On May 5 this year, Yu Xintong, who was caught because he was too fat, went on trial for indirect intentional homicide. The vegetable stall operated by the victim Wang San before his death. At 1:30 in the morning, Wang Li (a pseudonym), who was asleep, received a call from her husband "Jiamusi": "I will be at the market in half an hour." She quickly got up, tidied up for a moment, and then walked towards the Shuitun Market. Like many vegetable vendors in Beijing's large markets, her working hours are from 2 to 8 in the summer and from 4 to 10 in the winter. However, Wang Li did not know how long such days could last. To leave? The pressure of life made it difficult for her to give up her means of livelihood for many years. To stay? Her younger brother Wang San was killed, which had completely disrupted her life. Seeking justice for her younger brother became her main goal in the past year, affecting her business greatly. Wang San, whose real name is Wang Chengguo, is from Heilongjiang Province and made a living selling bean sprouts at the Shuitun Market in Changping District. At 6 o'clock in the morning on May 5 last year, Wang San was stabbed to death by a vegetable thug with a knife in the Shuitun Market, at the young age of 30. On May 5 this year, the case went to trial, and our newspaper once reported it under the title "Small Bean Sprouts Caused a Major Murder Case." During the trial, the reporter had a series of questions about this bloody case: What were its causes? Should we submit or resist? Or, in a good environment, do we even need such choices? Thus, there was this interview. The Monopoly Way of the Vegetable Market Beijing Shuitun Agricultural and sideline Products Wholesale Market is located south of Shuitun Village in Changping District, adjacent to the high-tech zone exit of the Badaling Expressway. The market's operating slogan is "Based in Northern Beijing, Facing the Whole Country," and the majority of vegetable vendors in Changping District and Yanqing County obtain their goods from the Shuitun Market. Wang Li rented a house in Shuitun Village. It only took her 10 minutes to walk from her home to her stall in the market. Every early morning, her husband nicknamed "Jiamusi" would drive a car full of vegetables and call his wife on the phone while driving on the highway into Beijing to wake her up. They would meet at the market before 2 o'clock. "There are many ways of monopolizing in the vegetable market, not all solved by forceful vegetable thugs," said "Jiamusi" during the interview. Before the customers arrive at 2 o'clock in the morning, the vegetable vendors inside the market would first engage in some internal "land flipping." Some vendors would walk around the market, check the amount of various vegetables being delivered that day, and then based on their previous sales experience, decide whether to fully purchase a certain type of vegetable to form a monopoly advantage that day, and then resell it at a higher price to make a profit. Another kind of "monopoly" is a price alliance. Several vegetable vendors selling similar types of vegetables agree on a price acceptable to everyone. If such a price alliance can be tacitly approved by the market managers, and they no longer approve new similar operators entering the market, the monopoly will last. The most hated monopoly among vegetable vendors is the vegetable thug. The vegetable thug will use violence as a threat, prohibiting others from selling the same type of vegetable. Faced with violence, the vegetable vendors have only two choices: submission or resistance. Wang San died, killed by the sharp blade and bricks of the vegetable thug. The vegetable vendors in the market all thought Wang San died resisting. Choices Before Death "Jiamusi" unloaded bags of cabbage from the car, weighed them, and put them aside, while his wife Wang Li helped occasionally and was responsible for collecting payment. Men do physical labor, and women manage accounts; this is the "rule" of the vegetable vendor trade. Before the incident, Wang San worked at the same stall as his brother-in-law "Jiamusi." The brother-in-law mainly sold onions and cabbage, while Wang San wholesaled bean sprouts. Every early morning, Wang San's wife would come to help her husband. Sometimes, Wang San's mother would also come to the market to help her son open the bag of bean sprouts. Since Wang San settled down in Beijing, got married, and had children, his parents came from their hometown to Beijing and lived with him. Wang San rented two rooms, each over ten square meters in size. Wang San's mother cried and said, "Actually, my son really didn't want to continue doing this anymore. Those people kept causing trouble every few days, making it impossible to work. The day before the incident, he still told me 'Mom, I won't sell bean sprouts anymore. Tomorrow, I'll deal with some inventory and inform regular customers.' I never thought that this last time selling bean sprouts would cost him his life." Originally, intending to seek peace, the vegetable vendor Wang San meant to choose submission against the vegetable thug. However, the other side was too arrogant, ultimately angering Wang San. "Jiamusi" walked to the vegetable stall and gestured to recreate the scene of the incident on May 5 last year. At 6 o'clock in the morning on May 5 last year, the perpetrator Yu Xintong and a partner came to buy 10 pounds of bean sprouts. Wang San noticed something was amiss, so he told his wife, "Give them a bit more." As a result, Yu Xintong received an extra half pound of bean sprouts. A few minutes later, the mastermind Song Binbin arrived with Yu Xintong and eight others, angrily claiming there was sand in the bean sprouts (which Song Binbin had intentionally placed) and began smashing the stall. The bucket of bean sprouts was kicked over, scattering four or five thousand pounds of bean sprouts on the ground. When Song Binbin and the nine others attempted to flee the scene, Wang San grabbed the fat Yu Xintong who was running last and wouldn't let go. Yu Xintong panicked and pulled out a knife, stabbing Wang San several times in the chest. "Jiamusi" quickly grabbed both of Yu Xintong's hands tightly. Wang San slowly lay on the ground groaning, blood gushing from his left chest, yet he still said, "Don't let him escape, don't let him escape." Who is the Real Vegetable Thug "My husband and I have been in the Shuitun Market for 10 years, always selling cabbage. For vegetables with particularly large daily delivery volumes, there are no vegetable thugs. For example, sometimes my single stall has 100,000 pounds of cabbage," Wang Li said. Vegetables with large delivery volumes and demand are hard to control, and vegetable thugs prefer to monopolize vegetables like bean sprouts, mushrooms, and lotus roots. Regarding Song Binbin, who is still at large, Wang Li insists that he is just a pawn hired by someone else. The true mastermind behind the scenes is the long-time vegetable thug of the Shuitun Market. Wang Li said that there used to be four families selling bean sprouts in the market, seemingly competing with each other but actually all belonging to the Yang family, managed separately by Yang's parents, wife, and others. Yang rarely showed his face publicly, only appearing with a black bag when things needed to be smoothed out. Wang San originally helped his brother-in-law, starting his own business in the second half of 2009 and eyeing the niche business of bean sprouts. However, Wang Li said that on the first day he sold bean sprouts, Yang's father approached him and said, "Whose bean sprouts? Who allowed you to sell them? I'm telling you, stop selling them." Wang San replied, "I earn money through hard work. Why shouldn't I be allowed to sell? Get someone in charge to talk to me." The next day, Yang's mother came again, saying, "I told you not to sell them, why are you still selling?" On the third day, Yang himself appeared, calling Wang San onto a car and threatening him for a while. In the eyes of his sister, Wang San, known for being "prone to fighting," submitted. He abandoned his original low-cost source and started buying bean sprouts at a high price from Yang's family. Last year's events took a turn when Yang died in a traffic accident. Subsequently, Wang San began purchasing bean sprouts from a factory with superior quality and lower prices, quickly becoming the largest bean sprout wholesaler in the Shuitun Market. Wang Li said that due to Yang's death, his parents dared not openly threaten them anymore but still warned clients by saying, "Why are you all going to Wang San for bean sprouts? Just wait, Wang San will soon get what he deserves." Five Criminals Still at Large Evidence supporting Wang Li's belief that the mastermind was someone else stems from the fugitive Song Binbin's household registration. Song Binbin is from Liaoning Province, as are the Yang family members Wang Li referred to. Wang Li believes that non-industry insiders wouldn't know how big the profit margin on bean sprouts is, and without someone orchestrating it, Song Binbin wouldn't think of monopolizing the bean sprout market in Shuitun. Wang Li suggested investigating Song Binbin's past call records to see if he had long-term contact with the vegetable thugs in the market. However, Wang Li's claims haven't been recognized by the police. Song Binbin threatened Wang San twice before the incident, and after the incident, among the nine involved individuals, apart from Yu Xintong who was caught on the spot by Wang San and his brother-in-law, three others including Qu Fengting surrendered themselves, while Song Binbin and five others fled and remain at large. Song Binbin's nickname is "Big Donkey," and he is from Liaoning Province, while his "henchmen" are all from Beijing. Among those already captured, Yu Xintong is only 19 years old and is from Changping District. Qu Fengting, 28, is from Yanqing County. Gao Tian, 23, is from Fengtai District, and Han Xu, 23, is from Changping District. Since the incident occurred in May last year, Wang Li's family has visited the police station weekly to inquire about the progress of the case and whether any fugitives have been caught. Each visit was filled with great hope, but they always returned disappointed. Until March this year, the lawyer informed them that they no longer needed to visit the police station, stating that the case had already been prosecuted to the court, and whether Song Binbin and others could be captured would take time. Wang Li's mother hasn't stepped foot in the Shuitun Market since the incident a year ago. On May 7, upon hearing that the journalist was conducting an interview, she insisted on coming to see. As soon as she reached the stall, the elderly woman burst into tears: "My son was killed right here! These heartless people, my son was bleeding on the ground, and they were still throwing bricks at him!" Suspect Gao Tian confessed that after realizing Yu Xintong hadn't escaped, Song Binbin led them back, picking up many bricks, and threw them into the crowd surrounding Wang San. The scene was chaotic with bricks flying everywhere. New Atmosphere in the Market Wang San counted the bean sprout stalls in the market, finding there were already seven now. He said this was achieved at the cost of his younger brother's life. However, what made her angry was that the vegetable thugs she identified were now monopolizing other businesses. She said, "Like edamame and peanuts, which are in season now, why is there only one seller? Is that normal?" She no longer had the heart to run her business, and her husband "Jiamusi" was exhausted, having slept only 7 hours in three days, walking unsteadily. "Jiamusi" said, "In this market, every year someone dies due to drowsy driving. What can we do? Operating common vegetables earns today and loses tomorrow, with small profits. Everyone is reluctant to spend money hiring help and drives from afar to deliver goods themselves." Besides managing the business, "Jiamusi" also accompanied his wife frequently to handle matters related to Wang San, often receiving calls from old customers asking, "Why don't you have vegetables today?" He could only reply, "I have something these days." Wang Li also reported to relevant departments about the existence of vegetable thugs. The staff member who received her questioned, "Are there still mafia groups monopolizing things in society? Impossible." Wang Li said that her current goal was twofold: one, to expose the mastermind behind the scenes; two, to severely punish the criminals involved so they don't harm others again. Coincidentally, the court's trial of Wang San's murder case happened exactly on May 5 this year. In the eyes of the Wang family, holding the trial on Wang San's death anniversary was a sign of fate. After the trial ended that day, Wang Li and her parents burned paper money by the roadside for Wang San, informing him of the case's progress over the past year, and repeatedly vowing to raise his son properly. Wang San was 30 years old when he was stabbed to death, leaving behind a son over four years old. Now, his parents are responsible for raising their grandson. For Wang Li and "Jiamusi," whether to follow the advice of relatives and friends to leave this place of sorrow with their parents or to stay and continue their daily vegetable-selling life presents a difficult choice. By Journalist Yang Changping, Text and Photographs Provided Editor's Note Vegetable thugs have existed since ancient times. Zheng Tu from "Water Margin" is a meat tyrant originating from the grassroots. Whether big or small, the "tyrant" of oil or the "tyrant" of vegetables, all aim to benefit from monopolies. There are quite a number of vegetable thugs in Beijing. The Fengtai Court sentenced an onion tyrant, Chaoyang Court sentenced a lettuce tyrant and a preserved egg tyrant, and the First Intermediate People's Court reviewed a bean sprout tyrant. Regardless of the type of vegetable, once monopolized, the price inevitably rises continuously like gasoline. After the onion tyrant in Xinfadi was arrested, the price of onions in Beijing dropped by 13%. Someone calculated how much more Beijing citizens spent on onions during the years the onion tyrant was active. Faced with vegetable thugs, legitimate vegetable vendors are always caught in a dilemma. Resist? The opponent has many people and endless tricks. Submit? Either leave this industry or let the vegetable thugs take a cut. And when the vendors seek help, they find that those who should help them do not appear in time. "Jiamusi" said that when Wang San died, the security guards arrived at the scene later than the police. To combat vegetable thugs, the market management needs to strengthen the maintenance of proper operating order, and the police need to increase the crackdown on violent forces that beat vegetable vendors. Otherwise, vegetable vendors will lack a sense of security, and the two choices they face when dealing with vegetable thugs will eventually leave them with only one option. Weibo Recommendation | Today's Weibo Hot Topics (Editor: SN013)