Courtyard House: Drunk and tipsy, the whole courtyard exposed at the start.

Zhang Dabiao originally intended to knock over the crowd and run away, but it wouldn't be good to suddenly disappear in front of so many people; it would easily expose him.

As a result, he used too much force and fell over, not even having a chance to open the Swiss Army knife he was holding.

Then Zhang Dabiao got a severe beating from the soldiers of the Fifth Division. He was so frustrated!

And to make matters worse, his Swiss Army knife was stolen by that Uncle Huang.

"Hey, you're hiding a concealed weapon?"

"This little thing is quite well-made, isn't it? There's a knife, a flathead screwdriver, and a Phillips head screwdriver. What's this head? What's it for?" Uncle Huang was examining the Swiss Army knife, occasionally gesturing at Zhang Dabiao as if he wanted to try it out.

The skinny guy, grimacing and clutching his arm, said, "Uncle Huang, this kid broke my arm! He should give me an extra ten pounds of meat later, I need to make sure I recover!"

"Wait a minute! The food hasn't even arrived yet and you're already making plans?"

"Come here and take a look, what is this thing?"

"Hiss—I've never seen this before? A multi-functional... knife? I've heard that American soldiers used this thing on the northern battlefield!" The skinny guy stared at the Swiss Army knife for a long time, then suddenly had a jolt.

"Is this kid perhaps a spy?"

"Holy crap? A speculator, and a spy at that? This is incredible!"

"You have to pay more!" Uncle Huang said fiercely—he had caught Zhang Dabiao red-handed again!

We're not afraid he won't hand over the grain!

Zhang Dabiao was speechless; he couldn't explain it!

"Uncle Huang, the people from Qinjiatun are here!"

Someone outside shouted, so the crowd picked up Zhang Dabiao and took him out.

Zhang Dabiao was beaten up. Although he didn't lose any arms or legs, his joints were very sore, and he was kicked hard in the ribs several times, leaving him unable to exert any strength.

It's true that you can run away and sneak into your "little nest" at any time, but if you can't explain it in front of so many people and someone comes to investigate, then you'll be in trouble.

So Zhang Dabiao had no choice but to endure it.

Looking back now, I should have hidden in my little den immediately, and then connected to the small wooden house at the Qinjiatun brigade headquarters to warn them!

careless...

------------

The place where the two groups met was a grain drying ground between the two villages. The house next to it was a small courtyard used by Xiagezhuang to store grain. It was clear that there was basically no grain left. Inside, there were piles of rotten firewood, broken bricks, and some broken door panels that no one used. In short, there was no grain in sight.

The group that arrested Zhang Dabiao's men, from Xiagezhuang, numbered a dozen or so. Each of them was carrying a carrying pole or a hoe, and there was also a bespectacled man who looked like an official mixed in with them.

On the other side, Qin Dingsong led a group of seven or eight people pulling a cart carrying grain.

Among them were old hunters carrying hunting rifles, Qin Dashan and Qin Dajiang, as well as Qin Mancang and Qin Jingru, who had returned to the city for the New Year but had not yet returned.

Seeing Qin Dingsong bring food to redeem him, Zhang Dabiao breathed a sigh of relief.

Thankfully, he's not an ingrate.

When everyone saw Zhang Dabiao in this state, they were furious and wanted to rush forward.

"You surnamed Huang, how dare you hit my apprentice?!" Qin Dingsong was also furious, but he still managed to stop everyone, as Zhang Dabiao's safety was the top priority.

"Uncle Da Biao!"

"Big Brother Biao!"

Qin Mancang and Qin Jingru were extremely anxious, but Qin Dingsong stopped them. Moreover, Zhang Dabiao was in Huang Ershu's hands, so they dared not make any rash moves.

"Captain Qin, your apprentice is quite something."

Uncle Huang didn't say anything. The man who looked like an official walked over and even pretended to push up his glasses.

"Speculation and profiteering, plus this thing—"

He raised the Swiss Army knife in front of everyone.

"I heard that only the soldiers on the northern battlefield have this thing. Even if they had it in the country, it would have been confiscated long ago."

"Your apprentice can not only deal in grain, but also get his hands on this stuff. This business must be quite large."

The official implied that Zhang Dabiao's speculation and profiteering was too large-scale, and that he was even able to obtain these controlled items, as if he had Zhang Dabiao completely under his control.

Qin Dingsong glared at Zhang Dabiao, as if to say, "How could you be so careless?"

Zhang Dabiao was a little confused. It was just a Swiss Army knife, and a counterfeit one at that. Why were you making such a fuss?

So he explained, "Is it possible that it was given to me by one of my elders?"

Then, the entire room fell silent.

Yeah, they're from Beijing. If they have an elder in their family who's been to war, giving them one of these things doesn't seem to be against the rules, right?

The official was completely stunned—[Why didn't I think of this before?]

He coughed and said, "That's not important."

"The important thing is that your entire Qin Family Village is engaging in speculative dealings with this purchasing agent from the city!"

"Other purchasing agents collect goods from the countryside, and they collect supplies that are not included in the planned procurement."

"You guys are really something else, using this purchasing agent to buy over 2000 jin of grain from the village every month! The amount of speculation and profiteering is enormous!"

"And there's Qin Mancang from your village, he does this kind of thing too, right? What do you think we should do about it?"

After the cadre finished speaking, the people of Qinjiatun dared not move, because they were indeed speculating and engaging in illegal trading—exchanging the antiques and collectibles they had collected in the village for grain with Zhang Dabiao, and that was a fact!

And everyone involved has been caught!

Qin Dingsong and his accomplices were feeling guilty and were racking their brains trying to figure out how to extricate Zhang Dabiao from the matter.

Starting in mid-October, over the past few months, including Zhang Dabiao's personal gifts to his master, the items traded with the old hunter, and additional purchases, nearly 10 jin of grain have been sent to Qinjiatun.

What kind of purchasing agent delivers grain instead of accepting goods?

There is only one possibility: Qinjiatun bought grain at high prices, which is speculation and profiteering!

There's no escaping it!

It's true that Zhang Dabiao is a speculator, but he's not afraid. He has so much money in the bank and so many remittance certificates that nobody would believe he needs to deal in grain.

But the people of Xiagezhuang didn't know this, and the people of Qinjiatun didn't dare to say it, for fear of causing even bigger trouble.

So Qin Dingsong asked in a low voice, "Director Qian (a cadre in the commune, Huang Daya, and Huang Ershu's relative by marriage), what do you suggest we do?"

He wanted to resolve the issue quickly and save Zhang Dabiao first.

The person was in the other party's hands, and the other party had a grudge against him. After all, Uncle Huang's son was shot dead because the people of Qinjiatun reported him to the police, and several other villagers from Xiagezhuang were sentenced to prison.

Now, to be reasonable, he's afraid it might be detrimental to Zhang Dabiao. Who knows if that guy surnamed Huang might suddenly go crazy?

The sickles, hoes, and kitchen knives in their hands weren't just for show.

He dared not gamble.

Zhang Dabiao is far more important than these few thousand kilograms of grain.

Zhang Dabiao stubbornly tried to explain, but Qin Dingsong stopped him with a look.

The cadre called Director Qian laughed, adjusted his glasses, and said, "We can choose not to report this person or hand him over to the county police station; we can just pretend we don't know anything about it."

"But 2000 catties of grain are not enough to redeem him."

"It needs to be at least 5000 jin!"