Chapter 233: Expand Your Horizons
Wei Shanshan wasn’t curious about Yun Xiangxiang’s boyfriend. She didn’t ask anything. They turned off the lights and drifted to sleep as they chatted.
Wei Shanshan went back to her crew the next day’s morning. She had some scenes to film this morning, but she could come over and join Yun Xiangxiang in the afternoon.
Yun Xiangxiang, together with Lu Jin and the others, started talking with the program team about the episode’s content. They made some preparations for the games section and getting to know the staff she would work with tomorrow.
The host of “A Gathering of Shows” was called Shen Yitang, a graduate from a famous university. Since he was the one who thought up of the show, the show was named using his name [1].
Shen Yitang was thirty-five, but thanks to him keeping fit, he looked no older than twenty-seven. He used to be a debater who enjoyed international fame. Naturally, he was knowledgeable and knew how to handle matters amicably.
After getting to know each other, he brought them to have a taste of the local delicacies. When they finished their food trip, Wei Shanshan notified Yun Xiangxiang that she couldn’t make it.
Yun Xiangxiang suggested to the crew, “I want to go shopping.”
“Shopping?” Shen Yitang and the three gentlemen were taken aback. “How are you going to do that?”
“The King’s Plan” was topping the charts. Thanks to that, Yun Xiangxiang’s fame shot up to ridiculous heights. The whole of Tengchong City knew of her arrival for a show’s recording. Countless fans were just waiting for a chance encounter. The moment she stepped out into public space, she would be surrounded.
“I have an idea. Give me a minute,” Yun Xiangxiang smiled before she turned around and left.
She changed into a frumpty dress she brought with her and put on a big sun hat. She also wore a pair of glasses with black frames and used makeup to make her skin look more yellowish and her eyes smaller.
She completed her makeup by adding an obvious mole on the left side of her mouth and ruffled the sides of her hair.
She looked totally different. Nobody would know she was Yun Xiangxiang if they didn’t pay any attention.
When she reappeared in front of the others, they were stunned. He Xingzhou said, “Xiangxiang, you look like a whole other person.”
“If you look closely, you can see that my disguise isn’t hard to see through. I’m just using the weakness in their visual perception,” Yun Xiangxiang pointed at the big mole.
An obvious characteristic would be the first thing people remember about others. If they have registered this characteristic, they wouldn’t relate you to people they know. The most they would say is, “You remind me of someone.”
“I want some disguise too. Come here, Xiangxiang, change me up. I’ll go shopping with you,” Sun Qiluo immediately came over.
“You obviously don’t have enough clothes with you,” Yun Xiangxiang didn’t have to ask. “I’ll get a set for you as soon as possible. Wait right here.”
“What about us?” He Xingzhou quickly asked.
“It’s not easy to disguise you gentlemen. You should stay at the hotel,” Yun Xiangxiang didn’t want to bring so many people along.
A couple of girls who looked similar to stars wouldn’t raise any suspicions. But if there was a group of them, it would be difficult to hide it, no matter how ordinary they looked.
Ignoring the wailing He Xingzhou, Yun Xiangxiang swiftly bought a cheap, ordinary shirt for Sun Qiluo. She then removed Sun Qiluo’s makeup and made some changes to her eyes, immediately changing how Sun Qiluo looked.
“Heavens. This is straight-up magic, Xiangxiang,” Sun Qiluo was satisfied with the results when she looked into the mirror.
“Thanks to this makeup product,” Yun Xiangxiang showed the product she was holding.
Her makeup skills were just mediocre. But she did ask for some tips from Zhou Jie. The makeup Song Mian asked someone to make for her was great too. They were waterproof.
They wore oversized, ordinary shirts, with big sun hats over their heads. Without their pretty makeup, they didn’t attract any eyes no matter where they went.
They waved at the gentlemen who gave them envious looks and left.
“Where do you want to go for your shopping?” Sun Qiluo was elated. She felt that being a civilian took loads off her shoulder.
“The jade market,” Yun Xiangxiang stopped a taxi.
The cabbie didn’t recognize the pair. When he heard Yun Xiangxiang announcing the destination, he asked in Mandarin, “You girls are tourists, aren’t you?”
“Yeah, Tengchong City’s jade center is famous. I want to see it for myself,” Yun Xiangxiang answered naturally.
“The market is open today. Folks are selling their jades there in droves. There are locals and even Burmese.” The cabbie reminded, “Don’t fall for their sales tactics.”
“Why? Are there fakes?” Sun Qiluo quickly asked.
“They don’t sell fakes. The problem is their price,” the cabbie didn’t elaborate further.
“Thank you. We are just going to look around there,” Yun Xiangxiang was grateful.
“Looking around is fine. But your accent is obvious. You don’t look like you’re a wholesaler either. Better look before you leap,” the cabbie reminded again.
Yun Xiangxiang understood why he asked them to look before they leaped. He wanted them to speak less, or else people would know they were gullible tourists from their accent.
When they arrived at the place, Sun Qiluo almost tried to pay with her card out of habit. Yun Xiangxiang paid with the cash she put in her bag previously.
Sun Qiluo gave her a thumbs up. They went into the jade market hand in hand.
“You sure this place sells jades?” Sun Qiluo was stunned. Everywhere she looked, she only saw street stalls.
The jadeites were sprawled upon the stalls. The market was like a cheap night bazaar, where they could buy any three items with ten yuan.
Sun Qiluo’s image of jadeites was of noble adornment. They should be displayed in resplendent jewelry shops, shown to them by neat-looking service staff who wore white gloves.
This place here looked like a wet market.
“I checked them out online yesterday. They do look like this,” Yun Xiangxiang did her research.
She might have asked Percy to keep an eye out for her, but since she was in Tengchong City now, she would look for it too.
“You even looked them up? You didn’t come here just to look around, did you?” Sun Qiluo asked as she walked around.
“I want to buy a piece of purple jadeite. No finished products,” Yun Xiangxiang nodded.
She asked for two days more leave because of this. That was why Yun Xiangxiang ignored stalls that only had finished products.
The owner yelled their promotions, but Yun Xiangxiang went away after just giving them a smile.
“They’re all finished products,” Sun Qiluo had walked past more than twenty stalls, but she didn’t see any jadeite.
“Young lady, are you looking for the raw material? It’s there,” the customer who was looking at the bracelets overheard Sun Qiluo and pointed inside,
The customer looked like she was in her early forties. For someone to call Sun Qiluo who was in her late twenties as a young lady was a happy occasion for her.
The customer only called her that because she noticed her student outfit. But of course, Sun Qiluo refused to acknowledge that.
She thanked her before pulling Yun Xiangxiang and dashed in the direction the customer pointed. But it wasn’t the raw material they wanted.
They were looking for purple jadeite that had been extracted but had not been cut yet.