Chapter 2

I took the bag of things I bought and went downstairs to grab a taxi to the supermarket.

There were still quite a few people in the store.

As soon as I walked in, I knew I was right. Susan immediately avoided my gaze and quickly unlocked her phone, making a million tiny movements in a second.

Every single movement screamed guilt.

And at the critical moment, Billy went silent.

As soon as we walked in, he shut down and left everything to me.

I wasn't about to let it slide. I slammed the plastic bag onto the counter.

The sound echoed loudly.

A few customers looked over.

I got straight to the point. "Susan, can you recalculate how much the items cost? You might have made a mistake."

Only then did Susan slowly put her phone down, glance at the items, and reluctantly stand up.

"You young folks are always in a hurry. I wouldn't cheat you out of a few dollars."

I stared at her, my eyes sharp.

As winter was settling in, a bead of sweat appeared on her forehead.

I could tell she was just brushing me off.

She pressed a couple of buttons on the calculator, then casually said, "I have a record on my calculator. I remember you two. It should be 169 dollars."

My anger flared up immediately. I raised my voice. "You told us it was 196 dollars, you never mentioned 169 dollars."

Susan frowned and countered, "So how much did you actually pay? You are just talking, I can tell exactly how much you paid."

I pulled up the payment record on my phone and showed the number 196 dollars.

She quickly switched her tone and gave a sheepish laugh. "Oh, you must have misheard me. I said 169 dollars. If you didn't catch it, it's not my fault."

Her nonchalant attitude pushed me over the edge. She had even asked me to help promote her supermarket in the school group before.

I had gladly shared the posts, and now I was being taken advantage of.

Her scheme was clear to me.

She probably thought she could take advantage of a college student, assuming I wouldn't notice or wouldn't make a fuss.

I pointed to the security camera footage nearby, my voice full of anger. "Then check the footage, and see what you actually said. If I misheard, fine. But two people mishearing? Come on."

"It may not seem like a big deal, but the way you're dodging responsibility, do you think I'm that easy to fool?"

"Or do you think I'm stupid and won't come back to you when I've been scammed?"

Customers in the store had stopped to watch, making it so that others couldn't even come up to the counter to check out.

They had cleared the counter space for us.

Susan froze for a moment, glancing at the footage. "What's wrong with you? It's just a little over twenty bucks, and you're making it into such a big deal. I will just refund you, and it'll be over.

"Why do you need to watch the footage? This supermarket is busy. If everyone were like you, the store would be out of business.

"Learn some respect for your elders, kid. I'm around the same age as your mom. You should be polite when you speak to me. Twenty bucks is nothing, but you are messing up my business!"

The customers gathered closer, their eyes on us, making Billy feel uneasy.

He tugged at my sleeve and whispered, "Enough, okay? Susan already said she'll refund you. Stop making a scene.

"There are so many people watching, this is so embarrassing."

I stared at him, my heart sinking.

As my boyfriend, he wasn't standing up for me, and now he was accusing me of making a fuss.

Wasn't I the one losing out here?

I took a deep breath, pulling my arm away from Billy.

"Is this really just about the money? I come to your store every week. You don't even have a scanner. How can I know if you've overcharged me a dollar or two? Isn't it you who's stubborn and won't admit you overcharged me?

"Just show me the footage and clear this up. It'll be better for both of us.

"Unless you're lying, and you know you deliberately overcharged us, too scared to let us see the footage."

The customers seemed to have caught on to the situation, and they began discussing it in a flurry of voices.

"That makes sense. Last time, I bought one big and one small bucket of instant pasta, and she charged me at the large one's price."

"I knew something didn't add up. I felt like I hadn't bought much, but the total was still high. So, it was the ice cream that got me."

"If that's how it's gonna be, I won't come back next time. I thought Susan was nice, handling the cash register at her age, but turns out she's been treating us college students like fools."

At these words, Susan's ears turned red, and she hurriedly responded, "Don't make up lies. The worst thing that happened was that I forgot, but you must have been a competitor sent to cause trouble.

"I'm so mad, my chest hurts."

Susan clutched her chest and sat down. I glanced over, and some customers had already pulled out their phones to record her.

I did the same, just in case I needed evidence later.

Seeing that I wasn't scared, Susan's pained expression quickly faded.

She picked up the plastic bag and, with a feigned look of regret, said, "I won't take the money, I'll give it back to you!"

I wasn't about to take it. Who knew how she might try to pin the blame on me later?

"No, just refund the difference, and be more careful next time."

Reluctantly, Susan transferred the difference back to me.

Billy, who had been waiting, rushed out faster than I did.

Before I left, I glanced back at Susan, muttering to herself. I could tell from her lips that she was saying it was an accident.