Chapter 14

"Dad, why didn't you cook?" Tao Daqiang put the two fish in the kitchen and shouted to his father in the inner room.

Tao Daqiang's father, Tao Jianshe, was leaning on the head of the kang smoking a pipe. Hearing his youngest son's voice, he took off the pipe, tapped it, and said:

"I did. You didn't come back so late, and your nephew Mao Dan came over and said he was hungry from playing, so he ate the food left for you. If you're hungry, there are potatoes in the kitchen; go roast two under the stove to eat."

Tao Jianshe said this calmly, and Tao Daqiang didn't think much of it. Tao Daqiang's older brother, Tao Dayong, was already married and had a son, Mao Dan, who was the treasure of the whole family.

If it were in the past, Tao Daqiang would really have liked to roast a potato to eat. He had been called stupid by his family since he was a child, and his father, brother, and sister-in-law all said the same. He was used to being submissive.

But today, after eating frog-chicken and drinking fish soup at the Li family, and catching fish himself, he felt that he was still useful, so he raised his voice and said:

"Dad, I caught fish; I want to cook fish to eat!"

"You caught fish? What kind of fish?" Tao Jianshe was a bit surprised to hear that Tao Daqiang had caught fish. He climbed off the head of the kang and shouted:

"Bring it over and let me see."

Tao Daqiang carried the fish and walked over from the kitchen proudly.

"Yo, these fish are not bad!" Tao Jianshe had originally thought that what his son brought back would be at most those palm-sized crucian carp, as those were the easiest to catch. It turned out they were big fish weighing over a kilogram each, which was truly rare. "Where did you catch them?"

"Caught them in the small lake with Brother Long," Tao Daqiang said proudly.

"Brother Long? Who?" Tao Jianshe didn't understand.

"Li Long, Li Jianguo's younger brother," Tao Daqiang said.

"You mean that loafer?" Tao Jianshe said disdainfully. "He has that ability? It must have been Li Jianguo who took you to catch them, right?"

Tao Daqiang thought for a moment and nodded.

"Fine. Regardless of who took you, take these fish to your brother's house," Tao Jianshe said. "There isn't much oil left at home; don't you need oil to cook fish?"

"I don't need oil, I'm stewing fish soup!" Tao Daqiang thought of the fish soup he drank at the Li family in the evening, and with a flash of inspiration, said, "Just use water!"

Tao Jianshe suddenly got angry and tapped Tao Daqiang's head with his pipe:

"Why are you so stupid? Just use water? Doesn't that waste coal to burn the stove? Only thinking of yourself, what will you do later? Your mother died early. When I die, you're so stupid, won't you have to rely on your brother to live? If you don't curry favor with your brother now, you won't even have food to eat when the time comes!"

"I can eat!" Tao Daqiang was stubborn today and just wouldn't send them. "I follow my brother—I haven't even been full once this winter. My dinner was even eaten by Mao Dan! I can still be full following Brother Long, and I can eat chicken and fish!"

"I'll tell you to eat chicken! I'll tell you to eat fish!" Tao Jianshe didn't expect that his usually obedient son would dare to refute him and talk back. He was furious and smashed his pipe at Tao Daqiang's head. Tao Daqiang took a few hits, and seeing that his father wasn't holding back at all, he angrily opened the door and ran out, leaving an angry voice in the wind:

"I'm not eating fish anymore, give it to whoever you want!"

Tao Jianshe held his pipe, somewhat dazed. After a while, the heat in the room was taken away by the chill outside. He felt the bone-chilling cold, so he hurriedly closed the door and cursed angrily:

"This little brat, his wings have hardened, and he doesn't listen! He's even rebelling against me!"

Looking at the fish at his feet, Tao Jianshe sighed, bent down to pick them up, and put them in the kitchen, intending to let Tao Dayong take three of them back when he came over tomorrow.

Now that he was still around, his eldest son would still agree to take care of his younger brother for his sake.

When Li Long returned from the horse stable, he saw a big black figure swaying outside his courtyard gate. He immediately became vigilant, looked around, broke off a clod of dirt from the back wall, and shouted loudly:

"Who is it?"

"Brother Long, it's me, Daqiang." Tao Daqiang's voice came over.

Li Long felt relieved, thinking that he hadn't noticed it before, but in this pitch-black darkness, the big guy was quite imposing.

"What are you here for?" Li Long walked closer and asked. "We have to leave early tomorrow morning, why don't you go to sleep earlier?" "I... I can't sleep." Tao Daqiang said hesitantly, "I want to stay at your house so I can... leave with you tomorrow."

"Alright then." Although Li Long felt it was a bit strange, since Tao Daqiang was already here, he couldn't drive him back. "Come on, I've already borrowed the horse cart. Let's go back and tell my brother, and we'll rest early and leave early tomorrow."

Seeing that Li Long didn't ask much, Tao Daqiang followed him silently.

Li Long first went to the west room to tell Li Jianguo about borrowing the horse cart and that Tao Daqiang would be staying with him tonight.

Hearing that Li Long had already borrowed the horse cart, Li Jianguo said:

"Alright, you've been tired all day, so rest and sleep early. Leave early tomorrow, go early and return early. By the way, Little Long, I skinned that water rat. You two take it to the county purchasing station tomorrow and see how much money you can sell it for, and buy something to eat on the road."

"I'll get up early tomorrow and steam some sponge cakes for them to take." Liang Yuemei said, "Just wrap them well in a cloth, put them in a satchel, and keep them safe."

"Good." Li Long nodded and said, "Then we're going to sleep."

"Press some more coal into the stove over there." Li Jianguo urged again, "Otherwise it will be cold in the second half of the night."

He didn't say much more. Two big guys sharing one quilt would definitely be crowded, but nowadays basically no one had extra quilts. Fortunately, there was a coat on Li Long's side that could barely make do.

Li Long himself had the same idea: keep the kang warm, and with the cotton coat, they could make it through the night.

!.

The next morning, just as the sky was barely light, Li Long woke up and woke Tao Daqiang. The two of them quickly put on their clothes, went out, and arrived at the west room.

Liang Yuemei was already cooking, and Li Juan and Li Qiang were both up. Li Juan was sweeping the floor, and Li Qiang was washing his face.

Breakfast was the fish soup left over from yesterday, stir-fried pickles, and cornmeal porridge.

Looking at the fish soup on the table, Tao Daqiang felt a wave of sadness for no reason. He hurriedly went to wash his face to hide it.

After breakfast, Li Jianguo rolled up the wrapped water rat skin and put it into a urea bag. Liang Yuemei handed the satchel containing the sponge cakes to Li Long and urged him:

"If you two are hungry on the road, just eat them; don't be stingy."

Bidding farewell to his family, Li Long took Tao Daqiang to the horse stable. With Old Luo's help, they harnessed the horse cart, loaded two bundles of fodder, and the two of them got on the cart and headed toward the county town.

The mountains were to the south, but the road went west. They traveled five kilometers west to the commune, then three kilometers south to the county. From the county, it was about ten kilometers southwest to Qingshuihe Commune. They had to go another five kilometers inside to enter the mountains—actually, even by horse cart, the road alone was nearly thirty kilometers.

And that wasn't even the destination.

Not long after Li Long left, the first visitor came to the Li family, the eldest sister-in-law from the Lu family across the street.

Guests are guests. Li Jianguo was cleaning fish in the east room with Li Juan and Li Qiang. Liang Yuemei let the person in, and after sitting down, the fifty-something-year-old Lu family sister-in-law asked:

"Auntie, I heard your brother-in-law is back? Was he fired? And he's going into the mountains to haul wood today? The village isn't enough for him to toss about, is it! What kind of spectacle is this!"

In the village, Li Long was actually quite like a joke.

He went to great lengths to get into a factory, only to be fired.

He finally managed to chase after a beautiful girl in the village, only to be dumped.

Now he's making a spectacle of himself again, spending money to buy horse work points and driving a horse cart to the mountains to haul wood—is wood in the mountains easy to haul? With his state, it's questionable whether he can even find the road into the mountains!

Thanks to the madman for the tips and suggestions, and thanks to everyone for your support!

(End of chapter)