Spring Breeze Twenty Years

Chapter 1097 If he won't listen, beat him up.

Chen Hui checked the time and asked, "Shall we go?"

Xiao Wei glanced at his watch and said, "Is there anything else? If not, I'm leaving."

Several people shook their heads. Xiao Wei stood up and said, "Then we'll be going. You guys go back and get busy."

Xiaowei and Chen Hui went downstairs. Xiaowei's mother was holding Chen Xiaohui and talking to An Lihua and Zuo Hong at the entrance of the courtyard. Beibei was tugging at Xiaowei's mother's clothes and twisting and turning. When she turned around, she saw Xiaowei and ran over with a smile: "Daddy."

Xiao Wei bent down and picked up Bei Bei. Xiao Wei's mother asked, "Is everything settled?"

Xiao Wei said, "That's it, let's go. Isn't my dad coming?"

Xiaowei's mother said, "Your father and your uncle have already passed away. Go and call your aunt."

Chen Hui said to An Lihua, "Lihua, are you alright? You have to hold on."

An Lihua said, "Aren't you underestimating me? It's no big deal."

Chen Hui smiled and said, "Okay, if you're okay with it, you can step in and fill in once Hongmei starts work. And you, Zuo Hong, don't say you can't do it later. We're short-staffed right now, so you all need to step up your game."

Liu Shangyue went back to Longcheng and is still working at the Labor Bureau. I heard she's getting married. It's their private matter, and Xiaowei and Chen Hui can't say anything about it, nor are they in a position to.

Li Bing, Shan Hongmei, and Tian Xiaoyu are all unable to work now.

Tian Xiaoyu's situation is easy to handle, as Li Wen has arranged for someone to take over. An Lihua is temporarily filling in for Shan Hongmei, and Zuo Hong is filling in for Li Bing. If the two of them can manage, they will be able to handle things on their own once Shan Hongmei and Li Bing return.

Li Bing has given birth to a boy, which made Liu Hongliang so happy that he was grinning like an idiot all day long. He was staying with Li Guan to recover after giving birth.

Tian Xiaoyu and Shan Hongmei have both gone to the hospital. It seems the two of them arrived together. Zhang Wang was even jokingly discussing with Yu Qiu that if they were to give birth to a boy and a girl on the same day, they could become in-laws.

Xiao Wei called the old lady out, handed the shop over to Shan Hongjuan, and the group got into the car and headed straight for the Power Hospital.

Liu Liu's mom is also staying at the power hospital. Bei Bei's grandma is in poor health and just needs to be rested. Liu Liu's mom is really sick; she has problems with her heart and lungs, but the problems aren't too serious.

Liu Liu and her friends have already set up their stall, hired an older woman to sell their goods, Lina watches over the stall every day, and Liu Liu has to go to the hospital. But no matter what, this family is now seeing the light of day again, and their lives are definitely getting better and better.

Only Lai Zi will be gone for a few more days. They need to get through the busy farming season. His father is keeping a close eye on them, and the two brothers can only come out after the busy farming season is over.

Now that so many families have left the fort, the land can't be left idle. No matter what, the relationship is closer than with others. The land of several families was all planted by the Lai family. The four members of the Lai family, plus the three hired helpers, worked hard for a whole month before dawn finally broke.

As Xiaowei said, the county's guidance station is now encouraging farmers to grow vegetables, cultivate fields, and raise pigs, chickens, ducks, and geese. The majority of people are responding. These days, the government still has credibility, and the people believe what it says.

Lai Zi's family planted sorghum on their original land, while the other families planted vegetables, soybeans, and peanuts on their land.

Actually, growing vegetables is much more troublesome than growing corn and sorghum. You have to take care of them, unlike corn and sorghum, which don't require much attention once they sprout.

Why do people like to use pesticides when growing vegetables? It's really tiring to take care of the land, and vegetables attract all sorts of insects. If you don't use pesticides, you have to do it manually.

The area around Wanliu has changed a lot. Once you turn the corner past the school, there are many construction sites with machines of all sizes roaring around. I don't know what they're building. The large vegetable fields that used to be there have basically disappeared; they're either surrounded or dug into big pits.

Looking outside, Xiaowei's mother exclaimed, "What a huge change! It's only been less than two years. In another two years, this area will be completely transformed!"

Chen Hui said, "That's fast. Originally, once the thermal power plant was built, there wasn't much left. Now, the area is all buildings. Originally, Beiling and Dongling were in the suburbs, but now they're all covered by buildings. In another two years, it will be the city center."

Xiaowei's mother said, "Things are indeed changing fast. Fengtian has been developing better and better in the past two years."

Chen Hui said, "It's just a temporary thing; it can't get any worse. Now they're encouraging business, there are many other options. Relying solely on wages is definitely not sustainable. It's just that people are having trouble adjusting right now. Can a living person be killed by pissing their own urine?"

Xiao Wei said, "Doing business? You need money to do business! How can you do business when you can't even afford to eat? You need to buy goods to set up a street stall, and besides, where would you even set up a stall? The regulations are so strict now. All those spontaneous street markets are banned now. They confiscate them and arrest people as soon as they see them. Haven't you heard?"

Chen Hui said, "Haven't several night markets opened already?"

Xiao Wei said, "How many stalls can that accommodate? Besides, anyone can just go in. How many of the vendors in the night market are genuinely struggling?"

Xiaowei's mother sighed, "Natural disasters and man-made calamities... it's just not easy for ordinary people to live peacefully. You're doing well now, so if you happen to be in trouble, please help out."

Xiao Wei said, "I'd like to, but how can we help? It's not just a few people or families; it's tens of thousands of families. Even the government can't take care of everything, so how much capacity do we have?"

Xiaowei's mother said, "Aren't you building a shopping mall? Build a bigger one so poor families can come in. Besides, what's the difference between building a shopping mall and a market? Why don't you build a few free markets over there? Can the urban management officers control ordinary people, but can they control you? If they don't like it, just beat them up."

Chen Hui asked, "Auntie, what happened to you?"

Xiaowei's mother raised her hand and slapped Chen Hui on the head, saying, "A few days ago, I went to the market with your Aunt Wang and saw a vegetable vendor. He looked like he came from the countryside. As a result, they kicked his scale, smashed his stall, confiscated his cart, and even took his bread away."

There was only one woman there, and those few dishes were probably all the food she had in her house. Could she just stand by and watch someone smash them and confiscate them? She tried to protect her a few times, and that angered people. She was dragged into a car and beaten by several people.

A group of grown men beating up a woman—I wanted to chop them up just watching. It's a terrible sight. I wonder how badly she was beaten; she probably won't survive. What kind of world is this? How can poor people even survive?

Xiao Wei looked at Chen Hui: "Is that so? What department is this?"

Chen Hui said, "Comprehensive law enforcement. It's a temporary brigade formed by drawing people from various units to manage the city's appearance. In theory, they don't have law enforcement power, let alone the right to smash stalls or beat people. This thing is hard to explain."

Xiao Wei asked, "Then who is in charge of him?"

Chen Hui said, "It's the Municipal Government Office, the Comprehensive Law Enforcement Brigade. The captain is from the Public Security Bureau, and the deputy captain is from the Urban Construction Bureau; they're all somewhat related to you. The composition of the team members is more complex; they come from various units with law enforcement authority, and they mainly recruit unemployed people to patrol."

Xiao Wei thought for a moment, then looked at Chen Hui and said, "So, this is just a temporary organization? Without official staff?"

Chen Hui thought for a moment and nodded: "That's about right. Those with public office are all leaders; no one comes out. It's the people below who are making trouble outside. The higher-ups only care about the results and don't know most of the details. Besides, even if they did know, they wouldn't care."

Xiaowei's mother said, "That's legal shady stuff. Didn't you see it? Is that law enforcement? What kind of law are they enforcing? It's smashing and looting! A woman dragged several people up and beat her until her nose and mouth were bleeding."

(End of this chapter)