Siheyuan, my new life

Time passed slowly amidst the tense and busy atmosphere. More than an hour later, when hundreds of young and middle-aged men carrying cloth bags containing ten kilograms of cornmeal hurriedly walked out of the courtyard of the Old Imperial City Black Market, one could faintly hear people in the crowd whispering among themselves.

Tonight was a dramatic turn of events for these people. They had been secretly lamenting their fate after being caught red-handed by the staff of the Dongcheng Branch and the Hongxing Steel Rolling Mill Security Department. No one had expected that the previously peaceful Old Huangchenggen Black Market would suddenly suffer such a devastating blow tonight.

Although these people immediately and quietly discarded the food and other items they had purchased in the shadows of the street after seeing the police rushing into the black market, even though they had never been caught in the black market before, they had learned from experienced people that in such situations, one should not be reluctant to part with what one has bought. As long as they were not caught red-handed, they insisted that they had only gone to the black market to inquire about the price of food. Their families were currently short of food, and they had no choice but to try their luck at the black market. However, the prices here were too high, and they were still hesitant to buy anything.

Under normal circumstances, even if the public security department deals with ordinary people who buy grain on the black market, they will mostly just register them and hand them over to their respective work units or local street offices for processing. Of course, the items purchased on the black market will be confiscated, and fines will be imposed depending on the circumstances.

However, if the perpetrator is not caught red-handed on the spot, the police will simply turn a blind eye, register the case, and then hand it over to the unit for criticism and education.

Therefore, those who frequently frequent the black market have learned from experience that upon seeing law enforcement officers cracking down on the black market, they should immediately and secretly discard the items they have purchased. Although they have to watch their hard-earned money go to waste, they understand the principle that as long as there is life, there is hope. Losing a little money is much better than affecting their work.

To the surprise of these young men, although they were extremely unlucky to be caught on the spot tonight, they were fortunate enough to be released on the spot for simply helping law enforcement officers move goods, and each of them was even given an extra ten kilograms of cornmeal.

Perhaps the grain they had previously discarded was worth more than these ten kilograms of cornmeal. However, they also heard from the police officers in charge of leading everyone to work that their registration would not be notified to their work units or street offices. They were only reminded to try not to go to illegal trading places like the black market in the future.

For these young men, they were already secretly glad that they didn't have to notify their work units and the street office, not to mention that they were given ten catties of cornmeal each. As for saying that they had to exert some effort, what did that matter?

Watching these lucky ones leave one by one carrying sacks of flour, those who were still ordered to obediently squat in the yard were all filled with envy.

However, those who remain here now, besides the thugs employed by the black market and the vendors who set up stalls in the black market, include several dozen people who, when the police and the security personnel of the Hongxing Steel Rolling Mill surrounded the black market, not only did not obediently surrender, but also tried to resist and escape. As a result, these guys were all subdued on the spot and placed under separate guard. According to Director Qin Ming's orders, these people will be escorted back to the Hongxing Steel Rolling Mill Security Training Base for interrogation and will be dealt with in a unified manner.

Tonight, the training base of the Security Department of Hongxing Steel Rolling Mill is brightly lit. As truckloads of supplies are transported back here, they are piled up directly on the training ground. The civilian staff who remain here are busy sorting and registering them.

Around 3 a.m., all the personnel had returned to the training base. The canteen had already prepared steaming hot meals. The staff, who had been busy for most of the night, sat around the tables and ate the delicious food with gusto.

Half an hour later, in the secretary's office at the training base, Lin Yu sat behind his desk, listening to Director Qin Ming's work report. Director Hu Dahai of the Dongcheng Branch, Deputy Director Wei, and several other deputy directors of the security department leaned back on the sofa leisurely, smoking and occasionally picking up the teacup on the coffee table in front of them to take a sip of tea. Although everyone hadn't slept all night, they were all in high spirits and showed no signs of fatigue. Clearly, tonight's operation had excited them all.

Sitting across from him at the desk, Qin Ming glanced at the summary materials in his hand and reported loudly, "Secretary, tonight, with the cooperation of the comrades from the Dongcheng Branch, we successfully wiped out the old Huangchenggen black market. We arrested Liu San, the so-called 'Third Master,' the organizer of the black market, on the spot. Also arrested was Zhai Bao, a security officer from the Xicheng District Security Department. A total of 54 thugs and henchmen employed by the black market were arrested. After preliminary interrogation, two people are still at large. They are said to have been absent for several days due to illness. I have arranged for the action team to split up and go to the homes of these two people at 6:30 this morning to make the arrests."

Qin Ming picked up his teacup, took a sip, and continued his report: "Tonight, we apprehended 153 individuals who were setting up stalls at the old imperial city's black market. They have all been brought back to the security training base for interrogation. Including those transferred from the military, we arrested a total of 769 civilians who went to the black market to buy goods. Of these, 124 able-bodied men were released on the spot after unloading their goods, and as per your instructions, each was given ten jin of cornmeal. During the arrest operation, 103 people resisted arrest and are now in solitary confinement. Their cases will be handled according to the circumstances after interrogation. The remaining civilians will be notified to their respective street offices and work units tomorrow morning to take them back for further processing. Four enemy agents were captured by our men at the start of the operation. Fortunately, two of them were carrying three Bald Eagle high-explosive grenades and two Browning pistols, respectively. These four are now in solitary confinement and will be handed over to the relevant departments this morning."

Qin Ming flipped over a letter, glanced at its contents, and continued, "The supplies we've tallied so far from the black market in the old capital city include a little over 172 tons of flour, 35 tons of rice, over 320 tons of cornmeal, and nearly 2 tons of pork. The exact quantities of cigarettes, alcohol, sugar, and tea are still being tallied. The rest are mostly miscellaneous items. The logistics and general affairs departments are currently classifying and registering the cash and various receipts."