After returning from the Liang family's, Li Long spent the next two days hauling fish to the compound in the county seat every day. He was in no hurry to slaughter the wild boar; there was still time, and he thought it might be better to sell the meat just before New Year. After all, everyone would be preparing for the holiday then, and most people in town would want to buy some meat to take home and make dumplings.
He took two cartloads each morning and one each afternoon. After several days of hauling, he stopped for the weekend.
That Sunday, Daqiang was getting married.
On Saturday, Li Long went over to the Tao family's to see if there was anything he could help with.
The snow outside their courtyard had been cleared away completely. Like the Li family's place, there was no gate, just an open entrance. Couplets had been pasted on the walls on either side, their bold, flowing calligraphy looking as though Gu Boyuan had written them.
Before he even entered the courtyard, he caught a mingling of delicious smells. He could just make out fried meatballs and potatoes being fried for sugar-glazed potatoes, among other things, but could not distinguish the rest in the icy air.
In the courtyard, Li Jianguo was discussing tomorrow's arrangements with the two cooks, Lao Gao and Lao Huang. Seeing Li Long arrive, he merely nodded and continued their discussion.
As a village elder, the former quartermaster of the Big Canteen, and the head of the villagers' group, Li Jianguo was a veteran wedding coordinator—until his death, he handled practically every wedding in the village.
The helpers for the Tao family's wedding had been decided on over a week earlier. Three days ago, at the preparatory feast for the helpers,