Chapter 441: Don't Let Anyone Lose Out

Not a word was spoken all night, and the fish and water were both happy.

Early in the morning, when Li Long, feeling refreshed, got up, he found that Gu Xiaoxia, who was even more refreshed, had gotten up a step before him and was making breakfast in the kitchen.

After Li Long washed up simply, he went to help. Seeing that the porridge, pickles, and such were almost ready, he set the bowls and chopsticks. Li Long especially liked this kind of small life.

"How long will you be gone this time?" Gu Xiaoxia asked while serving the pickles, "When you come back, are you going straight back to the village, or will you stay in the county for a while?"

"Not sure, maybe three to five days, maybe I'll come over tomorrow, because I have to get some sheep for my brother-in-law first, pick him up in a while, buy good grain, send it to the mountains, collect some sheep, let my brother-in-law practice first, maybe I'll come back in the afternoon. Then I'll go into the mountains tomorrow, maybe I'll get some local specialties from the mountains. I've been spending money quite fast recently, so I have to make up for it."

Gu Xiaoxia put the stir-fried pickles on the table and looked at Li Long, saying:

"I don't understand things in the mountains, but you must pay attention to safety. According to what you said, the money in our family is actually enough. I know you have great ambitions, and I won't stop you, but when you are hunting in the mountains, you must remember that you are a married person, and you can't be as reckless as before. You have to remember that there are people waiting for you to come back at home."

"Hmm, I know." Li Long listened to Gu Xiaoxia revealing her heart, pinched her face with a smile, "Don't worry, I have a count in my heart. Actually, when I encounter those big guys, I'm also cowardly, and I'm also afraid of being scratched by them and having a bloody hole."

"As long as you know." Gu Xiaoxia blushed. She didn't expect Li Long to make such a move in broad daylight, so she was a bit shy and hurriedly turned to pick up the steamed buns.

After breakfast, he urged Gu Xiaoxia to go to work. After Li Long tidied up simply, he added water to the tractor, put the oil drum in the bucket, and then drove the tractor out after starting it.

When locking the big gate, he saw Officer Guo with a notebook at the entrance of the police station. He waved at Li Long after seeing him. Li Long slowed down. Officer Guo pointed to the notebook. Li Long guessed that they should be having a meeting, so he also waved and drove away after starting it.

He went to the market to buy grain and happened to see Sister Yang and Han Fang selling porridge. Li Long drove the tractor to the front, and Sister Yang and Han Fang also saw Li Long.

"Han Fang hasn't gone to school yet?" Li Long asked with some surprise.

"She has. She helped me push the cart over, and she's going to school now. It's not far, I told her to go directly, but she said pushing it over with me didn't take much effort."

"Hmm, study hard." Li Long smiled, "I'm going to buy some grain."

"Uncle, go to that stall." Han Fang looked at Li Long driving the tractor with some envy. Now the one-yuan bill had a female tractor driver printed on it. Once, Han Fang also had such an ideal, but she knew it was just a dream. Now seeing Li Long actually driving a tractor, her mind became active again.

"Is it cheap over there?"

"Hmm, not only cheap, but the rice and flour are also good." Han Fang was also considered a well-informed person in the market, and she said in a low voice:

"Uncle, that person is reselling from the grain store, so it's cheap. That one over there is also reselling from the grain store, but most of them are old grain, and they don't sell it cheaply."

"Fine, I know. You go to school quickly, don't be late."

"Uncle, goodbye!"

Li Long drove the tractor to the stall Han Fang pointed to. He got off the car and took a look, finding that the grain here was indeed better, just that the quantity was a bit small.

He didn't see it yesterday; it should be that this one sold out early.

"Boss, is it just this much? Are there any more? If there are, I want more." After asking the price, it was indeed two cents cheaper than yesterday, so Li Long opened his mouth.

"Want more? How much do you want?" That stall owner looked at the tractor and then at Li Long, probably evaluating in his heart whether to do this business.

"Rice and flour, at least two hundred kilograms each." Li Long said.

It was indeed a big business. The boss calculated it, and this business could be done. If what Li Long said was true, this single order could earn more than thirty yuan, which was as much as he could earn in a week to ten days!

"Fine, come, let's load these up, you follow me." The stall owner jumped down, enthusiastically loaded the two bags of rice and flour currently on the stall onto the tractor with Li Long, and then he sat on the page board and pointed the way for Li Long.

Soon, Li Long drove the tractor to the entrance of a small alley not far from the grain store. The alley was a bit narrow, and the tractor couldn't drive in. The boss said:

"You wait here, I'll find someone to carry the grain out for you."

"Good." Li Long wasn't worried either. He had a gun in the tractor. Besides, this was in the county town, and these people wouldn't dare to rob him. In general, 1983 Maxian was actually quite peaceful.

Of course, compared to the whole country, it was like this.

The stall owner jumped off the tractor nimbly and walked quickly toward the courtyard.

Soon, he brought two people, each carrying a bag of rice, and walked out.

"I'll count, you two carry. There are three bags of rice and two bags of flour here, carry five more bags of rice and six bags of flour out." The stall owner said to those two people.

Both people were quite sturdy. After hearing the stall owner's words, they didn't speak, just turned around and went in.

Li Long guessed that these should also be people who came to work, or came from the countryside, or came from the interior, just trying to make a living.

The price the stall owner just quoted Li Long was four cents and two per kilogram of flour, and six cents and five per kilogram of rice.

"You buy generously, so I can't be greedy. I'll give you four cents for the flour, that's eighty, and for the rice, I won't lower it. Although our county produces rice, a considerable portion is transferred to the interior, so there isn't much left here. I have corn flour here, do you want it?"

"How do you sell it?" Li Long thought he should also get some corn flour, after all, there were so many people in the mountains.

"One cent and two per kilogram. If you want more, I'll give it to you for one cent."

"Give me three hundred kilograms." Li Long heard it was cheap, so he said directly.

"Good." The boss was happy. It was truly a big customer, and he couldn't help but boast about his own products, "Don't worry, they are all new grain from last year, not a bit of old grain."

"Hmm, I'm getting it for a friend. If they think it's good, I'll find you later. You've also seen that the amount I get won't be small, and it's mainly fine grain." Li Long handed the boss a cigarette. The boss looked at it and saw it was Golden Leaf, smiled, didn't smoke it, but tucked it behind his ear.

The cigarettes in Li Long's pocket were random, mainly depending on what kind of cigarette box Li Qiang wanted. Anyway, he didn't smoke, so he could have all kinds of packs.

Bag after bag of grain was carried over, and the tractor bucket gradually filled up. Rice and flour were 25-kilogram bags, while corn flour was 50-kilogram bags. After 700 kilograms of things were loaded onto the car, the bucket was basically level.

Li Long paid the money. After the stall owner spat on his fingers and counted twice, he gave Li Long a thumbs up:

"Boss is generous, definitely take care of my business again if you have the chance!"

"No problem." Li Long took the crank to start the tractor, and the boss hurriedly said:

"No need, no need, my people will come!"

He pointed to let those two people help start the tractor, and then waved at Li Long.

Li Long drove the tractor away, emitting black smoke and "tut-tut-tut," leaving behind the happy boss and two envious porters. They truly envied this person who could drive a tractor.

This was an iron ox!

Li Long went to pick up Chen Xingbang, and the two of them went to the department store together.

Carrying big and small bags of brick tea, rock sugar, salt, and other three old things, and buying batteries, snacks, rope, plastic cloth, and other things, the tractor bucket was piled full. Chen Xingbang was a bit worried that the tractor wouldn't be able to drive up the slope when going into the mountains later.

People in the department store were also familiar with Li Long. There was such a person who would come over to buy hundreds of yuan worth of things every now and then. In this era when people would calculate for half a day to spend three or five yuan, how could he not be remembered?

When buying batteries, that Xiao Liu was still at the counter, having permed her hair. She wasn't as enthusiastic about Li Long as before, but her gaze toward Li Long was still complicated.

Li Long was anxious to buy things, so he didn't care about so much. What he kept thinking about in his mind was that he had to send the things into the mountains today, and it would be best to rush back, send the things to Shicheng, and then return to the big courtyard.

Dry firewood and raging fire needed to be lit occasionally.

"You buy so many things, won't you lose money?" Chen Xingbang, who helped Li Long put the things away and tie them up, still didn't understand.

"Lose money? Haha, no." Li Long said with a smile while starting the tractor, "How could I lose money? They paid the money long ago."

"Paid?" Chen Xingbang still didn't understand.

"Hmm, brother-in-law, I told you, the first money I earned last year came from the mountains, deer antlers. Do you know how much I sold those deer antlers for?"

"I remember you said more than three yuan per kilogram, and it seemed to sell for more than ten or twenty yuan?" Chen Xingbang vaguely remembered this matter.

"Yes, at that time they just collected a brick of tea, a bag of salt, two bags of rock sugar, plus a piece that wasn't five yuan. Later, they sent me a few pieces of jade, and that piece of jade sold for several hundred!" Li Long drove the tractor and said very calmly, "That piece of jade alone was worth this whole car of things. They gave it to me."

At this time, he was no longer excited. The accounts between him and Halimu and the others had long been unclear, and there was no need to calculate them. He knew what the mountains needed, so he sent it. The people in the mountains knew which things could be handed over to Li Long to handle, so they found these things and left them for Li Long. Almost all were without reservation.

Feeling that the things were almost ready, Li Long started the tractor and went to the pharmaceutical company again. He took the certificate and bought a large bag of common medicines, and only then did he drive toward the mountains.

The tractor kicked up a cloud of dust. It was fine on the Wuyi Highway, but once it turned to the road of Qingshuihe, Chen Xingbang couldn't stand it. He shouted to stop Li Long, checked the things in the tractor bucket after coughing, and found that they were tied tightly with rope and there was no problem, so he sat on the front page board.

He couldn't sit in the back; it was all dust.

Li Long looked at his brother-in-law's face covered in dust, thought of the concrete image of the word "dust-covered face," handed him a towel from behind the seat with a smile, told him to wipe it, and then continued forward.

The wind blew, blowing Chen Xingbang's hairstyle into a big back, which felt a bit uncomfortable. He swept a glance at Li Long and shouted:

"Xiao Long, tomorrow I'll also get a hairstyle like yours. This hair is long and not good."

Li Long smiled. One era had one era's imprint, and his could be considered an alternative.

The wind blowing on his face no longer had any chill, which reminded Li Long of that poem, "The willow wind blowing on the face is not cold." The red willows on both sides of the road had sprouted tender buds. The tractor went all the way up, a bit strenuous, but not too difficult.

When passing Qingshuihe, many adults and children ran out to watch. In this era, tractors were truly rare things.

!.

After passing Qingshuihe, the mountain road became steeper. Li Long changed to third gear and continued forward with a "dang-dang-dang." When he arrived at the mountain pass, the water tank was boiling.

He stopped the tractor, got off to check, and found that there was still more than half of the water, and more than half a tank of oil, which was enough.

However, when driving down to the side of the stream, Li Long stopped to add water to the tractor, and added half of the oil from the oil drum, ensuring there was oil at any time.

The rumbling sound of the tractor broke the tranquility in the mountains. Occasionally, birds flew up, but other animals were rarely seen. Perhaps they were all hiding in the forest, and once they heard the movement, they had already disappeared. Li Long, who often hunted, knew that the hearing of these guys was still very sharp, and they were startled by a little bit of wind and grass.

When the tractor arrived at Halimu and the others' winter nest, Li Long found that Halimu and his wife were already waiting on the roadside. Not only them, but also Yushanjiang and several other young men.

Li Long was a bit surprised, and he also found that the big pit on the road to Halimu's winter nest had been filled, leaving only a little shallow pit in the middle for the water to flow through.

The tractor could drive over completely.

Li Long braked the tractor, got off, and Halimu walked over quickly, reaching out to shake hands with Li Long:

"Haode ne ma, Li Long?"

"Haode haode." Li Long smiled and shook hands with them one by one to greet them, and then introduced Chen Xingbang to them, and finally knew:

"How did you know I was coming?"

"I went to the pastoral team yesterday." Yushanjiang said with a smile, "I arrived just after you left. I even rode a horse to chase you for a while, but unfortunately, I didn't catch up. Your tractor is too fast. I came back and told Halimu, and we guessed that you would definitely come today, so we filled this place early."

Li Long laughed, so that was it.

"Alright, let's not talk about it. I'll drive the tractor over, and let's unload the things first." Li Long said, "I won't necessarily send them over. You guys divide the things yourselves."

"Good, good." Halimu nodded repeatedly.

The tractor drove to the winter nest. After turning off the engine, everyone worked together, and soon the things in the tractor were unloaded.

"I'll have people come over today to divide these things." Halimu said: "Li Long, if you have time, you still have to get some grain over. These are enough for these families, but there are other families who need them."

"Fine, I'll go back today, and get some rice and flour over in a day or two." This was also within expectations.

If it were just these families, this grain would definitely be enough. But looking at last year, this tribe had at least ten or twenty herdsmen families. Excluding some who had their own channels and didn't need to get grain from Li Long, if others needed it, they would have to come for another one or two trucks of grain.

"Hmm, one truck is enough. Actually, since you've been transporting grain here since last year, we still have some grain in storage." Halimu said, "Come, come, come, come into the room and drink milk tea."

"Mark the medicine first." Li Long said, "Write it well on every box, so you won't find it when you need to take medicine."

Li Long still remembered Nasen's matter. They moved into the deep mountains, where there was nothing. If they were really sick, they would have to rely on these common medicines, which was a big deal.

"Right, right, right," Yushanjiang also knew the importance of medicine, and he echoed.

Li Long handed the pencil he brought to Halimu and let him write.

After all this was done, a group of people entered the winter nest, but after entering, they came out again. It was a bit gloomy inside, and couldn't sit so many people, so it was better to be comfortable outside.

Halimu's wife poured milk tea. Halimu served a bowl, and Halimu served a bowl. The first was Li Long, then Chen Xingbang.

When Chen Xingbang held the milk tea, he had already felt Li Long's status here, feeling that it was no different from Halimu and the others, just like one of their own.

After drinking the milk tea, several young men began to load deer antlers, jade, and other things into the car.

Li Long hurriedly said:

"Halimu, I have something to discuss with you this time."

"You say." Halimu and Yushanjiang both looked at Li Long.

"My brother-in-law, he wants to buy some of your sheep to slaughter and sell in Shicheng. Can you sell him some of your sheep?"

"Fine." Halimu agreed in one breath, "How many?"

"Let's start with ten." Chen Xingbang was a bit unsure. Although he knew that if he didn't have enough money, Li Long would help him make it up, he had his self-esteem, and he had already received so many benefits from Li Long, so it was best for him to come by himself at this time.

"Hmm, good. If you want to leave today, I'll catch them for you now, and then tie them up. However, after you pull them back, you must untie the sheep as soon as possible, otherwise, the legs will be ruined. Right, if you don't slaughter them together, I'll load two bundles of grass for you, which can be eaten for a period of time."

Thought of it really thoroughly.

Chen Xingbang thought to himself, if everyone did business like this, what would there be to worry about?

Halimu said this as if it were a trivial matter, and then said to Li Long:

"They caught two little deer for you, and a little roe deer, all in the sheep pen. Do you want to pull them back together this time?"

"Good." Li Long was quite happy, "Go, let's go see, how big are they?"

"Seven or eight kilograms, still small, but can eat grass by themselves." Halimu said.

Chen Xingbang pulled Li Long and whispered:

"What about the price of the sheep?"

Li Long asked Halimu:

"How much for a sheep?"

"Now, those who come to collect sheep, live weight is one kilogram for one yuan and one. You, well, just give fifteen yuan for one." Halimu said.

"Good." It was much cheaper than Chen Xingbang thought. He also believed that it was impossible for this Halimu to only weigh small sheep for him.

Besides, this first time was just exploring the road. Ten sheep, if they were all sheep of about fifteen kilograms, he believed that adding sheepskin and sheep offal, he could sell them for more than twenty yuan.

That would do!

It was just that hearing Li Long say these people were going to move pastures later, how to handle the subsequent sheep would have to be thought about carefully.

Li Long didn't care so much. If he had to teach everything, it would be better for him to earn this money himself.

ps: Sorry, forgot to send it. I only thought of it after I fell asleep, so I hurriedly got up and sent it. (End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 442 =====