Chapter 92: Trouble Cannot Be Dodged

Seeing Liu Xing still smiling at a moment like this, Xiao Daode could not help but snap, “You little brat, you really don’t know your place. Director Ding is already here, and yet you still don’t seem to understand how serious it is to make shoes without an individual business license.”

Before the reform and opening-up in 1978, because goods were scarce, many things could not be freely bought and sold by private individuals. White Rabbit milk candies, cloth for clothing, kerosene for lamps, and many other necessities all required ration coupons, and even then they could only be obtained from the supply and marketing cooperative.

If someone slipped outside that system and bought or sold things privately, then once reported, there was only one outcome: arrest and prison, with the sentence determined by the value of the goods involved.

In the sixties and seventies, many farmers suffered greatly because they did not understand these hidden rules. Merely hearing the phrase “speculation and profiteering” could still make their faces change color.

The reason was simple: the state-run supply and marketing cooperative had gone too far, and for a long time farmers did not dare go out and trade on their own, fearing that they would fail to earn money and instead end up behind bars.

But things were different now. The policy had long since changed.

Those old men from the supply and marketing cooperative could no longer hide behind the state’s authority and swagger about. That was utterly impossible.

Liu Xing, of course, knew the whole story. He looked at Xiao Daode and still wore a faint smile. “Making shoes without permission is indeed an offense. It’s a pity your calculations have come to nothing. Director Ding is not going to arrest me.”

“Is that so?” Xiao Daode laughed loudly, his belly quivering with every heave.

Director Ding’s face had gone very dark, and he clearly wanted to stop him, but he did not know where to begin.

At that moment, Ding Lan and Niu Lianfang, who were in the kitchen, realized Liu Xing still had not returned. Then they heard Xiao Daode’s grating laughter, and both hurried out.

Ding Lan saw that his father, Ding Dali, had brought his colleagues to the threshing ground. He stood there awkwardly, not knowing what to do.

Niu Lianfang was even more embarrassed. She still had freshly baked sticky rice cakes in her hand, and there was even a small bite in her mouth.

But she was not an employee of the commerce bureau, so Director Ding had no authority over her. Once she came to herself, she hurried back into the kitchen, finished the cakes, and then walked out again as if nothing had happened.

Ding Lan, however, could not do that. With a strained smile, he walked up to Ding Dali. “Dad, why are you here at Liu Xing’s place too?”

“Boss Xiao said Liu Xing was illegally making shoes, so I brought everyone over to take a look,” Ding Dali replied without asking why Ding Lan was at Liu Xing’s house. He answered the question directly, then looked expressionlessly at Xiao Daode.

The moment those words landed, Xiao Daode’s face changed in an instant.

He was a crafty man; how could he not realize that Ding Lan appearing at Liu Xing’s house was highly suspicious?

But the situation had already reached a point where he could not step back. To suddenly change his story and leave now was impossible.

Besides, he still had plenty of confidence. After all, Liu Xing’s unauthorized shoemaking was “evidence undeniable.” Even Director Ding could not overturn that.

Seeing the commerce bureau officers drifting apart across the threshing ground, chatting idly, Xiao Daode finally lost his temper. “Director Ding, is this how you handle a case? When you enforce the law at my place, you move like lightning. But when you get to Liu Xing’s house, you start smiling and joking. That won’t do at all!”

After a pause, he added, “When Secretary Zhao asks about this, I’ll tell him exactly how things stand, without holding anything back.”

Clearly, this so-called Secretary Zhao was his backer.

“And how do you want me to handle it?” Director Ding frowned.

Ding Lan was unhappy too, but he kept his mouth shut. After all, his father was the one in charge here.

“Isn’t it obvious? Arrest him and seize the goods!” Xiao Daode spread his hands in exasperation, almost laughing. “What, do you still think the evidence isn’t enough? Look at the shoes in my hand. Without shoe coupons, this kid Liu Xing is selling them for five yuan a pair, and in just the past ten days he has sold several hundred pairs. Do you know how much damage that has done to my supply and marketing cooperative?”

If Liu Xing’s shoes had not been selling like wildfire, Xiao Daode would never have dared act so recklessly at such a dangerous moment. He was not stupid; after the incident with the fake fertilizer, many people had already warned him in secret to keep a low profile.

But Liu Xing’s shoes posed too great a threat to the cooperative he ran.

At the very least, in nearly ten days, not a single pair of shoes had been sold through the cooperative.

Even the shoe coupons he had hoarded were not being bought by anyone at a premium.

If this went on, it would never do.

So after discussing it with his partner, they came up with this plan: buy shoes at Liu Xing’s house as evidence, and then turn the tables on him.

Director Ding knew perfectly well what Xiao Daode was thinking, and he also understood why Xiao Daode had brought him here. His answer, however, was, “Boss Xiao, no matter how much you say, I... still do not have the authority to arrest him.”

“Why?” Xiao Daode asked in confusion, and his anger surged all the way from the soles of his feet to the top of his head.

If there had not been so many people present, he would already have exploded.

“Heh... you really want to know?” Director Ding looked at Xiao Daode’s expression and suddenly could not help laughing.

Ding Lan smiled too, though he said nothing.

The other commerce bureau officers, seeing this, ran off to fool around with the sunflower seeds.

Xiao Daode knew something was terribly wrong, but he still replied coldly, “Of course I want to know. Ding Dali, let me tell you this: if you don’t give me an explanation today, you won’t have peaceful days ahead.”

There it was clearly, an outright threat.

If he had said that to a man with a hotter temper, he would likely already have been slapped across the face.

But Director Ding did not. Instead, he smiled even more warmly. “Choose your words more carefully. The reason I won’t arrest Liu Xing is that I already know he is a shoemaker, and I also know that his household is making shoes right now.”

“And do you know this? Liu Xing already obtained his individual business license from the commerce bureau. The shoes he is making now, the workers he hires, and everything else connected with being a shoemaker are all perfectly lawful,” Ding Lan added.

“What?”

“When did Liu Xing get an individual business license?”

“You... you must be lying to me!”

Xiao Daode’s eyes widened. He simply could not believe what he was hearing.

He stood there in a daze, his mouth hanging open into a perfect circle, unable to recover for a long time.

If it had been other villagers in Xiaoshi Village obtaining individual business licenses, he might still have believed it.

But Liu Xing? A boy of sixteen or seventeen, and he even understood that if he wanted to do business making shoes, he first had to get an individual business license. This... this was utterly unbelievable, and it shocked him beyond words.

If he had known Liu Xing already had the license, he would never have come to Liu Xing’s house like a clown, let alone cause trouble here.

After all, in 1982, anyone who could obtain an individual business license through skill or connections was no ordinary person.

“I was too hasty,” Xiao Daode sighed inwardly. Seeing that Liu Xing had remained quietly smiling all this time, he gave an awkward smile to Ding Dali and Ding Lan, then turned and slipped away toward the country road.

But he had only gone a little over a meter when Liu Xing called after him, “Boss Xiao, where are you off to? Since you went to all the trouble of coming to my house, wouldn’t you at least stay for a meal before you leave?”

“No, no, no! I still have matters to deal with at the supply and marketing cooperative,” Xiao Daode said, not expecting Liu Xing to be so easygoing. He hurriedly turned back and clasped his hands with a strained smile.

“I think your matters can wait for now. Otherwise, you’ll regret it,” Liu Xing said. Then he went into the kitchen and carried out a half sack of phosphate fertilizer.

The instant Xiao Daode saw that half sack, his face changed. It turned ugly at once.

He wanted to leave, but his feet would not move.

Director Ding took all of this in and remembered it.

Seeing Ding Lan nearby, he asked quietly for the reason.

Ding Lan naturally told him everything without hiding a thing.

After hearing the full story, Director Ding changed completely. He became excited.

He rolled up his sleeves and shouted to the dozen-odd subordinates on the threshing ground, “Why are you all standing there? Get to work!”

At those words, the more than ten commerce bureau employees hurried over to Ding Dali’s side.

When they learned that Ding Lan had found evidence that Xiao Daode had been buying and selling fake fertilizer, they all became excited.

Without needing any further instruction from Ding Dali, they surrounded Xiao Daode at once.

“What are you doing?” Xiao Daode panicked.

“What do you think?” Ding Lan asked with a faint smile as he walked over to him.

“How should I know?” Xiao Daode looked as if he might cry, but on the surface he still forced out a careless smile.

Anyone could see, however, that his expression was worse than if he had eaten filth.

“This phosphate fertilizer belongs to your supply and marketing cooperative, doesn’t it?” Ding Lan asked, cutting straight to the point.

“No,” Xiao Daode denied it immediately.

If he admitted it, his whole life would be ruined.

Ding Lan looked at Liu Xing.

Liu Xing understood at once, turned, and went into the main room.

A moment later, he came back out not only with the receipt from the fertilizer purchase last year, but also with his parents.

At this point, if Xiao Daode still wanted to deny it, it would be impossible.

To Ding Lan’s delight, the signature on the receipt turned out to be his nephew’s name.

“What else do you have to say?” Ding Lan waved the receipt in front of Xiao Daode.

Xiao Daode immediately tried to snatch it away and destroy it, but the dozen commerce bureau employees were not to be trifled with. Before he could make a move, they had already forced him to the ground.

For them, as long as there was evidence, Xiao Daode could be arrested.

So, to avoid any new complications, it was best to restrain him first.

If the sale of counterfeit fertilizer was confirmed, then Xiao Daode’s life would be finished.

“Director Ding, I am Secretary Zhao’s man,” Xiao Daode said, knowing he had fallen into a ditch this time and was doomed. In the end, though, he still clung to his last lifeline, hoping that Director Ding would hesitate and let him go.

Unfortunately, Xiao Daode still did not understand the gravity of the situation.

If that Secretary Zhao had truly been willing to speak for him, then Deputy Director Wu would not have accompanied the commerce bureau to Laowu Village that morning.

Nor would they have mobilized nearly twenty enforcement officers all at once.

“So what if you’re Secretary Zhao’s man?” This time Director Ding no longer cared if he let anything slip. He put his hands on his hips and said, “To tell you the truth, today’s inspection of your supply and marketing cooperative in Laowu Village was personally ordered by Secretary Zhao himself.”

“What?!” Xiao Daode collapsed onto the ground, so stunned he could no longer say a word.

Only then did he realize he should never have come here to see Liu Xing today.

If he had not come, Director Ding would never have caught him this quickly.

Even if the evidence had been ironclad, once he got wind of it he could still have fled.

As long as he escaped from Xiangnan Province, hid under another name for a few years, and lived off the money he had made over the past decade or so, he could still have enjoyed a comfortable and prosperous life.

Who would have thought that his own greed, and his inability to bear seeing others do well, would end with him digging his own grave, without even needing to carry a shovel?

At the thought of this, Xiao Daode burst into loud sobs.

Clearly, the sudden chain of events had left him completely bewildered, and his emotions had finally shattered.

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