When the tractor reached the entrance to the Construction and Installation Company, the gatekeeper recognized Li Long and came out to greet him.
Li Long asked him where his second older brother, Li Anguo, was renting a place.
"Where else would it be? Out back." The gatekeeper knew the place well and pointed north as he spoke. "Over there, right by the fields. Someone built two or three rows of single-story houses there. Your brother rents the house in the middle of the last row."
"Are they working now?"
"Working now? No. There's nothing they can do in the dead of winter, so they've all been sent home. They'll start again in spring."
"What about their wages?" Li Long was a little worried.
"They still get paid. Just no bonuses." The gatekeeper chuckled. "Someone like me, still working through winter, gets a bonus."
Li Long handed the gatekeeper a pack of cigarettes, which he had also bought along the way while asking for some hot water to drink. Then, following the gatekeeper's directions, he drove the tractor around to the back.
Honestly, the route twisted and turned so much that without directions, he might not have managed to drive around to the back.
When he reached the houses, he saw some children too young for school playing there, including Xueqin and Xueping.
The two children were somewhat familiar with Li Long's tractor. They stood in the snow for a moment, then cheered and ran over as soon as they saw him take off his balaclava.
The children playing with them were a little bewildered and a little envious. Very few people could afford a tractor these days.
"Xueping, Xueqin, are your parents home?"
"Yes, and Brother Junshan and Brother Yongqiang are there too."
Well, the generational titles were a little