Chapter 256: This Small Courtyard Is Quite Nice

Li Long did not return to the mountains that day; instead, he wandered around the free market and then went to the Zhang Xin Hua Bookstore to buy a box of small-caliber rifle bullets for reserve.

The next day, he went to the supply and marketing cooperative to buy a fishing net, stopped by to check on Li Xiang Qian, and was promptly detained by Li Xiang Qian.

"Come over this afternoon to handle the procedures. The previous occupants have already moved out. That official actually intended to negotiate the price, but upon hearing how readily you offered it, they decided to leave behind all the large furniture and such. Thus, the procedures can be completed this afternoon."

"That is truly excellent," Li Long said with a smile. "I am not particularly urgent on my end, of course, but it is naturally good if we can handle the procedures now."

At this time, there were no property deeds, only a single sheet of certification. Li Xiang Qian took Li Long, riding a bicycle, to take over the courtyard, and conveniently handled the procedures at the sub-district office along the way.

The other party did not need to be present, as Li Xiang Qian was handling it by proxy. The sub-district office was already aware of the matter and very readily changed the ownership of the courtyard.

"Go inspect the courtyard yourself; I still have matters to attend to at my unit. By the way, come back again in a couple of days; there are some sporadic tasks during this period, so see if you can take them on."

"Alright," Li Long agreed with a smile.

Watching Li Xiang Qian depart, Li Long pushed his bicycle, holding the string of keys Li Xiang Qian had given him, and arrived before the courtyard.

The courtyard was located south of Wuyi Road, with its rear wall situated over ten meters from the road surface. Li Long remembered that in his previous life, when people paid attention to such details, these courtyards all had their facades facing north toward the road, mostly serving as storefronts.

He could not tell whether they were added-on storefronts or if a room within the courtyard had simply been modified to open a door directly onto the road.

He recalled that the "deed" issued by the sub-district office earlier explicitly marked the property as directly adjacent to the road, so it was basically impossible for anyone to construct another room between his courtyard and the road.

The courtyard gate faced west, functioning as a side entrance. This courtyard was the last household in the alley; although it appeared to share a uniform style with the others, this particular yard was clearly maintained much better. In an era where earthen walls were common, this courtyard wall was made of brick, plastered with cement, stood two meters high, and was even topped with decorative patterns.

Three walls of the house were whitewashed, with cement applied up to half a meter above the ground; was this done to prevent efflorescence?

The main courtyard gate was smaller than the gate of Li Long's large compound, measuring two meters wide, made of wood, and secured with a large padlock.

Li Long unlocked the door, pushed his bicycle inside, and surveyed the interior situation.

What met his eyes was a leveled earth floor; about three meters inward lay a vegetable garden. This garden was not large, covering several dozen square meters, situated half a meter lower than the ground level, accessible via a small step down.

The vegetable garden contained ordinary vegetables: chili peppers, eggplants, and tomatoes; one row of coriander; two rows of young onions; and patches where plants had been dug up, which Li Long guessed blindly must have been garlic. Near the eastern courtyard wall, there was also a patch of bright red ground cherries.

Between the northern main house and the vegetable garden stood an iron-framed grape trellis, currently covered in grapevines. Li Long identified seedless white grapes and "horse teat" grapes, along with one vine that appeared to be the local round grape variety, which contained seeds and became exceptionally sweet after the autumn frost.

To the right of the courtyard gate was the kitchen; a small pile of coal dust was stacked at the kitchen entrance, and Li Long immediately recognized that cooking here utilized a blower-type stove.

Between the vegetable plot and the side room of the kitchen ran a path about one meter wide, implying that the area south of the kitchen must be the toilet.

Li Long walked over to inspect it; between the toilet and the kitchen, there was another room. He found the key, unlocked it, and looked inside: it was a storage room, with shelves lining three walls and an old eight-immortal table in the center. The shelves held old newspapers and magazines, arranged quite neatly, along with various miscellaneous items the original owner had not taken away.

Li Long locked the storage room door and went to check the toilet, which was cleaned quite thoroughly. Although it was unisex with only a single squatting pan, there were hardly any flies at this time, and a faint medicinal scent lingered, suggesting it was frequently sprayed with insecticide.

Returning to the front of the main house, Li Long observed two doors secured with mortise locks.

The doors were wooden sheathed in iron sheeting. Li Long opened the central one, revealing a layout of one bright room flanked by two dark rooms.

The bright room served as the living room; it was not large, furnished with a row of sofas—an old-fashioned horizontal set in brown fabric, neither new nor entirely worn. Diagonally opposite stood a cabinet, which evidently used to hold a television, though it had been moved away now.

Directly opposite the TV cabinet was a stove, currently idle. The wall against which the stove had been pushed was hollowed out to create a heated wall, perfectly warming the inner rooms.

The room on the left was a bedroom, containing a large wooden bed, a wardrobe, and a desk by the windowsill; all were in a semi-new condition, certainly usable without issue.

The room on the right was the dining hall, featuring an eight-immortal table with several chairs tucked against it, a sofa along the northern wall, and a writing desk by the southern window. A large mirror hung on the eastern wall.

Several potted flowers remained on the windowsill, which Li Long recognized as clivia, large-leaf begonia, and fuchsia, among others; none were particularly precious.

The eastern room was another bedroom, equipped with a single bed, a wardrobe, and a writing desk. Li Long guessed blindly that this must have been the child's room, as some old textbooks remained on the desk.

Old bedding still lay on the single bed, but Li Long did not tidy it up and simply withdrew.

He locked the small gate, picked a few ripe tomatoes, and left the courtyard.

The courtyard was not needed for the time being, so he would just eat the vegetables. In any case, there was nothing valuable inside, and since this place originally belonged to a neighbor, thieves presumably would not bother visiting.

Li Long rode directly back to the large compound; he would not go up the mountain today.

In the evening, when Gu Gu Xiaoxia returned, Li Long had already prepared soup and told her about the small courtyard.

"You bought another small courtyard? What did you buy that for?" Gu Gu Xiaoxia clearly did not understand. "Living in this large compound is sufficient for us."

"That small courtyard is close to your workplace, and the entire renovation is quite nice," Li Long explained. "I thought that if you felt the daily commute was too long, you could stay over there. Of course, where to live depends on your preference; staying at either place or commuting between both is fine. Additionally, I thought that if family members come later, they could stay there as well."

As for investment, it was far too early to discuss such things; even if he spoke of it, no one would believe him.

In fact, given what Li Long knew about this era, this type of investment was the least value-preserving, or rather, the slowest to appreciate. After all, even in his previous life, during the peak housing prices of the 2010s, the price per square meter in the county town had barely reached five thousand.

Therefore, if one truly intended to hoard properties, Shicheng or Wucheng would be far superior choices compared to this place.

Li Long's purchase of the courtyard was merely a habit ingrained in a farmer with a deep affinity for the land.

"I prefer to stay here," Gu Gu Xiaoxia said after a moment's thought. "I am accustomed to living here and do not wish to move again. Besides, this place is quite good; although the compound is somewhat old, it looks grand and imposing, and I like it very much!"

"If you like it, then stay here," Li Long said with a smile. "We will leave the other one aside for now. If necessary, we can rent it out; it won't remain empty anyway."

With that, the topic was dropped.

After dinner, Gu Gu Xiaoxia and Li Long cleaned up together, and then she went to study. Li Long had been present these past few days and knew that Gu Gu Xiaoxia generally did not bring work home; her evening studies were primarily for the Television University.

She took Li Long's suggestion very seriously; after joining the Education Bureau, she had discovered that many held only a high school diploma, while those with bachelor's or associate degrees were few. To stand out among these people, one needed not only strong capability but also a higher academic qualification.

Having worked for several months, Gu Gu Xiaoxia was no longer a novice; she had realized the importance of educational credentials. To give the simplest example, when teaching at a middle school, two teachers with similar years of service would see the one with an associate degree earning a slightly higher salary than the one with only a high school diploma.

This held true even if the associate degree was obtained through correspondence or Television University! At this time, degrees from Television Universities and Night Universities were still recognized.

Li Long did not disturb Gu Gu Xiaoxia's studies; he poured a glass of water for her, cut a few slices of watermelon, and placed them before her desk, then went to his own room to read.

Only after returning to his room did Li Long realize something was amiss; why did he feel as though he and Gu Gu Xiaoxia were already an old married couple? Shouldn't there be the passion of youth?

Upon reflection, he dismissed the thought; presumably, Gu Gu Xiaoxia was also quite shy at this time. After all, they were only engaged, not yet married, and contraceptive measures were imperfect in this era; if anything untoward were to happen, it would be easy to become the target of gossip.

Thus, he simply ate watermelon and began reading his book.

The next morning, Gu Gu Xiaoxia prepared breakfast; after eating, she went to work, while Li Long rode his bicycle to a shop on the edge of the county town that sold naan, bought two loaves, rolled them up, placed them in his satchel, and rode toward the mountains.

After the rain, the weather grew even hotter; it was only once he rode into the mountains that the conditions became somewhat bearable.

Upon reaching the wooden cabin, Li Long took out the remaining mushrooms spread out inside the house to dry in the sun, then grabbed a sack and headed to a nearby gully to search.

As expected, after the rain, mushrooms had sprouted again, and in considerable numbers.

By noon, he had collected more than half a sack; returning to dry them, he took out the naan, cut half a watermelon, ate a simple meal, and went to sleep. The noon heat was too intense, making it uncomfortable to go out.

Boom—.

In the mid-afternoon, Li Long got up, once again carrying the sack and shouldering his rifle, and went searching in the nearby gullies.

This is now the final season for the Black Tiger Palm mushrooms; they can still grow for another ten days or half a month. Once the grass turns yellow and the ground dries out, there will basically be none left.

Li Long remembered very clearly that there was once a period when the mountains were relatively moist, or rather, when the general climate was quite good, during which these mushrooms could be gathered until August.

It seemed that in the two years before he left his previous life, the Black Tiger Palm mushrooms could only be gathered until July before the season ended.

Was the weather getting hotter and hotter?

Li Long did not know.

The afternoon harvest was larger than the morning's; perhaps it was due to the location, or perhaps because the fungi were still growing in the morning. Before the sun had set behind the mountains, Li Long had gathered another burlap sack and returned to the wooden cabin.

The nights in the mountains were cool, which had the advantage of there being no mosquitoes at this time, making the stars exceptionally clear. The Milky Way stretched across the sky, and Li Long easily located the Altair and Vega stars, as well as the Big Dipper and the North Star.

Thinking of that Qixi story, which started out reasonably enough but was later messed up until it no longer fit modern values, Li Long shook his head; the children of today were still happier, learning simply, reciting simply, and having jobs waiting for them upon graduation.

The next day, Li Long continued gathering and drying mushrooms, but by the third day, he had to descend the mountain—the dried mushrooms had filled another burlap sack.

He packed the dried mushrooms into the sack, then took some fresh ones and rode his bike down the mountain. Some were still drying on the wooden floor in front of the cabin, but the quantity was not large, so Li Long was not overly concerned.

After selling the mushrooms at the procurement station, Li Long placed a portion of the fresh mushrooms in the large courtyard, then carried several kilograms to find Xiang Qian.

"I was just about to look for you. Regarding those small tasks mentioned last time, see if you can take them on." Xiang Qian did not even mention the mushrooms Li Long had brought; accepting such things was not considered bribery.

"What good jobs are there?" Li Long asked without standing on ceremony, smiling. "If I can do it, I certainly will."

"Collecting wool. Don't you have friends among the herdsmen? This year's wool must have been sheared, right? Can you collect a few tons of wool?"

"I can't collect that much," Li Long said after thinking for a moment. "They have already moved to the summer pastures. Those are deep in the Shenshan mountains; transporting the wool down is too inconvenient. If we collect again next year, they could shear before moving camps, but this year is definitely impossible..."

Mainly because the Shenshan mountains were far away, Li Long did not know the exact locations, and he could not search blindly; if he got lost, there would be no way out but death.

"Hmm, then let's skip that one. There is another: collecting safflower. I recall you said your area grows safflower; it should be harvest season now. I have a small order here for three hundred kilograms; can you gather that much?"

"Can't gather it, can't gather it," Li Long said hurriedly, waving his hands. "In our area, the villager groups plant it directly on wasteland; that patch of land can yield at most a few dozen kilograms... It seems other nearby villages don't grow it either."

"Then forget it. There is nothing else you can do for now." Xiang Qian waved his hand. "We'll discuss it later."

"Mm, I'm not in a hurry. I've made some money selling mushrooms these past few days," Li Long said. "It's enough to spend for a while."

"Have you tidied up that courtyard yet?" Xiang Qian asked casually. "How does it look?"

"It's very good. I haven't tidied it yet; there isn't much to clean inside, just a simple sweep will do," Li Long said. "My partner said she still prefers living in the large courtyard, so I figure I'll clean it up in time; if someone lives there, fine, if not, I'll rent it out."

"You... hey!" Xiang Qian truly did not know what to make of Li Long. "Aren't you just a spendthrift!"

"Not at all," Li Long said with a grin. "Having an extra courtyard means an extra place to stay. Later, if I do any purchasing or the like, I can store things there too."

"You're treating it like a warehouse? Isn't that a waste?"

After chatting for a while, Li Long stood up to leave; having been in the mountains for several days, he wanted to go back and wash.

Walking over to the bike shed in the courtyard, he had just unlocked his bike when he heard Xiang Qian shouting from the office window:

"Xiao Long, Xiao Long! Come answer the phone; it's for you!"

"For me?" Li Long was somewhat surprised. Who would be calling him? From the team? Had something happened?

He hurriedly parked his bike, not even bothering to lock it, and ran inside to answer the phone.

"Hello, is this Li Long? It's Yusupu!"

Yusupu?

Li Long paused for a moment, then immediately thought of that ethnic man who sold jade.

Him?

"Adaxi, yaxshimusiz..." Li Long replied with a phrase of his own. "Where are you now?"

Was this person looking for him to sell jade again? (End of Chapter)