Chapter 111: First Time Hunting in a Car

Li Xiangqian was extremely frustrated, but he had no choice. At this moment, he made up his mind: when the opportunity arose, he would make that young man pay!

Li Long, however, was not afraid at all. Having been reborn in this life, he never intended to become a worker eating the state's rice.

Now he would save some money; when the first, second, and third rounds of land contracting came, he would contract more land. In twenty or thirty years, he would hand the land over to the cooperative, receive hundreds of thousands annually, and spend his days hunting and fishing. How wonderful!

Becoming a worker meant holding someone else's bowl and being subject to their control. How could that be as free as now?

Li Xiangqian had almost tricked him once; if he didn't get revenge now, was he going to act like a big-bellied Buddha?

He, Li Long, certainly was not!

"I have a small-caliber rifle there," Li Xiangqian said after taking a deep breath to calm his emotions. "If we really catch a yellow sheep this time, the gun is yours. Although it has been used a few times, it is almost new."

"Agreed," Li Long replied, then added, "Section Chief Li, you learned from Comrade Chen that I can hunt yellow sheep, didn't you?"

"Yes, how did you know?" Li Xiangqian asked, somewhat puzzled.

Li Long smiled, did not answer the question, and instead asked:

"Then, Section Chief Li, when shall we hunt the yellow sheep?"

"In the next couple of days. Wait for my news; once I notify you, come to the county immediately."

"Agreed."

After hanging up the phone, Li Long chatted a bit more with Xu Chengjun before heading home.

Li Xiangqian was still pondering how Li Long had brought up Chen Hongjun, then he slapped his forehead:

"That brat! He was pointing at me, afraid I wouldn't give him the small-caliber rifle! Damn it, he's young but cunning!"

Xu Chengjun also thought for a long time. Li Long had so many connections and networks; why wouldn't he get it? Why not use connections to get himself into the city? Wasn't eating the commodity grain good? Why insist on clashing with leaders and demanding compensation?

When Li Long returned home, Li Jianguo asked him for the details.

"It's just the procurement section chief of the supply and marketing cooperative asking me to lead a hunt for yellow sheep," Li Long said lightly. "It's not a big deal; once he calls, I'll take them there."

"That simple? Isn't hunting yellow sheep difficult?" Liang Yuemei asked while sewing clothes at the sewing machine, pedaling as she spoke.

"The most troublesome part of hunting yellow sheep is finding where they appear," Li Long explained. "Down below our county lies a vast expanse of Gobi desert, but there are no good roads. If they want to find them, unless they find a guide, it's like looking for a needle in a haystack. Fortunately, I know where the yellow sheep appear; I'll take them to see."

"Hunting yellow sheep isn't dangerous, nothing much," Li Jianguo nodded. "If we can help the people from the supply and marketing cooperative, it will be easier to handle whatever comes later."

"I told him that if we catch one, he'll give me a gun," Li Long said with a smile. "I wanted a sand gun, but he refused, saying he'd give me a small-caliber one instead."

"What? A small-caliber? He really gave it?" Li Jianguo was greatly surprised. "A small-caliber rifle isn't cheap!"

"Whatever, I can't hunt for free. I just mentioned it casually; since he gave it, it should be fine," Li Long smiled. "I'm going to the east room to rest."

"Go ahead, go ahead; you must be exhausted these past few days," Li Jianguo waved his hand.

Li Long went to the east room. The stove fire was well-lit, making the room warm as spring. Li Long lay on the kang reading a book and fell asleep quickly.

The next day, Gu Xiaoxia came specifically to find Li Long.

"Did you receive the notice?" Li Long asked, seeing Gu Xiaoxia's smiling expression. "Has anything changed compared to what I told you?"

"Not much," Gu Xiaoxia, no longer caring about propriety at that moment, excitedly told Li Long in the east room:

"The notice says high school graduates can take the exam to become middle school teachers or elementary school teachers; junior high graduates can only take the exam for elementary school teachers. The team notified everyone who graduated from junior high or above. The exam is in a week..."

"Then do you have confidence?" Li Long asked again.

"Anyway—I've reviewed all the old textbooks. About eighty percent," Gu Xiaoxia said, still quite confident.

After all, she had known the news nearly a month earlier than others, giving her a month of review time to speak with such confidence. "That's good enough; take the exam seriously," Li Long encouraged.

"This... this is for you, thank you for telling me the news early," Gu Xiaoxia said, handing Li Long a pair of wool gloves, her face flushed. "I knitted them before the New Year. See... see if they fit."

Li Long smiled and accepted them. Gu Xiaoxia then added:

"Then... I'm going back."

Without waiting for Li Long's reply, she turned and left.

Li Long held the gloves and saw Gu Xiaoxia off.

"Xiaoxia came?" Li Jianguo, hearing the commotion, walked out.

"Yes. I told her earlier to prepare for her studies since the school was recruiting teachers. She studied for a while, and now the notice has come down; she came to thank me."

"This is great news," Li Jianguo nodded. "The loudspeaker announced it yesterday; everyone in the team who finished junior high or above is nearly laughing themselves silly."

Li Long understood the obsession these people had with eating commodity grain. In fact, in another half month, when the news of assigning production quotas to households and dividing fields to families spread, the entire team would laugh themselves silly.

That afternoon, Li Xiangqian called, telling Li Long to wait at the main gate of the county supply and marketing cooperative at eight o'clock the next morning. He didn't know Li Long had a house in the county; this instruction was half official, half personal.

!.

The official matter aside, hunting should be done early. As for the personal matter, naturally, he was resentful that Li Long was using the hunt to "coerce" him, so he wanted Li Long to suffer. It was nearly ten kilometers from the production team to the county; waiting at the cooperative at eight in the morning meant leaving at six!

Li Long received the notice, told his older brother and sister-in-law at home, and rode his bicycle to the county.

That night, he slept soundly in the big room and woke up a little after seven the next morning.

Estimating the time was about right, Li Long dressed neatly, locked the door, walked to the big meat canteen for breakfast, and then proceeded to the supply and marketing cooperative.

Li Xiangqian, wearing a military greatcoat, arrived at the cooperative gate at eight-thirty. Not seeing Li Long, he cursed angrily:

"Is this second-rate guy trying to trick me? It's past time and he still hasn't arrived?"

"Section Chief Li, who are you talking about?" Li Long pulled open the guardhouse window and asked Li Xiangqian with a smile.

After arriving, he naturally had no intention of freezing outside. The gatekeeper, Grandpa Li, slept lightly; when Li Long knocked, he woke up, opened the door, and let Li Long in. Li Long didn't sit idle; he stoked the stove in the guardhouse and warmed himself inside.

Li Xiangqian had nothing to say and also entered the guardhouse to warm up. Approaching nine o'clock, he called Li Long out.

After standing outside for ten minutes, a green jeep drove up and stopped beside the two of them.

"Get in quickly," the driver shouted. Li Xiangqian pointed to the front passenger seat and told Li Long:

"You sit there and direct the way."

Li Long went to the front passenger seat and habitually reached for the seatbelt, but found nothing. Then he realized that the 212 jeep produced in the seventies had no seatbelts.

He adjusted his posture, leaned back a bit, and felt the seat was somewhat hard. He made do; it was better than riding a "Erba" bicycle in the cold wind.

The two people in the back seat were somewhat surprised by Li Long's familiar and natural demeanor.

Has this young man ever ridden in a small carriage?

That shouldn't be the case.

(End of Chapter)