Chapter 8

But the manager, having experienced many things, did not directly chase her away; instead, he patiently asked, "Little miss, you want to buy a watch."

Before Su Ruo could answer, the sales clerk shouted in a shrill voice:

"Manager, you can tell from her appearance that she can't afford it; I kindly reminded her that if she breaks it she has to pay, but who knew she'd bite the hand that feeds her like a dog biting Lü Dongbin, insisting on making a scene here with me."

Su Ruo wasn't angry either; she glanced at her lightly and asked, "How do you know I can't afford it?"

The sales clerk scoffed, "Big talk has its limits; if you can actually buy it, I'll eat this watch."

The manager felt this was wrong, but by the time he tried to intervene, it was already too late.

"Good!" Su Ruo directly pulled out the watch voucher and slapped 170 yuan onto the counter, saying, "Go ahead and eat it!"

The sales clerk and the surrounding people were instantly dumbfounded.

They never imagined that Su Ruo, dressed in ragged clothes and looking sallow and thin, could actually afford to buy a watch.

"You, you, you…" the sales clerk pointed at Su Ruo but couldn't utter a word.

Su Ruo curled her lip in a mocking smile: "I've lived this long and never heard anyone make such a demand; naturally I'll indulge you, though I don't know how you plan to eat it—steamed or braised Black Market style?"

But the manager reacted quickly; upon seeing the voucher Su Ruo produced, his impatience vanished instantly, and he gave her a warm smile, saying:

"Little miss, he doesn't know better; don't bother with her, Xiao Liu, hurry up and apologize to the customer."

"Who knows where she got this money, maybe she stole it." The female sales clerk, used to being pampered, had never suffered such injustice; she muttered unwillingly.

The manager was about to say something else, but Su Ruo cut him off before he could smooth things over.

"No need for an apology; I came here openly to buy a watch, yet who knew they wouldn't even let me look, insulted me as a country bumpkin, and even threatened to kick me out."

"They look down on rural folk—what's wrong with us? Every grain of food you eat and wear is grown by farmers' hard labor."

"If no one painstakingly grew these grains, you'd have starved to death long ago."

"Great men have said everyone is equal; as a department store sales clerk, she looks down on rural people—this is a matter of ideological awareness."

"I don't know whether you, Manager, plan to handle this, or if you share her view that rural people don't deserve to shop in your department store."

Su Ruo's words instantly stirred the emotions of the surrounding people; most of them were ordinary folk who had all suffered the sales clerk's scorn, and upon hearing this they immediately united against a common enemy.

Seeing this, the manager's expression turned serious as he advised, "Little miss, she's just hot‑tempered and misspoke; it's not that serious."

"You mean I'm making a mountain out of a molehill, Manager? Fine, since you won't intervene, I'll take this to the higher authorities to see whether I'm overreacting or she's the one with a problem, practicing capitalist ways, dividing people into ranks and looking down on rural folk."

The manager had been intending to smooth things over, but hearing this, cold sweat instantly broke out on his forehead; now is a tense time, and if this got out it would be disastrous—he feared he himself might be implicated. His face darkened, and he snapped at the sales clerk, "Hurry up and apologize to this miss!"

Su Ruo directly interrupted him, saying, "No need; just look at her attitude—this probably isn't the first time she's done this. If we let it go with a simple apology, who knows how many more ordinary people will be bullied in the future!"

The onlookers around also nodded repeatedly, saying, "Right!" Their faces showed shared indignation, obviously they'd all been through this.

The manager realized that trying to gloss over this was obviously impossible; he immediately put on a smile and said, "Little miss, I know today's affair has wronged you. Let me have her compensate you with three months' wages—does that work for you?"

Afraid Su Ruo might disagree, he added, "She earns 25 yuan a month; three months comes to 75 yuan."

Su Ruo knew that pushing further would get her no more than this, so she nodded, indicating her agreement.

The female sales clerk's eyes turned red with rage—those were her three months' wages!

She had just wanted to retort when the manager snapped, "This is entirely your fault; cause any more trouble and you'll be suspended."

The sales clerk was instantly frightened into silence.

Su Ruo paid 95 yuan and the watch voucher, then took the watch and left, satisfied.

But Su Ruo didn't see the resentful face of Su Jinjin in the crowd.

Su Jinjin had been bullied that morning and was in a bad mood; her parents gave her two yuan to cheer her up and let her go out shopping.

Su Jinjin got the money and was originally quite happy, but she never expected to run into Su Ruo again here.

Moreover, Su Ruo actually bought a watch—something even Su Jinjin doesn't have. How could that despised, lowly girl afford such an expensive item?

Su Jinjin stood in the crowd, her eyes red with envy, but she remembered her father's words and did not rush forward; instead, she turned and went home.

After telling her parents about this, Su Jinjin couldn't help but whine, "Mom and Dad, I don't care—I must get that watch!"

This time not only Da Bo's wife but even Boss couldn't sit still. Originally, to avoid gossip, he had planned to visit in a few days, but seeing Su Ruo like this, they feared that if they waited longer, the money left by Lao Er's couple would be completely drained by Su Ruo—this simply wouldn't do!

So Boss and his wife consulted and decided to go tomorrow, determined to get Lao Er's couple's remaining money in hand first, no matter what.

At this moment Su Ruo had no idea of the Da Bo family's scheming. After returning home, thinking she would leave tomorrow and the house had been sold, she went through everything inside and out, again and again—from clothes and socks to needles and thread, from oil, salt, sauce, and vinegar to pots, bowls, ladles, and basins—anything she liked and could use, she stored it all in her space.

Having done all that, Su Ruo looked at the empty room, the corners of her mouth turning up slightly, wondering what expression Grandma Su and the Da Bo family would have when they saw the surprise she'd left for them.

Thinking thus, Su Ruo fell into a sweet sleep.

The next day, before dawn, Su Ruo shouldered an enormous package and set out alone for the train station.

Actually, Su Ruo could have stored everything in her system space and gone to the train station light‑hearted.

But if she did that, once she arrived she couldn't very well conjure those items out of thin air in front of people!

She'd be seized as a monster.

So to avoid drawing attention, Su Ruo prepared a large bundle; though it looks big, inside there's only a bedroll and a few sets of clothes—nothing else—so the bundle isn't heavy, it just looks intimidating.

Meanwhile, Boss went to the hospital early to fetch Grandma Su, both to have a legitimate reason and to avoid gossip. Grandma Su was initially uneasy leaving her eldest grandson alone in the hospital, but upon hearing that Su Ruo had actually spent a hundred yuan on a watch, she flew into a rage and headed straight for the Su residence.

"You little slut, daring to buy a watch—don't even look at her lowly station; can she even bear such things?"

Grandma Su walked along, cursing, her vicious expression making it seem she wanted to tear Su Ruo apart.