Chapter 101 Black Market Crisis

The gentle smile on Lu Zheng's lips vanished instantly, and he became as cold as an iceberg that had never melted in a thousand years: "You can call me Comrade Lu or Brother Lu, but you can't call me Brother Zheng."

As soon as Lu Zheng finished speaking, Li Tiemei's face turned deathly pale. She never expected that Lu Zheng would be so disrespectful to her in front of so many comrades from the Revolutionary Committee.

She bit her lip, her face turning pale, and forcefully threw the materials in her hand away before turning and leaving.

Xia Qianqian looked at the document; it was actually the Revolutionary Committee's declaration of counterattack! Her heart tightened suddenly. If she had to start copying this document now, it would mean that the Revolutionary Committee's counterattack was about to begin in the next few days!

She didn't dare to think too much, and hurriedly squatted down to pick up the materials, gesturing for Lu Zheng to look at them.

Lu Zheng quickly finished scanning, his brows furrowed, and he fell silent. After a moment, he spoke to Xia Qianqian, "Let's finish the work first."

She didn't know what Lu Zheng was planning, and it wasn't appropriate to ask here, so she could only keep her work to herself. But in her heart, she was thinking that tomorrow, she absolutely had to find an excuse to go to the black market. The construction of Peach Blossom Spring had to be accelerated; only there could perhaps become a safe haven for their family.

As night fell, before Xia Qianqian and Lu Zheng even stepped into the house, they heard the cheerful sounds of two children playing inside.

"This fried egg is mine!" Er Ya's shout carried from afar.

Xia Qianqian secretly rejoiced that Sun Zhaodi's house was empty; otherwise, if the neighbors kept hearing them eating eggs, they would inevitably become jealous. In these turbulent times, she acted with extra caution.

"You already ate two, and now you're trying to take mine! You naughty girl! If you eat so much, you'll get diarrhea!"

Xia Qianqian had never heard Daya's voice so lively and cheerful before, and her heart skipped a beat. Could it be that after these days of guidance and encouragement, Daya had finally resolved her inner conflict?

She looked out into the yard and saw Daya chasing Erya, who quickly swallowed a fried egg. When Daya caught her, Erya winked at her, looking extremely mischievous.

Unfortunately, just a few minutes later, Er Ya clutched her stomach tightly with both hands and ran frantically towards the outhouse. Daya quickly grabbed some toilet paper and chased after her, muttering, "I told you not to be greedy! Now look what happened, you've got diarrhea!"

"Okay! I've already picked all the vegetables. You can go wash them directly. Don't follow me, they stink!" Er Ya took the paper and ran into the outhouse.

Xia Qianqian smiled with satisfaction as she watched the two sisters get along well. She thought to herself that she would stir-fry some eggs with scallions for the children tonight. These days, the children had been lacking in oil and fat, and were very hungry. Once they had enough oil and fat, they probably wouldn't be so greedy.

Thinking of this, Xia Qianqian went to get the eggs again. Watching from the side, Lu's mother couldn't help but advise, "Qianqian, these eggs can't be eaten like this. We need to live a life of moderation."

Qianqian bought all these eggs with her own money; she didn't want her daughter-in-law to spend all her savings on them. There would be many expenses if they had children in the future, so she needed to plan ahead.

Xia Qianqian smiled and comforted Lu's mother: "Mom, don't worry. The Revolutionary Committee said they will pay me my wages."

Upon hearing this, Lu's mother's eyes lit up, and she quickly asked, "Are they still hiring? Why don't I go and work too, and earn some extra money?"

Xia Qianqian dared not let her mother-in-law go; if her mother-in-law went, wouldn't the truth be exposed immediately?

She quickly explained, "Mom, I know that leader from Nancheng, which is why he specifically gave me this job. I'd be embarrassed to ask him for help again."

Lu's mother immediately understood the situation and said, "Then I won't go and join in the fun. You must be exhausted after a long day at work. Quickly drink some hot soup while it's still hot, and dinner will be ready soon."

The next day, Xia Qianqian made an excuse, saying she was going to buy medicine for the villagers, and went to the city again.

Upon arriving at the location, she summoned Zhang San from Peach Blossom Spring. Xia Qianqian, her eyes filled with scrutiny, asked, "Are you really confident you can get your brothers to work for me?"

Upon hearing this, Zhang San immediately patted his chest and confidently assured her, "Fairy, you can rest assured, they will definitely be willing to serve you!"

This is a chance to attain immortality; if you don't follow along, you'd be a fool!

Xia Qianqian carefully examined Zhang San. These days, he had been staying obediently in Peach Blossom Spring. He had not only cultivated several vegetable plots and kept the vegetable beds neat and tidy, but also built a rather nice hut. Seeing that Zhang San was so reliable, Xia Qianqian decided to trust him this time.

The two arrived at the air-raid shelter. Xia Qianqian stopped and said, "You go in first."

Zhang San nodded and turned to walk towards the black market. At that moment, the black market boss sat in the dimly lit room, his brow furrowed. These past few days, he had been overwhelmed by various troubles and didn't know what to do.

First, his men mysteriously disappeared. He led his men to search everywhere, but each time they returned empty-handed. They had all agreed to share the good times and the bad, but now that Zhang San had vanished without a trace, he didn't know how to explain it to his other brothers.

What troubled him even more was the matter of the Revolutionary Committee.

As the head of the black market, nothing, big or small, escaped his notice.

Previously, he had several powerful backers in the Revolutionary Committee, so no one dared to provoke the black market easily, and they lived a carefree life here.

But now the situation has taken a sharp turn for the worse. A command center was established on the 8th, and those people are like a pack of hungry wolves, each one incredibly ruthless. They somehow found out about the black market here, and they've labeled it a criminal organization, even planning to lead a raid on it.

Previously, the command had sent several groups of people to persuade them to surrender, saying that the 8th had already done everything they could by first being courteous and then resorting to force. If the black market still didn't appreciate this, they shouldn't blame them for getting serious.

Today is the deadline those people gave him.

The gang leader paced back and forth in the room, smoking one cigarette after another, filling the room with thick smoke that made it hard for people to breathe.

He knew perfectly well how troublesome those people were. He'd even heard that they'd used artillery during their attack on the territory!

Surrendering is by no means a good idea. He had heard that several private business owners had chosen to surrender, thinking they could save their lives, but none of them ended up well.

Seeing their boss's worried expression, the men felt bad for him. One of them mustered up his courage and said, "Boss, why don't we just close this place down? Anyway, fewer and fewer people are coming here to set up stalls lately, there's no point in continuing."