Chapter 31: The Black Market Is Indeed Black

Li Long had just finished dressing and stepped out, preparing to head to the west room, when he spotted a tall, dark figure loitering outside the courtyard gate. Startled, he called out, "Who's there?"

"Brother Long, it's me."

It was Tao Daqiang's voice.

"Daqiang, why are you here so early?" Li Long breathed a sigh of relief, then asked in confusion, "I was planning to come find you at your place after breakfast."

"I was afraid... I was afraid I'd miss the time." Tao Daqiang scratched his cap, responding with a simple, honest smile.

"Come inside quickly." Li Long came over to pull him in, only then noticing that Tao Daqiang's cap was covered entirely in white frost, his eyebrows and eyelashes coated as well. Unable to help himself, he asked, "What time did you arrive?"

"I... I don't remember." Tao Daqiang was so frozen his speech was slurred.

"Get inside quickly! Don't tell me you haven't slept since last night?"

Li Long had only made a random guess, yet he hadn't expected to hit almost exactly upon the truth.

After eating dinner and returning home last night, Tao Daqiang had indeed found no meal prepared for him, so he said nothing more and went to bed early.

However, once lying down, he began worrying he wouldn't wake up in time, since Li Long had said they needed to leave before dawn.

As a result, he tossed and turned, finally daring not to fall asleep at all; he simply got up, dressed, and sat on the kang waiting.

Tao Jian She had long since fallen asleep. Feeling he had waited long enough, Tao Daqiang quietly slipped out the door and made his way to the Li family home.

But Li Long hadn't risen yet, so he waited right at the courtyard gate, waiting until Li Long finally got up; he himself had no idea how long that wait had lasted.

Hearing voices outside, Li Jianguo opened the door, saw it was Tao Daqiang and Li Long, and immediately ushered them both inside.

Liang Yuemei hurriedly ladled out bowls of corn grits porridge for them. Tao Daqiang leaned against the heated brick wall, taking quite a while to warm up and recover.

After washing up, Li Long helped Liang Yuemei serve the bowls and dish out the food. Breakfast consisted of steamed corn flour cakes, stir-fried mutton with pickled vegetables, along with the porridge and the fish soup leftover from last night.

Neither Li Long nor Tao Daqiang stood on ceremony; they wolfed down their meals. Li Long wiped his mouth and said to Li Jianguo, "Big Brother, I have a few guagua chickens in my room. I'll take a few to sell; you clean up the rest and we'll eat them."

Tao Daqiang looked at Li Long with envy. Brother Long was truly formidable; with just a casual move, there was meat to eat.

Li Jianguo untied the string of keys from his waistband, opened the five-drawer chest, took out a stack of food ration coupons, counted out several sheets, and handed them to Li Long.

Tao Da looked at Li Long with intense envy; Brother Long was truly formidable, making a casual move and already securing meat to eat.

Li Jianguo untied his keychain from his waistband, opened the five-drawer chest, took out a stack of grain coupons from inside, counted out several, and handed them to Li Long:

"Alright." Li Jianguo said nothing further; now that his younger brother had proven capable, he was naturally delighted.

Li Long never felt he could surpass his elder brother; after all, come next spring when the land was distributed, that would be when his big brother's abilities would truly shine. Those two mu of land of his were meant to be left for his big brother to farm anyway.

Holding the food ration coupons, Li Long and Tao Daqiang headed out. They hitched the sled, and Li Jianguo placed the urea sack containing the fish onto it. Li Long then retrieved from his own room the sack holding the guagua chickens, pulled out six of them, twisted their necks one by one until dead, and laid them on the ground. The remaining five, still alive, were secured by tying the sack shut again and placed on the sled. Tao Daqiang grabbed the rope attached to the front of the sled and strode outward.

This makeshift sled resembled a stretcher, but with the front end curved upward; thick iron wires were embedded into the two bottom runners to reduce friction. Ropes were tied to the front, knotted at both ends, allowing it to be pulled along.

Now, the snow on the road had been compacted into ice, so the sled glided over it, requiring almost no effort to pull as it sped along.

Caught up in the moment, Tao Daqiang pulled faster and faster. Li Long found it amusing and called out a reminder from behind, "Daqiang, be careful when you exert force; don't let the things on the sled get thrown off."

Now the snow on the road had been compacted into ice, and the sled gliding over it required almost no effort to pull as it sped along.

The two figures gradually disappeared at the end of the road.

As dawn broke, Sister Lu arrived at the Li home once again.

"Oh, Sister-in-Law, your family eats early, doesn't it?" Seeing Li Juan and Li Qiang playing on the kang, Sister Lu said with a smile.

Liang Yuemei, who was in the middle of stitching a shoe sole, nodded but said little.

She didn't want to mention that Li Long and the others had risen early to go to the county town to sell fish. Although policies had loosened considerably nowadays, it was still unwise to give others ammunition for gossip. Besides, Sister Lu herself was notoriously talkative.

"Sister-in-Law, have you heard? Yesterday the team borrowed three horse-drawn carts to go into the mountains to haul timber. Only the cart driven by the team leader managed to bring back half a load; the others returned empty-handed!" Sister Lu lowered her voice to relay this news she had heard to Liang Yuemei.

"How could they fail to get any? There are so many trees in those mountains."

"They said they couldn't find the path. People could enter, but the horse carts couldn't." Sister Lu thought those people truly stupid. In summer, the sideline team members could get in, yet in winter they couldn't find the way. "Your Without Xiao Long is still the most impressive; every time he returns, his cart is full of goods!"

"Sister-in-law, have you heard? Yesterday the team borrowed three horse-drawn carts to enter the mountains and haul timber; only Captain's cart managed to haul half a load, while the others returned empty!" Sister Lu lowered her voice to relay the news she had heard to Liang Yuemei.

"I don't think it's just luck; Without Xiao Long has real ability." Sister Lu, showing no trace of her previous perception of Li Long as a prodigal, began to praise him enthusiastically.

"By the way, Sister-in-Law, my niece from my maiden family is nineteen years old, graduated from primary school, hardworking, and good-looking. Do you think you could mention her to Without Xiao Long..."

"I'll have to ask Xiao Long about that," Liang Yuemei said with a smile. "Xiao Long's standards aren't low."

"Hehe, I know, I know. I'm just asking. If Without Xiao Long agrees, they can meet first; whether it works out is another matter."

Li Long was unaware that someone had already begun planning to invest in him as a promising asset. By the time they reached the black market, the sky was just beginning to lighten.

Yet here at the black market, some people were already preparing to pack up and leave.

"Did they arrive this early?" Seeing someone pushing a bicycle with two baskets mounted on the rear already empty, Tao Daqiang couldn't help but ask, "What time did they set out?"

Li Long was unaware that someone had already begun planning to invest in him as a promising asset; by the time they reached the black market, the sky was just beginning to lighten.

"They live nearby," Li Long replied briefly. Then he found an empty spot, parked the sled, and began unpacking his goods.

"What are you selling?" Someone immediately came over to ask.

"Fish," Li Long replied without looking up. "And guagua chickens."

"They live nearby," Li Long said, then found an empty spot, parked the sled, and began unpacking his goods.

"Carp, crucian carp, grass carp, silver carp, and five-striped perch; we have them all." Seeing the man asking such detailed questions, Li Long immediately looked up and answered earnestly, "Which kind do you want? How much?"

"What's the price?" The man was in his fifties, wearing a Zhongshan suit, looking like a cadre. "I notice you haven't brought a scale."

"Sold by the piece. On average, large carp and five-striped perch are two yuan each; silver carp are one yuan fifty each. Small crucian carp and miscellaneous fish are ten for one yuan. My large fish all weigh over one and a half kilograms; absolutely a bargain!"

Li Long had no scale and hadn't planned to bring one. In his previous life, during the peak summer sales of crucian carp, they used large bowls, with each bowl holding roughly a little over one kilogram. Now, in winter, the fish were frozen, making bowls impractical, so they had to sell by the piece.

"Then take the fish out so I can see them." The man showed signs of intending to buy, so Li Long took the fish out and arranged them on the sled.

"Sold by the piece: large carp and perch are two yuan each, silver carp are one yuan fifty each; small crucian carp and miscellaneous fish are ten for one yuan. My fish are all over one and a half kilograms each, absolutely a bargain!"

Li Long had no scale, nor had he intended to bring one; in his previous life, during the summer when crucian carp sold briskly, they used large bowls, with each bowl holding roughly a little over one kilogram, but now in winter, with the fish frozen, using bowls was impossible, so they had to sell by the piece.

"Take the fish out and let us see." Since the man seemed interested in buying, Li Long took the fish out and placed it on the sled.

More people gathered around to look.

"It looks quite good; it's a big one."

"Five Black Carp, ah; this fish has garlic-clove flesh; it's delicious!"

"That Crucian Carp is a big slab carp; it looks quite fat..."

Among the onlookers, some knew their goods, and they all watched.

Li Long pulled out another one of the five Gugu Chickens to display it:

"Freshly caught Gugu Chicken; three yuan each; tastier than regular chicken; wild game!"

Many people watched, but only one or two picked out fish.

Tao Da stared nervously at the people selecting fish, afraid they would grab a fish and run.

"Young man, how much for this Carp?" a woman in her forties asked, picking up the largest Carp.

"Two yuan," Li Long said with a smile. "This is the biggest one; look at this red head and red tail; how beautiful!"

"When did you catch it?" the woman asked, still hesitating.

"Yesterday; pry open the gill cover and take a look; it's red; we smashed through nearly a meter of thick ice to make a hole to catch these; it wasn't easy at all!"

"Then I'll take it." The woman took out money.

First transaction, achieved!

(End of Chapter)