Chapter 780: The Unconvinced Xu Jianjun, Qin Hongyan, Ning Yonghong

Snow lotus, in the eyes of those who have read martial arts novels, is deified. Ten-thousand-year cold ice, thousand-year snow lotus, they all seem to have magical effects, bringing the dead back to life, praised like a miracle drug.

But in the eyes of ordinary Northern Xinjiang people, this thing is just a medicine, not that rare. Even in the eyes of herb collectors who go into the mountains, getting this thing isn't as profitable as digging for fritillaria—for one, no one buys it in large quantities, and for another, it doesn't grow with the high density and wide range of fritillaria.

Moreover, the growing conditions are relatively harsh, and harvesting is relatively difficult.

In the eyes of the locals, those above the snow line are called snow lotuses, and those below the snow line can only be called stone lotuses.

Later, Li Long was educated on the internet platform that those above and below the snow line are the same thing, scientifically named plants of the genus *Saussurea* in the Asteraceae family, which are themselves stone lotuses.

It's just that those above the snow line have harsh growing conditions, so the medicinal effect is better—is it equivalent to the difference between wild ginseng and forest-grown ginseng?

And Li Long also learned that, in fact, snow lotus is not as miraculous as outsiders think, but it is not as ordinary as the locals think—this thing is truly a good medicinal material for stopping bleeding!

From the perspective of Traditional Chinese Medicine, snow lotus flower is warm in nature, sweet and bitter in taste, enters the liver, spleen, and kidney meridians, and has the functions of dispelling cold, strengthening yang, regulating menstruation, and stopping bleeding. It is used to treat impotence, weakness of the waist and knees, irregular menstruation in women, uterine bleeding, rheumatoid arthritis, and traumatic bleeding.

From the perspective of modern medicine, snow lotus flower contains proteins, amino acids, flavonoids, alkaloids, etc., which can soften blood vessels, prevent aging, remove wrinkles and lipid accumulation, improve microcirculation, make the skin shiny, and can prevent the process of chemical substances causing cancer, achieving the purpose of preventing, resisting, and treating cancer, and extending life.

Look, whether it is traditional Chinese medicine or modern medicine, both say snow lotus is a good thing.

It's just that the locals don't pay much attention to this thing.

As mentioned earlier in this book, there was an enterprise in Northern Xinjiang that once wanted to make snow lotus and safflower tonic wine, hired a famous singer to film an advertisement, and flew a helicopter along the snow line for a week, but didn't find any snow lotus above the snow line—they had all been dug up by those illegal diggers.

In the past, in the 1950s and 60s, people harvested snow lotus by directly cutting the flowers. This thing is a perennial herb, and after you cut the flower, it will bloom again next year or the year after.

But those animals dug them up by the roots. This thing takes four or five years to bloom, and once dug up, it's gone. It really makes one hate them!

However, it is currently the 1980s, and there are still more than twenty years until that era when snow lotus cannot be found. Li Long thought about taking this opportunity to earn a sum of money, and incidentally, instill the idea of protecting snow lotus in Halimu and the others. If they encounter those who dig by the roots, they must at least give them a beating!

"Alright, after I get them in the autumn, I'll get a few for each of you."

"How can a few be enough? You get hundreds for others, why just a few for each of us? Do you look down on us, or do you think we don't have money?"

Xu Jianjun, who had drunk a few cups of wine, had a voice that was a bit abrupt.

Actually, he regretted it the moment he said it, but since the words were already out, the face-conscious Xu Jianjun couldn't take them back.

Xu Haijun pulled him, but Xu Jianjun impatiently raised his elbow and shook off Xu Haijun's hand.

Having drunk wine, and not having followed the pace of getting rich in the last two years, he was considered the worst off among the brothers. Today, he intended to vent this resentment on Li Long.

Xu Chengjun turned his head and glared at him, then smiled and said to Li Long:

"Without Xiao Long, don't mind him, he's drunk... Jianjun, keep your mouth shut, if you don't know how to speak, then don't speak..."

"I didn't say anything wrong!" Once Xu Jianjun heard Xu Chengjun's words, he became even more energized. "He just looks down on us..."

"I don't look down on you, I just look down on you!" Li Long originally didn't want to get angry. It was the New Year, and he was at someone else's house, so it would be better to settle things peacefully, but Xu Jianjun's face really made him disgusted. "What I just said about giving a few to everyone was for others, not you! What relationship do I have with you that I should give you some? So what if I look down on you? What have you done that makes me look up to you?"

After speaking, he said to Xu Chengjun:

"Captain, I'm sorry, I spoke directly, but that's what I meant. We'll talk about today's matter later, you guys continue drinking!"

After speaking, Li Long turned and left.

Xu Chengjun still wanted to let Li Long stay for a couple of drinks, what a mess this was. He sighed and shook his head.

Xu Haijun had already jumped off the *kang* and chased after him.

Xu Jianjun didn't think he had done anything wrong, and he was still muttering:

"If you want to suck up to him, go ahead, don't drag me into it, I don't think much of him anyway..." As he spoke, he picked up his cup and drank the wine inside in one gulp.

Then he ate the dishes.

The meal at Xu Chengjun's house was very sumptuous, with three meat dishes and a fish. Xu Jianjun hadn't eaten like this all year long. He didn't care whether others ate or not, anyway, he was going to have a good meal today!

Li Long was chased by Xu Haijun just after leaving the door. He didn't mention what had just happened and asked Li Long:

"Without Xiao Long, when does this snow lotus bloom?"

"July or August." Li Long still knew this.

"Then can we go into the mountains to pick them?" After returning, Xu Haijun had deeply realized the importance of money. He originally thought about planting a crop of watermelon seeds this year and getting a tractor to drive, but Li Long said there was no future in watermelon seeds. Although he was a bit unwilling, he still believed it.

Then he had to get money from other places. He also planned to plant things like sunflowers, but he had also inquired, and the money wouldn't come as fast as watermelon seeds last year.

Li Long mentioned the snow lotus matter, and he immediately became interested.

"Snow lotus grows in the inner mountains. It's no problem to go into the mountains to pick snow lotus, but this thing isn't like fritillaria, where you find a whole ditch full of them. You have to search the whole mountain." Li Long didn't say that Halimu and the others knew where the snow lotus was, but just told Xu Haijun the actual situation.

"Sigh..." Xu Haijun sighed.

"Actually, if you really want to make money, I think you should borrow the Captain's tractor, get a gun, and go to the sand dunes in the north to hunt Mongolian gazelles. A gazelle skin is worth thirty or forty yuan. If you run into a herd, get a submachine gun, fire a burst, and if there are many, hit three or five, peel the skin, that's all money."

"Really?" Xu Haijun's marksmanship was definitely not bad. Hearing Li Long say this, he immediately became interested.

"The main thing is that there's one more point: no one cares about hunting Mongolian gazelles now. I went to the northern corps company some time ago and collected dozens of gazelle skins from there. Of course, if the snow hasn't melted, you still have to be careful when entering the sand dunes. If the tractor gets stuck, it might be impossible to drag it out."

Xu Haijun thanked Li Long and hurriedly went back to discuss it.

He could get a gun by finding Xu Chengjun, and even if he couldn't, he knew where others had guns.

Borrowing a tractor, Xu Chengjun was still no problem, it was just that he still had to inquire about hunting Mongolian gazelles. Were there really that many Mongolian gazelles in the sand dunes?

Regardless, Li Long had pointed him in a direction, so the thanks were necessary.

Li Long drove the jeep back. When he returned to the front courtyard, Xie Yun Dong and the others were already chatting in the courtyard.

"Why aren't you going in?" Li Long turned off the engine and got out of the car, asking with a smile.

"We were waiting for you," Xie Yun Dong said with a smile, "If you hadn't come back, we would have gone to find you."

Several people had walked over; they had to drink today, so riding a bike definitely wouldn't work.

Li Long greeted Xie Yun Dong, Tao Daqiang, Jia Weidong, and Liang Dacheng into the room.

Gu Gu Xiaoxia was watching the children. After they entered, Gu Xiaoxia wanted to stand up to greet them, but Li Long said: "Just watch the children, they aren't outsiders, just help yourselves."

"Exactly, exactly." Tao Daqiang also said, "Gu Xiaoxia, just watch the children, don't worry about us."

Several people said so, but one by one they came over and stuffed New Year's money into the edges of the two children's swaddling clothes.

"Hey, it's good to have two," Li Long said with a smile, "The New Year's money is double."

"That's for sure." Gu Gu Xiaoxia knew these few had a good relationship with Li Long and also nodded, saying, "Hmm, in the future, I have to tell Ming and Hao to come every year to earn this New Year's money, and just recognize these few uncles."

"As long as they come, we'll give it." After Xie Yun Dong finished giving the New Year's money, he sat at the edge of the table and said, "Look at this table of dishes, it's worth it."

It was all joking. The New Year was just for festivity, and after laughing and making noise for a while, they started eating and drinking.

Unlike other families in the village drinking and chatting during the New Year, when Li Long and the others drank, they started by talking about family matters, and as they talked, they talked about the crops to be planted in the spring, plans during the slack season, and so on.

After Ming and Hao fell asleep, Gu Gu Xiaoxia sat beside Li Long. She mainly listened, listening to Li Long and the others confirm that besides planting grain, they would also plant sunflowers.

Li Long also said that his piece of saline-alkali land would mainly be planted with sugar beets, but it might still need to be subdivided. As for how to plant, he would leave it to the experts from the agricultural college and his eldest brother at that time. He mainly ran between the mountains, the county, and the team.

As for this year's get-rich plan, there were two lines. One line was a repeat of last year, still the work at the supply and marketing cooperative, which everyone would definitely participate in. There was also harvesting wheat with a combine harvester. Li Long's suggestion was to expand the harvesting scope to the corps companies. There were more contiguous wheat fields there, making harvesting convenient.

"Of course, I estimate it will only be for one year at most. Next year, the corps companies might all have their own combine harvesters."

The corps had always been in a leading position in terms of agricultural mechanization. It wasn't until the end when the team's farming was changed to individual farming and the machine-plowing teams of each regiment were disbanded that the corps' agricultural mechanization fought on its own, and development slowed down.

The other line was Li Long's collection station. As long as the collection station existed, many things could be done around it. Goods from the mountains could be collected, and agricultural goods could also be collected. This would wait until after the spring when Li Long had figured out the situation.

This didn't look like a New Year gathering for a meal, but rather like a company meeting.

When they left, one by one they were swaying. Li Long was worried, so he drove the jeep to send them back one by one—anyway, there were no traffic rules in the village, so squeezing a bit was fine.

He had drunk more than half a bottle of wine. The room was hot, and he was sweating while drinking. Plus, after drinking, Gu Gu Xiaoxia had brewed honey water for everyone, so he felt very clear-headed.

After sending everyone home, Li Long drove back. When passing by the old horse corral, he stopped again; he wanted to pay New Year greetings to Uncle Luo.

"Several old uncles, Happy New Year!" When Li Long got out of the car, Uncle Luo and the others had already come out of the room. He smiled and cupped his hands in greeting.

"Hey, we thought you would come over at noon!" Uncle Luo said with a smile, "The little ones all came over at noon, but we haven't seen your two this year."

"Then I'll bring them over for you to see tomorrow." Li Long said, "They are very fat!"

"As long as they are fat, as long as they are fat—have you drunk?"

"Drunk."

"Drink some more?"

"Then... drink some more."

"Good, good, good, go, enter the room! Laoliu, serve some more dishes, change the plate!"

Several old comrades had also drunk enough. Li Long only accompanied them for half an hour here before leaving—one of them didn't drink and told Li Long not to worry and to go back quickly; the children at home were small and needed care.

When Li Long returned to the courtyard, the sun was still a reed high. Gu Gu Xiaoxia had already tidied up the room, and the two children were sitting on the bed playing with the wooden toys Li Qing Xia had made. Those wooden toys were fat and round and wouldn't hurt anyone, and both children liked them very much.

Seeing Li Long return and being very clear-headed, Gu Gu Xiaoxia felt relieved.

The next day, after the family finished breakfast, Li Long went to the county early to pick up his sister's family who had already arrived at the bus station by car, and then drove his wife and children to Gu Bo Yuan's courtyard.

When Li Xia returned this time, she brought two pig legs, clearly stating that one was for Li Long, and the other was for the eldest brother and Father and Mother.

"In the last two years, I've eaten the most of Without Xiao Long's things, so I must give him a leg." The pig was raised by Li Xia, and the feed was sent by Li Long, so Li Xia said this with quite a domineering air.

Chen Xingbang had no way to refute.

The family was also happy.

"It's enough to bring the children over, why bring things?" In the Gu family courtyard, Gu Bo Yuan saw Li Long holding the baby in one hand and carrying things in the other, complaining, "Won't these things have to be moved back to the county later?"

"They are all things to eat, just eat them in these two days, it'll be fine." Li Long said with a smile, "If not, I'll take them back later? Anyway, the things have already been brought over, the ritual is complete..."

"Go, go, go, how can you take them back after bringing them over? Hurry into the room, don't freeze Ming and Hao..."

"How can they be so delicate? We bundled them up thick when we came out, just wanting them to experience the winter. Children shouldn't be raised too delicately, especially boys, they need to experience the cold air outside in winter and see the snow."

"Go, go, go, into the room first." Gu Bo Yuan didn't expect that after Li Long went to the team, he became mischievous; he used to be so steady in the big courtyard.

Gu Gu Xiaoxia didn't care about the two of them and carried the children into the room, intending to put them down and cook, only to find two cold dishes, two braised dishes, and hot dishes all prepared, just waiting to be stir-fried.

"Dad, you prepared everything?"

"That's for sure." Gu Bo Yuan, who had entered the room, said, "You two just watch the children, I'll handle the cooking."

"How can you handle it? I'm back, so I'll definitely do it..."

"Alright, alright, Without Xiao Long and I are going to have a drink today, you just watch the children. Besides, we all know, your cooking isn't as good as mine..."

"Dad..." Gu Gu Xiaoxia blushed rarely.

Actually, this was public information, not even counting as a secret. When Aunt Yang was in the courtyard, she had praised that in the big courtyard, Li Long's culinary skills were actually better than hers. Of course, she also said that Gu Gu Xiaoxia's culinary skills were considered quite good among ordinary people.

Although it wasn't explicitly stated, the meaning was right there.

Gu Gu Xiaoxia watched the children, and not long after, someone came to visit.

Actually, visiting at this time wasn't quite in line with the rules. After all, the second day of the New Year was basically the time to visit relatives, but Gu Gu Xiaoxia rarely returned to the team a few times a year. Now that she had a single day off on weekends, every time she came back, it was in a hurry, so some people in the team who used to play well wanted to see her and talk to her in these two days.

The ones who came were two girls from the village—or rather, they were both mothers who had a good relationship with Gu Gu Xiaoxia before. One was Qin Hongyan, and the other was Ning Yonghong. They were about the same age as Gu Gu Xiaoxia and had attended middle school together, and of course, there was also Wu Shufen.

"Shufen also brought her child back today." Ning Yonghong sat on the edge of the bed, watching Ming and Hao play while saying to Gu Gu Xiaoxia.

She had given birth to a daughter the year before last and still wanted a son, but according to the family planning regulations, for the first child being a daughter in the countryside, if one wanted another, one had to wait two years.

So she was very envious of Gu Gu Xiaoxia, who had given birth to sons, and two of them at that!

Gu Gu Xiaoxia was also quite curious about Wu Shufen's situation. At this time, Li Long had already gone to the kitchen to help Gu Bo Yuan. It was boring for men to stay while women chatted.

"Her man brought her over on a bike, not like you, sitting in a small car, and you yourself are a state cadre." Qin Hongyan was even more envious. Who could have thought that the young people who dug the big canal together would suddenly become like this now?

Gu Gu Xiaoxia smiled when she heard this. She had heard such words many times, so she knew how to respond. If she said each had its own advantages, others would think she was too fake. If she believed others' flattery and became a bit arrogant, others would say she was too haughty. It was better not to reply, which was actually better.

Qin Hongyan and Ning Yonghong just came to chat. When it was almost time to eat, the two of them left in a hurry. They were married to young people in the team, so returning to their maiden homes today was in the team itself, or even in the same residential area as Gu Bo Yuan, which was why they came together and left together.

Leaving the Gu family courtyard, the two of them didn't say much. They felt more and more the gap with Gu Gu Xiaoxia; now they couldn't even find common ground in conversation.

They also had their own unwillingness. Clearly, everyone was about the same, so why was the difference so big now? Gu Gu Xiaoxia's world was the entire county, and perhaps even further in the future, while their world might be fixed in this village.

"Wu Shufen should know that Gu Xiaoxia is back, right? She might be feeling even worse today, right?" Ning Yonghong suddenly said, "Originally, all of this..."

Qin Hongyan was stunned for a moment, and suddenly felt not so uncomfortable anymore.

Yes, if one said that the person feeling the worst seeing Gu Gu Xiaoxia's current situation was Wu Shufen, then it could only be her! Originally, all of this should have been hers, but she gave it up herself.

She and Ning Yonghong didn't have that opportunity at all, but she clearly had this opportunity!

The two women looked at each other and smiled, then went home separately, their footsteps even becoming much lighter. (End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 781 =====

The two women exchanged a smile, then headed home separately, their steps noticeably lighter. (End of chapter)