Could a Good-for-Nothing Ever Amount to Anything?

Everyone in the Production Team agreed that Li Long of the Li family was a good-for-nothing.

He never did his own family's work properly, nor did he put in an honest day's work for the team, but he was always eager to help with other people's business. His older brother Li Jianguo couldn't get him moving, yet one word from his drinking buddies or his girlfriend, Wu Shufen, sent him running to work.

It was hardly surprising that the Lu Family's Eldest Sister-in-Law had come over specifically to tell Liang Yuemei about this.

In truth, she had also hoped to enjoy a bit of drama.

In the past, Liang Yuemei would usually complain about her younger brother-in-law when she heard something like this, but this time she defended Li Long.

"Xiao Long really does mean to bring back some wood this time. Since he's willing to try, we ought to support him, right?"

Sister-in-Law Lu was surprised. What had brought about this change in Liang Yuemei?

"Your brother-in-law got fired from the factory, and all the money you spent has gone down the drain, yet you're acting like nothing happened." The Lu Family's Eldest Sister-in-Law shook her head. "If it were me, I'd have given him a good scolding already!"

Liang Yuemei smiled as she stitched a shoe sole.

"Who hasn't made a mistake? As long as he can change and improve, that's enough. I feel Xiao Long has changed quite a bit this time. Getting fired might even have been a good thing. Don't the elders always say you learn from your setbacks?"

Just the Gugu Chickens Li Long caught the day before yesterday and those fish he caught yesterday would fetch a fair amount of money, she thought.

And he had handled borrowing the horse cart yesterday beautifully, nothing like the good-for-nothing he used to be. With such a big change, she was too pleased to find fault with him.

"Brother-in-law! Sis! I'm here!" A voice called from outside. Recognizing it, Liang Yuemei stood up excitedly and answered.

"Wenyu, come on in!" She went to open the door.

The visitor was Liang Yuemei's younger brother, Liang Wenyu.

He came in carrying a bag, set it by the wall, and took off his padded hat. After smiling at the Lu Family's Eldest Sister-in-Law, he asked Liang Yuemei,

"Where's my brother-in-law? I heard Li Long came back. He's not working there anymore?"

Liang Yuemei hadn't expected the news to spread so quickly. With an outsider present, she couldn't say much, so she nodded.

"Yes. Your brother-in-law is busy in the East Room. What brings you here?"

"Dad and Mom asked me to come check on you and bring a few things," Liang Wenyu said. "Oh, where are Juan and Qiang?"

"They're in the East Room too. Go have a look," Liang Yuemei said.

The Lu Family's Eldest Sister-in-Law actually wanted to stay and watch the drama. Though Liang Wenyu was young, he was quite forceful as the eldest son of the Liang Family. He had always looked down on Li Long, something the Lu Family's Eldest Sister-in-Law had heard about as their neighbor.

But now that the Li family had a visitor, she couldn't very well linger. She stood up, said goodbye to Liang Yuemei, and went home.

Only after she left did Liang Wenyu speak.

"Dad had me bring some white flour and twenty yuan. With Li Long back, you definitely won't have enough coal. Dad said you should buy some from the team first to tide you over..."

Liang Yuemei could hear the resentment in her brother's words. Smiling, she said,

"There's no need. Li Long went into the mountains to haul wood, and he'll be back today. Once he brings it home, we'll have enough firewood for the whole winter. Come on, let's go to the East Room. Your brother-in-law is cleaning fish. Take a few home when you leave."

"Fish? Where did you get fish?" Liang Wenyu's eyes lit up at the mention of them. His Production Team was to the southwest, where the fields were irrigated using powered wells drilled years ago by the County Well-Drilling Company.

His Production Team had little land and no lakes or rivers, so they had no fish to eat. Li Jianguo's Production Team was blessed with an excellent location: almost anywhere there was water, there were fish. Li Jianguo often brought fish to his in-laws, and Liang Wenyu ate the most.

"Li Long took your brother-in-law to Little Haizi to break holes in the ice and catch them. They got quite a lot."

"That must have been miserable! Only Li Long would think of doing that in weather this cold," Liang Wenyu said as he followed his sister to the East Room. "All he knows is how to fool around."

Li Jianguo and Liang Yuemei both knew Liang Wenyu had a low opinion of Li Long. After all, Li Long really had been hopeless before. Liang Wenyu was about the same age as him and could already shoulder most of his family's responsibilities. Li Long, on the other hand, still behaved like a child: careless and idle, useless at everything except eating.

When Liang Wenyu entered the East Room and saw all the fish in the washbasin, he was astonished.

"Brother-in-law, you caught an awful lot of fish!"

"Wenyu, you're here!" Li Jianguo was gutting fish, with Li Juan and Li Qiang helping. When they saw Liang Wenyu behind Liang Yuemei, they all greeted him.

"Xiao Long caught these through holes he broke in the ice. I never imagined breaking a couple of holes in winter could get us so many fish, and such big ones too! Before he left, Xiao Long said we should send you some when he got back. Oh, and there are two Gugu Chickens too."

"You're saying Li Long caught these? And Gugu Chickens too?" Liang Wenyu could scarcely believe his ears.

That same Li Long who couldn't do anything right?

"Yes." Seeing Liang Wenyu's expression, Li Jianguo felt both amused and a little proud. "He may have been fired, but he's changed a lot this time."

"Uncle, my uncle really did catch the Gugu Chickens! They were delicious!" Li Qiang wiped his runny nose and declared loudly.

He was different from Li Juan. Li Juan still remembered that she had to help with the family's work while Li Long didn't. All Li Qiang remembered was his younger uncle roasting sparrows for him, catching Gugu Chickens and fish for him to eat, and giving him that fun rice paper.

"All right, all right." Full of questions, Liang Wenyu crouched down to help Li Jianguo clean the fish.

With the whole family working together, things went much faster. They finished cleaning the fish before lunchtime.

"Wenyu, take ten home. Make fish soup for Dad and Mom this winter," Li Jianguo said. "We'll catch another batch before the New Year and bring you some more for the holiday."

"Ten? These aren't small fish. They'll be a real load to carry." Despite saying that, Liang Wenyu didn't refuse. There were thirty or forty fish weighing over a kilogram, and even more palm-sized crucian carp, so he saw no need to stand on ceremony.

Li Jianguo put the fish in the snow to freeze. Then everyone washed their hands and went to the West Room, where Liang Wenyu asked,

"Brother-in-law, Li Long went into the mountains to haul wood? Can he really manage that? Hardly anyone lives up there, and the roads are terrible. Surely it won't work?"

"He said one of his coworkers is from Clearwater River Commune and lives right at the foot of the mountains." Li Jianguo sat at the head of the heated kang bed, rolled a Mohé Tobacco cigarette, and took a deep drag. Only after feeling restored did he continue.

"Xiao Long has changed quite a bit since coming back. He borrowed the horse cart himself and planned everything out, so we'll let him give it a try. There's not much to do in winter anyway."

"All right. Still, it's a shame about that job." Liang Wenyu sighed. He would have liked to work in Wu City himself, but as the eldest son, he naturally had to stay with his parents. He simply thought it was a shame to lose that job.

"It's not much of a shame." Li Jianguo smiled. "If losing a job teaches Xiao Long a lesson, that's worth it."

"Now that he's lost his job, will his girlfriend be all right with it?" Liang Wenyu asked.

"They broke up." Li Jianguo shook his head. "Word spread through the team that he'd been fired, and the girl came to tell Xiao Long it wasn't going to work out. So be it. We can worry about that later. There's no hurry."

Li Jianguo still had plenty of confidence in his younger brother.

Of course, the others in the team didn't feel the same way. In just one day, word had spread that the Li family's good-for-nothing had paid in work points to borrow the team's horse cart and gone into the mountains to haul wood.

Quite a few people were waiting to have a laugh at Li Long's expense.

(End of chapter)