Chapter 383

The sun had already risen. Although it was still very cold outside, having sunlight made people feel warm psychologically—although no matter how high the winter sun rose, it couldn't compare to half of summer's.

It was only morning, and the light reflected by the sunlight on the snow wasn't dazzling.

With the driver's assistance, Yang Chen and Xie Ruifeng put the wild boar into the car's trunk together. Yesterday, they had already put the wild boar and the roe deer inside, and because the car doors were tightly closed, they weren't worried about wild beasts stealing and eating them at night.

Breakfast was prepared by the driver—when Li Long and the others went to ambush the wild boars, the driver got up and started preparing breakfast.

Because there were canned goods left over from yesterday, the driver only needed to heat them up. Although he wasn't very good at cooking, boiling some porridge was no problem.

So when Li Long and the others returned, they drank hot porridge.

It felt very good.

And he also knew clearly that this hunting trip was coming to an end.

He didn't expect it to be so fast; Li Long had originally thought it would last at least three to five days. After all, even if he was so familiar with this stretch of big mountains, wanting to bag suitable prey wasn't that easy.

The other few people also felt this atmosphere, and they were all a bit silent while eating breakfast.

When the porridge was almost finished, Yang Chen suddenly spoke up:

"I really didn't expect that rice porridge could be so sweet and fragrant at times."

"Yeah, I always felt before that milk was so much better than this, but today I've changed my mind." Xie Ruifeng echoed his statement. "Grains really are nourishing!"

"That's because you're hungry!" Qi Jingyue mercilessly exposed him. "You used to brag about how good your physical fitness was, but today you only walked these few kilometers, look how tired you were!"

Once they started talking, the atmosphere was slightly better. Li Long didn't intervene in their topic. After he finished drinking the porridge and ate two sesame cakes, he went out to wash the bowls. After the four of them finished eating, Li Long said to Qi Jingyue:

"You pack up your things in the small room and load them into the car. I think this hunting trip is about done here."

Qi Jingyue was stunned for a moment, then nodded and said:

"Yes, our hunting... should be over."

Yang Chen and Xie Ruifeng, who followed behind, wanted to say something, but in the end, they followed Qi Jingyue to the small room and packed up those few military overcoats and put them into the jeep. This jeep was quite capable of holding things.

"I really don't want to go back." Yang Chen suddenly said. "I really want to go see that hot spring, want to see if prey will appear there this morning—I've never experienced this kind of anticipation at home!"

"Forget it!" Xie Ruifeng ruthlessly exposed him. "You'd definitely be crying tired halfway there, and then you'd regret it! Anyway, I don't plan on hunting with you again in the future—the accidental discharge incident, I'll remember that for the rest of my life!"

"Sigh! Hey!" Yang Chen's face flushed red. "That was an accident, understand? Who doesn't have times when things go wrong? Besides, didn't we bag something this morning?"

"I didn't bag anything. Today I had originally planned to do it properly, no matter what, I had to get a wild boar back. I had even thought that I must aim for the biggest one in the herd; I heard the biggest ones grow tusks! At that time, I didn't even want the body, just that tusk—and what happened? With your one accidental discharge, my whole plan went down the drain!"

"Actually, this time if you ask Jingyue for a tusk, Jingyue might even give it to you..." Being told this by him, Yang Chen's tone suddenly weakened.

Yeah, anyone who had their only hope of bagging a wild boar leader, and then had the opportunity messed up, would likely explode.

Holding back until this moment showed that Xie Ruifeng was actually quite restrained.

"Jingyue only has wolf teeth there, no wild boar tusks!" Xie Ruifeng had originally just habitually refuted Yang Chen's words, but after being persuaded by him, he actually got really angry himself.

Li Long watched and felt it was quite fun, but to be honest, the three young people didn't have any major flaws on this trip; it was normal for young people to be a bit arrogant. He thought for a moment, walked into the small room, groped around on the shelf, and found a bag of things.

These were some things left over from hunting that felt a bit useful, but weren't very useful. He took them and walked out, first giving one to Qi Jingyue:

"This is for you, a wolf tooth, make it a souvenir."

Then he gave one to Xie Ruifeng:

"Wild boar tusk, from a male wild boar, not particularly big, but it is a tusk. Consider it a souvenir for coming here once."

He gave a wolf tooth each to Yang Chen and the driver.

The four people held the things with different expressions. Qi Jingyue was a bit surprised; Xie Ruifeng was pleasantly surprised. He said he wanted a wild boar tusk, and he really wanted one; he didn't expect Li Long to just give him one!

This is simply amazing!

Although the driver and Yang Chen weren't particularly looking forward to these things, they knew this was Li Long's heartfelt intention, and they were also very happy.

The originally slightly complicated atmosphere was diluted by this sudden gesture.

"Alright, pack up, let's go down the mountain. We've successfully completed the hunting activity, we should be celebrating and happy." Li Long said. "It's a good thing, don't be awkward."

Xie Ruifeng and Yang Chen both smiled embarrassedly.

"When I go back, I'll get something silver to wrap this tusk!" Xie Ruifeng suddenly said. "Carry it on me, this thing is good!"

"Wolf teeth ward off evil!" The driver also said in a low voice. "Carrying it on you has benefits."

Qi Jingyue had originally been quite repelled by wolf teeth, but after hearing the driver's words, she hesitated for a moment and held the wolf tooth in her hand.

Things were packed up quickly. Li Long used water to extinguish the stove fire. He was the last one to come out of the wooden house. After locking the door, he sat in the passenger seat.

The car was hard to start, but the driver was an old hand and had started the car early to wait; he also had a spare fuel tank.

After Li Long sat down, the driver drove the car back.

Half an hour after the jeep left, Halimu rode a horse carrying a slaughtered and skinned sheep to this place.

"Left?" Looking at the locked door and the departing tire tracks, Halimu was a bit surprised. "Left so fast? Or did they bag something yesterday?"

He wandered around the vicinity, saw the things left behind at the spring, and felt he should have guessed right.

Since they had already left, then he would take this sheep back to his own home to eat. Halimu had originally thought that since Li Long brought people here to hunt, then as Li Long's friend in the mountains, he had an obligation to help Li Long entertain these guests.

Even if they couldn't hold a hand-grabbed meat banquet, slaughtering a sheep was no problem.

It's just that he didn't expect it wouldn't be needed.

More than an hour later, the jeep arrived at the county, but it didn't go to the supply and marketing cooperative.

"Are you going straight back to the prefecture?" Li Long was a bit puzzled, mainly because Qi Jingyue asked him where his home was and where it would be appropriate to drop him off. Li Long just said it would be fine to go to the supply and marketing cooperative with them.

As it turned out, they weren't going.

"Then drop me off at my home." Li Long referred to the large courtyard.

When they arrived at the gate of the large courtyard and saw Li Long living in this kind of place, the three young people were also a bit surprised.

Li Long got off the car and had originally intended to say goodbye directly, but he didn't expect Qi Jingyue, Yang Chen, and Xie Ruifeng to also get off.

"Master Li, this is six hundred yuan." Qi Jingyue had an extra bag in her hand. She took out a thick stack of 'Big Unity' notes from the bag and handed them to Li Long. "This time, it's all thanks to you."

Li Long didn't expect Qi Jingyue to actually be carrying money directly.

He remembered the amount he told Li Xiangqian wasn't this much, so he waved his hand and said:

"It's too much, what we originally said wasn't this much..."

"Thank you for this time, letting us experience what real hunting is." Qi Jingyue stuffed the money into Li Long's hand. "We learned a lot of things; this money is what you deserve."

Fine, Li Long took it. He felt that his fate with these three young people was about done here.

After all, they weren't people of the same social stratum. In this day and age, some people were still worrying about being able to eat one more mouthful of meat, while some people had already started spending large amounts of money to buy the things they wanted.

Thinking about it, it's also normal. It's a market economy, and there are always some people who get rich first, and actually, there are many opportunities at this time. If the jade lumps in his hands are left for twenty or thirty years, they can also be exchanged for a large sum of money.

"Master Li, if it's possible later, maybe we'll come find you to hunt again in summer—summer should be good for hunting too, right?" Xie Ruifeng said.

"Summer, it can be hunted too." Li Long nodded and said, "Summer has summer's methods."

"That's good, we'll come find you then. Is it still the supply and marketing cooperative?"

"The supply and marketing cooperative, I guess." Li Long pointed to the house behind. "I still have a house in the countryside, sometimes I'll go back."

"Okay, we know."

"Then Master Li, goodbye." Qi Jingyue still wanted to say something, but in the end, she only said this one sentence.

"Master Li, goodbye! Maybe sometime I'll find you to buy a prey and make a specimen!" Yang Chen said last, and then they got into the car and left.

Officer Guo came out of the police station, watched the jeep leave, and asked Li Long:

"What do they do?" "From the prefecture, children of the supply and marketing system." Li Long said. "Let me take them around the mountains, hunt a bit, look at the scenery, and so on."

"Oh!" Officer Guo nodded, chatted with Li Long for a few more sentences, and went back.

Earning six hundred yuan in a few days on a trip, Li Long felt it was not bad. He entered the large courtyard and saw that it was still tidy, which meant Gu Xiaoxia still cleaned it often.

The stove fire in the kitchen was banked, and the stove fire in the room had gone out. Li Long lit the stove fire, and at the same time boiled a pot of water in the kitchen. After the water boiled, he banked the fire again, and then carried a bowl of water to the bedroom.

After banking the stove fire, he took off the clothes he wore while hunting, pulled open the quilt and lay on the bed, and soon entered dreamland.

He didn't sleep well at night, so Li Long needed to catch up on sleep.

When he woke up again, it was already afternoon. Li Long rubbed his eyes, got up and put on clothes.

The room was very warm, completely different from the situation in the wooden house in the mountains, and it was so comfortable that he stretched, and only then walked out the door.

There was still charcoal fire in the stove, but not much. Li Long added another shovel of lump coal to it, checked the time, and Gu Xiaoxia should be getting off work soon.

He was hungry himself, and he didn't really want to cook, so he went out to the meat canteen.

!.

He had a wonderful bowl of mixed noodles with oil-fried meat. Just as he was eating, Manager Zhong walked over.

"Comrade Li, I haven't seen much of you lately."

"A bit busy." Li Long put down his chopsticks and said with a smile, "I see you've had quite a few guests lately!"

"The market is opening up, everyone has more money in their hands, so more people are coming here to eat." Manager Zhong had a smile on his face. "Have you caught any fish lately? If you have good fish, how about sending some over to me?"

"Still want carp?" Li Long asked.

"Yeah, carp is best, five-striped black is also fine. There are people who know their stuff among the guests."

"Okay, if I have any, I'll send them over to you." Li Long thought that Tao Daqiang and Yang Yongqiang should be able to get some. He didn't go to the market today, and didn't know if they had caught any fish.

"Then I won't delay your meal." Manager Zhong mainly asked about the fish, and after getting an affirmative answer, he left.

After Li Long finished eating, he wrapped up ten steamed buns to take with him, intending to heat them up for breakfast tomorrow morning.

Half an hour after Li Long returned to the large courtyard, Gu Xiaoxia returned.

"You're back? You didn't encounter any danger in the mountains, did you?" Gu Xiaoxia saw Li Long tidying up the snow in the courtyard, making the snow in the flower field and vegetable garden square, and asked with a smile.

"No problem, luck was quite good. Yesterday afternoon we encountered roe deer from wolves, and this morning we bagged a wild boar. They were quite satisfied, and then we came back."

"Yeah, my luck was also quite good." Gu Xiaoxia couldn't help but share her good news with Li Long. "I've been officially transferred to the Education Bureau!"

"What? Really?" A look of surprise appeared on Li Long's face. "That's great! Finally, this matter has been settled! Has the notice been issued? Have the procedures been handled?"

"The procedures have already been handled." Gu Xiaoxia said with a smile. "Handled yesterday. I also said goodbye to the middle school side, and all my things have been brought back."

"It's really fast." Li Long exclaimed. "This time last year, we were all still in the village, and now we've all arrived at the county, and you've also changed from a farmer to a state cadre..."

"It's all thanks to you!" Gu Xiaoxia said with a smile.

"Yeah, on Saturday after you get off work, let's go back together, tell your dad the news, tell my big brother and the others, and let them be happy too!"

"Yeah!"

On Saturday afternoon, after Li Long waited for Gu Xiaoxia to get off work, the two of them rode their bikes back together.

During the day, Gu Xiaoxia was at work, and Li Long went to the department store and the supply and marketing cooperative to buy some things.

Before buying things, he also went to the market, saw Tao Daqiang and Yang Yongqiang, and then learned that his second brother Li Anguo and the others had already left the county town by car yesterday, and now they were probably already on the train, on their way back to their hometown.

Missed them.

But this was something he already knew beforehand, so Li Long didn't feel too much regret.

These two days, Tao Daqiang and Yang Yongqiang were both digging ice holes to catch fish, and every day they could get twenty or thirty kilograms, less fish than when Li Long and Tao Daqiang were doing it last year.

This point is also normal. After all, on one hand, after a summer of fishing, the number of fish in this small sea was less, and on the other hand, now there were four stable families digging ice holes on the ice of the small sea to catch fish, and occasionally people would come over, so it's normal that it's less.

On average, the two of them together had an income of ten or so yuan a day, which they were already very satisfied with.

Li Long told them that he was also going back today, and Tao Daqiang and Yang Yongqiang were very happy.

And then Li Long went to buy things.

For the five people in the Li family and Gu Bo Yuan combined, he bought a pair of cotton-padded rubber shoes for each. Mainly because Li Juan and Li Qiang were both growing, the cotton-padded rubber shoes from last winter couldn't be worn, and Li Juan's shoes couldn't be worn by Li Qiang; the age difference between the two was a bit large.

Besides shoes, Li Long also bought some dried fruits, snacks, daily necessities, etc., mainly for practicality; in this day and age, don't do anything fake.

The two of them rode their bikes side by side, chatting as they went, and felt that the ten-kilometer journey was ridden very quickly.

When entering the village, there were people outside the village entrance. Seeing the two of them together, they greeted them with a smile and teased Li Long:

"Li Long, I heard you're already living together, when are you going to hold the wedding? Don't forget to invite me when the time comes!"

"Won't forget!" Li Long replied. "I'll definitely invite you when the time comes!"

Gu Xiaoxia blushed when she heard this and didn't dare to answer.

This side is the Old Village, Li Long lives in the New Village, and he deals more with the East Village. Most people in the Old Village are limited to knowing and understanding, and aren't very familiar. But now that they took the initiative to greet him, Li Long thought about it and understood.

His reputation in the village was a bit high. Of course, there was another point, probably because Gu Xiaoxia worked in the county and was a state cadre, so her status and position were different.

Both?

It's just this realistic.

The two of them rode their bikes to the fork in the road, Li Long stopped, and said to Gu Xiaoxia:

"You go back quickly, it's getting dark, I'm going to my big brother's place too."

"Okay, tomorrow..." Gu Xiaoxia asked.

"I'll come find you tomorrow." Li Long took over her sentence, and Gu Xiaoxia nodded happily.

When Li Long rode to the Li family's large courtyard, the electric lights in the house had already been turned on.

Although they were connected to electricity, many families in the village didn't turn on electric lights at this time, mainly because they were afraid of wasting electricity. Some people were even still lighting oil lamps, intending to use up that bit of kerosene to save some electricity money.

The Li family wasn't like that. For one, they weren't short of that bit of money, and for another, Li Juan and Li Qiang were both growing their bodies, their eyes were also developing, and they still had to do homework, so having it bright was good.

Hearing the sound of the bicycle, Li Qiang's voice came from the house:

"My little uncle is back!" As he said this, he ran to the middle room, opened the door, and looked out.

"Qiangqiang, your ears are really good!" Li Long propped up the bike and started taking things down. "Come, help carry things!"

"Okay, little uncle, why are you so late?"

"Waiting for your little aunt to get off work." Li Long didn't shy away from Gu Xiaoxia's status now; it was a done deal.

Li Jianguo and Liang Yuemei came to the door, and behind them was Li Juan. Seeing Li Long, they all greeted him with a smile.

Li Long responded one by one, and after entering the house, he hurriedly closed the door.

There was a pot on the stove, and there were three layers of steamers on top emitting heat; they should be steaming buns.

"Is the matter settled?" After Li Long sat down, Li Jianguo asked.

"Settled, bagged three things, earned some money." Li Long took out the shoes. "Bought a pair of shoes for each of you. In this cold winter, these cotton-padded rubber shoes are more convenient; they won't soak through even if they get wet."

"Wasting money again!" Liang Yuemei chided. "Getting married next year, you should save the money for yourself to use!"

"Not short of this bit, our situation is really different from others." Li Long said with a smile. "Money is earned to be spent. Back then, my big brother borrowed money from you to get me into the factory, that was for my own good. Now that I have money, giving it to you to spend, isn't that what I should do? Alright, come try them on!" (End of chapter)