Rebirth of Bayi Fishing and Hunting in the Northwest

Chapter 995 We need to hire another helper.

"Hey, this pilaf is really delicious." Gu Boyuan said with a smile while eating, and then added to Sister Yang, "Xiao Fang's mom, I'm not saying yours is bad, it's just that Mingming's dad's cooking skills are good enough to open a shop. The way he makes it is different from yours, and the taste is different."

"I know, I know," Sister Yang said with a smile at the dinner table. "I know his uncle cooks well. I can't cook like that. I don't have that skill. I'll have to learn from his uncle when I have time."

"It just has too much meat and too much oil," Li Long said while eating. One advantage of his cooking is that he can eat what he makes, whether it's pilaf, soup rice, or anything else; unlike some master chefs who can't eat after smelling the fumes of cooking oil.

"Yes, that's right. If you have time, you can learn it. When you open a restaurant, I guarantee people will like the food you make," Gu Xiaoxia added.

Li Long smiled and said nothing more. His cooking skills were not bad, not to say they were excellent, but he had the advantage of having more knowledge and innovation from later generations. He would also study cooking in his spare time. During those years when he couldn't go out, he could only study cooking in his own yard, and he really made some amazing dishes.

After the meal, those who needed to go to work went to work, and those who needed to go to school went to school—in the end, only a little bit of crispy rice was left in the pot. Li Long's idea was to have porridge and two stir-fried vegetable dishes for dinner.

After all, lunch was oily and meaty, so dinner needs to be balanced out, otherwise it won't be able to digest.

During dinner, Gu Boyuan mentioned something.

“Mingming’s dad, Sun Jiaqiang, said that Tielanhua is about to give birth. Right now, the Tie family isn’t coming to help, and his own parents can’t come either. They need to hire someone to help take care of her, and he also has to run around doing things himself… so he needs to take a month off.”

“It’s alright, let him pay. I’ll find someone else.” Li Long thought for a moment and said, “She wants to have a baby, we can’t just let her have the baby, we can’t be heartless.”

"I knew it! He was worried that if he took leave, you wouldn't let him come to work anymore," Gu Boyuan said with a smile. "I said that's impossible, you'll definitely let him come to work. By the way, who are you planning to ask?"

“There’s not much work in the team during winter. I’ll go back and see who’s free and can stay put. I’ll bring them over to live and work at the purchasing station. That way, you’ll have company.”

"Hey, if someone comes over, I might just stay in my little courtyard..." Gu Boyuan said at first, then shook his head, "Forget it, I'll stay here. Shoveling snow in winter is a hassle, and two people can look after each other. But what about the food?"

"What else can we do? They can eat with us," Li Long said. "If anyone's coming, it'll probably be just a few families. We can't expect the whole family to come. If only one person comes, how am I supposed to cook?"

"Hmm, this is a troublesome matter," Gu Boyuan said. "Let's find someone first."

Tie Lan Hua wanted to have a child, something Li Long had considered beforehand. He recommended Sun Jiaqiang, but that was also to ask for help—the Tie family would never help him. Over the past year, the Tie family had gone to Tie Lan Hua twice, but both times they were driven away by her—because they were asking for money.

Given Sun Jiaqiang's personality, they're all family, and since his family is slightly better off, it wouldn't be unreasonable for him to help out his wife's family. After all, he felt that Tielanhua might eventually come to value family ties.

He hadn't expected Tillandsia to be so resolute, so naturally he supported his wife.

With both families so heartless, it's natural that the Tie family wouldn't come to take care of Tie Lanhua during her postpartum period, and it's even less likely that Sun Jiaqiang's parents would come, or rather, Sun Jiaqiang didn't want them to come.

What a mess of family relationships.

Ultimately, they'll have to hire someone from outside. The baby hasn't been born yet, but Sun Jiaqiang is definitely already looking for someone, or rather, Tielanhua has probably already found someone.

Li Long doesn't need to worry about this; he just needs to quickly find someone to replace Sun Jiaqiang.

So the next day, after breakfast, Li Long drove his jeep back to the team.

The village is relatively quiet now. Winter is approaching, and every household is preparing for the winter, or rather, people are already preparing. They've set up their stoves in advance and have begun to hibernate.

In recent years, with the implementation of the household responsibility system and the addition of sideline production, the living standards of the villagers in the team have improved significantly, and winters are much better.

Li Long clearly remembered when he was first reborn. That winter, because of him, his older brother's family didn't even have enough coal to get through the winter. If Li Long hadn't thought of going to the mountains to get wood to buy coal, that winter would have been difficult.

Now, every household in the village has enough coal. Basically, each family buys a few extra tons to burn as a surplus, because breaking up coal leaves behind coal dust, and since there's no tradition of making honeycomb briquettes here, that coal dust ends up being wasted.

Li Long drove his jeep to each of Xie Yundong, Tao Daqiang, Liang Dacheng, Jia Weidong, and others' homes, notifying them to come to his house.

When Li Long arrived at the Li family's courtyard and saw that no one was there, he went to the front yard.

Just as he expected, the stove in the front yard was already set up. Since it wasn't very cold outside yet, there was only a little coal in the stove, mainly to warm the house.

There was a large teapot on the stove, and the tea inside was warm. Li Long went to the kitchen, found a few bowls, and put them on the table, preparing to pour water for the group.

The first to arrive was Xie Yundong, who rode his bicycle over. After arriving at the courtyard, he called out, and upon hearing Li Long's voice, he pushed open the door and came in.

Next are Tao Daqiang, Jia Weidong, and finally Liang Dacheng.

A few people sat down at the table and started chatting. Although they all lived in the village, they didn't really get together. Or, when Li Long wasn't around, it was usually just two or three people who would bump into each other; it wasn't easy for them to get together.

But they still had a lot to talk about. For example, Liang Dacheng's family was still catching fish, and Tao Jianshe was also catching fish. A couple of days ago, they caught a water rat. Xie Yundong also heard that Xu Haijun was looking for a gun again and planned to go to the sand dunes to the north to hunt goats and sell their hides after the snow.

"Xiaolong, are leather items more expensive this year?"

"It is a bit more expensive." After pouring water for everyone, Li Long sat down. "The price goes up every year. Next year, they say there will be an animal protection law, and then the gazelles may not be allowed to be hunted, so the price will be even higher."

"They won't let us play next year?" The group was quite surprised.

"Yes, the country has enacted an animal protection law, so these wild animals will all be protected..."

"What about the wolves? They've already eaten people, why would you protect them?" Tao Daqiang asked, somewhat puzzled.

"That's what they say, but if it really bites someone, they'll just kill it and that's it." Li Long chuckled. "They say it's for protection, but you can't watch over it every day. If it really bites someone, nobody will watch over it or care. The purpose of this law is to tell the people that if this thing is killed on a large scale, it will be eradicated very quickly."

"Like our northern Xinjiang tigers, there were so many of those a hundred years ago, but now they're practically gone."

He spoke without batting an eye, and others believed him without a doubt.

"I called you all here today to see who's willing to do this job," Li Long said. "At my purchasing station, Sun Jiaqiang's wife is about to give birth. She's a Hui woman and she's having a conflict with her family, who aren't taking any responsibility."

This Sun Jiaqiang is from Koukou. His parents can't come from their hometown, so he's asked someone to take care of him. He also has to work at home, so I'm planning to find someone else to work at the purchasing station.

"Long-term or short-term?"

“If it were just a few of you, you could only do short-term jobs. Can you leave home for a long time?” Li Long said with a smile. “We definitely want to hire long-term workers. There are a lot of odd jobs at this purchasing station. See if any of you are available, or you can recommend someone.”

None of them spoke; they just looked at each other.

Actually, I'm a little tempted by both, but after being busy for more than half a year, I also want to stay at home and rest and spend time with my family.

“I’m saying, if you’re looking for a long-term relationship, why don’t you let Shuangcheng go?” Liang Dacheng suddenly said. “Shuangcheng isn’t married yet. He might not be very capable, but he’s obedient, especially to you. You remember that winter when he fell into an ice hole and you saved him? Ever since then, he’s looked up to you as a role model.”

Li Long's heart skipped a beat; this was indeed a good candidate.

The three Liang brothers have no shortage of labor. They worked hard to earn money in the first few years, but things have calmed down now.

The men in the other families are the pillars of their households and cannot be away for too long.

“Okay, Shuangcheng can work for us long-term,” Xie Yundong said immediately. “As long as he’s obedient, he’ll definitely make a lot of money in the future. Xiaolong won’t treat him badly.”

“Yes, yes, Shuangcheng is a good candidate.” Tao Daqiang also said with a smile, “She’s better than me and smarter than me.”

Others said the same thing, so Li Long asked Liang Dacheng:
"Is Shuangcheng willing?"

"Of course he's willing!" Liang Dacheng said with a smile, seeing how easily the deal had been made. "He couldn't be happier. Getting a monthly salary is better than staying at home, isn't it? Besides, he's already said he wants to build his own house and courtyard. If he can work for you long-term, he can buy a house in the county when he has the money. Isn't that better than staying in the team?"

This was a common understanding in their eyes. Li Long didn't say anything; since Liang Shuangcheng could do it, he'd call him over and ask. Liang Dacheng immediately went out to find his younger brother, while Li Jianguo quickly arrived at the front yard.

Upon entering the house and seeing so many people, he smiled and said:

"Hey, this is a really good gathering of people today. Where did Dacheng go?"

“I called Shuangcheng.” Li Long stood up, and the others followed suit. “Sun Jiaqiang’s wife at my purchasing station is about to give birth, and there’s no one to take care of her. I gave him a month or two off and was thinking of finding someone capable in the team. Dacheng said Shuangcheng would be fine, so I’ll take him with me.”

"Shuangcheng is a good kid." Li Jianguo nodded. "He's capable and competent. Since you're all together, don't leave later. Have your sister-in-law cook a few dishes so you can chat together."

“Hey, Uncle Jianguo, I had my dad slaughter a sheep,” Tao Daqiang said. “Come to my house later. We need to get together. We didn’t have the means before, but now we do. Brother Long is back, so we’ll come to my house this time.”

"Ha, all the sheep have been slaughtered?" Li Long was somewhat surprised.

"Yeah," Tao Daqiang said with a hint of smugness, "Brother Long, it's rare for you to come back, and it just so happens that everyone is free right now..."

"Alright, we'll talk about this later." Li Jianguo didn't press the matter. He knew about the relationship between Li Long and Tao Daqiang. Although they hadn't been as close in the past two years because Li Long had been busy, their friendship remained.

Tao Daqiang rarely treats people, not because he's greedy or stingy, but because his status makes it difficult for him to gather people together; he lacks the influence to do so. That's why he's using Li Long's place as an excuse.

The others were fine, so they naturally joined in and chatted for a while. After Liang Dacheng brought Shuangcheng over, they prepared to go to the Tao family together.

Li Long then called Liang Shuangcheng aside and explained the work situation.

"Winter is coming soon, and the main thing is still collecting hides. Uncle Gu is in charge there, and he sets the standards for collecting hides. Your main responsibility is to help out. You do whatever he asks you to do. Of course, after collecting hides, there may be some odd jobs, such as scraping off the excess fat from the hides and combing the fur when you have time, etc."

The work is the same, and the salary is the same too, fifty yuan a month. There's a bonus for good performance. What do you think?

"What else can we do but work hard!" Liang Shuangcheng said with a smile. "I know you won't treat me badly, Brother Long, so I will definitely do my best."

"That's good. As long as you do a good job, you can keep doing this job." Li Long knew that they had collected a lot of things over the past year, and Gu Boyuan and Sun Jiaqiang had actually worked very hard. Without the efforts of the Tillandsia plant, the fritillaria and mushrooms wouldn't have sold for such a good price.

Therefore, hiring another long-term worker is imperative.

Fortunately, his purchasing station currently only has two workers. Gu Boyuan is a partner, not an employee, so there are fewer than seven workers, and therefore no one will target him.

Besides, not many people pay attention to things like this in the northern border region, and with Li Long's big reputation protecting him, no one will go looking for trouble.

If Liang Shuangcheng is fine, then the matter is settled.

"Can you go to work tomorrow? If you can, go to the county purchasing station tomorrow," Li Long said. "Sun Jiaqiang is still here, so you can hand over the work to him tomorrow and let him teach you a bit."

“Okay, I’ll head over first thing tomorrow morning.” Liang Shuangcheng replied excitedly and then left.

Tao Daqiang wanted him to come along for the mutton meal, but Liang Dacheng declined on his behalf.
"Shuangcheng is very happy. Now she should go back and pack her things."

“He’ll eat with us then,” Li Long told Liang Dacheng. “Tell Shuangcheng when you get back.”

“Okay.” Liang Dacheng didn’t see anything wrong with eating with Li Long’s family.

When they arrived at the Tao family's house, the sheep had already been slaughtered. Yang Pingping was preparing the dishes, and Tao Jianshe was carefully skinning the sheep.

“Uncle, let me do it,” Li Long said to Tao Jianshe. “I’ve done this kind of work a lot.”

Tao Jianshe didn't refuse. He was indeed a bit rusty at this job, and he had already peeled it in two places. If it broke any more, the leather wouldn't be worth much.

Li Long quickly skinned the animal and then gutted it.

Everyone was a family member, and they all volunteered to do the work, such as turning over the intestines, removing the lamb legs, cutting the meat, and washing the stomach.

Soon, the offal was prepared, and the guests no longer needed to do anything. Li Long and his friends sat down at the table to play cards while waiting for their meal.

It's rare for the Tao family to have so many people over, and it's rarely this lively. Yang Pingping is good at cooking home-style meals, and she also helps out with weddings and funerals in the team, so she's quite skilled at it.

Tao Daqiang wanted to help, but Yang Pingping sent him back to the inner room to play cards. Tao Jianshe was cooking meat at the stove outside, while Yang Pingping took care of cooking the dishes inside.

Their child is older than Mingming and Haohao, and can already run and play on his own without needing adults to watch over him.

Li Long didn't drink much because he had to drive, but the others didn't care much and were all young, so they usually drank more than one bottle each.

The amount of food and drink wasn't small, but the atmosphere was lively, and there weren't any bad drinking habits, which made Li Long quite pleased.

It was already afternoon when they returned to the county. Li Long quickly washed up and, despite Mingming and Haohao complaining about the smell, went into the inner room to rest.

He could also hear Sister Yang telling Mingming and Haohao not to say that their father smelled bad.

In this era, the authority of the head of the household is maintained by many people. Children cannot speak ill of their parents, and even if other children call their parents by their names, it will be regarded as an insult. This is the general environment here.

At this age, the most offensive thing children say when they fight is calling each other's parents by name, something that later generations may not understand.

Sun Jiaqiang already knew that Li Long would hire someone to replace him, so he was quite relaxed when he came back today.

Tillandsia, heavily pregnant, had already prepared the meal. Sun Jiaqiang said with a smile:

"Boss Li has approved my leave. I'll decide the timing. You can go back to work after the baby is born and you're able to move around."

“In my opinion, you shouldn’t have taken the day off.” Tielanhua still disagreed with her husband’s decision. As she served him porridge, she said, “This is such a good job, such a good boss, and the pay is good. Your friendship was formed in the mountains, and by taking the day off, some of that friendship will be worn down. It will definitely diminish in the future—I’ve already hired someone to take care of you during your postpartum period, so you should just go to work as usual…”

"Hey, it's not that complicated," Sun Jiaqiang said, picking up his chopsticks and waiting for Tie Lanhua to sit down. "The boss is a person of principle, not like that. It's only natural for me to take leave. But if I have a baby and can't take care of either family, I definitely have to come back..."

"It doesn't need to take that long. What can you do during your postpartum period? You can just take a week off when you're about to give birth." Tie Lan Hua compromised, still worried that Sun Jiaqiang would be fired by Li Long later.

“Don’t worry about it so much, I don’t trust you.” Sun Jiaqiang’s attitude was very firm. “I also believe that Boss Li is not that kind of person. If I take a month or two off, he will definitely let me come back to work when the leave is over.”

Sun Jiaqiang trusted Li Long, so Tie Lanhua had nothing to say. She also knew that good bosses like Li Long were hard to find, and it was only a favor that Sun Jiaqiang take time off to be with his family.

The main reason is that she encountered too many dark things at home before, so she doesn't dare to gamble.

If Li Longzhen really doesn't let Sun Jiaqiang do it anymore, does she expect her husband to go back to the mountains to dig for fritillaria bulbs?
Definitely not.

Although my family is wealthy now, without a proper job, we'll just be sitting around doing nothing and running out of money.

Before she had children, making money wasn't difficult, but having children definitely affected her, so she values ​​Sun Jiaqiang's current job very much.

But her husband was too adamant, and she didn't want to argue or object. This happy family was hard-won, and she cherished it, not wanting any conflicts between the couple.

　A friend's book, I'd like to recommend it.

(End of this chapter)