Reborn in a small mountain village in 1991

Chapter 105 Punishing Wang Dongcai

Xu Chunsheng chose to bring people to Wang Dongcai's place for a confrontation on market day mainly because the town has a large flow of people on market day, and there will definitely be many people coming to watch the excitement.

Once the matter is thoroughly investigated in person, Xu Chunsheng won't need to publicize it much. The word will spread quickly, and soon everyone in the town will know that it was Wang Dongcai who was behind it, and that it wasn't that the wine from Xu's winery was of poor quality.

The head of security stepped forward, pointing at the two You brothers, interrupting Wang Dongcai's attempt at explanation: "These two men know everything about the layout of your back door, the wine vats used to store the leftover liquor, and the mixing barrels. If they hadn't been here, how would they know all this so clearly?"

He gestured for someone to go check the back: "I'm not here today to listen to your excuses, but to collect evidence and verify the facts. If no problems are found, we will naturally compensate you."

Wang Dongcai's face was a little pale, but he forced himself to say, "You can't just go through my workshop like that. I'm brewing wine in a very proper manner!"

Looking at Wang Dongcai's denial, Xu Chunsheng said, word by word, "There were regulations on alcohol management in 1991. Privately mixing alcohol and selling large quantities of inferior tail liquor constitutes illegal business operations."

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"Boss Wang, if we find any murky, substandard liquor, the tools used for mixing it, or the sales ledgers here, it won't be something you can explain away with just a few words!"

The security chief nodded and continued Xu Chunsheng's words: "Now someone has reported you for allegedly leaking leftover liquor, diluting it, and selling it. We have the right to verify and register this on-site, and seal off any problematic liquor. If you continue to obstruct us or refuse to cooperate, the situation will become even more serious!"

You Yonghui quickly added, "Boss Wang, don't try to deny it. Every time, you told us to come quietly, and you even said that if we were caught, we should say we were buying wine from villagers!"

"Now that things have come to this, don't even think about putting all the blame on us!"

The two brothers' faces turned red with fear. They were afraid that if the security chief didn't investigate further, they would be the ones to suffer!

The head of the security department led a group to the back door and asked the two You brothers to identify on the spot which wine vat Wang Dongcai had filled with the wine, and where the wine bottle similar to the one from the Xu family's winery had come from.

Wang Dongcai never expected that people would arrive so quickly, nor did he expect that Xu Chunsheng would bring people from the neighborhood security committee directly.

In his eyes, Xu Chunsheng was just a greenhorn. Even if he found him, he would definitely not be able to resist the urge to confront him directly.

If that's the case, as long as Wang Dongcai denies it, he can still tell others that Xu Chunsheng is trying to implicate him because his wine is problematic, and wants to drag him down with him.

But now the neighborhood security committee members have arrived, and there are many onlookers outside. Wang Dongcai knows that everything is over, and all his previous ideas have vanished.

Wang Dongcai slumped on the stool, staring blankly at the people pointing and whispering outside the shop.

"Brother, what's going on here? Why are so many people gathered around watching?"

The people around him chimed in, explaining, "Hey, let me tell you, this Wang Dongcai, he's in trouble."

"I heard he was selling counterfeit alcohol, and he even insisted that the Xu family had wronged him."

"I think he's going to get arrested and go to jail."

"Good riddance! Last time I bought two jin of wine, but when I weighed it back home, it was more than an ounce short. His wine measure was definitely not two ounces."

All sorts of words kept pouring into the store and reaching everyone's ears.

Xu Chunsheng could vaguely discern a few sentences that were favorable to his own distillery:

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"The Xu family's winery gives away free gifts when you buy a pound of wine, so they don't seem like they would counterfeit it."

"That's right, I even got a bamboo basket from his house once. It was very sturdy and didn't look like a cheap knockoff at all."

"So, it was Wang Dongcai who was targeting Xu's Distillery a while back?"

"Hey, that's for sure. Wang Dongcai is just jealous of other people's good business. I told you guys long ago that there's nothing wrong with the wine from Xu's Winery, but you didn't believe me."

Most of the people watching the commotion outside were regular wine buyers who had heard the rumors about Xu's Winery.

Once the truth came to light, the scales in people's hearts began to tip, as if they had completely forgotten that they had previously criticized the Xu family and were judging the two stores from a god-like perspective.

After the investigation results came out, the security chief announced on the spot: "Wang Dongcai, you are suspected of mixing alcoholic beverages, selling leftover liquor, and instigating others to spread rumors and slander. The counterfeit alcoholic beverages and production equipment are now seized."

After he finished speaking, the head of the security department immediately issued a list of items to be temporarily seized.

He meticulously recorded the quantity of blended tail liquor and inferior bulk liquor seized from Wang Dongcai's winery, and verified all business ledgers and shipping documents on the spot, obtaining evidence, signatures, and fingerprints in one step.

"Look carefully, check it yourself, and sign and put your fingerprint here."

The security chief pushed the list and inkpad in front of him, his tone harsh: "Every item of the temporarily detained supplies is documented. Even if you don't sign today, we can still carry it out later, and we can even charge you with refusing to cooperate."

The list was made in triplicate. One copy would be kept on file by the local security committee, one copy would be given to the township industrial and commercial bureau later, and the last copy would be given to Wang Dongcai, who was pale-faced, on the spot.

After all the formalities were completed, the security chief addressed the onlookers: "Go home, go home. If you want to buy alcohol, come back another time. We're closed for today!"

"Snapped!"

The distillery's door was closed, and Wang Dongcai was forced outside, meaning he couldn't open the shop to sell alcohol for the time being.

Xu Chunsheng was unaware of what happened afterward and how the investigation was conducted.

All he knew was that Wang Dongcai's illegal goods and proceeds were confiscated, and he was fined heavily.

Unfortunately, Wang Dongcai's business license was not revoked; he was only ordered to rectify the situation and can continue selling alcohol in the future.

Xu Chunsheng felt somewhat regretful about this, but he also understood that this was the way things were in the world; as long as the red line wasn't crossed, the outcome was usually a fine.

In the 1990s, law enforcement in townships mostly used rectification and education as punishment, and fines as punishment. Unless serious personal injury was caused or the amount of money involved reached the red line, it was very rare to directly kill individual business owners.

Wang Dongcai insisted that this was his first violation, and that he was jealous of Xu Family Winery's good business, which is why he slandered Xu Family Winery. In the end, he used his connections to keep his most important business license.

Even though the business license was kept, Wang Dongcai's winery business continued to decline day by day.

These days, money is hard to earn. Everyone knows perfectly well who makes good wine, who makes fake wine, which brand has better quality, and which brand is more cost-effective to buy from. They all have their own intuition and their own scales.

After this incident, word spread, and the scales in people's hearts gradually tipped.

In the past, there were people who would buy wine from Wang Dongcai's wine shop on the way because it was convenient. But since the fake wine scandal broke out, those people have gradually stopped buying wine from his wine shop.

Whose money isn't hard-earned? Nobody wants to waste money.

With that money, you might as well spend a little more to buy some good wine from Xu's Winery; they even give you freebies!

Yes, Xu Family Winery has raised the price of its wine. Previously, it was sold at the same price as when it was sold at the stall. Who would have thought that it would be accused of "saying it's good wine, but only selling it for such a low price, who knows if it's really good?"

With the added expense of monthly rent, Xu Chunsheng simply adjusted his prices to match those of another winery.

Although prices have gone up, business at Xu's Distillery is getting better every day. Some people even came to apologize: "Boss Xu, I'm really sorry about last time. Who would have thought that old bastard Wang Dongcai was framing you by selling fake liquor? That's why I made a fool of myself in your shop."

"That's right. If it weren't for Wang Dongcai's mess, I wouldn't have bought wine from him. Wait, Mr. Xu, how much more do I need to exchange for a bamboo basket?"

Similar conversations echoed every day in Xu's winery. Whenever Xu Chunsheng heard such words, he would just laugh it off: "It's alright. After this incident, everyone has become more convinced that our wine is good. Every cloud has a silver lining. This has also made our winery more famous and our business is doing better."

The two You brothers stayed at home anxiously for a while, and only when they saw that they had only received a verbal reprimand and were not fined did they feel relieved.

As for Wang Dongcai, although he honestly rectified the situation later, his reputation collapsed, and he could no longer win back people's hearts. He did not persist for long before closing down the store.

Furthermore, Wang Dongcai has been slow to do so, despite the township industrial and commercial bureau's request for him to pay Xu Chunsheng a sum of money.

Xu Chunsheng didn't care about any of this. He was too busy to care whether Wang Dongcai apologized or not.

Early October is the perfect time to harvest sweet potato vines for silage. After that time, the vines will be damaged by frost and the leaves will wither.

If it turns black, it cannot be used for silage.

In the Xu family's field, the family was busy at work, and you could vaguely hear them chatting: "The sweet potato vines are so lush this year, they're growing much better than in previous years."

"I guess it's related to the fact that a lot of fertilizer has been applied to the fields in the past two years. In the past, there was no way to spread fertilizer bag by bag in the fields."

"Son, pick a couple of sweet potato tips later and stir-fry them when we get home. I haven't had them for days and I'm really craving them."

Looking around, I couldn't find Xu Chunsheng anywhere. He was currently driving a tricycle, collecting sweet potato vines in several surrounding villages.

As for opening the shop, Xu Chunsheng recently contacted his cousin, Xu Chunhe, the eldest son of his uncle, and hired him to stay at the shop every day. He also helped him tidy up a room and live in the town.

In this way, Xu Chunsheng would have time to research the "new product".

"Auntie, let me do the packing. You take a break. I'd appreciate it if you could help me harvest the sweet potato vines in the village these next few days."

Xu Chunsheng parked the car on the main road, and together with Xiaowei's mother, they carried sweet potato vines from her house to load the car.

After learning that Xu Chunsheng's family was collecting sweet potato vines everywhere, Xiaowei's mother took the initiative to tell Xu Chunsheng that they had some sweet potato vines in their village and asked him to come later. She would go to the village and ask someone to cut the sweet potato vines and bring them to her house.

This way, Xu Chunsheng wouldn't have to go to each household individually, saving him some effort.

Why not have them carry the goods to the Xu family to sell, like before?

Because there's a lot of work to be done in the fields at this time: besides harvesting sweet potatoes, there's also late-season corn, soybeans, and digging up the ground to plant rapeseed.

There are all sorts of jobs, and although you don't have to rush to do them, you still don't have much free time.

That's how Xu Chunsheng ended up going to a neighboring village to collect sweet potato vines.

"Boss Xu, what are you saying? If you want me to help you find a solution, I definitely can't, but I can do some heavy work like carrying sweet potato vines."

Xiao Wei's mother wiped the sweat from her forehead and said to Xu Chunsheng, "Boss Xu, you've harvested so many sweet potato vines, and the sun hasn't been very strong lately, so I'm afraid they won't dry properly."

Xu Chunsheng explained, "Auntie, I'm taking these back without drying them; I'll just store them in a cellar. Two days later, I can use them to feed the pigs."

"Oh my, I've heard of people doing this before, but I didn't expect that Boss Xu, who's so young, would know how to do it."

At this time, in remote rural areas, not many people know how to make silage from sweet potato soup; it is a situation where "a few people know how to do it, but most don't know how or find it too troublesome."

Generally, the tender vines are dried or fed fresh. As for the old vines, they are mostly used as bedding for pigsties or simply buried in the soil to fertilize.

"This is my first time doing this too. I'm learning by following the book, learning by doing."

"Yes, yes, you can learn a lot from books. You should read more books. My Xiaowei only has the opportunity to study because of you."

"Not at all, it depends on Xiaowei himself. He has to be willing to study. You see, many little kids don't want to study after a couple of days. So Xiaowei is a good kid."

Hearing Chunsheng's praise of her child, Xiaowei's mother's eyes welled up with tears: "You're right, Xiaowei has never caused me any worry. He often tells me that he wants to be like you and do big business in the future."

"Really? Then I'll really be Boss Xiaowei from now on."

Xu Chunsheng pulled on sweet potato vines for two days in a row, and he felt like he was dreaming about carrying sweet potato vines on his back.

Xu Family Pig Farm.

Next to the pig farm, there is a cement pool that is about six meters long, two meters wide, and two meters deep.

This cement pool is for silage preparation. The pool is smooth and sealed to prevent leakage.

There was also a large guillotine, a wooden rammer, and plastic film next to it.

With these pre-prepared tools, they didn't need to go through the trouble of drying the sweet potato vines like other families. They could simply chop up the wilted vines and put them into a cement pool to store them.

When winter comes and there is no hay to feed the pigs, we can dig out the vines little by little and mix them into the feed. The effect is not much different from feeding fresh sweet potato vines. Not only do the pigs love to eat them, but we can also save a lot of grain.

On this fine day, without rain, the Xu family prepared to chop up the sweet potato vines and pack them away.

The family was standing by the pool talking.

"Erwa, is your method okay? Although we're not afraid of failure, it would be a shame if all these sweet potato vines rotted."

Looking at the large pile of sweet potato vines in the dam that were already 70% wilted from the sun, Xu's mother asked.

Xu Chunsheng nodded: "Mom, don't worry, I've consulted with the technicians at the livestock station, it'll definitely be fine."

Xu's father waved his hand and walked to the guillotine first: "Let's get to work first. We'll only know if we can do it or not after we start."

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