It was Xie Yundong who had come looking for Li Long. He was in a hurry, and as soon as he entered the yard and saw Li Long, he said:
"Xiao Long, you're back-I was getting anxious waiting for you."
"What is it?" Li Long asked as he carried the basket toward the pigpen to put the piglets inside. "Some kind of trouble?"
"No trouble. The Sideline Team's ready to head into the mountains, so I needed to talk things over with you."
"Which gully are you planning to go to?"
There were plenty of gullies in Southern Mountain: Big and Small White Poplar Gullies, Pine Tree Gully, Elm Tree Gully, as well as Brown Bear Gully, Coal Gully, and other names found everywhere.
"Small White Poplar Gully. There's a fairly flat patch beside the water, on ground high enough to keep it safe from floods, with easy access to water. We dug shelters there before, so we can reuse them this time. There are plenty of willows beside the water, too, and the branches from the assorted trees in the gully can all be used."
"That'll work." Li Long thought it over. Small White Poplar Gully lay east of Harimu's Winter Camp, near Red Mountain Mouth, roughly three kilometers from his own soon-to-be-built Winter Camp. He would easily be able to help if anything came up.
"All right, then. We're planning to leave tomorrow. I'll gather everyone this afternoon. The team leader will say a few words, and you can talk to everyone too," Xie Yundong said. "Your older brother will be going tomorrow as well. Your family's horse cart will haul supplies into the mountains with us and earn some work points."
"All right. Come get me when it's time." Li Long had planned to carry grain into