They buried the wolf meat in the snow to freeze first, and Li Long took one of the two wolf pelts. Harimu already had one here; with another now, his wooden sleeping platform was almost covered.
"After we hunt the wild boars tomorrow, I'll head straight home," Li Long said. "I originally planned to be away for two days, but it's stretched into an extra day. My family must be getting worried."
Out on Little Haizi, Li Jianguo and Tao Daqiang were pulling fish out while figuring that Li Long ought to be back that evening.
"If you're going to sell fish tomorrow, I'll go to the team leader's house again tonight and rent the horse cart for another day," Li Jianguo told Tao Daqiang as he picked up fish. "After one more trip, we'll probably stop selling. It's time to get ready for the New Year. Daqiang, has your family bought your New Year supplies yet?"
"Not yet." Tao Daqiang was no longer so reserved when talking to Li Jianguo. "I spent my money on coal."
Li Jianguo nodded. He knew exactly how much Li Long paid Tao Daqiang in "wages." Compared with their earnings, it wasn't much, but compared with the current average wage and per capita income, it was already a great deal.
The hardship in Tao Jianshe's household came from Tao Dayong's arrest last time. After a blow like that, they would need some time to recover.
But what did that matter? Plenty of families on the team were poorer than theirs. At least Tao Daqiang could bring fish home every day.
Some people on the team made sour remarks out of envy and jealousy, but few households could actually brave temperatures twenty or thirty degrees below zero to pull fish out at Little Haizi.
Some