Chapter 327

With many people, work gets done fast. Before noon, the enticing aroma is already permeating the courtyard.

Both pigs, along with the offal, have been cleaned. There aren't many people in the courtyard; occasionally, someone's dog runs over, smelling the raw meat, and outside the courtyard, Li Qiang and a group of little friends are kicking a pig bladder, fearless of the cold and tireless.

When this thing is first blown up and tied tight, it's still soft, but after freezing for a while, the outer skin becomes hard, similar to a soccer ball, so the children like it very much. Although there's no method to their kicking, they are exceptionally happy.

Li Long watches the children playing ball outside the courtyard and thinks that at one stage, Chinese soccer was actually quite strong. At that time, township middle schools all had soccer teams, and every year the county would hold middle school soccer matches. A couple of years later, there would even be specialized Uyghur and Kazakh schools, and for a time, the Uyghur and Kazakh schools swept the soccer championships and runners-up.

When was it that schools stopped allowing soccer?

Casting aside this thought, Li Long turns and enters the house.

The food hasn't been served yet. In the two rooms on either side, the men are already drinking and playing cards, and some faces are already red.

The whole room is filled with the aroma of pickled vegetables stewed with meat. Li Long hears the women inside vaguely saying:

"This time we've really gone all out. These two pieces of neck meat, there must be seven or eight kilograms stewed today, right? Plus the offal, how much money is this..."

"That's fine, as long as everyone eats well. We've been busy for a whole year; how can we not have a good meal at the end?" Liang Yumei's proud voice comes out.

Then it's the aunts and sisters-in-law asking Gu Xiaoxia about her work, and some are even asking where she bought her clothes. The bolder ones are asking when she and Li Long plan to get married, which leaves Gu Xiaoxia completely unable to cope.

Liang Yumei comes to the rescue and says:

"Xiaoxia, you're a working woman, don't stay in the kitchen. We're here, you go outside and let Without Xiao Long take you around. It's not good for you to get these smells on you; you still have to go to the county this afternoon..."

"That's right, that's right." Lu Lu Dasao also chimes in, "Xiaoxia, you go out first; we're here. Don't be polite with your sister-in-law here; do whatever you want as one of our own... We'll call you when the food is ready!"

Then Li Long watches Gu Xiaoxia lift the curtain and walk out of the kitchen. Their eyes meet, and then they both smile.

"Let's go, let's go to the east room." Li Long says, turning to lead the way. "It's quieter over there."

With so many people, the kitchen is full of women, the west room and the temporarily cleared spare room are full of men playing cards, the beds are full of people, and some have gone to the Lu family next door. The children are outside, and only the east room door is closed.

Li Long has the key to the east room. He takes Gu Xiaoxia into the east room. It was cleaned very thoroughly after Li Qing Xia and his wife left. Li Long occasionally stays here, but most of the time he is still at the old horse corral.

Today, the stove here has also been set up, but after it was set up, the door was locked early in the morning, so it's very warm inside now.

"A bit unaccustomed to it, right?" Li Long waits for Gu Xiaoxia to sit down, then goes to the side of the stove, uses the poker to open the fire, and asks while cleaning up the ash, "It's been a while since you've felt such a lively scene, right?"

"Mm, yes." Gu Xiaoxia nods. She is already able to get along comfortably with Li Long. Sitting on the bed, her back slightly leaning against the quilt, she says:

"How should I put it? Working at the unit, with the deputy director there, everyone is still polite to me. But after all, I'm considered to be on loan, so I definitely have to do more miscellaneous tasks. Fortunately, I have my specialties, so some people won't go too far."

"But after all, you came from the countryside, so I suppose there should be some people showing off their sense of superiority in front of you, right?" Li Long asks.

"Eh? How did you know?" Gu Xiaoxia is a bit surprised.

"Haha, just tell me if there are or not."

"There are, but to be honest, I really don't care. I'm a farmer by origin, and I don't hide anything." Gu Xiaoxia's mindset is very good now, but Li Long guesses that she must have gone through a period of psychological construction to reach this point.

"Mm, it's good to have a peaceful mindset. Being able to achieve upward social mobility through your own efforts is already very impressive." Li Long says with a smile. "On this point, you're better than them. You've gone from the village to the township and now to the county, while they can only stay in the county, which shows you're much better than them."

"Hee hee, you speak really nicely." Gu Xiaoxia becomes lively. "Better than what our deputy director says. Our deputy director says that they look at you with alternative eyes because you're too excellent, and you have to show your excellence to them."

"That's also true, let them feel ashamed of their inferiority in this regard," Li Long nods. "Your deputy director is right."

"Yo, you even know the phrase 'ashamed of one's inferiority'? Not bad, not bad!" Gu Xiaoxia is a bit surprised. "I think your education..."

"I'm also reading books and studying every day, okay?" Li Long stands up, sits on the edge of the bed, a fist's distance from Gu Xiaoxia, turns his head, and asks her:

"Just now that sister-in-law asked you about us getting married, what do you think?"

"Me?" Gu Xiaoxia lowers her head slightly, feeling a bit shy, then looks at Li Long:

"What about you? What do you think?"

"I think, next spring, when I'm free, I'll find someone to build the house in the village first. I don't know when you'll be able to officially transfer to the Education Bureau. But regardless of whether you transfer in or not, I'm thinking we should get it done next year."

"Mm, okay. I think by the end of this year or the beginning of next year, whether I can get into the Education Bureau will basically be decided."

"Are you confident?" Li Long takes Gu Xiaoxia's hand. "Can you get in?"

"I'm quite confident." Gu Xiaoxia doesn't reject Li Long's intimate contact; she just blushes and continues, "There are a lot of things at the Education Bureau now, and the year-end summary is coming soon. I heard they are going to expand the establishment, so they should be adding people. If they add people, those of us who are on loan will definitely be considered first."

"That's good. Are there many people on loan?"

"Not many, there are two."

The two of them chat for less than half an hour when they hear someone outside shouting:

"Dinner's ready, come into the house quickly!"

Judging by the voice, it's calling the children. Li Long reluctantly lets go of the hand he had around Gu Xiaoxia's waist and says:

"Let's go, let's eat the pig-slaughtering feast; it's the best today. Take some with you when you leave later; you can just heat it up and eat it when you get back."

"Mm." Gu Xiaoxia doesn't refuse either. From the moment she arrived today, she felt the attitude of Li Jianguo and his wife, including Li Juan and Li Qiang, toward her—it was the feeling of being treated as one of their own. Not as one of their own to be ordered around to work, but as one of their own not to be hidden or kept from, the feeling of being able to take out any good things and share them together.

When the two of them come out of the east room, Lu Lu Dasao and another sister-in-law are carrying dishes out. Seeing Li Long, they hurriedly say:

"Without Xiao Long, hurry in, the banquet is about to start over there."

"Lu Lu Dasao, we've troubled your family this time too." Li Long says with a smile.

"What trouble is there?" Lu Lu Dasao says with a face full of smiles. "I'm happy. At the end of the year, when else is it this lively?" Because there are so many people, the Lu family also held a banquet. After the dish-bearers left, Chen Xingbang followed with the wine. Seeing Li Long, he raised the wine bottle:

"I'm going over there to host. You said your eldest brother doesn't drink much, but he still needs to practice."

"Haha, brother-in-law, you have to be very busy today; there are a few people over there who can hold their liquor." Li Long says to Chen Xingbang before entering the house.

"Then let's clash." Chen Xingbang isn't afraid at all at this moment. Following him over is Li Junshan.

A table is set in the west room, a table in the kitchen, and a table in the spare room; adults and children together have four tables. The children's table has already started eating. In the west room, Li Jianguo is the main host, and the wine bottle has already been opened.

"Without Xiao Long is here? Come, come, come, sit down quickly, get a cup for Without Xiao Long..." Wang Cai Mi says loudly. His face is already bright red; clearly, before eating, he had already drunk quite a bit of wine while playing cards.

"I won't drink today, Brother Wang, you guys drink, don't fake it." Li Long casually squeezes out a spot and sits down. "If you want to drink, there are people to accompany you."

Large white steamed buns are brought up, and everyone starts using their chopsticks involuntarily. Li Long habitually eats the pickled vegetables first, but everyone else basically goes for the large slices of fatty meat, using the steamed bun in their left hand to catch the fatty meat clamped by their right hand, and gulping it down.

This meat is stewed for a long time, so it doesn't feel greasy at all when eaten; it only feels fragrant. There are four basins of vegetables on the table, and everyone's chopsticks are mostly directed toward the pickled vegetables stewed with meat; it seems this dish is the most satisfying.

And that is indeed the case.

Li Long smiles and tastes all the dishes. It must be said that this is using the best ingredients and the most basic cooking methods to make the most delicious dishes.

!.

"Come, come, come, make way, I'll add some more dishes." Liang Yumei comes over with a basin of vegetables, scoops two large ladles into the pickled vegetable basin, and after adding them, says, "There's plenty of stewed vegetables today, eat as much as you want!"

This generosity directly draws a round of cheers from the people at the table.

On average, everyone eats a steamed bun, and then their movements slow down, and Li Jianguo takes this opportunity to start the drinking game, going around the table.

Li Long has lived two lives, but he has never really learned how to play the finger-guessing game.

He knows the rules: if the number I call plus the number you call equals the number of fingers I'm holding up, I win; otherwise, you win.

But he can't figure out how people can react so fast at such a fast speaking speed.

In this regard, Li Jianguo is a master, because from a few years ago until he had his accident and passed away, in terms of finger-guessing, there was almost no one in the whole village who didn't submit to him.

As the "wine commander," if you want to manage the wine bottle well, the first round of going around the table must be done. Everyone of a certain age knows that going around the table means going through everyone at the table; those who can play the finger-guessing game play, and those who can't drink three cups. Usually, at this time, the person who can be the wine commander must not only be good at finger-guessing but also have a high tolerance for alcohol and high emotional intelligence.

After all, not everyone will follow the rules properly; there will be those who cheat, those who act drunk, and those who don't want to drink.

This is when you see the wine commander's ability.

Sitting next to Li Jianguo is Wang Cai Mi. Li Long feels he talks quite a lot today. Li Jianguo smiles and starts playing the finger-guessing game with Wang Cai Mi first.

"Doesn't count, doesn't count, I didn't hear this one..." Wang Cai Mi has probably drunk some wine today; he lost the first round and feels he's losing face, so he shouts.

"Fine, then this first round doesn't count, let's start over, how about that?" Li Jianguo says with a smile. "This second round can't not count. Come, 'High Promotion'..."

The first phrase called in the finger-guessing game here is "High Promotion," for good luck, followed by throwing out fingers. Before three rounds pass, Wang Cai Mi loses again.

There's no way to cheat now. Wang Cai Mi hesitates a bit when picking up his cup, so Li Jianguo picks up his own cup:

"Come, let me accompany you, old brother, how about that? You're the main force today, you've worked hard! Come, cheers!"

"Come, come, come!" Wang Cai Mi gets enough face and drinks the wine decisively.

The next one continues.

Li Long watches and sighs; the wine table is truly about human relationships.

Some people play the finger-guessing game softly, some play with great vigor, some sit steadily like a fisherman, and some play chaotic games—they don't even understand it themselves, which should be considered the beginner type.

It also adds a lot of fun for everyone.

By the time Li Jianguo finishes going around the table, two people are already drunk and hazy, so they are helped to the side of the bed to lie down.

Li Long has had two cups with Li Jianguo; he's not good at finger-guessing, so he just admits defeat.

And at this time, Li Jianguo's expression doesn't change, his demeanor is as usual. Li Long is sincerely impressed; his eldest brother's alcohol tolerance is truly good.

Noises also come from the spare room. Li Jianguo looks at Li Long, and Li Long has already stood up and walked over.

"Without Xiao Long is over there, don't worry about it, continue. I've finished going around the table, who else wants to go another round?"

Going around the table is usually started by the wine commander. After finishing, if anyone is unhappy, they can continue; they can apply to the wine commander for another round, or of course, they can have individual matches.

Li Long goes to the spare room and sees Li Anguo and another person from the team arguing, their faces red and necks thick—after listening for a while, Li Long understands. It turns out that because the things called in the finger-guessing game are different, a misunderstanding arose between the two sides.

"Don't, don't, don't, this matter is simple." Li Long takes a cup and pours wine:

"There's no right or wrong in this matter. The rules in the city are different from here, and my second brother hasn't been here long, so he's just getting in touch with it. Come, let the three of us have a cup, and this matter will pass. We're all our own people, don't hurt the harmony."

With Li Long speaking, Li Anguo naturally has nothing to say. The other person originally wanted to say something, but others at the table immediately pressed him back:

"Without Xiao Long has given you enough face, hurry up and drink! Don't be dawdling here!"

Taking this as a cue, the person drinks the wine.

Li Long smiles and says:

"Fine, everyone eat well and drink well, don't hurt the harmony. There's plenty of wine and food today, let's not rush, take it slow."

"Look, Without Xiao Long really knows how to talk; people who have been out in the world are just different."

When Li Long turns around, he hears others discussing him, feeling a bit between laughter and tears. These people really do judge people by their status. (End of chapter)