Rebirth of Bayi Fishing and Hunting in the Northwest

Chapter 240 Gu Xiaoxia's Double Happiness
Li Long rode his bicycle and took Gu Xiaoxia back to the middle school. At first, neither of them spoke.

However, Li Long could clearly feel that although Gu Xiaoxia was also quite reserved, they were obviously closer because of their engagement. When the road was uneven and the car was unstable, she no longer just held on to the back seat, but would subconsciously hold on to her clothes.

This is obviously an expression that is more closely related.

"Do we still need to prepare lessons when we go back?" Li Long took the initiative to ask, "Do we still need to guard the school during the holidays?"

"No more preparations. The exam is coming up soon, and now the main thing is to urge the students to review well - the class is over. I can go home after the holiday. We female teachers don't have to stay at school."

Li Long thought it was pretty good. At least he was happier than the teacher in his previous life. He remembered that in his previous life, the more time went by, the more responsibilities the teacher had. During the holidays, he would be assigned many tasks that were not related to teaching, and the pressure was getting greater and greater.

Of course, he only knew some things that could be seen on the surface, and he didn't know the details.

Moreover, the degree of respect students have for teachers is different nowadays. The authority of teachers is still maintained because of "Heaven, Earth, Emperor, Parents, and Teachers", and beating, scolding, and corporal punishment still exist.

But Li Long felt that similar things happened less frequently in the schools here. After all, the population was small, and many traditional things were destroyed in newly built villages and towns.

Of course, parents generally attach great importance to education. Both boys and girls must go to school, and those who study well will receive more attention in the village. This is inevitable.

Gu Xiaoxia would also chat with Li Long about the good and naughty students in the class. Li Long would jokingly say:

"Although you are focusing on academic performance now, let me tell you that in 10 or 20 years, the ones who often visit you are probably the naughty ones. There won't be many students who have passed the exams and found good jobs and have the chance to come back to visit you."

"No way?" Gu Xiaoxia obviously didn't believe it.

"Then have you... seen your teacher?" Li Long suddenly asked.

"My high school teacher was rehabilitated and returned to the mainland!" Gu Xiaoxia retorted, "We haven't had much contact since then. Otherwise, I would definitely go to see him."

"Well, you are kind and loyal." Li Long had to say.

"That's more like it!" Gu Xiaoxia is a little arrogant. After getting engaged, the feeling is different and she can relax a little in her personality.

We arrived at school while chatting and laughing.

The sun was setting. Li Long sat in Gu Xiaoxia's dormitory for a while. Teachers who lived on campus came back one after another. Some came to greet Gu Xiaoxia, bring her things, and some came to watch the fun.

Li Long knew that it was not good to stay any longer, so he stood up and said:

"I'll come back tomorrow."

"When will you come tomorrow?" Although Gu Xiaoxia was reluctant, she also knew that it was not suitable for Li Long to stay any longer.

"I'll go back and cast the nets later. I'll sell the fish tomorrow morning. By the time I'm done selling the fish, it will be almost noon by the time I get to your place. Will you cook for lunch? If not, I'll take you to the county on my bike to eat."

"How can I make it in time? I'll cook and wait for you." Gu Xiaoxia said.

"Okay." Li Long smiled.

Li Long rode his bicycle out of school and rushed to the team.

Gu Xiaoxia started packing the things she brought.

There were two bags of candy, which were gifts from the Li family when they got engaged. Gu Xiaoxia planned to share them with her colleagues as a gesture of respect.

It also puts an end to the thoughts of those who are plotting against her.

This is Gu Xiaoxia’s own idea.

Teacher Wang came over from the next room, leaned against the door, and said with a smile:

"He sent you here? Is this the first time? Is this... candy?"

"Yes, we are engaged." Gu Xiaoxia's voice was not loud and a little shy, but very serious and her tone was firm.

"Are you sure it's him?" Teacher Wang was still a little surprised. "Will you consider it again?"

"Don't think about it." Gu Xiaoxia shook her head and said, "It's him."

"I know you will say that you wouldn't be here without him, but you have to distinguish between gratitude and love..." Teacher Wang has personally witnessed Gu Xiaoxia's transformation over the past few months. She believes that Gu Xiaoxia will go higher and further.

It would be a pity if my wings were tied by a countryman.

"Teacher Wang, have some candy." Gu Xiaoxia stood up and gave Teacher Wang a handful of candy, then said with a smile, "Let me tell you a little story he told."

"What did he say that you remember so clearly?" Teacher Wang took the candy, peeled one and put it in his mouth, then said vaguely, "Let me listen."

"In ancient times, there was a man who saved a woman. If the woman fell in love with the man, she would say, 'I can't repay this kindness, I can only give you my body'..."

"Puchi!" Teacher Wang also had a low sense of humor, so he laughed out loud, "You know what, there really was such a thing in ancient times..."

"It's not over yet!" Gu Xiaoxia continued, "If the woman doesn't like the man, she will say, 'I can't repay you for saving my life, I will work like a cow or a horse to repay you in the next life'."

"Eh..." Teacher Wang immediately came to his senses, "You're right..."

"It's quite ironic, isn't it?" Gu Xiaoxia said, "It's also quite true, isn't it?"

"So you are... the former?" Teacher Wang asked tentatively, "If someone else provided you with the information, would you..."

"When he first told me this, I thought he was hinting at me. But then he said it wasn't a hint, it was just a little story... or a joke. What he wanted to tell me was that our relationship had progressed step by step, not because of one thing. So, our relationship can stand the test..."

Teacher Wang stopped talking.

She suddenly discovered that Li Long, whom she thought was illiterate, was not as shallow as she had imagined.

He does not have a high level of education, but that does not mean he has little experience and knowledge.

Li Long rode his bicycle to Tao Daqiang's house and saw Tao Daqiang feeding the donkey in the yard, so he shouted:
"Da Qiang, are you free? Let's go fishing."

"Yes, yes, yes!" Before Tao Daqiang could say anything, Tao Jianshe shouted in the vegetable garden, "Daqiang, go ahead."

Tao Daqiang put down the grass in his hand, clapped his hands, and walked towards Li Long with a silly smile.

"Brother Long, you go back first, I'll be there soon." Tao Daqiang didn't want to ride a bicycle. He felt it was inconvenient for Li Long to carry him.

Li Long did not force it. He said hello to Tao Jianshe, adjusted the front of the bike, and rode home.

Li Long heard footsteps behind him and turned around to see Tao Daqiang running with big strides, only about ten steps away from him.

He laughed and scolded:

"You have to run instead of taking a car..."

"Just move around. I can run fast."

Li Juan and a few other girls were skipping rubber ropes outside the Li family's courtyard. Although it was hot during the day, the sun was about to set and the temperature had dropped a little.

Seeing Li Long coming, the girls hurriedly made way for him. Li Long smiled and went into the yard.

Li Qingxia and Du Chunfang were bickering out of habit, while Li Jianguo and Liang Yuemei were feeding the pigs. The pigs in the yard were half grown and were in their prime. Every time they were fed, they would fight for food. Li Jianguo said that they were worried that these guys would jump out of the pig pen.

The wall of the pigpen is 1.5 meters high, so it is impossible to jump out unless you are forced to.

Li Qiang is not here. He must have gone out to play.

"What? Are you still casting the net?" Li Qingxia asked when he saw Tao Daqiang, who was panting heavily, following Li Long.

"Next." Li Long joked, "We're already engaged, so we have to make more money to build a house and buy furniture."

"That's right. Let's go. I'll go with you. Dad doesn't have much money, but any help counts." Li Qingxia stood up and rolled up his sleeves. "Father and son will fight together."

Li Long smiled. The three of them carried tires, nets, and basins tied with cage cloths and headed towards the small lake.

Meng Zhiqiang was carrying a bag and walking back from the small lake, when he ran into Li Long and his two companions.

"Uncle Li, Xiaolong, are you guys...going to cast the net?"

"Yes." Li Long said with a smile, "I have nothing to do. Catch some fish and sell them tomorrow." "Yes." Meng Zhiqiang was also a little speechless, and so was he. But Li Long really had nothing to do. He had never seen Li Long once during the public service this year.

Thinking back, he had never met Li Long before. At that time, he thought Li Long was a lazy guy, but now, Li Long has become his role model.

When they arrived at the small lake, Li Qingxia asked Li Long to cast the net, while he took off his coat, picked up the basin and went into the water, and lowered the "magic weapon" for catching loaches to the edge of the nearby reeds.

Li Long watched his father go into the water and shouted:

"Dad, move the basin down a little, almost to the bottom. The ditch fish like to stick to the bottom."

"Okay, okay, got it." Li Qingxia held the basin in one hand and waved with the other hand, indicating that Li Long just needed to do his own thing.

Li Long was in a good mood and cast his net very quickly. Tao Daqiang had cast five or six nets on the shore, and Li Long had already cast six nets and returned.

"Brother Long, you downloaded the internet really fast today."

"Haha, if you can pick up the net smoothly, I can download it quickly." Li Long smiled, and the three of them went back together.

The next day, it was Tao Daqiang who went to fetch the net. He strongly requested to fetch the net himself and let Li Long watch.

Li Qingxia followed him again. This time, the fish in the basin were very considerate and almost stretched the cage cloth. He returned to the shore with a smile on his face. This basin of fish must weigh at least ten kilograms!
"Xiaolong, if you sell the fish, don't give me the money. I don't know if your dad can make it in time for your wedding, so save it for now." Li Qingxia whispered to Li Long.

"Dad, I have money." Li Long said with a smile, "I earned much more than you just from this one shot..."

"What you have is yours. If dad doesn't give it to you, what's the point of that?" Li Qingxia shook his head, and then seeing that Tao Daqiang had already taken down the Internet, he quickened his speech:
"We'll talk about the rest later."

After returning to Li's house, Li Juan selected the fish and put them in the bag. She happily waited by the bicycle with her schoolbag on her back.

Li Qiang was going to preschool. He looked at his sister and said unconvincedly:
"When I go to primary school, I will let my uncle carry me..."

"You went to elementary school in the team, so why do you need your uncle to carry you?" Li Juan said with a smile, "Let's talk about it when you are in the third grade!"

Adults thought the quarrels between children were just playful, so no one stopped them. Li Long hurried out with Li Juan, who had just finished breakfast.

Outside the village, he saw Meng Zhiqiang, who was carrying a bag of fish and walking hurriedly with his head down, so he greeted him and continued walking.

Meng Zhiqiang looked at the two bags of fish on the back of Li Long's bicycle and the bag of fish hanging on the front handlebars, and roughly estimated that the fish weighed at least 70 kilograms.

He heard from Tao Daqiang that Li Long usually set up six to eight nets, and each net could catch an average of ten kilograms of fish.

Why can I only catch less than ten kilograms of fish with four nets?

Is it because it was placed on the edge, or is there some other reason?
Li Long didn't know that Meng Zhiqiang was already thinking about the reason why there were so few fish caught. He dropped Li Juan off at the elementary school and hurried to the county.

I got the tools from the compound and then went to Shicheng.

Today he came early, so there was still room at the stall. He opened the stall, and those who were interested saw that there were three basins and immediately knew that loaches were coming. So they gathered around without waiting for Li Long to call out.

Li Long can be considered a star stall owner here. He shouts loudly, hangs the scale high, speaks sweetly, and is never soft-hearted to those who maliciously push him, so the fish sells very quickly.

After more than an hour, when all the fish were sold out, Li Long breathed a sigh of relief and felt his throat a little hoarse.

After packing up his things and going to the milk tea shop to drink milk tea, Li Long sat under the shed outside and looked at the entire old street.

There are many scoundrels and gangsters wandering around the streets. The joint defense team members come over from time to time, but if they encounter those idle people, they usually don't care if they don't cause trouble.

Just now when Li Long was setting up his stall, a ruffian passed by, but he ignored Li Long - no one knew if it was because of his reputation or if it was just the wrong timing.

The Uighur boy with an eastern Henan accent chatted with Li Long from time to time, and the two became familiar with each other.

After returning from Shicheng and arriving at the county courtyard, Li Long put down his things and looked at the time, so he left the courtyard. On the way out of the city, he met a cart selling watermelons, and when he heard that the watermelons were sold for three cents a kilogram, he bought a sack directly.

Watermelons were really cheap at that time. When the watermelon seller heard that Li Long wanted to buy a lot, he directly cracked a watermelon in half, handed half to Li Long, and insisted that he eat it.

Nowadays, when selling watermelons and letting customers taste them, the method is still rough. They don’t cut the watermelons into pieces like in later generations. Instead, they just knock them open and break them into several pieces of different sizes by hand, and then people can just bite them.

"Is this the melon from the wild fields?" Li Long asked, "or the melon from the plain forest farm?"

Xiayedi is a place belonging to Shicheng. It is very famous for its watermelons, and even later became famous in the industry and throughout the country.

Pingyuan Forest Farm is a forest farm in Ma County, which is also rich in watermelons. People usually eat watermelons from these two places.

"I work in the fields. It's hot this year, so the melons ripen early," the stall owner said with an eastern Henan accent. "I plant a lot of melons, so I lose money... Alas."

"You grow them on your own land? How much food-grain land did you get?"

"Two mu of land per person." The stall owner said while chewing a watermelon, "There are many people in my family, so I have about ten mu of land. I planted five mu of watermelons to earn some money for my children's schooling. This year's watermelon harvest is good, but the price is not high."

Li Long knew that in two years, the price of watermelon would only rise to five cents. Until the 1990s, a kilogram of watermelon would always be sold at a dime.

As for calculating by block, that was already after the new century.

The stall owner helped Li Long load a sack of watermelons onto the back seat of his bicycle. Li Long paid and rode away.

This sack of watermelons weighs more than 70 kilograms and costs only over two yuan...it's really cheap.

When we arrived at the township middle school, the students there had just finished school, and those who lived close to home were leaving the campus one after another.

Most of the students were still in school. Some were resting on the desks in the classroom, some were playing around on the campus, and a very small number went to the school cafeteria.

It is called a cafeteria, but in fact, someone just opened a jelly stall in the school, specializing in selling jelly at noon.

When Li Long was riding his bike past the jelly shop, he saw the plates of jelly in the glass cabinet and couldn't help swallowing.

I haven’t eaten for a long time!

The jelly in various parts of northern Xinjiang has its own characteristics. The jelly in Shicheng, which is closest to Ma County, is thin and sour, and the main seasoning is vinegar, minced garlic, etc. The side dish is cucumber shreds, and some add coriander. In addition to the sour vinegar seasoning, the cold noodles in the Ili River Valley also have special hot ingredients, which are poured with the old sauce made of eggs and spices, and the taste is different.

The cold noodles in Ma County are more similar to those in the state capital, with a strong Hui flavor. The main side dish is blanched and chopped leeks, which is quite special.

He planned to drop the watermelon off at Gu Xiaoxia's place later and then buy some jelly as a side dish.

When they arrived at Gu Xiaoxia's dormitory, Li Long parked the car, unloaded the watermelon and dragged it into Gu Xiaoxia's dormitory. He saw her sitting blankly at the head of the bed, with her head down, wondering what she was thinking about.

"What's wrong?" Li Long felt something was wrong, so he put down the watermelon immediately, sat next to Gu Xiaoxia, and asked with concern: "Are you... feeling uncomfortable? Or have you been wronged? Tell me about it."

Gu Xiaoxia finally reacted, looked at Li Long, listened to his concerned words, and after a pause, she shook her head, showing a happy and somewhat complicated expression, and said:

"It's okay... No, I'm okay. But it's not... It's like this." She felt that what she said was wrong, and said directly, "Just when school was about to end, the school received a notice from the Education Bureau that they would second me to work in the Education Bureau for a period of time..."

"That's great!" Li Long smiled. "The Education Bureau is impressed by your talent. By the way, did any leader from the Education Bureau come to inspect you recently?"

"Yes. In June, Deputy Director Wang from the Education Bureau came to inspect my work. He sat in on my class, read my lesson plans, and asked me some questions about my writing work..."

"Then this person should be the one who admires you more..." Li Long nodded, then became a little nervous again, "This Deputy Director Wang... is he a man or a woman?"

"A woman." Gu Xiaoxia answered, then she realized what was happening and hit Li Long lightly, "Why? Are you worried it's a man?"

"Of course. You're so outstanding, I'm worried that someone will snatch you away!"

"So you don't believe me?" Gu Xiaoxia was a little angry.

"What are you thinking about?" Li Long smiled and moved closer to Gu Xiaoxia, "You are outstanding, so you will naturally attract other people's attention - I am sure I will trust you. I am mainly worried that others will harass you."

Gu Xiaoxia listened to Li Long's explanation, nodded, and her expression relaxed.

She thought for a moment and asked Li Long:

"So should I go?"

"Of course I'll go! Such a good opportunity!" Li Long said firmly.

(End of this chapter)