The Black Market Really Was Shady

Li Long got dressed and stepped outside, ready to head to the West Room, when he spotted a big, dark-skinned fellow lingering outside the courtyard gate. Startled, he called out, "Who's there?"

"It's me, Brother Long."

It was Tao Daqiang's voice.

"Daqiang, why are you here so early?" Li Long relaxed, then asked in puzzlement, "I was going to come get you after breakfast."

"I was afraid... afraid I'd miss the time." Tao Daqiang scratched his hat and answered with a sheepish grin.

"Come inside." Li Long went over to pull him in, then noticed that Tao Daqiang's hat was covered in white frost, as were his eyebrows and eyelashes. He couldn't help asking:

"What time did you get here?"

"I... I don't remember." Tao Daqiang was so cold he could barely get the words out.

"Get inside! Don't tell me you stayed up all night?"

Li Long was only guessing, but he had almost hit on the truth.

When Tao Daqiang had gone home after eating the night before, he had found, just as expected, that no dinner had been left for him. He hadn't said much and had gone to bed early.

But once he lay down, he began worrying that he wouldn't wake up in time, since Li Long had said they would leave before dawn.

He tossed and turned, and in the end he didn't dare fall asleep. He simply got up, dressed, and sat on the heated bed to wait.

Tao Jianshe had long since fallen asleep. When Tao Daqiang felt he had waited long enough, he quietly slipped out and headed to the Li family's house.

But Li Long wasn't up yet, so he waited by the courtyard gate until Li Long got up. He had no idea how long he had stood there.

Hearing voices outside, Li Jianguo opened the door, saw Tao Daqiang and Li Long, and immediately ushered them in.

Liang Yuemei hurried to serve them corn-grit porridge. Tao Daqiang leaned against the heated wall, taking quite a while to recover.

After washing up, Li Long helped Liang Yuemei carry bowls and serve the food. Breakfast consisted of steamed cornmeal cake, lamb stir-fried with pickled vegetables, porridge, and fish soup left over from the night before.

Neither Li Long nor Tao Daqiang stood on ceremony. They wolfed down their food, and Li Long wiped his mouth before saying to Li Jianguo:

"Big brother, I've got a few Gugu Chickens in my room. I'll take some to sell. Clean the rest and we can eat them."

Tao Daqiang looked at Li Long enviously. Brother Long really was something—he could go out and come back with meat to eat just like that.

Li Jianguo unfastened the key ring from his waistband, opened the chest of drawers, and took out a stack of grain coupons. He counted off several and handed them to Li Long.

"Here. Is that enough?"

"No, give me some more."

"All right." Li Jianguo didn't object. His younger brother was capable now, and naturally he was happy about it.

Li Long didn't think he was more capable than his older brother, either. Once the land was divided up next spring, his brother would have the chance to show what he could do. He would be leaving his own two mu of land for his brother to farm as well.

With the grain coupons in hand, Li Long and Tao Daqiang went outside and brought over the Sled. Li Jianguo placed the urea sack full of fish on it, while Li Long fetched the sack of Gugu Chickens from his room. He took out six, wrung their necks one by one, and set them on the ground. Leaving the remaining five alive, he tied the sack shut again and put it on the Sled. Tao Daqiang took hold of its rope and strode out.

The makeshift Sled resembled a stretcher, but its front curved upward, and thick iron wire had been embedded in the two runners underneath to reduce friction. A rope was tied to the front at both ends, so all they had to do was pull.

The snow on the road had been packed into ice. The Sled glided over it, practically flying along with hardly any effort.

Carried away, Tao Daqiang pulled faster and faster. Amused, Li Long called out a reminder from behind:

"Daqiang, watch how hard you pull. Don't shake everything off the Sled."

"Yeah, I know!"

The two of them slowly disappeared down the road.

At daybreak, Sister-in-Law Lu came to the Li family's house again.

"Oh, you had breakfast early today, didn't you?" Sister-in-Law Lu said with a smile when she saw Li Juan and Li Qiang playing on the heated bed.

Liang Yuemei, who was stitching shoe soles, nodded without saying much.

She didn't want to explain that they had gotten up early because Li Long and the others were going to the county town to sell fish. Policies had loosened considerably, but it was still best not to give anyone something to gossip about. Besides, Sister-in-Law Lu was a big gossip herself.

"Have you heard? Yesterday the team borrowed three horse carts to haul timber out of the mountains, but only the team leader's cart brought back half a load. The others didn't bring back a thing!"

Sister-in-Law Lu lowered her voice as she passed on the news she had heard to Liang Yuemei.

"Why couldn't they bring any back? There's so much timber in the mountains."

"They said they couldn't find a road. People could get in, but the carts couldn't." Sister-in-Law Lu thought those men were really stupid. The Sideline Team could get in during summer, yet these men couldn't even find the road in winter. "Your Xiao Long is much more capable. Every time he comes back, his cart is full!"

"Yes, Xiao Long is lucky," Liang Yuemei said vaguely.

"I don't think it's luck. Xiao Long has real ability." Showing no sign of remembering that she had called Li Long a wastrel just a couple of days earlier, Sister-in-Law Lu began praising him.

"By the way, my niece on my side of the family is nineteen. She finished primary school, works hard, and is pretty, too. Do you think you could mention her to Xiao Long..."

"I'll have to ask Xiao Long," Liang Yuemei said with a smile. "He's quite particular."

"Hehe, I know, I know. I'm only asking. If Xiao Long agrees, they can meet first. Whether it works out is another matter."

Li Long had no idea that someone was already looking to invest in him as a promising prospect. When they reached the Black Market, dawn was only just breaking.

Yet some people at the Black Market were already packing up to leave.

"Do they get here that early?" Seeing someone pushing a bicycle with two empty baskets mounted over the rear wheel, Tao Daqiang couldn't help asking, "What time did they set out?"

"They live nearby," Li Long said. Then he found an empty spot, parked the Sled, and began taking things out.

"What are you selling?" Someone immediately came over to ask.

"Fish," Li Long answered without looking up. "And Gugu Chickens."

"Fish? What kind?"

"Common Carp, crucian carp, grass carp, silver carp, and five-stripe perch." Since the man was asking in such detail, Li Long immediately looked up and gave him his full attention. "Which kind do you want? How many?"

"How much?" The man was in his fifties, wearing a Zhongshan Suit, and looked like an official. "I don't see any scales."

"I sell them by the fish. Regular large Common Carp and five-stripe perch are two yuan each, silver carp are one yuan fifty each, and small crucian carp and mixed fish are one yuan for ten. My big fish all weigh over a kilo and a half. It's a real bargain!"

Li Long didn't have scales and hadn't planned to bring any. In his previous life, when crucian carp sold in abundance during summer, they had used large bowls, each holding a little over a kilogram. Now it was winter and the fish were frozen, so bowls wouldn't work. He had to sell them by the fish.

"Then take them out and let me see." The man seemed interested in buying, so Li Long took out the fish and arranged them on the Sled.

More people gathered around to look.

"They do look good. Nice and big."

"Five-stripe perch! The flesh flakes apart like garlic cloves. Delicious fish!"

"Those Slab Crucian Carp are big ones. They look pretty plump..."

Some of the onlookers knew their fish, and they examined them one by one.

Li Long also took out one of the five Gugu Chickens to show them:

"Freshly caught Gugu Chickens, three yuan each. Tastier than chicken-wild game!"

Plenty of people looked, but only one or two were picking out fish.

Tao Daqiang watched the people choosing fish nervously, afraid they might grab one and run.

"Young man, how much is this Common Carp?" A woman in her forties picked up the largest Common Carp and asked.

"Two yuan," Li Long said with a smile. "That's the biggest one. Look at its red head and tail. Isn't it beautiful?"

"When did you catch it?" The woman still hesitated.

"Yesterday. Lift the gill cover and have a look. They're red. We had to break through ice nearly a meter thick to catch them. It wasn't easy!"

"Then I'll take it." The woman took out her money.

The first sale was done!

(End of chapter)