Chapter 502

That night, Li Long and Gu Xiaoxia stayed in their own bedroom.

After dinner at the eldest brother's yard, seeing it wasn't dark yet, Li Long moved the TV to his father's place directly. The antenna was originally set up in the eldest brother's bedroom. When Li Long moved the TV, Li Jianguo and Lu Yingming, who came over to watch the excitement, moved the antenna over.

Lu Yingming even jokingly said that Li Long should have done this long ago. The other two villages had TVs, and many people would crowd into others' homes to watch. Originally, they could watch in Li Jianguo's room. After Li Long got married, the TV was moved to the front yard, and now there was no TV to watch.

Now that the TV was in Li Qing Xia's old couple's room, the boys could crowd around to watch TV again.

There were many children in the family. Li Qing Xia liked the liveliness, and Du Chunfang was indifferent, but with many children, the yard was lively, and she was happy watching it.

Li Xueping and Li Xue Qin were basically integrated into the group of children here now, running around after the eldest sister, Li Juan, very happily.

When the TV was adjusted and the human voices came out, the happiest ones were still the children.

Moving stools and grabbing places, their eyes basically never left the TV screen.

"Heh, color is still better to watch. These people look just like real ones! That black and white one, watching it just doesn't feel as exciting as this!" Lu Yingming looked at the people on the screen and sighed.

"That's right, this one is worth three or four of those black and white ones, how can it be the same?" Li Jianguo and Lu Yingming walked out of the room; they didn't go to crowd around to watch.

This time weaving carrying poles, the relationship between the two families was originally good, and now it felt even better.

"Old Li, how is your watermelon? I heard that it's not on the market yet, and the Grain Bureau doesn't collect it. After you collect it, how will you sell it?"

"How can it be sold?" Li Jianguo actually didn't have full confidence in his heart. "I used to sell it to the food factory, and the seed company also wanted some. Anyway, the yield of this thing itself isn't high, but if they want it, these two places definitely want it. If it really doesn't work, I'll let Without Xiao Long drive the tractor, and we'll run to Wucheng. I don't believe it won't sell."

"Okay, let's see how your sales go then. If it works out, we'll plant some next year too." Lu Yingming's mind was also quite active. Now that production is contracted to households, plus land contracting, discerning people can see that relying solely on farming can make life better, but wanting to get rich is impossible in the short term.

So if you want to get rich and start a family, you still have to start from cash crops and sideline businesses.

Lu Yingming earned more than three hundred yuan from weaving carrying poles, and half of it went to buying a bicycle. Sister-in-law Lu said he was wasteful, but Lu Yingming didn't think so.

Look at the old man of the Li family and Tao Daqiang; the two caught fish and went to Shicheng to sell them. As long as they went to sell, they could earn ten or twenty yuan a day.

It wasn't less than the money he earned from weaving carrying poles.

He was too embarrassed to follow them to catch fish; after all, there were only a few families in the team that caught fish to sell and made money. Selling fish in the county earned less; after all, the market in the county was only that big.

He thought that when he was free, he would either go to the big lake to catch fish to sell or get something else.

But this was just a sideline. As long as he followed Li Jianguo closely, he would definitely be able to participate in the big jobs that Li Long could get.

However, as a farmer, the most fundamental thing is still farming. The prices of the grain and oil crops currently planted can't go up. Don't look at the ten or twenty mu planted for each, but when it comes to the end of the year, after paying the public grain and leaving enough for oneself to eat, the remaining sold might not even be half the money earned from weaving carrying poles for a month.

There were many people in the team who wanted to plant other crops, but they didn't know what to plant.

So the watermelon that Li Jianguo had already planted became the object of everyone's inquiry. If it could really be planted successfully, then everyone would follow suit. If there were any situations, there would be people to ask, and there would be no worry about not finding a place to sell it when the time came.

Farmers farming is basically like this. It wasn't until forty years later, when the cooperative model was restarted, signing contracts before planting, and large-scale cotton planting, including the state's mandatory grain planting, that this became the main planting model in the Xinjiang region.

During this period, for a considerable period of time, farmers farming, except for grain and oil crops, basically followed the trend. Seeing others plant cash crops and make money, they would swarm to follow the trend, but as a result, most of them couldn't make money the second year.

The farmer group itself has less information than others and belongs to the bottom layer. Fighting alone is really not feasible.

They were chatting about farming here, and Chen Li Rong found Li Long and Gu Xiaoxia.

"Without Xiao Long, I want to ask you something." She was still a bit embarrassed when she spoke.

"Second sister-in-law, go ahead." Li Long and Gu Xiaoxia had discussed letting Chen Li Rong live in the spare room of their yard with the two children, and Gu Xiaoxia naturally had no objections. For one thing, Li Long had said that it wouldn't be long before Chen Li Rong would likely move to Kuitun, and the second brother would definitely be able to stand firm there.

For another, if someone lived in the yard, there would be human presence, and it wouldn't be chaotic. If no one lived there often, the house would be damp and uncomfortable, and the things inside would break quickly. Gu Xiaoxia knew this too.

"I just want to ask about your second brother. It's been so long, and he hasn't made a phone call or sent a letter. We don't know how he's doing over there." Chen Li Rong said with a worried face.

"Second sister-in-law, don't worry. My second brother and the others should be very busy recently. When I came back, they were rushing a project, and it couldn't be finished in a short while. But once it's finished, they should be able to determine if they can become formal workers. My second brother has a steady personality, so becoming a formal worker shouldn't be a problem. I think you should be at ease about this. When my second brother has news, it should be that he has become a formal worker, and he will send a telegram here or to his hometown for political review."

"Oh, I don't understand this." Hearing Li Long explain it this way, Chen Li Rong understood a little.

"It should be soon. They need many people there, and the project is tight. I think this probation period is at most three months." Li Long continued, "In half a month or twenty days, before harvesting wheat, I have to go to Kuitun. I have machinery ordered there. When the time comes, I'll drive the tractor over to see my second brother. If he can come back, I'll bring him back; if he can't, I'll talk about the situation."

"Okay." Chen Li Rong nodded hard.

"Then why don't you bring the sister-in-law and children along when the time comes?" Gu Xiaoxia said. "Take them over so the children can see the second brother too. Not seeing each other for so long, the children must miss him too."

"That's right." Li Long clapped his hands and said to Chen Li Rong, "Second sister-in-law, if my second brother hasn't come back by then, I'll come over and pick you up."

"Good, good, good, then I'll trouble you." Chen Li Rong smiled and said quickly.

"What trouble? You tidy up our yard every day, and we didn't say it was trouble." Li Long said with a smile, "Family doesn't say polite words."

It was getting dark, and Li Qing Xia and the others' room became more and more lively. Li Long and Gu Xiaoxia didn't want to watch TV, so they simply returned to their own yard.

Seeing that the yard was very clean, the vegetables in the garden were growing well, and there was no dampness in the house, Gu Xiaoxia sighed and said:

"It's different when someone takes care of the home. If no one watched it, our house would probably be moldy."

Pulling open the quilt, he could feel the smell of it having been sunned. Li Long said with a smile:

"You are the youngest daughter-in-law of the Li family and a state cadre, so the family values you very much."

"Isn't it because of you." Gu Xiaoxia exposed the true meaning of Li Long's words, "But thinking about the second sister-in-law's family, they are really quite pitiful."

"Bitterness first, sweetness later." Li Long went to pour water and said while pouring, "Don't look at the bitterness now; later when the second brother becomes a worker, I don't know how many people will envy them. It's just that I don't know when they will be assigned housing. I went to see it; the construction company's houses are all one-story small yards. Can they have a yard like ours... one-sixth the size?"

Li Long gestured uncertainly.

"So small?" Gu Xiaoxia couldn't believe it. "How can they live there?"

"Alright, that's the city. Although it's considered to be on the edge of the city." Li Long said with a smile, "You think everyone is like our family, having a big yard here and a big yard in the county? For those people in the city to have a one-story house, even if it's just one room, it's already okay."

Gu Xiaoxia was a bit embarrassed. She understood Li Long's words. In fact, when chatting with colleagues at work, she could also hear about housing.

Now everyone basically still lives in one-story houses, and not many have yards. Most one-story houses have two rooms, one inside and one outside, or two rooms and one living room. A big yard like the one she and Li Long live in doesn't exist. At most, it's like Sister Yang's yard. The county seat of Maxian is large and has few units, so the houses of cadre families are relatively large. If you count Shicheng or other cities, there are many people in the city, so the housing assigned by the units is relatively tight.

"His yard over there can be half the size of Sister Yang's yard." Li Long gestured, and it was about the same. "But in any case, as long as they can be assigned a house, the second sister-in-law and the children can move over, and then the family will be reunited. After the second sister-in-law stays for a while, she should be able to find a job, and then it will be fine. Workers are much higher in rank than us farmers; they are the leading class."

"Hmm, that's true. If it really happens, it will really make many people envy them."

"Of course, the most enviable person is still you, a state cadre, even stronger than a worker." Li Long smiled and touched Gu Xiaoxia's face. "Our team only produced you. Before when you came back, those friends didn't envy you less, right?" "Hmm," Gu Xiaoxia held Li Long's hand and sighed, "I didn't feel it when I was taking the exam, but now I realize that working in the county is completely different from before. I can't even talk to them anymore. They talk about what movies to watch, what clothes to wear, what hair oil to apply, what headscarves to wear, and I'm embarrassed to talk about it with them."

"The aesthetics are already different." Li Long sighed, "The positions are different, the scenery seen is different, and the vision is also different. There's no way around this; after all, everyone has their own position. Whether you can stand in a higher place depends on whether you can grasp the opportunity."

The chat was a bit profound, and Li Long decided to return to the most primitive life. Anyway, no one would come to disturb them, and this was still their new house, and the feeling was different from the big yard.

So that night, Li Long was very brave, defeating Gu Xiaoxia several times until she was crushed. But Gu Xiaoxia was also in her prime, and after adapting, she fought repeatedly after defeat, and slowly adapted to the rhythm, not losing too miserably.

Finally, both sides ceased hostilities. Li Long still had energy, but because the battle was a bit intense, during the process, Chen Li Rong brought the children over to rest in the spare room and was almost discovered, causing Li Long to almost break his concentration.

Although he continued to fight later and found that the impact was not great, he ultimately failed to fully enjoy it.

The two agreed to fight again in the future, and then they fell asleep in each other's arms, still wanting more.

The next day, Li Long and Gu Xiaoxia didn't sleep in. Young people recover quickly. Hearing movement in the yard, the two got up one after another.

The room was a bit messy. After finding their respective clothes and cleaning up some residue in the room, they dressed, washed up, and opened the door.

It was slightly chilly outside, but the whole person suddenly woke up.

!.

Gu Xiaoxia opened the window to let in some air, while Li Long took a turn in the vegetable garden. Before he finished, Li Qiang had already run over to call them both to eat.

Li Qing Xia and Tao Daqiang didn't go to set nets yesterday, so they weren't busy this morning. Breakfast was steamed buns, scrambled eggs, stir-fried celery with meat, pickles with meat, and porridge. When Li Long and Gu Xiaoxia went over, Liang Yuemei was shoveling the pickles with meat out of the pot, then broke off a piece of steamed bun, wiped it in the pot, wiped the shovel too, and handed it to Li Juan.

Li Juan was already surrounded by three children. She broke off a piece and handed it to Li Xue Qin, then broke off another piece and handed it to Xueping. When it was Li Qiang's turn, there wasn't much of the oily part left. Li Juan gave almost all the oily part to Li Qiang, and she herself just ate a mouthful of hot steamed bun.

But Li Juan was always smiling and didn't feel any grievance.

Just this scene made Li Long feel very emotional; this is what it's like to be an eldest sister in this era.

Gu Xiaoxia was also quite emotional when she saw it. She was an only child (at least in life, she hadn't seen that one yet) and usually envied those with siblings. Seeing Li Juan taking care of several younger siblings now, the feeling was even stronger.

Chen Li Rong and Liang Yuemei set the table, and Li Qing Xia and Du Chunfang sat down first.

Two tables, one big and one small. Liang Yuemei and Chen Li Rong sat at the small table and ate with the children. Gu Xiaoxia also wanted to go over, but Liang Yuemei stopped her:

"Xiaoxia, you just eat there. You only come back once every week or two, don't let the children crowd you."

The eldest sister-in-law spoke, so Gu Xiaoxia ate at the big table with Li Long.

"Dad, why didn't you set nets yesterday?"

"Heh, I couldn't set them these past few days. There was a flood, and some water rushed into the reservoir, and the fish were scared into the grass nests. Setting nets wouldn't catch many." Li Qing Xia said, "I heard people in the team say, fortunately you paid for the team to divert the canal last year; otherwise, this flood might have washed away the bottom dam of the small lake. If that had been washed away, the fish really couldn't be caught."

Li Long smiled. When they drove the tractor across the reed ditch yesterday, they saw the flood marks, but didn't think too much about it.

Flood, this matter seemed a bit far from him.

"I went to Shicheng yesterday and saw my brother-in-law. He's doing well there and said he would pick up my sister in a while." Li Long mentioned it while eating.

"That's fine." Li Qing Xia was quite satisfied. In this way, all his children were here. Seeing that everyone was doing well, he was also happy.

After eating, Li Long went to the children's table, took out money, gave each child one yuan, and said:

"Uncle earned money, not much, this is your pocket money, no need to give it to your family."

He gave a lot of New Year's money to the children last year, but Li Long knew this money would definitely be taken away by the adults. Today's money wasn't much, but for the children, it could be considered a "huge sum."

Then he took out four ten-yuan notes and handed them to the eldest and second sisters-in-law respectively:

"Eldest sister-in-law, second sister-in-law, it's almost June 1st, the children's festival, I'm giving them some festival money."

"How can I accept this?" Chen Li Rong didn't want it, so Li Long said to the eldest sister-in-law with a smile:

"Eldest sister-in-law, look?"

"Alright, Chen Li Rong, just take it. Without Xiao Long can earn money now, he loves his nephews and nieces, since he gave it, just take it." Liang Yuemei knew from her husband that Li Long had earned a lot of money this time. Given Li Long's personality, he would definitely do this, so she wasn't surprised.

Only then did Chen Li Rong accept the money.

Li Qing Xia, Du Chunfang, and Li Jianguo were all smiling.

It wasn't just about the money; the family was harmonious, which was great.

After the yard was cleaned up and Li Juan and the others went to school, Li Long and Gu Xiaoxia went to Li Qing Xia's room.

"Dad, Mom, this is what Without Xiao Long and I are honoring you with." Gu Xiaoxia took two stacks of money and handed them to Li Qing Xia and Du Chunfang respectively. "Keep this money, if you want to buy anything, just go buy it."

One hundred for each, this was Gu Xiaoxia's intention. Li Long naturally didn't refuse; the money came from the portion Gu Xiaoxia controlled.

"Heh, we have money!" Li Qing Xia said, "It's not easy for you to earn money, keep it for big things!"

"We have money too." Li Long said with a smile, "Dad, Mom, you having money is yours, and us giving it is our filial piety, that's different."

"Accept it, accept it." Du Chunfang thought very openly, "When they have children, you can just give it back."

Well, is this equivalent to saving money for herself in disguise?

Li Long was amused.

In any case, it was good that they accepted it.

After chatting with the old people in the yard for a while, Li Long went to Gu Bo Yuan's place to help set up the antenna.

In the middle, Li Long also did a big thing; he went to the old horse station and left three hundred yuan for Old Uncle Luo.

"Old Uncle Luo, I was negligent, you cut grass every day, and carrying it is hard work. The horse cart at my eldest brother's place will be needed for a while. Take this money, see whose horse and cart nearby are for sale, and buy it back. We'll use a horse cart to cut grass in the future."

"Okay." Old Uncle Luo was very happy. He knew Li Long had earned money, but he had never brought up the cart.

In fact, living here all the time, Old Uncle Luo was quite happy. Although cutting grass was a bit hard, what isn't hard work? There's a salary for doing this, isn't it better than working in the fields? People who came out in that era wouldn't complain about life.

After all, life now is really much better than before.

Better every year. (End of chapter)