nycdaug Chapter 176: Shopping 2
Chapter 176: Shopping 2
Isaac Hughes was aghast. ’Whose hair is this expensive? But how did she even come up with the idea of selling it?’
"I guarantee you, if I don’t want to give it to you, you could follow me for a whole year and not get a single strand. So, are you buying or not?"
Isaac Hughes said, "I’ll buy them, I’ll buy them."
Five minutes later, Isaac Hughes rushed to Stellux International, clutching the three astronomically expensive strands of hair. Soon after, the small bag of hair, along with a sample from Iris Weldon, was sent to a hospital in Dragonspire for expedited testing.
Riley Perry shopped with her family at the mall for nearly an hour. Ruby Marshall finally put her foot down and refused to go any further. Patrick Perry and his son were in even worse shape, practically buried under all the shopping bags.
"We can’t buy anything else. This is way too much stuff. It’ll be a pain to carry onto the train."
"Then let’s just buy a car," Riley Perry said. "You can drive back and get a refund for the train tickets."
Ruby Marshall instinctively started to refuse, but Riley Perry cut in. "Mom, we won’t get an expensive one. Just something to get around in. It’s tough on Dad riding his e-bike to work in the winter, and it’s not like he doesn’t have a license. Besides, you’ll need a car when you move to Dragonspire next year anyway. We’ll have to buy one sooner or later. If we buy it a year early, Dad gets to suffer one year less.
Oh, and when you get back, you should get your license too when you have a free moment. I’ll buy you your own car next year."
Ruby Marshall glanced at her husband, who was happily wringing his hands, and fell silent.
Her husband’s legs always acted up in the cold, and the thick knee braces he wore all winter didn’t help much. Driving to and from work would certainly be much more comfortable for him.
Besides, what man doesn’t love cars?
"Alright, then. We’ll just get one. A cheap one will be fine."
On the way to the dealership, Patrick Perry made sure to sit next to his daughter. "Honey," he whispered, "what’s our budget for this car?"
Riley Perry held up two fingers.
Patrick Perry’s eyes lit up. "Two hundred thousand? Great! You can get a pretty nice car for two hundred thousand."
He honestly never dared to imagine owning a car worth two hundred thousand at his age.
Plenty of families in their village had cars, but they were mostly smaller models that cost around a hundred thousand. The nicest one was an Audi, but the owner had bought it for his business—to keep up appearances.
So, he was truly more than happy with a car worth two hundred thousand.
He then pulled out his phone and started looking up cars.
He mumbled as he browsed, talking about different specs and which had the best value.
Riley Perry watched him with an amused smile.
They soon arrived at the dealership. Samson Sinclair parked the car and led the other four into the showroom.
Several salespeople stood at the entrance, calling out, "Welcome!" A saleswoman stepped forward. "Are you interested in any particular models? Or if you have a budget in mind, you can tell me, and I’ll help you find something suitable."
Patrick Perry held up two fingers. "Two hundred thousand."
The saleswoman looked surprised. ’We don’t have any cars for two hundred thousand here.’
Thankfully, Riley Perry didn’t let the awkwardness linger. She gave the saleswoman a nod. "Add a zero to that. We can look at anything under two million. We’d prefer an SUV."
The saleswoman’s face instantly lit up. "Right this way, please. These SUVs over here are all priced at around two million."
Ruby Marshall grabbed her daughter’s arm. "Are you kidding me?! Two million is enough to buy two houses back in our home county! You expect me to let your father drive the equivalent of two houses down our village roads? Have I gone crazy, or has he?!"
’How on earth did this girl make so much money? She talks about two million like it’s two hundred yuan, spending it without a second thought!’
Patrick Perry shuddered. ’That’s way too much, way too much!’
"I’m not getting ahead of myself, not at all! I wouldn’t dare accept it, not in a million years! One for two hundred thousand is just fine. Let’s just get one for two hundred thousand. A car in that price range is already really nice."
’How much do I even make in a month? Even with my salary, bonuses, and subsidies all added up, it’s less than five thousand. An income of over four thousand is considered pretty good in the village, especially since it doesn’t interfere with work at home and we don’t have many major expenses.’
’But if I really bought a two-million-yuan car, my entire salary wouldn’t even cover the insurance and gas!’
’Is she kidding? If I actually agree to buy this car today, I’m pretty sure my wife will kill me!’
Ruby Marshall shot her husband a satisfied glare. "We’re just getting a cheap one. Something with heat for the winter and A/C for the summer is good enough. Otherwise, your father can just keep riding his ’beloved’ e-bike!"
"Didn’t I just say? You’re going to learn to drive when you get back. Dad can use the car for now, but it’ll be yours in the future. A cheap car wouldn’t be good enough for you, would it?!"
Patrick Perry thought, ’So I’m just breaking it in for her, huh?’ He was still happy, though!
"That’s still a no-go," Ruby Marshall said. "The price is way too high. Never mind our village—even here in Dragonspire, you see plenty of affordable cars on the road. Something in that range is good enough.
Let’s just look around for now. We’ll buy one if we find something suitable. And nobody better be eyeing those expensive ones."
Riley Perry sighed in resignation and shot the salesperson a look. ’Her plan was to steer them toward the high-end cars anyway. Once they’d seen enough luxury vehicles, those little two- or three-hundred-thousand-yuan cars wouldn’t seem so appealing anymore.’
After looking at a dozen or so cars, Ruby Marshall caught on. "They don’t have any cheap cars here. Let’s go look somewhere else."
’The way her husband was staring at those luxury cars was a bad sign. If they looked any longer, she was afraid they’d never be able to leave.’
Riley Perry nodded. "Alright, let’s go look at some others then."
This was a Japanese car dealership, where the cheapest cars started at over three hundred thousand.
The one next door was even more expensive—a Porsche dealership.
Even the lowest-priced Macan was five or six hundred thousand.
Next, they visited the Infiniti, BMW, and Mercedes-Benz dealerships, and even popped into the Lamborghini dealership for a look.
"Dragonspire really is something else," Patrick commented. "The cars they sell here are in a completely different league from what we have back home."
Patrick Perry felt incredibly foolish for having held up two fingers and suggested a two-hundred-thousand-yuan car earlier.
"Aren’t there any cheaper dealerships?" he asked.
Only then did Riley Perry take them to a dealership that sold domestic car brands.
This time, it wasn’t just Patrick Perry; even Ruby Marshall was frowning. Riley Perry seized the moment and gave Shane Perry a meaningful look. Her little brother immediately jumped in. "Mom, I think when you’re buying something, it’s not just about the price. You have to actually like how it looks. If you can’t even stand the sight of it, it’ll feel weird driving it home, don’t you think?"
Ruby Marshall glared at her son, but Shane Perry wasn’t the least bit intimidated. He pressed on, "Just think about it. Remember that jacket you liked that cost five hundred and thirty? You thought it was too expensive, so you bought a one-hundred-and-eighty one instead. And what happened? It didn’t look good on you, so you just stuffed it in the back of your closet.
It’s one thing with clothes—if you don’t like it, you just wear it less. But this is a car! Buying one you find ugly will just ruin your mood every time you see it!"
Patrick Perry scratched his head, not daring to speak. ’But he had to admit, his son had a point.’
In the end, the family went back to the first dealership they’d visited. They looked and looked, but it was Riley Perry who finally made the call, picking out the latest model Porsche Cayenne.
"No way," Patrick said. "The sticker price is over a million. That’s too expensive. I thought that SUV over there for three hundred-some thousand was pretty good."
The salesperson smiled warmly. "It might not cost that much, ma’am. We’re having a promotion for the Golden Week holiday. You can enter our store’s prize drawing first. The top discount is as high as three hundred thousand. If you happen to win the grand prize, you’ll save enough to buy a whole other small car."