Chapter 387: This Is No Place to Stay Long

Li Li Anguo returned home from his father's courtyard and saw his frail wife cooking for him.

His two daughters obediently helped their mother prepare the meal, and upon seeing Li Li Anguo return, they happily ran over.

A warmth filled Li Li Anguo's heart; he led his two daughters into the room, saw that his bag remained unopened, squatted down to open it, and took out two cloth doll toys.

"Come, Xue Ping, Li Xue Qin, one for each of you!" Li Li Anguo handed the cloth dolls to his two daughters.

"Dolls!"

"So beautiful!"

"Are these for us?" The two girls' voices brimmed with surprise.

"Of course they are for you." Li Li Anguo felt his daughters' joy and was very happy.

He had only thought to buy them upon returning because he saw Li Juan had such toys; previously, at most, he would have his wife Chen Chen Li Rong make some sandbags or similar toys for the girls.

At his elder brother's home, Li Li Anguo had sensed a family atmosphere completely different from his own old home; daughters did not need to do much work, nor did sons necessarily receive superlative treatment.

It was all the same.

Thinking that his daughters were already so big yet possessed not a single decent toy, and that they would be looked down upon due to the village's traditional mindset, Li Li Anguo felt both angry and helpless.

"Why spend that money?" His wife looked over. "One of those must cost quite a bit, right?"

In such an environment, Li Li Anguo and his wife tacitly tried their best to economize on expenses, all to scrape together enough money to pay the fine—for having borne another child, despite Chen Chen Li Rong's poor health.

So upon seeing Li Li Anguo buy toys for the two children, Chen Chen Li Rong instinctively spoke up.

"It's fine, this didn't cost much." Saying this, he took out the jade Li Long had given him. "There's one for you too."

"This is... jade? How much must this have cost?" Chen Chen Li Rong was both startled and delighted, followed immediately by reproach.

"I also brought some food." Li Li Anguo pulled things out one by one. "Up in Northern Frontier it's easy to earn money, though goods are scarce and simple. In a few days I'll take you to the market fair to buy some proper things for the New Year."

Chen Chen Li Rong did not ask her husband how much he had earned; she smiled, put the jade away, and continued preparing dinner—originally, there was no custom of eating dinner in the village.

The staple for dinner was mixed-grain cakes and stir-fried cabbage, along with sweet potato gruel; in this village, every family had little land and still had to deliver the public grain tax, so to eat their fill, they had to plant sweet potatoes, a crop with extremely high yield.

It kept starvation at bay but fell short of modest prosperity, which was also the reason why villagers gradually went out to work as laborers later on.

The meals Li Li Anguo had eaten over these past few months at the horse station were far better, yet he still ate with great relish.

Just as they were eating, someone outside called out: "Li Anguo, has Li Anguo returned?"

Li Li Anguo put down his chopsticks and went out.

His expression was somewhat helpless.

He recognized the voice outside as belonging to his neighbor Li Erniu—a distant relative, very remotely connected, beyond the five degrees of mourning.

Li Erniu was about the same age as him; they had played together when young, but this man was somewhat slick, so although they were neighbors, Li Li Anguo did not much care for the fellow.

The room door stood open—usually it was not closed, since inside and outside were equally cold. Li Li Anguo saw Li Erniu holding his youngest son over the wall, asking with a grin:

"Li Anguo, you're back? How was it? Is Northern Frontier fun? Can one eat their fill there?"

"Look at me; I've gained ten kilograms in four months. Do you think I could eat my fill?" Li Li Anguo retorted. "Life at my elder brother's place is much better than here; we ate meat every day."

"Meat every day? You're just talking nonsense! Even urban workers couldn't eat meat every day." Li Erniu was certainly unconvinced. "But you do look heavier? Could it be swelling from hunger? You'd better get that treated quickly..."

"No treatment needed; I was weighed: seventy kilograms—a weight you'll never reach in your lifetime, I suppose?" Li Li Anguo joked. "Hey, quickly wipe your son; snot is dripping again, so disgusting!"

"What does it matter? In these times, which child doesn't have a runny nose?" Li Erniu carelessly wiped his son's nose with his sleeve, felt the yellow snot on the sleeve looked unsightly, rubbed it against the wall, then smiled and said to Li Li Anguo, "Have you earned enough for the fine? If you don't bear a son, it will be harder later; the fines will only get heavier!"

"Bear what? We won't have any more. We earned quite a bit, but I don't want to pay the fine; my two girls are quite good enough," Li Li Anguo said casually.

At this moment, Xue Ping and Li Xue Qin, the two girls, came out holding their cloth dolls, leaning on either side of Li Li Anguo, looking at Li Erniu's son, Dali, with slight disdain.

"Father, I want that cloth doll too!" Seeing the cloth dolls in the two girls' hands, Dali immediately became unhappy. "I want one too! Get me one quickly, I want one..."

Looking at this mischievous and somewhat bullying boy, Li Li Anguo curled his lip; what good was having a son? Judging by this, could he ever amount to anything?

He intended to turn back and continue eating, but unexpectedly Li Erniu spoke up:

"Li Anguo, are these the cloth dolls you brought back? You have two; come, I'll give you fifty cents, sell me one; my son wants to play with it."

"Not for sale. These cloth dolls were bought for my daughters; they are not for sale. If you want to buy one, go to the Department Store; they cost ten yuan each."

Li Li Anguo refused outright; joking aside, fifty cents to buy his cloth doll? Was the man dreaming?

He suddenly felt that the phrase Li Long often said now felt quite satisfying to speak aloud.

"Daughters belong to others; what good are they? In the future they won't even bear the surname Li. By that count, my Dali still calls you 'Uncle'; just spare one for Dali, won't you? With New Year approaching, I'll have Dali kowtow to you; consider it New Year's money, how about that? Later, if you cannot bear a son, my Dali, being of the younger generation, will surely be better than your daughters!"

Upon hearing that a cloth doll cost ten yuan each, Li Erniu's eyes darted, and he immediately said this.

"Get lost! My daughters are not that cheap!" Li Li Anguo was most annoyed when others used his daughters as a topic; at this moment he made up his mind: after the New Year, he would go to Northern Frontier.

He might as well move the whole family there!

When this thought arose, Li Li Anguo himself was startled.

If he really left, what would become of his old father and mother?

Then he would persuade his old father and mother to leave together!

This place truly was no place to stay; one could not grow rich, life could not be lived well, and having two daughters meant being discriminated against. Moreover, having earned so much money in a few months, Li Li Anguo truly no longer valued the meager yield from those fields.

Leave!

Li Erniu continued chattering on, but Li Li Anguo treated his words as flatulence, took his two daughters, and returned inside.

Seeing the cloth dolls disappear, Dali cried and made a scene; Li Erniu hurriedly coaxed him, for this son was the treasure of his heart and had to be indulged. Thus, chaos erupted over there until Li Erniu promised to boil an egg for him, at which point Dali stopped crying and making noise.

Xue Ping and Li Xue Qin had been very worried that their father would take their dolls back to give to Dali; fortunately, their father did not do so, which made them feel very warm inside.

The two children were already somewhat sensible; they knew that as girls, not boys, in such an environment they were not considered "precious."

Although they did not know why, there was certainly resentment in their hearts.

That night, when the two daughters had fallen asleep clutching their cloth dolls, Li Li Anguo discussed the matter with his wife under the covers.

"Go to Northern Frontier? Can... can that work?" Chen Chen Li Rong had no opinion of her own; she was a typical traditional rural woman of this era, for whom the husband's decision was the final decision. But Northern Frontier was truly too far away; in the villagers' eyes, that place was a bitter, cold land; could one live there?

"Do you know how much land my elder brother's family was allocated this year?"

"How much? Three mu? Five mu? I heard there is much land over there," Chen Chen Li Rong guessed. "Our family of four was allocated one mu and six fen; we planted a bit over one mu with wheat, and the rest with sweet potatoes and some cabbage."

"Including Without Xiao Long's, that's more than twenty mu of land!" Li Li Anguo stated a figure that left his wife dumbfounded.

"How could there be that much? Or is it wasteland?"

"How could it be wasteland? When we went, they had just finished their autumn harvest and were planting wheat; that wheat was growing wonderfully." Li Li Anguo tried hard to persuade his wife to follow him willingly, "Eldest Brother's family has two children, a daughter and a son..."

"I know that." "But in the village, many families have only one daughter, or two daughters; they simply don't consider daughters outsiders." Li Li Anguo emphasized heavily, "Daughters and boys are the same, attending school together without favoritism toward either; I think..."

Chen Chen Li Rong's gaze shifted somewhat.

She did not fear hardship, but in the current environment, she truly feared that if she bore another child, it would not be a son.

The gossip would make her unable to lift her head.

Now hearing that there was no prejudice over there, a spark of light ignited in her eyes.

"Really?"

"Really!" Li Li Anguo said with certainty, "I plan to go tomorrow to persuade Father and Mother to move back to Northern Frontier around the New Year. Once Father and Mother go there, it will be much easier for us to follow."

"How would we register our household if we go?" Chen Chen Li Rong raised a crucial point, "They surely wouldn't just allocate land to anyone there, would they?"

"That... I'll ask Eldest Brother when the time comes." Li Li Anguo did not feel household registration would be difficult; during the few months he stayed there, he had sensed that his eldest brother held considerable authority in the village.

As for where to live upon arrival, Father and Mother would stay at Eldest Brother's house, while his own wife and children would reside in the Old Ma Stable. By the time Without Xiao Long builds his new house, the matter of his household registration should also be resolved, right?

Even if it isn't resolved, they could live there first and figure out a solution later.

!.

Even the Old Ma Stable was better than their current courtyard—that was a brick house!

It was not only Li Li Anguo thinking this way; Chen Chen Xingbang was thinking the same.

His ability to act was far stronger than Li Li Anguo's; the very next day, Chen Chen Xingbang brought gifts to visit his father-in-law and presented his own idea.

"You say you want to go to Northern Frontier? And bring Xia and the children over once things stabilize?" Li Li Qing Xia was also startled, "Leaving everything here behind?"

"What is there to keep?" Chen Chen Xingbang's tone carried mockery, "I've been married for many years; in all this time, I've only managed to get a courtyard and a few plots of land. What good is that? It doesn't even equal what one can earn working a single autumn in Northern Frontier. I'll let my father farm the land and watch over the courtyard. If I go to Northern Frontier, I don't believe that with some effort, I couldn't save up enough for a courtyard within a year. I feel that with the money I have now, I could even buy a stable house in Northern Frontier."

"Then do you plan to register your household in your eldest brother's village?" Li Li Qing Xia asked again.

"No." Chen Chen Xingbang's answer surprised Li Li Qing Xia somewhat, "I plan to start a small business. Looking at that place, everything is scarce; I feel there are many opportunities. Unlike here, where there are too many people, everything becomes competitive, products sell for low prices, and goods are scarce. Take basket weaving, for instance; over there, one can casually weave several baskets a day, but where in our area can one find that many willow strips?"

Chen Chen Xingbang spoke the truth; Northern Frontier was vast with a sparse population and relatively abundant resources. As long as one was diligent, earning enough to ensure food and clothing was certainly no problem. Those with some wit could leverage current policy opportunities to achieve modest wealth and status without much difficulty.

But back in their hometown, it was quite difficult. Too many people possessed the same skills, competition was fierce, plus resources were not abundant and the per capita share was too small, leading to severe involution; one wanted to become rich but could not.

"Alright, as long as you've thought it through." Thinking that since Chen Chen Xingbang did not intend to register his household, there would be no trouble for his eldest son, Li Jianguo, Li Li Qing Xia nodded and asked again:

"Then when do you plan to go?"

"In early spring; once spring arrives, everything will be easier to arrange."

"What is your plan?"

"Naturally, I will go first to find work, and once I have settled down, I will bring Xia and the children over."

Chen Chen Xingbang's reasoning was quite prudent, and Li Li Qing Xia felt there was no problem with it.

He was wondering whether he and his wife should go along with their son-in-law.

While he was still pondering, Chen Chen Xingbang had already begun persuading:

"Father, why don't you and Mother go with me when the time comes? My eldest brother has always been saying how good it would be for you to stay over there. To tell the truth, that place is more suitable for retirement than here. You should know this clearly since you stayed there during the summer. Not only is our place poor, but there are so many troublesome matters; whenever one family does well, others get green-eyed with envy. I just returned yesterday, and this morning someone already ran over to borrow money, making me so angry..."

Li Li Qing Xia immediately felt the same:

"Isn't that the truth? During the few days after I returned, people came running over, borrowing money from me while simultaneously claiming that Northern Frontier is a bitter, cold land, a place where labor reform criminals are exiled... Truly despicable!"

The father-in-law and son-in-law instantly found a common topic of conversation.

More than an hour later, Chen Chen Xingbang left his father-in-law's home satisfied, as his father-in-law had agreed to consider going to Northern Frontier with him.

The next day, Li Li Anguo came to his father's side.

He raised a topic similar to Chen Chen Xingbang's, only he was somewhat more radical.

"You say you want to take your wife and children together to your eldest brother's place? Leaving everything here behind?"

"Leave it behind; what is there to keep? What is so good about keeping it? I have two daughters; here, I am only looked down upon. What is wrong with having daughters? Is having sons really that good? Old Jin Gui has three sons, yet now no one takes care of him?"

Old Jin Gui was an old man in the village, nearly seventy years old; by generation, he was one junior to Li Li Anguo and had to call Li Li Qing Xia 'Grandfather'. He had three sons; his wife died early, and all three sons had already established their own households and lived separately. When Old Jin Gui was in good health, things were fine, but now that his body was failing, none of his three sons would support him; they took turns having their wives deliver meals to him, with no one providing actual care. This winter, he lay in his own room, eating cold rice and leftover dishes, and it was uncertain whether he would survive.

Li Li Qing Xia looked gloomy. Although Old Jin Gui was not actually a good person—his wife's early death had much to do with his temper—now that the man was nearing death, some things were truly hard to say.

"He still owes me fifteen yuan." Li Li Qing Xia shook his head, "I estimate he won't be able to repay it."

Li Li Anguo was not particularly surprised. The old man loved to show off; since returning from Northern Frontier, whenever he had some money, he would buy, buy, buy, so naturally, others would come to borrow from him, and he found it hard to refuse. In the past, Without Xiao Long's temperament was somewhat similar to the old man's, but now Without Xiao Long had matured much more.

"Then where will you live when you go?"

"You stay at Eldest Brother's house, and I will stay at the Old Ma Stable." Li Li Anguo had already planned this out, "Isn't Without Xiao Long going to build a new house? When he moves into the new house, quite a few rooms in the Old Ma Stable will become vacant. Our family can settle there first and see how things go. It would be best if we can register our household in the village; if not, we will think of other methods."

Li Li Anguo possessed the determination to burn his boats, so he was now very calm and spoke very seriously. In fact, he had already realized that life for his wife and children in the village was not very good. His wife's health was already poor, and because she had borne two daughters, she was often pointed at and criticized, so she simply stopped going out frequently. With the current weather limiting activity, combined with emotional factors, her health would only worsen.

The children were slightly better off, but they still suffered bullying from other unruly children; they did not clearly understand the reason, but they could sense some malice.

Changing environments might make things better.

Of course, moving to Northern Frontier, Li Li Anguo believed he could provide a better life for his wife and children, at least ensuring they ate their fill and ate well. In that unfamiliar environment, no one would point fingers; images of Li Juan and Li Qiang flashed through his mind, and comparing them to his own two children, he felt his two children were at least several kilograms thinner than their cousins!

Clearly not on the same level of health.

If there were no comparison, it would be one thing, or if he were already forty or fifty, he might not have these thoughts, but now he was only thirty, with plenty of time left to strive and struggle.

At the same time, Li Li Junfeng felt somewhat surprised by the proposal made by his cousin Li Junshan, who had rushed over.

"You mean you plan to go to Northern Frontier again after some time? Me? I want to rest for a while." Li Li Junfeng, having returned home, had been living exceptionally comfortably these past two days. He had brought back a lot of money, paid off all previous debts, and everyone praised his generosity; with his wife and children warming the kang bed, although the food and drink were not as good as in Northern Frontier, it won out in familiarity. Moreover, the day after his return, he had gone to the market to weigh out meat and buy flour, immediately improving his family's meals.

Prices here were much better than in Northern Frontier; Li Li Junfeng felt his money could last for a long time!

He instantly lost all motivation to earn more money.

Let's spend most of it first, then talk!

He just hadn't expected Li Li Junshan to plan on going to Northern Frontier again so soon.

"Then I'll go ask Uncle Li Anguo." Li Li Junshan had no objection to his cousin's decision.

"Then why are you thinking of going again? You earned quite a bit on this trip, even more than me!" Li Li Junfeng asked, somewhat puzzled.

"I've done the calculations; after building a house, getting a set of furniture made, and buying a bicycle, my money will be just about enough." Over the past two days at home, aside from dealing with villagers coming to inquire about matters in the Northern Frontier, Li Li Junshan had spent all his remaining time calculating what he could do with his money.

After calculating, he discovered with some sorrow that while he had a lot of money, it was barely enough to start a family.

He did not want to settle for barely enough; he wanted to earn a bit more. He was still young, and even if it meant making another trip to earn money, he hoped his future life would be better.

Without speaking of great wealth and honor, at the very least, his life should be somewhat better than the average in the village.

Life aboard the Old Horse had subtly changed him; he felt that such a life was actually quite good.

He had thought it over. (End of chapter)