After finishing the mutton soup in the house and chatting for a while about daily life, Li Long listened under the kerosene lamp as his eldest brother, Li Jianguo, posed problems like "chickens and rabbits in the same cage" to his niece and nephew. Li Long felt that this was happiness.
Though poor, it was peaceful.
Seeing that it was getting late, Li Long stood up, said a word to Li Jianguo, and returned to the east room.
The stove in the east room had been banked with coal earlier. He poked the fire with a poker, and a puff of smoke surged up. Once the smoke cleared, Li Long hooked open the stove lid, added a few lumps of coal, replaced the lid, and began to take stock of the day's gains while planning for tomorrow.
After accounting for the earnings from the deer antlers and water rat skins, and deducting the costs for sesame cakes, tea, and the gloves for Tao Daqiang, as well as the ten yuan given to his sister-in-law, he had less than ten yuan left in his hand, including his original savings.
But with the pack of bullets his eldest brother had given him, Li Long was confident he could trade for one or two more frozen sheep tomorrow.
He planned to buy more tea and salt tomorrow; even if Harimu’s family had enough, he could leave them there and then go to other herdsmen’s homes to trade for other goods.
Although the herdsmen’s winter camps weren't far from the foot of the mountain, they had more concerns and little spare cash, so they rarely came down the mountain to buy things.
But they had goods, and Li Long could trade for these items and take them to the supply station to sell for money.
Checking the time, it was only ten o'clock. He wasn't sleepy yet and wondered how to pass the remaining time.
In this day and age, there were no radios or televisions, let alone mobile phones; passing the time was truly difficult.
Li Long wondered if he should go to someone’s house to play cards. He vaguely remembered that "Fighting the Landlord" hadn't become popular yet; there was only "Shuai Er Zi" and "Zheng Shang You."
Entertainment in the eighties was very scarce; otherwise, Gu Ermao wouldn't have invited Li Long to watch someone else's television.
To date, the entire production team didn't have a single television—they hadn't even been connected to the main power grid.
Just as he was thinking, dog barking and footsteps came from outside.
Li Long threw on his coat and walked out.
A person was standing outside the courtyard gate; judging by the silhouette, it was a girl.
Li Long called out
"Who is it?"
"Li Long, it’s me, Gu Xiaoxia," the girl replied.
Gu Xiaoxia?
Li Long quickly realized who it was. She was the daughter of Gu Boyuan, the only college student in the production team. According to his eldest brother, Li Jianguo, Gu Boyuan had arrived at the production team with his daughter over a decade ago. At the time, the team leader had been stunned to hear that this man was a college student.
In that era, let alone a college student, even a middle school graduate was considered an intellectual.
Why Gu Boyuan had come to this godforsaken place, not many in the production team knew. But since a great talent had arrived and wanted to stay, they were naturally welcoming.
When Gu Boyuan arrived, his daughter was only three or four years old; counting now, she should be under twenty.
Due to special circumstances, Gu Xiaoxia had returned to the team after graduating from high school. In Li Long’s memory, in his previous life, Gu Xiaoxia seemed to have married Gu Ermao because of his pestering, only to divorce later due to domestic violence, and then she disappeared without a trace.
"Xiaoxia, you're here. Is your dad doing alright?" Li Jianguo opened the door and walked out at this moment. Seeing it was Gu Xiaoxia, he asked with a smile, "Come inside."
"No... no need. Uncle Jianguo, I... I wanted to buy some mutton from your house. My dad is sick, and I want to help him recover." Gu Xiaoxia’s voice was very low; one could tell she was quite embarrassed to say these words.
"Your dad is sick? Has he taken any medicine? What’s wrong with him?" Li Jianguo asked with concern.
He was a middle school graduate; although not as highly educated as Gu Boyuan, he was one of the few "intellectuals" in the production team, and the two families had a good relationship.
"He took some. My dad said it’s nothing, just a cold."
"Then wait here, I’ll cut you a piece of mutton." Li Jianguo hurriedly turned back into the house and came out with a piece of mutton. However, he didn't hand it to Gu Xiaoxia, but instead passed it to Li Long
"Xiao Long, you walk Xiaoxia back. It’s pitch black out, it’s not safe!"
Gu Xiaoxia did not refuse.
Li Long went back into the room, put on his hat, and walked out carrying the mutton.
Gu Xiaoxia followed silently by his side, the two maintaining a distance of one and a half meters.
In this day and age, public opinion was a fearful thing.
"When did your dad get sick?" Li Long asked.
"Yesterday. We didn't have much firewood left, and my dad was chopping wood in the yard. He got sweaty and caught a chill."
"That doesn't sound serious. He just needs to sweat it out," Li Long nodded. "Do you have medicine at home?"
"Yes, we do." Li Long would ask a question, and Gu Xiaoxia would answer. She kept her head slightly lowered the entire time.
Li Long felt it was rather dull, so he stopped talking.
His eldest brother Li Jianguo’s concern about it being unsafe outside was true. Even though they were twenty-some kilometers from the mountains, just a month ago, wolves had been spotted in the reed marshes outside the production team. The dogs kept by the team were no pushovers either; the local dogs at that time were tall and quite fierce.
What was even more dangerous were the hoodlums who didn't rest well at night and had pent-up energy to burn.
Otherwise, there wouldn't have been a "Strike Hard" campaign in a couple of years.
The Li house was about three hundred meters from the Gu house. The moon hadn't risen yet, but the snow reflected the light from the sky, making the road barely visible. Li Long carried a flashlight; although he didn't turn it on, he was prepared at all times.
Just as they reached the halfway point and were about to turn a corner, Li Long heard footsteps not far ahead. Gu Xiaoxia leaned back behind him, and he immediately reacted, shouting loudly
"Who is it?"
As he shouted, he clicked on the flashlight and shone it toward the corner.
A dark shadow ran quickly into the distance, soon darting behind someone’s courtyard and disappearing.
A burst of dog barking erupted from that direction.
"It’s fine, probably just someone passing by," Li Long said, turning to Gu Xiaoxia. "Let’s go."
Gu Xiaoxia was still shaken. She likely knew what that shadow had been planning, but she hadn't expected Li Long, who she had always heard was quite cowardly, to be so "fierce" at a time like this.
Li Long didn't speak again until they reached the Gu house. Once they entered the courtyard, Gu Xiaoxia took two quick steps to open the door.
Li Long carried the meat into the house and saw Gu Boyuan lying on the bed.
He was sleeping and hadn't heard the commotion.
Seeing that the room was reasonably warm, Li Long said
"Prepare some warm water for your dad; drinking plenty of water helps him recover faster." After saying this, he set the meat down and turned to leave.
"Let me pay you!" Gu Xiaoxia chased after him and shouted.
"This is what my eldest brother said to give to help your dad get better. No money needed." Li Long waved his hand and headed back.
It seemed Li Jianguo had mentioned that the work points the Gu family earned at the end of the year were even fewer than their own; they hadn't received much money and had even had to dip into their own savings.
Fortunately, Li Long remembered that next spring, the production team would be reorganized into a village, and the village primary school would open. The village would only teach first and second grade, while third grade would go to the brigade. At that time, Gu Xiaoxia would apparently become a teacher at the village school, and their family’s life would improve.
As he walked back, he thought about the shadow from earlier.
Who could that have been?
Judging by the silhouette, why did it seem so familiar?