Chapter 581: Driving a Small Car to Go Hunting: Borrowing the Tiger's Might Once

Gu Gu Bo Yuan hesitated for a moment, then shook his head and said:

"I won't go. I've been quite busy these past few days; I just took delivery of a truckload of fertilizer and bought several hundred kilograms of seeds. All of these need to be inventoried, and there's a very high chance they'll be sold out within these few days. Let's talk about it again when I have some free time."

Li Long hadn't expected his father-in-law to be such a career-oriented man. He didn't press the matter, chatted a few more words, then left the agricultural supplies store and returned to the courtyard compound.

Watching Li Long's retreating figure, Gu Gu Bo Yuan actually felt quite conflicted.

After Gu Gu Xiaoxia got married, Gu Gu Bo Yuan had simply thought he would spend the rest of his life quietly and peacefully within the Fourth Small Team.

He just hadn't expected Li Long to directly set him up with an agricultural supplies store; initially, Gu Gu Bo Yuan had thought of it as merely looking after his son-in-law's assets.

He hadn't expected that once he started doing it, he would find it quite interesting. At the very least, it was more interesting than farming, and not so exhausting.

During idle times, he could even read books, without needing to worry about whether the fields needed watering, whether he needed to go hoe weeds, or when exactly it was time to harvest, and so on.

This was a good job. Slowly, in the future, he would even become someone who ate commodity grain.

It was a good thing.

Although Gu Gu Bo Yuan had been a farmer for many years, deep down in his subconscious he had never truly considered himself a farmer; he had come here only to withdraw from the world, to find a place where he could settle down.

He hadn't expected that there would be a day when he would change his identity again.

Initially, when managing the agricultural supplies store, Gu Gu Bo Yuan had approached it with a somewhat playful attitude. However, after working at it for a while, he discovered that running a store and being a boss was not such a simple matter.

Wanting to do it well was also not easy.

However, for someone like him who had experienced attending university, if he truly wanted to manage the store well, putting in more effort would naturally yield better results than most people.

Having achieved some results, Gu Gu Bo Yuan became even more dedicated. The only troublesome thing now was that lunch was solved at Li Long's place, allowing him to devote himself wholeheartedly to running the store.

The store's profits during this period were quite substantial; he hadn't told his daughter and son-in-law yet, thinking he would find time to give them a surprise!

Of course, Li Long hadn't mentioned driving a jeep to go hunting, otherwise that would have given Gu Gu Bo Yuan a shock too.

Of course, tomorrow when Gu Gu Bo Yuan found out, he would definitely be shocked. Fortunately, Li Long and Gu Gu Xiaoxia had already agreed that no matter who asked, they would say this vehicle had been allocated by the Prefecture She for Li Long to handle official business.

After leaving the agricultural supplies store, Li Long went to the Supply and Marketing Cooperative.

Li Xiang Qian was in his office reading a newspaper and listening to the radio; seeing Li Long enter, he smiled and pointed to the chair opposite him.

Li Xiang Qian's office was not small; he used one desk, while along the opposite wall there were chairs, near the door stood a three-seater wooden sofa, and on the other side of the door, against the wall, was a wooden cabinet containing documents.

Li Long poured himself some water, and while drinking, he asked:

"Section Chief, from now until before the New Year, things shouldn't be too busy, right?"

"Originally it wasn't busy, but yesterday Director Qian spoke up, and now I have to be busy again."

"You mean... the matter of my driver's license?" Li Long understood immediately and asked at once.

"Yes. Yesterday afternoon Director Qian returned to the prefecture and called to inquire about your situation; both the Director and I spoke well of you." Li Xiang Qian had no intention of hiding this matter, so he said:

"Although Director Qian agreed to give you the vehicle, he still needs to conduct an assessment. After all, that vehicle sitting there is a symbol; ordinary people seeing the vehicle would guess it belongs to a high-ranking official. If one's character is poor, taking the vehicle could easily lead to doing bad things."

Li Long deeply agreed.

If he truly had malicious intentions, holding a work permit and driving a jeep, he could definitely deceive those people in the townships. Not to mention deceiving them of other things, just under the guise of purchasing, he could definitely deceive them out of a batch of agricultural products.

Of course, he had no such intentions.

"The Director and I spoke many, many good words on your behalf; Director Qian also knows that the major tasks you've handled over the past two years have been very excellent, so he is quite satisfied with you." Li Xiang Qian said with a smile:

"How about it, have you thought about transferring to the Prefecture She?"

"No, definitely not." Li Long answered immediately.

"Really not?" Li Xiang Qian still found it a bit hard to believe; after all, people naturally seek higher positions, and the implication in Director Qian's phone call earlier had been that he somewhat harbored the She De Xiang Fa of transferring Li Long to the Prefecture She.

"Section Chief, you know me. The reason I've been able to earn money these past two years is, first, because of your support, willing to assign me those major tasks, and second, because I have some foundation in the county. Whether in the mountains or in the rural villages, I can find people to complete these tasks."

Li Long spoke very sincerely:

"If I really went to the prefecture, what would I have? Director Qian might support me for a while, but if I fail to produce results, will he continue to support me? Definitely not. And if I go to the prefecture, without those foundations, what could I do?"

"Little Li, you see things very clearly." Li Xiang Qian laughed. "Good, good. By the way, I've already contacted the people handling the license.

They said they need to see if you really know how to drive; if you are skilled, then out of respect for our relationship, they'll issue the license directly. If you're not skilled, then you'll need to practice for a while first.

Originally, they also wanted you to learn vehicle repair, but I said it wasn't necessary and pushed back on your behalf; you don't have time to learn, right?"

"Definitely no time." Li Long thought to himself that with his wife pregnant, how could he possibly have time to go learn?

Moreover, having been busy all year, during this deep winter, it was better to rest a bit.

After arranging the time to go to the motor pool with Li Xiang Qian, Li Long left the Supply and Marketing Cooperative.

People from other sections in the She watched him come and go as he pleased; some were envious, some jealous, and others were whispering behind his back.

"That's enough; if you could procure welfare sheep for our entire She, then you could also come and go as you please." Someone who couldn't stand the whisperers immediately stepped forward to defend Li Long:

"Having eaten the free meat given by him, don't say such things anymore. He has that capability, has done no small amount of work, and has brought much honor and glory to us; it's better not to say things that affect unity."

Thus, those who were just watching the spectacle all fell silent; after all, the mutton was truly delicious.

Li Long went to the free market again; seeing Sister Yang selling porridge, he waved to greet her, then went over to take a look, and finally decided to buy a basket of eggs and two roosters.

He planned to go back and steam an egg custard for Gu Gu Xiaoxia; Sister Yang had never made this dish and probably wouldn't know how. Gu Gu Xiaoxia hadn't eaten it either, so she should find it delicious, right? (I'll type this up in a bit, let me go steam one first.)

After buying the goods, Li Long returned to the courtyard compound; taking advantage of Sister Yang not having returned yet, he indeed steamed a large bowl.

He had learned how to make this dish online from others during the mask period of his previous life; during that time, one really had to learn to make everything, and since it was simple itself, he basically mastered it after one try.

After finishing the egg custard, Sister Yang also returned; Li Long carried the large bowl containing the egg custard to the dining table and told Sister Yang:

"Sister Yang, this bowl contains egg custard I made; we'll eat it at lunch later."

"Good, good, Uncle, you've made a new dish? I'll learn it later." Sister Yang said with a smile.

Li Long occasionally prepared some fresh meals or dishes, so Sister Yang was no longer surprised by it.

After lunch, Li Long drove the jeep to the highway outside the county to familiarize himself with the vehicle. Since the motor pool side said they needed to check his driving skills, he might as well practice properly.

Even if he couldn't drive a large truck later, being very proficient at driving a small car would be fine too.

Previously, when showing it to Director Qian, he had only recalled the general idea. After all, the manual transmission cars of that time were different from the jeep he had now.

He could drive it, but to become proficient, he really needed to practice diligently.

That afternoon, the entire next day, and the morning of the third day, Li Long practiced driving; on the third morning, at the agreed time, he drove the jeep to pick up Xiang Qian and headed for the motor pool.

The vehicle rolled steadily into the motor pool's courtyard.

In the motor pool's courtyard, a truck was undergoing repair or maintenance; some garage doors stood open, others closed; some vehicles had already departed, while others remained inside.

A tall man in his thirties spotted the jeep, wiped the grease from his hands, and walked over.

After Li Long and Xiang Qian stepped out of the vehicle, he smiled and said:

"Brother Lao Li, seeing you arrive like this, I thought a leader had come. Is this the young fellow? He drives very steadily; where did he learn?"

Xiang Qian feigned dissatisfaction and said:

"What? Am I not a leader? Ma Chunlei, now that you're a team captain, you don't even deign to look people in the eye?"

"Go on, go on, I was just joking with you; I was asking about this young fellow." Ma Chunlei showed no anger, smiling as he spoke.

"He used to work in Wucheng, where he trained under the motor pool's instructors." Li Long stuck to his rehearsed story.

Xiang Qian had asked him before, and he had given the same answer.

"Not bad, so you'll be driving this vehicle, correct? Judging by how you drove over, your skills are fine, so no further test is needed. Come, open the hood; let me see if you know what's what." Fortunately, Li Long knew quite a bit about vehicles and could identify the engine, fan, and similar components. After a brief explanation, Ma Chunlei nodded and said:

"Alright, it seems you have some experience. Very well, come tomorrow to collect your license." With the matter settled, he then asked Xiang Qian:

"Brother Lao Li, are you busy lately? If not, give the prefecture a call; our motor pool plans to dispatch vehicles there in the next couple of days to haul some goods back for distribution among everyone. It's year-end, after all, and we must arrange some welfare benefits."

"Alright, no problem. Call me before you depart." Xiang Qian agreed, then departed in the jeep driven by Li Long.

On the road, Li Long asked with some concern:

"Section Chief, did obtaining this license require you to call in a personal favor? How can I repay you?"

"Are you referring to his request to make that phone call just now?" Upon hearing Li Long's words, Xiang Qian realized the misunderstanding and smiled, saying:

"No, no. Captain Ma often does this. We have a good relationship; when the Supply and Marketing Cooperative's vehicles are too busy to transport goods, we seek their help. Conversely, when they wish to purchase goods at lower prices, we offer them the wholesale rates on items we haul back.

This time, their trip to the prefecture is naturally to buy some items at the prefectural cooperative's wholesale prices. To be honest, the prefectural cooperative's prices are lower than ours, and they are passing that way anyway."

Li Long nodded, indicating he understood.

In these times, materials were relatively scarce; being able to buy anything was an accomplishment, but being able to buy cheap goods was a major feat.

Leveraging connections through connections, and trading favors for favors, was perfectly normal.

!.

The next day, Li Long went alone; when collecting his license, he presented Ma Chunlei with a leg of yellow sheep. Captain Ma did not refuse, merely advising him to be careful and prioritize safety when happy. He also added that if the vehicle ever had issues, he could bring it to their motor pool for repairs.

Now that he had the vehicle, the license, and all the paperwork, Li Long planned to take his family hunting the following day.

That evening, he told Gu Gu Xiaoxia about the plan, but she remained uninterested.

Gu Gu Bo Yuan already knew Li Long had borrowed a jeep; he only instructed Li Long to drive carefully and prioritize safety. After all, firstly, the item was valuable, and secondly, its speed was far greater than a tractor's, making accidents easy to occur.

The next morning, after breakfast, Li Long loaded three rifles into the vehicle and drove to the team headquarters.

The jeep was indeed much faster than the tractor. Although it lacked heating, at least it had a canvas top, so one didn't have to endure the wind.

Within ten-plus minutes, the jeep arrived at the team headquarters; anyone who happened to be outside noticed it.

Fortunately, since it was the dead of winter, few people were outdoors; the jeep moved so quickly that hardly anyone noticed it arriving at the Li family home.

When the jeep entered the courtyard, it startled Liang Yuemei, who was crushing coal at the coal shed; such a vehicle was truly a rare sight!

Or rather, it was almost never seen in the village!

Merely seeing a truck could excite the children enough to make them shout loudly, let alone a jeep?

Whenever Li Long's tractor passed along the road, children would chase after it for a while.

After all, such mechanical contraptions were exceedingly rare.

When Li Long stepped out of the jeep, Liang Yuemei was nearly stunned silly.

She paused for a moment before asking:

"Xiao Long, did you drive this back?"

"Yes," Li Long said with a smile. "It's a vehicle from the Supply and Marketing Cooperative; a leader let me use it first while handling some tasks. Since it's idle these couple of days, I brought it back for use, just in time to take Father and my eldest brother hunting for yellow sheep."

As he spoke, Li Li Qing Xia and Li Jianguo came out, with Du Chunfang following behind.

Seeing the jeep in the courtyard and then looking at Li Long, the whole family felt somewhat flustered.

Li Long then called everyone back inside the house to explain slowly.

"Are you saying that leaders from the prefecture assigned this vehicle to you for work, allowing you to drive it freely during this period?"

"Yes." Li Long took out the paperwork and passed it around for his eldest brother and father to examine. He knew that unless he explained this clearly, the matter would not be settled.

Of course, later he would explain separately to his eldest brother that this opportunity had actually been exchanged for a tiger skin.

Only after viewing the paperwork did the family finally believe him.

"I've brought three rifles; let's go now, so we can leave early and return early. Driving this car is much more convenient than the tractor." Li Long continued, "Eldest Brother, did you manage to borrow a rifle?"

"I did. Cheng Jun said that since you are on the roster of the core militia, you just need to drop by sometime to sign." Li Jianguo stood up and retrieved the rifle from under the bed.

"Alright then, is there anything pressing today? If not, let's get dressed and go. We might even be back by lunchtime."

"Yes, yes, yes." Li Li Qing Xia was extremely excited, and Li Jianguo also wore an expression of excitement on his face.

Du Chunfang smiled, looking at her promising youngest son, feeling genuinely happy.

Li Long had originally intended to invite his eldest sister-in-law to join, but Liang Yuemei hesitated for a moment before finally shaking her head.

With so many things at home, plus the pig, and only her mother-in-law there, she could not feel at ease.

There was no help for it; the woman managing the household always worried the most.

The jeep drove out of the Li family courtyard; before many people could react, kicking up clouds of snow powder, it left the Fourth Small Team and soon reached the county town.

Here, the jeep did not stop either; it continued westward, passing Shicheng, passing Shawan, and arriving in the no-man's-land.

Neither Li Li Qing Xia nor Li Jianguo had ever ridden in a jeep, a vehicle reserved for high officials; from the moment they boarded, they felt somewhat nervous, but after passing Shicheng, they relaxed slightly and began observing the scenery on both sides.

"Hey, this car is truly fast!" Li Li Qing Xia remarked, "In just a little while, we've traveled so far..."

"If we run any farther, we'll reach Kuitun, where Second Brother and the others are staying," Li Long said while driving.

"Can we go see him?" Li Li Qing Xia asked.

"Better not," Li Long remained silent, but Li Jianguo spoke up, "Driving this car over there will surely stir up quite a commotion... There probably aren't many such cars in the entire county, are there?"

"There are fewer than five in the whole county," Li Long replied.

"Exactly. We drove out here for hunting; I already felt something was off just now, but since we're here, let it be. But if we drive all the way to Kuitun, wouldn't that be..." Li Jianguo was still being rather cautious.

"Right, right, right, let's not go," Li Li Qing Xia immediately backed down.

In his view, the leaders trusted Li Long and lent him the car for official business. Li Long bringing his family out hunting was already improper; if they then drove to Kuitun and somehow caused trouble that led to someone reporting them, the consequences would be severe.

"Dad, Big Brother, look south! Over there on the Red Willow Beach, there's a herd of gazelles!" Li Long told the two men.

The herd numbered seven or eight, more than a hundred meters away; Li Long didn't stop, merely pointing them out to the other two.

"Aren't we getting out to hunt them?" Li Li Qing Xia couldn't help but ask.

"Too far. Let's drive a bit further and see if we can find some closer," Li Long said. "The first two times we hunted, the ones we encountered were only forty or fifty meters from the road, easy to aim at and easy to shoot."

When the jeep approached Anjihai, they indeed encountered a large herd; these gazelles had migrated from the north, crossing the road to seek food in the mountains to the south.

However, upon reaching the roadside, they spotted some grass left behind by passing vehicles. Some gazelles stopped to graze, and only when the jeep appeared were they forced to leave the main road and flee southward.

But those gazelles that had eaten the grass were reluctant to leave it behind; after running a few dozen meters, they stopped, seemingly waiting for the jeep to pass so they could return to feed.

Li Long deliberately parked the jeep by the roadside, no more than forty meters from the gazelles.

"Let's keep the noise down when we get out," Li Long whispered. "They might run again, but not far. Dad, Big Brother and I will fire first; you take the shotgun and aim freely—if you hit one, great; if not, it doesn't matter."

"Better if all three of us fire together," Li Jianguo said, mindful of his father's dignity. "Once we start shooting, the gazelles will bolt, making it even harder to hit them with a shotgun."

"Right, right, right." Li Long realized his oversight and quickly said, "Then I'll count one, two, three, and we'll fire together. For now, let's load our ammunition."

Li Long planned that this time he would use the rifle to ensure hitting a gazelle and securing a catch; next time, he would use the shotgun and let his father use the rifle.

After all, when hunting, if one comes back empty-handed, one's heart surely won't feel good. (End of chapter)