Chapter 392: Making Everyone Have a Better Time

Gu Xiaoxia was also quite happy to see Li Long in the courtyard. After putting down the bicycle, she watched Li Long cooking in the kitchen, and said from the side:

"When I came back that day, the snow in the courtyard was all gone. I was startled at first, then I thought it must be you who came back to clear it."

"Mm, selling fish those two days, and Daqiang and Yongqiang came over and cleared it by the way," Li Long served the rabbit and placed it on the table, handed a pair of chopsticks to Gu Xiaoxia and said:

"Come, taste, spicy wild rabbit."

After speaking, Li Long picked up another pair of chopsticks. On the table were already placed leavened pancakes—a bit similar to Xibo pancakes, rolling vegetables to eat was also quite good. He picked up a piece and handed it to Gu Xiaoxia.

Gu Xiaoxia was very happy, sat down and ate with Li Long, talking while eating:

"When I was free at work, the big sister in the office told me a way to make braised fish, I'll make it for you to taste when I have time."

"Good." Li Long held a general attitude toward Gu Xiaoxia's cooking. Gu Xiaoxia could definitely cook, it was just home-cooked meals. After becoming a teacher, the time for practicing was less, and later when she arrived at the Education Bureau, plus having Aunt Yang cook, she basically didn't cook much. Now thinking about doing it, it was mostly interest, and also habit.

After all, women now are married, how many can't cook?

The next day's breakfast was made by Gu Xiaoxia. After eating, she went to work, and Li Long went to the bus station, taking a short-distance bus to Shicheng.

Actually, he could ride a bicycle, but it wasn't as fast as a car, plus Li Long was also worried about something happening halfway.

Safety first.

After the bus arrived at Old Street, Li Long went straight to the sugar factory after getting off. At the gate, Li Long explained the situation, and after the gatekeeper made a phone call inside, he let him in.

Section Chief Hu in the office saw Li Long, and poured him a glass of water with a smile, saying:

"Comrade Little Li, your efficiency is very high! For your work attitude like this, I appreciate it very much! Come, come, come, sit first, I'll have someone bring the agreement over, after we sign it, you can officially prepare."

"Good." Li Long took the water and sat down. The two chatted for a while, and then staff members sent the agreement over.

One copy in duplicate, still quite formal. Li Long signed, watched Section Chief Hu stamp it, and then put his own copy away.

"Comrade Little Li, I'll wait for your good news." Section Chief Hu very politely sent Li Long to the door, which made Li Long feel a bit strange.

Could there be any misunderstanding in this?

Or was Section Chief Hu himself a very grounded person?

Li Long returned to Old Street, drank a bowl of milk tea, and after inquiring with Ke Youmu, heard that it had been quieter here recently, so he transferred to a short-distance bus and returned to Maxian, then went to the courtyard to ride his bicycle, ate two steamed buns at the Meat Canteen, then went to the department store to buy brick tea, rock sugar, and salt, and also weighed some fruit candies, packaged them together and hung them on the bicycle, and then headed into the mountains.

Riding the bicycle to Qingshui River was still okay, the road was not bad all the way, but after entering the mountain pass, the road became difficult to walk.

Li Long regretted riding the bicycle a bit—he had originally thought that snow, well, he could ride it anyway, after all, there was a road, he had walked it before, but he hadn't expected that the snow in many places was very deep, half a wheel or even higher, which was uncomfortable.

At this time, he could only comfort himself—at least the road for the first ten-plus kilometers was considered ridden over, saving most of the time, for the few kilometers behind, push if he had to push.

When Li Long arrived opposite Halimu's winter nest braving a big sweat, he felt he no longer had the strength to push the bicycle across the ditch to the winter nest.

The barking of dogs reminded the people in the winter nest. Nasen ran out of the house and took a look, and after seeing Li Long, shouted loudly. Halimu walked out of the house bowing his waist.

Li Long smiled and waved at him, and Halimu hurriedly walked over.

When Halimu came over, Li Long had also recovered almost enough. He pushed the bicycle and greeted Halimu:

"Duosen, good!"

"Good, good," Halimu said with a smile, "Walk, walk, walk, hurry into the winter nest, it's cold outside."

It was immediately the third nine days, it was indeed cold.

Li Long pushed the bicycle to the front of the winter nest, took the things he brought, bowed his waist and went inside.

Halimu's mother sat on the wooden kang, saw Li Long enter, and said a sentence with a smile. Li Long hurriedly bowed and greeted.

Halimu's wife was boiling milk tea. After Li Long sat down, he took out the gifts he brought.

Not necessary to be too rare, mainly to express his own heart.

After asking about the recent situation of Halimu's family, Halimu was also saying:

"The second day I saw you, I went to your wooden house to look for you, but you had already left." He didn't mention the matter of slaughtering sheep.

"We discovered a group of wild boars in the place you told us, hit one, and then returned. I brought a few young people, they were just feeling the atmosphere of hunting."

After chatting, Li Long drank milk tea and explained the purpose of his trip this time.

"Thirty-five sheep aren't many," Halimu thought for a while and said, "I can provide them myself, but the forage this year is quite sufficient, I don't want to slaughter so many sheep all at once, I'll go find Yushanjiang and them, and share the number of these sheep with others."

"Good." Li Long wanted five more sheep, one was to prepare for his own family's New Year, since New Year was coming, there was pork, there should also be some mutton. Promised one to Li Xiangqian, of course, still had to divide some for others.

"Shall we go to Yushanjiang's place together this afternoon?" Halimu asked, "Ask him, and by the way, ask others too."

"Good, good." Li Long had been a bit worried, now it was gone. Neither of them mentioned how much money per kilogram of mutton.

In the afternoon, Halimu saddled a horse for Li Long. When he was saddling the horse, he pointed to Li Long's bicycle and said:

"Outside the mountains, that thing is quite good. Inside the mountains, it's still better to have a horse. When you are still living in that wooden house, I'll lend you a horse. This way, whether it's hunting or playing in the mountains, it's quite convenient."

Li Long felt it was also so.

Halimu also took a portion of the brick tea and rock sugar Li Long brought and put it on the horse's back, and the two rode horses toward Yushanjiang's place.

The snow in the mountains was obviously deeper than this time last year. Li Long rode a horse following Halimu, slowly walking into the mountains.

It took almost an hour to arrive at Yushanjiang's winter nest. The snow near here had been stepped solid by horses, cattle, and sheep, and there were quite a few feces in places where the grass was deep. Obviously, this was grazing in winter, letting the livestock move more.

Yushanjiang and his son were clearing the grass stalks left over by the cattle and sheep in the open pen, which was a thing that had to be done every day. It had to be done two or three times a day. When spreading new grass, the grass stalks left over from the previous meal would be cleared out of the pen with a fork and thrown to the side. These grass stalks basically became firewood for starting fires.

Of course, with cattle, such grass stalks wouldn't have much left. If sheep ate dry grass, they would pick grass leaves to eat. If it were cattle, they wouldn't be picky, and there wouldn't be much left.

The barking of dogs startled Yushanjiang. He turned his head and saw Halimu and Li Long, and the dogs had already rushed over.

Yushanjiang shouted at the dogs, and the dogs stopped barking, but didn't return. Yushanjiang put down the wooden fork, climbed out of the open pen, and quickly greeted Li Long and the others.

After greetings, the few big men drank milk tea on the wooden kang in the house.

It had to be said, drinking warm milk tea in this weather was truly cold-resistant and very comfortable.

"Slaughtering sheep, no problem. Anyway, a batch of sheep has to be slaughtered every year," Yushanjiang said. "Halimu is right, this matter, let everyone participate is better. As for money, we don't have much use for it. Li Long, when you come over to pull sheep next time, bring some rice, flour, onions, potatoes to exchange. How about it?"

"Alright." Li Long was naturally willing, anyway, the materials these people needed were also pulled by himself, they just got money, and it was basically exchanged for materials by himself, no need to resell it again.

"That's it, you calculate it into money yourself, and coupons, we know, buying things not only needs money but also coupons, we don't have any coupons, you run a bit more. As for the slaughtering, leave it to us, no need for ten days or half a month, three days is basically enough."

The matter was settled just like this.

After drinking milk tea here, Li Long didn't eat anything else, and returned to the winter nest with Halimu.

The sky had already darkened. Halimu meant for Li Long to stay here for one night before returning, after all, it wasn't safe at night, and in the last two years there were still legends of people being eaten by wolves at night.

Li Long didn't want to stay here, Halimu's winter nest was a bit small, and it was inconvenient for too many people to live. Before it was forced, now if he could return, he still had to return. He also didn't want to go to the wooden house, now pushing the bicycle to the wooden house would take quite a lot of time, and from here to the wooden house the snow was big, the bicycle couldn't be ridden and it wasn't convenient.

"I have a gun in my hand, not afraid, after walking out of the mountain pass the remaining road can be ridden, it doesn't matter," Li Long said. "You guys be busy with your things. I'll pull a batch of materials over in two days." "Good." Halimu saw that he couldn't persuade Li Long, so he didn't persuade anymore. He felt it was also normal, Li Long had a gun in his hand, there was really nothing to be afraid of in this mountain.

Pushing the bicycle and walking out, when crossing a mountain ridge, the sun had already set behind the mountain.

Li Long knew he had to speed up, he pushed hard, fortunately, he had already pushed out a trail when he came, and it was better to walk when returning.

When he walked out of the mountain pass, the sky had already darkened.

With the snow reflecting, although the moon hadn't risen yet, he could barely see the road.

There was wind blowing, Li Long looked at the blackness in front, felt the road was still very long, regretted his decision a bit, should have gone directly to the wooden house, if that were the case, now he should have been lying on the warm kang, right?

People, always regret because of their own choices, no matter how they choose, they will regret.

Pushing until tired, Li Long stopped the bicycle, wiped a sweat. He drank milk tea at Yushanjiang and Halimu's places, ate dried meat and naan, his stomach was full. He propped up the bicycle to let out some water, and then saw a pair of green eyes in the bushes dozens of meters away on the right side of the road!

Li Long was startled—things that shone at night, highly likely were wolves!

Li Long couldn't care about unbuttoning his trousers, his urine was scared back, he took the gun holster from his back, opened it, took out the gun, opened the safety, pulled the bolt to chamber, aimed at the place with the eyes and fired!

"Bang bang!" Two shots passed, felt a black shadow jump up and run away over there.

Li Long looked around again, and found that there seemed to be no living things nearby.

But he didn't dare to stay long, stood the gun up, finished urinating, and quickly pushed the bicycle and ran forward.

!.

While running, he looked around from time to time. If a group of wolves really came over, then he would really be in a bit of danger—this deep night, no way to see far, if really approached by wolves, it would be very hard for him not to be pounced on by wolves!

Never do such dangerous things again in the future!

Finally, finally saw the lights in a large black place in front, Li Long let out a long breath.

Qingshui River arrived—this meant he could get on the road.

Sure enough, turning into that piece of architecture, Li Long soon found the road, he rode the bicycle and quickly headed north.

Riding a bicycle at night was actually faster than during the day, especially on snowy days, which made Li Long feel a bit magical. Because there was no need to look at where there were pits and where there were ditches on the road, as long as he was on the road, riding over was it.

Those pits that might be avoided usually, actually riding over at night, weren't as bumpy as imagined.

The wind blew, mainly because Li Long rode relatively fast, feeling the wind blowing past him, although wearing a big coat and cotton hat, there was still cold wind drilling into his body.

Now Li Long understood very well why those riding two-wheeled electric vehicles in the early spring of his previous life would put a wind shield in front.

Really cold!

Riding all the way to the Wuyi Highway, Li Long's speed increased again—there weren't many vehicles on the highway at night, but this road was pressed very flat, and the distance to the county was very close, his mood to return to the courtyard became even more urgent.

Don't know if others had such thoughts, Li Long was like this, ran into things in the middle, he would urgently want to share this matter with others.

When riding to the county, Li Long finally slowed down, he came down from the Wuyi Highway, turned into the streets of the county, and his heart was completely at ease.

Occasionally there were pedestrians or those riding bicycles, Li Long felt exceptionally intimate.

Arriving at the entrance of the courtyard, Li Long pushed, the door was bolted from the inside, so he knocked hard.

Gu Xiaoxia inside put on clothes and came out to ask:

"Who?"

"Me, Li Long," Li Long shouted.

The light in the duty room of the police station over there lit up for a moment, and after hearing Li Long's answer, it went out again.

Obviously, they knew who Li Long was.

"Coming," Gu Xiaoxia hadn't expected Li Long to return at this time, hurriedly went down to the entrance to open the door.

"Hurry in, look at you, you're all white!" Gu Xiaoxia said with heartache, looking at Li Long covered in white fluff, "I'll boil water for you, you soak your feet, have you eaten?"

"Ate," Li Long said with a smile, "The craziest time riding a bicycle today."

"Why return so late? How unsafe it is in the mountains," Gu Xiaoxia said with a bit of complaint, "So many wolves..."

"Actually ran into wolves," Li Long propped up the bicycle, bolted the big door, and said while walking into the house, "Scared me, fired two shots, fortunately I was carrying a gun."

"What? Can't be like this in the future! If it's late, stay in the mountains, isn't there that wooden house!" Gu Xiaoxia was startled listening, "Hurry into the house, take off your clothes, I'll hang them up for you to air."

The two of them got along like an old married couple. Li Long changed his clothes, and while Gu Xiaoxia brought him foot-washing water, he told her about the things on the road while soaking his feet and sitting beside her.

After listening, Gu Xiaoxia bit her lip and went to pour a cup of hot water for Li Long, and then brought a thermos to add hot water to the basin where Li Long was soaking his feet, only then sat down and said:

"Fortunately you carried a gun, and fortunately you reacted fast. If it were me, seeing those green eyes might have been scared to death."

"Hehe, you wouldn't—I remember you shot quite accurately during militia training." Actually, Li Long was still a bit scared now. At that time, he only cared about pushing the bicycle, and there was wind, he didn't hear the movement beside him at all.

If that was a wolf, or a group of wolves, it was completely possible to quietly sneak behind him, and then pounce on him all at once.

Why didn't they pounce on him, actually Li Long had guessed it all the way.

Two possibilities, first, that wasn't a wolf, it was other animals. Because things with bright eyes at night weren't just wolves, Li Long had experience, in the middle of the night at Halimu's sheep pen, using a flashlight to shine on sheep also had green eyes.

Another possibility, that wolf might be because Li Long was pushing a bicycle, the person and vehicle together were quite big, the wolf was relatively careful, afraid it was some big guy, so it didn't dare to pounce.

After all, wild animals were cautious and careful about things with large body shapes that they hadn't seen before.

Thinking of the donkey of Qian, that tiger also tested it three times before attacking.

African children all knew to lift a wooden board to make themselves look bigger, this could scare away jackals.

Li Long told Gu Xiaoxia his thoughts, and Gu Xiaoxia also felt it made sense.

Li Long finished the hot water, let out a long breath, and said:

"Comfortable, now the cold air is all gone... can sleep a comfortable sleep."

"Come, I'll wipe your feet," Gu Xiaoxia squatted down, took a foot-wiping towel and wiped Li Long's feet dry, which made Li Long feel a bit embarrassed, laughing hehe.

"Laughing at what? You've been tired for a day, hurry and rest," Gu Xiaoxia said, "Know you've worked hard, but don't need to be so driven, most of my salary is saved, we'll live together later, can't just have you driven there..."

"Hehehehe..." Li Long scratched his head with a silly smile.

"Look at you." Gu Xiaoxia finished wiping Li Long's feet and went out with the basin.

When Li Long was lying on the bed, Gu Xiaoxia poked her head in, saw he was lying down, and said:

"I still have a document here, you sleep first. What do you want to eat tomorrow morning?"

Seeing her a bit timid, not daring to enter, and wanting to ask things, Li Long felt she was still quite cute, so he said:

"You look and make it, I love to eat everything."

"Hmph." Gu Xiaoxia wrinkled her nose, "Rest early, I'll turn off the light for you." After speaking, she turned off the light and gently closed the door.

It seemed those sticking out tongues to show girls were cute were all fake, Li Long closed his eyes and thought, not many real girls stuck out their tongues, wrinkling their noses was quite good-looking.

And then he fell asleep. (End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 393 =====