The toy store was filled with an abundance of toys for both boys and girls.
Several children were browsing for toys inside. Liu Yifeng inwardly thought he should have brought Tongtong along so the boy could choose his own.
"Daddy, I want this colorful toy car..." a little boy pointed at a toy on the shelf, whining.
"Okay, Dad will buy it for you!" Adults are always accommodating to their children's requests.
Liu Yifeng walked over to the father and son and spotted a Transformers Optimus Prime.
This Optimus Prime was a meter long and remote-controlled, but it required self-assembly.
Although it was a bit troublesome, Liu Yifeng felt that assembling it with Tongtong would give them a sense of shared participation and strengthen their father-son bond.
But just as he took the toy down from the shelf, the boy who had initially wanted the remote-controlled car, upon seeing the Transformers in his hand, immediately turned to his father and said, "Daddy, I don't want the remote-controlled car anymore, I want this Optimus Prime."
The boy's father looked at the Optimus Prime in Liu Yifeng's hand and asked a store employee, "Do you have any more of this Optimus Prime in stock?"
The employee looked apologetically at the male customer. "Mr. Cheng, I'm sorry, this Optimus Prime is the last one. But we have a Bumblebee Transformers, would that be acceptable?"
"Xiao Li, how about we switch to Bumblebee?" the man asked his son gently.
Xiao Li immediately became anxious, stomping his feet in anger. "I don't want Bumblebee, I like Optimus Prime, I want Optimus Prime!"
The man looked somewhat troubled at Liu Yifeng. "Sir, could you possibly let me have this toy? Whatever toy you want, I'll buy you one."
"I'm sorry, my son also likes Optimus Prime," Liu Yifeng said. He had set his heart on this toy and believed that father and son shared a connection; Tongtong would surely love it too.
This little boy was truly being unreasonable. The adults weren't disciplining him, instead indulging his every whim. Liu Yifeng strongly disagreed with such a method of parenting.
"Daddy, you have to buy this for me, or I'm not leaving," Xiao Li said, crossing his arms and glaring fiercely.
"Alright, alright, don't be angry, Dad will buy it for you!" the man soothed.
After speaking, his gaze towards Liu Yifeng was no longer friendly. "Sir, if you don't want to encounter any trouble when you leave, you'd better give me the toy."
This could be described as a naked threat.
Although Liu Yifeng disliked trouble, he had never feared it.
He sneered, "What if I say no?"
The man hadn't expected to encounter such a stubborn person today. Knowing it was impossible to get Liu Yifeng to yield, he turned to the staff with a commanding tone. "I want this toy, you handle it!"
This was the first time the staff member had encountered such a situation. If it were just an ordinary customer making such an unreasonable demand, she would have ignored it.
But this Mr. Cheng was a big client of their store; he accounted for half of their monthly sales.
Offending him would mean losing a customer, making it incredibly difficult to meet their sales targets in the future.
After careful consideration, the staff member could only offend the new customer. She looked apologetically at Liu Yifeng. "Sir, I'm very sorry, but it seems we cannot sell you this Transformers."
"So this is how you treat your customers?" Liu Yifeng frowned.
"What does it matter how they treat their customers? This is their store, and they have the right not to sell to you. Hurry up and put the Transformers down and get out?" the man's demeanor shifted from humble to arrogant and rude.
It was clear this was his true nature, and his previous politeness was just an act.
"What if I don't leave?" Liu Yifeng was not one to be bullied.
"Why are you still standing there? Hurry up and kick him out?" the man lost his patience and impatiently addressed the staff.
"Sir, please don't make things difficult for me," the staff member also seemed inclined to ask him to leave.
The other customers stood by watching the spectacle, pointing fingers at Liu Yifeng. No one stood up to defend him.
Because in this world, there was no absolute fairness; fairness always sided with the one with money.
Just then, a tall, slender young woman, wearing sunglasses and a black mask, passed by the entrance of the toy store.
She was accompanied by two escorts. The woman had just attended a business event and was planning to relax by browsing the mall.
As she passed the toy store, she spotted a familiar face.
When she saw the toy in Liu Yifeng's hand, she already knew who he intended to buy it for.
However, it seemed he had encountered a difficult character, and the toy might not be hers to get.
Thinking this, she quietly said a few words to the person beside her.
The person frowned disapprovingly. "You'd better not get involved in this. If it gets exposed, they could dig up your entire ancestral lineage, and all your past efforts would be in vain."
"I knew you were the best. As long as you're discreet, no one will know," the woman said with a hint of playful coaxing.
"You... fine, fine. For your sake, I'll make an exception this once.
But in the future, don't interfere too much in such trivial matters. Don't forget, you are now a 'Pure Beauty' and an independent woman.
Your past affairs are in the past and have nothing to do with you anymore," the man reminded her.
The woman nodded obediently. "I know, I know! It's just that I happened to run into it!"
Subsequently, the man moved to a quiet spot and made a phone call. Shortly after, he gave the woman an 'ok' gesture.
Only then did the woman feel relieved and leave. She had lost any desire to continue shopping, as it would be bad if she encountered them.
Meanwhile, Liu Yifeng was helpless. Since they wouldn't sell to him, he couldn't forcibly buy it. He could only lament how overbearing the world was.
If he had money, he believed such a thing wouldn't happen.
The staff member's favoritism towards that man, and her respectful address of "Mr. Cheng," clearly indicated that he was a regular customer.
Naturally, they wouldn't offend a long-time patron who frequently spent money in their store for a new customer.
Simply put, it was a matter of wealth.
Who would risk offending a wealthy person for a stranger? He naturally became the one to be discarded.
This further strengthened Liu Yifeng's resolve to become a wealthy person.
He did not want Tongtong to be unable to buy what he wanted in the future simply because someone else was richer.
It was fortunate he hadn't brought Tongtong today, otherwise, seeing this scene would have completely shattered his image as a father.
After placing the toy back, the man glanced provocatively at Liu Yifeng, as if to say, you're still too green to compete with me.
Seeing the man's smug look, Liu Yifeng clenched his fists, wanting to punch him.