Chapter 138: Fish for Piglets?

Li Long rode the bicycle with a burlap sack spread on the rear seat; Li Juan sat on it, gripping the rear metal bar tightly, looking excitedly at both sides, and shouting loudly whenever she spotted a classmate.

Li Long smiled as he pedaled all the way to the primary school; after Li Juan got off, he waved to her, then hurried off to the middle school.

Classes hadn't started at the middle school yet. Li Long rode to the teachers' dormitory, parked his bike, carried his things to the door, saw Gu Xiaoxia's room open with her packing inside, and called out:

"Xiaoxia."

"You're here." Hearing Li Long's voice, Gu Xiaoxia turned with a smiling face. "Why did you get up so early?"

"The morning market opens early; I went early to sell the fish." Li Long entered the dorm naturally, set the basket on the floor, and said:

"These are the fish I caught this morning. I didn't bring the big ones for you, as they might be hard to cook."

"I love crucian carp slices the most. These fish are just right, though there are quite a few..."

"Not too many. Give some to your colleagues." Li Long opened the cloth bundle again and said:

"This contains stewed pork and lamb, sealed with oil on top. When you eat, just pick out a chopstickful or scoop a spoonful; it will last a while. I'll bring more for you in a couple of days. By the way, this is cured meat. You know we aren't used to curing this, so the saltiness might be strong, but at least it won't spoil. Don't add salt when you cook it; taste it first. If it's too salty, wash it well..."

Listening to Li Long's rambling instructions, Gu Xiaoxia smiled without speaking.

After giving his instructions, Li Long said:

"I'm leaving. There are many fish today; I estimate it will take over an hour to sell them all. I'll come see you in a couple of days. Take care of yourself."

Having spoken, Li Long went out, got on his bike, and left. Gu Xiaoxia only managed to run to the door and shout:

"Be careful!"

Li Long didn't look back, waved behind him, turned the corner, and left the school.

"Is that your boyfriend?" Teacher Wang Qihua nearby asked curiously.

"Not... exactly." Gu Xiaoxia said, her face slightly flushed, though she added in her heart, Actually, in a while, he probably will be?

In Northern Xinjiang, the local population is small. The production team where Li Long lived had two or three hundred people. Except for the younger generation born locally, the older generation came from all over the country, so there were basically no old customs or bad habits. Preference for sons over daughters might exist, but not strongly; girls went to school just the same. Men and women dating freely was also normal.

Of course, everyone was still very attached to the commodity grain status; this had nothing to do with habit, but mainly the difference in treatment.

"He treats you very well. What does he do?"

"A farmer," Gu Xiaoxia said.

"Then... are you willing?"

"Why wouldn't I be?" Gu Xiaoxia countered. "I'm a farmer too; there isn't much difference."

"But you are already a teacher, not a farmer. You earn several dozen yuan a month; he might not even earn half that in a whole year. How can that be the same?" Teacher Wang didn't look down on farmers; she was speaking from a practical life perspective.

"But Li Long can earn a month's wages for me in a single day." Gu Xiaoxia sighed. "Look, his family has a bicycle, a sewing machine, a horse, and a cart..."

"Was his family formerly landlords?" Teacher Wang Qihua was somewhat surprised. "How did they get so rich?"

"No, he earned it all himself. Look, he went to sell fish today, catching forty or fifty kilograms a day. Even at fifty cents per kilogram, that's over twenty yuan a day..."

Teacher Wang Qihua fell silent. Such a young man was truly rare! Even among farmers, there must be plenty of girls actively pursuing him, right?

Now, she found herself worrying for Gu Xiaoxia instead.

Li Long rode his bicycle first to the meat canteen, parked the bike outside, lifted the curtain, and called:

"Manager Zhong! Manager Zhong!" Zhong Guoqiang came out from inside.

"Manager Zhong, do you want big fish? There are some over three kilograms and others over two kilograms."

Although Li Long caught quite a few fish this time, there were fewer carp than yesterday; mostly there were silver carp, bighead carp, and grass carp, and fewer five-striped black fish.

"Yes, I'll take the three-kilogram ones. Give me three more over two kilograms. How much per kilogram?"

"One yuan." Li Long didn't lower the price just because Zhong Guoqiang was an acquaintance. Selling fish here would delay his time at the morning market, but if he waited until the morning market was over to return, the fish might be dead.

"Fine." Zhong Guoqiang nodded; he knew the market price.

The four fish totaled over ten kilograms but less than eleven. Li Long rounded off the change, collected ten yuan, politely declined Manager Zhong's offer to treat him to breakfast, saying he needed to rush to the morning market to sell fish.

Back at the big courtyard, he grabbed a basin and a scale, then quickly rode toward the morning market. Li Long pushed his bike over and found only one fish vendor today, though there was one more meat vendor than usual.

To his surprise, there really were piglets for sale, and two vendors had arrived.

He felt there was no rush yet. Seeing someone selling eggs in the middle of the stalls finish early and prepare to leave, he immediately went over to take the spot, set down the basin, poured out the fish, and started shouting.

Some people who had bought fish yesterday and found it good came back to find him; others heard the shouting, asked the price, found it cheap, and gathered around.

!.

Plus, because Li Long had a good spot today, a crowd surged over immediately.

Li Long was experienced; he took out fish while shouting:

"Everyone, everyone! Don't push! If the fish spill, no one can buy. There are plenty of fish, over fifty kilograms; everyone will get some. One by one! Old lady, you want two yuan worth of crucian carp? Coming right up!"

Li Long kept an eye on all sides and ears open; while grabbing, weighing, and collecting money for the fish, he also had to guard against people trying to sneakily take advantage. Seeing more than one person try to reach into the basin to pull or squeeze the fish, he kicked their hands out without hesitation:

"Too many people. Don't touch or squeeze the fish. If you squeeze them to death and don't buy, it's my loss. Let's understand each other; don't go too far!"

The person who reached out wanted to get angry, but Li Long struck first, making him face the angry stares of many others. Buying fish was already urgent; now that someone was causing trouble, others naturally weren't polite.

Li Long vaguely recognized the fish-squeezer as someone from the stall where he had sold fish earlier.

Was it because my fish price was too low, making them unhappy, or because my business was so good that they felt jealous?

Fortunately, the first wave of buyers soon left, the crowd thinned, and Li Long could finally catch his breath and relax a bit.

That first wave of buyers took over ten kilograms of fish, bringing in over ten yuan. Li Long felt his mood instantly improve.

Next came scattered buyers. Li Long took the opportunity to look over at the piglet vendors and found one had already left, not knowing if they had sold out or left unsold.

The remaining one was also looking around. Li Long felt a bit anxious. Thinking quickly, while no one was buying fish, he hurried over and asked:

"Big brother, how much for your piglets? Are they male or female?"

"One male, one female. Ten yuan each." Seeing someone ask the price, the man's eyes lit up, and he quickly said, "Raised at home. There were too many to keep, so I came to sell. Look, they aren't runt piglets; they are very lively!"

Li Long hesitated. He turned to glance at his fish stall, then said:

"Big brother, I'm selling fish over there and can't stay long. I'm just asking. Can I take both for sixteen yuan? If yes, I'll take them now. I'm still selling fish over there and need to get back immediately."

The man hesitated.

Are you selling it or not?

Thank you to the reader "Maple Leaf Love" for the donation. The Yizhao Highway is about to open; tourism in the Yili region is truly making a massive effort—the Duku and Yizhao routes are opening many days earlier than in previous years. How wonderful!

(End of this chapter)