Handong: Sha Li wants political achievements? I'll shut down the entire province.

Jingzhou City South Farmers' Market.

As dawn broke, the early winter wind swept in from the street corner, cutting into my face like a knife.

The streets were full of mud puddles of all sizes.

Rotten vegetable leaves mixed with fish scales and shrimp shells were trampled into a pulp, emitting a fermented, rancid smell.

A fried dough stick stall was set up at the intersection, the hot oil sizzling and crackling, the fumes making people cough.

Tian Guofu turned up his collar, pulling his blue medical mask up high.

The fabric almost completely covered the brown age spots under his eyes.

He was wearing a pilling gray jacket, his hands tightly tucked into his pockets, and he wandered around in front of several stalls with a hunched back.

He lost his footing and stepped into a shallow puddle.

Mud splattered directly onto the old leather shoes, and the wet, cold liquid seeped through the socks and seeped into the gaps between the toes.

He shook his foot in disgust, a deep frown forming between his brows.

Sha Ruijin resigned himself to his fate, and Li Dakang became nothing more than a mouthpiece for stamping documents.

The people in the provincial party committee compound were all blinded by Yan Qingfeng's promise of high salaries and benefits.

But Tian Guofu refused to believe it.

He spent half his life working in the Discipline Inspection Commission, and he's a stickler for principles. What capitalist doesn't leech off others?

Those Lingxiao Points and Holographic Settlement are absolutely unfair terms that require mandatory allocation.

Those ordinary people setting up stalls down there might get their tendons and bones pulled out someday.

Privately, behind closed doors, there must have been a lot of complaints.

"Beep, three points have been credited to your account."

"Ding, 4.5 points have been credited to your account."

Along the way, I didn't hear the crisp sound of coins falling into the metal box, nor did I see any red or green paper tickets.

The "Quan Te" is an electronic notification sound emitted by the holographic bracelet.

Tian Guofu stopped in front of a stall selling winter-stored Chinese cabbage.

The stall owner was a man in his sixties, wearing a worn-out military overcoat.

He was staring happily at the blue light around his wrist, his eyes looking at him like he was looking at his own newborn grandson.

Tian Guofu looked around.

I'm sure I didn't see any of the spies in black tactical uniforms from Lingxiao's security team.

He leaned over and pretended to rummage through the cabbages on the stall.

The vegetable leaves were quite crisp, covered in cool water droplets, so cold that his fingers jerked back.

"Hey bro, how much are these vegetables?"

His throat felt tight, and he was speaking in a low voice, as if he had a lump of phlegm stuck in his throat.

The old man deftly tore off a red plastic bag, rubbed it between his hands, and opened it.

"Two cents a pound! This is a freshly harvested mutated cabbage from Lingxiao Agriculture, it's super juicy!"

The old man deftly picked up a cabbage, slapped it hard, and the leaves trembled.

"Hey bro, wanna have a couple? Go back and slice some pork belly to stew with tofu, it'll be absolutely amazing!"

Tian Guofu didn't respond to that, and rummaged in his jacket pocket for a long time.

He pulled out a slightly peeling black notebook and an old-fashioned Hero fountain pen.

Remove the pen cap and insert it behind the pen barrel.

He leaned forward, glancing left and right a couple of times.

"Brother, there are no outsiders here, so tell me the truth."

Tian Guofu tapped the holographic ring on the old man's wrist with the tip of his pen, lowering his voice even further.

"The Lingxiao Consortium...forced you to use this piece of junk for settlement, and they must have taken a hefty cut, right?"

The old man's hand, which was supporting the plastic bag, stopped, and he stood there stunned.

"Huh? What kind of commission?"

He blinked twice, seemingly not understanding the words the city person was using.

Tian Guofu sighed, trying to appear wise, and put on a pitying look that said, "I understand you."

"Hey, it's just protection money, platform management fees and stuff like that."

He took the pen and made two cursory strokes on the notebook, the pen tip making a soft scratching sound as it glided across the paper.

"You've been working tirelessly from dawn till dusk selling just a few cabbages, and all your hard-earned money is going into the capitalists' pockets, aren't you sorry?"

Tian Guofu leaned forward and stared into the old man's eyes.

"These days... you're probably not going to be able to take it anymore, right? You're angry but you can't say anything, I understand."

The smile on the old man's face gradually faded.

He gripped the red plastic bag in his rough hands, making a harsh, grating sound as he rubbed it.

He looked the old man in front of him up and down, who was covered up tightly and whose eyes were darting around.

"Wait... why are you talking so sarcastically, buddy?"

The old man frowned, and white steam billowed from his nostrils.

"Master Yan has waived all the stall fees and sanitation fees at our farmers' market, and all the points earned will go into his own account."

The old man pointed back at the cartload of cabbage stalks behind him.

"Even these vegetables were delivered to the market by Lingxiao Logistics truck for free; they didn't charge us a single penny for transportation!"

Tian Guofu's heart skipped a beat.

The pen on my wrist stopped, and the ink smeared into a black blob on the paper.

impossible.

They've definitely been brainwashed, or they're afraid of retaliation from Ling Xiao's spies and dare not tell the truth.

His stubborn bureaucratic streak kicked in.

He simply ripped the mask straps off his ears.

He revealed his wrinkled old face, his expression as serious as if a public trial were about to begin.

"Old comrade! Don't have any worries!"

Tian Guofu put on a stern face and adopted the demeanor he used when he was the secretary of the Discipline Inspection Commission investigating cadres.

He took a half-step forward, his chest almost touching the plastic casing of the electronic scale.

"You have to trust the organization. I'm from the province... I came here specifically to conduct an undercover investigation."

He flashed the black notebook in front of the old man's eyes; it was stamped with the red seal of a former provincial party committee office clerk.

"Tell me your grievances, how Yan Qingfeng forced you to buy or sell, how he bullied you! I'll stand up for you!"

Several middle-aged women picking vegetables nearby heard the commotion and put down the scallions they were carrying.

The bald, fat man at the butcher's stall also stopped chopping bones with his cleaver.

He glanced sideways, holding the bloodstained knife handle as he looked over.

The atmosphere suddenly became quiet.

Even the sizzling sound of fried dough sticks on the street corner sounded jarring.

The old man stared intently at Tian Guofu's old face, then glanced at the red stamp on the tattered notebook.

The skin on his face twitched violently.

An uncontrollable rage rose in his eyes.

"Make the decision?"

The old man gritted his teeth, his cheeks puffed out into hard balls.

"Snapped!"

He suddenly swung his arm and slammed his hand hard on the metal pan of the electronic scale.

The impact caused the stainless steel pallet on top to bounce up with a loud bang.

It was flipped directly onto the cabbage stalk next to it.

Startled, Tian Guofu shrank back, his lower back hitting the edge of the wooden cart behind him.

It was so hard that he gasped for breath, and his tailbone ached.

The Hero fountain pen in my hand fell onto the muddy ground, the nib stuck into the soil, and the ink smeared the mud.

"Screw your undercover investigation!"

The old man grabbed the collar of his tattered military coat and shouted it out in his hoarse voice.

Spit sprayed all over Tian Guofu's face, carrying a strong garlic smell.

"Back then, you officials sat on your dais, and the city management officers would wreck my stall every few days!"

The old man, his eyes red, pointed to the muddy puddle at his feet.

"I knelt in this muddy water in the dead of winter, begging and pleading for that two hundred yuan management fee! Who have you ever stood up for?!"

Tian Guofu was stunned, his head buzzing.

My calves were cramping a bit, and I wanted to reach out and grab the old man's arm.

"No, old comrade, let me explain..."

"Explanation my ass!"

The old man grabbed a large cabbage from the scale and held it above his head.

He made a move as if to smash it into Tian Guofu's bewildered old face.

"You old fool, what brings you here so early in the morning to sow discord?"

The old man was so angry that he was panting heavily, his chest heaving violently.

"Master Yan gave us a way to make a living. Vegetable prices are very stable, and no one dares to come and take advantage of us."

He slammed the cabbage back onto the stall, scattering broken leaves and green juice everywhere.

The old man pointed at Tian Guofu's nose, his voice so loud it shook the entire street.

"You old bastard, you dare to come and investigate Master Yan?"

He spat at Tian Guofu's feet, "Are you tired of living?!"