That evening, Tao Daqiang took Yang Yongqiang home. He had drunk too much, and toward the end he kept rambling about buying a bicycle right away for his younger sister to ride to school.
He really was a good older brother.
They had eaten and drunk in Li Long's room, and Tao Daqiang had been the most sober of them all. Before leaving, he cleared the table and put everything in the kitchen, then banked Li Long's stove with coal so it would burn slowly. Only after finishing all that did he leave.
People in Northern Xinjiang were experienced with stoves. There were ventilation holes above the doors, so there was no worry about poisoning.
Dizzy with drink, Li Long let Tao Daqiang tidy up. He stripped off his clothes, pulled the quilt over himself, and went to sleep.
In the middle of the night, a dry mouth woke Li Long. His head still felt a little dizzy. He got up, poured half a cup of boiling water from the thermos, mixed in some cold water from the teapot, and gulped it down. He felt much better.
The liquor was decent. At least it didn't give him a headache.
He checked the fire. The coal dust on top had not finished burning, and the glowing coals beneath were barely visible. Tao Daqiang was quite skilled at banking a fire.
He dressed and opened the door. A blast of cold wind made him shiver, so he hurried over beside the pit latrine and started peeing in the snow.
Remembering the time he had peed just after his rebirth, Li Long felt a surge of childish playfulness. He waved his little fellow around and traced the letters "NB" in the snow.
Unfortunately, he was a little short on urine, and the final