Chapter 91: Blessing or Curse

"Oh, by the way, do you still have any fertilizer left over from last year? Ammonium bicarbonate or phosphate fertilizer would both do. Let us have a look and see whether it is counterfeit. That way we can also go back and account for ourselves." Ding Lan asked softly, patting her overfull stomach.

At present, the only place in Catalpa Township that bought and sold fertilizer and pesticides was the supply and marketing cooperative in Old House Village. Nowhere else had such business at all, nor the qualification to run it. That was why she was certain about the fertilizer in Liu Xing's house. If there was any, it must have been bought from the supply and marketing cooperative in Old House Village.

"Maybe there is?" Liu Xing was not sure either. "Then wait for me in the kitchen for a moment. I'll go look for it in the shed behind the yard."

"All right." Ding Lan nodded.

Niu Lianfang, meanwhile, busied herself roasting rice cakes.

Liu Xing turned and left the kitchen. A short while later, he came back carrying a half-filled woven sack of phosphate fertilizer, weighing about ten to twenty jin. "Sisters, this sack of phosphate fertilizer was left over from when my mother grew peanuts last year. She said the peanuts fertilized with phosphate yielded more than half less than everyone else's, so she never used the rest this year."

"Really?" Ding Lan was startled and hurried over to examine it.

As Liu Xing watched Ding Lan frown and ponder over the fertilizer in the woven sack, he did not disturb her. After all, he was no expert at telling real phosphate fertilizer from fake.

Seeing that there was still sweet potato porridge in the pot, he ladled himself a bowl and sat aside to eat.

Niu Lianfang did not idle either. She picked up a rice cake, blew on it, and while eating it, discussed the fertilizer with Ding Lan.

After a few minutes, Liu Xing had finished the sweet potato porridge and eaten four rice cakes as well.

Only then did the two women reach an exact conclusion: the half sack of phosphate fertilizer in Liu Xing's house was definitely counterfeit and shoddy.

Once that conclusion was reached, neither Ding Lan nor Niu Lianfang had any more interest in sightseeing in Stone Nitrate Village.

Ding Lan checked the time on her watch and said, "Lianfang, we need to go to other households in Stone Nitrate Village at once. We might still be able to gather more evidence."

"So was I thinking." Niu Lianfang's expression turned solemn. "Liu Xing, do you have time now? If you do, I'd like you to guide us to the other villagers' homes to collect evidence."

"Sure!" Liu Xing agreed without the least hesitation.

If this could ultimately bring the people who made the fake fertilizer to justice, it would be a great thing for him and for the local people. He had no reason to refuse.

"Oh, right." Ding Lan looked at Liu Xing. "Do you still have the receipt for this sack of phosphate fertilizer bought in Old House Village at home? If you do, that would help us tremendously."

"My mother said she put it in the wardrobe, and all the fertilizer receipts from previous years are in there too," Liu Xing replied.

"That's great!" Ding Lan was delighted.

As long as the receipt bore the seal of Boss Xiao's supply and marketing cooperative, along with the employee's signature, then her trip to Liu Xing's house today would have been a tremendous success.

"Should I go get it for you to look at now?" Liu Xing suggested.

"Yes." Ding Lan nodded.

"Go quickly, go quickly." Niu Lianfang waved her hand, a smile on her pretty face.

For some reason, she suddenly had a strange feeling: as long as she was with Liu Xing, everything seemed to become easier.

"Could that be my imagination?" After coming back to her senses, Niu Lianfang quickly dismissed such a ridiculous thought.

After Liu Xing left the kitchen and was about to enter the main room to ask Zhou Qiuxiang about the fertilizer receipt, Guazi and Xiao Budian, who had been herding the cattle along the country road, came running back in a sweat.

"What happened to you two?" Liu Xing asked with concern.

"Did the cow get lost?" Zhou Qiuxiang also asked with a smile.

Under normal circumstances, only Liu Xing could keep the black calf in check.

If Liu Ye or Liu Ziran went to herd it, the mischievous thing would disappear in the blink of an eye.

Of course, it would not run far; it would just graze nearby.

"The black calf didn't get lost. A lot of people in white clothes came looking for Big Brother," Guazi said, lifting her little head with a nervous look.

"Yes, yes! They... they seem like they're going to arrest Uncle," Xiao Budian added, stammering, her little face full of worry.

"Huh?" Zhou Qiuxiang was a little baffled.

But Liu Xing caught the meaning behind the words.

The white-clothed people Guazi mentioned were probably uniformed police or other government employees.

After all, in the nineteen-eighties, whether police or staff from the Industrial and Commercial Bureau, their uniforms were white.

He was not afraid in the least, because there must be some misunderstanding here.

If he had guessed right, these uniformed people were surely looking for Ding Lan and Niu Lianfang.

As for him, though he had been mischievous countless times as a child, he had never done anything illegal.

So, with an upright heart, he feared no shadow cast from a slanting tree, and naturally had nothing to fear from anyone coming.

Still, to be safe, he stepped out of the main room.

Zhou Qiuxiang followed behind him with Xiao Budian in her arms.

Guazi continued back to her cattle.

Sure enough, just as Guazi and Xiao Budian had said, a group of people in white uniforms had come along the country road.

There were at least nearly twenty of them.

At their head was a middle-aged man in black, slightly fat, not tall, with a moustache shaped like the character for eight, and he was carrying several pairs of black sandals in his hands.

As they drew near, Liu Xing could tell at a glance that the shoes came from his own home, though he did not understand why they were in the hands of this middle-aged man in black.

Because this middle-aged man was obviously not from any nearby village.

Zhou Qiuxiang beside him also noticed that something was wrong. She looked at the man in black, first startled, then turning pale. After setting Xiao Budian down, she whispered to Liu Xing, "Xing boy, that middle-aged man in black is the one who came to our house before and bought dozens of pairs of shoes all at once. He... he has turned back and brought so many people from the Industrial and Commercial Bureau. I’m afraid he’s here to make trouble for us!"

"Don't be afraid. Our paperwork is all in order," Liu Xing replied with a faint smile.

"No, I need to go call your father back." Zhou Qiuxiang did not even wait for Liu Xing to agree. Panicked, she turned and ran off.

When Xiao Budian saw the middle-aged man in black already leading more than a dozen uniformed people behind him to the threshing ground, she could only cling to Liu Xing's right leg and shyly hide behind him.

"Are you Liu Xing?" the middle-aged man in black called from afar, looking at Liu Xing. In his triangular eyes there was an odd smile, even a hint of mischief and mockery.

"I am." Liu Xing clasped his hands behind his back and nodded.

"Then do you know why I've come?" the man in black asked.

"No. But it's certainly not for anything good." Seeing that Xiao Budian was a little afraid of him, Liu Xing reached out and picked her up.

"Hahaha... you're quite clever, boy." The middle-aged man in black threw back his head and laughed. "I forgot to tell you. My surname is Xiao, my given name is Daode. I'm the owner of the supply and marketing cooperative in Old House Village. This time I brought Bureau Chief Ding from the Industrial and Commercial Bureau here because of the shoes you made illegally."

"This is Bureau Chief Ding." As he finished speaking, the man in black extended a hand to introduce a tall middle-aged man beside him.

"Hello." Liu Xing showed no fear at all. Instead, the corners of his mouth lifted as he gave Bureau Chief Ding a smile.

If he had guessed right, this Bureau Chief Ding must have a deep connection with Sister Ding Lan.

Judging from their appearances, they were most likely father and daughter.

Since they were father and daughter, it meant that Bureau Chief Ding had long known about his application for an individual business license, and yet now he was still putting on this performance together with the man in black, Xiao Daode. The only explanation was that he had some unavoidable hardship.

Or perhaps the supply and marketing cooperative had found no evidence of fake fertilizer before.

Or perhaps, because Xiao Daode had connections, Bureau Chief Ding did not dare move against him.

In short, Xiao Daode had brought people to his house to divert attention.

As for making trouble for him, that was not really the point, because his shoe shop's individual business license had already been approved.

Making and selling shoes was legal and proper.

Besides, these industrial and commercial law enforcement officers would at least have to give Ding Lan and Niu Lianfang some face.

Though he did not yet know that both women were at his house, on the day at East River Police Station, several of these dozen or so industrial and commercial officers had seen him, and knew of his connections with Ding Lan, Niu Lianfang, Zhang Xiangjun, and Deputy Bureau Chief Wu.

But this Xiao Daode clearly did not know the inside story, otherwise he would never have dared to come looking for trouble after he had obtained his individual business license.

As for why they were making trouble, it was obvious: he had stolen business from the supply and marketing cooperative.

If it were any other competitor, they might also come out and stir up trouble out of jealousy. But they would not use such despicable methods.

Killing with a borrowed blade. Insidious to the core.

This was not alarmism; it was simply the truth before his eyes.

If he had not made preparations in advance, he would likely have been set up by this Xiao Daode.

In the end, he would have lost both money and goods, and still been sent to prison.

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