Chapter 1363
A New Era for International Trade; Gambling is Truly Harmful
On January 2, 1992, China and Kazakhstan officially established diplomatic relations. Trade between the two countries changed from border trade and small-scale border residents' mutual markets that relied on the Soviet system to large-scale trade after the signing of the economic and trade agreement.
Private trade was also permitted, and the practice of hauling goods from Northeast China to Russia to make big money, which many people had previously envied, was now allowed in Khorgos and Alashankou.
Liu Gaolou called Li Long and said, "They came by car, carrying big and small bags. Every day, many people at the port start sending things over there."
It turns out that nothing grows there either; after crossing the Khorgos River, it's almost entirely barren land.
Now things are getting better. Because so many people are transporting goods over here, many people are driving over from Panfinov to pick up goods at the border, bartering and forming small markets. Then our people take the goods they've exchanged back through customs, inspect and quarantine them, and then take them back home to sell for money.
At this time, the tradition of border trade was still followed, with barter trade being the most common. Moreover, many people on both sides could understand each other's languages and could conduct business by gesturing. The wool, metals, and specialties from the former Soviet Union that were brought back were also easy to sell here.
Shoes, clothes, food, and light industrial products brought from here, including second-hand appliances, are also very popular.
Some people even carried a bag of canned food there and came back with enough to buy two leather coats.
Everyone felt it was a good deal and that they had made a profit.
Of course, large-scale private trade usually has to be carried out in the cities on the other side. Most people who come to these small-scale border trade markets cannot purchase large quantities of goods.
So some daring merchants would take a cart and transport their goods to the cities there. Some of the more impatient ones would sell their goods in Panfinov, while those who wanted to make money would take them directly to Almaty and then find suitable merchants to sell them to.
These people felt they had made their first pot of gold, and most of them did indeed make a considerable amount.
But in reality, those who truly made their first fortune have already become successful, such as Li Long, Liu Shanmin, and Liu Gaolou.
On January 8, a long convoy passed through the port, underwent quarantine, and arrived in Khorgos.
After a brief stop in Khorgos, we continued east along the Urumqi-Yining Highway, driving all the way to Ma County, where we arrived at Li Long's purchasing station.
At this time, northern Xinjiang was already covered in ice and snow. Two sheds had been set up in the courtyard of the purchasing station in the fall. Now, there were stoves in the sheds. People who came to sell things or join in the fun could not enter the house, so they sat under the sheds to warm themselves by the fire.
Some people even brought potatoes, stuffing whole ones under the stove, while others sliced them and roasted them on the stove, turning them quickly until they were cooked, then taking them out to eat.
Roasted potato chips were one of the few snacks available to children in the 70s and 80s. At that time, adults roasted them to pass the time.
The large convoy drove in, and the courtyard immediately became lively.
Some people were discussing, "Hey, it's been so long since a convoy has driven in. All the cars in the yard are sold out. If they don't come soon, those who want to buy cheap cars will be getting impatient."
"Isn't that right? It's not just cheap cars, there are other good things too. I heard that a mainland boss who came to pick up leather goods is calling and urging us to hurry up. I heard Boss Li answer that boss's call a couple of days ago, telling him to wait a little longer."
"Then we have to wait. Who told the neighboring country to fall into chaos?"
"That's right, I never expected that such a big country like the Soviet Union would collapse so easily."
"Hey, Mr. Li is really something. Our country and the other side only established diplomatic relations a few days ago, and look at this stuff already being brought over. There must be more than a dozen truckloads like this today, right?"
"I counted them, 21 vehicles, including the SUV at the front. That SUV looks even more imposing than Mr. Li's!"
"I've never seen that brand before?"
"You've definitely never seen it before, that's an imported brand!"
While these people were discussing this, Li Long had already taken Liu Shanming, who had gotten off the car, to the reception room.
Upon entering the warm and cozy reception room, Liu Shanming took off his fur coat and leather hat, and exclaimed, "This off-road vehicle is great for long-distance travel, but the air conditioning is really terrible."
As Li Long poured him water, he asked, "What kind of car is that? I've never seen one like it before."
"The Lada Niva is a Soviet-made off-road vehicle. It belonged to a high-ranking official who had fallen from power in Almaty. When I acquired it, it looked quite new, and I heard that the engine and everything inside were in good condition, so I just used it myself."
Liu Shanmin took a sip of tea and said, "I don't think it's as comfortable as your Land Cruiser. If you like it, you can keep it."
"Forget it, this car is too niche. Even if we keep it, it'll be hard to repair if something goes wrong." Li Long waved his hand and said, "You should drive it yourself."
He was used to Liu Shanmin's generosity. The other party's offer to keep it for him was definitely not just polite talk, and Liu Shanmin himself was not being polite either. People who like off-roading might really like this kind of car, but keeping it was fine. He was already quite good with this one Road Cruiser.
Liu Shanmin muttered, "Niche? Hey, you really know how to make up words. But speaking of which, this car really is... niche. Even in Almaty, there aren't many of them."
"Look at all the cars you brought this time, what good stuff did you haul?" Li Long changed the subject.
Actually, the unloading was already underway outside, but he hadn't noticed.
Upon hearing Li Longyi's words, Liu Shanmin immediately became interested and said with a smile, "Come on, come on, let me show you, I've brought some good stuff this time!"
As he stood up to leave, Li Long quickly stopped him, saying, "Don't rush, don't rush. You just took off your clothes. Warm up a bit before you go out. Just tell me directly. Things aren't going to grow legs and run away anyway."
"I won't even mention the car body panels and antelope horns I brought this time," Liu Shanmin said, sitting down as instructed. "I brought a whole truckload of good stuff, all collected from the homes of those who fell in Almaty."
There were antiques from the Mongol era, items from the Tsarist Russian era, and souvenirs from the Soviet era—all old things. Some of those people had fled abroad, some had fallen on hard times during the coup, and some had been imprisoned.
Some of their belongings were confiscated, and others were sold off cheaply. Although I don't know much about these things, I felt that those copper, silver, and some gold items weren't cheap, so I got a whole truckload to bring over for you.
“These are all good things!” Li Long said with a smile. “You should stay and make proper arrangements for your house over there.”
These things look a bit out of place here, but now that the political situation there is stable, you must have gotten a good house in Almaty, shouldn't you put some of these in there?"
"Don't worry, I've got several large truckloads."
At this point in Almaty, these things are not as practical as food and daily necessities.
You wouldn't believe it, but in Almaty's free markets these days, Soviet-era medals and the like aren't even worth as much as a can of food.
Some oil paintings from the Tsarist era could be traded for a few loaves of bread.
During the Mongol period, a silver horsewhip was worth at most the price of a few kilograms of white sugar.
Alas, in chaotic times, even dogs are treated worse than animals!
Liu Shanmin's sudden remark surprised Li Long. He said, "Aren't you one of their biggest assets in oppressing them? Why are you suddenly feeling sentimental?"
Liu Shanmin defended himself, feeling somewhat aggrieved: "How can you say that about me? I've saved so many people! If it weren't for my continuous supply of materials over there, many people would have starved to death."
Those canned meats really saved a lot of lives. Don't assume that just because the area is sparsely populated and has plenty of supplies, people can live a good life.
Some people in the city are used to the supply system and the planned economy. Even if you put them in the countryside, they wouldn't know how to survive or find food.
If I hadn't been shipping canned food from your place to them in batches, these people would have starved to death.
All I got were things they didn't want. Anyway, those things were useless in their house, so it was better to exchange them for these practical items.
Li Long thought this was fallacy, but he didn't expect him to say it so confidently, as if it were true.
Seeing his insistence, Li Long stopped talking and asked about the current market situation there.
"The political situation is generally stable, but the economy is getting worse and worse." When it came to serious matters, Liu Shanmin's expression became solemn.
Li Long said with some surprise, "Now that the political situation is stable, shouldn't we quickly boost the economy?"
Liu Shanmin smiled bitterly: "It's not that easy. Once the trust of the authorities is lost, it's very difficult to put them back on."
Many people there still think the Soviet Union was better, are loyal to the Soviet Union, and find it hard to accept the current political system.
It will take a long time for the current political system to become fully stable and accepted by the public.
During the Soviet era, all kinds of factories, farms, and economic entities belonged to collectives. What about now? Some have been nationalized and operated by the state, while others have been acquired by private enterprises and are now considered private companies.
People today have a very inaccurate understanding of their own position; they are uncertain about what the future holds, and many feel hopeless and lost.
Li Long shook his head and said, "Even in this dilapidated state, many people here still want to go there, thinking it's like paradise."
Liu Shanmin said sarcastically, "Now, people go there to work as laborers and suffer. There's a huge shortage of labor over there, people to do farm work and herd livestock."
Some people feel that without the collective economy, their world has collapsed, and they are unwilling to work. Some people, having been allocated land and sheep, think they are now landlords and ranchers, so they hire others to do the work.
In general, although the political situation has stabilized relatively, the economy is in chaos; otherwise, I wouldn't have been able to acquire several large truckloads of such goods.
Of course, when I came over, I saw that many people here had already smelled the scent of wealth and started flocking over there to sell their goods.
Although the market is chaotic, there are indeed many opportunities to make money.
Li Long asked with some concern, "Won't that affect your business? After all, so many people went and brought so much stuff..."
Liu Shanmin confidently shook his head and said, "No, it won't have any impact. Think about it, a country with hundreds of millions of people, although relatively small compared to our country, is a huge market for me personally!"
The daily consumption of canned goods is so high that even if your cannery sent 10 cans, it wouldn't be enough to supply the demand! So don't worry about me, as long as the goods are delivered, there will be no unsold stock.
Besides, I've worked there for so many years, I'm very familiar with the connections, supply chains, and so on. Compared to those newbies, the people there are more willing to do business with someone like me.
Liu Shanmin didn't explain everything clearly, but Li Long had been there and witnessed his hospitality skills.
He knew that the other party had already extended their reach into the political situation in Almaty, and that some official channels might be under their control, so he wasn't worried at all about others taking away his market share.
“Actually, when I got that medium-sized oil field, some people already knew that I had this kind of interest and were planning to allocate some more shares to me,” Liu Shanmin said proudly. “I know that in my line of work, the worst thing is to be too famous and attract attention.”
So I told those people, if we're going to get rich, let's all get rich together. Some things are easy to get now, but they'll be very valuable in the future.
It's already becoming apparent that some Western companies, while looking to buy large oil fields, are gradually focusing their attention on small and medium-sized oil fields.
Those who listened to my advice are already wealthy, so my situation is very stable. I've basically provided more than what my upline needed, and I'll use this opportunity to grow and expand myself.
Li Long recalled an interesting piece of news he had heard in his previous life: an undercover agent sent to a gang was frantically calling his superior, urging him to close the net immediately, otherwise he would become the gang's top leader. At the time of the call, he was actually already the gang's second-in-command.
Therefore, Li Long felt that if things continued to develop this way, it wouldn't be surprising if Liu Shanmin's face appeared on television one day.
It might get interesting if Liu Shanmin becomes Lao Na's direct subordinate.
Once Liu Shanmin had recovered enough, he put on his coat and took Li Long out to see the good stuff he had brought.
Li Long was also curious, so he went out to take a look. That truckload of goods was the first to be unloaded. Next, Sun Jiaqiang and Liang Shuangcheng realized that these things were special, so they were specially placed in a small warehouse near the dormitory.
After opening the warehouse, Li Long looked at the boxes and boxes of things, which were neatly arranged.
Liu Shanmin saw the numbers on the boxes, opened one at random, and took out a wooden box inside.
Unfastening the clasp revealed a box filled with neatly arranged medals, which appeared to be made of gold.
Li Long took it and, seeing the sickle and axe on it, felt a pang of emotion.
Liu Shanmin then took out an old wooden box from the main box. Inside was a nesting doll inlaid with gemstones and gold and silver threads, which looked very luxurious.
Amber ornaments, complete sets of silver tableware, bronze statues, and so on.
Various exotic items, large and small, each one clearly not ordinary.
"How about that? Pretty good, right?" Liu Shanmin said smugly. "It doesn't look cheap here, does it?"
Li Long looked at each item one by one, then exclaimed, "This is so generous! I was worried I couldn't afford it! These things aren't cheap..."
“I can afford it, I can afford it,” Liu Shanmin said with a smile. “How about 20 tons of canned goods?”
“Then I’ve really gotten a great deal,” Li Long said. “This is a bit too good to be true, I feel a little embarrassed.”
"Don't be embarrassed. At this purchase price, I can still make a profit of ten tons of canned goods from you." Liu Shanmin said half-jokingly, "I have too much stock there. It's just sitting there anyway, so I might as well exchange it for more supplies. I can still get more in return."
Since he put it that way, Li Long accepted it with a smile. Anyway, the cannery had two or three hundred tons of canned goods piled up, it was just a matter of how he wanted to transport them.
Besides this vehicle, which contained some rather rare items, the convoy also brought 12 cars.
Four of them were Toyota Land Cruisers, two were Mercedes-Benzes, and the rest were Volgas.
Li Long felt that he had basically brought the Volga market in northern Xinjiang to its feet, and fortunately, the vehicles were in good condition and looked almost brand new.
It seems that Liu Shanmin carefully selected these items when he received them.
Now Liu Shanmin and Li Long are also exchanging goods and no longer talking about money.
He brought these cars, along with six cartloads of hides and two cartloads of antelope horns, in exchange for twelve cartloads of canned goods and eight cartloads of sugar, and the matter was settled.
Given the current shortage of supplies in the Republic of Kazakhstan, both sides feel they have gained an advantage.
According to Liu Shanmin when he left, this is not the worst time yet, because many factories there will gradually shut down, and a large number of workers will lose their jobs. With the overall planning during the Soviet era, Kazakhstan needs to save itself.
Therefore, in the next few years, prices here will soar, supplies will become increasingly scarce, and the prices of daily necessities such as food and household goods will rise higher and higher. These years will be the most profitable time for them.
This was similar to Li Long's impression, so the next few years were the period of their fastest capital accumulation.
Liu Shanmin only stayed in the county for two days before hurriedly leaving with the supplies.
There is a severe shortage of supplies over there, and Liu Shanmin doesn't want his associates to be anxiously waiting.
After Liu Shanmin left, the middlemen at the purchasing station who used to hang out chatting and gathering information couldn't sit still anymore.
Fan Mingcheng was the first to find Li Long. This dealer, who had bought the GAZ-69 truck from Li Long by exchanging mother-of-pearl, was now considered the second-in-command.
However, after witnessing Li Long's impressive business acumen, Fan Mingcheng felt he could go even further, so he took the lead and entered Li Long's reception room.
Old Fan didn't come empty-handed. When he entered the reception room, he was carrying a box of frozen shrimp. He smiled and said to Li Long, "These are from the cold storage in Wucheng. They're supposedly the freshest coastal shrimp. Look at their size, they're palm-sized, with minimal ice. They're a rare find." Li Long smiled and poured water for Fan Mingcheng, then brought it to him, saying, "You've come all this way, why bring so much? You're being so polite."
Old Fan took the water, sat down, and said, "I need your help, it would be too embarrassing to come empty-handed."
"Tell me if you need anything, and I'll definitely help if I can," Li Long said as he sat down.
"I mainly want to find out some news from the border," Lao Fan said directly. "I have a friend who does foreign trade in Northeast China. He said that after the Russians broke away from the Soviet Union, people there are almost starving."
No matter what kind of clothes, shoes, or food they bring over, they can sell them and make a lot of money.
The Northeast is too far away, so I was thinking, isn't our river valley bordering Kazakhstan? Could we do this business there too?
You're the top expert in this field in our county, that's why I came here to ask for your advice.
Li Long smiled and said modestly, "What kind of boss am I? I'm just a small fry."
Fan Mingcheng hurriedly waved his hand and said, "Mr. Li, please don't be so polite. Look, every now and then a long convoy comes over with all the good stuff from over there. We've been keeping an eye on it."
I just wanted to find out some information over there and see if this business was feasible.
If I can, I'll take advantage of this winter to run around a bit. I don't expect to get rich, just earn some pocket money.
Li Long laughed: "Old Fan, you're being modest. You're earning several tens of thousands of yuan a year now, how could you possibly care about pocket money?"
However, I do have this information, and I can tell you about it.
Li Long runs a local business, so he doesn't actually stop Lao Fan and his group from becoming traveling merchants.
"Over there, there's a shortage of all kinds of daily necessities, clothes and shoes, especially winter clothes, including leather coats. If we can get them, we can just take them over there and we won't have to worry about selling them."
Of course, if you want to get large quantities of food, like a whole truckload of instant noodles, they'll want that too.
"Also, there's a shortage of light industrial products, including household appliances."
When Lao Fan heard what Li Long said, he was very happy and said with a smile, "Now that you put it that way, I understand. So, how do I go about the procedures?"
“You can take the goods over there and handle the transit and foreign trade procedures at the port,” Li Long said. “It’s just the beginning, so the procedures won’t be too complicated. Bring your identification documents, and it would be best to get a trade certificate or something similar, which will make things easier later.”
Fan Mingcheng left with anticipation. Some people knew he had come to Li Long to gather information, some were still hesitant about whether to follow his example, and some were too embarrassed to approach Li Long, so they simply went with Old Fan.
During lunch, Li Qingxia asked Li Long what he had told Lao Fan, and Li Long gave a brief explanation.
Gu Xiaoxia and Sister Yang didn't think there was anything wrong with it, but Li Qingxia felt that Li Long had said too much: "Aren't these all trade secrets? How could you tell him so easily?"
Li Long didn't think there was anything wrong with it at all. He explained to his father, "This is not a trade secret."
Actually, if they had the time to read the Northern Xinjiang Daily or listen to the news from there, they would know that some trading companies have already started doing business there, and the daily newspaper's advertisements feature large quantities of advertisements for buying these things.
"It's in the newspaper?" Li Qingxia suddenly realized, "So you were telling them publicly available information?"
While eating, Li Long said, "That's not entirely true. Actually, you can't hide it. Everything we transport over there is public knowledge. You can find out easily if you ask around."
We're locals; Lao Liu and his team just bring our stuff over and then take it away. We make money from the transit fees.
Old Fan and his friends wanted to become merchants, hauling a cartload of goods across the border to earn a meager living. We were old acquaintances, so I just said a few words and offered to help if I could.
In the following days, several more people came to Li Long to inquire about news, most of them bringing gifts and being very polite.
Li Long would also offer some advice, tailored to their individual characteristics, and these people would leave gratefully, then go on to explore new ways to make money.
People who frequent the purchasing station will notice that some familiar faces are gone. After asking around, they learn that they have gone to do business at the border.
Some people were tempted, while others dared not act.
After all, it's a 500-600 kilometer journey from here to the border. Carrying a truckload of goods across is an uncertain journey, like gambling, and not everyone has the guts to do it.
Some people, lacking the courtesy of Lao Fan and his companions, tried to ask Li Qingxia for information, but Li Qingxia always said he didn't know.
The son can say it, but he doesn't intend to.
With nothing much going on at the purchasing station, Li Long would occasionally return to Team 4.
Elementary school was already on holiday, and Mingming and Haohao were clamoring to go to their uncle's house, so Li Long took them there, much to Gu Xiaoxia's relief.
When Li Long arrived at his elder brother's house, he heard some shocking news: "Zhou Yongshun, a member of Huang Xinping's cooperative, lost more than 1 yuan gambling at the beginning of the month. He lost all his savings, borrowed several thousand yuan from others, and disappeared without a trace."
Li Long now knows what it means to be unable to persuade someone with kind words, and to be a suicidal ghost.
This gambling had happened several times in his previous life, and several of his friends had also participated, with terrible consequences for them.
So in this life, he took precautions again and again. Guo Tiebing was the director of the local police station, and he had specifically reminded people to sweep the area and arrest some people involved in gambling. Unexpectedly, some people still fell for it this year.
Li Jianguo, the eldest brother, said to Li Long, "It wasn't just Zhou Yongshun who was gambling; several others in the team were involved, but he lost the most."
Li Junfeng said from the side, "I heard that he was so engrossed in gambling that his wife went to persuade him, but he beat her up and then went back to his parents' home with the children."
He didn't care about anything at the time. After gambling away all his money, he borrowed more than 2000 yuan from others, which he also lost at the gambling table. Last year's cooperative dividends, plus his family savings, were all gone.
Li Long shook his head and remained silent.
He knew Zhou Yongshun; he used to enjoy playing cards, saying that a little gambling was harmless fun. He would join in if others were betting 1 or 2 cents, and sometimes when he got carried away, he would bet 5 cents or 1 dollar, but never much.
In recent years, the people in Team 4 have become wealthy. They have shops in all three residential areas. Some of them have even set up mahjong tables and card tables at home. They don't care about the money these people make, and they even take a cut.
As a result, the small bets weren't enough, and some people started betting bigger.
Zhou Yongshun and Li Long were about the same age. His father had a good relationship with Li Jianguo. The old man was usually a recluse and the taciturn type.
In Li Long's previous opinion, this family had a fairly strict upbringing, but he never expected them to suddenly pull such a stunt.
“Old Zhou is having a tough time now,” Li Jianguo sighed. “His eldest son has separated from the family, and he still has a younger son who isn’t married yet. He was hoping to work hard to help his younger son get married, but now his eldest son has run away, and he has to pay off his debts.”
Liang Yuemei sighed and said, "Yongshun's mother has come to me crying several times these past two days, but who would have thought that her usually sensible eldest son could do something like this!"
Li Long then asked, "Didn't you call the police?"
Li Jianguo shook his head and said, "Then how do we call the police? Among the people playing cards, there are outsiders, but there are also people from this village. If we really call the police and arrest everyone in the village who played cards with him, wouldn't they blame him? Old Zhou wouldn't do such a thing."
Li Long shook his head, indicating that there was nothing that could be done.
In ordinary society, gambling debts are generally accepted; if they don't go through official channels, they are resolved in a more informal, unofficial manner. The debt is typically repaid by the son or vice versa, unless the debtor refuses to pay.
In later generations, there will be people like this who, since they don't care about their reputation anyway, will shamelessly refuse to pay their debts or run away from them.
However, in the 90s, people still valued their reputation, and when they could afford to pay back their debts, they would try their best to do so.
He remembered the people in the cooperative and immediately asked, "No one is involved in our cooperative, right?"
"No, no," Li Jianguo shook his head and said, "The people in our cooperative are all honest and don't gamble. Besides, you said that if they want to gamble, they should be expelled from the cooperative, so they wouldn't dare to do that."
Li Long was a little worried, so after dinner he went to find Xie Yundong.
Xie Yundong was listening to the radio at home when Li Long came in. He quickly poured him some tea, and Deng Guilan brought out some melon seeds and peanuts for them to chat.
While cracking sunflower seeds, Li Long asked Xie Yundong about gambling.
"Those guys went to the Navy," Xie Yundong said. "They wanted to get a few of us together to play cards through the Navy. But the Navy yelled at them and drove them away. Then they came back and told me about it, so I quickly went over and reminded Daqiang, Chen Weidong, and the others."
As it turned out, everything was fine on our side, but unexpectedly, Zhou Yongshun fell into the trap.
Li Long was also startled. It seemed that they had made a fortune, and someone had indeed seen them as easy prey, ready to fleece them.
Fortunately, these people all passed the test and didn't fall into the trap.
Li Long instructed Xie Yundong, "Such things will happen again in the future. If anyone comes again, either calm them down and call the police later, or drive them away and call the police later."
"These people won't give up unless we make an example of them. If you're afraid of retaliation, then refuse their advances and let me know when they find other targets, and I'll call the police."
"What if the people on the team find out and cause you trouble?" Xie Yundong said worriedly.
"Why would I let them know? Besides, even if they did find out, they'd be thanking me later."
Li Long didn't want to be a saint, nor did he like to meddle in other people's business. It was mainly because he couldn't stand these gambling addicts who had set traps for people last time.
Xie Yundong smiled and said, "If they really come again, I'll call the police station without you even having to tell me. Uncle Zhou has been good to us. These bastards have really ripped him off. If anyone comes, I'll definitely help him get revenge."
Some people like gambling, while others simply don't have much entertainment during the winter, but that's not Li Long's concern.
After leaving Xie Yundong's house, Li Long returned to his elder brother's house and saw Li Qiang leading Mingming, Haohao, and a group of children to beat Lao Niu. This reminded him of when he first started selling fish and returned from the county to see Qiangqiang and a group of people beating Lao Niu.
Now that Qiangqiang is strong, he has become the leader of a group of children, with kids ranging from ten to seven or eight years old to five or six years old under his command. Watching him direct the group and play so well is quite impressive.
After Qiangqiang and Mingming Haohao saw Li Long, they greeted each other and then went off to play.
Although Qiangqiang was a little embarrassed, he quickly got involved in mediating the dispute between the people and enjoyed it.
Look how healthy the children are playing, unlike those confused adults.
After entering the courtyard, he heard people talking inside the main house.
It seems to be my sister-in-law and another woman.
Li Long didn't go inside; he moved slightly closer to the wall and listened to what was being said inside.
After listening for a while, Li Long understood. At that moment, Zhou Yongshun's mother came over to borrow money.
Li Long shook his head and walked into his mother's room.
He couldn't get involved in this matter, and he had no intention of lending money.
It all depends on what the eldest brother's family says.
Old Mrs. Du Chunfang was dozing in the house when she heard the door open. She looked up and saw Li Long smiling, saying, "Oh, it's Xiaolong. I thought Juan was back."
"Juan won't be back for a few more days." Li Long poured his mother a glass of water and said, "You lean against the fire wall to warm yourself, and drink plenty of water. It's hot here, and you'll get thirsty easily."
"Okay, okay," Mom replied, took the cup, smiled, took a sip, pointed to the cabinet, and said, "There's food in there, help yourself."
Li Long laughed.
He cleared out a batch of food from his mother's cupboard and then replenished it.
He reminds his mother to eat whenever he has a spare moment. She worries that if these things are left uneaten, they will expire and he will throw them away, so she eats them relatively promptly.
At this moment, his mother reminded him, and Li Long naturally laughed.
There are still only three TV channels, and there are no programs during the day, so you can't watch TV even if you want to.
There's a radio in my parents' room, but my mother doesn't usually turn it on, saying she's afraid of wasting electricity.
Despite Li Long and the others' repeated attempts to persuade him, the old man remained quite stubborn.
Li Long couldn't understand how someone could get through the days by not listening to the radio or watching TV, but just staring blankly.
But that's how I've always been; I guess I'm just used to it.
Li Long thought he should come over every day to spend more time with his mother, talk to her, and reminisce about the past.
Just then, the door was pushed open, and the two rascals rushed in. They paused for a moment when they saw Li Long, then smiled and greeted Du Chunfang and Li Long. They then moved small stools to warm themselves by the stove.
Du Chunfang went to the cabinet to get them some treats, but Mingming and Haohao were quite picky. They wouldn't eat the packaged snacks and insisted on eating the potatoes roasted under the stove.
Li Long then noticed four or five small potatoes, each the size of a pigeon egg, roasting in the ash-covered area under the stove. These were potatoes picked from his private vegetable garden, the ones that couldn't be used for cooking.
Mingming, being the older brother, used a fire hook to pick out all the roasted potatoes, patted them on the ground to remove the ash, and after they cooled slightly, gave one to Li Long, one to Du Chunfang, and the rest to the two brothers.
The two brothers each got one, so the last one had to be split in half, one half for each of them.
Li Long smiled and handed the one in his hand to Mingming, saying, "Don't divide them, I'll give you two one each, so you can each have two."
Hao Hao asked, still a little doubtful, "Dad? You really aren't going to eat this? It's so delicious! Even better than sponge cake!"
Li Long said with a smile, "I've already eaten, you guys go ahead and eat!"
So the two brothers happily started eating, and while eating, they said to Du Chunfang, "Grandma, you haven't finished telling us the story you told us this morning. Please continue telling us the story now."
So Du Chunfang ate potatoes and said, "That Zhu Chongba took the cattle he was raising and slaughtered them. He gave all the beef to his poor friends, and some was distributed to the old people and children in the village. In the end, only the cow's tail was left."
Then he stuffed the cow's tail into the crevice in the mountain, and when the landlord sent people to look for it, he said that the cow had fallen into the crevice... Of course, the landlord's men didn't believe it. How could a cow get into that narrow crevice? So they tried to pull the cow's tail out, but no matter how hard they pulled, they couldn't get it out..."
Li Long laughed as he listened. He seemed to have heard this story when he was a child; it even included a nursery rhyme.
Unfortunately, I don't remember anymore... (End of Chapter)