Chapter 911: This Woman's Ability to Take Action is Stronger Than a Man's!

Tie Lanhua hurried away; Li Long handed the lamb leg to Sun Jia Qiang, as this was not something he could easily discuss.

When people date normally, some physical contact is quite natural; Li Long just hadn't expected to stumble upon it himself.

"Boss, it... it was her who initiated it," Sun Jia Qiang stammered incoherently; having already straightened his clothes, he held the lamb leg and whispered, "I didn't expect it either; when she leaned over, I just... at that moment I felt..."

"You are a man; you must take responsibility," Li Long said, dissatisfied with Sun Jia Qiang's attitude. "When a Miss takes the initiative and you don't refuse, that means you agree; you can't enjoy the benefit and then act innocent, can you? Have you thought about when you'll get married?"

"No... I haven't thought about it," Sun Jia Qiang admitted; indeed, he truly hadn't.

"Then do you like her or not?" Li Long asked.

Logically, Li Long shouldn't meddle in others' affairs, but Sun Jia Qiang was his first formal employee, bound to him; if Sun Jia Qiang got into trouble, it would inevitably lead back to him.

He wasn't clear whether anything improper had happened today, but prevention was still necessary.

"I... I like her," Sun Jia Qiang said after a moment's thought.

Hesitating over such a matter meant that, if placed in a later era, this fellow would be a scumbag—the type who neither initiates, nor refuses, nor takes responsibility.

But for now, he didn't dare.

"How far have you two gone?" Li Long asked, half-gossipy, half-concerned; it wasn't purely gossip, as he mainly needed to gauge the depth of the situation before making his next decision.

"Well... we kissed, and touched hands..." Sun Jia Qiang said with his head bowed, looking like a criminal undergoing interrogation by Li Long.

"Then you'd better hurry up and think about buying a courtyard house," Li Long said. "You can't really let things reach that point, get her pregnant, and still not have a courtyard house of your own."

"I've asked around; it seems the courtyard house next door is about to be sold," Sun Jia Qiang said, lifting his head. "It's not expensive; although it's not big, it's enough for the two of us to live in."

The acquisition station's courtyard was large, with the front and back yards covering several mu; as a public unit, it had been allocated a large plot when housing zones were originally demarcated.

The neighbors were ordinary households; entering the small alley, there were two or three families, and Li Long didn't know which one Sun Jia Qiang was referring to.

"Which one next door? The one near the road or the one further in?"

"The one near the road," Sun Jia Qiang said. "The yard is about six or seven fen; the family name is Liu, and they are moving to join his father. His father also has a courtyard house in Shicheng, so they are selling this one for nine hundred yuan."

"Then buy it!" Seeing how clearly Sun Jia Qiang had investigated, Li Long said. "It's close by, perfect for keeping an eye on the acquisition station; you're not short on money, are you?"

"No shortage."

"Then you can't keep letting that Miss bring things to you; you should be the one sending things to her. Once the house is bought, you two should discuss how to get married; their customs differ slightly from ours, so pay more attention to that in the future."

Seeing that Sun Jia Qiang had actually thought these matters through, Li Long asked no further questions and left.

What Li Long didn't expect was that shortly after he departed, Tie Lanhua returned.

She hadn't actually gone far; she was simply too embarrassed to face Li Long. After Li Long left, she came back wanting to hear what he had said.

"Are you saying he told you to hurry up and buy a courtyard house, then buy furniture, and discuss marriage with me?" Tie Lanhua hadn't expected Li Long to say such things to Sun Jia Qiang.

It was somewhat surprising.

Actually, Sun Jia Qiang wasn't passive only in this aspect; Tie Lanhua sometimes resented him—even the news that a courtyard house was for sale near the acquisition station had been uncovered by Tie Lanhua herself. Sun Jia Qiang truly didn't care much about such matters; it was entirely Tie Lanhua pushing him forward.

Tie Lanhua liked Sun Jia Qiang partly because he was honest and reliable, and partly because of the job he currently held, which undoubtedly had something to do with Li Long.

As a famous figure in the county, Li Long not only earned a lot but also possessed strength and the ability to shoulder responsibilities; moreover, he held no prejudice against ethnic minorities, and that alone was enough.

Tie Lanhua did not want to live her entire life miserably like her mother; to change her destiny, she could only marry a good man.

Actually, by her age, many girls in her clan had long been married; it was only because she was currently the family's main pillar, with the household's income relying on her, and because she looked down on the young men from her clan introduced by others, that she had kept delaying.

That was until she saw Sun Jia Qiang while selling goods to the acquisition station.

Li Long was already married, and even if he weren't, he was someone she couldn't aspire to; Sun Jia Qiang, however, was an excellent match. Thus, Tie Lanhua hesitated not at all, took the initiative to strike, and had progressed to this point.

It wasn't that no one else had their eye on Sun Jia Qiang, but in such matters, either a matchmaker must intervene, or the woman must hint for the man to take the initiative; otherwise, there was basically no chance.

Someone like Tie Lanhua, who upon taking a fancy to someone showed affection actively without the slightest hesitation to cultivate feelings, was virtually non-existent.

"So, what do you plan to do? Buy or not?"

"Buy, of course," Sun Jia Qiang nodded. "Since the Boss said so, I certainly must buy it."

"Do you have enough money?" Tie Lanhua knew the house price was not low, equivalent to more than a year or two of an ordinary worker's wages—in 1985, workers' wages were rising, and here in Northern Xinjiang, they were slightly higher than in the interior provinces; feeling somewhat embarrassed, she added, "I can't help much; I have no money on hand..."

"It's enough; my money is sufficient, you don't need to worry about this," Sun Jia Qiang said hurriedly. "Then I'll go find them tomorrow noon and settle this matter."

"If you have enough, then don't wait until tomorrow; let's go negotiate now, together!" Tie Lanhua said immediately, knowing that delay might breed changes. "The timing is perfect right now; tomorrow during the day you have to work, and at noon the other party will be eating, making it inconvenient to talk."

Sun Jia Qiang felt it was a bit sudden, but since Tie Lanhua had spoken, he decided to act; he went inside to fetch the money and went next door together with Tie Lanhua.

Within half an hour, the deal was settled; it wasn't that the neighbor next door was easy to talk to, but rather that Sun Jia Qiang—or more accurately, Tie Lanhua—had hardly haggled at all.

The price quoted by the neighbor was actually somewhat inflated, and he had prepared himself to bargain with others, but he hadn't expected this young couple to hardly haggle at all; naturally, he was willing to accept eight hundred and eighty yuan.

They agreed to go to the sub-district office tomorrow, and thus the matter was settled.

Returning to the acquisition station, Tie Lanhua said to Sun Jia Qiang, "The price was high, but I knew that haggling would waste time, and I didn't want to waste any more time; rest assured, after we handle our affairs, I will work twice as hard to earn the money back."

Sun Jia Qiang was actually somewhat dissatisfied with Tie Lanhua making decisions on her own just now, but since she had already said this, what could he say?

Thinking Tie Lanhua would leave just like that, he was surprised when she slowly approached him again, causing Sun Jia Qiang's face to instantly heat up.

By the time Tie Lanhua returned home, it had already grown dark, and her mood was quite excited.

The courtyard house was secured; Sun Jia Qiang appeared clearly wealthier than she had imagined, meaning their affairs could proceed faster.

She had almost no money, but Tie Lanhua believed that once she married and left this home, she would be able to earn back even more.

"Why are you only just back? Where have you been wandering off to?" Hearing the door sound, Tie Yinhu roared from inside the house, then grabbed his cane and strode out the door.

Although only in his forties, Tie Yinhu had grown a beard, wore a traditional hat, and bore an expression of stern authority.

Tie Lanhua turned her head and saw that the lights in the rooms of her elder brother, Tie Jinbing, and her younger brother, Tie Jinyong, were off, indicating clearly that neither was home.

"They haven't returned either," Tie Lanhua replied. "I went out to inquire about acquiring goods."

"They are them, and you are you! Are you still a Jun Wa Zi? Can a girl run around wildly? Instead of staying home properly to wash clothes and work, what exactly do you think you're doing?" Feeling his authority had been offended, Tie Yinhu raised his voice even louder, stepped forward twice, and raised his cane to strike Tie Lanhua.

"If you dare hit me, I'll run away right now!" Perhaps the fact that Sun Jia Qiang had bought a courtyard house and paid the deposit today had given Tie Lanhua some encouragement, or perhaps the breaking of certain taboos between the two before she returned tonight had emboldened her; usually, at such times when Tie Yinhu displayed his anger, she would merely bow her head silently, listen to the scolding, and return to her room only after he finished.

Today, she did not want to endure it anymore.

Tie Yinhu was furious! If word got out that his daughter had run away after dark, he, Tie Yinhu, would never be able to show his face again; suppressing his voice, he roared:

"You dare run? If you dare run, I'll beat you to death!"

Ma Hai Mai came out of the house, pulling Tie Lanhua and persuading her: "Why are you provoking your father? Hurry, hurry up and admit you were wrong. Come on, go inside; the clothes haven't been finished washing yet..."

Tie Lanhua did not apologize, but ultimately returned to the house.

Before marrying Sun Jia Qiang, she could not truly run away; some procedures could not be completed.

Ever since confirming her relationship with Sun Jia Qiang, she had been planning her affairs step by step. Just this autumn, from selling melon seeds alone, she had earned her family at least one thousand yuan.

She had originally thought her family would treat her better because of this, but now it seemed that even if she earned too much money, their attitude would never change.

Her family still wanted to sell her off for a good price and had recently begun looking for a suitable match for her.

At present, only a few steps remained, the most critical steps; she still had to endure.

After Li Qing returned home and coaxed Mingming and Haohao to sleep together with Gu Gu Xiaoxia, he recounted the matter of Sun Jia Qiang and Tie Lanhua.

"This girl is quite bold and brave," Gu Gu Xiaoxia said. "Many girls of their ethnic group do not have this courage."

"Mm, in any case, it will definitely be quite troublesome." Having lived two lives, Li Qing naturally knew how much difficulty there would be for Sun Jia Qiang to marry a Hui girl, especially when that Hui girl had a stubborn father.

"Not necessarily; if this girl dares to stake everything on one throw, she might just succeed." A girl understands a girl; Gu Gu Xiaoxia smiled. "If all else fails, then let Little Sun make a sacrifice. Since the girl has already boldly taken several steps, if he doesn't move a single step, can he still be considered a man?"

Li Qing thought about it and agreed that this was true.

"There's a movie on Friday; you all go over to watch it together? Take Mingming and Haohao along, and invite Sister Yang and Han Fang as well," Li Qing said. "Mingming and Haohao's maternal grandfather will probably go too; I'll ask Little Sun. We've been so busy lately; now that it's done, let's relax a bit."

"Then I'll ask Sister Yang tomorrow." Gu Gu Xiaoxia was naturally willing; moreover, it had been a long time since she had seen an open-air movie, and she truly missed it.

The next morning, Gu Gu Xiaoxia asked Sister Yang. Sister Yang had originally not intended to agree, but seeing the expectant look in Han Fang's eyes, she nodded.

What surprised Li Qing somewhat was that Gu Gu Bo Yuan did not plan to go, and Sun Jia Qiang was not going either.

Li Qing then thought he would just make one trip when the time came—originally, he had planned to drive the car for two trips.

He went to Old Ma's Place again, slaughtered two sheep, and drove them back to the county town; one was delivered to Xiang Qian's home, and the other was sent directly to the Beiting area.

Director Qian's family member kept Li Qing for a meal; before eating, Li Qing butchered the mutton in their kitchen. Actually, it could have been butchered before being transported, but Li Qing felt delivering a whole sheep was better.

"This year, the work on the big brooms received praise from the interior region; they said it was very good, and perhaps next year they will order some goods themselves," Director Qian told Li Qing during the meal. "Therefore, next year, your task will be even heavier."

Good news.

Li Qing smiled and said, "I am not afraid of a heavy task. Currently, people from three villages are following me to tie big brooms. I am not afraid of having work; I only fear not having enough. Now, these three villages, plus a company from the Production and Construction Corps, all hope I can take on more work next year so they can earn more money."

Hearing Li Qing's words, Sister Guan sighed in admiration: "Little Li Qing, look at you; now that you've become a representative, your thinking and actions are different. You have enriched yourself and are also leading the villagers to rush toward a better life. Not bad, not bad; this representative title was not held in vain!"

Hearing this, Li Qing felt somewhat ashamed yet also proud.

After returning from Beiting, Li Qing heard from Gu Gu Bo Yuan that Sun Jia Qiang had bought the house next door, which surprised him again.

This capability for action was strong indeed!

On Friday evening, after dinner, Gu Gu Bo Yuan clasped his hands behind his back and returned to his own courtyard. Li Qing drove the jeep, taking Gu Gu Xiaoxia, Mingming, Haohao, Sister Yang, and Han Fang together to the Fourth Squad.

It was already late autumn, and the weather had become considerably cooler; fearing Mingming and Haohao might catch a chill, Gu Gu Xiaoxia and Sister Yang had put extra jackets on both children.

When the jeep drove up to the new residential point of the Fourth Squad, Li Qing saw that the movie screen had already been hoisted.

The place for showing the movie was separated from the Li family home by only three or four households, located behind the wall of one household. Behind this household was an empty plot, shaped like an oblique triangle; several dozen meters further back was the main canal, and between the empty plot and the canal ran a road. Because that empty plot was insufficient to become a homestead site, it had been left vacant; usually, it was a place where children played soccer and jumped rubber bands, and for now, it happened to be suitable for showing a movie.

Some people had already placed long benches here to reserve spots, and some children were curiously watching beside the frame set up by the projectionist.

The projectionist was handling a long electric wire; there was a utility pole by the roadside. He swung one wire up and draped it over the wire on the utility pole, then swung up another one and draped it over the other one—completing the power connection.

Li Qing happened to witness this scene and thought to himself that this person was truly "highly skilled and bold." In this era, showing movies consumed quite a lot of electricity, and it was hard to say whose household to connect to, so he might as well connect directly to the utility pole and use public electricity.

The problem was, those two wires were so close together; when he swung them up, wasn't he afraid of a short circuit? It seemed this was not the first time he had done such a thing; he was extremely proficient.

As soon as the power was connected, he began selecting the film reels to test first.

In the eighties, movie openings would have some messy images, followed by a countdown number; sometimes, one could even see scenes where the film burned while playing.

The equipment of this time was relatively primitive, but it was precisely these primitive things that were the favorites of the children.

The jeep drove to the entrance of the Li family courtyard and stopped. Liang Yuemei, who had long come out to greet them, lifted Mingming down; Haohao struggled and climbed down by himself, while Li Juan and Li Qiang hurriedly rushed forward to support them.

After Han Fang got down, Li Juan handed Haohao, whom she was holding, over to Li Qing, then took Han Fang to get melon seeds:

"Come on, our family fried a lot of sunflower seeds; they are very fragrant. There are also soybeans; in a while, you must fill your pockets..."

Unexpectedly, the relationship between these few little ones was quite good. Mingming and Haohao could now walk very steadily; they trotted along behind their older brothers and sisters, shouting that they also wanted to crack melon seeds.

Worried that the two children might choke, Gu Gu Xiaoxia hurriedly followed them; Liang Yuemei and Sister Yang also followed, so Li Qing did not manage them.

He saw a plate of fried melon seeds on the small table outside, so he picked it up and poured it all into his pocket; later, while watching the movie, he would crack some too.

The sound of the loudspeaker rang out again; the Li family, including Li Li Qing Xia and Du Chunfang, brought small stools and walked toward the movie screening site, chatting and laughing.

When their family arrived, half the people were already seated in the empty plot. Li Qing thought about sitting further back, but Liang Shuang Cheng, who was sitting in the front, stood up and hurriedly waved his hand:

"Brother Li Qing, here! You all come over here; we have reserved seats for you."

Liang Shuang Cheng and Liang Zhongcheng came together, and several other half-grown boys nearby also stood up, clearing out this entire area.

Everyone knew clearly that this movie was treated by Li Qing; although some people in the squad made sour remarks, saying this money was earned from the hands of the villagers, most people were still quite grateful to the Li family, so giving up seats for the movie was very normal.

Today's screening was "Heroes Emerge from Youth"; the first film was a martial arts piece. Such films were liked by both the old and the young; they were lively and satisfying to watch.

Li Qing let his father, mother, older brother, and sister-in-law go forward; Gu Gu Xiaoxia, Sister Yang, and the others also moved forward, while he, being tall, sat in the back.

As a result, Li Jianguo did not squeeze forward either; he stayed in the back and chatted intermittently with Li Qing.

Mingming and Haohao were very excited; having almost never seen so many people, the smiles on the two children's faces never stopped. They looked east and west, finding everything strange and wonderful.

Xie Xie Yun Dong and the others came over; seeing Li Qing and his group in the back, they also carried their stools to sit in the rear.

The scene was very lively; before the movie started, everyone chatted with each other. Even though they were from the same village, the three residential points meant some people did not often meet; now that they had met, there was naturally much to say. While talking, they cracked melon seeds and shared them to taste together.

Checking his watch and seeing it was nine o'clock, the projectionist shouted, "Starting now!"

Then he turned off the projector light; the scene suddenly went dark, immediately brightened again as a beam of light shone onto the screen, and the movie began. (End of Chapter)