Chapter 469: Li Long's Influence in the Mountains

Li Long added oil and water in his eldest brother's courtyard and then drove the tractor back to his own courtyard.

Although no one was living in the courtyard now, all kinds of vegetables had grown in the vegetable plot, and the chives were already edible. The courtyard was also cleaned up cleanly, and there wasn't a single messy weed on the ground.

Li Long opened the door and entered the room. Because the door and windows hadn't been opened for many days, there was a moldy and damp smell in the room. He opened the windows to let in some air, sprinkled some water on the ground, and seeing that the sunlight outside was good, he carried a few quilts out to dry.

Just as he was tidying up the quilts, he heard voices outside the courtyard. When he turned his head to look, he found it was Tao Daqiang pushing his bicycle, with luggage on the back seat, followed by Tao Jian She.

"Uncle Tao, Daqiang, you're here." Li Long said while tidying the quilts, "Put the luggage on the vehicle; we'll leave in a while."

Besides luggage, there were tools. Tao Daqiang had woven carrying frames last year and was very clear about the situation over there. Tao Jian She had also done it before. This time, he not only brought a sickle and a short shovel but also brought some dry food, pickled vegetables, and other daily necessities.

"Brother Long, when are you all leaving?"

"Five-thirty. It takes two hours to reach the mountains. We still have to repair the winter shelters from last year when we get there, otherwise, it won't be easy to live in." Li Long said, "We'll move in today, and we can start working tomorrow. My eldest brother and Lu Tie Tou's dad have already started weaving carrying frames today."

"It's more convenient to have a tractor." Tao Jian She touched Li Long's tractor with envy, "I don't know when our family will be able to get one."

Li Long glanced at Tao Daqiang and then said to Tao Jian She with a smile:

"It won't be long. Daqiang is catching fish every day now. I guess he'll have saved enough money by the end of the year, right? By then, when the baby is born, buy another tractor. Heh, then your family's life will be beautiful."

Li Long knew that Tao Daqiang had always used him as a target. He bought a tractor, and Tao Daqiang naturally had the same target in this regard. Now he was working hard to earn money every day. Besides having a baby, he should also have such a target.

"Can't buy it this year, it'll have to be next year at the earliest." Tao Daqiang said with a silly grin, "It's not that easy to buy."

"Buy what?" Another person's voice came from outside. The three of them looked over; it was Old Huang and his son. He not only carried luggage but also carried a pot and other cooking utensils. Old Huang's son was only fourteen or fifteen years old and was struggling to carry those things. Li Qiang hurriedly went over, took the things, and put them on the vehicle.

"What are you talking about buying?" Old Huang said with a smile, revealing his large yellow front teeth.

The young Huang was named Desheng. After putting down the things, he climbed onto the tractor seat, shook the steering wheel, and simulated the sound of the tractor starting with his mouth: chug-chug-chug.

Every child in this day and age had a dream of driving a tractor; this was true.

"Nothing." Tao Jian She said hurriedly, "Did you bring all your things?"

"Brought them all. Just cooking, right?" Old Huang said with a smile, "What could I not bring? I even brought a sickle. When I'm free, I can also weave a couple of carrying frames to earn money."

Old Huang's idea made Li Long feel a bit surprised. Gu Bo Yuan was doing the cooking last year, and he was really just doing the cooking. Today Old Huang wanted to take care of both, and he didn't know if it would affect the quality of the food.

But thinking about it, everyone shouldn't have any opinions. Anyway, they had already reached the mountains, so just being able to fill their stomachs was enough.

After chatting for a few more sentences, Old Huang chased Huang Desheng away and told him to go back and work quickly. Just after Huang Desheng left, Xu Fei Hu came over.

Xu Fei Hu was a bit shy when he saw the people here. He smiled, greeted everyone one by one, put his luggage on the tractor bed, and climbed up himself.

Occupy a good position first, that's all.

Old Huang and Tao Jian She both glanced at him, and Tao Jian She turned to Daqiang:

"Aren't you going to set nets? Don't stay here, go."

"Then Dad, take care of yourself after you reach the mountains." When Tao Daqiang said this, his face turned slightly red, and he was a bit unaccustomed to this way of speaking.

"Heh, do you still need to tell me that?" Old Huang said from the side with a smile, "Your dad isn't a child anymore."

Tao Daqiang greeted Li Long and pushed his bicycle to the backyard. The nets were all picked up. He couldn't go set nets to catch fish with Li Qing Xia every day now. After all, there was work in the fields, and he couldn't just let his father do it alone. In the next month, he would only have less than half the time to set nets, but even so, he would go whenever he had the chance. It didn't matter if he was tired; the money he got every day was real income. Every bit more, his heart would feel more at ease.

After Xu Fei Hu came over, it was Xu Dejun, and then Jia Wei Guo. Li Long hadn't seen Jia Wei Guo for many days. He remembered it was when he was collecting rabbits last time. Now he found that he had gained some weight. Seeing Li Long, Jia Wei Guo smiled, didn't greet the others, put his luggage on the vehicle, climbed up, and sat in the corner.

"Alright, it should be these people." Li Long checked his watch; there were five minutes until five-thirty. He clapped his hands, attracted the attention of the few people who were chatting, and then said:

"Everyone, we are ready to leave now. I'll explain the situation first. I'll drive the tractor to the county seat in a while, buy some things, and then head into the mountains. I estimate we'll reach the location around seven-thirty.

There are dugout shelters in Little White Poplar Gully. You all pick one and repair it, and live in it at night. My eldest brother and Lu Tie Tou's dad are already living there; ask them if you don't understand anything at night. I caught a wild boar this morning and put half a pig's meat there. Old Huang, you take care of it and manage to put it into the dishes for everyone to eat when cooking."

Hearing that there was meat to eat, the eyes of these people lit up. Among the people present, except for Tao Jian She, whose family conditions were now relatively good in the team, the others were basically average. The days they could eat meat in a summer weren't many, so now that there was half a wild boar, even if the wild boar was small, everyone would definitely be able to share some meat. How could they share a few kilograms? In that case, if they saved a bit, wouldn't they have meat every day?

"Heh, really good!" Xu Dejun said with a smile, "Xiao Long, for your generosity, we have to weave these carrying frames well!"

"The second thing I want to say is the quality of the carrying frames. Brother Yun Dong will go over tomorrow and tell everyone the requirements for weaving carrying frames. The quality must be high, otherwise, if I don't accept them during inspection, I won't take them. The poles can't have burrs, the strips must be woven tightly, and the width and length must be sufficient. Let's say the ugly words first. I was able to get this year's work because the quality of the carrying frames submitted last year was good enough. This work has increased in price, and everyone can earn money if they weave well. Maybe there will be this work next year. If you don't weave them well, and I get scolded when I submit them, then everyone won't have good fruit to eat."

Seeing the expressions of these people, Li Long didn't wait for their feedback, waved his hand to let them get on the vehicle, and he himself took the crank and began to crank the vehicle.

The chugging sound of the tractor rang out. Li Long collected the quilts dried in the courtyard, put them into the room, locked the door, backed the tractor out of the courtyard, waved to his parents at the door of his eldest brother's house, and drove toward the county seat.

Wind blew and dust rose all the way. There was a lot of dust on the road. Although Li Long drove at high speed in fifth gear, the wind brought up by the tractor covered the people in the back bed, feeling like the monsters in Journey to the West riding a demon wind and running fast. After reaching the county road in the township, it was a gravel road, and it was better without so much dust.

The people in the vehicle bed kept spitting out the dirt in their mouths and blowing their noses, looked at each other, and then all laughed loudly. Each of them was like a terracotta warrior, as if they had just crawled out of the dirt.

Wiping the dust off their faces with their clothes, the novel experience made a few people become cheerful. In the sound of the tractor engine, they spoke loudly, looking forward to how many carrying frames they could weave and how much money they could earn every day, thinking about what they planned to buy after earning money.

Almost everyone set their target on bicycles.

They didn't want to think about tractors for a while; they couldn't think about that thing, but they should still be able to buy bicycles, right?

Driving to the county seat in half an hour, Li Long went to the grain and oil store to buy a cage of vegetable oil, which was prepared for them to cook. He also let them buy some red bean curd themselves, and he also bought a jar, which was for public use.

Buying things didn't take too long. Li Long drove the tractor and took everyone toward the mountains.

Although it was said to arrive before seven-thirty, Li Long was advancing at full speed in fifth gear all the way, so he arrived around seven o'clock at Little White Poplar Gully.

Once they entered the mountains, everyone's curiosity was also hooked. Most of these people hadn't come last year, so they found everything novel. Tao Jian She and Old Huang had come before, but now there were slight changes, and they also looked at everything along the way with novelty.

"It's still better to have a tractor." Tao Jian She finally said, "This is much faster than a horse-drawn cart. When we came over before, we had to sit in a horse-drawn cart for most of the day, and our waists were sore. This is good, we arrived in less than two hours. With this tractor, who would still use a horse-drawn cart in the future?"

"But you have to have money to buy it." Xu Fei Hu smiled, "This big guy isn't cheap, only Li Long can afford it." Tao Jian She didn't speak, but his expression was very complicated. He thought about the conversation between his son and Li Long earlier. Could it be that next year, his family could really have a tractor?

A year ago, he wouldn't have dared to dream like this!

Li Jianguo and Lu Yingming had already woven two carrying frames by the dugout shelter. Seeing the tractor coming, the two of them stopped their work and stood up.

Li Long parked the tractor on the edge of the dugout shelter area. The two Xu brothers jumped down before the engine was killed, carried their luggage, ran over, and began to pick dugout shelters.

Old Huang and Tao Jian She weren't in a hurry either. Anyway, these dugout shelters didn't have much difference, or rather, the difference wasn't big, so they didn't have any opinions while picking. After they got their things down, they greeted Li Jianguo and Lu Yingming and then went to cut tree branches.

"Whose dugout shelter is this? Xiao Long, is it yours?" Xu Fei Hu looked at the three dugout shelters where people lived and asked.

"A friend of mine, a drifter. He digs fritillaria and also lives here." Li Long glanced and said.

"Digs fritillaria? How much money can he earn a day?" Xu Fei Hu's eyes lit up and asked, "Does he earn more money than weaving carrying frames?"

"He knows someone from the forestry team, so he won't be caught digging fritillaria. If you want to go dig, I can't save you if you get caught." Li Long said, "Since you're here, you'd better honestly weave carrying frames."

Although Xu Fei Hu was a bit dissatisfied with Li Long's words, he thought about Xu Chengjun's words when he came, and finally nodded.

!.

Speak of the devil, just as a few people were digging dugout shelters, Sun Jia Qiang came out of the forest shouldering a bag. Seeing Li Long, he waved at him with a smile.

"Good harvest today." Li Long said with a smile, "This bag must be six or seven kilograms, right?"

"Mm, ran into a nest." Sun Jia Qiang also said with a smile, "You came just in time. I didn't have time to pick the grass from these I dug, so they're a bit dirty. Give me a lower scale."

"Fine." Li Long took the fritillaria bag from Sun Jia Qiang's hand and weighed it, saying: "There are more than six kilograms, I'll calculate it as nineteen yuan for you."

"No need, just give me eighteen." Sun Jia Qiang said with a smile, "One yuan is the protection fee I'm paying you. With your people weaving carrying frames here, I estimate the forestry team won't come over anymore."

Li Long smiled; this was the truth. He suddenly thought of something, gave the money to Sun Jia Qiang, walked to his eldest brother Li Jianguo, took a piece of paper out of his pocket, and said:

"Big Brother, this is the certificate I opened from the supply and marketing cooperative. If someone comes to check, you show it to them."

"Fine, my hands are dirty, you put it in my jacket pocket." Li Jianguo said. His hands were covered with the charred black from roasting willow strips, and he was weaving in an orderly manner. It looked like he could weave at least three today.

There were many things to prepare on the first day, so there were few, and there would definitely be more later.

Putting the note into Li Jianguo's pocket, Li Long turned back, put the fritillaria on the vehicle, and seeing that everyone else was busy getting their own winter shelters, he didn't disturb them anymore. He pointed to Old Huang for Sun Jia Qiang and said:

"He is the chef this time. If you want to join in, go find him. See if you give fritillaria or money."

Sun Jia Qiang went to find Old Huang excitedly when he heard this. Old Huang was cutting strips, so Sun Jia Qiang helped clean up. After saying a few words, Old Huang nodded. Li Long felt that Sun Jia Qiang was a social butterfly, familiar with everyone, and could quickly get along with anyone. A great person.

After settling things here, he greeted the others, put down the vegetable oil, red bean curd, and other things, and drove the tractor toward the wooden cabin.

When he reached the wooden cabin, he found footprints and horse hoof prints nearby, so someone should have come to look for him. Seeing that the door lock was fine, he opened the door, took a basin from inside, put the fritillaria collected from Sun Jia Qiang into the basin, pressed it with water, washed away the mud, sand, and leaves, and spread it on the case to dry.

The fire in the stove had gone out. Li Long built a fire. He didn't plan to light the stove outside. After he built the stove, he boiled water on it. After the stove turned red, he stuffed a cold steamed bun into it.

Dinner was easy to solve: roast two steamed buns and stuff a piece of red bean curd in them, which was also pretty good.

After a simple dinner, it was already dark. Li Long went outside to collect the fritillaria and put them into a large basin, preparing to spread them out to dry after the sun came out tomorrow.

He planned not to hunt for the next few days, drying fritillaria every day, waiting to collect goods, and then going to Little White Poplar Gully in the afternoon to check the carrying frames woven over there, and then take them back. This also saved the trouble of not being able to reconcile the numbers at the end.

Locking the door, pressing the stove, blowing out the oil lamp, Li Long went to sleep.

And at this time, Li Zhongtang and Li Zhongting were panting and rushing into the mountains. It was dark, and they had walked all the way, carrying some things they had purchased. Seeing that they were about to enter the mountains ahead, Li Zhongtang didn't want to walk anymore. After entering the mountains, there were still several kilometers to go to the dugout shelter where they were hiding. If they really ran into a pack of wolves, the two of them really might not be able to deal with them.

In the afternoon, Sister Yang pushed her cart to sell food, and the two brothers' fritillaria sold less than two kilograms. They had already regretted it to death.

When Sister Yang opened her mouth to say she was prepared to collect their fritillaria, the two of them almost cried. So they didn't even bargain for the price of three point five yuan and set it directly. After receiving the money, the two of them put the bags together on Sister Yang's cart, fearing that Sister Yang would regret it, and quickly left with the money.

The two of them had thirty-plus kilograms, less than forty kilograms of fritillaria. Sister Yang borrowed a scale from the side to weigh it and gave them one hundred and twenty-one yuan. The stall fee was paid by Li Zheng Tang, so of this one hundred and twenty-one yuan, Li Zheng Tang had sixty-one, and Li Zhengting had sixty. The two of them didn't divide it very clearly.

With the money, the two of them bought baskets, snacks, and grain in the market, and then went to the department store to buy clothes, salt, and other daily necessities. Seeing that there were still two or three hours before sunset, the two of them discussed and prepared to enter the mountains.

If they could enter the mountains today, even if they only reached the edge of the mountains, they could go dig fritillaria again tomorrow. Otherwise, they would have to walk for another day. Wasting a day now was wasting more than ten yuan, and both of them were reluctant.

Just like this, the two of them carried the newly bought bags and walked into the mountains. When they reached the edge of the mountains, it was completely dark. The two of them each broke a red willow stick, leaned on it, and continued to walk into the mountains. When they walked past the first mountain, wolf howls sounded in the mountain forest in the distance.

"Brother Li Zheng Tang, let's not walk anymore. Find a place to hide for a night, and leave early tomorrow morning. If we walk now, I'm afraid of startling the wolves, and then we won't be able to leave." Li Zhengting became afraid. Of course, there was another important reason: he was tired.

"Fine." Li Zheng Tang had the same intention. He said, "Zhongting, in the future, let's just honestly dig fritillaria and sell it to that tractor driver. If you still have this plan, then we can bring the fritillaria down the mountain after digging for the last two or three days, and it won't spoil, but this fritillaria season is long, and we have to toss and turn like this often, which delays earning money."

"I know, Brother Li Zheng Tang. This time I was the one who thought wrong." Li Zhengting also admitted his mistake very straightforwardly. "Let's dig fritillaria well tomorrow and go to his place to trade for things and money in the afternoon. If he has any opinions, I'll beg him!"

Li Zheng Tang was very satisfied with Li Zhengting's attitude. He began to look around, looking for a place to hide.

After a long while, the two of them finally found a stone crevice. This place was relatively narrow, and it was impossible to lie down. The two of them squeezed in and could lean against the stone and sit for a while.

"Just here, let's stay for a night, and leave early tomorrow morning to return to the dugout shelter." Having nested in the bridge hole for a night the day before, it was sheltered from the wind here. Li Zheng Tang and Li Zhengting had confidence that they could persist.

At night, when the two of them were sleeping in a daze, the wind rose in the mountains. The wind became stronger and stronger, and the two of them became colder and colder, finally being frozen awake several times. This time, they finally had no way to sleep anymore, so they had to wake up. (End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 470 =====