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Noticeably more villagers were fishing along the banks of the Diaozi River today.
A rough count put the number at more than twenty.
Most of their fishing rods were homemade from Southern Bamboo, and some of their lines were even hemp string.
Liu Qingsong shook his head at the sight as he walked to the riverbank. He was about to find a good place to sit when a few outsiders beneath a crooked-necked tree a hundred meters ahead caught his attention.
Well, they could not really be called outsiders.
more like people from another village.
Their faces looked somewhat familiar to Liu Qingsong.
Of these people from another village, two were young men no older than thirty. Both wore black Mao Suits and gleaming leather shoes.
As for the white-haired old man sitting on a low stool and fishing...
If Liu Qingsong remembered correctly, this was the person in charge of the Huajiao Supply and Marketing Cooperative. He could not recall the man's surname, but he knew the old man's status was far from ordinary—even Secretary Zhao of Songmu Commune had to curry favor with him.
This was probably one reason Wang Xiaohe and Wang Jiahe had shown up by the river today and yelled at Little Mochi, little sister, and Pangdun to get lost.
because Wang Xiaohe wanted to climb the ranks.
He would certainly want to curry favor with this old man too.
If Little Mochi, little sister, and Pangdun were nearby, however, that flattery would be difficult. At the very least, Wang Xiaohe would feel awkward if the children overheard him.
With that thought, Liu Qingsong felt relieved and finally understood what Wang Xiaohe and Wang Jiahe were doing by the river.
The two brothers were not there to keep the old man company while he fished. They wanted the Huajiao Supply and Marketing Cooperative to buy the Locust Tree Production Team's Game Meat at a high price, so they could take a cut.
this wasn't baseless speculation — it had a basis.
In previous autumns, the Huajiao Supply and Marketing Cooperative had sent people to the Locust Tree Production Team to buy the Game Meat hunters had brought in.
The Huajiao Supply and Marketing Cooperative bought Wild Pheasant, Wild Mountain Goat, Wild Hare, and other Game Meat at supposedly "high prices," then sent it all to the city's cooperative for sale.
But the year before last, the arrangement ended. More than a dozen hunters from the Locust Tree Production Team fought with the person in charge of the Huajiao Supply and Marketing Cooperative, and Wang Junyi was even sent to jail.
This happened not because the hunters were ungrateful troublemakers, but because Wang Xiaohe had secretly manipulated the Huajiao Supply and Marketing Cooperative's purchase prices. They had fallen so low that they sometimes did not even cover the cost of ammunition.
When the hunters refused to sell to the Huajiao Supply and Marketing Cooperative, Wang Xiaohe and Zhong Xinbing stepped in and branded them with various accusations.
If the hunters secretly sold their Game Meat on the Black Market, Wang Xiaohe would report them for speculative reselling, have them arrested, and kill one to warn many.
Under those circumstances, the hunters were furious but did not dare speak out. They could only eat the Game Meat themselves or barter it for daily necessities.
Of course, this situation occurred only in the Locust Tree Production Team.
In other Production Teams, the team leaders did not bother with such matters.
Some even turned a blind eye to hunters trading on the Black Market. After all, in the '70s and '80s, staying alive was hard enough for everyone.
But why could people trade only on the Black Market instead of buying and selling openly at a market fair or vegetable market?
In the '70s and '80s, the government enforced the policy of Unified Purchase and Distribution. The Supply and Marketing Cooperative or the production team had to collect most goods from ordinary people, then handle their sale.
Selling goods privately counted as speculative reselling.
if caught, the lightest punishment was a stern talking-to.
the harshest was execution by firing squad.
this wasn't an exaggeration meant to scare people — it was the truth.
Otherwise, Liu Qingsong's parents would not have been arrested and sent to Reform Through Labor over a single Oil Coupon.
Given this precedent, the hunters did not dare oppose Wang Xiaohe and Zhong Xinbing.
But if the hunters refused to sell their Game Meat to the Huajiao Supply and Marketing Cooperative, Wang Xiaohe could do nothing about it.
Unified Purchase and Distribution was one thing, but he could not force people to buy or sell, could he?
That was why the person in charge of the Huajiao Supply and Marketing Cooperative had come to the Diaozi River with Wang Xiaohe and Wang Jiahe today.
even a fool could see their purpose.
They wanted to restore the arrangement under which the Locust Tree Production Team sold its Game Meat to the cooperative.
After all, the Game Meat from the mountains around the Locust Tree Production Team was famous throughout Songmu Commune—no, throughout Xiangnan Province.
nowhere else could compare to it at all.
But could they restore this arrangement?
The chances seemed slim.
Wang Xiaohe, Wang Jiahe, and Zhong Xinbing had hurt the hunters' and villagers' trust beyond repair, and the people would never trust them again.
Liu Qingsong could not help laughing. He put the matter aside, threaded Bait onto his hook, and began fishing.
seeing this, Little Mochi, little sister, and Pangdun beside him
They set down the small stools in their hands and began threading Bait onto their hooks as well.
but Pangdun didn't use liu Qingsong's Bait — he used an earthworm instead.
Not far away, the short, plump "Wang Jiahe" frowned beneath the crooked-necked tree. The person in charge of the Huajiao Supply and Marketing Cooperative, "Tao Guoqing," was playing with his granddaughter and had not noticed him. Wang Jiahe strode over with a dark expression.
but before he'd gone even a meter.
his younger brother, "Wang Xiaohe," reached out and stopped him.
Wang Xiaohe was not as fat as Wang Jiahe, but his large belly still strained his clothes. Years of drinking and smoking had turned the fingernails on his right hand a deep yellow, giving them an unsettling appearance.
When Wang Jiahe looked at him in confusion, Wang Xiaohe lowered his voice and warned him: "Brother, Elder Tao is still here! Do not do anything rash."
"besides, there's Liu Qingsong here now too — he's already sixteen this year. if things get loud, it won't do us any good."
"don't forget, you're the one who cursed out Liu Hongxia and Pangdun before."
"but... but..." Wang Jiahe trailed off, wanting to say more.
if they didn't drive Liu Qingsong away, what if he said something out of turn in front of Elder Tao later? what if he exposed some of the unsavory things he and Zhong Xinbing had done?
don't say that couldn't happen.
if it did happen, by then it would be too late to do anything about it.
this was also why he insisted on staying by Tao Guoqing's side along with his brother Wang Xiaohe — better safe than sorry, after all!
Wang Xiaohe guessed what was on Wang Jiahe's mind and said with a smile: "there's no 'but' about it. Elder Tao doesn't even know who Liu Qingsong is. he came out fishing today mainly to discuss purchasing game meat with the hunters, and also to spend some relaxing time with his granddaughter."
"Do you really think that, in this situation,"
"he'd let some green kid disturb his mood?"
"you have a point." hearing this, Wang Jiahe slowly nodded, but he still glanced uneasily toward where Liu Qingsong was sitting. after hesitating for a moment, he proposed: "how about this then — I'll quietly get Liu Delei to chase them off. that way even if things get loud, Elder Tao won't suspect it was us."
in short, it all came down to one thing.
he was afraid Liu Qingsong would say bad things about him in front of Tao Guoqing.
once that started, it would spell trouble for him.
"well..." Wang Xiaohe thought it over and agreed: "go ahead and handle it then! but remember, don't disturb Elder Tao and his granddaughter."
"Good! Good!" Wang Jiahe ran toward Liu Delei's house.
Wang Xiaohe watched Wang Jiahe's figure disappear from sight, and was about to go keep Tao Guoqing company while fishing when, not far off, Little Mochi suddenly jerked up her Bamboo Fishing Rod in excitement and shouted, "Uncle, uncle... there's a giant fish!"