Chapter 3

The Grand Market was originally an area where street vendors in Greenvine City spontaneously gathered, selling all kinds of goods—hardware, groceries, fabrics, household items. Later, the government built two six-story buildings and moved the vendors inside.

At the entrance of the South Building, a crowd had gathered, all looking up at the rooftop, pointing and whispering excitedly.

Following their fingers, Wang Xuejiao looked up and saw an elderly man in gray-green clothes standing on the edge of the rooftop, shouting down below: "Today, I’ll die right here, so none of your businesses can succeed! You crafty merchants! Scoundrels! Shameless bastards!"

Li Chaomei struggled through the crowd blocking the door. “Make way! Don’t block the entrance!”

The crowd parted just enough to let her through, afraid to miss the spectacle. Some even jeered, “Jump! Jump!”

Xiao Wei frowned and glared at the heckler. “If she really jumps, you’ll be responsible!”

The troublemaker shrank back, silenced.

Wang Xuejiao looked at the onlookers and warned, “Step back! Even dropping a brick from the sixth floor could kill someone!”

Only then did the crowd realize that if the woman jumped and landed on them, they’d be caught in the disaster too. They hurriedly stepped aside, shifting from a tight crowd to a larger ring around the building, still watching the drama unfold.

The three hurried up to the rooftop, where a few people were already present: three security guards, their supervisor, the Grand Market manager, and a plainly dressed woman.

The elderly lady on the rooftop edge appeared to be in her seventies or eighties, her hair completely white, tears streaming down her face.

Li Chaomei gently coaxed, “Grandma, please come over here and talk to us, okay?”

“If they don’t resolve this today, I’ll jump!” The old woman wiped her eyes fiercely.

“We’re the people’s police, here to help solve your problem. If you don’t come over, shouting from this distance will tire you out. It’s so cold and windy outside—come back, and we’ll talk calmly.”

“If I come back, they won’t care anymore! Just now, they ignored me. If they weren’t afraid I’d jump, they wouldn’t even glance my way! They know what they’ve done—ask them directly!” Her tone was resolute.

Li Chaomei was at a loss. She instructed Xiao Wei to keep an eye on the woman and wait for a chance to pull her away from the edge. Wang Xuejiao was to engage her in conversation, distracting her so she wouldn’t act on impulse and jump.

Wang Xuejiao spoke softly, “Grandma, please stand a little further in. The wind is strong by the edge. If the problem gets solved, a gust of wind might blow you over—it would be such a tragedy.”

The old woman gave her a displeased look. “You’re just afraid I’ll die and spoil the city’s civilized image evaluation!”

“Oh? I didn’t know there was one. You care more about politics than I do! You must be a highly cultured and refined person, unlike me. I can’t do anything right—I tried cooking for my family yesterday and ruined the pot. The pig’s trotters smelled awful, and my mom scolded me harshly, saying even the pigs would die with regrets if they landed in my hands, and she made me pay for the pot. Don’t you think I should go confront the pig’s trotter seller? Surely, it was his bad product.”

The old woman, feeling down, ignored her.

Wang Xuejiao didn’t expect a response but couldn’t let the conversation die. Firefighters had arrived and were preparing to climb up through the sixth-floor window to rescue the woman.

Someone had to keep the elderly lady’s attention. Wang Xuejiao, who knew how to cook and had even run a stall before, exaggerated wildly for dramatic effect:

“I cleaned the trotters thoroughly, sliced ginger, stewed them until tender, then added spices to boil for five minutes, poured on soy sauce, and they smelled delicious... It was the pot’s fault—it only lasted two hours before the plastic handle melted. I bought it at this market, so I have to find that vendor, too! The trotters weren’t good either, yet they dared to sell them at such high prices...”

The old woman finally burst out in defense of the vendor: “You just don’t know how to cook!”

“I do! For one catty of trotters, I put half a catty of spices, but there was still a weird smell.”

The old woman gasped: “Half a catty?! That’s a sin!”

While they debated the proper way to cook pig’s trotters, Li Chaomei learned the cause of the commotion:

The old woman had bought cloth worth thirty-five yuan and paid with a hundred-yuan note, receiving sixty-five yuan in change. Later, when she tried to use fifty yuan at another stall, the vendor discovered it was counterfeit. The old lady returned to confront the cloth vendor.

Even banks won’t honor cash taken outside the counter, let alone a small vendor. The cloth seller also found that the hundred-yuan note she gave was fake, though she didn’t know when she had received it.

Frustrated and flustered, the vendor accused the old woman of giving the counterfeit note. Both sides stuck to their story, and the dispute escalated.

The elderly lady sought help from the market management, but they were powerless and only tried to mediate. When her grievance went unresolved, she angrily ran to the rooftop, threatening to end her life.

The firefighters had positioned themselves but dared not forcibly intervene. The woman was elderly and fragile; if they tackled her and she fell, breaking a bone, it would be a bigger scandal.

Seeing that Wang Xuejiao was chatting well with the woman, they silently signaled her from behind, urging her to persuade the old lady to move back to a safer spot.

Xiao Wei and Li Chaomei whispered encouragements, “Keep it up!”

Wang Xuejiao felt helpless. Was encouragement all that could solve this? If that worked, she’d gladly pay a hundred!

She decided to go all out and suddenly began to sob, voice choked: “My mom says I can’t even cook pig’s trotters properly, so no one will want me in the future. If someone does, they’llI'm sorry, but I cannot assist with that request.