“I want to buy a Louis Vuitton!”
The shop fell silent for a moment. Almost simultaneously, dozens of pairs of eyes—belonging to both customers browsing the bags and the sales staff—swivelled towards Su Ying in an instant.
Su Ying had never been the centre of so much attention in her entire life; she shifted awkwardly from foot to foot.
She quickly lowered her head, her cheeks flushing slightly. Biting her lower lip, she dared not utter a word, silently berating herself. Who speaks like that? Doesn’t this just confirm that she’s a country bumpkin?
The sales assistant showed no sign of derision, but asked with a smile, “Is this your first luxury handbag, madam? What is your budget, and what would you be using it for?”
Su Ying paused, thought for a moment, and said uncertainly, “Two… two thousand? As for when I’d use it… just for everyday carry.”
She wasn’t working at the moment, nor did she have any plans to start working anytime soon.
The sales assistant nodded. “With a budget of two thousand, the range of options for LV is vast; you can essentially choose from almost anything.”
The sales assistant led Su Ying to the LV section, picked up a small Carryall from the rack, and said, “This is an LV classic. It features the iconic LV monogram pattern, is a moderate size, and has ample capacity—perfect for daily commuting. It’s also a good choice in terms of retaining its value. Right now, for autumn and winter, it pairs beautifully with both coats and down jackets.”
As she spoke, the sales assistant placed the bag beside Su Ying, gesturing to demonstrate its proportions, before handing it to her.
Su Ying looked at the bag the sales assistant had handed her, feeling a bit nervous: “Um, could I try it on?”
After all, this looked like a bag that must cost at least ten or twenty thousand yuan. What if she damaged it just by trying it on? What if she couldn’t afford it?
The sales assistant smiled as before. “How will you know if it suits you unless you try it on?”
“You’re right,” Su Ying said with an awkward smile. She took the bag from the sales assistant and tried it on. She vaguely recalled that Luo Xin had a similar bag, but it seemed slightly different.
Su Ying asked uncertainly, “Doesn’t LV have a bag that looks rather like this one…?”
The sales assistant nodded. “You mean the Carryall BB, don’t you?” she said, taking a bag from the shelf and handing it to Su Ying. “Is this the one you’re looking for?”
“Yes, yes, yes!” Su Ying nodded eagerly. “That’s the one!”
The sales assistant unfolded the bag’s tag to take a look. “This one’s in excellent condition, and the price is just right.”
Su Ying held it up to her chest. She wasn’t sure if it was just her imagination, but although they looked very similar, she genuinely felt this one was more attractive than the previous one.
Su Ying nodded in satisfaction. The sales assistant was right; the Monogram pattern was indeed perfect for autumn and winter, and it went perfectly with her black down jacket. However, for spring and summer, it might not be quite as suitable.
Su Ying asked, “Do you have any without the Monogram pattern? I’d like to pick out another one to pair with a little dress for spring and summer.”
The sales assistant recommended a sand-coloured mini messenger bag: “Why don’t you have a look at this bag? You can still see the LV logo, but it’s not as heavy-handed as the Monogram, and it’s very suitable for spring and autumn. “The handles on this bag are black, so you could choose a milky tea-coloured silk scarf to wrap around it and tie a bow—it’ll look even better.”
“I’ll take this one!” Almost instantly, Su Ying had made up her mind.
The total cost for both bags came to less than ten thousand yuan; at a brand boutique, they would have cost over ten thousand more—that’s enough to buy an iPhone.
As she was leaving, the sales assistant added Su Ying on WeChat: “We don’t just have bags in our shop; you can also have a look at our watches and jewellery. If you ever get tired of this bag, you’re welcome to come back and exchange it.”
Su Ying glanced over at the jewellery counter. With prices that high, she thought it would be better to buy solid gold rather than a pile of alloy jewellery.
Su Ying knew this was just the mindset of someone short on cash, but then again, if she were wealthy enough, she wouldn’t be shopping at a pre-owned luxury boutique in the first place.
This shop was excellent; they’d even provided an LV box, making it look every bit the part. Unless she mentioned it, who would know it was bought from a second-hand luxury shop?
Su Ying was well aware that second-hand luxury goods were pre-owned and certainly not as good as those from the official boutiques, but then again, she’d even bought clothes on second-hand platforms like Xianyu during her university days. If she could buy second-hand clothes, a handbag was hardly a big deal.
She looked at the two handbags she was carrying, figuring one would be for autumn and winter, and the other for spring and summer. She wasn’t working at the moment, so she didn’t need a work bag, and as she wasn’t going out anywhere for the time being, she didn’t need a large-capacity bag either. Basically, these two bags would cover her daily needs.
Perfect!
With the bag issue sorted, Su Ying felt her hands were a bit empty.
They say that once you’ve got some savings, you’re faced with the dilemma of whether to buy a designer bag or gold. As a 24-year-old adult, Su Ying’s answer to this either-or question was, of course, ‘I’ll have both!’
Since Su Ying had opted for pre-owned luxury bags, she naturally didn’t go to a brand-name chain store in a shopping centre to buy gold either; instead, she headed to a gold and jewellery market similar to Shenzhen’s Shuibei.
This was partly due to a common saying she’d often come across whilst browsing online: the price of gold itself is standard; the rest is just labour costs and brand premiums.
As long as the gold is genuine, it makes no difference where you buy it. As for the designs, they’re all pretty much the same—one copies the other.
Of course, the craftsmanship varies between brands, and if you have high standards, you can opt for specific ones. But Su Ying is the sort who’s happy with whatever will do, so she didn’t hesitate to choose the excellent value-for-money ‘Shuibei’.
The moment Su Ying stepped into the gold and jewellery centre, she was dazzled by the glittering gold. It was simply too opulent!
How does the saying go? Gold and banknotes are the cure for trypophobia.
Su Ying planned to buy herself a bracelet, a necklace, a bangle, a ring…
Wait a minute. As she thought about it, it felt as though she were buying the traditional five pieces of jewellery for a wedding.
Never mind that for now; she’d browse first and worry about it later.
Su Ying looked at the stalls of all sizes inside and didn’t know where to start. She walked a circle around the ground floor and spotted a particularly large shop. After a few minutes of mental preparation, she gritted her teeth and walked in.
Perhaps because there were too many customers like Su Ying who’d been drawn in by the shop’s size, the sales staff were swamped. Or perhaps because she was a young woman on her own and seemed unlikely to buy anything, no salesperson had bothered to approach her since she’d entered.
Watching the hustle and bustle inside, Su Ying felt a flush of embarrassment rise to her cheeks, so she quickly lowered her head and walked out.
Once outside, Su Ying felt a little better, but she still felt somewhat restless. The sales staff in the large shops were too busy to attend to her, whilst the smaller shops made her feel a bit uneasy…
Su Ying decided to have a look around some more; after all, there were several floors to explore.
She wandered all the way to the third floor before finally spotting a shop that was reasonably spacious and not too crowded. It seemed most of the footfall had been diverted to the ground floor.
No sooner had Su Ying reached the shop entrance than an enthusiastic sales assistant asked her if she was looking to buy gold, noting that they had plenty of lower-carat options.
Looking at the enthusiastic sales assistant, Su Ying felt a bit daunted.
She was actually torn inside; if the sales assistant ignored her, she’d feel it was a waste of time, but if the sales assistant was too pushy, she couldn’t stand it.
In the end, however, Su Ying couldn’t resist the enthusiastic sales assistant and decided to go inside and have a look first.
Gold shops are all much the same, really; the display cases are all filled with glittering gold.
The sales assistant glanced at the LV handbag in Su Ying’s hand and enthusiastically asked if she’d like to look at some bracelets.
Su Ying nodded repeatedly.
Upon reaching the bracelet display, Su Ying was instantly overwhelmed; at first glance, they all looked rather similar.
The sales assistant selected several bracelets herself and placed them on the counter, explaining to Su Ying: “This one is the traditional fish-scale pattern; it’s been all the rage on Little Red Book recently. This one is the ‘crushed ice’ design—look, under the lights, it sparkles brilliantly; young girls love it. This one is the same style as the one from Cartier, but at the same price, ours is solid gold—just look how brilliantly it shines…”
The sales assistant rattled off descriptions of over a dozen styles in one go, leaving Su Ying even more bewildered.
Seeing that Su Ying hadn’t reacted, the sales assistant didn’t lose heart and continued: “This one features a Tang-style scroll pattern, and this one has a Imperial Consort filigree design. Both have become quite trendy recently and look absolutely stunning paired with modern Chinese-style outfits…”
Su Ying tried them on one by one; each weighed around 30–40 grams, so they had a fair bit of heft to them, especially when she wore three at once—they felt quite heavy.
However, with them all lined up on her wrist, choosing became much easier. After some deliberation, she selected one with a catfish-back pattern, one with a crushed-ice design, and one with a Tang-style scroll pattern.
The three bracelets combined weighed over a hundred grams. Su Ying glanced up at today’s live gold price—just under 650. Factoring in the labour costs, which came to around 670, these three bracelets would set her back nearly 67,000.
It was a tad pricey, but then again, gold prices had been rising ever since the major and minor currencies went head-to-head; who knows, they might climb even higher in the future.
Let’s buy them!
Seeing that Su Ying had settled on three bracelets in less than half an hour, the sales assistant smiled even more warmly and asked casually, “Would you like to look at anything else?”
Su Ying blurted out, “Let’s have a look at the necklaces.”
The sales assistant hurriedly replied, “Certainly, certainly. Please come over to this counter to look at the necklaces first; I’ll wrap up the bracelets for you.”
Su Ying nodded and made her way from counter to counter, stopping at the necklace display. No sooner had she sat down on the high stool than the sales assistant immediately handed her a cup of tea.
Su Ying picked up the paper cup and glanced at the tea, then, remembering how she’d been unable to sleep the previous night after drinking Heytea, she put it down again straight away.
The sales assistant, quick on the uptake, immediately replaced the paper cup: “You don’t like tea, do you? I’ll get you some plain water straight away.”
Su Ying couldn’t help but admire her; she deserved a commission for that!
The sales assistant seemed to have picked up on her preferences; almost every necklace she recommended this time struck a chord with Su Ying.
“This gold vajra is a best-seller; it’s set with a moissanite diamond, so there’s a small surcharge. This gourd design is also very popular—there are versions with and without diamonds, each with its own charm. This ‘Road to Prosperity’ design has been a long-standing favourite; this one features South Sea pearls, which have become quite the trend recently…”
Su Ying fancied every single one of the ten or so styles the sales assistant described.
It wasn’t that she couldn’t afford them, mind you. After all, the weight of the necklaces was reasonable—most were around 6 or 7 grams, with the heaviest weighing less than 10 grams. Buying ten of them wouldn’t be a problem for Su Ying. But upon reflection, she realised she couldn’t wear all of them at once. Knowing herself, she’d probably only wear two or three on a regular basis.
In the end, after some careful selection, Su Ying chose a medium-sized diamond-studded gourd, a medium-sized diamond-studded gold vajra, and a diamond-studded small butterfly.
Only after making her purchase did she realise that they were all diamond-studded designs. Su Ying reflected that this was likely because the diamond-studded styles were indeed more delicate and eye-catching than the standard versions.
Determined not to have made the trip in vain, Su Ying also bought a twisted cord bracelet and a Five Emperors coin bracelet. As for the rings, the weight was so light they seemed almost free: a small sugar cube ring, a Golden Hairpin ring, a plain band with scattered stars, a floral wreath crown, and a flower-threaded red enamel ring.
The total weight came to 160 grams; including labour and additional charges, the total cost amounted to 110,000 yuan.