Chapter 136: The Angry Merchants

"Why would I not dare? It's just that I don't know how to write," Zhao Gou said with a foolish grin, scratching the back of his head.

"What you just said is practically pointless." Liu Xing snatched the dozen or so temporary stall fee bills right out of Zhao Gou's hand. After a moment of thought, he announced, "Alright, I'll make an official declaration now. Whoever manages to handle the matter I just mentioned gets to keep this money. Does anyone have the courage to volunteer?"

"Me! Me!" Gouzi immediately raised his right hand upon hearing this.

Zhao Liang was so exasperated that he kicked out at him on the spot. "Didn't you just say you didn't have the courage to write?"

"Hehe... isn't having money a different story?" Gouzi replied with an awkward smile.

Zhao Liang was about to give Gouzi another swat when Zhao Gou grabbed his arm. "Cut it out. Money makes the ghost push the millstones. If you want to go, you can raise your hand and volunteer too."

"I don't know how to write either!" Zhao Liang stared at the money in Liu Xing's hand, feeling utterly helpless.

Only now did he realize that being able to read and write could actually make you money.

"Then what the hell are you getting angry for? Gouzi deserves to make this cash. At the very least, he graduated from elementary school, and his mother is a middle school graduate who can wield a writing brush smoothly and gracefully." Zhao Gou rolled his eyes at Zhao Liang.

The information revealed in those words made Liu Xing's eyes light up. He handed the money to the young man. "Then go and do as I told you. Listen carefully, make the wording on the notice sound arrogant. Don't let anyone underestimate the authority of the market administration."

"Alright! Alright! Got it. Once I've written the notice, do you want to look it over?" Having received the money, Gouzi instantly perked up, and his speech became a lot more fluid.

"No need. Just write a few more copies and post them around the market. The main thing is to get my message across to those merchants who rent the large sheds," Liu Xing instructed.

"Good! Good!" Gouzi nodded repeatedly.

"Then go on and get it done!" Liu Xing waved his hand.

Gouzi grabbed two roasted sweet potatoes from the top of the stove and turned to stride out of the kitchen.

Zhao Gou flashed a foolish grin and followed right behind him.

Zhao Liang closely trailed them as well.

Once they were a safe distance from Liu Xing, Zhao Liang reached out his right hand toward Gouzi. "I'll skip the nonsense. You got such a huge benefit this time, you've got to share a few bills with me, right?"

"That makes sense," Zhao Gou echoed with a goofy smile, rubbing his knuckles.

"Neither of you can write a notice." Although Gouzi said that, he still generously pulled out a ten-yuan bill and handed five yuan each to Zhao Gou and Zhao Liang. "Let's get this straight first—I can have my mother write the notice, but when it's time to paste them up, both of you have to come with me. Otherwise, if I get beaten up, you guys won't get off scot-free either."

Right now, most of the merchants in the market were acting extremely arrogant simply because the majority of them had been introduced by Xiao Daode. Thinking it over, Gouzi decided he couldn't keep all the money for himself; having Zhao Gou and Zhao Liang around would at least give him some courage.

Besides, whenever there were perks in the past, Zhao Gou and Zhao Liang had always thought of him.

So even if they were unwilling to help out, he would still have shared some of the cash; otherwise, he wouldn't be able to survive in the market in the future.

Seeing that Gouzi knew how to play the game, Zhao Liang grinned and took the money. "Consider yourself sensible, kid. Let's go! To your place to have your mother write this notice."

"Shouldn't we buy a few meat buns before we go?" With money in his pocket, Zhao Gou wanted a decent meal. With no grease in his stomach lately, he was craving it badly.

"That's a good idea," Gouzi agreed with a nod.

"Let's go! Move!" Zhao Liang took the lead, heading toward the steamed bun shop in the market.

Zhao Gou and Gouzi walked side by side right behind him.

...

In the kitchen, seeing that everyone who needed to leave had gone, Liu Xing chatted with his eldest sister for a short while before getting up to head to the shoe store.

After all, today was market day, so there would still be some business to be had.

However, to his depression, the entire afternoon remained sluggish, and he only managed to rake in a few dozen yuan worth of sales.

By evening, the streets of the market didn't even have a single shadow of a person left.

This made Liu Xing realize a harsh reality: on days that weren't market days, business at this shoe store was probably going to be freezing cold.

Fortunately, he had managed to recoup his principal in a single day; otherwise, he wouldn't even have a place to cry.

Of course, the root cause of all this was simply that the people of Zhangmu Township were far too poor. Shoes priced at five yuan a pair—even slippers costing three or two yuan—were still completely unaffordable for many of them.

This wasn't alarmism; it was the reality of the early 1980s.

The common people were not wealthy, and being able to eat dishes cooked with a bit of oil on ordinary days was already a cause for great joy.

If they managed to eat meat, they would be so happy they wouldn't be able to sleep for several nights.

As for buying shoes to wear on their feet, for many people, that remained a luxury beyond reach.

He didn't know about other places.

But that was precisely the current situation in Zhangmu Township.

In other words, if he, Liu Xing, wanted to make money, he couldn't just focus on padding his own pockets.

He needed to make sure everyone had money and the ability to consume. Only then would making money feel truly secure and fulfilling!

The reason he felt this way was because he remembered that right around this period before his rebirth, Zhangmu Township had suffered a severe grain shortage, and people had even starved to death. Although it was an isolated phenomenon, for some reason, his heart felt a lingering unease.

It wasn't until late at night, just as he was about to fall off to sleep, that he finally figured out the crucial link.

Back before his rebirth, some of the starving villagers had helped his family immensely. Especially during the early 1980s when his father's leg was crippled and they hit the lean years between harvests without grain, he and his younger siblings literally survived by eating relief grain shared by the surrounding villagers.

Even though life got better later and the grain was eventually returned, how could the depth of that gratitude ever be expressed in just a few words?

In other words, if he focused solely on making money for himself now while forgetting the villagers who had once rescued them, forgetting the taste of hunger and poverty, then he truly wouldn't deserve his second chance at life.

It wasn't his fault that the villagers were poor and hungry, but now that he had money, he felt he ought to do something to repay the kindness from his past life and make up for the regrets in his heart. After all, during his family's most desperate times, without the assistance of those villagers, people in his own household might well have starved to death.

Was it him?

Or was it Liu Ye?

Or was it Guazi?

It remained unknown...

But whichever the outcome, it was entirely unacceptable to him.

Thinking of this, Liu Xing tossed and turned restlessly on the bed. Vague memories of the early 1980s slowly began to grow clearer and sharper in the depths of his mind...

He remembered the reason why his third uncle had been arrested...

He remembered how his fifth uncle, terrified that his wife would starve, had gone to catch fish in the river and never returned...

He remembered even more clearly the moment when Guazi had almost been snatched away by a human trafficker for a single piece of milk candy...

...

With great difficulty, he managed to endure until dawn. Sleep completely gone, Liu Xing climbed out of bed.

After getting dressed, he walked from the backyard to the main entrance of the shoe store.

"Oh? Why are you up so early?" Liu Dongju asked in puzzlement as she swept the floor.

"Couldn't sleep, just wanted to take a walk," Liu Xing replied with a smile.

"As if! You've got something on your mind, don't you?" Liu Dongju smiled back, then pulled a long bench over and sat down beside him. "Can you share it with your sister? Maybe I can help you out."

"It's nothing. Just thinking about how much money this shoe store has made, and wondering what the others might be thinking." Liu Xing casually sat on the other end of the bench to brush her off.

"Let them think whatever they want! Our shoe store has an individual household business license, what are you afraid of?" Liu Dongju replied with a smile.

"That's true." Liu Xing laughed along, though it was an awkward smile.

Because the thoughts in his heart right now were things he simply couldn't tell Liu Dongju.

He could only hide them deep inside, brewing them into a complex 'wine' of mixed emotions to taste all by himself.

"Don't overthink things. Sometimes thinking too much just overtaxes your brain." Seeing Zhao Dongkui get up, Liu Dongju picked up her broom and resumed sweeping the floor. "Today isn't market day. If there's no business at the store later, go help your brother-in-law harrow the fields. After all, Blackie won't listen to anyone else."

"Alright!" Liu Xing nodded.

Catching sight of Guazi calling for him from inside the room, he smiled and walked in.

...

After breakfast, Liu Xing had Lanlan look after Guazi and Little One.

Then he led Blackie out to help harrow the paddies.

Harrowing fields went much faster than plowing them.

In just the span of a morning, the few mu of paddy fields belonging to Liu Dongju's family were completely done.

Leading Blackie back, Liu Xing saw that lunch wasn't ready yet, so he grabbed a wooden bucket and began washing the mud off the ox's body.

Just as he was about to lead Blackie back into the backyard, he suddenly sensed something was amiss.

Coming to his senses, he hurriedly called out to Liu Dongju, who was busy in the kitchen, "Sis, where did Lanlan take Guazi and Little One? Why aren't they playing by the front entrance? I don't hear their voices in the backyard either."

"They were just here a second ago!" Liu Dongju hurried out upon hearing this. "Why don't you tie up the ox and go look for them in the market? Those three mischievous little rascals either went to play with Zhao Jing or went to play hide-and-seek."

"Right! I'm going right now." Liu Xing quickly led Blackie into the backyard.

As he finished securing the animal and came back out, an unexpected scene unfolded before his eyes.

Lanlan was actually leading Guazi and Little One back from the market street.

Only, the expressions on all three of their faces didn't look too good.

A trace of lingering anger was clearly visible on Guazi's face.

"What's wrong?" Liu Xing hurried forward to ask.

"Brother, just now when we were at the market, we saw a whole bunch of people gathered around a piece of red paper pasted on the wall, cursing you and saying who do you think you are," Guazi tilted her little head and replied indignantly.

"Yeah! Yeah! They even said they were coming to settle scores with you!" Little One chimed in with dissatisfaction.

Compared to the two little ones, Lanlan was much more rational. "Brother Liu Xing, that red notice said you're going to collect temporary stall fees from the merchants in the large sheds, and that you won't cover their electricity bills anymore either. Did someone try to frame you?"

"Not really, I'm the one who had someone post that red notice," Liu Xing replied with a faint smile, completely unbothered.

As for the market merchants coming to find trouble with him—to put it bluntly, he welcomed it. He was just wondering how he was going to collect those temporary stall fees from them anyway!

The reason he was so confident was because their previous backer, Xiao Daode, was currently unable to protect even himself. Under such circumstances, if any blind merchant still dared to drag Xiao Daode out to throw their weight around and act tyrannical, wouldn't that simply be walking right into the line of fire?

Of course, the inside story of Xiao Daode's downfall was probably still a secret for now.

Because these merchants were still acting so arrogant, they most likely assumed that the state-run supply and marketing cooperative would go all out to rescue the arrested Xiao Daode.

Little did they know that Xiao Daode and the supply cooperative were currently the tumors of the era. If they weren't rooted out, not only would they obstruct the development of the times, but they would also hinder the implementation of state policies.

Therefore, Xiao Daode was doomed.

If the relevant leaders of the supply cooperative dared to forcefully protect Xiao Daode, however many of them stepped forward would be the exact number of people who went down.

This wasn't alarmism; it was simply the truth.

However, there was no need to explain all this to Lanlan, Guazi, and Little One right now.

With a smile, he brushed the topic aside and led them into the kitchen to help Liu Dongju prepare the meal.

What Liu Xing didn't know, however, was that at the spot where the notice was posted in the market, no less than a hundred people had crowded together in a bustling commotion. The vast majority of these people were local merchants doing business in the market, and some were even bosses running large-scale operations.

After reading the contents of the notice clearly, they immediately began cursing in unison.

"Damn it, who the hell does this new market manager think he is?! He actually dares to levy temporary stall fees on us. Do they have any idea whose people we are?"

"Exactly, exactly! We already paid rent for using the large sheds in the market. Imposing an extra temporary stall management fee on top of that is completely redundant!"

"And what about the electricity bills? Boss Xiao previously promised us that as long as we did business in the market and boosted the local economy, we would never have to pay for power. But now look at this—Boss Xiao has barely been gone for a few days, and some punk pops up trying to change the rules. I'm the first one who refuses to accept this!"

"Me too! If it weren't for the sake of the Zhao family, I would have already been the first one to rush to the shoe store and read that brat the riot act!"

"To think I even bought two pairs of shoes from him, thinking he'd cut us some slack in business from now on. Turns out it was just wishful thinking."

"Hey! What's the use of standing here complaining? Let's go straight to the supply and marketing cooperative and have Boss Xiao stand up for us! If that kid doesn't give us a proper explanation, his shoe store won't be doing any business from now on."

"Doesn't that sound a bit off to you? Boss Xiao was arrested, you know. Going to the supply cooperative isn't going to do us any good."

"Yeah! In my opinion, we might as well go straight to the shoe store and find Liu Xing ourselves. I refuse to believe he can turn the market upside down."

"Are you guys blocks of wood? Even though Boss Xiao was arrested, there are still people running the supply cooperative! I saw Xiao Yang bring Boss Xiao's daughter to the cooperative this morning. Let's ask Xiao Yang to uphold justice for us; that'll definitely work!"

"Good idea, I agree!"

"Me too!"

"Count me in!"

"Then what are we waiting for? To the supply cooperative!"

"Let's go!"

"Hurry up!"

...

The bustling crowd rapidly surged toward the location of the supply cooperative.

Many of the merchants cursed up a storm as they walked.

However, some merchants saw that something was amiss with the situation and chose not to join in the excitement.

After all, business was business; they just wanted to make money, not offend the market administration.

Because if Liu Xing didn't have some real capability, he would never have caught the eye of Xie the Lion-head and been appointed as the market manager. Although the official appointment hadn't been issued yet, everyone knew in their hearts that this kid Liu Xing had connections.

Therefore, adhering to the principle of self-preservation, many onlookers quietly slipped away.

Of course, the most important point was that these merchants were indeed going a bit too far with their behavior.

Why was that?

Because on market days, the temporary stall space they occupied was simply excessive. Some grocery store owners even claimed the ten-meter golden zone around their storefronts as their private territory. If they paid stall fees for doing that, it would still be somewhat justifiable, but ever since the market was established, they hadn't paid a single cent.

This was a lawless practice that squeezed out the small-time vendors coming to set up stalls on market days, forcing them to huddle in remote corners just to scrape by.

If this chaotic state of affairs wasn't changed...

The market would inevitably go under sooner or later!

After all, even a fool knew that for a market to move onto a healthy and orderly track of development, it couldn't do without outside vendors. They were the main body of human traffic and the source of the market's prosperity.

That being said, this chaos was related to the inaction of the former market managers; the merchants and bosses couldn't be entirely blamed for being arrogant.

Still, no matter what, the electricity bills generated by their own businesses couldn't possibly be paid by the market administration, right?

Yet there were always people who took advantage and still felt entitled, completely lacking self-awareness.

And these were precisely the several dozen merchants and a few individual bosses who were now rushing to find Xiao Yang to demand 'justice'.

Hiding in the shadows and watching this scene unfold, Zhao Gou, Gouzi, and Zhao Liang were frantic with anxiety.

As soon as those 'indignant' merchants vanished from sight, the three of them bolted helter-skelter back toward the shoe store.

They could only hope Liu Xing would come up with a countermeasure. Otherwise, not only would Liu Xing lose his position as market manager, but the three of them would probably lose their iron rice bowls as well.

...

Over at the supply and marketing cooperative, fallout from the Zhu Dachang incident meant the front doors hadn't even been opened yet.

Xiao Yang sat by the window, burying his head in a bowl of food.

At a wooden table nearby, a delicate young woman with phoenix eyes was going over account books. Her expression shifted between knitted brows and soft sighs, making it hard for Xiao Yang to finish his meal. "Xiao Li, please, can you stop making that face? Business at the supply cooperative plummeted because your uncle—your dad—got arrested, but we're still making money. A net income of over a thousand yuan a month is guaranteed."

"I just don't understand why you people priced everyday items like shoes, chemical fertilizer, pesticides, soap, and thread even higher than in the city. With so much stock piling up in the supply cooperative's warehouse right now, how are we supposed to recover our capital quickly?" The delicate young girl—Xiao Li, as Xiao Yang called her—dropped her voice lower, thick anger lacing her words.

"Expensive? I don't think so," Xiao Yang chuckled.

Seeing that Xiao Li was on the verge of losing her temper, he quickly explained, "This was your dad's idea. Besides, even if the prices are higher than downtown, none of those bumpkins in Zhangmu Township dare to say a word. After all, besides us, nobody else dares to buy or sell those daily necessities you just mentioned."

"That was in the past, okay?!" Xiao Li was so angry she tossed the ledger aside. "As a college student, don't you know about the reform and opening-up policies? Don't you know that with these policies opening up, monopolies simply won't work and will only be despised by the common people?"

Once they lost the trust of the common people and became despised by them, the supply cooperative's business in the market would be completely finished. After all, nobody was a fool.

"Of course I know about the reform and opening policies, and I told your dad about them, but he wouldn't listen!" Xiao Yang put down his rice bowl, limped over to the corner of a counter, and after rummaging around, pulled out a wooden bucket and brought it over to Xiao Li. "Take a look at what's inside this bucket."

"What is it?" Xiao Li looked over.

When she saw clearly that the bucket was filled with shoe purchase coupons and ration tickets, she was stunned speechless.

Xiao Yang smiled bitterly. "These shoe tickets were originally issued by the authorities for the dozen or so villages in Zhangmu Township, but your dad intercepted them at ten cents a piece, and then resold them for fifty to eighty cents each. Who knew a monster like Liu Xing would pop up in the market recently and completely disrupt all your dad's plans?"

"He was acting like a complete idiot! Didn't he know that black markets where goods could be traded without ration tickets already existed in the East Garden suburbs?" Xiao Li felt a throbbing headache coming on. Just as she was about to ask who this Liu Xing character really was, noisy footsteps echoed outside the front entrance, followed by heavy knocking.

"Is anyone in?" *Bang, bang, bang*—three consecutive knocks sounded, followed by a hoarse voice.

"Who's there?" Xiao Yang cast a wary look toward the door.

Xiao Li grew nervous as well and hurried toward the back door, preparing to make a run for it at any second.

After all, her father, Xiao Daode, had committed so many heinous crimes; if a thorough investigation was launched, she certainly wouldn't be able to escape culpability.

"It's me, Zhang Shuiong," the hoarse voice came again, carrying a tone of ingratiating flattery.

"Oh, it's Boss Zhang." Xiao Yang let out a breath of relief. Exchanging a glance with Xiao Li, he hurried limply to the front entrance and unlocked the heavy door.

Yet, upon opening it to find the lean Boss Zhang surrounded by several dozen people—every single one of them a merchant doing business in the market—he froze in place.

Seeing this, Xiao Li was equally dumbfounded. "What's the meaning of this? Why aren't you people running your businesses instead of showing up at the supply cooperative?"

"It's like this..." Seizing a moment when Xiao Yang wasn't looking, Zhang Shuiong squeezed into the cooperative hunched over, then explained with an obsequious smile, "That market manager Liu Xing just posted a notice stating that all of us merchants must pay temporary stall fees from now on whenever market day comes around, and the amount is double that of mobile vendors. He's obviously singling us out as business owners!"

"The money aside—we do take up quite a bit of space when we set up our stalls on market days—but what right does Liu Xing have to cut off the market administration from paying our electricity bills? When Boss Xiao was here, nobody ever dared post a notice like that!" a short, pot-bellied merchant chimed in. "Now that your dad is temporarily away from the market, you have to stand up for us!"

Seeing that Xiao Yang was angered by this and appeared ready to stand in solidarity with them, the merchant led several others into the cooperative, rolling up their sleeves as they prepared to loudly pour out grievances regarding Liu Xing's 'crimes'.

However, to his complete surprise, before those words could even leave his mouth, Xiao Li flew into a rage, snatched a broom from the corner, and swung it directly at the lot of them.

...

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