Chapter 54: One Must Not Break Their Word

When Li Long and the other two returned home carrying the rabbits, Liang Yuemei had already finished cooking all the meals and laid them out on the table, waiting for their return.

Li Jianguo had also sobered up; after washing up, he was waiting for them in the courtyard.

"Big brother, is your head still dizzy?" Li Long asked with a smile, holding the bag.

Yesterday, Li Jianguo had been in high spirits. He had drunk a bottle and a half of the half-kilogram bottle of Ancient City Daqu all by himself. He was happy while drinking, but once he finished and saw his guests off, he became dizzy and slept from the afternoon until this morning.

"It's not dizzy anymore," Li Jianguo said, blushing—a rare sight for him. He changed the subject: "How many rabbits did you catch?"

"Five!" Li Qiang shouted loudly. "Dad, five rabbits! Two were alive, and one tried to kick my uncle, so my uncle slammed it onto the ground, and it died from the fall! I saw it with my own eyes!"

"Good, good, good. Go wash your hands and get ready to eat." Li Jianguo now felt that sending his younger brother to work in Wucheng was a brilliant decision. Although his brother had been fired after one trip, he had returned as if reborn. Not only could he do everything, but his personality had also changed; he had become much more mature.

After breakfast, Li Jianguo and Li Long processed the rabbits together. While skinning them, Li Jianguo asked Li Long

"Xiaolong, why don't you lay low for a few days? Tao Dayong and Gu Ermao were both arrested. Even though they were released, they were not only disgraced but also fined. We can't afford to go in there!"

"Brother, don't worry. I'm not going to the black market to sell things anymore; there are too few buyers there." Li Long revealed his plan. "I plan to go to Wucheng first. I brought back two pieces of jade this time. I asked around the county, and they say people in Wucheng buy them. I might be able to sell them for a few hundred yuan.

When I come back, I plan to catch more fish to sell in Shicheng. There are many people buying fish in the factory family compounds there. It's almost the New Year, so fish will sell well. I'll make a windfall of money, and then when spring comes..."

He lowered his voice and said

"Big brother, I heard that land will be redistributed in the spring, and the production team's goods will be distributed then too. We need to prepare early. We can't get a tractor, but if we get something like a horse carriage, at least it'll be easier to transport goods!"

"Is that true?" Li Jianguo became excited immediately upon hearing the news. "Is land really going to be redistributed?"

"It's true. I heard about it in Wucheng. Many provinces in the mainland have already done it, and our area will do it this time too. However, for the first time, it might only be two mu per person..."

"Two mu is fine too!" Li Jianguo was an expert farmer. "If I farm it well, I can get a few hundred catties of wheat, and even more corn! If it's grown well, it could be over a thousand! Even after deducting the public grain, the remaining wheat can be ground into flour for the family to eat..."

When children are growing, being able to eat fine grains every day—what parent in these times hasn't yearned for such a thing?

Was it really going to happen?

"That's why relying on carrying things on our backs or borrowing someone else's vehicle won't work; we need our own," Li Long took the opportunity to say. "Time waits for no one. I need to save more money while I can..."

"But you can't do it alone," Li Jianguo said. "I'll go with you. We can look out for each other."

"Big brother, you can't go. If anything happens, someone needs to stay home." Li Long waved his hands hurriedly. "I'll try to be careful. If something really goes wrong, I'll need you to get me out."

"Nonsense, what are you saying?" Li Jianguo slapped Li Long. "Then be careful... I'll go with you to catch fish."

"Alright, then in a little while we'll go smash some ice holes. We'll catch some today, and tomorrow I'll head to Wucheng first. After I come back and catch some more, I'll go sell the fish. After that, I'll need to head into the mountains for a trip..."

Li Long realized his schedule was packed.

But this was good; having work meant having money to earn, which was better than most of the youths in the production team staying home, being bored out of their minds, and gossiping about neighbors.

The two of them finished skinning the rabbits in no time—the rabbit skins were very easy to peel. Once you cut the neck, you could just tear it off with your hands, and the whole skin would come right off.

Li Jianguo stretched the skins out and pinned them in an empty room. If they could be sold, they would be; if not, they would be made into leather gloves.

While they were processing the entrails, someone came into the courtyard. Pushing the door open was Bai Fazhan from the production team, a forty-year-old man who had moved here from elsewhere in the last two years. Seeing Li Jianguo, he said with a smile

"Qiangqiang's dad, I heard you can exchange bullets for meat..."

"You can. Five bullets for one kilogram of meat," Li Jianguo said with a smile. "But this wild boar meat is different from domestic pig meat..."

"I know that. I used to hunt in the mountains; I've eaten it." Bai Fazhan smiled. "I'll exchange for five kilograms."

A big spender. Li Long stood up, took the bullets, and went over to cut the meat. As he held the knife, he asked

"Brother Bai, which part of the meat do you want?"

They had borrowed a scale from the production team and hadn't returned it yet, so it was perfect to use now.

"Ribs. Can you cut a bit more?"

"No problem." Li Long cut him six kilograms—this man knew how to eat. However, these days, people weren't very fond of meat with bones, so cutting extra was no issue. He then threaded the meat with thin iron wire and handed it over.

Bai Fazhan looked at the rabbit, knowing Li Long was making a profit. He smiled and praised Li Long for being capable, then chatted for a few more words before leaving with the meat.

Throughout the morning, seven or eight more people came one after another to exchange for or buy meat, mostly in amounts of two or three kilograms. Some were looking for a taste, while others didn't raise pigs at home and wanted some meat for the New Year.

Some brought money, which was one yuan per kilogram, and some used bullets for exchange. By the end, Li Long calculated that he had exchanged for over a hundred bullets!

That was quite a lot!

At twelve o'clock, Li Jianguo and Li Long, along with Li Juan and Li Qiang, took their tools to the Little Sea.

Their plan was to smash two more ice holes. Once they were connected, they would wait for fish to swim into one hole while using a landing net to scoop them out of the old hole.

When they arrived at the Little Sea, Li Long was surprised to find that there was no one there.

Thinking about it, he understood; it was likely because Tao Dayong and Gu Ermao had been arrested, so the people in the production team were afraid. After all, the return on investment was abnormal—the money from selling fish wasn't enough to cover the fines, and it was also embarrassing. Who would dare go again?

It wasn't that no one wanted to go to Shicheng to sell fish, but at this time, most farmers wouldn't dare to even open their mouths, even if they managed to find the factory family compounds in Shicheng.

In this era, those who could take the first and second steps would soon become "ten-thousand-yuan households" and reap the first fruits of the reform wave.

Li Jianguo sent Li Juan and Li Qiang to gather reeds, while he and Li Long each took responsibility for one ice hole.

Li Long shoveled away the accumulated snow on the ice near the reeds, then began striking the ice with a pickaxe.

The ice felt much harder, and his hands felt numb from the vibration. However, once a small hole was broken through, the subsequent drilling became easier. He missed the electric ice drills from his previous life; they required no effort at all—just a turn of the motor and an ice hole appeared.

After striking for nearly an hour, an irregularly shaped ice hole was finally broken through.

Li Long used a shovel to clear the broken ice from the surface of the rising water. He saw that his big brother, Li Jianguo, had already used a net to scoop fish out of the old ice hole.

Clearly, his ice hole had been finished.

Li Long put down his tools to go help, only to see a large figure walking toward them from the direction of the production team.

Tao Qiang?

What was he doing here?