It was the 28th day of the twelfth lunar month, two days before Lunar New Year's Eve. The festive atmosphere in my hometown should have been very strong, but the streets around the discount supermarket were deserted. After 5 p.m., there wasn't a soul in sight.
After these few days of learning, Xia Minmin's cashier speed is much faster than before.
Xia Minmin stood on a small stool and quickly scanned the barcodes and put the items into her shopping bag.
"Hello, the total is 126.8 yuan. Please give me 126 yuan. This box of chewing gum is a gift from the owner. Thank you for your patronage."
The grandmother, with her gray hair permed into small curls, was dressed neatly and carried a crossbody bag. She took out a small cloth bag from the bag, counted out one hundred and thirty yuan with trembling hands, and handed it to Xia Minmin.
"Little piggy! Here you go!"
"I'll take your 130 yuan and give you 4 yuan back."
Xia Minmin took the money, counted the two fifty-yuan bills, found no problem, and handed four one-yuan bills to the old man.
"Please take this, and walk carefully on your way."
At this moment, Xia Minmin noticed that the old woman was pulling a small cart, getting off the small stool, and putting the shopping bags into her small cart.
"Little pig, thank you!"
"You're welcome. Please drive safely home!"
The elderly man slowly walked out of the supermarket, pulling his cart, and Xia Minmin returned to her post.
The next customer to pay was a young mother with a four or five-year-old child. The young mother was dressed entirely in gold, with a thick gold bracelet on her wrist, a gold necklace around her neck as thick as a child's little finger, gold rings on six of her ten fingers, and heavy gold earrings that stretched her ear piercings.
The child was a boy, a naughty child. He swept the chewing gum, lollipops, and other snacks from the small shelf next to the cashier onto the floor and stomped on them.
Seeing this, Xia Minmin immediately stopped him, "Little brother, you can't do that! What you're doing is wrong. You have to pay for the things you break. Many of these snacks are imported and expensive."
The mother of the brat raised her voice and said, "Are you afraid we can't afford to pay? My husband is from Hong Kong, we have plenty of money, and my son is their only son. All the family property will belong to my son in the future! You country bumpkins have never seen so much money in your lives."
The young mother turned to her son and said, "Son, keep stepping on them if you like, Mom will pay for everything! My baby wouldn't be happy if it wasn't expensive!"
Upon hearing this, the mischievous child pulled everything off the shelf and stomped on it.
Seeing how helpful her son was, Ms. Jin took out a stack of hundred-yuan bills from her purse and waved them in front of Xia Minmin, saying, "See? I have plenty of money. I can do whatever I want!"
Customers standing behind them, worried about being affected, turned to other cash registers to pay.
Xiao Wu rushed over after hearing the commotion. Seeing the mess on the ground, he looked his niece up and down and found no injuries, so he breathed a sigh of relief.
Xiao Wu turned to Ms. Jin Cancan and asked, "Madam, is there anything about our supermarket that you are dissatisfied with?"
Ms. Jin Cancan waved her hand, which was adorned with a large gold bracelet, and said, "I have no complaints. I just have too much money and want to give some away. Since my son likes to step on things, let him. My family has plenty of money, and I don't care about this little bit of money at all."
"Okay, we understand."
After Xiao Wu finished speaking, he stood to the side.
"I've never seen such a spendthrift child."
"Their family is really rich. Look at the gold jewelry that woman is wearing; it must be worth at least ten thousand yuan."
...
The surrounding chatter made the mother and son even more smug, until the child finally ended this boring and wasteful game thirty minutes later.
The mischievous child walked back to Ms. Jin Cancan's side. Ms. Jin Cancan took the child's hand, took out sunglasses from her purse, and put them on.
"Bill, please!"
Xiao Wu sorted out the scattered packaging on the ground, making it easier for his little niece to scan the code to pay.
"Madam, the total is one thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven yuan and eight mao. Let me round it down to one thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven."
Upon hearing this, Ms. Jin Cancan took off her sunglasses and exclaimed in shock, "How much?"
Xia Minmin smiled and repeated, "One thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven yuan! Madam, it's not much money."
Ms. Jin's expression stiffened. "It's not much! Show me the receipt and let me check. How am I supposed to know if you've added anything wrong?"
"Xiaomin, print out the receipts and give them to this lady to reconcile the accounts."
Beep beep beep…
Ms. Jin Cancan's shopping receipt is one meter long.
This left other customers at the checkout speechless. Everyone in the supermarket knew about the mother and son's story, and some even stayed after paying to see what would happen next.
Ms. Jin spent twenty minutes checking the accounts. “This is fraud. Why didn’t you tell us before my baby stepped on these things? These items are so expensive. I refuse to pay now.”
Ms. Jin Cancan crossed her arms and turned her head to the side, her face clearly saying, "What can you do to me?"
Xia Minmin said, "I reminded you to tell your child not to step on them. Some of these snacks are imported and very expensive. You said your child wouldn't step on them since they're not expensive."
"Did you say that? Did anyone hear you? Nobody heard you." Ms. Jin Cancan said smugly.
Xiao Wu pointed seriously to the surveillance cameras overhead and in various corners, saying, "Madam, your behavior and that of our employees have all been recorded by the surveillance cameras. If you are unwilling to pay, we can go to the police station to handle it; it's not far away."
As Xiao Wu moved his finger, Ms. Jin saw several surveillance cameras and angrily lashed out at her beloved son.
"You spendthrift, how much money have you squandered from me again?"
"Your deadbeat father only cares about his wife; he didn't give her any living expenses this month!"
As she spoke, Ms. Jin slapped the brat across the face, and the brat immediately retorted.
"If it weren't for you, you bitch, preventing me from going to Hong Kong, my daddy and aunt wouldn't have let me go hungry. The clothes and toys I brought from Hong Kong were all bought for me by my aunt! They're much better than yours."
Upon hearing her son's words, Ms. Jin immediately burst into tears, a stark contrast to her previous arrogant demeanor.
She wiped away her tears, removing the thick foundation from her face to reveal freckles. She then counted out two thousand yuan from her purse and handed it to Xia Minmin.
"I'm sorry about what happened today. I didn't raise my child well and caused you inconvenience. I apologize to you, and the extra money is my compensation to you."
As soon as she finished speaking, she took her son's hand and left. She said to her son, "After we get home, I will call your father and have him pick you up and take you to Hong Kong. From then on, we, mother and son, will never see each other again, whether in life or in death."
After the farce ended, Xiao Wu quickly told his employees to clean up, and the customers who had watched the commotion started discussing it.
"Is she a mistress?"
"I guess so, I guess she's the mistress of some factory owner or executive here."
"Why did you have to become someone's mistress?"
"Judging from her tone, she might have been tricked into having a child. People in Hong Kong prefer sons the most."
"That's possible. They all say that girls from mainland China are easy to fool."
"It's hard to stay true to yourself when you come from the countryside to this dazzling world."
The chatter didn't subside until the supermarket closed.
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