Era: I was a farmer at the foot of Yaoling Mountain

In general, there will be some differences in the income of the members, but the differences will not be too large.

To be on the safe side, Fang Wei decided to continue observing the results before fully implementing the program after the summer harvest and planting season was over.

The next morning.

Fang Wei was looking at documents in his office when his second sister, Fang Mei, suddenly ran in, crying.

Upon seeing his third brother, the other party burst into tears, attracting many people to come out of the office to watch the commotion.

"Second sister, stop crying. What happened?"

Fang Wei also panicked a little. Her heart skipped a beat, and she thought, "Could it be that something happened to my second brother-in-law?"
Fang Mei sobbed for a long time before finally stopping her crying and said:

"Those heartless bastards poisoned the fishpond your brother-in-law contracted, and all the fish in the pond died. Your brother-in-law suspected something was wrong and went to confront them, but those five brothers beat him up, sob sob sob."

This was the first time Fang Mei had ever encountered something like this in her life. Now that Tian Bingyi was recuperating at home, she came to ask her third brother for help.

“Brother-in-law is still the brigade leader, is no one going to take care of this? Brother-in-law went to the hospital to check, come on, I'll go to your house with you now.”

Fang Wei was furious. How could such a thing happen so soon after the land was distributed to individual households?
As he and Fang Mei walked outside, Zhao Jinsheng, Zheng Bao, and others, who had heard the commotion, gathered around.

"Secretary, do you need our help?"

"Not for now, let me go check the situation first."

Fang Wei stopped these people from following them, and she and her second sister rode their bicycles straight to Tian Bingyi's brigade.

On the way, he learned that Fang Mei had not only gone to the brigade but also the commune. After the land was distributed, the brigade and production team were practically non-existent; everyone was busy with their own assigned plots, and no one was in charge anymore.

The commune said it would conduct an investigation and told Fang Mei to go home and wait for the results.

Fang Mei took the man to the county hospital for treatment. It turned out to be nothing serious; he had soft tissue contusions and a sprained ankle, and he would be fine after resting for a while.

The two chatted all the way and soon arrived home.

Tian Bingyi was lying in bed when he saw Fang Wei struggling to get down.

"Brother-in-law, lie down and don't move."

Fang Wei quickly stopped the other person's movements, told him to continue lying down, and then asked about the specific situation.

Tian Bingyi sighed and said:
“The Wu brothers used to be dishonest and I dealt with them before, so they hold a grudge. But they didn’t dare to retaliate before. Now that the land has been distributed to individual households and the brigade and production team have lost their management functions, they’ve started to take action.”

That day, Tian Bingyi went to check on the fishpond as usual and found that all the fish in the pond were dead.

Upon inquiring, he learned that the eldest and second eldest brothers of the Wu family had been loitering by the pond for a long time, which led him to suspect that the other party was responsible for the poisoning.

In a fit of anger, he confronted the Wu brothers, but they not only denied it but also attacked him.

Outnumbered 5 to 1, Tian Bingyi was no match for his opponents and suffered a great loss.

"The brigade and production team are still there, so can't they control them? Also, brother-in-law, have you called the police?"

Fang Wei's anger surged, but he suppressed it and continued to ask.

“Now that the land has been distributed to individual households and responsibilities have been assigned to each field, what can the brigade still manage? In the past, there were work points, dividends, and rations to keep people in check, and the brigade cadres were listened to. Now that all of that is gone, who will listen to you?”

"As for calling the police, I can't afford to lose face like that. Besides, even the commune avoids these kinds of things now, and the few people at the commune police station are too lazy to bother with such matters."

Tian Bingyi shook his head and sighed, not because of his own experience, but because he felt that the brigade and production team had collapsed overnight, which made him feel very heartbroken.

Without constraints at the grassroots level, all sorts of strange and unsavory characters have emerged.

“Brother-in-law, you should still call the police. If you think someone poisoned us, you need evidence. I’m going to your commune right now. If you still don’t believe me, are you just going to let them do evil?”

Fang Wei was furious and immediately dragged Fang Mei to the commune to report the crime.

The officers at the police station sympathized with Tian Bingyi's plight, but advised Fang Wei not to escalate the situation. They warned that if they couldn't find any evidence, they would have to worry about retaliation from the Wu brothers every day.

Fang Wei didn't say anything, but urged the other party to dispatch the police according to regulations.

Because the case involved poisoning, the police didn't dare to delay and immediately went to the scene to conduct an investigation. Although the results of the investigation will take some time to come out, based on their experience, it was indeed true that someone had poisoned the fishpond.

This matter has escalated significantly, even attracting the attention of the county's criminal investigation team.

After testing, it was discovered that the fishpond had been poisoned with highly toxic pesticides, so the commune quickly sent people to deal with the dead fish and clean up the fishpond and wastewater.

The Wu brothers were arrested, but they were all released within a few days, except for the eldest brother who was detained for half a month.

They only admitted to assaulting someone, insisting that Tian Bingyi started it. But they refused to admit to poisoning, which was no joke. If the matter reached the county level and the evidence was solidified, they would be in serious trouble.

Without witnesses, physical evidence, or testimonies, this matter can only be left unresolved.

The Wu brothers paid for medical expenses and lost wages, and the eldest brother was administratively detained for 15 days. The matter ended there.

Tian Bingyi was extremely frustrated, so he withdrew from the fishpond and remained sullen all day.

That evening, he came to find Fang Wei for drinks again.

"Brother-in-law, don't think too much about it. Forget about contracting the fishpond. There's not a united front on your side, and not a single person is willing to testify. You should focus on managing your family's farmland first, and I'll find you something to do later."

Fang Wei drank a bottle of wine with Tian Bingyi and then kept urging him to drink.

The current situation is unsuitable for raising fish; if they were poisoned again, the losses would be enormous. The Wu brothers are a hidden danger; if this problem isn't resolved, we'll be stuck with our own small plot of land.

Of course, Fang has no way to help Tian Bingyi turn his life around; it all depends on whether Tian is willing to accept it.

"Sigh, once the land is divided up, people's hearts scatter. Bad people like the Wu brothers start to run rampant, it makes me angry just thinking about it. Oh, by the way, there's news about what you asked me to find out."

The Wu brothers now spend all their time at the market. Many families in the village who contract fishponds sell their live fish to them at low prices, and they then resell them at the market. They're not exactly innocent; they've done plenty of bullying and monopolistic practices.

After recovering from his injuries, Tian Bingyi was looking for an opportunity to deal with the Wu brothers.

However, the Wu brothers are very united and never work alone when they go out to do things; they always advance and retreat together as a group of five.

Over the years, Tian Bingyi had made many drinking buddies, but not a single brother who would stand by him through thick and thin. He didn't want to implicate his third brother, so he didn't plan to clash with the Wu brothers for the time being.

As instructed by Fang Wei, he kept a close eye on the movements of the five brothers.

The Wu brothers were lazy and good-for-nothing, incapable of farming, but naturally gifted at shady dealings. Because of Tian Bingyi's affair, everyone feared the Wu brothers, and as a result, they quickly monopolized the live fish sales rights.

The same thing happened at the market. When they encountered competitors, they resorted to despicable means to suppress them. Recently, many people have been dealt with by them, and most of them have chosen to back down.

Some people called the police, but without evidence, they still couldn't touch the Wu brothers. "Isn't this just the beginning of a criminal gang? Brother-in-law, don't worry about it, I'll definitely help you get revenge."

Fang Wei tilted his head back and downed a glass of wine in one gulp, then slammed the glass down on the table.

Tian Bingyi was startled and quickly said:

"Third brother, what are you doing? We won't do anything illegal, lest we get ourselves into trouble."

"Brother-in-law, don't worry, I won't do anything reckless. Evil people will always be punished by other evil people, and if you walk on the dark road too much, you'll eventually run into a ghost."

Fang Wei laughed and reassured Tian Bingyi that it wasn't worth getting himself into trouble for these bastards.

To deal with them, you must first ensure your own safety; this is of utmost importance.

"That's good. I'll find a way to deal with them. You mustn't act rashly."

Tian Bingyi was very touched. After all, only his brother-in-law was truly sincere to him; the rest of his fair-weather friends were unreliable.

This day happened to be the fifteenth of the month, which was also the time for the large market.

The market was bustling with people, many of whom were buying what they needed. The fish stall run by the Wu brothers was also crowded with people.

Not far away, people from the Xiatang brigade also displayed their freshly caught live fish. The brigade's fishponds had already yielded their first harvest, and today they came to the market to sell their fish; several members were busy at work.

Soon, everyone discovered that the fish sold in the Xiatang Brigade were cheaper and of better quality.

On the other hand, the Wu brothers' side not only had high prices but also shortchanged customers, so people gradually went to buy fish on the other side, and the Wu brothers' side suddenly became deserted.

The Wu brothers couldn't stand this. Seeing that the other party didn't have many people around and was older, they started to have wicked thoughts.

The eldest son of the Wu family led his brothers over aggressively, and the fish buyers scattered when they saw that something was wrong.

"Are you blind? Didn't you see that we brothers arrived first? Not only are you deliberately competing with us, but you're also selling at a low price. Do you think we're easy to bully? You've ruined their business."

The Wu brothers have been having a smooth run of success lately, and they've become increasingly audacious.

They bullied and monopolized the market, and most people dared not resist or even call the police, which emboldened them.

So, they were ready to smash things up right from the start.

At this point, most people will back down, either by moving to another location or by paying some money to settle the matter peacefully.

"How dare you? To bully and monopolize the market in broad daylight! Is there no law left?"

Unexpectedly, the people from Xiatang Brigade didn't buy into this at all. Not only did they not back down, they also chose to confront them head-on.

"The law? We brothers are the law! Smash it!"

The Wu brothers immediately revealed their vicious nature and began smashing up the stalls of the Xiatang brigade. If the villagers hadn't dodged quickly, they too would have been beaten.

"There are bad guys looting and vandalizing! Help! Arrest them!"

Suddenly, a member of the commune who was still retreating shouted, his voice sharp and startling the Wu brothers.

Wu, the eldest brother, was immediately enraged. Did the other party really want to incite the people around them to deal with his brother? How naive! From this year onwards, everyone is looking out for themselves. Only a fool would step in and meddle in other people's business.

So he stepped forward and chased after them a few steps, intending to teach them a lesson.

"Who is it? Who dares to vandalize our brigade's premises?"

"It was those five. These guys not only smashed up our stall, but they were also about to beat us up."

"Beat them up! Everyone should kill bad people like them."

Just then, a group of people rushed out from the crowd.

The leader was Zheng Bao, who brought more than twenty tough young men who surrounded the Wu brothers and gave them a good beating.

The Wu brothers usually bullied disorganized commune members, but against a collective like the Xiatang brigade, the five of them were no match for them. They were soon beaten black and blue, crying for their parents.

Zheng Bao was afraid of killing them, so he took the initiative to tell everyone to stop.

"With your cowardly behavior, you dare to try and bully others? Tie them up and send them to the police station."

Zheng Bao then led his men to the Jinling Commune Police Station and explained the situation to the police officers.

This isn't the era where people immediately start fighting; people here handle issues based on right and wrong. Those who came to the station included not only members of the Xiatang brigade, but also other villagers who had come to watch the commotion.

People recounted how the Wu brothers bullied and monopolized the market, and how they were the first to vandalize the stalls of the Xiatang Brigade.

They're not from the same place as the Wu brothers, so they're not afraid of retaliation and are willing to testify.

There's not much to say about that. Zheng Bao and the others were protecting the collective's property from loss on the one hand, and fighting against bad people and bad deeds on the other. They not only don't need to take responsibility, but should be praised instead.

The Wu brothers went to the commune health center for a check-up, and there was nothing seriously wrong. Then they were detained.

Those who learned of this were mostly delighted.

Many people knew about what the Wu brothers had done on the market. People didn't want to fight them because they didn't want to get hurt. If this had happened before the production teams and brigades were marginalized, they would have been surrounded and beaten to a pulp long ago.

Everyone is doing their own thing these days, so it's better to avoid trouble.

As a result, the Wu brothers really messed up this time.

Who in the whole county doesn't know that Xiatang Brigade belongs to the Yaoling Seed Industry Agricultural Cooperative? They didn't distribute land to individual households; tens of thousands of people are united together, and they wouldn't let five thugs bully them.

Afterwards, the county officials went to the police station to find out what happened and asked them why they hadn't taken the initiative to deal with the Wu brothers before.

“The market is not fixed. Today it’s in this commune, tomorrow it’s in another commune. Not everything is under our jurisdiction. Besides, most of the time no one reports it, so we have no idea what’s going on.”

The commune police station only had a few people, and they simply couldn't manage everything.

Previously, with the assistance of the brigade and production team, everything was easy to manage. Now, everyone is acting independently, and even if they wanted to, they couldn't manage everything.

The Wu brothers were detained for half a month before being released.

They behaved themselves for a while, not because they were afraid of being detained, but because they were genuinely terrified of being beaten this time, and they understood that there were some people they couldn't afford to mess with.

"Brother, do you think this has anything to do with Tian Bingyi? His brother-in-law is the Party Secretary of Xiatang Brigade, and I heard that he's the one who spearheaded the cooperative. Could it be that he's retaliating against us brothers?"

After returning, the Wu brothers became much more sober. (End of Chapter)