Chapter 402

There were clearly more people in the old street market than before. Li Long drove the cart to the three-way intersection and couldn't get in. After driving the cart around the perimeter, he finally pulled it to the other side of the road and stopped.

He tied the reins to a tree by the roadside. Seeing the horse wasn't sweating much, Li Long untied the ropes on the cart, took off the plastic sheet and spread it on the side of the road, and then started moving the fish down.

After arranging the fish on more than half of the plastic sheet, separating the large and small ones neatly, he pulled down a dozen rabbits and placed them on the sheet. Li Long then took out the scale and started hawking.

This place was a bit remote. When shouting, Li Long pulled a stick out from the cart; it wasn't appropriate to bring out a gun at this time, as market administrators were patrolling back and forth, and it wouldn't be good to use a gun.

After hawking a few more times, people came over to look. Seeing Li Long's fish and rabbits arranged neatly, some asked for the price.

"Carp and five-striped black fish are 1.1 yuan per kilogram, crucian carp and silver carp are 1 yuan," Li Long said. "Large rabbits are 4 yuan, small ones are 3 yuan." He also separated the large and small rabbits into two sides. The plastic sheet was large, and the piles looked very distinct, making them easy to differentiate and avoiding disputes when people were picking.

It was arranged very neatly, and the buyers could see everything at a glance. An old man smiled and said:

"These five-striped black fish are not bad. Come, weigh one for me... just that one!"

"Alright!" Although the location was remote and already at the edge of the market, Li Long was still very happy to make a sale in less than ten minutes. He grabbed the fish and weighed it, shouting while weighing, "2.1 kilograms, counted as 2 kilograms, 2.2 yuan, look, the scale is high..."

The old man took out a cloth-sewn wallet, counted out 2.2 yuan, and handed it to Li Long.

Li Long had a bag around his waist, which he said was sewn by Gu Xiaoxia; the stitching was quite good, made of gray cloth. He took the money, stuffed it into the bag, and continued hawking.

Perhaps because the New Year was approaching, everyone started stocking up on food. Fish and rabbits were still very popular. Some people picked the large ones, while others picked the small ones. Some calculated that the large ones had more meat, while others calculated that the small ones cost less money; everyone had their own calculations.

Before long, the large fish on the plastic sheet were mostly sold, and some small fish remained. Li Long moved another bag and poured it out, quickly separating the large and small fish and arranging them when there were fewer people.

Rabbits were easier to handle; when someone bought one, he would pull a few more down from the cart and place them on the sheet.

When there were few people, Li Long would pull some grass down from the cart and place it in front of Seventy-Six to keep it from gnawing on the tree bark.

When the administrator came over, there weren't many people. He collected 30 cents in management fees from Li Long, saying this place was too remote and he would help Li Long keep an eye out if there were spots inside.

The administrator being so considerate made Li Long a bit unaccustomed. He looked at the items on the cart, smiled, and replied that it wasn't necessary. After all, he had a horse cart; if he were to enter the stalls inside, one cart would take up at least three stalls, which would be difficult to manage.

Li Long was weighing fish for someone when he heard someone calling him:

"Comrade Li, you've arrived!"

Li Long looked up; it was Song Ming.

"Yes," Li Long responded with a smile. After weighing the fish in hand and collecting the money, he said to Song Ming, "I've stored some more rabbits and fish over the past two days, so I came over to sell them."

"That's great, I was just thinking of finding you to get a rabbit to take back and cook," Song Ming said with a smile.

"Come, take one back to eat," Li Long said, pulling out a large rabbit. "Skin it after it thaws, and remove the internal organs as soon as possible after skinning. By the way, if you don't want to eat the rabbit head, you only need to use a knife to cut the skin at the neck and pull hard downward, and you can pull the whole skin off; it's very convenient."

"Is that so? I really didn't know that." Song Ming felt a sudden realization, and others listening also felt it was novel.

Then, someone who had bought fish hesitated for a moment and also asked for a rabbit.

Song Ming was about to pay Li Long, but Li Long waved his hand hurriedly:

"You've often helped me out; why pay for this? Just take it back and eat it."

Seeing Li Long's firm refusal, Song Ming said:

"Alright, then I won't pay. Are you going to the factory later?"

"Not today," Li Long shook his head. "I'm going into the mountains today; those sheep belong to friends in the mountains, and I have to deliver some grain to them."

"Oh, that's fine. Just come find us whenever you come over later." Song Ming lifted the rabbit, waved his hand, and turned to leave.

In an hour and a half, the fish and rabbits in Li Long's cart were sold out. He let out a long breath, packed up the plastic sheet, and led the horse cart to find Ke Youmu.

To Li Long's surprise, the milk tea shop was closed.

Was there something wrong at home, or did something happen at the shop?

Li Long didn't get to drink milk tea, which was a bit regrettable, so he led the horse cart into the city.

It would take more than two hours to return to Shicheng, and he planned to eat lunch in Shicheng before heading back.

At this time, regardless of the size of the city in the northwest, there were few restaurants; most were state-run, and whether the food was good or not was one thing, and the service attitude was another, but at least the ingredients were genuine.

In this day and age, it wasn't easy to find "technology and harsh additives."

In the Red Flag Canteen, Li Long carried his gun bag, the horse cart was tied outside, and all the other things in the cart were put into the bag and brought into the shop. After all, this thing could be very useful in this day and age. One never knew if someone might snatch it away while one wasn't paying attention during a meal.

He ordered a portion of oil-splashed meat noodles, added two extra portions of noodles, poured himself a bowl of hot tea, and drank it slowly.

It was already past lunchtime, so there weren't many people in the canteen. Li Long sat alone at a table, and the noodles and dishes were served quickly.

Similar to the oil-splashed meat noodles in Maxian, the dish had a few more wood ear mushrooms, which justified the price of 1.6 yuan—plus food coupons.

Li Long was also hungry, poured the dish into the noodles, mixed it, and started eating in large mouthfuls.

"Hello, a bowl of soup!" Li Long took a bite, felt his stomach was even hungrier, reached out to ask for a bowl of noodle soup, and continued eating.

One portion of noodles, two extra portions, after finishing, he drank the soup, wiped his mouth with satisfaction, rested for a while, and then got up to go outside. He wrapped his overcoat, untied the reins, sat on the cart, flicked the whip, and headed to Maxian.

He was now in the city, and from here, he could also walk to the Mahe Bridge without passing the poplar grove, taking a different route.

Therefore, Li Long, sitting on the horse cart, was relatively relaxed, calculating that if it was still early when he returned to Maxian, he would go directly to the courtyard to load the sheep, deliver them to Li Xiangqian, and then go buy grain.

If he could finish these preparations today, he could drive the cart into the mountains early tomorrow morning and return in the evening without any delay.

A beautiful plan.

Just as he was thinking, he suddenly heard a noisy sound ahead. He opened his eyes, sat up straight, and looked over there, seeing two groups of people arguing in the small square on the south side of the road.

One group was smaller, about four or five people, while the other group was larger, about a dozen, all young people, seventeen or eighteen, not yet twenty years old. These people were arguing with each other. The two leaders confronting each other in the middle were actually quite calm, speaking one sentence after another. It was mainly that a few people in the larger group looked quite excited, pointing and gesturing, holding steel pipes and such, waving them from time to time, as if ready to start a fight at any moment.

Li Long hadn't been in many group fights, but he had seen them in movies and TV shows. In these situations, the two leaders should actually want a peaceful resolution, while the followers liked to be boisterous, acting as if they were the best in the world and ready to kill the other party right there.

As a bystander, Li Long scanned them twice and didn't pay much attention, but he didn't doze off anymore. Instead, he picked up the gun bag and held it across his chest. Seventy-Six moved forward as steady as an old dog, completely ignoring those two groups of people.

Li Long originally thought he was just watching the scenery, but he didn't expect that when he walked forty or fifty meters forward, a roar suddenly erupted from the small square, along with loud cursing and arguing. Occasionally, he could hear people urging others to stay calm, but more cursing came out. Li Long thought, are they really going to fight?

Sure enough, screams followed, and then the ground shook. He turned his head and looked, discovering three people rushing out from the small square, running toward this side, with a dozen people chasing behind. The people chasing were cursing while running, telling the people in front to stop, otherwise they would be hacked to death, and so on.

Would a fool stop at this time?

Li Long was originally walking in the middle of the road, but at this time, he pulled the reins to the left—those people were running on the south side of the road, which was Li Long's right side, and he didn't want to be caught in the crossfire.

The three people in front ran very fast and soon overtook Li Long. Li Long was worried they would use him as cover or snatch his horse cart and drive away, because the two people running slowed down and looked at him.

Only one person ran extremely fast, looking back while running. Seeing the other two slow down, he even cursed:

"What the hell are you looking at? Run! Don't think about useless things!"

Those two immediately accelerated and ran. All three had quite long hair, which even the Lei Feng hat couldn't suppress. The people behind ran over in a mess. The few in front chased desperately, while the few in the back suddenly stopped and surrounded Li Long's horse cart.

"Use your horse cart for a moment, take us to catch up with that bastard in front!" Someone raised a steel pipe and tapped the cart, his tone full of threats and a sense of entitlement.

In their view, they had more people, and Li Long was just one, so no matter what, he could only submit.

Li Long didn't speak and directly pulled out the Type 56 semi-automatic rifle.

These people clearly recognized it, and all at once, as if struck by electricity, they moved at least a meter away from the cart.

"Get lost!" Li Long spat out one word and continued forward.

Someone in front grabbed the reins, but was too scared by the gun to let go.

Li Long disengaged the safety, pulled the bolt to chamber a round, and aimed at the one holding the reins.

That person finally woke up from a dream, was so scared he hurriedly let go, turned around, and ran, then suddenly plunged into the snow ditch by the roadside, covered in snow.

Although these people were a bit unconvinced, seeing Li Long pull the bolt to chamber a round, they knew there were likely bullets in this thing, so they didn't dare to move much, but they weren't reconciled and followed behind.

The people chasing in front discovered there was no one behind them, so they turned their heads to see what was going on. As a result, the leader got angry, pointed at the people behind, and cursed:

!.

"Are you guys trying to die! It was originally our business with Blackie, why do you have to drag outsiders into it?"

Li Long didn't pay attention to this person, drove the cart past him, and continued forward.

Clearly, these people couldn't catch up with the three people in front.

There were four people seen in the square just now, but three were running now. Was the other person beaten down, or was he an undercover agent?

This thought only flashed for a moment and was then thrown to the back of his mind. What did it have to do with him?

In an alley by the roadside, the three people who had been chased were hiding by the side of a house, secretly watching the situation on the road.

"Brother Blackie, you said it would be great if we had a gun! At least if we ran into that guy Stone, he definitely wouldn't dare to speak loudly to us!" One of the two who had originally intended to move Li Long's cart said enviously, "Is this gun... real?"

"It must be real! Didn't you see the bayonet? It's said that the bayonet is poisonous!" Another one was also full of envy.

Blackie didn't speak, watching Li Long's horse cart pass by on the road, watching Li Long sitting on the cart holding the Type 56 semi-automatic rifle with a calm and composed look.

It would be impossible not to be envious. However, he was after all a year or two older than the others and much more sensible. After Li Long passed by and watched Stone and the others disperse, he said:

"What's there to envy? Do you believe that if we had a gun in our hands, let alone scaring Stone and the others, as soon as we showed it, the Public Security Bureau would come and take us away the next day! It's fine for us to play with steel pipes and daggers, but playing with guns is looking for death!"

"Why did I hear that there's a 'River-Crossing Dragon' in the old street who really carries a gun, but it's a double-barreled shotgun." Someone spoke up.

"That's old news. It's said that person wanted to rob someone else, and someone else took his gun away." Another one showed off the new information he had obtained.

Blackie interrupted their argument:

"Alright, let's go, let's go back."

They had originally prepared to divide the territory with Stone and the others, but now, they were chased like dogs.

This wouldn't do!

Blackie was also thinking of a way.

This matter was just a small episode in Li Long's life, letting him know that Shicheng wasn't actually peaceful, but it had nothing to do with him.

Driving the cart out of Shicheng, there was a three-way intersection leading to the Mahe Bridge. Not many people walked on this road, but it had been pressed by vehicles, and the snow had been flattened, making it relatively easy to walk.

After passing the Mahe Bridge, Li Long drove the cart to the courtyard. It wasn't five o'clock in the afternoon yet, and the units hadn't finished work, so Li Long first put the gun into the room and hid it, then used the prepared bag to load a sheep carcass and put it on the horse cart, and drove out of the courtyard.

Seventy-Six was a bit unwilling; after entering the courtyard, it originally thought it could rest, but it had to leave again. Li Long couldn't speak horse language, so he could only forcibly lead it forward and flicked the whip, which made Seventy-Six understand his meaning.

When the horse cart reached the supply and marketing cooperative, goods were being transported out. Li Long saw Li Xiangqian directing the reversing of a vehicle in the courtyard, so he greeted the guard, pulled the horse cart in, and came to Li Xiangqian.

"Section Chief Li." Li Long addressed him very formally in front of others, "Busy?"

"Yeah, yeah, you're here. I happen to have something to ask you. Park the horse cart and wait in my office first; I'll be there in a moment."

Li Long led the horse cart to the shed, tied it up, and carried the bag containing the sheep to Li Xiangqian's office.

The office door was half-open. Li Long opened the door; there was a heavy smell of smoke inside, so it was just right to open the door to air it out. He leaned the bag against the desk and poured himself a cup of water to drink slowly.

Seven or eight minutes later, Li Xiangqian walked in with big strides. Seeing Li Long drinking water, he said with a smile:

"Not bad, not acting like a stranger at all."

"If I act like a stranger with you, I'm afraid you'll have an opinion," Li Long joked. "Section Chief, this is a sheep from the mountains, processed."

"Alright, then I won't be polite." Li Xiangqian sat down, picked up the tea mug on the table, took a sip, turned his head to spit out a tea leaf, and then said:

"I have serious business with you. A leader at the prefecture cooperative knows you can hunt and wants to pre-order some wild game from you before the New Year. Preferably roe deer, yellow sheep is also fine, and if that doesn't work, a wild boar. The same price as before, whole. I also told them that if the internal organs aren't removed, the meat will rot, and they agreed. Remove the internal organs, keep the skin, head, horns, etc., 200 yuan each. For wild boar, it's 150, and deer are more expensive, depending on the size, 250 to 300. How about it?"

"I happen to be going into the mountains tomorrow," Li Long said after taking a sip of water. "But I can't guarantee I'll catch anything. After all, this depends on luck in winter. If I run into them, I'll hunt them back. Do you want just one?"

"The more the better," Li Xiangqian said with a smile. "At least one."

"Alright, I'll try my best," Li Long said. "Is there a time limit?"

"Not really," Li Xiangqian said, lighting a cigarette for himself. "Before the New Year is fine, but of course, don't get it by New Year's Eve, as they definitely won't be able to use it then."

"Then I know. I'll try my best." Li Long had nothing more to say. He finished the water in his cup, put the cup on the table, and said: "Then I'll go first. I'll go buy some grain for my friends in the mountains later, and I'll set off early tomorrow morning."

"Take this." Li Xiangqian opened the drawer and took out two things: one was two packs of bullets, and the other was a stack of food coupons. He pushed the things toward Li Long and said: "I have plenty of coupons here, and you definitely need coupons to buy grain, so take them and use them. As for the bullets, they are left over from our militia training. Since you're going into the mountains to hunt, you can't be without this."

Li Long didn't refuse, took them, put them in his pocket, and then left.

Li Xiangqian leaned forward, opened the new bag, looked at the clean sheep carcass inside, and nodded with a smile:

"This kid is not bad."

Li Long drove the horse cart out of the supply and marketing cooperative courtyard, turned to the side store, and bought four bags of coarse salt at the wholesale price.

After buying the salt, he went to the grain store. He had originally planned to go to the market to see if he could buy high-priced grain, but now that he had food coupons, and the number of coupons was quite large, Li Long planned to buy state-reserve grain directly.

Loading three bags of rice and three bags of flour onto the cart, Li Long led the horse cart back to the courtyard with satisfaction, propped up the horse cart with a stool, led Seventy-Six to the backyard to rest and eat feed, and Li Long closed the courtyard gate and let out a long breath.

The preparations were done, and the next step was to conserve energy and go into the mountains to work hard tomorrow.

Seeing the sky darken, although Li Long wasn't very hungry, he had to prepare dinner for Gu Xiaoxia; one has to cherish one's own person.

When Gu Xiaoxia returned and saw the unlocked courtyard gate, she smiled happily. (End of chapter)