Li Long Had Made Something of Himself

"This thing's a water rat. Its proper name is muskrat," Li Long explained. "It's also called a green-root mink. Its pelt is worth a lot-this one could sell for at least five yuan!"

"Five yuan?" Hearing that a single water rat pelt could fetch five yuan, both Li Jianguo's and Tao Daqiang's eyes lit up.

At the time, a day's work in the Production Team came to just eight fen when the accounts were settled at year's end! A better-off Production Team with a sideline business might pay twelve fen, but that was the absolute maximum.

How many days would they have to work to earn five yuan?

In those days, Northern Xinjiang had large tracts of farmland and produced plenty of grain, so people could at least keep themselves fed and clothed. But earning cash was another matter.

For meat, they still mainly relied on the pigs they raised at home. As for money, they had practically none.

Li Long remembered that when the Production Team settled its accounts at the end of the previous year, Li Jianguo's entire household had ended up with a surplus of twelve yuan and eighty fen. Even that made them one of the team's better-off families.

Nearly half the farming households owed the Production Team money!

Work points weren't worth much, so making money was difficult. In summer, the Production Team sent a sideline crew into the mountains to dig up fritillary bulbs and codonopsis roots, but that required skill. Ordinary people couldn't dig up much in a day. Although they earned more work points than they would doing regular work, it was exhausting, too.

"Daqiang, scoop again, quick! See if there are any more!" Li Jianguo said immediately.

Tao Daqiang caught on, too, and immediately bent down to scoop into the hole in the ice.

To cover as much ground as possible, Tao Daqiang stretched his arm straight out and swept the dip net in a semicircle beneath the ice before lifting it.

The net was heavy, and icy water streamed down as he hauled it up, soaking his clothes.

This haul held seven or eight fish, weighing close to twenty kilograms altogether.

But there were no more water rats.

Before, seeing those fish would have made him happy. Now, they didn't seem nearly as appealing. Unwilling to give up, Tao Daqiang dumped out the fish and scooped again, but this time he caught only two small ones.

"Daqiang, come up. I'll try the other hole!" Li Jianguo said impatiently. "Come warm yourself by the fire. Look, your clothes are all wet!"

The water rat had successfully fired up Li Jianguo's and Tao Daqiang's enthusiasm another notch.

In those days, everything was hard without money.

Li Long wasn't optimistic, though. Catching a water rat at an ice hole had been a real stroke of luck. Unlike fish, these creatures dug burrows underwater with multiple exits. Any clump of reeds along the bank might conceal an entrance.

Most likely, the swimming fish had drawn it over, and it had ended up in the net.

Sure enough, Li Jianguo scooped seven or eight fish out of the other ice hole in two hauls, but there wasn't a water rat in sight.

"Big Brother, Daqiang, there's no hurry. Once the ice melts in spring, these water rats come out a whole litter at a time. They'll be easy to catch then."

Although Li Jianguo was reluctant to give up, he knew there was nothing else to be done.

The three took turns scooping into the ice holes with the dip net. Only when the sun sank low in the west, nearly setting, did they decide to head home. Before leaving, Li Long covered the ice holes with snow.

"Aren't we going to use them again in a couple of days?" Tao Daqiang asked, puzzled by what he was doing.

"If we leave them uncovered, water will slowly overflow over the next couple of days, and breaking through the ice will be a pain. If we cover them with snow now, we can shovel it off later, and the ice underneath won't be so thick."

Tao Daqiang thought Li Long's explanation made perfect sense.

Both fertilizer sacks were more than half full, making them tiring to carry. They simply left the fish in the sacks, set the sacks on the shovel blades, and used the shovels as sleds, dragging them along. That saved a lot of effort.

Fish really did have fire in them. They hadn't felt it while scooping them out, but now, on the walk home, their whole bodies felt frozen. Not a single spot was warm, and even their little birds were almost shrinking back inside.

The three hurried along and reached the Li home before sunset. Liang Yuemei had already made soup with a silver carp. Once inside, they each drank a bowl first and immediately felt warmth return to their bodies.

"Founding of the Nation, Long, I'll head home now," Tao Daqiang said after drinking a bowl of fish soup.

"Dry your clothes by the fire first. Otherwise, your dad's bound to complain when you get home."

"He won't have anything to say," Tao Daqiang said earnestly. "I'm taking a few fish home. He'll definitely be happy!"

"You still need to dry them. I'm leaving early tomorrow morning. If you're coming with me, you'll have to dress warmer."

After much coaxing, Li Long got Tao Daqiang to drink another bowl of fish soup before he finally went home carrying his fish.

Li Long had originally thought that since Tao Daqiang had caught the water rat, he should take it home. But Tao Daqiang flatly refused, saying he had caught it with the Li family's net. He was already grateful to them for letting him take some fish.

Li Long had planned to divide the fish into three equal shares, each weighing over ten kilograms, but Tao Daqiang merely threaded five fish onto a reed and carried them home.

"Daqiang... isn't stupid," Li Jianguo said as he watched Tao Daqiang leave.

Of course Li Long knew Tao Daqiang wasn't stupid. Other people just thought he was slow and dim-witted, and his family thought the same.

They set the fish aside for now, and the family happily drank their fish soup. Liang Yuemei had used a large silver carp weighing three kilograms. After simmering for so long, its flesh had almost dissolved into the broth. Everyone had a bowl, and they soaked their steamed cornmeal bread right in the soup. The flavor was wonderfully rich and fresh.

If only we had some fresh chopped scallions or cilantro, it would be perfect! Li Long thought.

Li Juan sipped her soup, her eyes curving into crescents. She couldn't have been happier.

Before yesterday morning, they hadn't even had meat to eat. In just one day, they'd gone from sparrows to Gugu Chicken, and now they could eat all the fish they wanted. There were still dozens of fish in the kitchen. What a wonderful life!

Li Qiang held a large bowl, too, picking out bits of fish with his chopsticks and wiping his nose now and then. Occasionally, he glanced at Li Long, wondering how he could ask his youngest uncle to let him come along to catch fish.

"Big Brother, I'll take two fish over to Captain Xu's place and ask about borrowing the horse cart while I'm there." Having finished his fish soup and feeling warm all over, Li Long stood up.

"Two-isn't that a bit too few?" Li Jianguo asked hesitantly.

"It's plenty. Two carp weighing two kilograms each is a pretty good gift," Li Long said. "He won't let us borrow the cart for free just because of the fish anyway. We don't need to bring him more."

A little generosity earned gratitude; too much could breed resentment. Two fish were enough this time. If he gave too many now, what would happen the next time he needed to borrow the cart and had no fish?

Besides, if you brought a pile of fish to borrow the cart, where would that leave everyone else who wanted to borrow it?

Li Long had never considered such things before. But in his previous life, after his eldest brother died and his sister-in-law's family came to hate him, he had been left with no one to rely on. Eventually, he had set up house with a widow. After being taken advantage of plenty of times, he had finally learned how to get through life.

Back then, he had often thought how wonderful it would have been if he hadn't been such a bastard before, and his eldest brother were still alive.

Now, he treasured this life all the more.

Choosing two well-proportioned fish from the catch, Li Long threaded them onto a reed and carried them out.

Wild carp in those days were truly beautiful, with red heads and tails, two long barbels, and gleaming scales. Just looking at them was a pleasure.

Not long after leaving the house, Li Long ran into Gu Ermao.

When Gu Ermao spotted Li Long, he came over with a broad smile.

"Long, you caught some fish? Give me one, will you?"

The sheer gall of the bastard made Li Long laugh in anger.

(End of chapter)