Chapter 67
It was already the next morning when Wang Mengmei learned the news.
Business has been bad recently, even breakfast vendors have stopped doing business and closed their shops early to prepare for the Chinese New Year. However, the closer it gets to the Chinese New Year, the more business at the vegetable market rebounds.
No matter how much people tighten their belts, they can't just skip meals during the Chinese New Year. In the last few days before the New Year, even if they are worried, they still have to live their lives. Many people go out and start buying vegetables and coal.
A vegetable vendor who was familiar with Wang Mengmei came to set up his stall early in the morning. He saw broken glass all over the floor from a distance. When he got closer, he saw that Wang Mengmei's shop and a breakfast shop next door were both emptied out due to looting.
The shutter door outside the main entrance was broken, and the glass door inside was knocked out without leaving any trace. All the furnishings in the house, including the cashier counter, were moved away, leaving only some messy garbage.
The vegetable vendor was so busy that he called the police, and the local police arrived and notified Wang Mengmei.
When Wang Mengmei heard the news, her eyes went dark and Jian Feng quickly supported her.
Before Wang Mengmei could catch her breath, she grabbed Jian Feng's arm tightly: "Don't worry about me, go and take a look first!"
Her store still had a freezer and so many other things. Wang Mengmei was still fantasizing at the moment, wondering if it was just a thief. Before the New Year, there were many thieves like this who had no money to celebrate the New Year, and they didn't steal much.
But when she went to the store in person, her last glimmer of hope was dispelled.
The store was completely empty. Not only was there no freezer, but even the folding tables used for evening stalls were gone.
Jian Li supported her mother, feeling sorry for herself for not being more careful.
The breakfast shop next door also came and was clapping his hands on the ground and crying loudly.
"Damn you, you bastard! I wish your whole family would die! My shop, my stuff!"
Although Wang Mengmei did not do that, she also shed tears.
This store is the result of all her hard work, and everything in the store was purchased by her bit by bit.
In the first few months after opening the store, she would buy whatever she had a little money for, a big steamer today, a small winnowing basket tomorrow. Gradually, when she had enough money, she bought a freezer and installed a telephone line...
Just counting it up, the investment is at least seven or eight thousand!
Excluding the telephone line that was not stolen, the value of other items was more than five thousand.
Wang Mengmei tried to hold it back at first, but gradually she couldn't help it anymore and started cursing the bastard she had never met.
Her shop.
The local police officer pushed through the crowd and came over, his eyes full of sympathy: "Please come back with us and calculate the value of the lost items."
Wang Mengmei asked with a nasal voice: "Can you find it back?"
Police officer: “…Let’s do our best.”
The things were taken away so cleanly, it was most likely a gang. There were quite a few people, and they probably brought a car with them, and once they loaded the things inside, they probably moved the car before daybreak.
Judging from the scene, these guys are veterans. There was a large cabinet in the breakfast shop, and it was too difficult to move the entire thing out, so these guys gave up and took away all the light items instead.
No clues were left at the scene, which shows that they were both careful and brave.
The owner of the breakfast shop was still making a fuss. She grabbed the police and asked them why they hadn't discovered anything and asked them to ensure that the thieves were found as soon as possible.
A wave of despair came over Wang Mengmei, but she knew the possibility of finding the thief was too small.
The cotton spinning factory had good security, and the factory had its own security team that patrolled every day.
But now the factory has gone bankrupt and the security team has long been disbanded. It’s just that these merchants have not yet adapted to such changes.
Wang Mengmei cried in her husband's arms.
This scene fell into the eyes of the people around, and everyone felt sorry for it.
We are all businessmen, so of course we know how much it costs to buy that kind of thing.
Even if all the items in Wang Mengmei's store are second-hand, it would cost three to four thousand yuan to buy them.
This is an extra expense, and at a time like this, if it happened in my own home, I would want to die.
At the critical moment, neither Jian Feng nor Jian Li let down their guard.
Jian Feng took the initiative to go to the police station to make a statement and brought up the incident of things being lost in his family compound last year.
The police officer raised his head and asked: "You mean... this is a group of people?"
Jian Feng's eyes were grim: "I'm not saying it must be the case, but I just hope we can investigate it from this aspect."
Although she stole from two stores, the breakfast store only had some steamers, pots, bowls, benches and tables. Compared with the two stores, Wang Mengmei's newly purchased freezer was worth the entire store.
The thief obviously focused on his own store. He moved the store very cleanly and even took away the phone that Wang Mengmei had put away before closing the store.
To put it in a positive way, the thieves may have come to scout the place in advance. To put it in a negative way, it is possible that someone who knows them deliberately found the thieves.
Jian Feng clenched his fists: "I can provide some clues."
The police were eager to get clues, but with the New Year approaching, it was embarrassing for them to have such a thing happen in their jurisdiction.
Jian Feng talked about the sale of his own house, and emphasized that the families of Xiaoshi and Xiaomeng, whose houses were robbed at the time, were both families who had sold their houses.
The police then retrieved the records of Xiao Shi and Xiao Meng's families. Putting the three theft cases together gave the police more confidence.
"You go back first, we will let you know when we have news."
Jian Feng nodded, signed his name and went home.
Wang Mengmei was helped back home by her daughter and niece. She said nothing and just lay on the bed with her back to the bed.
When Jian Feng returned home, Jian Li and Wang Yunyun were cooking carefully in the kitchen.
Jian Feng patted the two men on the head. Jian Li anxiously asked her father, "What did the police say?"
Did you say you could catch the thief?
Jian Feng comforted his daughter: "The police said they have a clue."
At least the first two thefts he brought up had already alerted the police to the connection. I believe that no matter whether it is true or not, the other party will give a response.
Jian Li: "That's good, Dad. My sister and I made some porridge. Can you give it to my mom?"
She didn't even have breakfast in the morning. Wang Mengmei was hit too hard this time. Jian Li didn't feel sorry for the money, but she felt sorry for her mother. She was worried that her mother would never recover.
Jian Feng took the porridge and said, "Be good, go and play. It's not a big deal, you have to believe that Dad can handle it."
Jian Li stuck out her tongue: "Of course I believe it, but Dad..."
Jian Li leaned close to her father's ear and said, "If you have no money, come to me. I still have savings!"
Jian Li counted to six: "So many."
Jian Feng looked at his daughter deeply with a serious look. Although he had guessed that the girl might have hidden something when she took out the four thousand yuan, he could not have imagined that his daughter had hidden so much.
However...
Jian Feng touched Jian Li's hair and said, "No need for you. Dad knows what's going on."
His efforts over the past year have not been in vain, and now he has come up with an idea.
Pushing open the door, Jian Feng placed the porridge on the bedside and placed his hand gently on his wife's arm.
Wang Mengmei didn't cry anymore, she just stood there in a daze.
The psychological blow to her from having her store robbed was even greater than the financial loss.
Wang Mengmei is now filled with anger, resentment, hatred and discomfort.
If a thief appeared in front of her, she would want to bite the thief to death.
Jian Feng could certainly understand this feeling, and he tried to comfort his wife.
"The police said they were investigating, and I also provided clues."
Wang Mengmei turned over and sat up: "What clue?"
She just focused on her anger and sadness, and didn't think too deeply about it.
Jian Feng slowly explained his judgment, and Wang Mengmei's sadness disappeared completely, replaced by anger, anger without any mixture of hatred.
"It must be Auntie Ma's family! Either Liu Xiangdong or Zhao Xiaopeng!"
Jian Feng pushed the woman down and stuffed the porridge at her: "It's inappropriate for anyone to say anything now. Wait for the police to investigate. Eat the meal first. You will have the energy to scold others after the investigation is completed."
Wang Mengmei stood up and put on her cotton shoes: "I'll go find the police to get some more!"
In the more than one year since she opened the store, she still has several enemies.
There were some lazy people who came to the store and refused to pay the bills, and some colleagues who were quarrelsome.
To Wang Mengmei now, everyone looks like a thief.
Jian Feng: "Wait a minute. If you talk too much, the police will get confused. We can talk later if we can't find it. Drink the porridge first."
Wang Mengmei took the porridge, stirred it a few times, and still sat paralyzed on the bed.
Even if we find the thief, what if he sells all the stuff? Then it would be useless to find him.
The most realistic problem now is that her store needs money to restart.
There is not much money left at home now, only a little over two thousand. However, Jian Li is going to start school soon, and household expenses also require money, so after all the calculations, it is still not enough.
Wang Mengmei gave up on herself: "I really don't want to ask my sister anymore."
She started borrowing money because her family was poor, and after so many years, she still asks her parents for help.
I feel bad just thinking about it.
But if she doesn't ask for money, after the Chinese New Year when everyone else has opened their businesses, will she just sit there and wait for Jian Feng to come back with her salary?
She had just paid the rent for the store for half a year, five hundred yuan a month.
Jian Feng picked up the bowl helplessly: "You scared the girl, this is the porridge she made herself, you should drink a little... Actually, I have an idea, we can make some money during this first month of the year."
Wang Mengmei's eyes widened: "What idea?"
Jian Feng pursed his lips and said, "Eat first. If you don't eat when something happens, then all your good ideas will be in vain."
Wang Mengmei forced herself to eat half a bowl of porridge, but she couldn't even taste it.
Jian Feng knew that this was the limit of his impatient wife, so they drank the rest of the porridge in two gulps.
He wiped his mouth and started talking about his plan.
"I went to work on the eighth day of the first lunar month. During these seven or eight days, there were temple fairs basically everywhere from the city to the cities and counties below."
Wang Mengmei: "You want me to set up a stall?"
Jian Feng: "It is a stall, but it is not for selling food."
He pointed in the direction of the factory and said, "I had this idea a few days ago, but I didn't know how to do it. Now that I have come across this opportunity, I plan to go to the factory to get some stock and sell them at the temple fair."
A cotton textile mill is going bankrupt, but that doesn’t mean it has no inventory. On the contrary, it has a large amount of inventory.
However, these beddings are already outdated. The Taocheng Cotton Textile Factory's previous supplier was the department stores in Shanghai. Twenty years ago, the pillowcases and quilt covers produced by the factory were very popular in Shanghai. The cotton textile factory was also a major shipping factory and could sell its products to the Soviet Union.
That is to say, in recent years, there have been more small factories in the south, and the cotton spinning mills that were squeezed out have lost their former grandeur. However, in the local area, the cotton spinning mills' signs are still useful.
Now that the factory has closed down, the accumulated inventory will also be cleared out.
If the company fails to sell out its assets and the acquisition of the factory goes wrong, it will most likely use the assets to pay off everyone's severance pay, just like other state-owned factories.
This is what happened to the thermos factory that closed down in Taocheng a few years ago. The factory couldn't even afford to pay severance to everyone, and in the end it could only use thermos bottles to pay off the employees.
That year, thermoses were sold in every street and alley in Taocheng. A thermos cost ten yuan, which was several yuan cheaper than in the store.
Wang Mengmei was dumbfounded. She could see that her husband was sad about the factory's closure recently, but she never thought that her husband would actually plan this!
Jian Feng: "Are you not afraid now?"
Wang Mengmei's sadness comes more from fear.
The factory collapsed at any time, and she, like everyone else, was filled with insecurity.
Especially when she sees others struggling for life, she becomes even more anxious.
If she had not taken one step forward at her daughter's suggestion a year ago, if Jian Feng had not quit his job at the cotton mill to become a driver, would other people's families now be like his family?
Wang Mengmei was under a lot of pressure, which finally reached its peak after her store was robbed.
She was too afraid to go back to the situation where she had nothing.
Jian Feng patted her shoulder and said, "As long as the family is well, everything will be fine."
He can make money now, his daughter can also make money, and everyone in the family is willing to work hard. There is no need for Wang Mengmei to bear the pressure herself.
Wang Mengmei smiled embarrassedly, with a gleam of tears in her eyes.
"...It's easy for you to say that, but where can we get a car?"
Jian Feng: "That's easy. I'll give Brother Kong a call."
Kong Guorong went back to his hometown to celebrate the New Year. He drove away the small car in the store, but the big truck was still in the warehouse.
Jian Feng didn't use the car in vain. He planned to give it to Kong Guorong for car expenses after he made money.
"Today is the 29th, let's have a good New Year, and tomorrow we'll get started!"
With a goal in mind, Wang Mengmei suddenly felt motivated, while Jian Feng went to the factory office to find the leader.
The leader was particularly surprised when he heard his purpose. In the past few days, everyone who came to him was either asking for salary or money, but he had never seen Jian Feng come to ask for goods like this.
Jian Feng didn't shy away from the question and said that he was going to collect the old goods from the factory and sell them. Everything else was easy to talk about, except that he had to take the goods first and then pay.
The leader waved his hand and said, "It's not that difficult."
People who have all the files in the factory are not afraid that he will run away with the goods.
Just like that, Jian Feng found a few helpers that night. Xiao Shi and Xiao Meng were also willing to take advantage of the New Year to make some extra money. The three of them moved the thick sweaters and coats piled up in the warehouse overnight. There were several large packages of goods, totaling seven or eight hundred pieces.
After Jian Feng finished loading the car, he took a deep breath and said, "Let's go, let's get started!"
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