Chapter 118

The next day, Li Long got up early to go to the Red Willow Beach to check his rabbit snares. He folded up a urea bag, put it away, and slung his small-caliber rifle over his shoulder, thinking he’d try his luck to see if he could bag anything else.

It was too early, and there was hardly anyone outside. The cold air he exhaled wasn't as heavy as before, and Li Long strode toward Red Willow Beach.

Everything around was silent; it wasn't until he was almost at Red Willow Beach that he heard a bird call or two.

Li Long followed the route where he had set the snares the day before, searching while observing his surroundings, but unfortunately, there was no movement in his field of vision.

After checking nearly twenty rabbit snares, he only had two frozen-stiff rabbits. This harvest left him somewhat disappointed.

But thinking about how the temperature was rising and the snow was melting, it was normal for there to be fewer rabbits since they had more places to find food.

Li Long simply took down all the rabbit snares, put the two rabbits into the urea bag, and walked back carrying the bag and the rifle.

Halfway back, he heard Xu Chengjun's voice coming from the team's loudspeaker:

"Attention, attention! Those participating in the teacher examination, gather at the County Education Bureau at ten o'clock tomorrow morning for the exam!

Attention, attention! Those participating in the teacher examination, gather at the County Education Bureau at ten o'clock tomorrow morning. Do not be late. This is a rare opportunity, so get up early and be prepared!

Attention, attention..."

The announcement was made three times before the loudspeaker stopped. By the time Li Long walked back to the team, the loudspeaker started up again, and Xu Chengjun announced it three more times. He had made this same announcement several times that day.

Li Long felt that Xu Chengjun was quite decent in this regard; this was a life-changing moment, and if someone hadn't heard the notice, it would truly be a lifelong regret.

When he returned home, the meal was already prepared. Li Juan and Li Qiang were playing in the courtyard. Seeing Li Long return, they both scrambled to take the urea bag.

"Two rabbits," Li Juan said pleasantly surprised. "Look at the size of these rabbits!"

"Little Uncle, why are they all gray rabbits?" Li Qiang asked, puzzled. "In the stories my sister tells me and in the children's songs, aren't they all little white rabbits?"

"White rabbits are easily caught in green grass during the summer," Li Long said, patting his head. "Think about it, if there's a white thing moving in the green grass, wouldn't hawks and foxes spot it at a glance?"

"No wonder!" Li Qiang suddenly realized. "Little Uncle, are you going to get rabbits tomorrow too?"

"No," Li Long shook his head. "There are too few rabbits. I'm going to dig for fish today and plan to sell fish tomorrow."

After breakfast, Li Long went to see Tao Daqiang. Tao Daqiang had also just finished eating. To Li Long's surprise, Tao Jianshe was already able to get up, and although he still coughed every now and then, he looked much better.

"Little Long, is something up?" Tao Jianshe asked Li Long proactively.

"Nothing much, just seeing if you're feeling better," Li Long said with a smile. "Looks like you've improved a lot."

"I got the injections, after all," Tao Jianshe said with some helplessness. "It's a waste of money—taking medicine would have worked too, though not as fast, but it saves money."

Well, poor people have no right to talk about money.

"Is Old Tian still coming over for the injections?" Li Long asked Tao Daqiang.

"He said he'd be here in a while," Tao Daqiang said.

"Uncle, if you're not feeling uncomfortable, I'm going to take Daqiang to the lake to dig for fish again. I plan to go to town tomorrow morning to try and sell them."

"Go ahead," Tao Jianshe agreed impatiently. "You go do your thing. I'm not feeling bad at all, I'm doing great. Just coughing a few times, it's no big deal!"

Li Long nodded, signaled to Tao Daqiang, and then left the Tao house.

After thinking for a moment, he went to the Gu house.

"Is Xiaoxia there?"

Gu Xiaoxia was still in her room reading. Hearing the notice today made her nervous. The critical moment was approaching, and she was worried she wouldn't do well on the exam.

Hearing Li Long's shout outside, Gu Xiaoxia hurriedly responded, put down her book, and walked out quickly.

"Little Long, you're here." Gu Xiaoxia's face flushed slightly as she let Li Long in.

"Where's your dad?" Li Long asked after entering the room and not seeing Gu Bowuan.

"He went to the team leader's house to ask about the situation," Gu Xiaoxia said. "So, how do you plan to go tomorrow?"

"Walk there," Gu Xiaoxia said as if it were a matter of course. "Several people from the team are going to take the exam, so we might walk together." She thought for a moment and said:

"Shufen is taking it too. She said she's applying for primary school, but I don't know if she'll pass."

"She's going to the County Education Bureau to take it too?" Li Long was a bit surprised.

"No, she's taking it in the township," Gu Xiaoxia shook her head. "She said she didn't have time to review, so she can only take the primary school one."

Li Long remembered that in his previous life, Wu Shufen did indeed take the exam, but she didn't pass for the central primary school teacher position. At that time, because there were so many children, the county's policy was for the first and second grades to be held in the production team, so Wu Shufen became a teacher in the team.

Her personality was full of vanity and resentment; she felt that being in the team wasn't as good as being at the central school, the salary wasn't high, and there was no official position. She didn't teach well, and eventually, after the first and second grades were taken back to the central school, she became unemployed.

He wondered if anything would change in this life.

"Tao Daqiang and I are going to town to sell fish tomorrow. We plan to rent the team's horse-drawn carriage. Do you want to ride with us?"

Gu Xiaoxia hesitated.

!.

"It's fine, think about it. If you want to ride, just let me know before tonight." Li Long knew it wasn't appropriate to stay in the room for too long, so he prepared to leave.

Upon reaching the courtyard, Li Long saw Gu Bowuan returning from outside and greeted him:

"Uncle Gu, you're back."

"Ah, I went to the team leader's place to ask about some things. Little Long, why not stay a while longer?" Gu Bowuan said with a smile. "As for this exam, we owe it all to you."

"That's nothing," Li Long shook his head. "I won't stay. I plan to go to the small lake to dig for some fish, then rent the team's horse-drawn carriage to go to the county tomorrow morning to sell them."

After saying this, he left.

"Little Long is going to sell fish? Tomorrow morning?" After entering the house, Gu Bowuan asked his daughter while taking off his coat.

Gu Xiaoxia said, somewhat distracted:

"Yes, he came over just to say that and asked if I wanted to go with them."

"And what do you think?" Gu Bowuan asked again.

"I don't know. Shufen is also taking the exam tomorrow..."

"Isn't she taking it in the township? The exam time is different from yours, so it shouldn't matter if she goes a bit later, right?"

Gu Xiaoxia understood her father's meaning.

"If you take the carriage, you can rest on the way and be in good spirits for the exam. If you walk the ten kilometers, not only will you be tired, but you'll be covered in sweat, and then catching a chill in the classroom—it's hard to say if you'll do well."

Gu Xiaoxia thought that made sense.

Wu Shufen was at home at this time, flipping through a book that had been scribbled all over. She could barely make out the printed text, but the drawings on it really affected her mood for studying.

But she really didn't want to stay in the team anymore. Spring was coming, and there would be canals to dig, grass to cut, and ditches to open.

She wanted to be a teacher and stay in an office; that was the life she wanted!

On the first day of the launch, I'd like to report the results to everyone. Twenty chapters have been released, over 42,000 words, and the initial subscriptions I can see are 2,000. This is more than half less than expected, which is a serious blow to me. Because the follow-up data before the launch was 5,800, according to general algorithms, the real paid follow-up should be between 3,400 and 3,600. This initial subscription is normal data, but it's only 2,000, not even reaching 3,000. I'm quite disappointed.

Then I saw many readers commenting that they didn't know it was launched today. I posted the launch sentiment last night, but it might have been posted in the work-related section, so it wasn't displayed on the homepage, which might be one reason.

Tomorrow, I'll enter the Sanjiang recommendation, which might pull up some data. Starting tomorrow, I will continue to maintain an update of 10,000 words per day. I will announce any changes to the updates in advance. Subsequent updates will all be completed at midnight so that everyone can focus their time when reading.

Because I still have some stock, the 2,000-word chapters will continue for a few days, and then it will be 4,000-word chapters. Large chapters are better to read and help pull up the average subscription.

In addition, I would like to thank the readers "I am a Little Ghost," "20210301106461537408," "Daily Red Envelope Snatcher," "Blue Fatty Q," and "Reader 1496354709741527040" for their tips today. Thank you all for your monthly tickets, recommendation tickets, and subscription support. One more thing, the next update will be 10,000 words in five chapters. I will work hard to write at a steady pace. If you like it, please watch the genuine version. Thank you.

(End of chapter)