Only when the horse cart returned to Ma County did the two of them relax. Although the County Town was still fairly unfamiliar to them, at least it was their hometown, unlike that unfamiliar city.
"Let's go to the supply and marketing cooperative," Li Long said. "First, we can see whether they have a Scoop Net. Second, I need to buy some Fine Iron Wire."
"Brother Long, what do you need Fine Iron Wire for?" Tao Daqiang asked curiously.
"I saw plenty of rabbit tracks out in the fields. I'm planning to make some snares and see if I can catch any."
At least rabbits had more meat on them than Gugu Chickens. In his previous life, before he was reborn, the local environment had been restored, with wetlands and more wildlife. Some people set rabbit snares in winter and caught over a dozen rabbits a day.
Even at three yuan each, that would bring in a decent sum!
Li Long believed the Black Market would become increasingly prosperous. More people would come to sell things, people would become more open-minded, and more of them would have money to spend.
In short, life would keep getting better, so he might as well seize the opportunity and earn as much as he could.
"Brother Long, you know how to set rabbit snares too?" Tao Daqiang asked in surprise. "Are those things easy to make?"
"I'm just fiddling around," Li Long said with a smile. "You make a sliding loop out of Fine Iron Wire and set it along the tracks where rabbits have been running. That should do it."
Even that was enough to fill Tao Daqiang's eyes with admiration. There was no trace of the ferocity he had shown during the earlier fight.
The Fine Iron Wire was sold by weight at one yuan and ten fen per kilogram. Li Long bought three kilograms, coiled it up, and put it on the cart.
"Brother Long, I want to buy some buns to take home for my dad," Tao Daqiang suddenly said as they passed the Big Meat Canteen. "He's never had meat buns like these..."
"Sure, I'll buy some to take home too." Li Long slapped his forehead. He had been so busy eating that he had forgotten to bring any back for his family. Juan and Qiangqiang had never tried the buns here either.
Li Long bought eleven, and Tao Daqiang bought six. They paid, packed the buns into their shoulder bags, and drove the horse cart home.
By the time they reached the Production Team, it was completely dark. Li Long told Tao Daqiang to head home first, then went to the Stable to return the horse. He gave Lao Luo a meat bun, which the old man accepted with a smile, the wrinkles on his face bunching up like a chrysanthemum.
Of all the people in the Production Team who borrowed the horse cart, none were as thoughtful as Second Li.
Carrying the urea sack with his shoulder bag on his back, Li Long walked home with a spring in his step, humming as he went. "The great river flows east, the stars in the sky bow to the Big Dipper..."
As he hummed, a figure suddenly appeared ahead of him. Li Long stopped and asked warily:
"Who's there?"
"Me."
Wu Shufen? What was she doing here?
Li Long said nothing. They had nothing to do with each other anymore anyway. The night before last, he thought he had heard his sister-in-law say that Wu Shufen's mother had introduced her to a worker from the neighboring production team. He had no idea whether it had worked out.
When his sister-in-law, Liang Yuemei, mentioned it, she had been rather cautious, afraid it might upset him.
In his previous life, Li Long really had been devoted to Wu Shufen, and he had continued pining for her for years. Wu Shufen's love life had been rocky too. She had met plenty of prospective partners, but the men she liked weren't interested in her. Meanwhile, because she was pretty, some of the men she didn't like kept pestering her. She had remained unmarried for years.
Those thoughts crossed his mind, but Li Long wanted nothing to do with her. That belonged to his previous life. He had been reborn-was he really going to keep fawning over her?
As if he had nothing better to do.
Wu Shufen was surprised when Li Long actually walked around her. Over the past couple of days, she had heard nothing but stories about Second Li: how he had found a few sheep in the mountains, caught fish in the reservoir and sold them for a lot of money, and started looking much more lively.
Wu Shufen didn't particularly regret the breakup. She just couldn't figure out whether Li Long had finally come to his senses or had been spurred into changing by her breaking up with him.
She had been returning from a visit today when she happened to run into him, so she wanted to see just how her former boyfriend had changed.
She had never expected him to walk right around her!
It was a serious blow to Wu Shufen's pride. He wouldn't even look at me anymore? He wouldn't even take the initiative to speak to me?
Li Long wasn't thinking about any of that. After a tiring day, all he wanted was to hurry home, change his clothes, and lean against the heated wall for a good rest. As for chatting with Wu Shufen, it was the depths of winter, and the temperature was already twenty-seven or twenty-eight degrees below zero. He wasn't in the mood!
Wu Shufen opened her mouth to call out, but ultimately said nothing. Her pride wouldn't allow it.
Li Long was relieved she hadn't spoken. It was pitch-dark and so quiet all around that if she had shouted, he would have had no end of trouble.
When he got home, Li Long pushed open the door and saw a pot of lamb soup sitting on the stove.
Warmth filled his heart. It was already past dinner time, so they must have saved it for him.
"You're back?" Li Jianguo came out of the inner room and said when he saw Li Long, "If you hadn't come back soon, I was going to head out along the road to look for you."
"My dad's already gone out to check three times," Li Juan chimed in from the kang.
"You haven't eaten, have you? Hurry and change, then come eat. The steamed bread and lamb soup are still hot." His sister-in-law poked her head out of the kitchen. "You must be exhausted."
"No, I'm not that tired." Li Long truly felt warm inside. He took off his shoulder bag and handed it to Liang Yuemei.
"I bought some big meat buns. Steam them tomorrow for breakfast."
"We're having meat buns tomorrow!" Li Qiang cried happily when he heard.
"What did you go wasting money on those for?" Liang Yuemei said out of habit as she took the buns.
"Juan and Qiangqiang have never tried them. Let them have a taste." Li Long smiled. His sister-in-law wasn't really blaming him; thrift was simply second nature to her as the woman managing the household.
He took out another ten yuan and handed it to Li Jianguo.
"Brother, this is your share of the money from selling the fish. I'm keeping my share."
"What are you doing? Keep it yourself." Li Jianguo pushed the money back. "Put it away."
"Brother, as the old saying goes, even brothers should keep their accounts straight," Li Long said with a smile. "This is the share you earned. I've kept plenty for myself."
Hearing that, Li Jianguo hesitated, glanced at his wife, and accepted the money.
Li Long went to the East Room, changed his clothes, then returned to the West Room to eat.
"I went and caught some more fish today, but there weren't many this time. It feels like there aren't many left beneath the ice hole," Li Jianguo said, rolling some Mohé Tobacco at the head of the kang. "Are you going to sell fish again tomorrow?"
"No." Li Long ate his white-flour steamed bread soaked in lamb soup as he spoke. "Daqiang's dad wants him to catch and sell fish with his older brother."
"What?" Liang Yuemei raised her head and glanced at her brother-in-law.
"So he's not working with you anymore?" Li Jianguo wasn't surprised at all. "Tao Jianshe has always been shortsighted. But that's fine. If Daqiang doesn't come, the two of us can do it."
"Let's take a break tomorrow. I'm going into the mountains," Li Long said with a wave of his hand. "I'll haul back some wood and see if I can get another sheep. Mainly, the County Town is only so big, and not many people can afford fish. Today we had to go all the way to Stone City before we sold them all."
"You went to Stone City?" Li Jianguo said in surprise. "That was a long trip!"
"We had no choice. There are still too few people in the County Town who can afford fish, and we didn't dare go through the alleys hawking them."
"That's fine." Li Jianguo nodded. "Taking it easy for a couple of days is good too."
And that settled it.
The next morning, after getting up and eating the buns, Li Long packed the dozen or so bullets he had hidden away, went to the Stable to hitch up the horse cart, and set off for the mountains.
A great surprise awaited him.
(End of chapter)
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