As it turned out, Shi Xiaolei worries were completely unnecessary.
It wasn't because wealthy Pepper was present and Bayonetta would politely let her pay instead of using Shi Xiaolei card.
Nor was it because they had arrived at the campsite at 5 PM, leaving too little time for shopping, preventing Bayonetta from showing off her lavish spending habits.
It was purely because there was nowhere to spend money—the nearest settlement to the campsite was a small city called Clearfield.
Though it was a county seat, the city size was comparable to a township in China.
Additionally, since every American household owned a car, if the small town residents wanted to buy nice clothes, they would definitely choose to drive to surrounding larger cities to have more options.
Without a market, naturally no businesses would open shops here.
In the small town, there was only one clothing section in a larger supermarket, without even a dedicated clothing store.
Even if Bayonetta wanted to spend more money, with nothing to buy, where could she possibly spend it?
So after going out for over an hour and returning around 6.30 PM, Bayonetta had bought only two outfits.
There were no designer brands, no runway pieces or limited editions.
All together, she had spent just over three thousand dollars of Shi Xiaolei money.
By the small town consumption standards, even this price was quite extravagant.
However, cheap as they might be, it didn't mean Lady Bayo didn't look good wearing them.
After all, Lady Bayo stood at 180 centimeters tall with legs that rivaled international supermodels.
Combined with her precise and unique aesthetic sense, whatever clothes fell into her hands, she could effortlessly make them look their best on her.
"Wow~, I can't believe this is just a two-hundred-dollar outfit."
Pepper exclaimed with wide eyes in disbelief as Bayonetta emerged from the tent in her new clothes.
Her previous outfit was woven from witch's hair—it could be dismissed but not physically removed.
So to avoid raising suspicions from Pepper or the supermarket staff, Bayonetta used the excuse that "the supermarket changing room was too small and didn't provide conditions for altering clothes." deliberately waiting until returning to the campsite before changing into her new outfit.
The originally somewhat plain top had been transformed into a stylish, designer-looking piece with just a few sewn lines and a couple of fasteners.
The jeans were similarly modified—she had cut two small holes in exactly the right places, tastefully exposing small patches of skin on her legs.
The originally somewhat dull color actually complemented those small patches of fair skin better.
Combined with her long leg shape, these jeans suddenly looked much more fashionable.
They truly looked good.
If in New York, this outfit displayed in a high-end boutique would cost at least eight or nine thousand, or even over ten thousand dollars.
"Just simple modifications."
Very satisfied with her results and quite receptive to Pepper praise, Bayonetta put one hand on her hip, gracefully turned around, striking a pose like a magazine cover model, and blew a kiss toward Shi Xiaolei who happened to be nearby.
"Darling, what do you think?"
"Hmm?"
With a hammer for tent stakes in his hand, he was helping Stark set up his tent.
Suddenly hearing the greeting from behind, he turned around and saw Bayonetta new look.
Along with it, he also received her blown kiss.
"Hmm, nice."
"Looks good."
Slightly awkward, Shi Xiaolei face reddened slightly.
After Shi Xiaolei earlier explanation, Stark knew the fact that he wasn't pursuing Bayonetta, but he had forgotten to inform Pepper along the way.
"Such a blockhead."
Just hearing Bayonetta call Shi Xiaolei 'darling,' Pepper instinctively assumed they were flirting.
So now, seeing Shi Xiaolei reaction, she couldn't help but comment from the side.
"Rock, be more honest, OK? This is America—you can't win a girl by being too reserved."
"Uh..."
"Bayonetta, never mind him."
Before Shi Xiaolei could explain, Pepper had already moved on to the next step—feeling it necessary to ease the awkwardness between them, and also wanting Bayonetta to help style her as well, Pepper quickly approached Bayonetta, took her arm, and pulled her toward the van.
"I brought several pieces I don't wear often, originally planning to throw them away after this trip. Come help me look at them—there might be some undiscovered treasures..."
In the blink of an eye, the two women had walked away.
What else could he say? Shi Xiaolei shook his head, withdrew his gaze, and prepared to return to the task of "setting up camp."
"Xiaolei, Xiaolei, when are we going to eat?"
Just then, little Kanna approached again.
Though she held a lollipop Bayonetta had given her, that wouldn't fill her up.
It was already past 6 PM, Kanna usual dinnertime, so it was no wonder the little girl came to ask.
"I'll start cooking soon, just let me finish helping Stark with this tent..."
While speaking, he patted the little girl head, then suddenly brightened, offering her the hammer.
"Kanna, why don't you help too? Let me tell you, setting up a tent is actually quite fun."
"Really?"
Blinking her eyes, Kanna became interested and happily raised her little hand.
"I want to help~!"
"Come, I'll teach you."
Leading Kanna forward a couple of steps, Shi Xiaolei crouched down at one corner of the tent, first raising the hammer to tap twice as a demonstration for the little girl, then handed the hammer to Kanna.
"Here, just like I did, aim for this stake."
"Okay~"
The adult and child were having a good time together.
Seeing this, 2B turned around and opened the food container that had been temporarily set aside.
"Rock, what should we have for dinner? I'll start preparing the ingredients."
"What did you all bring?"
Just then, Rhodes returned from the campsite management office after completing the check-in procedures.
While asking, he peered into the box.
Discovering a package of ready-to-grill meat skewers, Rhodes eyes unconsciously revealed a hint of anticipation.
"Are these the lamb skewers I had last time? Why don't we make these?"
"Sure, let's have lamb skewers."
Hearing Rhodes request, Shi Xiaolei made his decision on the spot.
"Sylvia, take out that bag of shrimp tails too. I'll stir-fry some spicy crayfish later."
Feeling that grilled meat and spicy crayfish made a good combination, he had specially arranged for someone to import a bag from China.
When preparing these ingredients, Shi Xiaolei had simply planned according to his own preferences without overthinking it.
But to the others ears...
"Crayfish? What's that?"
"It's the Procambarus clarkii."
"What? Procambarus clarkii? You can't be serious, that thing is edible?"
Rhodes widened his eyes, his face full of disbelief.
The other two also stopped what they were doing.
Poking his head out from the other side of the tent, Stark seriously protested to Shi Xiaolei.
"Hey, man, those things have excessive heavy metals. I don't want to get poisoned."
"...Anyone else could say that, but you?"
Shi Xiaolei rolled his eyes impatiently and pointed at the light in Stark chest.
"With that thing in your body, you have the nerve to say this?"
(T/N: Like the story fellow daoist?you can read 20 chapters ahead on my P@treon [[email protected]/DaoistRongyi] Thanks for your support! 😊)