Chapter 284: Celebrating the Festival Properly

After asking Li Jianguo and learning he had no objections to selling fish, Li Long began casting ten to twelve nets daily; he would hitch the horse-drawn cart early each morning to retrieve the nets, return to sort the fish, then go with Li Jianguo to sell them, while Liang Yuemei went to work and Tao Daqiang gathered the nets.

Everything was arranged in perfect order.

Moreover, because they started earlier, Li Juan and Li Qiang could still ride their bicycles to school, which made them quite happy.

The two brothers earned several dozen yuan every day, and Li Jianguo's mindset gradually began to change.

Earning this much money in a single day, why bother earning work points anymore?

All it required was getting up a bit earlier and shouting a few times in the market.

One week after Shicheng began collecting fees, the free market in Ma County also started charging stall fees.

Unlike the old street in Shicheng, here, as soon as stall fees were imposed, the number of vendors dropped sharply.

According to Li Jianguo, those unwilling to pay simply moved their stalls eastward, out of the city, setting up along the Wuyi Highway.

To be fair, the stall management fee was not high, even lower than in Shicheng; basically, one stall cost only one to three mao.

But for ordinary common people, let alone one mao, even five fen was money that could prove crucial in critical moments.

However, although they moved locations, the foot traffic did not follow; after all, the market had been fixed in this spot for over half a year, having evolved from the original black market. The townspeople were accustomed to the market's location, and despite the cheaper goods over there, it was simply too far.

Not everyone owned a bicycle; walking an extra kilometer or two meant spending more than half an hour round trip, time that morning commuters might not be able to afford.

Therefore, most people still bought their goods at this market.

With fewer stalls and vendors paying management fees, the prices of goods naturally began to rise.

"Several fish sellers approached me, wanting to discuss raising fish prices," Li Jianguo told Li Long at the dinner table. "I ignored them. They each only have a few dozen kilograms of fish, so raising the price slightly doesn't matter much. But with my sixty or seventy kilograms, which aren't as tasty as Little Little Haizi's fish to begin with, raising the price even a little might mean no one buys them."

"That makes sense. We don't lack those few mao for the management fee; let's stick to the original prices."

"Many regular customers mentioned that the original fish tasted better; some even remember you and Father," Li Jianguo said with a smile. "I told them we are one family, and they remarked that the old saying 'brothers fight tigers together, fathers and sons march into battle side by side' is indeed true. I also told them we would deliver Little Little Haizi's fish again after some time, as the place needs to rest for a while now."

"It indeed needs to rest for a while," Li Long said. "Actually, there are still plenty of large fish inside, but we've caught quite a few of the medium-sized ones. Soon it will be time to irrigate the winter wheat; before that, Little Little Haizi needs to be filled with water, so we probably won't be able to catch many fish then."

The topic ended there. Although the fish from the Big Little Haizi didn't sell for as much as those from Little Little Haizi, the volume was huge, with one trip equaling two from Little Little Haizi; moreover, Li Long had realized that although there were many villages around the Big Little Haizi, he was the only one actually implementing the strategy of catching fish to sell for money.

Each time he paddled the tire boat inside to cast nets, he felt an overwhelming sense of loneliness.

As days passed, the Mid-Autumn Reunion Festival soon arrived.

At this time, the Mid-Autumn Festival was not yet a statutory holiday and did not grant time off on its own, but since this year's Mid-Autumn Festival coincided with National Day, there would be a holiday.

Two days before the Mid-Autumn Festival, the family had already begun preparing items for the celebration.

"Without Xiao Long, those wooden sticks I picked up by the courtyard wall, along with the pine branches you brought back that couldn't be made into furniture, I've tied them together; take this basin of dough and go to East Zhuangzi behind us to give them to Old Man Chai. Your eldest brother has already spoken with his family, asking him to help make guokui."

Guokui was originally a specialty food of the Gansu-Shaanxi region; most traditional Han people in Northern Xinjiang, before the arrival of educated youth from the border regions, had migrated from Gansu and Shaanxi, though there were others from even farther away who came during the Small Sword Society uprising or followed Zuo Zongtang and Lin Zexu, but that is another story.

The Han people who came from Gansu and Shaanxi settled here, bringing not only the Lan-Yin Mandarin dialect but also the specialty foods and living habits of their homeland.

Old Man Chai's guokui making was unmatched in the village; the Chai family were originally local old farmers, present even before the village was established. His method for making guokui was quite unique: placing kneaded dough between two inverted flat-bottomed pans—of course, ingredients were added to the dough, though Li Long wasn't clear on exactly what.

The two flat-bottomed pans were inverted and placed in the middle, with a bucket above and another below; firewood was burned inside the buckets because it burns long and steadily, using the heat from both the upper and lower buckets to bake the guokui in the pans until cooked.

Naturally, Old Man Chai wouldn't help just anyone; it depended on the relationship. Li Jianguo still had enough face for this, so after Li Long delivered the items, Old Man Chai readily agreed.

"Just come over tomorrow afternoon to pick it up."

"Alright," Li Long replied, bid farewell to this vigorous old man, and returned home.

Similar to the saying "whether rich or poor, get a haircut for the New Year," celebrating the festival meant doing what one could afford; a large watermelon had to be prepared, at least enough for the whole family to share, often a ten-plus-kilogram melon with thick skin and sandy red flesh, prepared well in advance.

Apples weren't very expensive at this time either and also needed to be stocked; those with money bought several kilograms to eat during the festival and normally, while those with less money bought just a few to arrange on a plate for the reunion night as a gesture.

Of course, the most indispensable item was naturally mooncakes; the brigade supply store and the township supply store would sell them, displaying them from the Mid-Autumn Festival all the way until Chinese New Year—as for expiration dates or whether they would spoil, no one cared.

Once sold, that was the end of it.

Thus, even by Chinese New Year, one could often see bags of mooncakes sitting inside the wooden counters of the supply stores; usually very cheap, costing one or two mao per piece initially, later rising to five mao each, no one knew how many years old these vintage items truly were; because they used so much sugar, they usually didn't spoil easily, though at most the oil inside might turn rancid.

Li Long looked down on these mooncakes, so after selling fish in Shicheng that morning, he went directly to the Shicheng Department Store to buy mooncakes.

Many people were buying mooncakes; the kind wrapped in paper and tied with string, which later generations also imitated, looked quite similar; inside were eight mooncakes, with a sheet of red paper pasted on top, very festive.

Li Long calculated and bought six sets of mooncakes; at this time, mooncake fillings weren't limited to five-kernel, which made Li Long somewhat happy.

Five-kernel, lotus seed paste, red bean paste, and jujube paste; Li Long bought a mix of all varieties.

Six sets of mooncakes constituted a major customer; the salesclerk efficiently bundled them all together, tied them with a string, and handed them to Li Long:

"Comrade, please hold them carefully."

Carrying the mooncakes, Li Long then went to the fruit section.

"How much do you want?"

"Ten kilograms of apples," Li Long said. "Wrap them in four bags: three kilograms per bag for the first three, and the remaining one kilogram in the last bag."

These were large apples from Ili; at this time, Aksu's Red Fuji apples were not yet easily transported here, as the Duku Highway had not yet opened, making it very difficult to transport goods from Southern Xinjiang to Northern Xinjiang; this was also the reason Li Long tacitly allowed Yusufu to sell him items worth a few mao from Yu Nong for several yuan—the distance was simply too great.

"Ten kilograms? Are you sure?" The salesclerk was startled; those coming to weigh apples usually bought half a kilogram or one kilogram, with two kilograms considered a lot, yet Li Long directly ordered ten kilograms, definitely a major customer!

"Yes." Li Long took out money to pay. "Please wrap them up."

Ten kilograms of apples were not light, but fortunately, Li Long had prepared a clean burlap sack; he loaded everything directly into it, slung the sack over his back, carried the mooncakes in his hand, and walked out.

Just this incident was something the salesclerks could discuss for a long time.

After all, entertainment news was scarce nowadays, and gossip wasn't easy to come by.

Li Long rode his bicycle laden with goods back to the county town, placed the items in the large courtyard, and seeing that Gu Gu Xiaoxia had not yet returned, he went to the free market.

Li Jianguo had already sold all the fish and gone home, but to Li Long's surprise, Yang Xiulan and Han Fang were still pushing their carts, selling soup rice.

Yes, it was soup rice, which surprised Li Long even more.

Seeing Li Long, Yang Xiulan was also surprised, while Han Fang's expression held a hint of joyful surprise; she smiled and waved at Li Long:

"Hello, Uncle!"

Li Long pushed his cart over and saw that the pot on their handcart contained soup with noodle flakes, floating with green vegetable leaves, looking quite appetizing; beside it were two stacks of bowls, one stack relatively clean, the other obviously used and not yet washed.

"How's business?"

"Quite good," Yang Xiulan said with a smile. "We can sell out by noon, and in the afternoon we can still sell half a pot." "You're still coming in the afternoon?" Li Long asked, somewhat surprised. "Are there people buying?"

"Yes, there aren't many this afternoon, but it's still better than staying at home."

Not bad, quite hardworking; this is good, and it makes helping him together with Gu Xiaoxia worthwhile.

"Um... Uncle Li, let me give you this month's rent first." Yang Xiulan didn't know how to address Li Long; after hesitating a moment, she said, "The two of us have earned some money over the past half-month, enough for the rent..."

"You keep it for now. I'll take it once you've earned enough for the rent and the cost of these tools." Li Long waved his hand. "Keep the money safe; you never know if there are any little thief brats in this market."

"I know." Yang Xiulan hastily tucked the money back into her pocket and fumbled around inside it; Li Long guessed that pocket must be quite difficult to pick.

"Alright then, you two carry on; I have matters to attend to," Li Long said. "Let me wish you a happy Mid-Autumn Festival in advance."

Since this mother and daughter could now live a normal life, Li Long did not plan to have further contact; it was best to return to a normal landlord-tenant relationship.

However, after thinking it over, as he pushed his cart to leave, he still said to Han Fang:

"There are some books in that room; if you have time, you can read them. It would be best if you have the chance to continue your schooling in the future."

Having said this, he departed.

!.

Returning to the courtyard, Li Long saw that Gu Gu Xiaoxia had already come back.

"We can get off work early this afternoon; let's go back together," Gu Gu Xiaoxia said to Li Long.

"Alright, then let's not cook," Li Long said. "Let's eat at Daroushitang, and after eating, bring a portion to your father. I've bought mooncakes and apples here; tomorrow I'll go to your home."

"Mm." Gu Gu Xiaoxia was a bit shy, yet her agreement was very crisp. The custom here was that during the Mid-Autumn Festival, children usually went to their maternal uncle's home; if there were no children, then typically the daughter and son-in-law would return together to the maiden home.

"We also received mooncakes; in a little while, take some back for your eldest brother, sister-in-law, and the children to taste."

At this time, most work units provided some benefits, and the Education Bureau was no exception.

Li Long was celebrating the traditional reunion festival in advance, which was why Gu Gu Xiaoxia felt shy.

Tomorrow, he would certainly need to bring more than just these two items; he would also need to bring liquor, sugar cubes, and canned goods—these were relatively common gifts, and Li Long had bought them all in advance.

The two rode their bicycles back to the team; Gu Gu Xiaoxia went east to Zhuangzi to return home, while Li Long carried the goods back to the Li family home.

Tao Daqiang was also there; Li Long handed over to him a string of mooncakes, one kilogram of apples, and ten yuan:

"Daqiang, tomorrow is the festival, so we won't catch fish today; let's take a day off and discuss it again after the holiday."

"This money..."

"It's the festival, after all; one must have some festival allowance," Li Long said with a smile.

Tao Daqiang scratched his head, not quite understanding what 'festival allowance' meant.

However, since Brother Long had given it, he might as well accept it.

As for the remaining three bags of apples, Li Long planned to keep one bag for his own family, bring one bag when Li Jianguo and the others went to the Liang family tomorrow, and take one bag when he went to Gu Xiaoxia's home.

Of course, there was also Old Luo Uncle's share of mooncakes; for the apples, just picking a few at random would suffice.

Li Long took the several large crucian carp he had specially saved from the morning and brought them up to Old Master Chai's home. The old man was sitting at the courtyard gate smoking; seeing Li Long approach, he said with a smile:

"Without Xiao Long has come? Your guokui bread is ready."

"Mm, thank you for your trouble, Old Master; these fish were caught this morning, please cook and eat them."

"Alright, alright." The old man grinned, revealing a missing front tooth. "Large crucian carp, good fish, good fish."

Li Long wrapped the two large guokui breads in a steamer cloth, lifted them, bid farewell to the old man, and headed back.

The guokui was still warm, emitting a fragrant aroma. When he had taken them earlier, Li Long had examined them closely; the surface of this guokui had floral patterns pricked out with a row of needles, which in a later era would at least count as semi-artistic, but at this time, it was simply a relatively rare delicacy.

When Li Long returned to the courtyard, Li Jianguo and Liang Yuemei had already finished work, and Li Juan and Li Qiang had also returned. Seeing Li Long holding the guokui, Li Qiang immediately clamored to eat some.

"Eat what? This is for tomorrow's festival," Liang Yuemei rejected outright. "If we eat it today, there will be a piece missing tomorrow; how can that be acceptable?"

Li Qiang then fell silent.

Li Long set down the guokui and said with a smile:

"We won't eat the guokui; let's eat mooncakes instead. Since tomorrow is the festival, we can eat mooncakes in advance today. I bought plenty, so everyone can have one piece today to taste something fresh."

Li Long was the younger brother-in-law; since he had spoken, Liang Yuemei found it difficult to reject, so she merely said to Li Qiang:

"Only one piece; you cannot eat more!"

"Good, good, good! Eating mooncakes!" At this moment, Li Qiang cared not at all about the conditions; he certainly nodded in agreement to everything.

Li Long brought over a string of mooncakes, opened it, and said:

"The names of the fillings are written on top; pick your own."

Li Jianguo watched happily as Li Juan and Li Qiang earnestly tried to recognize the characters on the mooncakes.

"This 'five'... what?" Li Qiang had looked at all the mooncakes and could barely recognize only the character 'five'; after all, he was only in first grade and knew few characters.

"Five-kernel," Li Juan knew and told him. "Five-kernel, lotus seed paste, date... paste? And there's also red bean paste..."

"I'll eat the red bean paste one!" Li Qiang snatched the red bean paste mooncake and ran off to the side with a smile.

Li Juan asked Li Jianguo:

"Dad, which one do you want?"

"Give me the five-kernel."

"Here. Mom, which filling do you want?"

"I'll have a lotus seed paste one."

"Youngest Uncle, what about you?"

"You pick first; I'll decide after you're done."

"There are some left; here are two more date paste ones and one five-kernel..."

"Then give me a date paste one."

Li Long took the mooncake handed to him by Li Juan, took a bite, and thought it was truly not bad! (End of Chapter)