Chapter 190: Child of Fortune
As the five of them chatted, Wang An suddenly asked, "Brother Wu, about our village head, Niu Yiqun—do you know what happened with him?"
Wu Dong thought for a moment and said, "Him? He ran into some ruthless people. But it's no big deal; he was handled for serious work violations and expelled from the Party."
Wu Dong's words left Wang An stunned. Expelled, and it's "no big deal"? What kind of twisted logic was this?
Suddenly, Wu Dong frowned and asked, "Right, I almost forgot. That Lu Yueyue you asked me to help with the paperwork for—her background is pretty formidable! Do you know her?"
"Know her? In what sense?" Wang An had intended to say he didn't, but after all, he was the one who had begged Wu Dong for the favor. If Wu Dong ended up in a passive position because he lacked information, Wang An would feel a great sense of guilt.
However, Wang An's response didn't just stun Wu Dong; even Wang Shuai and the other two were floored. All four of them looked at Wang An simultaneously.
Would a normal person brazenly claim to "know" a woman in "every sense"? That was impossible.
Thus, Wu Dong teased him with a laugh, "Aiya, my goodness! It turns out my little brother is the one truly hiding his depths. Come clean—what's the story here?"
Seeing that Wu Dong didn't seem to be in a precarious position, Wang An gave a brief account of what he knew about Lu Yueyue, omitting only the parts about them getting on the kang and the killing.
When he mentioned that Lu Yueyue's family were "Red Merchants," the expressions of Wu Dong and the other three changed instantly, becoming solemn and serious.
Although Wang An knew a bit about Red Merchants, he had felt they were simply patriotic businessmen with nothing particularly special about them.
But seeing the four of them change faces in unison, he realized those two words were extraordinary. Otherwise, given the backgrounds and family status of Wu Dong and his companions, why would they care?
After a while, Wu Dong spoke slowly, "No wonder. No wonder Deputy County Magistrate Zheng got dragged down for trying to protect Niu Yiqun at all costs. So they're Red Merchants."
Wang An was still confused, so he asked doubtfully, "What's actually going on? Are you guys scared?"
Wang Shuai glanced at Wang An and said, "It's not about being scared. It's just that anyone who provokes them faces a lot of trouble. These people can make your life miserable in every possible way. The serow pelts we got this time were taken by them to earn foreign exchange."
At this point, Wu Dong dropped his serious expression and said with a laugh to Wang Shuai and the others, "I didn't expect that the fundamental reason our business went so smoothly was actually because of Little An."
Wang An was even more bewildered. What the hell were they talking about?
Consequently, Wang An asked, "Brothers, can you stop speaking in riddles? Is it right to leave me here as the only one in the dark?"
"Hahaha!" Seeing Wang An's anxious face, the four of them burst into laughter.
Once they had laughed their fill, Wu Dong began to explain.
It turned out that Wu Dong and his group's business involved importing a batch of second-hand machinery from abroad, including production lines. These were items desperately needed domestically, but they lacked foreign exchange. Even after they finally scraped together enough currency, the goods were blocked.
Although Wu Dong and his group were powerful figures in Heilongjiang Province and could find connections within the country, they were nobodies once they stepped abroad.
Therefore, they had exhausted every resource to find someone with influence overseas. After an immense amount of effort, they finally found a group of Red Merchants in Shanghai.
Unfortunately, communication between the North and South was limited, and the Northeast was separated by the Shanhai Pass. While people from the South couldn't easily reach into the Northeast, the hands of Northeasterners couldn't reach that far either.
Just as everyone was panicking, someone from above called to inquire about Lu Yueyue's situation. Of course, Wu Dong didn't take the call; the County Magistrate did. Faced with questions from above, the Magistrate naturally didn't dare hide anything and mentioned Wu Dong's request regarding the paperwork.
Afterward, the Magistrate informed Wu Dong of the situation. However, since the paperwork for Lu Yueyue was a non-issue for Wu Dong, he just listened and let it go.
But soon, the Shanghai side agreed to help, and the goods were safely transported back.
After hearing the whole story, Wang An's mind felt dizzy and muddled. Could the world really be this coincidental?
Even "getting on the kang" could trigger such a massive chain of events!
One had to admit, "sexual" matters were not to be underestimated!
Wu Dong and the others showered Wang An with flattery and teasing, continuing to press him for details about Lu Yueyue. But since he had already said what he could, a man like Wang An was never going to reveal private matters.
After a while, Wang An stopped asking about Niu Yiqun and instead asked, "What about his nephew, Niu Dali?"
"He probably won't be coming out. Now that Lu Yueyue has returned, the Shanghai side has no more inhibitions and is retaliating with a vengeance. Even Deputy County Magistrate Zheng was disciplined. With no one to protect him, he's basically finished," Wu Dong said casually.
Wang An nodded, then suddenly asked in confusion, "How do you know all this gossip?"
Hearing this, Wu Dong laughed, "What a question! I'm the one specifically in charge of all this gossip in the county, hahaha!"
As they chatted, it was soon near noon. Wang An bid them farewell. Although Wang Shuai and the others tried their best to make him stay, Wang An had things to do and made an excuse to leave.
Watching Wang An's departing figure, Wu Dong smiled at the three beside him, "Ever since I met Wang An, all sorts of good things have come our way. This kid is simply our child of fortune, hahaha!"
"Indeed!" Wang Shuai and the others agreed with laughter.
Wang An drove his sledge to Qiao Xiaohu's place and collected the money. After settling the accounts, Wang An took 340 yuan, left four jumping cats on the sledge, gave Qiao Xiaohu one jumping cat, and left the rest for Qiao Xiaohu to sell.
Although there was only jumping cat meat this time and no other game, Qiao Xiaohu was still very happy because he had picked out 12 flying dragons from the pile of jumping cats.
One had to realize that through many meat sales, Wang An had never let Qiao Xiaohu sell a single flying dragon. There were plenty of wealthy people, and naturally, many people asked Qiao Xiaohu about them, but he had no stock. Having money you can't earn is the most frustrating feeling!
Furthermore, the commission for selling one flying dragon was roughly the same as selling 20 jin of wild boar meat. By selling 12 flying dragons, Qiao Xiaohu could earn 7.2 yuan, which was far more time- and effort-efficient than selling 240 jin of boar meat.
As Wang An was about to leave with his sledge, Qiao Xiaohu suddenly said, "Big brother, it's the end of the year. All meat prices have gone up recently. Should we raise ours?"
Wang An replied casually, "Just sell it as you see fit. Don't ask me about this."
"Alright, big brother! Then I'll raise them a bit. If I can sell for more and don't, I'd be a fool," Qiao Xiaohu said, scratching his head with a grin.
Wang An smiled without speaking, handed Qiao Xiaohu a cigarette, and drove his sledge away.
Wang An thought about what he should buy, and he recalled the scene of his father acting up the other day.
His father was quite amusing, waving the cigarette basket in front of him, and seeing that he remained indifferent, waving the cigarette paper and tobacco. Thinking of this, Wang An couldn't help but laugh.
Arriving at the supply and marketing cooperative, Wang An bought 20 cartons of Changbaishan cigarettes. He had originally wanted to buy Bingcheng, but thinking that his father would surely complain, he changed his mind.
After all, even Changbaishan at 7 cents a pack was not something an ordinary person could afford.
Looking at the many cartons of Changbaishan, Wang An thought of the smug look on his brother-in-law Mu Xueli's face when he said, "If you smoke, only smoke Changbaishan."
What a day!