Chapter 156: Taking on Liu San’er

The carriage arrived at the supply and marketing cooperative as if it were second nature. After tying up the horse, Li Yi was just about to go inside to stock up on goods when he happened to spot Liu San’er not far away.

He looked rather bedraggled at the moment, with a black eye and a cut on the corner of his mouth.

After all, they knew each other, so Li Yi immediately waved him over.

Seeing Li Yi beckoning to him, Liu San immediately jogged over.

“Brother Li! Are you here to restock again?”

Li Yi nodded and asked, “What’s up?”

“Haha, I got into a fight with a couple of little punks over business!” Liu San said nonchalantly.

Li Yi knew that every line of work had its competition, especially in a gray-market business like theirs, so he didn’t make a big deal out of it.

“Does this happen often?”

Liu San grinned and said, “Yeah, in our line of work, we’re always dealing with price undercutting and poaching customers. In the end, it all comes down to who’s tougher, so fights are just part of the job!”

“Who were they?”

“Nothing special—just some street thugs,” Liu San replied.

“Did you come out on the losing end?”

“Nope. They got hurt way worse. They won’t be able to walk around for at least half a month!” Liu San said with a touch of smugness.

“Aren’t you afraid they’ll report you to the police? You might end up in jail!”

“No way. In our line of work, fights are as common as anything. More importantly, what we do isn’t exactly legal. If they go to the police and ask what happened, forget about whether they can catch me—he’ll be the one who ends up behind bars first!” Liu San said.

Li Yi shook his head and said, “Can you really keep living like this? You got the upper hand this time, but what about the future?”

Liu San shook his head with a bitter smile and said, “I can’t do anything else!”

Liu San continued, “Brother Li, you know my family is poor. My dad hurt his back working when he was young, so he can’t do any heavy physical labor—he just works as a security guard.”

“As for my mom, even though she got a job at the vermicelli factory, she’s just a temporary worker. She only makes 18 yuan a month—barely enough to feed the family. She doesn’t have the money to buy me a job either…”

Before he could finish, Li Yi frowned and said, “You’re a grown man—why are you always thinking about relying on your family?”

“Haha, I’d love to make it on my own, but I’ve got no education and no skills. I can’t get a job in a factory, and I don’t even know how to farm,” Liu San said helplessly.

“Well, you can’t just hang around on the streets every day. Sure, that kind of work brings in money fast, but the risks are huge too!”

Li Yi wasn’t just talking nonsense. It was 1980, and the situation was still relatively stable.

But things would be different in a few years. The authorities would soon launch a major crackdown on public order, cracking down on all kinds of criminals.

By then, people like Liu San who spent their days loitering on the streets would be in particularly great danger.

Liu San, however, hadn’t thought that far ahead. He assumed Li Yi was saying his line of work wasn’t safe—after all, scalping tickets was indeed illegal.

So, after a moment’s thought, he said, “Brother Li, if I had a legitimate job, I wouldn’t want to do this either. But I can’t just sit at home and wait to die, can I?”

Li Yi thought for a moment and said, “Why don’t you come work for me from now on?”

Liu San’s eyes lit up instantly, and he hurriedly asked, “Sure, Brother Li, what would you have me do?”

“I haven’t figured that out yet. Wait a minute, I’ll take you to meet my third older sister. Starting tomorrow, you’ll help her run her stall selling liangpi. I’ll pay you 25 yuan a month, and we’ll talk about a raise later!” Li Yi said.

“Sure, sure, sure!”

Although 25 yuan a month was only a few yuan more than what he made hanging out on the streets, the main advantage was safety.

Plus, Liu San had great respect for Li Yi’s capabilities. In just a month, Li Yi had exchanged hundreds of pounds of flour coupons and grain and oil coupons with him.

Not to mention bicycle coupons, watch coupons, sewing machine coupons, and radio coupons—he’d been incredibly generous with them.

More importantly, he had attended Li Yi’s wedding a few days earlier.

At the wedding, he saw Li Yi chatting and laughing with the bigwigs from the county bureau. Even the bride’s ride was a county bureau jeep—that kind of clout was something they could only look up to.

Being able to tag along with such bigwigs would definitely offer a brighter future than fighting over territory and business on the streets.

Li Yi had his own reasons for taking Liu San under his wing. On one hand, he thought the kid was sharp and didn’t want him to keep sliding step by step into a dangerous abyss.

On the other hand, Li Yi genuinely needed someone to back him up, especially when dealing with Third Sister.

After all, there were plenty of idlers in society these days—people like Liu San who had no legitimate occupation or job and spent their days loitering on the streets.

Not only do they cause trouble, but they also frequently engage in petty theft, and even robbery and rape.

If Li Yi were running his own street stall in the city, he obviously wouldn’t have to worry about harassment from these types. Even setting aside his connections with Wang Anguo and Li Gang, his own physical prowess alone would be enough to intimidate anyone.

However, Li Yi had now entrusted the crucial task of running the stall in town to his third sister. She was a single young woman, and if those petty thugs set their sights on her, there was no telling when something might go wrong.

Don’t underestimate the audacity of those people. The reason the government suddenly launched a crackdown in 1983 was directly related to these street thugs.

Li Yi certainly didn’t want to gamble his Third Sister’s safety on the audacity of those thugs!

So, finding her a helper was only natural.

“Brother Li, do I start work tomorrow?”

“What’s the matter? Is there a problem?” Li Yi asked immediately.

“Not really. It’s just that a few days ago, someone approached me about a big deal. Could I finish that first before coming to work for you, Brother Li?” Liu San said.

“A big deal?”

“Yeah, Brother Li, do you remember when we met last time and someone asked me about selling gold?”

“I remember!”

“That person came back later and said he had some gold he wanted to sell. He also said he’d give me five hundred yuan if the deal went through…”

Before he could finish, Li Yi asked in a low voice, “When did that person contact you?”

“It’s been about five or six days!”

Li Yi thought for a moment. That was just a few days before the gold was stolen from Plant 812. Could that person be connected to this case?

With that in mind, Li Yi asked immediately, “Liu San’er, do you remember what that man looked like? Would you be able to recognize him if you saw him again?”

“I can!”

“Alright then, come with me. If we handle this right, you’ll be the top dog on the streets of Qing Shan County from now on!”

“What?”

“Don’t ask. You’ll find out soon enough!”

With that, Li Yi abandoned his shopping and led Liu San straight toward the county police headquarters.

…….