Rebirth of Bayi Fishing and Hunting in the Northwest

Chapter 1097 Li Juan's life has changed

Before leaving, Liu Gaolou gave Li Long a small bag, saying it was a gift from his uncle Liu Shanmin, and asked him to pass it on to Li Long.

"My uncle said there's a lot of this stuff over there, but I don't know if it's useful. If it is, I'll bring more back later."

Li Long opened the small leather bag and saw a pair of corners inside.

Antelope horn!
It's not the horn of the goitered gazelle, but the horn of the saiga antelope, which grows in large numbers in Kazakhstan!
Li Long had fought a few of them before, so he had seen them and knew about them.

Liu Shanmin gave Li Long a complete pair, weighing about a kilogram.

"This thing is worth a few dozen yuan on the market." Li Long hadn't asked Jia Tianlong, but he guessed it was probably around that price.

After all, the protection law has only just been promulgated and it will take some time to be implemented. Once it is implemented nationwide, this thing will probably be more expensive.

"A few dozen yuan?" Liu Gaolou was delighted. "That's great! I'll ask my uncle to get more of these."

“Okay.” Li Long nodded. These things will become increasingly rare in the future. Even if you collect them at the current market price, their value will increase tenfold or twentyfold after a few years, so the more the better.

Li Long also invited Liu Gaolou to dinner, and the other party politely declined but then agreed.

After finishing their meal, Liu Gaolou hurriedly left with the car, saying he had to rush back to the border, as the car itself had been hired from there.

After Li Long returned, he, Sun Jiaqiang, and Liang Shuangcheng moved the licorice and astragalus into the warehouse and stored them. The warehouse was mostly full, and he thought it was time to call Jia Tianlong.

However, Jia Tianlong may not have time. His second child is about to be born, so he probably won't be available right now.

"Let's leave it for now," Li Long thought, waiting for Liu Gaolou's second visit. He could tell that although Liu Gaolou was honest, he genuinely wanted to make money. Knowing that antelope horns were expensive, he would definitely have Liu Shanmin bring them back in large quantities.

The neighboring country doesn't value this much; it's more of a craft than a medical item.

Therefore, getting them back is very easy, at least at this stage. However, once animal protection laws are widely publicized and the sale of body parts of protected animals is restricted, prices will skyrocket.

Back then, some people went to neighboring countries to find this thing. Although killing antelopes was prohibited in China, importing them from abroad wasn't strictly regulated at the time, although tariffs were high.

Further on, it was simply banned.

Stocking up at this ambiguous time is definitely useful and legal, as long as the paperwork is complete.

This is roughly Li Long's plan. After all, the neighboring country is not so strict about this, and directly killed nearly two million to tens of thousands... How many horns would that be?
For the next two days, Li Long didn't focus on that matter; he paid full attention to something else.

Li Juan got into high school!
These days, getting into high school is no less important than getting into university. Li Juan attended a middle school in a rural area. Although she studied very hard, and Gu Xiaoyu brought her a lot of study materials from Beijing, the learning environment and teachers are still very important.

So the Li family was very happy that he was able to get into high school this time.

"Juan was the top student in the whole school to get into the county's No. 1 High School," Gu Xiaoxia inquired specifically. "Among the students who got into No. 1 High School this year, her score was seventeenth in the whole county, which is very good. She ranked first among rural students."

Both the county's No. 1 and No. 2 middle schools have junior high school classes, and the students here generally have much better academic performance than those in rural areas.

Therefore, Li Juan's academic performance can be described as a remarkable achievement, and she is considered an outstanding student by the teachers of the county's No. 1 High School.

These teachers are experienced and know very well that if students can achieve such good results in that kind of environment, then Li Juan's grades will definitely be even more outstanding in the county's No. 1 High School, where everyone is in the same learning environment.

"Some teachers even privately approached the academic affairs director of No. 1 Middle School, hoping to transfer Juan to their class," Gu Xiaoxia said with emotion. "Every teacher likes a good student."

In the village middle school, only five students were admitted to high school, vocational school, and teacher training college, so it's no exaggeration to say that they were the focus of attention throughout the village.

Compared to Li Juan's dazzling achievements, Li Qiang's admission to the rural middle school with the highest score in the entire school was not particularly noteworthy.

However, Li Long treated everyone equally, giving Li Juan a reward of one hundred yuan and Li Qiang fifty yuan—but Liang Yuemei quickly took Li Qiang's money away, leaving him with only five yuan.

Both of them have new schoolbags, pencil cases, pens, notebooks and other school supplies.

Li Juan was going to live at school, so Gu Xiaoxia prepared a whole set of new bedding for her in advance and also took her to buy some personal items that girls should have.

Liang Yuemei knew these things needed to be bought, but she didn't go to the county often and wasn't familiar with the current situation, so Gu Xiaoxia took the initiative to take on this task.

Overall, everyone was paying attention, so Li Juan herself felt more relaxed, though a little uneasy.

She had never lived in a dormitory before and had no experience or habit of sharing a room with strangers. Although she was somewhat drawn to it, she was still young and didn't know how to handle it.

"Don't worry, just stay here. Of course, your main task is still studying," Gu Xiaoxia reassured her. "Everyone in our family is of good character, so if anything happens, it's either a misunderstanding or someone else's problem."

Your main task at school is to study; just don't get involved in any of the other miscellaneous things.

Social skills are cultivated and developed; simply talking about them is not enough.

On August 26th, the first year of high school at the county's No. 1 Middle School started. Li Long drove his jeep and took Li Jianguo and Li Juan into the school.

The jeep pulled up at the gate, and the security guard dutifully registered it before letting it in.

At this time, there weren't many ceremonies for new students. Li Long drove through the teaching area to the dormitory area in the south, where new students were already registering.

After registration, dormitories were assigned according to class. Because Li Long and his classmates arrived early, they took an upper bunk as suggested by Gu Xiaoxia.

A girl came to the dormitory and was making her bed. When she saw Li Long and the others come in, she didn't say anything, but just looked at them curiously.

The dormitories at the county's No. 1 High School were quite old, containing only a table and a few bunk beds. Students had to leave most of their belongings on the beds. The buildings were all single-story, and at this time, there was no rule prohibiting men from entering the girls' dormitories—after all, it was only the beginning of the semester, and many parents were dropping their children off.

After making Li Juan's bed and placing her things under the covers at the head of the bed, Li Long and Li Jianguo came out.

Another girl came; it's still inconvenient.

Li Juan followed him out, and Li Long then told her about the things Gu Xiaoxia had mentioned.

"Keep your money with you. Since you live on the top bunk, it won't get dirty easily when someone comes to the dorm—after all, there are no chairs in the dorm, so if you want to sit, you can only sit on the bottom bunk."

The toiletries are in a basin under the lower bunk. It's hard to keep an eye on them since you're all in class and everyone has a key; it's unpredictable how easily they might get lost. If they are lost, don't bother looking for them; you probably won't find them. Just go buy a new set.

“That won’t do!” Li Jianguo disagreed. “We still need to look for them; we can’t let people think our family is rich…”

Well, this is something only Li Juan can decide; we'll deal with each situation individually.

Li Juan is in Class 2 of the first year of high school. According to Gu Xiaoxia's understanding, the homeroom teacher is a math teacher who is very experienced, while the Chinese teacher is relatively young and interacts more with the students.

Gu Xiaoxia didn't come; she was at work. Some things had already been arranged in advance, so there was no need for her to make a special appearance at this time.

Li Long originally wanted to buy Li Juan another women's bicycle, but Li Jianguo refused. Li Juan also said that her current bicycle was fine and she didn't need one.

Li Long thought he should just wait and see. He believed that Li Juan would definitely get into university, and they would talk about it then.

At that time, the county's No. 1 High School wasn't a key high school yet, but its teaching quality was still acceptable. Gu Xiaoxia had actually considered telling Li Long before whether to transfer Li Juan to the state's No. 1 High School, where the teaching quality would be better. Li Long told Li Jianguo about it, but Li Jianguo said it wasn't necessary; he believed that if Li Juan studied hard at No. 1 High School, she could get into university.

It's not that the No. 1 High School in the prefecture is bad, but it's far away, so if anything happens, they can't take care of you.

After making the bed, the two adults took Li Juan on a tour of the school's shops at the entrance, the water room in the dormitory area, the teaching building, and other areas.

At noon, Li Jianguo and Li Long accompanied Li Juan to get lunch, gave her many instructions, and then left.

After watching her father and uncle leave, Li Juan carried her lunchbox back to her dormitory alone. Three other students were already eating there; the beds were full.

When Li Juan came in, a classmate kindly gave up a corner of the table for her to put her rice bowl on.

For lunch, I got steamed buns and vegetables. The school cafeteria has three serving areas, all privately contracted, and the food is neither plentiful nor delicious.

Li Juan knew the food wasn't good, but she couldn't care less at this moment. Actually, Li Long had said Li Juan could stay at his house and just ride her bicycle to school every day. The courtyard was less than two kilometers from the county's No. 1 Middle School, a ten-minute bike ride.

Li Juan felt embarrassed to stay at her uncle's house, so she insisted on living at school. Besides, living at school meant she could have evening study sessions, and studying with classmates in the classroom every night might create a better learning atmosphere.

The first challenge was the food. For an average student, the food was just average, if not really good. Li Juan's family's meals were better than most families' at that time, so it was normal that she couldn't get used to it.

Fortunately, this isn't an insurmountable habit. I'll just eat with my eyes closed; I can't go hungry anyway.

They chatted and ate together, and quickly became acquainted. The students living on campus here were from relatively remote towns, such as Liuhudi, Beiwucha, and Letuyi; and the same dormitory housed not only freshmen but also students in their second and third years of high school.

Li Juan quickly became friends with two classmates from the same school, one in her class and the other in another.

Young people always adapt quickly. Although she is only fifteen years old, Li Juan has already taken the first step in living on her own.

My initial worries turned into curiosity. After eating, I washed the enamel basin in the water room and then wandered around the school with my classmates.

Li Long took his older brother back to the courtyard for lunch. He could tell his brother was still a little worried, so he said:
"Let Juan stay here for a while first. If she doesn't like it, she can stay with me. I have many houses nearby, so I'll set aside a room for her, install a stove, and it will be convenient for her to study and so on."

Li Jianguo naturally had no objection to this.

After having dinner, Li Long took Li Jianguo back to the fourth team and then chatted with Li Qiang, who hadn't started school yet.

Li Qiang was also quite curious about going to junior high school, but also a little confused. Fortunately, the junior high school was only one kilometer away from the elementary school, and since Li Juan had been there before, it wasn't too unfamiliar to him.

Li Long asked him what his thoughts were, and he said he must study hard in junior high school like his sister, and then take the high school entrance exam and go to university.

Alright, you've got ambition.

Li Qiang went to register for middle school the next day. He now needs to ride his bicycle to school every day. His older sister has already gone to boarding school, so he's all alone every day. Li Qiang is still a little unaccustomed to it, so he talks to Li Long more.

Li Juan kept all the materials Gu Xiaoyu sent from Yanjing, intending to give them to Li Qiang. However, Li Qiang wasn't thinking about that right now; he was wondering how many people in the fourth team were going to middle school with him, and how many of them would be his classmates.

Li Long returned to the county, where the streets were quite lively during this time. Many students had been admitted to the county's No. 1 high school, and many parents who came to send their children to school would buy all the necessary daily necessities in the county, and then take some things back with them when they left.

Even Li Long's purchasing station saw a surge in sellers. High school tuition was required, and some people had just paid their grain tax but hadn't sold their surplus grain. Lacking money at home, they brought some of their stock to the purchasing station to pay their children's tuition and save money for food.

Li Juan receives ten yuan a week. Li Jianguo inquired about it and found that it was mainly for food, drink, and some unexpected expenses, which was enough. She kept the money Li Long gave her for emergencies.

On the first Saturday afternoon after school started, Li Long went to pick up Li Juan from school. Because he had to take her luggage, Li Long had driven Li Juan home when school started, so Li Juan hadn't ridden her bicycle. She planned to ride her bicycle to school by herself this Sunday afternoon, so that she could go home by herself every weekend from now on.

She only plans to go to Li Long's house when it's inconvenient.

Li Long originally planned to take her out for a meal in the county before going back, but Li Juan insisted on going back.

On the way back, Li Juan kept talking to Li Long about school.

"Yang Fenghua's home is in Liuhudi, which is quite far away. She only comes back once every two weeks. Every morning she eats fried noodles. She goes to the water room to get hot water, then puts the fried noodles in a bowl, pours in the boiling water, stirs it up, and it's like a paste."

She didn't put much in the fried noodles, and then ate them with the pickled vegetables she brought with her—that was her breakfast.

"And then there's Han Yingzi, whose family is from Beiwucha. She also brought pickled vegetables with her, eating them not only in the morning but also in the evening. She only buys lunch at school. I think she's malnourished; she's so thin..."

"The students in grades 11 and 12 are really hardworking. They get up very early in the morning, and they have already been memorizing their books for a while before they do morning exercises. After evening self-study, some of them are still reading in bed with flashlights."

"Some people like to have fun. Some rent houses outside the school and cook for themselves. There are people growing vegetables near our school, so we buy some from their fields. Some even steal some vegetables to boil themselves, without much oil..."

“When we were chatting, I learned that some people living in the county didn’t have a good life. A family only had six kilograms of meat ration coupons a month, and that was with bones. One meal of dumplings could eat half a month’s worth of meat, and they could only eat dumplings once every few months… I didn’t really realize it before, but now I know that our family is much better off…”

As Li Long listened, he thought about the fried noodles Li Juan mentioned. This wasn't the kind of fried noodles you get in restaurants, but fried flour, the kind the Volunteer Army ate. Of course, it was better than that.

That stuff is what many families eat for breakfast these days. It's made by frying flour in a pan with lard over low heat until it turns a golden brown. When you want to eat it, you scoop a spoonful into a bowl, pour boiling water over it to make a paste, similar to oil tea in some places.

These days, life isn't easy for many families in the city. After all, resources aren't as abundant, and even if both parents work, their wages have to support the whole family, plus children in school, making ends meet is still a struggle.

So although Li Long looked down on his second brother and brother-in-law's behavior, he could understand it.

After all, the title of eating government-subsidized grain is nice, but in terms of quality of life, it's far behind my own, and of course, it's not as good as my older brother's family either.

The situation at Li Long's family is not comparable. Even at the home of his elder brother, Li Jian, they can eat at least ten kilograms of meat every month, not counting fish and eggs.

Li Juan and Li Qiang have no shortage of eggs, and in fact, they are somewhat averse to boiled eggs.

In this day and age, many children are overjoyed to eat boiled eggs, but they don't really like them; fried eggs are much better.

“My parents said, ‘Uncle, if it weren’t for you, our family’s life would probably be similar to theirs,’” Li Juan suddenly said, pulling Li Long back to reality.

“How could that be?” Li Long laughed. “You underestimate your parents. Juan, let me tell you, even without me, your parents could still give you and Qiangqiang a better life than they do.”

Li Long firmly believed this.

Li Juan was somewhat surprised that her idolized uncle spoke so highly of her parents.

Li Long then told her some stories about his older brother and sister-in-law when they were young, so that she would know that her parents were also legendary figures in their youth.

Children at this age still admire authority figures. In the past, they admired Li Long because they saw how he could make money, hunt, and catch fish.

Listening to Li Long talk about his parents' youth is like listening to a story, and the impression is just as deep.

When the car returned to the fourth team, the sun had just set, dinner was ready, and everyone at home was waiting. It was the first time Li Juan had been away from home for so long, and everyone was incredibly excited.

Even Du Chunfang kept asking how the food was at school, whether the accommodations were comfortable, and so on. For an ordinary farming family, having a high school student is something they really value.

Good.

(End of this chapter)