Rebirth of Bayi Fishing and Hunting in the Northwest

In the afternoon, Li Long drove the tractor to the county. Now he felt that having a tractor was really convenient. Bicycles were also convenient, but they required riding, which required effort, and they could not carry much. Tractors were different. Most of the things he planned to buy could be loaded on one tractor.

This time, the eldest sister-in-law Liang Yuemei and the second sister-in-law Chen Lirong came together. The eldest sister-in-law is a consultant, and she knows which things are practical to buy. Li Long is naturally not as good as the eldest sister-in-law in this aspect. Bringing the second sister-in-law out is just to let her relax. The two children quickly integrated into the preschool class and had a group of friends. Chen Lirong lives in the horse house. Every day she just comes to the eldest sister-in-law to chat. She hasn't made many friends yet and is not familiar with others. Li Long wants to take her out to relax.

I think it won’t be long before my second brother Li Anguo settles down in Kuitun, buys a yard, and will be able to bring his family over.

Li Long drove the tractor to the supply and marketing cooperative first. This was his own company, and he could basically get the goods at the purchase price plus a little bit by just saying hello to the salesperson, so he got the pots, pans, and other things from here.

Liang Yuemei was responsible for buying a new home for her brother-in-law. She picked out everything one by one without any sloppiness. Chen Lirong was a little reserved at first, but when Liang Yuemei asked for her opinion from time to time, she gradually relaxed, no longer caring about the looks of the salesperson next to her, and gave her opinions seriously.

Li Long went to the office and sent invitations to Li Xiangqian and several colleagues he knew, along with small bags of freshly bought melon seeds and candies, and a pack of cigarettes for each person. Daqianmen was considered to be of pretty good quality.

One of the colleagues said with a chuckle:
"Xiao Li, you are not sincere enough! The dinner is in the village, how are our colleagues going to go?"

Li Long was well prepared and said with a smile:

"This invitation mainly serves as a notification. I know everyone is busy with work, so it is definitely not convenient to go to the village. So after we finish there, my wife and I will book a private room in the big meat restaurant, and then invite colleagues we are familiar with, and let my wife get to know the people in our unit. How do you think?"

This was a good idea, and all of them agreed. After they left, Li Long asked Li Xiangqian:
"Section Chief, how can I get these from the director of our company? Should I just send them over with candied melon seeds or something?"

"Well, you and your wife should come together." Li Xiangqian said, "The leader may not come to the dinner, but at least he will meet your family. Don't be careless about this. Although you are a temporary worker, at least the unit belongs to us, and you still have to respect the leader."

"Okay, I got it." After receiving instructions from Li Xiangqian, Li Long went to the front to buy things with confidence.

Because Li Long was an insider, the salesperson carefully tied up the things he bought, and put them in the tractor so that they wouldn't get damaged. After all, although enamel items are strong these days, they will break if they get bumped, and then they won't be perfect.

Then he went to the department store to buy melon seeds, candies and other ingredients. The ingredients at the supply and marketing cooperative were mainly dry goods, such as kelp and vermicelli, while the ingredients at the department store were mainly snacks and seasonings. Li Long was buying in a rush, which really attracted a lot of people.

It wasn't so much that a tractor couldn't hold it all, but buying these things, including wine and the like, cost several hundred dollars, which made Chen Lirong feel that her brother-in-law was really rich.

But think about it, this is to build a home from scratch, think about it, it is normal. As the saying goes, a broken home is worth a fortune, and most people's things are accumulated bit by bit. Although these things are a bit shabby, in this era, the main thing is to be usable, at least have them.

Li Long's house basically has nothing in it. Starting from scratch, it is naturally more expensive.

After buying the things, Li Long drove the tractor to the big yard again.

Arriving at the big yard, Chen Lirong sighed again. This brother-in-law is really capable. There is a big yard in the team, and there is also a big yard here. In the old society, he would definitely be a wealthy family.

Gu Xiaoxia hadn't gotten off work yet, so Li Long asked his elder and younger sisters-in-law to go around on their own. He went to check on the newly planted trees and found that one of the plum trees had no leaves yet, but the other dates, grapes, etc. had already sprouted and grown tender leaves, which was not bad.

The tree showed signs of having been watered, so Li Long ignored it.

The three of them stayed here for less than half an hour. Gu Xiaoxia came back and saw the three people in the yard. She was surprised but also a little shy.

"You know, sister-in-law, this is the second sister-in-law." Li Long introduced her, "Today we went to the supply and marketing cooperative and the department store to buy things, and this time I came here to tell you about it."

Setting a specific date was just Li Long's idea. Although he had told Gu Boyuan and had also told Gu Xiaoxia before that it should be done as soon as possible, he had to tell Gu Xiaoxia once the date was set.

Li Long was also a little nervous. He seemed to be acting first and reporting later, and he didn't know whether Gu Xiaoxia would be angry.

After hearing Li say that it would be held on Sunday next week, Gu Xiaoxia was just a little surprised, but not angry. She thought for a moment and said:

"Then I will ask for leave from the bureau tomorrow. We have a lot of things to do."

"No, no." Before Li Long could speak, Liang Yuemei smiled and said:
"We'll do what we've prepared. Just work hard. We finally have a government servant in our family, so just work hard..."

"Go back this Sunday and arrange things." Li Long said, "Bring back everything you made and bought, and we'll discuss how to arrange it. The rest of the things in the yard and Uncle Gu's side need to make, but someone else is taking care of them at home, so we're mainly busy with things here. After the wedding, we have to invite the leaders and colleagues from your bureau and our supply and marketing cooperative."

Li Long and Gu Xiaoxia could just write the invitations and distribute the melon seeds and candies as wedding gifts before the wedding.

Li Long plans to come to the county two days before next Sunday to handle this matter with Gu Xiaoxia, and then return to the team together.

Gu Xiaoxia must still take two days off, but the time doesn't have to be too long. After all, Li Long is still busy with sowing and things in the mountains after that. The two of them have actually become accustomed to this way of getting along. This wedding is more of a formality. Of course, there are more important things, and Li Long finally doesn't have to endure it anymore.

Several people discussed things in the yard, and then cooked dinner. After eating, Li Long drove the tractor back to the team.

The things were placed in the yard ready to be moved into the house the next day. When Li Long returned to the stable, it was already completely dark.

Feeling that every day might be so busy in the future, Li Long sighed while lying on the bed. As expected, he was really tired!

But think about it, this is the only chance in your life, and this is the real opportunity to build a home for yourself. It's worth it to be a little tired and make it perfect.

Silent all night.

The next day, Li Long got up early and after dinner, he and his second sister-in-law hurried to his eldest brother's house. They drove the tractor to the new yard, and Li Long began to move things down, while Liang Yuemei and Chen Lirong began to put things back in place.

It was mainly kitchen stuff, bedding, quilts, etc. Li Long was in a hurry, so he bought the net directly at the department store. In the next few days, Liang Yuemei, Chen Lirong and Lu Dasao would have to sew quilts and mattresses here.

Li Long didn't care about what was happening in the house. Someone had already come to help build the stove. Li Long drove a tractor with Tao Daqiang to the river dam to pull another truckload of sand and gravel.

His yard was originally a field, and the road leading from the residential area to the gate of the yard was not as smooth as the roads in front of other people's houses.

Although he didn't have much time to live there, he still had to make it perfect. The canal next to the house had been built, and the next step was the road. He dumped the sand and gravel on the road, and together with Tao Daqiang and several young people who came to help, they shoveled the sand and gravel and spread it, and then flattened it with a tractor.

Truckloads of sand were spread on the road, and the grass on both sides of the road was cleared away, and soon the road had a "face".

Li Jianguo also called the team's master chef over. At this time, the master chef was checking the ingredients that Li Long bought.

"Xiaolong, two days before the event, you still need to buy some fresh ingredients such as tofu and bean sprouts." The chef said, "I heard from your brother that you also want to kill a wild boar?"

"Well, I was wondering whether it would be better to kill a wild boar or go directly to the county to buy ready-made meat."

"Let's buy ready-made meat. It takes a whole day to kill a wild boar, which is troublesome. Let's buy some ready-made meat, pork, beef, mutton, chicken, and fish..."

"We don't need fish." The three Liang brothers who were helping said with a smile, "Two days before the feast, let's cast a few more nets and gather our strength. Then the carp will come out, right?"

"That's right." The chef counted on his fingers, "You have to open at least 20 tables. You need 20 carps. Can you handle them?"

"Yes!" The three Liang brothers gritted their teeth and said, "At most we can just cast a few more nets."

"I have about ten nets here, which is enough." Li Long smiled. "Fish is no problem. I'll go buy chicken in the next two days. Is there anything else you need?"

The chef ordered out the items one by one, and Li Long wrote them down, preparing to buy them at different times. When the two chefs left, Li Jianguo stuffed a towel bag with soap and cigarettes in it for each of them. This was usually given after the work was done, but Li Jianguo gave it in advance, hoping that the chefs would pay more attention.

There are not enough master chefs in the team. One of Gu Boyuan’s master chefs is from the village, and another one was invited from the neighboring village.

Li Long sent some of the ingredients to Gu Boyuan, who was also building a stove. Gu Boyuan also asked people to help. When he saw Li Long coming, he said unhappily:

"Put your things down and go do your thing. I'm doing better here, so I'll entertain you. You have a lot of things to do over there."

Since they are from the same village, they basically know each other, so each family is basically divided into two halves, one part is on this side and the other part is on the Li family's side.

After Li Long returned, he saw that the house was almost complete. There was a large square mirror hanging on the wall, the washbasin rack was placed in the corner, a thermos was placed next to the stove, the pots and pans were all in their places, a small chopping board was placed on the wide chopping board, two rolling pins, one large and one small, were placed next to the chopping board, and a colander was hung on the wall. Everything was in great order.

Liang Yuemei and Chen Lirong were sewing quilts on the bed, chatting as they sewed, without interrupting their work. Beside them were two already sewn red quilts with dragon and phoenix embroidered on them and double happiness embroidered on them.

Seeing Li Long coming in, Liang Yuemei said to him:

"Xiaolong, go tell your eldest brother that we won't be responsible for lunch. There are only three or four beds in your room, and we have to sew all the quilts. Let your eldest brother make lunch."

"Okay." Li Long responded and came out. When he came out, he heard his second sister-in-law Chen Lirong curiously ask, "Brother, can you cook?"

Before Liang Yuemei could speak, Mrs. Lu smiled and said:
"Your eldest brother is a good cook! He used to be the quartermaster."

"What is a quartermaster?" Chen Lirong asked curiously again.

"He's an officer from the Corps, in charge of the canteen. He's in charge of the kitchen, cooking, and buying food and rice..."

"Oh, you were once an official? Why didn't you do that?"

"Your father-in-law." Mrs. Lu knew all about this. "He said that his hometown couldn't support itself anymore, so he had to send your eldest brother back. After your eldest brother went back, he stayed for two years and came back again, but he didn't go to the military corps when he came back. I heard all this from my Tietou's father."

After Li Long came out, he could no longer hear the voices in the room. He wondered what his father would look like if he knew that the eldest sister-in-law of the Lu family had framed him. But what the eldest sister-in-law of the Lu family said was also true.

The two large stoves in the yard have been built, and now the young people are adding firewood to test the fire. The rising smoke and flames make the young people step back, seeing that the stoves are well built.

Li Long built two eight-person tables this time, which was definitely not enough. He also had to borrow a few tables from other people's homes. But that was a later story. Now that the stove was ready, he had to get the chef's workbench out. The thick wooden boards were propped up to place things, and the young people were busy under the leadership of the eldest brother of the Liang family.

The eldest son of the Liang family has helped with this job more than once and seems very skilled.

Li Long went over and stuffed a pack of cigarettes into each person's pocket, saying:
"Thanks for your hard work."

"What's the hard work?" The young man felt proud after taking the cigarette. This is Daqianmen! In the past, I could only smoke one cigarette, and the cigarettes I could smoke were mainly Mohe cigarettes. Although I made money last year, after a year, I got more land for my family, and I had more places to spend money. Unlike before, the team paid for seeds, fertilizers, and mechanized farming. Now I have to pay for my own land. Although the prospects are good, I still have to tighten my belt and live a hard life at the beginning.

It’s good to have cigarettes to smoke, and it gives me motivation to work.

Li Jianguo and Chen Xingbang were already preparing to clean up the meat in the idle house to see which ones could be used. Li Long went over and told his sister-in-law what she said. Li Jianguo nodded in agreement. Li Long then said:

"I'll go to the county to buy chicken and meat a couple of days ago. The meat here won't be touched. As for the fish, Boss Liang said he would use a net to catch them. We can just buy them when the time comes. We should be able to catch enough big carp in the small lake."

"Why not use him? Can't we just cast the net ourselves?" Chen Xingbang said, "It doesn't take much effort."

"Let them catch them," Li Jianguo said. "My family will be busy by then and won't be able to take care of them."

Li Long returned to his own yard and worked with the young people for a while. When they saw that it was almost time, the young people stopped and prepared to go home. Li Long hurriedly told them to eat here. Boss Liang waved his hand and said:

"Let's go back and eat. There are too many people here and there is no room for us to sit. Besides, we are saving our stomachs for the day when you come to do business, so forget about these two days."

With that, a group of young people left laughing.

All right, knowing that they had good intentions, Li Long did not insist on keeping them. After lunch, he continued to work. There were several women in the house, and Li Long did not need to worry about them. He was mainly busy with the supplies.

He took out the net that was placed with his eldest brother and gave it to Boss Liang. Boss Liang was very happy and said with a smile:

"Don't worry, Xiaolong. We'll take care of the fish."

Li Long hadn't been to Xiaohaizi these days, so he didn't know what was going on there. But since Boss Liang had agreed, he didn't have to worry about it. At most, he could go and take a look during the next two days.

On Saturday afternoon, Gu Xiaoxia came back by bicycle, stayed at home for a while, and then came to the big yard.

She carried a lot of things on the back seat of her bicycle, including cut-out wedding characters, seat cushions, curtains and other things.

Before it got dark, the two of them were busy pasting wedding characters and hanging curtains. Curtains were easy to hang at this time, and no professional was needed. Just pull a wire and tie it to the iron ring to hang it. People in this era are very good at hands-on work. Think about it, if someone can disassemble a diesel engine, what else can't they do? Li Long vaguely remembered that in his previous life, someone in the village had a broken gas gun part, and then asked someone in the repair shop to use a lathe to turn out a part, and it worked very well after it was installed.

The next day after breakfast, Li Long drove the tractor and went to the county with Gu Xiaoxia. They had to buy some small things themselves.

This time I chose more carefully, not only the things in the house, but also the clothes.

Despite Gu Xiaoxia's objections, Li Long bought her a gold ring, necklace and bracelet.

"I already have jade, but I don't wear these things on a regular basis. It's a waste of money to buy them." Gu Xiaoxia said angrily.

"Don't waste it. If we buy these things, they will appreciate in value in the future," Li Long whispered, "Gold will be more valuable in the future than it is now." It is much cheaper to buy gold jewelry at this time, unlike the later generations when there are so many fancy things. Of course, the patterns are also simple and not complicated, and the main feature is simplicity and elegance.

Gold worth less than two thousand yuan is quite good, as it cannot be bought back even with ten times the money in the future.

Li Long drove the tractor back to the compound with Gu Xiaoxia, feeling very satisfied. The two of them continued to make wedding gifts, which were for their colleagues at the Education Bureau and the leaders of the Supply and Marketing Cooperative.

Li Long is already a little numb. He has to go through all the big and small things one by one. So let it be.

Tired but happy and looking forward to it.

Li Long did not go home that night. The next day, he and Gu Xiaoxia went to the Education Bureau together and sent wedding gifts to the leaders and colleagues there. Deputy Director Wang looked at Li Long and said with a smile:

"Xiaoxia is an outstanding young person in our bureau. You must not bully her in the future. If I find out that you bully her, I will go to the supply and marketing cooperative to complain to your leader."

"Don't worry, Director. Nothing like this will ever happen." Li Long assured with a smile.

"That's pretty good. Congratulations!" (End of this chapter)