Chapter Forty-Eight: Farewell to Wang Anguo (Please Subscribe!)

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While Wang Anguo and his men were arresting a human-trafficking ring at Kang’an Coal Mine, Li Yi ran into trouble of his own.

At half past twelve, Li Yi drove his bright-red mule cart to the entrance of the sugar refinery once again and began doing business for the day.

As always, his exclusive trade was booming.

He had sold only half the cold rice noodles on his cart when a 212 compact jeep came into view. It drew closer and finally stopped in front of his stall.

The next moment, several uniformed police officers climbed out and quickly surrounded Li Yi.

Seeing the formation, Li Yi immediately knew he was in trouble.

Sure enough, before he could say a word, the officers pinned him down and slapped handcuffs on his wrists.

The workers waiting nearby to buy cold rice noodles scattered at once, afraid of being implicated.

In those days, engaging in private trade could get not only the seller punished, but the buyer as well.

It was much like child trafficking in later generations: buying and selling were considered equally criminal.

An older officer who appeared to be the captain shouted, “Everyone disperse! From now on, don’t casually do business with private individuals. Be careful, or you’ll all be arrested!”

The officers clearly had no intention of making things difficult for the ordinary workers. After all, they were merely trying to improve their meals and had not committed any serious offense.

As for Li Yi, they would have to take him back and discuss how to deal with him.

Under normal circumstances, they would confiscate his illicit earnings. At worst, they might put him in the detention center for a while. Most likely, he would not be sentenced.

After all, life was difficult for everyone in those days. For an ordinary person like him, taking the risk of doing a little private business was often a matter of necessity, and his intentions were not malicious.

Without waiting for the workers to say anything, the officers took Li Yi into the jeep, then drove his mule cart toward the county public security bureau.

Inside the jeep, the old officer looked at Li Yi’s calm expression and asked in a deep voice, “How long have you been doing this?”

“About ten days,” Li Yi answered honestly.

“Ten days isn’t too bad. If it had been longer, you really might have been sentenced.”

To be honest, they did not want to arrest anyone over something like this either.

“Young man, there are so many things you could do. Why did you have to engage in speculation and profiteering? Don’t you know it’s against the law?” the old officer asked helplessly.

“I know. But I’m short of money.”

“Being short of money isn’t an excuse for breaking the law. By your logic, everyone is short of money. Should they all start breaking the law?”

Seeing that the old officer seemed like a decent man, Li Yi smiled and said, “Of course not. But doing business shouldn’t be a problem. The authorities have already said they want to restore and develop the individual economy.”

The old officer naturally knew about that announcement. However, the policy had not yet been implemented at the county level. The news changed from one day to the next, and no one knew exactly what to make of it.

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Under such circumstances, they naturally did not dare to simply ignore people who engaged in private trade.

That said, punishments were generally much lighter.

“You certainly know quite a lot, but the policy hasn’t been implemented in the county yet. What you’re doing is still illegal,” the old officer said.

“Then how do you usually deal with someone like me?” Li Yi asked again.

“That depends on how much money you’ve made in total.”

“Altogether, only a few dozen yuan,” Li Yi replied, not daring to admit to too much.

“That’s not too serious. Usually, we confiscate the illicit earnings and the tools used in the offense, and detain the person for about half a month,” the old officer said.

“You can confiscate the money, but could you spare me the detention? I don’t want my wife or parents to worry about me,” Li Yi said.

“To tell you the truth, we originally didn’t want to bother with this matter. But someone has kept reporting you, and has even gone to the bureau personally to keep tabs on the case. We have no choice but to detain you.”

Li Yi’s brows immediately drew together.

He had assumed the police had merely spotted him during a routine patrol, or that someone occasionally jealous of his business had reported him.

He had not expected the other party to be so persistent. Just how deep was this grudge?

Still, Li Yi did not ask who had reported him. He knew the officers would never tell him.

If they did, and he went back to take revenge on the informant, the officer who had leaked the information would also be held responsible.

After that, silence settled over the vehicle.

…

Before long, the jeep arrived at the county public security bureau.

Once they reached the station, the old officer got out first and said to a young colleague beside him, “Take him to the interrogation room. I’ll question him later.”

“Yes, sir!”

The young officer then had Li Yi step out and was about to escort him to the interrogation room.

Just then, the roar of engines erupted outside the county bureau’s main gate. A convoy came barreling in, raising clouds of dust.

The vehicles stopped near the interrogation department, and a large group of armed police officers climbed out, escorting several disheveled figures.

Then more than a dozen children climbed down from another vehicle.

The moment they saw the children, the officers responsible for arresting Li Yi erupted in thunderous cheers.

The old officer ran straight toward them, his face filled with excitement. He had completely forgotten that the “criminal suspect” Li Yi was still standing nearby.

At that moment, another jeep drove through the gate. Wang Anguo and Li Gang stepped out.

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The two men looked somewhat battered, especially Wang Anguo. He appeared to have been injured; the sleeve on his right arm had been torn away, and the arm was wrapped in gauze.

Despite that, their spirits were excellent. They chatted and laughed as they climbed out of the vehicle, clearly in high spirits.

It was easy to understand why. They had successfully solved the case, arrested every suspect, and rescued all the missing children without losing a single one. That was undoubtedly a major achievement.

Compared with that, an injury like this was hardly worth mentioning.

While the two men were talking, Wang Anguo casually glanced to his right and spotted a familiar figure.

The instant he saw Li Yi, Wang Anguo thought his eyes were deceiving him.

But after taking a closer look, he realized it really was Li Yi.

Without sparing another thought for the traffickers, he immediately walked over, drawing curious looks from those around him.

Li Yi had not expected to see Wang Anguo here, much less in such a state, and felt somewhat embarrassed.

When Wang Anguo reached him, he immediately asked, “Brother Li Yi, what happened to you?”

Li Yi smiled. “Speculation and profiteering.”

“What? How did you get involved in that?” Wang Anguo asked with a frown.

He had previously learned a little about Li Yi and knew that Li Yi delivered mushrooms and other wild produce to the state-run restaurant every day. That could hardly be considered speculation and profiteering.

“I did a little private business and someone reported me,” Li Yi said.

The young officer guarding Li Yi quickly explained, “Captain Wang, someone reported that a person was selling snacks outside the sugar refinery. We went over there and happened to run into this… comrade, so we brought him back for questioning.”

Wang Anguo immediately relaxed. It was only a street stall, nothing serious.

“Take off his handcuffs. Then bring him to my office.”

“Yes, sir!”

Wang Anguo then turned to Li Yi and said, “Brother Li Yi, go wait in my office for a while. I’ll settle those traffickers and come find you.”

“All right.”

…