Free Web NovelChapter 50: A Line-cutter
Wendy was at a loss after hearing Michael’s response. She self-consciously retorted, "Are you going to be eating with me?"
The corners of Michael’s lips curved upwards as he nodded. Wendy swallowed dryly, feeling speechless. Her gaze fell on the items in the cart again and she said, "Even if we are both eating, we won’t be able to finish everything. They’ll go bad."
"In that case, you can just do the rationing," said Michael. He did not know much about cooking. as he rarely even entered the kitchen. After seeing the empty refrigerator the previous day, he thought about buying more food so that Wendy would not go hungry. However, Wendy ended up returning half of the items in the cart.
Staring at the half-empty cart now, Wendy said, "We should buy less of the ingredients that will go bad very quickly. Instead, we can buy more vegetables and preserved items."
Michael nodded, indicating his agreement. Now, the roles were reversed. Wendy led the way and Michael followed behind her. Since they were both attractive individuals, many people turned around to look at them as they walked around the supermarket. In that instant, Wendy felt as if the both of them had actually become like a real married couple. She thought, look at us shopping during the weekend to restock our refrigerator.
It should have been a happy occasion, but the moment she thought about Yvonne, her smile immediately faded. Even though Michael had fired Yvonne, that did not mean that they were broken up. This short-lived interaction between them felt like a mockery to Wendy. However, she did not have the ability to resist it. After choosing everything that they wanted, they joined the line at the counter to pay.
As the line was extremely long, Wendy said, "I’ll wait in the line, you can wait for me elsewhere. There are too many people here."
Michael glanced at the long line and frowned. He said, "Let me call Mr. York."
"Forget it, I’ll just wait, " said Wendy. She knew what Michael wanted to do by calling Mr. York.
He wanted his assistant to pull some strings and allow them to cut to the front of the queue. However, that felt unnecessary to Wendy. After all, coming to the supermarket to do some grocery shopping was a very normal occurrence for ordinary people. There was no point in what Michael was hoping to do.
After hesitating for a moment, Michael followed Wendy’s instructions and walked to the side.
Wendy waited for a long time, but just when her turn was coming up, an old lady suddenly shoved her from behind. She exclaimed loudly, "Let me through, I’m in a rush, let me pay first" Due to the old lady’s forcefulness, Wendy stumbled back and almost lost her footing. She knew that she had encountered a line-cutter.
After regaining her balance, she said, "We’re all waiting in the line, how can you just cut ahead like that?"
"So what if cut your line? You’re a young lady, don’t you know how to respect your elders? I’m older than your mother, and even she has to respect me if she encounters me as it’s only right for people to respect their elders. Besides, this is not the first time that I’m cutting the line. Nobody has said anything about it, so why do you have so many opinions to share on the matter?"
Since the old lady was still being unreasonable, it was unlikely that she really had something urgent to attend to. Wendy took a deep breath, her temper flaring up. Even though she had been completely obedient to Michael for the past three years, she was still no pushover.
She started arguing with the old lady, "First of all, I only respect elders who deserve my respect. Secondly, it’s true that you’re older than my mother, but you’re still so unreasonable. Your long years of experience have gone to waste. Lastly, just because nobody has said anything about it doesn’t mean that your behavior is right. Do not take advantage of other people’s kindness and use it to do things that you shouldn’t do."
"So what if I’m unreasonable?" The old lady raised her voice and said, "I want to cut your line today, so what can you do about it?" With that, she started unloading the items in her cart on the counter, slamming them down with great force. She barked at the cashier, "Pack my groceries!"
"You." As it was Wendy’s first time encountering someone like this, she did not know how to deal with her antics.
Michael heard the commotion. When he saw Wendy involved in the argument, he immediately walked over and said, "What’s happening?"
That one question from him stirred something in Wendy, and she started feeling rather indignant.
She recounted what had happened, saying, "She cut ahead of me in line and shoved me."
"A line-cutter?" Michael frowned. He thought, "I didn’t even call Mr. York to get us priority access to the front of the line, so how dare this woman jump in front of us?"
"Wow, you have someone to back you up," said the old lady provocatively when she saw Michael, "but so what if you do? Are you going to hit me?"
"Hit you?" Michael felt amused. He said, "You’re not worthy."
"Ha ha ha, look at that." the old lady continued smugly. "Do you know who my son is? He works in the Public Security Bureau and knows all kinds of people, both good and bad. Watch out, or I’ll get my son to come after you."
The onlookers around them could not put up with the old lady’s attitude. They started badmouthing her.
"My goodness, there are truly all kinds of people in this world."
"Why does she have to cut the line? Wouldn’t it have been fine if we all just queued up like we were supposed to?"
"Exactly. How can someone so uncultured still exist in these days?"
The old lady’s face darkened when she heard everyone talking about her, but she did not feel that there was anything wrong with what she did.
She reached out to give Wendy another shove, then sat down on the ground and shouted, "The two of you teamed up to bully an old woman like me, how unreasonable..."
Michael’s quick reflexes allowed him to catch Wendy in time before she fell. She subconsciously touched her abdomen, afraid that the child she was carrying would get hurt.
When Michael stopped her from falling, Wendy distinctly felt the warmth from his hand on her waist. At that moment, she felt dazed. For that moment, she felt that with Michael by her side, there was nothing she had to fear.
"How dare you bully my wife in front of me!" said Michael ominously. He was clearly angry now.
"You both bullied me first! I’m just a weak old lady, how could I have bullied you?" The old lady lay down on the ground and started putting on an act. She said, "I don’t care, I can’t get up."
"You can’t get up?" Michael initially did not want to hit her as he was afraid of dirtying his own hands, but now... He lifted his foot and stepped on the old lady forcefully, showing her no mercy.
With Michael’s foot on her body, the old lady clutched her torso and started wailing, "Ah! They’re trying to kill me, they’re trying to kill me! This couple is ruthless."
This was a shock to Wendy. She reached out to grab Michael and whispered, "Let’s just forget it."
It was not the old lady that she feared. Rather, she was afraid that Michael might end up killing the old lady in a moment of rage.
"She had the guts to push you in front of me, I cannot simply let this go," said Michael. He looked down condescendingly at the old lady, sneered, and took out his phone to call Mr. York.
He spoke in an ominous tone, but to Wendy, he sounded exceptionally warm. This was the first big moment that Michael was standing up for her. freёwebnoѵel.com
The moment the call went through, Michael said, "I’m at the counter of Jolly Supermarket right now. I want you to check the background of an old lady who’s here with me. Then, I want you to notify all the supermarkets and shopping centers in Lake City that this woman is not allowed to enter."
When the old lady heard what Michael was saying, she went from clutching her stomach in pain to laughing out loud. She said, "Who do you think you are? Are you really trying to ban me from all the supermarkets and shopping centers in Lake City? Do you think you are part of the Lucas family, the most affluent family in this entire city? What a joke"
Wendy wanted to tell her who Michael really was. Not only was he part of that family, he was the heir to their inheritance. However, she remained quiet as there was nothing she could say to the old lady standing before her.
Even when the crowd around them grew bigger, the old lady still lay on the ground and refused to leave. All she had wanted to do was cut the line, but things unexpectedly blew up. She was an unreasonable person to begin with, and running into Wendy and Michael was bad luck on her part, but she still wanted to act tough.
Soon, the manager of the supermarket received a call from Mr. York and immediately arrived at the counter.
"Mr. Lucas, why didn’t you tell us that you were coming to patronize us? I would have welcomed you personally." The beaming manager glanced at the old lady on the ground and immediately said, "Don’t worry, I’ll kick her out of here right away, and I’ll never let her step into Jolly Supermarket ever again."
When the old lady heard the manager, she suddenly felt dazed. Soon, a group of security guards rushed over. The manager waved his hand and instructed them, "Take this old lady out of here!"
The old lady lost her arrogant demeanor from earlier. She stared incredulously at Michael and Wendy, "Who are you exactly? How did you get the manager to take action for you?"
"This is Mr. Lucas, the president of MC Enterprise. Not only is this supermarket alone owned by MC Enterprise, but so is the entire shopping center," said the manager as he gazed at the old lady, despising her ignorance.
At the mention of "MC Enterprise," her eyes widened. She had acted unreasonably in many instances, but she never expected herself to end up offending Michael Lucas, the richest man in the whole of Lake City. No matter how ignorant she was, she was now aware of the massive trouble that she was in.
Wailing, she immediately began to plead with Michael. "I’m sorry, I’m so sorry, Mr. Lucas. Please be generous and take pity on me. I won’t ever cut the line again. I promise to be a good citizen in the future."
"You’re asking for my pity now?" Michael snorted. "It’s too late."
Seeing that Michael would not relent, the old lady could only crawl over to Wendy and beg her instead. She grabbed the hem of Wendy’s dress and burst into tears, "Mrs. Lucas, I’m so sorry, I was blind. Please let me go through this once. I’m just a blind and ignorant old lady, I hope that you will be compassionate and forgive me."
Wendy’s heart softened when she saw the old lady like that. After all, the old lady had not committed a sin so terrible or unforgivable. She just had an inferior personality. Turning around, Wendy gazed at Michael. Before she could speak, Michael interrupted her, "Don’t try to plead on her behalf, I won’t let her get away with this. Just think of this as me issuing a warning to all the line-cutters in Lake City."
"Alright," said Wendy. Since Michael refused to agree, she would not plead on the old lady’s behalf. After all, it was the old lady’s fault in the first place. Wendy understood Michael’s personality too well. It was already merciful on his part to not implicate the old lady’s family in this incident.
When the old lady heard this, her eyes rolled back, and she fainted. Wendy’s heart softened.
She said, "Since she has already passed out, we should at least inform her family members. It’d be terrible if something bad happened."
This time, Michael did not turn Wendy down. When he heard her, he gave the manager a look, implying that he should deal with this. The manager immediately nodded.
