Chapter 58: Eyes That Look Down on People

The supply and marketing cooperative wasn’t far from the state-run hotel, and it didn’t take long to arrive.

Upon reaching the place, Li Yi first asked his third sister to go inside with Tang Xue to pick out items, while he went to park the mule cart.

Since there were still quite a few things on the cart, it was easy for someone to steal from it.

Don’t talk about this era being simple and honest; in such a time of extreme material scarcity, many families struggled to make ends meet.

Anyone who saw an opportunity wouldn’t miss it.

Li Yi’s cart was full of food, and if no one kept watch, many would be tempted to take advantage.

So after securing the mule cart, Li Yi didn’t immediately go inside. Instead, he crossed the street and called over Liu San.

Li Yi had exchanged some vouchers with Liu San several times and had privately inquired about the guy.

Although Liu San’s reputation among neighbors wasn’t great, he was considered loyal and trustworthy—a decent person to deal with.

Li Yi first exchanged some grain and cloth coupons with him, then took all the industrial coupons Liu San had, and finally asked him to keep an eye on the cart before striding toward the cooperative.

But just as he entered, he heard a commotion—someone was arguing inside.

Li Yi wasn’t concerned at first; these days, shouting or even fighting in the cooperative was common. As long as it didn’t involve him, he usually ignored it.

However, he quickly realized that ignoring it wouldn’t do, because the one arguing was none other than his own third sister, Li Na!

"...How dare you look down on people! Just because we don’t buy something doesn’t mean we can’t look or ask..."

Although he caught just fragments of the argument, Li Yi could guess why his sister was upset—surely the sales clerk opposite was looking down on them, which riled Li Na.

Li Yi immediately approached and asked, "Sister, what’s going on?"

Seeing her brother come over gave Li Na confidence. Although he could be reckless, Li Yi never backed down from a fight or argument.

"Xiao Yi, she’s bullying us! Tang Xue and I liked that red quilt cover and wanted to buy it to make a wedding quilt for you all, but she was so impatient and even snapped at Tang Xue!" Li Na said.

Before she finished, the female clerk in her twenties behind the counter shouted angrily, "How am I bullying you? I just said if you can’t afford it, don’t touch it. What’s wrong with that?"

Li Yi frowned and shot back, "How do you know we can’t afford it?"

"Do you know how much that wedding quilt costs? A full eighteen yuan! Do you really think you can afford it?" The clerk said smugly. She couldn’t believe that a bunch of poor country folk would still have the nerve to argue over the price.

What happened next caught her completely off guard.

Li Yi said coldly, "So you think just because these two women dress plainly and don’t look as flashy as you, they don’t deserve your service?"

"No..."

"Don’t explain; any explanation is just a cover-up! Let me tell you, what you’re doing is class discrimination—looking down on the people, discriminating against the vast majority of farmers!"

He continued, "They say workers and peasants are one, but it seems you’ve forgotten your roots. Don’t care what we wear—we live with dignity. We haven’t eaten a single grain from your family or worn a scrap of your cloth, so why flaunt superiority before us?"

"And besides, you folks who stand here acting all high and mighty aren’t so great yourselves. You’re only able to do so because we ordinary people work hard in the countryside to support you."

"Look at how you act—eating the grain we grow but treating us with contempt, all while calling it ‘serving the people.’ Don’t you feel ashamed?"

Before he finished, someone in the crowd shouted loudly, "Well said! That’s exactly right!"

"Yeah, let her keep looking down on people and see what happens this time!"

"Exactly! They think they can just throw their weight around and treat customers badly. Buying something shouldn’t mean taking that kind of abuse..."

This particular clerk was already disliked for her poor attitude, so many people had grievances against her.

Seeing someone openly confront her, more joined in to criticize her.

In an instant, the cooperative was chaotic, like a public trial scene.

The female clerk, unused to such a scene, turned pale with fright.

She truly feared these country bumpkins would overturn the counter and come after her.

At that moment, a balding middle-aged man came out of a door behind the counter and loudly said, "What’s all this noise? Don’t you know this is a supply and marketing cooperative?"

Seeing the balding man enter, the clerk seemed to see her savior and immediately began crying loudly, acting as if she had been terribly wronged.

The balding man hurriedly asked, "Why are you crying? What happened? Who bullied you?"

The clerk immediately pointed at Li Yi and said, "It’s him... he bullied me!"

The balding man looked at Li Yi and said, "Who are you? How dare you bully someone? Don’t you know this is a supply and marketing cooperative?"

Hearing this, Li Yi’s anger flared, and he shouted, "If you hadn’t said anything, I’d have thought this was some kind of black-hearted shop!"

"What do you mean by that? You’re slandering our cooperative!" the balding man yelled.

Li Yi retorted coldly, "With the way you work, do I even need to slander you? Just look at everyone’s faces—they’re furious!"

The balding man glanced at the crowd and saw that everyone indeed looked angry. He immediately sensed something was wrong.

"Comrade Zhou Fengmei, what’s really going on here?"

"Director... they can’t afford to buy anything, but kept asking questions and even touched our expensive quilt covers. So I told them off, but this comrade started yelling at me!" the clerk said.

Before the balding man could speak, Li Yi stepped forward and said coldly, "I’d like to hear how we, as customers, are wrong. Let me tell you, this matter isn’t over today!"

At that moment, Li Yi’s commanding aura—the presence of a seasoned leader—silenced everyone.

The balding man was visibly startled but still stubbornly said, "You’re the ones at fault. You need to buy within your means. If you can’t afford it, don’t waste our staff’s time; we’re very busy!"

"Also, many valuable items are reserved for the leaders. If you dirty or damage them, how can we sell them to others?"

Hearing this, Li Yi couldn’t help but laugh bitterly. Just as he was about to retort fiercely at the balding man...

Suddenly, an angry voice rang out from behind him: "Be quiet!"

...