Since Chris had put it that way, Darwin naturally had no reason not to go.
The two arrived at the shopping district and began searching for suitable targets in the major shops.
Jewelry stores, clothing boutiques, and gift shops were the best sourcing points for female gifts.
Thus, the siblings walked from the beginning of the street to the end of the alleys, browsing over a dozen shops. They narrowed down their gift targets to necklaces, clothes, dresses, shoes, and bags, recording their sizes, prices, and colors, then listing them all in a table for unified reference.
Three hours later.
The two found a cold drink shop to sit down and rest while discussing their "gift-giving plan."
"Hiss... I didn't think these clothes, jewelry, and bags would be so expensive!"
"The guild uncles were right; women's money is indeed easy to earn!"
Darwin sighed at the difficulty of making money while sipping his juice.
Chris sat next to him, frowning, holding a pen and occasionally tapping her head with the tip in frustration. "This is trouble... based on the money I got from my first job, let alone four gifts, even two would be difficult!"
You only have to buy four, but I have one more than you!
Darwin thought silently, and Erza's charming and cute face involuntarily popped into his mind.
Could he only cut out the gift for Erza?
No!
The gift for Erza absolutely must be sent!
In that case, the only way is...
Darwin suddenly turned to Chris and proposed, "How about the two of us stop giving gifts to each other? Since our primary roles this time are 'givers,' there's no need to receive gifts. Plus, this way, we can each save the money for one gift!"
"What a coincidence, I was thinking exactly the same thing!"
Chris looked up with a giggle. "But even if we reduce the number of gifts by one, there's still not enough money!"
Since it was their first time giving gifts, neither wanted them to look too shabby, so they had looked at well-known fashion boutiques in town. Naturally, the prices there were higher than in ordinary shops.
"Actually, I have an idea. If we send them together, wouldn't we save the cost of three gifts?"
"Send them together... wouldn't that be a bit bad?"
Despite her words, Chris was already a bit swayed.
"It won't be, it won't be!"
"Look, the money we each have is more than enough for one gift but not enough for two. If we pool it together, it's just enough to buy three gifts."
"This way, doesn't the budget problem get solved?"
Darwin picked up the table, flicked it with his finger, and continued, "And if we send gifts separately, there's another layer of trouble!"
Chris blinked and asked, "What trouble?"
"The trouble is that the two mothers might compare the gifts we give!"
"For example, if the gift I give to Mom is more expensive, and the gift I give to Aunt Zera is slightly cheaper, even if Aunt Zera doesn't say it, she might feel in her heart that my love for the mothers is biased..."
Chris felt quite uncomfortable hearing this and immediately shouted indignantly, "Mom wouldn't think that way!"
Darwin raised an eyebrow. "Really?"
"Of course not!"
"Are you sure?"
"Uh... probably... not..."
Chris's voice weakened, and her tone became less certain.
"In short, as long as they receive multiple gifts, the mothers will definitely compare them. Where there is comparison, there are winners and losers, and where there are losers, someone gets hurt."
"We can't let the mothers be sad!"
To save money on a few gifts, Darwin was pushing his brain to the limit at this moment, exerting his eloquence to the fullest.
"Uh... what you say makes some sense."
"But will it be okay if we send them together?"
"According to your logic, as long as the gifts are different, the mothers will have a competitive heart. Someone would still end up being sad!"
Chris was indeed clever and quickly found the loophole in Darwin's theory.
However, facing her doubt, Darwin seemed to have expected it. He smiled and shook his head. "That won't happen."
"First, because we are sending them together, it's hard for the mothers to judge who spent more money on the same gift. This way, the pressure won't shift to us;"
"Second, as long as we keep the gifts for them at roughly the same price, we can dispel that 'competitive heart' to some extent!"
Chris had a sudden realization and lightly punched the table with her fist.
"I get it! We just need to send similar gifts to the two mothers, right?!"
"Wait! In that case, why don't we just send the exact same thing?"
Darwin's expression turned solemn. "That is absolutely not allowed!"
Chris was stunned. "Why not?"
"Because sending the same thing makes it look like we have no sincerity!"
"Furthermore, if we send the same style of clothing to both mothers, won't they 'clash' (wear the same outfit) when they put them on?"
"The uncles at the guild said that the hardest thing for a woman to endure is clashing outfits, because it magnifies other flaws."
"When that happens, they might not wear the clothes at all, and our efforts would be completely wasted!"
"The final result would be that we clearly sent two gifts, but it would be almost the same as sending nothing—the effect would be near zero!"
Darwin took a sip of juice and continued, "Do you remember? The mothers often share their clothes and jewelry!"
Chris recalled for a moment and nodded. "It seems that is indeed the case!"
Darwin smirked. "So, if the things we send are different, they can share them with each other."
"This way, on the surface they each receive only one gift, but in terms of practical effect, they actually receive two!"
"The price of two gifts, achieving the effect of four!"
"There is no better deal than this!"
"Of course, remember not to buy shoes, because my mom doesn't wear shoes."
Chris was deeply shocked, her heart thumping with excitement.
She suddenly felt that this idiot brother of hers was actually much smarter than she had imagined!
In the past, she had truly underestimated him!
"Then... then what would be better to send?"
Darwin refocused his gaze on the gift table. "It's best to buy things they can use. How about a necklace and a dress!"
Chris hesitated. "But my mom rarely wears dresses!"
Darwin thought for a bit and said, "There will always be a time when she can use it!"
"After all, the commemorative meaning of this gift is far greater than its practical meaning."
"If you feel it's not enough, we can make some handicrafts by hand. That way, we'll have both 'sincerity' and 'value'!"