Rebirth: My college entrance exam score was stolen? I turned the tables and made a billion.

Two days later, outside the county hospital gate.

Liu Guangming, wearing a clean white shirt and carrying a mesh bag for a change of clothes, strode out of the hospital gate.

Although the injury on his back hadn't fully healed and he walked with a slight heaviness, his spirits were exceptionally high.

As soon as I stepped out of the gate, I heard a loud whistle.

Liangzi was pushing a 28-inch bicycle and standing under a large locust tree, enjoying the cool shade.

Upon seeing Liu Guangming emerge, they quickly went to greet him and took the net from him, hanging it on the handlebars.

"Brother Guangming, have you finished the discharge procedures?"

"All done."

Liu Guangming stretched his shoulders, feeling the sweltering air outside.

"Have you figured out what I asked you to investigate?"

Liangzi looked around, lowered his voice, and moved closer.

"I know it inside and out!"

He patted the bicycle seat, his tone revealing excitement.

"The manager of that Red Star Grocery Store is named Wang Gui. He's forty-five years old and bald."

"This guy is no capable person at all. He used to be an honest and unassuming clerk in the logistics department of the county commerce bureau. He wouldn't even dare to fart."

Liu Guangming raised an eyebrow: "Why did you let him become the manager of this prestigious store?"

"Glorious my foot!"

Liangzi spat, his face full of disdain.

"That shop started losing money at the end of last year, and the long-term employees, relying on their seniority, have an absolutely terrible work attitude!"

"Some people even stole things from the store, leaving huge holes in the accounts."

"The former store manager was a slippery fellow; when things weren't going well, he used his connections to get transferred."

"The Commerce Bureau saw it was a mess, and nobody wanted to take it on, so they just kicked Wang Gui, this honest guy with no background or connections, to the curb!"

Liu Guangming chuckled. This tactic works in any era, especially when it involves picking on the weak.

"How much money does he owe his employees now?"

"I asked the old man who empties the chamber pot at the police station, and he was right."

Liangzi stretched out a hand and flipped it over.

"We haven't been paid for almost half a year. There are twelve full-time employees in the store, and the total shortfall, including the money owed to the supply and marketing cooperative, is five thousand yuan."

Liangzi sighed and shook his head.

"Wang Gui is so desperate he's about to hang himself."

"He went to the Commerce Bureau every day, begging and pleading, but the higher-ups wouldn't even let him in the door. They just said one thing: 'Enterprises are responsible for their own profits and losses; figure it out yourself.' How was he supposed to figure it out?!"

Liu Guangming smiled after listening.

Five thousand yuan.

For an ordinary family in the early 1990s, this was an astronomical sum that they would never have dared to dream of.

At that time, the average worker's monthly salary was only about one hundred yuan, so five thousand yuan was enough to drive an honest and simple cadre like Wang Gui to despair.

But for Liu Guangming right now, this is really not a big deal.

Although he has been lying in a hospital bed these past few days, the shaved ice stall outside has never stopped operating.

Thanks to the lingering influence of County Magistrate Lin and his previous reputation, business was booming.

Every night, Liangzi and his colleagues would deliver their share of the day's profits to the ward on time.

With the money he had saved up before, he now has a total of four thousand two hundred yuan!

Liangzi and his friends had also received a considerable amount of money in the past two days. They could easily scrape together over five thousand dollars and put it on the table.

"Walk."

Liu Guangming patted the back seat of the old-fashioned bicycle.

Liangzi was taken aback: "You went there right after being discharged from the hospital? Why didn't you go back to your rented room to rest?"

"Let's take care of business first, go get the money."

Liu Guangming climbed onto the back seat, patted Liangzi on the back, and said, "Then, go straight to the intersection of Jiefang Road."

The bicycle glided along the potholed streets, the chain making a crisp clicking sound.

About ten minutes later, the two came to a steady stop on one side of the intersection of Jiefang Road.

The two didn't rush over, but instead pushed the car to the shade of a tree across the street.

Directly in front is the once-glorious Hongxing Grocery Store.

The scene is so horrific that it can only be described as appalling.

The once grand, three-bay facade now has its original double glass doors smashed in half, with glittering shards of glass scattered all over the floor.

The remaining half of the glass was covered with densely packed white paper posters pasted on it.

The text above is entirely written in black ink with a brush, the characters crooked and messy.

"Give me back my hard-earned money!"

"The Commerce Bureau doesn't care about the lives of its employees!"

"Wang Gui, pay me back!"

Meanwhile, the veteran employees were blocking the store entrance completely.

Several old men even brought their bedding rolls, which they laid directly on the cement steps, with a chipped enamel mug and half a hard, cold steamed bun next to them.

Two middle-aged women simply sat on the ground, slapping their thighs and wailing loudly, their voices so loud that the whole street could hear them.

This spectacle attracted everyone passing by on the street.

The crowd was packed three or four deep, with passersby pointing and whispering among themselves.

"See? Even the iron rice bowl has been smashed."

"This Red Star store used to be so arrogant. If you bought two pounds of sugar, the sales clerk would give you the cold shoulder. Now it's fallen on hard times."

"I heard that the higher-ups stopped allocating funds and we have to be responsible for our own profits and losses."

"Look at all that broken glass. It was all smashed by our own employees with bricks in the middle of the night."

Liangzi peeked inside on tiptoe, and couldn't help but gasp in astonishment.

"Good heavens, this is quite a sight, Brother Guangming. Wouldn't we be asking for trouble if we went over there now?"

Liu Guangming crossed his arms and calmly stared at the center of the crowd without even blinking.

"What's the rush? Let's take a look first."

As soon as he finished speaking, a violent commotion suddenly erupted in the crowd.

"Wang Gui! Stop playing dumb! If you don't pay up today, I'll skin you alive!"

Following the sound of cursing, one could see several elderly men and women tightly gripping the collar of a middle-aged man.

The man was about forty-five or forty-six years old, with a receding hairline and a few sparse strands of hair on the top of his head stuck to his scalp with sweat.

His white shirt was ripped open, revealing a large expanse of his bony chest. He looked disheveled and extremely wretched.

This is clearly Wang Gui, the shop manager who was forced into this situation.

At this moment, Wang Gui was pushed and shoved by several people, losing one of his shoes, and pleading with a sob in his voice.

"Gentlemen and aunties, please have mercy and let me go! The station is really broke!"

"I sat outside Director Li's office all afternoon yesterday. He said our store has been losing money for years and has long been a burden..."

"fart!"

A withered old man suffering from severe asthma suddenly rushed out, leaning on a cane, trembling with anger, his chest heaving violently.

"You're eating and drinking well in the store, ripping off our hard-earned money!"

"My spouse is still in the hospital waiting for money to buy medicine to save their life!"

The old man with asthma became more and more agitated as he spoke, and before he could catch his breath, his face turned purple.

Immediately afterwards, with trembling hands, he pulled a brown glass bottle from his torn pocket and twisted the cap off.

A pungent smell of pesticides instantly filled the air.

DDT!

The onlookers were so frightened that they scattered in a large circle, and several women with children screamed and hid behind them.

"Old Li! You can't do that!"

Several employees were terrified and rushed to grab the bottle, but the old man swung it away with his cane.

The old man held up a bottle of pesticide and stared intently at Wang Gui.

"Wang Gui! If you don't pay me my wages today, I'll die right here in front of you! I'll haunt you as a ghost every day!"

This completely snapped Wang Gui's already tense nerves.

Six months of frustration, the passing the buck from superiors, and the unreasonable demands of subordinates all turned into despair at this moment.

"Stop pressuring me! What am I supposed to give you? I don't even have money to buy rice to cook for myself!"

Wang Gui let out a heart-wrenching howl, unleashing the greatest brute force he had ever possessed, and violently shoved away the employees who were holding him.

He scrambled through the crowd and headed straight for the rusty iron ladder on the side of the grocery store, which was used to repair the signboard.

He used both hands and feet to climb up like a madman, the iron ladder creaking under his feet, rust falling down in a flurry.

"Good heavens! I can't live like this anymore!"

"You want money, right? I'll give you my life!"

"I'll die first! I'll die right before your eyes!"

In the blink of an eye, Wang Gui had already climbed to the top of the signboard.

When the wind blew, he swayed precariously.

The employees below were immediately dumbfounded.

The old man holding the pesticide froze on the spot, his hand holding the bottle suspended in mid-air.

They may cause trouble, but if they really drive a state official to his death, every single one of them will have to go to jail!

"Manager Wang! Wang Gui! Don't be impulsive!"

"Get down here! We can talk this out!"

The onlookers were in an uproar. Some shouted to call the police, while others searched for cushions. The scene was completely chaotic.

Across the street.

Liangzi was so frightened that he shrank back and gripped the handlebars tightly.

"Holy crap, is this old guy really going to jump off the building?! Brother Guangming, let's not get involved in this deal, it's a dead end!"

"If someone really dies, this shop will become a haunted house!"

Liu Guangming, however, did not move.

This situation is a true reflection of the state-owned enterprise reform on the eve of its implementation.

The "iron rice bowl" is no longer secure. Those above are passing the buck, while those below are causing trouble. The middle management is caught in the middle, living a life worse than death.

However, for him, this was not a dead end, but rather a powerful tool for bargaining!

By focusing on this pain point, we can drive prices down to rock bottom.

"Walk."

Liu Guangming put his hands in his pockets and strode into the crowd.

Liangzi grabbed his arm in a panic.

"Brother Guangming! Where are you going? Why are you getting involved in this mess at a time like this!"

Liu Guangming pushed Liangzi's hand away, strode across the road, and squeezed directly into the chaotic crowd.

"Let's go talk business."