Chapter 30: Why Should I Tell You?

This area was a growing ground for *jiji* grass. *Jiji* grass was excellent for making large brooms. Li Long remembered from his previous life that in the early 21st century, people used to come to the village to collect it, paying two yuan per kilogram. When he used to sell fish, he once asked an old man nearby who was making brooms from the grass; the old man had told him proudly that it was thanks to this grass that he had bought apartments in the county town for his two sons and had plenty of savings left over.

Back then, after the land was incorporated into the cooperatives, the villagers began engaging in side businesses once they had free time. Everything from bitter beans to *jiji* grass could be sold for money.

Now, no one wanted the *jiji* grass. It grew as tall as a person, and the snow couldn't cover it at all.

Flocks of *guagua* chickens would lie down at the base of the grass to shelter from the wind and keep warm.

Although Li Long hadn't turned on his lamp, the daylight was still bright enough that he could vaguely see dark lumps next to the *jiji* grass.

It should be them, right?

He walked over slowly and flicked on his flashlight.

Sure enough, many *guagua* chickens were huddled together at the base of the grass for warmth.

Although the flashlight beam startled a few chickens facing his direction, they had no intention of flying away; they merely shook their bodies and continued to lie there.

Li Long stepped forward, crouched down, and gently covered them with a landing net.

With one sweep, he caught four. If the grass hadn't been in the way, he could have caught even more!

As soon as they were in the net, the *guagua* chickens immediately panicked. Li Long hurriedly reached his hand under the net, grabbed them, and stuffed them into a urea bag.

The chickens outside the net had already started to scramble up, but because of the thick grass, they couldn't take flight immediately and could only run away from Li Long.

The snow was very deep, making it difficult to walk with steady steps, which meant that before even a few chickens could escape, Li Long’s next sweep had already come down.

In this manner, by the time the flock was startled and scattered into flight, Li Long had already caught eleven *guagua* chickens.

A bumper harvest!

Carrying his six or seven kilograms of harvest, Li Long headed back happily.

Although the walk back was long, he felt very good inside.

Tomorrow, he would keep a few *guagua* chickens at home and sell the rest along with the fish. He should be able to get a good price, right?

After all, it was wild game!

It was forty minutes later by the time he arrived home. Li Long was panting from exhaustion. He felt that next time it would be better to just go straight to the *jiji* grass area to avoid the long detour; otherwise, the extra walking wasn't worth it.

Returning to his room, Li Long tied the mouth of the bag shut and placed it in the corner. After changing into cloth shoes, he was just about to take off his clothes to warm up by the fire when he heard a knock at the door.

Looking up, he saw Zhang Qianjin from the Zhang family in his production team.

Zhang Qianjin was about thirty years old. Although he wasn't much older than Li Long, he would still call Li Jianguo "Uncle." Of course, since people had moved here from all over the country, calling Li Jianguo "Uncle" was also because Zhang Qianjin's father, Zhang Guangzu, had arrived with the same group of people to build the team.

So, much like Tao Daqiang, everyone followed their own social hierarchy. Seeing Li Long, he said with a smile

"Xiao Long, where have you been? I came by just now and saw you weren't here."

"Couldn't sleep, so I went for a stroll." Li Long wasn't close with Zhang Qianjin, so he spoke while changing his clothes. "Is something the matter?"

"There is." Zhang Qianjin hit a bit of a cold shoulder, but he wasn't annoyed. Being a naturally sociable man, he sat on the *kang* bed and said with a smile

"I borrowed the team's horse carriage today, planning to follow your lead into the mountains to pull back some wood for firewood. But when I reached Qingshui River, I didn't know how to navigate the rest of the way. I barely managed to pull the carriage to the mountain pass, but I couldn't find any wood, so I ended up just picking up some branches to bring back."

Li Long gave an "Mm" and said nothing.

Zhang Qianjin felt a bit depressed. Given Li Long's former warm-hearted nature, he would naturally have proactively pointed out the way.

He had spent one yuan and sixty cents to borrow the carriage today, just like Li Long, and because he was unwilling to give up, he had spent another one yuan and sixty cents to borrow a carriage for tomorrow as well.

If he couldn't pull back anything of value, wouldn't those three-plus yuan be wasted?

So, although Li Long's lukewarm attitude made him a bit awkward, he steeled himself and said

"Look at you—the moment you set out, you pulled back so much wood and even found frozen mutton. As for us, we sent three carriages—just the captain and his brother-in-law's carriage—and because we found a path into the mountains, we managed to pull back a bit of pine.

But that wood can only be used for firewood; it can't be used as material. You really are something, Xiao Long!"

Zhang Qianjin was praising Li Long because he remembered that Li Long used to be very vain; if someone praised him, he would certainly spill everything he knew like beans from a bamboo tube.

However, today, after hearing his words, Li Long merely gave a lukewarm "It's nothing" and said nothing more.

Zhang Qianjin heard something rustling in the corner behind the door, but his mind was entirely focused on how to coax out the mountain path, so he didn't think anything of it.

In truth, he and the other drivers felt that even if they didn't know the way, they could find the place just by following the tracks of Li Long's carriage.

But they had forgotten that it was windy at the mountain pass. Li Long and his group had indeed entered the mountains from Qingshui River, but for one, Li Long's path was quite remote, and for another, the wind at the pass was strong. The wind and snow had covered the carriage tracks that very night.

That was why their attempt had failed so miserably.

Seeing that Li Long refused to speak, Zhang Qianjin had no choice but to grit his teeth and ask

"Xiao Long, can you tell me how to get there? If you tell me, when I pull the wood back, how about I give you a stack of logs?"

Li Long thought to himself: *Not really!*

*Your father is a man who loves to take advantage of others, and so are you. Your words sound nice, but when it comes to actually doing things, it's a different story. Besides, why should I tell you the route?*

"I just entered the mountains from Qingshui River," Li Long said, pointing south. "The mountain pass is so large; just follow the direction and you'll find it. How could you not find it?"

"That's just it—we couldn't find it! There are so many gullies and canals there, and there are so many shrubs growing outside the production team; there's basically no path. We had to push through blindly!"

Zhang Qianjin showed Li Long his hands, which were covered in small cuts from being scratched by shrubs while pushing through the brush.

"Then I wouldn't know," Li Long said. "That's just how I went. I entered Qingshui River, made a few turns, and followed the direction of the mountain pass."

It wasn't that he wanted to keep the secret to himself; it was mainly because these people were being excessive, effectively cutting off his route.

*You've already blocked my path, and you still expect me to point you toward a way to make a fortune?*

Unable to get anything more out of Li Long, Zhang Qianjin left in frustration.

He made a vow to himself on the way back: *I don't believe for a second that I can't find the way into the mountains without you, Li Long! Once I find frozen mutton and bring it back, I'll make you feel ashamed!*

After Zhang Qianjin left, Li Long quickly stripped off his clothes, blew out the lamp, and crawled into bed. He believed that if his light were still on, someone would surely come by to ask more questions.

As if by unspoken agreement, the light in the west room was also extinguished shortly after.

When Li Long woke up the next day, he was startled once again!