Rebirth: My college entrance exam score was stolen? I turned the tables and made a billion.

the next day.

7:30, Hongxing intersection.

Two strings of six thousand red paper flasks hung above the door, crackling and popping, leaving scraps of red paper scattered all over the ground.

As soon as the firecrackers stopped, a crowd of onlookers gathered three or four deep outside the shop.

This intersection was originally the busiest part of the county town.

Previously, the Hongxing Grocery Store's wage arrears caused a great uproar, and everyone knew that it had been taken over by a young individual business owner.

Today is the opening day, and I came here early in the morning to see what's so special about it.

"Self-service supermarket? What's that?"

"Not even a glass display case? How are we supposed to sell things here?"

The big guys were peeking around at the door.

The lobby was illuminated by twelve extended fluorescent tubes, making it as bright as day. The gleaming floor tiles and rows of neat wooden shelves were dazzling to the eye.

But no one dared to cross that threshold.

In the county towns of that era, ordinary people were used to the condescending attitude of the supply and marketing cooperatives when buying things.

If you want to buy a bar of soap, you have to look at the salesperson's expression first, even through the thick glass counter.

If you ask a few more questions, they'll just say, "Are you buying or not? If not, don't touch it," leaving you speechless and embarrassed.

Now that the door is wide open and everything is laid out outside, it's actually quite intimidating.

Liu Guangming had anticipated this scene.

He carried out a dozen or so red bamboo baskets, walked to the front door, and handed them to the first woman with curly hair.

"Auntie, this is a new model."

"There are no counters, no salespeople watching you. Just take a basket and go in and browse by yourself."

"Take whatever you like, and once you've chosen everything, come to the entrance to pay."

The curly-haired middle-aged woman, carrying a basket, asked with a hint of disbelief, "Take whatever you want? You don't have to pay if you break it? Really, no receipts needed?"

"No tickets needed! You can look around as much as you want, and you don't have to buy a ticket!"

Liu Guangming invited the people inside.

"But we have a deal, Auntie, you have to bring this basket back to me."

"Okay, then Auntie will go in and take a look."

The older woman tentatively stepped inside.

She walked to the outermost shelf and immediately spotted the colorful, bright red peony plastic basins.

Normally at the supply and marketing cooperative, this pot would hang high up, and you'd have to beg the salesperson to bring it down with a pole if you wanted to see it clearly.

Now, it's placed right there at waist height.

The woman reached out and touched it; the basin was thick and had smooth edges.

A sales assistant next to him quickly came over with a smile.

"Sister, this pot is made of new material brought from the south. It's durable and can withstand being dropped. Please pick it up and feel its weight."

The older woman was startled, thinking she was being told not to touch him and was going to get scolded. But the man not only greeted her with a smile but also called her "elder sister."

The woman immediately felt relieved.

"This one's nice, and the price... isn't bad either."

"Give me two!"

The older woman simply stuffed it into the basket.

She walked further and saw a pile of small, square boxes that smelled pleasant.

"Safeguard? The one that makes you lose on TV?"

The woman picked up a piece, held it under her nose, and smelled it; the fragrance was so strong it went straight to her head.

"This tastes amazing! Take three!"

Further inside, you'll find exotic cookies from Guangdong, White Rabbit milk candy in tin boxes, and bright green Jianlibao (a popular Chinese herbal tea).

The basket in the old lady's hands grew heavier and heavier, and she became more and more addicted to browsing.

Those watching from outside wondered, "Is nobody going to do anything? Can they really just touch it like that?"

This caused an uproar among the crowd.

"Hey, hey, don't push! Leave me a basket!"

Suddenly, dozens of people rushed in.

There weren't enough plastic baskets to go around, so the people who came in later took off their coats and used them as bags to stuff their things into them.

Outside the crowd, Zhao Dashun squatted on the curb, a half-smoked cigarette dangling from his mouth, his face looking worse than if he'd swallowed a fly.

He's the troublemaker who led the resignation from the grocery store a few days ago.

Today, he specially dragged a few of his old buddies who were leaving together to come and see Liu Guangming make a fool of himself.

"Brother Da Shun, what's this kid up to? He removed all the windows, isn't he afraid everything will be stolen?"

The person next to him curled his lip.

Zhao Dashun sneered and stomped the cigarette butt on the ground.

"That's just utter nonsense!"

"He's wasting public property; let's see how he handles that."

"If we don't go bankrupt within three days of selling like this, I'll change my name!"

No sooner had he finished speaking than he saw wave after wave of people rushing into the store.

Those middle-aged women who would argue with vegetable vendors for half a day over two cents were now carrying piles of things out as if money were free.

Zhao Dashun couldn't sit still any longer, so he pushed through the crowd and squeezed into the store.

He was dumbfounded when he entered the room.

He used to work here and always felt the store was lifeless.

The place is so bright now that he hardly recognizes it.

What bothered him even more were the few old colleagues who stayed behind.

In the past, everyone just drifted through life, swatting flies with newspapers.

Today, these people, all dressed in matching white shirts with red badges pinned to their chests, walked briskly among the shelves, smiling at everyone they met and addressing each person as "Big Sister" or "Big Uncle."

Zhao Dashun walked up to the cashier.

Li Guihua was sitting there, the beads on her abacus flying through the air.

"Six yuan and eighty cents, ten yuan in total, three yuan and two mao in change! Next!"

Aunt Zhang deftly collected the money and gave change.

Behind the semi-circular cash register, the large wooden box used to hold money was already crammed full, filled with 10-yuan and 5-yuan bills.

Zhao Dashun's eyes turned red with envy.

He couldn't resist moving closer and calling out, "Osmanthus."

Li Guihua didn't even look up, her abacus clicking away rapidly.

"Da Shun, don't block the way, there's a line behind you!"

"No, Sister Guihua, what you're doing..."

Zhao Dashun wanted to strike up a conversation.

"Stop with the 'this' and 'that'! I'm busy; if I make a mistake in the calculation, I'll have to pay compensation!"

Li Guihua pushed him away impatiently.

Zhao Dashun was pushed out of the cashier's counter.

He never expected this situation to unfold.

These past few days he's been looking for work all over the streets, but no one wants him for jobs that pay well.

Looking at the box full of cash, and seeing his former colleagues who were not as good as him doing so well, he wanted to slap himself twice.

But he made that choice himself.

That small business owner doesn't seem easy to talk to; there's no turning back now.

"well......"

Zhao Dashun sighed and had no choice but to turn and leave.

The atmosphere in the store grew increasingly lively.

In less than an hour, half of the Jianlibao and Safeguard products on the shelves were gone.

"Brother Guangming, the shelves in front are empty! The soap and cookies are all gone!"

The blond-haired man ran over, covered in sweat.

Liu Guangming stood by the cashier, giving instructions with composure.

"Go to the warehouse and find Xiaojun to restock. Just bring out the cardboard boxes and open them on the spot. Don't waste time!"

The blond-haired man responded and quickly ran to the back.

At this point, the role of loss prevention and security also became apparent.

Liangzi, with his four brothers, walked back and forth in the store with his arms crossed.

Just now, a young man took advantage of the chaos to stuff a bag of candy into his crotch. He had just reached the door when Liangzi grabbed him by the collar and dragged him out.

No one saw how it was handled outside, but the young man ran away as fast as he could, leaving his things behind.

This tactic of making an example of someone to deter others directly shocked those who wanted to take advantage of the situation, and no one dared to have any more crooked thoughts.

Noon.

The first peak period has finally passed.

With fewer people in the store, everyone could finally catch their breath.

Li Guihua slumped into the large chair behind the cashier, feeling as if her arms no longer belonged to her.

The large wooden box next to it, used for storing money, was so full that the lid could no longer be closed.