Chapter 390: As if no one else had this thing!

The weather was getting colder and colder, but to tell the truth, three people and one horse going to Shicheng wasn't particularly hard. This was much better than Li Long being alone in the deep mountains; at least there were people to talk to. It was also only in these few days that Li Long learned that men, when gossiping, were no worse than those sisters-in-law and aunts in the village.

Yang Yongqiang was like a walking encyclopedia, having told all the big and small things in the village, almost every household had something.

What surprised Li Long a bit was that Tao Daqiang, who usually didn't talk much, could occasionally interject a few sentences. It seemed he knew quite a lot too.

Thinking about it, it was normal. After all, Tao Daqiang was married, and his wife was from the neighboring village. To integrate into his own village, it was impossible not to talk about gossip.

When those women worked together, weren't they talking about other people's affairs?

This also allowed Li Long, who had lived two lifetimes, to understand many things he hadn't known in his previous life.

For example, the ancestors of the Qian family in Old Zhuangzi were originally from the Small Knife Society uprising, and later, being pursued and killed by the Qing court, they fled to the west. They came to the Northern Frontier relatively early, but they didn't live in the village before, and only moved over later.

For example, the young couple in East Zhuangzi who had only settled down for two years were actually eloping. Their families weren't willing, so they simply ran here.

And for example, Ma Jinbao actually ate all kinds of meat in private, it was just that others didn't say it usually.

And who and who were originally dating in private, talked until the end and it collapsed, and then they were introduced to girls from other villages by their families, and after getting married, the previous girl regretted it, and so on.

It gave Li Long a feeling of having his eyes opened.

Talking and laughing, they arrived at the county.

As usual, after eating steamed buns and drinking hot tea at the Meat Canteen, they continued forward.

When they arrived at Shicheng, there were still many people in the market, and the stalls inside were still very hard to find.

Like the last time, Li Long parked the horse-drawn carriage on the periphery, and he set up a stall here to sell fish. Yang Yongqiang carried a club and a bag of fish, holding a scale, and Tao Daqiang carried a sack of rabbits. The two of them went into the market to find a stall.

Li Long also pulled a club from the horse-drawn carriage and placed it to the side to deal with things at any time.

This time they brought ten-plus more rabbits than the last time, and over one hundred kilograms more fish, so they should be able to sell for quite a lot of money.

Li Long told Tao Daqiang and Yang Yongqiang to find adjacent stalls, or if that didn't work, to share one, so they could look out for each other.

Li Long himself wasn't afraid of anything here, after all, his experience was rich, whether it was selling things or dealing with those annoying guys.

Having discussed it with Yang Yongqiang and the others, the price of the rabbits remained unchanged. Carp and Five-Way-Black sold for one yuan one, and crucian carp and bighead carp sold for nine mao. This way, the price wasn't raised high, it had competitiveness, and the income would be a bit more.

The most common fish in Little Haizi was still crucian carp. The price of this fish was raised by one mao, and this time they could sell for twenty or thirty yuan more.

Li Long, while selling fish and rabbits, was paying attention to see if there were any pickpockets or thieves. Today, there were quite a few people gathered around his side, but what surprised Li Long a bit was that from beginning to end, there was nothing abnormal here. Although a few people buying fish were quite picky and had many requirements, Li Long still successfully made them buy his fish.

Both fish and rabbits were more than the last time, but Li Long and the others had sold almost everything by the time they just arrived in the afternoon. Li Long deliberately left two rabbits and four carp unsold.

"Brother Long, is this fish to be taken back for Xiaoxia to eat?" Yang Yongqiang asked curiously.

"Half is, and some are to be given to people," Li Long said. "We'll eat later, and after eating, we'll go to the sugar factory to pull sugar dregs. I have people I know over there where we pull sugar dregs, so we can load more, and it's also convenient, no need to go down into the pit to scoop. Since it's convenient for us, shouldn't we give people some things to thank them?"

"Right, right, right," Yang Yongqiang immediately understood. In this deep winter, going into the sugar factory to scoop sugar dregs wasn't a good job to do. There was water in the big pit where the sugar factory unloaded sugar dregs. If you wanted to scoop sugar dregs, you basically had to go down into the pit to load them into baskets, and then lift them up and pour them into the cart.

The trousers would be soaked through immediately, and then they would freeze and turn into ice. In this deep winter, could it not be uncomfortable?

They drove the horse-drawn carriage to eat a meal first, and after eating, they went to the sugar factory.

Li Long didn't go directly into the factory, but led the horse-drawn carriage to the big pit where sugar dregs were dumped. He hoped to run into that driver, Group Leader Song, so that would save a lot of trouble.

Seeing the three big young men driving the horse-drawn carriage over, the seven or eight people pushing flatbed carts by the side of the sugar dregs pit were all a bit guarded. After all, this was considered competition. They had already occupied good spots, holding baskets in their hands, just waiting for the truck to come and dump the sugar dregs so they could rush down.

These people had been here for a long time, so naturally they knew what position was the best. Seeing Li Long and the three of them on the periphery with no intention of getting close, some people showed looks of contempt.

Amateurs! Later, after the truck finishes dumping, let's see if you can scoop any, that would be strange!

After waiting for less than twenty minutes, just when Yang Yongqiang was getting a bit impatient, the truck drove over.

The people gathered around the sugar dregs pit immediately became spirited. They left the position for the truck, and on both sides, they scrambled for the best position to go down into the pit. Some people couldn't wait and had already gone halfway down to wait. Because there weren't many good positions, some people were even pushing each other.

Li Long walked toward the truck, and then saw with some disappointment that there was only one person driving, and it wasn't Little Song.

He took two steps back, feeling that this truckload probably wouldn't be waited for. He thought about waiting for the driver to dump the sugar dregs, and then asking where Little Song was.

What surprised Li Long a bit was that the truck stopped when it drove to his side.

"Comrade Li?" The driver driving the truck leaned out and shouted at him.

"You... are you Little Song's... assistant?" Li Long vaguely remembered this face, it seemed this young man was also there when he looked for Little Song to pull sugar dregs last time.

"What assistant, I'm his apprentice." The young man stopped the truck and jumped down, saying with a smile, "Comrade Li, you are..."

"Isn't it that we're raising pigs at home, intending to pull some sugar dregs back. You've worked hard, where is Group Leader Song?"

"My master is in the factory. It's cold in winter, I can drive the truck myself now, so I let my master rest."

"You are this!" Li Long gave a thumbs up.

"Comrade Li, then you guys get on the truck and load first, after loading I'll dump," that driver said with a smile. "Anyway, the next truck is still early, no need to rush for this moment."

"Then thank you." Li Long turned around and went to the carriage to take two rabbits and handed them to the driver:

"We don't have any good things in the countryside, these two rabbits were snared yesterday, you and your master take one each. I still have two carp here, please take them to Section Chief Hu. By the way, how should I address you?"

"My surname is Zhang, called Zhang Xueliang. You can just call me Little Zhang." Little Zhang looked at the rabbits, extremely happy. He put the rabbits and fish together into the passenger seat, and took out an iron shovel from the side of the truck and said, "You guys use this, this is fast. I still have a few gunny sacks here, I'll take them for you."

Tao Daqiang had pulled sugar dregs with Li Long before, so he wasn't surprised, but Yang Yongqiang opened his mouth wide. This was it?

Brother Long's face, the face of these rabbits was truly big!

Those people were dumbfounded, it turned out they had backing, they knew each other!

Li Long and the others weren't polite either. It was too cold at this time, no one wanted to stay outside for too long. The three of them got on the truck and began to load sugar dregs.

The sugar dregs just pulled down from the sugar factory's production line were still a bit hot, and the moisture was quite sufficient. The bottom of the truck box was dripping water the whole time.

Li Long and the others set up the shed boards on the four sides of the horse-drawn carriage and loaded them well, and took all the bags for fish to load sugar dregs, including the few gunny sacks Little Zhang gave. Li Long left the remaining two fish for Guo Xiaoxia.

Bag after bag of sugar dregs were loaded and stacked on the horse-drawn carriage. Li Long and the others' movements were very fast. After the bags were loaded, they unloaded some sugar dregs on top, and then jumped off the truck.

"Comrade Zhang, thank you very much this time, we won't delay your work, we're leaving first!" Li Long tucked the iron shovel into the side of the truck, greeted the driver Zhang Xueliang, and prepared to leave.

"Good, come again if you want sugar dregs in the future." Zhang Xueliang felt that these few people were still quite good, and said with a smile, "My master and I are both here every day. If it's not us driving, you tell the driver, just say you're my master's friend, they will also give face."

"Alright, thanks!" Li Long raised his hand, watched Zhang Xueliang start the truck and begin to dump sugar dregs, and they led the horse-drawn carriage and left.

"This time we loaded quite a lot!" Yang Yongqiang was a bit excited. His cotton-padded rubber shoes were still stained with some sugar dregs, but fortunately these shoes were waterproof, and the warmth function inside wouldn't have problems.

"Mm, it can last for a while," Li Long said. "If there's time, wait until before the New Year to load another truck, it will be enough for this year."

Pigs could eat this thing, deer could eat it, roe deer could eat it, horses could eat it, and donkeys could eat it. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to call it universal feed.

"Daqiang, carry a bag when we go back," Li Long said while walking. "We're going back to the county now. When we get to the county, I'll put the two fish in the courtyard, and then we'll rush home."

Thinking that he hadn't run into pickpockets at the market, Li Long wondered if the market management had cleared out a batch, otherwise how could it be so calm?

However, when they led the horse-drawn carriage to the road section with white poplar woods on both sides, Li Long knew he had guessed wrong.

People didn't look for trouble with them at the market because they didn't want to alert the snake, they were waiting for them here.

Still four people, but the leader, the one who had been knocked down by him earlier and had his money and steel pipe snatched, now had a double-barreled shotgun in his hand.

The five people were still forty or fifty meters away from Li Long and the others. Li Long had good eyesight and could see that all five of these people had triumphant smiles on their faces.

And cruel expressions. Obviously, if they really let them succeed, the three of them probably wouldn't have a good end.

"Alright, you don't need to retreat either, come over. There are two bullets in this gun of mine. If you want to bet on my speed of firing, or which one of you three is luckier, then run." The one holding the shotgun slowly walked toward the horse-drawn carriage.

"Big Brother, there wasn't much money on that person yesterday, today this one probably has quite a lot, at least several hundred!" The one who had fought with Yang Yongqiang said from the side, "This horse-drawn carriage can also sell for quite a lot of money!"

"I know, no need for you to say!" The one holding the shotgun impatiently told his subordinate to shut up, and he pointed the gun at Li Long.

Never had he been so humiliated as that day. He intended that even if Li Long begged for mercy, after getting the money, he would have to cripple one of his arms and one of his legs!

Li Long and the three of them looked at each other, Yang Yongqiang said:

"Brother Long, you still have foresight!"

"I and Brother Long have experienced this more than once." Tao Daqiang wasn't worried at all, explained a sentence, and then asked:

"Brother Long, you do it or I do it?"

"I'll do it, I'm used to using it." Li Long reached out and pulled a gun holster from the bag in front of the horse-drawn carriage.

Those five people had already walked to a distance of thirty-plus meters. Seeing Li Long take out the thing, one had already stopped his footsteps, intending to turn around and run if the situation didn't look right.

When Li Long took off the gun holster, the remaining four people all stopped their footsteps.

!.

No matter how awesome a double-barreled shotgun is, can it compare to a Five-Six Semi-Automatic?

Li Long, while opening the safety, said:

"Don't run, whoever runs I'll hit first—I pressed ten bullets when I came, you guys average two bullets per person. I took first place in the militia shooting competition, you guys can try if my marksmanship has regressed."

Try your mother, try!

Those few people were cursing wildly in their hearts, but no one said it out loud.

The leader was truly able to bend and stretch, his tone immediately changed:

"Big Brother, sorry. Misunderstanding, it's all a misunderstanding! Like this, I still have dozens of yuan on me, consider it my apology, just let us go, mountains are high and waters are long, we'll have opportunities to meet in the future, maybe there will be times when we'll need you, brothers..."

"Right, right, right, doing things, leave three parts of leeway, maybe we'll run into each other later..."

"Put down the gun and other weapons," Li Long said. "Squat down—I won't make you kneel. Take out the money on your bodies—"

He held the gun and walked forward while giving orders.

Here, it was still five or six kilometers from the checkpoint at the big bridge, and three or four kilometers from Shicheng city area. Both sides were white poplar woods, which was the best place to do evil.

Otherwise, it would be impossible for Li Long to run into it again and again.

Of course, mainly because he was a big customer. After all, every time he drove a horse-drawn carriage, loaded with fish and other things, this cart sold for at least several hundred yuan. Robbing him, wasn't it more comfortable than stealing that one or eight mao from those scattered people?

So it was normal for him to be targeted.

Of course, having been targeted many times, Li Long naturally had precautions, and besides, it was early 1983 now, how could he not have precautions?

The one at the very back hesitated for a moment, then suddenly hunched over and ran toward the woods. He felt that as long as he ran into the woods, even if Li Long had bullets in his gun, he wouldn't be able to hit him.

He was betting that Li Long might not have bullets in his gun, and might not dare to fire.

"Bang!"

Li Long raised his hand and fired a shot at the tree in front of him.

"Run again, the next shot will hit your leg!" Li Long's voice was cold. "You still have a bullet's margin!"

That person obediently turned around, raised his hands, came to the road, and knelt down.

The leader this time didn't need Li Long to order, and directly threw the shotgun onto the snow.

Although the shotgun was expensive, life was more important.

Even if Li Long fired and injured or killed him, there would be public security pursuing it later, but by then his life would be gone!

"Go and get the shotgun," Li Long ordered. "By the way, take their wallets."

Li Long didn't call out names, fearing that these people would chase after Tao Daqiang and Yang Yongqiang.

He felt that it was highly likely he would run into similar events in the future.

Maybe in two more years it wouldn't happen... maybe next year it wouldn't. By then, he would be driving a tractor, who could stop him?

Thinking too much.

Tao Daqiang took the shotgun, Yang Yongqiang brought over a stack of money, and Li Long whispered again:

"Take the clubs, beat them up, we're leaving."

Handing them over to public security was possible, but the gun in his hand was hard to explain. Besides, in a few more days, these people would probably be swept away directly. Catching them and putting them in now would be making it cheap for them.

Neither Tao Daqiang nor Yang Yongqiang were considered very kind people. They didn't hold back against such people, beating these five people until they were howling like ghosts and wolves, and in the end, when they left, they were all limping.

"Brother Long, two daggers, one short knife, one hundred and twenty-six yuan and three mao."

"You two divide the money," Li Long said. "You guys look at the things and play with them, the shotgun belongs to me."

For the money from this trip selling fish and rabbits, Li Long divided eighty each for Tao Daqiang and Yang Yongqiang, so their trip's earnings exceeded one hundred, and the two were quite happy.

This double-barreled shotgun was maintained quite well. Besides the two bullets in the gun, Yang Yongqiang also searched out ten-plus bullets from the small bag on that person, the lead pellet kind.

Li Long himself had a Five-Six Semi-Automatic, a small caliber, and now he had a double-barreled shotgun, the guns were complete. The Five-Six Semi-Automatic would definitely have to be handed over later, but the small caliber and the double-barreled shotgun could be handed over later.

Hunting, it was considered a means of making money now, and it could be a hobby in the future.

Putting the two guns away, they headed toward the county.

Putting the fish in the courtyard, Gu Xiaoxia hadn't returned yet. Li Long left a note, and then the three of them led the horse-drawn carriage and returned to the team.

A portion of the sugar dregs was unloaded at the horse pen, a bag was unloaded for Tao Daqiang, Yang Yongqiang's family didn't have large livestock, so they didn't want any, and the rest was unloaded at the Li family.

Li Long and the three of them returned, pulling a cart of sugar dregs. This matter soon spread throughout the village.

At the Li family, Li Jianshe asked Li Long:

"Did you run into any robbers?"

"Ran into them," Li Long knew this matter definitely couldn't be hidden. "I was carrying a gun, it's fine."

"Hey! Old Man Zhao and the others ran into them the day before yesterday! The three of them didn't beat the other five, the other side had guns, and they robbed all their money... " Li Jianguo's expression was a bit complicated. "And they were beaten up, they didn't go out yesterday because they were hiding their injuries—this guy... this is not wanting you to know?"

"Doesn't matter, it's not the first time I've run into it," Li Long patted the gun holster and said, "Every time I go, I carry it, I don't believe those people still dare to resist against the muzzle of a gun?"

"That's true, but you guys shouldn't lower your guard," Li Jianguo said. "Now there are all kinds of monsters and demons, no matter what, you still have to be careful. It's better that the three of you are together..."

"Mm, we'll be careful. By the way, Brother, this time we sold quite a lot of money again, fifty for you..."

"Don't, don't want it," Li Jianguo waved his hand. "How could I want so much, you keep it. If you really buy a tractor in the spring, don't you need to save more money?"

That was true. Li Long didn't insist.

He intended to continue like this until the New Year.

Then a phone call disrupted his plan.

PS: Thanks to Hai Zhi Huang, The Cat in My Arms, Wukong Ba Bu Jie, Luan Shi Chen Fei, 20220609211144606 for the rewards.

Recently it has been two chapters, but each chapter is five thousand words, so the total word count is the same. Mainly wanting to catch up on the average subscription (the above doesn't count as money) (End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 391 =====