Chapter 708: Let

Li Qing Xia got up early to boil water. Looking at the grey, hazy sky outside, he sighed.

Although it was also September, he felt that September in the Northern Frontier was much more comfortable than staying here. If he hadn't made this trip, he should still be sorting fish at this time, right?

There was a two-hour time difference; the sun was rising here past eight, while over there, the sky had only just brightened.

Using a small honeycomb coal stove to boil water, Li Qing Xia felt that everything about it was wrong—why couldn't he use a big pot and a big stove? But firewood and coal were not easy to buy.

Just hold on, hold on for a while longer, and it would be fine once he returned to the Northern Frontier.

He himself found it quite strange. He had lived here for sixty years; logically speaking, he should be more accustomed to this place. He had lived over there for less than three years, so why did he feel that place was more comfortable?

After summarizing it, he realized it was because when he lived over there, supplies were abundant, there was plenty of money, and he didn't have to worry about food or drink. Moreover, the conditions at his two sons' homes in Ma County were both good; basically, there was nothing lacking.

Unlike here, after being away for more than two years, some things that could be endured before were now a bit unbearable.

He didn't know that this should be summarized in two sentences: "It is easy to go from frugality to luxury, but difficult to go from luxury to frugality."

He simply made some cornmeal porridge, stir-fried some cabbage, and ate the sesame seed cakes he had bought the day before. The sesame seed cakes from his hometown were just delicious; when he finished his business and went back, he had to bring some for his children and grandchildren.

If nothing else, the Northern Frontier couldn't compare on this point.

Before he had even finished breakfast, people from the village came into the courtyard to chat, inquiring about the situation in the Northern Frontier.

Li Lou was much like other villages: many people and little land. On average, each person could be allotted less than one mu of land. Relying on farming could barely fill their stomachs, but they shouldn't count on having any money.

Many people had gone out from the Li family, and many ate commodity grain. Even if they didn't eat commodity grain, looking at Li Qing Xia's demeanor upon returning, it was obvious he had earned money.

Therefore, many people wanted to inquire about the situation in the Northern Frontier to see if they could go there and try their luck.

After all, even though many Li family members had gone over and it looked like they had carved out a path, in the minds of the vast majority of people, the Northern Frontier was a bitter and cold place. Going there might be equivalent to the exile and military service of the past, full of uncertain factors.

Not to mention at this time, even in the 21st century, the vast majority of people still thought this way, still feeling that the Northern Frontier was full of deserts and sandstorms.

The prejudice in people's minds was like a great mountain; it really wasn't easy to move.

If Li Long were to describe this situation now, he would use an analogy: many people in the interior looking at the Northern Frontier at the turn of the 20th and 21st centuries was just like foreigners who had never been to China looking at China.

A land of barbarians.

Except for a few who were fans of China.

Li Qing Xia had also become shrewd; he would mention some of the benefits of the Northern Frontier, though most of the time he would still talk about some of the difficulties. He didn't want to lead another batch of people over there now—

The people coming to ask Li Qing Xia right now, although they all had the surname Li, were mostly beyond the five degrees of mourning. They could call him grandfather or great-grandfather, but in reality, they were divided into many branches.

Because a new genealogy had to be compiled, he, as the clan leader, was quite popular. These people came not just to chat with him about the Northern Frontier, but also to hand over the personnel changes within their own branches to him.

Li Qing Xia didn't accept them.

"Third Grandfather, how can you not accept them?" an old man in his fifties, of the same generation as Li Junfeng, said, "You are the clan leader. Of the four branches of our Li family—Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter—you are the one with the longest seniority in our second branch, and you are also of the direct line. If you don't accept them, who should?"

"Just hand them over to Anmin when the time comes," Li Qing Xia said happily. "My position as clan leader doesn't even count anymore."

"After those ten years passed, our ancestral hall was gone, and the spirit tablets were gone. Everyone was looking out for themselves. Since I'm going to the Northern Frontier again, let Anmin manage this branch in the future."

Li Qing Xia actually had this idea for a long time. His children and grandchildren were all in the Northern Frontier, and they were all living very well. The little bit of land here had already been taken back by the production team.

The homestead was still there; after all, the ancestral graves were still there. He figured the team leader was just playing dumb.

However, he didn't pay much attention to it. Anyway, he planned to live in the Northern Frontier from now on. Even if this house was eventually taken back, then let it be taken. He would come back every few years to pay respects to the ancestors, and in the future, when the grandchildren were older, they could come back to recognize the place.

He could tell that his eldest and second sons were still better off, but Li Long simply had no thoughts about his old home; he was too lazy to even return.

Living in the Northern Frontier for these two years, he had seen things clearly. Once people reached adulthood, they certainly had their own ideas. People who came from all over the country like the Fourth Team actually lived simply. Ancestral home was a thought for them, but not a mandatory option.

Just like the specific reason Li Jianguo came to the Northern Frontier; wasn't it because he couldn't stay in Li Lou anymore and couldn't see a future?

So, he didn't plan to occupy this clan leader position either.

Hearing his words, the others didn't know what else to say.

In the afternoon, Li Anmin came looking for him.

"Third Uncle, how can you say that?" Li Anmin rode his bicycle into the courtyard. Seeing Li Qing Xia drying things, he complained while getting off the bike, "How can the clan leader position be passed on randomly? No matter what, that is your branch—it should be Jianguo!"

"Jianguo has already settled down in the Northern Frontier, and his household registration is over there. How can he be the clan leader here?" Li Qing Xia said with a smile. "My whole family has moved over. We won't come back much in the future. You know many people in our area, and everyone respects you. Even the team leader is your student. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say your students and former associates are all over the county. You are the most suitable to be the clan leader."

Li Anmin still wanted to explain, but Li Qing Xia waved his hand and said:

"I mean this from the bottom of my heart. There were three brothers in my generation. Your eldest uncle and his son both passed away early. You are the most successful in your second brother's family. In my branch, Jianguo and his two brothers, Without Xiao Long is considered the most successful, but his ambition doesn't lie here, and he doesn't plan to come back. So, this clan leader position is definitely yours."

"Without Xiao Long is successful?" Li Anmin knew that Li Qing Xia didn't plan to change his mind about this. He was going to compile the genealogy's chronicle of major events. Hearing Li Qing Xia say Li Long was successful, he asked hurriedly:

"What happened to him? Is he eating commodity grain?"

"No. People wanted him to join the establishment, but he wouldn't. However, last year he received an advanced individual award for ethnic unity at the autonomous region level. Can this be entered into the chronicle of major events?"

"Yes, yes, yes, of course it can. Not to mention entering the genealogy, if Without Xiao Long's household registration were here, the county annals might even have written a line about him." Li Anmin was familiar with those who compiled the county annals and knew that these people often collected such content. If there really was someone in the county who received recognition at the provincial level, it would naturally be recorded in that year's chronicle of major events.

"Heh, I didn't expect Without Xiao Long could have this kind of treatment..." Li Qing Xia laughed, then changed the subject:

"Did your mother drink that wine? Was there any effect?"

"Yes, the effect is really good!" Li Anmin walked over and helped Li Qing Xia while saying, "My mother drank it the first day, and the next morning she felt much better. Usually, she spent most of her time lying on the bed, and sometimes she even ate on the bed. Today the weather is good, and she can even get up and bask in the sun outside."

The weather is good today?

Li Qing Xia looked up at the sky, wanting to refute it. Later, he thought about it and felt it was right; according to the weather here, this counted as a good day. Of course, actually, one could see it when the big sun came out at noon; it counted as a good day.

"That's fine. I brought back two cages; let your mother drink them first. That cage of yours will be about finished when she's done. If it doesn't work, then wait until I go back and mail it to you. I'll keep this cage; it's useful."

For the sake of easy carrying, Li Long had used one-liter small plastic cages for Li Qing Xia. This wine was strong enough; the real bones soaked in it, plus other medicinal materials, worked really fast once it hit the right spot.

"Good, good, good." Li Anmin's tone was full of gratitude. It really wasn't easy for his mother to raise them brothers after his father passed away. This illness was also caused by the exhaustion from that time.

He had also thought of many ways to cure his mother's illness, but firstly, his economic strength didn't allow it, and secondly, chronic illnesses in the elderly required recuperation. Once the illness became severe, it was really difficult to recuperate.

Who could have thought that a cage of wine would cure it?

Not to mention whether it could be cured, at least it was much better than those medicated plasters.

"By the way, Third Uncle, no matter whether you do this clan leader position later or not, you still have to enter the names of the younger generation like Jianguo, Anguo, and Without Xiao Long into the genealogy. You tell me, and I'll write it down, including this matter about Without Xiao Long."

"No need, no need, I've already listed them before I came." Li Qing Xia knew it was time to talk about the key point. He stopped his hand, took an envelope out of the room, handed it to Anmin, and said:

"Take a look, it's all inside."

Li Anmin took it, opened it, and said with a smile:

"Third Uncle, you really thought about it quite thoroughly. This doesn't need me to organize it again..."

"Anmin, Third Uncle has a favor to ask of you," Li Qing Xia said, sitting on the threshold.

"What favor is there to ask?" Li Anmin said while flipping through the content, "Third Uncle, the wine you brought back cured my mother's illness. My mother even said she would find time to invite you over for a meal to thank you. Just say whatever you have; as long as I can do it..."

"Then let's add everyone on this paper to the genealogy. I know you must be in a difficult position, but I came back this time just to handle this. If this isn't done well, I won't have the face to go back..."

Li Qing Xia said it so seriously that Li Anmin immediately flipped through the names on the paper.

To let Li Anmin see clearly, the lineage on the paper was listed very clearly. From Li Qing Xia and Du Chunfang downwards, four lines were drawn, three sons and one daughter, and everything further down was written clearly. Li Anmin had also heard of the people in Li Qing Xia's branch. After scanning it, except for seeing two sons under Li Long's name that he hadn't heard of, he knew everyone else, including the children.

He asked Li Qing Xia somewhat strangely:

"Third Uncle, there are no outsiders here; they can all be written down. What kind of favor is this?"

"My meaning is, when continuing it, just use their current names..." Li Qing Xia emphasized.

"What?" Li Anmin understood, and he was in a difficult position.

This matter was really a bit difficult to handle.

He had never heard of including women's names in a genealogy. Recording men but not women—regardless of whether it was a daughter-in-law who had entered the clan or a newborn daughter—they only recorded the person, not the name.

If he really added the people in, and someone pointed it out later, the trouble would be great.

"Anmin, the last time the genealogy was continued, I was still young, it was during the Republic of China, right?" Li Qing Xia said. "At that time, the one who continued the genealogy was a scholar from the Qing Dynasty responsible for compiling it, and the clan leaders of each branch of Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter were responsible for reviewing the drafts."

"And how was the review done? Wasn't it just to see if their own branch was written completely? So, as long as you add it in, no one will look at it during the review."

(No content lost, read it all!)

"But someone will look at it after it's printed." Li Anmin smiled bitterly: "After it's printed, each branch will be issued a set. If someone sees it then, won't they scold me?"

"Then who will scold?" Li Qing Xia smiled cunningly. "It's already printed; what's the use of scolding? At that time, just push it to me. Just say that what I gave was given according to the regulations, and you didn't have it when you were compiling it. How it was added later, you don't know either."

"Third Uncle, are you saying to push it away and call it a muddled account?" Li Anmin's eyes brightened.

"Yes, there's more than just you here who can handle this; there's also the stonemason. At that time, you just push it and say you don't know, and I was in the Northern Frontier at that time. No one can come to me to verify it, right?" Li Qing Xia said with a smile:

"Our country already talks about equality between men and women; this genealogy should have been changed long ago. It's just that I can only speak for my own branch; I can't make decisions for others. I live well in the Northern Frontier because my children are filial. What can I do? Isn't it just trying to see if there's any way in this regard?"

Li Anmin understood.

He pondered. Actually, thinking about it, it was true. The genealogy had four volumes, four branches of Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter. Usually, each branch reviewed its own branch; who had the time to care about others? At this time, there was a lot of room for operation.

His thoughts were very complicated. On one hand, he quite admired Third Uncle for having this courage. It really wasn't easy for people of this age to think through this aspect. Third Uncle could take the initiative to take on this matter for his descendants; he had responsibility.

On the other hand, he was also hesitating. His mother's illness improved because she drank the wine Third Uncle brought, and he could tell that as long as she continued to drink this wine, not to mention being like a normal person, at this speed, it was actually about the same.

In these two days, he felt his mother had smiled more than she had seen in the whole of last year, and the previous sighing was gone.

This kindness could not be left unreturned.

"Then Third Uncle, I'll take this paper back. I'll think about it before saying anything." Li Anmin didn't give a definite answer and asked again:

"Without Xiao Long had two?"

"Yes, twins," Li Qing Xia said somewhat proudly. "Two sons at once. He said he has to save money to buy a house for the children now."

"Really amazing." Li Anmin praised and asked about some of Li Long's situation, meaning it could be used when writing the chronicle of major events later.

Among the younger generation, from Li Lou's perspective, the most successful was Li Long. Of the four branches of the Li family, there was another branch within the county in Li Jiaji, south of the county seat. In that branch, Li Anmin knew there were no particularly successful people among the younger generation.

That would do.

Although they all had the surname Li, there was a distinction of distance and closeness. Someone from his own branch had become a figure; Li Anmin felt honored.

After Li Anmin left, Li Qing Xia sat on the threshold for a long time without getting up. Was this matter considered done or not?

He could only wait and see.

Li Long didn't know that his father, Li Qing Xia, was working hard for the genealogy. After scolding Zhang Qiang away, he continued to collect the big brooms.

To be honest, even if there hadn't been the conflict between Zhang Qiang and Li Long last year, Li Long couldn't have accepted these big brooms.

He had clearly said it several times already, and that gossip had also been spread through Xu Haijun's mouth. Li Long's plan this year was that the quality requirements were even stricter than last year; if they didn't meet the standard, they would be taken back.

Anyway, now the daily wage of an ordinary worker couldn't possibly be 3.5 yuan, but he had been collecting big brooms in the team for the third year. A skilled hand tying five or six a day was certainly no problem.

One person's daily income was equal to the income of three or five workers. If he still didn't strictly control the quality, then what was he there for?

So, when it was almost dark, Li Long had collected a total of less than 150 qualified big brooms.

On one hand, many people in the team were still cutting reed grass, and it needed a certain amount of time to dry. On the other hand, it was his strict requirements. Some who wanted to muddle through were rejected by him.

For the qualified ones, he paid cash directly. It was more expensive than last year, so those whose big brooms were collected were naturally happy.

Now, selling grain would most likely result in receiving IOUs, but tying brooms could get cash; it really solved the urgent needs of many people.

Li Long's reputation in the Fourth Team +1.

Pulling a tractor full of big brooms back to the big courtyard, it was already dark.

The next few days were like this: he went to Qingshuihe to collect in the morning and to the Fourth Team to collect in the afternoon. Every two or three days, he would gather 1,000 big brooms and send them to the supply and marketing cooperative.

The inspection and acceptance at the supply and marketing cooperative were indeed even stricter than last year. Fortunately, Li Long himself attached special importance to this. Of the 2,000 brooms sent over twice, not a single unqualified one was found.

Five days later, Li Jianguo and the others came back pulling poles, but after returning, they ran into the mountains again and made another trip to pull the remaining poles that hadn't been pulled back.

The six people were covered in dust and dirt, looking much darker and thinner, but everyone was very spirited.

All the poles were bundled separately, and Li Jianguo sent them home one by one. That day, the team's loudspeaker announced that these six families had poles; whoever needed poles to tie big brooms should go to these six families to buy them.

So, the number of big brooms Li Long collected began to increase, and the Fourth Team could collect two or three hundred every day.

"Old San, the pole of your broom has a problem; it's cracked. Change it," Li Long said to Qin Ma Lao San of the team in the courtyard. "I can't collect it."

"Why can't it be collected? Isn't this pole perfectly fine?" Qin Ma Lao San explained, "Where is it cracked? Why can't I see it?"

"This pole has fine cracks; they pop out if you twist it. People don't use a big broom for just a day or two. When it freezes in winter and heats up in summer, the cracks get bigger," Li Long said. "Either you change the pole, or you keep it for yourself."

"There are already so many brooms at home, don't make things difficult for me." Qin Ma Lao San was still pestering him, "Xiao Long, you're being too much, there's no need..."

Li Long glanced at him, took the broom handle, and twisted it with both hands. A wide crack appeared. He looked at Qin Ma Lao San and said:

"Do you want me to use a bit more force? This pole will snap."

"No, no need..." Qin Ma Lao San blushed, "Alright, alright, this one doesn't count, I'll take it away..."

"It would have been fine if you'd done this earlier." Xu Dejun, who was waiting behind, said, "Why insist on being annoying? Taking such a big broom out is just embarrassing!"

Qin Ma Lao San blushed, took the seven yuan Li Long handed him, and ran off sheepishly.

Li Long smiled and continued the inspection.

This work was already nearly halfway done. Every time they delivered big brooms to the Supply and Marketing Cooperative, they settled the bill by quantity, and the speed was very fast.

It felt even better than collecting fritillaria. Doing this kind of work was just satisfying.

Li Qing Xia, back in his hometown, finally received the notification amidst anxious waiting. The people from all branches of the Li family—Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter—had all arrived, and the additions to the genealogy had been compiled. Now, it was time for the clan elders and representatives to review them.

Only then did Li Qing Xia learn that his in-law, Liang Donglou, and his Liang family were also updating their genealogy.

It was just that Liang Donglou had sent some money back, but he hadn't returned in person.

It really was different.

But regardless of how they were doing things over there, he had to strive to get this done on his side. (End of chapter)