Chapter 86

The next morning, Li Long and Tao Daqiang drove the horse cart, hauling a cart of fish and sheep offal to the county to sell, while Li Jianguo went to Xu Chengjun's house in the team, wanting to ask Xu Chengjun to notify everyone about this matter.

Going door-to-door to tell everyone wasn't impossible, but it was a bit troublesome, and some people might be too embarrassed to buy, but might not have enough money.

Shouting it on the loudspeaker, people would know whether they could buy it or not.

Xu Chengjun was much more polite to Li Jianguo and said with a smile:

"Old Brother Li, you had to come personally for this? Wouldn't it have been enough to let Qiangqiang or Juan come and say something?"

"That won't do," Li Jianguo waved his hand. "How can you let children handle serious business?" He took the tea handed over by Ma Hongmei and took a sip, saying:

"It's also Little Long causing trouble, getting into so many things every day..."

The words were complaints, but the smile on his face couldn't be hidden.

"How is that causing trouble?" Ma Hongmei said enviously from the side:

"If my younger brother could be half as capable as Little Long, I could wake up laughing in my dreams."

"That's different, he's just messing around," Li Jianguo said. "Chengjun, can you notify everyone now?"

"Sure, it's just that your family has sheep offal, washed, five yuan a set, and if they want it, they go to your house to get it, right?"

"Yes, yes, yes." Li Jianguo nodded.

"Alright, I'll plug in the loudspeaker first." Xu Chengjun operated the equipment, quickly got it ready, turned on the switch, and shouted twice into the microphone tied with red cloth:

"Hey, hey, Hongmei, go out and listen if there's any sound."

Ma Hongmei hurriedly opened the door and went out. Xu Chengjun shouted "Hey" again, and she hurriedly shouted:

"It's working!"

"Hey, notifying everyone, the Li Jianguo family now has more than twenty sets of sheep offal, washed, five yuan a set. If you want it, go to the Li family to buy it. Hey, hey! I'll notify you again..."

Notifying three times in a row, Li Jianguo was very satisfied, stood up, and said:

"Alright, Chengjun, you go ahead and get busy, I'm heading back."

"Good. By the way, Old Brother Li, save a set of offal for me."

"Sure, come by when you have time to get it."

After Li Jianguo left, Ma Hongmei asked in confusion:

"Why were you so polite to him?"

"He's one of the founding members of the team, how can I not be polite?" Xu Chengjun glared at his wife. "Don't look at Li Jianguo as not being very old; in the eyes of those old people, he's a leader. If he had wanted to be the team leader back then, he would have been, but he just didn't want to."

"Then I'll go get the offal later, can his family make it cheaper?"

"Cheaper what?" Xu Chengjun glared at her again. "It's the price it should be! Li Long hasn't brought less stuff to the family these past two days, we can't just take advantage!"

"Fine, fine, fine, I know!" Ma Hongmei complained, "I just won't take advantage of them!"

"Women! Long hair, short knowledge!" Xu Chengjun watched his wife go out, lit a cigarette, and thought about the policies on the radio.

Things are going to change!

Ma Hongmei went out to the Li family to pick out offal and happened to run into Wu Shufen's mother, Wang Yuzhen.

"Sister-in-law Yuzhen, are you going to buy sheep offal too?" Ma Hongmei asked curiously.

"Yes, go early to pick the good ones. Let me tell you, Hongmei, if you know how to pick, pick the ones with a lot of plate fat. When you get back, take the plate fat off, put it in a pot to render, and after rendering, put it in the utility room; it can last all summer! When stir-frying, put a little in, it's very fragrant!"

"Oh, oh, oh, I understand." Ma Hongmei nodded repeatedly and asked, "Where is your Shufen?"

"She went to the Gu family to play with Xiaoxia." Hearing Ma Hongmei mention her daughter, Wang Yuzhen's face didn't look good. She had just heard the notification on the loudspeaker and immediately thought of going to the Li family. She wanted to bring Wu Shufen; after all, Li Long had chased her daughter, and although they broke up, maybe looking at their past relationship, he could make it a yuan cheaper.

As a result, Wu Shufen refused to go, which made Wang Yuzhen furious. Saving a yuan was a yuan; exchanging it for two jin of sugar would also work. This stubborn girl!

Wu Shufen arrived at Gu Xiaoxia's house, and she still felt uncomfortable when she knocked on the door.

Needless to say, that offal must have been brought back by Li Long.

This Li Long, why are you so capable?

Gu Xiaoxia asked from inside the room:

"Who is it?"

"It's me." Wu Shufen replied.

She heard a flurry of movement inside, and then the sound of the door opening.

"What are you doing?" Wu Shufen asked curiously, "I heard quite a bit of movement."

"Nothing... nothing." Gu Xiaoxia didn't want to lie to Wu Shufen, but Li Long and her father's words made it clear to her that some things really couldn't be shared. Even with a best friend—although the term "best friend" didn't exist at this time.

!.

Wu Shufen followed Gu Xiaoxia into her room. Before entering, she caught a glimpse of the basin of sheep offal in the middle of the room, and her heart skipped a beat.

However, Wu Shufen didn't ask. Entering Gu Xiaoxia's room, she saw the closed language book on the table at a glance and said with a smile:

"What, you're still reading? What year is this, what's the use of reading this?"

"Maybe... it will be useful later?" Gu Xiaoxia said hesitantly.

"What use could it have? Take the college entrance exam? Become a cadre? Become a worker?" Wu Shufen sneered, "We are destined to stay in the countryside for a lifetime, don't think about eating commodity grain."

"I'm not reconciled," Gu Xiaoxia put the book away and said, "Maybe there's a chance to test out? The college entrance exam has been restored..."

"Then you can test, I can't. Everything I learned has been returned to the teacher and the school."

Wu Shufen went to junior high school and was already considered an intellectual in the team. But compared to Gu Xiaoxia, who went to high school, she was still far behind. And after graduating from junior high, she never picked up a textbook again, and most of her knowledge had long been forgotten.

"Anyway, there's nothing to do in winter, why don't you try?" Gu Xiaoxia didn't want her best friend to sink like this, so she persuaded, "Maybe it will be useful later."

"My books were all taken by my mother to paste shoe linings," Wu Shufen didn't care about Gu Xiaoxia's persuasion at all, shook her head and said, "She just wants me to marry someone with prospects now—a worker, a driver, a salesperson, anything will do, and I'm thinking..."

"No matter how well you marry, it's not as strong as being able to walk out yourself," Gu Xiaoxia persuaded earnestly, "Relying on others is never as strong as relying on yourself."

"Hehe." Wu Shufen sneered, "Relying on myself? Aren't you still relying on others? That sheep offal in the basin outside was sent by Li Long, right? Why did he send you these things?"

"Because... my dad helped his brother." Gu Xiaoxia stuttered when she said this. In fact, even she knew that this reason couldn't hold up.

Because he had been helped, Li Long sent things over time and time again. If he wanted to repay, he would have repaid long ago.

Then what else was there on her side that he cared about?

"Hehe." Wu Shufen stood up, "Li Long is not simple. You'd better think carefully about why he came. I advise you not to get too close to him. Tao Dayong was arrested, Gu Ermao... was also arrested, he might be the next one!"

After saying this, Wu Shufen turned and left the Gu family.

She was angry, depressed, and helpless.

What's the use? Having already given up, can you get it back if you chase it? Besides, she, Wu Shufen, wasn't without suitors, so why should she chase Li Long back? A good horse doesn't eat the grass it has already passed!

Thanks to book friends "Zoushentou" and 20220321155702401 for the tips. Thank you all for your monthly tickets and recommendation tickets... I really didn't expect that I hoped everyone would support me more yesterday, but I didn't expect the monthly tickets to come in three times the amount... Thank you very much! Thank you all very much for your monthly tickets and recommendation tickets!

Two things today. First, about the "poison point" in Chapter 84. I read everyone's comments and discussed it with some writer friends. In my opinion, there should be two problems. First, regarding the protagonist's personality, many book friends mean that the protagonist should not compromise and should be tough to the end—maybe I described the supporting character Li Xiangqian too negatively here. In fact, this person will appear later in the text and will connect other events. So it should be that the description of this supporting character is a bit off. Second, regarding the price of mutton, it is normal for Shicheng to sell more expensively than Maxian. After all, it's 15 kilometers more, and it's normal for the travel expenses to be a bit more. The second is that Li Long is from Maxian, and he sees Li Xiangqian all the time, so he will compromise a bit—more problems are that I didn't handle the details well and didn't explain some things that should have been explained clearly.

Another thing to say is that after midnight, a new round of recommendations will begin. I can't help but say it again here. This week is really critical. Whether I can improve a level really depends on this week. I don't dare to ask for monthly tickets; after all, this stuff really costs money. If you have any recommendation tickets, please vote for me if you have time! Also, collections and follow-up readings! Please!

(End of chapter)