Did this count as repaying harm with kindness?

Chen Hongjun was warming himself by the fire. He was a little surprised to see Li Long come in.

"Young comrade, it's you!" Chen Hongjun recognized Li Long and stood up with a smile. "Haven't seen you in days. What good stuff have you brought today?"

During their shift handover, he had heard his colleague Xu Lili mention that someone from the mountains had come to sell deer antlers. She had wanted to buy them cheaply, but the seller knew their worth and refused to sell at that price, so she had been forced to raise her offer to three yuan.

At the time, Chen Hongjun had guessed it was probably Li Long.

He just hadn't expected the young man to come sell his Deer Antler outside his own shifts. Had Li Long been short on time, or were they simply not close enough yet?

"Hello, hello." Li Long smiled and said, "I'm not sure whether you buy what I've brought today."

"Let's take a look." Naturally, Chen Hongjun couldn't promise anything yet.

Li Long placed the jade he had gotten from Jade Mountain River on the counter.

"A rock?" Chen Hongjun frowned, took a closer look, then asked in surprise:

"Is this... Ma River jade?"

"Yes, river jade." Li Long smiled. At least the man knew what he was looking at. If he had really taken it for a rock, Li Long would have had no choice but to pick it up and leave.

"Well... we really don't buy this here." Chen Hongjun shook his head. "We buy local produce and medicinal ingredients. This jade is good stuff, but we don't buy it."

"Do you know somewhere that does?" Li Long was a little disappointed, but he wasn't discouraged. Something this good would only become more valuable over time. If he hadn't needed money to buy a few things right now, he would have simply kept it at home and brought it out again in twenty or thirty years.

"Well... places that make handicrafts usually buy it," Chen Hongjun offered. "Our county is small. We don't have any businesses like that. Even Stone City might not have one. If you want to find a buyer, you'll have to go to Wu City."

Li Long cupped his hands toward him.

"Thank you! I won't keep you any longer, then. Goodbye!"

"All right, all right. If you have anything else, like deer antlers or medicinal ingredients, feel free to bring it over. I won't lowball you."

Li Long suddenly remembered what was on his cart and something he had read in novels before. He asked:

"Do you buy wild boar stomachs?"

Those were medicinal ingredients too, supposedly quite good for treating stomach ailments.

"Yes." Chen Hongjun was a little surprised, but remembering the deer antlers Li Long had brought last time, he guessed the young man probably lived near the mountains. He smiled and said:

"We do. Depending on the size and how old the boar was, they usually go for three to five yuan each. Have you brought one today? Can I take a look?"

Li Long was a little disappointed. It seemed these things wouldn't fetch much money either. He pointed outside and said:

"I have two wild boars, but I haven't gutted them yet. It'll have to wait a couple of days, until I've gone home and butchered them."

"What?" Chen Hongjun was taken aback. "You got two wild boars? Really?"

He bought things every day, but they were always already processed. He had seen plenty of deer antlers, and velvet antlers too, but hardly any actual red deer, let alone wild boars.

"Want a look?" Li Long smiled. This time, it was his turn to show someone something new.

Chen Hongjun followed Li Long outside. Li Long removed the wood and grass covering the wild boars, and Chen Hongjun went over curiously. His gaze immediately settled on the tusks in the larger boar's mouth.

"That's one big wild boar!" He had seen domestic pigs before, and this wild boar was certainly no smaller by comparison.

"Yeah. It took three shots to kill it. It was vicious."

"Would you... sell some of it? I'd like to buy some wild boar meat to try." The idea had suddenly struck Chen Hongjun.

"But I haven't butchered it yet, so I can't sell it right now." Li Long waved a hand. "I can't just cut a chunk off and sell it to you, can I? Besides, wild boar doesn't taste good if it isn't prepared properly. To be honest, Comrade Chen, this meat really isn't as tasty as pork from a domestic pig."

They would be doing business regularly in the future, so Li Long wasn't going to cheat him.

"I see." Chen Hongjun was a little disappointed, but his curiosity still outweighed his concern about the taste. He said:

"Once you've butchered it at home, bring me a piece. I'll buy some to try. I've never had it before, and I'd like to taste it once."

"Sure." Li Long readily agreed. "I'll bring it over in a couple of days-you work Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, right?"

"Yes, yes. Don't forget to bring the wild boar stomachs then, too."

"All right." Li Long covered the boars with the wood and grass again, secured the ropes, and led the horse away.

Meanwhile, the Li Family household had been thrown into turmoil.

The Lu Family's Eldest Sister-in-Law had come to tell Li Jianguo and Liang Yuemei that people in the village were saying Tao Dayong and Tao Daqiang had both been arrested.

Others were saying that Li Long had also been arrested while selling things at the Black Market.

That had frightened Li Jianguo and Liang Yuemei badly!

Everyone in the village knew about Gu Ermao's arrest, but word of Tao Dayong's arrest had only just begun to spread, and many people still hadn't heard.

By the time Tao Daqiang got home, the county had already called the township, which had passed the message on to the production team. Xu Chengjun went storming off to find Tao Jianshe and happened to run into Tao Daqiang, who had just come running home.

"Fifty yuan! Your Tao Dayong's been arrested, and the fine is fifty yuan. Hurry up and scrape the money together, then come with me to get him! By the way, Daqiang, how did you get back?"

"People wearing armbands came over, and we scattered..." Tao Daqiang was still badly shaken, mumbling so much that he could barely explain himself.

Xu Chengjun hadn't expected much from him anyway. Tao Daqiang had never stood out, and other people thought he was slow. Both Tao Jianshe and Xu Chengjun figured he had simply gotten lucky.

Tao Jianshe had still been dreaming of getting rich in a single day, only for one sentence from Xu Chengjun to dash that dream.

"How could he have been arrested?" Tao Jianshe muttered despondently. Second Li had sold fish several times without getting arrested. Why had it happened as soon as his own family tried?

"Who has time to stand here talking about that?" Xu Chengjun knew how these things worked. He barked, "If we don't go now, who knows how badly they'll beat your Da Yong!"

Hearing that, Tao Jianshe immediately scrambled up and ran into the inner room. He pulled out a handful of loose cash and said miserably, "I only have a little over eleven yuan..."

"I have five." Tao Daqiang pulled some money from the inside pocket of his padded jacket. "I'll go borrow some..."

"Then hurry up and borrow it. I'll go find your sister-in-law. Da Yong's been arrested, so I have to let her know..."

Tao Daqiang went to the Li Family home and told Li Jianguo what had happened.

"How much do you need to borrow?" Li Jianguo asked readily. "I still have twenty here."

He gave Tao Daqiang twenty yuan. Tao Daqiang held the money with his head lowered, a jumble of emotions churning inside him.

Many families on the production team didn't even earn twenty yuan in a whole year, yet Li Jianguo had handed it over without hesitation.

He knew it was because of his friendship with Li Long. But he had only just stopped working with Li Long. Was it right for him to do this?

"Hurry home," Li Jianguo urged him. "Your father must be waiting for the money to go get your brother."

Tao Daqiang returned home. A little while later, Tao Jianshe came back too. Seeing the twenty yuan in Tao Daqiang's hand, he thought, We've finally got enough.

Ma Chunhong had only handed over fifteen yuan, saying it was all the money she had.

Now, not only had they earned nothing, but both households had emptied their savings and still owed another twenty yuan!

While Xu Chengjun and Tao Jianshe went to the county to collect Tao Dayong, news of his arrest spread through the village, and even more people were saying that Li Long had been arrested too!

I've been trying to climb the new book rankings these past two days. Although I'm only around seventieth or eightieth place, at least the book has a ranking badge now. If you have any votes, please cast one for me. Monthly votes or recommendation votes, I'm not picky-they're both useful. Thank you! There will be another bonus chapter today.

(End of chapter)