Chapter 39 Buying Fake Alcohol
Su Weiming's highly recommended noodle shop is located in a small alleyway inside the provincial state-owned No. 131 Department Store.
Which dish is the best in each state-run restaurant depends entirely on which cuisine the chef specializes in.
The head chef of this restaurant specializes in noodle dishes, so noodles naturally became the restaurant's signature dish.
It was just past seven o'clock, and a long line of people had already formed in front of the store to eat noodles. Among the group of people in blue-gray work clothes, the young women wearing light yellow polyester shirts were the most eye-catching.
Chen Yun sighed inwardly, "As expected of the provincial capital's aesthetic sense, the shirt's waist is perfectly tailored, completely different from the 'bucket-shaped' shirts in the factory stores."
Several young women who lined up a few steps ahead of them were also dressed in bright and beautiful clothes.
"Captain, I feel like the clothes the women in the provincial capital are wearing this year are different from previous years..."
Even the most oblivious gay man could tell the difference.
Not only are the colors much brighter and bolder, but some men are even wearing hair oil, which would have been considered capitalist style a few years ago.
"Who cares what other people wear?" Gao Ming parked the car in front of the restaurant and, seeing that Chen Yun was already at the end of the line, said with a smile, "If you think it looks good, buy a couple for your sister-in-law to wear. She can look at it every day at home."
“Needless to say.” Su Weiming raised an eyebrow and patted his chest: “As soon as you mentioned exchanging tickets, I quickly went to Zheng San and the others to exchange a lot of cloth tickets, just waiting to buy my wife two new outfits today.”
"Now that he has a wife, he's at least somewhat decent."
"The shops are still open early. How about we go for a stroll around Da Kouzi after we finish our noodles?"
Seeing that no one was paying attention, Su Weiming quickly moved closer to Gao Ming and asked in a low voice, while patting the left chest pocket of his shirt.
Gao Ming glanced down and knew that the kid must have secretly taken on another job exchanging things at Da Kouzi.
"Change what?"
"A bottle of Shuangfeng brand liquor." Su Weiming held up three fingers and shook them, his smug expression evident. "Three yuan for your trouble, isn't that a good deal?"
The wages for transport teams are not high. Ordinary drivers like Su Weiming only earn 36 yuan a month, and sometimes they even have to pay for their own meals on the road.
Therefore, the transport team would charge an extra one to two cents for each item they brought back from the provincial capital for the factory workers.
This is the visible "profit" or "gain."
As for items that require taking risks to exchange on the black market, the team rules prohibit helping with that, but they won't interfere if someone takes on those privately.
Who wouldn't be envious of the network of contacts Gao Ming has built up by helping others sell goods? You could count on one hand the number of factory leaders who haven't asked him to help them sell things.
"Three yuan?" Gao Ming scoffed with a forced smile. "Do you know that Shuangfeng brand liquor is only sold locally?"
"There must be something in the big hole!"
"You can't find it in Da Kouzi. Shuangfeng brand liquor is exclusively supplied with foreign exchange. You have to exchange it for foreign exchange certificates on the black market first, and then buy it at a foreign exchange market. Do you even know what the exchange rate is... and you still dare to accept it?"
I thought I got a great deal with a three-yuan tip, but who knows, I might have to pay out of my own pocket if the exchange rate is higher someday.
"You bastard tricked me!" Su Weiming was so angry that his eyes almost spit fire. He turned around to kick the bicycle but then realized it was borrowed, so he stopped mid-air and pulled it back.
Now...the anger was mixed with a sense of frustration.
"Gao Ming, it's our turn!"
Gao Ming turned around and agreed, then dragged Su Weiming, who had no appetite for noodles, into the restaurant.
Three bowls of noodles were ordered.
"You were so happy a moment ago, how come you turned so angry in the blink of an eye?" Chen Yun handed the meal ticket through the window.
After the ticket seller finished calculating on the abacus, her voice, thick with the Kunming dialect, came through: "Three bowls of noodles for six mao, a plate of cold peanuts for one mao and fifty cents, two bowls of noodles with meat for eight mao... totaling one yuan and fifty-five cents."
Chen Yun handed in the money and received a small white slip of paper with the amount printed on it.
Since they didn't bring enamel bowls, they had to pay an extra 50 cents deposit, which would be refunded if they returned the bowls to the window after they finished eating.
"Is the comrade a doctor?"
As Chen Yun slipped the note into her bag and reached for the bowl, she heard a clear, melodious female voice from the side.
Looking back, the speaker was the pretty girl in the pale yellow shirt.
"You can tell?" Chen Yun touched his face in surprise.
“You smell of disinfectant, just like my dad does.”
The girl also bought two bowls of noodles, and after receiving the ticket, she enthusiastically helped Chen Yun carry the plates to the food serving window.
"You can smell that?"
Chen Yun raised her arm to smell it; besides the smell of soap, her clothes smelled of sweat from sitting for more than ten hours.
Besides, the hospital only wipes medical equipment and desks with disinfectant, and the only thing Chen Yun could be exposed to for a long time was the white coat.
Could it be that the white coat... got marinated?
The girl wrinkled her nose and laughed happily: "I've always had a keen sense of smell since I was little. My mom says my nose is even more sensitive than a dog's."
“It’s quite effective,” Chen Yun agreed with a smile.
The noodles were cooked and handed out through the window. Gao Ming and a dejected Su Weiming carried them to find a seat, while Chen Yun nodded to the girl.
There's no need to exchange names and talk about the future when we meet by chance.
The noodle shop was crowded, and people ate quickly. Soon they found a table by the glass window and sat down.
What's wrong with him?
I came here happily to eat noodles, but once I got the noodles, I suddenly lost my appetite, picking them up and putting them down again.
"I thought I had gotten a great deal, but I ended up losing out instead of getting a good deal," Gao Ming summarized casually.
After hearing the whole story, Chen Yun felt that the summary was quite appropriate.
"Who exactly asked you to bring them alcohol?"
After waiting for Su Weiming to speak for a while, Chen Yun picked up the noodles and stirred them, knowing that Gao Ming was about to start solving the problem.
"Zhao Jidong from the radio station."
A sigh escaped his nostrils. Gao Ming picked the chili peppers off the noodles and put them into Chen Yun's bowl, sneering, "Serves you right for getting ripped off!"
“I…” Su Weiming lowered his head in frustration.
"Don't you know what kind of person Zhao Jidong is?" Gao Ming said softly, but the displeasure in his tone was obvious: "Since you knew that and still agreed to help, what else could it be but your own fault!"
"Who is Zhao Jidong?" Chen Yun asked curiously.
"Factory Director Zhao Feng's second son... is not a good person."
Most of the older employees should have heard of Zhao Jidong. Chen Yun didn't know him because he had kept a low profile and hadn't done anything out of line in the past two years.
Even Gao Ming's expression turned ugly when Zhao Jidong was mentioned.
Zhao Feng's hard-earned reputation was ruined by his second son; otherwise, with his achievements, he wouldn't have been transferred to such a remote mountain village as a third-tier factory.
As it turned out, this was exactly what Zhao Jidong wanted. Someone who hadn't even graduated from elementary school managed to set up a radio station by bribing the factory leadership.
Zhao Jidong was appointed as the station chief, and was promoted directly from being an idle person to a cadre.
"I..." Chen Yun paused, thinking carefully, "I don't recall ever hearing the factory's loudspeaker ring?"
If Gao Ming hadn't told her, Chen Yun wouldn't have known that the factory had a broadcasting station department.
“Sleep during the day, play cards at night.” Gao Ming picked up a noodle and put it in his mouth to chew, then glanced at Su Weiming: “Eat the noodles first, then figure out how to solve the problem.”
"The Reform Commission isn't doing anything about it?"
Even when Zhao Qiang brought some wild fruit, he almost stormed into the house to search it. Such a huge cancer was running rampant in the factory, yet no one cared.
"With the factory director's title above, Zhao Jidong has secretly given countless gifts to the Reform Committee, and everyone in the factory turns a blind eye."
Chen Yun was able to get into Hongri Machinery Factory thanks to Zhao Feng's relentless recruitment despite the pressure. In the original owner's memories, he always held this factory director in high esteem.
But the person he's talking about now sounds quite different from the upright and incorruptible person in the original owner's memories.
Gao Ming knew a little about Chen Yun's past, and seeing the deep disappointment in her eyes, he quickly tried to explain, "The factory director is impeccable in his work, but when it comes to handling family matters..." He shook his head and didn't continue.
Zhao Feng's character isn't particularly problematic; his only issue is that he has two doting grandparents who spoil their grandson excessively. Even if the sky were to fall into a hole, they would only clap and cheer.
As soon as Zhao Feng tries to deal with Zhao Jidong, Beicheng will immediately call and yell at him, saying that they don't need to worry about their grandson's affairs anymore.
“I remember back then we were still in Beicheng, and Zhao Jidong took a fancy to a new female colleague at the factory… and in the end he managed to marry her.”
As long as Gao Ming said he could solve it, Su Weiming immediately felt relieved and happily started bragging to Chen Yun.
"This has caused quite a stir," Su Weiming said, blowing on his noodles to cool them down. "The woman didn't want it, and the factory director forbade Zhao Jidong from harassing her anymore. He even planned to transfer him... But guess what happened, sister-in-law!"
"He ruined someone's reputation?"
"Your sister-in-law is really something! But he's even more of a beast than we thought. He tried to take advantage of a woman while he was drunk, but thankfully he didn't succeed... It's just that somehow they ended up getting married later."
Chen Yun: "..."
"I know the inside story."
While Chen Yun and Su Weiming were enthusiastically reminiscing about the past, Gao Ming had already finished his noodles, pushed the bowl away, and began to speak in a deep voice.
Zhang Jidong is a bastard, and the woman's family members are no better.
Because her daughter's reputation was ruined, she insisted that Zhao Jidong marry her, and in the end, she demanded a bride price of 600 yuan.
Six hundred yuan... They sold their daughter to a beast.
"You want to make that kind of money from scoundrels?" Gao Ming frowned tightly, his eyes cold. "Guess why Zhao Jidong didn't ask me for help?"
Su Weiming scratched his face in shame, explaining that no matter how much he tried to justify himself, he really just wanted to earn those three yuan.
"If I don't bring any alcohol back, Zhao Jidong will definitely cause me trouble..."
“We’ll take this wine for him.” Gao Ming reached out to Su Weiming: “We have to be generous with it, give me the money and coupons.”
Su Weiming hurriedly took money out of his pocket.
Chen Yun buried his head in his noodles.
"Dr. Chen!"
Suddenly, a deep and joyful voice came from the side of the table.
"Director Xu!"
The man was Xu Gaoyuan, who had met Chen Yun once before.
"What a coincidence." Xu Gaoyuan sat down at the table to the right, took the chopsticks handed to him by the girl across from him, and put them back on his bowl. "I was just mentioning you to Director Xu of our gynecology department a few days ago."
Sitting opposite Xu Gaoyuan was a girl in a pale yellow shirt; upon closer inspection, the two did indeed look somewhat alike.
"The Bureau of Labor Security approved a batch of penicillin, and the hospital sent me to pick it up," Chen Yun smiled at the girl he was curiously looking at.
"I discussed the newborn scoring system you mentioned last time with Director Xu. She thinks it's very beneficial for subsequent monitoring of infant growth curves..."
"Dad," the girl interrupted Xu Gaoyuan helplessly, "Let's eat noodles first. Didn't you see Dr. Chen is eating noodles too!"
"This is my daughter, Xu Li, who is studying at Kunming Teachers College." Xu Gaoyuan smiled good-naturedly, seemingly very obedient to his daughter.
"Director Xu is so lucky. From now on, this family will not only have a doctor but also a teacher."
"Whether I can be assigned to teach at a school in Kun'an is still uncertain." Xu Gaoyuan smiled modestly, then suddenly remembered something important: "I've already reported the issue of the professional training for existing grassroots medical staff that you mentioned last time to the hospital..."
Xu Gaoyuan's passion for his work was evident; after a few casual words, he was back to work.
Seeing that the noodles were covered in a layer of oil after being blown by the wind, Xu Li could only laugh and cry as she continued to interject, "Dad, hurry up and eat! Didn't you say this morning that you had an important reception today?"
Xu Gaoyuan exclaimed "Ouch!" twice and indeed sped up his eating.
"Today, the provincial leaders' former superiors are coming to the hospital for heart examinations, and our hospital has taken on this task."
Before leaving, Xu Gaoyuan explained the details of the reception mission.
Chen Yun listened but didn't take it to heart.
It was only eight o'clock when they came out of the noodle shop, and the shops next door hadn't opened yet, so Gao Ming took Chen Yun to Dakouzi in Kun'an City.
Big Mouth was hiding outside a cluster of old residential buildings. The weeds around the abandoned factory were taller than a person, and from a distance, you couldn't even see the shadows of people walking around inside.
Gao Ming locked the car at the entrance of the alley and led Chen Yun and Su Weiming around in a large circle outside the weeds.
A row of people squatted down next to the corner of the warehouse wall, talking to the people who came to trade in very low voices, almost in whispers.
A constant buzzing sound became the background noise of the large-scale transaction.
"Captain, where do we go to exchange foreign exchange certificates?"
Su Weiming remembered Gao Ming saying that he needed to use foreign exchange certificates to buy wine, so he asked in a low voice as soon as he got close to the warehouse.
"No foreign exchange certificates"
Gao Ming's eyes searched among the row of people, and then landed on the face of a middle-aged man wearing a gray hat at the corner.
"How can I buy things without exchanging foreign currency?"
"Just buy the wine."
As soon as he finished speaking, the middle-aged man, who had been hanging his head, suddenly looked up at him upon hearing the word "alcohol."
What kind of wine do you want to buy?
"Double Phoenix Brand".
Is it just for show or is it only 80% good?
After a moment's thought, Gao Ming stretched out his hand and made an eight-shaped gesture.
The appearance is that only the bottle is real, while the appearance is that even the wine is real.
"Eight-tenths quality for twelve yuan, no bargaining. The label and cap are guaranteed to be flawless."
"Take a look at the things."
The conversation between the two, which was essentially a game of charades, quickly came to an end, and the middle-aged man immediately stood up and led the way.
He led the people back from the warehouse to the alley, turning left and right before entering a large courtyard.
The west wing of the courtyard had collapsed into ruins, and the only habitable room left in the east wing was the home of a middle-aged man.
The window paper pasted on the window was quite old, and the light inside was so dim that you couldn't even see your hand. Seeing that Chen Yun and the others had followed him into the room, the middle-aged man quickly waved them away.
"Wait outside, there are no outsiders in our own yard."
"You're going to buy counterfeit alcohol for Zhao Jidong?"
If Chen Yun still couldn't figure out what Gao Ming was up to after all this, he would be too foolish. It was just a bit surprising that the person who did this was Gao Ming.
“It’s not counterfeit alcohol,” Gao Ming said.
The middle-aged man who came out of the house glared at Chen Yun and argued irritably: "My wine is genuinely brewed by Shuangfeng Winery, but... wine is wine, and the bottle is just a bottle."
Chen Yun understood instantly.
Shuangfeng brand liquor distillery produces many varieties of liquor, but the liquor specially supplied to foreign exchange stores is valuable because of this special supply.
In other words, what's valuable is the identity, not the content.
"Actually, this bottle also comes from the Shuangfeng brand factory, it's just that the words 'special supply' are missing from the cap."
The middle-aged man pointed to the words "Special Supply" on the bottle: "This bottle cap was obtained from a hotel catering to foreign guests. The bottle cap is genuine, the liquor is real, and the words 'Special Supply' are real. So why is it considered fake liquor?"
He spoke so eloquently that Chen Yun almost fell for it, but after a while, she realized what he meant and laughed silently.
The waiters in hotels catering to foreign guests are specifically responsible for opening bottles for them. They are careful not to scratch or bump the bottles when opening them, and they can sell the bottles after the guests leave.
Speaking of those bottle caps... they really are genuine.
"Where's the box?" Gao Ming took the bottle and examined it carefully before raising another crucial point.
"You're obviously a connoisseur," the middle-aged man chuckled, then slipped back into the main room under Gao Ming's watchful gaze.
"The box is worth much more than the wine; you can tell if it's real or fake by looking at the box," Gao Ming explained.
The middle-aged man was testing whether the experts knew what they were doing, so he deliberately separated the wine bottles and boxes.
"We'll just scam whoever we can," Chen Yun said.
Even if the buyer later discovers a problem, they won't dare to cause trouble. To put it bluntly, the resale of high-end liquor is a one-off deal.
"Captain, is what we're doing...?"
Gao Ming waved his hand: "I know who Zhao Jidong is going to give the wine to..." He immediately stopped talking when he saw the middle-aged man come out: "Let's talk outside."
"Box."
"The box is genuine, the serial number is still there, and it's this year's new wine." Gao Ming smiled with satisfaction, pointing out the parts on the box that could distinguish between genuine and counterfeit in front of the middle-aged man.
"..."
The middle-aged man knew he had met his match, and his smile became increasingly bitter.
He never expected that the box would be included when he asked for twelve yuan. He had already spent seven yuan to buy it from the hotel catering to foreign guests, plus the cost of restoring the wine and bottle cap...
"Fifteen yuan, you make a little and I make a little too." Gao Ming handed the box to Su Weiming, took the fifteen yuan in his hand and looked at the middle-aged man with a questioning look: "Twelve yuan is a bit too little, we can't let the master work for nothing."
"Brother, you're so generous!" The middle-aged man immediately perked up, took the money without even counting it, and stuffed it into his pocket: "Next time you want to buy good wine, come to me. I can get the original wine from the distillery, but I don't have the bottles."
"Then I'll have to trouble you, Master."
Only after seeing Gao Ming and the others off, and as the middle-aged man hummed a traditional opera tune and went to close the door of the main house, did he regretfully slap his thigh.
I was so dazzled by the three yuan that Gao Ming offered me that I didn't even leave the box before someone took it away.
Walking to the middle of the alley, Gao Ming used the hem of his clothes to wipe the thin layer of dust off the wine bottle and carefully put the wine into the box.
"Take the wine back to the guesthouse first, then come to the store to find us."
Su Weiming took the box and examined it carefully. Although he couldn't see anything wrong with it, he was still very uneasy.
"If Zhao Jidong finds out we cheated him with counterfeit goods..."
Just thinking about the consequences sent chills down Su Weiming's spine.
"He's someone who can't even tell the difference between Star Red Erguotou and Red Star Baijiu, do you really think he can tell what's wrong with the liquor?"
Zhao Jidong had tried to get close to Gao Ming more than once.
He brought out two bottles of Xinghong Erguotou, saying they were gifts from someone. Gao Ming immediately knew that Zhao Jidong was illiterate.
They boasted for ages about how good the wine was, but they didn't even realize that the wine was different.
"This wine was a gift for Zhao Qiang." Gao Ming paused, then suddenly added, "If Zhao Qiang hadn't joined the Reform Committee during the early stages of the revolution by upholding righteousness and criticizing his family, he wouldn't even be fit to work as a boiler operator in the factory."
Two illiterate people who couldn't even finish reading a book together, Gao Ming was already doing so out of a sense of conscience by buying eight-tenths of a bottle of wine.
"Hehe." Su Weiming chuckled at Gao Ming's disdainful tone, instantly relaxing: "Then I have nothing to be afraid of!"
As she spoke, she placed her handbag in the car frame and then carefully put the box down.
"And this too."
Gao Ming returned the remaining forty-five yuan to Su Weiming.
"Captain, please keep this money. I didn't suffer any loss because of you. How can I possibly take this money?"
“Who said who gave it to you?” Gao Ming smiled. “Zhao Jidong will definitely have his wife come to get the wine. You can give her the money then.”
"What should we say if she asks us about it?"
"To be honest," Gao Ming laughed, waving his hand at Su Weiming, "Don't worry about the rest, she'll handle it herself."
Su Weiming left happily.
"The person Zhao Jidong is trying to curry favor with isn't Zhao Qiang... but that guy in the county, right?" Chen Yun asked.
Gao Ming nodded.
"These two are no good either, they're like snakes and rats in a den. From now on, I'll avoid you whenever I see you."
For the first time, an expression of near-disgust appeared clearly on Gao Ming's face.
"Why...why give the money to Zhao Jidong's wife?" Chen Yun was still curious about this.
“Last year when I went to Huangniba Commune to pick someone up, I happened to see her depositing money at the credit union. Why would she go all the way to the commune's credit union instead of the factory bank? Why do you think that is…”
"She's secretly saving money."
"A few years ago, I discussed this with her at work. At that time, she already had a boyfriend... and the two of them were discussing filing for marriage."
Yang Liying was a pitiful person. Not only was she sold to Yang Jidong by her family for 600 yuan, but her life after marriage was also as bitter as bitter melon.
Her job was taken away by her family, and after marriage she was frequently beaten by Zhao Jidong when he was drunk. After years of hardship, she was no longer recognizable as she once was.
It wasn't until Gao Ming accidentally saw Yang Liying saving money that he realized she had never given up hope.
“If you want to leave… you need travel expenses,” Chen Yun said.
Chen Yun believed that once the opportunity arose, this woman would not hesitate to spread her wings and fly far away.
That forty-five yuan was just a small token of kindness from a stranger.
"Will you stay in my room or yours tonight?"
The couple works for different departments and stays in different guesthouses, so they are required to stay separately.
Obviously, Gao Ming wouldn't care about any of those ridiculous requests... No one should force a newlywed couple to sleep in separate beds.
Chen Yun blinked.
"It's rare for me to sleep alone, I don't want a stove next to me."
"no."
Chen Yun quickened her pace and walked forward, while Gao Ming pushed the cart and chased after her, laughing as he went.
As soon as Chen Yun emerged from the alley, she saw a group of people gathered in front of the shop.
There were cries, shouts, and a cacophony of voices offering advice.
"What's the use of crying... take him to the hospital."
"I think this comrade isn't even breathing anymore, could he be dead already!"
"Stop talking nonsense... Is there a doctor here? Is there a doctor here?"
The word "doctor" instantly pierced through the noise and entered Chen Yun's ears.
Her smile vanished instantly, and she strode quickly into the crowd.
Through the gap between the legs, you could see an old man lying in the middle, with someone on top of him crying their heart out.
It seems... someone has fainted.
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