Reborn in a small mountain village in 1991

Chapter 104 A Confrontation

Xu Chunsheng snorted coldly, his gaze fixed on the two men on the ground: "The last bit of wine? What brewery would sell you the last bit of wine for nothing? Tell the truth and don't try to fool me."

The two men tried to continue their excuses, but Xu Chunsheng interrupted them directly: "You two need to think this through. I'm just questioning you now. If you're unwilling to confess, I'll hand you over to the community security committee."

"The next step is to transfer you to the township industrial and commercial bureau and the police station. At that time, all the alcohol in your hands will be confiscated, and you will also be fined. You're just running errands to sell alcohol for others. Are you sure you want to go to jail and lose money for someone else?"

"You should know about those who sold counterfeit alcohol last year, right? I don't need to elaborate on how many people were fined and how many were detained, do I?"

This was a critical period for cracking down on counterfeit and shoddy goods. The whole country was in accordance with the State Council Document No. 38 of 1992 to severely crack down on counterfeit and shoddy products.

The two men on the ground panicked when they realized that Xu Chunsheng didn't seem to be lying and was really going to hand them over.

They knew that many liquor vendors who sold unpackaged liquor were punished last year for selling adulterated liquor, but they couldn't bear to give up the benefits Wang Dongcai gave them, which is why they denied it to the death before.

Last year, the "SC Province Liquor Management Regulations" were implemented, imposing fines of one to three times the amount of the illegal amount on small vendors who are found to be mixing inferior liquor, illegally selling leftover liquor, or helping to deliver and sell liquor. Those who privately produce inferior liquor will have their illegal gains confiscated and be fined one to five times the amount of the illegal amount. If the circumstances are serious enough to cause poisoning, all the property of the distillery will be confiscated and the responsible parties will be held strictly accountable.

The shorter man was the first to succumb to the pressure, his tone softening completely: "No—, Boss Xu, don't send us to the community security committee. I'll tell you everything, I'll tell you everything."

One of them relented, and the other couldn't hold on any longer, his face turning ashen: "As long as you don't call the police station, I'll tell you anything."

Xu Chunsheng nodded, then pointed to the tall man, signaling Li Minfu to take the man out: "Brother Minfu, you take him out and keep watch over him. I'll question him separately."

Li Minfu nodded, called over two of his junior brothers, and together they dragged the man outside, closing the door behind them. Then he said to the tall, thin man, "Don't even think about shouting, and don't even think about running. Let's see who you can outrun!"

After Xu Chunsheng interrogated the two men separately, he verified their statements one by one and finally confirmed that the two men had accepted bribes from Wang Dongcai and deliberately sold inferior wine under the name of Xu Family Winery.

The two were inherently profit-driven and somewhat cowardly scoundrels; they had only accepted money from Wang Dongcai and couldn't withstand questioning.

The reason why the tall, thin man didn't expose Wang Dongcai before was twofold: firstly, he was afraid of being retaliated against by Wang Dongcai later; secondly, he was hoping that as long as he kept quiet about the source of the goods, they couldn't do anything to him.

But when Xu Chunsheng said he would send them both to the community security committee, the two panicked and lost all hope.

Xu Chunsheng and his uncle were interrogating the shorter man inside the house, while Xu Chunsheng called his eldest sister outside, not wanting her to hear about these pickled matters.

After the older woman closed the door, Xu Chunsheng said, "You'd better think this through before you speak. If the two of you don't agree on what to say later, hmph—things won't be so simple."

Xu Chunsheng didn't say what he was going to say, but the people on the ground knew it wasn't anything nice.

Although Xu Chunsheng and his companions were furious with the two men, they did not beat or scold them. Instead, they explained the consequences to them, making them understand that if their actions of privately counterfeiting shop goods, selling fake products, and spreading rumors and slander were taken to the township industrial and commercial bureau and the police station, they would only be fined and notified at best, and could be detained at worst.

These days, if you hear that someone has been in jail, that person will always be talked about and unable to establish themselves in the village or town.

According to their confessions, all the counterfeit Xu family liquor bottles and inferior fake liquor were given to them by Wang Dongcai, and no matter how much liquor they sold each day, they would give half to Wang Dongcai.

In addition, Wang Dongcai specifically told them to tell customers when selling the wine that it was from Xu's Winery and that it was the last batch of wine, which is why the flavor was weak.

In addition, they also lied to the outside world, claiming that Xu Family Winery had cut corners and that the wine was not as good as before, thus damaging the Xu family's reputation.

After verifying the statements of the two men, in order to ensure that the evidence was conclusive and irrefutable, Xu Chunsheng had someone else write a statement and put their fingerprint on it.

The two men were illiterate and could not write, but they did not want Xu Chunsheng and the others to write for them.

"Fingerprints are fine, but let someone else write it down. I don't trust what you wrote."

Having no other option, Xu Chunsheng went to find someone else to write a statement, and only then did the two men put their fingerprints on it.

After putting away the confessions, Xu Chunsheng let the two men go: "Let's go."

The shorter man asked somewhat anxiously, "Where to?"

Xu Chunsheng said calmly, "Go to the community security committee to register. Then I'll take you back and help you familiarize yourself with the way."

The two men were somewhat flustered: "Didn't you say you wouldn't send us to the community security committee?"

Xu Chunsheng rolled his eyes at them: "It's for filing a report. As long as you two tell the truth, you might even get some credit for it, and they won't hold you accountable."

They weren't going to report a crime; they were going to the community security committee affiliated with the police station to explain what had happened that day.

Xu Chunsheng handed two statements with his fingerprints to the staff of the public security committee: "Comrade, I want to report a case of selling substandard counterfeit liquor."

He reported and explained the witnesses, testimonies, and the fact that Wang Dongcai was suspected of mixing counterfeit liquor and hiring these two people to sell it. He also requested that the security committee staff conduct a surprise inspection on market day when Wang Dongcai had the most stock.

When the counterfeit liquor is seized on the spot, along with the accounting books, and all the evidence is presented, the case will be reported and dealt with accordingly.

After leaving the neighborhood committee, Xu Chunsheng and his group took the two men back to their home: "Let's go, we'll take you back and help you get familiar with the way."

"I'll get your family members to sign this document. If you two don't show up tomorrow (the next market day), I'll hand over your statements about the alcohol consumption to the township's industry and commerce bureau and the police station, and have them come to your house to arrest you."

Xu Chunsheng continued to intimidate the two: "It doesn't matter if you two run away, your family can pay the fine, it's the same."

These two men were cousins ​​who lived on the edge of town. They idled away their days, making a living by speculating and profiteering.

Xu Chunsheng told his eldest sister to rest in the shop, while he, along with his father and Li Minfu, walked back with the two men.

The reason Xu Chunsheng did not choose to report the case was simply because these two small vendors were selling small amounts of alcohol and making little profit. At this time, when the township police station encountered this situation, they would only treat it as unfair competition between peers, usually giving them a verbal warning and then handing it over to the township industrial and commercial bureau for handling, without ever investigating the source behind it.

Only by personally leading a team to verify that Wang Dongcai was producing large quantities of substandard liquor could the police be notified to arrest and hold him accountable.

Xu Chunsheng decided to go home with the two of them because it was getting late and going back and forth would take up too much time.

Secondly, if people are kept in the store for a long time, they might be falsely accused of illegal detention.

However, it seems that neither of them has the guts to do so.

The people harvesting corn in the yard saw the two brothers arrive at their house with four or five people. At first, they thought they were their friends: "Qiang'er, Hui'er, are these your friends? Come in and sit down."

The taller one was called You Yongqiang, and the shorter one was called You Yonghui. Both of them looked rather grim and dared not reveal what Xu Chunsheng and the others had come for.

Mr. Xu, his face stern, stated his purpose directly: "We only met today, and we're not even friends. These two are impersonating us, selling counterfeit alcohol everywhere, ruining our reputation!"

After hearing this, and seeing the two brothers standing with their heads down among them, not daring to speak, the people in the courtyard knew that what Xu's father said was true. He called out twice into the house, "Brother, come out quickly, something has happened."

A man who looked to be about sixty years old came out of the house. After understanding the situation, he kept apologizing to the people: "Boss Xu, the kids are still young and don't know any better. They were greedy for small gains and did something reckless. I apologize to you on their behalf."

Seeing the two men constantly apologizing, Xu Chunsheng realized that the reason they were able to do such a thing was undoubtedly due to their families' indulgence.

Because You Yonghui and You Yongqiang don't look like children at all; they're at least in their mid-twenties or thirties.

Xu Chunsheng was too lazy to argue with people. After explaining the pros and cons to the two men again, he had their father sign a document to ensure that they would arrive at Xu's winery at eight o'clock on market day before leaving.

After returning to town, it was almost six o'clock in the evening before Xu Chunsheng rode his bicycle home with the passengers.

Upon arriving at the village, Xu Chunsheng didn't invite the group to stay for a meal. Instead, he expressed his gratitude, saying, "I'm so sorry to have troubled you all these past few days, Minfu, Yong'er, and Jun'er. I'll treat you to a proper meal once this is over."

The three men chuckled and said, "No trouble at all, no trouble at all. We're all brothers, it's only right that we help you."

"I won't come to eat unless it's a feast with lots of meat and fish!"

"Yeah, I really want to eat my auntie's crispy fried pork. I haven't had it in ages, I'm really craving it."

Hearing what his teenage sons were saying, Mr. Xu happily agreed, "Okay, no problem, I'll make it for you then."

The older woman was laughing uncontrollably, saying, "You should tell me your order earlier so I can prepare the food for you. If you come and order, I might not be able to make it."

The group laughed again, exchanged a few casual words, and then went home.

When the group arrived home, Xu's mother was still in the kitchen preparing dinner. She was the only one feeding the pigs at the pig farm that day, so it was inevitable that it would take her a little longer than usual.

"I'm back!"

"How did things go? Go wash your hands first, dinner will be ready in a little while."

19

Xu's mother kept working, asking them about their day with concern.

Xu Chunsheng picked up the dishes that had been served on the stove and said to her, "There's nothing wrong with it. Both of them have signed and put their fingerprints on the papers. We've also filed a record with the community security committee. We're just waiting to catch them red-handed at Wang Dongcai's winery on market day."

Mother Xu swung the spatula faster, slamming it against the iron pot again and again, the sound as loud as the anger on her face: "That's good. That black-hearted bastard Wang Dongcai will be punished by God sooner or later."

Xu Chunsheng chuckled, "Mom, be gentle, or you'll shovel a hole in the pot. Be careful, or Wang Dongcai will have to pay for the pot."

Mother Xu tapped the edge of the pot again: "Go, go, go, hurry up and take it over to prepare for dinner. Don't try to be funny in front of me."

Finally, the dry season arrived. The family fed the pigs early in the morning and asked Uncle Xu to come and help turn on the exhaust fan during the hottest part of the day. They also added some pig feed and water to the pig feed.

Except for Xu Yaomei, who went to school, the entire Xu family went out with Xu Chunsheng.

The store opened for business, and all the actions were completed in one smooth motion.

Despite the dismal business, a few loyal customers who trusted the quality of Xu Jia Winery still came to buy wine.

Around eight o'clock, the two You brothers finally arrived at Xu's Winery, albeit dawdlingly.

They each put on a straw hat, lowered their heads, and went into the house, finding Xu Chunsheng: "Boss Xu, we're here."

Xu Chunsheng nodded, preparing to hand over the shop's affairs to his eldest sister and Cheng Runshu.

Xu's mother, however, rejected such an arrangement: "Hey, I'll stay at the shop. Runshu, you can come with me. You went to junior high school, you'll be more useful than me."

That's not the reason. Actually, Xu's mother also wanted to go, but she wanted to hold her grandson even more, so she wanted to create some opportunities for her son and Cheng Runshu to get to know each other.

The eldest sister stared at Xu Chunsheng with a knowing look on her face: "Yes, Runshu is smart, good at accounting, and can be of great help."

Mr. Xu nodded in agreement, simply believing that his daughter was right; having someone who knew how to keep accounts would make it less likely to be deceived.

After deciding who would go with them, the group first went to the local security committee, invited the staff who were going to investigate, and then headed in a large group towards Wang Dongcai's winery.

Xu Chunsheng, along with the village security committee cadres, the two You brothers, his own family members, and Cheng Runshu, walked straight into Wang Dongcai's winery.

Wang Dongcai was sitting at the counter, fiddling with his abacus, when he saw the entourage of visitors. His heart skipped a beat, but he remained calm and asked unhurriedly, "Quality Assurance Manager, Boss Xu, what brings you here today?"

Xu Chunsheng's expression was indifferent as he gestured for the others who had come with him to make way, followed by the You brothers.

"Boss Wang, do you know these two?"

Wang Dongcai didn't even glance at them, casually saying, "I don't know them. So many people come to buy wine every day, there's a constant flow of people here, how could I possibly remember so many?"

"Boss Wang, you gave us the last batch of wine so we could sell it every day. We just took a batch from you the day before yesterday at noon."

Upon hearing Wang Dongcai's denial, the tall and thin You Yongqiang spoke first. Since things had already escalated to this point, he figured he might as well implicate Wang Dongcai and try to secure a lenient sentence for himself.

Wang Dongcai's face immediately fell, and he snapped, "What nonsense are you spouting! This is a legitimate liquor store; we never sell bulk liquor through intermediaries. You two are probably trying to make me take the blame for something that went wrong while you were selling liquor!"

The quality assurance director stepped forward, signaling Wang Dongcai not to get so agitated: "Both of these people have given statements and put their fingerprints on the papers. They clearly confessed that they took leftover wine from you, as well as diluted wine, and sold it everywhere."

Wang Dongcai showed no sign of weakness, remaining stubbornly defiant: "Confessions? Who knows if they made them up? Can empty words hold any weight? My distillery has all the necessary permits! It's legitimate grain liquor!"

Xu Chunsheng interrupted him: "You'll know what it's like once you see it!"