27: An apology and compensation are required.

Wu Jiaojiao looked at the suit fabric. She really liked this fabric; the texture felt different from all the previous ones she had touched.

However, she had been treating people to meals recently and had various other expenses, so she didn't have much money left on hand. Even if her family sent her money, it wouldn't arrive until after the New Year.

"Forget it, I don't like this fabric. It's cold right now, and even if I made it into a suit, I wouldn't be able to wear it."

Wu Jiaojiao said this, deliberately pretending not to like it.

Chen Ke looked at the fabric with some regret. If she had the money, she would also want to make herself a suit jacket. They usually wore military uniforms while training in the regiment, but they could wear casual clothes when going out. If she wore a suit like this when going out, it would definitely attract everyone's attention.

Grandma Xiao listened to this and calculated the money she had on hand.

The things Xiao Jing gave her and Niannian were definitely worth more than one hundred yuan. There was not only a wardrobe and a desk, but also a coal stove, honeycomb briquettes, over ten catties of meat, and so many side dishes, winter melons, and pumpkins...

Adding in those candies and pastries...

Fifty yuan was half of the money she had. If they lived frugally, fifty yuan could last them half a year without any problems. She did have two ten-chi fabric ration coupons, but that wasn't enough. Perhaps she could find someone to trade with; this fabric was truly excellent.

Seeing that Wu Jiaojiao said she didn't like it, the Sales Clerk, who knew how to read the situation, smiled and introduced another style.

"This suit fabric is only five yuan per meter and only requires five chi of fabric ration coupons. This style also just arrived..."

Wu Jiaojiao looked at the other style. With the previous suit fabric as a standard of quality, she looked at this one. Under normal circumstances, she would have thought it was excellent, but now, looking at it, she felt it was far inferior to the previous one.

"I want five meters of this suit fabric."

Xiao Niannian took out the fabric ration coupons and money. She had taken them from her storage space and put them in her bag before leaving the house.

She had five ten-yuan bills. She looked at the stack of coupons in her hand and picked out three ten-chi fabric ration coupons.

Seeing the thick stack of fabric, grain, and meat ration coupons in Xiao Niannian's hand, the expressions of Wu Jiaojiao, Chen Ke, and the others became even uglier.

Chen Ke had always thought that Grandma Xiao and Xiao Niannian were hicks and that they only came to the Supply and Marketing Cooperative to look at fabrics without buying anything. They were the true customers who could afford these expensive fabrics.

But this hick had taken out the very suit fabric that even Wu Jiaojiao couldn't bear to buy.

Wu Jiaojiao spoke up.

"comrade, this suit fabric is too expensive. It probably takes your family's entire year's income to afford it. You mustn't make an impulsive purchase; you won't be able to return it later..."

On the surface, Wu Jiaojiao was offering advice, but in reality, she was calling Xiao Niannian hypocritical, implying she didn't care about her family's survival just to buy this suit fabric...

Chen Ke, hearing Wu Jiaojiao's words, immediately began to mock her.

"That is truly outrageous, actually using a family's entire year's harvest to buy a piece of suit fabric..."

The others, hearing Wu Jiaojiao and Chen Ke's words, immediately echoed them.

"Looking at her, she doesn't look like a rich person. Spending nearly one hundred yuan on a piece of fabric, that's truly wasteful."

"If I had a daughter like that, I might as well have drowned her in the toilet the moment she was born."

"I suspect her money comes from an unknown source."

The Sales Clerk, hearing their words, also eyed Xiao Niannian with suspicion.

"comrade, do you really want to spend fifty yuan and thirty chi of fabric ration coupons on this piece of suit fabric?"

The Sales Clerk felt that Xiao Niannian was just putting on a brave front.

Grandma Xiao hadn't expected her Granddaughter to have so much money and so many fabric ration coupons on hand. She knew Niannian had some money; every day after coming home from school, Niannian would help with a lot of chores, and she would secretly give Niannian the money Niannian earned from her work. She also gave her money on her birthday and during the New Year. Over the years, the savings had indeed accumulated into a significant amount.

She had previously heard from teachers at the school that Niannian couldn't bear to spend money at school at all. Her pencils were used until they couldn't be used anymore, and she would even use wire to make a loop to hold the last little bit to finish using it.

"Buy it."

Xiao Niannian slapped the money onto the counter.

"Alright, I will cut it for you right now."

Chen Ke was immediately enraged upon hearing Xiao Niannian and the Sales Clerk's exchange. The suit fabric that even they couldn't bear to buy—what right did this hick Xiao Niannian have to buy it?

"You are not allowed to sell it to her! How could someone like her, a country bumpkin, deserve to buy such nice clothes?"

Hearing this, Xiao Niannian retorted directly.

"This is capitalist behavior. The leaders once said that everyone is equal. Why is it that, according to you, country folk can't buy this kind of suit fabric, and why don't they deserve to wear such clothes?"

Hearing Xiao Niannian call her a capitalist, Chen Ke was furious.

"How dare you talk nonsense! I'll make you regret this." As Chen Ke said this, she swung her hand, intending to hit Xiao Niannian.

Xiao Niannian reached out directly, blocking Chen Ke's hand that was aiming to slap her. With her other hand, she grabbed Chen Ke's wrist and applied a little force, causing Chen Ke to immediately scream out loud.

"It hurts! You bitch, let go of me!"

Chen Ke hadn't expected Xiao Niannian's grip to be so strong, like an iron pincer; she couldn't move at all.

"Let go of me!"

As soon as Xiao Niannian let go, Chen Ke fell to the ground, her bottom hurting terribly, and she started wailing again.

"Ah! You actually pushed me! You hick, I'll make you regret this!"

Wu Jiaojiao looked at Xiao Niannian, lifted her chin, and said.

"comrade, how can you hit someone? You need to apologize to Ke Ke."

Hearing Wu Jiaojiao say this, the Female Comrades in their group also echoed her.

"That's right, hitting someone is wrong on your part."

"How could you hit Ke Ke? She is in the dance troupe. If she got injured and it affected the Division Headquarters' New Year performance, could you afford to pay for that?"

"She dared to hit someone! This is assaulting a Soldier. Go call the police quickly."

Hearing what they were saying, Grandma Xiao became a bit anxious. How could these young women be so unreasonable? It was clearly these young women who were looking for trouble, looking down on Niannian, and bullying Niannian, yet now they were actually claiming it was Niannian's fault.

"How can you young women be so outrageous? It was clearly you who mocked us as hicks, wouldn't let us buy things, and even tried to hit my Granddaughter, yet now you are actually turning the tables and blaming us."

Hearing Grandma Xiao's words, Wu Jiaojiao's expression was a bit awkward. However, looking at how Grandma Xiao and Xiao Niannian were dressed, and then seeing Chen Ke crying and screaming on the ground, Wu Jiaojiao said:

"comrade, if you apologize to Ke Ke, we won't report this matter to the police."

"That's right, apologize."

"You must make amends."

"If you don't apologize and make amends, then we will report this to the police and have them locked up."

Listening to their words, Xiao Niannian only felt that these people were hopeless.

"This is the Supply and Marketing Cooperative, not a place where you call the shots. You are the ones who are wrong; if anyone needs to apologize, it should be you apologizing to us. If you want to report this to the police, I'll be happy to oblige."