Chapter 608: This Harvest Brings a Happy Worry

In the county town, this was a quiet night, no different from usual.

Li Long, exhausted after a day's work, had gone to bed early; when he heard Gu Gu Xiaoxia talking in her sleep halfway through the night, he woke briefly, turned to look at his wife, saw that the expression on her face was peaceful, could not make out the words of her sleep-talk which consisted of only a single sentence, and then fell back asleep.

Early the next morning, after getting up, Li Long first stoked the stove inside the house, adding split firewood and coal, and once the fire caught, he stepped out of the room door to see that Sister Yang and Han Fang were already busy in the kitchen.

Truly hard work.

Li Long went to the glass room at the back, lit the stove there, and while he was at it, picked a handful of the longer, larger green vegetables to take back, planning to have Sister Yang stir-fry them with lard for breakfast.

A thin layer of frost covered the tractor's hood; Li Long wiped it, his fingers icy cold.

After handing the small greens to Han Fang, he assembled the hand-pump well, poured a ladle of hot water into it to warm the rubber gasket while simultaneously sealing off the downward air, pumped it a few times, drew up the air from below, and the water followed up with it.

Having filled one bucket with water, Li Long laid the pump handle flat, carried the bucket to the kitchen to pour the water into the large vat, and after repeating this twice more until the vat was half full, he deemed it sufficient.

Li Long did not know that his casual remark would have such consequences; he drove the tractor back to the county town and entered the compound.

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Better to haul it back first and deal with it later.

Although the road was a two-lane dual carriageway, the snow along the roadside had essentially not been compacted, so Li Long drove with great caution.

By the time Li Long received permission to drive the tractor into the sugar factory, many people in the offices had already heard the news; Section Chief Hu came out, followed by quite a few others.

Seeing there was still time, he cut half of the sheep left at home and loaded it onto the jeep, poured half of the gutted crucian carp brought from the Fourth Squad into another bag and placed it in the trunk, took a few pieces of tiger bone as well, added water to start the jeep's engine, and then drove off toward the village where Liang Donglou was located.

"Alright, Uncle Lao Luo, I won't stand on ceremony." One could not speak words of thanks to Uncle Lao Luo, so Li Long simply committed this favor to memory.

Some of the sheep weighed less than twenty kilograms, while others exceeded it.

Li Long did not wait for Li Li Qing Xia and Li Jianguo to return; he still had many things to do, so after resting well, he picked up a sack of gutted small crucian carp, started the tractor, and departed.

Neither Li Jianguo nor Li Li Qing Xia was present; they had gone to Little Little Haizi to chop holes in the ice and catch fish.

He was currently reading books concerning regulations for Youth League branches, which Blind Liu had found for him, asking him to familiarize himself with the workflow first.

The fifty ke-lang-zi sheep loaded on the tractor were piled up like a mountain, very eye-catching.

That was truly excellent.

Li Long went to the finance office to sign and collect his money, stuffed the cash into his satchel, then went out, bid farewell to Section Chief Hu, and headed to the residue discharge outlet.

Last time he had delivered a yellow goat; this time, bringing a leg of mutton was just a token gesture.

"Good, Comrade Li Long, I see this mutton is quite fine; was it freshly slaughtered?"

This time he had directly brought tiger bones; Liang Donglou took them, examined them for quite a while, nodded, and said, "It's genuine, and... not long ago."

"Yes," Li Long replied, somewhat embarrassed.

With this sugar residue, one could save quite a lot of resources.

Driving a tractor, driving a jeep, having a job, being able to earn money...

Li Long also smiled and said, "We are all the same; we are men of our word."

"Take this back and have a look."

Breakfast was millet porridge; this millet was a welfare distribution from Gu Gu Xiaoxia's work unit, and although the amount was not large, it was enough to make porridge for quite some time.

The sugar residue was packed very full, with ten filled bags pressed on top; Li Long also explained briefly that the leg of mutton was intended for his older sister.

Li Long smiled and said, "I'm driving the jeep; it's manageable."

On the road, he encountered Xie Dafa, who was approaching from the east carrying two rabbits; Li Long stopped to greet him.

"Bring a leg of mutton. They certainly won't lack for meat, but our bringing it over represents our sincerity."

"This time I delivered some furniture to the mountain people, and they gave me the bones, saying they were tiger bones..." Li Long did not speak the whole truth.

The next day, just as Li Li Qing Xia and Li Jianguo were preparing to go to Little Little Haizi, Xie Dafa had already returned from checking his rabbit snares; he carried two rabbits to the Li family home, handed them to Li Jianguo, and said, "Brother Lao Li, please accept these rabbits."

"Deer fetus? You intend to supplement your wife's health when she bears a child, is that it? And these bones..."

"It's all yours." Li Long had no use for this wood; it was too thick to serve as handles for iron shovels, yet too thin to be used for building houses, essentially useless timber.

The layer of frost on the tractor's hood immediately melted into water droplets.

"No, no, no, take them all," Xie Dafa said, and then departed.

"Mm," Liang Donglou nodded, stood up, went into his own room, and emerged a moment later holding a handwritten notebook, which he handed to Li Long.

When Han Fang called out at the doorway that mealtime had arrived, the water on the stove was already boiling; Li Long ladled out half a bucket, carried it outside, and poured it into the tractor's radiator.

Thinking that in summer he could also drive the tractor to harvest and earn money, Liang Liang Wenyu's motivation surged as well.

First, he went to Old Ma's compound to unload eight bags of sugar residue for Uncle Lao Luo; this delivery, combined with the previous one, was enough to feed the livestock here for half a year.

Finally, there was someone familiar to play with.

Business was business; this time Li Long did not round off the figures, allowing the finance office to record the accounts based on the exact numbers.

In winter, the rural areas of the Northern Frontier essentially fell silent; apart from the occasional sound of firecrackers during the few days of the New Year making things livelier, one rarely heard any major noises at other times.

The family raised several pigs, and feed was always a major problem; in summer it was fine, as one could simply cut more pigweed, but in winter it became quite troublesome.

Section Chief Hu was also startled upon seeing it, but then immediately smiled.

Although there were children in the surrounding courtyards here, Hongqin, being a girl who had just arrived, would find it difficult to integrate and would easily be bullied.

"I ran into Xiao Long yesterday; he said the acquisition station is now paying three yuan per rabbit pelt. That price is not low, so yesterday I set more snares, today I caught seven or eight, and I plan to skin them shortly and sell the pelts at the county acquisition station."

Liang Donglou knew that since the sheep had been brought, it could not possibly be taken back, so he asked, "Did you go into the mountains again?" His daughter and son-in-law's family did not raise sheep, so any sheep Li Long could bring were essentially from the mountains.

After the sugar residue was loaded, Li Long drove the tractor out of the sugar factory and headed to Old Street.

Although Li Qiang was somewhat dissatisfied, his older sister Li Juan was formidable enough and her studies were good enough that he had no choice but to obey.

When the tractor arrived at the sugar factory, the gatekeeper was also startled and hurriedly made a phone call inside.

Chen Chen Xingbang was still setting up his stall on Old Street; Li Long went to the compound, gave the leg of mutton to his older sister, and mentioned that in a few days he would come with his father and the others to sell fish, and might also bring Hongqin to stay at the squad for a few days; Li Xia did not mind, but Hongqin was overjoyed.

A young man came over to help; removing the ropes, he carefully lifted the ke-lang-zi sheep one by one from top to bottom, placed them on the scale to be weighed, and then recorded the numbers.

"Hey, that works. I'll keep just one of the rabbits to taste the flavor," Li Jianguo said.

"What?"

When he returned, Gu Xiaxia had already tidied up, and Li Long hurried off to wash.

The tractor's cargo bed wasn't very large; to fit all fifty yearling sheep, wooden planks were laid across the bed, and the sheep were arranged on top in layers, like a pyramid.

Song Mingzheng was discussing the loading with the workers when he saw Li Long approaching; he stepped forward and said, "Comrade Li Long, could you give me two of those wooden poles? I want to build a frame at home."

Liang Donglou spoke in a calm tone: "It was an entire tiger back then; they said an official from some warlord faction down south had brought it."

"Yes, it was just slaughtered yesterday," Li Long told Director Hu. "We originally planned to bring it over right after slaughtering yesterday, but by the time we emerged from the mountains, it was nearly dark. We figured you'd already be off work by the time we arrived, so we brought it over this morning instead."

"Hey, it's neither New Year nor a festival; what made you think of sending me rabbits?" Li Jiankai joked. The relationship between the two families wasn't particularly close, not as good as the one with Lu Yingming's family.

Few people could be seen in the wild either; amidst the ice and snow, venturing out came at a cost.

"Stay safe on the road; you're hauling a full load of goods, so take it slow," Gu Xiaxia urged.

"Eat more," Li Long said with a smile. "Isn't it good that life is getting better day by day?"

Li Long didn't stay long on Old Street; hauling a truckload of sugar residue that kept dripping water was quite troublesome.

The whole point of switching to the jeep was for speed and comfort; otherwise, why keep it if not to use it?

Driving onto the Wuyi Highway, with the sheep carcasses blocking his view, Li Long couldn't see behind him, so he could only hug the right side and proceed slowly. Occasionally, when a large truck approached and honked, he would pull further right to let it pass.

After Li Long dressed neatly, he drove the tractor out of the compound, waved to the two people, and then chugged off toward the west.

Even Song Ming took the opportunity during the loading to run over and greet Li Long.

"Go quickly, get someone to fetch the finance staff, and the warehouse keeper as well. Oh, and have them bring the weighing scale over—hurry!"

Li Long flipped through it and regarded it as a priceless treasure.

Xie Dafa was a man of principle; having received a favor, he naturally intended to repay it. "Alright, I'll tell Song Ming; the tractor can drive straight over there for loading. You go collect the money first."

"You're truly a good friend!"

By the time the tractor chugged back into the county town, it was already lunchtime.

Fortunately, she and Li Jiankai had already agreed that next year they would gradually dispose of the pigs, keeping just one or two a year would suffice.

Chen Xiuzhu brought Li Long a bowl of tea and said:

To be honest, this thing is easier to manage in summer; in winter, it truly requires constant, unceasing vigilance. Old Uncle Luo must have suffered quite a bit from the cold outdoors these past few days.

This was a welfare distribution for everyone before the New Year; although it would need to be unpacked later, just looking at it for now was a pleasure in itself.

The jeep was fast, convenient for round trips, and warm. Unless he needed to haul goods, Li Long had no desire to drive the tractor.

He carried the bucket inside, set it down, and then went to the kitchen to eat.

He was referring to those wrist-thick wooden poles that Li Long had brought from the mountains and laid across the cargo bed.

"Here, drink some hot water; it's cold outside. Don't make this trip so often in the future; it's suffering."

Anyway, he would be coming back in another couple of days.

Both Li Juan and Li Qiang were present; moreover, when they came out to welcome Li Long, they were holding pens and rulers, clearly in the middle of doing their homework.

"Mm, before I studied medicine under your grandfather, I served as an apprentice in someone else's pharmacy, where I saw old masters processing this."

After chatting for a while and exchanging updates on recent events, Li Long went back to the jeep to retrieve the items he had brought, sincerely seeking Liang Donglou's guidance.

Gu Xiaxia had already risen and was combing her hair; seeing Li Long enter carrying a bucket, she asked, "Are you boiling water to add to the tractor?"

The two of them burst into laughter.

After two or three attempts, the tractor was cranked, and Sister Yang and Han Fang together opened the main gate.

"Father, have you ever seen tiger bones before?"

Once they start school, things will improve; having classmates means having natural allies.

"Mm." Li Long didn't act like an outsider; he went back to bring in the gutted fish, closed the jeep door, went inside to wash his hands, and then said, "When I was hauling sugar residue to the Shicheng Sugar Factory, they mentioned needing several dozen yearling sheep for New Year welfare distributions. I entered the mountains the day before yesterday and secured some sheep."

Li Long felt ashamed; his elder sister's father possessed such a sharp eye.

"Why aren't you driving your jeep? Is gasoline too expensive?" Xie Dafa joked. "I just trapped a rabbit; take one home to eat?"

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"The jeep isn't as convenient as this for hauling goods." Li Long no longer hesitated to speak openly about having independent control over the jeep; shaking his head, he said, "You keep the rabbit to eat yourself. By the way, keep the pelts; the county procurement station buys them for three yuan each. If you trap more, you could earn enough for New Year expenses over the winter."

Hearing the sound of the engine outside, the whole family knew that Li Long had arrived.

Liang Donglou was reading a book, Liang Liang Wenyu was also reading a book, and Chen Xiuzhu was making shoes. The village director, Liu Xizi, wanted Liang Liang Wenyu to serve as the Youth League Secretary; after consulting his father, Liang Liang Wenyu decided to take the post. He was already a probationary party member, so serving as Youth League Secretary posed no problem.

After securing the sheep and unloading the sugar residue, Li Long sat in the room for a while, then went to the front courtyard to check on the harvested fish.

Liang Donglou's hand even trembled slightly.

Next, he drained the water from the tractor's radiator, added half a bucket of boiling water, and by then the red charcoal fire below had extinguished. After clearing that away, he took the crank handle and began to start the engine.

Then he pressed another bucket of water and carried it into the house.

Over these past few days, two or three hundred kilograms of fish had already accumulated in the idle rooms of the front courtyard. It seemed that due to the cold weather recently, the fish were easier to catch than before.

After eating, and after seeing Gu Xiaxia off to work, Li Long returned, first going to the storage room to cut down a sheep leg, wrapping it in a clean bag, stuffing it into the tractor's cargo bed, and then reinstalling the rear tailboard.

Seeing Li Long carry down a sheep missing one leg, Du Chunfang asked, "Why have you brought back another sheep?"

"Deer fetus." Old Uncle Luo's face showed some pride. "A few days ago, the deer gave birth to Jun Wa Zi; I kept a close watch and finally managed to secure the deer fetus. Now that the sugar residue has arrived in these past two days, I'll go get some concentrated feed, corn, and such to feed them and provide supplementation."

"Then Uncle Liang, do you also know how to process it?" Li Long was overjoyed; he only knew to process this directly into wine, but he suspected that was probably not the correct method.

"I went into the mountains to slaughter sheep to sell to the Shicheng Sugar Factory; this is extra, so I unloaded a sheep leg for Old Uncle Luo." Li Long carried the sheep into the house. "There's another one over at the county side; in two days when I go to Aunt Juan's grandfather's house, I'll bring half of it along."

"Good, good, good; very dedicated, very excellent." Director Hu's face was full of praise. "Come, I'll sign the documents, and you can follow the finance staff to collect the money. By the way, will you need to haul some sugar residue when you leave?"

Obviously, he was also very happy.

After all fifty sheep were weighed, the warehouse keeper and the finance staff together reported the total figure: "A total of fifty sheep, one thousand and twenty-three kilograms and six hundred grams; at a price of 1.6 yuan per kilogram, the total payment due is one thousand six hundred thirty-seven yuan, seven jiao, and six fen."

Li Long planned to check for millet when he later visited Old Street in Shicheng, and buy some more to bring back if available.

Last time, what Li Long held was lynx bones; that item alone was already precious enough.

"No. Are you going to see your elder sister and brother-in-law? If so, should we bring them some meat?"

"Why bring meat again?" Chen Xiuzhu complained. "We have enough meat at home; there's still plenty of cured meat left, enough to last until the second half of the year."

Liang Yuemei came out and, seeing Li Long pulling a cartload of sugar residue, felt quite pleased.

This mutton looked beautiful and fetched a good price; as the Logistics Section Chief, he deserved credit for this.

Inside were the processing methods for various precious medicinal herbs, along with their formulas.

"This is Goat Mountain," someone sighed.

As soon as the door opened, Li Long carried half a sheep to the entrance, and several people immediately made way.

Li Long thought for a moment and said:

Section Chief Hu was very considerate; since Li Long had handled this matter so well for him, he naturally had to give Li Long something in return.

"It will keep through the winter; eat it slowly." Li Long still left the leg of mutton behind. "Take this." Old Uncle Luo took the leg of mutton into the kitchen, then turned around, came back out, dug two items out of a snowdrift, and handed them to Li Long.

"Understood. Is there anything you need to buy?"

Who is worse than whom? What matters is not the present, and since we count each other as family, there is no need to compare.

"Good." Gu Gu Xiaoxia nodded, then asked, "Isn't one leg of mutton too little?"

Liang Yuemei also felt quite pleased hearing this; Li Long had never forgotten the help from her father's side, truly justifying the care he had received over so many years.

"Mm, it's a good thing." Liang Donglou knew Li Long was benevolent and righteous; he would not excessively exploit the herders in the mountains, which, in his words, was a "win-win."

"I don't need the meat here; we can't finish it all," Old Uncle Luo said. "There's more."

Song Ming was overjoyed; he slapped Li Long hard on the back and said with a smile:

Li Long was still there, unloading a leg of mutton for Old Uncle Luo.

He opened the stove lid, placed the pot on top, poured that bucket of water in, went to the hand-pump well to fetch another bucket of water, then took a shovel, opened the stove door, scooped out several pieces of red-hot charcoal, carried them out, and dumped them onto the iron tray beneath the tractor's diesel engine.

"It's plenty," Li Long said with a smile. "Enough for them to eat."

Liang Liang Wenyu felt somewhat envious; Li Long, whom he had once looked down upon, had now become someone he looked up to.

After placing the placenta into a bag and securing it, Li Long left Old Ma's House and went to his elder brother's courtyard.

Looking at those two deer placentas, Li Long felt quite moved.

"Mm, after breakfast we'll go to Shicheng; the earlier we go, the earlier we'll return."

Li Long returned to the big courtyard to eat, explained the situation to Gu Gu Xiaoxia, loaded another sheep, and without stopping drove the tractor straight to the team headquarters.

As for the fish and offal and such, he would deliver them next time he drove to Shicheng to sell goods.

One cannot store too much water, or things will start growing in it.

After Li Long finished speaking, he drove the tractor away. Xie Dafa was somewhat surprised; had rabbit pelts become this expensive? Weren't they usually worth just over a yuan? Hey, if one pelt is worth three yuan, shouldn't he go set more traps diligently? He walked quickly toward home, planning to go to the Red Willow Beach in the east again before tonight to set more traps.

It included not only methods for using tiger bones but also instructions for using deer fetus.

"Uncle Liang, I'll go back and copy a version, then bring it right back to you!"

"Alright." Liang Donglou nodded.

After chatting a while longer at the Liang family home, Li Long departed.

The tiger bones were left at the Liang family home; no one said anything. (End of Chapter)