Chapter 20: Still Need to Borrow the Horse Cart?

"You go out for a day and bring back just a few sticks of wood, yet you get this whole kilogram of sesame cakes? The Li family boy brought back a sheep, so why didn't you get any share?"

Tao Da, who had originally entered the home happily, never expected to receive a torrent of scolding from his father, Tao Tao Jian, the moment he handed over the sesame cakes.

He was so stunned by his father's rebuke that it took him a while to react, whereupon he argued:

"That sheep was obtained by Brother Long, so naturally it belongs to him. I went to help, and Brother Long even bought me a pair of gloves!" He held up his new rabbit-skin gloves for his father to see.

"So a single pair of gloves bought you over!" Tao Tao Jian had originally been quite happy, but after someone told him that Li Long had dragged back a sheep, he figured that since his own son had gone along, he should have received at least some meat, right?

"At least I ate at their house, yet I come home without even a meal! I can't even eat the fish I brought back; even if I had brought back meat, what good would it do?" In the past, Tao Da would not have dared to talk back, but today he returned to find no food and the fish gone as well, so he couldn't help but shout at Tao Tao Jian:

"At least they gave me something!"

Seeing his son actually shout at him, Tao Tao Jian paused for a moment, a flash of panic crossing his eyes, before he grabbed his tobacco pipe and smashed it down onto Tao Da's head:

"You've only been gone two days and your wings have already hardened, is that it? You dare to talk back to your old man, is that it? If you have the ability, go live with others then! If you have the ability, stop bearing the surname Tao! Since you bear the surname Tao and live in this household, then I am the one who calls the shots in this family! If you want to eat, go make it yourself!"

Tao Da panted in frustration like an ox, while Tao Tao Jian coughed repeatedly from anger; just then, a knocking sound came from the door.

"Who is it?" Tao Tao Jian asked irritably.

"Uncle Tao Jian, it's me, Li Long," Li Long's voice came from outside.

Tao Tao Jian immediately became flustered; he had just been badmouthing the person, and now that person was right outside.

Unable to speak up himself, he shot a meaningful glance at Tao Da.

Tao Da did not see his father's glance, but he had already walked over to open the door.

"Uncle Tao Jian, Da Qiang. We have already thawed the frozen sheep, and this sheep leg belongs to Da Qiang." Li Long handed a sheep leg to Da Qiang, then said to Tao Tao Jian:

"Uncle Tao Jian, rest assured, this mutton is good meat and safe to eat. Our family is already boiling mutton offal soup."

"Little Long, it really troubles you to specially deliver the sheep leg; look at you, look at you..." Tao Tao Jian's face burned with shame as he hurriedly sat up, saying, "Just let Da Qiang take it... Come in quickly and sit!"

"I won't sit; I still need to go to the Team Leader's house, as we'll need the horse cart again tomorrow, and I must tell him."

"You're going again tomorrow?" Upon hearing this, Tao Tao Jian immediately asked, "Then will you take Da Qiang with you?"

Li Long looked at Tao Da and asked:

"Then Da Qiang, you..."

"I will come to your house tomorrow morning," Tao Da said.

"Alright, then I'll wait for you tomorrow."

Li Long departed, pulling a sheep leg out from the snow outside, and carried it off to Xu Chengjun's house.

"You say you still want to borrow the horse cart?" Looking at the sheep leg Li Long had brought, Xu Chengjun hesitated somewhat, "What about the work-point money..."

"I will still pay it," Li Long pointed at the sheep leg and said, "This sheep leg is clean. It comes from a sheep that froze to death in the mountains, from a herder's family; I specifically asked about it. My family is boiling mutton offal soup right now; it is edible."

"Very well. Put down the work-point money, and I will write the note, though we will have to switch to a different horse tomorrow."

"Whatever the Team Leader says, I will do," Li Long said with a smile as he took out his money.

At the Li family home, Li Juan and Li Qiang were both holding sesame cakes, eating while watching the mutton offal soup boiling in the pot.

"You say Little Long has really changed so much," Liang Yuemei sighed, "Regarding tomorrow's matter of borrowing the horse cart, he knows to take a sheep leg to the Team Leader's house, though I wonder if the Team Leader's family will dare to eat it."

"What is there to be afraid of eating?" Li Jianguo was still there breaking down the mutton; the sheepskin had already been hung outside to freeze, the offal was the first to be processed, and the room was filled with a faint gamey scent mixed with the aroma of boiling mutton offal.

"According to what Little Long said, we might bring back another sheep tomorrow, which means our family can get through this winter properly; it's just that this sheep isn't very fat..." "As long as there is meat to eat, that's enough; we originally thought our family would have a hard time this winter," Li Jianguo said with a smile, "With fish, with mutton, and with spotted francolins, this life is something even immortals wouldn't trade!"

"That's true! This winter, we will be able to have a proper New Year!" Liang Yuemei said with a smile, "We don't lack firewood either; Little Long is truly capable!"

"Sigh, I also didn't expect Little Long to change so much."

"My uncle even said he wants to catch fish to sell in the county town," Li Qiang suddenly interjected, "Saying that one fish can sell for over one yuan!"

Li Jianguo and Liang Yuemei exchanged a glance, neither speaking.

Did Li Long seem like someone capable of selling goods?

Thinking about the past, certainly he would not have been.

But given the events of these past two days, it was truly hard to say!

Not long after, Li Long pushed the door open and entered from outside.

"Is everything settled?" Li Jianguo stopped cutting meat, looked up, and asked.

"It's settled," Li Long said, "Tomorrow morning I still need to drive the cart out."

Saying this, he took ten yuan out of his pocket and handed it to Liang Yuemei:

"Sister-in-law, this is the ten yuan I earned today; please take it."

"!."

"I cannot accept this money," Liang Yuemei hurriedly waved her hands, "You already gave ten yuan earlier; the family doesn't lack this money, so you keep it."

"Sister-in-law, please take it first and listen to me," Li Long pushed the money toward her, "I still have something to discuss with my brother."

Liang Yuemei glanced at Li Jianguo, who nodded and said:

"Just put it away for now. Little Long, tell us what the matter is."

"Today when I went to the herder's home, he has a gun but no bullets; he mentioned there are wolves, so I was wondering if Brother still has some Type 56 semi-automatic rifle bullets here that you could give me?"

"There are a few dozen rounds; take them all," Li Jianguo stood up, took a string of keys from his waist, found the right one to open the five-drawer chest in the corner of the bedroom, and took out a paper package which he handed to Li Long.

This five-drawer chest was made from wood Li Jianguo bought when he got married and commissioned a carpenter to build; although the paint was starting to peel now, it still functioned well, and all of the Li family's more valuable items were kept inside.

"Since they gave us this frozen sheep, we must express our gratitude," Liang Yuemei, who already knew this frozen sheep came from Halimu's family, said, "When you go again, buy them some tea leaves or something."

A single sheep was worth several tens of yuan, while a package of tea leaves cost only one or two yuan; one simply couldn't keep taking advantage of others without giving anything in return—this was Liang Yuemei's simple and honest thought.

"I understand," Li Long nodded and said, "There are many valuable things in the mountains; if we gather more items in the future, our family can become wealthy too."

"Dad, when we eat the sheep leg, give one knucklebone to me and one to my brother," Li Juan said immediately upon seeing Li Jianguo continue to butcher the meat.

Li Long recalled the knucklebones that Nasen and the others played with at Ha Li Mu's house, and a thought stirred in his heart.

With several dozen knucklebones on that wooden kang, taking a few shouldn't be a problem, right?

In this era, toys for girls were truly too scarce; any child who had a few knucklebones to play with was like an Emperor among children, just as formidable as a boy holding two iron spinning tops.

That night, many families in the squad discussed the Li family's affairs.

Many people even lost sleep over it.

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(End of Chapter)