The old wooden door creaked open, and the bell hanging at the corner of the door jingled loudly.
The clerk sitting behind the counter stood up and said, "Welcome," a phrase that had long since stopped making him feel uncomfortable.
Some people disliked saying that phrase. The son of this shop's owner, for example, felt that saying "Welcome" the moment someone entered was an insult to him.
It made him feel inferior to the customers. He was a citizen of the Federation who pursued freedom and equality, and he refused to accept this job.
That might have been what he truly thought, or it might have been why he was unwilling to work here. In any case, he had succeeded.
A father never wanted his child to grow up in the humiliation he himself had described. And that bastard, aside from occasionally coming here to ask for spending money when he was broke, spent most of his time doing God knew what.
The person who entered was a well-dressed gentleman carrying a briefcase. The clerk, who was also the shopkeeper, frowned slightly.
There was no particular reason for it. It was simply an instinctive reaction.
People dressed like this rarely appeared in the area, much less entered this inconspicuous, drab little shop.
"Is there anything I can help you with, sir?" He walked over to the counter, his face showing no enthusiasm, only a numb resignation toward life.
The well-dressed gentleman glanced at the cigarettes and mixed-color items displayed in the first case, then turned toward the shopkeeper. "I'm a sales representative from Shi Haoyun Company."
The shopkeeper raised an eyebrow. "We carry your products here..."
Because of the Anti-Monopoly Law, any exclusivity clause could trigger a series of lawsuits. As a result, every shop carried tobacco from various brands