Chapter 190 What Use Are You?
The staff at the new office not only brought the people back, but also brought back all the goods they had been reselling.
Chinese cabbage, radish, corn kernels, cotton, baby rooster...
Song Lubai didn't remember much about Liu Mei's family members' faces, but she knew what Liu Mei's mother and her sister-in-law looked like.
Among those who were captured and brought over was Liu Mei's sister-in-law.
Sister-in-law Liu Mei was a little hesitant to recognize Song Lubai when she saw her.
She only saw Song Lubai once at night last year, and she couldn't see him clearly at night.
At this moment, Song Lubai, who was standing at the door, was wearing a green cotton-padded military uniform and seemed to be someone from this courtyard.
Her skin is fair and rosy; she looks like she's doing very well.
Sister-in-law Liu Mei wasn't sure if it was Song Lubai. Compared to the Song Lubai she had seen several years ago, this woman looked like an adult.
Song Lubai didn't take Liu Mei's sister-in-law seriously.
Now is the time to crack down on illegal buying and selling that disrupts market activities. Since Sister-in-law Liu Mei has been caught, she will definitely have to work alongside Liu Mei in the future.
Now she's worried about what gift to give Wei Yang in return, and when Yuan Lin will actually come back to work.
Yuan Lin has been recuperating for quite some time since his fracture, shouldn't he be back soon?
Judging from the tense atmosphere between Minister Zhou and Vice Minister Lou, it would be better for her to stay in the secretariat and do some odd jobs.
The next day, she had just returned from Feng Ying's place when she was summoned by the office that was cracking down on illegal trading activities.
In the makeshift interrogation room, the police officers and their own people from their headquarters were all there, and Sister-in-law Liu Mei was sitting on the stool opposite them.
Seeing this, Song Lubai had a vague idea of what was going on.
"What's wrong? Why did you call me over?"
The police officers were quite polite:
"This comrade said that she is related to you. She said that she was able to find the trading point in Shicheng because of your advice."
Song Lubai realized that she had thought too highly of Liu Mei's family.
She had initially thought Liu Mei was trying to use her to escape responsibility, but little did she know she was being dragged down with her.
That bastard is really wicked. If she drags him down with her, he'll lose his job.
Song Lubai looked at Liu Mei's sister-in-law and sneered, "When have we ever met? Do I even know who you are? Your sister-in-law and her husband are currently in Xinjiang, undergoing labor reform and construction, which is related to me. We are enemies, not relatives. Not to mention that I don't even know where the trading point is, why should I tell you where the trading point is?"
Sister-in-law Liu Mei felt extremely guilty.
But since she was already ruined, she naturally wanted to drag this slut who had ruined her man down with her.
Sister-in-law Liu Mei's eyes darted around nervously. "You just want to get me arrested, that's why you told me where that place is."
Police officer: "..."
What an idiot.
She had just been saying that Song Lubai was her relative and that she was being asked to go to the trading point. She claimed that Song Lubai, out of consideration for their kinship, had seen how difficult their lives were and had specially pointed her out a way to survive.
Now that the two met, they looked like enemies, and the police officers understood what Sister-in-law Liu Mei was up to.
“Be honest with me. Tell me right now in front of Comrade Song when you met her.”
Only after confirming that Song Lubai was a staff member of the supply and marketing department during the questioning did Sister-in-law Liu Mei dare to approach her.
But she was, after all, a peasant woman with little knowledge and no sophisticated plans in her mind. Her speech was incoherent and illogical, making it easy for anyone to tell that she was talking nonsense.
No matter what she said, she would be refuted, and people could tell it was a lie. The more Liu Mei spoke, the less confident she became. Finally, she insisted, "Anyway, she told me. She just wants to harm me. She knows where the trading point is and must have done business there. Officers, you must interrogate her carefully. She definitely has a problem."
In the end, they stopped even pretending.
Everyone in the office feels incredibly unlucky to know someone like that.
Song Lubai took the initiative to say, "Let me tell you the whole story of my feud with her family."
She took the initiative to explain, which made it easier for others to do their jobs.
Song Lubai recounted the whole story, during which Sister-in-law Liu Mei occasionally hurled some unpleasant insults and uttered some fallacies and heresies that were offensive to people.
Liu Mei's sister-in-law was shouting and cursing from the side, when the police officer slammed his hand on the table and yelled, "Quiet down!"
Sister-in-law Liu Mei was frightened and shrank back, not daring to cause any more trouble.
Song Lubai continued, "I haven't seen her in a long time, but I saw her in the crowd when this group of people was brought here yesterday, and she saw me too."
The police officer nodded to indicate that he understood, "Alright, it's all over, you can go back now."
Sister-in-law Liu Mei stared at Song Lubai as she left the room, her eyes wide with fury.
The police officer slammed his fist on the table: "Why don't you honestly confess your crimes? Where exactly did you hear about the trading point?"
Sister-in-law Liu Mei had no choice but to confess honestly.
This confession led to the exposure of a whole host of other people.
The money earned by people working in the farm throughout the year is limited. Families with many children often go hungry. If they want to live a better life, they have to go to the cotton fields to pick cotton bolls that haven't yet opened, even in the freezing cold.
These are unclaimed items, and they'll just rot in the ground anyway. If people want to improve their lives, picking cotton bolls and selling them to city dwellers is the best way to make money.
Everyone does it this way; they can improve their lives by exchanging money or tickets, but nobody has the time to report it.
Once Sister-in-law Liu Mei was caught, she betrayed almost everyone she knew who was secretly doing business.
The office is cracking down on people like crazy, and things are getting tense in the city lately.
Because of the lack of fuel, the trucks at the storage and transportation department were still parked there, and the department store continued to experience shortages. Customers who could not buy anything complained bitterly, which also spawned a group of people who were doing private transactions.
The new office became the busiest department in the ministry.
Song Lubai continued to work under Deputy Minister Lou, and during this time, she also helped Deputy Minister Lou arrange meals with other leaders.
The finance department was still holding back from stamping and approving the slips, and Song Lubai had become an unpopular person in the finance department.
It wasn't until the division headquarters held another meeting that Minister Zhou was criticized.
The next day, a large meeting was held, and all the department heads attended.
Song Lubai, as Lou's temporary secretary, stood at the door with Dai Shuhua and listened to the whole thing.
During the meeting, Minister Zhou directly named Vice Minister Lou, saying that he was not cooperating with the work and that this had caused problems with market supply.
Vice Minister Lou said that the finance department disregarded the overall situation and refused to issue approval slips, which led to the supply shortage. He added that if there was a problem, it was the finance department's fault.
The two top leaders did not engage in a public spat at the meeting; instead, they presented facts and reasoned with each other. However, everyone knew that this was a war without gunfire.
No one spoke during the meal. Lou Yuchun calmly raised his voice and said, "Xiao Song, come in and tell them how many times you've been to the finance department lately."
No one answered.
Lou Yuchun called out: "Song Lubai!"
Dai Shuhua peeked over and said, "Song Lubai had a stomachache just now and went to the toilet."
Lou Yuchun: "..."
What use are you, Song Lubai!
Lu Xingye, who had been keeping quiet about the matter, lowered his head, struggling to suppress his laughter. He covered his lips with his fist to hide it.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
