Spring Breeze Twenty Years

Chapter 1102 Don't you want to continue?

After dinner, Xiaowei and the others cleaned up the table, while Xiaohong, Chen Xiao, and Geng Hui washed the dishes. The older generation sat on the sofa and chatted.

In late June and early July, the days become longer and the nights shorter in Liaodong. It gets dark around 8 p.m. and light comes out at 3:30 a.m.

"Get a divorce. If you want to stay here, come here. If you want to go back to take care of Guifang, go back. It'll also help Guifang find a good family. Now that we're cadres, we're no worse than others in any way. You'll have to help keep an eye on things."

Xiaowei's mom patted Beibei's grandma's leg.

Grandma Beibei said, "Right now, I don't dare to think about it. We'll see how it goes. If we can get a divorce, that would be a good thing. I'm going back tomorrow. I have to get this done first. I can't let that bastard's family keep torturing the child."

Xiao Wei said, "Okay, I'll have a car take you tomorrow, and I'll have a lawyer go back with you."

……

The next morning, after breakfast, Hou Qiang drove Bei Bei's grandmother and lawyer Liang Gaoyou to the county town.

Afraid that Beibei would cry, Xiaohong didn't tell her and took her to the zoo.

When Attorney Liang arrived in the county town, he first met with Wang Guifang, who had already been formally appointed as the deputy head of the household registration department. He asked about the situation, obtained the marriage certificate, and then, as Xiao Wei had instructed, went to find Secretary Li of the county.

In Secretary Li's office, Attorney Liang met with the president of the county court, explained the situation, and handed the materials directly to the president.

Investigating and collecting evidence in this kind of case is very troublesome. It can easily drag on for six months to a year. Moreover, courts in this era were not as standardized as they are in later years. They tend to compromise and smooth things over, especially in divorce cases. How can you provide evidence that the other party has been missing for several years and has not fulfilled any obligations? Where do you even begin to investigate?

So Xiaowei simply asked Secretary Li to put pressure on him and cut the Gordian knot.

In the 90s, or rather the early 90s, many aspects of the country lacked sufficient legal support. The laws were incomplete and riddled with loopholes. Law enforcement officers often handled cases based on personal connections, circumstances, personal relationships, and moods. For ordinary people without connections or influence, getting anything done was incredibly difficult.

At this point, the lawyer is completely useless, not even a proper role, and has no say at all during the case handling process.

Our society has many interesting aspects, but in every area, those in positions of power never take the time to seriously consider how to manage, organize, or solve problems. They just muddle through, preferring to ignore the issues rather than worry, or relying on prayer or empty talk.

He doesn't have time; all his time is spent figuring out how to please his superiors and suppress his subordinates, and thinking about the important matter of getting promoted and making a fortune.

That's how it is with everything. Nobody cares, everything is covered up and suppressed until it explodes. Those who die in the explosion are considered unlucky.

As business owners, they all hope their subordinates are smart, capable, and full of ideas; they wish they could have all the talent in their hands.

Officials, on the contrary, all hope their subordinates are stupid and have no ideas, because they are easy to control and obedient. If they lack ability, they can assign them assistants.

Then year after year, one generation after another.

Our management practices in all aspects are basically based on foreign methods; we haven't developed anything independently. I mean, effective and useful ones.

Then, it's all about blindly applying it, never considering the national context, and only peeling back the layers without learning the essence.

……

"Where's the boss?"

The old woman looked up and asked, "Is something the matter?"

Three young men in their early twenties, dressed in trendy floral shirts and jeans, were talking. The one in the lead had a buzz cut, while the other two had permed hair and were smoking cigarettes, looking around.

The man with the buzz cut sized up the woman: "Are you the boss?"

The old lady said, "Yes, it's my family's business. What's up?"

The man with the buzz cut asked, "Does your family own this convenience store?"

The old lady nodded and said, "Yes, all the brands using this name are from my family. What's wrong?"

The man with the buzz cut chuckled: "You're quite wealthy. You must have opened quite a few shops, dozens, right? How come your main store is in this little corner? I've been looking for it for ages."

The old lady said, "My home is here, it's convenient. What can I do for you?"

The man with the crew cut said, "We're cigarette distributors. Where did you get all these from—Huangshan, Hongyun, Dajian, 555, Black Cat, Esse, Shuangxi, Liangyou?"

The older woman then asked, "What brands do you represent?"

The man with the crew cut said, "I just said that we are the general distributor for all these brands, understand? This is illegal sourcing. I can make one phone call and the tobacco monopoly bureau will come to investigate, shut down your store, and impose a fine."

The old woman gave the man with the buzz cut a strange look and said, "I have a tobacco sales license." She pointed to the wall behind her and said, "All the licenses are here."

The man with the buzz cut looked up and said, "I don't care about that. I just came to tell you that from now on, all these cigarettes will have to be sourced from us, understand? This time, I'll let it go and not report you."

Auntie is no longer a rural woman like she was when she first arrived. Although she was a little unsure, she didn't panic.

Which company are you from?

The man with the buzz cut took out a business card and put it on the counter: "From now on, call this number if you want cigarettes, and someone will deliver them to you."

The old lady then asked, "How much does it cost? How much is Huangshan? How much are Shuangxi Liangyou?"

The man with the crew cut said, "That depends on the market and the volume. Huangshan cigarettes are five yuan, and imported cigarettes are eight yuan. That's the average price."

The old lady glanced at the crew cut and said, "Huangshan cigarettes only cost three and a half yuan now, while imported cigarettes cost four or five yuan. Why would I take your expensive one?"

The man behind him, with his hair parted, kicked the counter and said, "What are you talking about? Just do what I tell you to do. Enough with the nonsense. Don't you want to keep the shop open anymore?"

The older woman seemed a little scared and stepped back, saying, "I can't handle this. You should go to the purchasing center."

Shan Hongjuan walked over from behind: "What's wrong, Auntie?"

The old lady said, "They said they were delivering cigarettes and told us to get our supplies from them."

Shan Hongjuan looked at the three people: "My family gets our goods directly from the manufacturers. Which factory are you from? Besides, we are a purchasing center that centralizes our purchases. Going to the store won't help you. How do you settle accounts? We settle for cigarettes at two million per transaction."

The man with the parted hair kicked him again: "Who are you trying to fool? Doesn't your boss get the goods from where he gets them? Two million a month, is it worth it if you demolish your store? And you call yourself a purchasing center?"

Shan Hongjuan said, "How can you be like this? It's your own house, you just kick it down like that."

The man with the split hair kicked again, saying, "So what if I kicked you? Let me tell you, if you don't get your goods from here, I'll smash your shop, you hear me? All this dawdling is only because of you two women, understand?"

Shan Hongjuan sized him up a few times: "Okay, I'll take it from you. I'll deliver it. What kind of cigarettes do you wholesale? I'll send 500,000 worth first, and when I have 2 million, I'll come and get the check."

The man with the buzz cut said, "Girl, are you kidding me?"

Shan Hongjuan said, "I'm busy, I don't have time to joke with you. This is the condition for delivery. We have 70 or 80 stores and hundreds of items, and we all get them this way. We're not begging you."

They split up and said, "What the hell do you mean? You're not working hard anymore? You don't want to do this anymore?"

I reached out to lift the cash register screen, but it wouldn't budge after a couple of tries; it was fixed to the counter.

He kicked it hard a few times, knocking over the shelf next to the cashier.

Shan Hongjuan took a step back, turned to her stepmother and said, "Auntie, are you watching the show? What are you waiting for?"

Aunt Ji was stunned, staring at Shan Hongjuan.

(End of this chapter)