Feng Yulan stood in front of the cashier counter, her fingers mechanically scanning the product barcodes.
"Beep—"
"Beep—"
"Beep—"
The supermarket's air conditioning was on full blast, but a thin layer of sweat still seeped down her back. The line at the checkout counter was long, and customers tapped their toes impatiently, occasionally uttering a few grumbling sounds.
"Can you hurry up?" a middle-aged woman with curly hair slammed her shopping basket on the counter. "What are you taking so long for?"
Feng Yulan's fingers trembled, and the barcode scanner beeped and missed. She quickly turned the product around and aimed it back at the red light.
"Sorry, I'll be right back..."
"You can't even scan a QR code?" The woman rolled her eyes. "Are you from the countryside?"
Feng Yulan said nothing, only quickening her movements. Her nails were cracked at the edges, and her fingertips were white and flaky from prolonged contact with plastic bags.
The curly-haired woman suddenly reached out and snatched the eggs she was bagging. "Be gentle! Will you pay for them if they break?"
The plastic bag made a harsh friction sound, and Feng Yulan's hand froze in mid-air.
"sorry......"
"You only know how to say sorry, you loser." The woman sneered and walked away with the bag.
Feng Yulan stood there, feeling the air around her freeze. She could sense the gazes of other customers—some sympathetic, some disgusted, and most of them indifferent.
"Next." She whispered, her voice almost inaudible.
In the supermarket's monitoring room, the duty manager Wang Dehai crossed his legs and stared at the screen with squinted eyes.
"That woman," he said to the security guard next to him, pointing at Feng Yulan's picture, "looks unlucky."
The security guard smiled apologetically: "Yes, yes, you look so gloomy all day long, which affects the customers' mood."
Wang Dehai took a sip of tea and said, "If it weren't for the fact that it's cheap, I would have opened it long ago."
On the screen, Feng Yulan was bending over to pick up a coin dropped by a customer. Her movements were so slow that it seemed as if every vertebra in her spine was protesting.
"Why are you pretending to be weak?" Wang Dehai spat out a piece of tea leaves. "A thirty-year-old man is living like he's fifty."
At four o'clock in the afternoon, the supermarket enters its busiest time of the day.
There were seven or eight people lined up in front of Feng Yulan's cashier counter, and one of them, a teenager in school uniform, stood out. He was tall, with fair skin and pale blue eyes that shone like ice under the light. His slightly long, wolf-tail hair made him look both rebellious and clean-cut.
Zhang Xuanhua put the shopping basket on the conveyor belt. There was only a bottle of mineral water and a loaf of bread in it.
Feng Yulan lowered her head and scanned the code: "Three dollars and fifty cents."
Zhang Xuanhua handed over five yuan and suddenly said, "That person just treated you very badly."
Feng Yulan's fingers paused.
"You shouldn't have tolerated it." The boy's voice was clear and powerful. "She was in the wrong first."
Feng Yulan raised her head and looked directly at the student for the first time. His eyes were bright, as if they held two balls of fire, reminding her of fireflies on summer nights in her hometown.
"Thank you..." She subconsciously tucked the hair away from her ears, "but I'm used to it."
Zhang Xuanhua frowned: "Are you used to being bullied?"
Feng Yulan didn't answer, but handed him the change and the receipt: "Welcome to visit us next time."
The boy took the change but didn't leave. He stared at the work badge on Feng Yulan's chest for a while: "Aunt Feng, my name is Zhang Xuanhua."
"......Um."
"Class 2 (1) of Senior High School." He added, "It's in a nearby high school."
Feng Yulan didn't understand why this rich young man wanted to talk to her, so she could only nod and say, "School is almost over, right? Go home early."
Zhang Xuanhua suddenly smiled: "Are you concerned about me?"
Feng Yulan was stunned. How long had it been since someone spoke to her in such a relaxed tone? Three years? Five years?
"Next!" the customer behind urged impatiently.
Zhang Xuanhua then made way, but he did not walk far away. Instead, he stood not far away and observed Feng Yulan's work.
At half past five, an alarm suddenly sounded at Feng Yulan's cash register.
"What's going on?" Wang Dehai rushed over with a gloomy face.
Feng Yulan's face turned pale: "Manager, this machine suddenly crashed..."
"It's frozen?" Wang Dehai pushed her away. "You must have pressed some random button!"
The line erupted in a commotion. Some people cursed, threw away their merchandise, and left, while others pulled out their phones to record the scene.
"Sorry, I'll restart right away..."
"Restart your ass!" Wang Dehai pointed at her nose. "Do you know how much sales revenue has been lost? I'll deduct three days' salary from you!"
Feng Yulan's lips trembled: "It's not my fault..."
"You still dare to talk back?" Wang Dehai raised his hand.
"stop."
A clear voice interrupted. Zhang Xuanhua had stood between the two of them without them noticing. He was half a head taller than Wang Dehai, and his light blue eyes were as cold as ice.
"Who are you?" Wang Dehai put down his hand awkwardly.
"Customer." Zhang Xuanhua showed his phone. "I just recorded the whole thing. Do you want to post it online for everyone to judge?"
Wang Dehai's expression changed: "Little classmate, this matter has nothing to do with you..."
"Why is it okay?" Zhang Xuanhua sneered, "Why should your employees take the blame for your supermarket's machine malfunction?"
The crowd began to whisper. Someone held up their phone and said, "Support the young man!"
Wang Dehai's forehead was covered in sweat: "It's a misunderstanding, it's all a misunderstanding..."
Feng Yulan stared blankly at the boy standing in front of her. Sunlight slanted in through the supermarket window, gilding his features. His slightly long hair glowed light brown in the light.
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