Chapter 48: Is This Repaying Evil with Virtue?

Chen Hongjun was warming himself by the fire when he saw Li Long enter, looking somewhat surprised.

"Little comrade, it's you!" Chen Hongjun recognized Li Long, stood up with a smile, and said, "I haven't seen you for several days; what good things have you brought today?"

During their shift change, they had heard their colleague Xu Lili say that someone from the mountains came selling deer antlers; she had originally intended to buy them cheaply, but unexpectedly, the seller knew their worth and refused to sell at a low price, forcing her to raise the offer to three yuan.

At that time, Chen Hongjun guessed it was most likely Li Long.

He just hadn't expected this young man not to come sell the deer antlers according to his shift change schedule; was he pressed for time, or was their friendship not strong enough?

"Hello, hello." Li Long smiled and said, "I've brought something today; I don't know if you'll accept it."

"Let me see." Chen Hongjun naturally couldn't make any guarantees.

Li Long placed the jade stone he had obtained from Brother Brother Yushanjiang onto the counter.

"A stone?" Chen Hongjun frowned slightly, took a careful look, and then asked in surprise:

"Is this... Manas River Jasper?"

"Yes, seed material." Li Long smiled; at least this person knew his stuff. If he had really mistaken it for an ordinary stone, Li Long would have simply picked it up and left.

"This... we actually don't accept this here." Chen Hongjun shook his head. "We accept local products and medicinal herbs; while this jade is a fine thing, we don't accept it here."

"Then do you know where they accept it?" Li Long felt somewhat disappointed, but he wasn't discouraged; such fine items only increase in value the longer they are kept. If he weren't currently short of money and needing to purchase certain things, he would have simply kept the item at home for another twenty or thirty years before bringing it out.

"As for this... usually places engaged in handicraft processing will accept it." Chen Hongjun offered a reminder. "Our county is small and has no such units; even Shicheng might not have one. If you want to find a buyer, you can only go to Wucheng."

Li Long cupped his fists toward the other man:

"Thank you! Then I won't disturb you further; goodbye!"

"Good, good. If you have other things like deer antlers or medicinal herbs, feel free to bring them over; I won't offer you a low price here."

Li Long suddenly thought of the items in his cart and, recalling something he had read in novels before, asked:

"Do you accept wild boar stomachs?"

This was also a medicinal herb, reputed to be quite effective for treating stomach ailments.

"We do." Chen Hongjun was somewhat surprised, but then thinking of the deer antlers Li Long had brought last time, he guessed the other party likely lived near the mountains, so he said with a smile:

"We do. Depending on the size and the age of the wild boar, it's usually three to five yuan per piece. Do you have it with you now? Let me see?"

Li Long felt somewhat disappointed; it seemed these items still couldn't fetch a high price. He pointed outside and said:

"There are two wild boars; their bellies haven't been dissected yet. It will take another couple of days; only after I return and clean the pigs will I have them."

"What?" Chen Hongjun was somewhat surprised. "You managed to get two wild boars? Is that true or false?"

He accepted goods every day, but what he received were always finished products; he had seen many deer antlers and even deer velvet, but he had rarely seen a red deer, let alone a wild boar.

"Want to see?" Li Long smiled. This time, it was his turn to broaden someone else's horizons.

Chen Hongjun followed Li Long outside. Li Long removed the wood and grass covering the wild boars. Chen Hongjun approached curiously and immediately spotted the tusks in the mouth of the large wild boar.

"This wild boar is truly huge!" He had seen domestic pigs before, and compared to them, this wild boar was indeed quite large.

"Mm, it took three shots to kill it; it was very fierce."

"Are you... selling this wild boar? I'd like to buy some wild boar meat to taste." Chen Hongjun suddenly had an idea and asked.

"It hasn't been processed yet, so there's no way to sell it now." Li Long waved his hand. "Surely I can't just cut off a piece and sell it to you directly? Besides, if a wild boar isn't processed properly, it won't taste good. To be honest, Comrade Chen, this meat really isn't as tasty as domestic pork."

Since they would be dealing with each other frequently in the future, Li Long wouldn't cheat this man. "Is that so." Chen Hongjun felt somewhat disappointed, but curiosity still outweighed his concern for taste, so he said:

"Once you finish processing it at home, bring me a piece; I'll buy it to have a taste. I've never eaten it before and want to try it once."

"Alright." Li Long agreed readily. "I'll bring it over in a couple of days—you work on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, right?"

"Yes, yes, yes. Don't forget to bring the wild boar stomachs over then."

"Okay." Li Long covered the wood and grass back over, tied the ropes securely, led his horse, and departed from there.

At this moment, the Li family was in complete chaos.

This was because Elder Sister-in-law Lu had come to the Li home to tell Li Jianguo and Liang Yuemei that rumors were spreading in the village that both Tao Da Yong and Tao Daqiang had been arrested.

There were also rumors spreading that Li Long had been arrested for selling goods in the black market.

This thoroughly frightened Li Jianguo and Liang Yuemei!

The whole village knew about Gu Gu Ermao being arrested; the news of Tao Tao Dayong's arrest had only just spread, and many people still didn't know about it.

By the time Tao Daqiang returned home, the county had already called the township, which then transferred the call to the production team. Xu Chengjun, furious, went to find Tao Jian She and happened to run into Tao Daqiang, who was rushing back.

"Fifty yuan! Your family's Tao Tao Dayong has been arrested; the fine is fifty yuan. Hurry and gather the money, then come with me to retrieve him! By the way, Daqiang, why did you run back?"

"Men with armbands came, and we got separated while running..." Tao Daqiang was still terrified, muttering incoherently and unable to speak clearly.

"!."

Xu Chengjun didn't expect much from him anyway; Tao Daqiang had always had a low presence and was considered dull by others. Both Tao Jian She and Xu Chengjun felt he had simply gotten lucky.

Tao Jian She was still dreaming of getting rich overnight, but Xu Chengjun's words instantly doused that dream.

"How could he have been arrested?" Tao Jian She muttered to himself in a daze. That second son of the Li family had sold fish several times without being arrested; how was it that when it was his own family's turn, they got caught?

"Where is the time to talk about this here?" Xu Chengjun understood the situation; he shouted loudly, "If we don't go now, who knows what shape Tao Dayong will be beaten into!"

Upon hearing this, Tao Jian She immediately scrambled up, ran into the inner room, and pulled out a handful of loose change, saying with a grief-stricken face, "I only have a little over eleven yuan here..."

"I have five yuan." Tao Daqiang fished money out from the inner pocket of his cotton-padded jacket. "I'll go borrow some..."

"Then hurry and borrow it. I'll go find your sister-in-law; Tao Dayong has been arrested, so we must inform her..."

Tao Daqiang went to the Li home and told Li Jianguo about the situation.

"How much do you need to borrow?" Li Jianguo asked readily. "I still have twenty here."

He handed twenty yuan to Tao Daqiang. Holding the money, Tao Daqiang lowered his head, his heart filled with mixed emotions.

For many families in the production team, their annual earnings wouldn't even reach twenty yuan, yet Li Jianguo had handed over that amount in one go.

He knew this was done out of regard for the relationship between himself and Li Long. Yet he had just dissolved his partnership with Li Long; was doing this honorable of him?

"Hurry back home." Li Jianguo urged him. "Your father should still be waiting for the money to go retrieve your older brother."

After Tao Daqiang returned home, a short while later, Tao Jian She came back. Seeing the twenty yuan in Tao Daqiang's hand, he thought to himself that they had finally gathered enough.

Ma Chunhong only took out fifteen yuan, saying this was all the money she had.

Now, not only had they failed to earn any money, but the savings of both families were handed over, and they still owed twenty yuan!

When Xu Chengjun and Tao Tao Jian went to the county town to retrieve people, the news of Tao Tao Dayong's arrest was fermenting in the village, and even more people were spreading rumors that Li Long had also been arrested!

We are pushing for the new book rankings these past two days; although we are only in the seventies or eighties, at least we have made the list. Everyone with votes, please cast them; we accept both monthly tickets and recommendation tickets, as both are very useful—thank you! There is also an extra chapter today: Jia Geng Yi Zhang.

(End of Chapter)