Chapter 158: The Anti-Speculation Office made arrests

In the village, the Li family.

Liang Yuemei was feeding chickens in the courtyard. Lu's eldest sister-in-law walked over, looked enviously at the hen with the chicks, and listened to the grunting of the piglets in the pigsty, saying with a smile:

"Your family has really risen up this time. When the pig is slaughtered in winter, one head will sell for dozens of yuan! By the way, where is Qiangqiang's dad? Not working today, still going to the fields to work?"

"No, he went to find the team leader," Liang Yuemei said with a smile while feeding the chickens, "Didn't the team notify us? Raising eight pigs counts as a specialized pig-raising household, and according to the commune's regulations, we get several *mu* of feed land."

"That's great!" Lu's eldest sister-in-law had another item to envy, but she immediately asked suspiciously:

"I remember your family had six piglets. Did you buy more?"

"No, Without Xiao Long caught five wild piglets in the mountains and is raising them in the horse corral. I don't know if they can be raised."

"Right, right, right. Without Xiao Long hasn't separated from you, so that counts as one." Lu's eldest sister-in-law nodded repeatedly, then exclaimed in admiration, "Without Xiao Long is really promising. He can even catch wild piglets; he's really capable! By the way, does Without Xiao Long have a partner?"

"I haven't asked," Liang Yuemei shook her head, "Without Xiao Long is grown up and has his own ideas. It's not good for us to interfere in this."

"I heard he's seeing Gu family's Xiaoxia?" Lu's eldest sister-in-law actually wanted to ask about this.

"Young people's business, let them talk about it themselves," Liang Yuemei neither admitted nor denied, "Isn't free love advocated now?"

"That's true, but I heard that after Gu family's Xiaoxia went to the commune middle school, she became very popular. Many young male teachers and some commune cadres have taken a fancy to her!"

The commune only changed to a township this year, so neither of them was used to it and still called it a commune. Not to mention now, even twenty or thirty years later, elderly people in some remote areas were still used to calling townships and towns "communes."

"Really?" Liang Yuemei stopped what she was doing, then nodded, a bit melancholy, "Yes, Xiaoxia is beautiful, educated, and now has a formal job and eats commodity grain. There must be many people who want to marry her. It's just that I don't know..."

"Sigh, she eats commodity grain, so her status is different. It's not easy for us rural people to be together." Lu's eldest sister-in-law's meaning was very clear: Li Long should stop aiming at this tree. She's going to be a city person in the future; can she fancy you, a rural person?

Better to find someone of equal status while young and get married.

Young people got married quite early in this era; those in their early twenties were almost ready to find a partner and get married. Like the kind of people in later generations who got married in their thirties or forties, there were almost none—if there were, they would be despised in the village.

The reputation of an old bachelor wasn't good to hear.

Liang Yuemei was also a bit melancholy, but it was really hard for her to talk about Li Long's business. Should she tell Li Long now, "You and Gu Xiaoxia aren't suitable, find another one"?

She naturally knew Lu's eldest sister-in-law's intentions; she wanted to introduce a relative to Li Long, but Li Long's mind was clearly not on this.

Just as the two were chatting, footsteps came from outside the courtyard, light and fast. Both turned to look, and then a person they hadn't expected appeared—Gu Xiaoxia.

Now both of them blushed. After all, the most embarrassing thing was gossiping about someone, and that person happened to come over. Although they knew the other party couldn't hear what they had just said, they were both a bit embarrassed.

"Aunt... Aunt Lu, you're here too." Gu Xiaoxia didn't know how to address them.

Because when the production team was first established, there were only two or three local households, and others came from all over the country. Gu Xiaoxia's father and Li Jianguo were the founders of the initial production team, so they were of the same generation. If calculated this way, Gu Xiaoxia should call Liang Yuemei "Aunt" or "Auntie," depending on which side of the family they were related to.

But Li Long was Li Jianguo's younger brother. If calculated this way, it was hard for Gu Xiaoxia to address Li Long, so now the team allowed everyone to address each other as they pleased.

Just like Tao Daqiang called Li Long "Brother Long," but Li Qiang called Tao Daqiang "Brother Daqiang." This was quite chaotic.

But the villagers didn't care much. It was just a form of address, and they weren't related by blood, so it depended on each person's wishes. Very few traditional people would specifically correct it, but they could only correct their own family's and couldn't say anything about others.

So Gu Xiaoxia calling Liang Yuemei "Aunt" was based on the previous address, but after calling it out, it was a bit awkward. After all, although the matter between her and Gu Long hadn't pierced that layer of window paper, she felt it was about the same.

"Xiaoxia is here," Liang Yuemei reacted and said with a smile, "Come, come, come. No class today?"

"I don't have class this morning," Gu Xiaoxia explained, then handed over the cloth bag in her hand:

"Aunt, these are two pairs of shoes I made in my spare time... It's not easy to make the backing where we are, so I could only make two pairs..."

Lu's eldest sister-in-law was puzzled at first, then suddenly realized:

"You want Without Xiao Long to take them to your dad, right?"

The villagers all knew about the side-line team going into the mountains to weave *taibazi* (a type of carrying tool). Who was chosen was decided by the team leader. Although Lu's eldest sister-in-law was a bit depressed that no one from her family went, thinking about the work in her own fields, it was just like that. Now hearing Gu Xiaoxia say this, she thought it must be the case.

"Yes, one pair inside is for my dad, and the other pair is..." Gu Xiaoxia's voice suddenly became small, and her face turned red, "for Li Long. I haven't seen him at school these past two days, and I don't know when he'll be back, so I..."

Lu's eldest sister-in-law was dumbfounded!

She's already making shoes for him?

Liang Yuemei reacted extremely quickly, pulled Gu Xiaoxia and said with a smile:

"Come, come, come, come inside and rest first! I'll pour you some water! In a while, I'll cook for you... You haven't been here for many days, let's have a good chat..."

Lu's eldest sister-in-law didn't even know when she returned home.

She just couldn't figure it out. Gu family's Xiaoxia is already eating commodity grain, why is she still taking the initiative to find Li family's Without Xiao Long?

Li family's Without Xiao Long is excellent, but no matter how excellent, he's still a rural person, a farmer.

To say something unpleasant, in the village, in some people's eyes, the future of that hooligan Gu Ermao is better than Li Long's.

Gu Xiaoxia clearly has a better future, why would she turn back and stick to the village?

Liang Yuemei also had this thought, but she didn't care so much. Gu Xiaoxia thinking of Li Long's kindness and making shoes for Li Long was already a very obvious hint. As for the rest, was there any need to say more?

So at noon, although Gu Xiaoxia repeatedly indicated that she had class in the afternoon, Liang Yuemei still cooked rice early, mixed a cold dish, and stir-fried two meat dishes to entertain her. When she left, she specifically let her take a piece of cured meat back.

Gu Xiaoxia, who was walking to school, actually let out a long breath. Now, Li Long should know her heart, right? Then, what will he do next?

Gu Xiaoxia became a bit uneasy again.

After buying the things, Li Long returned to the courtyard, rested for a short while, stood up his bicycle, and began to load things.

The flour was at the bottom, but it couldn't be loaded too much; one bag on each side was enough. Next was the sack containing the radios. This bag couldn't be laid down; it had to be tied upright with a rope, not scattered or tilted. It was a skilled job.

Li Long tied the radios, then put other things like batteries and shoes into bags and hung them on both sides of the bike's handlebars. Now, pushing it out was a bit strenuous. However, the "28-inch" bike was sturdy and durable. Li Long knew that as long as he pedaled it for a few laps in a while, it would fly.

Li Long went to open the door, pushed the bike out, and was about to turn around to lock the door when two people in Zhongshan suits walked over, sandwiched him from left and right, and the person on the left said seriously:

"We are from the Anti-Speculation Office. You've committed a crime, come with us!"

The Anti-Speculation Office was a relatively special institution that emerged during this period, with the full name "Office for Striking Down Speculation and Profiteering." It had great power and often took people away during a considerable period.

As soon as Li Long heard it, he knew he must have been targeted. He hurriedly waved his hand and said:

"Misunderstanding, misunderstanding! I didn't speculate or profiteer. I have an introduction letter here... I'm from the supply and marketing cooperative..."

"A rural person like you has an introduction letter? Does your production team allow you to do such things? You're from the supply and marketing cooperative? Do you know which way the supply and marketing cooperative's door faces?" The person on the right sneered and said:

"Stop talking so much nonsense, push the bike and follow us! You even rode a bike; it seems you haven't dug less of the socialist wall! Do you know? This is an economic crime! Go squat in the fence in the future!"

As soon as Li Long heard the other party even say the words "digging the socialist wall," he knew that saying more was useless and could only explain after following them to the office.

The Anti-Speculation Office's office was right across from the county committee, inside a flat courtyard.

After bringing Li Long in, the young man who spoke later was about to untie the things on the back of the bike. Li Long had already taken out his certificate and said:

"Comrade, I really am a procurement officer for the supply and marketing cooperative. These things are to be sent to the mountains. Don't move them randomly!"

!.

"Heh!" The young man didn't listen to his explanation at all, rudely untied the rope, and grabbed the bag containing the radios.

Li Long was quick-eyed and fast-handed, hurriedly stepped forward to support the bag, and then said angrily:

"Can't you be a bit lighter? These are radios! Dozens of yuan each. Can you afford it if you break them?"

The young man didn't expect to be scolded by Li Long, nor did he expect that valuable radios were inside. He was stunned for a moment, then scanned around, found several colleagues looking at him, and was a bit unable to get off the stage. He said angrily:

"So what if I break them? You dug the socialist wall and engaged in speculation and profiteering, and you're still justified? I'm telling you! This is your criminal evidence! All these things must be confiscated! As for whether they're broken or not, that has nothing to do with you!"

"Still digging the socialist wall?" Li Long was angered to laughter, "Haven't you come out of that era yet? It's already reform and opening up now, wake up, comrade!"

Since they had already torn their faces, Li Long knew this matter wasn't easy to settle, and he didn't intend to let it go.

This bottom-level little ghost was definitely difficult to deal with. If he didn't make a big deal out of it, he would definitely suffer a dumb loss!

Sure enough, the person was angered to a red face by Li Long: "Are you looking for death? I'm telling you, this matter of yours is big today! A radio is fifty yuan! With this amount of yours, it's no problem to sentence you to ten years!"

"Do you really think you can cover the sky with one hand?" Li Long didn't show weakness either. If the voice wasn't loud, it wouldn't attract bigger leaders, "Which law stipulates that individuals cannot buy several radios? You say I'm speculating and profiteering, don't you have to provide evidence?"

The young man didn't expect Li Long to be so tough. The small merchants and peddlers they encountered in the past, as long as they were caught, were all obedient, paying fines when asked, and letting them confiscate things when asked, and they had never encountered such a thorn!

The problem was that they were still in the courtyard, not in the office. If they wanted to use underhanded tricks, they had to worry about the leaders across the street. The young man scanned the surroundings and saw Gu Ermao sneaking at the office door, and was overjoyed:

"You, come here!"

He sneered at Li Long again:

"The person who pointed you out is here! Don't think we don't know your background! You're just a farmer, where did you get the money to buy so many radios? If it's not speculation and profiteering, what is it?"

Gu Ermao originally thought he would just secretly report it, raise a report to let Li Long have bad luck, and it would be best if he could be locked up for a few days, and then he would stink after coming out.

He didn't expect that the people here didn't let him go at all, directly brought him to the Anti-Speculation Office, and let him testify!

Gu Ermao was left in the dark, but he couldn't leave even if he wanted to. He wanted to hide, but he was seen by that young man.

But at this time, he had to bite the bullet and come out, standing opposite Li Long.

"Say what you saw again!" The young man couldn't care so much now and said loudly to Gu Ermao.

Gu Ermao cursed this young man to death in his heart.

But at this moment, he had to say it. The arrow was on the string, and he couldn't make the decision himself.

Gu Ermao had just said two sentences when a middle-aged man walked out of the office, frowned, and asked:

"What are you arguing about? Don't you know to pay attention to the influence? With such a loud voice, those who don't know might think we're a vegetable market!"

After speaking, he saw the two sides confronting each other in the courtyard, as well as the bicycle and the pile of things, and asked:

"Xiao Hu, what's the situation?"

Xiao Hu was the one who spoke to Li Long at the beginning and hadn't opened his mouth after entering the courtyard.

Xiao Hu told the story. The young man wanted to interrupt several times, but helplessly Xiao Hu was quick-mouthed and finished the words in one breath.

"You said you are a procurement officer for the supply and marketing cooperative?" After listening, the middle-aged man grasped the key point and asked Li Long.

"How could he be a procurement officer!" The young man who was confronting Li Long was unhappy when he heard it, pointed to Gu Ermao and said:

"They are from the same village. This person said that this Li Long is just a hooligan who doesn't do his proper job and engages in speculation and profiteering! He is lying!"

Li Long handed the certificate to the middle-aged man and said:

"This is the certificate. I am a procurement officer for our county's supply and marketing cooperative. This time, it's the task assigned by Section Chief Li Xiangqian of the procurement section to get a batch of *taibazi* from the mountains. The supplies I brought are to be sent to the mountains. If you don't believe it, you can call the supply and marketing cooperative to confirm."

After saying this, the young man was stunned.

Li Long hadn't said it before!

That Gu Ermao said with certainty that Li Long was a hooligan who didn't do his proper job and had been speculating and profiteering for almost half a year, and he hadn't said this either!

After the middle-aged man looked at the certificate, he glanced at Li Long, then turned his head to look deeply at the young man, and turned to go to the office.

Li Long guessed he should have gone to make a phone call.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 159 =====