"Who would fancy such ugly clothes?" Cheng Xining vented her frustration on the sales clerk that she had been holding back at home.
Other customers in the store also gave her weird looks, and some who couldn’t stand it whispered, "If you don’t like it, why are you still standing around in the store?"
Upon hearing this, Cheng Xining instinctively wanted to argue with them, but Ruan Yiqian immediately intervened to stop her.
"Xining, have you forgotten why you came here?"
"I..." Cheng Xining’s eyes reddened, and she nearly cried, "There are so many people here, how do you expect me to talk about it?"
Ruan Yiqian took a deep breath, turned to the sales clerk, and said, "The thing is, we came here because of the incident where someone stole a piece of clothing from your store yesterday."
Upon hearing this, the sales clerk instantly became vigilant. Shen Mianmian had brought a man yesterday, and that man had recharged three thousand yuan to prove his innocence. What were they here for today?
After a moment of thought, she said, "The theft of the clothing yesterday was a misunderstanding; that girl wouldn’t steal clothes."
While speaking, she glanced at Cheng Xining. No one else might understand the situation, but she believed that Cheng Xining definitely knew the truth.
"What are you implying by looking at me?" Cheng Xining glared at her, "Do I look like I would steal your clothes?"
"I didn’t mean that." The sales clerk hurried to explain—she was just an employee and didn’t want trouble. It was obvious these people were not to be messed with, and she couldn’t afford to provoke them.
Ruan Yiqian gave Cheng Xining a stern look, "Say less, or I’ll go back first and you can handle this yourself." ɴᴇᴡ ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀʀᴇ ᴘᴜʙʟɪsʜᴇᴅ ᴏɴ 𝕟𝕠𝕧𝕖𝕝✶𝕗𝕚𝕣𝕖✶𝕟𝕖𝕥
Cheng Xining: "..." She huffed in defiance and gave the sales clerk an angry stare, but said nothing more.
Left alone, she honestly didn’t know how she would explain the situation.
Seeing that she had calmed down, Ruan Yiqian steered the conversation back to the matter at hand, "Actually, this is what happened: yesterday, she was shopping and noticed a piece of clothing on the floor. Thinking it belonged to the lady who was trying on clothes, she casually placed the clothing into the bag. It wasn’t until later when she heard people talking that she realized there had been a misunderstanding, and she came today specifically to clarify things."
Even though the sales clerk knew yesterday that Shen Mianmian wouldn’t have stolen the clothes and that Cheng Xining was the one framing her, she never expected someone to bring Cheng Xining in today to admit to it.
Despite her easy-going nature, the sales clerk couldn’t help feeling upset upon hearing this and felt indignant on behalf of Shen Mianmian.
"If you found clothing on the floor in the store, why didn’t you tell me? Miss, although your intentions were good yesterday, your actions nearly made two other girls appear like thieves. You shouldn’t look for me, you should apologize to that girl; you’ve tarnished her reputation."
Other customers who were looking at clothes joined in on scolding Cheng Xining, "Who picks up clothes that have fallen on the floor and puts them in someone else’s bag instead of notifying the staff?"
"Exactly, if one were to put it in their own bag, wouldn’t that be the same as stealing it?"
"That girl who was wrongly accused must feel so pitiful."
Hearing these remarks, Cheng Xining’s face turned red with anger, "What’s it to you? Why are you all talking here? What’s wrong with me picking up the clothes? You can’t distinguish innocence from guilt, blaming her for stealing, what’s that got to do with me? Me coming here today to vouch for her is already an act of kindness. If I hadn’t come, wouldn’t she still be labeled as a thief?"
What are these people, even daring to criticize her?