HLnovel Chapter 172 Investigation
Chapter 172 Investigation
The next morning, as soon as the sunlight filtered through the gaps in the curtains and cast long, thin patches of light on the hotel carpet, Ye Yixian had already quietly gotten out of bed.
She is someone who is sensitive to sleeping in unfamiliar beds, and this was her first time staying in such a strange hotel environment. Even though she went to bed early last night, she couldn't sleep soundly like she would at home.
She finished washing up quietly, afraid of making even the slightest noise and waking the person who was still fast asleep.
After washing up, she found that Lu Yuan was still asleep, so she lay down by the bed and watched Lu Yuan sleeping.
Lu Yuan didn't have the typical fussiness about sleeping in unfamiliar beds; he slept soundly and peacefully that night.
Ye Yixian thought Lu Yuan was really cute, and really wanted to kiss him on the cheek.
But she was also worried that if Lu Yuan found out that she was being naughty, wouldn't it be incredibly embarrassing?
She hesitated for a while, but Lu Yuan still didn't wake up. So she mustered up her courage, leaned over, and kissed Lu Yuan on the cheek.
She kissed him very carefully so as not to disturb Lu Yuan.
Seeing that Lu Yuan did not react, she became bolder and planned to kiss Lu Yuan's lips.
This time, she took a deep breath to calm herself down, so as not to wake Lu Yuan because she was too nervous.
Just as she was about to kiss Lu Yuan's lips, Lu Yuan suddenly opened his eyes...
This morning marked the death of Ye Yixian's society.
After the two tidied up briefly, a subtle and indescribable atmosphere filled the air.
It's worth mentioning that although we booked a standard double room with two single beds clearly placed in the room, somehow the two of us ended up sleeping on the same bed last night by some strange coincidence.
Looking back now, Lu Yuan couldn't help but chuckle to himself. If he had known this would happen, he would have just booked a spacious double room instead of going through all that trouble.
After checking out, the two first had a hearty breakfast near the hotel, and then headed straight to the provincial capital's clothing wholesale market.
Lu Yuan's core objective for this trip was very clear: to investigate the wholesale situation of women's clothing.
The women's clothing market has always been a battleground of dazzling arrays and numerous styles, with more than twenty new styles every season. It's not something you can slowly choose from when the season changes; you have to start investigating, recording, and screening now.
As for menswear, Lu Yuan isn't against it, but the business logic is completely different from that of womenswear.
Men's clothing focuses on "large quantity and sufficient supply" and "up-to-date quality," and is much more lenient in terms of style requirements, so the evaluation criteria are different from those for women's clothing.
On the way to the wholesale market, Lu Yuan shared his accumulated experience in the clothing industry with Ye Yixian without reservation.
In any case, she will more or less come into contact with this industry in the future, so it's never a bad thing to learn some relevant knowledge in advance.
Ye Yixian listened attentively. Although some business concepts were still a bit abstract for her, she could understand most of them.
She came along with the intention of learning.
Having never been involved in business matters before, being able to witness firsthand how Lu Yuan strategized and planned was incredibly beneficial for her.
Lu Yuan did not disappoint her.
When negotiating with wholesalers, he was calm and organized, and despite being only eighteen years old, he had an aura that commanded respect.
The inspection went very smoothly. From 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., Lu Yuan had communicated with more than 30 wholesalers and finalized several procurement channels.
The advantage of clothing wholesale is that the quantity is large and the price is low, but the disadvantage is that the styles are generally mediocre. Finding a particularly amazing style is like finding a needle in a haystack.
However, the wide variety of styles available in the market can basically meet the needs, which certainly broadened Ye Yixian's horizons.
She liked a few of the women's clothes, so Lu Yuan simply let her choose for herself.
Since buying more would get a better price, she simply took a few more items and even picked out a few suitable ones to give to Wang Qingyu based on her figure.
After their inspection, the two found a restaurant to eat, planning to head back to Jiangcheng afterward.
During the meal, Ye Yixian and Wang Qingyu were happily chatting about the gains they had made on this trip.
Although there was no further development between her and Lu Yuan, their relationship grew closer, and she also learned a lot of new things, so it can be said that she gained a lot.
But before they could finish talking, her phone screen suddenly went black.
"How could this happen?" Ye Yixian pressed the power button several times, but the phone didn't respond at all, and he became very anxious.
This keypad phone was a gift from Lu Yuan, and she has always treasured it.
It's said that this phone has been with Lu Yuan's father for many years without breaking down, so how come it broke down after only a few months in her hands?
"Let me see." Lu Yuan took the phone and skillfully removed the battery to check it.
Ye Yixian moved closer to him and asked anxiously, "Is it out of power? Or is it really broken? I swear, I was really careful using it, I don't know how it suddenly stopped working like this..."
Her eyes reddened with anxiety, and her voice trembled with tears.
"It's broken." Lu Yuan shook his head and smiled faintly. "It must be because of the water that got in earlier."
"Ah?" Ye Yixian's face was full of guilt, and her voice was trembling. "I didn't mean to break it, Lu Yuan... I really didn't know..."
This phone was a gift from Lu Yuan, and it held great significance for her. She felt it was her fault for not protecting it properly.
Moreover, with this phone, she can contact her brother Ye Yizhu anytime, which is much more convenient than before when she couldn't find him when something happened.
Seeing that she was on the verge of tears, Lu Yuan reached out and ruffled her hair, saying gently, "It's okay. This phone is my dad's old one, it's an old brand, it should have been scrapped a long time ago. Don't worry, let's eat first, and I'll take you to buy a new one after we finish eating."
"Buy a new one..." Ye Yixian looked troubled. "New ones are too expensive. How about we find a place to repair it? They should be able to fix it."
She didn't want Lu Yuan to waste money.
"It's no use fixing it." Lu Yuan looked at her seriously. "Very few people use these old-fashioned keypad phones anymore. They're limited in function, and the design is outdated. It doesn't suit your status. In a while, you'll be a college student. It would be strange to still be carrying around an old-fashioned phone, wouldn't you say?"
Even Lu Yuan's parents don't use this kind of phone anymore, let alone a young woman like Ye Yixian.
It's not that Lu Yuan advocates vanity, but there are some things that need to be paid attention to.
Perhaps Ye Yixian can ignore the style of his phone now, but when he goes to college, he will inevitably be asked or teased by his classmates.
Those words may not have been malicious, but after being repeated so many times, how could she not take them to heart?
She was already somewhat insecure, and Lu Yuan had worked so hard to help her build confidence little by little. He couldn't let her be brought back to reality when he wasn't around anymore.
"I think... it's alright," Ye Yixian murmured softly.
But Lu Yuan was adamant and insisted on buying it right now.
Seeing that Ye Yixian was still hesitating, he said, "My phone got wet last time too, and it's been having a lot of problems lately. I was planning to get myself a new one anyway, so you have to come with me, right?"
"Well... alright." Ye Yixian reluctantly conceded. After all, it was because of her that Lu Yuan's phone got wet.
So, Lu Yuan took her to the nearest mobile phone store and got them both new phones.
In 2010, the mobile phone market was still dominated by 2G, with 3G considered a high-end feature, and smartphones were generally priced around two thousand yuan.
For Lu Yuan now, buying two machines is not a problem at all.
Ye Yixian really wanted to refuse, but repeatedly declining in front of the shop assistant would only make Lu Yuan lose face. She only wanted Lu Yuan to be happy, so she could only watch him pay.
After buying the phone, Lu Yuan and Ye Yixian tried out the new phone's camera function.
I must say, the new phone takes clear photos with perfect colors.
Although the result was very happy, Ye Yixian knew that she owed Lu Yuan even more, so much that she didn't know how she could ever repay him in this lifetime.