Chapter 184: The Pitfalls of Thinking

According to Lao Wang's confession, the counterfeit liquor came from a peddler who had come from Hailin. During the sales pitch, the peddler only claimed to have connections at the distillery and was selling liquor that had been secretly taken out.

Lao Wang was well aware that this meant the liquor was fake, but the ridiculously low price of fifty cents a bottle tempted him.

However, he thought that the counterfeit liquor was made in a private still and didn't expect that the makers were reckless enough to use industrial alcohol for mixing.

So, when Gui Hu came knocking, Lao Wang took all the fake liquor off the shelves and planned to dispose of it secretly that evening. But before nightfall, the police arrived at his door.

After hearing Lao Wang's account, Gui Hu was trembling with anger.

He had thought the problem was with the distillery, but it turned out he had wronged good people. Not only did he make the silly girl he had encountered earlier cry, but he almost impulsively vandalized the distillery.

The real culprit was a small shop right in front of him that was trying to make an extra buck from selling a bottle of liquor!

Seeing Gui Hu pin Lao Wang to the ground and beat him fiercely by the firewall, Xiao Ji quickly stepped in to separate them.

Gui Hu was a heavy-duty laborer at the county ceramics factory, and his strength was considerable. His earlier attack almost suffocated Lao Wang. The police had to pat Lao Wang's back and sprinkle water on him to revive him.

Looking at Lao Wang, who was lying on the ground, gasping for breath, Li Xian frowned and crouched in front of him. "Did the seller of the fake liquor leave any contact information?"

"Cough, cough… No. He just said that when he was out of stock, he would leave a row of empty bottles outside the shop, and we would know to come get more when we saw them."

Upon receiving this information, Xiao Ji rubbed his chin.

The suspect was highly alert, which made the situation tricky. They couldn't take the initiative and had to lie in wait.

Not wanting to alert the culprit, Xiao Ji immediately ordered the police to withdraw. He left two trusted officers behind to stay with him and personally monitor the situation.

Li Xian knew he couldn't be of much help, so after Xiao Ji assured him that the case would be resolved quickly and the fake liquor peddler caught, he took his leave.

...

At the house.

All afternoon, Li Xian had been staring blankly at a bottle of counterfeit liquor in front of him.

Although the liquor was mixed directly with industrial alcohol and was extremely cheap to make, the packaging was meticulously done.

Perhaps these liquor sellers had a packaging production line, as the bottles, the printed logos, and the caps looked almost identical to the genuine Old Zhu's liquor.

Zheng Weishi, seeing Li Xian lost in thought, holding the fake liquor bottle and frowning, clicked his tongue and snatched it away. "Tsk… People are really despicable these days. To make money, they don't even care about their conscience. They dare to mix industrial alcohol with water and sell it. Ah… The world is going downhill."

Seeing the almost perfect fake liquor bottle, Zheng Weishi was filled with deep emotions.

Li Xian chuckled.

He thought to himself, is this really the decline of conscience?

If you lived another twenty or thirty years, you'd wake up to eat a deep-fried dough stick with gutter oil and Sudan red tea eggs, feed your great-grandchildren some melamine milk powder, have some lean meat with clenbuterol, braised beef with injected glue, and maybe a contraceptive pill fish. After a heavy lunch, you could switch to something lighter for dinner — for your health.

Urea bean sprouts, ripening agents in tomatoes, and gypsum tofu sprinkled with radiation salt mixed with preservatives and green onions. Two white bread steamed buns with sulfur bleach would be about right. Eat until you're seventy percent full, and drink a pot of scented tea to make up the difference.

If your stomach still feels uneasy after a day, drink some latex yogurt to soothe your stomach lining.

After dinner, a cigarette high in mercury will ensure your happiness like a fairy.

A full set of this will ensure a sweet sleep under a black-hearted cotton quilt and longevity.

Black-hearted?

By then, you'll understand what that term really means — its value only goes up.

Seeing Li Xian's almost sarcastic expression, Zheng Weishi muttered something incomprehensible and went off to play chess with Old Qin.

Li Xian then took the fake liquor bottle and rubbed his temples.

"Need to do anti-counterfeiting."

...

Perhaps because he knew the distillery was now the new county chief's pet project, Xiao Ji put in great effort. After a day of strict surveillance, he managed to apprehend the liquor peddler who came to deliver the liquor and immediately contacted the Hailin police.

The distance between Bangye and Hailin wasn't far, and they often collaborated on criminal cases. The police systems in both areas were familiar with each other. Upon receiving Xiao Ji's request for cooperation, the Hailin police quickly mobilized their forces. The two law enforcement teams joined forces and raided the counterfeit production site that same day.

They arrested the main culprits, the Peng brothers, and over 30 accomplices involved in producing and selling fake liquor.

They seized over 600 pounds of industrial alcohol and a set of bottling and printing equipment purchased from a defunct distillery in Hailin.

Thus, three days after the counterfeit liquor incident, the case was officially solved.

Upon hearing the news, Zhu Feng and Old Zhu were overjoyed. The rumors about Bangye White causing health issues had spread, so solving the case at this time cleared the distillery's name. To thank the police for resolving the case so quickly, Old Zhu and his son prepared a banner and sent it to Xiao Ji.

Gui Hu, who had realized he had wronged people, also went to the distillery to apologize. After his father-in-law was transferred to Bingcheng, his vision had been restored. Gui Hu's wife, after learning the truth, stopped insisting on a divorce.

Although the process was convoluted, at least the outcome was satisfying.

However, Li Xian, who visited the counterfeit production site in Hailin, wasn't as pleased.

It was too easy.

As long as there were printing and bottling equipment, it was so easy to produce counterfeit liquor that almost ruined the reputation Bangye White had worked hard to build.

Legitimate businesses are always at a disadvantage compared to counterfeiters.

As seen in the Journey to the West, the Six-Eared Macaque easily made Sun Wukong look foolish. One was in the open, the other in the dark. When it comes to reputation, destruction is always easier than creation.

The despicable have a free pass, while the noble have their epitaph. Those who disregard morals always seize the opportunity.

Li Xian had previously ignored this issue, but now, with such a painful lesson, he had to face it squarely.

Back at the house, he sat in front of the main room, drawing circles on the ground with a stick, staring at the nearly identical bottles of fake and real liquor.

In this era, there were no decent anti-counterfeiting labels. Or rather, current anti-counterfeiting measures were still rudimentary. Anti-counterfeiting labels could be made with care, but Wang Shouyi's 13 Spices, plagued by counterfeiters, was now adding a supposedly super-advanced red thread that dissolves quickly in water.

But Li Xian knew this wouldn't work. The anti-counterfeiting measures that Wang Shouyi spent millions on, hired foreign consultants to develop, would be easily breached by crafty counterfeiters using colored rice paste.

While he was troubled,

Behind him, Su Ya was cleaning the room with a feather duster she found in the storeroom.

Seeing his worried expression, the little girl looked around. Confirming that her mother wasn't around and no one else was present, she carefully climbed down from the stool and walked to the door.

Li Xian suddenly felt an itch on his head. Turning around, he saw the little mute with eyes squinted like a crescent moon.

He rolled his eyes.

In the past few days, Su Ya had acted as if she had seen a tiger whenever she saw him. Several times, he had tried to greet her, only for her to turn and run away as if he might eat her.

Feeling neglected, Li Xian was annoyed and frustrated.

Seeing him sulking, Su Ya smiled slightly, stepped out of the door, and sat down beside him, nudging his arm.

"What's up?" Li Xian asked gruffly.

Su Ya pointed to his head, then made a drinking motion, and finally stuck out her tongue with a white eye before looking at him with a questioning expression.

"Yeah, it's just about the fake liquor case," Li Xian answered grumpily, resting his chin on his hands.

Su Ya thought for a moment, then handed the feather duster to Li Xian.

She then ran to the kitchen.

Li Xian was puzzled by the girl's odd behavior, rubbing his scalp with the feather duster.

Soon, Su Ya came back with a pile of bottles and jars. Afraid of breaking them, she carefully squatted in front of Li Xian and placed various condiments like soy sauce, vinegar, and dark soy sauce in front of him.

Finally, she took a bottle of fake liquor and a bottle of real liquor from Li Xian's feet and placed them side by side.

Li Xian looked at her with confusion. "What's this? A condiment meeting?"

Su Ya made a "d

umb" gesture with her mouth, turned the bottles around so that the sides without labels were facing Li Xian.

Seeing the bottles, Li Xian suddenly understood!

Although the contents of the bottles were different, they were all the same in specification — all were 300ml white glass bottles.

If you removed the labels and bottle caps, they were virtually identical!

So it's like this!

In this time, all glass bottles are the same!

Even the little mute could see this, but how could this top-notch, extremely smart, and devastatingly handsome time-traveling youth not notice?

Hmm,

A gentleman stays away from the kitchen, it must be because he doesn't deal with these daily necessities.

It must be!

Looking at the little girl with big eyes blinking in front of him, Li Xian thought to himself.