Ling Chengyan furrowed her brow, pointing at the bag with a baby's head drawn on it on the shelf, saying, "Isn't there some?"
The female shop assistant didn't even bother to look up, saying, "Those are reserved, they already have owners."
Ling Chengyan suppressed the surge of anger in her heart and said, "The child has no milk and has been hungry for two days. Can you sell me a bag for an emergency..."
Before she could finish speaking, the female shop assistant abruptly stood up, slamming the sweater in her hands onto the counter, glaring at Ling Chengyan, "What's wrong with you? I told you, these milk powders are reserved, there's no stock left. Why are you making a fuss here?"
Ling Chengyan couldn't suppress her anger any longer and said, "I'm not making a fuss. I'm just here to buy milk powder. The child doesn't have milk, the doctor has given me proof of it..."
As she spoke, she caught a glimpse of a wooden stick as thick as an arm standing behind the door and was about to grab it as a show of strength when someone said, "What's going on? What's all the noise about?"
Ling Chengyan turned around to see a man in his thirties emerging from behind the shelves.
The customers buying things didn't show any reaction, but a few shop assistants instinctively restrained themselves. The female shop assistant at the snack counter even had a slight change of expression, softly saying, "Director Wu."
The man wasn't tall, had a slender appearance, wore a dark blue outfit. His features were ordinary, but he carried a bit of authority.
"Zhou Hongyan, is it you having a quarrel with a customer again? We just emphasized in the meeting that you can't insult or hit customers for no reason. Have you already forgotten?"
"No, Director Wu, I didn't hit or insult anyone... It was her, she was being unreasonable, I told her there was no milk powder left, and she kept pestering..."
Ling Chengyan said, "There's milk powder on the shelf, I'm just buying one pack. I have a hospital certificate, the child is out of milk and on the brink of starvation. Doesn't the big characters you wrote, 'Serve the People', mean anything?"
Director Wu frowned deeply, glaring at Zhou Hongyan. Having conflicts with customers every other day, now she attracted someone like this, clearly not an easy-going customer!
"Comrade, what our shop assistant said isn't wrong either. Milk powder is in high demand. Although this batch just arrived, it has all been pre-ordered, money and tickets were settled a long time ago..."
Ling Chengyan, seeing his polite tone and no outright refusal, decided to try once more, "The child hasn't had milk for two days. I just need one pack for an emergency..."
Director Wu furrowed his brow, staring at Ling Chengyan and her children for two seconds. Just when everyone thought he would refuse, he surprisingly looked away and instructed the shop assistant, "Sell her one pack."
"Director Wu, but Section Chief Hou on that side..." the female shop assistant quickly blurted out.
Director Wu turned back and glared at her fiercely, "I will explain it myself."
No matter how the female shop assistant glared or how scathing her looks were, Ling Chengyan ignored her, successfully bought the milk powder, went to another counter to buy a boat-shaped glass milk bottle, and then left the department store with a large one and a small one.
Little Shi Tou was really starving, so they first needed to find a place to get some hot water to feed the child.
Standing at the entrance of the department store, Ling Chengyan looked around. Before she could determine where to find hot water, an ordinary-looking man suddenly approached her, wrapped in a gray cotton coat that was neither new nor old, slightly hunched over, whispering suspiciously, "Want to buy milk powder?"
Ling Chengyan didn't respond immediately but scrutinized the man, seeing that he was indeed just an ordinary person with no traces of martial arts training, she nodded, "You have some?"
The man looked around, speaking in a low voice, "I don't have it, but I know a place where you can buy it. No tickets needed."
Ling Chengyan's heart skipped a beat, instinctively thinking of one place: the black market.
Throughout history, whenever there is something in short supply on the market, it often leads to underground transactions, commonly known as the black market.
Ling Chengyan didn't trust easily and said indifferently, "Why should I believe you?"
The man turned his head to glance at Ling Chengyan and chuckled, "Still cautious, huh? Alright, I'll leave you ten bucks, if there's no milk powder, then the ten bucks are yours."
Saying this, he indeed handed over a large denomination of bills.
Ling Chengyan slightly twitched her brows. Though alarm bells were ringing in her heart, she still calmly took the bill.
Then she led Xiao Xing and carried Shi Tou back into the department store.
Zhou Hongyan, watching over the misbehaving child forced upon her, was full of anger yet dared not act out. For what reason, after fighting with her earlier, would this woman leave her to babysit? Did she owe her anything?
No matter how angry or upset she was, it was useless. The woman had left the child at the counter and walked away. The little one was manageable, but the older one was very stubborn. Zhou Hongyan tried to persuade her to leave, but the little girl was adamant about waiting for her mother. If it wasn't her mother, it didn't matter who else came.
Meanwhile, on Ling Chengyan's side, going light, only carrying a small bundle, she followed the man through twists and turns, passing several small alleys, and came to the outside of a factory yard.
This area was far from the main street, with wild, unkempt shrubs and grass. With one glance, Ling Chengyan saw traces of people only along the wall, branches and wild grass were broken and bent, far from forming a path.
Such a wilderness hardly looked like a frequently used black market.
Ling Chengyan stopped and didn't continue forward.
The man walked along the fence for a dozen steps before realizing the person behind didn't follow and had to double back, "What's the matter? We're almost there, not far."
Ling Chengyan not only did not go forward, but stepped back two steps, "This place is wilderness, there's not even a soul here, I won't go any further."
Saying this, she turned to leave.
The seemingly ordinary, even somewhat simple-looking man suddenly changed his expression, chuckled sinisterly, and whistled with his hand on his lips, "Now you're here, why leave before seeing the stuff? Besides, my money is still in your hands."
Ling Chengyan took two steps back, hitting the red brick wall behind her, "You're not really selling anything..."
Before Ling Chengyan could finish speaking, two men ran along the wall, one tall and burly like a bear, the other short and lean like a praying mantis.
"Big Bear, Dog, can you guys be quicker?" The man leading Ling Chengyan here didn't take her seriously, considering this young peasant woman as prey, and casually joked with his accomplices. As they reached him, they surrounded Ling Chengyan.
The skinny man called Dog even pulled out a knife, gesturing and saying, "Hand over all the money."
The three of them didn't notice that the once terrified rural young woman had already straightened her back, her legs tense and straight.
"I do have money, but are you sure you have the ability to take it?"