The manager was a bit confused. "Of course you can look. How could we sell them if people couldn’t look at them?" he said with a smile.
"Since people are allowed to look, is there a rule about *who* is allowed to look?" Bai Jiu asked sarcastically.
Hearing this, the manager understood what was going on.
"I apologize, it’s our oversight. Comrade, what are you looking for?" He knew all too well how the staff here behaved. Clearly, someone was being snobbish again.
"I don’t need anything in particular. I just wanted to look at this bicycle and touch it. Can I look? Can I touch?" Bai Jiu said, turning her head to glare at the saleswoman from earlier. "Also, she just discriminated against peasants. Your service staff here practices class discrimination."
Bai Jiu wasn’t going to let her off the hook so easily.
"You’re talking nonsense! I did no such thing!" the saleswoman retorted anxiously at the mention of class discrimination.
If she was officially branded with such an accusation, she would lose her job, at the very least. She had spent a lot of money to secure this position; she couldn’t afford to lose it now.
"What do you mean you didn’t? You stopped just short of pointing at my nose and calling me a country bumpkin," Bai Jiu said. "What, does your family own this mall? Or are you the person in charge here? If you say someone can’t look or touch, then they can’t?"
She knew that salespeople in this era were incredibly arrogant. She had encountered such behavior before, but today, she wasn’t going to swallow it.
Hearing Bai Jiu’s accusation, the saleswoman immediately waved her hands in denial. "Manager, listen to me! I never said anything like that, really! She’s just here to cause trouble. Besides, the reason I didn’t let her touch it was that I was afraid she might break it. You have to understand, this is the only bicycle of its kind in the entire county. If it breaks, who could afford to pay for it?"
She scoffed inwardly. One look and anyone could tell this woman couldn’t afford it. She knew this type of person all too well—they just came to window-shop and then went back home to brag.
Bai Jiu was furious. Even now, this woman was still trying to sabotage her. "What do you mean ’break it by touching’? Is this bicycle made of tofu? Is it made of water? Will it melt if I look at it, or fall apart if I touch it?
"If that’s the case, then a massive mall like yours is deceiving the people! You’re passing off shoddy goods as high quality and fooling us ordinary citizens."
The manager didn’t dare admit to such a serious accusation. "Comrade, please don’t be angry, don’t be angry. Our mall would absolutely never sell shoddy goods, much less fool the people. Leave this matter to me. I will handle it. How does that sound?"
He could tell that Li had run into a customer who refused to back down today. However, he already disliked the arrogant, nose-in-the-air attitude of these service staff. It wasn’t as if he hadn’t reprimanded them before. But every single one of these employees had gotten their jobs through connections. He, on the other hand, had no power or backing. He had worked for over a decade to reach his current position, and despite the title of manager, he actually had very little say in matters.
"Hmph, then handle it right in front of me," Bai Jiu demanded. If she wasn’t satisfied with the outcome, no one was going to have a good day.
"Alright." The manager hadn’t intended to hide the disciplinary action from outsiders anyway. "Li, apologize to the customer right now. We are here to serve the people, not to add to their burdens. Hurry up and apologize to this ma’am."
As for how they would handle it internally once this incident blew over, that was a matter for later.
The manager was actually quite decent, immediately demanding that his own staff apologize. Unfortunately, his good intentions were destined to be unappreciated.
"On what grounds? Do you know who my father is?" Li flared up the moment she was told to apologize. She had never bowed her head to anyone in her entire life. To make her apologize to a village woman now? In her dreams!
"Oh, so you have backing. It seems you really are the one in charge of this mall," Bai Jiu mocked. She then turned to the manager. "Manager, I won’t make things difficult for you. Who can blame her when she comes from such a privileged background? You have it hard, too. A dignified manager, yet you don’t even have a voice here."
This was the ultimate insult, hitting right where it hurt most.
The manager’s face flushed bright red with anger. It was true that he lacked power; otherwise, he wouldn’t be just a lowly mall manager while all of his peers had risen to high-ranking positions. If only his family background wasn’t so poor, he...
"Li, apologize!" the manager bellowed. "I don’t care who your father is! If you want to work here, you have to listen to me! If you refuse, then pack your bags and go back to wherever you came from! This place isn’t big enough to accommodate a VIP like you!"
Never underestimate a man’s pride. Sometimes, its eruption could lead to sheer destruction.
The surrounding crowd was startled by his sudden roar, and the mall staff turned pale with fright. This was the first time they had ever seen their manager lose his temper.
Li was stunned, but her pride refused to let her demean herself.
"Why are you yelling at me? Fire me if you have the guts!" After snapping back, she turned on her heel and stormed off.
Even Bai Jiu hadn’t expected this woman to be so arrogant. It was truly eye-opening to see such an entitled person in this small county town. Thankfully, Bai Jiu didn’t run in those circles. Otherwise, she would definitely be getting into fights every other day.
Once Li was gone, the manager finally snapped back to his senses. He looked at Bai Jiu, his heart trembling slightly. What had come over him just now? How had he dared to yell at Director Li’s daughter?
A chill ran down his spine. It looked like he was going to have to do some serious groveling tonight.
"Comrade, I am so sorry. We will definitely penalize Li for her behavior," the manager said, forcing himself to deal with the situation at hand. If he dragged this out any longer, it wouldn’t end well for him.
Bai Jiu waved her hand dismissively. "Forget it."
"How about this: whatever you want to buy today, I’ll give it to you at the employee discount price. How does that sound?" The manager was a man who knew how to smooth things over. He never underestimated anyone, but he also knew how to curry favor. This was the main reason why someone like him, who had zero background, had managed to climb to this position.
Bai Jiu naturally had no objections to such a good deal.
"Thank you, then. I can’t take this bicycle home right now, but as for other things, I won’t hold back."
Afterward, Bai Jiu went straight to the third floor and bought two watches—one for herself and one as a gift for her future sister-in-law.
She also wanted to buy a radio, but she didn’t have the necessary ration coupons.
Seeing her lingering reluctantly, the manager straightened his clothes, walked over, and asked softly, "Comrade, are you facing some sort of difficulty?"
"I want to buy this, but I don’t have coupons," Bai Jiu replied bluntly, completely ignoring the concept of politeness.
The manager was rendered speechless.
Not having coupons was indeed a tricky problem, as large items like this absolutely required them. He was powerless to help with that.
"Would you like to look at something else?" the manager asked, a little embarrassed.
Bai Jiu shook her head and prepared to leave with the two watches in hand.
"Forget it, this is enough. I’ll come back next time when I have coupons." If she couldn’t get it, so be it. She wasn’t particularly used to listening to the radio anyway; a television would be much more entertaining.
They did sell televisions here, but unfortunately, she didn’t have a permanent residence yet. Otherwise, she definitely would have bought one. After all, she couldn’t let herself and her children suffer.
As for her village home, that was out of the question—they didn’t even have electricity yet.
And as for her maiden family... it wasn’t that she was being stingy. Sometimes, a person had to be generous, but at other times, it was better to hold back. A television was simply too precious. Even if she bought one for them, her family probably wouldn’t feel comfortable using it. It cost over a thousand yuan, and even the cheapest model was more than eight hundred.
Things that were too expensive could easily spoil people and ruin their character. For now, her relationship with her maiden family was quite comfortable, and she didn’t want to test their limits.
Seeing her get ready to leave, the manager inexplicably let out a sigh of relief. It wasn’t as if high-ranking officials had never come here to shop before, but he had never felt this kind of pressure from any of them.