Chapter 395: Before the New Year

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.

The saying "a spoonful of rice brings gratitude, a bushel brings enmity" may have been passed down from ancient times, but in reality, there were many more cases of it circulating on the internet when Li Long was dying in his previous life. In this day and age, more people knew how to be grateful.

Li Long went into his room and saw the stove had been set up. A fierce fire of charcoal had already burned through, and it was now in the red-coal stage. He went to shovel some coal dust to dampen the fire, then lay on the bed, feeling for a book. Flipping through the content, he discovered it was "Seven Swords Descending from Mount Heaven." He randomly flipped to Ling Weifeng wielding the Heavenly Mountain Divine Radiance, started reading, and then fell asleep.

In his dream, Li Long himself could also use the Heavenly Mountain Divine Radiance. In his hands, that thing was like a large grain of wild wheat; throwing it out could poke a big hole in a wild wolf. It was extremely powerful.

Then he was woken up by Old Luo Shu.

He thought about his dream and smiled. No matter how powerful that Divine Radiance was, could it be more powerful than a bullet?

Old Luo Shu had already finished cooking: stir-fried tripe with hot peppers, stir-fried sheep intestines, and steamed cornmeal cake.

!.

Li Long saw the fire here was still good, so he added a stove of coal, washed his hands, and ate with Old Luo Shu.

It was getting dark. While they were eating, Tao Daqiang and Yang Yongqiang came over together.

"Brother Long, we caught a big five-striped perch today, over two kilograms, look!" Yang Yongqiang excitedly held up a fish for Li Long to see, "We won't freeze this fish; leave it here for you and Old Luo Shu to eat."

Li Long knew that five-striped perch were becoming increasingly rare in the reservoir, especially the big ones, and he didn't know where they had gone. This fish meat was delicious, and villagers who liked fish usually kept it for themselves if they weren't short on money. Of course, the Li family preferred crucian carp.

But for making a big dish, five-striped perch, or river perch, would be more presentable and higher-end than crucian carp.

"How was the harvest today?" Li Long pointed to the stools for them to sit and asked.

"Not bad. Not many fish, but there were quite a few big ones today," Tao Daqiang said, "I caught four carp, three of them over two kilograms. This five-striped perch was caught by Yongqiang. He also caught a big silver carp, looked like at least five kilograms."

"It's getting colder," Old Luo Shu said, "The big fish are more oxygen-deprived, so they like to come up more. Even knowing they'll be caught, they have to take the risk, otherwise they'll die. Come, come, grab your chopsticks and eat."

At this time, the amount of food cooked was large, mainly because they had moved beyond just having enough to eat and were moving toward a moderately prosperous life. Cooking more meant they could heat it up for the next meal. Another reason was naturally that many young people came to the horse station, meaning they were preparing for others to come and eat together.

Just like now.

Tao Daqiang and Yang Yongqiang didn't stand on ceremony either; they washed their hands, took chopsticks, grabbed some cornmeal cake, and started eating.

"My older brother has sheep offal. When you go back later, each of you take a plate to eat," Li Long said, "The intestines and tripe aren't washed, just squeezed of feces. You'll need to wash them after they thaw."

"That would be great!" Yang Yongqiang said while eating with a smile, "My dad loves eating this."

"My wife loves it too," Tao Daqiang spoke up, "She just took some fish back."

"Daqiang's wife is very capable," Yang Yongqiang said with envy, "These past two days she's been fishing with us during the day, going back at noon to cook, swapping with her dad to come over, and then coming back together after eating in the afternoon... Of the fish we two caught, Daqiang always caught more than me."

Li Long nodded thoughtfully.

He would give Tao Daqiang a bit more when it came time to split the money.

After eating, Tao Daqiang and Yang Yongqiang went to the Li family to get the offal. Li Long cleaned the five-striped perch, put it in the kitchen, and told Old Luo Shu to cook it tomorrow.

It was dark. Old Luo Shu and Li Long drove the deer into the warm pen and took the opportunity to pick out the grass stalks that had been eaten of their leaves and stack them by the edge of the open pen, making it convenient to feed the livestock tomorrow morning.

Li Long wasn't worried at all about feeding these things; Old Luo Shu would arrange it all.

Back in the room, he turned on the electric light. The stove fire was roaring, and Li Long felt a bit hot, so he turned to shovel some coal dust to dampen the fire.

Taking off his clothes and leaning against the bed frame, Li Long couldn't sleep, so he simply started reading.

By the time he felt sleepy, it was already past one o'clock. Li Long went out to use the toilet before going to sleep.

It was rare that he didn't need to travel the next day. Li Long slept soundly. When he woke up, it was already broad daylight. He could hear Old Luo Shu outside feeding the deer and roe deer, occasionally scolding the animals, seemingly annoyed that one of them was too impatient and was snatching food.

Li Long smiled, climbed up, put on his clothes, and walked out.

A gust of cold wind slipped into his clothes, and Li Long couldn't help but shiver. Tightening his clothes, he felt the temperature had dropped quite a bit.

Seeing Li Long come out, Old Luo Shu said with a smile:

"Looks like you slept well last night. Breakfast is in the pot; I've already eaten. You go do your work after you eat. Oh right, will you be back for lunch?"

"Maybe not, I need to go to my older brother's place," Li Long said.

He needed to go over and prepare the things to be sent to the sugar factory tomorrow. If there was enough now, loading the cart in advance would save a lot of trouble tomorrow.

"Alright, I'll cook that fish in the afternoon," Old Luo Shu nodded and continued feeding the deer.

Li Long had originally thought about letting Old Luo Shu eat the fish by himself, but later thought better of it. The old man had this intention and wouldn't change it easily. Besides, Old Luo Shu was all alone, and eating by himself must be tasteless; it would be nice for him to come over in the evening and keep him company. Two people eating together was always better than one.

After breakfast, Li Long rode his older brother's bicycle to the Li family.

Li Qiang was playing with a spinning top on the road outside the courtyard with several children. Seeing Li Long come over, he shouted loudly:

"Little Uncle!"

"Playing with the top?" Li Long asked, leaning to one side and pushing off the ground, "Did you finish your homework?"

"No..." Li Qiang immediately became like a deflated ball, lowering his head, afraid of being scolded, "There are still two books left."

"Alright, no rush, write some every day," Li Long didn't think he had to finish it all at once, "Play is play, but you still have to write your homework every day. You can play after you finish."

"Alright!" Li Qiang was happy. His little uncle didn't scold him for not finishing his homework; he felt his little uncle was the best!

Liang Wenyu was feeding the pigs. Li Long entered the house and saw Li Jianguo putting fish into bags. These bags included urea bags, ammonium nitrate bags, and the sacks Li Long had brought from the sugar factory.

"Older brother, enough fish, right?" Li Long understood as soon as he saw it.

"Enough, over a ton. I weighed it here; this pile is a ton," Li Jianguo pointed to a large pile of fish on the plastic sheet and some that were already bagged, "It's easier to store and unload when bagged."

"That's what I thought too. Let's bag them today, and together with the rabbits, I'll send them to Shicheng first thing tomorrow morning."

Actually, he could send them today, but with so many things loaded, the carriage wouldn't move fast. It would be fine going, but coming back might be dark, which wasn't very safe.

Tomorrow it is! (End of chapter)