Chapter 393: The Spoils Not Taken Away

When Li Long got up the next day, the sky was already bright. Actually, the biological clock had played a bit of a role, but Li Long opened his eyes and looked, then went back to sleep, because there was no need to get up, so he slept very peacefully afterward, not even knowing Gu Xiaoxia got up to cook.

It was truly that yesterday's riding plus the thrilling excitement in the middle made his body and mind a bit tired, so he simply rested well.

When he got up, the temperature in the house wasn't low, he knew it was Gu Xiaoxia who added coal to the stove.

Such a plain life, actually quite good. It was just that he still had to run around to save money. At this moment, he even envied those in the village who could live a life with a wife and children on a warm kang now, although they didn't have as much money as himself, at least they were happy for now.

Not necessarily, just like the words of a quite famous female writer in the Northern Frontier many years later, the general meaning was like this, people always had to worry about some things, not worrying about this thing, they would worry about another thing.

Those who could truly achieve contentment and happiness were not many.

Or rather, very few.

Getting up, rubbing his face, putting on clothes, going out to use the toilet, coming to the kitchen, he saw the breakfast Gu Xiaoxia had made.

Rice porridge, leavened pancakes, stir-fried pickles, oil-splashed chili.

Li Long ate after washing up, and after eating, he tidied up the kitchen, and continued his running around.

Arming himself fully, he rode his bicycle and rushed back.

In Li Long's view, he had only been gone for two days, returning to the team, rabbits should be collected for thirty or forty at most.

But he truly underestimated everyone's enthusiasm for making money.

Returning to the Li family, looking at the seven or eight people chatting and smoking in the courtyard, not even entering the house, Li Long knew, I'm afraid this matter wasn't as simple as he thought.

These people were likely not just for making money, there were other reasons.

"Yo, Little Long is back." What Li Long didn't expect was that Team Leader Xu Chengjun was also there. Seeing Li Long, he greeted with a smile, "This is returning from the county?"

"Mm, went to Shicheng," Li Long said. "Why not go into the house? How cold it is outside."

"No matter, not cold, not cold," others responded with a smile, "Chatting is lively, besides, can't stand inside."

"We are all here to send rabbits, three yuan per rabbit, catching seven or eight rabbits a day, it's equivalent to a month's wage of an apprentice," Xu Chengjun smoked a puff of Mohe tobacco cannon and said: "Worth it! You kid did a good thing this time!"

Some other people were a bit embarrassed to say this, Xu Chengjun didn't care, he was the first to know about this matter, and also the first to ask Li Long if he collected rabbits. The people standing in the courtyard now all had a good relationship with him, and were also notified by him, so he said this without the slightest embarrassment.

He and Li Long both understood that this matter itself was a win-win, people in the village earned money, Li Long could complete the task.

"Then you guys chat, I'll go in and see," Li Long heard sounds from the side of the idle house, so he propped up the bicycle, said a sentence, and then entered the house.

"You do your work, don't worry about us, we'll wait a bit and leave, still have to go get snares in the afternoon." Xu Chengjun smiled.

Li Long pushed the door, a wave of heat rushed out, the house was very hot. On the side of the idle house, Li Jianguo was talking:

"... three over three kilograms, calculate three yuan for you, total is nine yuan, this one is big, almost six kilograms, calculate four yuan for you, not a loss, right? This adds up to thirteen yuan, and these small ones, at most two kilograms, this rabbit can't be collected, you take it back to cook and eat."

"Eat what, leave it here, put it inside," the person with his back to Li Long took the money Li Jianguo gave and said loudly: "Old Li, you give money quickly, I can't be stingy here either, right? Alright, I'm leaving, see if I can get a few more in the afternoon!"

That person turned around, Li Long said with a smile:

"Old Brother Hao, you also snared rabbits?"

"That's not it?" Hao Xinzhong smiled, "You got a way for everyone to earn money, can we not be active? Little Long, you are this!"

He gave a thumbs up, gestured to Li Long, and then patted his shoulder and went out.

Hao Jianzhong's age was older than Li Jianguo's, he was also from the period when the village was built. He came first, later his wife and children came. He was a good hand at work, but his brain wasn't very flexible. A few years later, his family was just enough to eat, just knowing how to work in the fields, and the scope of planting things was also very narrow, basically just wheat, rapeseed, etc., which were basically necessary for life and could pay public grain.

Li Jianguo was different from him, or rather, Li Jianguo was different from most people in the village. Besides raising pigs, Li Jianguo played with the twenty or thirty mu of land at home and the twenty mu of land contracted later until it was almost fancy, sugar beets, carrots, melon seeds, sunflower seeds, lettuce, etc., all had been planted, in short, he tossed for a few years and bought a tractor.

Unfortunately...

Li Long didn't think anymore, and walked toward the idle house.

There was no fire wall connected here and no stove set up, the temperature was low, the door was closed, the heat couldn't come in, it was relatively suitable for putting things.

What surprised Li Long a bit was that there was a high pile of frozen rabbits stacked against the wall, a rough look had at least fifty or sixty!

"Eldest Brother, so many!"

"Haha, that's not it!" Li Jianguo smiled, "I didn't think that in just two days, collected so many! I feel that in two more days, these rabbits will be almost enough, still collect later?"

"Collect," Li Long said, "Enough for the sugar factory, the rest we can go to Shicheng to sell."

"Also right," Li Jianguo said, "We'll just be middlemen."

"That's not quite the same, we call this intermediary, also called economy," Li Long said with a smile, "Finding a way for everyone to earn money, by the way, earn some hard-earned money, travel expenses, right."

"Haha, you know how to learn," Li Jianguo knew this was a business that was sure to make a profit, actually quite happy, and then asked:

"How about in the mountains? Settled?"

"Settled, they don't want money, let me pull more grain and other materials up."

"Also, they don't have much use for money, might as well exchange for materials," Li Jianguo nodded, "Let's go, let's go out, I'll close this door, can't let the heat run in."

Coming out of the idle house, Li Long heard that there was no sound in the courtyard, so he said with a smile:

"Didn't think the team leader was catching rabbits with people."

"Haha, he's also looking for the feeling of before. Think about it, before in the team, that was all shouted on the loudspeaker, everyone acted together. Last year the land was divided, later it was said that the remaining land would also be contracted out, in the future, there will be fewer opportunities to work together like this. At most, it's digging canals and planting trees in the spring that can act together. This team leader is not having enough fun!"

"And also because he's afraid that people in the team will be idle and cause some trouble. This year the ration land was divided, plus you found a few jobs for everyone to earn money, so everyone has a bit of money in their pockets, some people are restless, there are those playing cards and money, and those stealing small things.

The team leader gathered these people together to get rabbits, run around outside and get tired, it can be considered an entertainment activity, this tired, go back and won't have so many thoughts to think about other things."

Li Long hadn't expected that there were so many ways in this. It seemed that management was truly a science, whether managing a company or managing a production team, it needed pondering, needed ability and methods.

He asked himself he couldn't do this, didn't have that ability.

Liang Yuemei was cooking, Li Qiang and Li Juan had gone out to play. Li Jianguo and Li Long were chatting in the west room.

"I intend to send a telegram home before the New Year," Li Jianguo said, "Tell Father and Mother, let them come over after the New Year. Last year I saw they were quite used to it, then continue to come over. Where is not passing New Year."

"Exactly, the house here is warm, winter can also raise people, the winter in the old home is just tormenting people," Li Long still had a bit of memory of living in the old home in his brain.

When the meal was almost ready, someone knocked on the door, and then pushed the door in.

Li Long stood up first, listening to Liang Yuemei say:

"Jia Wei Guo? You are here to sell rabbits? Come in, come in!"

Then Liang Yuemei shouted inside:

"Juan's father, Little Long, Jia Wei Guo is here to sell rabbits."

Jia Wei Guo's surname was Jia, he was a family that joined the team later. Li Long vaguely remembered that when he first came, he was like a refugee, wearing ragged clothes, at that time there weren't many people in the team, he joined the team, stayed for two years, then brought his wife over, and then gave birth to a daughter in the team.

The couple's health wasn't very good, especially his wife had a chronic illness, couldn't do much work, the family didn't live very well.

Li Jianguo and Li Long both went over, looking at Jia Wei Guo holding two rabbits, standing at the door a bit awkwardly.

Jia Wei Guo's clothes were a bit big, the cotton-padded clothes inside were a bit thin, feeling like an empty bucket wearing clothes outside, the appearance of not being able to support it.

Seeing Li Jianguo and Li Long come over, he smiled, maybe still a bit embarrassed and unaccustomed, lowered his head.

"Jia Wei Guo is here, you caught rabbits? Not bad, not bad! Walk, come inside!"

Li Jianguo opened the door of the idle house, signaling Jia Wei Guo to follow. "This big rabbit is three yuan," Li Jianguo looked at the rabbits Jia Wei Guo handed over and said, "The small one, calculate two yuan five for you..."

Li Long could see that the small rabbit was under three kilograms, had declared not to collect it before, but now he didn't say anything. They were all from the same team, his eldest brother didn't want to make Jia Wei Guo difficult, he naturally had no opinion.

"Then... thank you, Old Li Brother," Jia Wei Guo's lips moved, said a sentence, his face a bit red, "I know... this rabbit is a bit small..."

"No matter, big has big price, small has small price," Li Jianguo smiled, "Give, you keep the money, come, give me the rabbit."

Jia Wei Guo took the money, pinched it in his hand, a bit at a loss.

"Haven't eaten yet, eat before leaving?" Liang Yuemei asked in the middle room.

"Don't eat, don't eat, I have to go back... Guixiang cooked at home," Jia Wei Guo hurriedly said, feeling he was about to sweat.

"Then take a few steamed buns back," Liang Yuemei said while nimbly wrapping a few steamed buns with a cage cloth and tying a knot, "Give to the children to eat, your family's Xiaocui looks really thin, must eat something good." Saying that, she stuffed the steamed buns into Jia Wei Guo's hand.

Jia Wei Guo wanted to refuse, Li Jianguo smiled and said:

"Take it, adults are fine, children are in the period of growing body, can't delay."

Jia Wei Guo's lips moved, not knowing what to say.

!.

Li Long opened the door and sent the person out.

When he returned, Li Jianguo sighed:

"This is a bitter person. If it weren't for something happening those few years, he might have been a good teacher, maybe he would have had a job in the city."

Li Long wasn't very clear about this, curiously asked: "He went to high school?"

"High school graduate. At that time, being able to go to high school was also impressive," Li Jianguo said, "When working, vaguely heard him say it, he is a good person, just doesn't know how to speak."

"Guixiang is also a pitiful person," Liang Yuemei, who brought a plate of dishes in, continued, "When pregnant with the first baby, Jia Wei Guo just had an accident, as a result... gone, this was only pregnant with Xiaocui after arriving at the team, her own health wasn't good, the child was congenitally insufficient..."

Truly a pitiful person.

Li Long shook his head, a bit moved. Character and ability were the first, the family's situation didn't occupy the main position, much better than what he heard from novels and old people in the old home.

"Eat, eat, you guys eat first, I'll go call Juan and Qiangqiang."

"I'll go, I'll go," Li Long smiled, "I'll go out and shout, it's almost enough."

Just talking, the sound of children talking came from outside, Li Long smiled and said:

"Look, back, children have a sense of time."

"What, eight out of ten are hungry," Liang Yuemei said.

The door opened, Li Qiang shouted loudly:

"Starving to death, Mom! What food made... stir-fried dish... Little Uncle is back? When did Little Uncle arrive? Why didn't I see you?"

"Back less than an hour," Li Long smiled.

Li Qiang was stronger than himself. He said silently in his heart. When he was as big as Li Qiang, he wouldn't greet at all when relatives came to the house. Li Qiang was also like that before, but now obviously was much more active and confident.

Was this also a change brought by himself?

After eating, Li Jianguo took Li Long to see the fish placed in the east room. In these two days, the fish scooped up by Tao Daqiang and Yang Yongqiang were seventy or eighty kilograms, and the fish sent by the Liang family and two other families were one hundred kilograms. Generally speaking, according to this progress, one ton could be had in five or six days.

Li Long's meaning, continue to get. Save more, go to Shicheng to sell a few more times before the New Year, and money will come.

Li Jianguo also had no opinion, before winter truly had no income, now with this good thing, why not do it? He himself was thinking, if he had known, he should have left a pig to slaughter before the New Year, pull it to Shicheng to sell, definitely sell fast, and the price definitely good.

Li Long didn't go to Little Haizi, after eating, he went to the horse pen.

Uncle Lao Luo was picking those grass stalks from the pen, seeing Li Long come over, he complained:

"These deer and roe deer are picky! This grass is so good, don't eat it well, every day thinking about sugar dregs and corn flour! That cattle is so good, can eat clean..."

"Uncle Lao Luo, you also have to think, this deer grows up, how can it sell for five or six hundred, a cattle at most three hundred yuan, different!"

"That's true..." Uncle Lao Luo thought this way, and smiled, "This precious thing really has the benefits of being precious."

In the evening, Tao Daqiang and Yang Yongqiang came over, Li Long could see that both were very excited.

"Why, scooped a big fish?" Li Long asked with a smile.

"No, but there are truly quite a few fish these two days. The colder it gets, the thicker the ice freezes, the fish below lack oxygen, can scoop quite a lot in a day!"

"It's a good thing," Li Long smiled, "Get to one ton as soon as possible, then I can send it to Shicheng."

"Then what if it exceeds?" Yang Yongqiang asked.

"Exceeding we keep," Li Long said, "After the sugar factory's job is done, we can continue to sell to the Old Street side," Li Long said, "Money, we don't think it's too much!"

"That's it, I don't think it's too much either!"

"I don't think it's too much either!" Tao Daqiang popped out, "The more the better!"

"Hahahahaha!"

The three of them laughed together.

The next day after eating breakfast, Li Long went to his eldest brother's place, saddled the horse-drawn carriage, and drove to the county.

He needed to prepare the materials as soon as possible, and then send them into the mountains. According to Li Long's guess, Halimu and the others would definitely prepare the sheep in these one or two days. If it were just Halimu and Yushanjiang, that might still need a few days. But gathering the people nearby, the speed would be very fast.

Li Long first went to the market, saw that there wasn't much grain sold in the market, so he went to the grain store. Unfortunately, there was no special-priced grain for sale now. Li Long took out all the stored grain coupons, bought eight bags of rice and eight bags of flour, two hundred kilograms each.

The horse-drawn carriage had a frame, loading these wasn't considered much. He went to the supply and marketing cooperative, bought four bags of fifty-kilogram coarse salt, these coarse salt were for herdsmen to add feed to livestock in winter, of course, sheepskin preservation and insect prevention also needed to be wiped with salt.

They weren't used to using refined salt, coarse salt was just right for them. If there was no coarse salt, they would also go to get rock salt, but rock salt had quite a lot of impurities, Li Long felt it was better to let them use coarse salt.

After loading, Li Long went to the department store, bought fifty blocks of brick tea, twenty blocks of rock sugar, twenty bags of refined salt, finally went to the market, found two vegetable stalls, loaded two bags of potatoes and two big bags of cabbage. These two kinds of vegetables could be eaten even if frozen. Mainly because herdsmen had no vegetables in winter, relying only on tea to solve the problem of vitamins wasn't very good.

Before leaving, he went to the medicine company, bought some common medicines.

That director still remembered Li Long, so he didn't have problems buying medicine.

Driving the horse-drawn carriage, carrying a cart of things, Li Long tucked the gun holster in front of the horse-drawn carriage, and drove into the mountains.

Familiar road, Seventy-Six had walked it once, knew how to walk this road, this time the things pulled weren't as many as the last time, much lighter. When arriving opposite Halimu's winter nest, Li Long found that the trough for putting sheep blood was gone. Mutton and sheep offal were also gone, there was a big pile of snow outside the winter nest—Li Long guessed the things should be under the snow.

What surprised him a bit was that there were two wolves hanging by the sheep pen!

It seemed these goods should have been ambushed when they intended to steal things in the middle of the night.

The barking of dogs attracted Halimu, and following him were his two sons.

Li Long guessed Yushanjiang and the others should have already returned to their own homes.

Halimu followed Li Long and drove the cart to the side of the winter nest, after unloading the grain, Li Long drank milk tea, warmed up, and then began to load the cart.

Many things, he intended to return as soon as possible, even if he returned to the county, it was fine.

Sheepskin was placed at the bottom, the frame was propped up, and then mutton and offal were loaded. These offal were frozen together, which was quite convenient. And those sheep blood frozen into blocks.

"There are still a few skins," Halimu said, "Deer skin, wolf skin, you take them away, sell them together with these sheepskins. You've worked hard these few days."