Chapter 49: People are different from one another; you have to accept it!

When Li Long led the horse-drawn cart back to the production team, those still outside looked at him with astonishment.

A group of children were playing with their spinning tops on the road, which had been packed as smooth as ice. Seeing Li Long approach, they swarmed over all at once.

Li Long took a look and asked one of the children he recognized:

"Ga Wa, where is Qiangqiang?"

"Someone said you were arrested, and Qiangqiang took his top and went home crying. Were you arrested?"

Li Long immediately understood why those people were looking at him with such strange expressions. He smiled, shook his head, and said:

"No, I went into the mountains." Li Long explained.

"You're lying! You didn't bring any wood back!" One child felt Li Long was lying.

"But I brought back wild boars." Li Long smiled and lifted the grass, revealing two wild boars. This matter couldn't be hidden no matter what, so he might as well use the children's mouths to dispel the rumors and gossip.

Seeing that large wild boar, even though only its head was exposed, those two dagger-like tusks gave the children a fright!

Once they were sure the wild boar was dead, the bolder children dared to step forward, carefully touched the tusks, and then quickly retreated, saying:

"They really are huge tusks!"

Li Long smiled and led the cart back.

Meanwhile, the nosy children had already run quickly to the Li family to report the news. The other children stopped playing with their tops and followed the cart toward the Li house.

Upon receiving the news, the entire Li family ran out of the courtyard gate. When they saw Li Long, Li Jianguo and Liang Wenyu finally set their hearts at ease.

Li Qiang still had tear tracks on his face. Seeing Li Long, he let out another "wa" and cried, rushing over and shouting:

"Uncle! Uncle! They said you were taken away by someone and wouldn't be coming back..."

"They're talking nonsense. I went into the mountains, you know that." Li Long smiled and patted Li Qiang's head.

Although Li Juan didn't cry, one could see she was suppressing her joy; she had a smile on her face, just watching.

"Why did it take so long to get back?" Li Jianguo complained. "The whole family was worried sick."

In reality, there wasn't much of an issue, but with Gu Ermao and Tao Da being arrested one after another, and rumors spreading, it would be a lie for Li Jianguo to say he wasn't worried.

"It's good that you're back, it's good that you're back. Come into the courtyard first!" Liang Wenyu said with a smile. "Xiao Long, you haven't eaten yet, right? Go into the room and change your clothes first, let your brother return the cart, and I'll heat up some food for you!"

No matter what the situation is outside, once you enter the home and have a bowl of hot food to eat, other matters can be discussed after you're full.

This is the most simple and honest emotion of one's own family.

Li Long remembered the first sentence an Arab scholar he saw in his previous life said Chinese people use to greet each other: "Have you eaten?" It is the most simple, the most ordinary, and something you don't even notice, but it contains the most sincere emotion.

Now, he truly experienced it.

Others care about how much money you've earned, whether you're living a flashy or down-and-out life, and whether you have a car, money, or a house, while family members are the ones who first welcome you home with hot food.

After driving the cart back into the courtyard, the two brothers took down the wood and grass. Li Jianguo looked at the two wild boars in surprise:

"Did you hunt all of these?"

"No, I hunted the small one, and a friend hunted the big one. They don't eat this, so I brought them both back."

"This one is huge!" Although Li Jianguo had seen wild boars, it was his first time seeing one this big. "It must be over 250 or 260 kilograms!"

"But the meat doesn't taste as good as domestic pork," Li Long said. "And it wasn't bled."

"It's still meat!" Li Jianguo emphasized. "It's good enough to have meat to eat! Come, unload the pig, you go change your clothes first, I'll return the cart, and then boil water to remove the hair!"

With two pigs, there's enough meat for a year, so why fear hardship? Don't joke!

Li Jianguo made Li Long truly feel the rallying power of the old production team's founders.

He carried the jade into the room; the stove in the east room was still warm. When he had put the stones away, changed his clothes, and was ready to eat, the courtyard had already become lively.

The eldest brother from the Lu family, Uncle Chen from the backyard, Qin Ma Lao San the village butcher, and even Old Luo from the horse stable had all come over.

"Xiao Long, not bad." Old Luo, carrying a pot, entered the east room and said to Li Long with a smile:

"Everyone said you and Tao Da were arrested together. I didn't expect that not only were you not arrested, but you also brought back two wild boars. Well done, you're a real man!"

"Tao Da was arrested? Then what about Daqiang?" Li Long, having changed his clothes, was also shocked. This Tao Da must have been arrested for selling fish, so was Daqiang arrested too?

"Daqiang ran away. He said you had warned him beforehand." Old Luo smiled. "It seems this business isn't something everyone can do."

Helping Old Luo place the pot on the stove, Li Jianguo had already poured in half a bucket of water, and next, they would use large baskets to bring snow from outside to add to the pot.

The stove door was opened, the wind blew in with a roar, and the stove fire suddenly became intense. The snow melted quickly, and the water in the pot began to heat up.

The courtyard became even livelier. Everyone was evaluating the wild boars. Although they didn't need to be slaughtered, processing them was just as troublesome.

At this time, while Li Long was eating in the west room, he heard Liang Wenyu talk about Gu Ermao and Tao Da being arrested, including Li Jianguo lending twenty yuan to Tao Daqiang.

!.

"Just give him that money." Li Long took twenty yuan out of his pocket and handed it to Liang Wenyu:

"The previous few times Daqiang went out with me, he had a share of the things sold. His money was kept with me, so this time, just consider it taken back."

Liang Wenyu took the money, wanting to say something, but didn't.

Li Long said while eating:

"If Daqiang wants to come again later, he'll just be doing manual labor."

Tao Daqiang's work ethic was unquestionable, and he was obedient—the fact that he wasn't arrested this time was proof. He had his reasons for not calling his own brother to work together.

Li Long could see that his sister-in-law had thoughts; of course, she wasn't questioning Li Long, but rather couldn't quite figure it out.

Seeing that everyone was outside, Li Long whispered:

"Sister-in-law, I have news. Wait until spring; the land is going to be divided. Our family will be able to get a lot of land. At that time, the work in the fields will still need my brother to do it. I'll just do some side businesses. Farming is still the big thing; I don't need work points, but my brother can't be lacking."

Liang Wenyu was stunned by the words "dividing the land." She looked outside and asked:

"Is it really going to be divided?"

"It will be. Many provinces have already divided it long ago; we are considered late." Li Long said, "However, the first division won't be much, but that's your own land.

I'm also thinking about bringing back some manure from the mountains at that time—by the way, the team's property might also be divided. Now we need to earn more money; when the time comes to draw lots for horses or something, we'll need money to buy them, right?"

Li Long clearly remembered that the last time the team divided "village property," every household drew lots, from number one all the way to forty-seven—the whole team had forty-seven households.

Li Jianguo drew number two. Number one was the team's Dongfanghong tractor, which required paying over a thousand yuan to buy back, and number two was the big red horse from the horse stable, which cost over a hundred. Li Jianguo directly gave up the number.

However, farming still required transportation. Li Jianguo later spent fifteen yuan to buy a small donkey foal, and then spent money to find someone to build a cart frame out of wood; it wasn't until a year later that he finally had a donkey cart.

If the money is prepared now, once a horse is drawn, it can be bought back directly—wouldn't that be usable?

The area around Halimu's winter shelter is full of cow and sheep dung!

Now Li Long goes out to sell things without Li Jianguo, because Li Jianguo's prestige is there; if the two of them had a dispute, who should be listened to? Besides, with two men in the family, if something really happened, they couldn't both be arrested, right? Leaving one behind is safer.

When Li Long finished eating and appeared in the courtyard, the gazes of the grown men in the yard were all different when they looked at him.

Look, they are all young people of similar age, all wanting to go out and run around to do business; some get arrested as soon as they go out, while others not only earn money but also bring back two wild boars!

These two pigs must weigh at least three hundred kilograms, right? Even if wild boar meat is cheap, at half the price of domestic pork per kilogram, that's still eighty cents, so three hundred kilograms is over two hundred!

People and people, they are just different!

(End of chapter)