CHAPTER 92: CHAPTER 92: THE SCOUNDREL’S DAUGHTER

Just when she was wondering, the crying woman turned her head, and Su Xiaoxiao clearly saw her face, stunned.

Isn’t this woman Li Huilan?

Then the person she’s talking about just now must be...

Damn, she should’ve checked the almanac before leaving the house today.

She immediately covered her face with her hand, using the crowd watching the commotion as cover, prepared to slip into the department store. Unexpectedly, she had only taken two steps when a particularly enthusiastic voice sounded behind her.

"Comrade Su, good morning, I have some steamed buns, do you want some?"

Huang Mei’s voice was naturally loud, and with this shout, everyone instinctively turned to look.

Even Li Huilan, who was just crying out loudly, turned her head at the sound.

Su Xiaoxiao wanted to tell her to be quieter, but it was evidently too late.

She could only respond awkwardly, "Good morning, Teacher Huang."

Because Su Xiaoxiao helped her buy a flashlight, Huang Mei was now especially warm towards her.

She enthusiastically shoved a bun into her mouth, and naturally hooked her arm: "Not too hot, not too cold, just right to eat. Comrade Su, give it a try."

Su Xiaoxiao instinctively took a bite of the bun, and she had to admit it was really delicious.

Just as she swallowed the last bite of the bun, a figure charged over: "Well, well, the daughter of a damned hooligan, having the nerve to come work at the department store?"

Hearing this, the crowd of onlookers immediately gathered around.

"This young girl looks pretty, could she really be the daughter of a damned hooligan?"

"As the saying goes, the upper beam is crooked and the lower beam is slanted. If the father is nothing good, the daughter might not be either."

"The shop assistant is the face of the department store, letting someone like this work here is just a disgrace to the department store."

The crowd surrounded Su Xiaoxiao, chattering incessantly.

Huang Mei frowned and looked around: "What nonsense are you talking? Comrade Su is not that kind of person."

Su Xiaoxiao didn’t expect Huang Mei would stand up for her at such a moment, feeling a bit touched inside.

"You’re standing up for a hooligan’s daughter, you’re no good either!"

Someone unknown said this, and the crowd instantly boiled up again.

Su Xiaoxiao didn’t want to drag Huang Mei into it, tugging at her sleeve: "Teacher Huang, you go first, don’t worry about me, they won’t do anything to me."

"No way, how can I leave a young girl here by herself? Don’t worry, as long as I’m here today, no one can throw dirt on you."

As the saying goes, true feelings are seen in adversity. Su Xiaoxiao didn’t expect Huang Mei to be such a righteous person, immediately giving her a grateful glance before stepping forward.

"You, the daughter of a damned hooligan, are not fit to work at the department store. Get out of here!"

Li Huilan raised her voice higher, and the surrounding people’s emotions were immediately stirred up, with everyone looking at Su Xiaoxiao with eyes of condemnation.

Su Xiaoxiao took a deep breath and looked at Li Huilan: "Auntie, how many years has it been since the Qing dynasty fell, were you not informed? Now it’s a new society, we advocate equality for all, why should I be responsible for others’ mistakes? Are you still playing the old society’s trick of collective punishment? What you’re spreading is feudal thinking, hindering the progress of the people."

Before Li Huilan could speak, she continued, "The new society advocates earning a living based on ability, even the country’s laws haven’t accused me of any crime, on what grounds are you stripping me of my right to work? This is dictatorship, this is autocracy."

With these heavy accusations coming down, Li Huilan was dumbfounded.

She was just doing as her daughter instructed, trying to cause some trouble to make this damn girl lose her job. How did it turn into promoting feudal thought and autocracy?

This could lead to criticism sessions, and who knows, maybe even worse consequences.

Li Huilan’s face turned pale: "You damn girl, what nonsense are you spouting, where am I being autocratic? You’re just the daughter of a hooligan, I’m not wrong."

"Is there any law clearly stating that the daughter of a hooligan can’t work at the department store? Or that the daughter of a hooligan should be dead rather than alive? Why should the mistakes of the previous generation be borne by the next?"

Su Xiaoxiao straightened her back; this was a new society, they didn’t go for the practice of children paying for their parents’ debts.

"If the law really stipulates that, I’ll drop dead in front of you right now; if not, then you are deliberately distorting facts, pushing an innocent girl to death."

"You, you, you..."

Li Huilan never expected this damn girl to have such a glib tongue, being at a complete loss for words.

She looked around for help, hoping someone would come forward to say a fair word.

However, the onlookers, who she had just riled up against Su Xiaoxiao, all turned into timid quails, none daring to make a sound.

At this moment, Xu Cuilan parted the crowd and walked over: "It’s time for work, why are you all gathered here? Don’t want to work anymore?"

Upon hearing this, a few department store employees who were mixed in the crowd, immediately scurried into the department store, not daring to utter a word.

Manager Xu spoke, who would dare to disobey.

Xu Cuilan looked up at the remaining people and spoke solemnly: "Alright, if there’s nothing going on, everyone disperse. Those who need to work, work, those who need to shop, shop."

After speaking, she turned to Su Xiaoxiao, giving her a pat on the shoulder: "Comrade Su, if there’s nothing wrong, go back to work."

Song Weidong had repeatedly asked her to look after Comrade Su before leaving.

Moreover, she’d listened from behind the crowd for a while, this matter had nothing to do with Comrade Su.

Comrade Su was right about one thing; this was a new society, focusing on equality, not the old society’s collective punishment.

Li Huilan was shocked that the matter had ended so easily; what was the point of making such a fuss? Did she come to act as a free show for people?

She opened her mouth to speak, but was stopped by Xu Cuilan’s cold and stern gaze.

Xu Cuilan was, after all, the department store’s personnel manager, managing quite a few people, naturally possessing an aura that a rural woman like Li Huilan couldn’t match.

"Are you Sister Li? If you have any issues, you can bring them directly to our leadership, or write a complaint letter. But if you come to the department store entrance to cause trouble and damage the store’s reputation again, we won’t just sit back. If I remember correctly, your daughter works at our department store too, right?"

At her words, whatever Li Huilan wanted to say was immediately swallowed back down.

She just wanted to make that damn girl lose her job, not to mess up her daughter’s job.

Zhang Dongmei was seething with anger as she hid at the back of the crowd, why was her mom so useless, getting coaxed away after just a few words?

And why would that Teacher Huang and Manager Xu stand up for Su Xiaoxiao? She, a bumpkin from the countryside, and a daughter of a damn hooligan, how could she compare to her?

After all, she was a graduate of a proper Worker-Peasant-Soldier University.

Despite the small incident in the morning, Su Xiaoxiao’s mood wasn’t much affected.

Today was the last day of the training; in the morning, Manager Xu would assign everyone to the counters they would be responsible for, based on their performance during training.

Zhao Lanlan quietly nudged her: "Xiaoxiao, which counter do you want to be assigned to?"

Recently, their relationship had become much closer, and their way of addressing each other more intimate.

Su Xiaoxiao thought for a while: "The food counter, perhaps."

As soon as she finished speaking, a sarcastic voice sounded from behind.