Chapter 296: Daqiang is expecting

Yang Yongqiang ran home excitedly, carrying two badgers.

His father, Yang Hua, was squatting at the courtyard gate smoking. Seeing Yang Yongqiang return with something, he squinted, unable to see clearly, and asked:

"What are you carrying? Why are you back so late from setting the nets?"

"Brother Long... that is, Li Long, and Tao Daqiang and I went to dig for badgers, and I got two!" Yang Yongqiang's voice was filled with excitement. "Brother Long helped me skin them. We just need to gut them and we can cook them!"

"What? Badgers? Is it that badger hole you saw two days ago?" Yang Hua asked. Yang Yongqiang had told Yang Hua when he first saw the hole. Yang Hua felt that the two of them couldn't handle that creature, and it wouldn't be worth it if they got bitten, so he hadn't gone.

Some people are born without an adventurous spirit. As long as they can eat their fill, they stay honestly holed up at home, possessing a natural fear of the outside world and not daring to venture out.

He just hadn't expected that Yang Yongqiang would actually team up with Li Long to dig out that badger hole, and that they had really caught something!

"How many did you get?"

"Four! Two for me, one for Brother Long, one for Daqiang." Yang Yongqiang went to get a basin, put the badger meat inside, and rubbed salt on the badger skins before hanging them on the wall.

These things could be sold for money.

"Why did you get two?" Yang Hua was somewhat puzzled. "Are you that capable?"

"Brother Long said since I found the hole, I should get one extra." Yang Yongqiang didn't mention that the two he got were small ones. These two small ones didn't look small at all; it felt like one was as big as two or three rabbits. There was plenty of meat, and they were very fatty.

"Huh, that Li Long is really righteous." Yang Hua stood up. "Your mother went to visit neighbors; let her fix them for you when she gets back later. It's been a while since we've had meat... these two badgers really aren't small!"

The last time they ate meat was when they made big brooms for the team; the Yang family earned several dozen yuan. He went to the meat shop in the county and bought several kilograms of pork. When he got back, he braised it, but couldn't bear to make red-braised pork; he just put a few pieces in stir-fries. Even so, the Yang family had more laughter and joy those few days.

"I'll see if I can render the oil first." Yang Yongqiang had listened to Li Long and the others talk about how to do it, and now he was eager to try. "The meat can be red-braised, and this oil can be rendered and kept in a canned food jar; it'll be very useful."

"Then try to do it." Yang Hua had never done it before. Now that his son could catch fish to sell and catch badgers, he had grown up, so he would just watch.

Yang Yongqiang was still a bit clumsy and unskilled with the knife. After gutting them, he took out the heart, liver, and such, and set the intestines and stomach aside to deal with later. The family couldn't afford to eat meat many times throughout the year, so the stomach and intestines definitely couldn't be wasted.

After peeling off the caul fat, Yang Yongqiang hesitated for a moment, then cut off a good amount of the badger's fat to render together. The two badgers combined weighed over ten kilograms, so there was plenty of meat; he didn't care about this bit of oil.

After cutting the fat and oil into small pieces, his younger sister, Yang Yongli, came over to help tend the fire, and Yang Yongqiang began putting the fat into the pot to render.

This process didn't require much manual labor, so he began to break down the meat.

His mother, Qin Xiangmei, returned from visiting neighbors. Before entering the courtyard, she smelled a fragrance. At first, she thought her son had caught some fish at the Little Haizi and was cooking them, but the smell didn't feel like it. Entering the courtyard, she saw her son and daughter busy in front of the stove, with her husband standing to the side watching, so she asked:

"What are you fixing to eat?"

"Yongqiang caught two badgers and is rendering the oil. Later, you fix some of the meat to stir-fry. The kids are craving it; it's been a while since we've had meat."

Yang Hua didn't know how to cook, so seeing his wife return, he hurriedly said.

"Badgers? Where did you get badgers? I don't know how to cook badger meat either?" Qin Xiangmei had never cooked badger meat. Let alone badger meat, she hadn't even cooked rabbit meat.

"Brother Long's older brother said red-braising is fine, just add plenty of star anise and wine." Yang Yongqiang said, "Right, you have to drain the blood; I've already drained it several times, and the dried chili is ready, along with the scallions and garlic..."

"Then... I'll try." Qin Xiangmei swallowed her saliva; it was just meat, she would cook it!

It had been a while since she'd eaten any; let alone the children, even she was craving it!

That night, the Yang family and the Tao family both made somewhat unsuccessful badger meat, but both families ate very happily. How long had it been since they'd eaten such fatty meat?

The next day, when Yang Yongqiang went to retrieve his nets, Li Long and Tao Daqiang were already carrying tires and bags filled with fish, walking back.

"Brother Long, Daqiang, you're up so early?" Yang Yongqiang felt much closer to these two and took the initiative to greet them.

"We have to go to Shicheng to sell fish, so we have to be early." Li Long said, "You need to be quick too."

"Yeah." Yang Yongqiang enviously stepped aside to let the two pass. Li Long and Tao Daqiang were carrying three fish bags, all of which were very full.

When would he be able to catch that many fish?

Yang Yongqiang actually felt he had gotten up quite early. He had actually gone to bed quite late last night, and that meal had been very satisfying. He had thought he would get up late today, but didn't expect to get up even earlier than yesterday.

Arriving at the place where he set his nets, Yang Yongqiang saw that Meng Zhiqiang and the others hadn't come yet, so he went into the water and began to retrieve his nets.

His mood was still a bit anxious as he untied the net rope. Yesterday, after listening to Li Long's words, he hadn't tied the other end of the net and had set it relatively loosely; he didn't know what kind of harvest he would have today.

As he pulled the net rope here and began to draw the net, he felt a heaviness in his hand, and a fish was pulled up—a large crucian carp.

It weighed less than half a kilogram, but it was very beautiful.

It was a good omen.

Continuing to draw the net, the fish were tangled relatively tightly, so Yang Yongqiang didn't stuff them into his bag, planning to see what was behind.

After a few small crucian carp, the water surface suddenly splashed, and he felt there was a big guy.

Yang Yongqiang was a bit excited. He took a deep breath and slowly drew the net. A "five-striped black" weighing over two kilograms slowly floated up, and as soon as its head appeared, it immediately began to struggle!

Yang Yongqiang hurriedly loosened the net to let the fish's body enter the water; the fish didn't struggle as violently. He continued to draw the net, and after dragging this five-striped black to his front, he directly put it into the bag.

This one could sell for at least two yuan!

Yang Yongqiang's heart was also thumping; the net behind was still long, and he didn't know what other harvest there would be.

"Yongqiang, that fish is quite big!" Someone suddenly spoke from behind. "A five-striped black, right?"

Yang Yongqiang turned his head and saw it was Meng Zhiqiang. He smiled and said, "Yeah, luck is good, it's a five-striped black."

"You kid, your luck is just good." Meng Zhiqiang said with envy. The few of them set nets along the edge of the Little Haizi and rarely caught big fish; if they could catch one big fish, they would be happy for several days.

Seeing Yang Yongqiang catch a big fish as soon as he came over, Meng Zhiqiang was naturally envious.

Yang Yongqiang continued to patrol the nets forward. There were a few crucian carp the size of a palm. Meng Zhiqiang didn't see any big fish, so he went to retrieve his own nets.

Just as he walked to his net, he heard the sound of "splashing" water coming from Yang Yongqiang's side, and he hurriedly asked through the reeds:

"Yongqiang, did you catch another big one over there?" "No, I slipped." Yang Yongqiang's voice came over.

"Oh, then be careful." Meng Zhiqiang was half-believing.

Yang Yongqiang looked at the red-headed, red-tailed carp weighing over two kilograms in his bag and felt that today was truly worth it! Even if there wasn't a single fish in the second half of the net, it was worth it!

When Yang Yongqiang walked up carrying the bag, Meng Zhiqiang looked and felt something was a bit wrong. He asked while retrieving his net:

"Yongqiang, did you set an extra net today? There's quite a lot of stuff in the bag!"

"Yeah, I bought another net yesterday, and also it got tangled with some duckweed." Yang Yongqiang had already thought of an excuse. "Old Meng, how is the fish situation on your nets today?"

"Sigh, about the same as yesterday. I plan to change locations tomorrow."

"That's also true."

Yang Yongqiang left in a hurry. Meng Zhiqiang felt that he could come earlier tomorrow and try how the location where Yang Yongqiang set his nets was.

Just now, there was also a not-so-small silver carp on his net, but it wasn't stuck very tightly, and when he drew the net, the fish struggled and ran away.

He naturally didn't know that if the net was set too tightly, the big fish definitely wouldn't be able to get tangled.

!.

During the day, the matter of Li Long taking Tao Daqiang and Yang Yongqiang to catch badgers spread. Some people who had family members with burns took things to these three families to ask for badger oil.

The three families weren't stingy; whoever came to ask would be given some. There was quite a lot of this oil; after rendering it yesterday, it solidified after cooling overnight. Others didn't ask for much; this thing wasn't for eating—although it really could be eaten.

At the moment, there wasn't any big work. Three young guys could get badgers, so others got ideas. Thus, in groups of three or five, they went to the wild to find those holes and dig them out.

And don't say, they really did dig up some things. By the time evening came, the cooking smoke rising in the village had a bit more of the fragrance of wild game.

There were rabbits, hedgehogs, and even foxes caught. Li Long hadn't eaten fox meat, although the rumors weren't very good. But for people who had been short of meat for years, having meat was good enough; what else were they going to be picky about?

Li Long heard about this matter when he returned, and he felt it was actually quite good. Most people in the village were relatively quiet, mainly busy in the fields. This kind of thing continued until the three cooperatives took over all the land in the team; only after everyone was free did they start thinking about doing something else.

It's just that by this time, those wild animals were already protected animals, so they couldn't be hunted, so they would dig for mushrooms, cut bitter beans, and the like.

If they could break through at this time, then life would have faster development earlier.

After all, resources only become wealth when they are transformed; just leaving them in the wild, they are nothing.

And it wouldn't work for Li Long to just do these things by himself; after all, the protruding nail is the one that gets hammered. If everyone was doing it, then it would be fine.

Two days later, Li Long sold the two badger skins. The skins were very complete and also very beautiful; although not big, Chen Zhanggui gave a high price of twenty-six yuan each. Li Long felt it was nothing, but Tao Daqiang was truly very happy, and then he made a very bold decision:

Buy a bicycle!

After Li Long learned that Tao Daqiang wanted to buy a bicycle, he asked him:

"Daqiang, do you have a partner?"

"Yeah." Tao Daqiang was still a bit embarrassed. "From the Third Team, my aunt introduced her."

"Have you met? Do you think it's okay?" Li Long asked with a smile.

"It's okay, she works efficiently and is better at talking than me."

"Does she like you?"

"We've met twice, and she knows I follow you and earn money every day, so she said it's okay."

"What about her family?"

"She has an older brother, a younger brother, and a younger sister." Tao Daqiang said, "Marrying over is just across a reed ditch, not far..."

Hearing Tao Daqiang had figured out all the circumstances, Li Long was amused. This guy might get married even earlier than him.

"Then when do you want a homestead... right, can you still get a homestead?" Li Long realized that according to the team's rules, if a family had one son, they only had one homestead. If there were two brothers, they could be allocated another homestead. As for the elderly, they lived with whoever they were living with; elderly people with sons couldn't be allocated a separate homestead.

Li Long had thought at the time that all places were like this. As a result, when he went traveling, he discovered in Yili that the elderly could be allocated a separate homestead, which meant that for those with sons, besides the elderly's original homestead, they could be allocated as many homesteads as there were sons.

"Yeah." Tao Daqiang was a bit distressed. "I originally thought if I could get a homestead, I would get one across from you. As a result... the team said no."

Li Long patted him, comforting him:

"If you can't get it, then don't. It's not good to let your dad live alone anyway. Anyway, you're going to buy a bicycle, so just pedal over to my place and you'll be there."

"Yeah." Tao Daqiang thought to himself that it could only be like this. He already knew Li Long had a house in the county, and his goal was also to buy a courtyard in the county in the future.

Living in the county is so beautiful; if you want to go shopping, you go, if you want to buy something, you buy it, without having to run so far.

Li Long recalled the name Tao Daqiang mentioned, and he still had a bit of an impression. But it was just a bit of an impression.

"When are you holding the wedding?" Li Long asked.

"Wait until winter begins." Tao Daqiang said, "After autumn, we still have to get reeds; then we'll see if we can earn a sum of money, fix up the courtyard, and then we can hold it when we're free later."

This quiet guy didn't make a sound, and without a word, he had handled a big event.

Amazing! (End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 297 =====