Chapter 46: Some Families Weep, Others Rejoice

As Li Long drove his cart away from the black market, Tao Tao Dayong and Tao Daqiang headed together toward Little Little Haizi, while their father, Tao Jian She, was at home making a sled.

Everything followed a clear pattern; they only needed to replicate exactly what Li Long had done.

It felt not the least bit difficult.

Even upon reaching Little Little Haizi, Tao Tao Dayong didn't bother chiseling a new hole in the ice, simply using the one Li Long and his group had knocked out; yet after more than an hour, they had caught less than ten kilograms of fish.

Tao Tao Dayong then went to find that ice hole belonging to the Wang family, but half an hour later, several members of the Wang family arrived and drove him away.

Tao Daqiang advised Tao Tao Dayong:

"Brother, why don't we chop our own ice hole? When too many fish are pulled from this one, no more will come."

"Fish aren't that clever," Tao Tao Dayong dismissed the idea; "We'll just keep fishing here; surely we can catch thirty or fifty kilograms in a day."

Thirty or fifty kilograms of fish was indeed a lot; Tao Tao Dayong felt he wasn't being greedy, thinking that even at fifty cents per kilogram, he could earn ten, twenty, or even thirty yuan—he had already learned from Daqiang the price Li Long sold his fish for.

Big fish at two yuan, small fish bundled together; how convenient!

So making money was this simple!

The two men didn't return home for lunch; Tao Jian She brought them cornmeal flatbreads on the sled, and after eating, the father and two sons continued working until dusk, catching less than forty kilograms of fish.

Upon returning home, according to Tao Daqiang's suggestion, they should keep at home those particularly small carp and silver carp weighing under one kilogram, but Tao Tao Dayong refused:

"Taking these to the county town, we can still sell them for some money; why leave them behind? If we want to eat fish, we can just catch more from the ice hole."

He had forgotten that the scoop nets were all borrowed from others.

Fish indeed carried a certain fire that made people lose their composure; as Tao Tao Dayong spoke, his mind was already imagining himself having earned a fortune, buying a bicycle, and striding proudly before the production team, his wife, and his mother-in-law's family.

Thus, the next day he rose early, cooked cornmeal porridge, heated up pickles and flatbreads, gulped down a few hurried mouthfuls, then ran to his father's courtyard, urging Daqiang to eat quickly so they could go together to the county town's black market.

When they arrived at the black market, dawn had not yet broken; the place was already bustling, and as soon as Tao Tao Dayong set up his stall, he immediately attracted several people.

Having learned the price Li Long sold his fish for, he secretly decided to lower his own prices so they would sell faster!

Therefore, when he announced, "Big fish at one yuan fifty, twenty small fish for one yuan," the few people who had been hesitating immediately began selecting fish.

Within half an hour, Tao Tao Dayong had earned ten yuan and fifty cents, and he was utterly delighted!

If only he had known money was this easy to earn, he would have come long ago!

Tao Daqiang had originally planned to wait at a distance, but when Tao Tao Dayong saw that half the fish on his stall were sold, he urgently waved for Tao Daqiang to come replenish the stock.

After Tao Daqiang arrived, Tao Tao Dayong even scolded him:

"What are you afraid of? Haven't you seen that no one else is interfering? Things are relaxed now; no one is managing it!"

They still did not know that Gu Gu Ermao had been caught.

As dawn approached, nearby vendors began packing up; most of these people knew about the joint defense team members who had come to arrest people yesterday, and very tacitly avoided mentioning it, fearing it would attract the attention of those buying goods.

Seeing many people packing up, Tao Daqiang sensed something amiss; noticing that some vendors were closing even though they had only sold half their goods, he reminded Tao Tao Dayong:

"Brother, those people are packing up; should we pack up too?"

"Pack up what!" Tao Tao Dayong, having just collected another yuan, happily counted his money; "In just this short while, we've earned sixteen yuan and fifty cents; I never expected money to come so easily; let's sell a bit longer, we've only sold a little over half the fish..."

Tao Daqiang still felt something was wrong, and he heightened his vigilance.

Sure enough, within less than ten minutes, chaos erupted on the western side of the black market, with someone shouting:

"Don't run! If you run again, we'll arrest you!"

This shout only made the situation more chaotic!

Tao Daqiang, being tall, spotted two people wearing red armbands arresting individuals; startled, he immediately turned and told his brother, "Brother, people are coming to shut down the stalls! Let's go quickly!"

At this point, only about a dozen stalls remained in the black market; although the other vendors hadn't left yet, most were prepared, and upon seeing someone coming to make arrests, they packed up their stalls and immediately fled into the narrow alleys.

All of Tao Tao Dayong's earlier confidence vanished; in panic and disarray, he began packing up his stall while shouting at Tao Daqiang:

"Hurry up and help me load the fish onto the sled!"

"Load what? Don't even worry about the sled!" Tao Daqiang, remembering Li Long's words, grabbed his brother to run, but Tao Tao Dayong couldn't bear to abandon those fish and the sled, insisting on dragging them along; then, jostled by the surging crowd, the two brothers were separated.

By the time Tao Daqiang darted out of the narrow alley, he could no longer see his brother anywhere.

He naturally did not know that Tao Tao Dayong, dragging the sled—though he stood only about 1.6 meters tall, a head shorter than his younger brother—made the sled a large target, immediately drawing the attention of the joint defense team members, who ran and caught him.

By the time he thought to abandon the sled and flee, it was too late; along with three or four other stall owners, he was taken away.

Unable to find his brother in the county town, Tao Daqiang could only return home, utterly dejected.

By the time he learned that his brother had been caught and fined fifty yuan, dawn had already broken.

!.

Li Long took a deep breath, feeling somewhat nervous, then turned his head to look at Ha Ha Li Mu.

Ha Ha Li Mu was also looking at him, then raised five fingers.

Li Long understood; this was what they had agreed upon earlier: after counting to five, fire.

Turning back, through the notch of the front sight, he saw that those wild boars had calmed down, occasionally grunting as they rooted through the snow for grass roots, fallen wild fruits, pine cones, and the like, eating them.

He once again placed that female wild boar within the sight ring, and following the method Xu Chengjun had once taught him, he aimed and pulled the trigger!

"Bang!"

"Bang!"

The crisp gunshots rang out almost simultaneously.

Li Long didn't even care whether he had hit his target; slightly adjusting the muzzle, he aimed at the next small wild boar he had planned for earlier, then pulled the trigger.

At a distance of seventy or eighty meters, after two shots, the surviving wild boars scattered in flight; Li Long, seeing the largest wild boar charging toward him, was startled; he quickly aimed and fired a shot at it!

The gunshot rang out, the wild boar fell—only then did he feel that, whether from nervousness or excitement, he was already sweating.

Ha Ha Li Mu stood up, rifle in hand, and said with a smile:

"Alright, two wild boars; not bad at all!"

Saying this, he walked downhill toward where the wild boars lay.

Li Long clearly saw more than one gushing wound on the largest boar, and within moments, a vast patch of red soaked into the bloodied ground.

Only then did he realize that Ha Li Mu must have targeted this one first; to capture the bandits, first capture their king—that was roughly the idea. Once this boar leader was dealt with, the remaining boars would pose no threat for a short while.

Then Li Long looked at the first boar he had aimed at; it now lay where it had been rooting, occasionally twitching, not yet completely dead.

Li Long smiled.

(End of Chapter)