Li Long drove the horse-drawn cart back to the Big Courtyard first, unloading a sheep and a half and a set of sheep offal. He also left all the hides and sheep intestines there, along with the four legs and horns removed from the Mongolian gazelle.
The hides and sheep intestines would need to be sold separately later.
Gu Xiaoxia had not finished work yet. Li Long did not linger at the Big Courtyard either. After unloading everything, he went to the Big Meat Canteen, bought a few steamed buns, and ate them as he drove the cart back to the team.
The students were on vacation, and it was the depths of winter, so there were few people on the road. The sunlight spilling from the sun, already slanting westward and about to set, brought Li Long only a faint warmth. Mostly, it made him sleepy.
For one thing, he had finished another task and had that weight off his mind. For another, after eating the buns, his brain was not getting enough blood, making him want to sleep.
There were no cars around anyway, so Li Long barely handled the reins, letting Number 76 pull the cart slowly onward.
He wrapped his padded overcoat around himself and leaned back on the cart shaft. The cart's gentle swaying felt quite comfortable.
The wheels crunched over the snow on the road. Occasionally, a stone or a frozen lump of dung jolted the cart, and only then would Li Long open his eyes for a look before narrowing them again and continuing to doze.
As the cart approached the Third Team, Li Long heard voices beside the road and woke up.
His own Fourth Team's residential area was scattered across three locations, all some distance from this main road. The neighboring