Wednesday, continued ...
The three Hou ladies were escorted into a restaurant, with Anna in the lead. After entering they were shown to a couple of tables with food already there for people to eat. Anna started to dive into eating, as she realised how hungry she was feeling, and looked down at her watch. She noticed it was just on 2pm, which made her understand why she was so hungry.
Anna turned to the bodyguards and said "Please join us in having something to eat and drink. I know you have all gone to trouble for us, but do not ignore your own needs while doing this."
Du AnLing and Leng Xi, looked at her strangely. Anna realised that they were wondering what she was doing "Remember that one guard has been with us all day, but I do not want to single her out, so I have offered to all of them. It is nothing, just some common courtesy."
They both thought that being kind to the staff, who would have time for breaks was strange, but they decided it was not worth saying anything, and they would simply have to educate her in the future about keeping separation from the staff.
However, the guards realised what Anna was doing, and they decided to indulge her today, so the meal was quickly consumed by everyone. Du AnLing and Leng Xi, realised that the simple meal that they had was amazing to eat. Everything was perfectly cooked and delicious to eat.
As the restaurant had the ability to pay the bill by card, Anna, pulled out from her purse the first card she had used, and paid the bill of a little over 10,000 for the food and drinks consumed. Du AnLing and Leng Xi, could not believe how little the bill was, so they grabbed a couple of business cards for the restaurant, as they could come here, eat a wonderful meal and not impact their ability to ship. The only issue would be convincing friends to come here to experience it.
Just before they were about to leave the restaurant, the female bodyguard who had been with them all day, handed Anna most of the case Hou YI had given them. Anna decided that she would take Hou YI's wrath and provided both Du AnLing and Leng Xi 30,000 each to spend while they were in the market.
Anna said, when handing over the case "Do not tell Hou Yi I have given you this, I will explain myself to him. I figured since we are going into a market, you need some money in case you find something you want to buy. Just remember that the items here will be fakes. Also do not take the first price offered by the stall holder; you have to bargain with them. It is expected, hence the higher starting prices."
The group wandered out of the restaurant, and around the corner, and down half a block, and found themselves at the tourist market. Anna felt in heaven. She loved Asian markets and had always found great things to use in gifts for people, who loved them.
Du AnLing and Leng Xi, were worried. How did you go about bargaining? What is trash and what is treasure? They realised that Anna, felt comfortable here, and figured they would watch her firstly before they did this for themselves.
The group entered the market with two bodyguards in front and the remainder behind them. Four stalls in Anna spotted a stall selling suitcases, bags, and backpacks. She knew from experience they would need backpacks t carry some of their purchases. Pointing to three she liked she asked, "How much for those three backpacks?"
The stall holder looked at her and realised the clothes she had on were likely designed and said "4,500 for the three."
Anna paused. "That is way too much. It is 1,500 per bag. How about 1,500 for all three"
"Madam that is way too low."
Du AnLing and Leng Xi, watched Anna and the stall holder going back and forth before settling on 3,000 for the three bags. They were surprised, and thought 4,500 was cheap so would have paid it.
Anna, once she had the three bags, turn to them and said "Take your pick. Over the years, one thing I have learnt from shopping trips to these places is having a backpack is a must to carry purchases, or at least some of them." Both selected one, and Anna kept the remaining one. She slung it on one shoulder, and Du AnLing and Leng Xi followed her lead.
"How did you do that?" asked Leng Xi. Unlike Du AnLing, she came from a wealthy family, and had never had to worry about money even in the past.
"While I would have liked to pay only 2,500 for all three bags, the price was close enough, so I could not be bothered haggling further. What I usually do, is ask how much for the number I want, and then offer about a third. With the back and forth we usually settle for something between half and two-thirds of the original price."
"I am always prepared to walk away is there is no negotiation or it is a price I am not happy to pay." Anna paused, and then continued "I want to make a suggestion if you think you are going to come back here, Buy a couple of knock-off handbags and purses to use here, as well as some more casual clothes, and you will likely have a lower starting price than you will get today."
Anna then turned to one of the guards behind her and said quietly "We forgot to get some bottles of water. Could you please go into a shop and get one for everyone, including each of you. It will get hot was we are wandering." She handed the guard some money, and he went off to do that.
They continued wandering slowly along the market. In the very next stall, Anna spotted, a painting hanging up. Even though it was mass produced, she knew her assistant in Australia would love it. Like before, she started haggling with the stall holder to get it, and did so at two first of the initial price.
As she was finishing Du AnLing spotted a painting she liked, and thought, why not give it a go. Following what she had observed with Anna, she gave bargaining a go. By the time she got the price down, she realised how much fun this was. She turned to Leng Xi, and whispered "This is so much fun. And do you realise in doing this here we can indulge in shopping but spend so much less money than if we go to any of the Mall's."
For the next hour or so, Anna, Du AnLing and Leng Xi, wandered through the market, buying various items they wanted, not only filling their backpacks, but handing multiple bags to the guards to carry. Given how much they were enjoying themselves Anna handed Du AnLing and Leng Xi a further 20,000 each for spending. They also found and ATM to withdraw cash from their accounts for spending as well.
When they reached the other end of the market, Anna, Du AnLing and Leng Xi were exhausted, and ready to go home. The bodyguards summoned the car, and their purchases jut fitted inside the boot. As she entered the car, Anna remembered her promise to Hou Yi, ad found her phone in her handbag and dialled him.
Hou Yi answered within three rings and Anna said "Darling, we have finished shopping at the market and are heading home."
"mmm…"
"I have to confess something. I gave your mother and aunt 50,000 each to spend at the market, sorry."
"Do not worry, I figured that you would end up doing that. See you at home."
With that Hou Yi ended the call and walked into Assistant Wang's office. "Come on, I need you to accompany me home."