Chapter 730

For the next few days, Li Long traveled back and forth between the mountains and the Fourth Team every day, driving the tractor to haul a dozen or so sheep back—although it was a bit crowded, these sheep were all quite good.

Li Long insisted on paying for every sheep he hauled, paying according to the standard set by the livestock team.

He insisted, so the herdsmen didn't say anything more, accepting the money and the things.

Those skins were just considered an exchange for the supplies Li Long brought.

Besides getting bear skins and snow leopard skins from Yushanjiang and Talihar, Li Long also got dozens of skins of all sizes, including wolf skins, red deer skins, roe deer skins, and wild goat skins. This year, there were fewer deer antlers and jade, but there were two pieces of aquamarine raw stone. These raw stones were quite large, bigger than pigeon eggs, and the color was slightly pale blue, really nice.

People used this and only wanted to trade for some medicine; they were truly simple and honest.

Li Long naturally wouldn't let them suffer a loss; he not only specially bought a box of medicine but also equipped them with medicine, liquor, sugar, salt, and so on.

When the heavy snow fell, Li Long had already collected sheep from every herdsman's family. Besides trading with supplies, he also helped them buy some things.

Although the ethnic minority population in Ma County was generally small, there were still some ethnic shops. Li Long helped them buy some daily necessities like wool blankets, knives, felt boots, saddles, and bags of coarse salt.

He helped everyone save a lot of trouble.

What surprised Li Long a bit was that there were actually three ethnic shops opened in the market storefronts. These ethnic people had a very sensitive sense of smell for doing business. They sold knives, ethnic clothing, and ethnic daily necessities. Like that soap that looked like mud, pots for boiling milk tea, Atlas silk from southern Xinjiang, and so on.

The miscellaneous things were mostly what herdsmen needed for their daily lives, and part of what Li Long bought for the herdsmen in the mountains came from here.

The foot traffic in this market was not small. Although some storefronts hadn't opened yet, there were quite a lot of people going in and out of the shops that had already opened.

From time to time, one could hear many people shouting at the shop entrances, and basically, all the shops had stoves set up, which was quite warm.

The attitude of the service staff at the department store was gradually changing, but compared to these shop owners here, the level of enthusiasm wasn't on the same level.

Those in the department store were employees with fixed wages; they didn't get much more money whether they sold more or less. These here were self-employed individuals who kept the money they earned, so they were naturally enthusiastic. Fortunately, at this time, there was no soliciting of customers, no dragging people inside. Whether they bought or not, they would be treated enthusiastically once they entered the shop.

A heavy snow marked the official arrival of winter, and this stage of Li Long's trip into the mountains was also officially over.

He had to go back to the courtyard to sweep the snow.

Originally, when making a large broom, Li Long had also planned to acquire a blacksmith shop and get one of those standardized personal snow pushers from later generations, the curved kind.

It was just that later, he was busy with miscellaneous things, so he put this matter aside.

If he didn't plan to do it on a large scale, he wouldn't prepare to order it from a blacksmith shop. Anyway, buying a thicker piece of sheet metal, he could process it himself in the courtyard.

Of course, processing this meant he had to finish shoveling the snow in the courtyard first.

The snow started falling in the middle of the night, and by dawn, it had already fallen nearly twenty centimeters.

The heavy snow was still falling, and Li Long got up early, went out, and started sweeping the snow.

The large courtyard was paved with bricks and was quite level, with no places to trip over, so pushing the snow was quite relaxing and could be pushed to the end in one go.

Sister Yang got up to make breakfast, and Han Fang also ran over to sweep the snow with Li Long.

"Go back and wrap your scarf," Li Long said to Han Fang. "The snow is heavy, look at you, you've only been out for a while and your head is covered in snow."

Han Fang smiled and went in to wrap her scarf, and Li Long continued to push the snow.

When Han Fang came out, she found that Li Long had already pushed a quite wide path from the main room and kitchen to the gate.

However, this newly pushed path had already been covered with a thin layer of snow, and the fluttering snowflakes were still falling.

Fortunately, the wind wasn't strong at this time, and sweeping the snow wasn't that uncomfortable. Han Fang picked up the snow pusher and joined the ranks of snow sweepers.

"Uncle, why are you sweeping so fast?" After Han Fang pushed a few boards of snow, she stopped, panting. It was really because the snow was very thick, and with enough humidity, it stuck together after one push. She hadn't grown up yet and didn't have enough strength.

"I have a lot of strength." Li Long had already pushed away three boards of snow by the time Han Fang pushed one, his speed very fast, worthy of being called a human snow-clearing machine. He said while pushing: "You go back to study, you don't need to worry about this. If you get too much snow on your body, your clothes will get wet."

Although Han Fang was a bit unwilling to go back, she saw that the snow on her body indeed had signs of melting.

She would definitely have to sweep snow at school too, so she went back into the room.

Li Long's snow pusher flew. When Gu Xiaoxia fed the two children and came out, the snow in the courtyard had been completely cleared once. The places swept first had already fallen another two or three centimeters of thin snow.

"The snow is really heavy today!" Gu Xiaoxia looked at the entrance and exclaimed.

"I'll drive you guys there in a while." Li Long put down the snow pusher, took a large broom, and swept the snow at the entrance once to make it convenient to step.

After sweeping, he went to tidy up the jeep to avoid it being hard to start after eating.

The wind and snow were harsh, and there were very few people coming and going on the main road. Even those who had to go to work or school were in a hurry, walking with their heads down and moving forward quickly.

Li Long drove the jeep carefully, watching the front, guarding against hitting pedestrians.

Gu Xiaoxia was dressed quite warmly, but in the jeep, she didn't worry about snow falling on her. Just as she was driving, she suddenly heard Han Fang next to her say in a low voice:

"That's my classmate Zhao Xiaogang!"

Gu Xiaoxia looked out and saw a primary school student holding a snow pusher, walking step by step in the deep snow, following an adult in the opposite direction of the jeep. There were quite a few such students, all carrying snow pushers or snow shovels.

Li Long drove the car to the Education Bureau, dropped off Gu Xiaoxia, and then turned around to go east to take Han Fang to school.

When Gu Xiaoxia hurried into the office, there were already several people in the office.

Because the snow was heavy, these people were all quite disheveled at the moment, each tidying up their own clothes and shoes. On the radiator by the window and the chairs near the radiator, various things were being baked: hats, scarves, overcoats, etc.

Seeing that Gu Xiaoxia only had some snowflakes on her head, which fell off with a slight shake, a colleague said with a smile:

"Little Gu, you're still the best, having someone to pick you up and drop you off, and you don't have to fight the snow to get here. You don't know, I'm still better off, I came by bicycle, Old Li walked here, and that snow blew so hard people couldn't open their eyes."

Gu Xiaoxia smiled and didn't speak. She naturally knew that she had a car to pick her up and drop her off at critical moments, and there would definitely be people in the unit gossiping. She used to have some misgivings, fearing bad influence.

But after giving birth to the children, she thought it through clearly. What was there to have misgivings about? Being able to take a car to and from work was because her husband was capable and had ability. Whoever wanted to talk could talk; as long as they didn't say it to her face, she would pretend she didn't hear it.

First, hold a shift meeting, then sweep snow in each area.

That's right, it's not wrong. These cadres who go to work also need to clear the snow in the courtyard, and each section and office also has its own snow-clearing scope.

Basically, men take large snow pushers, and women take large brooms and the like. If the snow is heavy, then women also have small snow pushers.

If at this time any man took a small snow pusher or a large broom and went out, he would be despised.

Labor is glorious, and those who are lazy will be ridiculed by everyone.

Han Fang sat in the jeep rushing to school, passing many students along the way, some of whom were classmates in her class. She was quite happy.

Arriving at the school gate, getting off the jeep, Li Long helped her take out the snow pusher from the back, and she entered the school and started clearing snow.

"Snow is an order" wasn't something that only existed after thirty or forty years. As long as there was heavy snow, people in every unit would arrive early to sweep snow, and those who arrived late would be laughed at by others. Both sides of the street also needed to clear snow, and each family was responsible for their own entrance.

At this time, it didn't matter if you were a state cadre or an unemployed person; everyone was equal and had to sweep snow.

Schools would also organize students to clear the streets during breaks, and if there were troops stationed near the city, one would soon see rows of People's Liberation Army officers and soldiers carrying snow-clearing tools, shouting slogans or singing military songs, dispersing to the city's main roads to start clearing snow.

However, today's snow continued to fall, and it was a bit heavy, requiring several cleanings.

When Li Long drove the jeep back to the courtyard, he saw the public security officers from the police station across the street already clearing the snow in their courtyard.

He drove the jeep into the courtyard, greeted Sister Yang, took the snow pusher, and went out, clearing the snow on the road very quickly.

It was just that there were few cars in this era, otherwise, with just this morning's effort, the snow that fell first might have been pressed hard on the road, making it hard to remove.

Under normal circumstances, the first snow in northern Xinjiang couldn't be completely kept in most places, after all, the ground temperature wasn't low enough, but this snow was too heavy. Just as a layer melted on the ground, it was covered again, and from the middle of last night to this morning, the heavy snow fell nearly thirty centimeters directly, and the part that melted below couldn't be seen, it was frozen.

When Li Long was clearing half of the snow on the street outside, Guo Tiebing and the others came out of the police station to sweep snow, and Li Long chatted with him for a while.

Since the "cleaning" campaign started last year, the public security situation had improved a lot, so Guo Tiebing and the others weren't that busy anymore. He chatted with Li Long about the current prices, feeling that all kinds of living supplies were rising in price. Eggs were a few cents last year, and now they had risen to one dime. Meat was also constantly rising in price, and the supply of state-run meat shops was always insufficient.

Li Long felt that the business he wanted to do seemed quite good.

Thinking that when the New Year came, everyone would want to buy some meat to eat, then the beef and mutton he put on the market would have a place to go.

After clearing the snow on the street, the snow continued to fall, so Li Long didn't worry about it anymore. After entering the courtyard and clearing the snow in the courtyard, Li Long said a word to Sister Yang and went to the Fourth Team.

Although the time of his eldest brother's accidental death in his previous life had passed, Li Long was still quite worried.

Today it was snowing heavily, the ground was slippery, and there was snow on top. In the countryside, the village roads would be cleared, but the roads outside the settlement wouldn't be cleared, so Li Long was worried about any accidents when his eldest brother went out.

Besides, his father and mother were old, and he had a large courtyard over there, so it was normal to go back and sweep the snow.

When his jeep drove to the township middle school, he saw middle school students sweeping snow in the campus, some taking the opportunity to grab snow and have a snowball fight, and he could hear the teacher's scolding and the children's laughter.

Primary school was the same.

There was no one on the road, and it wasn't until after passing the reed ditch that he saw sporadic people sweeping snow on the road outside their own courtyards.

!

The snow had already lessened, and when Li Long's jeep drove to Li Jianguo's courtyard, he saw Li Jianguo sweeping snow in the courtyard.

He parked the jeep on the side of the road, got down, and asked:

"Eldest brother, where's Dad?"

"In the front yard sweeping for you."

Li Long secretly said "shame" and immediately ran to the front yard.

Li Qing Xia wasn't sweeping snow fast, sweeping and stopping. Although he had been here for more than two years, to be honest, this job of sweeping snow was still quite rare for him.

There was snow in his hometown, but it basically melted after falling. It was cold, but not the dry cold without snow.

This is winter, the winter in the north should have snow. This place with four distinct seasons throughout the year is the place that nourishes people.

Li Qing Xia was sweeping snow while sighing, and then he saw Li Long running over.

"Hey, why did you come over?" Li Qing Xia asked with a smile, "Are the children doing well?"

"Good, good," Li Long said with a smile.

He had already planned to bring Gu Xiaoxia and the two children to the village every weekend to have contact with his father, mother, eldest brother, and sister-in-law.

Who children are close to largely depends on who they spend time with. Whoever takes care of the children is usually close to them—of course, excluding those online who abuse children.

The vast majority of normal elderly people, towards their grandchildren, regardless of gender, may have a distinction between strictness, ordinariness, and doting in care. To say that they are all like the abuse described in some brainless online novels is nonsense.

There are some, but they are in the minority.

Li Long planned to let the two children have contact with their grandparents from this time on, forming a habit is better.

He picked up the snow pusher and started pushing the snow.

Although Li Long's courtyard wasn't paved with bricks and didn't have a concrete floor, it was pressed very hard and was very level when it was originally paved, so pushing the snow with the snow pusher was relatively easy.

Li Long's movements were fast. After pushing the snow in this courtyard, he went out the gate and saw that Li Jianguo had also finished pushing over there, so they pushed the snow on the road together.

After pushing, Li Long still had to go to the old horse stable to see. Before leaving, he specifically told Li Jianguo not to go out recently, the road outside was slippery, and anyway, there was nothing to do at home, so just stay.

Li Long went to the old horse stable, and Old Luo and the others had actually finished clearing the snow here.

Yang Laoliu still had a bit of fear of Li Long. After seeing him, he didn't come near, but went directly inside to feed the livestock in the pen.

"These livestock can eat. Fortunately, there are plenty of sugar dregs and wheat bran prepared." Old Luo Shu was now a leader of some sort, and his voice was much stronger, "It hasn't been many days since we fed them, and I feel they can be one or two kilograms fatter."

When cattle and sheep are kept in pens, their activity level is low, so fat is easily accumulated.

Li Long looked at the cattle and sheep in the pen, all of them were only showing their heads at the entrance in the warm pen at the moment. Occasionally, a mischievous one would drill out, step on the snow in the open pen twice, and soon drill back in.

There was nothing to say here, so Li Long drove the jeep back.

For the next few days, Li Long stayed quietly in the courtyard until a guest who surprised him a bit arrived.

Jia Tianlong, and his wife Qiao Fengzhi.

The pregnant Qiao Fengzhi.

Li Long was a bit surprised when he heard the knock on the door. It hadn't been long since he finished lunch, Gu Xiaoxia had gone to work, and usually, no one would come to disturb him at this time.

"Hey, Little Li, do you still recognize your brother?" Jia Tianlong laughed and shook hands with Li Long, then introduced his wife.

Looking at Qiao Fengzhi, Li Long was a bit surprised. Her belly basically had no movement, but Li Long could feel it—mainly because she was too cautious, and Jia Tianlong's supporting action didn't look like he was treating a normal person.

"Come in, come in!" Li Long hurriedly let the two in, saying while walking, "Where did you rush over from? Don't run around in this icy and snowy weather, I see sister-in-law seems... pregnant?"

"Hey!" After Jia Tianlong entered the courtyard, he said with a smile: "Thanks to that stone! Let me tell you, that stone is absolutely spiritual! I took a fancy to it at the time, and I felt that the treasure was protecting me!

After going back, I originally thought I wouldn't go out this winter, but I didn't expect that after more than a month, your sister-in-law, hey, she's pregnant!"

Saying this, he said to his wife:

"Fengzhi, this is Little Li, Li Long. Let's go, let's go worship that treasure first. Let me tell you, this treasure is just spiritual! We must be sincere!"

Saying this, he pulled Qiao Fengzhi and walked towards the northeast corner of the courtyard.

One could see the jade on the brick platform at a glance. Sister Yang would wipe it when she had nothing to do, and the snow on it had been cleared. Not only the snow on it, but the snow on the stone platform had also been cleared.

Jia Tianlong took Qiao Fengzhi to the stone, and the two bowed respectfully, and the subsequent actions made Li Long a bit confused.

The brick platform built under the stone wasn't small. Jia Tianlong took out an incense burner from the bag he was carrying, and took out a box of incense. Qiao Fengzhi took out some things from the bag Jia Tianlong put on the ground.

Xiao Hei saw strangers and wanted to get close, so Li Long hurriedly went over, hugged Xiao Hei to its nest, and tied it up with a chain.

Xiao Hei was very smart and knew these were guests, so it didn't bark, just watched there. Li Long was worried that Xiao Hei would bump into Qiao Fengzhi. After all, Jia's wife hadn't been pregnant for a long time, and now that she was pregnant, wasn't she a treasure? If something happened here, it wouldn't be good.

When he finished with Xiao Hei and came over, he was a bit dumbfounded by the scene in front of him.

On the brick platform under the jade, not only was an incense burner placed and incense lit, but three plates of things were also placed, including fruits, pastries, and vegetables.

Was this a certainty that this jade was vegetarian?

Being able to get vegetables in the middle of winter, they really had heart.

Jia Tianlong and Qiao Fengzhi even took out a mat and spread it in front of the stone platform, and then knelt down and started to worship.

Was there a need to be so exaggerated?

Li Long really felt that Jia Tianlong was a bit over the top. Was it worth it? This was just a piece of jade, at most it was a bit big, at least in his own view, it didn't have any special features.

However, since Jia Tianlong was willing to worship, Li Long wouldn't stop him.

Sister Yang was watching the children, heard the movement, saw the children playing on the bed, so she came out to see, and then saw two people kowtowing to the stone there.

And Li Long was standing on the side.

She was also startled.

What are they doing?

But worried about the children, Sister Yang hurriedly went back in.

Jia Tianlong and his wife bowed three times before getting up. Qiao Fengzhi tidied up the mat, while Jia Tianlong looked at the jade, his eyes full of longing.

If only it were his own! (End of chapter)