Restarting life by going to the countryside to support medical work

Chapter 534 Meeting
After hesitating for a while, Jin Zhihai reported the general situation of the case to the Shanfang County Bureau, but only said that the suspects forced women to do illegal business and asked them to send people to arrest all four criminals if possible and hand them over after the people from the headquarters arrived.

He also described Xiao Kun's appearance and asked the comrades in Shanfang County Bureau to pay attention, as this person was their informant.

The reason why Jin Zhihai reported the general situation to the Shanfang County Bureau and asked for their assistance was mainly because he was worried about Xiaokun's safety.

Before receiving Zhu Yongyang's call, he had never considered asking the county bureau for assistance. But now that he heard that Xiao Kun had actually followed him to the mountain house, the risk factor was raised to the maximum.

According to Lao Zhu, Xiao Kun often went to his third uncle's house, and his third uncle's house and Jiang Yong's house were in the same alley. Even if Jiang Yong and his two brothers didn't know Xiao Kun, they would definitely feel familiar when they saw him, not to mention that they might not necessarily not recognize him.

Jiang Yong and his companions are now like frightened birds. If there is even the slightest sign that may threaten their safety, they will try their best to eliminate it.

Xiao Kun has not received any professional tracking training, and he might have attracted the attention of Jiang Yong and others.

Jin Zhihai was right, Jiang Yong and the others had indeed discovered Xiao Kun.

"Brother Jiang, guess who I saw just now?"

In Shanfang County, Jiang Yong bought a small courtyard with an independent entrance in the county town with a fake identity. They were in such a hurry to escape in the morning that they didn't even have time to eat. Although there were pots and pans here, there were no rice, flour, or rapeseed. In addition, the house was covered with dust because no one had lived there for a long time.

Dong Hongjun was too lazy to clean the house, so he took the initiative to go out to buy food. More than 40 minutes later, when he came back with the food, he said as soon as he entered the yard.

Jiang Yong, who had already cleaned up the house and was sitting on a chair in the yard smoking, put down his hand and asked curiously, "Who did you see? Your relative?"

"No," Dong Hongjun shook his head and put the food he bought on the table that had been set in the yard.

"The nephew of Lao Meng who lives in the alley south of where we live seems to be called... Meng... Meng Xiaokun or Meng Kun."

"Who?" Jiang Yong stood up suddenly, staring at Dong Hongjun with eyes wide open, his voice raised by octaves.

His shout startled Dong Hongjun and also attracted another brother who was in the room to come out.

"What's wrong? What's wrong? Brother Jiang, Red Army, what's wrong?"

"Don't talk yet." Jiang Yong waved his hand without turning his head. Looking at the dazed Dong Hongjun, he continued to ask, "Don't be stunned. I'm asking you a question. Who did you see?"

"It's... it's the Meng family in the alley south of where we live. It's Old Meng's nephew. What's the matter?"

"What's the matter? What else?" After making sure that he had heard correctly, Jiang Yong threw the cigarette in his hand to the ground and walked towards the courtyard gate.

"Stop eating. You two come with me. Xiaoqing, you stay at home."

When the other brother heard Dong Hongjun's words, his face changed and he followed.

"Red Army, hurry up and leave. Why are you still standing there?"

"Ah? What are you going to do?" Dong Hongjun hadn't reacted yet and was still muttering in his heart. He had just shouted that he was hungry, but why did he buy the meal and then not eat it and wanted to go out?

"Are you hungry and stupid? Let me see." The brother reached out and grabbed Dong Hongjun's arm and led him out.

"Let me ask you, why did Lao Meng's nephew come to the mountain house?"

"How should I know?" Dong Hongjun said as a matter of course as he followed him out.

"Fuck, you're going to piss me off to death, you don't think it's a coincidence that he's here, do you?"

"It's no coincidence... uh... you mean... he followed us here? Is he a spy for the public security?"

Dong Hongjun finally reacted.

"You're not that stupid yet!" Jiang Yong, who had already walked out of the yard, turned back and joked.

"I don't believe in coincidences. As far as I know, Lao Meng's nephew follows Master Zhu from the east of the city to the ghost market, dealing in scarce materials. Why would he come to the mountain house for no reason? If I remember correctly, I saw him at the entrance of the alley early this morning. Why is he here now?

There are only two buses a day from the city to the mountain house, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. Did you see him on the bus just now?"

"I remembered Brother Jiang. Not long after we got on the bus this morning, a single man got on. He was wearing a hat with the brim pulled down very low, so I couldn't see his face clearly. He sat in the seat next to the engine. I glanced at him a few times at the time, but I didn't pay any more attention to him afterwards. That should be the man surnamed Meng."

"That's right, he must have followed us here, Red Army, where did you see him just now?"

"It's at the intersection ahead."

"Let's go. No matter what he's here for, let's catch him and question him first."

"Brother Jiang, if he really came with us, then this place is not safe. I mean, we'd better leave here first. As for dealing with that guy, as long as we are safe, there is still plenty of time."

Seeing that Jiang Yong was about to go find the man surnamed Meng, the other brother not only refused to persuade him but also wanted to go with him. Dong Hongjun hurriedly grabbed the arms of the two men.

They have been here for an hour. If that guy is really a spy for the police, the police must know where they are now. Why don't they run away now? Are they staying here and waiting to die?

"Even if I die, I will take someone with me."

Jiang Yong shook off Dong Hongjun's arm, said fiercely, and walked towards the intersection.

"Let's go. You know Brother Jiang's temper. Once he makes up his mind, even ten cows can't pull him back."

The other brother patted Dong Hongjun on the shoulder. He came to his senses at this time and realized that the most urgent thing was to leave first. However, he knew Jiang Yong's character better. He would rather die in glory than live in disgrace.

Since they have already determined that the boy surnamed Meng followed them and is a spy for the Public Security Bureau, how could they let him go?

Ok?
Dong Hongjun's eyes suddenly lit up, and he quickly called out to Jiang Yong.

"Wait a minute, Brother Jiang, this doesn't make sense. Why would the police want us?"

???

His words made Jiang Yong stop immediately.

Yes, why do the police want them?
They hurriedly left the city and hid in Shanfang County today, not because they had committed any crime and needed to hide from the police, but to hide from that man. Of course, they have never stopped committing crimes, so it is normal for the police to arrest them.

"Is it possible that the guy surnamed Meng was sent by old man Du to monitor us?" Jiang Yong turned his head and asked Dong Hongjun.

"Uh... this... this is hard to say."

"That's it. Anyway, it's not normal for him to be here. No matter what, bring that guy here and ask him first."

Well, let's listen to him.

Dong Hongjun and another brother looked at each other and followed.

……

In fact, after Xiao Kun called his third uncle and asked his uncle to help convey his words to Zhu Yongyang, he wanted to leave the house because he was also afraid.

Especially just now, he almost had a face-to-face encounter with Dong Hongjun.

He didn't know yet that the man surnamed Dong had already seen him and recognized him.

After hesitating for a while, Xiao Kun decided to stay here for the time being and see the situation before making a decision.

However, he was also worried that Jiang Yong and his men might see him and suspect his purpose, so after watching Dong Hongjun, who came out to buy food, enter the yard, he quickly came to the entrance of the post office not far from the intersection, where he had just made the call.

After arriving at the entrance of the post office, he walked straight to a middle-aged man squatting in the corner. He had spotted this man before he went in to make a phone call. He knew that this man must be a ticket dealer. In this era, the entrances of post offices in various cities are very busy. Now the main people gathered here are ticket dealers. In two years, there will be people dealing in foreign exchange. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, there will be more people dealing in treasury bonds, and later there will be people buying and selling stamps.

This lively scene in front of the post office continued until after the new millennium when it gradually disappeared.

Not necessarily. In some cities, the post offices are still bustling even in 2020, mainly crowded with stamp dealers and philatelic enthusiasts, as well as people buying and selling old coins that have been withdrawn from circulation.

Xiao Kun's job under Zhu Yongyang was to collect all kinds of tickets, including cloth tickets, grain tickets, meat tickets, sugar tickets, pastry tickets, tickets for several large items, and so on and so forth... He always had a lot of money in his pocket.

After finding the middle-aged man, they both knew their stuff and sealed the deal with just a few words, using up all the hundreds of pounds of national food coupons in the middle-aged man's pocket.

Just after the two said goodbye to each other, when Xiao Kun turned around and was about to leave, he saw Jiang Yong and the other three surrounding him in a semi-surrounding formation.

Seeing this, Xiao Kun's eyelids twitched several times, and he was shocked. As expected...

As expected, they saw him after all, and they began to wonder why he appeared here.

"Hey, I didn't expect to run into someone I know here. What a coincidence!"

In order to prevent the other party from noticing anything, Xiao Kun greeted him with a smile.

The middle-aged man who sold him the food coupons was facing the other side of the road, so he had already seen Jiang Yong and the other three before Xiao Kun turned around. He also saw that these three people seemed to have some bad intentions.

Especially the man in the middle, his face was full of ferocity, as if he was ready to fight with someone at any time.

Originally, he was going to lend a helping hand because this young man had made him a lot of money. However, now that he saw that the young man knew the three men, he swallowed his words and decided not to meddle in other people's business. He turned around and left from the other side.

The middle-aged man realized that neither the young man who bought his food coupons nor the three people who surrounded him later were from the mountain house. If nothing unexpected happened, they should have come from the city.

The young man was an expert. One could tell from the moment he opened his mouth that he dealt in bills frequently. It was hard to say about the other three men. They were not good people anyway.

Thinking of this, the middle-aged man who had already walked a few steps away turned his head to look at the roadside. There were several young people standing or squatting, scattered casually on the roadside, paying attention to him. When they saw him looking over, they nodded in unison, and then turned their attention to the four people on the side of the post office door.

This area near the post office belongs to them. They are doing business, although this business is not decent.

But precisely because it is not something that can be made public, they do not want to cause any big noise and attract the attention of the police.

If these people want to cause trouble here, they don't mind teaching them how to behave. This is a mountain house. No matter how powerful you are in other places, when you come here, you have to be a dragon coiled and a tiger lying down.

There were many people dealing in bills near the post office. The reason why Xiao Kun went straight to the middle-aged man when he arrived was that he had observed him when he came to make a phone call just now. This middle-aged man should be the leader of this area.

Sure enough, after he came up and agreed on the price, other people immediately came over to deliver tickets.

His original plan was that if he was discovered by Jiang Yong and the others, he would use the power of this middle-aged man here to escape. However, after seeing that Jiang Yong and the others had really discovered him, he gave up the idea and decided to face it himself.

In fact, what puzzled Xiao Kun the most was that, judging from the haste with which Jiang Yong and his companions were acting, leaving the city and coming to the mountain house was a very sudden decision.

He couldn't understand why these people ran away. Did they know that the news of setting a trap for the deputy director of the municipal bureau had leaked, so they ran away?

That's not the case. The plan has not been implemented. Since it has not been implemented, it will remain in words and on paper. Even if the police knew about it, they would not come to arrest people. It is not possible to be convicted for speech in this day and age, right?
This was obviously not the time to think about this issue. He needed to get rid of these people first.

Jiang Yong didn't respond to Xiao Kun's words. He first glanced at the back of the middle-aged man who was leaving, and then looked over.

"You are the nephew of Mr. Meng who lives in the alley in front of my house. Your name is Meng..."

"My name is Meng Kun. I didn't expect to meet someone familiar in the mountain house. It's time for dinner. Please give me some face. I'll treat you. Shall we have a meal together?"

Xiao Kun has been following Zhu Yongyang for quite some time. Old Zhu has been on the streets of Beijing for twenty years and has never been in any trouble. People in the eight districts of the city, including the counties below, who have cooperation with him, have to call him "Master Zhu" to show their respect when they see him.

As a result, the status of those brothers who have been with him for a longer time has also risen. Xiao Kun is one of them. When people see him outside, they call him "brother".

Generally speaking, Xiao Kun would not call everyone "brother" unless they are really successful.

Like Jiang Yong in front of him, although many people call him Brother Jiang, it is just on the surface. Many people despise him behind his back. After all, the business he does is really not very good.

Xiao Kun doesn't even want to do the superficial work, and the guy named Jiang is not worthy of being called brother by him.

"Come on, have a cigarette."

At this moment, Dong Hongjun took over the conversation with a smile and handed out cigarettes, which is a powerful tool to quickly bring men closer together.

"Xiao Kun, there's no need to eat. We appreciate your kindness. We just had dinner. By the way, when did you come to the mountain house?"

"You just arrived not long ago. There are only two buses from the city every day. You must have just arrived here as well. I remember I saw you at the entrance of the alley this morning.

Hey, we should be on the same bus. I didn't pay attention on the bus. I feel carsick, so I sat in the front. You should be sitting in the back, right?"

Xiao Kun took the cigarette handed to him by Dong Hongjun, lowered his head and lit the cigarette with the match in his hand. Then he started chattering, and everything seemed so smooth.

Such a natural behavior made Jiang Yong wonder if he was overthinking it.

"Xiao Kun, why are you here today..." Dong Hongjun did not respond to Xiao Kun's words, but continued to ask.

"Well, you should also know that I follow Mr. Zhu in the east city. Since I follow him, I have to obey his orders. So, I came here to collect some food coupons."

As he spoke, Xiao Kun took out a thick stack of food coupons from the yellow shoulder bag he was carrying. These were the ones he had just received from the middle-aged man.

"Hey, how much money can you earn every month by doing this?" Seeing the food coupons in Xiao Kun's hand, Dong Hongjun's pupils shrank slightly.

Again, why are they out here? It's all for money. The business they are doing now is really shameful and too risky.

The most important thing is that I can’t make much money every month.

Dong Hongjun had long been jealous of the ticket scalpers who made money by transferring money from one hand to the other. He also wanted to do the same, but he just couldn't find a way.

It is not easy to be a ticket scalper. If you don't have tickets yourself, and you just buy them from the market and then resell them, you won't make much money at all.

People like Xiao Kun usually collect food coupons by negotiating with the seller, then taking the food book to the grain store and exchanging the rationed grain on the book for national food coupons. This is the cheapest way to do it, but you must be able to get a letter of introduction, that is, a letter of introduction issued by a certain unit for a business trip to another place.

Without this letter of introduction, one can only exchange for local grain coupons, and the price of local grain coupons in the market will be greatly discounted. The most valuable ones are still the national grain coupons.

Local food coupons generally refer to those issued by the province or city where the food is distributed. Specifically, in the counties below, like Shanfang County, there are also food coupons of their own county. These food coupons cannot be used once they leave that place.

The food coupons that the ticket scalpers were dealing in were all national food coupons. Few people wanted local food coupons, unless they were from other places on business trips and needed to stay here for a long time. Those who traveled frequently would exchange some of their local food coupons as soon as they arrived at a place.

In Beijing, one pound of national food coupons can be exchanged for two to three pounds of local food coupons. In some provinces and cities, even more can be exchanged. However, when eating in a restaurant, the two are the same quantity for the restaurant.

When he is about to leave here, he can exchange the remaining local food coupons for national food coupons at a slight discount. In this way, the person on the business trip can make a lot of money by using the difference in price.

If you don't have certain connections, you won't be able to get national food coupons even if you have money, except to buy just a little.

Moreover, the spheres of influence in various markets have already been divided up. If someone suddenly pops up and takes food from others, it would be strange if others don't cause trouble for you.

Therefore, despite being envious of the profits, Dong Hongjun has never been able to get in.

When he met Xiao Kun today, he couldn't help but ask the questions in his mind.

(End of this chapter)