Chapter 63

Li Xuewu entered the warehouse and saw that the place where the baskets of pears were stacked was empty, and on the other side were piles of materials sorted by category.

Li Xuewu closed the door and checked. The Baijiu was in large white plastic barrels, 100 jin per barrel, exactly 10 barrels.

The Chinese cabbage was stacked against the wall, and the radish and potatoes were in sacks, about 180 to 200 jin per sack.

The frozen hairtail and frozen river fish were also in sacks, standing upright, with the mouths unsealed.

Rice, white flour, and corn flour were in white woven bags, 150 jin per bag, and the soybean oil was in oil drums, about 320 jin per drum.

The fur was packed in 50 pieces per bag, exactly two bags. The wild mushrooms, black fungus, and daylilies were in woven bags, three bags of 50 jin each.

Red dates, walnuts, hazelnuts, and pine nuts were dried fruits, in sacks, one sack for each, with the mouths open.

The six roe deer were thrown on the ground; looking at the wounds, they were shot by guns.

Li Xuewu had heard his second uncle talk about this thing: you fire a shot at them, "Bang!" and one falls down, and the rest in the group run away.

But they don't run far; they run a few steps and stop, looking at you, looking at you cutely, probably wondering what made the sound...

It's because they are silly and can't distinguish between friends and enemies.

That's why they got the name "silly roe deer."

This thing also exists in Beijing, but in the mountains.

Li Xuewu checked while putting them into his space, weighing them by hand randomly. They were roughly the same. In this era, it's really true: if it's said to be 1 jin 1 liang, it will absolutely not be 1 jin; not a single point or cent can be wrong.

It took more than half an hour to finish collecting. Li Xuewu went to the entrance, pulled open the gate, and squatted inside the warehouse, going out to smoke when he was sleepy.

Feeling that an hour had passed, he closed the gate and went to the gatekeeper's room to find his second uncle.

The two came to the warehouse again.

His second uncle locked the door, went to the gatekeeper's room to return the key, and the two rode their bicycles home.

It was almost 6 o'clock when they got home, and his second aunt had already gone to sleep.

His second uncle took out a stack of large bills from his pocket, counted them, and handed them to Li Xuewu.

"Count it, 120 yuan."

Li Xuewu saw that his second uncle had counted it, so he didn't count it again, tucked it into his satchel, put on his military coat, lay down on the sofa stool, and started to sleep.

"What's there to count? It's just 12 bills. Even if I count until my fingers bleed, it won't make 13. I need to take a nap; I'm exhausted."

His second uncle laughed and scolded, "You brat, go sleep in Xueli's room; it's cold outside."

Li Xuewu covered himself with his military coat and didn't feel cold, so he said, "It's almost dawn, I won't go; I'll just sleep here, it's quite comfortable."

His second uncle brought a quilt for Li Xuewu to cover himself with and went back to his room to sleep.

Li Xuewu didn't wake up until noon. When he woke up, he saw his second aunt and eldest sister Li Juan wrapping dumplings.

Seeing Li Xuewu wake up, his second aunt greeted him, "Xuewu is awake. Get up and wash your face; the dumplings will be ready soon. Your second uncle and Xueli will be back in a while."

Li Xuewu greeted his eldest sister and went to the water room to wash his face.

His second uncle's house was in a building allocated by his second aunt's mother's unit, sharing a restroom and water room on each floor.

Staying up all night, his eyes were full of sleep. The water was a bit cold. He washed his face and felt refreshed.

Returning to the room, his second aunt had finished wrapping the dumplings, and Li Juan was cleaning the table.

Li Juan had a very straightforward personality and was not like Li Xuewen and the other brothers who were afraid of or resisted Li Xuewu.

His second uncle's personality was just like Li Xuewu's.

So Li Juan also had a bold personality and even joked with Li Xuewu about him not being able to find a partner because of the injury on his face.

His second aunt, coming out of the kitchen, heard the joke and slapped Li Juan on the back.

"Go! Making fun of your brother!"

Li Xuewu didn't care, "It's okay, Second Aunt. If I can't find a partner, I'll just wait for my brother-in-law to help me find one. When my eldest sister finds a partner, ask if there's a suitable sister in the brother-in-law's family."

Li Xuewu's mention of "brother-in-law" made Li Juan blush. She hadn't told her family about her relationship yet. This kid just arrived; how did he know?

Seeing Li Juan blushing and not speaking, Li Xuewu knew there must be a situation; he had hit the nail on the head.

Seeing that Li Juan didn't intend to tell the family, he stopped teasing her and changed the subject to Li Juan's work.

At this time, his second uncle and Li Xueli entered the room. Li Xueli was only 18, just the age to be lively, and chatted with Li Xuewu for a long time.

Li Xueli was about the same age as Li Xuewu and envied Li Xuewu's military experience. He also wanted to join the army, but his parents wouldn't let him, so he had to honestly go to work.

Although he didn't make it, there was someone in the family who had been, so now he grabbed Li Xuewu and started asking about this and that.

How would Li Xuewu dare to talk about things in the army? Not to mention whether it involved secrets, writing it down would mean being sent to the "small dark room."

So, facing his curious cousin Li Xueli, he could only use movies and TV shows from later generations to fool him.

Li Xueli was fooled into a daze, repeatedly saying he regretted not having a firm belief.

Hearing Li Xuewu's words, his second uncle knew he was fooling his son, because his third uncle was also in the army. Although the letters he wrote were all about family affection, what he talked about when they met and what Li Xuewu said were not the same thing at all.

Watching his silly son being fooled into a fever, Li Gan just smiled and watched while smoking.

It wasn't until his second aunt cooked the dumplings, served them on the table, and called them to eat that Li Xueli let Li Xuewu go.

Everyone ate dumplings together. After the meal, while his second aunt was busy in the kitchen and his second uncle went to the restroom, Li Xuewu took out 40 yuan, stuffed 20 to Li Juan, and 20 to Li Xueli.

Li Xueli happily accepted it and said honestly, "Thank you, Second Brother. You are really generous. How did you know I was short of money?"

Li Xuewu laughed and said, "Everyone is short."

When he gave it to his eldest sister Li Juan, she wouldn't take it no matter what.

Li Juan pushed it away and said, "You just started working; how can I take my brother's money?"

Li Xuewu stuffed it into her pocket and whispered, "Don't always spend other people's money when you're in a relationship. If the person is good, bring him home early for Second Uncle and Second Aunt to see."

Li Xuewu's words made Li Juan blush again. Seeing her second aunt looking over, she was embarrassed to push it away again, so she accepted it.

Li Xueli was still like a big child. Seeing his mother looking over, he ran to the kitchen to show off to his mother. His second aunt chased him out, shaking the water off her hands.

"Xuewu, why give him money? Your brother has also started earning a salary. Why are you being so formal in your own home!"

After finishing her words, she said to the showing-off Li Xueli, "Quickly return it to your brother. Your brother just started working; why is this child so heartless!"

Li Xuewu patted Li Xueli on the shoulder, who was hiding next to him, and said to his second aunt, "Xueli is 18 and needs to find a partner. If he doesn't have money in his pocket, he can't even take the girl to the movies. Don't you want to hold your grandson early?"

Seeing that Li Xuewu was giving it sincerely, his second aunt didn't argue with him anymore and glared at Li Xueli.

"If only he had that capability; he only knows how to hang out with people."

Li Xueli said unconvinced, "Mom, my salary was taken by you; even if I had capability, I couldn't use it."

Bai Meng Shu.

His second aunt scolded, "You little rabbit, you dare to talk back, right? Let's see how you bring a girl home."

When his second uncle came back, he saw the house was noisy. Seeing his second uncle, Li Xueli immediately stopped shouting and obediently went into the room. Li Juan also went to tidy up her clothes.

His second aunt told his second uncle about Li Xuewu giving money.

His second uncle glanced at Li Xuewu and said, "Got big capability? Being formal at your second uncle's house?"

Li Xuewu laughed, "What capability do I have in front of my second uncle? My sister is in a relationship; if she doesn't have money in her pocket, she won't be confident. Xueli is just at the age to make friends; he can't be without money for socializing. I'm just supporting the love career of my Northeast fellow villagers."

Hearing Li Xuewu's witty remarks, his second uncle said to his second aunt, "Give Juanzi more pocket money every month. Don't give Xueli any more; he's not short of money in his pocket."

Only heard Li Xueli shouting in the room, "I am!"

His second aunt shouted toward Li Xueli's room, "Your father is outside; come out and tell your father."

Li Xueli hid in the room and didn't speak again.

His second uncle and second aunt heard Li Xuewu say Li Juan was in a relationship and didn't care, because they had known for a long time. At this time, being in a relationship was like turning on a 200-watt light bulb in the middle of the night.

If you walk close to a little girl for a distance, everyone who sees it will tell your parents.

They didn't point it out because they had already asked someone to inquire about the young man's family and character, and they were satisfied, so they didn't hold onto it.

After resting at noon, everyone in his second uncle's family had to go to work. Li Xuewu said he didn't know when he would leave at night, so he would go back to Factory 17 to wait and come over again when he had time.

His second aunt wanted to give him food stamps, but Li Xuewu refused. Finally, he accepted the letter written by his second uncle.

This meal of dumplings might be the New Year's Eve dumplings for his second uncle's family; how could he take food stamps? They were all living a tight life.

After leaving the house, Li Xuewu found a place where there was no one, took out his bicycle, rode it, and started wandering around the city.