied."
An Ning was bewildered once again.
She hadn't expected an apology, but if she cowardly said, "No need, no need," wouldn't that be slapping her sister-in-law in the face?
So she could only watch as the man and woman exchanged hesitant glances before bowing to her with extremely unpleasant expressions, saying, "We're sorry, miss. Our service attitude was inappropriate, and we promise it won't happen again. Please forgive us this time. If you still want the lipstick, we can wrap it up for you."
An Ning wasn't sure if she should respond.
Ji Mingshu stood to the side and remarked indifferently, "My sister isn't very satisfied yet, so I'm not very satisfied either."
Before she even finished speaking, the two bowed even deeper. If their previous apology had been through gritted teeth, this one carried a sense of resignation—"Forget it, forget it, provoking this woman won't end well."
An Ning glanced at Ji Mingshu before stammering, "Oh, i-it's fine. I don't want the lipstick anymore."
If she could still wear this brand's lipstick after such an insult, she'd have to be a ninja turtle-level iron warrior.
Since An Ning accepted, Ji Mingshu didn't press further, quickly ending this small skirmish before security arrived.
Afterward, the female beauty advisor who had her lipstick thrown sat at her counter, crying with a mournful face. Ji Mingshu ignored her completely, linking arms with An Ning as they swept through every boutique on the entire floor, picking out over thirty lipsticks for her.
By evening, Ji Mingshu and An Ning had returned to the faculty apartments at Xing University.
The thought of climbing six floors made Ji Mingshu's calves twitch faintly, filling her with reluctance.
So she asked An Ning to take the things upstairs first, excusing herself by saying she still had a few calls to make.
An Ning didn't overthink it, carrying the spoils Ji Mingshu had swept up for her as she went upstairs first.
Once the other was gone, Ji Mingshu sat in the car and sent Cen Sen a WeChat message.Ji Mingshu: "Are we staying here for dinner?"
Ji Mingshu: "I can't climb the stairs, come down and get me qaq"
After waiting three minutes, Cen Sen hadn't replied.
Just as she was about to grit her teeth and climb up anyway, the car door beside her suddenly opened. She turned her head and met Cen Sen's gaze.
"You... aren't staying for dinner?"
Cen Sen gave an "mm" in response, his expression neutral.
Ji Mingshu was still holding her phone, hesitating as she asked, "How did your talk with... them go?"
Cen Sen glanced at her.
Ji Mingshu paused briefly, then immediately sat up straight, putting on a serious face that said, "I'm just asking out of politeness, I'm not actually that interested."
"Fine."
He gave another brief two-word answer.
Ji Mingshu nodded perfunctorily as well, looking out the window.
After a while, she suddenly remembered something—her spy mission seemed to have reached a critical moment for handing over intelligence.
She raised her phone, stared at the WeChat interface for a bit, and after hesitating three times, finally clicked into Cen Yingshuang's chat window.
But after typing just a few characters, she seemed to remember something again, held down the delete key, and cleared the content.
Reporting on her sponsor daddy made her feel a little guilty. She decided to chat with her girlfriends for a while first to warm up.
After chatting for about five or six minutes, Ji Mingshu suddenly turned and patted Cen Sen.
Cen Sen had his eyes closed, resting. She patted him twice with no response, then leaned over and used her index finger and thumb to forcibly pry his eyes open.
Unexpectedly, the driver from the Star City branch wasn't as professional as Cen Sen's usual one. Seeing the couple being intimate in the rearview mirror, he got distracted and drove right up to a traffic light, forcing him to slam on the brakes!
Ji Mingshu was already leaning to the side, and the sudden braking inertia sent her tumbling forward. Just as she was about to hit the floor, Cen Sen reached out and pulled her back.
After a dizzying spin, she found herself lying face-up on Cen Sen's lap, staring directly into his eyes.
"..."
Ji Mingshu didn't blink.
Honestly, this dog man was quite good-looking. Even from this unflattering angle, she couldn't see any double chin or other appearance-ruining features.
After staring for half a minute, she finally snapped out of it. Pushing against Cen Sen's legs for support, she sat up properly, cleared her throat, and got down to business.
"I... I have something to tell you. Actually, it's just that my aunt told me to notify her if you had any contact with the An family, because the old master isn't very reassured. At the time, I thought you probably wouldn't have contact with the An family, and even if you did, you might not let me know, so I agreed. Who would've thought..."
She paused. "A person should keep their word, right? So I'm just letting you know—I'm going to report you."
Cen Sen: "..."
Seeing that he didn't respond, Ji Mingshu stole another glance at him, then picked up her phone and pretended to report him. In reality, she was still multitasking in the group chat with Jiang Chun and Gu Kaiyang, frantically chatting away.
But without warning, Cen Sen suddenly snatched her phone and said calmly, "No need. I'll explain to Grandfather."
He glanced at the phone screen, intending to message Cen Yingshuang, but paused after seeing the content clearly.
Ji Mingshu: "Should I report to the Cen family? If I do, will this dog man cut off my financial support? Is it unethical to betray my sponsor daddy?"Gu Kaiyang: [Alright, just tell your man directly that you're going to snitch on him to his grandfather. That way, it'll also make you seem tormented by guilt. Actually, you're a straightforward and unaffected simple girl. If your man has any sense, he'll say he'll handle it himself, so you won't offend either side.]
Jiang Chun: [That's possible...?]
Jiang Chun: [Stunned and speechless.jpg]
Jiang Chun: [Editor Gu is truly Editor Gu, after all the only one among us three with work experience and a strong woman. Respect!]
Ji Mingshu: [But what if he really has no sense at all?]
Gu Kaiyang: [Is President Cen's image in your mind really that low? It can't be that bad, right?]
Ji Mingshu: [He's always been that low. Forget it, I'll try it first.]
Two minutes later.
Ji Mingshu: [Wahh! Gu Gu is truly my clever darling! I love you!!!]
Gu Kaiyang: [Another victory for the innocent college girl. /Smirk]
Ji Mingshu: [Skill acquired: Frank and Innocent White Lotus No. 1!]
Cen Sen paused for a moment and glanced at the group name—
Innocent College Girls Unbridled Online Chat Group.
OpenNovel