Chapter 777

The air in the Fourth Squad was permeated with all kinds of joyful flavors.

Firecrackers had been ringing since the morning. Li Qiang had already received his own box of small firecrackers the night before, the two-hundred-count kind. Although they weren't as loud as electric firecrackers, their power wasn't great, and those who were bold could even hold them in their hands and pinch the bottom to set them off.

The small firecrackers were given to him by Li Qing Xia—Li Qiang didn't dare ask his father directly. Li Jianguo took the firecrackers out and placed them on the fire wall to dry. The fire wall in the west room had two sections; the one in the hallway was hotter, while the one in the inner room had a moderate temperature. There was no worry about them burning up while drying things on it.

Not only could firecrackers be dried here, but five-spice melon seeds could also be dried—this year Liang Yumei boiled some five-spice melon seeds, and after boiling, she used a cage cloth to spread them on the fire wall to dry. Now they were already served on a plate and placed on the table.

Li Qiang took the small firecrackers, tore them open, and put them in his pocket, then took an incense stick and went outside to light and set them off.

There were also his little friends; some were playing with duds picked up from others, and some were just joining in the fun. Like Li Qiang, who could take handfuls of small firecrackers to set off so early, he was still in the minority.

So Li Qiang was still the coolest kid in the new residential area of the Fourth Squad.

Li Long drove the jeep and stopped at the southern courtyard. He saw Li Qiang on the road and greeted him. Li Qiang was in a hurry to set off firecrackers, so Li Long didn't make him follow.

Just as Li Long thought, the stove in the southern courtyard was burning very vigorously. As soon as he and Gu Xiaoxia entered the room with the children, they felt a wave of heat.

The stove was burning very hot, probably for fear of freezing the children. The two took off the children's coats, and before they had finished changing clothes, Li Qing Xia and Du Chunfang came over.

"Heh, Mingming and Haohao have grown again," Du Chunfang looked at the two children and smiled broadly. "So well-behaved, they aren't even afraid when they see Grandpa and Grandma, and they're even smiling. Hey, so well-behaved!"

Mingming and Haohao were crawling on the bed playing, then looked at Grandpa and Grandma curiously, and were indeed smiling.

"They know you two are good to them," Li Long said with a smile. "The babies are a bit older and know what's good. Are things ready over at my big brother's side?"

"Ready, ready, they've been ready for a long time," Li Qing Xia said with a smile. "You guys stay busy here first, come over for lunch at noon."

"Alright, I'll go over in a while."

Li Long hadn't gone to the backyard yet when Li Juan came over again.

She was already older and not like Li Qiang, who was small and could run around playing by himself. Li Juan had already consciously followed Liang Yumei to do housework. After all, it was New Year's Eve, and there was still a lot of work.

Li Juan came over in her spare time; one was to see Mingming and Haohao, and the second was to see if Han Fang had come. Not seeing Han Fang, Li Juan was a bit disappointed.

"Xiao Fang and her mother plan to spend the New Year in the county," Li Long explained. "After all, they aren't family, and it might be a bit awkward if they came over."

This was the result of Li Long and Gu Xiaoxia discussing it on the way back—Sister Yang not coming back to spend the New Year should be for this reason.

After all, they were a family, and spending the New Year in someone else's house, to put it nicely, was a good thing, but to put it not so nicely, there would naturally be some awkwardness.

"Oh, then Little Uncle, tell her when you go back to come over and play when she has time. I'll go to the county to find her and play when I have time too."

"Alright."

When Li Juan came, she brought two plates of melon seeds, one was five-spice, and one was plain roasted. The table on Li Long's side was already set with hemp leaves, peanuts, fruit candies, etc.

That is to say, if someone came to pay a New Year's call tomorrow, these would be enough to handle it.

There was also a teapot on the stove. Li Long lifted the lid and smelled a rich jasmine fragrance.

Scented tea was relatively rare in the village.

"Big brother and sister-in-law prepared everything so well," Gu Xiaoxia said while looking at Mingming and Haohao. "We'll just eat what's ready."

"Who told us to be the little ones?" Li Long said with a smile. "It's as it should be."

Gu Xiaoxia didn't expect Li Long to have such a shameless side at this time. She was stunned for a moment, then immediately smiled too.

While smiling, she also said to Mingming and Haohao:

"You two, learn from your father's style in the future. You have older brothers and sisters, and they will take care of you..."

Li Long didn't expect Gu Xiaoxia to suddenly say this.

And Gu Xiaoxia suddenly changed the tone of her speech:

"But you also have to understand that to let your older brothers and sisters take care of you like this, first, you have to learn from your father and have your own abilities, the ability to make this big family live well, and second, you also have to be good to your family just like your father..."

Listening to this, Li Long felt like his wife was praising him in a roundabout way?

So Li Long was quite happy.

Gu Xiaoxia took care of the two children, and Li Long went to the backyard to greet his big brother.

Li Jianguo had already recovered and was feeding grass to that injured Mongolian gazelle at this time.

"Big brother, are you alright now?"

"I'm fine, I'm fine," Li Jianguo said while scattering grass for the Mongolian gazelle. "I was fine the next day. Hey, I drank quite a bit at the time, and I felt I was still doing fine when I came back. After you left, I went to sleep, and I slept until it was bright the next day. I was starving when I got up."

"That's for sure, you didn't eat much at that company at the time." Li Long helped Li Jianguo finish scattering the grass and said, "To be honest, I didn't expect you could drink so much liquor."

"Maybe it was because I was in a good mood," Li Jianguo said again. "By the way, your second brother called the team and said he would arrive in the county this afternoon. We'll have to go pick him up then."

"No problem, I'll go pick him up then," Li Long said. "He can stay in the east room on my side. It'll be fun with more children now."

"Mm, Father and Mother will definitely be happy with a courtyard full of children. Your older sister and the others will come over the day after tomorrow; it'll be even more lively then."

Li Long walked around the courtyard, and since there was nothing to do, he returned to the front courtyard, changing with Gu Xiaoxia so she could go help Liang Yumei and also chat with her.

The sound of firecrackers became denser and denser, and the two children's attention was also attracted, looking outside from time to time.

The New Year atmosphere was still very strong at this time. Every household followed the customs of their hometown, wrapping dumplings or offering sacrifices to ancestors, etc. Everyone was also very tolerant; you celebrate according to your customs, and I celebrate according to mine.

Even if you come over according to your customs before the time for New Year's calls, I won't have any opinions. Since it's the New Year, let it be lively.

In the afternoon, Li Long drove the jeep to the county. After arriving at the bus station, he locked the vehicle doors and went into the waiting hall to wait.

If Second Brother Li Anguo arrived, he should be able to see his jeep, and he would find him as soon as he looked.

When Li Anguo arrived with Chen Li Rong, Xueping, and Li Xue Qin, Li Long had already been in the waiting room for nearly forty minutes, and had also cooperated with the station staff to handle a small matter.

It was mainly because the heating in the waiting hall was burning too well. Li Long found a seat and sat down, and before long, he felt drowsy.

He thought that since Li Anguo and the others were taking the bus from Kuitun to Shicheng, and then from Shicheng to Maxian, they would definitely see his jeep after getting off the bus and would naturally find him, so he planned to sleep for a while.

As a result, less than ten minutes after closing his eyes, just when his sleepiness was getting a bit strong, he felt a hand touching his pocket.

Li Long grabbed the hand in one go. When he opened his eyes and looked, a young man was glaring at him fiercely, his other hand had already pulled a knife from his waist, and he was cursing in his mouth.

Although Li Long didn't understand the ethnic language, he understood a few curse words like "stab to death" or "also saike." He was furious. Before the young man could even brandish the knife, Li Long twisted his wrist, the young man's body went sideways directly, and Li Long slapped him in the face!

It had been two years since he had fought. Li Long had always felt that he should be considered a civilized person, but sometimes, there's really no need to reason with people!

This slap was very loud, and the young man immediately dropped the knife, covered his mouth, and cried.

What Li Long didn't expect was that this guy actually had accomplices. As soon as the young man cried, two older ones next to him, ethnic youths about twenty years old, came over, also with fierce looks on their faces.

Li Long picked up the young man like a chicken and brought him in front of himself, vigilantly watching the two people who had already started pulling out knives.

However, the sound of the young man's knife hitting the ground also attracted the attention of others. Some passengers saw the knives and took their bags and lay far away, while some ran to tell the staff.

Li Long originally thought he would have to face three, but didn't expect that before those two could make a move, the station staff had already come over and surrounded them.

At this time, everyone's reaction speed was still quite fast, and there were quite a few people with backbone. Several passengers took their belongings and prepared to fight these two people together. Although the opposite side had knives, they weren't afraid.

Those two immediately turned cowardly. They wanted to run but were surrounded, brandishing knives to threaten others, but Li Long could see they were just bluffing.

They probably thought they had knives and could quietly steal a sum here, and then threaten someone if they were discovered.

But they didn't expect to run into a ruthless guy like Li Long first!

So when Li Anguo entered the waiting hall and found Li Long, he was cooperating with the staff and making a statement with the police who had rushed over.

Many passengers were still praising him for being powerful.

After Li Anguo heard the situation, he said to Li Long:

"Be careful when you encounter such things in the future. They were carrying knives; what would you do if they really stabbed you?"

Li Long felt that his second brother had lost his backbone.

Not as decisive as his big brother.

But he wouldn't say it directly at this time, and responded with a smile. (End of chapter)