Chapter 24

With money, Li Long didn't care about this woman's feelings; he had other things to do.

Driving to the department store, Li Long asked Tao Daqiang if he needed to buy anything.

"No." Tao Daqiang shook his head and said, "I don't lack anything."

"Do you want me to buy you a pair of shoes?" Li Long pointed to Tao Daqiang's feet. "Those shoes of yours won't last two more times. I'll buy you a pair of cotton rubber shoes this time?"

"No, no, no, no need." Tao Daqiang shook his head and waved his hands vigorously:

"No need to buy. Brother Long, I didn't do anything when I went, you just leave me some wood when the time comes. This wood is quite good, I'm thinking that when spring comes next year, I can make some furniture for the family."

That's indeed a proper thing to do.

The wood hauled by Li Long and Tao Daqiang was basically all pine. Except for a small part that was branches as thick as an arm, most of them were wooden posts as thick as a person could hug.

This wood, which was easy to find in the mountains, was good material for making furniture outside the mountains.

In this day and age, there were very few finished furniture for sale. The furniture used by every household was made by carpenters, and most of the wood was self-prepared.

Li Long remembered that in his previous life, his brother Li Jianguo had prepared some pine boards for Li Qiang early on to make furniture when he got married. Pine was considered good wood here.

However, because after the 1990s, furniture factories rose, slowly even in the countryside, people bought ready-made furniture directly. Those wooden boards were still placed in the idle room of the sister-in-law's house when Li Long died of a cerebral hemorrhage.

But in this day and age, whoever could make a set of pine furniture would definitely be looked at differently by others.

Didn't expect Tao Daqiang to have this thought, not bad, not bad!

It seems Tao Daqiang is not stupid at all.

Li Long felt this wasn't a big deal; at worst, he would run a few more trips, and then he could change a set of furniture for his brother's family. After all, now his brother's family only had that five-drawer cabinet and a high-low cabinet, both of which were furniture made more than ten years ago, and the paint on them had fallen off a lot.

The cost of making furniture now is not high. If he runs a few more trips into the mountains, not only will the furniture money come out, but maybe he can also buy a sewing machine and a bicycle.

Entering the department store, Li Long first bought a kilogram of hard fruit candy at the food counter; this was for Li Juan and Li Qiang. Then there were two packs of granulated sugar, and two bottles of canned food.

These added up to less than ten yuan. He went to ask about bicycles and sewing machines. A 28-inch heavy-duty Permanent bicycle cost 167 yuan, and a sewing machine cost 85 yuan, both requiring tickets.

Li Long didn't have tickets. He remembered that the Commercial Bureau seemed to issue tickets to the commune every year, and each production team could receive one or two tickets. If he wanted tickets, he could only get them from Xu Chengjun.

Originally, Li Long also wanted to buy some fine grains like flour and rice, but he didn't have grain tickets in his hands.

Going out and letting Tao Daqiang wait, he ran toward the black market in his memory. The location was on the outskirts of the city, selling not only flour and rice but also some meat—meat raised at home, and meat of wild animals.

It's just that when he went, the place was a mess, and there was nothing.

However, looking at the footprints in the snow, blood droplets, and traces left by some things pressed into the snow, Li Long had a clue in his heart. There must be people in this place, it's just that it might be an early market, very early, and it had long since dispersed.

He returned to the front of the department store, saw Tao Daqiang was a bit nervous there, and said with a smile:

"Let's go, back."

On the way back, Li Long said to Tao Daqiang:

"This time we hauled back two sheep, I'll give you half a sheep..."

"No, no!" Tao Daqiang hurriedly waved his hand. "Brother Long, I'm really not being polite with you. If I take this mutton back, I won't be able to come out with you next time.

My dad... my dad wants my brother to follow you, I won't let him, I said you only let me follow. My dad also said, let me remember the road later, and let me go into the mountains with my brother..."

Li Long looked at Tao Daqiang with some surprise.

What surprised him was not the idea Tao Jianshe had, but that Tao Daqiang would say this. However, he was very gratified; he felt he hadn't misjudged the person.

Tao Daqiang was a person who recognized dead principles. He felt that Li Long was good to him, so he wouldn't betray Li Long unless Li Long betrayed him first.

And why didn't Li Long take Gu Ermao? Because after he took him once, Gu Ermao could shake him off the next day and go into the mountains to haul things himself.

However, Li Long actually anticipated that someone might follow the trend when he did this.

"It's fine, Daqiang. You should still take this sheep; I can't let you run with me in vain." Li Long thought for a moment and said, "Then I'll give you another leg of lamb. I'll leave you more wood, okay?"

"Okay, okay." Tao Daqiang smiled. "Brother Long, I'll follow you later!"

"Fine." Li Long nodded with a smile.

The two drove the horse cart back. People in the production team were also guessing what they could haul back after this trip.

Now there were not many entertainment activities, and Li Long being fired from the factory was a big news, and he broke up with Wu Shufen the second day he returned, which became another big news. When the women in the team chatted about family affairs, there were really many fresh topics.

And Li Long hauling things into the mountains became their latest topic of discussion. At first, everyone said like Sister-in-law Lu that Li Long wouldn't succeed, but when Li Long hauled wood and sheep back from the mountains, the discussing people immediately split into two factions.

!.

Today Li Long went into the mountains again, which made many people start guessing what he could haul back again.

Even Captain Xu Chengjun's wife, Ma Hongmei, was guessing:

"Do you think Li Long, that kid, can haul wood back this time?"

"Definitely can." Xu Chengjun had taken people into the mountains. Although the road on the mountain was not easy to walk, he was clear that Li Long could haul wood back the first time, which meant this kid had already mastered a correct path into the mountains.

He had seen the situation in the mountains more than many people in the village, so he naturally knew that the frozen sheep couldn't be "found." That meant the other party must have already had connections in the mountains.

"Then do you think he can find sheep again today?" Ma Hongmei was still thinking about that leg of lamb. Although mutton wasn't as fat as pork, the taste was really good!

"Of course he can." Xu Chengjun nodded and said, "Maybe even more than one."

"Then will he give our family another leg? Or half a sheep?"

"What are you thinking?" Xu Chengjun glared at her. "What kind of relationship do you have with them that they give you so many things? He paid the work points for borrowing the horse cart, sent a leg of lamb, what else do you want?"

"I'm just thinking that this Li family kid is quite sensible..." Ma Hongmei said sheepishly.

"If he's sensible, he has more sense of proportion! Giving us a leg of lamb is etiquette, giving a sheep? Why? They are superstitious, why didn't you distribute your own meat to them?"

Ma Hongmei's face turned red, but she still said in a low voice:

"I'm just thinking... if there is mutton again, take some to my dad's place..."

"Then let your brother come over to hitch the horse cart to the mountains early tomorrow morning. If he can get it, it's luck; if he can't, there's no way!" Xu Chengjun rolled the Mohe tobacco and said, "Don't just look at others eating meat, they have their own connections, don't just be jealous."

"Then my brother doesn't know how to go either." Ma Hongmei said in a dilemma.

"I'll take him." Xu Chengjun didn't even raise his head. "I know the entrance to the mountains, but I don't know if I can get sheep, but it's not bad to get wood. I see the wood Li Long got is all good pine, it's quite good to make furniture when spring comes!"

Actually, many families were having this idea.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 25 =====