Rebirth of Bayi Fishing and Hunting in the Northwest

Chapter 943 The Northern Frontier is My Home

Watching the train disappear into the distance, Gu Xiaoyu felt a pang of loss. She walked out of the station and wandered back home in a daze. Her mother was cooking when she came home from work. Seeing her come in, she was a little surprised: "Aren't you going to work today?"

"No, I'm fine this morning." Gu Xiaoyu shook her head, looking at her busy mother, wondering whether she should mention this matter.

“Your brother is getting engaged in a few days, so you’ll have to come back then.” Fan Wenli said without looking at her daughter, while chopping cabbage. “I gave some of the money you gave me to your dad, and with the money I saved, your dad found a house near your brother’s workplace. It’s a single-story house, one inside and one outside, and it cost four thousand eight.”

After your brother's girlfriend found out, she told him that they'd been dating for quite a while and were thinking of getting engaged before the new year. They planned to tidy up the house and furnish it in the spring, then they could get married.

At this point, she stopped wielding the knife, turned to look at Gu Xiaoyu, and said, "Your brother is getting on in years, and you've put in a lot of effort to help him get married this year. Don't blame your mother; the money's just sitting there anyway, so let's get this urgent matter settled first."

Gu Xiaoyu nodded. The five thousand was originally intended for her mother, so she definitely had no objections.

“Mom is saving the rest for you. I’ll give it to you as your dowry when you get married.” Fan Wenli’s voice softened as she thought about how well-behaved her daughter was. “Your brother also said that he’s working hard to save money so he can give you a big gift when you get married.”

Gu Xiaoyu nodded subconsciously, still thinking about her sister.

But her mother was only talking about things within their "family" here, and she didn't know how to bring it up.

“Your dad has been overjoyed these past few days. With your brother’s matter resolved, he’s finally relieved of a huge worry.” Fan Wenli smiled slightly. “He’s even speaking louder in front of our neighbors now, and he can finally hold his head high.”

Huang Yufei is almost thirty and still unmarried, so naturally the neighbors gossip about him. Huang Jiuzhang is a minor leader and cares a lot about his reputation, so being talked about behind his back makes him uncomfortable.

“And you, you’re not getting any younger either. Didn’t you say… your sister is married and has children?” Fan Wenli mentioned Gu Xiaoxia. “You should also think about your own marriage.”

We haven't introduced you to anyone yet because we thought the people in your workplace were of high quality. If you can't find someone suitable, then your dad and I will have to introduce you to someone.

Finally hearing her mother mention her older sister, Gu Xiaoyu was about to start talking about her sister when Fan Wenli's voice rang out again:

“You’re a young lady, so you don’t need to prepare a house. When you get married, our family will buy a few big items as your dowry. Of course, I’ll give you the money then, and you can keep it in your own hands. A woman will feel more confident if she has money in her hands after she gets married.”

Fan Wenli sighed as she spoke, putting the chopped cabbage into a basin to wash it. As she washed, she said, "When I married you, we had no money. It's only because your father didn't look down on us that we suffered so much."

Don't be so skeptical. Among the neighbors, how many married women have been bullied? Your dad is considered good. Of course, he's happy with the money you gave him this time, saying it wasn't a waste of money to send you to university. Going to university really makes a difference..."

Gu Xiaoyu didn't want to talk anymore.

My mother's world revolves around the family; in other words, she has completely integrated herself into this family over the past twenty years. Logically, having lived in this family for twenty years, she should have become part of it as well.

But when Gu Xiaoyu thought about the faint sense of distance her stepfather and stepbrother had shown her over the years, she felt more and more that the other side was more like her family and more like her home.

Recalling the joy she had spent with her sister and brother-in-law's family these past few days, and reflecting on the cautiousness she had felt living in this family for so many years, Gu Xiaoyu felt an urge to simply resign and go to northern Xinjiang.

Of course, it was just a momentary impulse. My brother-in-law and sister bought a yard, and I still have to take care of it. I just hope they can come over when they have time, and that I can go over there when I have time off.

The journey is long, but that can't stop my desire to go.

Huang Jiuzhang and Huang Yufei returned one after another. When they saw Gu Xiaoyu at home, they both greeted her politely, which made Gu Xiaoyu feel a mix of emotions.

"Xiaoyu, don't worry, I'll save that money after I get married and I'll definitely pay it back to you," Huang Yufei assured him, patting his chest.

Huang Jiuzhang smiled and said that it was only right.

"No need to rush." ​​Gu Xiaoyu lowered her head and ate her rice, swallowing the food in her mouth as she said, "This money is for Mom to decide. We'll use it however Mom says."

Huang Yufei's eyes lit up when he heard this, and he looked at Fan Wenli.

Huang Jiujian reached out and slapped him: "What's wrong? You're so old, and you've really lost your sense of responsibility? Xiaoyu is at the age to find a partner, and that costs money too."

"Yes, yes, yes," Huang Yufei nodded hurriedly, "By the way, we have a few good young people in our factory, Xiaoyu, I'll introduce you to them when I have time."

Gu Xiaoyu did not respond.

After finishing her meal and helping her mother tidy up, she left. On her way back to her workplace, almost as if by magic, Gu Xiaoyu ended up at the courtyard that Li Jianguo had bought.

The yard had all the basic furniture. When Gu Xiaoyu opened the door, a neighbor bumped into her, and someone even asked if she had just bought the Shao family's yard and inquired about her workplace. Knowing she worked at a university, the neighbor's questions were quite respectful.

After all, being able to work at a university these days is definitely not an ordinary thing.

Cleaning here actually calmed Gu Xiaoyu down. So, whenever she had free time over the next few days, she cleaned this yard, as well as Li Long's two yards—the snow in those two yards was too thick for Gu Xiaoyu to handle by herself, so she paid a few people to clear the snow and remove the trash.

A few days later, looking at the clean and tidy yard, Gu Xiaoyu felt quite accomplished.

Then she felt the yard was a bit empty, so she went to the consignment shop again, spent money to buy some second-hand furniture, and decorated the two yards, so that at least the yards felt habitable.

Li Long said he would come over to renovate after the New Year, but Gu Xiaoyu thought the cleaned yard was already habitable and quite nice.

During this time, she also inquired about houses in the neighborhood and asked her colleagues about it.

Because it took more than a week to find anything in the vicinity of these courtyards. Near the two-courtyard house that Li Long bought, there is a small courtyard. It's not a traditional courtyard house, but three single-story houses with a small courtyard, not facing the street.

This used to be a staff housing compound belonging to a work unit. The owner of the house that Gu Xiaoyu bought has retired and is moving to his son's apartment to help take care of his grandson, so the courtyard has become empty.

Gu Xiaoyu only decided to buy the courtyard house after finding out that the nearby residents were all nice people.

The courtyard was priced at three thousand yuan, and Gu Xiaoyu bought it without haggling.

Although the neighbors later said she had overpaid, she liked it very much. Mainly because the house was fully furnished, with even a stove and cooking utensils. The elderly couple were actually reluctant to part with these things, but their son's apartment couldn't accommodate them, so they simply sold the entire house, including the yard, to Gu Xiaoyu.

Gu Xiaoyu chose this place for another reason: the neighborhood office is nearby, a government-run place with staff on duty every night, so at least she could be safe here.

After getting everything sorted out, Gu Xiaoyu went home and learned that she had missed her stepbrother's engagement ceremony.

Fan Wenli complained that she hadn't been home much lately, and that her in-laws were planning to meet this person who worked at the university. Gu Xiaoyu didn't argue, only saying that she had some things to take care of recently.

Fan Wenli didn't press the matter. Gu Xiaoyu guessed that Fan might know that she had a lot of contact with people in the northern border region, but she probably didn't want to know those things, so she didn't ask.

What's done is done. Gu Xiaoyu didn't feel much regret or remorse. She now preferred to be alone in the yard, whether she was busy or just spacing out, it was better than staying in this "home".

Some areas here have already switched to PBX systems, changing the way we make phone calls. Gu Xiaoyu thought about what her sister had said; the telephones in northern Xinjiang would also be replaced after the New Year this year. If her sister's family got a phone line then, they could finally make some calls.

Li Long and his group traveled west by train, getting off at each station to see if there were any local specialties they could bring back.

To his slight regret, he couldn't buy any jujubes on the way back. Along the way, the people in his carriage changed several times, and Li Long had almost finished eating the local specialties like braised pork hock in his backpack. By this time, he had also become more friendly with the others.

The further they went, the emptier the carriages became. By the time they reached Wucheng, less than a third of the passengers remained.

After Li Long and his group got off the bus, they found that it was almost dark. There were no more buses to Ma County at that time, so they stayed overnight at the Bayi Guesthouse. The next morning, after breakfast, they took a bus back to the county's compound.

Whether it was Li Jianguo, Li Juan, Li Qiang, or Gu Xiaoxia, they all found it incredible. Just a few days ago, they were climbing the Great Wall and visiting the Forbidden City in Beijing, and today they were already back in northern Xinjiang. The two sides are thousands of kilometers apart, and they're already back?
It's like a dream!
Li Long was quite moved by their reaction. He thought to himself, "In a few decades, when you can fly, you can travel from the west side of a country to the east side in just three to five hours, or even fly to several countries in a single day."

Ordinary people can afford to sit here too.

Even if we tell them now, they might not believe us.

Sister Yang was overjoyed to see Gu Xiaoxia and the others return, and busied herself pouring water and preparing lunch. Li Jianguo, Li Juan, and Li Qiang were eager to go back, and Li Long didn't stop them, saying that he would bring the local specialties back to the village after he went to Wucheng Railway Station.

They started the jeep and took Li Jianguo, Li Juan, and Li Qiang back. Gu Xiaoxia changed her clothes, while Mingming and Haohao fell asleep before dinner was served.

Although the two children slept quite a bit on the train during this period, they didn't really get much rest.

After tidying up, Gu Xiaoxia chatted with Sister Yang and Han Fang about the latest happenings in Yanjing while helping with the cooking. When Gu Boyuan came over at noon, he was very happy to see Gu Xiaoxia back.

When Li Long and his team returned to the fourth squad, they immediately attracted a lot of attention.

In Li Jianguo's west room, Li Long was telling his parents stories about Beijing, with Li Jianguo occasionally adding to the tales. The two elderly people particularly enjoyed listening to stories about the Forbidden City and their own memorial hall.

Upon hearing that the Li family had returned, the first to arrive were the Lu couple.

Li Juan and Li Qiang couldn't wait to show off to their friends, so Li Long stopped chatting. As more people arrived, Li Qingxia and Du Chunfang went to their east room.

Liang Yuemei didn't feel it deeply because she hadn't seen her family for less than half a month, but Li Jianguo and the others felt it very deeply. After all, they had been to Yanjing, the center of the motherland, in less than half a month. How could they not feel it deeply?

There were some local specialty pastries in the bag I was carrying. Everyone who came shared some with them and said that they were indeed worthy of being brought back from Yanjing, and they tasted really good.

More people came over one after another. They listened to the Li family talk about things in Yanjing and heard that they had taken photos. They all said that they must see the photos after Li Long developed them.

There were too many people, and they didn't disperse until lunchtime. After lunch, Li Long left in a hurry, not wanting to be surrounded again.

Once upon a time, when he returned from Wucheng, those people talked to him about things in Wucheng, and he quite enjoyed the feeling of being the center of attention.

Right now, I just feel annoyed.

When they returned to the compound, they were surprised to find that Gu Boyuan was still there, listening to Gu Xiaoxia talk about something.

When Li Long returned, Gu Boyuan asked him some questions.

Although Gu Boyuan had traveled to many places, he had never been to Yanjing City. This time, when his daughter told him that Li Long had bought two courtyards and some calligraphy and paintings, he was quite interested and wanted to see them.

Li Long then took out the seven paintings from the painting tube in his backpack and showed them to Gu Boyuan.

"These are truly genuine works by famous artists." Gu Boyuan finished looking at each painting, sighed, and then handed them back to Li Long, saying, "Gold is valued in times of chaos, and collections are valued in times of prosperity. These paintings and calligraphy should be worth something in the future. Keep them safe."

Even if he were incredibly talented, he could never have imagined that one of these paintings would one day fetch over a million, or even tens or hundreds of millions.

He hadn't thought that far ahead. Hearing that his two daughters got along very well, and thinking that he would have a place to stay when he went to Yanjing in the future, Gu Boyuan even wondered if he should go there himself sometime.
Especially since Li Long and his group went and came back so quickly, he realized that going to Yanjing wasn't actually that difficult.

"By the way, someone from the supply and marketing cooperative came over the day before yesterday and said that the county will be holding a representative meeting after the New Year, and they want you to prepare."

Li Long then remembered that the representatives had to attend meetings every year, review reports, and submit proposals; there was a lot to do.

Fortunately, it was after the New Year. If it had been before the New Year, it would have been difficult for him to get to Beijing from here, as communication would have been difficult and he would have had trouble asking for leave.

Gu Boyuan also talked about some things related to the acquisition station.

“Recently, in the lead-up to the Lunar New Year, many people have been thinking of hunting gazelles to sell for money to buy New Year’s goods. Well, this is great, as they can collect a hundred or so pelts a day.” Gu Boyuan sighed, “At this rate, no matter how many gazelles there are in the Gobi Desert, they won’t be able to withstand the hunting.”

"It's not that bad. If we hunt too many here, the gazelles won't pass through here next year," Li Long said. "Gazelles are quite clever too."

Li Long knew that at present, the yellow sheep were still a large herd, with some groups of tens of thousands crossing the border, and that their numbers would gradually decrease in the next ten years.

Gu Boyuan left after dinner, reminding Li Long to think carefully about the topics and to perform well at the meeting.

“Now that we’ve bought a courtyard house in Yanjing, we need to find a way to go there often,” Gu Boyuan said. “Otherwise, if the courtyard house is uninhabited for a long time, it will definitely attract attention.”

"And you, Uncle Gu, do you have any plans to go there in the future?" Li Long asked.

“No. I think it’s fine here,” Gu Boyuan said. “I have no worries about food and drink, and I have so much money that I don’t know what to do with it. It doesn’t matter where I stay.”

Li Long didn't know if Gu Boyuan was being honest or just trying to fool him, but it seemed that Gu Boyuan wasn't planning to go to Yanjing anytime soon.

It's probably better not to go. Judging from what Gu Xiaoxia and Gu Xiaoyu said, their mother-in-law doesn't care about past relationships at all, so it's really better not to go.

The next day, after breakfast, Li Long told Gu Xiaoxia and Sister Yang, and then drove his jeep to Wucheng.

The painting mailed from Yanjing hasn't arrived yet; regular mail is quite slow. However, he figured the local specialties shipped from there, like pastries, must have arrived by now.

When he arrived at the Wucheng Railway Station freight department, he showed his ticket and they picked up his goods, several large wooden crates, which Li Long carried onto the train one by one.

"Not bad, young man. You're quite strong." The person in charge of the shipping department praised Li Long as he easily lifted the wooden box.

"Hey, you're young, aren't you?" Li Long replied, closed the car door, and drove into the city.

After driving to a residential compound, Li Long parked the jeep by the gate, opened the door, took out a screwdriver, pried open one of the boxes, and took out two packets of pastries.

He entered the family compound, found the room number he remembered, and knocked on the door.

Professor Wu opened the door. He paused for a moment upon seeing Li Long, then smiled and said:

"Oh, Comrade Li, what a rare guest! Come in, come in!"

With school on holiday and Professor Wu not having much to do, Li Long guessed she was at home. And indeed she was.

"Hello Professor Wu, I went to Yanjing a few days ago and brought back some local specialty pastries." Li Long placed the pastries on the coffee table and said, "Two boxes. The other box is for Professor Luo; I don't know where he lives..."

"Old Luo went back to his hometown. I'll give it to him when he gets back." After pouring water for Li Long, Professor Wu sat down and chatted with Li Long.

Upon hearing Li Long's story about contacting merchants in the region and selling the flattened watermelon seeds from here, Professor Wu immediately smiled happily. Li Long felt that the professor was beaming with pride after hearing his news.

"Not bad, not bad at all. You're really capable of leading the villagers to prosperity! Old Luo said your business was growing bigger and bigger after he came back last year. Now it seems that people like you are the kind who get rich first and then help others get rich. Not bad, not bad!"

Professor Wu highly praised Li Long's actions. After learning that Li Long was already a county people's congress representative, Professor Wu felt that it was well-deserved, as only such a representative could truly represent the people.

After chatting for a while, Li Long was about to leave, but Professor Wu insisted that he stay for dinner, saying he wanted to hear more about rural agricultural development. Professor Wu's students were also professionals; there were things you couldn't learn just by being in school, and it was important to hear the real stories from ordinary rural people.

Li Long was happy to tell Professor Wu more about rural life, and also got to know Professor Wu's family.

After finishing the meal, Li Long went to the jade factory to find Engineer Liu.

Li Long knows many people, and he plans to give gifts to all of them, especially those he has a good relationship with, before the New Year.

There are some in Wucheng, and quite a few in Beiting City, such as Director Qian, Director Wei, and Chen Hongjun.

When Li Long returned to the county, one of the boxes was already empty.

Of course, the gains were also quite significant.

(End of this chapter)