Chapter 90: Another Major Move

"I think he may be from the Old House Village. I saw him at the market before, but I never learned his name," Liu Dongju said hesitantly, telling Liu Xing what she knew.

"From Old House Village?" Liu Xing let out a breath of relief. He did not give it any further thought. "All right, then leave him be. But from now on, when people come to our house to buy shoes, we must not let one person buy them all at once. Otherwise, everyone else will be left with nothing."

It was not that he wanted to hoard the goods. When he was making shoes out of old tires to sell for money, he had also hoped to improve the footwear situation of the people in the nearby villages. If one person bought everything, he would still make the money, but somehow it would feel wrong.

After thinking it over carefully, he realized what felt wrong was the fear that someone might see the opportunity in this and take the shoes elsewhere to sell them at a high price.

That would run directly counter to his original intention.

It was not as if such a thing were impossible. After all, shoes were expensive these days, and even having money did not necessarily mean one could buy them. But if his eldest sister knew this stranger, then such a thing probably would not happen.

At that thought, Liu Xing smiled. He knew that Ding Lan and Niu Lianfang had not had breakfast yet, so after saying a few things to his mother and eldest sister, he led them toward the kitchen.

In the kitchen there was still some sweet potato porridge left, still warm and carrying a faint, pleasant fragrance.

Liu Xing did not ask Ding Lan and Niu Lianfang to eat leftovers. Instead, he took a dozen white sticky rice cakes from a woven bag on the wall. "There isn't anything else at home. We have the most of these rice cakes and sweet potatoes. Do you want some?"

As he spoke, he lifted the rice cakes in his hand.

The cakes were made from glutinous rice.

Roasted over a wire rack, they became a rare delicacy.

Of course, they could also be fried in oil.

But Liu Xing did not want to do that.

After all, it was early in the morning, and eating something too greasy would not be good.

Yet Ding Lan and Niu Lianfang did not care about any of that. Niu Lianfang even picked up a bowl and chopsticks from the cupboard. "Why roast them? A bowl of sweet potato porridge is enough for me. I can't even get such a good breakfast at home!"

"That's right. We can just have sweet potato porridge." Ding Lan also took out a bowl and chopsticks.

Perhaps they really were hungry. Perhaps they truly did not treat Liu Xing as an outsider.

In any case, the two of them each scooped a bowl of sweet potato porridge and sat at the kitchen doorway, eating casually.

Liu Xing smiled as he watched them. Seeing that the pot might not contain enough porridge, he lit the fire and began roasting the rice cakes.

To keep them from sticking to the wire rack, he even brushed on a little cooking oil.

Before long, the special fragrance of the roasting rice cakes drifted out.

Niu Lianfang, who had felt full a moment ago, sniffed the air and hurried over to the stove. "Good heavens! Why are rice cakes at home never this fragrant?"

"That must be because yours are fried in oil, not roasted," Liu Xing said.

There was a huge difference between frying and roasting.

First of all, fried rice cakes became greasy very quickly; after a few, one could not eat any more.

But when roasted, they were not sticky, not greasy, crisp and tasty, with something of the flavor of scorched rice.

If a little sugar were added, they would become a heavenly delicacy.

"That makes sense. Are they done yet?" Niu Lianfang was growing impatient.

Clearly, she was a true glutton. The moment she saw something delicious, she forgot all about reserve.

Of course, she did not need to be reserved in front of Liu Xing, after all, they treated him like a younger brother.

"Just a moment, almost done!" Seeing that Ding Lan was also staring at the rice cakes on the wire rack, Liu Xing quickly took out a few more from the woven bag.

After all, rice cakes were not a staple grain. One or two would never be enough to fill anyone up.

A short while later, the first six rice cakes were done.

They were tender inside and crisp outside, golden in color, and gave off a faint glutinous-rice aroma.

Liu Xing lifted one with his chopsticks and placed it in Niu Lianfang's bowl. "Eat slowly. This one was just roasted and it's very hot."

"Got it, got it." Niu Lianfang picked it up with her chopsticks and ate at once.

The first bite did burn her slightly, but by the second, she had fallen in love with the taste of the roasted rice cake. The satisfaction of a true food lover was simply beyond words.

Seeing how happily Niu Lianfang was eating, Ding Lan quickly picked one up and put it in her own bowl too. After blowing on it and tasting it, she hurriedly transferred the rest into her bowl as well.

This made Niu Lianfang both amused and helpless. "Leave me one, will you? I haven't had rice cakes this delicious in a long time."

"Not giving you any," Ding Lan said with a faint smile, then carried her bowl and ran out of the kitchen.

Niu Lianfang was not angry. Instead, she helped Liu Xing roast the rice cakes. "How many do you still have? If there are plenty, I'll buy some to take back and eat later, all right?"

"Why buy them? If you like them, I'll give you dozens later," Liu Xing replied casually.

"All right!" Niu Lianfang did not bother being polite with him.

After all, in the countryside, a few rice cakes really were not worth much.

If she gave Liu Xing money, it would almost seem as if she were looking down on him.

Especially since she had seen the boy make shoes before, and he had made quite a lot of money from it.

His daily income might even be higher than a month of wages from a city police station officer like her.

"Liu Xing, I want dozens too, to take home. Don't favor one over the other," Ding Lan said as she came into the kitchen with her bowl, reminding him earnestly.

"No problem, my sister," Liu Xing replied.

"Then hurry up and roast them. I still want a few more," Ding Lan said. Seeing that the fire in the earthen stove had grown a little weak, she quickly set down her bowl and chopsticks and helped add more firewood.

Liu Xing smiled, rolled up his sleeves, and lowered his head to continue roasting the rice cakes.

Niu Lianfang glanced at the time on her watch. "Ding Lan, since Director Wu went to Old House Village to handle a case, when do you think he'll come here to pick us up?"

"How would I know? Director Wu is your superior, not mine," Ding Lan replied from her little stool.

"Isn't your superior coming too?" Niu Lianfang's smile faded.

Clearly, the case Director Wu was handling in Old House Village was not simple.

Otherwise, the bureau of industry and commerce would never have worked with Director Wu to come to Old House Village.

Liu Xing heard the implication in their words. At first, he did not want to ask further, since this had nothing to do with him.

But after thinking it over, he still could not help asking, "Did something big happen in Old House Village? Is it worth Director Wu personally taking action?"

Niu Lianfang and Ding Lan exchanged a glance. After a moment of hesitation, Niu Lianfang said, "There's no harm in telling you. We received a public tip-off that the supply and marketing cooperative in Old House Village has been selling counterfeit pesticides and fertilizer. We're currently investigating and collecting evidence."

"I see." Liu Xing nodded slowly.

Pesticides and fertilizer were important supplies in the 1980s, tied to the clothing and food of countless people, so they truly deserved attention.

But by rights, counterfeit pesticides and fertilizer should not have been something anyone could produce in the 1980s. To suddenly hear that someone was making fakes and harming ordinary people's interests was, honestly, rather unexpected.

"By the way, if it's such an important matter, why did the two of you come to me?" Liu Xing asked once he had collected his thoughts.

"Our car broke down on the way, so we had no choice but to get out," Niu Lianfang explained. "And since our evidence-gathering assignment was divided among us with Shales Stone Village, we came here to freeload on your food and drink."

"That's right," Ding Lan said with a faint smile, nodding along.

Originally they had not wanted to come, but there was nowhere else to go and no one they knew.

So they could only come find the one "younger brother" they knew, Liu Xing.

"I really don't understand. Does it make any sense for you to investigate and gather evidence like this?" Liu Xing could not help complaining. "If you alert them and scare the snake, and the owner of the Old House Village supply cooperative hides the fake pesticides and fertilizer, won't you have made the trip for nothing?"

"No, absolutely not for nothing," Niu Lianfang said seriously. "According to the informant's lead, the Old House Village supply cooperative has been selling fake pesticides and fertilizer for several years. As long as we find fake pesticides and fertilizer in the villagers' homes, then the owner of the cooperative, Xiao, will have no way to escape."

"I mean, wouldn't it be better if you just went straight to the supply cooperative in Old House Village to investigate?" Liu Xing suggested.

Pesticides and fertilizer usually were not kept long in villagers' homes, because dampness would cause them to break down.

Perhaps in decades to come farmers would not care at all, but in the 1980s such a thing would absolutely not be allowed to happen, because pesticides and fertilizer were far too expensive. They had to be obtained through quotas, ration coupons, and cash; there was no other channel.

That was why, in the rural areas of the seventies and eighties, there had been such a profession as collecting dog dung.

The reason, at its root, was that pesticides and fertilizer were so expensive that many farmers could not afford them.

"The supply cooperative in Old House Village was checked long ago. There was no evidence at all. This time we're only going through the motions," Niu Lianfang replied helplessly.

"Besides, the supply cooperative is a state-run enterprise, and it has plenty of connections protecting it. If we want to go in and investigate for evidence, that is even harder than reaching the sky," Ding Lan added.

"That's true," Liu Xing had to admit.

In the seventies and eighties, supply cooperatives were among the hottest state-owned enterprises, supporting who knew how many people.

Anyone who touched the interests of a supply cooperative would surely have many people stand up to stop them.

In other words, this time Director Wu's trip to Old House Village to gather evidence was likely to be futile.

No wonder Ding Lan and Niu Lianfang had stepped out halfway and come looking for him. They clearly understood the hidden story behind it all.