Chapter 740

Li Long didn't revere Director Qian as much as Li Xiangqian did. Respect is respect, and building connections is building connections, but he treated him like an older friend; if someone was good to him, he would try to repay it.

This is the benefit of being outside the system.

But Li Xiangqian couldn't do that. His position as a section chief had a lot to do with Director Qian; one could say Director Qian had been his mentor.

So even though Director Qian had only mentioned it in passing, to Li Xiangqian, it was a task that had to be completed.

But hunting doesn't care if you're a leader or not; the prey is afraid of death too. If there's a risk of death during the day, they can only cross the danger zone at night.

That's perfectly logical.

But Li Xiangqian felt that if he told Director Qian this, the Director would be quite disappointed.

He thought for a moment, looked at the Mongolian gazelle leg, and suddenly said to Li Long:

"Little Li, how about this: tonight, or tomorrow night, I'll go with you to take a look. We'll keep watch there for half the night. If we can hit something, it'll be easier for me to report to Director Qian.

After all, Director Qian told me about this, and if I just relay what you said, I won't be able to explain it clearly. It's not that I don't believe you, I just want to see it with my own eyes... Don't worry, the fuel and bullets will be covered by the Cooperative."

"Of course, no problem," Li Long smiled. "Idle is idle anyway. Section Chief, do you want to go tonight or tomorrow night?"

"Let's go tonight then. I'll go back this afternoon to get the gun, and when I get off work, you come directly to pick me up. We'll go out and have a meal so we have some fat in our stomachs and won't be hungry in the middle of the night."

"Then Section Chief, you must prepare a heavy coat and dress warmly; it will be very cold while waiting."

"That's still different. Think about it: you're in the city, and in the future, your children will be city people too, eating commodity grain. The school they attend will be different from the children in our team. If they want to see a movie, they can go on the weekend; if they want to go to the Children's Palace, they can sign up. What about the people in the team?"

People who can put on weight in these times are usually envied.

Li Long didn't say much more; Li Xiangqian's experience walking in the wild when he was in the grain procurement team might be even richer than his own.

But in these years at the Supply and Marketing Cooperative, he hadn't exactly been living in luxury, but he had done fewer of those dangerous jobs that required traveling outside of the eight-hour workday.

With the experience and confidence of those years, but without the awareness to keep up with the times, letting the severe cold of nearly minus thirty degrees at night beat him up a bit would make him behave.

Li Long returned to the big courtyard and took over the two children. Sister Yang was preparing to cook and also had to process the meat.

The two children could already sit up and play, which was crucial for them. Looking at the world while lying down and looking at it while sitting up were two completely different feelings.

Their eyes were also developing; seeing Li Long by their side, the two children would smile from time to time.

The two of them would tug at a toy and communicate when they saw the same thing. Li Long basically didn't interfere, just watched them make a fuss, unless it got out of hand.

This was different from Gu Xiaoxia. When Gu Xiaoxia watched the children, once she saw the two little guys starting to tug, she would subconsciously want to separate them, muttering, "You two are brothers, you have to be good, just like your dad and your uncle..."

Well, at least in Gu Xiaoxia's eyes, these two Li brothers were models of brotherhood, supporting and helping each other, and whenever they had something good, they would basically think of each other's families.

Perfect.

Although she was an only child in her own mind, she actually quite envied this kind of brotherly bond. A good family atmosphere made it less likely to have internal friction.

Actually, Li Long and Gu Bo Yuan had already made it clear to her that she had a younger sister, and her mother probably hadn't passed away either.

It was impossible to say Gu Xiaoxia didn't miss them, but she hadn't thought about searching for them to that extent.

Of course, there was another big problem: trying to find someone who had been missing for twenty years in these times was as difficult as climbing a mountain.

This wasn't the era of the developed internet. If twins were separated in the future, you could post a photo online, and everyone could spread the photo and information to every corner of the country, or even abroad.

But right now, you could basically only go to Gu Bo Yuan's old hometown to look; there was no way to involve other places.

Li Long had also comforted Gu Xiaoxia, saying that since the person who looked like her sister had come by, she would likely come looking again.

Just wait, no rush.

Mingming suddenly stopped moving. Li Long knew something was wrong and hurried over to get a diaper. Sure enough, when Mingming moved, he clearly felt uncomfortable.

Li Long flipped the child over, opened the crotch pants, and took a look. Hey, he had peed quite a lot.

He hurriedly removed the diaper, wiped the buttocks clean, and then put on a new one.

You had to wipe it, or the urine would chafe the skin.

After changing Mingming's diaper, Li Long immediately picked up Haohao to hold him for a pee. As the months went by, the synchronization between the two brothers would get higher and higher; if one peed, the other would follow within five minutes.

Sure enough, just as he picked up Haohao, a clear stream shot out, almost missing the potty.

Du Chunfang followed and asked:

Not peeing in the diaper was also quite comfortable for the children.

The children had big appetites and ate several meals a day. Gu Xiaoxia had already started weaning them, and they were drinking formula now.

It would be better if they were in the village; there were local cows in the village. Although the milk tasted slightly different from the black-and-white Holstein cows, with a bit of a gamey smell, it was nutritious.

Maxian was relatively small, and there was no milk delivery service yet.

No choice, they could only drink formula. Huayuan formula was quite easy to buy at the department store. Li Long always bought it by the case, and after buying it, he would use a bottle to mix it for the two children.

Mingming and Haohao didn't just drink formula; they could eat solid food now.

Think about what Li Juan and Qiangqiang ate as solid food back then? White flour steamed buns soaked in boiling water, with white sugar added, stirred until the buns were like cotton.

Back then, Li Jianguo and Liang Wenyu had to go to work, and there would be a housewife in the group specifically in charge of these little babies, sometimes even putting them in a big basket, giving a bite to whoever cried.

Conditions were so difficult back then.

Now, Li Long naturally couldn't let Mingming and Haohao eat that. He learned how to make solid food from the elders; it was what the old Northern Tianshan people called "sticky rice."

Beef and mutton were boiled until very tender, and the rice was cooked in that soup—the soup that contained the stewed meat—with finely diced carrots and onions added.

Everything inside, including the carrots, onions, meat, and rice, was stewed until very soft, with a little bit of salt added, and fed to the children. The two children ate with great enthusiasm and were clearly growing faster than children of the same age.

Of course, there were side effects; it's estimated that when they grow up, they won't ever want to eat this kind of sticky rice again.

To avoid trouble, Sister Yang would make a whole pot of this sticky rice at once, then freeze it and cut it into small pieces to put outside in the snow, taking one piece each time, just enough for the two little guys to eat.

Three to five bottles of milk a day, plus three to five meals of sticky rice, that was enough.

Li Long held the bottle, and after mixing it, he touched the bottle to the back of his hand to feel the temperature before feeding the children.

Two bottles in two hands, the two children drank together, and after burping them, the big task was over.

Li Long had strong hands and didn't feel tired at all holding the two children. The two children could even do some relatively thrilling movements in Li Long's hands, and they would call out happily.

Right now, Mingming and Haohao were quite heavy, and Sister Yang and Gu Xiaoxia couldn't do those movements while holding them, so they quite liked being held by Li Long.

In the afternoon, Li Long tidied up the jeep and cleaned the gun, habitually preparing a few more bags to put in the trunk. The back seat and trunk of this jeep needed to be cleaned frequently, otherwise, those prey would inevitably bring some miscellaneous things when transported.

If not cleaned, there would be an odor.

When Sister Yang was free, she made some cushions for the jeep. There were many clever people in these times; some scrap cloth could be stitched into some good-looking diamond-shaped seat cushions. In Sister Yang's eyes, this jeep was considered very high-end, but those cushions were a bit rustic.

Sister Yang made seat cushions and, following Li Long's "guidance," sewed seat covers with canvas. Anyway, there were skins on hand, and it was easy to get cotton on the market. In winter, they were cotton cushions, at least they wouldn't freeze your butt when sitting. It was just that the steering wheel handle was hard to deal with, a bit troublesome.

So when Li Long went to pick up Li Xiangqian, and Li Xiangqian sat in the car, he praised:

"Little Li, you've made this car comfortable. Sitting on it is soft and fluffy, and it's quite warm!"

Li Long glanced at Li Xiangqian. He was wearing a coat, but it looked a bit thin. He knew he couldn't persuade this person, so he didn't say anything more, smiled, explained what Sister Yang had done, and then drove out.

"Section Chief, are we going to the meat canteen for dinner?" Li Long asked.

"No, no, let's go to Shicheng. I'm tired of eating at these canteens in the county; let's change to Shicheng to change the flavor," Li Xiangqian waved his hand. "Let's go!"

Li Xiangqian brought a shotgun; he always felt that hunting was more professional with a shotgun. Although it was a double-barrel and you had to change bullets after two shots, Li Xiangqian had self-knowledge; if he didn't hit with those two bullets, he wouldn't hit with more.

Yesterday, Li Xiangqian brought bullets for Li Long. Li Long thought it was unlikely, but he didn't expect Li Xiangqian to bring two packs of bullets for Li Long today, in addition to the dozen or so slugs he brought for himself.

"If we can hit one Mongolian gazelle tonight, it'll be worth it." Li Xiangqian's requirements weren't high, and he said optimistically, "Just one, and when the time comes, you can give me a rib section."

"I can give you both sections." Li Long was also quite optimistic about hitting something tonight; he felt that if they could hit one, it definitely wouldn't be just one.

Li Long drove to the state-run restaurant in Shicheng, which was opened by a unit related to the Production and Construction Corps. Li Long parked the jeep outside, and the two got out and went in.

Li Long originally thought Li Xiangqian had come to Shicheng specifically to eat and would order something fancy, but he didn't expect Li Xiangqian to go directly to the waiter and order two servings of mixed noodles.

!

Each person got an extra serving of noodles and a bowl of noodle soup.

Li Long hurriedly went over to pay. Well, didn't expect that.

It was already 1984, and what surprised Li Long was that he didn't have to pay with grain coupons, although the price without grain coupons was slightly more expensive.

That was fine too.

A little over a yuan, with big chunks of meat, what else could you ask for?

"The noodles here just taste better than the ones at the meat canteen," Li Xiangqian praised while eating. "The flavor is different; it's not a wasted trip of over ten kilometers."

Well, actually, Li Long felt the difference wasn't big. The noodles were about the same, the flavor of the vegetables was slightly different but not by much. There was enough oil and meat, and since it was winter, the ingredients were cabbage, chili peppers, and onions.

After eating and drinking the soup, Li Xiangqian didn't really want to leave.

After digesting in the restaurant, the two got up and went out.

When starting the jeep, Li Long could already feel the temperature outside dropping. The sun hadn't completely set yet, but the temperature was already falling. When the jeep drove out of Shicheng, they were facing the sun as it slowly sank below the horizon.

Watching the red light in front of them slowly disappear, Li Long said to Li Xiangqian while driving:

"Section Chief, let's drive a bit further later. Yesterday I hit the Mongolian gazelle west of Wulanwusu; today let's drive a bit more towards Shawan; we might encounter more that way."

"Alright, I'll listen to you." Having just eaten, his body was warm, and Li Xiangqian felt very comfortable.

He sat in the passenger seat, holding his shotgun and looking at the scenery to the north, watching the original houses and farmland disappear bit by bit, finally turning into an endless snowy wilderness.

By the time the jeep drove to within five kilometers of SW County, and both sides were Gobi wilderness, it was already dark.

Li Long looked at the many hoof prints in the snow on both sides and thought this was the place.

He parked the jeep by a cluster of slightly taller red willows on the north side of the road; at least from a distance, the jeep wasn't that conspicuous.

"Are we waiting here?" Li Xiangqian asked from the passenger seat.

"Yes, waiting is fine, or getting out to lie in ambush in the snow is also fine," Li Long said. "It's already dark; I guess in another hour or two, those Mongolian gazelles should be coming."

Actually, it might be better if they came at dawn. The routine of wild animals is different from humans; when it's just getting light, wild animals have already started foraging or finished foraging.

And when it's bright, humans usually just get up.

But it doesn't matter; at least for a long time, wild animals like Mongolian gazelles were quite abundant in the wilderness and Gobi desert to the north.

And at this time, the border between Northern Tianshan and several other countries hadn't been completely sealed with barbed wire, so large herds of Mongolian gazelles, wild donkeys, and other wild animals came and went freely, and the herds were very numerous.

Having just eaten not long ago, the food in their stomachs hadn't been digested yet, and they were quite cold-resistant. Li Long and Li Xiangqian both got out of the car and moved towards both sides of the bushes.

Both were wearing coats—Li Xiangqian was wearing a cotton-padded coat, while Li Long had put on his sheepskin coat.

Two years ago, he went hunting in the mountains with Yushanjiang and Halimu, and at that time, he lay in the snow for over an hour, so he knew how cold it could be in the middle of winter at night.

Not only was he wearing a leather coat, but he also wore a leather hat, and on his feet were leather boots—put on when getting out of the car. Inside were cotton-padded rubber shoes; although this thing wasn't as convenient as felt boots, at least there was a layer of cotton shoes inside the leather boots, so warmth wasn't a problem.

After Li Long found a patch of snow to sit down, he took off his leather hat, removed the nose guard from the side of his ear, installed it, and then put the leather hat back on.

He was fully armed.

Li Xiangqian didn't have so much trouble; when he got out of the car, he even laughed at Li Long for being too delicate.

"When we were in the grain procurement team going to various grain points to buy grain, we would travel at night in the middle of winter and could even see wolves. I wasn't as old as you then, and it was colder than it is now, but I didn't wear this thick."

Li Long thought to himself, just be smug for now; you'll know in a while.

Back then, you were always moving, and the heat in your body was continuously dissipating. Now that you're sitting here, in less than half an hour, you'll experience what bone-chilling cold is.

In order to see the prey running over, you couldn't light a fire at this time. The two sat down on the snow on both sides of the bushes, twenty or thirty meters apart, looking north.

It was getting darker and darker, and the moon hadn't risen yet. Although the stars were quite bright and there was snow, it was still a bit dark compared to when there was a moon.

Li Long's eyesight was excellent; even at night, he could see movement seventy or eighty meters away.

It was just that right now, nothing was coming over from that side.

Li Xiangqian was quite careful at first, just looking north. His eyesight wasn't as good as Li Long's; he could only see thirty-something meters away, and further away it felt like a gray-black blur; he couldn't see anything clearly.

After waiting for twenty or thirty minutes, Li Xiangqian felt cold. Checking his watch, he realized only such a short time had passed, but why did he feel his body couldn't take it?

He couldn't help but ask Li Long:

"Little Li, do you think those Mongolian gazelles won't come at all in the middle of the night?"

"I don't know." Li Long didn't dare to guarantee it, saying, "From the area we came from, I can see that there are many Mongolian gazelles passing through our area. In other places, there are very few hoof prints on both sides of the road. I think this should be the passage they are used to taking."

When he said this, Li Xiangqian felt much more relieved, but Li Long's next words made him uncertain again.

"I also don't know if these hoof prints were made by them running over at night or early in the morning.

Section Chief, I think we should do this: wait for two or three hours, and if those Mongolian gazelles don't come, we'll start the car, drive a bit further, and see if we can run into them. If we can't, we'll come back early in the morning in a couple of days."

Li Xiangqian already felt his hands and feet were cold. He thought, come again? Just this one trip, and I already regret it a bit. If I come again, won't I get frostbite?

But he was the one who proposed it, and Li Long had reminded him to dress warmly. Now that he was cold, who could he blame?

Seeing Li Xiangqian not speaking, Li Long remembered something and laughed.

Li Xiangqian wanted to ask what Li Long was laughing at; he couldn't hear clearly, but he could feel Li Long laughing. Although it was just a laugh.

Then he saw Li Long stand up, turn around and walk towards the jeep, and then open the jeep's trunk.

Li Xiangqian thought to himself, does Li Long know I'm cold, and is he preparing to get something for me?

Get what? Alcohol?

He hoped it was alcohol; it would be better than food. Right now, Li Xiangqian wasn't hungry, just cold. If there was alcohol, drinking it would at least make him feel warmer, right? (End of chapter)