At noon, Xiao Feng, who had just finished lunch, sat in the agricultural machinery station office and used a toothpick to pick meat fragments from his teeth.
Just a moment earlier, he had eaten lunch with Hu Weidong, the chief of the township police station.
Hu Haidong's younger brother had contracted a fish pond and wanted to obtain several large water pump equipment through Xiao Feng's connections.
Hu Haidong and Xiao Feng had been high school classmates, so he had brought the favor request to him.
After the meal, with a grand stroke of Xiao Feng's pen, the equipment needed by Hu Haidong's younger brother was easily secured.
Since both were men in leadership positions, how could he not grant this bit of face?
At that moment, someone pushed the door open and walked in.
Xiao Feng raised his eyes and saw that it was Xiao Liu, a clerk from their agricultural machinery station.
"Station Chief Xiao, the matter you asked me to investigate has all been sorted out."
Half a month ago, Xiao Feng had sent Xiao Liu to investigate Xiao Weiguo to see how he had managed to make so much money so quickly.
Although Xiao Liu was reasonably sharp, he was not a professional in this field. Furthermore, constrained by his status, he could not investigate blatantly and had to fish for information indirectly in many cases.
Therefore, it was only now that he had figured out Xiao Weiguo's entire money-making scheme.
The goods were collected by Liu Erzhu from his coworkers at the unit, and Xiao Weiguo, relying solely on his glib tongue, turned around and sold them at several times the high price.
Xiao Liu recounted Xiao Weiguo's actions from start to finish, and upon hearing it, Xiao Feng was so happy he almost jumped up.
"Little bastard, let's see you act arrogant now. Let's see how I deal with you this time. Don't you love acting tough? I want to see how you act tough with the police."
Last time, Xiao Weiguo had not only slapped his father at his home but had also caused the two brothers to lose all face.
Xiao Feng had harbored a deep grudge for a long time.
During this period, he had been waiting for Xiao Liu's news, looking for a way to deal with Xiao Weiguo.
And now, the opportunity had arrived.
Xiao Weiguo bought low and sold high—this was a classic case of speculation and profiteering. Relying on his relationship with Hu Haidong, as long as he managed to grasp even a slight handle on him, arresting him would be no problem at all.
"Xiao Liu, go to the police station and report the case. Say it came from me: someone is engaging in speculation and profiteering, and tell them to go make an arrest immediately."
"Station Chief Xiao, isn't that perhaps a bit inappropriate? The policies from above have been relaxed now. As long as it's not too serious of an issue, basically no one gets arrested anymore."
Starting in 1985, the authorities had essentially relaxed policies. Farmers doing small businesses no longer fell under speculation and profiteering; as long as they didn't violate principles, very few people bothered to manage it.
Xiao Feng slammed the table and let out an angry snort.
"He makes such a huge price difference; when I say he's speculating and profiteering, then he's speculating and profiteering! Stop chattering and just go report the case."
Seeing the leader flare up, Xiao Liu dared not resist in the slightest, so he obediently went to the police station.
Upon receiving the report and hearing that it concerned Xiao Feng, Hu Haidong dispatched four men to Xiaotun without a second word.
Xiao Weiguo and his three siblings had just finished working and had not yet had a chance to rest when the four police officers barged in.
Ordinary people feared dealing with these individuals the most; regardless of whether anything was wrong, getting entangled would lead others to gossip.
The two younger ones were so frightened that their immediate instinct was to shrink behind their older brother and sister.
Xiao Shanshan was also too terrified to speak, standing frozen in place, not daring to move.
Only Xiao Weiguo remained very calm.
Having lived a total of seventy or eighty years across two lifetimes, he still possessed that level of psychological fortitude.
"Comrades, what offense have I committed? On what grounds are you arresting me?"
Even if he had been a loafer in the past who constantly ate, drank, and gambled, those were minor infractions and not illegal. Furthermore, he had been living an honest life lately; he couldn't understand what crime he had committed.
"Don't you know what crime you've committed?"
The lead police officer let out a cold snort.
"You'd better honestly come back with us to cooperate with the investigation, or you'll be asking for trouble."
This was their standard routine: first give you a psychological blow. Those with weaker mental resilience and smaller courages who couldn't withstand the scare would spill everything on their own no matter what the issue was.
But Xiao Weiguo was not such a coward. If you haven't done anything wrong, why fear a knock on the door at midnight?
"Comrades, I don't understand. I have always been a law-abiding citizen. If I have truly broken the law, please inform me and present an arrest warrant or search warrant. Otherwise, I will not go back with you."
His tone was neither servile nor overbearing, instantly stunning the investigating personnel right where they stood.
They had come on orders merely to bring someone back for questioning, without going through formal procedures to process documents at all. Put on the spot by Xiao Weiguo's words, they were somewhat caught off guard, never expecting a young farm boy to understand such things.
Quite a few villagers had already gathered outside the door; although they didn't dare enter, they were pointing and whispering outside.
"What crime did that loafer commit?"
"Who knows? Certainly nothing good, otherwise why would the police come to his house to arrest him?"
"I told you so. This kid doesn't walk the straight path and keeps talking about doing some business everyday—now he's gotten into trouble, hasn't he?"
The people outside discussed it animatedly, mostly harboring a schadenfreude mindset.
Xiao Weiguo had earned quite a bit of money recently, treating his younger siblings to good food and nice clothes every day, which made many people feel unbalanced inside.
Why should a loafer like him eat deliciously and drink finely every day, while they, who worked honestly, had to eat chaff and vegetables at home?
Behind the crowd, Village Chief Xiao Changsuo puffed on a dry tobacco pipe and watched everything with a sneer.
In the small courtyard, both sides remained at a stalemate for a brief moment. After all, the dark-faced lead police officer was older and had more experience.
He stepped forward one pace, his face sinking as he said to Xiao Weiguo: "Someone reported you for speculation and profiteering, buying low and selling high, and earning exorbitant price differences from it. Do you want us to go inside and search to see just how much money you've made?"
As he spoke, he waved his hand, preparing to lead his men into the house to search.
Xiao Weiguo was almost laughed to death. I can't even earn some money through my own ability? What kind of logic is this?
You couldn't entirely blame the police for saying that. If this matter had truly happened a few years ago, it really would have been a major event, and the charge of speculation and profiteering would have been inescapable for him.
However, in the past couple of years, the authorities had relaxed policies, encouraging farmers to do small businesses, make more money, and achieve prosperity through hard work and their own two hands.
Not long ago, the county had even held a prosperity competition, and many people who earned money through business were commended as ten-thousand-yuan households and received awards.
Precisely because of this, Xiao Weiguo dared to do business boldly and confidently without fear of policy impact.
That being said, letting them conduct a search was out of the question.
He knew clearly where his younger sister kept the money; they could find it without much effort. Once that sum of over ten thousand yuan was dug up, it would truly be like falling into a manure pit—if it wasn't shit, it was still shit.
With a reach of his arm, he blocked the path of those people.
"Without a search warrant, on what grounds are you entering the house to search? Do you know this is called trespassing? It's illegal."
Xiao Weiguo shouted angrily, refusing to yield even an inch, blocking those people firmly.
"We suspect you are hiding stolen goods in your house, and we have the right to search first. If you have a clear conscience, why are you blocking us?"
Seeing that a conflict was about to break out, the young Xiao Jiang and Xiao Yue were already frightened into tears.
Not daring to step forward, they could only grab tightly onto their older sister's lapels and cry continuously.
In truth, Xiao Shanshan's heart was even more panicked. Growing up, this was the first time she had faced such a situation.
For a moment, she didn't know whether it was better to step forward and persuade her older brother or help her brother block those people.
Xiao Weiguo's actions instantly enraged the investigating personnel.
"Charge together! Pin him down. I refuse to believe he has such daring."
At the shout, all four of them surged forward, grabbing his waist and twisting his arms, wanting to subdue Xiao Weiguo.
Xiao Weiguo struggled desperately, but how could a single person be a match for four? The police officers of this era were not pushovers; when they had no tasks during peacetime, they all trained themselves to be physically adept.
Just as the courtyard was becoming utterly chaotic and Xiao Weiguo was about to be subdued, the sound of a sharp brake echoed from behind the crowd outside the door.
Several figures in military uniforms jumped down from a green jeep.
A middle-aged military officer in his forties with a square face grabbed a villager and asked:
"Old fellow, excuse me, is this Xiao Weiguo's home?"