UM CH 45

Chapter 45

(1/2)

Even though his words annoyed me, the man looked tough, so I swallowed my irritation and tried to suppress it. I couldn’t even force a smile for the customer anymore. “Seventeen yuan, then,” I said. At worst, I’d cover the extra fifty cents myself. I’d never seen someone like this before.

But even after I said that, the man wasn’t satisfied. He pulled out a crisp ten-yuan note from his wallet and slammed it down on the counter with a loud smack! Then he shouted at me, “I said round it down! Can’t you hear me?”

By now, the other customers in the convenience store were all looking over, and some were whispering and pointing at him to their companions. Hearing that, I was even more irritated. I’d never seen anyone ask for their bill to be rounded down like this.

Since he was being so unreasonable, I stopped holding back. “Sir, have you ever seen anyone ask to have their total rounded down at a convenience store? This isn’t a vegetable market where you weigh things by the jin. Or are you short on money? We’re just a small business, so please pay the amount you owe—seventeen yuan fifty cents!”

At this, the whispers from surrounding customers grew louder. I heard someone say, “Really, is he short on money? Even at a convenience store, he wants to round down.”

I assumed the bald man heard it too. I noticed a hint of embarrassment on his face, so I kindly urged him, “Seventeen fifty. You already paid ten yuan, so there’s seven fifty left.”

I don’t know if this was the spark, but the bald man suddenly became furious. He stretched out his tattooed hand as if to hit me. I wasn’t fast enough to dodge, and I was about to silently endure it, when a hand moved faster than his and blocked the slap aimed at my face.

It was Tang Li.

Tang Li stood behind the bald man, using his height advantage to directly grab the man’s raised fist.

By comparison, the bald man looked short and sleazy. Tang Li grabbed the bottles of beer he had picked out and shoved them into the man’s arms, shouting angrily, “Aren’t you going to get out of here?”

The bald man looked at Tang Li, who radiated fierce energy, then glanced at the growing crowd around them, all looking at him with mockery. His hand trembled with anger, but he just pointed at me and spat out, “Fine, fine! Just you wait!” before slinking out of the convenience store.

I panicked and shouted after him, “Hey, you haven’t paid the rest of your money yet!”

“Forget it. I’ll cover the rest of the payment,” Tang Li said, his voice returning to its usual gentle tone. It lacked the previous forcefulness but was still very comforting.

“Hey, you can’t just do that,” I muttered.

Tang Li smiled. “That guy was just a thug at most. No need to take it too seriously.”

I nodded sullenly and continued checking out the other customers. Once I finished with that batch, I finally had a moment to talk to Tang Li.

“What are you doing here, busy man?” I thanked him for backing me up earlier; otherwise, that fat man’s slap would have hit my face.

“I was heading to the company. I thought, since we just finished a project, I’d buy some breakfast for my employees. Passing by your store, I thought I’d stop in to see you… and then, well, that scene happened,” Tang Li said in his calm, unhurried voice, gently brushing the stray hair from my ear as he spoke.

I smiled, a little embarrassed, and brushed my hair back into place. Tang Li looked at me and smiled too. “I’ll take you home tonight. You know, I worry about you.”

“It’s okay, I can manage myself,” I said. Just as I was searching for a reason to decline, Tang Li’s phone rang. I quickly said, “You should answer it—what if it’s urgent?”

Tang Li gave me a complicated look, then nodded and took the call. After finishing, he told me, “Our company has a document that needs my signature immediately. You…”