Chapter 18.1: Are you looking at that girl?

This remark only drew sneers and ridicule from the crowd.

At this moment, the store manager had already arrived. Seeing the situation, he smiled and said, “Our riding boots are right here. We welcome anyone to try tearing them. If Nile crocodile leather can be torn apart so easily, we might as well close up shop.”

Ye Tianhui: “I wouldn’t dare try. This thing looks as fragile as paper. If I tear it, you’ll definitely make me pay for it!”

After saying this, she lifted her leg and started to walk away.

However, given how far the conversation had gone, the manager naturally wouldn’t let her leave. This store valued its reputation, and being so publicly ridiculed by a mainland girl was hardly something to stomach.

The manager directly stopped her and said, “In front of all these people, if you do manage to tear it, not only will I not make you pay, but I’ll even gift you a pair of riding boots.”

Ye Tianhui: “Really?”

Manager: “Of course. Our store has been in business for many years, a well-established brand. I mean what I say.”

Ye Tianhui looked at this, then turned to Ye Wenyin: “Really?”

Ye Wenyin curled her lips into a smile, though the smile didn’t reach her eyes: “I can tell you, whether it’s a golden hoe or a silver hoe, they’re both tools for farming. Since you don’t understand, fine, go ahead and try. If you tear it, it’ll be on me.”

Ye Tianhui was no longer polite: “Alright, I don’t need your riding boots. Let me just give it a pull. If it doesn’t tear, I’ll admit I was wrong and apologize. If it tears, I’ll walk away, and you’d better not hold it against me.”

The crowd around them was watching, whispering amongst themselves, clearly ready to enjoy the spectacle.

The manager’s face darkened visibly. After all, having high-end, custom Nile crocodile riding boots described this way was a direct insult. Wanting to teach this mainland girl a lesson, he immediately said, “Miss, go ahead.”

Ye Tianhui walked up directly, stretched out her hand, and touched the leather.

Everyone present, inside and outside the store, watched her intently, waiting to see what her so-called “pull” would look like.

The moment her hand touched it, Ye Tianhui knew the crocodile leather was indeed excellent—tight, premium texture, with the outer patterns and inner layers closely adhered. The leather had likely undergone meticulous processing to remove fats and moisture.

It was clear that Ye Tianhui wasn’t naturally strong enough to tear through this leather in one go.

However, she happened to have a method for such things. She didn’t need great strength or any external tools to tear apart even the finest cowhide.

One must understand that leather products, being animal skins, naturally have minute gaps—essentially the sweat pores of the animal. These pores, though extremely small, exist. Tearing leather requires targeting these tiny pores, finding the grain of the leather, and applying just the right amount of force, like how a tiny ant can destroy a thousand-mile dam.

She held her breath, using her fingertips to carefully feel the premium leather’s texture, meticulously tracing the grain. The grain was aligned vertically, and sure enough, there were minute fissures. Compared to cowhide, these fissures were less regular and harder to handle, but not impossible.

As she gently rubbed the leather with her fingernail, everyone around watched closely.

The store manager, amused, asked, “How is it?”

Ye Tianhui: “Let me feel the material a bit more. Hold on.”

A hint of disdain flickered in Ye Wenyin’s eyes. She glanced at the salesperson beside her, slightly raised her chin, and instructed casually, “Make sure to have this pair of boots cleaned properly afterward.”

The salesperson, hearing this, quickly responded, “Of course. Don’t worry, we’ll take care of it.”

Naturally, Ye Tianhui picked up on the implication—disdain for her touching the boots.

She smiled and said, “Miss Ye, don’t worry. You can save the money for this pair of boots, and cleaning won’t be necessary either.”

As she spoke, the crowd found it even funnier, wondering if this mainland girl had lost her mind.

But just as her words fell, everyone saw her hand give a light tug, and the Nile crocodile leather was torn apart, right before their eyes.

The crowd’s eyes widened, utterly disbelieving what they had just witnessed.

Ye Tianhui raised her eyes, looking at the shocked expressions of the crowd, and casually said, “This thing is just like paper, it’s not sturdy at all.”

After speaking, she withdrew her hand and took out a small packet of tissue from her pocket, which she had grabbed when paying the bill with Gu Shizhang earlier.

She just pulled out the tissue, wiped her hands leisurely, and then said softly: “We come from the mainland, our knowledge is indeed limited. I’ve never seen such alligator skin before, but we have the Yangtze alligator in the mainland, and its skin is all good stuff. We’ve always had the elegant interest of using the skin of the alligator to make drums and crane bones to make flutes. As for making leather boots, it’s also possible, but the skin of the Yangtze alligator is very strong and durable, it’s definitely not something this Nile crocodile skin can compare with, it’s absolutely impossible to tear. Actually, I don’t understand either, what’s going on with this Nile crocodile skin? Either this is fake, and the shop is not reliable, or the Nile crocodile itself is not that great.”

She shook her head and sighed, a bit confused, and said, “As for whether it’s the foreign crocodile that’s not good, or if it’s the people here who are not good, I’m not sure.”

The crocodile is no good? The people are no good?

Everyone was stunned when they heard this, speechless for a moment.

Some people also curiously gathered around to watch the fun, but when they looked at the tear on the high-quality leather, it was almost like tearing paper!

A crocodile skin as precious as gold was torn so easily? Just like it was made of paper?!

The manager, who had been shocked earlier, hadn’t closed his mouth since then. He looked at everything in front of him in disbelief, his brain was completely confused, his expression blank.

Ye Wenyin also couldn’t believe it. She looked at the horse boots that had already been torn open, then glanced at the manager beside her. She couldn’t quite understand the situation.

The expensive custom-made boots she had ordered, the boots she had waited two months for, were now just like this, easily torn apart by someone?

Where was the precious luxury material? Where was the meticulous craftsmanship? How could it be just like paper?

The expressions on her face were frozen in place.

Ye Tianhui didn’t even look at the dazed, silly expressions on the few people, and enthusiastically greeted everyone: “Everyone, anyone curious can come over and try it, really, this can be torn easily, it’s really easy to tear! Everyone, try it!”

Easy to tear?

It should be known that everyone present had come to shop, they were able to afford the various leather goods in the store, but as for the special custom-made Nile crocodile items, not everyone had the capital for it.

But now, they could walk in and directly tear the expensive high-end horse boots, which had cost who knows how much and taken who knows how much labor, with their hands?

But hearing it now, it was somewhat tempting. Since it was already torn, couldn’t they also try tearing it?

In the midst of everyone peeking and craning their necks, finally, a chubby lady with curled hair curiously stretched out her hand and tried to tear it.

She pinched the edge, couldn’t tear it, so she used a little more strength.

Then everyone saw that, although it seemed a bit difficult to tear, not as easy as Ye Tianhui, she did manage to tear a little along the small slit!

The fat lady covered her mouth in surprise and said, “Are you kidding me? What’s going on? This isn’t real leather, this must be fake, right?”

The others immediately went into an uproar, and the high-end leather goods store turned into a marketplace, with everyone speaking at once, starting to doubt. One customer even said, “Last time I bought a crocodile skin item here, is this fake too? No way, I want to return it!”

Others also began shouting, directly questioning if the store was selling counterfeit goods: “How could real crocodile skin tear so easily!”

Seeing this scene, the store manager was sweating profusely. Faced with the crowd’s doubts, he could only explain desperately, but it was all in vain. The seeds of suspicion had already been planted. People began tearing at the so-called crocodile skin, and when they found that it could indeed be torn, everyone became angry. No matter how much he explained, it was useless. Even if some things couldn’t be torn, no one believed him anymore. Some even took their newly bought leather boots to let Ye Tianhui tear them.

Amid this chaos, Ye Tianhui walked over to Ye Wenyin.

Ye Wenyin’s female companions were surprised to see Ye Tianhui suddenly approach and looked at her in surprise.

Ye Wenyin, however, stood there expressionlessly, her mouth slightly open, not knowing how to react.

She had spent a lot of money ordering it. It was a precious handmade item, a finely crafted masterpiece, a luxury that ordinary people couldn’t dream of.

Originally, the crocodile skin riding boots were supposed to be worn by her, becoming part of her elegant appearance, a luxurious accessory to match her noble status.

But now it had been torn apart, pulled and tugged at, reduced to an inferior product that everyone could trample on.

It felt as though her preciousness had been diminished.

Her female companions all looked at Ye Wenyin. Seeing that she didn’t respond, they didn’t know what to say.

This situation was already awkward enough.

Amid the awkwardness, Ye Tianhui smiled at Ye Wenyin and said generously, “Miss Ye, thank you for the snacks you gave me before, and thank you for offering to give me your boots. You’re beautiful and kind, so today I exposed their scheme for you, so you wouldn’t be taken advantage of. I’m glad I could help.”

She smiled very kindly: “Next time when you buy such expensive items, you can ask me. I’ll help you check them, so you won’t be scammed. As for this time, don’t worry about it. Just consider it a return favor for the snacks. I’ll leave now, goodbye.”

Ye Wenyin looked at Ye Tianhui, her lips moved, she wanted to speak, but not a word came out.

She just felt embarrassed, incredibly embarrassed.

She, a privileged young lady, who had seen everything, was now being educated by a mainland girl, being told that she was the one with no experience!

But she couldn’t argue.

She just watched as Ye Tianhui smiled at her kindly, then floated away.