Brother! This is the adoption certificate. I don't want your sister-in-law!

Su Xiao looked at Wu Mengmeng's arrogant demeanor.

Her chin was held high, her lips were slightly pouting, and her pigtails swayed on either side of her shoulders. Her forward-leaning posture made it seem as if she was certain that he couldn't do anything about her.

Su Xiao suddenly smiled.

He took a step back, leaned against the counter, and shouted towards the repair counter, "Luo Jiang, how much do we charge for harassing the boss?"

There was a moment of silence behind the repair station.

Luo Jiang looked up, adjusted his glasses, and looked as serious as if he were really flipping through the employee handbook: "It seems there's no such rule."

"Then add it now."

Su Xiao crossed her arms and said slowly, "Teasing the boss will result in a 100 yuan deduction from your salary."

Wu Mengmeng froze for a moment, then exploded like a cat whose tail had been stepped on: "You dare! Su Xiao, you bastard, you can't deduct my salary! I've been working hard all day, and now you're telling me you're deducting my salary!"

She went around the counter to grab Su Xiao's arm, but Su Xiao dodged backward, and Wu Mengmeng missed her target, her pigtails hitting her face.

She continued chasing while rubbing her face. Su Xiao walked around the counter without running, but each time she was about to catch her, she would take a step to the side.

Luo Jiang, Lao Liu, and Xiao Zhou silently lowered their heads behind the repair station, pretending to be studying the motherboard.

Just as Wu Mengmeng finally grabbed Su Xiao's sleeve, ready to argue, the glass door was pushed open.

The wind chimes at the door jingled once, and the person who came in was not a customer.

He was bald, wearing a black jacket, and had that kind of smile that made you want to close the door.

Zeng Ran stood at the door, his gaze sweeping around the store before finally settling on the way Su Xiao and Wu Mengmeng were pulling at each other, and he curled his lips down slightly.

"Wow, it's quite lively here. But your business doesn't seem to be doing very well. Weren't you so arrogant before, saying you were going to crush me?"

Luo Jiang put down the screwdriver and stood up. Wu Mengmeng also loosened her grip on Su Xiao's sleeve, her playful expression fading somewhat.

Su Xiao straightened her school uniform collar, which had been pulled askew, turned around to face Zeng Ran, her face expressionless.

"We didn't do much advertising when we first opened. Business will come slowly. Anyway, I didn't open this store to compete with anyone."

Zeng Ran leaned against the door frame and snorted a laugh through his nose.

"The rule on this street is that two tigers can't share the same mountain. I advise you to find another place as soon as possible. Students should go back to their studies and not wait until someone vandalizes your shop without you even knowing why!"

After speaking, he glanced at Wu Mengmeng again, his gaze lingering on her for a couple more seconds, a not-so-serious smile playing on his lips.

Before Su Xiao could even speak, Wu Mengmeng exploded.

She took a step forward, pointed at Zeng Ran, and said, "You stinky bald guy! You've been loitering around the door this morning, staring at me the whole time. Are you a pervert?! If you dare look at me again, believe me, I'll gouge your eyes out!"

Zeng Ran's face changed after being bombarded with insults. Before she could retort, Wu Mengmeng added, "What are you looking at! Haven't you ever seen a beautiful woman before?!"

Su Xiao reached out and pulled Wu Mengmeng back, looking at Zeng Ran, her voice neither loud nor soft: "Boss Zeng, did you hear that? My staff doesn't really welcome you. If you have a problem, come to me. Don't stand at the door and affect our business."

Zeng Ran's facial muscles twitched, he sneered, said "Fine, you've got guts," and pushed open the glass door and left.

Luo Jiang walked over to Su Xiao and lowered his voice, saying, "Boss, I've inquired around. Zeng Ran has been hanging around this street for several years and has some connections with the neighborhood office and the nearby police station. He's lost face this time, so he's probably going to cause trouble."

Su Xiao nodded, not surprised at all.

In this day and age, it's impossible for someone to be so arrogant without a powerful background.

Su Xiao indicated that she understood, offered a few words of reassurance to the two, and then turned to leave.

As soon as I took a step, the back of my clothes was grabbed.

"What are you doing now, big sister?"

Su Xiao turned around helplessly. Wu Mengmeng was holding onto his clothes with one hand, and with the other hand, she pulled out a few candies from somewhere.

The candy wrappers were brightly colored and the packaging was very nice; it looked like an expensive item. She carefully held it in her palm.

"Tomorrow is Christmas." She handed him some candy. "Merry Christmas in advance. Even though you're stingy, mean, and heartless, you took me in, so I have to show my appreciation."

Su Xiao looked down at the few candies in her hand and remained silent for a moment.

He took the candy and stuffed it all into his pocket, his movements far from gentle.

Wu Mengmeng pouted: "You never even give me a gift."

Su Xiao didn't say anything, but simply turned around and waved her hand.

He paused for a moment when the glass door opened, but didn't turn around.

"Alright, I won't deduct that hundred yuan from your account."

……

Zeng Ge's secondhand recycling shop is much bigger than Quan Quan's, but the decoration looks like it's from ten years ago.

The dark green wainscoting has peeled paint, and one of the fluorescent light tubes is broken, flickering on and off.

The shelves were piled high with mobile phones and accessories, but there were only a few customers in the store. Two employees were sitting behind the counter, but they didn't look very serious. They both had blond hair and tattoos.

Zeng Ran was also sitting behind the counter, a cigarette between his fingers, cursing at two employees, "That little brat across the street is asking for it. Wait until the weekend and we'll call a few people to smash up his shop and see how arrogant he is then."

Just then, the door was pushed open.

Zeng Ran looked up and saw the person walking in; the cigarette in her mouth almost fell out.

Su Xiao stood at the door, her school uniform zipped up to the top, a humble, almost shy smile on her face.

"Boss Zeng, I've come to learn from your experience."

Su Xiao put her hands in her pockets and walked in, slowly looking at the shelves and corners of the walls. "I'm new to this line of work and don't have much experience. I'm thinking of learning from the seniors. You guys are all veterans on this street. I'm just a small-time worker trying to make a living. How could I dare to compete with you guys for business?"

So you're backing down already?

Zeng Ran leaned back in his chair, his expression shifting from surprise to smugness.

He flicked the ashes onto the ground, his tone filled with undisguised contempt.

"You're not so bad, kid. Students should go back to school and study. Trying to do business is a waste of time. You should close down as soon as possible, or you'll lose everything."

The two men next to him also started laughing.

Su Xiao nodded in agreement, a humble smile on her face, her gaze sweeping over every corner of the store without making a sound.

A large number of used batteries were piled up in cardboard boxes next to the shelf. Some of them had already leaked electrolyte, and the acidic smell of the electrolyte was faint.

The electrical wires behind the repair station were haphazardly strung together, with several power strips strung together and hanging on the wall.

The fire extinguisher box in the corner was covered with a thick layer of dust, and the inspection label on it was dated last year.

The store had no back door, and the only escape route was half blocked by a stack of cardboard boxes two meters high.

"Boss Zeng is right."

Su Xiao withdrew her gaze, nodded to Zeng Ran, and said, "I won't bother you any longer. Please continue with your work."

As he walked out of the shop, Zeng Ran shouted after him, "Kid, remember this: take down the sign before the weekend! Otherwise, don't blame me for being ruthless!"

Su Xiao didn't turn around, but casually waved her hand.

After leaving the science and technology street, Su Xiao turned a corner and walked to the entrance of the nearby fire station.

He stood in front of the complaint mailbox, took out paper and pen from his bag, and leaned against the wall to write a few lines.

After finishing writing, I folded the paper, dropped it into the mailbox, and patted the dust off my hands.

Then he took out his phone, scrolled to a contact in his address book that he had saved a few days ago but hadn't called many times.

Sun Yi, Director of the Industry and Commerce Bureau!

Su Xiao pressed the call button.

I answered the phone after it rang twice.

"Hey, Uncle Sun, this is Su Xiao. Do you have time to come over this weekend? It's nothing much, just an ordinary person starting a business. Could you give me some pointers and tell me if there's anything I can improve on the shop?"

……

(Thank you all so much for your support!)