Chapter 455: Good People and Bad People Among the Drifters

Life doesn't always have a wife, children, and a warm *kang*; it also requires going into the mountains to hunt and earn big money.

So although Li Long felt some emotion, Gu Xiaoxia had to go to work, and it was boring for him to stay alone, so he got out of bed.

The tossing and turning all night made him feel that he had truly lived his previous life in vain, not having properly experienced such beautiful things.

Fortunately, the good days were still long. After Gu Xiaoxia got up to wash, she went to the kitchen to cook. Li Long wasn't idle either; he went to feed the little fawns, cleaned up the grass stalks and feces in the glass room, and took the opportunity to get them some water. Now the little fawns were used to staying in the glass room. Although they would still surround and call when they saw Li Long coming, they weren't as resistant to staying inside; perhaps they knew they couldn't get out for a while, so they resigned themselves to their fate.

Li Long was still soft-hearted; he opened the door and let the three little guys out. This was to let them get some air, and he would lock them up after people left.

The three little guys called out happily and ran to the front yard. One of them even pooped while running, scattering it all over the ground, very happy.

Li Long shook his head; he would clean it up later.

Gu Xiaoxia was busy in the kitchen. Hearing the little guys' calls, she poked her head out, looked at Li Long in the back, and asked:

"Let them out?"

"Yes, let them out to get some air. These little guys are used to running in the mountains; it must be stuffy to be locked in such a small room. Let them out to play for a while every morning and evening."

"Alright, I'll see." Gu Xiaoxia smiled and continued to be busy.

After Gu Xiaoxia finished breakfast, Li Long also tidied up the courtyard, and then drove the little guys in. The courtyard was large, and Gu Xiaoxia went out early and returned late every day, so she could only tidy up the surface at most. Li Long simply tidied up every corner, clean and tidy, which was what a home should look like.

Breakfast was cornmeal porridge with some beans added, boiled soft and mushy; pasted cakes, stir-fried eggs with chili peppers, and chopped stir-fried pickles. It wasn't strange for farmers in this era to eat pickles; some could eat them until June. After all, they pickled a lot, and they used salt, so they couldn't waste it.

The pickles were stir-fried with oil, and the taste was very fragrant. The Li family wasn't short of oil because the improvement in life caused by Li Long's "progress" meant that whether it was the Li family, the Gu family, or Tao Da's family, including Old Luo Shu at the old horse corral, they weren't stingy with oil when stir-frying vegetables. Everyone knew that more oil made vegetables more fragrant, right?

The two chatted while eating, each talking about the things they had experienced.

"You don't even know," Gu Xiaoxia complained while eating, "I have a stall of work myself, but Sister Liu in the office still lets me help her do this and that. Every time I say I'm busy, she says 'the capable should do more,' saying we young people have active brains and understand more, while she's old and understands slowly, and asks me to take on more. It makes me have to work overtime every time I get off work."

"That's not 'the capable should do more,' that's 'whipping the fast ox.' Haven't you reflected this situation to your Director Wang?"

"Such a small matter, and I have to go tell Director Wang? How would Director Wang see me then?" Gu Xiaoxia also had her concerns.

"Then do you want to do it like this?"

"I don't want to."

"Then it's simple." Having experienced two lives, Li Long was very familiar with this kind of workplace PUA. He smiled and said:

"Next time she asks you to do something, just pretend you didn't hear it. Definitely don't agree, don't open your mouth to refuse, and don't go do it. Don't talk so much to her, just do your own work. When it's time to get off work, just leave. If this work isn't done in the end, the one the leader criticizes will definitely be her, not you. If she pushes it to you and says she told you, just say you didn't hear it at the time. Otherwise, if this continues, you'll definitely be the busiest person in your bureau, while others will become increasingly idle."

"Yes, yes, I'm quite busy now, with no free time from morning till night. They, on the other hand, are all reading newspapers, drinking tea, and chatting... it makes me so angry."

After complaining, Gu Xiaoxia asked worriedly:

"Won't I cause trouble by doing this? They are, after all, senior staff..."

"Others won't hand over very important work to you, right? What they hand over to you should be the kind that is relatively trivial but very time-consuming. This kind of work that takes effort but doesn't get thanks is annoying for whoever does it, but it's not particularly important, and the leader won't pay too much attention to it either. So, not doing this kind of work won't affect the overall situation, and not doing it will also let others know you're not easy to bully. Understand?"

Gu Xiaoxia wasn't unintelligent, just had too little workplace experience. Plus, she was borrowed from elsewhere, so she felt a level lower than others.

But in reality, the establishment was already there, and her work ability was there, so the leader would definitely rely on her. If she got stuck in these trivial matters, she would definitely be unable to complete her main duties efficiently, and over time, she would leave a bad impression on the leader.

"Won't that make colleagues target me?" Gu Xiaoxia was still a bit worried about affecting colleague relationships.

"If you're worried, then state it clearly at the beginning, saying your own work is heavy and you don't have time to complete their things. If they still do this, then you can use the set I told you. In a unit, you can't be a 'good old person.' If you are, everyone will bully you. It's the turn of spring and summer, so it's easy to cough, right? Don't we have *Fritillaria* at home? Take some to the unit and share them with leaders and colleagues. Those who understand should know this is relatively effective for treating coughs, and it also builds relationships. You don't ask people to take care of you, just that others don't kick you when you're down. In a unit, you have to not only work with your head down but also look at the road with your head up. Frequently report your thoughts to Director Wang, talk about recent situations, and you can also talk about your troubles and solutions. It will have an effect."

"You're truly amazing!" Hearing Li Long finish saying these things, a bit of worship light had already appeared in Gu Xiaoxia's eyes. Although many people felt it wasn't worth it for her, a dignified national cadre, to marry an extra-budgetary worker, Gu Xiaoxia always remembered that without Li Long, she wouldn't have become a teacher, let alone entered the Education Bureau.

And in Gu Xiaoxia's eyes, Li Long's ability and capability were great. If he wanted to, he could definitely have become a national cadre long ago, but Li Long just didn't want to.

Just looking at the solutions to these things just now, Li Long said them one set after another, how good!

So there was no question of whether it was worth it or whether they matched. Gu Xiaoxia and Li Long had the same idea: for the two of them to get married was in itself a very happy thing.

Of course, if Li Long could be at home every day, that would be even better.

"Look at your actual situation when operating daily. Anyway, I believe in your ability," Li Long said while eating, "Sometimes being appropriately tough will be good for you."

Gu Xiaoxia thought thoughtfully about Li Long's words.

After eating, Gu Xiaoxia went to work. Li Long made the meat with bone that hadn't been finished last night into air-dried meat, rubbed it with salt, and put it in the room to dry. The meat that had been trimmed had already been simmered and sealed with oil, so it wouldn't spoil for a few months.

After finishing these, Li Long filled the tractor with oil, brought water, and also brought some steamed buns and air-dried meat, and drove the tractor toward the mountains. The *Fritillaria* hadn't dried yet, so he wasn't in a rush to sell it for now. Li Long guessed that the price of *Fritillaria* this year would rise again. After all, with the opening of the market, the demand for *Fritillaria* both inside and outside Xinjiang would increase greatly. Currently, there was no artificially planted *Fritillaria* in northern Xinjiang, so the price of wild *Fritillaria* naturally rose.

The tractor drove all the way into the mountains, and Li Long ran directly to Halimu's place.

Fortunately, Halimu hadn't moved away yet. The sound of the tractor made the dogs bark, and Halimu also came out upon hearing the sound.

After greeting, Halimu said:

"You came two days late; we've already moved. Everything has been packed up."

"Just in time, I still have something to ask for your help. I want to buy a dozen sheep from you. Yours or Yushanjiang's will do."

"Yushanjiang's, or Bieke's," Halimu thought for a while and said, "There aren't many of mine that can be sold. There are quite a few small lambs, so they can't be sold. Are you in a hurry?"

"Tomorrow or the day after is fine. I'll wait at the wooden house. You see if you can tell them; if anyone has them, drive them there or tell me, and I'll go drive the sheep over myself."

"That's good. I'll have them drive the sheep to the wooden house for you then." Halimu said, "That way it'll be convenient for you to transport them."

After finishing the business, Li Long drank two bowls of milk tea and returned to the wooden house.

What made Li Long a bit puzzled was that there were three people and one horse at the wooden house. Among the three people, he recognized at a glance that the one by the horse was Bolati. Among the two people, one was sitting, and Sun Jia Qiang was lying—no, he was tied up, with something stuffed in his mouth, twisting around there constantly, like a maggot.

Hearing the sound of the tractor, Bolati and Sun Jia Qiang both stood up and turned their heads to look.

Li Long drove the tractor to the front of the wooden house and stopped. After turning off the engine and getting off, Bolati over there pulled the horse's reins, fearing the horse would be startled.

"What's the situation?" Li Long looked at the person on the ground. He recognized this as the one who had been chased by the sow wild boar yesterday morning.

Bolati wanted to speak, opened his mouth, and then pointed to Sun Jia Qiang:

"You listen to him; when I came over, the two of them were fighting." Li Long looked at Sun Jia Qiang and found that his face was bruised, his clothes were torn, and there were some grass stalks stuck to his shoulders and back.

Sun Jia Qiang pointed at the person on the ground and said:

"I discovered the traces of animals and came to report to you, but I found him prying the door of your house, so I came up to stop him, and he hit me. Look at my face..."

It turned out that the day before yesterday, Sun Jia Qiang had eaten roe deer meat here and taken some back. He felt this was a good path, so he looked around nearby when he went back. He didn't find any wild beasts, but he found quite a few *Fritillaria* sprouting in a gully. He dug some *Fritillaria* and saved them. Then he got up early yesterday morning, wanting to find wild beasts again, and then found traces of deer activity in a gully nearby. He also saw a group of three or four deer running away from the other end. He found traces of them eating grass and moss in the gully, so he thought about coming over to tell Li Long.

However, when walking toward this side, he discovered there were quite a few *Fritillaria* in another gully, so he dug *Fritillaria* there for a day, thinking about digging the *Fritillaria* out and coming here to trade for things, and by the way, tell him this news. After all, the deer had been startled once, and he didn't know if they could come over.

When he came over early this morning carrying *Fritillaria*, he saw that person prying the window. He should have been planning to drill in to steal things. Sun Jia Qiang hurriedly came over wanting to stop him, but he didn't expect that although the other party's body was thinner than his, he was better at fighting. Sun Jia Qiang was an honest child at home and hadn't fought much, and then he was pressed down by that guy and beaten up. If Bolati hadn't come over, he might have been beaten to death by the other party.

"I came over, and seeing the two of them fighting, I asked what was going on. As a result, that thief also said he came over to help. I saw at a glance that he wasn't a good thing!"

Li Long roughly knew what was going on. It should be that he didn't give this person meat when he got wild boars yesterday, and this person returned evil for good, coming over to steal things when he saw the tractor wasn't here and knew no one was here.

Truly not a thing!

Li Long was anxious and angry, stepped forward, kicked that person hard, and cursed loudly:

"Damn it, I saved you, and you actually ran over to steal my things? Are you still human?"

The more he said, the angrier he got, and Li Long kicked that person a few more times. That person's mouth was blocked, and he was twisting there, unable to make a sound, looking very uncomfortable.

!.

Li Long bent down and took out the smelly sock that was blocking his mouth. That person coughed a few times, and then kept shouting for mercy, saying he wouldn't dare again.

How could Li Long believe him? He turned his head to Bolati and said:

"When you catch people digging *Fritillaria*, what do you usually do?"

"Usually, we take the *Fritillaria*, and as for the person, we lecture them and let them go. If they are relatively disobedient, we catch them and send them to the forestry team, and then they will send the person to the detention center. As for this person, what do you want to do? Break his leg?"

Upon hearing that his leg was going to be broken, that person screamed in terror:

"Don't! Don't, don't, don't, I was just momentarily confused, thinking you didn't give me meat, which wasn't right, so I came to take—no, steal some things. I won't dare again! Don't break my leg!"

You have to know that there aren't just wild boars and roe deer in this big mountain, but also wild beasts like wolves and bears. If his leg was broken, he would definitely die in the forest.

Li Long thought for a while and said:

"Bolati, hand that person over to you. Breaking his leg and letting him die here is unlucky; it's better to send him to the detention center; he can be considered to have gotten what he deserved."

"Alright, alright." Bolati nodded, and then wanted to speak, but Li Long waved his hand, went over, lifted that person, threw him outside the shed to the east, and then walked back to Bolati and Sun Jia Qiang and said:

"Come, let's talk in the house."

He was worried that this person would hear what they said, and then go to the detention center and make false accusations, which wouldn't be good.

Entering the house, Li Long let the two sit down and said:

"Alright, Bolati, I see you're carrying a bag of *Fritillaria* and want to trade for things, right? Just say whatever you want to trade for."

"Liquor, of course, but if there's other food, that's fine too."

"I have liquor, but I suggest you don't trade for so much liquor. I see you brought quite a bit of *Fritillaria*, nearly ten kilograms. It's better to trade for more tea, rock sugar, rice, and flour. You have family, so eat better."

"Alright, alright." Bolati listened to Li Long very much. Ever since he traded for so much liquor here last time, he felt Li Long was a good person and worth making friends with. As for friends, you have to listen to them.

"You're not bad either," Bolati pointed to Sun Jia Qiang and said:

"Later, if you run into those patrolling the forest, just say you're Bolati's friend, and they won't make things difficult for you."

"Good, good!" Sun Jia Qiang didn't know Li Long's identity, but since Bolati was from the forestry team, he truly felt a surprise. The return for helping someone this time was a bit big!

"Bolati, you're carrying things later, just tie them to the horse, don't let that person discover it. You tie his hands and pull him away on the horse, don't let him know you came over to trade for things. When your forestry team people ask, just say you're my friend and discovered him when you came to see a friend. Otherwise, it wouldn't be good if your forestry team leaders knew you came over to trade *Fritillaria*."

"I know, I know, I know."

"Sun Jia Qiang, you're the same. You leave after Bolati leaves. If you want to trade for anything, say it now, or you can mention it later."

"Alright, I'll say it later. I still have things about wild beasts to tell you." Sun Jia Qiang was quite excited today, but with his bruised face, he still felt a bit funny.

Bolati was satisfied, traded for rice, flour, tea, rock sugar, and other things, plus two bottles of liquor and two bottles of small champagne, all put in the bag, tied securely, and tied to the horse's back. Then he took a rope, tied that person up again, rode the horse, pulled him, and left.

"Slow down, what if the horse kicks me—slow down, I can't keep up..."

That person kept shouting in terror all the way, and the sound went far away. Only then did Sun Jia Qiang tell Li Long about his discovery.

"You mean, you discovered a family of deer there?"

"Yes, a large red deer, a medium-sized one, and a small red deer." Sun Jia Qiang said, "I saw it very clearly. That large red deer was truly large; I felt it was as big as Bolati's horse!"

Li Long was truly moved. Getting a large red deer, deer antlers, deer tendons, deer penis, etc., could all be sold for money, and the meat could also produce quite a bit.

Sun Jia Qiang knew Li Long was interested from his expression, so he continued:

"That location is near the dugout I told you about. I'll draw it for you. Also, when I saw it, it was early in the morning. Yesterday early in the morning, they were eating grass and moss in that gully. Looking at the prints, they didn't stay for a short time, so I think that place might be where they often go. However, they were startled by me, and I don't know if they will go again later."

"That doesn't matter, I'll go take a look when I have time." Li Long had to wait for Halimu to find someone to send sheep over these two days, so he couldn't go directly yet and had to wait.

Sun Jia Qiang heard Li Long say this and said:

"Wait if you have to. Waiting is also fine. That group of deer was startled by me; maybe they won't go these two days, and will only go after another two days."

After finishing this matter, Sun Jia Qiang traded two kilograms of *Fritillaria* he had just dug for chicken cakes and fruit hard candies. Li Long told him to trade for some rice and flour, but he waved his hand and said he would come over later.

Li Long was also speechless. Was this person here to earn money or to play in the mountains? If you have *Fritillaria*, trade for more useful things; why is your mouth so greedy?

However, the person had just helped him a big favor and was injured, so Li Long couldn't say anything, gave Sun Jia Qiang some more things, and watched him leave happily with his bruised face.

Not bad, the mentality is quite good.

Li Long just commented and started setting up the stove. Since he couldn't go hunting, let's wash and tidy up the *Fritillaria* received today. Of course, he had to prepare to steam steamed buns first. He discovered that people who came to trade for things had a special longing for steamed buns.

Since this was the case, let's steam some more. (End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 456 =====