Chapter 755: The Last Action Before the New Year

Not everyone was thinking about selling their fish to Li Long.

The number of ice holes on Little Haizi increased by a few more the next day, and among them was Xu Jianjun, whom Li Long found extremely disagreeable.

The first time Xu Jianjun followed Li Long to weave carrying poles, he caused quite a bit of trouble, so Li Long never brought him along again. This guy had some self-awareness; he didn't openly crowd around Li Long, but he was secretly observing the Li family from the shadows.

He wasn't stupid; he knew the ways Li Long used to make money and wanted to follow and learn, but he only learned a half-baked version.

Now he was behaving himself. If he couldn't learn, couldn't he just copy? Fish were easy to sell, so why not just get fish?

In the past two years, more people in the team had started eating fish, and they could tell the difference: the fish from Big Haizi didn't taste as good as those from Little Haizi, and their appearance wasn't as good either.

Even when taken to the market, fish from Little Haizi sold for one mao more per kilogram than those from Big Haizi.

It wasn't that people from other teams or other townships in the county didn't want to come to Little Haizi to catch fish, but as long as they were discovered, the people of the team—even those who weren't catching fish—would drive them away. Before Xu Chengjun made Li Long's contract public, everyone acknowledged this as public property, but it was only the team's public property.

People from other places shouldn't even think about taking advantage.

Now that they knew Li Long had contracted it, but that others weren't forbidden from catching fish, everyone naturally protected it. After a few outsiders came to catch fish and were scolded away, slowly, no more outsiders came.

The people from the Third Team basically didn't come, which was quite surprising.

Xu Jianjun also had his pride; he could catch fish by digging ice holes, but he didn't take them to Li Long. He probably couldn't bring himself to do it. He dug for fish for two days and then rode his bicycle to the county to sell them himself.

After the county market was consolidated, some people didn't want to rent or buy those storefronts, so they set up a free market at the urban-rural fringe in the eastern suburbs—similar to the old black markets. It opened quite early, because by the time people went to work, inspectors would come, and those setting up stalls would withdraw.

Xu Jianjun sold his fish there. His fish weren't expensive, 1.3 yuan, a bit more expensive than handing them over to Li Long, but by the end of the day, it was good if he could sell half—he couldn't move them.

The market in Maxian itself wasn't big, and now that it was the dead of winter, most people who went out shopping went to the county market; those shops at least had stoves and fires inside, so one could warm up.

After Xu Jianjun sold fish for two days, he stopped selling. He also stopped breaking ice holes.

After all, this hardship was something he had to endure himself.

Now that life was better than before, with surplus meat and money at home, some people's desire to earn money wasn't as intense.

Li Long went to Little Haizi every day to break ice holes and catch fish, then returned early. Following the previous method, he spread a plastic sheet in the empty room on the east side of his courtyard and laid out the collected fish one by one.

The empty room was cold, so the collected fish would freeze overnight without sticking together. Once the fish sticks were packed into bags, it would be easy to send them to the sugar factory later.

Li Long's plan was to catch enough fish, send them off, and the rest would be to send the meat that should be sent for the winter to those few people, and then there would be nothing to do for the rest of the winter.

Hibernating!

After being busy for a year, one had to rest well. After all, he hadn't thought about becoming a formal employee in the supply and marketing cooperative; he just thought that farmers could rest well in the winter.

He wasn't used to the nine-to-five life.

This year, the fish in Little Haizi were still good. By the sixth day, Li Long had managed to get over a ton of fish through catching and collecting. He decided to distribute the excess to everyone.

Tao Daqiang, Xie Yun Dong, and others originally didn't want them. According to Tao Daqiang:

"As long as this Little Haizi is here, whenever we want to eat fish, we can just bring a net and catch them."

Li Long still distributed the fish. His intention was for everyone to rest well these days. They had been busy for a year, and busy for another month in the winter. In another month or so, it would be the New Year, and they needed to prepare New Year goods at home.

Li Long calculated that, excluding the fish to be handed over to the sugar factory, the family could keep about ten kilograms of large fish. There would be a lot of crucian carp left over, at least fifty or sixty kilograms—mainly because they were caught every day, and it added up.

He would leave seven or eight large ones for his eldest brother, and about ten kilograms of small ones, and then send some fish to his second brother and his sister Li Xia.

When Song Ming arrived with the sugar dregs, Li Long was already waiting at the old horse corral.

"Got enough fish?" Song Ming didn't participate in the work of unloading the sugar dregs; he couldn't squeeze in. Today, not only were Old Luo Shu and the others there, but Tao Daqiang and the others were there too.

Daqiang and the others meant to see it through to the end and finish loading the fish onto the truck with Li Long.

So today there were some people at Little Haizi, but not one who had a good relationship with Li Long; they were all here and at the Li family courtyard. On this side, they were unloading sugar dregs, and on that side, they were packing the frozen fish into bags, waiting to load the truck.

With so many people gathered together, Song Ming chatted with Li Long.

"Enough, over a ton. They are all carp, grass carp, and five-striped black fish over a kilogram, and there's also bighead carp. The fish are definitely enough, and I've prepared some for you too."

After the sugar dregs were unloaded, Tao Daqiang took a large broom and swept the sugar dregs in the truck box clean, then threw the large broom down, and the other few people also climbed onto the large box.

"Let's go, let's load the fish." Li Long said, leading the way in the jeep, with Song Ming following behind in the truck.

"When do you think we can buy a car like this?" In the truck box, Liang Shuang Cheng sighed.

"Wait. Can you buy this car without a hundred thousand or eighty thousand?" Xie Yun Dong thought he was daydreaming. "Isn't a tractor enough? You're still thinking about this?"

"Hey, why can't we think about it?" Liang Shuang Cheng was still quite excited. Although there was wind, he didn't feel cold at all. Standing in the middle of the truck box, not holding onto anything, while trying hard to resist the inertia of the car to keep his balance, he said:

"Two years ago, who could have thought that our few families could afford a small four-wheeled tractor?"

Xie Yun Dong stopped talking. What Liang Shuang Cheng said was right. Two or three years ago, let alone buying a tractor, buying a bicycle was the biggest dream.

That was '82, and now it was '84. Only two years had passed, and it felt like this change was even greater than the change in the past ten years.

"Long Ge said that in another twenty or thirty years, all of our families will be able to afford cars." Tao Daqiang suddenly said, "By then, maybe you won't even look down on this big truck."

This time no one refuted. What Li Long said was definitely correct—maybe some people in the village didn't believe it, or didn't have such strong confidence in Li Long.

But the people in the big box right now were the ones who had followed Li Long closely and enjoyed the greatest benefits.

They believed.

Twenty or thirty years, driving a car... although the time was a bit long, thinking about being able to drive a car, it would be worth it even if it took longer.

When the car drove to the Li family, Li Jianguo, Liang Zhongcheng, and others had already packed the fish into bags and placed them against the wall in the courtyard.

As soon as the car entered the courtyard, some of Tao Daqiang's people jumped down, and some received the fish from above. Very quickly, more than twenty bags of a ton of fish were placed in the truck box.

Li Long specially took a half-bag of packed fish and handed it to Song Ming:

"This is for you. Put it in the truck box, don't take it down later."

It was still early, two or three hours away from lunch, so Li Long didn't keep him, leading the way in the jeep towards Shicheng.

After Li Long left, Tao Daqiang and the others went into Li Jianguo's room to chat for a while, which also counted as warming up. The main topic they discussed was still what to plant next year.

As they chatted, they mentioned Li Long inviting a professor to come and guide the farming, and they wondered if they should ask the professor for advice on how to plant better.

In the west room, Li Jianguo and Xie Yun Dong and the others were chatting, and Liang Wenyu smiled and brought out a plate of fried sunflower seeds for them to crack and eat.

Those chatting didn't pay much attention, but Liang Wenyu noticed that the few wealthier families in the team were all here.

She didn't know when, but these people around Li Long had all become wealthy, and each one was much more confident. And these people liked to come here to chat about plans for the coming year.

In a few more years, how far could this small group go?

She didn't know either, but she believed it would get better and better.

Li Long arrived at the sugar factory and weighed the fish as usual: 1,025 kilograms.

At 1.5 yuan per kilogram, it was a total of 1,537.5 yuan.

Section Chief Hu looked at these fish, especially the beautiful large carp in some bags, and was in a very good mood.

At this time, state-run reservoirs had farmed fish, but those farmed fish were mostly supplied to various government agencies, and some were used as reserves. Although the sugar factory was considered a large factory, it was really not easy to get some of these fish.

For the previous mutton, after Section Chief Hu took the leaders to visit, he was truly praised by the leaders at the Monday assembly. This time with fish, although it was impossible to be praised again, at least it could add a stroke.

The taste of this fish was much better than that in the big reservoir.

After settling the bill, Li Long took out the bag of fish specially left for Section Chief Hu and gave it to him. Section Chief Hu accepted it with a laugh, but he also put this bag of fish into that pile of fish. Li Long didn't care about that much; the intention was enough. After saying goodbye and leaving, he drove the jeep to his sister Li Xia's house.

It was noon, and when Li Long arrived, Chen Xingbang had just entered the house. He sold meat at a stall in the market, and someone replaced him at noon. After all, it was impossible to stay there all the time. Since he was already a person in the food factory, the food factory also had to consider his rest problem.

The jeep entered the courtyard, and Chen Xingbang and Hongqin both came to welcome Li Long.

Li Long got out of the car, greeted Chen Xingbang, and took out two ankle bones and handed them to Hongqin, which made Hongqin very happy. This thing was considered a relatively popular good thing among children in Northern Xinjiang, almost equivalent to a general equivalent.

"Why did you bring so much meat?" Chen Xingbang said as he watched Li Long open the trunk and move the meat. "We have it at home."

"That's different. This is venison, this is beef, this is a leg of lamb..." Li Long pointed one by one. "And fish. You can't have such a complete set here, right?"

"That's true." Chen Xingbang said with a smile. "We really don't have such a complete set. I only have pork and mutton here, and I haven't eaten beef many times."

Even in the food factory, beef was a rare item. Government agencies sent a portion, reserved a portion, and also used it to make canned food. It was difficult for ordinary people to eat it.

Li Long could get beef, and venison, which was really good.

By the way, there was also fish. Chen Xingbang often caught fish in the big river in his hometown, but since coming here to sell meat every day, the family ate less fish.

Li Xia had just been busy in the kitchen, and only then did she find time to come out and greet Li Long.

!

"Sister, are the sugar dregs enough?" Li Long asked while putting down the meat.

"Enough, enough. In two days, these two pigs will be slaughtered, and there will be quite a lot of sugar dregs left. I'll put them in the room and use them when I raise them next year." Li Xia said with a smile, "You can take a piece of meat back to eat later."

"No need, we have it at home." Li Long refused.

"That's different." Li Xia was relatively stubborn in this regard. In the past two years, she had received a lot of benefits from her younger brother. For the pigs she raised herself, she had to cut some for her father and mother, and let her brothers eat some.

She didn't even need to discuss this with Chen Xingbang; it was a must.

Chen Xingbang was stunned when he heard this, but he didn't refute. He was still a bit chauvinistic—or rather, many men at this time, especially those who came from the mouth, all carried some such thoughts more or less.

Li Xia originally thought this was normal. But after staying in Northern Xinjiang for a period of time, she felt that this seemed wrong. For some things, she had to be the master and couldn't always let Chen Xingbang decide—for example, giving pork to her eldest brother, second brother, and Li Long. If she didn't mention it, Chen Xingbang would most likely not take the initiative to say it.

In Chen Xingbang's eyes, Li Long and the others lived better than them, so there was no need to send it.

Li Xia felt this wouldn't do. The pigs were fed by herself. Not to mention the second brother, the eldest brother and the younger brother sent things over from time to time. Did they not have money at home? They did. This was the intention of the family, and it was also her confidence.

So for this matter, she decided!

Lunch was noodles—although many living habits had changed, Chen Xingbang and Li Xia hadn't changed their love for noodles.

Because Li Long came, Li Xia specially stir-fried two dishes: pickled cabbage with meat, and shredded potatoes.

Hongqin was very happy. She had things to play with and good things to eat. She was growing, and the bowl she ate from was bigger than her own face.

Li Long liked to watch children eat like this, and he was also thinking, when would Mingming and Haohao be able to eat like this?

Hongqin ate like this because there were no snacks. When Mingming and Haohao were older, the family would probably have snacks constantly. Would they not eat well by then?

There was no way. As parents, worrying during disasters seemed to be a very normal thing.

At the dinner table, Chen Xingbang talked more about his meat selling. Li Xia really wanted to know about her father and mother, eldest brother and sister-in-law, and the situation at Li Long's house.

Li Long told her everything, and also talked about the situation of the second brother.

Li Xia actually wanted to go to the eldest brother and second brother's house to see, but there was no time at all right now. Thinking about it, it wasn't far, but they couldn't see each other all year round. This point wasn't as good as in her hometown.

"Wait until summer, when Hongqin is on vacation or on the weekend, you can just take a car and go." Li Long said with a smile, "Or I'll come to pick you up then, and we'll go to the eldest brother's place to see father and mother together."

When he said this, Li Xia's expression was obviously much better.

Li Xia was the kind of sentimental person whose emotions came and went quickly.

After eating, when Li Long left, Li Xia repeatedly urged him that when it was the end of January, he must come here to pick up the meat.

Li Long agreed.

He didn't care about that bit of meat, mainly it was his sister's intention.

Next, Li Long planned to go to the east and then to the west. Yang Yongqiang came back and stayed for five days, then took a car back to Kuitun. Currently working there, he had to go back when his leave was up. He was considered a public official. As soon as he came back, someone in the team went to introduce him to a partner. Yang Hua didn't even let him see the person and directly refused.

According to Yang Hua's meaning, since Yang Yongqiang had become a city dweller, he should find a partner there.

This point was naturally beyond reproach. After all, if he married a wife from here, it would be considered living in two places, which was not conducive to family life.

When Yang Yongqiang left, he also asked Li Long when he would go to Kuitun again. Li Long said wait until he was done with things.

He couldn't make a special trip to Kuitun for Yang Yongqiang. After all, although there was no direct car from Maxian to Kuitun right now, it was possible to get there by transferring in Shicheng.

Li Long didn't need to remind him of this, Yang Yongqiang also knew.

Returning from Shicheng, Li Long went to the Fourth Team and heard a piece of news that surprised him but was also very normal.

Li Junshan was going to hold a wedding banquet. It had been decided, and he had invited Li Qing Xia, Li Jianguo, Li Long, and others to attend.

That is to say, he asked Li Qing Xia and the others to act as the groom's family.

Li Junshan directly called the team, and Xu Chengjun rode a bicycle to find Li Jianguo to answer it.

In Li Jianguo's east room, Li Long asked his father:

"Did he say when it will be held?"

"He said, the day after tomorrow, this Sunday." Li Jianguo answered for his father, "Are you going?"

"Going, I'll take you all there." Li Long smiled, "It's a big happy event for our Li family anyway."

"Hmm, father and mother, you, me... I'll ask your sister if she's going later." Li Jianguo said, "By the way, is Xiaoxia going?"

"She'd better not go. Work for a week, rest well on the weekend. It doesn't matter if we delay for a day, she still has to work on Monday."

"That's true."

"My sister probably can't go either," Li Long said again, "My brother-in-law is also working, my sister can't get away, and there are two pigs being raised at home."

Then the people were confirmed.

"When I leave, I'll pack the meat for my second brother." Li Long said, "I'll send it to my second brother then, so I don't have to make another trip before the New Year."

"Should we prepare a set of clothes for father and mother?" Although Liang Wenyu wasn't going, she was more thoughtful.

"Prepare what? No need." Du Chunfang said immediately, "You already cut cloth and sewed new clothes for us when winter started, what else to prepare? We can't finish wearing them..."

The eldest daughter-in-law naturally had nothing to say in this regard. There was no need for Li Jianguo to mention it at all. The new clothes for the changing seasons of the year were prepared long ago.

The money Li Long needed to give to his eldest brother was sometimes given directly to his sister-in-law. He knew that his sister-in-law didn't usually manage the money, so he sometimes persuaded her to keep some money in her hands. What if there was an emergency and his eldest brother wasn't at home?

Liang Wenyu listened to this point. She also saved some money in her hands. But basically, it was all used on the family members. When cutting clothes, she even habitually prepared a set of clothes for Li Long.

"No need to prepare." Li Qing Xia also said, "Let's talk about how much gift money we should give."

PS: Reporting the situation to everyone. First, the headache has eased, and the updates will continue. Don't worry, everyone, this book will continue to be written.

Second, thank you for the support of many book friends. Some went to Tomato to help report, some went to Longkong to post and expose. Dongchuan, Chanmao's Mouse, etc., on Longkong, thank you all. That book can no longer be searched now. Whether it was protected by Tomato or banned, it is not clear yet. Let's see if there are any updates later.

Thank you all (End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 756 =====