“Haoting, you’re back just in time!”
When the village head saw Zhou Haoting return, he waved him over. Then he noticed Tian Tian and remembered what his sister had said earlier about inviting the girl his nephew liked over for dinner. He cleared his throat twice. “Comrade Tian Tian, is that right? Hello, I’m Haoting’s maternal uncle. You can call me Uncle Cai.”
Tian Tian didn’t act coy, addressing him as Uncle Cai and Auntie Cai. But inwardly, she found it a bit surreal. Not long ago, when she went to the village committee to report the incident, she and the village head had been strangers. Now, at their very next meeting, she was already calling him Uncle.
She’d really latched onto a local big shot!
With that thought, she shot Zhou Haoting a somewhat complicated look.
Zhou Haoting immediately caught on to what Tian Tian was thinking and spread his hands as if to say there was nothing to be smug about. Tian Tian glanced at him, then exchanged a few pleasantries with the two elders—nothing more than where her family was from and her general situation. Tian Tian didn’t hide anything and gave a rough summary.
After that, the conversation naturally shifted to the reason Uncle Cai had come.
“I just got word from the city. The district’s machinery factory is going up for sale.”
Zhou Haoting wasn’t surprised to hear this. “I’d been hearing for a while that their liabilities exceeded their assets. They came to our factory several times to discuss it. I didn’t expect they’d really sell.”
The machinery factory where Zhou Haoting worked was the largest in the city, under provincial jurisdiction. It mainly produced machine tools, and its current performance was decent. The district machinery factory, by contrast, was much smaller and under district jurisdiction. It had been declining since the reforms began, and there had been repeated rumors that the city was planning to sell it off.
He had been waiting for this all along. After all, with a factory as a foundation, he could set up his small home appliance factory by taking over an existing shell rather than building everything from scratch.
“Good. Thank you for keeping me in mind, Uncle. I’ll follow up on this.”
The various permits and procedures for Zhou Haoting’s factory were already in the works. Only the location hadn’t been decided yet. Now that the district machinery factory was available, he was certainly going to compete for it.
Tian Tian listened from the side, deeply envious of Zhou Haoting’s luck. He wanted to start a small home appliance factory, and a machinery factory just happened to go up for sale. Sure enough, successful people didn’t just have ability—they also had good fortune.
She didn’t have the capital to start a factory yet. She’d spend the next couple of years building up her funds. Securing the vegetable plot in one decisive move was the real priority.
Once business was discussed, they sat down to eat.
During the meal, the two elders didn’t ask Tian Tian any more questions. Instead, they naturally chatted about the village and the Cai family. The atmosphere made Tian Tian feel completely at ease. She had been afraid they would keep asking about her family. She hadn’t expected the two elders to be so considerate.
After the meal, Auntie Cai urged them to get going.
“Didn’t you say you had things to do? Hurry up and don’t stay out too late. Remember to take good care of Tian Tian.”
Then she turned to Tian Tian and said, “Tian Tian, don’t be polite with him. Men should be put to work. If there’s anything to handle when you’re out, just let this boy do it. Otherwise, all that hundred-plus pounds of his would be wasted.”
“Haha, your mom is really adorable.” Even after getting on the motorcycle, Tian Tian was still laughing. She thought Zhou Haoting’s mother was truly amusing.
Zhou Haoting said helplessly, “That’s just how my mom is. As long as you like her.”
Tian Tian nodded slightly. She did like this lively and sharp-witted elder.
—
The motorcycle soon arrived at Ye Lifeng’s factory. He had indeed been busy all day—otherwise, he wouldn’t have organized the goods so clearly.
“Good timing. Come over and count your goods.”
Tian Tian didn’t stand on ceremony. She ran over to the pile of jeans and started taking inventory.
Zhou Haoting had it easier. His goods were just some small appliances. The cassette players were small, so he had taken them home directly earlier.
With his help, Tian Tian finished quickly.
“Everything’s here.”
Ye Lifeng was counting other goods in the warehouse. Hearing this, he looked up and said, “Good timing. Come over and do a spot check on this batch of batwing short sleeves. If there’s no problem, want to take delivery of them all at once?”
Tian Tian raised an eyebrow and followed his pointing finger. Good heavens. A huge pile of clothes, like a mountain. A rough glance suggested at least two thousand, if not three thousand, pieces. That was fast?
Ye Lifeng said, “I hired an extra batch of workers and put them on three shifts around the clock. The machines haven’t stopped.”
Tian Tian gave him a thumbs-up. She pulled Zhou Haoting over and started inspecting the goods.
Checking every single piece was impossible, so they did spot checks. The quality was fine—not much different from the sample garment. There were just a few loose threads here and there. But her batch wasn’t meant for the high-end market, so she didn’t care about these minor flaws.
“I’ll give you five more days. Can you finish all five thousand pieces?”
Ye Lifeng nodded confidently. “Yes.”
Tian Tian said, “Good. Once they’re done, I’ll pay you the balance directly. I’m taking these eighteen hundred pieces. Here’s the receipt.”
Once goods were received, they had to be hauled away. Ye Lifeng didn’t have room to store her goods here.
Fortunately, she had discussed it with Zhou Haoting beforehand. The first floor of his house could free up two rooms to serve as a temporary warehouse.
Now that the goods were confirmed to be fine, he made a phone call back to the village.
Less than half an hour later, Hui arrived with nine young men on ten tricycles.
“Brother Ting.” The ten young men greeted Zhou Haoting in unison after getting off. Then they turned to Tian Tian, and the words “Sister-in-law” nearly slipped out. But the experienced Hui stopped them just in time.
Zhou Haoting shot him a look that said “smart move.” Then he told the young men to go into the warehouse and start moving goods.
With strength in numbers, the ten tricycles loaded with goods soon returned to the Zhou house together.
Tian Tian naturally went back with them.
Once there, there was another round of unloading and storing. By the time they finished, Tian Tian realized it was almost ten at night.
“It’s too late. I need to head back first.”
Zhou Haoting said, “Come on, I’ll walk you.”
The two walked side by side out of the Zhou house and headed straight for Granny Cui’s place. Along the way, they naturally talked about the day’s events and how to sell the clothes and jeans. The walk was smooth, and they were almost home when they spotted two young figures not far away.
Under the streetlight, Tian Tian recognized the two people. One was Zhou Qiaoqiao from next door, and the other was her boyfriend, Jiang Fubin. The two were leaning close together, talking.
“Qiaoqiao, are you really not going? Once you get there, you can make at least a thousand yuan a month.”
“No, Brother Bin. If I leave, who’s going to take care of my mom?”
“It’s precisely because your mom’s arms and legs are broken that you need money even more! You can hire someone to look after your mom—fifty yuan a month is enough. Then you’d be free to go earn money. Not for long, just a year of work over there, and you’d make at least ten thousand yuan. I’ll go with you too. The two of us work hard for a year, and we can bring back twenty thousand yuan. Then we’ll have money to get married and buy a place.”
“Let me think about it some more. Is that job reliable?”
“Of course it’s reliable! Why wouldn’t it be? You’re not the only one going. There are eight people from our village going together this time. If you weren’t my girlfriend, they wouldn’t even bring us along.”
The two walked further and further away, their voices growing fainter.
But Tian Tian was very curious—what kind of job paid a thousand yuan a month?
Zhou Haoting said, “Probably going to work in Hong Kong.”
Quite a few people around here went to work in Hong Kong. Waiting tables and working construction were the most common jobs. The work was hard, but it really did pay. Earn money in Hong Kong, spend it in Shenzhen—the price difference was staggering.
But Tian Tian thought of Qian Lizhen in her past life. Could she also have been tricked into going to Hong Kong by Jiang Fubin around this time?
In any case, she didn’t believe Jiang Fubin was really capable of taking people to Hong Kong to make money—a thousand yuan a month, no less.
Still, it wasn’t as if she could intervene in something like this. A wise man doesn’t stand beneath a crumbling wall. Even if she warned Zhou Qiaoqiao, the other woman probably wouldn’t appreciate it. She might even think Tian Tian was trying to sabotage her relationship.
Never mind. Tian Tian decided to observe for a couple of days. If something really seemed off, she’d have Zhou Haoting tell his friend at the police station.
Professional matters should be left to professionals. And she, Tian Tian, would just focus on selling clothes.
However, within two days, she saw Zhou Qiaoqiao moving around the village.
These past two days, she had been running to Ye Lifeng’s factory every day and also looking for a small shop where she could sell clothes. She was so busy she was barely touching the ground. She hadn’t expected Zhou Qiaoqiao to actually be recruiting people in the village.
Yes, Zhou Qiaoqiao was recruiting in the village. She was looking for young men and women, saying she could get them jobs as hotel attendants in Hong Kong. But Tian Tian found it somewhat ridiculous, because the aunties and young women listening to her all looked at her as if she were an idiot.
Seeing this, Tian Tian breathed a sigh of relief. Right—so many people in this village had relatives working in Hong Kong. If they really wanted to go work over there, why would they need to go through Zhou Qiaoqiao, an outsider?
But while the locals ignored her, the village had many renters. These people came from all over the country, and a few young men and women really were persuaded by her.
“I’m going too. How could it be a scam?”
“Why would I be so kind as to bring you along? I’m not being kind. I get a head fee for bringing you over.”
The more Zhou Qiaoqiao said this, the more those people believed she really was taking them to make money. After all, she was going too, and she was introducing them not out of kindness but to earn a head fee. They themselves had come from their hometowns to work in Shenzhen because someone from their village had brought them out. They’d paid that person an introduction fee at the time too.
Everything seemed so reasonable to them.
So they talked happily. A kind-hearted auntie in the village tried to advise them: “Hong Kong is chaotic. You’re an outsider yourself. Do you have relatives there to receive you? What if you get scammed?”
Zhou Qiaoqiao put on a good-natured look and said, “No, this was introduced by people from my boyfriend’s village. He works at a hotel in Hong Kong. If I weren’t dating him, they wouldn’t bring me. Auntie, you know my family’s situation. My mom is the way she is. I have no choice but to go to Hong Kong to make money!”
Then she started playing the pity card, tears falling like a faucet. Tian Tian was amazed watching her.
Well, she figured she didn’t need to bother with this anymore. Someone in the village would definitely report it to the village head.
And indeed, that was exactly what happened.
That evening, as Tian Tian was eating in the courtyard with Zhou Haoting, she saw the village head heading next door to Zhou Qiaoqiao’s place with two village officials.
“Is your uncle going to warn Zhou Qiaoqiao?”
Tian Tian had just mentioned what Zhou Qiaoqiao had been saying to Zhou Haoting.
Zhou Haoting nodded. “Yeah. After all, the people Zhou Qiaoqiao is recruiting are renters in the village. If this turns out to be a scam and these people get sold off, when their families come looking, our village will be in a bad position.”
Tian Tian said, “Your uncle really is responsible.”
Listening to the commotion next door, Tian Tian asked curiously, “Hey, Zhou Haoting. Do you think this whole thing is real or fake?” She was sure Zhou Haoting must have looked into Jiang Fubin’s background behind the scenes.
Zhou Haoting said, “Jiang Fubin’s village is in the suburbs. Someone from his village really does work at a big hotel in Hong Kong.”
So on the surface, there was nothing wrong. But experience told Zhou Haoting there was something fishy going on. Still, judging by the noise next door, that woman Zhou Qiaoqiao probably wouldn’t listen to advice.
And that was indeed the case. Even after the village officials tried to talk her out of it, Zhou Qiaoqiao insisted on going her own way. And of the young renters she had persuaded, with the village committee’s intervention, only two ended up leaving with her.
Yes, by the time Tian Tian received all her goods and was preparing to open a shop and sell the batwing sleeves and jeans in a big way, Zhou Qiaoqiao had already taken those two people and left for Hong Kong with Jiang Fubin to strike it rich.
Tian Tian happened to see their backs as they crossed the border.
Yes, the shop she had rented on short notice was near the border crossing. The area had heavy foot traffic, with smuggled goods, local goods, and all kinds of merchandise moving in large volumes. She planned to do large-scale wholesale of her clothes there.
That was the only way to quickly recoup her capital.
She was just about to start stocking the shop when the people who hadn’t yet crossed the border were suddenly surrounded by several armed police officers.
This… What on earth was going on?
Zhou Haoting, who had come to help set up the shop, was also stunned by the scene. Then he said, “I’ll go ask around later.”
He was also very curious about what had happened. What could have made the armed police arrest people right before they crossed the border?
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