Chapter 63

This jewelry store is a relatively high-end brand in the country, and many wealthy people come here to shop.

However, someone of Xie Zhiyan's level would never casually pick out wedding bands in a store like this; they usually have them custom-made by professionals.

If the sales associate had known Xie Zhiyan's true identity, she likely would have reconsidered her sales pitch and changed her approach.

Ning Yuxuan was toying with the bracelet on her left wrist.

Of the two she had just bought, she asked the associate to pack up one, while wearing the other directly on her hand.

She hadn't brought any jewelry with her on this trip to visit the set, and this malachite bracelet happened to match the dress she was wearing today.

Xie Zhiyan gently held Ning Yuxuan's right hand. "Just look around casually, hmm? Whichever one catches your eye, I'll pay for it."

Ning Yuxuan: "..."

His words genuinely made her feel an impulse to buy him into bankruptcy.

Unfortunately, upon second thought, given the Xie family's financial resources, even if she told the store associate, "Pack up every single piece of jewelry in the store," it would probably elicit nothing more than a slight frown from him.

Since she didn't run a jewelry store at home, she might as well not bring unnecessary trouble upon herself.

Ning Yuxuan remained silent, pacing over to the wedding band section.

The associate's face lit up with joy, and she eagerly began introducing the products.

"Miss Ning, do you prefer gold or silver? Your skin is fair, so you can pull off any color. Feel free to try on any that you like."

Ning Yuxuan's gaze swept across the counter. None of them were ugly, but none of them struck her at first glance.

She hadn't come here today with the intention of buying wedding bands in the first place, so without something she particularly loved, she naturally lacked the impulse to buy.

Xie Zhiyan perceived the meaning in her eyes. "Nothing you like?"

Ning Yuxuan spoke honestly. "They're all just average."

Xie Zhiyan: "If you don't like them, we won't buy them. We can go check out other places."

Ning Yuxuan let out an "hm" and then realized she had walked right into his trap.

She hadn't planned on buying rings at all to begin with—what did checking out other places even mean?

Ning Yuxuan gave Xie Zhiyan a silent look, finding that the man's expression was completely normal, as if he were merely making an offhand remark.

Hearing their exchange, the sales associate figured she probably wouldn't be able to sell any wedding bands today.

However, wedding bands were mostly embedded with small diamonds and were low in price—most of them didn't even cost as much as the gemstone bracelets Ning Yuxuan had picked out earlier.

Always knowing how to read the room, the associate didn't lose heart. With a beaming smile, she said, "If you don't care for these, we have diamond rings over there. Shall I take Miss Ning over to see if there's anything you might fancy?"

Ning Yuxuan followed the associate over.

This time, her eyes lit up noticeably more than before, and she eagerly scanned the rings inside the counter.

As expected, she still preferred large diamonds; the tiny chips set into the wedding bands earlier simply lacked this kind of eye-catching brilliance.

The associate was an expert at reading expressions. Seeing Ning Yuxuan's reaction, she didn't hesitate to pull out the exact design that had held Ning Yuxuan's gaze the longest.

"Many of our pieces actually look better worn on the body than sitting in the counter," the associate said. "A lot of customers who come here feel that certain rings look just so-so, but the moment they put them on, they can't bear to take them off. Here, let me help you?"

Ning Yuxuan extended her hand, and the associate slipped the ring onto her ring finger. It was slightly too large.

The associate hurriedly reassured her, "Don't worry, the band size can always be adjusted. Let me put it on your middle finger for now so you can see the effect."

A person's middle finger is generally thicker than their ring finger. The associate removed the ring and placed it on Ning Yuxuan's middle finger instead, and sure enough, it was a perfect fit.

Ning Yuxuan lifted her hand to admire the diamond ring. Under the jewelry store's specialized lighting, the diamond appeared exceptionally brilliant and stunning.

Seeing at a glance that Ning Yuxuan was quite satisfied, the associate launched into a fresh stream of praise.

Ning Yuxuan glanced sideways at Xie Zhiyan, deliberately withholding any request for his opinion.

She was buying this diamond ring for herself; he was merely the one designated to pay for it.

Whether or not he guessed her intention, Xie Zhiyan cooperatively kept quiet.

Ning Yuxuan browsed the other rings in the display case and had the associate fetch a few more for her to try on.

The naked eye couldn't discern much difference in the inherent quality of the diamonds; she could only tell the difference in size and setting styles.

After trying on several options, she still felt the very first one was the best.

Ning Yuxuan asked the associate to put the first diamond ring back on her finger, and this time she finally waved her hand in front of Xie Zhiyan. "What do you think?"

Xie Zhiyan smiled. "It suits you very well."

Ning Yuxuan herself was quite pleased with it.

Realizing this sale was going through, the associate promptly asked a colleague to retrieve the diamond's certificate. "This diamond is one of the finest we have here. Take a look—the clarity, color, and cut are all top-tier grades."

Ning Yuxuan nodded. "I'll take this one."

She wasn't the type of person who deliberated for ages when shopping; if she liked it, she bought it. Besides, it wasn't as if she was only ever going to buy this once in her lifetime.

Finally, she wandered over to the necklace section.

Tao You was holding her engagement banquet soon, and Ning Yuxuan had already picked out her engagement gift.

However, remembering that Tao You loved wearing necklaces, and happening to have the time today, she figured there was no harm in adding another item to the engagement gift.

Ning Yuxuan took a photo of the necklaces in the glass case and sent it to Tao You: [Do you see any that look nice?]

Tao You replied almost instantly: [Whoa! They're all so pretty! Are you buying one, Xuanxuan?]

Ning Yuxuan: [Just browsing a jewelry store and thought I'd add another engagement gift for you.]

Tao You: [Ah, no, no, that's way too much trouble and expense for you! I've heard of this store; their prices are not cheap.]

Tao You: [It's the thought that counts. It's just an engagement, Xuanxuan, you don't need to spend this much money.]

Knowing that Tao You genuinely didn't want her to spend a fortune and wasn't just being politely modest, Ning Yuxuan understood her friend's sincerity.

Tao You had always maintained a clear sense of boundaries in these matters. Having been friends for many years, Tao You knew very well that her family was quite well-off, yet whenever they went out together, they still mostly went Dutch.

Ning Yuxuan: [Don't feel bad about the money for me; someone else is footing the bill today.]

Tao You: [Who? That CEO boyfriend of yours?]

The corners of Ning Yuxuan's lips curved upward. [Mhm, so consider it a joint gift from both of us. There's nothing wrong with it being a bit more expensive. Besides, you're only getting engaged once in your life; giving a valuable gift is only proper.]

Since she put it that way, Tao You stopped hesitating: [Then I won't be overly polite!]

Ning Yuxuan: [Alright, just tell me which one you like, or you can browse their official website directly to see if anything catches your eye.]

Tao You probably still felt too embarrassed to pick anything too expensive.

Ning Yuxuan strolled casually around the store for a bit longer, and a few minutes later, she received an image sent by Tao You.

It was a necklace with a price tag in the low thousands, placing it on the lower end of this brand's pricing.

Ning Yuxuan had the associate bring out the piece Tao You had chosen, and after confirming there were no flaws, she had it wrapped up.

Xie Zhiyan asked, "Buying for a friend?"

Ning Yuxuan glanced at him. "How did you know?"

She hadn't shown him her messages.

Xie Zhiyan: "That necklace doesn't look like your style."

While Ning Yuxuan and Tao You didn't share identical aesthetic preferences for accessories, she hadn't expected Xie Zhiyan to be so sharp-eyed in this regard.

"Yes," Ning Yuxuan admitted. "Tao You's engagement banquet is coming up soon, so I'm getting her an engagement gift."

After a moment's thought, Ning Yuxuan added, "You don't need to pay for this necklace."

What she said to Tao You earlier was just to comfort her and prevent her from feeling awkward about picking something nice.

In reality, Xie Zhiyan certainly wouldn't lack a mere couple of thousand yuan, but for a gift to her friend, Ning Yuxuan preferred to pay for it herself.

Xie Zhiyan didn't say anything further.

The store associate carefully packaged the bracelet, the diamond ring, and the necklace that Ning Yuxuan had selected.

The two paid for their purchases, charging everything except Tao You's necklace to Xie Zhiyan's card.

Catching sight of the black card in Xie Zhiyan's hand, the associate thought to herself that she certainly hadn't misjudged the financial capacity of these customers.

As she saw the two of them out, the associate's gaze lingered on their departing backs for a long time.

Miss Ning and this Mr. Xie truly made a perfect match.

The next time she chatted with people about variety shows, she would be able to say that she had seen Miss Ning and her boyfriend in the flesh.

Leaving the jewelry store, Ning Yuxuan lifted her hand again to admire the diamond ring on her middle finger.

She had owned plenty of jewelry in the past, but this was her first time wearing a diamond ring.

Had she known how pretty it looked, she wouldn't have waited until she was out with Xie Zhiyan to buy one—she could have just bought one for herself earlier to wear for fun.

However, because the size was slightly large, the diamond ring was currently worn on her middle finger.

The associate had offered to submit a request to resize it, though it would take anywhere from a few days to a week to be ready for pickup.

Having bought it, Ning Yuxuan wanted to wear it immediately, so she declined the resizing offer.

Seeing her gesture, Xie Zhiyan remarked, "If you want to adjust the size after we get back, I can have my assistant arrange it."

Ning Yuxuan twirled the ring on her finger. "No need, I think wearing it on the middle finger is quite nice."

With that, she looked at Xie Zhiyan, implying something deeper: "Besides, I didn't buy a diamond ring for any special meaning—just because it's pretty."

Xie Zhiyan's tone remained completely unruffled. "Mhm, this time was a bit rushed. We can take our time and have someone custom-make one with special meaning later."

Ning Yuxuan: "..."

That wasn't what she meant at all.

Whatever, she couldn't be bothered to argue with him.

Xie Zhiyan glanced at his watch. "Is there anywhere else you'd like to browse? We have plenty of time, no need to rush to the airport."

Pausing for a second, he added, "Whatever catches your eye, I'll pay for it."

Ning Yuxuan couldn't help saying, "You make it sound like I only dragged you along shopping to find a sucker to foot the bill."

Xie Zhiyan's expression didn't change at all. "I'm doing it voluntarily."

Ning Yuxuan burst out laughing.

The man delivering those words in such a flat tone carried an inexplicably deadpan sense of humor.

"Fine," Ning Yuxuan said. "Let's walk around a bit more."

Compared to commercial flights, the boarding process for a private jet was significantly faster, eliminating the need to arrive at the airport far in advance.

With departure scheduled for two o'clock, Ning Yuxuan and Xie Zhiyan spent a few more hours wandering through the mall.

They didn't buy any more jewelry, settling instead for a hat—a small gift for her mother.

At noon, the two shared a meal of local specialties; it wasn't expensive, but the food tasted exceptionally good.

At half-past one, their driver dropped them off at the private aviation terminal.

Assistant Liu was already waiting for them at the airport, looking completely refreshed after resting at the hotel for a few hours that morning.

This was Ning Yuxuan's first time flying on a private jet.

When Ning Fei had first arrived in Beicheng, she had to carefully budget even her rent money; the Ning family's financial situation had only steadily improved over the past decade, gradually achieving financial freedom.

However, financial freedom was relative to ordinary people; the Ning family hadn't yet reached the point of being able to maintain a private jet. Besides, Ning Fei herself had spent most of her time in Beicheng in recent years and had no need to purchase a corporate aircraft.