Chapter 127: He Is the Most Coveted Prize

Liu Xing left the shoe store, not to avoid Li Dawei, but to carry a bucket of rice bran mixed with wild greens to the cattle pen to feed the black calf.

Guazi and Xiao Budian, unaware of the strained relationship between Liu Xing and Li Dawei, giggled and pushed Li Weiwei in her wheelchair to the entrance of the cattle pen. Seeing Li Weiwei gazing at the black calf with envy, Guazi hugged Liu Xing’s right leg and tilted her little head up. "Brother, I want to ride the calf. Can you let it out so I can ride it?"

"Sister Weiwei wants to ride it too," Guazi added timidly, fearing Liu Xing would refuse. After all, whenever there were guests around in the past, Liu Xing had always agreed to any request she made.

However, this time, after glancing at Li Weiwei, Liu Xing gently declined. "Be a good girl, little sister! Brother is too busy right now and doesn't have time to let you ride the calf. Besides, don't you know that the cattle thief Zhu Dachang is lurking around, keeping an eye on it?"

"Oh..." Guazi lowered her head in embarrassment. She wasn't foolish; she knew her brother was telling the truth. If she kept making a fuss, he would surely ignore her later. It was better to be obedient.

Li Weiwei, thinking Liu Xing was just trying to scare Guazi, didn't take it to heart. After all, her relationship with Liu Xing was no longer as close as it had once been, thanks to her father.

Seeing Guazi looking upset, Liu Xing’s heart softened. "How about this? Once I'm done with the work at the shoe store, I'll personally lead the calf for you to ride. How does that sound?"

"Yes, yes!" Guazi nodded vigorously. "And Sister Weiwei will come too!"

Liu Xing didn't explicitly agree or disagree. After feeding the black calf, he turned and walked away. As for Guazi, Xiao Budian, and Li Weiwei, he didn't pay them much mind. With Bureau Chief Wu and his officers lurking in the vicinity, there was no need to worry about their safety.

...

Time flew by until past eleven in the morning. The frenzy of people lining up to buy shoes gradually subsided as the market began to disperse. Seeing that there were still quite a few shoes left in the display cases, Liu Xing let out a long sigh of relief. At the same time, he felt a tinge of disappointment; he had hoped for the shoes to sell out completely. It meant that many villagers at the market couldn't afford shoes that cost several yuan a pair. Otherwise, with a foot traffic of over ten thousand people, his store's stock of over a thousand pairs should have been wiped out.

This was their first day of business. As more people bought shoes, he feared business would only get slower. After all, the market in Laowu Village only attracted villagers from Zhangmu Township, with almost no outside customers.

But Liu Xing wasn't concerned with that right now; he was focused on how much money they had made in this half-day.

Zhang Xiangjun and Ding Lan didn't let him down. With the help of an abacus, the result was quickly tallied: they had sold a total of 3,672 yuan. This meant they had sold nearly a thousand pairs of shoes. Some of this included deposits for custom orders, all carefully recorded to ensure nothing was missed.

Seeing that fewer villagers were coming to buy shoes, Ding Lan approached Liu Xing and suggested, "Shall I call Yang Zhi, the head of the Rural Cooperative, to come and take the money for safekeeping?"

"Will he come?" Liu Xing asked. In the eighties, employees of rural cooperatives were like royalty; for one to come at a beck and call would be like the sun rising in the west.

"With such a huge sum of money, if he doesn't come, I'll call the heads of other banks," Ding Lan replied. Seeing that Liu Xing had agreed, she smiled and walked out of the shoe store. Wu Guoqing and his colleagues followed, clutching the sandals Liu Xing had gifted them.

Zhang Xiangjun shook her head. Seeing that the clock on the wall was nearing twelve, she said, "Liu Xing, I need to go find your uncle. He probably hasn't even had breakfast yet at this hour!"

"Why don't you grill a few rice cakes in the kitchen to take with you?" Liu Xing suggested.

"That works," Zhang Xiangjun agreed. Since they were so close now, there was no need to be overly formal about a few rice cakes.

"I'll take you to grill them, and I'll make lunch while I'm at it." Liu Dongju gave a few instructions to Liu Ziran and then left the store with Zhang Xiangjun.

However, once outside, Zhang Xiangjun didn't head straight to the kitchen. She stopped in her tracks, attracted by a middle-aged man stepping out of a black sedan on the road. The man was dressed in a suit and tie, with a center-parted hairstyle and a refined appearance. He walked with a limp, leaning heavily on a cane; otherwise, he likely couldn't walk at all.

He was Liu Siwen, the director of the Zhongyi Winery and Li Dawei’s biggest competitor in the liquor industry. He was also one of the most prominent managers of state-owned enterprises in HY City. That he could put aside all his work to come to the market today was completely unexpected for Zhang Xiangjun.

She thought he was just browsing, but she quickly realized she was wrong. After instructing his driver to park, Liu Siwen headed straight for Liu Xing's shoe store.

Li Dawei, who had been silently smoking under a pomelo tree, was stunned to see Liu Siwen arrive. He immediately knew Liu Siwen's intentions: he was here for the same reason—to get Liu Xing to fix the leaking bottling equipment. Since the explosion at the Hengshui Winery workshop, the secret of the plastic film covering method was no longer a secret. The Zhongyi Winery used the same H-156 bottling equipment from Zhaoqing Machinery as the Hengshui Winery, meaning they faced the same leaking problems, and likely even more severe ones. If not for that, the arrogant Liu Siwen would never have come to the market.

At this thought, Li Dawei was gripped by anxiety. After a moment of hesitation, he narrowed his eyes and walked up to intercept him. He wanted to stop Liu Siwen from enlisting Liu Xing’s help. After all, his own winery was in desperate need of Liu Xing’s assistance. If Liu Siwen got there first, his Hengshui Winery would never be able to compete with Zhongyi Winery again. No matter what, he couldn't let Liu Siwen get to Liu Xing first.

Zhang Xiangjun, watching from the entrance of the shoe store, was stunned to see Li Dawei block Liu Siwen’s path. Fearing trouble, she quickly turned and went inside to find Liu Xing.

Inside the store, Liu Xing was counting the remaining shoes. Seeing Zhang Xiangjun’s unusual expression, he went to meet her. "Aunt, what's wrong?"

"Li Dawei is outside looking for you. Did you know?" Zhang Xiangjun asked with concern.

"I know. He came to ask me to repair his bottling equipment, but I refused," Liu Xing replied with a smile. He didn't mention the reason, but he was sure Zhang Xiangjun knew the inside story. The Hengshui Winery explosion had been big news, and given her relationship with Bureau Chief Wu, she would have certainly heard about it.

"You kid, I didn't realize you were such a hot commodity!" Zhang Xiangjun laughed. "Liu Siwen, the director of Zhongyi Winery, is outside looking for you too. It looks like he's here for the same reason. You better be prepared; he’s not an easy man to deal with, much more treacherous than Li Dawei." She paused before adding, "His right leg was broken by someone because he did something he shouldn't have."

"I understand," Liu Xing nodded slowly. He was actually quite familiar with the Zhongyi Winery; he had worked there as a porter for over three months before his rebirth. He had even dealt with Liu Siwen personally in his past life. As for the man's treachery, he had experienced it firsthand, so he wasn't worried at all.

Just as this thought crossed his mind, Liu Siwen, leaning on his cane, walked into the store, chatting with Li Dawei. The smiles on their faces were insincere and plastic. Liu Xing saw them but ignored them, walking straight into the backyard to attend to his business.

This left Liu Siwen, who had been about to greet him, feeling somewhat awkward. Li Dawei laughed, "See? Liu Xing doesn't welcome you either. You'd better get out of here!"

"It's you he doesn't welcome, isn't it? You shouldn't forget the disgraceful things you did to Liu Xing," Liu Siwen retorted, showing no respect for Li Dawei.

"You!!!" Li Dawei was left speechless, his face turning red.

Seeing this, Liu Siwen triumphantly tried to head to the backyard, but was stopped by the burly Zhao Gou. "The backyard is private property. No entry."

"Do you know who I am?" Liu Siwen glared at him.

"I don't give a damn who you are. Want to see if I'll throw you out?" Zhao Gou growled, clenching his fists with a murderous glint in his eyes.

This terrified Liu Siwen. Having no choice but to back down, he turned and left the shoe store. However, he didn't leave the premises; he waited at the entrance. In his view, the fact that Liu Xing walked away upon seeing him was just a misunderstanding. After all, Liu Xing had never met him before, so how could he have any prejudice against him?