Rebirth of Bayi Fishing and Hunting in the Northwest

Chapter 996 Liang Shuangcheng: A Bit Stubborn and a Bit Pride

Knowing that Liang Shuangcheng would be there the next day, Li Long went there early after breakfast.

To Li Long's surprise, Liang Dacheng and Liang Shuangcheng arrived at the purchasing station in a tractor, carrying quite a lot of goods.

Li Long even saw pots, some vegetables, and bedding, which were the main items; there were quite a few of these daily necessities.

“Hey, Shuangcheng said he’s going to cook for himself and won’t come to your house to eat,” Liang Dacheng said with a wry smile after learning of Li Long’s doubts. “Young man, thin-skinned, and concerned about his image.”

"How about he cooks for himself?" Li Long thought that was normal. Shuangcheng was thinking about earning a salary, and he probably felt that eating at his own home would feel like being a guest in someone else's house, so it would definitely be different.

“He’s alright at cooking. Of the three of us brothers, he’s the best cook. He’s smart and likes to think things through,” Liang Dacheng said. “Since he wants to cook, let him do it well. You don’t need to worry about it.”

"Alright, I'll bring him some rice and noodles later," Li Long said with a smile, "and some dried vegetables too."

"No need, no need, I've already brought everything. I've also prepared some pickled vegetables, braised meat and oil, as well as dried vegetables and persimmon sauce. Let him eat it however he wants."

"Okay." Li Long nodded.

While Li Long and Liang Dacheng were talking, Liang Shuangcheng was unloading things. After he finished unloading, he ran over to find Li Long, who then said to him:
"You should tidy up the room first," Li Long said. "When Sun Jiaqiang comes over, he'll work with you for half a day, then explain the tasks to you, and you'll be ready to start."

"Okay, no rush. Once the things are moved in, I can tidy up whenever I have free time when I'm not at work."

"No, since you're not planning to eat at my house, you should get ready first. Are you coming over for lunch today?"

"I'm not going," Liang Shuangcheng smiled. "I see the stove is clean. I'll set it up later and make some noodles for lunch. I'll cook a proper meal this afternoon."

"Okay, then see for yourself."

Seeing that his younger brother was quite happy and that everything was in order, Liang Dacheng told Li Long, then went to the front to say goodbye to Gu Boyuan, and drove away in his tractor.

A new person came to the purchasing station, and the people who came to sell their goods were quite curious about it. They stood there and started gossiping.

Those who knew had already guessed that Sun Jiaqiang was going to have a child and might need to rest for a few days. This was quickly agreed upon by everyone. Then came the speculation about whether the newcomer would be there for a short or long term.

When Sun Jiaqiang arrived, he saw Liang Shuangcheng already helping Gu Boyuan. He felt a little uncomfortable, but then he smiled.

As soon as Liang Shuangcheng saw Sun Jiaqiang enter, he knew he wasn't there to receive the goods, so he quickly gave up his seat and smiled at Sun Jiaqiang.

"You must be Shuangcheng? You're here quite early. Come on, let's go together, I'll explain the process to you." Sun Jiaqiang greeted Liang Shuangcheng with a smile.

Liang Shuangcheng may have been wary of Sun Jiaqiang, but Sun Jiaqiang took the initiative to express goodwill as soon as he arrived, and Liang Shuangcheng immediately accepted it. The two soon started chatting while working.

When there were other people around, Sun Jiaqiang would work with Liang Shuangcheng. During short breaks when no one was around, he would lead Liang Shuangcheng to each warehouse and explain how to work in each one.

Although it was nearing early winter, the purchasing station was mainly buying hides, but it could also get dried mushrooms, fritillaria bulbs, and other food and medicinal materials. Therefore, Sun Jiaqiang explained the processing methods for each item to Liang Shuangcheng.

“Don’t be afraid of trouble when you’re working. Be careful. If you don’t understand anything, ask Uncle Gu. I’m right next door. If you can’t do it yourself, you can go ask me.” Sun Jiaqiang said, “Don’t try to do it yourself. It’s not good to ruin the things you’ve collected.”

Li Long observed the interaction between the two and found that Sun Jiaqiang was very dedicated to teaching, while Liang Shuangcheng was also working hard to learn. He even made a small notebook to write down the more complicated and confusing things he didn't understand.

"Okay, the young man is smart and knows how to work hard." Gu Boyuan gave a preliminary conclusion, "If he can sit still and work hard, he will be a good prospect."

It's impossible to see through a person in a short time; the key is to see if they have long-term plans.

Although Sun Jiaqiang is not very smart, he can endure loneliness and listen to advice, and these strengths will allow him to continue working.

Liang Shuangcheng is smarter than Sun Jiaqiang, but many smart people are a bit arrogant and like to take shortcuts instead of steadily progressing step by step.

So Gu Boyuan said that Liang Shuangcheng still needs to be investigated and observed.

Li Long also hoped that Liang Shuangcheng could be more down-to-earth, since for someone like him who hoped to receive government-subsidized food rations, this was actually a very good option right now.

Nowadays, relatively few villagers go out to work. After all, being an apprentice for a short period of time is not as profitable as farming at home, especially growing cash crops like in the Fourth Team.

While other production teams may have just reached the point of basic subsistence, the living standards of the fourth production team were actually already moving towards a basic level of prosperity.

People like Liang Shuangcheng, who are paid fifty yuan a month right after starting work without even an apprenticeship or internship period, are extremely rare.

Moreover, those who are close to Li Long know that as long as you do a good job, Li Long will definitely not only give you fifty yuan; bonuses will be calculated separately.

Sun Jiaqiang earns more than one hundred yuan a month on average.

Therefore, if Li Long were to send out the recruitment notice in the village, the door would likely be overwhelmed with people.

But he would definitely only give such an opportunity to people he knows well.

It remains to be seen whether Liang Shuangcheng can seize this opportunity.

Liang Shuangcheng knew that Sun Jiaqiang was from out of town, and now he knew that after working here for a year, he met Tielanhua, bought a courtyard, got married, and settled down in the county.

Knowing this, Liang Shuangcheng's enthusiasm increased to another level, and he also wanted to follow this path!
Although Li Long thought living in the countryside was great—it was close to home, had familiar faces, and abundant resources—Liang Shuangcheng wondered what was so good about the Fourth Team, where he had lived since childhood. The bustling county town was the better place!

Seeing the changes in Liang Shuangcheng, Li Long was quite pleased. In the short term, this was the right choice.

At lunchtime, Gu Boyuan heard from Li Long that Liang Shuangcheng wasn't eating in the courtyard, but he didn't think much of it. The purchasing station had many vacant rooms; several of them used to be dormitories, but they were still empty. Giving Liang Shuangcheng one wouldn't be a problem.

Inside were bunk beds and a wooden cabinet. Liang Shuangcheng slept on the lower bunk, and the upper bunk could be used for storage, while clothes were kept in the cabinet. Li Long also found him a small table and two stools, and that made up his room.

Liang Shuangcheng was very satisfied with this dormitory. It was a single room; even at home, the three brothers shared a room, which was incredibly cramped.

These conditions are so comfortable!
When Gu Xiaoxia returned home for lunch, she was still wondering why Liang Shuangcheng hadn't come. After Li Long explained, she smiled.

“It’s a good thing that the young man has a strong sense of self-respect. Maybe he plans to work hard and make a fortune on his own, just like Sun Jiaqiang.”

"That's probably what they're thinking. If they don't want to come, then we don't need to worry about them," Li Long said. "Anyway, there's plenty of coal at the purchasing station, so let them do what they want."

It's normal for young people to have a little self-esteem; there's no need to overthink it. Li Long figured Liang Shuangcheng had just arrived and would need some time to adjust, so there was no rush.

For the next two days, Sun Jiaqiang worked with Liang Shuangcheng. Liang Shuangcheng adapted quickly and worked very efficiently. However, he was too embarrassed to ask Gu Boyuan and Li Long about things he didn't know, so he asked Sun Jiaqiang in private.

Two or three days later, seeing that Liang Shuangcheng had basically adapted, Sun Jiaqiang asked Li Long for leave to take care of his wife.

Li Long told him to go back and take good care of the iron orchid, and to let him know if he needed anything.

Sun Jiaqiang smiled and said no need. In fact, his family had enough money. The person he hired was someone that Tielanhua had already chosen. He was honest, hardworking, and excellent at his job.

Although it was her first time giving birth, Tillandsia had already inquired about all the precautions and things to be aware of during her pregnancy.

As Sun Jiaqiang watched his wife prepare for these things step by step, he felt both admiration and a pang of sadness.

Neither set of parents could help, so I had to make arrangements for this important matter myself. It's impossible not to feel heartbroken.

But thinking about how carefree my life was before without the constraints of both sets of parents, I guess this is the price I have to pay.

Fortunately, Li Long gave him leave so he could focus on taking care of the baby, which put his mind at ease. As for Tie Lanhua's concern that Li Long might not want her after she finished taking care of him during his postpartum period, Sun Jiaqiang hadn't worried about that at all; he knew Li Long wasn't that kind of person.

So he told Li Long without worry and hurried home.

Gu Boyuan simply told Sun Jiaqiang a few words and then continued collecting the hides.

Although there aren't many people coming now, there are still twenty or thirty every day, and we collect forty or fifty hides, as well as other miscellaneous items.

This is basically the daily income. Once it snows, the quantity of leather will skyrocket.

Li Long had also calculated that the profit from a scrap of hide was between 15 and 20 yuan, while the profit from a whole hide was around 30 yuan.

Although some of these hides may be ordinary leathers such as sheepskin, the net profit per day is still around one thousand yuan.

This is still the off-season. In the peak season, which is a few days after the snowfall, when the gazelles in the Gobi Desert begin to gather and migrate, we can collect hundreds of gazelle and deer hides a day.

Winter hides are more expensive than spring and summer hides because of their better fur. However, they are also more troublesome to process. When slaughtering, it's cold, and if the skinning technique is rudimentary, a lot of meat fat will inevitably fall onto the hide, which needs to be cleaned up. If holes are made during skinning, it can only be considered as scraps.

In other places, some people would cover up the wound with grease and skin to disguise it, but Old Gu has been doing this for a long time. He may not have sharp eyes, but those disguises are useless against him. He can spot it in a second, so Li Long is not worried about this.

Liang Shuangcheng was now arranging the leathers he had collected next to Lao Gu, listening to Lao Gu describe the quality of the leathers to the sellers, while slowly scraping the grease off the leathers with a blunt knife.

Although it looked dirty and smelled fishy, ​​he was in a good mood—fifty yuan a month!

Once it's in your hands, it's yours! This is what the eldest brother said—the family earns quite a bit of money, but most of it is saved up to build houses and get married for the three brothers.

Unlike when you go out and work independently, all the money you earn is yours.

Of course, Liang Shuangcheng had also thought it through. He wasn't going to squander the money; he planned to save it up and, like Sun Jiaqiang, buy a house and get married.

He didn't really fancy any of the girls in the village; he was thinking of finding a girl from the city.

Liang Shuangcheng was clever, and a little bit shrewd, but his older brother had already warned him before he arrived, telling him to listen to Li Long and work diligently at the purchasing station.

Liang Shuangcheng didn't take it seriously at first, but the night before he arrived, many young people of similar age from his family came to inquire about him. The envy on their faces made Liang Shuangcheng realize that he had finally found a powerful patron.

Others really want to take this job!

Li Long only invited a few people to his home because he had good relationships with the team. His older brother, wanting to get out first, assigned the job to him. Otherwise, who knows who would have gotten it?
"I've risked my reputation for this job. If you don't do it well and get fired, I'll break your legs!"

It was rare for Liang Dacheng to speak so harshly, so Liang Shuangcheng naturally knew the gravity of the matter.

So he knew that even if the work was more tiring than farm work, he had to persevere.

Fortunately, it was just tedious, not really tiring, and he could handle it.

Li Long stayed with Gu Boyuan and Liang Shuangcheng at the acquisition station for half a month, mainly because he thought Liang Shuangcheng was inexperienced and might not be able to cooperate well.

This way, Li Long could also lend a hand. However, after following along, he found that he was superfluous after only a week. Liang Shuangcheng picked it up quickly and was basically on par with Sun Jiaqiang within a week. Although he wasn't very skilled at tasks like processing hides and washing fritillaria bulbs, he was still quite efficient.

Li Long was relieved. In any case, at least for now, Liang Shuangcheng was keeping up and putting in the effort.

On October 27th, Tielanhua gave birth to a daughter, weighing a little over three kilograms. Both mother and daughter are safe and sound.

Sun Jiaqiang was very happy, but Tielanhua was not so happy. After finding out the gender of the child, she secretly told Sun Jiaqiang that once she recovered, they should have another child, and it had to be a son.

Sun Jiaqiang hadn't really thought that much about it and wasn't going to force it. But Tielanhua was fixated on it, and if it weren't for the fact that Tielanhua was in her postpartum period, Sun Jiaqiang would have already scolded her.

Why are you, a woman, being so sexist? This isn't your parents' home!

Of course, he couldn't say that, as getting angry is the worst thing to do during postpartum confinement. So Sun Jiaqiang didn't say much, took Tielanhua home from the county hospital, and started taking care of her during her confinement.

Of course, the main caregiver is the middle-aged woman we hired. She might be called a nanny or a postpartum caregiver in the future, but at this point, we can only call her "sister-in-law".

After receiving the money, this woman surnamed Zhang took excellent care of the child, cooking, looking after the child, and feeding the child, which greatly satisfied Sun Jiaqiang.

After learning that Tillandsia had given birth, Gu Xiaoxia took a weekend trip to visit her with brown sugar and eggs. When she came back, she said that the child was very well-behaved, with big eyes and was very beautiful.

"I don't know what will happen in the future. Hao Hao is less than three years older than her..."

"Hehe!" Li Long laughed. "You're not thinking of finding partners for your two kids right now, are you? Isn't that a bit too early?"

"Haha, I just remembered it when I saw the child," Gu Xiaoxia said with a hint of regret. "If it weren't for my status, we should have had another daughter..."

"Don't think too much about it. Life can't always go according to our wishes," Li Long said, patting her shoulder. "That's just how the country's policy is. We're already doing very well to have two children; many people would envy us. Just focus on your job. Think about it, if you have another baby, you'll definitely lose your job. Would you be happy about that?"

Naturally, they wouldn't be happy about that.

It's a dilemma.

Li Long wasn't too conflicted; to be honest, he was already very satisfied with his current life.

His standard of living is already better than that of more than 95% of people, so what more could he ask for?

As for whether he has a daughter, that's fate. Since he chose Gu Xiaoxia in the first place, and the two of them became husband and wife and lived together, he naturally has to take responsibility for Gu Xiaoxia's affairs.

Even if Gu Xiaoxia really doesn't become a state cadre, as a people's representative and an advanced individual recognized nationwide, would she still violate the family planning policy?

He's not a photographer.

No need, things are fine as they are now.

Life became uneventful after that. In early November, before the first snow of the winter, Zhao Hui came to collect the pelts. This time, the pelts he took away were half summer pelts and half winter pelts—the pelts that had just been hunted were already considered winter pelts, with thick fur and abundant underfur, clearly much better than spring and summer pelts.

This time, Zhao Hui took away more than 700 hides, of which more than 300 were whole hides and the rest were damaged hides. He left Li Long with more than 59,100 yuan.

The initial investment was over 38,000 yuan, and the profit this time is around 20,000 yuan.

Li Long gave Gu Boyuan two thousand yuan, Sun Jiaqiang received a one hundred yuan bonus, and Liang Shuangcheng, despite only having been with the company for half a month, had done a good job, so Li Long also gave him thirty yuan as a bonus, which made Liang Shuangcheng extremely excited.

Wow, that's generous!
A monthly salary of fifty yuan, plus a bonus of thirty yuan, makes eighty yuan. These days, even factory workers at several skill levels only earn eighty yuan.

Liang Shuang, who had started to slack off after working for more than half a month, suddenly became energetic again.

While eating, Gu Boyuan said to Li Long, "You did a great job. You timed it perfectly at twenty days, extending Liang Shuangcheng's period of exhaustion. With this bonus, he can hold on for at least half a month, and then he can get his salary."

“The allure of a salary is definitely not as strong as that of a bonus,” Li Long said with a smile. “The appeal of a bonus lies in its uncertainty; it’s an unexpected surprise, while a salary is fixed and doesn’t offer the same level of anticipation.”

“That makes sense. He’ll definitely be excited when he gets his hands on those five dollars,” Gu Boyuan said. “You’ll see then. Shuangcheng is good; he’s a capable worker, so give him some experience.”

This essentially defines Liang Shuangcheng's character.

(End of this chapter)