Chapter 150

The person looking for Li Long was Xie Yun Dong. He was in a hurry, and after entering the courtyard and seeing Li Long, he said:

"Little Long, you're back—I was getting anxious waiting."

"What's up?" Li Long was carrying a basket, intending to put the piglets into the pigpen, and asked as he walked, "Is there any trouble?"

"No trouble, it's just that the people from the sideline production team are all ready and about to enter the mountains; I have to communicate with you."

"Which gully are you planning to enter?"

There are many gullies in the Southern Mountains: Big and Small Bai Yang Gully, Pine Tree Gully, Elm Tree Gully, and the Bear Gully and Coal Gully found in every place.

"Small Bai Yang Gully. There's a place by the water that's relatively flat, and the terrain isn't low, so it's protected from floods and convenient for water use. We dug dugout shelters there before, and this time we can reuse them. There are many willow trees by the water there, and the branches of some miscellaneous trees growing in the gully can all be used."

"That's fine." Li Long thought for a moment. Small Bai Yang Gully is east of Halimu's winter camp, close to Red Mountain Mouth, about three kilometers away from the winter camp he was about to form, so he could fully look after things if anything happened.

"That's fine. We plan to set off tomorrow. I'll gather everyone this afternoon, and the captain will speak then; you should also give everyone a talk." Xie Yun Dong said, "Your eldest brother is also going tomorrow. Your family's horse-drawn carriage will follow to pull things into the mountains, and you'll also earn some work points."

"That's fine, come call me when the time comes." Li Long had originally planned to carry the grain into the mountains after lunch, but now it seemed he would have to stay for another half day. However, things in the mountains weren't urgent, and these 300 carrying poles were currently an important task.

Xie Yun Dong received Li Long's promise and left in a hurry. As the team leader, he had too many things to be busy with. Some people were entering the mountains for sideline work for the first time and didn't understand anything, so he had to remind them one by one, otherwise, if they were missing this or that, he would be the one in trouble.

Not long after he put the piglets in the pen, Li Jianguo, Liang Yumei, and Li Juan returned from the fields. Seeing Li Long by the pigpen, Li Jianguo asked:

"Little Long, did you catch piglets again?"

"Caught four." Li Long said, "Three boars and one sow."

"Let me see." Li Jianguo put down his hoe and came to the side of the pigpen.

Li Juan was carrying a basket filled with pigweed. She also came to the pigpen to take a look, then smiled and went to the stove to put down the basket, took a broken kitchen knife and a cutting board standing by the wall, and started chopping the pigweed.

"I bought some wheat bran and rice bran back; it's better to boil them with the pigweed." Li Long said, "These piglets are in their growing phase and can eat a lot."

"These piglets are a bit bigger." Li Jianguo looked and smiled, then suddenly thought of something, "No, we have to castrate the boars, otherwise the meat won't taste good later."

Li Jianguo was a man of action. He took a razor blade, a small bag of medicinal powder, and a bag of cotton thread from the room, laid them out one by one by the pigpen, went to get a basin of water, and then said to Li Long:

"Catch a boar out."

A boar is a male pig. After Li Long went in and caught a black-and-white male pig, the pig squealed miserably, as if it were being punished, and the sound was particularly piercing.

He laid the male pig flat. Li Jianguo felt the position with his hand, told Li Long to hold it down, washed the area, and then used the razor to make an incision. The piglet's squealing became even more miserable.

Li Jianguo squeezed things out from the incision, wrapped it a few times, tied it with cotton thread, then used the razor to cut off the testicles, and poured on the medicinal powder—Li Long had already smelled it; it was sulfanilamide, a commonly used anti-inflammatory drug in rural areas. The other testicle was also cut off, and then it was just a matter of sprinkling the powder.

The incision wasn't large and didn't need stitching. The weather wasn't very hot at this time, so it wouldn't get maggots, so he simply put the pig back into the pigpen and moved to the next one.

In less than an hour, all four boars had undergone "surgery." Li Jianguo washed his hands with the water in the basin and then put the things away one by one.

Liang Yumei had already finished cooking by this time. Li Qiang also consciously returned. Seeing Li Juan, he shouted loudly:

"Sister, sister! I have copper coins and chicken feathers here; can you make me a shuttlecock?"

"Where did you get the copper coins?" This was asked by Li Jianguo.

"Where did you get the chicken feathers?" This was asked by Li Long.

"The copper coins were given by Little Uncle." Li Qiang glanced at his father, answered his question first, and then looked at Li Long and said:

"The chicken feathers were plucked from the chickens at Mingwa's house. He said that after making the shuttlecock, let him play with it too."

Plucking feathers from a live chicken!

Children these days are really something!

"Didn't you guys kill the chicken?" Li Jianguo asked irritably.

"No, they have five chickens at home; plucking a few from one is enough." Li Qiang said, "We aren't stupid!"

"Stupid" here means silly.

"Fine, you aren't stupid. Just wait to see Mingwa get beaten by his mother tomorrow."

"Eat, eat." Liang Yumei shouted, "There's still work this afternoon."

At the dinner table, Li Jianguo asked Li Long:

"Going together tomorrow?"

"No, I have to go to the county this afternoon, and tomorrow morning I still need to buy some grain to transport in. The place Brother Xie Yun Dong chose isn't far from my friend's place. I'll enter the mountains first tomorrow, and then I'll go to Small Bai Yang Gully to find you."

"Dad, I want to go too!" Li Qiang suddenly said.

"You have to go to preschool tomorrow, and you'll be in first grade in a few months, so you can't go." Li Jianguo immediately rejected Li Qiang's idea—the current preschool actually taught first-grade content, and Li Qiang would be over six and a half in September, so he could go to school.

Li Juan actually wanted to go too, but she knew she definitely couldn't go, and school was the most important thing. Last time, Little Uncle helped her weave the carrying poles and reinforced the large broom, which made their group stand out—

"Little Uncle, the other large brooms in our class have all lost their grass, but ours hasn't." Li Juan couldn't help but say, "Our teacher praised our group a lot!"

"Why?" Li Jianguo didn't know about Li Long helping Li Juan and the others weave the carrying poles and asked.

"When I came back that afternoon, I saw them weaving carrying poles on the playground, so I thought about bringing Li Juan back and just helped them weave a bit." Li Long explained nonchalantly.

Liang Yumei smiled while eating.

She thought it was quite good—in the past, Li Long was quite aloof and would never have thought of helping Li Juan. In these few months, the changes had been too great.

After the meal, Li Jianguo stuffed a stack of money to Li Long and said:

"This is the money for the piglets. By the way, send another 20 yuan to Mom and Dad on the street. It's the lean season in the hometown, and it's not easy." "I'll take the piglet money, but I'll pay for the money sent." Li Long took out 20 and returned it, "I collected some deer antlers in the mountains these past two days and earned some money."

"Fine." Li Jianguo didn't argue; it wouldn't look good to bicker over this.

In the afternoon, Li Jianguo and the others went to the fields to weed. Li Long waited for Xie Yun Dong to come over and then went to the captain's house.

The people had already arrived. Li Long saw Gu Bo Yuan, Tao Dayong, Xu Jianjun, and others. He greeted them one by one.

"Little Long is here too, so let's not waste time." Seeing Li Long arrive, Xu Chengjun threw the cigarette butt of his Mohe tobacco on the ground, stepped on it, and said:

"This time, Li Long helped us secure the sideline work in the mountains. You are the experts in weaving carrying poles in the team. I won't say much more; the standards for the carrying poles have already been emphasized to you. When you are in the mountains, you must listen to Xie Yun Dong. He is the team leader; whoever doesn't listen, not only won't get paid when they return, but will also be fined work points!"

Having said this, he looked at Li Long:

"Little Long, you say a few words to everyone."

A dozen pairs of eyes looked at Li Long. Li Long looked back at them one by one. He could see Gu Bo Yuan's encouragement, Tao Dayong's respect, and the gratitude of others.

Of course, not all of them; he could also see some people wanting to see him make a fool of himself—not everyone can speak completely in front of a crowd.

"Since the captain asked me to speak, I'll say a few words." Li Long walked up to Xu Chengjun and said, "These 300 carrying poles are a task given to us by the supply and marketing cooperative. As the coordinator, I only care about one thing: the quality of the carrying poles.

!.

Let's be the villain first and the gentleman later; I'll say the ugly words now: if the quality isn't up to standard, don't even talk about handing them over to the cooperative; even I won't pass them. Either send them back to be redone, or destroy them. In any case, unqualified ones cannot be taken out to lose face.

Of course, if you encounter any trouble in the mountains, I will also coordinate to solve it—provided you don't actively look for trouble. The mountains are not like they used to be. After the forestry team was established, the mountains were divided into zones, and there are people from the forestry team specifically responsible for managing the zones. Some things that could be done before cannot be done now.

So when you get to the mountains, it's best for everyone to focus on cutting strips and weaving carrying poles. After all, one carrying pole is one yuan. Those of you with good skills can weave one or two or three a day, and that money comes faster than a worker's.

After finishing official business, let's talk about private matters. When you enter the mountains, if you have any difficulties, you can also find me, and I will try my best to coordinate and solve them. Fine, that's all I'll say. I will enter the mountains a step ahead of you tomorrow. You do your thing, and I'll come find you when I'm done."

After Li Long finished speaking, Xu Chengjun nodded approvingly and then said:

"You all heard it, right? Behave yourselves in the mountains and don't lose face for our team! The mountains aren't like before, and the team's introduction letters aren't as effective. You must remember to find Little Long if you have trouble—but if you actively look for trouble, then it's hard to say whether Little Long can stand up for you. Weigh your actions; don't learn from Tao Dayong and Gu Ermao!"

Xu Chengjun's words were heavy, and these people were all thinking.

After the people dispersed, Xu Chengjun kept Li Long behind and said:

"Little Long, I heard from Xie Yun Dong that you're entering the mountains early?"

"Yes, this time I have other things to do in the mountains besides the carrying pole work."

"That's fine, but since the people from our team have entered the mountains, you still have to look after them more. You have the cooperative's note, so many things are easy to solve. I'm just afraid that these guys will throw what was just said to the back of their heads after entering the mountains, digging for fritillaria or something; that would be trouble if they get caught."

"Yes, I'll try my best." Li Long nodded and said, "I haven't met the people from the forestry team either. I'll see how it goes. I imagine even if they get caught, it'll be a fine or confiscation at most."

Li Long said it nonchalantly, but Xu Chengjun smiled bitterly. In this day and age, who has extra money? It seems he'll have to give Xu Jianjun a good talking-to later! Among these people, he is the hardest to manage.

But since he is his cousin, it's impossible not to look after his own family.

Li Long returned to the courtyard, saw there was nothing to do, so he rode his bike out of the village and rushed toward the county town. There was still time in the afternoon, and he planned to go to Shicheng Old Street to see if there was any grain for sale. If there was, he would buy some and send it to the mountains tomorrow.

Li Long thought as he rode: Yushanjiang and the others were building a winter camp for him, but he hadn't shown his face even once. Would they be angry?

No, he must go over to take a look tomorrow no matter what.

Lost in thought, he arrived at Shicheng Old Street. Li Long found that there weren't many stalls here, but there were quite a few more people.

There were not only people selling grain, but more than one. Li Long went over to take a look and found that the grain here was even cheaper than at the county morning market.

Rice was 0.65, flour was 0.42—it was a bit darker, and cornmeal was 0.18; this was the asking price.

However, the grain at several stalls was packed in half-bags. Li Long guessed this was out of worry, fearing that if someone confiscated it, the loss wouldn't be too great.

Thinking about the amount he could carry tomorrow, Li Long found a stall with decent quality, bought all the rice and flour there, paid, tied it up, and Li Long rode his bike back.

Arriving at the gate of the large courtyard, he found two uniformed staff members from the police station diagonally across the street watching this area, which made him feel a bit at ease.

Entering the courtyard and closing the door, Li Long rested for a while and then began to sort out the grain bags.

He sorted the grain bought twice into three bags, tied the bags, and planned to enter the mountains early tomorrow morning after putting them away.

At this moment, the work at the winter camp where Li Long was staying had already been done for today. The mountain body serving as the back wall had been neatly cut out with a hoe, the foundation had been tamped, and some wood had already started to be put up.

When they used wood to build the winter camp, they didn't just stack it up; they would drill holes at both ends and in the middle and insert wooden squares to ensure stability, similar to the simple mortise and tenon structure of the Central Plains.

Yesterday, Halimu distributed the things Li Long brought them one by one, which made these young men and middle-aged men very happy. Most of them couldn't speak Chinese, so it was very difficult to communicate and exchange things with people outside. Now that they had these things, their family life could improve a bit, which was good no matter what.

Some young men were already thinking about how to exchange for more things, before moving to the summer pasture and before other boys competing for girls.

This was a rare opportunity. After all, Yushanjiang had introduced that Li Long was a true "Adashi" (friend), and finding him to exchange things was correct!

Li Long didn't know that in the hearts of the young men, he had been upgraded to someone who could be trusted.

Early the next morning, Li Long didn't cook. After having a wonderful meal at the meat canteen, he returned to the large courtyard, set the grain on the back seat of the bicycle, and rode toward the mountains.

Over 150 kilograms of things—although the bicycle could handle it, the road up the mountain wasn't easy to walk. Li Long knew this was a difficult journey.

Thanks to book friend "Changyang Shaonian" for the tip, thanks to book friend "Langbian Xianren" for the tip, and thanks to book friend "20240523124618067" for the tip. This book friend, your tip has both whole numbers and fractions; did you empty out all your coins? Thank you, thank you!

I also thank everyone for their subscriptions, monthly tickets, and recommendation ticket support. Here I will also say that because my writing hasn't been as smooth recently, and there are more comments, I can't reply to them one by one. For some controversial places, I think it's necessary to explain when needed. Some comments were scrolled past and I didn't see them, so I might not have replied. Regarding the issue of prices, some people say it's a nationally unified price, after all, it's a planned economy, but I want to say that those with experience should know what "negotiated price grain" is, what "policies from above and countermeasures from below" are, and what "regional differences" are. In such a large country, it's impossible to be completely unified in pace.

(End of chapter)