Customers are God
“Please…”
"Help……"
"I want to go out too...I want to go home..."
The sorrowful pleas were mixed with sobs, which moved those who heard them to pity.
The pleading voices disappeared only when they were far away from the lilac field.
Under the sun, they were like drowning people climbing out of the water, with the back of their heads covered in cold sweat and the chill running from the soles of their feet to the ceiling.
Lu Miao stopped to count the number of people.
Fortunately, neither more nor less.
"It's so dangerous where there are flowers." The uncle wiped the cold sweat from his face with his sleeve.
"There's no place without flowers." The lady in flowery clothes sighed.
The ornamental flowers on the roadside are in full bloom, with clusters of flowers; the crowns of the yellow trumpet trees are bright yellow, like fireworks... There is no place in the botanical garden that is not planted with flowers.
As they walked forward, they looked around vigilantly.
It was so quiet that the person who came in before was nowhere to be seen.
Sometimes they couldn't help but wonder if all the people who came in earlier were dead.
One of the tall men glanced at the yellow trumpet trees on the roadside, rubbing his eyes in vain disbelief.
"There is a souvenir shop ahead." He Ping'an reminded in a low voice.
The first souvenir shop they came across was very close to the Carnivorous Plant Museum, and they could vaguely see a glass building in the distance.
"Are we going into the souvenir shop?" asked the lady in the flowery clothes.
Lu Miao: "Go to the door and take a look."
The appearance of the souvenir shop is very modern and artistic. The brown roof looks like a wave, and the snow-white walls are graffitied with green leaves.
The notice posted by the door was written in red and gold letters, which did not match the green graffiti on the wall at all.
"Read the rules before you dial, sir," she said to the man in glasses.
He had no objection.
Notice for entering the store:
1. This shop is the souvenir shop of Nanjiang Botanical Garden. Visitors can come in and buy anything they want.
2. If you are a tourist who has no intention of purchasing, please do not stay in the store for a long time and cause inconvenience to the Tsing Yi staff.
3. Our store only supports cash payment and the currency circulation of different countries. We do not bargain, please understand.
4. Please treat the shop assistants in Tsing Yi well.
5. This store does not sell any drinks.
6. This store prohibits any sales promotion activities. If any tourists or Tsing Yi staff violate this rule, please supervise them. (Be careful, the staff in this store are very arrogant)
There is actually a handwritten reminder in black next to Rule 6.
So what if it’s horizontal? This is the only souvenir shop within sight, so I have to go in.
"Do you have any cash?" Wang Keke searched all her pockets and trouser pockets, but didn't find a penny in cash.
Nowadays, people pay online and rarely carry cash when going out.
Lu Miao found some change in his pocket.
This was the change she exchanged before her last blind date, and she had already prepared to split the bill.
Wang Keke looked at her captain as if he were an alien.
The department provides food and accommodation, and there are very few opportunities to use cash.
"I have some." The lady in flowery clothes took out a wad of change. "I'm afraid my phone will run out of battery or there will be no network, so I usually carry change with me when I go out."
"I brought it too." The uncle and the man with glasses said in unison.
As a result, only a few young people went out without taking cash, and they felt ashamed of themselves.
Lu Miao came up with a compromise. "There are quite a few souvenir shops in the park, and the rules to follow are not difficult. If there are no plants in the shop, it is relatively safe. We will go shopping in several times to create a safe area."
"Okay, I agree."
The lady in flowered clothes and others who had change began to count the total amount of change.
Lu Miao had more than 100 yuan in change and was wondering what he could buy.
"Can I dial now?" The man with glasses picked up the phone.
Hearing this, the others moved away from him and retreated towards the three men.
"If anything goes wrong, come into the store immediately."
The man gave an affirmative look, then dialed the number and pressed the hands-free button.
He had turned down the volume beforehand, and the cell phone ringtone playing from the speaker wasn't too abrupt, but it was enough to disturb the peace.
"Hello?" The other party answered.
The man remained calm and said, "Hello, are you on duty?"
"Yes, are you lost?"
"Yes."
"Where are you? Tell me your location."
Lu Miao and He Ping'an frowned.
"Excuse me, how can I recognize you as an on-duty officer? What color clothes are you wearing?"
Deer seedlings flashed an admiring look.
"I'm the only one who'll go to your location, how could I not recognize you? Where are you? Tell me your location quickly."
The man hung up without hesitation.
The speed was so fast that the uncle and the others had no time to react.
"Sorry, I misjudged it. It looks like a suspicious hint." The man laughed.
"It means that the botanical gardens do not have any staff on duty."
"Who wrote this note? It's so sinister."
"But the handwriting on the note is exactly the same as the handwriting in the park's rules."
He Pingan suddenly interrupted: "If the fonts were different, we could easily see through the fake rules. If the other party hadn't been cerebellar, we wouldn't have met the person who came in before."
The others took a breath.
They still had to go into the souvenir shop, hoping to find a relatively safe area.
Lu Miao and Wang Keke were the first to push the door open, but they didn't expect to see a pair of feet in leather shoes overlapping and shaking on the cashier counter.
Lu Miao: “…”
Wang Keke: “…”
The owner of the legs was wearing a green vest, had a protruding belly, a horizontally developed body, and a green baseball cap.
He was flipping through a swimsuit magazine.
The people who came in later saw the clerk's size and didn't dare to talk to him.
"Pick whatever you want to buy, no bargaining. If you don't want to buy anything, get out within ten minutes, or you will bear the consequences!"
So arrogant...
The hint is correct.
Others wandered around in silence.
Lu Miao quickly glanced at the clerk's work area and didn't find the employee rules. She looked away and observed the furnishings in the store.
Good, no plants.
Suddenly, He Ping'an and the lady in flowery clothes waved to her.
She walked over quickly.
"Captain, we sell insecticide here." He Ping'an picked up a bottle of insecticide.
The lady in flowery clothes felt the pain: "I didn't notice that there were insecticides for sale before. 80 yuan a bottle, more expensive than in supermarkets outside, it's a rip-off."
Lu Miao took the insecticide from He Ping'an and checked the instructions on the bottle. "Suitable for spraying any kind of insects. Kills instantly with one spray. Extremely toxic. Useful for us to escape."
"Then..." The lady in flowery clothes hesitated and said, "Buy it?"
"I'll buy a bottle first to see if it works. It's not even ten minutes yet, so there's no rush to pay."
The merchandise on the other shelves was unremarkable.
Sunflower dolls, flower pillows, botanical garden badges, etc. are expensive and impractical.
Everyone lacked interest.
"What are you doing here?" the young man asked the tall man who was standing still.
"Ah?" He lowered his head and put his hands in his trouser pockets. "I'm looking at the merchandise."
The young man glanced at him and walked around him.
The face behind the swimsuit magazine quietly moves out to monitor whether tourists have any intention of shopping.
Suddenly, someone's cell phone rang, startling everyone.
The fat clerk reminded unhappily: "Remember the ten-minute limit!"
"I know." Wang Keke wrinkled her nose.
At this time, the man with glasses took out his ringing cell phone.
Everyone gathered around him anxiously.
"We are inside a ghost story, we shouldn't be able to get in." The young man's hands were cold.
"It's the cell phone number of the officer on duty."
Everyone's face turned pale.
"Answer it and listen to what he wants to do." Lu Miao said in a firm tone.
The man put the call on speakerphone. "Hello."
"I'm the on-duty officer you were looking for. I'm on patrol now. Where are you?"
Lu Miao glanced at the fat clerk behind the cash register.
He still read the magazine with relish.
"I don't know where I went." The man lied.
"Is there a road sign next to you? Or something iconic?"
"There's grass."
"Fuck, there's grass everywhere. Look ahead."
Lu Miao listened attentively, but the background sound was dead silent, without even the sound of footsteps.
The man continued to lie: "There are trees...ah, there seems to be someone ahead, bye."
He hung up quickly.
"He keeps asking about our location. Is he trying to attack us?" The uncle was horrified. "Why don't you just turn off your phone?"
"He doesn't seem to be able to locate your phone." He Ping'an thought thoughtfully.
"Fuck, it's even scarier when you say that."
The man's phone rang again, and the caller number was the same.
The fat clerk glared at them: "Get out if you don't want to buy anything! Don't bother me while I'm reading a magazine!"
Lu Miao greeted his annoyance coldly. "I'm sorry to bother you, but we have a product we like and need to discuss it before paying."
The fat clerk snorted coldly and continued reading the magazine.
"Tsk, what kind of service attitude is that? He thinks he is God." Wang Keke complained quietly.
"Should I still answer the call?" the man asked Lu Miao.
"Take it. The angrier he gets, the more mistakes he makes."
He understood and pressed the speakerphone button to answer the call. "Hello."
"Where the hell are you? Don't waste time, I still have a lot of work to do."
“There are so many flowers here.”
"What kind of flowers?"
"I don't know. I'm flower blind."
“Isn’t there an introduction next to it?”
"No."
"Fuck! Can't you just go to a more iconic place?"
"Do I need to ask the on-duty personnel for directions if I can find it?"
“…”
"Are you kidding me? Where the hell are you?!"
"I don't know."
"Just wait! If I find you..."
"I will love you till I die, and I will not be happy until I smile..."
The sudden high-pitched singing made the other party swear continuously, and even cursed "Fuck you".
The man took the opportunity to hang up and turn off the phone.
Lu Miao turned off the music on his phone expressionlessly. "Thanks to Ke Ke for sending me this song."
The middle-aged men next to them were speechless.
Embarrassed Wang Keke wanted to find a crack in the ground to hide in.
However, behind the cashier was a fat face with a grudge. "Your songs are terrible."
Lu Miao's heart was moved. "This is a popular song. We also have some very nice piano, violin and instrumental music."
The fat clerk expressed doubt.
She played a piano piece from the music list, and the melodious and soothing melody made him squint his eyes.
Suddenly, she pressed pause.
"Huh? Why isn't it airing anymore?" He was very dissatisfied.
"I can't disturb you from reading a magazine."
He curled his lips. "Such beautiful music, it doesn't matter if you just listen to it or watch it."
Lu Miao looked puzzled. "You seem to rarely listen to music. Is it boring here?"
Wang Keke and He Pingan understood what she meant and listened to her quietly.
Others didn't understand what was going on and didn't dare to interrupt.
"Tsk, it's so boring, either eating or exercising."
sports?
Everyone couldn't help but look at his sideways figure.
As she pressed the play button, she sighed, "What a pity you can't hear our magnificent classical music."
The fat clerk was so mesmerized by the "Moonlight Sonata" that he threw the magazine aside.
"After we get out, I'll definitely suggest to the park to play more music. By the way, do you know where the exit is?" she said nonchalantly.
"I don't know. I haven't been out." He didn't seem to care about letting the cat out of the bag and was enjoying the music comfortably.
The man with glasses suddenly had an idea and suggested to Lu Miao to turn on Bluetooth.
Finally, the man left his cell phone with the fat clerk. "There are ten nice piano pieces in the phone. I'll give them to you to listen to slowly."
The fat clerk looked at him and took it without hesitation.
Finally, only Lu Miao bought a bottle of insecticide.
The fat clerk was in a good mood and didn't care. "It's a good idea to return the favor. I'll also give you a word of advice. Be careful of souvenir shops that sell water."
"Thank you." Lu Miao took note of it secretly.
The souvenir shop returned to silence. He happily played the piano music, put his legs on the cash register, and listened lazily.
The cell phone rang at an inopportune time.
He answered impatiently.
"Where the hell are you? If you don't tell me--"
"If you call me again, I'll eat you up!!!"
“…”
"Excuse me."
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