Saturday arrived quickly, and Xu Xinhuan and Baixing met at Moonlight Mall, the most famous shopping center in Jing City. They wandered aimlessly through the mall, browsing clothes and jewelry. When lunchtime came around, Xu Xinhuan suggested hot pot, which was her favorite, and they chose a well-known hot pot restaurant. About halfway through their meal, they heard a commotion.
Neither of them was usually one to gawk at a spectacle, but the noise was so loud that they instinctively looked toward the source.
They saw Jiang Yichen being pointed at and berated by a woman, while he maintained his usual cold detachment and the woman looked furious.
The woman's voice was piercingly loud. "You're just a waiter, what's with the attitude? We are customers, we're like gods, and you should be serving us properly! Who pulls such a long, miserable face at customers? You act like I owe you millions."
She spat as she ranted, spraying saliva everywhere. "You couldn't even pour water right. Look, you ruined my clothes! Do you have any idea how expensive this outfit is? People like you would have to work for several years just to afford it. The only way we'll let this go is if you kneel and apologize to me. Otherwise, pay up and apologize." She finished with a cold huff.
Because Xu Xinhuan had always given him money in the past, he now found himself broke since she cut him off. Furthermore, Lu Shiman had her eye on a bracelet that cost over three thousand yuan, and since he had no money, he was forced to take on part-time jobs.
Jiang Yichen came from a single-parent family; his father had passed away when he was fourteen.
His father had worked on a construction site and died in an accident after falling from a high-rise building. Normally, this would have required a substantial compensation payout, but because he happened not to be wearing a safety helmet that day, the site owner claimed he had violated safety regulations. Although he and his mother had gone to make a scene, how could ordinary citizens ever hope to fight the capitalists? In the end, they were simply fobbed off with twenty thousand yuan in hush money.Because his mother lacked an education, she had always worked as a cleaner at the mall. Since his father passed away, she had aged considerably; though only forty-four, she looked to be in her fifties. Ever since that time, her health had been poor. Despite being very thin, she suffered from high blood pressure, stomach issues, and mild depression, all of which required long-term medication.
The small amount of compensation money they received was nowhere near enough. That was why he had Xu Xinhuan, a sycophant who constantly gave him money. Although it wasn't a huge sum, she provided it weekly—anywhere from one thousand to three thousand. The medication was something Xu Xinhuan had her own mother procure from the hospital, so back then, he hadn't needed to think about picking up part-time work.
He originally hadn't wanted to take this part-time job, but Xu Xinhuan hadn't reached out to him in several days, and he wanted to buy a bracelet for Manman, so he had no choice but to take it.
On top of that, his friend had been the one to recommend this job, and to have something like this happen on his very first day left him feeling incredibly irritated.
He didn't feel his attitude had been poor; he simply wasn't the type to smile. Furthermore, when he had been pouring water for the customer, she had stood up abruptly, which was why the water ended up on her. Now that she was demanding he kneel and apologize, his brow furrowed in deep annoyance.
"Ma'am, first of all, I don't have a 'long face'; I just don't like to smile. Second, when I was pouring your water, you stood up suddenly, which is what caused the water to spill on your clothes. Because you are a customer, I am willing to apologize."
He said coldly, "Even though you are a customer, you can't make me kneel. A man’s knees are worth gold; your demand is simply too excessive."
Seeing him still making excuses, the short-haired woman became even more furious.
She had come here happily with her friends to have hot pot, and now this had happened. Never before had she been subjected to such treatment from a waiter.
"How can there be a waiter like you? We came here to eat and enjoy ourselves, not to be mistreated! You made a mistake, yet you’re still here making excuses. Does this mean that whenever you staff are working, we customers are supposed to just sit still? Are you saying that if we happen to stand up, any bad outcome that follows is automatically our fault?""Let me tell you, there is no such logic. You have to pick one of the two options. I am a regular customer of your store, and don't say I'm making things difficult for you. If this doesn't work, call your boss over and see whether he listens to you or to me," the short-haired woman said through gritted teeth.
Jiang Yichen usually had an icy demeanor, and working a part-time job now was no exception. Only when facing Lu Shiman would he ever reveal a smile, losing that coldness and showing warmth. He felt he had done nothing wrong, and besides, he had already apologized.
"Ma'am, I have already apologized, and your clothes are not ruined, they just have water stains on them. If it really comes down to it, I will pay for the dry cleaning of your jacket. How does that sound?" His voice remained as indifferent as ever.
"Do you think just because you're good-looking you can do whatever you want? If apologies were useful when people do wrong, what would we need the police for? Besides, this garment of mine cannot get wet, and now that it has, I can't wear it anymore. The main thing is that you made a mistake and yet your attitude is still so stubborn."
She sneered. "Forget it, it seems I can't reason with you. Call your boss here."
Jiang Yichen felt he hadn't done anything wrong. Even if the boss came, it was impossible that the boss would blindly make him kneel and apologize or compensate her for the clothes.
The store manager heard the commotion and walked over. After figuring out the situation, the manager hurriedly apologized to the customer, said many flattering things, and even told the customer that Jiang Yichen was a high school student whose family was in a very poor financial condition, that he was working here part-time to earn money for his tuition, and that today was also his first day on the job and he didn't know any better. The manager made Jiang Yichen apologize to the customer again, and finally waived the bill for the customer entirely.
Only then did the customer let the matter drop.
The store manager asked Jiang Yichen to follow him to the office to talk. As Jiang Yichen turned around, he caught sight of Xu Xinhuan. Their eyes met, and Jiang Yichen froze for a moment before quickly looking away and following the manager.
Xu Xinhuan and Baixing had watched the whole process.
Xu Xinhuan smiled, shook her head, and said, "What goes around comes around, heaven spares no one. He totally deserved it."
"This is probably just the beginning; there's plenty more suffering coming his way," Baixing said, not forgetting to clink glasses with her.
Seeing Jiang Yichen in such a bad spot made Xu Xinhuan feel good inside, though compared to the hurt she suffered in her past life, this was merely a drop in the bucket.
In her past life, in order to give him money, she had constantly put her paintings up for sale online, gone to the park on weekends to draw portraits for others to make money, and even entered all kinds of art competitions. On two occasions, her competition entries had been bought by a prominent art collector for a high price.
Whenever she earned money, she would give it to him. Yet after everything she had done for him, not only was he ungrateful, but he kept hurting her. Thinking of this made her heart ache with a tight, gripping pain. She wanted him to taste every bit of the hurt she had endured.
The two finished eating and walked toward the exit, only to be intercepted by Jiang Yichen right at the door.
Jiang Yichen frowned. "Xu Xinhuan, you actually followed me here! Didn't you say you didn't like me anymore? Why are you still following me?"
Xu Xinhuan said coldly, "Jiang Yichen, you really are full of yourself. If I had known you were here, I never would have come, because with you around, even the air is polluted."
"Impossible. You used to be crazy about me; how could you just stop liking me like that? You don't need to lie to yourself, Xu Xinhuan. I'll give you a chance right now: as long as you apologize to me and give me money every week like you used to, I'll agree to treat you a bit better and talk to you more," Jiang Yichen said with absolute confidence.
If the store manager hadn't fired him because of what just happened, leaving him with no source of income, and if he wasn't still thinking about buying a bracelet for Manman, he would never have lowered himself to come find her.
Now that he had said all this and given her a way out, she ought to be satisfied.