Chapter 637
The next morning, the temperature dropped a few degrees. Uncle Wu wrapped himself tightly in a navy blue cotton jacket and stood at the door of the village committee, breathing out white air.
Brother Ming, Second Uncle and several relatives who went with him today have already arrived. Brother Ming was carrying a cloth bag on his shoulder, which contained the purchase receipt and the inspection report from the Agricultural Science Station. The remaining half bag of fertilizer was packed in another bag, making it less conspicuous.
"Check again, don't leave anything behind." Uncle Wu said.
Today he specially pinned the "Advanced Production Team Leader" medal awarded during the commune period on his chest. The metal badge gleamed slightly in the sunlight.
Fourth uncle drove the team's tractor over with a rumble, and the bed was filled with dry straw.
Several people squeezed in, and Brother Ming held the cloth bag tightly in his arms, as if he was holding a bomb.
Uncle Wu turned around and said loudly to Uncle Si, "Brother Si, when you pass by the intersection ahead, pick up Li Laoliu and the others on the way. They don't have tractors in their village."
"Okay, got it! Did you remember to take the cigarettes Yuanzheng gave you?" Fourth Uncle answered without turning his head.
"Here I go!"
Uncle Wu patted his pocket, which contained a few packs of good cigarettes that Su Yuanzheng had stuffed into his pocket. He also said that one should offer cigarettes first when doing things and not hit someone who smiles at you.
At the entrance of Haohe Village, Li Laoliu and several family members were already squatting by the road waiting.
Li Laoliu was the most conspicuous. He was carrying a snakeskin bag and looked very depressed.
After getting in the car, he showed his uncle the contents of the snakeskin bag. In addition to the leftover urea, there were also some dead vegetable seedlings with lumps of soil on their roots.
Ming Ge also leaned over to take a look, then sighed, "Your seedling is more severely burned than mine."
"Two acres of vegetables! They're all gone! If Su Laoer hadn't said that yesterday, I would have thought there was some kind of agricultural disease this year and just thought it was a natural disaster! Selling fake fertilizers is simply destroying our farmers' livelihoods!"
"Don't worry, we'll go together today and report this matter to the higher authorities. We'll have them compensate you! We can definitely do it."
When we arrived at the county industrial and commercial bureau, the villagers of the other two people had also arrived. The group gathered together to discuss what to say.
At this time, a young man took out a roll of white paper from his bag and unfolded a page. On it was written: "Unscrupulous businessmen, cheating and harming farmers!"
He said angrily, "I heard you came here last time and they didn't give us an explanation? Humph! I'm going to shout it out here today so everyone knows!"
Uncle Wu hurried forward and said:
"Young man! It's not that serious. It hasn't come to that yet! Let's talk it over today. The main thing is to explain the matter clearly and provide all the evidence."
The young man looked at his village chief hesitantly. Chief Wu Jing nodded and said:
"Listen to Director Su, let's talk it out first, so that we won't be accused of causing trouble, and even our reasonableness will be turned into unreasonableness."
At 9:30, more than 20 farmers gathered at the door of the gray three-story building of the County Industrial and Commercial Bureau, attracting the attention of passers-by.
Uncle Wu straightened his collar and led the way in.
The old man in the message room had noticed them when they arrived and was observing them through his reading glasses.
Seeing Wu Bo coming over, he asked, "What do you do?"
"Comrade, we are from four villages under Ning County. We have something to report to the Industrial and Commercial Bureau." Uncle Wu took out a letter of introduction with the red seal of the village committee.
The old man glanced at it and picked up the intercom: "Director Ji, there are some farmers downstairs..."
Ten minutes later, a middle-aged man in a navy blue woolen Zhongshan suit walked down the stairs.
He had the standard 3:7 side-parted hairstyle for cadres, two pens pinned to his chest pocket, and his face was as swollen as a steamed bun.
Uncle Wu recognized the Seagull watch showing on his sleeve at a glance. In their village, it would take a long time to save up money to buy such a watch.
"What are all of you doing here? Gathering here to cause trouble so early in the morning? Do you know what this is?"
Ji Dequan started to put accusations on others as soon as he opened his mouth, and his voice sounded like a dull knife scraping an iron pot.
Uncle Wu took a half step forward and said, "Director Ji, we're here to report that the agricultural supply store is selling non-compliant fertilizers..."
"Report problems to the Complaints Office!"
Ji Dequan interrupted him, catching a glimpse of the withered rapeseed seedlings in Li Laoliu's hand. His expression suddenly changed: "What are you doing with these? Blackmailing the government?"
Brother Ming couldn't help but interrupt, "This is evidence! People in our four villages have had their vegetable fields damaged by this fake urea! You can't just ignore it!"
"Amin!"
Uncle Wu stopped him and turned around to take out some materials from his bag:
"Director Ji, this is the test report from the Agricultural Science Station. The urea biuret content is more than three times the standard. There's also a purchase receipt, both stamped with their store's seal."
Ji Dequan took the materials and his fingers trembled slightly when he turned to the name of the agricultural supply store.
He suddenly closed the file and asked, "Is this test report certified? Who knows if you forged it?"
Uncle Wu pointed to the red seal on it and said, "Director Ji, this is the original document we got from the Agricultural Science Station. It has the inspection stamp on it!"
Ji Dequan narrowed his eyes and held the material up to the sunlight, pretending to examine it. The metal strap reflected a dazzling light in the sunlight.
Seeing that more and more people outside were noticing them, he took Uncle Wu and the others to an empty meeting room on the first floor and called a subordinate to look at the materials together.
After a while, he folded the materials slowly and methodically:
"Inspection stamps can be forged. Besides, how can you prove that this bag of fertilizer was defective when you bought it from him? What if you adulterated it yourself and deliberately extorted money?"
When Li Laoliu heard this, his face flushed with anger. He took a step forward, clutching the dead seedlings.
"You! What are you talking about! We farmers farm with conscience. Who would joke with their own crops?"
Ji Dequan sneered and glanced at the crowd: "Who knows? Some people these days will do anything for a little compensation."
Uncle Wu held Li Laoliu's shoulder, took a deep breath, fished out the cigarettes Su Yuanzheng had given him from his pocket, took out one and handed it to him:
"Director Ji, please help us. We are not here to cause trouble. We just hope that the government can help us get justice.
This chemical fertilizer has destroyed the vegetable fields of farmers in several villages, causing a lot of losses..."
Ji Dequan glanced at the cigarette, but didn't take it. Instead, he put his hands behind his back and said in an official tone:
"We have to follow the procedures! Leave the materials here first, and we'll investigate and handle it naturally. What's the point of having so many people blocking the way here? Disperse immediately!"
Brother Ming was anxious: "You said the same thing last time I came, but there's no confirmation whether you've actually investigated! If they delay any longer, that store will have already disposed of all the problematic fertilizers, so what else can we find out?"
Ji Dequan's face darkened and he suddenly raised his voice:
"Since you've come to us to report a problem, we absolutely must investigate before we can offer any results! Are we going to raid someone else's store based on your one-sided account? We don't have that kind of authority! If you're so capable, go find them yourself!"
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