Chapter 155: Uncertain Variable

The sky was overcast, looking as though a heavy downpour was imminent.

Inside the office of the Donghe Police Station.

Tian Jun, who had been burying his head in paperwork, suddenly knitted his brows. Realizing it was his old stomach ailment acting up, he quickly pressed a porcelain teacup against his abdomen and began to gently massage the area.

Seeing this, the female police officer sitting opposite him could not help but say, "Station Chief Tian, you haven't eaten either lunch or dinner yet, have you? You can't keep going on like this. A man is made of steel, but food is his fuel!"

"I simply forgot to eat," Tian Jun replied with a self-deprecating chuckle.

"Here." The female police officer secretly produced a few pieces of dried sweet potato and handed them over.

"Oh! So you've been keeping a private stash!" Tian Jun teased, taking the dried sweet potato and eating it.

The female police officer smiled sweetly and, leaving him be, stood up to pour some tea.

Just at that moment, the screech of tires slamming on brakes echoed from the front entrance, so loud that even Tian Jun inside the office caught the smell of burning brake pads. Startled, he furrowed his brow and peered out the window. "Who on earth is this? Are they in such a reckless rush to be reincarnated?"

As soon as the words left his mouth, Tian Jun's expression shifted drastically. He recognized that the driver was none other than Liu Siwen, the director of the Zhongyi Winery, accompanied by Lu Xiaoban and Old Wang, the gatekeeper.

Judging by their flustered and hurried expressions, a major incident must have occurred at the Zhongyi Winery, and they had come to the Donghe Police Station to report a crime.

The mere thought of this gave Tian Jun a splitting headache.

After all, the case involving Lu Su and Liu Siwen being robbed at the market had yet to be solved, and the culprits were still at large!

And now, they were showing up late at night again—this was going to be the death of him!

Despite his reluctance, he had no choice but to stand up and go out to greet them.

No matter what, the Zhongyi Winery was a major enterprise in HY City, and certain matters simply could not afford any mistakes.

Before Tian Jun even reached the front entrance, Liu Siwen was already shouting at the top of his lungs, "Station Chief Tian! I want to report a crime! The Zhongyi Winery has been robbed of forty-six thousand yuan!"

The reason it was forty-six thousand instead of sixty-six thousand was simple: that was the entire sum of cash currently held by the winery's finance department.

Unaware of the internal details, Tian Jun was immensely astonished. "Don't panic. Tell me in detail what exactly happened."

"Right! Right!" Liu Siwen clutched his head, gathered his thoughts, and recounted the inside story: how five "ace mechanics" from out of town had scammed free food and drinks from the Zhongyi Winery, knocked Lu Su unconscious, and made off with forty--six thousand yuan.

Standing beside him, Lu Xiaoban chimed in with occasional details, while Old Wang nodded in agreement, confirming that everything Liu Siwen said was true and describing the scene he had witnessed with his own eyes.

Station Chief Tian listened quietly. As the account reached the critical points, his brow furrowed deeply.

It wasn't that he doubted the veracity of Liu Siwen's claims, but rather that the whole affair sounded utterly absurd. The esteemed Zhongyi Winery, with a workforce of several thousand people, had actually been swindled by five visiting mechanics from out of town, who had brazenly looted forty-six thousand yuan. If word of this got out, nobody would believe it.

Yet, looking at Liu Siwen's frantic appearance, the incident was undoubtedly real, without a single shred of exaggeration.

After all, family scandals are not meant for public airing; nobody would voluntarily broadcast such an embarrassing debacle unless driven to absolute desperation.

With that realization, Tian Jun turned serious. "Director Liu, don't panic just yet. Since those five out-of-town mechanics made off with such a large sum, they couldn't have gotten far immediately. Give me their personal details, and I will have Xiao Li and Xiao Wu look into the matter right away."

"This isn't just about investigating! We need to catch those five mechanics and bring them back!" Liu Siwen was beside himself with anxiety, his face twisted in despair as he stammered, "If we wait until they've fled far away, it will be too late for everything!"

"It's so late now, there's no one left at the Donghe Police Station," Tian Jun replied helplessly, forced to speak the truth.

"No... you are public servants of the people, how can you possibly get off work this early?" Liu Siwen assumed Tian Jun was merely shirking responsibility, and in his exasperation, he lost all sense of tact.

"The officers of the Donghe Police Station, including myself, have not finished work!" Tian Jun threw his hands up in exasperation. "Didn't you lose twenty thousand yuan at the market earlier? Xiao Wang from our station is currently leading a team in an all-out manhunt, and four other officers are interrogating Luo Bamian and his gang of traffickers. Under these circumstances, where do you expect me to pull men from?"

Upon hearing this, Liu Siwen froze, then scratched his head awkwardly. "What should we do now? Secretary Bi was so enraged by this incident that he's been hospitalized. If we don't recover the money as soon as possible, the Zhongyi Winery is going to finish for good!"

"There is nothing I can do then. You should go report it to the Municipal Bureau! Have Bureau Chief Wu and Bureau Chief Ye set up a special task force to handle your case," Tian Jun suggested after a brief moment of thought.

Given the colossal amount of money lost, establishing a task force was necessary. Furthermore, the fallout was bound to be severe; if the case wasn't solved swiftly, the trouble would not stop with the Zhongyi Winery—his Donghe Police Station would undoubtedly find it hard to escape blame either.

After all, regardless of the circumstances, the security of the Zhongyi Winery fell within the jurisdiction of the Donghe Police Station.

After hesitating for a moment upon hearing Tian Jun's advice, Liu Siwen climbed back into his car with Lu Xiaoban and Old Wang and drove away, heading directly toward the Municipal Bureau.

Fearing that Bureau Chief Wu might hold him accountable, Tian Jun hurried back into his office, picked up the desk telephone, and dialed the number for the Municipal Bureau.

Once the line connected, he spoke quickly, "Hello! I am Tian Jun. Could you please put Bureau Chief Wu on the line?"

"Certainly." A pleasant female voice came through from the other end. After a brief moment of silence, footsteps were heard, followed by Bureau Chief Wu's deep, resonant voice, "Tian Jun? What is it so late at night?"

Tian Jun replied, "Bureau Chief Wu, I really can't hold the line here anymore..."

After venting his grievances, he laid out the details of the crime Liu Siwen had just reported.

Bureau Chief Wu listened in silence. Once he grasped the situation, he flew into a rage. "This Liu Siwen is nothing but trouble! Hasn't he learned his lesson from losing those twenty thousand yuan at the market?"

Hearing this, Tian Jun shrank his neck and kept quiet.

After all, Bureau Chief Wu was entirely right.

To fall into the same trap twice and still fail to learn a single lesson—who else could they blame?

On the other end of the line, Bureau Chief Wu let out a light sigh. "Tian Jun, I know you've been working hard lately, so don't worry yourself over this Zhongyi Winery case. I'll figure out a way to handle it."

"Thank you, Bureau Chief Wu." Seeing that Bureau Chief Wu wasn't chewing him out and was actually showing consideration for him, Tian Jun felt a warm glow in his chest, hardly knowing what to say.

"What are you thanking me for? Get back to work. We'll talk when we have time," Bureau Chief Wu chuckled.

"Alright! Alright!" Waiting until Bureau Chief Wu hung up, Tian Jun finally let out a sigh of relief and put the receiver down.

Even so, he knew that even with Bureau Chief Wu stepping in, the situation at the Zhongyi Winery would not be easily resolved.

Why? Because up to this moment, Liu Siwen, Lu Su, and Secretary Bi probably still hadn't realized the most crucial detail: even if the five scammer mechanics were caught and the money was recovered, what about the broken bottling equipment?

Wouldn't that still be an utter failure?!

And if the Zhongyi Winery's bottling equipment couldn't be repaired, the only possible outcome was bankruptcy!

Though he had no wish to see such an outcome, it was already a foregone conclusion.

"Huh? Wait!" Tian Jun's eyes suddenly lit up. He realized that what he had just considered might not be the final outcome after all, because the unpredictable variable known as Liu Xing was still in play!

...

On May 19th.

At a little past nine in the morning, Liu Xing woke up.

After washing up and grabbing a casual breakfast, he dropped by the shoe store.

Noticing that business was slow, he gave a few instructions to Nai Xinru and then headed over to the supply and marketing cooperative.

He had no choice; he was now the director of the market management office, and it would look quite unacceptable if he failed to show up at his official workplace.

It wasn't that he feared gossip from higher-ups, but rather that he didn't want Lu Xiaoban spreading malicious rumors.

To his surprise, however, he turned out to be the first person to arrive at the gates of the supply and marketing cooperative.

As for Lu Xiaoban and Chen Hong, there wasn't even a shadow of them.

Liu Xing couldn't help a wry smile and was just about to turn back when with a creak, the large doors of the cooperative swung open, and Village Chief Zhao walked out hand in hand with Zhao Jing.

"Big Brother, good morning!" Zhao Jing waved and greeted Liu Xing with a sweet smile.

"Morning, Jingjing!" Liu Xing patted the little girl's head affectionately, then turned to the village chief. "What were you doing inside the cooperative?"

"Taking back the premises," Village Chief Zhao replied with a hearty chuckle.

"Ah!" Liu Xing understood immediately.

All the goods inside the cooperative had been cleared out, so it was indeed time to reclaim and inspect the property.

"That Lu Xiaoban from yesterday kept trying to rent this place from me. Was that your idea?" Village Chief Zhao lit a hand-rolled cigarette and asked in a low voice, making sure no one was around.

"Yes and no." Liu Xing scratched his head. "How should I put it? I just wanted to teach this newcomer Lu Xiaoban a lesson so he'd stop targeting me at every turn."

"I figured as much," Village Chief Zhao smiled. "That's why I cursed him out and sent him packing."

"Looks like the Village Chief is a sensible man!" Liu Xing laughed along. "So, are you still planning to rent out this property?"

"Of course I am. Why leave it empty?" Village Chief Zhao took a drag from his cigarette. "Only this time, if I rent it out, it won't be like Xiao Moral's arrangement—the rent must be paid upfront."

He was in urgent need of money right now; otherwise, he certainly wouldn't have brought this up in front of Liu Xing.

"Money is not an issue. But this time, I don't want to rent it on behalf of the market administration; I want to rent it privately." Liu Xing glanced around mysteriously. "If you agree, I can pay the rent right now—at least two hundred a month."

That rental figure startled Village Chief Zhao right on the spot.

After all, when it was previously rented to Xiao Moral, the rent was only eighty yuan, and not a single coin of it had ever been collected.

Recovering his wits, he hurriedly said, "Xing boy, don't joke with an old man like me! I know you're good at making money, but two hundred yuan a month is no small sum."

"I told you, money is not the issue. It all depends on whether you agree to rent it to me," Liu Xing smiled.

"Then what about the market administration office?" Village Chief Zhao asked, puzzled.

Regardless of everything else, Township Head Xie had sent people to speak with him about it; if he didn't give them face, it could lead to quite a bit of trouble.

"You don't need to worry about that. I'll handle it," Liu Xing answered with absolute certainty.

"Alright! But... can you at least tell me what you plan to do with such a large property if you rent it privately?" Village Chief Zhao was burning with curiosity.

"Can't say for now. But I promise you, I'm not up to any mischief." Liu Xing offered a mysterious smile.

"You rascal." Village Chief Zhao shook his head. "Very well! If you don't want to say, I won't ask. But you'll have to let me go home and think this over carefully. I'll give you an answer in a few days after the rice planting is finished."

"Deal!" Liu Xing nodded in agreement.

After all, he didn't have time these next few days either, so waiting a little longer suited him just fine.

"I'll be off then." Village Chief Zhao patted Liu Xing's shoulder and walked away toward the eastern street, holding Zhao Jing's hand.

Liu Xing watched them recede into the distance before turning back toward the shoe store.

...

Back at the shoe store.

Finding business dead quiet, he didn't linger. After a brief word with Liu Dongju and Nai Xinru, he hitched up the black ox, loaded it up with melon seeds, and headed home with Guazi and Lanlan.

There was no help for it; after a full day of market trading yesterday, a full third of the store's stock of shoes had been sold off. If he didn't go home to fetch more, the store would run out of inventory in a matter of days.

When he arrived home, it was a little past eleven, approaching noon.

Seeing his mother busy cooking in the kitchen, he decided not to disturb her. After securing the black ox, he led Guazi and Lanlan into the main hall.

Inside, Liu Qiuyuan, Kang Hu, Zhao Xiaomei, and the others were working industriously on making shoes. Near the window sat Kang Fuchuan as well, leisurely sipping tea and chatting.

Catching sight of Liu Xing's return, Kang Fuchuan immediately stood up and greeted him. "Well, look who's here—our busy man has finally returned."

"Uncle-in-law, don't say that. I'm just running around blindly," Liu Xing laughed modestly. "What about you? How is it that you have the time to be here today?"

Ordinarily, with Kang Fuchuan's health mostly recovered, he should have reported to the Education Bureau long ago. Even if the relevant leadership hadn't arranged a teaching post for him yet, he shouldn't have been this leisurely.

Liu Qiuyuan, who had been lowering her head to bind the edges of a shoe, overheard this and chimed in, "He's nothing like you; he's a thorough idler now. You have no idea—he went to the Education Bureau last week expecting a work assignment, but instead he got into a shouting match with the leadership. By the time he came back, he'd even lost his iron rice bowl."

"Oh?" Liu Xing looked at Kang Fuchuan in surprise. "Uncle-in-law, is that true?"

"Yes," Kang Fuchuan nodded with a bitter smile.

He had been too hot-headed at the time, and looking back on it now, he felt a bit of regret.

Yet, he couldn't entirely be blamed, because the leadership's actions had truly chilled his heart.

Seeing this, Liu Xing refrained from pressing further, knowing that Kang Fuchuan was not a trouble-making sort. "So, what are your plans for the future?"

"What else can I do? Rest for a while first, then go look around other places," Kang Fuchuan replied softly.

"Would you die if you stopped talking nonsense!" Liu Qiuyuan glared at Kang Fuchuan in annoyance upon hearing this. "We agreed quite clearly this morning to come help out here at Xing boy's place. How is it that you're backtracking again?"

If a person in the countryside didn't help out or have a steady job, they would simply starve to death.

"I... I..." Kang Fuchuan's face flushed red.

After all, he was the one who had previously lectured Liu Xing with the proverb: *All pursuits are lowly, only scholarship is high.*

Now that he was at his wit's end, though he harbored the thought of helping Liu Xing to earn some money, actually putting it into practice made it difficult for him to open his mouth. After all, he used to be a respected teacher with an iron rice bowl!

"Dad, you just care too much about your pride. What's so hard to say?" Kang Hu chimed in with a good-natured chuckle. "Actually, making shoes isn't tiring at all. Look at me, I've put on quite a bit of weight lately."

"You think everyone is like you!" Kang Fuchuan couldn't help rolling his eyes at Kang Hu.

This son of his was a total foodie—the kind who could gain weight just by drinking water.

So gaining weight had nothing to do with making shoes; it was purely because Liu Xing's family lived well and their meals were rich in oil and meat.

Observing the family banter, Liu Xing suddenly understood the purpose behind Kang Fuchuan's visit. Shaking his head slightly, he said, "Uncle-in-law, I am indeed short of people to help me out right now. If you're willing to come lend a hand, I couldn't ask for anything better, but the pay might not be high—around fifty yuan a month."

To tell the truth, he was precisely in need of intellectuals like Kang Fuchuan to assist him.

Previously, inviting him would have been useless because he held an iron rice bowl.

Now that he had fallen on hard times and come asking to work for him, Liu Xing naturally couldn't refuse.

Of course, this wasn't purely out of familial obligation, but because Kang Fuchuan's character was genuinely decent, diligent, and pragmatic. Compared to Liu Wanqiu, he was like heaven and earth.

Even so, facing Kang Fuchuan stirred up a sense of emotional complexity. His rebirth had altered Kang Fuchuan's life trajectory, yet failed to rescue him from economic destitution. Perhaps that was simply fate!

Fate seemed determined to subject Kang Fuchuan to trials and hardships, but none of that mattered to Liu Xing as long as Kang Fuchuan was willing to work with his feet on the ground.

"Fifty yuan a month is low? When I was teaching, I only made twenty-three yuan and eighty cents a month!" Kang Fuchuan had no inkling of Liu Xing's inner thoughts and exclaimed with deep emotion.

This was the absolute truth, without a shred of exaggeration.

Hearing this, Liu Xing smiled. "Alright then! Later on, help me transport the finished shoes to the shoe store in the market. Ahem... no slacking off, mind you! My place isn't as relaxed as teaching school."

"Look at you," Kang Fuchuan rolled up his sleeves. "As if my teaching days were just eating idle rice."

With that, he strode outside to haul away some discarded tires.

In other words, he had agreed to help Liu Xing.

Though it was only a verbal agreement, both parties understood each other tacitly.

Watching this, Liu Qiuyuan let out a relieved sigh. "Xing boy, your aunt really has to thank you. You have no idea how depressed your uncle-in-law has been ever since he came back from the Education Bureau—it was driving me nearly crazy with worry."

"Aunt, what are you thanking me for? Uncle-in-law is a man of talent; if the leaders at the Education Bureau have no eye for quality, that's their loss," Liu Xing replied promptly.

He wasn't just buttering her up; he meant every word.

Anyone capable of earning a teaching position through genuine merit during the seventies and eighties was extraordinary in their own right.

"I love hearing you say that." Kang Fuchuan, lugging two old tires back into the room, beamed with delight upon hearing Liu Xing's words. "From now on, your uncle-in-law is throwing his lot in with you, and I'll never be a bullied teacher again!"

"Hahaha... alright!" Liu Xing reached out with a smile and patted Kang Fuchuan's shoulder. Hearing his mother calling him from outside, he hurried out.

At the kitchen doorway, Zhou Qiu香 emerged carrying a bowl of stir-fried pork with chili peppers, casting a slightly aggrieved look at Liu Xing as he stepped out. "You child, you come home and don't even bother to let me know."

"What is it?" Liu Xing asked, utterly puzzled.

He wasn't an outsider; did he really need to announce his homecoming?

"Your dad told me to tell you that as soon as you got back, you should go to the township government office for a meeting," Zhou Qiu香 said helplessly. "Though at this hour, even if you go, it's probably pointless."

"I'm not a village cadre; why should I join in the excitement?" Catching the underlying meaning in his mother's words, Liu Xing couldn't help complaining, "I can tell you right now, even if I got the notice, I wouldn't go."

"Why not?" Zhou Qiu香 stopped in her tracks.

"Going to meetings at the township office never brings any good news." Liu Xing took the bowl of pork from Zhou Qiu香's hands and carried it over to the wooden table.

"How can you say that? Your dad is now the village chief of Nitre Stone Village; attending meetings means he'll definitely learn good news you don't know about. How could it be bad?" Zhou Qiu香 laughed. "Just wait and see! When your dad comes back later, he'll be walking on air."

"Hehe... Then I'll wait and see." Liu Xing chuckled along.

He said this because he knew being a village cadre in the eighties was no bed of roses.

Village officials had to deal with every trivial domestic dispute in the village: fields lacking water, irrigation ditches needing clearing, neighbors quarreling—the village head had to handle it all.

Do it well, and it was just your duty; do it poorly, and the villagers would curse you out. In the eighties, while villagers might fear township cadres, they felt free to curse village officials right to their faces, and bolder, hotter-tempered ones might even resort to physical violence.

Of course, such incidents were rare, but that didn't mean they never happened.

And that wasn't even the most agonizing part.

The real headache was that the village had no money, yet you were expected to rack your brains to lead everyone toward prosperity.

If you failed to meet targets, the township leaders weren't soft either; they would use the most polite phrasing to weave round-about curses carrying the most venomous meanings.

In other words, being a village chief was a thankless job.

Do it successfully, and you earned a good reputation in the eighties.

Fail, and you became a punching bag caught taking abuse from both sides.

This was no exaggeration, but the bare truth.

Before his rebirth, he had served as a village chief for two years himself, and he alone knew the bitterness of it.

Naturally, one couldn't generalize entirely—times create heroes, and in villages with favorable geography, being a village chief could indeed be quite rewarding.

Unfortunately, he lacked that kind of destiny.

And his father certainly lacked it too.

Because Nitre Stone Village was still deeply impoverished right now!

To top it all off, Village Chief Wang had been arrested, leaving behind a massive backlog of historical problems.

Trying to sort them all out would probably give anyone a splitting headache for several nights running.

Just as this thought crossed his mind, the ring of a bicycle bell sounded from the country road.

Zhou Qiu香 craned her neck to look outside, and upon seeing that it was Liu Dachao returning, she hurried out to greet him happily.

Liu Xing followed closely behind. Noticing that Liu Dachao's face was dark and gloomy with displeasure, he shrank his neck slightly and quickly slipped back into the kitchen.

He knew that without a doubt, his father must have been chewed out at the township government office.

Otherwise, there was no way he'd wear an expression like that.

Seeing that Liu Xing had guessed the outcome, Zhou Qiu香 shook her head, but instead of avoiding the issue, she sighed softly and asked, "Dachao, what's wrong with you? Why are you wearing such a long face the moment you get back?"

"Don't ask," Liu Dachao dismounted his bicycle. "I spent the entire morning being chewed out from head to toe by Township Head Xie. If he weren't the township head, I would have gone up and punched him myself."

"He... what right does he have to scold you?"

Zhou Qiu香 was utterly baffled.

No matter what, Liu Dachao was a newly appointed official; even if they didn't respect him, they should at least show some courtesy, or who would dare take on the job of village chief in the future?

Hearing this question, Liu Dachao was equally perplexed. Just as he was about to vent his thoughts, Liu Xing emerged from the kitchen. "Mom, Dad misunderstood. The person Township Head Xie was chewing out definitely wasn't Dad! It was Village Chief Wang."

"I can guarantee that Township Head Xie didn't call anyone out by name; he just kept generalizing about 'the village chief of Nitre Stone Village' this and that, right?" Liu Xing added after a brief pause.

The moment he said this, Liu Dachao's downcast eyes lit up. "Hey! Now that you mention it, thinking back on it, that really was how it went! Township Head Xie kept railing against 'the village chief of Nitre Stone Village' without calling out any specific name."

"Township Head Xie was just killing the chicken to scare the monkeys! If I were you, I wouldn't go to that meeting today even if they beat me to death; it sounds utterly devoid of any real substance." Liu Xing rubbed his stomach. "Let's drop this depressing topic and go eat."

"I already ate. Haha... I had braised pork belly for lunch." Guided out of his anger by Liu Xing's reasoning, Liu Dachao was actually feeling somewhat cheerful. Picking up the documents from his bicycle's rear rack, he retreated to his room to study them.

Zhou Qiu香 shook her head at the sight, but letting the matter drop, she turned around and walked into the kitchen.