Li Long took Xueping and Xueqin to school. After saying goodbye to them, he returned to the gate of his second older brother Li Anguo's courtyard.
The gate was locked. Knowing Chen Lirong had probably gone shopping and had not returned yet, Li Long waited in the car.
Ten minutes or so later, Chen Lirong hurried back on her bicycle. Li Long got out, and she dismounted too. After propping her bicycle up beside the road, she brought over the packets of pastries she had bought.
"These are for Dad and Mom, these are for Eldest Older Brother's family, and this packet is for you. Mingming and Haohao probably like sweet things. These have dates in them and are nicely made. Take them back for the boys to try. If they like them, we'll bring some next time we go back."
Li Long thanked his second sister-in-law, then drove away to the Farm Machinery Factory.
Factory Director Du and Engineer Deng were both waiting in the factory yard. Once Li Long arrived and got out of the car, they pulled him into the conference room without another word.
"Comrade Li Long, these are the materials I put together yesterday. Have a look. Oh, and I made some changes to your drawings based on the suggestions the three of us discussed yesterday. See if anything looks wrong, and we can talk it over."
Engineer Deng handed Li Long several sheets of paper, then watched him along with Factory Director Du.
Their stares made Li Long a little embarrassed. Taking the papers, he said:
"You two are the experts in this field. I'm just offering ideas..."
"Don't be so modest. This is a big undertaking. We're planning to make it our key development project for the Autonomous Region Agricultural Machinery Exhibition at