Siheyuan: Starting from the driver

Chapter 799: Greed is enough and the snake swallows the elephant

Supply is tight in the city, and the situation is even more difficult in the rural areas around Beijing.

Because of the steelmaking efforts in previous years, people donated their iron pots and pans to be smelted.

In recent years, the food situation has been poor, and the food in the collective canteens has become increasingly worse, so everyone has gradually started cooking again.

However, starting over is easier said than done.

Iron pots became precious items.

In the past two years, most families have tightened their belts, scraped together money from various sources, or bartered to gradually acquire even the most basic cooking utensils.

However, many people still haven't prepared all the cooking utensils, or even have any at all, the most important of which is an iron pot.

"If this keeps up, I really can't take it anymore," said Old Wang, puffing on his welding fumes. "There must be places in the city that sell pots and pans, right?"

Holding the few dollars and cents I had saved up through frugality, my hands were sweating as I clenched them, hoping to exchange them for an iron pot to cook rice in.

With this faint hope in his heart, Wang Laoshuan embarked on his journey to the city. The dozens of miles of dirt road took him most of the day to walk.

Once he entered the city, he truly understood what "difficulty" meant.

The department stores and supply and marketing cooperatives in the city did have some items on their shelves, but next to each shelf was a conspicuous note that read: "Supply by ration coupon".

He didn't have a ticket yet, but since he was already there, he couldn't leave empty-handed.

He queued for a long time, and finally it was his turn to stand in front of the counter. He asked cautiously, "Comrade, I want to buy an iron pot. Can I buy it without a ticket?"

The sales clerk didn't even lift her eyelids, coldly tossing out, "No ticket? Can't sell without a ticket! Next!"

That faint hope was shattered in the face of the cold words "no tickets."

When people are extremely hungry, they'll think of any method.

In order to have a hot meal at home, Wang Laoshuan had no other choice.

He could only squeeze more food out of the already meager rations his family had.

He had made preparations for this trip into the city, carrying only a small amount of food with him:

A handful of corn kernels, a few shriveled sweet potatoes that you can't bear to eat, and a small bag of coarsely ground mixed flour.

These are all worthless items, but they are Wang Laoshuan's last hope.

"I wonder if it's possible to exchange it?"

With his last hope, Wang Laoshuan wandered aimlessly in the nooks and crannies of Beijing, in inconspicuous alleyways and under bridges.

Time flew by, and it was already dark.

Under a dilapidated stone bridge, he saw a emaciated country man with patched clothes, looking around nervously and glancing warily toward the entrance of the bridge.

The man was clutching a tattered sack tightly in his arms; it was unclear what it contained.

The sudden situation immediately made him extremely concerned.

after awhile.

A city man, also pale-faced and dressed in faded work clothes, slipped in quietly with a bag, looking around warily as well.

Their eyes met, both filled with probing and unease.

The country man spoke first, his voice extremely low and thick with accent: "Brother, I...I have some grain, what we saved from ourselves."

With trembling hands, he carefully pulled a small cloth bag from the tattered sack, opened a corner, and revealed golden, plump corn kernels inside!
In times of famine, this was like the light of gold!

He quickly added, "I just want to replace it with a usable old pot, even one that's been patched!"

The city man's eyes lit up instantly, but he quickly scanned his surroundings warily.

"A pot? I happen to have one with me. The bottom was patched once, but it's still usable! Do you want it?"

He unbuttoned his worn-out cotton-padded coat, took out an object wrapped in rags from his pocket, lifted a corner to reveal a section of the dark iron pot rim.

There was no unnecessary small talk, no haggling.

Both of them stared intently at what the other was holding.

The country man handed forward a small bag of corn kernels, while the city man offered forward an old pot.

The two didn't even get a clear look at each other's faces. As soon as they got the items, they stuffed them into their pockets, turned around and left. One of them slipped out of the bridge arch and headed south, while the other headed north, and they quickly disappeared.

"So, there are hungry people in the city too. Grain really can be exchanged for cooking pots! Luckily, I brought some with me." Old Wang saw all of this clearly.

"I wonder if I can get a replacement pot?"

With a successful example, Wang Laoshuan naturally decided not to leave.

Following what he had just seen, he began to look for opportunities in the more remote corners and outskirts of Beijing.

In the dead corners of alleyways piled with garbage, and at the base of city walls overgrown with weeds, he witnessed many scenes of transactions.

Such spontaneous transactions naturally could not escape the notice of those with a keen sense of smell who specialized in operating in the charcoal-colored areas, such as ticket scalper Liu Lishun.

Liu Lishun has actually had a rough few days.

The crackdown on the black market for tickets and coupons is intensifying.

He and his colleagues had to act like rats, cautiously and timidly selling tickets in very small quantities, earning meager profits.

This was child's play for someone who had seen a lot.

He squatted in a sheltered corner, impatiently smoking a cheap cigarette, watching the country folk and city people peering out and nervously trading under the bridge, his eyes flickering uncertainly.

He originally looked down on this kind of 'small business', since it was just bartering and there wasn't much profit to be made.

But at this moment, after repeated setbacks with the tickets, he had other ideas.

"Damn it, no matter how easy it is to buy ration coupons, they can't compare to food! In this situation, having enough to eat is the most important thing!"

Food! In the face of hunger, ration coupons are meaningless; food is what truly matters!
He immediately took action, actively seeking out the most helpless and easily lured villagers.

Naturally, they set their sights on Wang Laoshuan.

"Hey, old man!" Liu Lishun swaggered over. "What good stuff are you carrying around? Trying to trade for something?"

He blocked Wang Laoshuan's way.

Wang Laoshuan was startled. He saw that the person who came was dressed decently and didn't look like a cadre, but he was definitely not a kind person either.

He instinctively clutched the small bag in his arms tighter. "Comrade, I... I don't have anything good, I just want to replace an old pot, as long as it can cook rice, that'll be fine."

"A pot?" Liu Lishun scoffed, exhaling a smoke ring. "Pots are more valuable than gold these days! What do you have? Show it to us."

Upon hearing this, Wang Laoshuan, who was unfamiliar with the market, was startled: "That's all, comrade. Please, have mercy, see if you can get a new pot? My family is waiting to cook."

He immediately took out all the food he had hidden on his person.

A handful of soybeans, a small bag of mixed flour, and a few shriveled sweet potatoes.

Upon seeing this, Liu Lishun's eyes lit up. Don't be fooled by how unappetizing these things are; they can fill your stomach.

These items can be resold or sold through other middlemen, and you can easily double your money.

Liu Lishun suppressed his overwhelming joy, but deliberately frowned and pretended to be reluctant.

"Tsk, is that all? Old man, with so little, it'll be hard to get a new pot!" He paused deliberately, observing the deepening despair on Wang Laoshuan's face, before slowly, as if bestowing a handout:
"Alright, alright, I'm kind-hearted and can't stand seeing people suffer. Consider it a loss for me today, but I'll do you a good deed and take a small loss to get you a bite!"

He presented himself as a savior.

Upon hearing this, Wang Laoshuan could hardly believe his ears. "Thank you! Thank you, comrade! You are a great person! My whole family will remember your kindness!"

"No need to thank me yet!" Liu Lishun waved his hand, his eyes darting around.

"Old man, I can tell you're an honest man. Here's what we'll do: if you can find other people like you who want to trade grain for cooking pots, bring them to me!"

"As long as you introduce them, I'll trade with them! What we get in return, we'll split it 20/80! How about that? You get 20%, I get 80%! You can get extra benefits just by talking, isn't that better than what you have for yourself?"

At this moment, Wang Laoshuan couldn't distinguish right from wrong; as long as he could make money, any amount was fine.

"Alright! Alright! Comrade, don't worry! There are quite a few fellow villagers who have come to the city! Many of them don't have pots! I'll go find them right now and bring them all to you!"

Watching Wang Laoshuan profusely thanking him and running away as if he had found a gold ingot, Liu Lishun grinned: "He's really easy to fool!"

He weighed the soybeans and sweet potatoes he had just received in his arms, and then touched the ration coupons in his pocket.

"With this grain in hand, what's there to be afraid of in the form of currency? It's okay to sell the currency later! This is real money!"

He immediately made a decision: to abandon the increasingly risky ration coupon business and instead invest in the grain-for-iron-pot industry.

He called on Lao Yan and his accomplices to work together, while also trying to get more old pots and broken pans.

They even contacted people in small factories and mines who had connections to get defective or "clearance" products.

Old Wang carried the old iron pot, wrapped again and again in rags, which brought him an unprecedented sense of security.

He imitated the man from before, keeping his head down and walking briskly along the darkest corner of the city wall.

Only after confirming that he was far away from Beijing did he dare to catch his breath, take the pot out of his arms, look at it twice, and then hug it tightly to his chest.

The journey of dozens of miles was arduous; the path to the destination felt heavy as lead, but the return journey was much lighter.

"A 20/80 split... you can get benefits just by talking... that's much better than this little bit of stuff..." Liu Lishun's words echoed in his ears. He
"If I could find a few more fellow villagers and take them to exchange, I wouldn't have to pay anything and could get 20% of the grain for free! 20%!"

Wang Laoshuan, an honest and simple man all his life, was now completely overwhelmed by the temptation of this "windfall."

He pondered which other households in the village were short of pots and pans; Zhang's wife had complained, and Li's old man had mentioned it.

He could almost see himself returning home with extra food.

The next day, the news spread like wildfire.

Families who were short of pots came to Wang Laoshuan's door in a desperate attempt to get help, grabbing his hand and begging for his assistance.

Wang Laoshuan has become a "capable person" in the village. Following Liu Lishun's instructions, he has asked the villagers to prepare the grain they have saved.

Once he was ready, he carried his tattered bundle and headed straight to the city to find Liu Lishun.

Liu Lishun indeed kept his promise.

Behind him were Lao Yan and several other accomplices. There were many old iron pots scattered on the ground. Although many of them were patched up, they were still usable.

"The grain is all here; we need to exchange it for five iron pots." Old Wang looked on nervously, afraid that Liu Lishun might suddenly change his mind.

As Liu Lishun looked at the bundle of grain, a smile involuntarily crept onto his face.

"Okay! Okay! I keep my word. As we agreed before, we'll split the profits 20/80!"

Liu Lishun asked Wang Laoshuan to choose five iron pots, and then he took two handfuls from a bag of soybeans and a small handful from another bag of dried sweet potatoes, stuffing them into the cloth bag that Wang Laoshuan had prepared beforehand.

"Old Wang, here, this is your share! Bring more people next time!"

Holding the heavy portion of grain in his hand, Wang Laoshuan's heart pounded even faster.

Without spending a single penny, just by running errands, I earned so much grain for free.

This grain came too easily!

In the days that followed, Wang Laoshuan became the busiest man in the nearby villages, frequently traveling between the city and the countryside.

With the encouragement of Liu Lishun and others, this originally sporadic and spontaneous private exchange quickly spread and expanded dramatically, becoming impossible to cover up any longer.

This spontaneously formed exchange trend has a significance far beyond mere individual survival.

It has already touched upon ration coupons and the unified purchase and distribution system.

The message inevitably got through various channels, layer by layer.

Inside a solemn office.

An urgent report about a large-scale "barter black market" appearing in and around Beijing appeared on my desk.

The report details the scale of the transactions, the people involved, and the items traded.
"It's the other way around!"

"Reselling tickets is already a serious crime, but now they dare to engage in large-scale private exchanges! This is blatant economic sabotage!"

"This unhealthy trend must be eradicated immediately, resolutely, and thoroughly! Make an example of one to warn a hundred!" The order was issued swiftly with an unquestionable, chilling intent.

"The operation must be swift and ruthless! We must catch them completely off guard! The information must be kept strictly confidential! Anyone who leaks information will be severely punished!"

A storm arrived with lightning speed.

An invisible net was quietly spread out in a very short time.

"Don't even move!"

The gate to a small courtyard deep in the alley, where sporadic exchanges often took place, was kicked open. Several women who were exchanging eggs for cooking utensils were terrified, and the eggs rolled all over the ground.

Under the bridge, several farmers and city dwellers who had just finished exchanging goods were caught red-handed, and the dried sweet potatoes in their hands became irrefutable evidence.

In a corner of the abandoned factory, Liu Lishun, Lao Yan, and others proudly counted the agricultural products they had just received.

At this moment, the warehouse is a scene of "harvest," with many sacks and baskets piled on the ground, filled with freshly harvested sweet potatoes and soybeans.
"Brother Liu, this business is fucking awesome! It's way faster than scalping tickets!"

"That's right! Food is the most important thing! When things get a bit hotter, we'll dump this batch of goods on the black market and make a killing!"

"Those country bumpkins, they traded a few pounds of grain for our broken pots and pans, and they're even grateful! Haha!"

Just as they were lost in their daydreams, the rusty iron door of the warehouse slammed shut with a deafening crash!

The entire door was violently slammed open from the outside by tremendous force, crashing heavily against the wall!

“Don’t move!!”

"Police! Hands up!"

"Get down! Hold your head!"

Several bright flashlight beams shone precisely on Liu Lishun and the others' horrified faces!
A massive horde of police officers and industrial and commercial law enforcement personnel descended like divine soldiers, instantly filling the small warehouse.

They instinctively tried to run, but it was too late.

"It's over." Only these two words remained in Liu Lishun's mind. His vision went black, and he almost fainted.

Old Yan was so frightened that he collapsed like mud, his crotch instantly becoming soaked, and a strong smell of urine filled the air.

As the saying goes, "He who stands by the river will eventually get his shoes wet," and Lao Yan's "caution" this time couldn't save him.

(End of this chapter)