PFC Chapter 511 Let's give it a try
Chapter 511 Let's give it a try
Seeing things were about to go wrong, Liu Datou flew into a rage, shouting, "You...you're framing me!"
“Whoever framed you knows best,” Li Xiangyang stepped forward. “Tell me, did someone instigate you to cause trouble? How much money did they give you?”
"No...no one instructed me..." Liu Datou said, his voice stern but his tone weak.
"No?" Li Xiangyang sneered. "Then explain why you lied and said Zhao Xiuying weighed the goods for you yesterday? She wasn't even at the purchasing station!"
The villagers who were watching suddenly realized:
"Yes, isn't Miss Zhao taking care of her mother in the county town?"
"Zhang Weiping and his team have been receiving the goods these past few days!"
"So someone deliberately came to cause trouble!"
Realizing he had been exposed, Liu Datou turned to leave with his two accomplices.
Li Xiangyang wasn't about to let them get away so easily: "Stop! You think you can leave without explaining yourself?"
Wang Ergou rushed back from outside and immediately understood what had happened upon seeing the commotion: "What, someone's here to cause trouble again?"
"Brother Er Gou, stop them!" Zhang Weiping shouted.
Without saying a word, Wang Ergou blocked the doorway, trapping Liu Datou and the other two inside the purchasing station.
Li Xiangyang walked up to Liu Datou, his voice not loud but full of authority: "I'm giving you one last chance. Honestly tell me who ordered this, or I'll call the police station."
"I...I..." Liu Datou's forehead was sweating, and his eyes darted around.
At this moment, someone in the crowd shouted, "Mr. Li, we all believe you! These people are clearly here to cause trouble!"
"That's right! Mr. Li is such a fair businessman, how could he possibly use a cheat scale!"
"Report this to the police station immediately and make them explain!"
The villagers were filled with righteous indignation, and Liu Datou and his two companions were surrounded, unable to move forward or backward.
Under pressure from everyone, Liu Datou finally couldn't take it anymore: "I'll talk... I'll tell the truth..."
"Someone gave us ten yuan each and told us to come here and cause trouble, saying you're using a cheat scale to rip people off..."
"Who is it?" Li Xiangyang pressed.
Liu Datou stammered for a long time, finally only managing to utter a vague name: "Old...Old Wang, Old Wang from town sent us."
"There are more than a dozen people with the surname Wang in town. Which old Wang are you talking about?" Li Xiangyang pressed.
"I...I don't know them either. We just bumped into them on the street. They said they'd give us some money and let us cause trouble here..." Beads of sweat rolled down Liu Datou's forehead.
Wang Ergou, listening from the side, shook his head: "Who believes that? You think you can just pick up anyone on the street and give them money to cause trouble? Do you think we're three-year-olds?"
The villagers who had gathered to watch also questioned, "Doesn't that sound too far-fetched?"
"They must have conspired together!"
"Mr. Li, stop wasting time talking to them, just call the police station!"
Looking at Liu Datou's stubborn refusal to speak, Li Xiangyang understood that even if such a minor character spoke up, he would only be a middleman, and the real mastermind would certainly not easily reveal himself.
“Fine, since you’re unwilling to tell the truth, let’s go through the proper procedures,” Li Xiangyang said to Zhang Weiping. “Go to the police station and say that someone is maliciously damaging the reputation of our purchasing station.”
Upon hearing that the police were going to be called, Liu Datou panicked: "No...don't call the police station! We'll admit our mistake, okay?"
"Admit your mistake?" Li Xiangyang sneered. "Now you're scared? Weren't you so arrogant just now?"
“We…we did take the money, but we really don’t know who that person is,” one of the accomplices pleaded. “He was just a middle-aged man with a slight out-of-town accent.”
Li Xiangyang narrowed his eyes. A non-local accent? Ma Qingfu is a local, so it seems he really did find a middleman to handle this matter.
"Alright," Li Xiangyang said after a moment's thought, "I can avoid reporting it to the police station, but you have to agree to one condition."
"What are the conditions? Tell me!" Liu Datou felt as if he had been granted a pardon.
"From now on, no matter how much money you offer, you are not allowed to come here to cause trouble. Furthermore, you must keep an eye out for anyone else trying to sabotage things behind the scenes."
“Okay, okay, we agree!” The three nodded repeatedly.
Li Xiangyang waved his hand: "Get lost, and don't let me see you loitering around here again."
The three men, feeling as if they had been granted a pardon, slunk away.
The villagers who had gathered dispersed, but the murmurs continued: "Mr. Li is kind-hearted; if it were me, I would have called the police station long ago."
"Exactly, people like that deserve to be taught a lesson."
"But then again, who exactly is responsible for this harm?"
As Li Xiangyang listened to these discussions, he was already devising a countermeasure. Ma Qingfu's trick was indeed insidious; although it hadn't succeeded this time, who knew what other tricks he might come up with next?
"Xiangyang, are we just going to passively take the beating like this?" Wang Ergou was somewhat unwilling.
“Of course not,” a glint of shrewdness flashed in Li Xiangyang’s eyes. “Since he wants to play, then we’ll play along.”
That evening, Li Xiangyang called Zhang Weiping, Li Daqiang, and a few others together for a small meeting.
“Everyone saw what happened today; someone deliberately targeted our purchasing station,” Li Xiangyang said bluntly. “From now on, everyone needs to be more careful, especially when receiving goods. Make sure to weigh them in front of everyone to avoid gossip.”
“Brother Xiangyang, we understand,” Zhang Weiping said earnestly, “but these kinds of things are hard to prevent. What if they find another excuse to cause trouble?”
"We'll meet force with force, and we'll dam water with earth," Li Xiangyang said confidently. "We conduct business honestly and uprightly, and we're not afraid of anyone finding fault. Besides, the villagers are discerning; they know who's good and who's bad."
Li Daqiang scratched his head: "But Xiangyang, what if they come to steal again? Even though we have security bars, they won't really stop them if they really try to."
"I have arrangements for that. Starting tomorrow, we'll take turns on night duty, and..."
He lowered his voice: "I plan to set up a few 'traps' around the recycling station to ensure that anyone who comes to steal will never leave."
Early the next morning, Li Xiangyang began setting up traps around the purchasing station. He dug small pits in several hidden spots, lined them with wire mesh, and then covered them with a thin layer of soil. These traps wouldn't hurt anyone, but they were enough to make any thief slip and fall.
In addition, he tied several thin wires near the doors and windows so that if someone touched them, the bells inside would ring.
"Will this trick work?" Wang Ergou asked, watching Li Xiangyang busy himself with some doubt.
"Let's give it a try, it's not like it'll take much effort," Li Xiangyang said, patting the dirt off his hands. "Besides, this is called psychological deterrence, letting those thieves know we're on guard."
Sure enough, things went smoothly for several days, and no one came to cause trouble.
The purchasing station's business gradually returned to normal, and villagers from various villages continued to deliver goods as usual. The prices were fair, the service was attentive, and everyone was very satisfied.
However, Li Xiangyang knew that this was just the calm before the storm. A man like Ma Qingfu wouldn't give up so easily.