Chapter 1030

Li Long smiled and took things out of his bag:

"Speaking of receiving things, Director, I also brought some local specialties to give to you. I won't be coming to wish you a Happy New Year during the holiday since I have to go to the village, so I'm wishing you a Happy New Year in advance."

As he spoke, he took the items out one by one and placed them on the table.

He didn't avoid suspicion, and Li Xiangqian didn't mind. Given the relationship between Li Xiangqian and Li Long, and even including other figures in the supply and marketing cooperative, no one would think that Li Long giving gifts to Li Xiangqian was for personal gain.

He didn't need to at all.

"What kind of liquor is this? It looks very ordinary." Li Xiangqian asked, looking at the loose liquor Li Long had taken out first.

"Tiger bone liquor." Li Long whispered, "I got the tiger bones from an old herdsman in the mountains. There isn't much, just a gesture. Let's drink it ourselves; don't spread it around."

"Hey!" Li Xiangqian was instantly energized.

The deer penis he had been looking forward to was suddenly downgraded—he asked: "Do you have tiger penis?"

"No." Li Long shook his head, "I didn't get any."

"Then keep trying to get some." Li Xiangqian wasn't disappointed; he felt that Li Long would always surprise him.

The rest were relatively ordinary, but he didn't mind and accepted them happily.

After chatting about daily life, Li Long went to the logistics department to collect his things.

The bonus wasn't much; even as the sole recipient, it was only 100 yuan, which was like pocket change to him.

He asked the finance department and learned that others were divided into several tiers—80, 60, 50 yuan—in short, about a month's salary, which was already considered a lot.

No wonder everyone was so enthusiastic when they saw him; these were real, tangible benefits.

And when Li Long started collecting his benefits, he suddenly realized that he was at the supply and marketing cooperative!

The benefits added up to dozens of different items!

The jeep had to be packed carefully!

Granulated sugar, sugar cubes, brown sugar, fruit candies... just the sugar alone was seven or eight types.

Gloves, towels, socks, work clothes, low-top rubber shoes, high-top rubber shoes, heavy-duty shoes, fur-lined cotton hats... a huge bag of clothing.

Laundry detergent, soap, scented soap, toilet paper, iodized salt.

Frozen shrimp, hairtail, frozen grass carp, mutton, pork belly, kelp, dried shrimp, sweet potato vermicelli, wood ear mushrooms, peanuts, shrimp crackers, sesame oil... rice, white flour, millet, soybeans, mung beans, and so on.

And New Year's firecrackers—small firecrackers, electric light crackers, double-bang firecrackers, and thunder crackers, plus two sparklers.

Li Long felt that if he took these things back, even someone with nothing to their name could immediately start cooking a meal.

It was truly damn comprehensive!

He hadn't expected them to distribute so many things. To be honest, units with good efficiency at this time were truly good; they distributed almost everything.

After loading all these things into the car, Li Long drove away happily; he had gained quite a lot today.

Driving back to the courtyard, when Li Long was unloading the things, Sister Yang came out to see the spectacle. Li Long had brought back quite a few local specialties over the past two days, but none were as comprehensive as today's.

"Sister Yang, put these things in the storage room; everyone can use them." Li Long said, "Don't be polite."

"It's so good to have a unit!" Sister Yang was quite envious, "The unit is so thoughtful, distributing so many things; I don't have to buy most of them."

"Yeah, let Xiao Fang take the college entrance exam and get into a good unit, then she'll get even more things distributed." Li Long joked half-heartedly.

With everything unloaded, Li Long felt completely relaxed this time. He hadn't even thought about preparing these things before the New Year, but the cooperative had prepared everything for him—what else was there to worry about?

Just enjoy the New Year in peace!

Because they were going to spend the New Year at his eldest brother's house, there wasn't much to prepare here before the holiday. However, Sister Yang and Han Fang were going to spend the holiday separately in the southern courtyard, so the main preparation these past few days was for the things to take there, including steamed buns, stuffed buns, braised meat, and so on.

Of course, some had to be left here too. Cadres and workers were on holiday for three days for the New Year, but even after three days, it was still the New Year. If anyone came to visit and pay their respects, and he had to keep them for a meal, he would definitely need to have food prepared.

Fortunately, Li Long didn't have much else, but he had plenty of these ingredients. He had all kinds of things, and the unit even distributed a lot of seasonings, so it was quite easy to prepare.

Waiting until New Year's Eve, Gu Xiaoxia worked half a day at the unit and didn't have to go back after lunch. Sister Yang packed up and went straight to the southern courtyard with Han Fang.

The fires at home were extinguished, and Li Long drove the jeep with his wife and children to the team.

Li Long handed over Xiao Hei and the dairy goat in the courtyard to Sun Jia Qiang, leaving him the key to the main courtyard, asking him to feed Xiao Hei and the dairy goat twice a day and keep the fire going in the greenhouse in the back to maintain the temperature.

Sun Jia Qiang could still handle this little task—before leaving, Li Long even sent some green vegetables to Sun Jia Qiang's home, which made Tie Lanhua incredibly happy.

This stuff was much rarer than meat right now.

When Li Long drove the jeep back to the Fourth Team, he found that starting from the reed ditch, the two sides were, if not clearly divided, at least showing a distinct boundary.

On the Fourth Team's side, the snow on the road was cleaned perfectly. On the road of the Third Team west of the reed ditch, except for the snow in the middle being flattened, the snow on both sides of the road was still exactly as it had been.

The sound of firecrackers rose and fell, and some children were darting about on the road, scaring each other with small firecrackers, occasionally lighting one with incense and throwing it out, whether it popped or not.

Mingming and Haohao had already experienced the baptism of firecrackers, so they weren't afraid of these small ones—which, in Li Long's words, were smaller than a fart—and were pressing their faces against the window to look outside.

When they arrived at his eldest brother's courtyard, the couplets had already been pasted, and Li Juan and Li Qiang were busy in the courtyard. Seeing the jeep arrive, the two children immediately ran over, greeted Li Long, and after taking Gu Xiaoxia, Mingming, and Haohao down, they took them off to play.

Li Jianguo came out to help Li Long unload the things. Looking at the meat, he complained a little: "There's still plenty of meat at home, why bring more? Keep it for yourselves to eat."

"People from at least four places sent me meat this year; I can't finish it all." Li Long said with a smile, "You're my eldest brother, don't you have to help me share some of the burden?"

Li Jianguo couldn't help but laugh. It was clearly a great thing, but his younger brother made it sound like sharing a burden.

"Yo, there's frozen shrimp, hairtail, kelp... there's quite a lot of stuff here!"

"It's all benefits distributed by the unit." Li Long explained while moving things, "The Kuitun Farm Machinery Factory gave a portion, our supply and marketing cooperative gave a portion, and there's fruit... some given by leaders, some distributed by the unit. Anyway, let's all eat together.

By the way, these dried fruits like red dates, raisins, and dried apricots were bought in Wucheng. I'll bring some back for my sister and second brother's families later."

"Good, good, good." His younger brother was so thoughtful. Li Jianguo felt a bit ashamed; he hadn't thought of everything so comprehensively.

After moving the things down, Li Jianguo said to Li Long:

"Your second brother called and said he's taking the noon bus here. I've already tidied up the room, why don't you go pick them up later?"

"Sure." Li Long said, "Then I'll go wait at the county bus station now; they should be arriving soon."

"Alright. Let Juan and Qiangqiang watch Mingming and Haohao; don't you worry."

"I definitely don't worry; they are more careful with the children than I am." Li Long said with a smile.

In the blink of an eye, he saw Li Qiang taking Mingming and Haohao with incense and a bag of loose firecrackers to set them off. Li Long's face changed instantly; he wanted to take back what he just said!

Before he could speak, Li Juan had already chased after them from behind, scolding Li Qiang as she chased:

"Qiangqiang! You set them off yourself! Just let Mingming and Haohao watch! If you let them set them off, see if I don't slap you!"

Under Li Juan's powerful pressure, Li Qiang immediately abandoned his promise to Mingming and Haohao and handed the two little ones over to his sister.

There was no helping it; with Li Juan at home, she was like a big demon king to Li Qiang—his sister was good at studying, so he had to listen to her.