Wanlong Supermarket.
Just as the store was about to close, a sudden burst of heated arguing erupted at the supermarket entrance.
“Damn it! What the hell is wrong with this supermarket? I’m just shopping here, not some thief!”
“Sir, please cooperate. Our staff just saw you and your companion stuffing something into your pockets…”
“Bullshit! I was just scratching an itch down there, and now you’re sending people to spy on me? What kind of sick freaks are you?”
“How dare you accuse us of stealing! Who saw me take anything? If you’ve got the guts, have that person come out!”
“Exactly! If anyone saw something, let them come forward. There’s no way we’re letting you search us.” A sharp voice rang out again, dripping with defiance.
“Gentlemen, please calm down first…”
“Everyone, come take a look! Wanlong Supermarket is bullying ordinary people! We didn’t do anything wrong, but they’re accusing us of theft. Is there no justice left?”
“If we don’t get an explanation today, this isn’t over! We want compensation! An apology! Or we’ll keep coming back every single day until you shut down!”
“Yeah! Shut you down!”
The two men shouting loudly at the supermarket entrance looked suspicious at best.
One was gaunt, with a dirty scab smeared halfway up his neck, giving him a scruffy, sleazy appearance.
The other was a stout man with a broad chest and back slightly hunched.
Their loud bickering had attracted a crowd of customers and passersby.
People were whispering among themselves, pointing fingers.
Though many felt these two looked shady and not very trustworthy, the supermarket’s refusal to let them leave without evidence was clearly questionable.
Just then,
Yang Xin hurried over with Xiao Hu and the others.
Instead of immediately demanding a search, he first asked Xiao Hu and the team.
“Are you sure these two stole something?”
Xiao Hu and the others nodded firmly. “Yang, it’s definitely them. We saw them slip something into their pants. They were careful, but we caught it.”
With Xiao Hu’s confirmation, Yang Xin felt more confident. His team hadn’t made a mistake yet—every time they caught someone red-handed.
He stepped up to the two men.
“I’m Yang Xin, the store manager. You two better hand over whatever you took, or we’ll call the police.”
“We didn’t steal anything. What do you want us to hand over?”
“Whether or not you stole is clear to you. Our staff saw it. Just give it up.”
The skinny man spoke first. “We didn’t steal a thing. If you’re so sure, go ahead and search us. But what if you find nothing? How will you make up for damaging our reputation?”
“Are you seriously going to just let this slide? If you do, who’s going to want to shop here anymore?”
Yang Xin saw that these two seemed fearless, almost brazen. A flicker of doubt crossed his mind—could they really be innocent?
Considering that Xiao Hu and his team had already confirmed the facts on their side, Yang Xin’s confidence grew even stronger.
“If it truly turns out that we were mistaken, I, Yang Xin, will publicly apologize to both of you and pay one ten-thousand-yuan compensation for emotional distress!”
As he spoke, he turned to the gathered crowd and made a bold promise: “At Wanlong Supermarket, we always stand by what we do! From today onward, if any employee causes a misunderstanding with a customer, besides a public apology, we will compensate no less than ten thousand yuan! This promise is permanent!”
Ten thousand yuan was a substantial amount in this era—ordinary people worked hard all year and barely earned a little over that.
So when Yang Xin publicly pledged “ten thousand yuan compensation for wrongful accusations,” the noisy crowd, which had been filled with doubts, suddenly quieted down. Many even began to understand why the supermarket took such measures.
As long as the money was on the table, everything could be settled.
It was far better than some supermarkets that, upon wrongly accusing customers, wouldn’t even apologize—they acted as if it was their right to say, “We suspect you of stealing, so you have to cooperate.” Most customers could only swallow their pride and accept their bad luck.
But the general manager of Wanlong Supermarket made it clear: no matter what misunderstanding occurred, if it was the supermarket’s fault, compensation would start at ten thousand yuan.
This was a sincere gesture.
Some longtime customers also knew that recently Wanlong Supermarket had indeed caught a thief red-handed, so hearing Yang Xin’s promise made them even more convinced that the supermarket was serious about resolving issues.
The two men in question had nicknames—Scarface and Lao Xiu.
Upon hearing Yang Xin’s words, they exchanged a glance, a sly smile curling at the corners of their mouths as they spread their arms wide.
“Alright then, since Mr. Yang is so sincere, go ahead and search us!”
Yang Xin didn’t hesitate and immediately instructed two employees to prepare for the body search. But just as they were about to start, the two men suddenly stopped them.
“Wait a minute. They can’t do it. Whoever accused us of stealing should be the ones to search us.”
Yang Xin looked toward Xiao Hu and his team not far behind and beckoned them over.
Xiao Hu and his team immediately approached and began searching them as instructed.
As they got closer, Scarface lowered his voice to a level only they could hear and threatened, “Kid, where do you come from? Don’t you know you’re breaking the rules?”
“If you break the rules, you know what happens to you, right...?”
Xiao Hu and Xiao Bao, who were conducting the search, instinctively paused, a shiver running through them as the words seemed to awaken some unpleasant memories.
But they said nothing, gritted their teeth, and continued the search. The result was predictable.
They found nothing.
Lowering their heads, Xiao Hu and Xiao Bao approached Yang Xin.
“Brother Yang, sorry about that.”
Yang Xin had already guessed what was going on from their expressions during the search. He patted their shoulders reassuringly.
“It’s okay. It’s not your fault. The enemy is just more cunning.”
He placed unconditional trust in Xiao Hu and the others—not just because they were disciples of Yun Cheng, but also because every thief they had caught recently was nailed without fail, never a single mistake.
Besides, he could tell these two guys were no ordinary characters. Today’s incident was clearly a setup laid by them.
“So? Didn’t find anything? Then your supermarket should honor its promise,” Scarface said with a smug look.
In fact, they had come today just to mess with these young punks. While in the supermarket, they had indeed slipped some items into their pockets, but just before leaving, they quietly put everything back, successfully tricking the boys.
Yang Xin knew there was no way out this time; he had to admit defeat.
He immediately sent someone to fetch twenty thousand yuan from the supermarket and handed it over to the two.
“We sincerely apologize, gentlemen. This was a misunderstanding on our part. Here’s the compensation we promised. Please count it,” Yang Xin said.
Scarface and his companion took the money without any courtesy, deliberately counting it out loud in front of everyone. The crisp rustling of the bills was sharp and grating.
When they finished counting,
“The amount is correct~” Lao Xiu sneered sarcastically, “No wonder it’s a big supermarket—very trustworthy. We’ll be regular customers from now on!”
After saying that, the two glanced again at the supermarket’s sign with a smug air before strutting away.
A faint voice of curiosity drifted behind them.
“Wanlong Supermarket? That name sounds familiar...”
“Of course it does, they’ve handed out flyers to us before.”
“Really...”
