Obstruction

Yang Rui and the others waited in the ice cream shop beside the school until classes were nearly over before they saw a hoodlum, thirty at most, appear at the intersection. He wore a floral shirt and a crew cut, with a Sam Browne belt tucked at his waist, and rode a 28 Forever with a swagger.

A large box sat on the rear rack of his bicycle. He took it down and opened it out, revealing exactly three stacks of test papers.

"That's him, right?" Yang Rui called to the others and went over without hesitation.

Cao Baoming and Su Yi followed, rubbing their hands in anticipation. The remaining students took up positions at the other two exits according to their agreed strategy, ready to stop him from escaping.

Their unconcealed movements immediately caught his attention.

"Gentlemen, need something?" Floral Shirt flicked at his trouser leg and stood up. The policeman in the booth across the road also picked up his baton and ambled over.

Without answering, Yang Rui bent down, picked up a stack of papers, and began leafing through them.

Cao Baoming and Su Yi blocked Floral Shirt on either side. Their thick arms left him unable to muster any resistance, and he could only shout from beside them, "Keep your hands off my stuff! Do you know how much trouble it takes to make these?"

"I know. How could I not?" Yang Rui casually tossed the papers he had finished checking onto the ground, his expression displeased.

There was no doubt that the test papers had been copied from the Rui Study Group's papers. Not only was the content identical, even the outer cardboard cover was the same. This was not good news.

Cardboard covers cost money. China in 1982 was nothing like China in its era as the world's factory: every kind of commodity was in short supply. A little cardboard cover might seem insignificant, but for a set of twelve test papers selling for only twenty cents, it accounted for no small share of the cost.

Yang Rui had insisted on using them to build a brand and raise the barrier to entry as much as possible.

Floral Shirt's pirated papers also used cardboard covers. Although this could be explained as slavish copying, it was more likely also an attempt to build a brand.

It was like merchants selling pirated discs. Those who only intended to make a quick buck and leave did not care about disc quality, much less the packaging. But those intending to sell pirated discs over the long term would care about quality and try to choose packaging that looked good and worked well. This was no business philosophy, merely a merchant's instinct.

In other words, continuing to use cardboard covers like the Rui Study Group's showed that Floral Shirt was an ambitious fellow.

Moreover, there were more test papers than Yang Rui had expected, and several different kinds of handwriting.

This showed that he was not working alone, but had likewise organized several people to participate.

However, more people meant more sets of equipment. The styluses, rollers, and other supplies needed for mimeographing were not cheap, but they were worth more than a few stacks of mimeographed papers. Unless he planned to do this on a large scale, it would be hard to recoup that investment.

An individual operation and a group operation were entirely different matters.

Yang Rui waved a hand, signaling Cao Baoming and Su Yi to let the man go, then asked, "Who do you run with?"

The man, who called himself Leopard, thought he had run into some newly minted hoodlums. He glared sideways at him. "Looking for money? You've picked the wrong man. Besides, who do you run with? I know all the boys on the streets, and none of you are among them."

"Oh, you've got brothers on the streets? Who?" Yang Rui flexed his wrists, looking ready to fight at any moment as he fished for information.

Leopard struggled a couple of times, but there was no escaping Cao Baoming and Su Yi's grip. He simply announced his connections. "Huo Laosi is my sworn brother, and Thirteen Wolves are my in-laws. Ask anyone in the county. I'm the great Leopard!"

That last line had clearly come from listening to storytelling performances, and he delivered it with a certain singsong flair.

"Oh," Yang Rui said, continuing to probe. "So Huo Laosi found you this business too?"

"I'll tell you straight. This business belongs to Huo Laosi and the Thirteen Wolves. Just you wait, kid. Once I get my hands on you, I'll beat the shit out of you." Leopard straightened his shirt and spread his feet, clearly striking what he thought was a dashing pose.

Unfortunately, fashion was even shorter-lived than a mayfly. The pose Leopard thought made him look impossibly cool looked to Yang Rui more like Hawking strutting down a catwalk.

"Make him stand properly." No sooner had Yang Rui spoken than Cao Baoming and Su Yi each used one hand to hoist Leopard up.

"What's going on here?" The policeman from the booth finally arrived.

Yang Rui felt even calmer. Leopard's position in the piracy group was clearly similar to Shi Gui's: he was merely a distributor.

Had he been more valuable, or had stronger connections himself, the policeman from the booth would naturally not have been so passive. His watch over the man seemed more like something he did in passing.

"Keep him quiet," Yang Rui told Cao Baoming. He turned to greet the policeman and said directly, "My name is Yang Rui. I'm Duan Hang's younger cousin."

"Duan Hang? Which Duan Hang?" The policeman's tight grip on his baton relaxed slightly, and his arm grew less stiff.

"Duan Hang of the County Criminal Police Brigade." Only after giving the name did Yang Rui take out his cigarettes and offer two. "What should I call you?"

Duan Hang was Yang Rui's eldest cousin, the son of his eldest maternal uncle, Duan Hua. He had become a policeman after graduating from junior high and was now captain of the criminal police brigade, making him someone of consequence even within the sizable county Public Security Bureau.

"No need to be so polite. Lu Yang." Sure enough, the policeman tucked his baton back into his belt. He took one cigarette, slipped it behind his ear, and pointed to himself. "I'm with the Urban Management Police Station. I've had dinner with Captain Duan a couple of times. Haven't seen you before, though."

"I'm still in school." Yang Rui pointed at the papers on the ground. "The person who used to sell test papers here is my friend."

Understanding dawned on the policeman. He hesitated, then asked, "Does Captain Duan know about this?"

"Not yet. Give it an hour, and he will." Yang Rui made a signal they had agreed on beforehand, and one of the students mounted a bicycle and sped toward the Public Security Bureau.

Leopard finally caught on and began stamping his feet and shouting, "You fucking tricked me! You tricked me! Let go, and see if I don't beat the shit out of you... Watch out, Fourth Brother will finish you!"

"Weren't you just calling him Laosi?" Yang Rui gave him a disdainful glance, then turned and asked, "Lu Yang, what sort of person is this Huo Laosi?"

"Huo Laosi... How should I put it? If you can avoid offending him, you'd best avoid it." Lu Yang was trying not to offend either side.

Yang Rui smiled and said he understood, then offered another cigarette. He turned, hauled Leopard up, and went into the ice cream shop, proceeding to question him about Huo Laosi.

He did not care much about street hoodlums. Never mind that the year of the Strike Hard campaign was just around the corner-even without it, hoodlums in this era could not compare with the power of the state. Gangs that developed operations across counties and provinces were also rare, and their protectors were usually low-ranking.

The policeman's attitude also made it clear that Duan Hang's position as captain of the County Criminal Police Brigade was already sufficient.

Thus, Yang Rui showed no courtesy when questioning Leopard. He slapped him when a slap was called for and kicked him when a kick was called for. Before long, Leopard spilled everything like beans pouring from a bamboo tube.

As expected, Huo Laosi was a local thug who had served several prison terms. After his latest release, he had formed a gang with the Thirteen Wolves, with whom he was on good terms. The two parties had rounded up another seven or eight men and shifted to doing business at the bus station. They had discovered how profitable the Rui Study Group's test papers were because they often encountered students delivering papers there. After repeated encounters, they had begun thinking of expanding, found a few students, obtained some supplies partly by theft and partly by purchase, and started mimeographing.

If things went well, they also planned to use the buses at the station to sell the papers in the surrounding areas.

Yang Rui did not know whether to laugh or cry. He had long known that eight out of ten people doing business these days were released convicts, but he had never expected a gang like Huo Laosi's, straddling the criminal and gray areas, to pirate test papers-and do a fairly convincing job of it.

If they could sell the papers in neighboring counties and cities and distribute them widely, it really would bring in a considerable income, enough to support a gang of over a hundred hoodlums without difficulty.

Of course, to sell papers in neighboring counties and cities, they could no longer rely on mimeographing. Otherwise, production would fall short, and the advantage of low costs would not come through.

At this thought, Yang Rui lowered his head and asked, "Leopard, have you found a printing plant?"

Machines and raw materials were scarce at the time, and all printing plants belonged to the state. Even paying for printing still required a letter of introduction from a work unit. Only with help from someone they knew could they get production scheduled; it was no easy matter.

Leopard shook his head desperately, refusing to say another word.

The more he acted this way, the more likely Yang Rui thought it was, and his expression slowly grew grave.

Duan Hang took only fifteen minutes to arrive.

He rode a motorcycle with a sidecar, its engine roaring as he drove straight down the middle of the road, drawing countless envious looks.

Officer Lu Yang was rather surprised to see him arrive so quickly, and his manner immediately became warmer.

He jogged forward to help Duan Hang park the motorcycle by the roadside, then led him to the ice cream shop before turning and returning to his booth as though he had seen nothing.

Duan Hang looked at Yang Rui with some surprise. "What's so urgent?"

"Someone's pirating our test papers." Ignoring Duan Hang's surprised gaze, Yang Rui explained everything in detail.

In his memories, he had been on good terms with his eldest cousin, Duan Hang. The latter's appointment as captain of the criminal police brigade also had something to do with Yang Rui's grandfather, Yang Shan.

Since he also did not know how to interact with him, Yang Rui simply got straight to the matter, saving a good deal of unnecessary talk.

At first, Duan Hang thought it was an ordinary quarrel or fight and kept smiling. But when he heard that selling test papers brought in at least fifty yuan in profit every day, he finally lost his composure. Taking charge of the conversation, he began questioning Yang Rui in detail.

When he was done, Duan Hang stamped his foot in amazement. "I understand. Tell me, what do you want to do?"