Chapter 58: Laying Cards on the Table with Tao Daqiang

The afternoon sunlight was not particularly intense. Dragging a simple version of a sled, Li Long felt that the walk home wasn't very strenuous; he was even in the mood to hum a song

"The first snow of 2002 came a little later than usual..."

"...I admit I am that wolf in sheep's clothing, and you are my prey, the lamb in my mouth. I leave my companions to wander alone, simply because I don't want anyone else to share you..."

"...Come on, come on, brother, if we wade through water, we wade together; if we brave fire, we brave it together..."

He only remembered a few popular lyrics from each song; since he had listened to them so much in the past, he just sang whatever he could remember.

The Changan he had bought in his previous life had a USB drive filled with songs by certain pop stars—after all, who could deny that he had risen to fame from the Northern Border?

Speaking of which, he really missed the days when he had a car; he wouldn't have to walk on two legs anymore.

Fortunately, this young body, though not sufficiently trained, was still much better than the sixty or seventy-year-old man he was before he passed away in his previous life. Even after walking seven or eight kilometers, he didn't feel tired at all; instead, he felt light and his mood was very pleasant.

Because there was hope.

As he drew closer to home, Li Long's pace quickened. After dragging the plastic sheet for a bit longer, he saw the children of the production team playing on the road.

In these times, there were few people and few vehicles, so safety was the priority; if a car passed by, the children could be excited for half a day.

"Li Qiang, your uncle is back! He's dragging something big behind him!" A sharp-eyed child spotted Li Long and shouted loudly.

Li Long had once distributed fruit candies to everyone, and these children remembered. Following the shout, they swarmed around Li Qiang and rushed toward Li Long.

"Uncle, Uncle!" Li Qiang wiped his nose with his sleeve. "Why didn't you come back yesterday?"

"Because I went on a long trip!" Li Long smiled as he straightened Li Qiang's crooked hat, then asked

"Are you coming home with me now, or are you going to play with them for a while longer?"

"I'm coming home with you!" Knowing that his younger uncle always brought good things when he returned, Li Qiang hurriedly turned back to the road to grab his old ox and whip, then returned to help Li Long drag the plastic sheet.

The other children also helped with giggles, and soon they arrived at the Li family's doorstep.

Li Long pulled a handful of peanuts from a urea bag, gave a few to each child, and said

"Alright, go play."

The children dispersed happily, comparing whose peanuts were bigger and who had more or fewer. Li Long stuffed another handful into Li Qiang's hand, patted his head, and entered the courtyard together.

Hearing the commotion, Liang Yuemei and Li Juan came out of the house. Seeing Li Long, they were somewhat surprised

"Why did you bring so much stuff?"

"Chinese New Year is coming, so I'm picking up some holiday supplies."

"Come inside quickly. Your brother is still fishing with Daqiang at Xiaohaizi; he should be back soon too."

"Then I won't go over there for now." As Li Long returned to the room, he finally felt the exhaustion in his body. "I'll rest for a bit after I change my clothes."

"Alright, I'll call you when the food is ready." Actually, the family used to eat only two meals a day, but because Li Long had been busy fishing and going into the mountains these past few days, and Li Jianguo had been helping him, the two meals had been changed to three; otherwise, they wouldn't be able to keep up the energy.

However, the evening meal was usually just soup or porridge with some leftovers from lunch. Even so, once Sister-in-law Lu found out, she would subtly remark that the Li family was wasteful—saying things like "they'll never run out of food or clothes, but if they don't plan ahead, they'll end up poor."

But Liang Yuemei ignored her words. Men worked hard; what was wrong with bringing things home openly and earning money to eat and drink better?

Was it better to be like those idlers who stayed at home waiting for charity?

Li Long entered the east room and found the stove lit; the fire wall and the *kang* bed were quite warm. Compared to the outside, the room was as warm as spring. He simply changed his clothes, lay on the bed, pulled up the quilt, and fell asleep before he knew it.

In the west room, Li Qiang was sneakily trying to untie the rope on the urea bag when he was slapped on the back by Li Juan

"What are you doing?"

"Sis, I just wanted to see... what Uncle brought back?"

"See what? You can see it once Uncle wakes up." Li Juan actually wanted to see it too, but she knew that since these were things Uncle had bought, Uncle had to be the one to open them.

Liang Yuemei was busy in the kitchen; hearing the conversation between the siblings, she smiled but said nothing.

Although Li Juan was very stubborn, she was sensible; with her looking after Qiangqiang, Liang Yuemei felt very relieved.

In her washbasin were the "miscellaneous" fish that Li Jianguo and Tao Daqiang had caught yesterday and this morning.

Li Jianguo already knew that Li Long sold fish by the piece, so after the fish were caught, any large fish over two kilograms were selected and frozen in the snow to be sold.

The remaining smaller miscellaneous fish were kept to be eaten themselves. Looking at a basin full of fish, Liang Yuemei actually felt like she had had enough.

She felt that such a thought was almost sinful—how could one ever eat enough fish? If her brother, Liang Wenyu, who loved fish, found out, wouldn't he say she had gone crazy?

As the sun set, Li Jianguo and Tao Daqiang returned, dragging a sled with three large bags of fish.

Today, they had taken turns fishing through four ice holes. The two newly drilled holes yielded an extraordinary amount of fish; they had managed to get nearly a hundred kilograms in a single day, which surprised even Li Jianguo.

Were these fish crazy? Did they know there was so much commotion here and still keep coming?

If Li Long were there, he would provide the perfect explanation

In reality, it was because the ice was too thick; even where there were reeds, oxygen struggled to penetrate. The fish below were nearly suffocating, so as soon as there was an air hole, they naturally flocked to the commotion—fish want to live, after all.

In fact, these air holes had actually saved some of the fish's lives.

Before the great flood, every spring when the ice holes thawed, many dead fish could be seen floating on the surface, mostly large fish.

Large fish require more oxygen and are the first to suffocate.

Hearing the commotion outside, Li Long woke up. He felt a bit groggy, as if he wasn't quite clear-headed; he rubbed his face, got up, put on his clothes, and went out.

The cold wind hit him, and he immediately felt awake, while simultaneously seeing the harvest brought by his older brother Li Jianguo and the others on the sled.

"Brother, you caught this many fish today?"

"Of course! There were plenty of fish today!" Li Jianguo said with a smile. "There were many big ones too. The biggest was a grass carp, over six kilograms and over a meter long; it almost broke the net!"

"Good heavens..." Li Long thought to himself, *Goodness, did they catch the king of fish?*

Tao Daqiang was also excited to see Li Long return, but he quickly said

"Then, shall I head back?"

"Head back? Stay and have some fish soup first." Liang Yuemei had already come out of the house. "The fish soup is ready; you have to eat before you leave."

"Right, eat before you go. I still have something to say to you."

Tao Daqiang felt a bit nervous. What was Brother Long going to say to him?

After the meal, Li Long called Tao Daqiang into the east room and asked him

"Daqiang, do you still want to work with me?"

Tao Daqiang hadn't expected Li Long to ask such a direct question.

"I do," he replied without hesitation.

He had already missed one opportunity; if he missed another, he would truly be a fool.

"But I have to tell you, even if you work with me, it won't be like before." Li Long stated his intention directly

"If you work for me, I'll pay you for each job. For example, this time, including catching fish and going to sell them tomorrow, it's five yuan for the trip. How does that sound?"

Tao Daqiang's expression changed.

He knew that his relationship with Li Long would never return to how it used to be.

(End of Chapter)