Had the Family Spendthrift Finally Made Something of Himself?

When Li Long and Tao Daqiang led the horse cart into the county town, it was still before closing time.

"Daqiang, let's go to the purchasing station and sell the Deer Antler first, then buy a few things to take home."

"Sure." Tao Daqiang had no objections. He also wanted to know how much the Deer Antler would fetch.

They reached the purchasing station. Tao Daqiang stayed outside to watch the cart while Li Long carried the Deer Antler inside.

Chen Hongjun was already packing up to leave work.

He was a little annoyed when he saw Li Long come in. Who was so inconsiderate as to show up right before closing?

But when he saw what Li Long was carrying, a smile immediately spread across his face.

"Young comrade... huh? Weren't you here this morning?"

"Yes. Hello, comrade. I wanted to ask if you buy Deer Antler here."

"Yes, yes, we do." Chen Hongjun thought that he still had some winter quotas to meet, and here was someone bringing in the goods!

"These Deer Antlers—did you get them in the mountains?" Chen Hongjun had Li Long put them on the counter, then picked up the intact one to examine it. "Not bad. This one's pretty complete. This other one... has a bit missing."

"How much per kilogram?" Li Long was eager to ask the price first.

"This Deer Antler was probably shed last autumn. It's in pretty good condition," Chen Hongjun said. "I'll give you three yuan per kilogram. That's a fair amount."

"All right." The price was quite a bit higher than Li Long had expected. He nodded. "That price works."

Chen Hongjun weighed them on a scale and said, "Six point seven kilograms. Let me work it out. Three times seven is twenty-one, three times six is eighteen... twenty yuan and one jiao. Here, take your money."

Li Long counted the money and put it away.

"Young man, bring any good stuff you find here in the future. I'll give you a good price." Seeing that Li Long was about to leave, Chen Hongjun hurriedly added, "I'm here Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays."

"Sure." Li Long readily agreed, then walked outside.

When he reached the cart, Li Long took out a five-yuan note and held it out to Tao Daqiang.

"Daqiang, this is your share. On our way back, we'll unload some wood at your place too."

"Brother Long, I can't take this." Tao Daqiang immediately pushed the money back. "I only came along to help. How could I take your money?"

"Take it. You earned it." Li Long had no intention of giving Tao Daqiang half. That would hurt him rather than help him.

"Brother Long, I really won't take it..." Tao Daqiang was equally firm in his refusal. "If I keep this money, my dad will just take it away in the end."

"Then I'll buy you something." On reflection, Li Long agreed and changed his mind. "Your dad can't take away something I've already bought you, can he? Right, you don't have gloves. Look at the chilblains on your hands. Come on, let's get you a pair at the department store. When you get home, tell him I bought them for you. Don't let him give them to your older brother again."

They led the horse cart to the department store. With closing time almost upon them, Li Long had no time to browse. He picked out a pair of padded mittens joined by a cord, paid four yuan, and came back out.

"Put these on, and don't give them to anyone else." Li Long handed the mittens to Tao Daqiang. "When we get home, take a kilogram of sesame cakes and unload some wood at your place. Then your dad won't have anything to complain about."

"All right." Tao Daqiang put on the mittens, and his hands felt warm.

By the time they led the horse cart back to the Production Team, the sun had already set.

Before the cart even reached the Li family home, quite a few people spotted it and followed them over to have a look.

"Well, Li Long really did bring back some wood!"

"That's a fair bit of firewood in that cart!"

"Looks like a few hundred kilograms. Enough to burn for a month or two, right?"

"Who would've thought that boy Li Long would finally make something of himself?"

"Look, it's all pine. What a waste to burn that!"

Li Qiang was playing with a spinning top in the road. When he saw Li Long and Tao Daqiang returning with the cart, he rushed over and tagged along. Li Long took a sesame cake from his pocket and gave it to him, then told him to run home and let Li Jianguo know.

"Dad! Dad! Uncle's back! He brought a whole cartload of wood!" Li Qiang rushed into the house holding the sesame cake, with two bites already taken out of it. "Loads of people are following him!"

Li Jianguo hurried outside and saw that Li Long had already brought the cart to the courtyard gate. He waited for Li Long to drive it into the yard, then asked:

"Everything go smoothly?"

"Very smoothly," Li Long said with a smile. "We got something else too."

"Something else?" Li Jianguo looked Li Long up and down, then glanced at Tao Daqiang. Seeing that neither of them was hurt, he relaxed. "What did you get?"

"We brought back a frozen sheep." Li Long handed the reins to Tao Daqiang and pointed into the cart. "We'll have meat for a few days."

"A frozen sheep?" Li Jianguo wanted to ask more, but a crowd had gathered outside the courtyard, and some had already come in to take a look. They were all asking Li Long at once where he had got the wood and how he had hauled it back, so Li Jianguo called out:

"Save the questions for later. Help unload the wood first!"

Quite a few people had come, and with everyone pitching in, the wood was soon unloaded. Li Long took the opportunity to hand the sack of supplies to Li Qiang and tell him to take it inside.

Li Qiang had seen Li Long take the sesame cake from this sack earlier. He immediately carried it into the house and handed it to his mother.

They piled the wood in the corner of the courtyard where the firewood was kept, and Li Long called out:

"Leave three logs in the cart. We need to take them to Daqiang's place."

"He's giving Daqiang some too? Li Long's a decent fellow."

"Huh? Is that a sheep?" Someone with sharp eyes spotted the sheep that had frozen to death beneath the wood.

"Yes, a sheep. We found it frozen to death in the mountains," Li Long said.

"Found it?" Sister-in-Law Lu exclaimed. "That's awfully lucky! But could it have been poisoned?"

"Hard to say."

Many of the onlookers looked envious and jealous, while some maliciously speculated about how the sheep had died.

The sheep was small, so there was no practical way to give every household a share. Li Jianguo told Li Long and Tao Daqiang to go inside and rest while he put the cart away first.

Li Long shook his head and said:

"Brother, I'll take the wood to Daqiang's place first, then return the cart."

Li Jianguo knew that was the sensible thing to do and did not stop him. He still had to deal with the frozen sheep.

With nothing left to watch, the others dispersed. Li Long went inside, brought out a kilogram of sesame cakes, and pressed them into Tao Daqiang's hands. Then they headed out together.

After unloading the wood at Tao Daqiang's home, Li Long went alone to the stables to return the horse before finally heading home.

"Xiao Long, did you really find that sheep?" Li Jianguo asked uneasily.

Li Juan and Li Qiang were gazing longingly at the sack of sesame cakes and paid no attention.

"No. I sold the Water Rat pelts, spent five yuan on tea and salt, and went into the mountains to trade with the herders," Li Long said quietly. "There was heavy snow up there a few days ago, and this sheep froze to death at a herder's place. It's only been dead three to five days. It's perfectly good!"

"That's a relief." Li Jianguo relaxed. "Once it thaws, I'll skin it. We should take some of the meat to Daqiang's family."

"Yes, just take them a leg." Li Long nodded. "With his family... one leg will be enough."

(End of chapter)