Chapter 348

After the competition ended, the three township leaders took a group photo with the militia members who had placed, chatted for a few moments, and then left.

This chat was mainly with Li Long.

The township Armed Forces director specifically sought out Li Long, asked about his family's basic situation, and said:

"I proposed this confrontation competition, and I hope to promote it to the county level. If the county holds a militia competition and can include this event, then you will be the one representing our township! I see that your psychological quality is truly solid; practicing this more has a future. I have high hopes for you!"

Once the leaders left, the militia from each village returned to their respective homes.

On the way back, Xu Chengjun walked and spoke to the three militia members, including Li Long:

"Our township's Armed Forces director came down from the county. He originally transferred back from the military. I feel that this Director Qin is still very interested in warfare.

He missed out in '62, and he was still in the military during the Terek incident. When we met a while ago when he took office, he knew I had also come down from the military, and he was truly furious when we talked about that matter. Then there was '79; the main forces that went over from our side were artillery units, and by then he had already left the military.

He says that our state of 'everyone is a soldier' has passed and we are shifting to economic construction, but this state of live-fire training for the militia cannot be lost. He says that if our country wants to develop further, there will definitely be major powers that obstruct us, so military strength is very important."

Li Long thought to himself that this Director Qin was quite far-sighted. But thinking about it, it makes sense; looking at the long-term trajectory of development, regardless of East or West, there are few countries that truly hope for China to develop.

"Brother Long, you've really stolen the spotlight this time. Who knows what the township will reward you with."

"Wait, we'll know in a couple of days." Li Long wasn't actually very concerned about the reward. He remembered that a few years ago, for things like militia training models, the reward was just a fountain pen or a notebook.

With the militia training over and the guns turned back into the village, a major task was completed, and this event was equivalent to passing a milestone.

Returning to the Old Horse Corral, Li Long saw that his older brother and the others hadn't returned yet, so he prepared to rest for a while.

Although he wasn't particularly tired, the half-month of militia training had been quite mentally taxing.

More than half of the fish had been sold by now; there were none left in the outer courtyard, and one of the two rooms used for fish was already empty. There was only one room of fish left, plus those in the large courtyard.

Last night, hearing his second brother, brother-in-law, and the others talk, selling fish wasn't as fast as it had been in the first two days. At the beginning, they could basically sell out before noon, but now it took until mid-afternoon.

Li Long knew this was because the market was nearing saturation. After all, Shicheng was only so big, and the population was limited; even if the workers had money, they couldn't eat fish every day. Some even bought fish just to have a meal for the New Year. Anyway, it could be stored in winter, so they just kept it until the New Year.

Such people only bought once.

Therefore, a significant portion was still being bought by passengers coming and going from the bus station.

Li Long was even thinking about whether to stop for a while to let the market digest the fish, and then sell again in a few days?

Otherwise, the slower the sales, the more it would affect morale.

Of course, this matter would have to be discussed after his older brother and second brother returned.

A very important reason for ultimately wanting to leave this matter to his older brother, Li Jianguo, was that his older brother could keep these relatives in check.

To be honest, having his second brother lead his brother-in-law and two nephews to sell fish for him—if one said they had no complaints, Li Long himself wouldn't believe it.

Selling five or six hundred yuan worth every day, and each person only getting ten or twenty yuan—how could they not have complaints?

Why should you, Li Long, just provide the fish and get to split so much money every day without doing anything?

If you say they didn't think that way, Li Long would rather believe a brown bear could be his friend.

If his second brother, Li Anguo, were leading, perhaps they would already be gossiping in private while eating.

But with his older brother, Li Jianguo, leading, even if they had such thoughts, they would have to keep them bottled up.

His older brother wouldn't coddle them.

Outside, Old Uncle Luo began preparing to feed the pigs. Li Long was just planning to take out a book to read when he heard voices.

He was wondering who had come over when he heard the sound of the door being pushed, but it didn't open, followed by a knock.

The door to Li Long's room would be very tight when closed—he did it on purpose.

People in the brigade didn't have the habit of knocking when visiting; hearing movement inside, they would just push the door and enter. Because everyone was used to this, Li Long, who had lived two lifetimes, was not.

So he nailed a layer of plastic sheeting to the edge of the door, claiming it was to keep the heat from escaping. The door required force to close, and once closed, it required force to push or pull open.

This way, ordinary people wouldn't easily push it open according to their usual habits.

Thinking it was locked, they would knock.

Hearing the knock, Li Long said:

"Push hard, the door is open."

By the time he stood up, the visitor had already pushed the door open and walked in.

Zhao Jiangang.

He was also a core militia member who participated in this training, from the old residential point.

"Xiao Long, I want to ask you something." Zhao Jiangang was three or four years older than Li Long, a relatively honest and somewhat blunt person. Seeing Li Long, he spoke up:

"I remember you traded meat for bullets last year. Are you still trading this year? If you are, I'll trade a few kilograms of meat to eat."

"Trading." Li Long's mind immediately shifted gears. He had enough bullets himself, but his friends in the mountains didn't. He smiled and said, "I'll slaughter a wild boar in the next day or two, and we can trade for bullets then—"

"What's the price?"

"Still five bullets for one kilogram of meat."

"Alright, I'll reserve five kilograms of meat first. Fatty meat."

"Good." Watching Zhao Jiangang place a whole bag of bullets on the table, Li Long thought to himself, this guy... he really knows how to get things done!

Zhao Jiangang started it, and after that, people didn't stop coming to Li Long's place.

Li Long was also a bit puzzled. When his older brother Li Jianguo slaughtered pigs, quite a few people in the brigade bought meat. Although they didn't buy much, it was definitely more than in previous years.

Why were there still so many people planning to trade bullets for meat?

But thinking about it, it was normal. After all, trading bullets for meat didn't require spending money. Once the militia trained, getting some bullets was easy. But money wasn't so easy to come by.

Since that's the case, let's slaughter the pig tomorrow.

When Li Jianguo and the others returned to the Old Horse Corral, the sun was still a pole high before setting.

Li Long heard the movement and came out. Seeing them all silent, he smiled and said:

"Older brother, second brother, brother-in-law, Junshan, Junfeng, is it that fish isn't selling well now?"

"It's really not selling as well as before." Li Jianguo shook his head. "We're just relying on those getting off the bus; we shout a bit and can sell some. Supposedly, we're the only ones selling fish in this market, no one else, but there just aren't many buyers." "Then let's not sell." Li Long said. "Wait a few days. The market is saturated, and families who eat fish can't eat it every day; we have to wait. Older brother, I plan to slaughter a wild boar tomorrow."

"Slaughter a pig?" Li Jianguo was somewhat surprised.

Li Anguo and Chen Xingbang were thinking about the fish sales:

"Not selling tomorrow? Resting for a few days? A week?"

"Yeah, let's rest for a week before selling again." Li Long said. "I plan to slaughter a wild boar to trade for some bullets. If anyone wants to buy with money, we'll sell too. Those friends in the mountains are short on bullets to fight wolves, so I'll trade for some and then head into the mountains."

"Alright." Li Jianguo said with a smile. "It's been tiring these days, so let's rest for a few days. Slaughtering a pig tomorrow... Xingbang can do it; we can handle it ourselves. Slaughtering it here?"

"Slaughter it here." Li Long said with a smile. "No need to make it so complicated, and no need to call others, otherwise it'll be too noisy."

"Alright."

"Then after eating tomorrow, you and sister-in-law come over." Li Long said.

The matter was settled just like that.

Because there was no need to sell fish, Li Jianguo took the horse cart back. Number 76 had been running quite far these days, so it was time to reward it.

!.

After eating in the evening, Li Long was reading a book and could hear Li Junfeng talking next door. These four had all earned some money these days; let alone buying one bicycle, buying three would be more than enough. Now they spoke louder and their expressions were more confident.

Li Long was wondering, originally they planned to work until spring, now would they be thinking about returning to their hometown before the New Year?

After all, not returning home after becoming rich is like wearing silk in the dark; it's meaningless.

Just as he was thinking, a knock sounded, and Li Long called out:

"Who is it?"

"Me, Daqiang."

"Me."

"Come in." Li Long recognized it was Tao Daqiang and Yang Yongqiang.

After the two entered, Yang Yongqiang behind them closed the door, and Li Long invited them to sit down.

"You came over right after training finished; are you thinking about the fish sales?" Li Long said with a smile.

Tao Daqiang smiled a bit embarrassedly.

Yang Yongqiang nodded and then said:

"I heard Meng Zhiqiang say they plan to break the ice holes at Little Haizi in a few days to see if they can find any fish. They said they haven't fished there for half a month, so maybe they can catch some."

"Yeah, that's normal." Li Long earned a lot of money by breaking ice holes last year, and everyone saw it. Later, some people imitated him and were caught, so others stopped.

But the situation this year shows that the authorities have relaxed regarding small businesses and even set up a special market, so those who want to make money naturally can't sit still.

There are many smart people; he isn't the only one.

So breaking ice holes to catch fish now is considered normal.

"I'm slaughtering a pig tomorrow, and quite a few people want to trade bullets for meat, so I plan to trade a batch." Li Long stated his plan. "Then after a week, my older brother will take people to sell fish. I'll tell my older brother tomorrow and have him call you when they sell fish. After I finish slaughtering the pig here, I'm going into the mountains to take care of some business."

Hearing it would take another week, Tao Daqiang and Yang Yongqiang were both a bit disappointed.

"Actually, you can do this." Li Long said with a smile. "Daqiang has a bicycle, right? You can pull one or two bags of fish from here to the county to sell every day. My older brother and the others sell one bag and give me twenty-eight yuan; anything sold above that is yours.

The first time I went to sell it myself, a bag of fish was forty or fifty kilograms, at eighty cents a kilogram, it could sell for thirty or forty yuan, and one bag could earn about ten yuan. If you can't wait, then take fish from here and go to the county to sell, and just give me the money when you return."

"That... is that okay?" Tao Daqiang hesitated.

"Why wouldn't it be? It's definitely okay!" Yang Yongqiang agreed very much!

Following Li Jianguo and the others, those five were all of the Li family, and they two outsiders felt uncomfortable. Now selling fish in the county, that's much better; they are their own bosses, that's the best way!

"Alright, we'll go tomorrow." Yang Yongqiang said to Li Long.

"How can tomorrow work?" Tao Daqiang patted him. "We have to help Brother Long and the others slaughter the pig tomorrow."

"Help my foot, Brother Long's family has enough people, we'll just be eating meat if we stay." Yang Yongqiang thought a bit more.

Li Long smiled:

"It's not like you two eating meat will make a difference. Come over to help eat meat tomorrow, and go sell fish the day after."

"Alright, alright."

The matter was settled just like that.

The next day after breakfast, Li Jianguo and Liang Yuemei brought the tools for slaughtering the pig and a large basin to the Old Horse Corral.

Tao Daqiang and Yang Yongqiang also followed.

The kitchen at the Old Horse Corral had two stoves, and they started heating water immediately.

Although wild boar doesn't need to be scraped, it needs to be skinned, but warm water is still needed for cleaning the intestines and stomach.

Chen Xingbang was the lead butcher. Li Long decided to slaughter one first and leave the rest until before the New Year.

There were two sows, and he planned to keep them.

Next year, when it's time for breeding, we'll see if the boars here accept those wild sows.

Who knows, maybe they'll think the outsiders are better looking?

The miserable squealing of the pig attracted the attention of Wang Cai Mi.

The last time Li's family had a pig-slaughtering feast, they didn't call him for the slaughter the next day, which made Wang Cai Mi a bit disappointed.

Could it be that his part-time profession is also going to be unemployed? (End of chapter)