Chapter 397: A Year

"Little Li, this is 106 rabbits." Section Chief Hu asked Li Long after hearing the logistics staff finish counting, "You didn't count them much at the time?"

"I counted," Li Long said with a smile, "A hundred was the agreement we signed."

"Little Li, your ideological awareness is very high," Section Chief Hu patted Li Long on the shoulder and said, "But we are a state-run factory after all, how can we take advantage of you individuals?"

"No, no, how could you take advantage of us? I've already hauled several carts of sugar residue from you. This sugar residue is of great help to the farming in our village," Li Long said sincerely, "Section Chief Hu, I'm telling the truth, I'm really not being polite with you..."

"Truth, I like to hear the truth. Alright, since that's the case, you can haul another cart of sugar residue back later, just haul it from the factory. Don't be in a hurry to leave at noon; the food in our sugar factory canteen is still quite good. Eat before you get busy with your things. In the future, if you want to haul sugar residue, just come find me. I can't guarantee anything else, but this sugar residue is enough!" Section Chief Hu promised seriously.

Li Long didn't refuse either. After weighing the rabbits and fish, signing, settling the account, and getting the money, he stored the cart, carried the gun holster, and followed Section Chief Hu to the canteen.

"Little Li, you're still carrying a gun. Was this issued by your village?" Section Chief Hu saw at a glance that the gun holster contained a rifle and asked in surprise.

"Yeah, it's a militia company gun. I have no choice either," Li Long smiled bitterly, "I've been to Shicheng several times before and encountered two groups of robbers on the way. If I hadn't been carrying a gun, I might have been robbed of everything at the time. Later, I got used to it."

"Sigh, these two years are indeed a bit chaotic," Section Chief Hu shook his head, "Our factory's security section has also been quite busy recently. From time to time, there are petty thieves climbing over the wall to steal things from the factory. It's really a bit chaotic."

Li Long knew about this situation but didn't say anything. After all, the higher-ups would definitely attach importance to this kind of thing later.

The lunch at the sugar factory was indeed quite good: steamed buns, stir-fried vegetables, and cabbage vermicelli soup. Although there was no meat in the vegetables, the portion was quite sufficient. Section Chief Hu asked someone to get a portion of food for Li Long and told him to eat with peace of mind, while he also got a portion and ate opposite Li Long. Although he was a section chief, he was still the same as everyone else at this time.

Just as they were eating, others came to get food. Section Chief Hu looked at those people and then shouted:

"Little Song, Little Li from Maxian is here. You take him to the waste workshop later and let him load a horse cart of sugar residue directly there. That's convenient."

"Alright." Little Song was Group Leader Song Ming, whom Li Long had seen before. He greeted Li Long with a smile and then went to get food.

Section Chief Hu got little and ate fast. After eating, Section Chief Hu left first, and Li Long waited for Song Ming.

"Comrade Li, I heard you came here to deliver New Year benefits to our factory this time?"

"Haha, not delivering, selling to you," Li Long corrected in a low voice, "Fish and rabbits, about the same as the rabbits last time. We have a lot of wasteland there, and there are many rabbits on the red willow beach."

The abundance of rabbits lasted until the 1990s. In those two years, people from other places drove to the beach in the east and used batteries to pull wires to electrocute rabbits. It was said that when they left, they pulled away a truckload of rabbits.

Although the protection of wild animals had been legislated in those years, there were few people in charge. In those two years, the rabbits were almost wiped out, just like when the flood in the small Haizi broke the dam and hurt the fish school. Later, it lasted until more than ten years later before the scale of wild rabbits came up.

Of course, by the time this place was turned into a wetland protection area, rabbits and pheasants had already begun to flood.

The kind of flooding that could be hit with a slingshot!

"Hey, Comrade Little Li, that rabbit is really fat!" After eating, Song Ming washed his lunch box and carried it with Li Long to the workshop. While walking, he said: "I took it back and let my mom stew it. The meat is really delicious, just a bit of earthy smell. But wild game, how could it not have a bit of smell?"

Everything was lacking in these years. It was impossible for ordinary families to use too many seasonings when cooking, so naturally, they couldn't suppress the earthy smell of the rabbit. Li Long smiled and said:

"If you want it to be delicious, use more chili and more Sichuan peppercorns. The taste will be good."

"Need to be flavorful, right? Sichuan peppercorns are hard to get, but this chili is easy to get!" Little Song was happy when he heard it, "It's a pity that the rabbit was eaten, but you delivered it this time, I should be able to get one. I'll try it during the New Year!"

"Don't be so frugal. In two days, I might go to the old street to sell fish and rabbits again. When I come over then, I'll bring you two. I often find you to haul sugar residue, so I have to express it, right?"

"Haha, Little Li, to be honest, you, this friend, are really okay! Alright, I'll wait for you in two days. My apprentice and I haul sugar residue every day, anyway, you can always run into us."

"Good."

The matter was settled. After eating, Little Song enthusiastically took Li Long to load the sugar residue and curiously asked Li Long why he was carrying a gun.

Li Long explained the situation, and Little Song also sighed, saying that this matter was really quite troublesome.

This time, it was all packed in sacks. After the sugar residue came out of the pot, it was directly packed in sacks and was still dripping water, but as feed for livestock, it didn't matter if it froze on the road. Twelve sacks of sugar residue were loaded on the cart. Li Long said goodbye to Little Song, swayed away from the sugar factory, and headed towards Maxian.

When passing that poplar forest, Li Long became vigilant, loaded the rifle bullets, opened the safety, and stood on the cart shaft, standing high and seeing far. No. 76 was an old horse that knew the way; it could continue to move forward without being driven, just not fast.

Walking all the way, he didn't find anyone lying in ambush. Occasionally, a truck passed by, kicking up a cloud of snow powder. The driver on the truck would show a surprised expression when looking at Li Long.

After passing the poplar forest, there was only a row of poplar trees on both sides of the road further ahead. Further ahead, to the north was a field, and to the south was the Gobi. Both could be seen for several kilometers at a glance, and no one could hide. Further ahead, it reached the checkpoint, and Li Long breathed a sigh of relief.

It was fine.

After crossing the Mahe Bridge, Li Long turned towards the department store.

After settling the account today, plus the previous money, his pockets were full. According to the current figures, it topped the annual cash income of several families.

After going to the department store, he carried the gun holster and started buying things.

The horse cart was tied to the railing of the shed outside and could be seen through the glass, so Li Long wasn't worried.

He first went to the women's clothing section and bought a scarf for Gu Xiaoxia and his sister-in-law each. After wrapping them up, he went to the men's clothing section and bought a pair of big-headed shoes for his big brother.

Big-headed shoes were imitations of military products and belonged to labor protection products at this time. In this era, they were very practical for people in the countryside. Li Long originally planned to buy cotton leather shoes, but thought better of it. Cotton leather shoes were really not practical at this time, and wearing them out might lead to others calling him "showy."

Carrying these things, Li Long went to the liquor counter and bought two bottles of Moutai.

"I won't return this wine if it's sold." The big brother at the counter reminded him after seeing Li Long take out money and liquor coupons.

"Someone returns it?" Li Long asked with some surprise.

"Return it, sauce-flavored wine, many people here aren't used to drinking it," the big brother reminded kindly, "If you haven't drunk it, it's best not to try. You can't return it once opened. Seven or eight yuan a bottle, it's not cheap!"

"Then give me four bottles." Li Long saw there were still some in the counter, so he said with a smile, "Let me see my liquor coupons... oh, I can only buy four bottles."

If this wine was kept for thirty years, could it appreciate thousands or tens of thousands of times?

But it didn't matter. He bought a few more bottles not to sell after collecting them. It would be quite good to take them out and look at them after keeping them for some years.

With this condition, why not get a few bottles?

The big brother saw Li Long was so determined, so he took four bottles of wine—there were no paper boxes outside the wine at this time, but the big brother at the counter had unique skills. He found a rope and tied the four bottles of wine together, making a slipknot on top. It was sturdy when carried, and it wouldn't loosen, nor would they collide.

"This craft is good!" Li Long paid, opened the ticket, carried the wine, praised him, and continued forward.

In the food area, Li Long bought sesame pancakes, flour noodles, and weighed a kilogram of fruit candies. There really weren't many snacks that could be bought at this time. He bought six packs of sponge cakes. The ingredient list of sponge cakes at this time was really very clean, with only three or four items. Unlike the sponge cakes Li Long saw in supermarkets in later generations, which were packaged in plastic boxes, the first three main ingredients weren't eggs! And the ingredient list was densely printed in three rows!

Well, technology and harsh work, why say anything.

He bought a case of small champagne—directly shocking the salesperson. Usually, except for those coming to stock up in the retail department or units holding activities, few people bought a case directly.

The salesperson directly helped Li Long move the cardboard box containing the small champagne to the horse cart!

Going to the stationery area, he bought a relatively high-end Hero fountain pen for Li Juan, with a paper box, unlike the wholesale ones, the kind with ten in a box, and a small Rubik's cube. For Li Qiang, he bought a plastic toy revolver and a magnetic plastic stationery box.

The rest was for himself.

Li Long thought for a while and finally settled the account.

He wasn't buying his own things here.

He turned around and was about to go out, and then he saw that girl. The girl who once seemed to have a bit of interest in him, originally with two big braids, now her hair was coiled up. Was she married?

But she looked quite serious and didn't smile much.

Li Long didn't think much about it. This thought was just a flash, and then he carried the things out.

He still had to buy things for himself.

Putting these things on the horse cart, he untied the reins and pulled the horse cart to the Zhang Xin Hua Bookstore.

Li Long planned to buy a few books to keep and read.

At this time, there weren't many novels he was familiar with. Even the complete collection of Jin Yong's novels, which were famous in later generations, hadn't come out in the mainland yet. But fortunately, there was Wulin Magazine, which published the book "The Legend of the Condor Heroes" from 1981 to 1982. It's just that the Zhang Xin Hua Bookstore didn't have the complete collection of this thick magazine. They should have ordered some, some of which were sold, and then some were kept.

Li Long flipped through it for a long time, then found more than a dozen magazines, bought a few books about traditional Chinese medicine in Xinjiang, paid, and settled the account. Only then did he take the horse cart and go to the subsidiary food company with a slightly unsatisfied mind.

This place was mainly food, and many things didn't need coupons anymore, but things transported from the mainland that were in short supply still had to be purchased with coupons.

For example, kelp, for example, hairtail.

Li Long bought three portions of each, picking and choosing, almost using up all the subsidiary food coupons on his body.

After buying these things, Li Long still felt unsatisfied and bought some eggs, then didn't plan to continue buying. He could go to the market to buy more, but he didn't want to go anymore. Most of the things in the market were available at home, or could be found in the team.

!.

Li Long's big shopping today was considered to be over. He pulled the horse cart back to the big courtyard.

Gu Xiaoxia hadn't finished work yet. Li Long first unharnessed No. 76 and supported the horse cart with a stool. Li Long led No. 76 to the back, wiped its sweat, put out grass and feed, and after finishing, went to the kitchen.

He washed the hairtail, kelp, and other things, soaked wood ear mushrooms and chili skin, took out frozen meat to thaw, and also took out a fish to thaw.

He prepared to make a big meal in the evening.

The stove fire in the kitchen had already gone out. In the gap of preparing, Li Long began to rebuild the fire, boil water, and do the preparatory work.

While preparing, he recalled the dishes he had made before. Braised hairtail, cold kelp, stir-fried wood ear mushrooms with eggs, and stir-frying two meat dishes. There was wine in the big room, and he had bought small champagne. He could drink a little freely tonight.

When Gu Xiaoxia entered the courtyard, she smelled a rich fragrance.

She ate pulled noodles at Sister Yang's place for lunch—Sister Yang was very capable and eager to learn. She had already learned how to make pulled noodles. Although they were pulled quite thick, the vegetables were stir-fried well, so Gu Xiaoxia ate a lot at noon and planned not to eat in the afternoon.

When she saw the door wasn't locked at the courtyard gate, she was filled with joy. Li Long was back!

She happily pushed open the big gate, pushed her bicycle into the courtyard, and after smelling the scent, she knew she could satisfy her appetite today!

"You change your clothes first, wash up, I'll be done here soon!" Li Long shouted in the kitchen, followed by the sound of stir-frying.

"Good." Gu Xiaoxia propped up her bicycle, locked it, carried her bag into the house, and started changing clothes.

After changing clothes and washing simply, Gu Xiaoxia came out and entered the kitchen. Seeing Li Long stir-frying, she leaned against the door and watched with a smile.

"One more dish, and it'll be ready to eat." Li Long said while stir-frying, "My timing is accurate, right?"

"Why is it so sumptuous today?" Gu Xiaoxia looked at the five plates on the table and asked with some doubt, "It's not New Year or a festival."

"Isn't it because I earned money?" The spatula in Li Long's hand paused, and then he said with a smile while stir-frying, "I earned a few hundred by delivering things to the Shicheng Sugar Factory these few trips, and I also let Big Brother, Big Brother, and Yongqiang earn some. It's about like this before the New Year. A big thing is solved, shouldn't we celebrate?"

Although Li Long gave a reason, Gu Xiaoxia always felt that the reason was a bit far-fetched.

"Of course, the most important reason," Li Long used the spatula to scoop out a piece of meat to taste the saltiness. It felt good, so he took a plate to serve the dish, and said while serving:

"At this time last year, I was fired from the factory, and then I felt I couldn't go on like this. Then I started from hauling wood into the mountains, step by step to where I am now."

Li Long served the dish and put it on the table, looking at Gu Xiaoxia with a bright smile: "Look, it's been a year."

"Yeah, it's been a year." Gu Xiaoxia repeated with emotion. She felt that this was the main reason.

Because Li Long's feeling to people after this time last year was completely different from before. Before, he felt like a child who hadn't grown up, vain, proud, and carrying a bit of exaggeration and a little bit of inferiority.

After that? Down-to-earth, confident, capable, brave, having ideas, and having execution.

These were all things he didn't possess before.

The two took bowls and chopsticks. Li Long finally made porridge—originally he was prepared to make a salty soup, but with the current eating habits, no staple food or no grain didn't count as a meal. So he simply made porridge and pancakes.

"Eat," Li Long greeted, "Come, taste the flavor."

Gu Xiaoxia said with a smile:

"Anyway, it's definitely better than what I make. To tell the truth, this fish—" she pointed to the hairtail and said, "I don't know how to make it at all."

Not to mention making it, even eating it was rare. After all, this thing was sea fish. In the current time of material scarcity and inconvenient transportation, sea fish was still a very precious thing, even dried shrimp was considered so.

Of course, kelp was slightly more common. After all, this thing was equivalent to seaweed, too easy to fish.

Gu Xiaoxia praised it every time she ate a bite, which made Li Long feel a bit embarrassed. He said with a smile:

"If you like it, eat more. In winter, you have to store more fat, it's warm, and it's good for getting through the winter."

Gu Xiaoxia smiled embarrassedly. But to tell the truth, the table of dishes Li Long made was really delicious. She didn't finish the half pancake in her hand until she was full; she basically just ate the dishes.

"The rest of these are enough for me to eat for several meals." Gu Xiaoxia gave a small burp and changed the subject embarrassedly:

"Looking at each one, they are all quite good. Anyway, it's cold outside now, it can be stored, it can't be wasted."

"Not wasted, what's wasted?" Li Long smiled, "This doesn't count as anything. Before the New Year, I'll see if I should slaughter another wild boar, make a pig-killing dish, and then let sister-in-law stew more pickled cabbage and meat. After it's soaked, cut it into pieces and bring it over. Heat a piece every few days to eat, that's the fragrant one."

Li Long really had experience with this. In later generations, even in the village, there weren't many people who fed pigs purely with grain. Li Long raised one every year, just to eat a pig-killing dish at the end of the year. He pickled the cabbage himself. Although it wasn't as delicious as what his sister-in-law pickled, it wasn't much worse. The main thing was that the pig was slaughtered on the spot, and the pig-killing pickled cabbage and big meat stewed with the meat on the neck that day was a unique taste.

Every year, he would stew more. After the people who helped finished eating, he would wait for the rest in the pot to soak, cut it into pieces, pack it in food bags, and freeze it outside. Heat a piece every few days to eat, especially using hot steamed buns to dip in that oil, it was too fragrant.

Many people in the village also began to feed pigs half feed and half grain, so the taste of the pork wasn't as fragrant as feeding directly with grain. Although many people wanted to buy meat from Li Long, Li Long just wouldn't sell it.

In this life, he hoped to avoid those disasters, and then this matter would be handed over to his big brother!

Hehe!

"What are you thinking about that makes you so happy?" Gu Xiaoxia looked at Li Long's changing expressions, a smile on his face, and asked curiously.

"I was just thinking, anyway, my big brother is a professional pig farmer, so let him keep raising them in the future. Every year, slaughter pigs and eat pig-killing dishes, and I'll go to his house to sponge off..."

"What his house? Isn't that also your house?" Gu Xiaoxia asked.

"The problem is, we're going to build a new house in early spring, and soon we'll be a family." After Li Long finished speaking, he remembered that he originally planned to drink tonight!

My pig brain! (End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 398 =====