Chapter 600

To Li Long's surprise, after he cleared the snow in the courtyard and swept away the snow outside, when he went to the Little Haizi with his father and the others after twelve o'clock, he discovered that the path to the Little Haizi had already been trodden out.

Someone had already come a step ahead.

Li Long quickened his pace, wanting to see who exactly was so "dedicated." He walked fast, but Li Qing Xia and Li Qiang, who followed, weren't as quick.

Although the snow wasn't very thick, it was still difficult to walk through. Even though someone had walked ahead, there were only footprints, and following behind still meant stepping into the snow.

After Li Long climbed the northern embankment of the Little Haizi, he discovered two groups of people at the ice holes. One group was the three Liang brothers, who were clearing snow, and the other group was the Lao Meng family, who had already cleared the snow, smashed the ice hole open again, and were currently scooping up fish.

They were really hardworking!

Li Long saw fish already jumping at the edge of Lao Meng's ice hole.

After this snowfall, the temperature was even lower, and as the ice layer thickened, the air above had a harder time reaching the water below. Once these ice holes were smashed open, the fish were even more likely to gather around.

Li Long went to the Liang brothers' side and saw that the snow over their two ice holes had already been cleared. They were using pickaxes and steel bars to smash open the newly formed layer of ice.

"You came so early today," Li Long said.

"Sigh, because of what happened yesterday, we were all worried that people from the Northern White Earth Pit Reservoir or the Yaowa Ditch Reservoir might actually send fish over. The fish in their reservoirs are more plentiful than ours, so we have to work hard and scoop up a bit more. The more we scoop, the more money we make."

Liang Dacheng didn't hide anything and stated his true thoughts.

"Heh, that's not possible," Li Long smiled. "Why would they look at my little business?"

"You can't say that for sure. Right now, fish sales in our county are all small-scale; there aren't many people with the connections to handle large demand." Liang Dacheng had analyzed the situation and said, "Regardless, catching more fish and selling them for more money means we can have a good New Year."

That was the truth. Once an opportunity was found, hard work really could lead to wealth at this time.

The prerequisite was to seize this opportunity.

Besides these few families, did the other families in the village not know that scooping fish could make money?

Every household had been working hard with Li Long for two years now; they could afford to buy scoop nets.

They just felt it was too cold and didn't want to do it.

This was an opportunity delivered right to their eyes, yet they wouldn't grab it.

They didn't want to suffer the cold.

Li Qing Xia and Li Qiang caught up, looked at the scooping starting here, and then went with Li Long to their own ice holes.

"Hey, Grandpa, Uncle! There was a rabbit that fell into our ice hole here and ran away again!" Li Qiang, who had run ahead, saw rabbit tracks in the snow over there, and after chasing them, shouted excitedly.

Li Long followed to look and indeed discovered that a rabbit had run over from the eastern bank, fallen into the ice hole here, then jumped out and turned south.

Not far to the south was a patch of harvested reed stubble. After the rabbit tracks circled there twice, it ran south again.

Because of the wind at night, the ice hole here had been completely covered by snow, which was why the rabbit had been able to fall in.

Li Long and Li Qing Xia were each responsible for one ice hole, while Li Qiang ran back and forth. Li Long simply told him to go collect reed stalks, the more the better.

"Qiangqiang, don't go into the reed stubble when you're carrying the stalks," Li Long cautioned again. "The stubble in there is very sharp; if you fall, you'll prick your face."

"Uncle, I know," Li Qiang replied and went off to find reed stalks.

After the ice hole was smashed open, Li Long used a scoop net to fish out the broken ice and toss it onto the ice surface. He didn't immediately start scooping fish but continued to clear a large patch of snow around the two ice holes on the ice surface.

Li Qing Xia's movements were slightly slower. By the time he smashed his ice hole open, Li Long had already cleared a large patch of snow, and Li Qiang had excitedly brought over a bundle of reed stalks.

"Qiangqiang, stay further away, I'm going to light the reed stalks," Li Long said. Li Qiang ran far away, and after watching the fire start, he continued to look for reed stalks.

After the fire was going, Li Long didn't warm himself by it. Feeling that it was about time, he took the scoop net and prepared to scoop fish at his ice hole.

Then he saw a black shadow flickering under the water surface of the ice hole, and then a large mouth the size of an infant's fist poked out.

Hey, this fish wasn't small!

Li Long immediately pressed down with the scoop net and scooped upward, but then he saw the large fish's tail flicker in the net, and it slipped away and disappeared.

Li Long was a bit anxious. He hurriedly stepped onto the steps chiseled at the edge of the ice hole and scooped down again. After swirling it around under the water and pulling it up, he felt a weight in the net and his heart filled with joy.

When he pulled the scoop net up and flipped it onto the ice, a large carp nearly three kilograms in weight began flopping on the ice.

But Li Long was a bit disappointed.

The one that had slipped away just now wasn't this fish; it was even larger than this one—he could tell just by looking at the tail.

After tossing this fish onto the ice along with two palm-sized crucian carp, he quickly used the scoop net to stir under the water again. Unfortunately, after circling around, when he finally pulled it up, there was only one small crucian carp and two small northern pike in the net.

That large fish had already escaped.

"Uncle, you're really amazing! This fish is so big!" Li Qiang didn't know when he had run over carrying reed stalks. He pressed the stalks onto the fire and then ran toward the large carp.

The carp was full of vitality; even on the ice at minus twenty-plus degrees, it kept flopping, displaying its unyielding life force.

Li Qiang went over and skillfully reached out to hook the carp's gills, his head held high. Li Long knew he was preventing himself from being slapped by the fish tail.

Ever since being slapped by a large fish tail two years ago, Li Qiang had been very careful when catching large fish.

"Heh, this fish is really nice!" Li Qing Xia's attention was drawn by Li Qiang's voice. Watching Li Qiang pick up the large carp, he exclaimed in admiration, "This must be three kilograms, right?"

"About that," Li Long said with some regret. "There was an even bigger one that poked its head out just now, but I didn't manage to scoop it up."

"That wasn't meant for us," Li Qing Xia said with an open mind. "What's meant for us won't run away."

Li Long thought about it and smiled.

After this snowfall, the fish were even more oxygen-deprived, so whether it was the Li father and son, the three Liang brothers, or others, although they hadn't been here long this morning, by the time lunch came around, everyone had a bountiful harvest.

Even the least successful had caught seven or eight kilograms of large fish.

So when Li Long set up his stall to collect fish in his courtyard, he discovered that in just this morning, which added up to less than two hours, he had actually collected over fifty kilograms of large fish.

That was more than he sometimes collected in a whole day before the snow!

It seemed the fish in the Little Haizi still had great potential.

The afternoon was the same. The morning's harvest stimulated quite a few people, and lunch time was shortened significantly. By the time the sun was about to set, Li Long went back to start collecting fish, and it wasn't until the sun had completely set and it was getting dark that he finished.

He collected over seventy kilograms of large fish in the afternoon, the largest being a silver carp over a meter long and weighing more than ten kilograms.

Li Long planned to keep this fish for his family to eat during the New Year; with that carp, it was truly enough.

Although he paid out over a hundred yuan a day, Li Long discovered that at this rate, in another two or three days, the fish would all be collected.

However, he didn't plan to stop once he had collected enough. Once the fish for the supply and marketing cooperative were collected, he planned to take the remaining fish to set up a stall in Shicheng.

Although his family wasn't short on money now, one shouldn't forget their roots. He still remembered that his very first pot of gold came from fish and mountain goods.

The money made from setting up stalls in Shicheng and the county had slowly rolled like a snowball, getting bigger and bigger.

There was less than a month left until the New Year, and now was the perfect time to check the market conditions on the old street in Shicheng.

"Eldest Brother, help me collect the fish tomorrow; I'm going to the Shicheng sugar factory to haul some sugar dregs," Li Long said. "I'll also take a look at the fish market conditions on the old street."

"Sure thing." Li Jianguo naturally had no objections.

Li Long left two hundred yuan, and Li Jianguo didn't refuse.

After drinking his fish soup, Li Long took some fish from his courtyard, loaded them into the jeep, and drove back.

When he returned to the compound, Gu Xiaoxia had already returned. Li Long secretly blamed himself, thinking he should have come back earlier to pick her up.

Fortunately, Gu Xiaoxia took the initiative to say that she wouldn't let Li Long pick her up anymore in the future. She could just walk to work herself. It was less than a kilometer back and forth, and she could walk it in ten minutes or so.

"It was really dangerous today. Two people in our bureau fell while riding their bikes. One was fine, just slipped and bruised their bottom, but another collided with someone else and their nose was bleeding from the impact."

Gu Xiaoxia herself was still shaken; if she had collided with someone while riding her bike, it would definitely have been a big problem.

Li Long gave her decision two thumbs up and said he would pick her up and drop her off whenever he had time.

Gu Xiaoxia originally wanted to object, but since Li Long insisted, she didn't say anything.

In fact, she felt a little bit happy inside.

Li Long drained the water from the jeep and put the fish into four bags on the tractor. He planned to drive the tractor to the Shicheng sugar factory tomorrow.

Early the next morning, while Sister Yang was cooking, Li Long added boiling water to the tractor and placed burning charcoal on the iron tray under the tractor. Li Long was very skilled at this; he wouldn't burn the pipes, and it was just enough to keep the water tank and fuel tank warm.

While Sister Yang was cooking, he went to the glass house to set up the stove.

The vegetables in the glass house were growing well, and the bok choy was actually ready to eat. However, Li Long didn't plan to eat them yet; after the stove was lit, he sprayed some water, intending to let them grow a bit more before eating.

After breakfast, he walked Gu Xiaoxia to her unit, then Li Long returned, started the tractor, told Sister Yang, and drove toward Shicheng.

By the time he was halfway there, the sun finally showed its face, and there were more vehicles on the road than in previous years.

He truly felt the development and changes brought about by the Reform and Opening-up.

There were many people on the road, mostly driving donkey carts or horse-drawn carts. Very few were driving tractors.

The road was very slippery, and the passing vehicles had pressed the accumulated snow into ice; those riding bicycles could easily slip and slide six or seven meters if they weren't careful.

When Li Long arrived at the old street driving the tractor, he discovered it was already bustling with noise and excitement, with stalls packed tightly together. If one became empty, someone would immediately occupy it.

He didn't go to the parking lot but drove the tractor toward the courtyard where his sister lived.

!.

Li Xia was sweeping the accumulated snow in the courtyard, and Hongqin was helping her mother.

The snow at the gate had already been cleared, and the snow inside was piled into several heaps. What Li Xia needed to do now was shovel these piles of snow and throw them into the vegetable garden.

Hearing the sound of the tractor, Hongqin looked out intently until she saw Li Long walking in carrying a bag.

"Little Uncle!" Hongqin had sharp eyes and recognized Li Long at a glance; she ran over happily.

"Heh, Hongqin, you still recognize your Little Uncle!"

"How could I not recognize you?" Li Xia was very happy. "Without Xiao Long, are you here on business?"

"Yeah, business, and I came to see you guys while I was at it. Sister, here, this is fish brought from home. These crucian carp were cleaned by Mom and Sister-in-law; you can thaw them and stew them or deep-fry them.

These few large fish haven't been cleaned; thaw one when you want to eat it."

The fish Li Long brought were in four portions, and the largest portion was for his sister and brother-in-law.

"Come inside, come inside and have a drink of water; you must be frozen stiff, right?" Li Xia took the fish and hurriedly invited her brother inside.

Hongqin looked at the fish with curiosity. Li Long smiled and said, "Hongqin, how about I get you a bottle tomorrow and put a few small live fish in it for you to keep?"

"Okay, okay!" Hongqin was very happy when she heard that. There were no children she knew here, and she really had nothing to play with by herself.

Li Long even had the thought of taking her to his eldest brother and sister-in-law's place for a few days. With Li Juan and Li Qiang there, she wouldn't be lonely.

Of course, that was just a thought. He couldn't make decisions for both sides; one side had to take the initiative.

He could guide the conversation and ask when he went back. His sister-in-law definitely wouldn't disagree; he just didn't know if his sister and brother-in-law would be okay with it.

Actually, there was nothing wrong with it; it was just for a few days of playing. If they were going to set up a stall here later, then sending her back would be easy—it was just visiting relatives.

After staying at Li Xia's place for half an hour and talking about the situation at home, Li Long drove the tractor to the sugar factory.

While chatting, Hongqin indeed kept asking about Li Juan and Li Qiang.

His sister Li Xia also talked about things on her husband Chen Xingbang's side; the food factory hadn't expected the meat stalls on the old street to be so popular. The leadership also attached great importance to it and directly shifted the focus of meat supply for the masses here, increasing the daily supply.

So Chen Xingbang was also much busier than before; otherwise, he wouldn't have had no time to sweep the snow in the courtyard.

Busy is busy; once he became a backbone, he would be able to take root here as soon as possible.

Li Long went to the sugar factory and waited at the back door for a while before seeing Song Ming driving a truck loaded with sugar dregs coming over.

His apprentice Zhang Xueliang wasn't there; he didn't know if he had already finished his apprenticeship or if he had something to do and didn't come.

Song Ming also saw Li Long. He pointed inside the courtyard, signaling Li Long to drive directly into the factory; he would unload his truck first.

Li Long didn't turn off the tractor and immediately drove it into the courtyard. The truck drove out without stopping.

The sugar dregs contained water and were seeping out the whole way. Li Long knew that Song Ming couldn't park at the back door in the middle of winter; otherwise, if too much water seeped out and froze into thick ice, it would be hard to shovel, and he would inevitably be complained about.

The guard saw Song Ming's gesture and didn't stop Li Long. Li Long drove directly to the dregs outlet and waited.

Ten minutes later, Song Ming drove the truck over and parked it next to the tractor.

Li Long got out of the car, and Song Ming also got out. After shaking hands with Li Long, he smiled and said:

"Comrade Li Long, long time no see; you've become a very busy man."

"Not at all, just busy with nothing," Li Long said casually, then took two bags of fish from the tractor's cargo bed and handed one to Song Ming, saying:

"Nothing to do these past two days, so I smashed ice holes to catch fish; this is for you. This bag is for Section Chief Hu, Section Chief Song, sorry to trouble you to pass it on."

"I won't pass it on; I think it's better if you go yourself," Song Ming took the fish Li Long gave him and said with a smile, "Section Chief Hu was just talking about you two days ago, saying you hadn't come over."

Li Long was a bit puzzled:

"The section chief is looking for me?"

"I don't know, you'll know when you go over." Song Ming pointed to the tractor and said, "Loading sugar dregs, right? Leave it to me. I'll fill it up for you in a while. You go to the office building first."

"Sure, what about your apprentice? I brought some fish for him too."

"He's resting," Song Ming said. "Give it to me, and I'll take it to him after work."

"Good." Li Long then took another bag of fish from the tractor's cargo bed.

Song Ming had sharp eyes; seeing that the three bags of fish were about the same, with two carp as the standard, plus a grass carp and a northern pike in each, he felt quite satisfied.

It seemed Li Long didn't treat people differently just because Section Chief Hu was a leader. Although most people would do that, Li Long didn't, which made him quite happy.

He felt Li Long was a down-to-earth person.

Li Long carried the fish into the office building. When he arrived at Section Chief Hu's office, he discovered the office door was open, but there was no one inside.

He waited at the door for a while, and soon, Section Chief Hu walked out of the restroom, shaking the water off his hands.

Seeing Li Long, Section Chief Hu was also a bit surprised:

"Yo, Comrade Li Long, come in, come in, when did you arrive?"

"I just arrived," Li Long said. "Section Chief, we've been smashing ice holes to catch fish these past two days, so I brought you two to taste."

"Heh, not bad, not bad." Although one could buy frozen fish at the market, this was Li Long's gesture, and Section Chief Hu was naturally very happy.

After chatting about recent events, Section Chief Hu stated his intention for looking for Li Long.

"The New Year is almost here, right? I ran into a retired old leader two days ago, and the old leader said the mutton issued before the New Year the past two years was good, so he wanted to get some more.

I remember that mutton was hauled in by you. I was just planning to look for you these past two days, and it just so happens you came."

"Is the section chief planning to get some whole sheep as welfare?" Li Long immediately understood Section Chief Hu's meaning.

"Yeah, it's not difficult, right?" Section Chief Hu poured water for Li Long. "If you can get them, get me fifty."

"Fifty?" Li Long thought about it; if he really did it, it wasn't impossible.

"Yeah, at least fifty."

"Section Chief, it should be possible. But the price will be high this year."

"That's for sure; I won't cheat you on the procurement price. Now that the New Year is approaching, everything has risen in price; pork has risen to two yuan, and mutton is also one point seven or eight. Let's go with the wholesale price—how about one point six?" The price Section Chief Hu gave was actually quite good.

"Sure," Li Long naturally had no objections. "Then I'll go back and prepare. When does the section chief need them?"

"No later than one week before the New Year. We need time to distribute welfare; if we distribute it on New Year's Eve, we'll really get scolded."

"Haha, sure, sure, sure." Li Long calculated; there was still more than half a month of preparation time, which should be enough.

It would also happen to solve the problem of culling sheep for Halimu and the others in the mountains.

Li Long felt there was no problem; he truly hadn't expected that this time he had really encountered a problem. (End of chapter)