200: A small episode at the Riverside Market

Li Qinghe rode his motorcycle towards Saigon, to a very famous shopping mall called Diamond Plaza.

Along the way, he also paid attention to observing Saigon, Vietnam's most prosperous city. Many people compare Saigon to Shanghai in China.

But according to Li Qinghe's perception, it could at best be considered a low-spec version of Shanghai. What made the city seem young and vibrant was the surging tide of motorcycles on the roads and the crowded pedestrians on the sidewalks.

Saigon, with a population of 10 million, gathers young people from all over Vietnam, north and south, who are pursuing dreams and wealth.

Some are born in Rome, others flock there to toil.

No matter which international metropolis in the world, locals generally live more comfortably because they have benefited from urban development.

Everyone knows that when living away from home, the biggest expense is housing. People from other places who want to settle in a city must rent houses from locals.

Therefore, in cities, at similar income levels, the lives of outsiders are always a bit tighter because they still need to spend a large part of their income to solve the housing problem.

Regardless of whether locals are rich or not, as long as they own their own homes, their living standards will not be too bad.

Now, housing prices in Saigon have also begun to skyrocket. Downtown housing prices have risen from over 40 million vietnamese dong per square meter to over 200 million vietnamese dong per square meter within a few years.

Converted to dragon country currency, it's roughly from over 10,000 to over 50,000 per square meter.

Some high-end projects even reached 500 million vietnamese dong per square meter, considered the ceiling for housing prices in Vietnam, while the average income of Vietnamese people is only 8 million vietnamese dong.

Converted to dragon country currency, the housing price ceiling is over 100,000 per square meter, and the average income is a little over 2,000.

Therefore, Vietnamese people from other places living in Saigon do not live that comfortably, but compared to their hometowns, their income has increased significantly.

Mixed in the surging crowd of motorcycles, Li Qinghe saw several phenomena that were strictly controlled in Hanoi—motorcycle gangs.

Phones, shoulder bags, and gold necklaces were all their targets. They would slowly drive along the roadside.

Once someone stood on the sidewalk making a call or playing with their phone without any precautions, a twist of the throttle could result in the item changing hands.

Only the robbed person would be left panicking in place or looking for the police everywhere.

Pedestrians on the roadside seemed to be accustomed to such motorcycle robberies, glancing at them, tightening their bags in front of them, and continuing to walk.

No wonder Li Qinghe saw pedestrians on the road tightly holding their bags in front of them.

Li Qinghe's future camera lens had been flying overhead, and these robbery scenes were also recorded, but he wasn't so saintly as to share them with the police. Who knew what relationship these motorcycle gangs had with the local Vietnamese police?

Anyway, it didn't involve him, so he just watched it as entertainment.

Life's myriad forms, everything seen is an experience.

Li Qinghe did not go to the top-tier mall, Vincom Center, choosing Diamond Plaza instead, because it was considered the largest mall in Saigon.

However, on the way to the mall, Li Qinghe passed Saigon's famous Ben Thanh Market.

He originally thought there would be something special inside, but Li Qinghe walked in and was greatly disappointed. It was just a very large distribution market.

Many Westerners enjoy browsing inside because this kind of market is very novel to them, but for Dragon Country People, this kind of market is commonplace.

It's like the non-vegetable section of a rural farmers' market, similar to this, all selling clothes and small commodities.

However, as Li Qinghe left the market, he saw three girls wearing T-shirts and denim shorts walking side by side, enjoying the joy of youth, chatting and laughing.

From left to right: A Cao, A Hua, A Lan

He quietly followed behind, listening to the three girls chat, and gradually learned their names were A Cao, A Hua, and A Lan.

After learning their voices, Li Qinghe began to cause mischief from behind.

One moment he would imitate A Cao, asking A Hua to lend a comb, the next he would ask A Hua to ask A Cao for a compact mirror.

The three girls were thoroughly confused by Li Qinghe's antics from behind.

They all felt that day was a bit eerie. The three girls were a little flustered; their companions' voices were clearly audible.

Even the owners of the voices heard them.

But they all knew that some of the things said just now were not spoken by themselves at all.

Looking at the sun in the sky, the near-noon sunlight was bright and scorching. There was no reason to encounter anything strange.

The three girls eventually stopped talking, but their voices kept echoing around them.

Li Qinghe appeared beside the girls when they were on the verge of breaking down, pointing at the sub-lens, disguised as a miniature drone, flying a little higher than their heads, and told them he was filming a video.

When they were looking around earlier, the three girls had actually noticed Li Qinghe behind them, but their energy was focused on arguing about what they had said.

Now that Li Qinghe stepped out and voluntarily informed them, they realized that everything was this tall and handsome boy's prank.

They should have been angry; this prank had given them a big scare, but after seeing the tall and handsome Li Qinghe, that anger unconsciously disappeared.

When Li Qinghe made fists with both hands and asked them to guess which hand held something, those who guessed correctly would receive a reward.

Even if they guessed wrong, they could get 500,000 vietnamese dong, and if they guessed correctly, they could get a reward of 3 million vietnamese dong.

Such generous rewards immediately excited the three girls.

The reason they dressed rather simply was because they only had simple means.

The three hesitated for a long time before unanimously choosing Li Qinghe's left hand.

The result was truly excellent; the three girls' eyes widened in unison.

A Labubu doll lay quietly in Li Qinghe's palm.

The three girls excitedly hugged each other. They never dreamed that they could get an unexpected income just by shopping.

Even if they split it, each person would get 1 million vietnamese dong. With an income close to 3 million, why would they need a bicycle?

Li Qinghe first gave each person one million vietnamese dong.

With this interlude, Li Qinghe successfully infiltrated the trio.

He gradually learned about their situations.

They were all university classmates, currently in their internship period. They happened to have time off today, so they arranged to go shopping together.

Saigon has many large shopping malls, but relative to their income, Ben Thanh Market was clearly more cost-effective.

Under the expectant gazes of the three, Li Qinghe pulled out several banknotes, all 500,000 vietnamese dong denominations.

He gave two to each person.

Seeing that they really got the money, the three were overjoyed and wanted to invite Li Qinghe for coffee.

Li Qinghe first performed a trick of conjuring objects out of thin air in front of the three, producing another Labubu doll from A Hua's palm and A Xiang's armpit respectively.

This way, everyone received both cash and a doll.

Of course, Li Qinghe's Zalo account also gained three new friends.

Then he politely declined their invitation for coffee, saying that he might be free to go shopping in the next few days.

After bidding farewell to the somewhat disappointed girls, Li Qinghe arrived at Diamond Plaza as planned.

After parking his motorcycle in a nearby parking lot, Li Qinghe quickly walked towards this renowned mall in Saigon.

The building where the mall is located has only 22 floors in total, and the mall itself occupies 15 floors for shopping and leisure.

It includes many international brand clothing, bags, cosmetics, and more.

Various gourmet restaurants, bowling alleys, children's play areas, and other facilities are also distributed on different floors.

Li Qinghe had barely walked two steps into the mall when his eyes were drawn to a figure.