By the time Li Long got up the next day, it was broad daylight. He had actually drunk quite a bit yesterday, and with his mind at ease, a glance at his watch told him he had slept for nearly ten hours.
A faint smell of liquor still lingered in the room. After last night's gathering around the drinking table, everyone had cleaned the place quite thoroughly, and nobody had thrown up here, but after so many hours of drinking, the smell could hardly disappear all at once.
Still feeling a little dizzy, Li Long got up and rubbed his temples, put on his clothes, and swayed his way over to the stove.
The room was clean and tidy. It was impressive that a bunch of people who had drunk too much yesterday had still managed to take care of everything so thoroughly.
The fire in the stove had gone out, and the room was a little cold. Li Long used the poker to lift the stove lid, raked out the ash, set the incompletely burned coal remnants aside, and began laying a fire.
Everything he needed was beside the stove. He stuffed a ball of paper, a handful of reeds, and a few corn cobs into the firebox, put small chunks of coal on top, replaced the lid, opened the stove door, and lit it with his lighter. Only after he saw the fire burning properly did he close the stove door, walk to the entrance, pull the door open, and step outside.
A blast of cold hit his face, instantly clearing his head. He wiped his face, walked over to the pit latrine, relieved himself thoroughly, then turned back.
Li Junshan came out of the room and asked with a smile when he saw Li Long:
"Uncle Xiao