I, Louise Keller, and my boyfriend, Billy Jordan, went to a supermarket near the mall to buy some snacks. The store owner, Susan Adams, was a woman in her fifties, and I was a regular there. She immediately said the total was 196 dollars. I was confused, but I still paid. When I got home, even if I overestimated the price of the ice cream, it still didn’t add up to that amount. I told Billy the price was wrong and that I was going back to ask. Billy frowned. “It’s not like it’s a huge difference. She’s not having an easy time either.” I was stunned. Was my money just blowing in from the wind? I went shopping at the small supermarket I often visit. It was located near the college. When I was checking out, Susan fiddled with the register for a long time. She wasn’t just inputting numbers one by one, either. The machine made sounds like “20 minus 3,” leaving me even more confused. “Total is 196 dollars.” I was about to ask how much each ice cream cost, but Billy impatiently said, “I’ll wait for you outside.” With a line of people waiting to check out, I didn’t want to take up too much of their time. I went back to my rented apartment, feeling down, and put the ice cream in the fridge. As I took them out one by one, my face grew darker. Even if I overpriced the ice cream, the total still didn’t reach 196 dollars. I’d picked the cheaper ones, too. Billy saw me sitting on the floor for a while and frowned. “What’s wrong?” I pointed to the neatly arranged ice creams and asked, “You heard the price, right? Susan said the total was 196 dollars.” Billy just lay on the sofa when he came in, absentmindedly saying, “Yeah, well, how could she possibly charge you less? Hurry up and cook something.” I pieced the whole thing together and thought that Susan might have overcharged me, which made me feel frustrated. “I’m going to go back and ask Susan if she charged me too much.” I started getting dressed, but Billy was still lying on the couch, unmoved. When he saw I’d put on my shoes, he finally slowly got up. Billy furrowed his brow and tossed his phone onto the couch. “It’s not like it’s a huge difference. She’s not having an easy time either.” I was stunned again. Was my money just blowing in from the wind? “She took extra money from me. Is it wrong for me to ask about it as a customer?” Billy pressed his lips. “If it’s just ten or twenty bucks, do you really need to make a big deal out of it? We’ll be going there again, and we don’t want to offend her.” I immediately lost my temper. Billy wasn’t defending me and was actually defending her. “Is she your mother or something? Why are you protecting her? When you need something, you never think about things from my perspective.” Billy saw I was really angry, so he gave me an awkward smile. “I was just saying it casually, no big deal. I’ll go with you.” I naively thought Billy would help me gain some courage by going with me. But little did I know, he was just making things worse.
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.
When we got home, Billy was in a bad mood. He rolled his eyes, moved the sofa around on purpose, and made noise as if he were throwing a tantrum. Annoyed, I asked, “What’s your problem? I was the one dealing with Susan the whole time, and you barely said anything to help. “You’re still mad after we get home?” Billy stormed toward me. I was a little scared he might get physical, so I stepped back. “You’re just bullying her, aren’t you? “For just a little over twenty bucks, you had to go to the store? By the time I get to eat, it’ll be seven-thirty. What’s the point of all that? “Maybe she really just made a mistake. Didn’t your parents teach you that sometimes it’s good to take a loss?” I felt a little dizzy. Now, I had to listen to Billy complain even after I got home. Did I do something wrong? Just because I was kind, did that mean I deserved to be taken advantage of? I answered firmly, “Just because she’s having a hard time doesn’t give her the right to scam people. There are plenty of people with tougher lives than hers! “We walked into the store, and she was clearly avoiding eye contact. With all her shady actions, how could you not see that? And you’re blaming me? “Talking about not being able to eat, can’t you make your own meals? After you scold me, I’m the one who still has to cook dinner for you. How pathetic am I?” Billy had pulled this kind of thing more than once. These past two years, I kept asking myself, what was it about Billy that made me fall for him? Before we started dating, he would bring me food, and when it rained, he’d make sure to give me his umbrella. His careful attention was what made me fall for him. But once we were officially together, all that was gone. Outrageous things kept happening. On my birthday, he went off to play games with his buddies. His TikTok was full of suggestive content featuring young women. The worst part was when we argued. He went out to drink with friends, then shamelessly asked me to pick him up and pay for it. All these past memories flooded back. But since Billy was my first love, I somehow healed from all the mistreatment. “Billy, let’s break up.” Billy’s eyes went wide, and his mouth hung open for a few seconds before he finally spoke, “Are you serious? Can you stop taking it out on me just because you’re mad?” He waved his hands repeatedly. “Next time, I’ll speak up for you. Don’t be so petty. It’s not like you never let it go before. Did Aunt Flo visit early this month?” I smiled faintly, my gaze cold. This month, Aunt Flo had just left. “No need, just go. The house is rented under my name.” Billy immediately flew into a rage. “What’s wrong with you? Don’t you understand the principle of compromising for happiness? I’m doing this for your own good!” We stared at each other in silence for over a minute, and when Billy saw I wasn’t giving him an out, he angrily put on his clothes, breathing heavily, trying to act as though he was in pain. But even as he opened the door, I chose to ignore him completely. “Fine, Louise. Just wait and regret it later.” That night, it felt like a double celebration for me. My mind was clear, and for the first time, I felt at peace. However, what I didn’t expect was that the supermarket incident would bring me huge trouble.
I had just woken up when my roommate, Dorothy Clarke, sent me a video. I clicked on it, and all the sleepiness disappeared instantly. Someone uploaded a video of me confronting the supermarket yesterday. The account name was the supermarket’s own. But the video wasn’t complete. My face had been blurred, and the footage mainly focused on me arguing my case. It had been edited, leaving out the backstory. The video made it look like I was bullying them, while Susan came off as the victim. Even worse, the supermarket had labeled the prices of the ice cream in the freezer. No matter how people looked at it, I didn’t seem like I was standing up for my rights. I looked more like I was picking a fight. The person who made the video was clearly an expert. The title was: [Do Older People Just Deserve to Be Bullied?] A group of outraged netizens flooded the comments, attacking me. Comment 1: [Who raised this lady? Your supermarket’s too kind. The blur is unnecessary. Just show her face!] Comment 2: [Someone checks if she’s a student nearby. We should tag the nearby universities. We can’t let one bad apple ruin a whole generation. This kind of person should publicly apologize!] Comment 3: [She’s a setback to society, but I sincerely hope people won’t overdo it with the online bullying. If we do, we’ll be no different from her.] As the shares went viral, the comments kept coming in, and one comment was pinned to the top. The person made up a story. They said I had bought ice cream without checking the price, then got upset and blamed Susan for everything. I made my mistake but made someone else pay for it. Their version of events sounded so convincing, like they were eyewitnesses. They corrected the one error, the price was clearly marked. In the video, I had no argument at all. The nearby universities were all tagged, and it seemed like there was an invisible hand stirring the pot behind the scenes. I gritted my teeth and immediately received a call. It was Paul Butler, the agent who handles my family’s business affairs. The year was ending, and rent collection was coming up. “Miss, are the rents for those stores the same as last year?” I answered flatly. “Everything’s the same, except for the supermarket. They don’t need to rent anymore.” Sometimes, people really couldn’t afford to be too kind. Free Point
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