When things were busy at the supermarket, he never looked up at people.
Especially at the checkout, he only watched the items in customers' hands, finding the barcodes as quickly as possible, scanning them, then bagging them.
Then he watched the register display and announced the total. As the corresponding payment notification sounded, he reached for the next customer's items.
Once the familiar notification of "New Rural Credit: 27.50 yuan received" sounded from his phone, he handed over the bag and served the next customer.
The whole process flowed smoothly, almost like a machine.
There were only two exceptions.
One was when a customer had a question about a price or product; the other was when the customer was someone he knew.
Only then would he notice the customer's face.
Just like now: Wang Xiaoliang handed over the packed bag, but the customer neither scanned to pay nor left right away.
"You're Wang Xiaoliang, aren't you?"
A clear female voice rang out.
Wang Xiaoliang instinctively looked up. A female student stood before him in a baseball cap pulled so low that its brim hid most of her face.
I don't recognize her.
The thought flashed through his mind, and he smiled and nodded. "That's me."
He had become thoroughly practiced at this kind of fake smile.
The girl seemed to want to say something and opened her mouth.
But Wang Xiaoliang had already turned to the next customer in line, lowering his head to continue working. "Sorry, I'm busy right now. If you need something, let's talk later."
"New Rural Credit: 35.9 yuan received."
That was the girl paying.
Wang Xiaoliang heard it but kept his hands moving. If he held things up now, the students behind her who were rushing to class would put down their items and leave.