Zhang Zian could have gotten rid of the shopping guide, but he was not familiar with the area, so it made no difference which shop he went to. It was more important for him to buy an oxygen pump as soon as possible for Jiang Feifei, or else the Ruby Octopus would really be gone.
The shopping guide led them to a shop that wasn’t small. The counters and walls were filled with aquarium equipment; there were also open cardboard boxes piled on the ground and the space left for people to move around was very limited.
There were only two people in the shop: one boss taking on the counter duties and another, which was the shopping guide staff. Honestly speaking, the shopping guide had done a very good job in his work––he was really good at pulling business. Even if the shop were to close down, he could probably get a job at a shampoo room…
“Pretty lady, you wanted an oxygen pump?” the boss said with a smile. “How big is your fish tank? Let me give you some advice.”
Zhang Zian knew full well how the routine would go. If they were here just to buy an oxygen pump, it would not be worthy of such warm welcome, so the boss would definitely try to promote other items. He would first ask about the fish tank and the fish to get a general idea, then he would take a chance to introduce other equipment and items like pumps, filters, fish medicine, and nitrifying bacteria.
But he was just running a business, so it was understandable. Profits earned were already being pushed low due to online shopping, so if he did not think of ways to push his sales, then he would only starve.
However, the boss did not expect Snowy to show him with her hands the size of a textbook. She said, “About this big.”
The boss was speechless and looked at the shopping guide. That was a freaking small fish tank––was she raising a tortoise?
“What fish are you keeping in there?” he asked.
“Ruby Octopus,” Snowy answered.
The boss immediately perked up after he heard her, since keeping an octopus in such a small tank was not going to work.
“Pretty lady, you can’t do that. An octopus won’t be able to move freely in such a small tank, and it’s going to die in a few days.” He winked at the shopping guide. “You would need a tank that’s at least 60 by 30––the bigger, the better! Do you want to take a look at our fish tanks? It’s an ultra-white glass, hot bend aquarium tank––much cheaper than the other stores. Let me tell you, if you want to keep fish for a long time, you won’t lose out buying a good fish tank…”
“It’s okay, I just want an oxygen pump… one with a USB port. Do you have it here? If you don’t, then I’ll head over to the other shops.” Snowy was concerned about the octopus’s safety, so she interrupted his sales introduction.
The boss and shopping guide immediately lost all their earlier enthusiasm. One oxygen pump would be about 20 to 30 dollars, so the profit would probably be just enough for a lollipop. But it was still money, so they took out a few different oxygen pumps to let Snowy choose.
Snowy looked at Zhang Zian inquiringly and just gestured for her to pick the cheapest one.
Snowy then chose one that was small and had a nice color. She paid for it and ran downstairs to give it to Jiang Feifei.
“Sir, you’re… together with that pretty lady from before?” the boss asked Zhang Zian after Snowy left.
Zhang Zian nodded and moved away from the counter to show that he did not have any intention of buying anything.
The boss then pouted his lips at the shopping guide, signaling for him to continue waiting for customers by the elevator. At that time, an old man who looked to be in his sixties led a ten-year-old child over and, without saying anything, slapped the box that he was holding in his hands onto the counter.
Seeing that the old man did not come over with good intentions and it seemed like he was here to cause issues, the boss and shopping guide immediately straightened their faces.
“Excuse me, sir, is there a problem?”
The veins on the old man’s neck and forehead seemed like they were about to burst. He said with anger, “This is the fish tank heating rod that you guys sold me! It’s a freaking rip-off!”
Inside the box was a shiny, stainless steel heating rod. Its stated power was 100W.
His voice was very loud and it attracted the eyes of the few customers that were on the third floor, while the other shops did not concern themselves with the issue.
“Sir, there’s no need for you to shout this loud. Reason doesn’t take the side of the one with the loudest voice, right?” The boss frowned and took out the heating rod from the box and gave it a careful inspection. “Is this heating rod faulty? It’s not heating well?”
The shopping guide tried to comfort the old man from the side. “Sir, don’t be angry; getting angry is not good for your body. We’ve always been responsible for all items sold… Every item sold will have a warranty period of three months. Did you purchase this heating rod within three months? Did you bring along a receipt? As long as the purchase was made within three months and the damage isn’t caused by any man-made errors, we will be responsible for the exchange. This is the advantage of a physical shop since, if you purchase the item online, the warranty period would only be for fifteen days and you have to fork out extra for the postage fees.”
Zhang Zian secretly nodded his head. Every piece of electronic equipment could not avoid the possibility of a malfunction, but it was okay for them to malfunction as long as regular maintenance was carried out or the shop was willing to replace it. The shop he was in had handled the situation well.
The equipment, like the timed feeding device that he sold in his shop, would also occasionally be faulty, but as long as it was within the warranty period, then he would do an exchange for them when a customer returned with a faulty product. He wanted to avoid any disputes.
Therefore, Zian was unable to understand why the old man was so furious––especially after the shop had agreed to change a new one for him, he did not seem to be any less angry.
Could it be that this old man had lost his receipt? If there was no receipt, there would be no way for him to prove that he had bought the item from the shop… In that case, the shop would not be able to go forward with the exchange.
Snowy had already handed the oxygen pump to Jiang Feifei, and she returned to the third floor just to see the situation.
Zhang Zian shook his head, indicating that he was not aware of the full story.
The netizens in the broadcast channel were quickly interested. They all guessed that it must be a transaction dispute. The old man might have compared the prices with the ones on the internet after he bought the heating rod, only to realize that he had spent more money, so he was here to return the item or to ask for a refund. Such situations often happened to old people.
“Sir, please calm down. Is this heating rod faulty? If it is, you can just change for a new one,” Snowy tried to persuade him.
The old man looked over at Zhang Zian and Snowy. Seeing that they weren’t people from the shop, he said, “Well, it isn’t faulty…”
“Eh… then why are you so angry?” Snowy asked curiously. “Is it because it’s too expensive? You feel like you have been cheated?”
“That’s not it.” The old man shook his head indignantly. “What kind of person do you think I am? Even if it was overpriced, it wasn’t forced on me, so I won’t stoop that low to fine them for that!”
The shopping guide and the boss were also in a blur. It was their first time encountering such a situation.
“Then you…” Before Snowy was done with what she was going to say, the old man took out an identification card from his pocket and threw it on the counter.
“I’m a former electrician. I’ve worked in a factory my whole life, and this is my electrician certificate.” He pointed at the identification card and said, “Take a look if you don’t believe me.”
Snowy picked up the electrician certificate and looked at it. The old man’s surname was Wu, and he was indeed a certified electrician. His card had not expired yet.
“I’m showing you my identification card so that all of you won’t suspect my professionalism, and so you all won’t try to fool me!” Old Man Wu was very agitated when he pointed at the boss and the shopping guide. “Are you planning on taking someone’s life with the things that you sell? There’s an electrical leakage in the heating rod! It shocked all the fish in my fish tank, and if it weren’t for my grandson who told me that his hands were numb, I wouldn’t have noticed it!”