Ma the Cripple came to the brick factory today to urge me and Song Laosan to ship the goods.
Seeing that his suggestion had been rejected by us, he could only patiently nod and signal Song Laosan to continue.
Song Laosan pointed to the location of several rust pits outside: "Although we can't produce anything for the time being, the pit openings outside can't be faked. If you want to keep the distributors down below, just bring them over and let them see our batch of goods, right? I don't believe they won't have the patience to wait even half a month after seeing the pit openings."
After a moment of contemplation, Ma Quezi still had some worries: "At this point, this is the only way... I'm just worried that if those people find out the location of our pit, it will cause trouble for future production."
To keep Ma Quezi calm, I pretended to be magnanimous and said, "That's easy. This is a new pit. At worst, we can just abandon it. Let me help you get through this difficult time first, and then we'll find a new site."
Ma Quezi looked moved and clasped his hands in a gesture of respect: "Don't worry, gentlemen. As long as I can keep these distributors in line, we'll definitely have no trouble selling our goods. I'll make up for the trouble we've caused later."
Old Song replied with a smile, "Master Ma, you flatter us. We're all in the same boat, so naturally we should work together! We understand the principle that we share both prosperity and adversity."
Ma Quezi stood up wearily: "Now that we have a plan, I have a better understanding of the situation. I need to go to another city now to meet with those suppliers. I will let you know when the negotiations are completed."
...
I stood at the entrance of the brick factory and watched Ma Quezi's car drive away. I turned my gaze to Song Laosan beside me and said, "I have a feeling that this matter is gradually getting out of control."
"It's not that it's about to get out of control, it's that it's already out of control."
Old Song sneered, "Recently, Su Gouzi's supply lines have been repeatedly disrupted, and Ma Quezi is also making underhanded moves. Moreover, he also sold quite a few of the counterfeit goods you gave him before. The injuries on his body just now were clearly done by Su Gouzi. I guess the reason why Ma Quezi is in such a hurry to appease the distributors below is because he was scared by Su Gouzi and is preparing to straighten out the relationship and go out into the open."
“We agree. Ma Quezi has been selling counterfeit goods for so many years, and he already has a complete system under his command. As long as the channels are re-established, he won’t need to show his face at all.”
I looked in the direction of the rust pit and licked my lips: "Judging from Ma Quezi's reaction, Su Jialiang put a lot of pressure on him, which means that the other party has already believed that Ma Quezi is really preparing to go solo."
"That's for sure. Even Ma Quezi trusts us completely now, so we can't see any flaws in this play. But we can't let him retreat behind the scenes, otherwise it will be difficult to lure Su Gouzi out."
Song Laosan nodded: "The fact that Ma Quezi's distributors are acting so restless means that Su Gouzi is also passing on some information to them, and may even have planted spies. So Su Gouzi will definitely notice when Ma Quezi summons his distributors to Luoyang this time. My only worry now is that Ma Quezi is too cautious and won't be able to pass on the real position to Su Gouzi."
“The Qing family!” I reminded him, “Don’t forget we still have this partner! We have two plans now. The first is to win over Ma Quezi to the Qing family’s side, get him to reveal all the information he knows, and then have the Qing family take the initiative to fight Su Gouzi. The second plan is to have the Qing family arrange for people to impersonate Su Gouzi’s men on the day Ma Quezi brings the distributors up the mountain. If Su Gouzi doesn’t make a move, the Qing family can pretend to be Su Gouzi’s men and force Ma Quezi to turn against him. Conversely, if Su Gouzi’s men come, we can directly arrest them and interrogate them to find out Su Gouzi’s whereabouts.”
Song Laosan quickly made his choice: "Personally, I prefer the second option. Ma Quezi is a shrewd person. If we let him get in touch with the Qing family, we will have no reason to exist. If we are kicked out of the game, it will be a laughing stock."
We came up with a plan, then rode our motorcycles down the mountain to town to exchange them for another vehicle, preparing to go to the city to meet Qinghuai.
Just as we were about to set off, my phone suddenly rang. I saw it was a call from the workers on the mountain, and I answered, "Old Liu, what happened?"
The worker on the mountain replied urgently, "Boss, there's a problem with our No. 2 pit. I just drove my pickup truck to a nearby village to fetch water, and while unloading, I accidentally knocked over two metal drums. All the water inside flowed into the No. 2 pit, and now the pit opening is overflowing. I don't know the ingredient ratios, so you need to come back and deal with it immediately!"
What Lao Liu said made my heart skip a beat.
Although we kept deceiving Ma Quezi, saying that the craftsmen on the mountain were all experts found from all over the country.
But in reality, these people were just ordinary laborers hired by Song Laosan, and they had no knowledge of antique forgery at all.
Therefore, Lao Liu must have been forced to say those words.
Thinking of this, I cursed at Lao Liu: "What the hell are you doing! Don't you know the value of this batch of goods? If there's a problem with the goods, you couldn't afford to pay for it even if you sold your blood!"
Old Liu replied humbly, "Boss, I admit I was wrong, but could you please come back as soon as possible and think of a way to make amends?"
"Don't touch anything until I get back. Just wait!"
I angrily threw down a sentence and then hung up the phone.
Old Song looked at me, completely bewildered: "What happened? Who are you cursing?"
"Get out of the car and talk."
Seeing that no one was watching us, I quickly pulled Song Laosan towards an alley on the side of the street: "There's a problem at the brick factory. Lao Liu's tone was very strange when he called me just now. Someone must have gone up the mountain."
"You mean Su Gouzi's men?" Song Laosan's eyes widened. "If that's the case, the problem must lie with Ma Quezi's driver! Didn't that bastard say that the driver was his own nephew and there was absolutely no problem?"
"In the antique world, profit is paramount. Under the lure of money, nothing is surprising! I'm worried that since Su Gouzi's men have come up the mountain, they'll definitely dig up the rust pits to check our craftsmanship. If that happens, we'll all be exposed!"
My mind raced: "I've already managed to keep Lao Liu calm, so we shouldn't have been exposed yet. Call Qinghuai immediately and have his men, who are lying in ambush near the brick factory, come up the mountain. We have to capture the men Su Gouzi sent. At this point, we have no choice but to fight to the death!"
Old Song nodded. Just as he was making a phone call, a middle-aged man came towards us from the alley. He rummaged through his clothes and then walked towards me with a smile: "Hey friend, can I borrow a light?"
"I'll borrow your grandpa's money!"
I saw the tattoo that was accidentally showing on the other person's sleeve, punched him in the nose, then grabbed Song Laosan and started running like crazy.
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