Chapter 219: Borrow money? Sure, but bring something to exchange!

After May, the days gradually became hotter and longer.

These days, Li Long would go to set nets every afternoon and get up early in the morning to retrieve the nets, sort the fish, and sell them. The market in Shicheng had a large flow of people and was siphoning from several nearby counties and districts, so there was basically no situation where the fish couldn't be sold.

After more than half a month of hot sales, the ditch fish gradually returned to calm, while carp, five-striped black fish, and crucian carp were still what everyone liked.

Li Long would send two trips of carp to the Big Meat Canteen every week, and Zhong Guo Qiang would pay on the spot, very straightforwardly, which made Li Long feel that this cooperation partner could indeed be continued.

He also tried to peddle his fish to several state-run restaurants in Shicheng, but except for one that said it could let Li Long send fish once a week, the others weren't very interested in Li Long's fish.

Li Long guessed that they should have fixed partners, or that they were state-run units themselves, and at this time, there were also state-run fisheries, so they were still not at ease with individuals selling fish.

So he simply stayed at the old street, basically one trip every day, occasionally resting for a day or two a week.

But often when he rested, when he went to sell fish the next day, old customers would come to ask why he hadn't come the day before.

Some people didn't eat meat and just liked to drink fish soup; it had become a habit. Some people said fish was fishy, but some people just liked that fishy smell, which was also normal.

Li Qing Xia basically didn't follow Li Long to sell fish anymore; he became obsessed with riding a bicycle. After Li Jianguo's new bicycle was ridden back, it became his exclusive one. Li Qing Xia would go to the threshing floor south of the residential area every day to practice riding.

When children learn to ride a 28-inch bicycle, they usually start by threading their legs. One hand holds the left handlebar, one hand grabs the seat, they extend their leg from inside the triangular frame, step on the right pedal, and then start riding, which makes it easy to master balance.

But adults learning to ride a bicycle usually straddle it directly, with one foot on the ground and one foot on the right pedal, slowly mastering balance and starting to ride.

Li Qing Xia's sense of balance was quite good, and he could ride slowly in one day, but he would still subconsciously look at his feet, afraid of not being able to pedal, so he practiced on the threshing floor every day.

Du Chunfang would sit in the courtyard, occasionally nagging that Li Qing Xia didn't do any work and only knew how to practice riding every day, until one day Li Qing Xia insisted on riding the bicycle to take her for a spin around the threshing floor, and she suddenly discovered that her husband could already ride a bike and carry someone.

"When we go back to our hometown, we'll buy one too, and I'll ride it and take you to the market!" This was Li Qing Xia's word, like a guarantee and like a vow.

Du Chunfang never nagged her husband again. And she became even more diligent in the courtyard, chopping pig feed, tidying up firewood, and getting up early to boil water. She saw the hard work of both Li Jianguo and Liang Yuemei, and even though her youngest son was considered "lazy," he actually got up early every day to retrieve the nets and then rode for two or three hours to sell fish.

Although he was always smiling, Du Chunfang knew that the place was far, and the hard work was definitely hard work.

The whole family was working hard, so how could life not be lived well?

This morning, Li Qiang climbed up, rubbed his eyes, and heard the sound of everyone outside sorting fish and commenting on the size of the fish, so he put on his clothes and ran out quickly.

Li Juan was already eating, and while eating, she was reciting some numbers. Li Qiang knew this was because the midterm exam was over, and Li Juan was reciting some formulas for questions she had gotten wrong before. He didn't know what the formulas were, but he knew they were very important.

"Qiangqiang, go wash your face, and then come over to eat eggs."

"Why eat so many eggs?" Qiangqiang was a bit surprised, mainly because he saw a plate of eggs placed on the stove, and he was a bit confused. Before, they only boiled two, one for him and one for his sister. Why so many today?

"Because today is your birthday," Liang Yuemei said with a smile. "So I boiled a plate of eggs for you, eat however you want..."

Li Qiang was between laughter and tears. He had already seen his sister Li Juan's smile, the joking kind of smile—actually, he wasn't greedy for eggs.

Other children in the village could only eat one boiled egg a week or even a month. The eggs laid by the chickens at home were all saved to be sold to the peddler who came by to exchange for daily necessities.

The Li family originally had this plan too, but after Li Long could earn money, this role of eggs was gone.

Li Jianguo and Liang Yuemei also believed Li Long's words that eating eggs and meat could make them grow tall and strong, so after the chickens at home laid eggs, basically Li Juan and Li Qiang each had an egg every day. It wasn't to say it was set in stone, but it could basically be guaranteed.

So Li Qiang was half a head taller than his peers, which was true.

The problem was that eating this stuff every day made it easy to get tired of it. So Li Qiang looked at the plate of eggs and really felt like life was meaningless.

"What? Don't want to eat? That won't do!" Liang Yuemei said with a smile. "It's your birthday, you must eat, eating one is fine too."

"Then I'll eat one." Li Qiang held the plate and wanted to share the eggs with others in the family.

"Everyone's hands are busy, you eat first." Li Long had been watching this scene with a hidden smile, and when Li Qiang picked up the plate, he immediately said, "Alright, hurry up and eat."

After Li Qiang finished eating, Li Long and the others had also sorted and divided the fish, and then prepared to go sell them.

Li Juan had already packed her schoolbag, tied her hair, and was waiting by the bicycle.

Li Long, like performing a magic trick, pulled a plastic pencil case from behind his back and handed it to Li Qiang:

"Qiangqiang, this is for you, a birthday gift."

"Yo, Qiangqiang even has a birthday gift!" Li Jianguo said with a smile. "What is this?"

"A pencil case with a magnet!" Li Qiang knew this. There were students in the class who had it, and they had been showing it off for days. He shouted excitedly: "Thank you, Uncle!"

"Alright, cherish it, alright, Juan, let's go!"

Li Long and Li Juan left. Li Qiang was still playing with the pencil case lovingly. He took out his original iron pencil case, transferred the pens and erasers inside into the new pencil case. The new pencil case even had a plastic board on it, with a picture of a panda. Looking straight at the panda, it was standing; looking sideways, the panda was sitting. It was too beautiful!

"Alright, hurry up and pack it, you'll be late in a while!" Liang Yuemei urged. "If you play again, I'll take it away and not let you use it."

"No! This was given to me by Uncle!" Li Qiang shouted loudly, stuffed the pencil case into his schoolbag, put it on his back, and ran away in a flash.

When Li Jianguo was harnessing the horse-drawn carriage to prepare for work, a person came to the courtyard gate.

Qin Jiajie, an old resident of the village, arrived a few years later than Li Jianguo and the others, and could be considered one of the second batch of residents to move in after the production team was established.

He came over as a family of four. Him, his wife, and two daughters.

After arriving at the brigade, they gave birth to two more sons, which could be considered a "big family."

"Old Qin, what's the matter?" Li Jianguo tied the horse-drawn carriage and walked to the courtyard gate, asking.

The relationship between the two families wasn't close, but it wasn't distant either. Qin Jiajie's family lived in another residential area, commonly known as Dongzhuangzi. "Old Li, things back in the hometown... there's a bit of a matter, can you lend me some money..."

Li Jianguo now felt that his younger brother was truly a smart person. He didn't have much money in his hands, and of course, he didn't have any expenses, but for this money to be borrowed for no reason, there had to be a reason.

So Li Long had told him long ago that someone in the brigade would definitely come to borrow money, and when the time came to borrow money, he should push the matter to him.

Li Jianguo asked Li Long at the time whether it was to decline or use other methods. Li Long said, don't decline, borrowing money is fine, but bring things or work to exchange. Money cannot be borrowed for nothing.

Li Jianguo had a good reputation in the brigade. If someone came to borrow money and he had it in his hands, he wouldn't be able to refuse, and might have lent it.

But he had no money in his hands; the money was in Li Long's hands, and Li Long was an adult, so anything could be said.

Li Jianguo felt that this was unfair to Li Long, but Li Long said that this was of great benefit to himself and also good for the people in the brigade, so Li Jianguo's thoughts were unnecessary.

"Old Qin, you know the situation of my family. If you're talking about cash, I don't have any, Without Xiao Long has it. Without Xiao Long told me that if someone comes to borrow money, then find him. Without Xiao Long will be back at noon. Why don't you come back at noon?"

Qin Jiajie nodded slowly, preparing to leave.

"Old Qin, how much do you want to borrow?" Li Jianguo looked at his back and felt a bit soft-hearted, suddenly asking.

"One hundred..."

!.

"Then I really don't have any, wait for Without Xiao Long to come back." Li Jianguo really had no way.

Not long after Li Long returned at noon, Qin Jiajie came over again to ask.

"Borrow one hundred? Sure." Li Long didn't ask about the specific matter either. "But you have to bring something to exchange."

"What to exchange with?" Qin Jiajie smiled bitterly. "My family has four children, and now we can just barely fill our mouths. Where would we have anything valuable?"

"Your eldest is thirteen or fourteen now, right?" Li Long asked.

"That's... you..." Qin Jiajie's face suddenly tightened.

"Brother Old Qin, don't think nonsense," Li Long saw Qin Jiajie's expression and knew he had misunderstood, so he hurriedly waved his hand and said: "I mean, can work, can help you. Let's put it this way, a week later, I want reed leaves. You're borrowing one hundred yuan from me, right? I'm lending it to you now.

A week later, you hit two thousand reed leaves for me every day, no problem, right? I'll count two thousand reed leaves as two yuan. You hit ten days of reed leaves for me, and I'll deduct twenty yuan for you. What to do later, we'll think about it then, how about that?"

"Sure!" Once he heard it was just hitting reed leaves, Qin Jiajie immediately agreed.

How could he not agree? That stuff, reed leaves, was everywhere! There were large reed lakes east and west of the production team, and tall reeds also grew in the ditches by the fields. This stuff could be obtained anywhere!

"But I want the big ones, not the rotten ones. And twenty reed leaves should be folded and tied together with a Ma Lian leaf, just like this..." Li Long casually plucked a reed leaf from outside the courtyard to demonstrate.

"If every bundle of leaves can have five Ma Lian leaves, I can add one yuan a day for you."

"Good, good, good!" Once he heard that thirty yuan could be deducted in ten days, Qin Jiajie hurriedly agreed, fearing Li Long would go back on his word.

"The remaining money, pay it back at the end of the year. But before the end of the year, I might still need to engage in some sideline work for the brigade. When the time comes, your family can send people to join in. Whether earning more or less, there is always hope to pay it back."

"Good, good, good, thank you Without Xiao Long, thank you!" Qin Jiajie kept saying.

Li Long took out a stack of money, counted out ten big ten-yuan notes, and handed them to him: "Keep this money well, but we do business according to business, I still have to let you write an IOU."

"Sure, sure, sure, no problem." With money in hand, the big difficulty at home was solved, and Qin Jiajie only had a heart of gratitude toward Li Long at this time.

After writing the IOU, Qin Jiajie asked another question:

"Without Xiao Long, when the time comes, if there are too many reed leaves..."

"If there are too many, I'll take them all. But it's estimated to be ten days... at most two weeks, and I won't want them after that."

"Sure, sure, I know." Qin Jiajie hurriedly went home. He had already planned to send the whole family out when the time came, and the children who went to school could also hit them after school. He must hit more!

Li Jianguo watched from the side the whole time. After Qin Jiajie left, he asked:

"Are you planning to sell reed leaves for the Dragon Boat Festival? Can anyone want this?"

"I won't sell them first, I'll give them away first." Li Long said. "From winter to now, I've received a lot of favors from people, so I can't have no reaction at all. We don't have any good things in the countryside, and the Dragon Boat Festival is coming soon, so this stuff is something that can be brought out. So when the time comes, I'll send some with the fish, it's a gesture."

Li Jianguo smiled. This younger brother of his really didn't look like a twenty-year-old young man nowadays. He was so sophisticated in doing things that even he couldn't compare.

Li Long sold fish for another week, and then Qin Jiajie sent over three thousand reed leaves that night, plus bundles of tied Ma Lian leaves.

Li Long accepted them and even wrote "minus three" on that IOU. This marked that Qin Jiajie's debt had become ninety-seven.

And Li Long himself, starting tomorrow, would have a new round of plans.

Of course, he really just wanted to express his gratitude, nothing more.

Thanks to book friend Xiyu Xiaoshaoshao for the reward, thanks to everyone for the support.

June has ended. I calculated that in the whole of June, I published nearly 400,000 words. Except for publishing more than 40,000 words on the 1st, the rest were basically around 12,000 a day. The saved manuscripts are almost used up. I will strive to update in July, hoping to continue to maintain it.

Of course, having published so many chapters, everyone is very supportive. Overall, although there are no big fish in the Little Haizi, the crucian carp are still not bad.

After half a month of heat, it's finally going to cool down, so I can calm down and code words.

July, here we come.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 220 =====