Chapter 207: This Is the Attitude of In-Laws

Li Jianguo and the others had returned early with the horse-drawn cart.

By this time, Li Long had already battered and deep-fried a small basin of Huagou fish that Li Qiang and the others had gutted and cleaned.

It was too late to prepare lunch, and it was uncertain whether dinner could be made later, so these fish would serve as snacks.

People who had lived here for a long time knew the severity of the yellow wind.

Here at the production team, every year during the transition between spring and summer, there used to be a prolonged period of yellow winds. This meteorological phenomenon, later known as sandstorms, was not like the widely circulated short video depicted, where sand blew in like clouds and mist with the wind.

How to describe it?

What left the deepest impression on Li Long's memory was watching The Mummy film series; when that Pharaoh transformed into a whirlwind of sand and dust blowing toward the camera, it felt exactly like that.

At this moment, looking toward the northwestern sky, the yellow wind resembled a wall slowly approaching.

Though described as slow, its speed was actually very fast, but because it advanced as a uniform whole like a wall rather than protruding in parts, it appeared quite slow.

It felt like a creeping barrage.

Upon returning to the courtyard, Li Jianguo and Liang Yuemei hurriedly led the horses into the stable, while Li Long had already boiled and prepared the pig feed.

"Big Brother, Sister-in-law, there might be rain after this yellow wind; store some firewood inside the house," Li Long said. "My horse station is fine, but your place isn't well-equipped. By the way, don't bother making lunch; I bought steamed buns. They aren't cold yet, perfect for eating."

"Alright, alright," Li Jianguo nodded repeatedly. "Then you hurry back to the horse station too. No one knows how long this yellow wind will last."

Usually, after the yellow wind comes the black wind, bringing heavy rain—the kind so intense one cannot even open their eyes.

In some cases, after the yellow wind passes, the sky remains gray and overcast, with yellow sand slowly settling down; no one can predict this accurately.

Fortunately, the family had a radio, so they wouldn't be too bored.

As Li Long walked toward the Old Horse Station, he detoured to Tao Daqiang's home.

Tao Daqiang was tidying things up in the courtyard; seeing Li Long approach, he smiled bitterly and said:

"Brother Long, looking at this weather, we can't catch fish today."

"Then just rest for a day," Li Long said with a smile. "We can't work every day; this is a good chance to take a break. By the way, here's five yuan, today's earnings from selling fish."

Tao Da took the money, smiling with a simple, honest look as he tucked it into his pocket.

"I won't come inside then," Li Long said. "I need to go to the horse station to see if Uncle Luo needs any help."

Tao Daqiang watched Li Long leave, then entered his courtyard; after hesitating briefly, he did not give that money to Tao Jian She.

At the Old Horse Station, the young deer was slightly better, and the roe deer's wound was improving; it could now walk slowly with a limp. The liveliest were still those several wild piglets, oinking and squealing incessantly.

Li Long had once asked Uncle Luo if he found them annoying; Uncle Luo replied that without them, he would be the one feeling bored.

The Old Horse Station was fully equipped; even the firewood was piled under the walls, and the stove was inside the house, so there was no worry about being unable to cook if it rained.

Uncle Luo had already eaten lunch and was now gazing at the sky.

"After the yellow wind, rain will likely follow," Uncle Luo said, his experience being quite rich. "No one knows how long this rain will last."

"We'll just wait," Li Long said. "Anyway, we have nothing else to do."

"That's true," Uncle Luo smiled. "Since we're idle, I'll go ahead and boil the afternoon pig feed first."

The fodder for the roe deer and the young deer could be fed raw, but the wild pigs required cooked food; this was due to feeding habits, though logically, raw food wouldn't harm them.

It was simply that Uncle Luo had grown accustomed to it.

Li Long did not help; instead, he returned to his own room.

Before long, the yellow wind arrived.

First, the wind grew stronger, and then that slowly approaching "sand wall" finally enveloped the entire village; the wind, carrying sand and dust, battered everything in its path. With every breath, one could smell the choking scent of dust; Li Long hurried inside and shut the door.

Between heaven and earth, all turned dim and yellow; he picked at his nose and dug out a clump of dirt.

The wind grew even stronger; Li Long could imagine that, from a god's-eye view, one would see a massive cloud of yellow sand and dust surging forward with the wind, devouring everything in its path.

The sound of dust striking the windows was loud; amidst this din, the squeals of the little wild piglets became indistinguishable. Apart from the wind's roar, nothing else could be heard in the world; occasionally, broken sacks or old clothes blown up by the wind would crash into the courtyard, only to be swept away again.

Li Long could already imagine that once the wind stopped, the entire courtyard, including the vegetable leaves Uncle Luo had newly planted, would be covered in a layer of fine yellow soil and sand.

With nothing to do inside the room, he casually picked up a book to read.

Having already finished Seven Swords Descend Tianshan, the book he now held was Yongchang Yanyi, which he had rummaged out from somewhere at home.

The scenes described within were quite bloody; certainly unsuitable for children. Li Long read with a sense of curiosity, particularly interested in the nicknames of those under Li Zicheng, the King of Great Shun.

As the sky grew darker, Li Long simply lit an oil lamp; recently, he had seen workers laying and rerouting power lines along the roadside, suggesting that electrification was not far off.

The wind noise outside diminished slightly; Li Long stood up, opened the door, and peeked out. He found the sky still dark, but the yellow wind had passed. Indeed, as imagined, the ground was covered in a layer of fine yellow soil, resembling dust sprinkled after sweeping.

Normally, the grass and leaves dropped while feeding the roe deer and young deer would have long disappeared, leaving the area clean.

Except for the yellow soil.

Then, a single large raindrop fell.

Li Long looked up at the dark clouds in the sky—or rather, black clouds; the cloud layer was extremely low, feeling only dozens of stories high, appearing incredibly oppressive.

The raindrops were enormous; striking the ground, they not only splashed water but also kicked up clouds of dust.

Then, more and more raindrops pelted the ground, quickly soaking it entirely before converging into small streams flowing toward lower ground—out of the courtyard.

When the Old Horse Station was built, it was situated on high ground; additionally, a sufficient foundation had been laid, making it one level higher than surrounding areas, so water hardly accumulated inside, all flowing outward.

Hearing the sound of rain, Uncle Luo also opened the door; looking at the courtyard filled with rainwater, he remarked:

"This rain falling down feels surprisingly refreshing."

Yes, quite refreshing.

In later times, yellow winds rarely occurred, but every year around late April, several strong winds would blow. By then, almost no grain was planted; everything was cotton. This season marked the time when cotton had just been sown but not yet sprouted.

If the wind grew strong, it would tear off the plastic film; once the film was torn and scattered, the cotton planting would be in vain, requiring replanting.

Li Long remembered one most devastating instance: within less than ten days, cotton had to be replanted four times. A woman from inland who had contracted land to grow cotton sat at the field's edge crying; because she had contracted so much land and the seedlings hadn't even emerged, she had already lost over a million yuan...

Nowadays, the winds weren't that strong, but the sandstorms were still unbearable.

Moreover, they occurred not just once a year, but several times.

The rain grew heavier; soon, the courtyard turned into a flowing river. Water splashed into the room, wetting Li Long's shoes, so he retreated back inside. He did not close the door; the damp air entered the room, carrying away the dry heat brought by the yellow wind.

The rain continued until evening before slowly letting up; Li Long knew that tomorrow daytime would likewise be good for nothing.

Unless it was a big sunny day, the aftereffects of this rain would take two or three days to dissipate.

Because everything was still dirt roads, and even the courtyard was all yellow mud, the rain soaked through thoroughly, meaning one step meant a foot full of mud, which was the most annoying thing.

Generally, rain meant one could not go out. In this era with almost no means of entertainment, it was truly very annoying. Going out was not impossible, but if one went out, one either had to put on rubber boots (rain boots) or be prepared to step through thick mud.

Not everyone had several pairs of shoes; supplies were relatively scarce. Although it wasn't to the extent of a whole family sharing one pair of trousers, a person had at most two pairs of shoes, perhaps only one, changing for a new cloth shoe only when the old ones were worn beyond repair.

On the second day at dawn, while Uncle Lao Luo was feeding the pigs, Li Long did not go over to his eldest brother and sister-in-law's place to eat; instead, he cooked porridge on the stove, sliced some pickled vegetables, and had a makeshift breakfast with Uncle Lao Luo.

It was not until afternoon, when the sun emerged, that the ground slowly showed slight signs of drying.

On the morning of the third day, the ground was slightly better; Li Long stepped deeply and shallowly as he made his way home.

Li Juan had gone to school—students did not stop attending school just because of rain. The family had no children's raincoats nor umbrellas; for school, Li Juan and the others wore rain capes made from urea sacks—tucking one corner of the sack inward and securing it to the opposite corner to form a pointed top, resembling a mourning hat.

!.

Most children used this kind back then, so no one mocked anyone else—

What surprised Li Long somewhat was that there was an extra person in the house.

Liang Liang Wenyu.

"Little Long is back." Inside the room were mainly Li Li Qing Xia and Du Chunfang; Liang Liang Wenyu appeared somewhat restrained.

"Mm, when did you arrive?" Li Long asked with a smile. "The journey here couldn't have been easy, could it?"

"Mm, it was alright," Liang Liang Wenyu said.

In fact, Li Long had already seen the rubber boots placed by the doorway, covered in thick mud; Liang Liang Wenyu must have come via a small path.

"I came to invite Uncle and Aunt to my home tomorrow for a meal," Liang Liang Wenyu said. "My parents heard that Uncle and Aunt had arrived, so they sent me over to see..."

"No problem; tomorrow my old father and old mother will go over," Li Long directly made the decision for his parents. "At that time, I'll have my eldest brother drive the horse cart to send them over."

Liang Liang Wenyu was also somewhat surprised; when he had mentioned this matter earlier, Li Li Qing Xia had declined, and Du Chunfang had even expressed reluctance to go, not wanting to trouble their in-laws.

Liang Liang Wenyu became somewhat anxious; he had come with a mission, and if he failed to complete it, his father would surely scold him upon his return.

He had not expected Li Long to arrive and immediately agree to the matter. Moreover, what surprised him somewhat was that after Li Long agreed, Li Li Qing Xia and Du Chunfang showed no sign of objection. It seemed they were leaving the decision to Li Long?

"Have lunch here; I'll show off my skills," Li Long said with a smile. "Today we'll steam rice; I'll braise pork belly, stir-fry celery with meat, and you can leave after eating."

"No, no." Liang Liang Wenyu stood up. "I just came to mention this matter; there's still work to do at home. I'll head back now. We'll go over first thing tomorrow morning; Little Long, you come too."

"I'm not certain." Li Long waved his hand. "We'll see how things go tomorrow."

The eldest son of the Liang family had brought gifts to invite people, showing sincerity. Thus, it was only normal for his old father and old mother to go over. So Li Long had agreed on their behalf.

But Li Long could not be considered the intermediary; therefore, taking his old father and old mother over should be Li Jianguo's affair, and Li Long did not want to get involved.

After seeing Liang Liang Wenyu off, without waiting for Li Li Qing Xia to ask, Li Long took the initiative to explain:

"Old Father, Old Mother, in the few years since my eldest brother and sister-in-law married, Juan's maternal grandfather has often come over to deliver goods and money, taking great care of this family. Now that you two have arrived, and they've sent their eldest son to invite you, you ought to go."

"Then we'll go," Li Li Qing Xia said; he was actually indifferent either way, his attention still focused on catching fish to earn money. "Can we cast the nets to catch fish this afternoon?"

"That is possible. But tomorrow you won't be able to go sell the fish," Li Long said with a smile. "Shall I sell the fish for you?"

"Sure," Li Li Qing Xia replied without much concern. "Come to think of it, there are truly so many fish in your Little Little Haizi; why are there no shrimp?"

"Let alone shrimp; there are no river snails, frogs, or clams either."

Apart from fish, the only animals in Little Little Haizi were horn snails and toads. It was not until more than ten years later that Li Long saw the first hybrid frog, the kind with a grayish-yellow body and three green stripes. Grass shrimp also appeared around that time; Li Long guessed they must have entered along with the fish fry from reservoirs upstream and downstream used for fish farming.

As for river snails, they would not appear for at least another twenty years, and crabs would only emerge nearly thirty years later when someone began specialized farming. Moreover, that was in Big Little Haizi, not Little Little Haizi.

Li Long quite admired those crabs. In the first year of farming, the crabs bit through the net cages and escaped, scattering all over the lake. Many people in nearby villages caught them, but then felt that apart from being fresh, the creature offered no other benefit, since eating the meat was too troublesome.

Because Northern Xinjiang was cold, all the crabs froze to death that winter.

However, the crabs that had escaped the following year began digging deep holes in autumn, allowing a small number to survive into the next year.

Afterwards, Big Little Haizi and some nearby ponds had crabs every year.

It could be considered survival of the fittest.

At noon, Li Long prepared braised pork belly, which Du Chunfang loved very much; the meat was stewed until very tender. He also stir-fried celery with meat and steamed some previously cured venison, slicing it onto a plate.

Du Chunfang ate with beaming joy—although in reality, she only ate a small half-bowl of rice and three pieces of braised pork belly.

When Li Jianguo and Liang Yuemei returned from the fields and heard about Liang Liang Wenyu's visit and Li Long's arrangements, they raised no objections.

"Are you going tomorrow?" Li Jianguo asked.

"You two go, driving the horse cart; I won't go. I still need to cast the nets today, and tomorrow I must sell the fish in Shicheng," Li Long explained. "There are also some items in the big courtyard that need handling."

"That works too," Li Jianguo said. "I'll take Qiangqiang along; otherwise, there's no way to have lunch at noon."

"Mm," Li Long said.

He planned that after selling the fish, he would go sell the already dried water rat skins and the like; the remaining few hides were also thoroughly dried. As for what remained in the big courtyard, it was just some stones; naturally, these were not for sale. Let them stay there; as long as he was not short of money, he did not plan to sell any more jade.

Not only did he not plan to sell, but he also intended to buy more small seed materials when that Yusufu came over, to keep in storage.

This stuff could still be exchanged for a sum of money at critical moments.

Mm, thus it was happily decided.

After lunch, Li Long rested for a while; when Tao Daqiang arrived, they together shouldered the tires, took the nets, and headed to Little Little Haizi.

Today they brought eight nets, mainly with large mesh. Tomorrow, going to the Liang family, they would inevitably need to bring some fish. If they could catch a few large carp, that would naturally be best.

With high hopes, Li Long pushed the tires, carrying the nets, and descended into the lake.

(End of Chapter)