Chapter 144

Li Long rode the bicycle with Li Juan on the back, riding back amidst the envious gazes of a crowd of students, including teachers.

Occasionally encountering students playing in the middle of the road, Li Long pressed the bell, and those students immediately darted to the side of the road like frightened rabbits, then looked curiously at the people on the bicycle.

If they encountered children from the village, when the children saw that the one riding the bike was Li Long, they would often shout loudly. They would happily run after the bicycle for a while, then pant heavily and laugh on the side of the road.

In this era, the happiness of children was just that simple.

The bicycle rode into the village. Passing by the elementary school, Li Long saw that the children from the village elementary school and preschool had finished school and were walking out of the classroom, so he turned over there.

The village school only had two grades, and each grade only had one class. And there was only one class for preschool. Li Qiang was in preschool, and he was walking out with another child, both with their arms around each other's shoulders.

The child who saw Li Long first, Mao Hai, turned his head and shouted loudly:

"Li Qiang! Qiangqiang! Your uncle has come to pick you up! He came to pick you up on a bicycle!"

Hearing this, Li Qiang turned his head abruptly. Seeing Li Long and Li Juan sitting on the back seat, a bright and surprised smile bloomed on his face. He suddenly shook off his little partner and shouted toward Li Long's side of the road:

"Uncle, sister!"

When Li Qiang ran up, Li Long let him climb onto the crossbar, then pedaled the bicycle and headed home.

When turning the corner, he happened to see Wu Shufen coming out of the first-grade classroom with books. Both of them were stunned for a moment. Wu Shufen reacted first, held her neck high, and turned to go to the office like a proud swan.

Li Long smiled and continued riding toward home.

"Uncle, I don't like her!" Li Qiang suddenly said, "She glared at me yesterday and rolled her eyes..."

Li Long couldn't help but want to scold someone. Is Wu Shufen mentally ill? He broke up with her, what does it have to do with the child? How could she vent her emotions on a child?

"Don't pay attention to her!" Before Li Long could speak, Li Juan spoke up from the back seat of the bike. "She's just seeing that our uncle can earn money, is living better than her, and isn't looking for her, that's why she glared at you—it's best if you ignore her and let her feel uncomfortable!"

Li Long was left speechless after hearing this. In his previous life, he once thought that children in the twenty-first century were extremely clever and precocious, understanding many adult matters at five or six years old.

He didn't expect that children in this era actually knew quite a few things too.

"You don't need to worry about adult matters. Just study well, get into a good university when you grow up, and find a good job," Li Long couldn't help but enter the nagging parent role. "Then you won't have to cut wheat in the middle of summer or cut reeds in the reed lake in the middle of winter."

"Mm!"

"Got it!"

Both children promised earnestly—these two tasks were indeed like nightmares to them. Both children had experienced cutting wheat in the summer, and although they hadn't done cutting reeds in the winter, they knew how hard it was.

Returning to the Li house, Li Long saw no one at home, and the doors were all locked. Li Juan nimbly got off the back seat and went to the windowsill to find the key to open the door. Li Qiang got off the bike and went to the chicken coop, soon happily touching two eggs and bringing them over.

There was leftover rice in the kitchen. Usually, at this time, they would just eat the leftovers, but Li Long said eating cold food was uncomfortable for the stomach, so he prepared to heat up some dishes, and Li Juan burned the fire by the stove to help.

The food was heated up quickly. Li Long wasn't very hungry. He served the rice for the two children—mainly Li Juan, as Li Qiang had gone home at noon and eaten with his parents. Li Long also served some for himself, watching the children eat the meat dishes in large mouthfuls, feeling it was quite good.

Being able to make himself and his family live a happier life is really quite good.

After eating and cleaning up the bowls and chopsticks, Li Juan carried a basket to pick pig grass. Li Long asked her about her homework, and Li Juan said proudly:

"I finished my homework during the noon break."

Now the little piglets were very hungry, and the pig feed was mainly bran mixed with chopped pig grass and boiled in a pot. At this time of year, the only grass that could be fed to pigs were a few kinds like gray amaranth and wild amaranth. Fortunately, there was enough wasteland now, and these wild vegetables, which people could actually eat, were relatively easy to find.

Li Qiang, for the first time, didn't run out to play, but ran out of the courtyard, caught up with Li Juan, and the two of them chatted and laughed as they went to find pig grass.

Li Long tidied up the courtyard while waiting for Tao Daqiang. In order to buy both radios, these fish definitely had to be caught.

"Without Xiao Long, you're here. I have something to tell you." While Li Long was checking the tires, someone came into the courtyard, but it wasn't Tao Daqiang; it was Xie Yun Dong.

Xie Yun Dong was in his thirties, about the same height as Li Jianguo, less than 1.7 meters, a very honest and down-to-earth farmer.

"Brother Xie Yun Dong, tell me what's up." Li Long put down the tire and asked.

"The team leader asked me to take the people from the sideline group into the mountains to weave carrying frames. I heard from the team leader that you took on this job, so I'm discussing with you now about the things to bring, to see if they are complete."

Xie Yun Dong had worked in the mountains for a period of time and was relatively familiar with life there. Li Long remembered that he led the sideline team last year, and when they returned, they brought an income of over two hundred yuan to the team, and everyone in the sideline team had gains. This person was capable, steady, and could convince people.

"Brother Xie Yun Dong, you are responsible for the matter of going into the mountains. I don't have as much experience as you. Actually, I'm just a go-between. I'll check the quality of the carrying frames when delivering the goods; as for the rest, it's still up to you."

"No, no, no," Xie Yun Dong was very humble. "I heard from the team leader that you took this job, and you haven't spent a short time in the mountains this winter. Now it is said that a forestry team has been established in the mountains, and some things have rules, which are different from before. It's right to listen to your suggestions more. Listen, see if what I prepared is complete."

He took a piece of paper out of his pocket, opened it carefully, and started reading:

"One quilt, one machete or sickle, one iron shovel—this is for digging the dugout; two boxes of matches, one bag of salt, one bag of chili powder, ten kilograms of corn flour..."

Speaking of this, Xie Yun Dong looked up and explained to Li Long: "The team leader said to bring a cook over. I asked around and discussed it with the team leader, and let Old Gu, Gu Boyan, go."

"Gu Shu knows how to cook?" Li Long was somewhat surprised. Having lived two lives, he wasn't particularly familiar with Gu Boyan. He didn't expect him to be able to cook?

"Of course he does. When this production team was established, your older brother and Old Gu were both cooks. When it was the big canteen, your brother was the steward, and Old Gu was the head chef—"

He didn't expect there was this history. Li Long thought about what his older brother did before he came to the production team in his previous life; he really hadn't understood it carefully.

He also discovered that Xie Yun Dong still called Xu Chengjun the team leader; he must have gotten used to it.

"Then Gu Shu doesn't need to weave carrying frames, right? Does it count toward work points?"

"Yes, it counts toward work points. Now the work points in the team have risen, one work point is twenty cents, and the sideline team counts as two work points a day. Besides cooking, Old Gu can also do other things. This month is better than being in the team."

"Then what about his family's land?" Li Long asked again. Although Gu Xiaoxia ate commodity grain, the Gu Boyan family only had two mu of ration land, but that also needed to be taken care of.

"He said he handed it to your older brother." Xie Yun Dong smiled, a smile that made Li Long feel a bit unusual, so he didn't dwell on this question and reminded him:

"Brother Xie Yun Dong, I think you can let everyone buy some red bean curd. One piece is two cents. Now the wild vegetables in the mountains shouldn't have fully come out yet. Buying red bean curd can last for a period of time, it's cheap and goes well with rice."

"Mm, I'll write this down." Xie Yun Dong was receptive to advice, took a pencil stub out of his pocket, and wrote it down carefully on the paper.

He and Li Long discussed some other things that needed to be brought. When he was about to leave, Li Long asked:

"Who else is going besides you and Gu Shu this time?"

"Tao Daqiang," Xie Yun Dong said, "Lin He, Wang Dagui, Xu Jianjun, Tian Siping, Wei Zhong Hua..." Lin He was an honest person, obedient. Everyone liked to find him to help when they had something, and he would also take the initiative to help others when they had something. This person was no problem.

Wang Dagui was Wang Cai Mi's younger brother. Wang Cai Mi's real name was Wang Dafu, who was also a shrewd person, quite capable, and knew many things. He also wove carrying frames quite quickly.

But hearing Xie Yun Dong mention Xu Jianjun, Li Long's brow furrowed.

Xu Jianjun was Xu Chengjun's cousin. This person was a bit idle and disobedient. If it came to working, there were many things, but if he went into the mountains, he would definitely put more effort into other sidelines than weaving carrying frames.

"This is the list decided by the team leader. I actually don't want to either, but there's no way." Xie Yun Dong gave a wry smile. "But fortunately, there's Daqiang, there's Dagui, the task will definitely be completed..."

"That should be no problem, but Brother Xie Yun Dong, you have to make it clear at that time. If the quality is unqualified during inspection, I will reject it. Don't say I don't give face to our team people. After all, if unqualified ones are handed in and they want to return the goods, the loss will be extraordinary."

"You can rest assured about this. Weaving one carrying frame is one yuan. If the way for everyone to earn money is smashed because of this, then I don't need to say it, others will be able to hammer him."

Knowing how to use everyone's mentality of wanting to earn money to solve the problem of individual disobedience, this Xie Yun Dong still had something in his brain.

Xie Yun Dong hadn't left yet when Tao Daqiang walked into the courtyard. He was stunned for a moment when he saw Xie Yun Dong, then smiled honestly and didn't greet him.

"Daqiang is here. It's just right to tell you. Just now, I discussed with Without Xiao Long the things we need to bring into the mountains this time. You write it down..."

As he spoke, Xie Yun Dong read it to Tao Daqiang according to the paper and asked him if he remembered it.

!.

"Brother Xie Yun Dong, read it again, my brain is stupid..." Tao Daqiang said with a red face.

Xie Yun Dong wasn't in a hurry and read it again. Only then did Tao Daqiang nod and remember it.

After Xie Yun Dong left, Tao Daqiang asked:

"Brother Long, are we still catching fish?"

"Yes, set the nets one more time today, and don't set them tomorrow. I'm going into the mountains tomorrow, and you all have to prepare things too."

"Okay." Tao Daqiang nodded. "I'll listen to you this time going into the mountains."

"You weave the carrying frames well. There's a way to earn money, I'll tell you when the time comes."

"Mm!" Tao Daqiang nodded vigorously.

After the two checked the tires and nets, they carried them and went to the Little Haizi.

To ensure that they could catch more fish this time, Li Long set the nets on the edge of the reeds two or three hundred meters away from yesterday.

Crucian carp were easier to sell, and there were more crucian carp by the reeds. The nets Li Long brought this time were two two-finger-and-a-half nets, two three-finger nets, and one three-finger-and-a-half and one four-finger net each. Six nets were almost enough.

After setting the nets, the two didn't cast any more nets and went straight back to the team.

Li Jianguo and Liang Wenyu had already returned, Li Juan was chopping pig grass in the courtyard, and Li Qiang didn't know where he had run off to play.

The next day, as usual, they got up early, and Li Long and Tao Daqiang went together to collect the six nets.

Sure enough, as Li Long expected, this time the six nets were covered with crucian carp. The crucian carp on the two-finger-and-a-half net were dense, at least fifteen or sixteen kilograms.

"When I was watching the wheat in the wheat field yesterday, there were many small crucian carp in the field." Tao Daqiang said while walking back, "You could also see larger ones. The sluice gate released water, and the fish were also released."

Crucian carp were particularly prolific. The female fish caught at this time, even if they were five or six centimeters long, had full yellow roe in their bellies—that saying "advise you not to eat crucian carp in the third spring" really wasn't practical here. Because those crucian carp flowed into the fields with the water, and once the water dried up, they all died.

Every year when watering, dead fish could be seen in pits in the water channels and fields. At this time, the feast for the flies had arrived.

Tao Daqiang carried some crucian carp back, saying they would stew them for lunch. Li Long put the sorted fish on the bicycle and left the village in a hurry with Li Juan.

Dropping Li Juan off at the elementary school, Li Long didn't stop when passing by the middle school and not seeing Gu Xiaoxia. This time, he was still going to Shicheng to sell fish.

The reason for rushing was that Li Long was worried that if he sold the fish late, he wouldn't be able to buy the radio when he returned.

The pedestrian traffic on the Old Street in Shicheng was still very heavy. Opposite the intersection where Li Long set up his stall yesterday, someone had already set up a stall, selling bacon, wild vegetables, and also selling coriander in small handfuls.

The place was large, and Li Long wasn't picky. He dumped part of the fish into the basin, took the scale, and started shouting loudly.

There were even more fish today than yesterday, and there were more large crucian carp and big crucian carp. There were almost no silver carp or grass carp. The fish looked very lively and beautiful.

Sure enough, crucian carp were more popular. Today, in less than an hour, Li Long sold out the fish. The last four kilograms of crucian carp were bought by one person.

This time he sold over fifty yuan worth. Li Long didn't even eat breakfast, rode the bike straight back to Maxian, and rushed to the department store.

Sure enough, as he thought, there was only one radio left on the counter.

"You're buying again?" Xiao Liu remembered what he said yesterday. "This is the only one left, but the radio is good, you can try it."

To be safe, Li Long bought a box of batteries, installed them on the spot, and tried it out.

He could still receive the ethnic channel. Li Long smiled, paid the money, and got the ticket. Li Long said thank you, and Xiao Liu said in a low voice:

"You're welcome. If you need anything later, you can tell me in advance. When the goods arrive, I can help you keep them."

"That's very kind of you." Li Long was sincerely grateful. Whether at home or in the mountains, there were many things needed. Sometimes if you weren't careful, they would be out of stock, which would really be a pity.

However, this girl being so enthusiastic actually surprised him a bit.

Not thinking too much, Li Long went to the large courtyard, took the previous radio, wrapped them together, and went into the mountains with the small-caliber rifle.

He wanted to give Ha Ha Li Mu and the others a surprise.