Siheyuan: Starting from the driver

Chapter 796 Playing the long game to catch the big fish
The line continued to slowly incline forward.

Yan Bugui chatted idly with the people around him.

After what seemed like an eternity, I finally made it to the counter of the supply and marketing cooperative.

The sales clerk looked tired and impatient, and although her movements were quick, they had a mechanical quality.

"Comrade, here's a thermos ticket!" Yan Bugui quickly handed over the money and ticket.

"One thermos ticket." The sales clerk took the money and ticket, then turned around and got Yan Bugui the thermos.

Finally, he got his hands on the thermos he had been longing for all these days, and he could finally breathe a sigh of relief.

After receiving the thermos, Yan Bugui glanced at the dazzling array of goods at the supply and marketing cooperative, but since he didn't have any extra coupons, he could only leave.

"What's next?"

"I want an enamel basin."

Yan Bugui returned home.

The old woman was mending clothes. When she saw him return, she quickly put down her needle and thread: "Husband, did you buy it?"

"I got it!" Yan Bugui said with a victor's smile, taking out a thermos from behind him.

"Look, it's brand new! Even though we waited in line for ages, it was worth it! Our old thermos liner was long overdue for a replacement, and now we can finally get a new one!"

The three women took the item, stroked it, and smiled, "Thank goodness! I finally got it."

"You wouldn't believe it, Old Li's wife from the backyard just came over for a visit, sighing and complaining, looking really worried. And Old Liu from the middle courtyard is still talking about his cigarette coupons."

As Yan Bugui listened, his sense of relief and pride intensified.

Although I was also frightened last night, it turned out to be a false alarm, and I even managed to buy the thermos ticket I desperately needed. It was incredibly lucky!

"By the way," Yan Bugui lowered his voice, "there's been no movement from the Jia family, right?"

Although he was confident in his judgment, he was still a little uneasy when he thought of Jia Zhangshi's "mad dog".

"No movement!" The third aunt pursed her lips, a relieved look on her face.

"It's very quiet! But I thought I heard them arguing a few times just now, but it stopped very quickly."

"I bet Qin Huairu has her under control! Humph, that old hag is only tough on her own people, she chickens out when she meets someone tough! You're right, she won't dare cause trouble! With Qin Huairu keeping her in check, she can't stir up any trouble!"

Yan Bugui was completely relieved. He stroked his non-existent beard and laughed smugly:
"Is this what they call 'evil people will be punished by other evil people'? No, this is called 'one thing subdues another'!"

Several women, having finished their meals, gathered again by the water tap in the courtyard to wash the dishes. Their conversation, as always, revolved around the events of last night and today.

"Tsk tsk, did you see that? Jia Zhangshi hasn't left the house all morning!"

"Serves her right! Let her be greedy! Five yuan! Qin Huairu's heart must be bleeding!"

"If you ask me, Qin Huairu is more capable; she can keep her wicked mother-in-law in check."

"Hey, do you think Old Yan bought a thermos today?"

"When I saw him come back, he had a smile on his face, so I guess he bought it."

The discussion was quite lively.

the other side.

Police station.

"Captain, our brothers who were staking out the black market have reported back." A young policeman approached Xie Yong.

"They carefully searched the area where the operation took place last night and found several bricks in one spot that showed signs of having been pried open! Although they were carefully restored, clues were still visible!"

"Oh?" Xie Yong suddenly raised his head, a glint of light flashing in his eyes. "Did you search carefully? Did you find anything?"

"We searched everywhere, inside and out. We scraped through the cracks between the bricks, under the doghouse, and the surrounding ground, but there was nothing there, just emptiness." The young police officer was somewhat discouraged.

"Empty?" Xie Yong stood up, stroking his chin as he thought, "These ticket scalpers are really cunning. They guessed we would make a move and were prepared to escape at any time!"

This person must have been present during yesterday's operation, and right under the police's noses, successfully escaped.

Moreover, as soon as he withdrew the police, he immediately returned and retrieved the hidden money and banknotes!
"What a clever 'escape'! Playing the victim here!"

"Any other discoveries?"

He shook his head: "No, not yet, this is the only one we found."

Xie Yong nodded. There were so many people yesterday; it was impossible to check them all one by one.

"Another thing, early in the morning, quite a few people were sneaking around the black market. We arrested some of them and found out they were there to see if there were any hidden or scattered items in the black market."

Simply put, they came here to try their luck, hoping to strike it rich and find the hidden banknotes.

Sure enough, they hit the jackpot and ran into the police, getting arrested for no reason.

After this ordeal, some of the ticket scalpers might have gotten their money and tickets back.

"Alright, withdraw all the people guarding the black market. They will definitely not dare to open again in the short term. Let everyone go back and rest. There are still tough battles to fight later."

"These big fish who slipped through the net are holding a bunch of hot commodities. They're even more anxious than we are! They'll definitely try to get rid of the goods as soon as possible. We can just wait and see!"

"With the end of the month approaching, I don't believe they'll behave themselves."

Once the industrial coupons are due at the end of the month, the coupons held by scalpers will be heavily discounted, and they will have to find a way to sell them off and cash out as soon as possible!

The young police officer's eyes lit up: "Captain, do you mean they'll definitely take action again?"

"Absolutely!" Xie Yong said decisively. "Moreover, the deadline is the end of this month! They can't afford to delay. The question now is, what method will they use? Where will they ship the goods?"

He paced back to the table: "The black market is unlikely to reopen in the short term. They dare not go to the open supply and marketing cooperatives and department stores, because there are too many people and too many eyes and ears there, and our insiders are also there."

"The most likely scenario is that they will conduct private transactions, targeting long-term clients with stable demand."

“Then we…” Xiao Zhang hesitated, “How do we keep watch? The targets are too scattered.”

A glint of light flashed in Xie Yong's eyes: "Even when waiting for a rabbit to run into a tree stump, you need to know roughly which routes it will come from."

"Notify all subdistrict offices to pay attention to any unusual behavior in the alleys recently."

"Yes! Captain!"

“Remember,” Xie Yong said in a deep voice, “cast a long line to catch a big fish.”

"What we want is to uproot this force completely, not just catch a few small fry."

"There will definitely be some action before the end of the month! Everyone needs to be on their toes! But we need to rest well these next few days and get plenty of rest!"

As for Liu Lishun, who slipped through the net, he was in a good mood and came to the supply and marketing cooperative with a few ration coupons in his pocket.

He was very happy to see the long queue.

"So many ration coupons were confiscated yesterday, and everyone has wasted money without getting any coupons. They'll definitely be begging for them back. This business can still be done, but we can't rush it."

"We need to lay low for a few days, or things will get really bad."

Liu Lishun was very happy.

On the one hand, everyone else is out of coupons, but he is. Coupons still have a market and are in short supply, so there's a business opportunity for him.

On the other hand, he naturally evaded the police search and escaped successfully.

"Okay!" Seeing how long the line was, Liu Lishun naturally couldn't just join it and waste his time.

He turned and left, making several turns and making sure no one was following him before arriving at the residence of his colleague, Lao Yan.

Old Yan knew about the black market yesterday and was extremely relieved: "Luckily, I didn't go to the black market yesterday and sold all the tickets I had to my colleagues. Otherwise, I would have been in big trouble! I might have been arrested." "What's the use of making a lot of money if you get arrested and have nowhere to use it?"

Thinking about this, he felt incredibly proud of his cautiousness (cowardice).

dong dong——

"Who is it?" Old Yan stared at the door with extreme vigilance.

"it's me!"

When the familiar voice came in, Lao Yan finally breathed a sigh of relief.

But he didn't let his guard down. He peered through a small hole and confirmed that he was the only one there.

squeak-

The door opened, and Liu Lishun was let in. Then, the doorkeeper cautiously looked around to make sure no one had followed.

"Don't worry, no one's following us. You know what I'm capable of," Liu Lishun said.

"It's better to be cautious," Old Yan said, and only after confirming that no one was following them did he close the door.

"What do you want? Don't you know what the situation is? What if you expose me?"

"Don't worry, you know what kind of person I am," Liu Lishun waved his hand.

Then the conversation shifted abruptly.

Do you have any tickets left? Sell me any extras you have.

"You want more? Are you crazy? Are you afraid of getting arrested?!"

"Catch me? I'll talk about it if you can catch me. I narrowly escaped that dangerous situation yesterday. Do you know how much I made yesterday? 160! Just one night!"

"What! So many!" Old Yan exclaimed.

Seeing his dumbfounded expression, Liu Lishun felt a surge of pride and satisfaction!
Normally, earning 20 or 30 yuan a day is considered good, but yesterday he earned 160 yuan in less than half an night, something he never dared to dream of before.

"Stop talking nonsense, I'll just ask you one question: do you have any extra tickets? Sell them all to me."

When Lao Yan learned that Liu Lishun had made so much money all at once, his heart couldn't help but tremble.

If this hadn't been mentioned, he really was planning to sell all the tickets. Now he had no intention of doing so. Since Liu Lishun had succeeded, he wanted to give it a try too.

"That's all, that's all. I gave you all my tickets, not a single one left."

"No?" Liu Lishun naturally didn't believe it.

Old Yan also knew that it was impossible to convince Liu Lishun with just one sentence. "By the way, I went to see a few other families this morning. They plan to get together at noon to discuss some things."

"Noon? Gathering in broad daylight, aren't they afraid?"

"What are you afraid of? The police will definitely guess that we'll lay low for a few days. Isn't that playing dirty tricks?"

"Okay, whenever and wherever, I'll go."

"The usual place, it's almost time, let's go now."

Immediately, Lao Yan took Liu Lishun away and headed straight for the meeting place.

An inconspicuous doorway, almost entirely covered by vines, leads to a dilapidated and abandoned courtyard.

The courtyard wall was half collapsed, weeds grew wildly, and the two remaining crooked side rooms were also on the verge of collapse. The air was filled with dust and the smell of musty.

At this moment, five figures were crammed into the slightly more intact room.

The room was filled with smoke, and the smell of cheap cigarettes made people's throats itch.

The people who arrived were Liu Lishun, Lao Yan, and three other people who were somewhat "famous".

There was a tall, thin man nicknamed "Pillar," a silent middle-aged man, and a woman with shrewd eyes, known as "Sister Hua."

The number of people is not large. In the past, there would be at least eight or nine, sometimes more. If half of them are missing, they are very likely to be arrested.

In the past, this gathering was a place where everyone exchanged resources and benefited from each other.

Anyone who has too many or too few tickets of a certain type will sell or exchange them here.

After all, there's no need to turn down money.

"Tell me your plans. Things are tense, and the votes we have are hot potatoes. What's the strategy?" Sister Hua broke the silence first, toying with an unlit cigarette in her hand.

Magan took a deep drag on his cigarette butt, then reluctantly stubbed it out.
"What else can we do? Hide! The cops just raided the black market, they're definitely looking for us who slipped through their net! Going out now and running into the line of fire would be suicide, wouldn't it?"

The middle-aged man gave a muffled "hmm" in agreement, without even looking up.

Liu Lishun interjected, "There's no need to talk about avoiding trouble; everyone understands that. We're not here to discuss these trivial matters."

"Most of the tickets we have have been snapped up by scalpers! I don't have any left. Do you have any? Could you spare some for me? I'll buy them at a 3% premium."

Ma Gan scoffed, "Only 3%? Who are you trying to fool?"

The middle-aged man and Sister Hua remained silent, but their meaning was clear: the price was too low.

Liu Lishun explained, "3% is quite a lot. The cops haven't found us yet, but they will definitely conduct a large-scale search later. Selling tickets is also risky for me."

"Yesterday you said 5% was fine, but given how high the risk is from today, I'd rather not sell at a price that's too high. At least it's safer, and nothing will go wrong."

This statement is widely accepted.

“Things are definitely different now,” the middle-aged man nodded in agreement. “I happen to have some tickets on hand, and I can sell you 3% of them.”

"No problem, no problem," Liu Lishun said with a smile, then turned to look at Magan and Sister Hua.

“You two have the tickets in your hands. Although you can make a lot of money, it’s not safe. It’s better to break it down into smaller amounts and make less money, which will at least be safer.”

These words moved the two men, both of whom had experienced the search and arrest the previous night and even witnessed their colleagues being arrested.

They knew that no matter how much money they made, it would all be for nothing if they got caught.

"Let's divide the work. Let's all tell each other what tickets we have left, and roughly how many, so we have a general idea and don't make a mistake." Sister Hua demonstrated her organizational skills.

Several people lowered their voices and began to take inventory.

Liu Lishun mainly had daily necessities coupons, such as enamel basin coupons and soap coupons, but not many.

Sister Hua mainly had cloth coupons and cotton coupons.

The skinny and middle-aged people had some cigarette coupons, alcohol coupons, and some loose coupons.

As for grain coupons, oil coupons, and all other coupons not issued by industrial vouchers, they are not included in this discussion.

Old Yan listened from the side, feeling a mix of emotions. He regretted selling all the tickets to Liu Lishun yesterday, but seeing others about to make a fortune made him itchy to get his hands on them.

Fortunately, he still had some tickets, so he could earn some money himself.

"Oh, and by the way," Sister Hua gave a final, serious warning, "keep your tails covered! If anyone gets caught by the cops, don't let it drag everyone down with them."

She didn't finish her sentence, but the meaning was clear.

After a brief silence, the group nodded in agreement, reaching a consensus.

"Okay, let's get together again at 5 o'clock. Bring all the money and tickets."

The matter was settled, and everyone went their separate ways.

(End of this chapter)