Rebirth of Bayi Fishing and Hunting in the Northwest

Chapter 157 The Anti-Voting Office Arrested People
In the village, Li family.

Liang Yuemei was feeding chickens in the yard. The eldest sister-in-law of the Lu family came over, looked at the hen with chicks with envy, and listened to the grunts of the piglets in the pigpen. She smiled and said:

"Your family is really getting rich this time. When we slaughter pigs in winter, each pig can be sold for dozens of yuan! By the way, where is Qiangqiang's father? Did he not go to work today? Did he go to work in the fields?"

"No, I went to see the team leader." Liang Yuemei smiled as she fed the chickens, "Didn't the team notify us that if we feed eight pigs, we will be considered a professional pig farmer. According to the regulations of the commune, we will be given a few acres of fodder land."

"That's great!" The eldest sister-in-law of the Lu family had one more thing to envy, but she immediately asked doubtfully:
"I remember you had six little pigs at home, did you buy more?"

"No, Xiaolong caught five little wild boars from the mountains and raised them in the stable. I don't know if they can survive."

"Yes, yes, yes. Xiaolong and you haven't separated, so we are considered one." The eldest sister-in-law of the Lu family nodded repeatedly, and then said admiringly, "Xiaolong is really promising. He can even catch this wild boar. It's amazing! By the way, does Xiaolong have a partner?"

"I didn't ask." Liang Yuemei shook her head. "Xiaolong has grown up and has his own ideas. It's not our place to get involved in this matter."

"I heard that he was talking to Gu Jia Xiaoxia?" The eldest sister-in-law of the Lu family actually wanted to ask about this.

"Let young people talk about their own affairs." Liang Yuemei neither admitted nor denied, "Nowadays, we value free love."

"That's true, but I heard that after Gu Jia Xiaoxia arrived at the commune middle school, she became very popular. Many young male teachers and some cadres of the commune were attracted to her!"

The commune was only changed to a township this year, so the two of them are not used to it and still refer to it as a commune. Not to mention now, even 20 or 30 years later, some elderly people in remote areas are still used to calling townships and towns communes.

"Really?" Liang Yuemei stopped what she was doing, then nodded, a little melancholy, "Yes, Xiaoxia is pretty, educated, has a formal job, and eats commercial grain now, so there must be a lot of people who want to marry her. I just don't know..."

"Alas, now that we are eating commercial grain, our status will be different. It's not easy for us country people to live together." Mrs. Lu's meaning was very clear. Li Long should stop going after this tree. He will be a city dweller in the future. How could he be interested in a country person like you?

It’s better to find someone of equal status and get married while you’re still young.

Young people get married quite early these days, and almost everyone in their early twenties has a partner ready to get married. There are almost no people getting married in their thirties or forties like in later generations - if there are any, they will be looked down upon in the village.

Old bachelors have a bad reputation.

Liang Yuemei was also a little melancholy, but it was hard for her to tell Li Long about his affairs. Should she tell Li Long now that he and Gu Xiaoxia were not suitable for each other and he should find someone else?

She naturally knew what Mrs. Lu was thinking. She wanted to introduce a relative to Li Long, but Li Long was obviously not interested in that.

The two were chatting when they heard footsteps outside the yard. The sound was light and quick. They both turned their heads to look outside, and then a person they didn't expect appeared - Gu Xiaoxia.

Now both of them blushed. After all, the most embarrassing thing is to gossip about someone and that person just happens to come over. Although they knew that the other person couldn't hear what they just said, they were still a little embarrassed.

"Auntie...Aunt Lu, you are here too." Gu Xiaoxia didn't know how to address her.

Because when the production team was first established, there were only two or three local families, and the rest came from all over the country. Gu Xiaoxia's father and Li Jianguo were both founders of the original production team, so they were considered peers. In this case, Gu Xiaoxia should call Liang Yuemei aunt or aunt, depending on which side of the family is closer to hers or the Li family.

But Li Long is Li Jianguo's younger brother. If that's the case, then Gu Xiaoxia can't call him Li Long. So now everyone in the team has their own opinions.

For example, Tao Daqiang calls Li Long "Brother Long", but Li Qiang calls Tao Daqiang "Brother Daqiang", which is quite confusing.

But the villagers didn't pay much attention to it. It was just a name, and it had nothing to do with family ties. It was up to each person. A very few more traditional people would correct it, but they could only correct their own family members, not others.

So Gu Xiaoxia called Liang Yuemei "Auntie" according to the old name, but it felt a bit awkward after she called her that. After all, although her relationship with Gu Long had not yet broken the window paper, she felt that it was almost the same.

"Xiaoxia is here," Liang Yuemei responded and said with a smile, "Come on, come on, don't we have classes today?"

"I don't have any classes this morning." Gu Xiaoxia explained, and then handed over the cloth bag in her hand:

"Aunt, these are two pairs of shoes I made in my spare time... It's hard to make jackets where we are, so I can only make two pairs..."

Mrs. Lu was puzzled at first, but then she suddenly realized:

"You want Xiaolong to bring it to your dad, right?"

The villagers all knew that the people from the sideline team went into the mountains to form the team leader. The team leader decided who to choose. Although the eldest sister-in-law of the Lu family was a little depressed that no one from her family went, she thought that she had to work on her own land, so she just let it go. Now after hearing what Gu Xiaoxia said, she felt that this was the case.

"Well, one pair is for my dad, and the other pair is..." Gu Xiaoxia's voice suddenly became softer, and her face turned red, "It's for Li Long. I haven't seen him at school these two days, and I don't know when he will be back, so..."

Mrs. Lu was a little stunned!
Is this how the shoes are made?
Liang Yuemei reacted very quickly, smiled and pulled Gu Xiaoxia and said:
"Come on, come on, come inside and have a rest first! I'll pour you some water! Later, I'll cook for you... You haven't been here for a long time, let's have a good chat..."

No one knew when the eldest sister-in-law of the Lu family returned home.

She just couldn't understand why Gu Jia Xiaoxia, who was already eating commercial grain, would take the initiative to find Li Jia Xiaolong?

Li Jia Xiaolong is an excellent child, but no matter how excellent he is, he is still a country boy and a farmer.

To put it bluntly, in the eyes of some people in the village, Gu Ermao, that second-rate guy, has a better future than Li Long.

Gu Xiaoxia clearly had a better future, so why did she go back to the village?
Liang Yuemei also had this idea, but she didn't care too much. Gu Xiaoxia remembered Li Long's kindness and made shoes for him, which was already a very obvious hint. Is there anything else to say?

So at noon, even though Gu Xiaoxia repeatedly said she had classes at school in the afternoon, Liang Yuemei still prepared rice early, mixed a cold dish, and fried two meat dishes to treat her, and when she left, she specifically asked her to take a piece of bacon back with her.

Gu Xiaoxia was actually relieved as she walked to school. Now, Li Long should know what she felt for him, right? Then, what would he do next?

Gu Xiaoxia became a little nervous again.

After buying things, Li Long returned to the compound, rested for a while, then stood up his bicycle and started loading things on it.

The flour is at the bottom, but you can't put too much, just one bag on each side. Next is the sack for the radio, which can't be laid down, it has to be tied up with a rope, and it can't be loose or tilted, which is a laborious job.

Li Long tied up the radio, and then put the batteries, shoes and other things in the bag, and hung them on both sides of the front handlebars. It was a bit difficult to push it out. But the 28-inch bar was strong and durable, and Li Long knew that as long as he stepped on it and rode a few times, he would be able to fly.

Li Long went to open the door, pushed the bicycle out, and when he leaned against the wall and was about to turn around and lock the door, two men in Zhongshan suits came over and sandwiched him on the left and right. The man on the left said sternly:

"We are the anti-vote office. You have committed a crime. Come with us!"

The Anti-Speculation Office was a rather special institution that emerged during this period. Its full name was the "Office to Combat Speculation and Profiteering". It had considerable power, and for a considerable period of time, people were often brought in to fight against it.

As soon as Li Long heard this, he knew that he was being watched. He waved his hands and said:

"Misunderstanding, misunderstanding! I am not engaging in speculation. I have a letter of introduction here... I work for the supply and marketing cooperative..."

"What letter of introduction do you have as a countryman? Does your production team allow you to do such a thing? Are you from the supply and marketing cooperative? Do you know which way the door of the supply and marketing cooperative faces?" The man on the right sneered and said:
"Stop talking so much nonsense, push your bike and follow us! You even ride a bike, it seems that you have been undermining socialism! Do you know? You are committing an economic crime! You will stay in the fence from now on!"

When Li Long heard that the other party even mentioned the words of undermining socialism, he knew that it was useless to say more and could only explain it after he went to their office.

The office of the Anti-Vote Office is located diagonally opposite the county party committee, in a flat courtyard.

After bringing Li Long in, the young man who was talking behind was about to untie the things on the back of the bicycle, but Li Long had already taken out his certificate and said:
"Comrade, I am really a purchaser for the supply and marketing cooperative. These things are being sent to the mountains. Don't touch them!"

"Haha!" The young man didn't listen to his explanation at all. He untied the rope roughly and then pulled down the bag containing the radio.

Li Long was quick-witted and quickly stepped forward to hold up the bag, then said angrily:

"Can't you be a little more gentle? There's a radio in here! It costs dozens of dollars. Can you afford to pay for it if it breaks?"

The young man did not expect to be scolded by Li Long, nor did he expect that there was an expensive radio inside. He was stunned for a moment, then glanced around and found that several colleagues were looking at him. He felt a little embarrassed and said angrily:

"What if they are broken? You are digging into the corners of socialism and engaging in speculation. Do you think you are justified? I tell you! This is the evidence of your crime! These things must be confiscated! As for whether they are broken or not, that has nothing to do with you!"

"Still digging into socialism?" Li Long was so angry that he laughed, "Have you not come out of that era? Now we have reform and opening up, wake up comrade!"

Now that the relationship has been exposed, Li Long knows that this matter cannot be resolved peacefully, and he no longer intends to keep the peace.

This low-level kid must be difficult to deal with. If I don’t make things bigger, I will definitely suffer in silence!

Sure enough, the man's face turned red after hearing what Li Long said: "Are you looking for death? I'm telling you, you've made a big fuss today! A radio costs fifty yuan! With your money, I can sentence you to ten years!"

"Do you really think you can cover up everything?" Li Long was not to be outdone. If his voice was not loud enough, it would not attract more powerful leaders. "Which law stipulates that a person cannot buy more radios? Do you need to provide evidence if you accuse me of speculation?"

The young man didn't expect Li Long to be so tough. In the past, when they caught the small vendors, they were all obedient, paying fines when asked to, and confiscating their goods when they wanted to. They had never encountered such a troublemaker!
The problem was that they were still in the yard, not in the office. If they wanted to use a dirty trick, they had to be careful of the leaders across the street. The young man glanced around, and then saw Gu Ermao sneaking around the office door. He was overjoyed and said:
"come here!"

He sneered and said to Li Long:
"The people who pointed out your mistakes are here! Don't think we don't know your true colors! You are just a farmer, where did you get the money to buy so many radios? If not speculation, what else could it be?"

Gu Ermao originally thought that he would just secretly file a complaint and report Li Long to bring bad luck to him. It would be best if he could be jailed for a few days, and when he came out he would be a disgrace to the streets.

Unexpectedly, when the people here heard this, they did not let him go at all, and took him directly to the Anti-Voting Office to make him testify!

Gu Ermao was now at a loss, but he couldn't leave. He wanted to hide, but the young man saw him.

But at this time he had no choice but to bite the bullet and come out and stand opposite Li Long.

"Tell me what you saw again!" The young man didn't care about anything else at this time and said loudly to Gu Ermao.

Gu Ermao cursed the young man to death in his heart.

But he had to say it at this moment, the arrow was on the string and he had no say in it anymore.

Just as Gu Ermao said a few words, a middle-aged man came out from the office and asked with a frown:

"What are you making so much noise for? Don't you know what the impact is? With such loud noises, someone who doesn't know would think we are a vegetable market!"

After he finished speaking, he saw the two parties confronting each other in the yard, the bicycle, and the pile of things, and asked:
"Xiao Hu, what's going on?"

Xiao Hu was the first one to speak to Li Long, but he didn't say a word after entering the yard.

Xiao Hu told the story again. The young man tried to interrupt him several times, but Xiao Hu spoke too quickly and finished what he said in one breath.

"You said that you are a purchasing agent for the supply and marketing cooperative?" After listening, the middle-aged man grasped the key point and asked Li Long.

"How could he be a buyer?" The young man who was confronting Li Long was unhappy when he heard this and pointed at Gu Ermao and said:
"They are from the same village. This person said that Li Long is a person who does not work properly and is engaged in speculation! He is cheating people!"

Li Long handed the certificate to the middle-aged man and said:

"Here is the proof. I am a purchaser for our county supply and marketing cooperative. This time, our purchasing section chief Li Xiangqian assigned a task to a group of porters from the mountains. The supplies I brought were delivered to the mountains. If you don't believe me, you can call the supply and marketing cooperative to confirm it."

After saying this, the young man was stunned for a moment.

Li Long didn’t say that before!

That Gu Ermao swore that Li Long was a second-rate person who did not do his job properly and had been engaged in speculation for almost half a year, but he didn't mention this!
After looking at the certificate, the middle-aged man glanced at Li Long, then turned his head and looked deeply at the young man, then turned and went to the office.

Li Long guessed that he must have made a phone call.

(End of this chapter)