Rebirth of Bayi Fishing and Hunting in the Northwest

Chapter 218: Borrow money? Sure, but give me something in exchange!
After May, the days became warmer and the lengths increased.

These days, Li Long would go to cast the nets every afternoon, and get up early in the morning to take out the nets and select fish to sell. The market in Shicheng has a large flow of people, and it siphons fish from several nearby counties and cities, so there is basically no situation where fish cannot be sold.

After being hot-selling for more than half a month, the sales of ditch fish have gradually calmed down, but carp, black carp and crucian carp are still popular.

Li Long would deliver carp to the meat canteen twice a week, and Zhong Guoqiang would pay on the spot, which was very pleasant. This made Li Long feel that this cooperation could indeed continue.

He also tried to sell his fish to several state-owned restaurants in Shicheng, but except for one restaurant that said it would allow Li Long to deliver fish once a week, the others were not very interested in Li Long's fish.

Li Long guessed that they should have fixed partners, or they were state-owned units themselves, and there were also state-owned fisheries at that time, so he was still worried about individuals selling fish.

So he just sat on the old street, basically going there once a day, and occasionally taking a day or two off a week.

But often when I was on break and went to sell fish the next day, old customers would come and ask why I didn’t come the first time.

Some people don't eat meat, but they like to drink fish soup, and it has become a habit. Some people say it smells fishy, ​​but some people just like the fishy smell of fish, which is normal.

Li Qingxia basically stopped going with Li Long to sell fish. He became addicted to riding a bicycle. After Li Jianguo's new bicycle came back, it became his exclusive one. Li Qingxia would go to the wheat field south of the settlement to practice riding every day.

When children learn to ride a 28-inch bicycle, they usually start by stretching their legs out, holding the left handlebar with one hand and the seat with the other hand. They put their legs through the tripod, step on the right pedal, and then start riding. This way it is easier to maintain balance.

But when adults learn to ride a bicycle, they usually just sit astride the bike, put one foot on the ground and the other on the right pedal, and slowly gain balance before starting to ride.

Li Qingxia had a good sense of balance and could ride slowly in just one day, but he would subconsciously look at his feet, afraid that he would not be able to pedal, so he practiced every day in the wheat field.

Du Chunfang sat in the yard, nagging Li Qingxia from time to time for not working and just practicing riding a bike every day. Until one day when Li Qingxia insisted on taking her to the wheat field on a bicycle, she suddenly realized that her husband was able to take people with him on a bicycle.

"When we get back home, we'll buy one and I'll take you to the market on my bike!" These were Li Qingxia's words, sounding like a promise and also like an oath.

Du Chunfang no longer nags her husband. She also becomes more diligent in the yard, chopping grass for pigs, collecting firewood, and getting up early to boil water. She sees the hard work of Li Jianguo and Liang Yuemei. Even though the youngest son is considered "lazy and gluttonous", he actually gets up early every day to get the nets, and then rides two or three hours to sell fish.

Although she smiles every day, Du Chunfang knows that the place is far away and it will definitely be hard work.

The whole family is working hard, how could life not be good?
That morning, Li Qiang got up, rubbed his eyes, and heard the sound of people outside selecting fish and commenting on the size of the fish. He put on his clothes and ran out quickly.

Li Juan was already eating, mumbling some numbers while eating. Li Qiang knew that the midterm exam was over, and Li Juan was memorizing the formulas of some wrong questions. He didn't know what the formulas were, but it was important to know.

"Qiangqiang, go wash your face, then come over and eat eggs."

"Why eat so many eggs?" Qiangqiang was a little surprised, mainly because he saw a plate of eggs on the stove. He was a little confused. He used to cook two eggs, one for him and one for his sister. Why so many today?
"Because it's your birthday today." Liang Yuemei said with a smile, "So I cooked a plate of eggs for you, you can eat them however you want..."

Li Qiang wanted to cry but had no tears. He had already seen his sister Li Juan's smile, the kind of smile she made as a joke - in fact, he was not greedy for eggs.

Other children in the village could only eat one boiled egg a week or even a month. The eggs laid by the chickens at home had to be saved and waited for the peddler to come and sell them in exchange for daily necessities.

The Li family had originally planned this, but after Li Long was able to make money, the eggs no longer had this function.

Li Jianguo and Liang Yuemei also believed what Li Long said that eating eggs and meat would help them grow taller and stronger, so after the chickens laid eggs, Li Juan and Li Qiang would basically give each of them an egg every day. It wouldn't be a sure thing, but it was basically guaranteed.

So it is true that Li Qiang is half a head taller than his peers.

The problem is that if you eat this stuff every day, you will easily get tired of it. So when Li Qiang looked at the plate of eggs, he really felt that he had no desire for life.

"What? You don't want to eat? That won't do!" Liang Yuemei said with a smile, "It's my birthday, I have to eat, even just one is fine."

"Then eat one." Li Qiang held the plate and was about to share the eggs with other family members.

"Everyone is busy, you eat first." Li Long was watching this scene with a snicker on his face, and when Li Qiang picked up the plate, he immediately said, "Okay, eat quickly."

After Li Qiang finished eating, Li Long and the others selected and divided the fish, and then prepared to sell the fish.

Li Juan had already put on her schoolbag, tied her hair, and was waiting by the bicycle.

Li Long pulled out a plastic pencil case from his back like a magic trick and handed it to Li Qiang:

"Qiangqiang, this is for you, a birthday present."

"Hey, Qiangqiang has a birthday present!" Li Jianguo said with a smile, "What is this?"

"A pencil case with magnets!" Li Qiang knew this. Some students in his class had one and had been showing it off for days. He excitedly shouted, "Thank you, uncle!"

"Alright, be gentle, all right, Juan, let's go!"

After Li Long and Li Juan left, Li Qiang was still playing with the pencil case lovingly. He took out his original iron pencil case and transferred the pens and erasers inside into the new pencil case. There was a plastic board on the new pencil case with a picture of a panda on it. If you looked at it straight, the panda was standing, but if you looked at it from the side, it was sitting. It was so beautiful!

"Alright, put it away quickly, or you'll be late!" Liang Yuemei urged, "If you continue playing with it, I'll put it away and you won't be able to use it anymore."

"No! This is given to me by my uncle!" Li Qiang said loudly, stuffed the pencil case into his schoolbag, put it on his back, and ran away.

When Li Jianguo harnessed the carriage and prepared to work, a man came to the gate of the yard.

Qin Jiajie, an old resident of the village, came a few years later than Li Jianguo and his friends. He was considered the second batch of residents to move in after the production team was established.

He came here with a family of four: him, his wife, and two daughters.

After joining the team, she gave birth to two more sons, making it a "big family".

"Old Qin, what's the matter?" Li Jianguo tied up the carriage, walked to the gate of the yard and asked.

The two families were neither close nor distant. Qin Jiajie's family lived in another settlement, commonly known as Dongzhuangzi. "Old Li, there is something going on in my hometown... Can you lend me some money..."

Li Jianguo now felt that his brother was really a shrewd person. He didn't have much money, and of course he didn't have much to spend, but he had to have an explanation for lending out the money for no reason.

So Li Long told him a long time ago that someone in the team would definitely come to borrow money, and if they wanted to borrow money, they could just push the matter to him.

Li Jianguo asked Li Long whether he would refuse or have other solutions. Li Long said, no, I can lend you money in exchange for things or work. Money cannot be lent for nothing.

Li Jianguo is popular in the team. If someone comes to borrow money from him, he will lend it to them if he has money in hand.

But he had no money, the money was in Li Long's hands, and Li Long was an adult, so anything could be said to him.

Li Jianguo felt that this was unfair to Li Long, but Li Long said that this would be of great benefit to himself and the team members as well, so Li Jianguo's idea was unnecessary.

"Lao Qin, you know my family's situation. As for cash, I don't have it, but Xiaolong does. Xiaolong told me that if anyone comes to borrow money, they should go to him. Xiaolong will be back at noon, why don't you come over at noon?"

Qin Jiajie nodded slowly and prepared to leave.

"Lao Qin, how much do you want to borrow?" Li Jianguo felt a little soft-hearted as he looked at his back and suddenly asked.

"one hundred……"

"Then I really don't have it. Let's wait for Xiaolong to come back." Li Jianguo really had no choice.

Not long after Li Long came back at noon, Qin Jiajie came over to ask again.

"Borrow a hundred? Sure." Li Long didn't ask for details, "But you have to exchange something for it."

"What can I exchange for?" Qin Jiajie smiled bitterly. "I have four children at home. They can barely keep their mouths shut. How can I have anything valuable?"

"Your eldest child is about thirteen or fourteen years old now, right?" Li Long asked.

"That's...you..." Qin Jiajie's face suddenly tensed.

"Brother Qin, don't let your imagination run wild." Li Long knew Qin Jiajie had misunderstood when he saw his expression, and waved his hand hastily, saying, "I mean, I can work and help you. Let's put it this way, in a week, I need reed leaves. Didn't you lend me a hundred yuan? I'll lend it to you now.

After a week, you can make 2,000 reed leaves for me every day, is that okay? I'll charge you 2 yuan for 2,000 reed leaves. If you make reed leaves for me for ten days, I'll reduce your salary by 20 yuan. What else do you do next? We'll think about it later. How about that? "

"Okay!" Qin Jiajie agreed immediately when he heard that it was just about beating reed leaves.

How could I not agree? Reed leaves were everywhere! There were large reed lakes to the east and west of the production team, and tall reeds grew in the ditches beside the fields. You could get these anywhere!

"But I want big ones, not rotten ones, and twenty reed leaves are tied up with a horse lotus leaf, just like that..." Li Long pulled a reed leaf from outside the yard to demonstrate.

"If you can bring five horseweed leaves per bunch, I can give you an extra dollar a day."

"Okay, okay!" When Qin Jiajie heard that he could save thirty yuan in ten days, he hurriedly agreed, fearing that Li Long would go back on his word.

"The remaining money will be paid back at the end of the year. But before the end of the year, I may have to do some side jobs for the team. When the time comes, your family can send someone to join in. No matter how much I earn, there is always hope that I can pay it back."

"Okay, okay, thank you Xiaolong, thank you!" Qin Jiajie kept saying.

Li Long took out a wad of money, counted out ten big unity notes and handed them to him: "Take this money, but we are in a business relationship, and I still need you to write an IOU."

"Okay, okay, no problem." With money in hand, the family's major difficulties were solved. Qin Jiajie only had the heart to thank Li Long at this time.

After writing the IOU, Qin Jiajie asked again:
"Xiaolong, by then we'll have to collect a lot of reed leaves..."

"If you fight too much, I'll take them all. But I estimate it will only last ten days... two weeks at most, and after that I won't take them anymore."

"Okay, okay, I got it." Qin Jiajie hurried home. He had already planned to mobilize the whole family, and even beat the kids after school. He must beat them more!

Li Jianguo watched the whole process from the side. After Qin Jiajie left, he asked:
"Are you planning to sell reed leaves for the Dragon Boat Festival? Will anyone want them?"

"I won't sell it yet, I'll give it away first." Li Long said, "From winter till now, I've received a lot of favors from them, I can't just not show any reaction. We don't have much good stuff in the countryside, and the Dragon Boat Festival is coming soon, and this is the only thing we can show off, so I'll give some of it with the fish, it's a nice gesture."

Li Jianguo smiled. His younger brother was really not like the twenty-year-old young men of today. He was very experienced in handling things, and he could not even compare to him.

Li Long sold fish for another week, and then Qin Jiajie delivered three thousand reed leaves and a bunch of tied horse lotus leaves that evening.

Li Long accepted it and directly wrote "minus three" on the IOU, which meant that Qin Jiajie's debt had become ninety-seven.

As for Li Long himself, he will have a new round of plans starting tomorrow.

Of course, he really just wanted to express his gratitude, that's all.

Thanks to the book friend Xiyu Xiaoxiaoshao for the reward, and thank you all for your support.

June has come to an end. I calculated that I have published about 400,000 words in the whole month. Except for the 40,000 words published on the 1st, the remaining days are basically around 12,000 words. I have almost used up the manuscripts in my storage. I will work hard to update in July and hope that I can continue to maintain it.

Of course, with so many chapters published, everyone was very supportive, and the subscription volume in June was quite high. I called my grandfather at home and told him that I had asked them for a lot of materials, so I would share some of the June royalties with them. The grandfather laughed and said that he would buy some Internet cafes. Although there were no big fish in the small lake, crucian carp were still good.

After half a month of heat, the weather is finally cooling down and I can concentrate on writing.

July, here we come.

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(End of this chapter)