Chapter 317: This Is a Grand Gesture!

After inspecting the final batch of reed bundles, Chen Zhenming, dressed in a cotton-padded jacket and wearing a fur hat, smiled as he shook hands with Li Long.

"Comrade Little Li, it has been a pleasant cooperation! I have been responsible for inspecting these reed bundles for several years, and this year's collaboration with you has been the most enjoyable; there were few substandard items, delivery was fast, and there were no troublesome issues—excellent, excellent. I hope we can cooperate frequently in the future."

"Good, good, good." Li Long smiled, tucked the money away, and shook hands with Chen Zhenming. "I also hope there will be more opportunities for cooperation in the future."

Waving goodbye as the large truck departed, Li Long glanced around the courtyard and said with a smile to Li Li Anguo and the others:

"Second Brother, Brother-in-law, Li Jun Feng, Li Junshan, let us work a little harder to tidy up this courtyard properly, then we can rest well for the next couple of days!"

"Alright." They had grown accustomed to it, and had already fallen into the habit of following Li Long's commands. Although experts say fifteen days are enough to cultivate a habit that is not easily changed, in reality, once they earned their first five yuan, their first ten yuan, and their first twenty yuan, they—even Chen Chen Xingbang—had quickly grown accustomed to following Li Long's arrangements within a short time.

Follow the arrangements, earn money.

That was enough.

Did they not come here precisely to make money? Although this work was somewhat tiring, could it be more unbearable than going hungry? Impossible.

Having full meals every day and earning money as well, being a bit tired was acceptable.

They piled the stripped reed leaves together, pressed them down with reed strips, and tied them into bundles; the remaining rough reeds were treated the same way, and after being tied, were stacked together with the substandard reed bundles to serve as kindling in winter or fuel for the stove in summer.

Han Benzhong and Zhang Laoshi's two families left after breakfast. Although the money earned this time was less than last time, both families were very happy; they had gained another sum of money, at least making the difficulty of finding wives for their children slightly less daunting.

Han Han Da Chun also told Li Long that come winter, he would trap rabbits and would send some over to Li Long's place then.

Li Long merely took it as a joke; his own skill at trapping rabbits was not poor, he just found it inconvenient to say so.

After the courtyard was cleaned up, Li Li Jun Feng asked Li Long:

"Uncle Without Without Xiao Long, what shall we do next?"

"Do what? Let us rest for two days; these past few days have been tiring enough. I must hurry to bring back some charcoal, otherwise this winter's supply will not be sufficient for burning."

Having said this, as if suddenly remembering something, he pulled money from his pocket, counted out four ten-yuan notes, and gave one to each person:

"Second Brother, Brother-in-law, Li Jun Feng, Li Junshan, you have all worked extremely hard these past few days. Officially speaking, we are all equal; I treat everyone impartially. The reed bundles you submitted were treated the same as everyone else's; because you were beginners, you had more substandard items and actually earned slightly less than others. In your hearts, you must surely feel somewhat dissatisfied, but as I stated before, this had to be done.

If I treated you this way, only then could I strictly require those in the brigade to submit their reed bundles and ensure they obeyed. But privately, we are our own people, and I cannot treat you unfairly; these ten yuan are compensation for you. We cannot let you suffer the fatigue yet earn less money than others, can we?"

Except for Li Li Junshan, the other three truly harbored some resentment toward Li Long in their hearts. But with Li Long's explanation, the displeasure in the hearts of those three vanished immediately. Indeed, if one could not manage one's own people, how could one persuade others? Treating everyone equally openly was only proper; privately, being relatives, anything could be discussed.

"Without Without Xiao Long, look at what you are saying; this makes you seem like an outsider. We are not unreasonable people; we will not take this money..." Li Li Anguo was the first to react.

"Take it, take it! Since I made money this time, consider this a red envelope for my nephews, nieces, and the younger generation." Li Long hurriedly pushed the money back. "Accept it, accept it; tomorrow I will take you to the county town for a stroll. You can decide whether to send a telegram home or mail some goods back; either is fine."

"Very well, then we will accept it." Seeing Li Long's determination, Chen Chen Xingbang spoke up to settle the matter. "Second Brother, just take it; this is Without Without Xiao Long's kindness."

"Mm. You all rest first; I will ride out to look around and attend to some matters." Seeing them accept the money, Li Long considered the matter concluded; he pushed his bicycle out of the horse stable gate, mounted it, and rode toward the township.

The brigade was about to distribute charcoal soon, but Xu Chengjun had said this would be the last distribution; next year, the household responsibility system might be implemented, contracting all land to the farmers, so starting next year, the brigade would basically stop distributing goods.

Having lived two lives, Li Long was quite accustomed to this situation of no distributions, but the other villagers were not so accustomed.

Accepting new things always requires a process.

Passing by the area of the preschool class and the old brigade headquarters, Li Long noticed the preschool children playing games outside the courtyard; class must have been dismissed. The early winter sunlight was quite warm; several children leaned against the south-facing wall basking in the sun, and one child after another joined in, desperately squeezing toward the center. When a child in the middle could not withstand the pressure, they were squeezed out.

The children who were squeezed out did not get angry; giggling, they ran back to the edge and continued squeezing inward, one after another, in an endless cycle.

This game knew no distinction between boys and girls; everyone played together until the teacher shouted "Class is starting" from the classroom doorway, whereupon the children reluctantly entered the classroom.

The stove inside the classroom had already been lit. To be honest, since Li Long arrived here, he knew that Northern Xinjiang, or at least this village and township, placed great emphasis on education. At the very least, the classrooms did not suffer from the wind-leaking and rain-leaking conditions seen in some rural classrooms before his death in his previous life.

The preschool class and the previously dissolved first and second grades shared facilities with the brigade headquarters; the quality of those buildings could not be poor.

Furthermore, the stoves in the rooms for the preschool class and the former first and second grades were always lit earliest; at the very least, the children could not be allowed to freeze.

He remembered that when Li Qiang was in the third grade, they had built a new primary school, while the middle school classrooms continued to be used, later converted into a primary school, but those buildings were also regularly maintained.

Later, when Li Long traveled to the Ili River Valley for tourism, he saw that the most splendid buildings in the villages were either the village committee office or the school. The two places flying the national flag could be seen from afar.

Riding his bicycle westward, he quickly passed the old village settlement on the west side, crossed the newly repaired bridge in the Reed Ditch, and observed a thin layer of ice forming on the water beneath the bridge.

Most of the reeds in the Reed Ditch had already been harvested; the remaining patches, scattered east and west, were those that were not long enough, not tall enough, or simply too difficult to cut.

If such reeds remained at this time, in another two years, come early winter, even these reeds would not remain. By then, nearly every household would possess a donkey cart, allowing them to cut the reeds, haul them to the paper mill, and sell each bundle for one or two mao.

There were many paths to earning money; ultimately, it depended on whether one worked or not.

Beyond the Reed Ditch lay the neighboring village; Tao Daqiang's fiancée lived here. Li Long wondered whether Tao Daqiang, when dating his fiancée, cut directly through the Reed Ditch or took the main road? Continuing forward, after riding for a while, he arrived at the primary school. Classes were in session; he could hear students in some classrooms reciting texts in unison, occasionally startling a passing sparrow or two into flight.

Recalling the incident last twelfth lunar month when he took Li Juan and Li Qiang to catch old sparrows, Li Long smiled.

Upon reaching the township, Li Long felt his body still somewhat cold; in the future era, electric bicycles had a front wind shield that looked ugly but was truly practical. He wondered if he should install something similar on his bicycle later.

Arriving at the crossroads in the township, Li Long slowed down, riding back and forth; soon, he spotted a truck parked beside the supply and marketing store.

The truck was loaded with a full vehicle of coal; on top were lump coals the size of two washbasins, while the bottom layer was invisible, likely consisting of smaller coal pieces.

Li Long rode up to the truck, pried off a piece of coal with his hand, and examined it carefully; not bad, it was high-quality anthracite, long-burning.

He turned toward the supply and marketing store, dismounted, locked his bike, and pushed the door open to enter.

Old Zhang, the manager of the store, who was also Wu Wu Shufen's father-in-law, was listening to the radio. In the center, a kettle sat boiling on the stove; it had not yet reached a rolling boil, but emitted steam, serving to humidify the air.

A man in his late twenties, wearing blue work clothes, sat by the stove smoking a cigarette, saying nothing.

"What do you need?" Old Zhang, not familiar with Li Long, asked openly.

"I am looking for this master." Li Long pointed at the man in the work clothes and said, "I wish to buy some charcoal."

"!."

"We do not sell in small quantities." The man waved his hand. "This load is reserved for someone else."

"I am not buying a small amount," Li Long said with a smile. "How much is in this truck load? Is there eight tons? I will take it all."

"You really want it all? This ton of charcoal is not cheap!"

Coal prices were cheapest during June and July; at that time, rural folks did not buy coal, and the coal mined from the mines was basically sold entirely to thermal power plants or various enterprises with boilers.

At this time, in early winter, coal prices rose, often reaching about one and a half times the price of June and July.

Actually, the increase was not substantial, after all, nearly the entire Northern Tianshan mountain range sat atop coal deposits. Locals knew clearly that from Hami in the east to Zhaosu and Qapqal in the west, and even across the border, there was a coal mine every short distance beneath the Northern Tianshan range.

Moreover, in Zhundong, which is the eastern part of Northern Tianshan and the eastern edge of the Junggar Basin, lies the largest open-pit coal mine in the nation; it had been mined from that time until Li Long's departure in his previous life, and mining continued; later, quite a few thermal power plants were built right there to generate electricity on-site.

After all, there was also an open-pit coal mine there that had been burning for over a hundred years; it had been burning since the Qing Dynasty and continued burning until Li Long's death in his previous life—just imagine how much coal existed there.

"How much per ton?" Li Long asked.

"Fifteen per ton," the driver quoted a number.

"What if I take it all? Won't that be cheaper?" Li Long asked again. Although in his view this price was actually quite cheap—after all, in this era, one ton of coal could last a family of three through the entire winter if they were frugal—of course, not burning it as freely as in later generations.

"If you take it all, one hundred for the whole truckload," the driver said, seeing Li Long was sincere. "But my truck isn't a dump truck; I won't handle the unloading."

"Fine," Li Long said. "Then follow me; I'll take this load of coal."

The driver, however, became somewhat skeptical and asked:

"Which team are you from?"

"Xinhu's."

The driver turned his head to look at Old Zhang, Manager Zhang.

"From Xinhu? Whose family?" Old Zhang, who had some acquaintance with this driver, naturally intended to help at this moment.

"The Li family; Li Jianguo is my elder brother," Li Long stated his elder brother's name, believing Old Zhang should know his brother's reputation.

"You are Li Long?" Old Zhang was startled. He not only knew Li Jianguo but also knew Li Long; after all, over the past year, Li Long's affairs had been quite conspicuous.

"Old Zhang, you know him?"

"I do. If it's Li Long, then go ahead with him; this young man's family lacks no money." Old Zhang's expression was somewhat complex.

Li Long did not know what Old Zhang was thinking; he said to the driver:

"Let's go; I'll ride my bicycle ahead to lead the way. If you know our village, you can drive straight to Old Ma's compound, and I'll cycle over afterward."

Seeing that even Old Zhang had vouched for him, the driver believed him; he stood up, took several hard drags, tossed his cigarette butt beside the stove, exchanged a farewell with Old Zhang, and went out to drive the truck.

His claim of not selling retail was merely a gimmick to raise the price; in this era, apart from work units, which household could afford to buy an entire truckload of coal?

He hadn't expected there to actually be one!

In this era, peasant households using coal never exceeded one ton; they would buy only a small amount for emergencies, just for the coldest days around the 'Nine-Nine' and 'Three-Nine' periods, burning wood for the rest of the time. At this season, after other families in the team finished harvesting reeds, they went out one by one to the Hongliu Beach to dig up tamarisk and saxaul roots.

Li Long could be considered an outlier. (End of Chapter)