Rebirth of Bayi Fishing and Hunting in the Northwest

Chapter 138 Fish for piglet?

Li Long rode a bicycle with sackcloth on the back seat. Li Juan sat on it, holding on tightly to the iron pipe on the back seat, looking excitedly to both sides. Once she spotted a classmate, she would shout loudly.

Li Long rode his bike all the way to the elementary school with a smile on his face. After Li Juan got off the bike, he waved to her and hurried to the middle school.

The middle school had not started yet. Li Long rode to the teachers' dormitory, set up his bike and walked to the door with his things. He saw that Gu Xiaoxia's dormitory door was open and she was packing her things inside, so he called out:
"Xiaoxia."

"You're here." Gu Xiaoxia turned around and smiled when she heard Li Long's voice. "Why are you up so early?"

"The morning market opens early, so it's better to go early to sell the fish." Li Long walked into the dormitory naturally, put the basket on the ground, and said:

"Here are the fish I caught this morning. I didn't bring them big enough for you because I was afraid it would be difficult to cook."

"I like crucian carp slices the most. This fish is just right, but there are too many..."

"Not much, just give some to your colleague." Li Long opened the cloth bag and said:
"This contains braised pork and mutton, which are sealed with oil. When you eat, pick up a chopstick or scoop a spoonful. It will last for a while. I will bring you more later. By the way, this is bacon. You know we are not used to pickling this, so the saltiness may be too strong, but fortunately it will not go bad. Don't add salt when you cook it. Taste it to see if it is salty enough. If it doesn't taste good, wash it thoroughly..."

Listening to Li Long's nagging instructions, Gu Xiaoxia smiled and said nothing.

After giving the order, Li Long said:

"I'm leaving now. There are a lot of fish today. I think it will take me more than an hour to sell them all. I'll come to see you in two days. Take care of yourself."

After saying that, Li Long went out and rode away on his bike. Gu Xiaoxia only had time to run to the door and shouted:
"Be safe!"

Li Long didn't look back, waved his hand, and turned out of the school.

"Is this your partner?" Teacher Wang Qihua next to him asked curiously.

"Not yet... yet." Gu Xiaoxia said with a slightly red face, but added in her heart, in fact, it should be forgotten after a while, right?
There are not many local people in northern Xinjiang. The production team where Li Long works has only 200 to 300 people. Except for the younger generation who are from the local area, the parents come from all over the country, so there are basically no old customs. There may be some preference for boys over girls, but it is not serious. Girls can go to school as well; it is normal for men and women to fall in love freely.

Of course, everyone is still very persistent about commercial grain. This has nothing to do with habit, but mainly because of the difference in treatment.

"He's very nice to you. What does he do?"

"Farmers." said Gu Xiaoxia.

"Then...are you willing?"

"Why wouldn't you want to?" Gu Xiaoxia asked back, "I'm a farmer too, there's not much difference."

"But you are a teacher, not a farmer. You earn dozens of yuan a month, and he may not even earn half of what you earn in a whole year. How can they be the same?" Teacher Wang did not look down on farmers. She was talking about the issue from the perspective of life.

"But Li Long can earn what I earn in a month in one day." Gu Xiaoxia sighed, "Look, he has a bicycle, a sewing machine, a horse, and a carriage..."

"Is his family a landlord?" Teacher Wang Qihua was a little surprised. "How come he is so rich?"

"No, he earned it all by himself. Look, he went to sell fish today and caught 40 to 50 kilograms of fish a day. Even if it's 50 cents a kilogram, that's more than 20 yuan a day..."

Wang Qihua stopped talking. Such young men are rare! Even if he is a farmer, there are still many girls who want to pursue him, right?

Now she was worried about Gu Xiaoxia instead.

Li Long rode his bicycle to the big meat canteen, parked his bicycle outside, opened the door curtain and shouted:

"Manager Zhong, Manager Zhong!" Zhong Guoqiang walked out.

"Manager Zhong, do you want some big fish? The big ones are over three kilograms, and some are over two kilograms."

Although Li Long caught a lot of fish this time, there were fewer carp than yesterday. There were more silver carp, bighead carp and grass carp, and fewer black carp.

"Yes, I want the three-kilogram ones, and give me three more that are over two kilograms. How much is one kilogram?"

"One dollar." Li Long did not lower the price just because Zhong Guoqiang was an acquaintance. The main reason was that selling fish here would delay going to the morning market, but if he sold the fish after returning, the fish might be dead.

"Okay." Zhong Guoqiang nodded. He knew the market price.

The four fish weighed a total of more than ten kilograms but less than eleven kilograms. Li Long rounded off the change and took ten yuan. He politely declined Manager Zhong's invitation to breakfast, saying that he was in a hurry to go to the morning market to sell fish.

After returning to the yard, taking a basin and a scale, Li Long rode quickly to the morning market. Pushing his cart over, he found that there was only one store selling fish today, but there was one more store selling meat.

To his surprise, there really were people selling piglets, and there were two of them.

He decided there was no need to rush, and noticed that someone selling eggs in the middle of the stall had sold out early and was about to leave, so he immediately went over to take the seat, put down the basin, poured the fish, and started shouting out his wares.

Some people bought fish yesterday and thought they were good, so they came to see him again today. Others heard the hawking and asked about the price and thought the fish was cheap, so they gathered around him.

In addition, because Li Long's position was good today, a lot of people came here at once.

Li Long was quite experienced. He shouted as he fished:

"Everyone, everyone! Don't push! Otherwise, if the fish are knocked over, no one will be able to buy them. There are a lot of fish, more than 50 kilograms, and everyone must have one. Come one by one. Old man, do you want two dollars for crucian carp? Great!"

Li Long was keeping an eye on all directions and keeping an ear to all directions. While catching fish, weighing fish and collecting money, he also had to be on guard against people trying to take advantage of the situation. He saw more than one person trying to reach into the basin and pull or pinch the fish, so he kicked those hands out without hesitation:

"There are too many people, don't pinch the fish. If you pinch them to death, it's my loss. Let's understand each other and don't go too far!"

The person who stretched out his hand wanted to get angry, but Li Long took the initiative and made him face the glares of many people - buying fish is already urgent, and now that someone is disrupting it, others will naturally not be polite.

Li Long vaguely recognized that the person pinching the fish was the person who was selling fish at the stall before.

Is it because my fish price is too low that makes the other party unhappy, or is it because my business is too good and the other party is jealous?
Fortunately, the first group of people who bought fish left soon, and there were fewer people behind them. Only then did Li Long catch his breath and relax.

This group of people who bought fish bought more than ten kilograms of fish and earned more than ten yuan. Li Long felt his mood suddenly improved.

The next few people came to buy fish. Li Long took the opportunity to look at the man selling piglets and found that one of them had already left. He didn't know whether he had sold all his fish or left without selling anything.

The remaining one was also looking around. Li Long was a little anxious. He thought about it and took advantage of the fact that no one was buying fish and ran over to ask:
"Brother, how did you sell this piglet? Is it male or female?"

"One male and one female, ten dollars each." When the man saw someone asking the price, his eyes lit up and he said hastily, "I have too many at home and can't afford to keep them, so I'm selling them. Look, they're not just for padding, they're very healthy!"

Li Long hesitated a little. He turned his head to look at his fish stall and said:
"Brother, I'm selling fish over there and can't stay for long. I just want to ask, is two for 16 dollars okay? Okay, I'll take it now. I'm still selling fish over there, so I have to go back now."

The man hesitated.

To sell or not?
Thanks to the reward from my friend who wrote Maple Leaf Love, the Yili-Zhao Highway is about to be opened. A lot of efforts have been made in tourism in Yili - both Duku and Yili-Zhao will be opened many days earlier than in previous years, which is great!

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(End of this chapter)