Chapter 11

The Tour Turns into a Shopping Spree

“Hey, hey, aren’t we going to the Poplar Forest? Why have we stopped here?”

Jiang Yuan was baffled when she saw the tour bus turn off its engine.

The other tourists on her tour were equally confused. Someone asked, “Tour guide, why are we stopping here?”

There were both male and female tour guides on the bus, both quite young.

At this moment, the male tour guide stood up from his seat and said, “Everyone, please get off the bus now and head to the shopping mall across the street!”

“I don’t want to shop,” Jiang Yuan replied with a naive expression, still unaware of the situation. Her little brain was preoccupied with one thought: Oh no, I’m going to stand up Lin Senmu again!

The male tour guide was about to lose his temper, but when he saw that the one objecting was a stunningly beautiful girl, his eyes glazed over with infatuation, and his attitude softened. “Miss, everyone has to shop,” he said gently.

Jiang Yuan finally caught the underlying meaning in his words and frowned. “Didn’t you say this was a pure sightseeing tour?”

As soon as she spoke, a middle-aged woman sitting next to her chimed in, “We’re here to travel, not to shop. Right, everyone?”

The other passengers, who had already caught on, echoed, “Yeah! That’s right!”

“I don’t want to shop. I want to go to the Poplar Forest.”

Jiang Yuan glanced at the time, feeling anxious. If the bus didn’t start moving soon, she would have to deal with Lin Senmu’s disappointment and his usual tricks again. Was it easy being Jiang Yuan?!

The female tour guide, who was rather plain-looking, had long been jealous of Jiang Yuan’s beauty. She shot up from her seat and snapped, “You signed up for a 3999 yuan tour, seven days and six nights. Did you really think it was just for fun?”

Jiang Yuan retorted coldly, “What do you mean? Did you tell us we had to shop before we left? It was advertised as a high-end pure sightseeing tour.”

The female tour guide sneered, “Isn’t that obvious? Everyone knows how it works!”

Jiang Yuan was furious. “How is it obvious? If you had told us it was a shopping tour before we got on the bus, we could have chosen not to join. You can’t just drag us to a shopping mall halfway through and force us to shop.”

Seeing that the girl was difficult to handle, the female tour guide resorted to emotional manipulation. “We two tour guides have been accompanying you for a week. Our salaries aren’t even enough. What’s wrong with going down to buy a few things? Just three items, no price limit. Once you’re done, you can get back on the bus. Don’t waste everyone’s time.”

As soon as she finished speaking, she noticed Jiang Yuan about to speak again. The female tour guide’s eyebrows twitched, and she pointed at Jiang Yuan, shouting, “Especially you, sit down!”

Jiang Yuan, like an angry little kitten, shot back, “Whether I sit or not isn’t up to you. And how much I buy, if anything, is my own decision!”

Realizing she couldn’t handle the girl, the female tour guide turned to the other passengers. “Do you want to go to the next attraction? Do you want to go home?”

Jiang Yuan didn’t back down. “So you’re saying if we don’t shop, we can’t go to the next attraction, is that it?”

“What if I am?”

The female tour guide openly admitted it.

Seeing this, the male tour guide quickly stepped in to mediate. “Alright, alright, everyone just go take a look. There’s plenty of stuff inside. It’s fine to buy cheap things. Just three items per person, and then we can get back on the bus.”

Jiang Yuan was about to continue speaking.

Among the passengers, the ‘plant’ appeared. This person had been mingling with the passengers and emerged at a critical moment to guide them: “It’s just buying three things. Let’s all get off the bus and not let it ruin our travel mood. This little girl is really wasting our time.”

The male tour guide seized the opportunity to add fuel to the fire, “Everyone, get off the bus now and follow me. Don’t forget to bring your shopping receipts when you come back!”

Most of the passengers already understood they had encountered a scam, but the majority, concerned about saving face, chose not to resist or dared not resist, deciding to swallow this bitter pill.

With a clatter, they got off the bus.

Only the helpless little girl remained in the bus.

She was only eighteen, in an unfamiliar city, facing such an incident.

Jiang Yuan’s eyes gradually turned red. She had originally wanted to call her family to cry about being bullied and wronged.

But when she unlocked her phone, she remembered her promise to the boy and sent him a message first, “Lin Senmu, I can’t go to the Populus euphratica forest anymore.”

The RV Lin Senmu rented was a hybrid, and since there was no place to charge it in the city that never sleeps last night, he had just found a gas station to refuel.

Upon receiving the message, he couldn’t help but feel anxious and quickly called her, “No way, are you standing me up again?”

“Lin Senmu, I don’t want to do this, but I really can’t go.”

Jiang Yuan was in low spirits.

Lin Senmu asked, “What’s wrong with you?”

“I’ve been scammed!”

Jiang Yuan explained the situation to him.

After listening, Lin Senmu quickly said, “Send me your location, I’ll come find you now!”

“Then hurry up.”

Lin Senmu followed the location and arrived at the entrance of the ‘Da Run City’ mall, where he saw the girl squatting by the roadside, eagerly looking forward.

At this moment, Jiang Yuan looked extremely fragile.

Lin Senmu felt the urge to hold her in his arms and protect her.

After parking and getting out of the car, Lin Senmu walked over to Jiang Yuan and said softly, “I’m here.”

A bright sparkle flashed in Jiang Yuan’s helpless eyes, and she quickly straightened up, complaining, “Lin Senmu, my documents are with the tour guide, and they won’t give them back to me!”

The tour guide of the travel group had taken the ID cards of Jiang Yuan and the other passengers on the bus on the way, claiming it was to buy tickets and book hotels for the tourists.

“I understand, I’ll find a way to get them back for you later.”

Lin Senmu comforted her.

“Mm~”

Jiang Yuan suddenly felt very dependent on him.

The two waited at the mall entrance for about ten minutes. Lin Senmu saw the travel group coming out and stepped forward to stop the two tour guides, “Where are my friend’s documents?”

The female tour guide was quite short and looked up to see a handsome guy dressed in a restrained style. If it weren’t for Lin Senmu’s question, she might not have been able to take her eyes off him.

After understanding the situation, she looked at Jiang Yuan and scolded, “It’s you again, aren’t you annoying? Why are you still causing trouble?”

Lin Senmu didn’t want to waste words with the female tour guide, “Give me my friend’s documents!”

The female tour guide sneered, “She hasn’t bought anything, I can’t give them to her!”

Among the tourists, a middle-aged man spoke up at this moment, “Little girl, young man, you should just go and buy something.”

Lin Senmu frowned at the man who had been mingling with the tourists, “You must be the one my friend mentioned who was urging everyone to buy things on the bus earlier, and now you’re stirring up trouble again. You’re in cahoots with these two tour guides, aren’t you?”

“Young man, watch your words! Be careful I sue you for slander!”

The middle-aged man blustered.

“Oh, I’m so scared! Go ahead and report me!”

Lin Senmu was extremely arrogant.

“Does that look like fear to you?!”

The middle-aged man fell silent. He was just a plant, trying to intimidate the young man who looked like a college student, but it didn’t work.

College students these days really have no manners. Don’t they know to respect the elderly and care for the young?