There was no talking all night, and everyone was happy.
When Li Long got up early in the morning, feeling refreshed, he found that Gu Xiaoxia, who was even more refreshed, had gotten up before him and was making breakfast in the kitchen.
After briefly washing up, Li Long went to help. Seeing that the porridge and pickles were almost ready, he set out the dishes and chopsticks. Li Long especially liked this kind of small life.
"How long will you be there this time?" Gu Xiaoxia asked as she took out the pickles, "When you come back, go directly back to the village, or do you have to stay in the county?"
"Not sure , maybe three to five days, or maybe I’ll come over tomorrow, because I need to get some for my brother-in-law first. I will pick up some sheep later, buy some food, and send them to the mountains. I will collect some sheep and let my brother-in-law practice first. Maybe he will come back in the afternoon. Then he will go into the mountains tomorrow and bring back some special products. I’ve been spending money very quickly these days, so I have to make up for it.”
Gu Xiaoxia put the fried pickles on the table, looked at Li Long and said:
"I don't understand things in the mountains, but you must pay attention to safety. By the way, our family's money is actually enough. I know you have great ambitions, and I won't stop you, but when you are hunting in the mountains, you must remember that you are a married man, so you can't be as reckless as before. You have to remember that there are still people in this family. Someone is waiting for you to come back.”
"Well, I know." Li Long listened to Gu Xiaoxia's confession and pinched her face with a smile, "Don't worry, I know it well. In fact, I'm scared when I meet those big guys. Afraid of being clawed by them Please scratch the bloody hole for me."
"It's good if you know." Gu Xiaoxia blushed. She didn't expect Li Long to do such a thing on a clear day. She was a little shy. He turned around quickly to pick up the steamed buns.
After breakfast, Li Long urged Gu Xiaoxia to go to work. After cleaning up briefly, he added water to the tractor, put the oil drum in the bucket, then started the tractor and drove out.
When he locked the door, he saw Officer Guo at the door of the police station with a notebook. He waved his hand after seeing Li Long. Li Long slowed down. Officer Guo pointed to the notebook. Li Long guessed that there was a meeting, so he also called. Waved, started and drove away.
He went to the market to buy grain and happened to see Sister Yang and Han Fang selling porridge. Li Long drove the tractor in front of him. Sister Yang and Han Fang also saw Li Long.
"Han Fang hasn't gone to school yet?" Li Long asked in surprise.
“We got on, she helped me push the car over, and we were off to school. It was not far away, so I asked her to go directly. She said it wouldn’t be a big deal if she pushed it over with me.”< br>
“Well, study hard.” Li Long smiled, “I’ll buy some food.”
"Uncle, go to that stall." Han Fang looked at Li Long driving the tractor with some envy. Now one dollar has a female tractor driver printed on it. Han Fang once had such an ideal, but she knew it was just a dream. Now seeing Li Long actually driving a tractor, his mind suddenly came alive again.
"Is it cheaper over there?"
"Well, not only is it cheap, the rice and noodles are also good." Han Fang is considered a well-informed person in the market, she whispered:
< br>"Uncle, that man is from Liang It’s from the store, so it’s cheap. The one over there is also from the grain store, but most of it is old grain, so it’s not cheap.”
“Okay, I understand. Go to school. , don’t be late.”
"Uncle, goodbye!"
Li Long drove his tractor to the stall Han Fang pointed to. He got out of the car and took a look, and found that the food here was indeed better, but the quantity was a little small.
I didn’t see it yesterday. It must have been sold out early.
"Boss, is that all? Is there more? If so, I want some more." After asking about the price, it was indeed two cents cheaper than yesterday, and Li Long spoke.
"How much do you want? How much do you want?" The stall owner looked at the tractor and then at Li Long. He was probably evaluating whether to do this business.
"Rice and noodles are worth two hundred kilograms," Li Long said.
It is indeed a big business. The boss made some calculations and found that the business can be done. If Li Long is telling the truth, he can earn more than 30 yuan from just this one order, which is usually 10 yuan a week!
"Okay, come on, let's pull these up. You follow me." The stall owner stood up and enthusiastically loaded the two bags of rice noodles currently on the stall with Li Long onto the tractor, and then he sat on the tractor. On the page board, give Li Long directions.
Soon, Li Long drove his tractor to the entrance of a small alley not far from the grain store. The alley was a bit narrow and the tractor couldn't drive in. The boss said:
"Wait here and I'll find someone to carry the grain out for you."
"Okay." Li Long was not worried. He had a gun on his tractor. Besides, this is in the county town, and these people are not going to be gangsters. Generally speaking, Ma County was actually relatively peaceful in 1983.
Of course, compared to the whole country, this is the case.
The stall owner jumped off the tractor neatly and walked quickly to the yard.
Soon, he walked out with two people, each carrying a bag of rice.
"I'll count, and you two carry it. There are three bags of rice and two bags of noodles here. Bring five more bags of rice and six bags of noodles." The stall owner said to the two people.
Both of them were quite strong. They didn't say anything after hearing the stall owner's words. They just turned around and went in.
Li Long guessed that these people came here to work, or from the countryside, or they just came from the mouth to make a living.
The price the stall owner quoted to Li Long just now is 42 cents per kilogram of noodles and 65 cents per kilogram of rice.
"I can't take advantage of the money you buy. I'll give you four cents for noodles, which is eighty. As for rice, I won't drop it. Although our county produces rice, a considerable part of it We’re in the mainland. There aren’t many left here. I still have some corn noodles here. Do you want them?” There are many people.
"Two cents per kilogram. If you want more, I'll give you a cent."
"Three hundred kilograms." Li Long said it was cheap, so he spoke directly.
"Great." The stall owner was happy. He was really a big customer. He couldn't help but praise his products. "Don't worry, they are all new grains bought last year. There is no old grain at all." ."
"Well, I gave it to a friend. If they think it's good, I'll come back to you later. As you can see, I'll make a lot of these, and they mainly use fine grains." Li Long handed the boss a cigarette, and the boss looked at it. Seeing that it was a golden leaf, I smiled without twitching and clamped it on my ear.
The cigarettes in Li Long's pocket are random. It mainly depends on what kind of cigarette case Li Qiang wants. Since he doesn't smoke anyway, he can have a pack of any kind.
Bags of grain were carried over, and the bucket of the tractor gradually became full. Rice and flour come in 25-kilogram bags, and corn noodles come in 50-kilogram bags. After loading 700 kilograms of stuff into the car, the bucket is basically flat.
Li Long paid the money, and after the stall owner spat on his finger and clicked it twice, he gave Li Long a thumbs up:
"The boss is very generous. I will definitely take care of my business again if I have the opportunity in the future." Ah!"
"No problem." Li Long took the crank and wanted to start the tractor. The boss said hurriedly:
"No, no, my people will come!"
< br>
He pointed to the two men to help shake the tractor, and then waved to Li Long.
Li Long drove the tractor and left in a sudden burst of black smoke, leaving behind the pleased boss and two envious workers. They were really envious of the man who could drive the tractor.
This is an iron cow!
After Li Long went to pick up Chen Xingbang, the two went to the department store together.
Carrying big and small bags of brick tea, sugar cubes, salt and other items, I also bought some batteries, snacks, ropes, plastic sheets and other other things. The back bucket of the tractor was piled full of bits and pieces, Chen Xingbang I was a little worried that the tractor would not be able to drive uphill when we entered the mountains.
People in the department store were also familiar with Li Long. There is such a person who comes and buys things for hundreds of dollars at every turn. In this era when a person spends three to five dollars and has to worry about it for a long time, how can he not be remembered?
When I was buying batteries, Xiao Liu was still at the counter and had permed his hair. He was not as enthusiastic about Li Long as before, but he still looked at Li Long with complicated eyes.
Li Long was in a hurry to buy things and didn't care so much. What he kept thinking about was that he had to send the things to the mountains today, and it was best to rush back and deliver the things to Shicheng, and then Return to the compound.
Dry firewood needs to be lit frequently.
"If you buy so many things, why don't you pay for it?" Chen Xingbang, who helped Li Long put things away and put them in, was still a little confused.
"Compensation? Haha, no compensation." Li Long started the tractor and said with a smile, "How can we compensate? They have already paid the money."
"Have you paid?" Chen Xingbang was still a little puzzled.
“Well, brother-in-law, I told you, the first money I made last year was the antlers I got from the mountains. Do you know how much I sold the antlers for?”
"I remember you said one kilogram was more than three yuan. It seemed to be sold for more than ten or twenty yuan?" Chen Xingbang vaguely remembered this incident.
"Yes, at that time they only charged me a brick of tea, a bag of salt, and two bags of sugar cubes. The extra one was only five yuan. Later they came and gave me a few pieces of jade, and that piece of jade was sold Several hundred!" Li Long said calmly while driving the tractor, "That piece of jade is just for this load. They gave it to me."
At this time, he was no longer excited. The accounts with Harimu and the others had long been settled, and there was no need to settle them. He knew what was needed in the mountains, so he sent it. The people in the mountains knew what things could be handed over to Li Long, so they found these things and left them with Li Long. Almost without reservation.
Feeling that he had almost everything, Li Long started the tractor and went to the medicine company. He bought a large package of commonly used medicines with the certificate, and then drove towards the mountains.
A cloud of smoke rose from behind the tractor. It was okay on the Wuyi Highway, but as soon as he turned towards the Qingshui River, Chen Xingbang couldn't stand it anymore. He loudly called Li Long to stop, coughed and checked the contents of the truck, and found that it was tied tightly with ropes. Question, I sat on the front page board.
There was no way to sit in the back, it was all ashes.
Li Long looked at the dust on his brother-in-law's face and thought about the meaning of the word "dusty face". He smiled and pulled out a towel from behind the seat bag and handed it to him to wipe it with before moving on.
The wind blew over, blowing Chen Xingbang's hairstyle into a slicked back. He felt a little uncomfortable. He glanced at Li Long and said loudly:
"Xiaolong, I'll give you one as well tomorrow. With a hairstyle like yours, it won’t be good if your hair grows long.”
Li Long smiled, each era has its mark, and he is considered a different kind.
The wind blew away the chill on his face, which reminded Li Long of the poem "The willow wind does not blow cold on the face." The red willows on both sides of the road had already sprouted buds, and the tractor went up all the way, which was a bit laborious. , but not too strenuous.
While waiting to cross the Qingshui River, many adults and children came out to see. Tractors are really rare these days.
After passing the Qingshui River, the mountain road became steeper. Li Long shifted to third gear and continued to move forward. When he reached the mountain pass, the water tank was already boiling.
He stopped the tractor, got out of the car and checked, and found that there was still more than half of the water and more than half of the tank of oil, which was enough.
But when driving down to the stream, Li Long stopped to fill the tractor with water, and then added half of the oil in the oil drum to ensure that there was always oil.
The rumble of the tractor broke the tranquility in the mountains. Birds flew up from time to time, but other animals were rare. Maybe they were all hiding in the woods and disappeared when they heard the noise. Li Long, who often hunts, knows that these guys have very good hearing and will be frightened by the slightest disturbance.
When the tractor arrived at Harimu's winter home, Li Long found that Harimu and his wife were already waiting at the roadside. Not only were they there, but there were also Yushanjiang and several other young men.
Li Long was a little surprised. He also found that the big hole leading from the roadside to Harimudong's Nest had been filled in, leaving only a small shallow hole for water to flow through.
The tractor can definitely drive over.
Li Long stopped the tractor, and after getting off the car, Harimu quickly came over, stretched out his hand and shook Li Long:
"Okay, Li Long?"< br>
"Okay, okay." Li Long smiled and shook hands with them one by one, then introduced Chen Xingbang to them, and finally knew:
"How did you know I was coming?"
"Yesterday I went to the animal husbandry team." Yushanjiang said with a smile, "You just I'll be there soon. I chased you on horseback for a while, but unfortunately I couldn't catch up. You tractor is too fast. I told Harim when I got back. We guessed that you would come today, so we got there early. It’s filled in here.”
Li Long smiled, so that’s it.
"Okay, let's not talk about it for now. I'll drive the tractor over and let's unload the things first." Li Long said, "I won't necessarily send them over. You can divide the things among yourself. ”
"Okay." Harimu nodded repeatedly.
The tractor drove to Dongwozi. After turning off the engine, everyone started working together and quickly unloaded the things in the tractor.
"I will have people come over today to divide these things." Harimu said: "Li Long, if you have time, you have to get some food over. Our family has enough of these, and there are still some." People want it too.”
“Okay, I’ll go back today and bring some rice and noodles over tomorrow.” This is also expected.
If it were just the current few, this food would definitely be enough. But last year, there were at least a dozen herdsmen in this tribe. Excluding some who had their own channels, they did not need to get food from Li Long. If others needed it, they would have to get one or two more trucks of food.
"Well, one cart is enough. In fact, you have been transporting grain here since last year, and we still have some grain in storage." Harimu said, "Come on, come on, come in and drink milk tea."
"First Label the medicine," Li Long said, "on each box. Write everything down so that you can’t find it when you need to take medicine.”
Li Long still remembered what Harimu said about Nathan. They went into the mountains and there was nothing there. It was really necessary. When you are sick, you have to rely on these common medicines, which is a big deal.
"Yes, yes," Yushanjiang also knew the importance of medicine, he agreed.
Li Long handed the pencil he brought to Harimu and asked him to write.
After all this was done, a group of people entered the winter nest, but they came out again after entering. It's a bit cloudy inside, and there's not enough room for so many people, so it's better to be comfortable outside.
Halimu's wife made a bowl of milk tea and brought out a bowl of Harimu, first Li Long, then Chen Xingbang.
When Chen Xingbang was holding the milk tea, he could already feel Li Long's status here. He felt that he was no different from Harimu and the others, just like one of his own.
After drinking the milk tea, a few young men began to load antlers, jade and other things into the car.
Li Long said hurriedly:
"Harimu, I have something to discuss with you this time."
"You say." Both Harimu and Yushanjiang looked at Li Long.
"My brother-in-law, he wants to buy some of your sheep and go to Shicheng to slaughter and sell them. Can you sell him some of your sheep?"
"Okay." Harry Mu agreed immediately, "How much do you want?"< br>
"Ten heads first." Chen Xingbang was a little unsure. Although he knew that if he didn't have enough money, Li Long would help him raise it, but he had self-respect and had already received so many benefits from Li Long. At this time It's better to do it yourself.
"Well, okay, if you want to leave today, I will catch it for you now and tie it up. But you have to untie the sheep as soon as possible after you pull it back, otherwise the legs will be broken. By the way, if you don't slaughter it together, I’ll give you two more bales of grass, which will last for a while.”
That’s a very thoughtful idea.
Chen Xingbang thought to himself, if everyone does business like this, then what do they have to worry about?
After Harimu said an insignificant thing, he then said to Li Long:
"They caught two young deer for you, and a small roe deer. They are all here. In the sheepfold, will you take us back together this time?”
"Okay." Li Long was very happy, "Let's go and see how old it is?"
"Seven or eight kilograms, it's still small, but it can eat grass by itself." Harimu said.
Chen Xingbang pulled Li Long and whispered:
"The price of the sheep?"
Li Long asked Halimu:
"How much does a sheep cost?"
"The people who come here to collect sheep now weigh one pound per kilogram alive. For you, just pay fifteen dollars per sheep." Harimu said.
"Okay." It's much cheaper than Chen Xingbang thought. He also believed that it was impossible for this Harimu to just weigh a lamb for him.
Besides, this is just a road exploration for the first time. If the ten sheep are all about 15 kilograms, he believes that with the addition of sheepskin and sheep water, he can sell them for more than 20 yuan.
That’s it!
I just heard Li Long say that these people are going to change roles later, so we have to think carefully about how to deal with the subsequent sheep.
Li Long doesn't care so much. If he has to teach everything, it's better for him to make money.
PS: Sorry, I forgot to post it. I only remembered it after I fell asleep, so I quickly got up and posted it. (End of this chapter)