"Sister-in-law! Quick, help get it back! That bitch is pushing around!"
Vivian Young pretended not to hear, pushing her shopping cart and heading straight for the at section without a backward glance.
’Help her? In her dreams! After all the nasty things she said about Sue on the phone just now, she has the nerve to ask for help?’
"Sister-in-law! Vivian Young! Didn’t you hear !" Pala Sutton scread frantically from behind her. "Stop right there! Leave that cabbage for ! Your family has hoarded so much already, and you’re still fighting over a single head of cabbage? Have you no sha!"
Vivian Young walked even faster, letting Pala’s curses be drowned out by the clamor of the crowd.
’Hah, I’m not an idiot. Nothing good ever cos from getting involved with Pala Sutton. And after she bad-mouthed my daughter? There’s no way I’m giving her the ti of day!’
’Anyway, just seeing her is enough. Mission accomplished, as far as Sue’s task is concerned.’
She squeezed her way to the at section, grabbed two random packs of frozen at, and tossed them into her cart. She could feel the frenzied desperation of the people scrambling for food around her, but her own heart was filled with an icy chill.
’This is just a blizzard warning, and people are already in such a panic. What will they beco when the real apocalypse arrives?’
’But she couldn’t worry about any of that now!’
Having secured the at, Vivian Young glanced down and saw her cart was nearly full. She turned back to grab a few more miscellaneous dry goods, stuffing them in until the cart was packed to the brim, before starting to push her way out of the crowd.
The checkout lines were already monstrous, snaking around in three long loops. Businessn who were normally in tailored suits and wealthy won with immaculate makeup were now all clutching heavy loads of supplies, suffering patiently in the queue. No one was putting on airs. In the face of survival, everyone was equal.
While she was waiting, her phone rang. She pulled it out and saw it was Sue Lawrence.
Vivian quickly answered. "Hello, Sue?"
"Mom, aren’t you over by the market?"
Vivian nodded. "Well, your aunt was at the supermarket, so I thought I’d see if I could run into her and calm her down a bit. And you know what? I actually found her."
’Pala Sutton is there too?’
Sue Lawrence frowned. "Mom, don’t get tangled up with her. I’m coming to get you right now."
"Oh, Sue, don’t! I can handle—"
Before Vivian could finish, the line went dead. She clutched her phone, her heart tightening with anxiety. She instinctively quickened her pace, desperate to check out and get away from this place of conflict.
After a long wait, it was finally her turn. Vivian quickly pushed her cart outside. It was piled high with goods and very heavy, and she struggled to pull it.
Just as she entered the parking lot, a figure lunged at her like a rabid dog, grabbing the handle of her cart in a death grip. It was Pala Sutton.
The Pala Sutton of this mont had none of her usual subservience. She radiated a brutish arrogance, as if she had nothing left to lose.
The backpack on her shoulders was stuffed to bursting, the sharp corners of cans distorting its shape. The tal of a few fish tins poked through, looking ready to fall out at any mont. The cart she pulled was piled high with a small mountain of five-kilogram bags of rice and flour, the gaps filled with salt, soy sauce, and MSG. On the very top sat two muddy heads of napa cabbage and a bunch of wilted greens.
"Sister-in-law! I finally caught you!" Pala panted, completely ignoring the strange looks from passersby. Her eyes were fixed on the cabbage in Vivian’s cart. "Give that cabbage! Your family doesn’t need it. I have a son and a daughter to feed, and they’re growing! They can’t go without vegetables!"
Vivian’s skin crawled with annoyance. She violently shook Pala’s hand off. "I waited in line and fought for this cabbage. Why on earth should I give it to you?"
"Why?" Pala rolled her eyes, her tone dripping with vitriol. "Because your family is rich and powerful! Because Vincent Lawrence owes my husband a debt of gratitude! Have you forgotten? When Vincent was three, he nearly drowned bathing in the river. Who was it that risked his own life to pull him out? My husband! Without him, your family line would have ended then and there! And now you’re being this stingy over a single head of cabbage?"
Without waiting for Vivian to retort, she bent over and started rummaging through Vivian’s cart. "Let’s see what else you bought... Ooh, is this beef brisket? Perfect, my son needs to build up his strength. I’ll take this beef, too!"
"Stop that!" Vivian was trembling with rage. She quickly yanked the cart behind her, shielding its contents.
Pala’s words stabbed at her like needles. ’A debt of gratitude? When had their family ever failed to repay it? Every year, Pala and her husband would show up at their door asking for money, and Vincent always gave them whatever they asked for. He’d given them hundreds of thousands over the years. And now, over a head of cabbage and a piece of beef, she had the gall to rob her in broad daylight!’
What Vivian found even more intolerable was that Pala escalated her attacks, slandering Sue. "Your Sue Lawrence did such a disgraceful thing because she inherited your stingy, selfish nature! She’s ruined the Lawrence family’s na, that little jinx!"
"You shut your mouth!" Vivian’s voice trembled, her eyes instantly blazing with fury.
Sue was her soft spot, the one line that could not be crossed. Pala could curse her, she could try to steal from her, but she would absolutely not stand for her slandering her daughter!
"Sue was frad! It was Jason Sterling who left soone to die, it had nothing to do with her! Say one more word, and I won’t be so polite!"
"Not so polite? And what are you going to do to ?" Far from being intimidated, Pala pulled on the cart even harder, yanking it fiercely toward herself. "Your family owes us, and you’ll never be able to repay the debt in this lifeti! This cabbage and beef are just a down paynt!"
Her strength was astonishing. Vivian staggered from the force of the pull and nearly fell. Two bags of dry goods spilled out of the cart, and the plastic wrap around the beef brisket was stretched and torn.
"Let go! This is highway robbery!"
Vivian’s eyes were rimd with red as she held on to the handle for dear life, refusing to let go. The two of them began a tug-of-war right there in the parking lot, the cart’s wheels scraping shrilly against the pavent, attracting a growing crowd of onlookers.
Looking at Pala’s face, twisted with greed, Vivian felt a mix of fury and chilling disappointnt.
Vivian was about to lose her mind. In the past, whenever that couple ca to their house for money, they would act so subservient and pathetic. It was always one sob story after another: their kids were crying from hunger, they were unemployed, it was as if all the suffering in the world had landed on their doorstep. Who would have thought that at the first sign of the apocalypse, that humble, pitiful act would vanish completely? All that remained was this aggressive, clawing entitlent, this naked greed and arrogance.
’This is blatant robbery!’
Seeing that Vivian wouldn’t let go, Pala abandoned her own cart. She wrapped both arms around the cabbage in Vivian’s cart and used her other hand to snatch at the beef, all while spewing curses. "You black-hearted monster! If it weren’t for my husband, would you be living the high life as a rich man’s wife? And that little bitch Sue—"
"You— you—!"
Vivian was shaking with rage. ’She’s becoming more and more unreasonable!’
"Let go!" Vivian’s eyes were bloodshot with fury.
Pala ignored her, giving a vicious tug. "Gim that!"
Pala hugged the cabbage to her chest and reached again for the beef. But just then, the piercing blare of a car horn sounded from behind them.
"Mom!!"
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