Chapter 35: Chapter 35: Make a Fortune!
Li Qian’s face turned pale.
Is she expected to humbly beg for Lin Qi’s forgiveness?
Li Qian hesitated, but the store manager’s firm stance left her no room to retreat.
Thus, she approached Lin Qi, “Lin Qi… It was my fault just now, I didn’t mean to humiliate you…”
Lin Qi turned her face away.
“Lin Qi, can you forgive me? Please clarify, it was all a misunderstanding! We are classmates after all. I didn’t mean to target you, I just believed in slander, so…”
Lin Qi suddenly interrupted her, pointing to a showcase, “Those shoes look nice, can you help me try them on?”
Li Qian followed her pointing finger.
A pair of mules heavily styled by Hermes, priced at twenty thousand.
Li Qian’s face instantly turned green.
Hermes is known for its kneeling service.
Especially when serving customers by trying on shoes or checking bags, it always involves kneeling beside the customer.
But to kneel and serve Lin Qi was a completely different matter, especially under these circumstances.
She was clearly returning the favor.
The store manager said, “Li Qian, please help this lady try on the shoes.”
Lin Qi took a seat on the couch.
To save her job, Li Qian, gritting her teeth, brought the shoes to Lin Qi, bending over, unsure whether to stand or kneel.
The store manager said, “Li Qian, what are you doing? Have you forgotten how to serve customers?”
Reluctantly, Li Qian bit her lip, knelt beside Lin Qi, took off her sneakers, and carefully tried the new shoes on her.
Lin Qi gracefully placed the heel on Li Qian’s knee and asked with a raised eyebrow, “Do you think these shoes look good on me?”
Li Qian’s face was pale, barely maintaining a smile, “Yes, beautiful.”
Lin Qi suddenly bent down and said to Li Qian, “I want that Himalaya bag.”
Li Qian responded, “That bag…”
“I want the one in the showcase.”
Normally, Hermes has a supply mechanism, and that limited edition Himalaya requires over a million in purchases to qualify, but now the store manager, not wanting to offend the customer and tarnish Hermes’ reputation, reluctantly said, “Li Qian, fetch that Himalaya bag for this lady.”
“Store manager…” Li Qian said, “That’s Mrs. Fang’s reserved bag.”
The store manager glared at Li Qian.
Eventually, Lin Qi paid $850,000 with her card, purchasing one Himalaya bag, one Kelly bag, two outfits, and a pair of mules, then left the boutique.
Originally, Huo Tingdong was going to settle the bill, but Lin Qi took out her card and swiped for $850,000.
How did this woman suddenly have so much money?
At the boutique’s entrance, the store manager led the staff in smilingly seeing off the customers.
This incident was barely resolved.
Just as Lin Qi and others left, the store manager turned and fiercely scolded Li Qian: “Li Qian, you disaster, don’t bother coming to work tomorrow!”
Li Qian said, “Store manager! I managed to soothe the customer, why are you firing me?”
The store manager said, “If it wasn’t for your mess, would I need to play up smiles and clean up after you? I’ve warned you all, no gossiping about customers’ private matters behind their backs. Are you the only one who can’t keep her mouth shut?”
Feeling aggrieved, Li Qian said, “Store manager, she’s just pretending to be rich…”
The store manager said, “It was her card I swiped, her bank card, her name, that paid the $850,000! You say she’s pretending to be rich? Her husband’s suit alone is worth tens of thousands; they are genuinely wealthy! In today’s society, you can offend anyone but not the wealthy! Don’t ruin it for the rest of the staff or me! Get out!”
After saying that, the store manager turned away fiercely.
Tears in her eyes, Li Qian ran after him, “Store manager!”
Her colleagues pushed her.
“It’s all your fault!”
“We all believed your slander. I think, you’re just jealous because she is beautiful and married well!”
“Li Qian, we thought you were a good colleague, but you almost made us all lose our jobs! If it weren’t for the store manager’s crisis management, we would’ve been ruined by you!”
“Yeah, just go away! Our Hermes has no room for a big ‘Buddha’ like you!”
Li Qian was pushed out the door like a dog.
Colleagues from a few other counters also came out to watch, pointing and whispering at Li Qian.
For a moment, Li Qian’s face burned furiously; she fiercely wiped the tears from her face and hurried away.
On the ride back home.
Lin Qi looked down at the exquisitely wrapped bag, spending a million today, but it was worth it.
If not for Huo Tingdong’s influence, that savvy store manager wouldn’t have sold her the limited Himalaya.
Ordinary customers would need to spend close to two million to qualify for a Himalaya.
It’s a limited edition, only a few produced each year.
They didn’t even know who Huo Tingdong really was; just because the suit he wore was handmade couture, costing tens of thousands, they were convinced of his wealth and prestige.
Lin Qi thought back to when she had interviewed with the company; several newcomers dressed in Dior, carrying Chanel, indeed commanded respect in the workplace.
“People rely on clothes like Buddha relies on gold; the ancients truly did not deceive me,” she thought.
Huo Tingdong asked, “Did you drop out of college?”
Lin Qi responded, “Yes, my dad forced me to.”
“Why did you drop out?”
Lin Qi glanced at him.
Huo Tingdong immediately understood, “You could’ve refused.”
“I had no choice. In the Lin family, I’ve always lived a dependent life,” said Lin Qi, “Let’s not talk about the past.”
When she got home, Lin Qi logged onto an auction website and immediately put up the Himalaya bag for auction.
The starting bid was $600,000.
The auction was to start an hour later.
Soon, the bids soared, shooting up to two million.
Lin Qi was astonished.
Hermes indeed serves as a financial product in the luxury goods market, stirring up such fervor.
Mainly, the limited stock at the boutiques made the bag hard to come by; many affluent women, despite their wealth, couldn’t get their hands on one and were willing to pay a high price.
Lin Qi put up the listing and didn’t bother with it further.
By evening, right before bed, she checked again; the bid had risen to $2.5 million.
This was astonishing!
If the bag was sold at this price, she would have made a hefty profit.
Huo Tingdong’s influence was indeed valuable!
Suddenly, Lin Qi felt that the frustration she experienced at the Hermes counter had completely dissipated.
She looked at the unopened Himalaya bag; she didn’t consider herself tasteless, but she really couldn’t see what made the bag so precious.
It probably boiled down to the rarity!
Limited to a few pieces each year, it lured the vanity of the wealthy women.
Hunger marketing, truly played clear and crisp by Hermes.
Watching the bids rise significantly, with eight hours left till the auction’s end, who knows, it might even break a record!