Rebirth of Bayi Fishing and Hunting in the Northwest

Chapter 417: This New Year's Eve is really great

"A pole has been erected next to the corner of the house opposite the Li family. No one knows what's on it." The eldest sister-in-law of the Lu family, who was preparing the New Year's Eve dinner, suddenly remembered it and said to Lu Yingming who was frying fish.

"Pole? Do you want to hang something on it?" Lu Yingming asked casually.

"No, it looks more like... the antenna in the movie?" In the summer, the county cultural center would occasionally have a film team come down to play movies for the farmers. The open-air ones usually played war movies, so Mrs. Lu knew what that thing looked like.

"Antenna? That's impossible. Why does the Li family need an antenna? They don't have a radio station." Lu Yingming thought that Mrs. Lu was talking nonsense.

"That thing is standing there, you will know if you look at it." The eldest sister-in-law of the Lu family felt that she was not trusted, so she complained and continued to do her own thing.

"Then I'll have to check it out later." At this time, people still had a strong sense of enemy and friend, but Lu Yingming would never believe that the Li family had any connection with the enemy. If you really count, Li Jianguo is more determined than him.

If it really is an antenna, then he really needs to go and see for himself.

But because I was busy, I forgot about it after a while. When I finished the work at hand, my son had already rushed in, shouting that he was hungry.

Although the eldest sister-in-law of the Lu family complained, she still prepared some food for him to take to the living room which also served as the bedroom to eat, and she also opened a bottle of wine for Lu Yingming.

While Lu Yingming was pouring himself a glass of wine, he was still wondering if he had forgotten something.
Li Long was outside slowly moving the pole, trying to get as close to the window as possible so that he could hear the sounds inside.

"Okay, okay..." Suddenly, he heard Li Jianguo's voice inside, and he stopped what he was doing. However, the pole had inertia, and it had not rotated into place. He had to keep moving, and it had to turn. Fortunately, Li Long was experienced in tying the pole, and he had placed a few pieces of wood and soil underneath, as well as a piece of wire. He used his feet to pad the soil against the edge of the antenna pole, and did the same on all four sides. In this way, the pole was stuck and could not move.

Li Long walked into the room and said with a wry smile:
"Brother, there are so many snowflakes. How can it be fixed? It still needs to be adjusted."

"It's clear enough, how can it be so clear?" Li Jianguo thought it was pretty good. He saw the standby screen, which was just a circle with many color blocks, a no signal sign, and the time display.

But there was snowflakes and some noise.

"It's okay, big brother. Just keep watching. I'll adjust it until I know it clearly before you tell me."

With that, Li Long went out.

Li Jianguo was a little unconvinced and said to Liang Yuemei:

“I think it’s strangely clear…”

"I also think it's pretty clear." Liang Yuemei nodded, "But since Xiaolong said it can be even clearer, let him adjust it. He understands this... Hey, it's clear, it's clear..."

The picture is gradually becoming clearer and the noise is getting smaller.

Li Jianguo laughed:

"Hey, it's actually clearer now... Okay, okay!" he suddenly shouted again.

"It's good." Liang Yuemei also said, "If you twist the snowflakes again, there will be more."

The picture is now very clear. Although there is not a single bit of snow, at least there is no noise.

It should be almost done.

After hearing this, Li Long felt that there should be no problem this time, so he fixed the antenna pole and quickly entered the house.

Sure enough, it became much clearer.

"Okay, okay. Let's watch CCTV today. We'll adjust the antenna when we watch Shicheng TV later." Li Long said, "There's the Spring Festival Gala tonight. It's going to be great."

"How do you know?" Li Jianguo was quite curious about why Li Long knew this.

"I...heard it from Section Chief Li." Li Long made up a reason, "They were all watching."

"Well, they knew the news early." Li Jianguo believed it. It was a good thing that his brother had a wide network of contacts. He also often heard Li Long say that he would send some fish and meat to leaders and friends, and they were also willing to give him some information. It was a good thing to have give and take.

Li Long looked at the time and said with a smile:
"The party will start in a little while. Juan and Qiangqiang will be surprised when they come back."

"Of course," Liang Yuemei, still wearing an apron, turned around and walked towards the kitchen, saying, "You guys sit down first, I'll go make the dishes. You two brothers can have a drink tonight. This year has been tiring enough, but life is getting better and better. We even have a color TV. It's worth it!"

Li Long told his eldest brother about the coal mine matter again. In fact, he was still thinking about the agricultural machinery matter, which required careful consideration.

"Coal mines are very dangerous." Li Jianguo frowned and said, "When I first came to northern Xinjiang, there was work in the coal mines. I wanted to go at that time, after all, I was a worker. At that time, a relative of mine who was a cadre in the reclamation area told me not to do this job because accidents often happened. So I didn't do it and went to the Corps to become a quartermaster..."

"I think so too. Let's find out more about it after the Chinese New Year." Li Long said, "If I can find a job that's a little more leisurely and less dangerous, I can still go. But if I have to work in the mines, forget it."

In fact, if we settle my second brother and his family in Laomahao and just want to feed them, we can just catch fish and do other things like we did last year, and they will be able to be fed.

But Li Long didn't think so. He hoped to find a stable job for his second brother. Li Anguo was not the kind of person who was smart and could do business. He was suitable for a stable job.

The two chatted for a while, and the picture on the TV changed and music started playing. Li Long looked at his watch and saw that it was almost seven o'clock, so he said:

"Brother, the CCTV news broadcast is about to start."

"News Broadcast?" Li Jianguo had never watched TV and didn't know this program.

"Yes, it's a program dedicated to news."

"Is it similar to the 'News and Newspaper Summary' on the radio station?" Li Jianguo immediately made the connection.

"Yes, it's almost the same, but this one has pictures, someone talking, and a video." Li Long pointed at the TV and said, "Look, there will be a host and commentary later..."

The news broadcast started on time, and the two hosts began to introduce today's main programs.

Looking at the satellite icon representing CCTV and the slightly monotonous image, Li Long fell into memories.

It’s been a year, a year since I was reborn, and I can finally see the pictures on the screen again. Although the picture looks so simple, it is really familiar.

Is this a big step towards a reborn life?
Although my savings have been greatly reduced, I feel that it is all worth it.

I am one step closer to the last era of my previous life.

While Li Long was sighing here, Li Jianguo had already started shouting excitedly:

"Yuemei, Yuemei? Come here, come here! Look, look at the TV...who's coming out!"

Liang Yuemei asked in the kitchen:

"Who's coming out?"

"You'll know when you come and see..."

Liang Yuemei came out of the kitchen, still holding a spatula in her hand, and said with a bit of complaint:

"I'm still cooking... Eh? Isn't this..."

She turned her head to look at Li Jianguo, then looked at the TV. After the scene passed, she sighed and said:
"This... there aren't many left."

"Yes." Li Jianguo nodded and said with emotion, "Their generation was really amazing..."

Li Long was a little confused, but he didn't ask.

The news broadcast was not long, and while we were watching it, Liang Yuemei brought up plates of dishes.

Although the supplies nowadays are far less abundant than those in later generations, they are much better than the previous two years. Liang Yuemei tries her best to make the New Year's Eve dinner more sumptuous.

In addition to the meat, fish and offal that Li Long brought back, Liang Yuemei also fried eggs, made cold salad with cabbage hearts and mung bean sprouts, stir-fried pickled vegetables and meat, stewed vermicelli meat, and so on.

There were seven or eight dishes on the table, as well as dumplings and soup.

The voices of Li Juan and Li Qiang were heard outside. It could be heard that Li Qiang was complaining to Li Juan for letting him come back so early because it was not completely dark yet and they could still play for a while. Li Juan scolded Li Qiang for being disobedient and lying on the ground with his clothes soiled.

Then the door opened.

"Mom, are there any guests?" Li Qiang asked in a low voice, "Why do I hear strangers talking in the inner room?"

"No, you'll know when you go and see." Liang Yuemei smiled and kept the secret.

Li Qiang walked over carefully and lifted the door curtain, and then he saw a large color TV playing a program. Although he had never seen a color TV, he had heard of it. He was stunned for a moment, and then he guessed it at once, and shouted excitedly:

"A big color TV! Sister, sister! Our family bought a big color TV! Look, there is someone on it, and it's moving and talking..."

Li Juan was washing her hands and preparing to help her mother carry things when she heard Li Qiang's words. She immediately ran to the inner room with her hands swinging. When she saw the color TV, she also exclaimed!
"Your uncle bought it," Liang Yuemei said with a smile, "Put it at our house first. Look, your uncle said there will be a good show later, so it's a good opportunity for our family to watch it and have a good New Year!"

New Year’s Eve is usually spent with family members, who don’t move around, so there is basically no need to worry about being disturbed.

The food was on the table and Liang Yuemei had finished her work. In order to make it easier to watch TV, the family moved the table out from against the wall. Li Jianguo and Liang Yuemei sat facing the TV, with Li Long on their left and Li Juan and Li Qiang on their right.

The hosts of the first CCTV Spring Festival Gala were Wang Jingyu, Liu Xiaoqing, Ma Ji and Jiang Kun. Li Long vaguely remembers that this Spring Festival Gala had several special features, such as Li Guyi singing "Homesickness", which opened up mainland pop music; this Spring Festival Gala opened four telephones for on-demand programming, which was also a pioneering effort.

At the beginning, Zhao Zhongxiang gave the opening speech, then introduced the guests, Master Hou Baolin gave a speech, and Ma Ji and Zhao Lin performed three crosstalks - this is simply unimaginable in later generations.

It was quite normal at the time. After all, there was also a person or group performing several shows later.

The overall feeling is that the atmosphere of this Spring Festival Gala is very relaxed and there is no fear of making mistakes. Li Long vaguely remembers that when the gala was first created, it didn't even have a name, and the name "Spring Festival Gala" was decided only when it was about to be broadcast.

Because there was a radio at home, many people listened to crosstalk, but this was the first time to see real people performing crosstalk here. The whole family watched it with complete concentration, except for Li Long, who even forgot to eat.

Li Long didn't remind him, thinking that it should be the same when he watched TV for the first time.

Times have passed, things have changed, and no one should laugh at anyone else.

Crosstalk is quite funny, but Li Long has lived two lives, so his sense of humor has been raised. He enjoys having the reunion dinner with his family, and is happy to see his family members burst into laughter from time to time because of the jokes in the crosstalk.

After all, listening to crosstalk is completely different from watching crosstalk. The expressions and movements of the crosstalk performers can add to the fun, which cannot be felt by just listening.

Crosstalk, sketches, songs, many people performed many programs by themselves, like Li Guyi, who sang six or seven songs solo. How could this be possible in later generations?

Of course, because this time it was actually the Spring Festival Gala performed by CCTV employees, and because the impact was so great, it was later expanded to the whole country.

The program is not as sophisticated as those in later generations, the venue is not as gorgeous, and even the connection between the programs is quite random, but it is happy and festive to watch, and it feels like a program that should be watched during the Chinese New Year.

When Hu Songhua came out, Li Jianguo sighed:

"He has a really good voice!"

The show also included magic and martial arts, which were Li Juan and Li Qiang's favorites. They exclaimed from time to time while watching them and couldn't help applauding.

After Lu Yingming finished his meal, he came out to drain the water. He vaguely heard that the Li family's house was very lively, and people were laughing from time to time. Looking through the window, it seemed that the lights and shadows were moving around inside, and he had no idea what was going on.

In the dark, he couldn't see clearly what was on the pole.

He drank a little too much, so it's not convenient to go to someone's house now. Lu Yingming plans to go to Li's house when he visits tomorrow morning to see what's going on.

The atmosphere at the Li family was very cheerful. Li Long and Li Jianguo both had wine glasses in front of them, but they drank very restrainedly and did not drink much. They were mainly having fun watching the Spring Festival Gala, so they drank occasionally and no one intended to drink too much.

The Spring Festival Gala was shown very late. At midnight, Jiang Kun and Ma Ji performed a crosstalk, but it was interrupted by the clock strike and it didn’t finish. The whole family was waiting to watch it, so in the end, it didn’t continue.

This became a pity.

It was already late when the show was over. Li Juan and Li Qiang were quite energetic when they were watching it, but they were very sleepy immediately after it was over. The two of them went to bed, and the three adults cleaned up the things on the table. They couldn't wait until Liang Yuemei got up to clean up tomorrow.

After cleaning up, Li Jianguo meant that Li Long could sleep in the east room. Li Long waved his hand:
"Brother, there will be a lot of people visiting you tomorrow, and I want to sleep in. Don't wait for me for dumplings in the morning, I'll come over at noon."

After saying this he put on his coat, put on his hat, went out, and strode towards the stable.

Over at the stable, Uncle Luo had already gone to bed. Li Long quietly opened the door of his room and found that the fire was still burning brightly. Although it was being turned down, charcoal had been added before it was turned down, so the room was very warm.

He was also sleepy, and seeing that there was no need to stir the fire, he took off his clothes, turned off the light, got into bed, and soon fell asleep.

In the dream, Li Long discovered that going back to the past was just a dream. He appeared in the 1920s of the 21st century again, an era when technology was very advanced but Big Brother was gone.

Li Long was overwhelmed with emotions. He ran to his elder brother's grave and cried for a long time. When he got up again, he saw the young Gu Xiaoxia. Gu Xiaoxia asked him curiously:

"What are you doing here?"

Li Long felt very confused. Gu Xiaoxia shouldn't be here at this time, and she shouldn't be so young.

But looking at myself, I suddenly became my younger self again.

He had no way to explain, so he had to ask Gu Xiaoxia:

"What are you doing here?"

"I came to call you home for dinner. The meal is ready, but you haven't come back yet. Let's go home for dinner."

Li Long looked at his elder brother's grave again. It had turned into a cotton field...

This is such a fucking mess.

Li Long felt very awake. He knew it was a dream, but he couldn't wake up from the dream.

But in the dream, he had already married Gu Xiaoxia. At this time, the eldest brother and his wife were all fine. But after the second brother and his wife came over, many things happened to the second sister-in-law, which made the whole family very unhappy...

Well, it was just a mess. Li Long couldn't help but scold his second brother, but his second sister-in-law said he had no right to talk about his second brother, which made Li Long so angry that he woke up.

Then there was a knock on the door.

Li Long vaguely remembered that his second sister-in-law was not a petty person? Why did it become like this in his dream?
Come to think of it, it's just a dream. Maybe I'm worried that when my second brother and his family move in, there might be conflicts due to different living habits?

Thinking about this, Li Long got up and asked:
"Who is it? I'm not awake yet."

"I, Yongqiang!"

"Da Qiang."

These two.

Li Long felt that it must be them. After all, only these two would come to find him at this time.

After putting on his clothes, Li Long went to open the door.

"Brother Long, you're awesome! An 18-inch color TV! The first in the team!" Yang Yongqiang gave a thumbs up after he came in.

"I guess there are few in the whole commune..." Tao Daqiang said with admiration.

"You will have it too. Do you know what I made that day?" Li Long asked with a smile.

"I know, it's the antenna! If I had known that day, I would have followed and learned it carefully!" Obviously, Yang Yongqiang and Tao Daqiang understood the matter clearly in Li Jianguo's house.

"Uncle Jianshe's yard is full of people now!" Yang Yongqiang continued, "Everyone knows that your family bought a color TV, and they all came to see the novelty."

"What are you watching? There's no show right now." Li Long said, looking through the ashes. "There will be a show in the evening."

"It's still a color TV even if there are no programs!" Tao Daqiang said the truth, "Everyone is very envious and is thinking about working hard this year so they can buy a TV."

"Brother Long, you've done us a disservice this time." Yang Yongqiang suddenly said, "After seeing your color TV, we can only buy black and white ones. What should we do now?"

“Hahahaha.” Li Long laughed. “Then let’s work hard this year and earn a color TV. It’s not that expensive anyway.”

Li Long knew that if Tao Daqiang and Yang Yongqiang contracted more land, they could save a lot of money at the end of the year as long as they didn't mess around. In addition, they could also save a lot of cash by working for him, so it wouldn't be difficult to buy a color TV by the end of the year.

After all, people in northern Xinjiang don't rely entirely on the weather for their livelihood. The land is irrigated by water. As long as you are diligent when farming, you can definitely earn money. Of course, the difference is the amount you earn.

Li Long asked his family to grow melons in order to break the upper limit of their earnings. After all, if they only grew grain crops, the family would have some extra money, but not much.

It's different with melons. If you grow them well, you can get a gross income of 300 to 400 yuan per mu, which is very high in this era. Even if you deduct the cost, you can still get more than 200 yuan, which is enough to buy a color TV in a year!
Of course, this is an ideal situation.

But aren’t there other sources of income?
(End of this chapter)