Chapter Seventy-One: Professor Wu Kangsheng

"Who said no ration tickets are needed? Sesame candy falls under the category of food and requires a ticket to purchase!"
"No ticket? Are you trying to mess with me? Go play somewhere else! You're clearly a country bumpkin—can't you see what's going on?"
Seeing that Chen Huajiang couldn't produce a ticket, the attendant immediately became aggressive. She tossed the sesame candy aside, crossed her arms, and looked at him with undisguised disdain.
Snacks like sesame candy could be bought with or without a ticket, but whether to enforce the rule depended entirely on the whims of the staff.
Chen Huajiang was so infuriated he almost wanted to slap the smug, sharp-tongued look off her face.
To draw an analogy, it was like in later years, when you could pay for purchases either by scanning a QR code with your phone or with cash. The difference was that, in the future, shop assistants had no right to dictate which method a customer must use.
But here, the staff had that power, which explained her arrogant satisfaction.
"Comrade, do you need a ration ticket? I happen to have one and can sell it to you."
Just then, a warm voice sounded nearby.
Chen Huajiang turned to see a middle-aged man in thick glasses and a gray Zhongshan suit.
The man saw Chen Huajiang looking at him, smiled, and nodded, holding out a ration ticket worth fifty cents.
"Thank you," Chen Huajiang said, handing over the fifty cents and accepting the ticket, which he then gave to the attendant.
The attendant shot a venomous glare at the middle-aged man before resentfully tossing the sesame candy at Chen Huajiang.
Tossed, not handed.
"Excuse me, Comrade, but what is the meaning of this?"
"Even if you don't believe the customer is king, you can't be this arrogant!"
Chen Huajiang was truly angry now—paying money just to be insulted.
"Oh?" The middle-aged man looked at Chen Huajiang in surprise. Originally about to leave, he now paused.
"Customer is king? Are you spreading feudal superstitions?"
"I suspect you're an imperialist spy!"
At Chen Huajiang's words, the attendant grew agitated.

Seeing how excited she was, Chen Huajiang's heart skipped a beat. He realized he had said the wrong thing.
"We're workers from Red Flag Factory, not spies, so watch what you say."
"You threw the sesame candy at us, which is why my husband misspoke. And besides, he was talking about customers and shops. If you slander him, it'll embarrass us all if it gets out of hand."
Lin Jiayin grabbed Chen Huajiang's arm and looked sternly at the woman behind the counter.
She was inwardly scolding Chen Huajiang for stirring up trouble, but at this point, she had no choice but to step in and defend him.
"What, you think the shop is king? Comrade, your thinking is seriously flawed!"
Chen Huajiang quickly followed his wife's lead, putting on a serious face and counterattacking.
This was no joke—if she really labeled him, no matter how capable he was, he'd be finished.
The attendant's face turned bright red with anger as she pointed at the couple. "You, you think you can turn things upside down? Comrade, you heard what he said, right? Bear witness for me!"
She looked to the middle-aged man, and all eyes turned to him, tension in the air.
In a sense, he was a witness, and from his attire, clearly an intellectual—his testimony would carry weight.
"I didn't hear clearly, but I did see you throw the sesame candy at him first," the middle-aged man said with a smile, adjusting his thick glasses.
The attendant was furious, while the couple looked at him with gratitude. Chen Huajiang nodded to him in thanks.
With no witness on her side, the attendant couldn't escalate the matter. She shot them a hateful glare, muttered a string of foul words, and returned behind the counter to knit.
"Thank you," Chen Huajiang said gratefully as the family headed upstairs.
This incident was a lesson—it was one thing to eat recklessly, but one's words had to be chosen carefully in this era.
At least for a few more years, certain Western terms couldn't be used until after the reforms.
"No need to thank me. She was the one making a mountain out of a molehill. But you, Comrade, seem to understand the idea that the customer is king. I suppose you support the market economy?"
"I'm Wu Kangsheng, a lecturer at Linjiang University, currently here on business and conducting some research."
"I'd like to hear your thoughts on this department store and their service attitude," Wu Kangsheng said with a smile, introducing himself.

A lecturer at Linjiang University? Chen Huajiang looked at him in surprise, not expecting someone so young.
Linjiang University was a prestigious institution in the city, destined to become a top university in the future.
But none of that mattered to Chen Huajiang. In two lifetimes, he hadn't had the chance to attend university.
"I don't know much about the market economy, but their attitude is definitely a problem. Still, there's not much to be done. I was a worker myself, so I understand their mindset."
"They get a fixed salary, rain or shine. Whether their service is good or bad, it doesn't matter to them, so why bother smiling or being attentive?"
"I actually have an idea about this. There should be a customer satisfaction rating—if satisfaction is high, raise their pay; if it's low, cut their pay. Maybe that would improve service."
Having just been taught a lesson, Chen Huajiang didn't dare say too much. But since Wu Kangsheng had helped him, he had to say something in return.
Otherwise, he'd seem rude and ungrateful.
"Satisfaction rating?"
Wu Kangsheng frowned, subconsciously pulling out a notebook and tapping it with the fountain pen clipped to his chest.
The unconscious gesture told Chen Huajiang that this man was a heavy smoker—treating his pen as a cigarette and his notebook as a cigarette box, tapping away.
"It's actually a good solution, though it only works for department stores, not for factories. You can't really conduct satisfaction surveys in a factory."
After a while, he collected himself, looked at Chen Huajiang with admiration, and nodded, his gaze bright with curiosity.
Clearly, he wanted to hear more ideas to support his research.
"That's not my concern; I don't know that much."
Chen Huajiang shrugged. He wasn't stupid—he could tell Wu Kangsheng supported the market economy.
There was nothing wrong with conducting research in his position, but as a dismissed worker, it would be unwise for Chen Huajiang to get involved.
Debates between planned and market economies were fierce in those days; everything would have to wait for a few years until the Southern Tour made things clear.
Until then, he dared not say more.
Wu Kangsheng tried a few more times to steer the conversation back to the topic, but Chen Huajiang kept silent, and eventually, Wu had no choice but to take his leave.