188 Crackdown
Even before the apples on the tree were ready to be picked, Guan Weiguo took his two brothers-in-law to the city every day to find markets for them.
No one in the family was idle; everyone mobilized relatives and friends to help. Gu Mannian contributed the most, helping to contact purchasing agents from several state-owned factories. This saved the factory workers some money on Mid-Autumn Festival gifts, and also provided a place for the apples from their hometown.
Before the Mid-Autumn Festival even arrived, the State issued the "Decision on Severely Cracking Down on Criminal Activities."
"Stop muttering and listen carefully to what the broadcast says." Grandpa Chang tapped the heads of the chattering young people, and the alleyway finally quieted down.
Although many households had radios, or even black-and-white or color TVs, everyone spontaneously gathered at the alley entrance to listen to the new decisions recently announced by the government on the radio.
After listening for a while, someone immediately clapped in agreement.
"The government should have done this a long time ago! Look at those hooligans outside, especially the younger ones. How many people in our Changhu Street have had their things stolen? Before the Lunar New Year, they only stole from small businesses, but now they're getting more and more brazen. They're even picking locks on government premises. They're too arrogant!"
Several elderly men and women chimed in, especially those with daughters at home.
"That damned bastard! There was a girl in the alley ahead who was almost dragged into a dilapidated house on her way home from her night shift. Luckily, she ran into Officer Song."
"That's right! Look at Liu Axiu, she has to go to the bus stop half an hour early every night to wait for Tingting, just because she's afraid of running into hooligans on her way back."
“That’s nothing,” Guan Aiguo said. “Our factory’s transport team was robbed on the way back. Good heavens, they ran into a bunch of men with big knives. If they had run into a bunch of men with guns, I’m afraid none of them would have escaped.”
Everyone immediately thought of the big news that had just happened at the factory the day before yesterday: more than 20 members of the transport team went to another province to transport goods, and when they came back, they were all injured, and one of them was still lying in the hospital unconscious.
These people are really capable; they managed to bring back every single item from the truck.
Previously, when the transport team went out, there was always one driver and one assistant. But in the past year or so, they have arranged for an additional person to accompany them for security work.
The experience of the Five Star Automobile Factory's transportation team is not an isolated case.
Jiang Guiying has been worried these past few days, since Guan Jianguo works as a driver in the automobile factory's transportation team.
Although he has only been driving short distances within the city since he was implicated in the smuggling incident, with so many of the factory's drivers injured, he might have to take over.
Truck drivers earn high salaries and can make a lot of extra money, but even if you make money, you have to be alive to spend it.
"Robbing people on the road—what's the difference between these people and the old bandits? They should all be arrested and shot..."
I had just listened to the radio the day before, and the next evening, staff from the neighborhood office came to do publicity work.
Next, officers from the local police station, the car factory's security department, and the street office went door-to-door to search for and confiscate the firearms privately owned by the residents.
Director Ma carried a tin megaphone from one end of the alley to the other, repeatedly announcing: "Take the initiative to hand it in, and you'll be rewarded! Hide it secretly, and you'll be punished! Report any information you have, and you'll get double the reward!"
As soon as Guan Yuehe's house was inspected and the door was locked, she took Lin Ting out to see what was going on.
They discovered that someone was indeed hiding guns at home, and judging from the basket the police were guarding, they had confiscated more than just one or two.
Guan Yuehe couldn't help but shudder at the sight, suddenly recalling the escaped convict who had hidden in the public toilet years ago, also carrying a gun. What if these people who hoard guns suddenly decided to commit crimes with them?
As the crackdown intensified day by day, various units put forward a lot of publicity, and the people from the Public Security Bureau and police stations hardly stopped. Detective Song practically lived in the police station.
The factory's security department has added more staff, who are not only responsible for patrolling the factory area, but also for patrolling the residential area, including Ginkgo Alley.
There are also patrols on the streets; you can run into one or two on your way home from get off work in the evening.
"I'm sorry to have kept you waiting again today." Li Xuelian picked up her bag and knocked on Guan Yuehe's office door.
"It's okay, I also have work to take care of."
Li Xuelian has been busy with the foreign investment conference this year, so she works late. Since they live on the same route as each other in the workplace, and the crackdown has caused widespread anxiety, they always walk home together.
"I don't know when this will be over," Li Xuelian sighed. "There are fewer people going to the public toilets at night in our coal mine's residential compound now."
It's a pity that their residential compound didn't follow suit and install personal toilets a few years ago.
"Like your family, you have a toilet at home, how convenient."
Guan Yuehe laughed and said, "Then why don't you think about applying for housing from your work unit?"
The dormitory buildings in the Ministry of Foreign Trade are much better. Given their ranks, getting a two-bedroom apartment wouldn't be a problem.
Although the couple can only be allocated one apartment, they can explain the situation to their employer and apply for an apartment from the Ministry of Foreign Trade, and then return the apartment in the coal mine's staff quarters.
"Come on, we can still have the help of our parents while we live in the coal mine's residential compound. But if we move to our work unit's residential compound, the elderly will live far away. In another ten or eight years, it will be our turn to take care of the elderly."
The two chatted loudly all the way, using their loud voices to bolster their courage—a baseless conclusion drawn by Guan Yuehe herself.
Guan Yuehe rode a little further to take Li Xuelian home, then turned back to Ginkgo Alley.
Just as I was about to pass the bus stop, I saw Liu Axiu and several other neighbors waiting. At that moment, the bus from Wuxing Automobile Factory arrived at the stop, and a group of teenagers and several workers on the middle shift poured out.
After riding a short distance, she looked back and saw Tingting and her family of three walking home side by side.
When Guan Yuehe arrived home, she didn't even have time to tidy up before going to the No. 3 courtyard to pick up Lin Ting.
When I arrived, I overheard my father saying that the People's Liberation Army had come during the day and had taken away a truckload of people.
Guan Yuehe was numb to it all; people were being arrested every day.
"If you're not in a rush, put your work aside for now and come home early tonight. It's not safe to be out too late."
"Yeah, it's okay, I took the main road back."
Lin Ting greeted everyone in the house, then ran to the neighbor's grandparents' house to wave goodbye: "My mom and I are going home to sleep!"
"Oh, you're such a good girl!" Aunt Fang hugged Lin Ting and kissed her several more times. "Tomorrow, Grandma will take you out to buy soy milk and fried dough sticks."
"Grandma is amazing!"
Guan Yuehe watched with amusement as this little sweet-talker showered her grandparents with compliments, making them beam with delight.
When Lin Ting took her hand again and led her outside, the little girl earnestly said to her, "Grandma said that if a bad person tries to catch me, I should tell Grandma when I'm walking."
It was a jumbled mess of words, but Guan Yuehe understood it nonetheless.
The elders in the family were afraid that she would run away when the adults weren't paying attention, so they repeatedly told her that there were many bad people outside who would kidnap children, and that she should tell her maternal and paternal grandparents wherever she went.
Grandpa goes to work during the day, and when she can't find him, she can't talk to him and gets angry.
This stubbornness can be really a headache sometimes.
For example, right now, after watching TV, Guan Yuehe said she was going to start studying. She patted the empty table next to her, "And Dad."
“Your dad has been staying at the military base recently, so he doesn’t have time to study at home.”
"Call your dad back."
"No, your dad has his own work to do too." Guan Yuehe gently turned her head back to the right position. "Alright, it's study time, no talking. What do you want to learn today?"
Lin thought for a moment, then raised her hand and said, "I want to drink soda."
"Okay, then let's learn about soda today."
Wow! Mom, you're amazing!
Guan Yuehe's lips curled up again and again; Lin Ting really knew how to flatter her!
Since the crackdown was launched, Lin Yiku has been coming home later and later at night, and now he can't come home at all, so he has moved into the military dormitory.
So now, the two of them are the only ones occupying the big kang (heated brick bed) at home.
Jiang Guiying was initially worried that she might beat Lin Ting with a beating at night, but Lin Ting wanted to sleep with her, so she had no choice.
They slept together for two nights. At first, they both lay very straight, but when they woke up the next day, one was at the head of the kang (a heated brick bed) and the other at the foot, without disturbing each other, and the blankets in between were still intact.
Lin Yiku couldn't go home until the Mid-Autumn Festival. He could only call the neighborhood office and ask the staff there to let them know he was safe. He didn't even have time to wait for his family to call and say a few words.
The Mid-Autumn Festival benefits were quite generous this year, but people didn't enjoy it very much.
"It's so chaotic outside, I can't even enjoy eating this mooncake."
"You don't enjoy your mooncakes? Then give me yours, I'll enjoy them. I think you've had too many good days and are getting tired of them."
Guan Yuehe peeked out the window, wondering who Aunt Hu was arguing with.
Just as they were about to take the meat to Courtyard No. 3, they suddenly heard a commotion outside. Zhou Hongqi ran out from across the street, followed by Jin Junwei, who was still wearing an apron and had flour on his hands.
Lin Ting was even more anxious than her, and grabbed her clothes to try to pull her outside.
When Guan Yuehe went outside, she found that the neighbors had already gathered several circles around her, and she couldn't see anything in front of her even when she stood on tiptoe.
"Aunt Bai, what are you doing?"
"I heard that a woman went to the police station to report that the son of our factory's deputy director and several other factory workers were harassing women, and the police came to arrest them."
Is this true?
"I think it's probably true." Aunt Bai curled her lips in disgust. "The deputy factory director in charge of logistics and finance is no good either. He used his position as a leader to embezzle a lot of money in the past. His son is also a bully who takes advantage of his master's power. He used to bully his classmates when he was in school, and he has taken advantage of loopholes since he started working. I'm not surprised at all that he's a hooligan!"
“These guys in our alley were always up to petty theft, and they didn’t behave themselves even when they were sent to the countryside. Now that they’re back in the city, their families have arranged temporary jobs for them, but they’re still looking down on them. I really don’t know what they were thinking… Now look what’s happened, they’re locked up in jail. They all deserved it!”
Even Luo Guifang, who is usually good-tempered, spat several times and said that the police did a good job making the arrest.
With gifts in one hand and Lin Ting in the other, Guan Yuehe couldn't squeeze in, so she went home.
Listening to Guan Aiguo, the big-mouthed gossip, I learned that the deputy factory director's son wanted to woo Baoyu, but failed, and now he's always trying to cause trouble at the hospital.
No wonder the older women in the No. 2 courtyard were all saying that the police did a good job catching him; they were all hoping that the thug would get shot.
However, this seems to be just the beginning.
After that, the police came several more times. Some people were arrested for hooliganism, some for gang fighting, and some for participating in theft.
The most outrageous thing is that the security department of the car factory was investigating in the staff quarters and ended up investigating one of their own people, uncovering a gang that had been stealing the factory's collective property.
"What's so outrageous about this?" Aunt Bai said with a "you're too naive" expression. "There are still people making baseless accusations, saying that someone is being a hooligan when nothing has happened."
Guan Yuehe immediately thought of her second brother's past misfortunes and frowned, "We can't just say that being a hooligan is the same as being a hooligan, can we? That's too harmful."
"Some things can be explained clearly, but others you can't explain, and those are truly baffling."
In mid-October, news began to circulate that those who had been arrested in September were going to be executed.
Among them, the deputy factory director's son was on the list of those to be executed.
"Hiss!" The elderly men and women gasped. "Did you hear that right? He's really going to be executed?"
"How can you just say something like this? The factory has already announced it over the loudspeaker! The deputy factory director has already retired early and gone home."
At first, everyone thought the deputy factory director's son had committed a serious offense, which was why he was executed. However, it turned out that some offenses that wouldn't normally be considered serious were also on the execution list.
Everyone understood: when the government says it will crack down hard, it really means it will severely punish crime!
"So, Ding Laowu managed to escape unscathed? In his condition, he'd be shot no matter what, wouldn't he?"
"That goes without saying. And Ding Xianguang, that kid is pretty good at dodging too."
Ding Xianguang, who was mentioned, has not been caught yet. Instead, an old acquaintance from Ginkgo Hutong has been arrested.
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