Chapter 174

The boss lady enthusiastically led Xiao Qi and Honey to the inner room. They were surprised to find that the store was quite deep, with two more rooms inside.

The ancient-style clothes Xiao Qi wanted were all in one room. They seemed to be knockoff Hanfu costumes for performances.

"Which kind do you want? We have individual pieces and also batches for entire shows. Buying in batches can get you a discount." Seeing they couldn't decide, the boss lady assumed they wanted costumes for a group performance and enthusiastically introduced the options.

Xiao Qi shook her head. The clothes here had an ancient vibe but were also brightly colored. They reminded her of the time she had played a tree on stage. It had been quite awkward. These would probably clash with the other dancers' outfits too.

"Do you have anything else?" Xiao Qi asked.

The boss lady said they had all the ancient Hanfu and dance costumes here. Hanfu rentals were popular with young girls for photoshoots. She had just gotten a new batch in. There was nothing else.

"Can we see the men's section?" Xiao Qi asked.

They continued walking deeper inside.

There were floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking Enhua Lake. The layout of this building was quite strange, with rooms lined up end to end.

The innermost room contained men's formalwear, probably because those got rented out less often.

There were tailcoats, suits, top hats, and other items. In the corner, Xiao Qi saw some changpao robes that looked promising. The fabric looked thick and substantial, without wrinkles.

She asked Honey, "What do you think of these?" Having a bit of a blind worship of her roommate, Honey didn't offer her own opinion. She just went along with Xiao Qi's selection. She was surprised that Xiao Qi had picked out the changpao robes.

Feeling the fabric, it did seem decent, better than the gaudy stage costumes and Hanfu outside.

Seeing the two girls looking at the changpao, the boss lady rushed over to hype up the robes. "You two have good taste. These are new arrivals, top quality material, custom-made. Groom changpao are popular for ancient-style weddings these days, very dignified. Just look at this fabric, the drape, the quality, the color..."

As she spoke, the boss lady shook out the clothes to demonstrate...

They did look quite substantial, with added lining so they wouldn't wrinkle.

Though made for men, most Harmony City men were on the slender side compared to northerners. So the sizes the boss lady stocked weren't too big.

Xiao Qi selected a light grayish-blue one and tried it on. It was decent. She was not too short herself, so the ankle-length pants showed enough of her ankles to look like cropped pants. She planned to sit on stage so the somewhat oversized look wouldn't be too obvious.

With her short hair, Xiao Qi looked rather dashing in the changpao. Especially with the stand collar that could be buttoned up, revealing just a glimpse of fair neck. The sleeves needed folding, and the dark blue lining peeking out didn't look bad either. After trying it on briefly, Xiao Qi decided to take this one.

Seeing the girl had chosen, the boss lady showered more praise.

The daily rental was 300 yuan, but Honey managed to haggle it down to 120.

Xiao Qi: ......

She really admired Honey's skills, able to haggle such a discount.

On the way back, Honey explained to Xiao Qi that while the fabric and workmanship of the changpao were good, the cost was 200-300 at most. The boss lady was renting it out at the same price as selling one, way overpriced. 120 was still profitable.

Xiao Qi knew businesses had to make money, but she had a hard time bargaining.

The different family backgrounds led to different upbringings. Xiao Qi watched her dad sell cheap rattan wares, getting pressured for lower prices. She always felt bad about squeezing people on price.

Meanwhile, Honey's family ran factories. Haggling with suppliers was an everyday thing for them. The next two days, Wei Cheng went to the stables instead of Xiao Qi for the part-time job.

Xiao Qi just attended classes on time, and kept up her routine of jogging, calligraphy practice, vocabulary study, and staying on top of her coursework.

The beginning of the semester was the easiest time for all classes. A good start made the rest of the term less difficult.

Without building a solid foundation in the beginning, studying would only get harder later on.

The start was important. Besides, compared to high school, university courses were not that heavy. Most students' busyness came from clubs, student council, and other social activities. Actual class time did not take up the majority.

But compared to other students participating in various activities, learning commissioner Xiao Qi faithfully attending self-study sessions every evening did come across as bookish. Being bookish in high school was still a compliment, but not so much in university. Knowing only studying and nothing else would clearly not get one far in society.

On top of being poor, needing to work part-time jobs, mooching off roommates’ food, attention-seeking, adding teachers on WeChat, and other undeservedly negative reputations, Xiao Qi also gained the label of being a bookworm who only knew how to memorize...

Xiao Qi was aware of some of these labels, unaware of others. But she generally brushed them off with a laugh.

In high school she had been thoroughly ignored and was used to keeping a low profile. She did not feel anything had changed much after entering university. Focusing on studies and self-improvement was her motto in life currently. She did not pay much attention to others.

Before she knew it, the Mid-Autumn Festival arrived, on a Friday afternoon.

Xiao Qi had to go for the competition rehearsal. Luckily classes were off that day for the festival, otherwise she would've had to ask for leave.

Xiao Qi felt it'd be a waste to miss class for an activity. She had paid so much in tuition to attend Enhua University. After attending classes for this long, she felt the school's hardware facilities were great, and the software - curriculum and teachers - was also very good. The teaching staff was quite strong, though more diverse in background. But compared to other universities, it was unlikely they had so many retired professors from top domestic institutions coming back to teach. Each of them was a gem.

There were also lecturers from Qingmeng University teaching part-time, effectively allowing students to enjoy half of Qingmeng's offerings. The younger teachers may be weaker, but still passionate. And there were many foreign teachers too. Overall the teaching resources were very abundant, which was an advantage.

Xiao Qi declined her roommate's offer to accompany her to the rehearsal. It was just a run-through, probably mostly waiting around in line for their turn. A waste of time. She hoped they would all come to the actual competition at night.

Being low-key, Xiao Qi did not promote the event in her class either. University students were busy, no need to bother them. Her brief appearance in the promo video was in dim lighting and probably unrecognizable to most.

In the afternoon, Wei Cheng went to work at the stables. Yunshu had flower arrangement club - she had gotten quite into it lately, ordering more flowers all the time so their dorm was fragrantly flowery.

As for Honey, there was some student council task she had to handle. Xiao Qi just found out the Mid-Autumn Gala singing contest was jointly organized between the student council and the music club. So Honey was headed to the Indoor Gymnasium as well.