Chapter 45: Chaos in the Team

Li Long didn't return that night, but Li Jianguo wasn't particularly worried. Recent events had made it clear to him that his younger brother had become much more steady and reliable in his dealings. Since he hadn't come back, it was highly likely he had been delayed by something. Therefore, although he didn't sleep very soundly and went out to check a couple of times when the dogs barked, he wasn't overly concerned.

When he woke up the next morning, he explained to Liang Yuemei

"Xiao Long must have run into something in the mountains. He'll definitely be back tomorrow—I need to go to the production team to settle the work points for the horse carriage."

"Then go quickly and explain it clearly to the captain," Liang Yuemei said. "That way, it'll be easier to borrow the carriage next time."

From the current situation, the Li family actually knew that Li Long would be borrowing the horse carriage frequently in the future.

When Li Jianguo returned again, his expression was somewhat strange.

Liang Yuemei asked him what was wrong.

"The captain said Gu Ermao was arrested yesterday. The captain went to pick him up yesterday afternoon, and he was fined twenty yuan."

"Arrested? Why?" Liang Yuemei was surprised. "What did he do?"

Although Gu Ermao was a bit frivolous, he wasn't particularly bold; he shouldn't be capable of doing anything truly heinous, right?

"They said it was profiteering—he was caught at the Lei Black Market yesterday morning."

"The black market? Then Xiao Long..." Liang Yuemei immediately grew worried.

"Xiao Long is fine. This Gu Ermao just followed Xiao Long to the black market. He saw Xiao Long buying things and leaving with the horse carriage, so he tried to follow him, and then... he got caught."

"Why was he following Xiao Long?" Liang Yuemei's face darkened instantly. Gu Ermao used to associate with Li Long quite often. Liang Yuemei had warned Li Long about him before, but at the time, Li Long simply wouldn't listen.

Now that Li Long was clearly improving and no longer hanging around such hooligans, what good intentions could Gu Ermao have by following him?

"He confessed everything. He said he wanted to follow our Xiao Long into the mountains to scout the paths. Every time Li Long comes back, he brings back so many things. They went into the mountains twice and didn't get a thing, so he wanted to follow to see if he could memorize the route. Who knew..."

At this point, Li Jianguo gritted his teeth

"The damn brat even told the militia members that Li Long had sold things at the black market, saying he wanted to report him to earn merit..."

"What is that scoundrel trying to do?" Liang Yuemei was completely incensed this time. In the countryside, the concept of loyalty and righteousness still prevailed. If someone didn't actually catch you doing something but you insisted on reporting it anyway, that was making an enemy. Even if it wasn't a mortal vendetta, it meant there could be no dealings in the future.

"The captain said they didn't pay him any mind. Since they didn't catch him red-handed, they required evidence," Li Jianguo said slowly. "The captain said to tell Xiao Long to be careful when he goes out. He needs to be cautious around the New Year; policies might change later, but for now, we have to follow the higher-ups."

"Hmph." Liang Yuemei's anger had not subsided.

"When Xiao Long gets back, we'll have a good talk with him," Li Jianguo said. "We have fish and meat at home, much better than in previous years. Let's not stir up any more trouble this year."

"We'll talk when he's back," Liang Yuemei sighed. "As for the Gu family..."

"Don't bother with them. This matter isn't over," Li Jianguo sneered. "After the Gu family pulls a stunt like this, I'll see what face Gu Laoda has left to show me!"

The Gu family was also currently shrouded in gloom. Twenty yuan was not a small sum. Their family could only come up with fourteen yuan in total; the remaining six yuan had been advanced by the captain, Xu Chengjun.

Although Gu Ermao looked fine on the surface, every inch of his body ached. The main issue was that he had insisted from the start that he wasn't there to trade. But would the militia believe him? To make matters worse, when the officials came to check, he had cried out his innocence. The officials ignored him, but once they left, the two militia members, incensed by his behavior, had given him a thorough beating.

"What kind of mess have you made?" Gu Ermao's father, Gu Laoda, pointed at him indignantly. "If you weren't going to admit it, then just admit it! Why did you have to drag the Li boy into this? What did he ever do to you?"

"If it wasn't him, how could I have been caught?" Gu Ermao didn't feel he was in the wrong at all, tilting his neck defiantly as he talked back. "If he had just told me the route, or taken me into the mountains, this wouldn't have happened! If I can't have a good time, he shouldn't either!"

"I don't know about him, but your life is about to get very difficult," Gu Laoda was nearly driven to laughter by his stupid son's idiocy. "Now that the people in the production team know about this, don't even think about going out. Just wait for them to stab you in the back!"

"How could the people in the team know?" Gu Ermao felt a flicker of worry upon hearing that word might spread, but he still held onto a shred of hope. "Only the captain and you went there. If you didn't say anything and the captain didn't say anything, how could they know?"

"The captain didn't say anything?" For the first time, Gu Laoda felt his son was truly beyond saving. "The captain didn't need to tell many people; he only needed to tell Li Jianguo... You! Come with me to the Li house at noon to apologize!"

"I won't! I'd rather die than go!" Gu Ermao couldn't bear the shame and turned to stomp into his room.

"Sigh!" Gu Laoda slapped his thigh. His wife had gone out to gossip with the neighbors; it wouldn't be long before this shameful incident became common knowledge!

Sure enough, a moment later, Gu Ermao's mother, Sister Liu, ran in in a panic. Seeing Gu Laoda, she asked

"Where is Ermao?"

"In the inner room," Gu Laoda said irritably. "I told him to go to the Li house to apologize, but he refused."

"It's too late!" Sister Liu also slapped her thigh hard. "The news is already spreading through the team. They're saying Ermao was caught and that he snitched on the Li boy. The authorities didn't do anything about the Li boy, they just fined Ermao. Now the whole team is saying that Li Long has connections, and that our Ermao is a piece of trash..."

As she spoke, she entered the inner room and hurriedly said to Gu Ermao

"Ermao, go hide at your uncle's place for a few days. Otherwise, the people in the team won't know what to say about you!"

Gu Ermao had heard his mother's words and was also panicking. He had originally thought that after breaking up Wu Shufen and Li Long, he could take advantage of the situation. Currently, he and Wu Shufen could still talk a bit, and there was some progress. If she found out about his business, wouldn't everything fall apart?

But the idea of leaving the production team to go to his uncle's house made him feel truly unwilling.

"Husband, think of something!" Seeing her son remaining motionless, Sister Liu came out to urge Gu Laoda again. What could Gu Laoda possibly do?

Just as Gu Ermao's situation was escalating and spreading, Captain Xu Chengjun received another phone call. He was absolutely livid.

Tao Dayong from the Tao family had been caught red-handed selling fish at the black market!

He felt like he was going to faint!

None of these people were easy to deal with!

Xu Chengjun actually understood that the occurrence of these two incidents was inseparable from Li Long. They all saw how well Li Long was doing—making money, getting goods, and staying out of trouble—so they all wanted to imitate him. But they lacked his luck, and as a result, both were caught.

Damn it! He had to lose face all over again!