Rebirth of Bayi Fishing and Hunting in the Northwest

Tao Daqiang went to Li's house and handed over the fish.

This afternoon, he, his elder brother, and his brother-in-law dug out 21 kilograms of big fish from three ice holes. Li Long said that it was more than any of theirs.

Tao Daqiang was not too proud. He received 21 yuan, and according to the previous agreement, he took 9 yuan, and his brother Tao Dayong and brother-in-law Yang Yong each took 6 yuan.

Adding the five dollars I got in the morning, I got fifteen dollars today, which is pretty good.

A little tired. In fact, he had long thought about separating from his brother and taking care of his brother-in-law. After all, his brother-in-law couldn't work alone in the small lake, and the team wouldn't allow it.

But his brother Tao Dayong refused and wanted to form a partnership.

Tao Daqiang had no choice but to take it with him.

Fortunately, my brother does whatever I say, so there aren’t so many troubles.

Including sharing money.

He heard that his sister-in-law Ma Chunhong disagreed with this way of distributing dividends, but her brother slapped her back.

Money is a man's courage. Tao Dayong can now take home money every day. Even if Ma Chunhong is reluctant, she dare not say anything.

At most I complain a little, that's all.

Nowadays, a man who can earn money and bring it home so that his wife and children can live a better life and have meat to eat every now and then is already a very good man.

Tao Dayong's transformation surprised many idlers in the team. They would ask Tao Dayong why he worked so hard. It was winter, wouldn't he feel uncomfortable with idleness? Why did he have to endure the cold?
Tao Dayong, who had already tasted the sweetness, thought to himself, "What do you know?" Now that he had made money and his pockets were bulging, he even spoke more confidently at home.

I have become more confident. To be more personal, when the children are asleep at night, I ask my wife to change positions, and it is incredibly smooth.

In the past, my wife would scold me and ask what was the big deal.
Now, the one being served must be so comfortable!

Besides, making money is addictive!

I don’t spend much money every day in winter, so I give my wife some pocket money to buy soy sauce and vinegar, and occasionally give my children a few cents as pocket money.

The rest is in my pocket, it's so full!
Tao Dayong is like this because the changes before and after are too great.

Tao Daqiang is not like that. He has been making money non-stop.

Since following Li Long two years ago, Tao Daqiang has almost never stopped making money.

In the beginning, I earned five or ten yuan a day by helping Li Long catch fish, and later I became a porter and could earn dozens or even hundreds of yuan.

Later on, Tao Daqiang can follow Li Qingxia and earn more at this time.

He went from being a "spoon" looked down upon by many people in the team to a capable person envied by all the young people. Tao Daqiang got used to everyone's envious and even admiring gazes.

But Tao Daqiang himself knew that without Li Long, he was nothing and would still be the despised spoon.

Without Li Long, he wouldn't be able to figure out any of these ways to make money.

Fortunately, although Li Long is not with him now, at least the things left behind can allow him to live a good life.

Moreover, he was told about the harvester, which made Tao Daqiang more aware of Li Long's strengths and weaknesses.

No one knows better than him how amazing Li Long is. He can make money that others can't even imagine by just thinking of a way.

After returning home, Tao Daqiang went to say hello to his father first, then spoke to Yang Pingping through the door, and then went to wash his hands and change his clothes.

After warming himself by the wall of fire, he went into his house to see his wife and children.

"How are you today? Did you cry? Are you good?" Tao Daqiang sat on the edge of the bed and asked when he saw his wife teasing the child.

"It's okay, I had two bowel movements." Yang Pingping turned on the light so that the child could see his father, and the child immediately started babbling.

Tao Daqiang still touched his body and felt warm, then he picked up the child. Although it was a few months old, his technique of holding a child was still not very good.

I haven't practiced it.

Just as I was about to say a few words to my wife and then have dinner, I heard someone knocking on the door.

"Daqiang, is Brother Daqiang here?"

Hearing the voices, Tao Daqiang frowned, but still put the child down and said to Yang Pingping:
"You watch the doll, I'll go take a look."

"Stop making noise." Yang Pingping said, knowing her man's temper.

"Row."

I left the house and closed the door, but someone had already pushed the door open.

Huang Siping, a young man in the team.

Originally, he played with Li Long and Xu Haijun. At that time, Tao Daqiang followed Li Long, and Huang Siping followed Xu Haijun. When Li Long was not around, Tao Daqiang was often the target of their teasing.

Huang Siping had teased Tao Daqiang a lot at that time. It was impossible for him to say that he didn't feel a little uncomfortable.

However, after Xu Haijun joined the army and Tao Daqiang became successful following Li Long, the attitude of the team members towards him gradually changed.

People like Huang Siping were the slowest to change. It was hard for them to change their uncomfortable feelings. How could someone who they usually ordered around suddenly become a wealthy man in the team, not only buying a bicycle and getting married, but also planning to buy a tractor?
When the young people in the team meet Tao Daqiang, they will basically take the initiative to say hello, and Huang Siping is gradually no exception.

"Da Qiang, are you back from catching fish?" Huang Siping was quite enthusiastic.

"Yeah." Tao Daqiang just responded.

He and Li Long talked about these people's personalities and characters. As for Huang Siping, well, he was average, only slightly better than Gu Ermao, but only slightly.

So he didn't plan to chat more with Huang Siping.

Huang Siping wanted to go to Tao Daqiang's room, but Tao Daqiang blocked the door:
"Go to my father's place. The child is young and can't stand the cold wind."

Huang Siping followed with a wry smile.

Tao Jianshe was smoking. When he saw Huang Siping coming over, he smiled and nodded.

The light in the house was a 25-watt bulb. At a time when most households used 10-watt, 15-watt, or even 5-watt bulbs, the Tao family's house was obviously much brighter.

Tao Jianshe was reluctant at first, but Tao Daqiang didn't listen to him. He listened to Li Long. Li Long said that using low-wattage bulbs is bad for the eyes, so Tao Daqiang bought 25-watt bulbs.

After getting used to the fact that the night was almost the same as the day, Tao Jianshe didn't complain. As people get older, their eyesight is not so good, so it's good to have bright lights at night.

"How was Daqiang's fishing today?" Huang Siping sat on the kang. "Maybe he could make another twenty or thirty yuan?"

"No, just ten or so yuan." Tao Daqiang said, "There are not that many fish left."

"That's not bad, it's equivalent to ten days' salary of an apprentice." Huang Siping envied her. If he were asked to do the job, he wouldn't want to do it, but he could still envy her.

Since Tao Daqiang didn't respond, Huang Siping tried to find words to talk about himself, which was a bit awkward.

Finally he had to say what he meant:
"Da Qiang, I'm dating someone and we're planning on getting married in the spring, but I'm short of money right now. Do you think..."

He actually didn't want to say this in front of Tao Jianshe, but there was no way. He couldn't go in to Tao Daqiang's place, and it was too cold to say it outside.

After hearing this, Tao Jianshe took down his pipe, placed it on the edge of the kang, and coughed lightly.

Tao Daqiang glanced at Huang Siping and asked:

"Getting married in the spring? That's still two or three months away, right? How much money do you need?"

Tao Jianshe coughed again.

Huang Siping only thought that Tao Daqiang would lend it to him after he asked, so he said hurriedly:
"It's just three or five hundred. I know you have a solid foundation. If you want a loose balance, lend me five hundred. If you don't want a loose balance... three hundred will do."

Tao Jianshe coughed twice again, and seeing that Tao Daqiang didn't look at him, he simply knocked the ashes from his pipe onto the kang and put it heavily on the table.

"As for the money, I won't lend you any." Tao Daqiang went to get a broom, swept away the cigarette ash that his father had knocked off, and then continued:

"But I can show you a way."

When Huang Siping heard that Tao Daqiang would not lend it, his face fell immediately, but when he heard that he could show him a way, he endured it and asked:

"What?"

"We go to Xiaohaizi to catch fish," Tao Daqiang said. "For two or three months, if I earn about ten yuan a day, I can earn 600 to 700 yuan in two months. Even if there are fewer fish after the New Year, we can still earn enough for one month."

"It's freezing, and I don't know how to go." Huang Siping definitely didn't want to go.

"Then come here to borrow money from me. Let me ask you, where does my money come from?" Tao Daqiang said slowly.

"Then... wasn't it earned from fishing?" "Of course it was. Don't I know that it's very cold to fish in the small lake? Don't I know that it's comfortable to stay on the kang? Do I go to the small lake to fish in the cold just to lend money to you who are idle at home every day?"

Huang Siping's face turned red with anger, but he couldn't say anything.

Tao Jianshe breathed a sigh of relief. His second son had become quite good at talking.

"Everyone knows how to spend money, but there are ways to make money. If you want to, I'll teach you. If you don't want to, don't say I won't lend you money. My money is earned through hard work." Tao Daqiang put the broom and dustpan aside and said, "I can't lend it to you. I need it myself."

Huang Siping was unable to say anything in the end and left.

Tao Jianshe took his pipe, put on his coat and went out. Before leaving, he asked Tao Daqiang to get the rice in the pot himself.

Tao Daqiang knew what his father was doing.

I don't know what Huang Siping will say about me if he doesn't borrow the money. My father is the first to tell the truth, so that others will know the situation and will not misunderstand me.

In fact, Tao Daqiang doesn't care whether others misunderstand him or not. Sometimes he is imitating Li Long. Does Li Long care about people in the team misunderstanding him? No.

It’s the sentence in the storytelling: How can a sparrow understand the ambition of a swan?

Yang Pingping was listening to Tao Daqiang talking to others next door. When Tao Daqiang came in with a bowl, she smiled and said:
"Hey, you've become quite capable and talkative. I wouldn't know how to say that."

"If it were you, how would you respond to him?" Tao Daqiang asked casually.

"I'll just scold him back and say he has no money..."

"How is that possible? Everyone knows that our family is rich." Tao Daqiang had thought about this question a long time ago, and no one accepted his answer.

"That……"

"If you don't want to say the same thing as me, you can just say that the money is in a fixed deposit and can't be withdrawn. Brother Long said that lending money to others is to help in emergencies, not to help the poor.

If you have an emergency or need help, you have to borrow money. If you are lazy and like him, you can’t borrow money. If you borrow money, you won’t get it back.”

"Okay, your Brother Long is right." Yang Pingping sometimes felt a little jealous, as her man would often say "Brother Long said" or "What do you think, Brother Long?" etc. Although she knew that Li Long had made the family rich, saying this often was not conducive to family harmony.

Li Long didn't know that his image in Tao Daqiang's mind had caused some dissatisfaction from Yang Pingping (just kidding). The next day after breakfast, he sent Gu Xiaoxia to the Education Bureau. He came back to tidy up the yard, started the tractor, and drove to the team.

Li Jianguo knew that Li Long was coming, so he didn't go to Xiaohaizi today. Li Qingxia didn't want to get involved in those things, so he went there with a scoop net and a shovel, followed by Li Qiang.

After Li Long arrived, Li Jianguo looked at the sheep offal, felt that there was no problem, and rode his bike to Xu Chengjun's house.

Xu Chengjun was listening to the radio. Seeing Li Jianguo coming over, he quickly let him in and asked:

"Brother Li, what's the matter?"

"Xiaolong brought back some sheep offal from the mountains, more than 20 of them. He thought that many people in our team like to eat this, so he might as well ask if anyone in the team wants it before selling it. I can use your big speaker."

"Okay, okay, how much is it?"

"It's bigger than the year before last. The price of meat has gone up these days. It's eight dollars a set."

"Okay, I'll give you a shout." Xu Chengjun said, "Leave me one set... two sets."

"Hey, okay." Li Jianguo smiled and left.

Not far from Xu Chengjun's house, I heard a voice from the loud speaker:

"Puff, puff, can you hear me? If you can, let me know. Let me know. Li Long from Li Jianguo's family got some sheep offal from the mountains.

Everyone knows this is a good thing. This time it's bigger than the year before, eight yuan a plate, one kilogram is only one yuan. If you want it, hurry to Li's house to buy it, cash! If you're late, it'll be gone...Okay, I'll let you know again, everyone listen carefully..."

When Li Jianguo went to Xu Chengjun's house, Li Long had already sent a plate of mutton offal to Lao Mahao to Uncle Luo.

Uncle Luo was listening to the loudspeaker, and before he could finish the notice, Li Long came over.

"What are you giving it to me for? Why not sell it for money?" said Uncle Luo.

"The money from the sale is what's left. Let's eat first." Li Long said with a smile, "Uncle Luo, do you want some sheep heads and sheep hooves? If you want, I can get you some. They don't have any hair on them. Thank you."

"Then get me a few sets. I don't mind the trouble." Uncle Luo has plenty of time in the winter, so he said with a smile, "It will be delicious when it's ready."

Li Long agreed to send it to him later.

When Li Long and Li Jianguo returned to the yard, Lu Yingming and his wife had already come over to see the sheep go into the water.

They picked a plate, gave the money to Li Long, took it back and prepared to clean up.

There are not many days left until the Chinese New Year, so we have to start preparing slowly now.

People came to buy one after another, and Xu Chengjun actually picked up two plates to take back on his bicycle.

What surprised Li Long was that Liang Dacheng's mother, Tao Jianshe, came over and took a plate back, but when he thought about it, it was normal. After all, the family was not short of money, so they had to prepare some delicious food.

By noon, nearly half of the more than 20 plates of mutton offal had been sold.

Li Long left two plates in the big yard in the county, left two plates here for his elder brother, and gave one plate to Uncle Luo.

Originally, fifty-three trays were pulled down from the mountain. Twenty of them were given to the woodworking factory, and the remaining thirty-three trays, minus the ones kept for their own family, left twenty-eight trays to be sold.

Some of the people who came to buy sheep offal also looked at the sheep's heads and hooves and bought some to go. Li Long still sold the same price, three yuan for a sheep's head and fifty cents for a sheep's hooves.

Li Long also brought back two wolf meats, but most people just asked and didn't buy. Those who wanted to buy just bought a leg to take home to try.

It's normal that wolf meat doesn't sell well in Team 4.

But in the afternoon, something unexpected happened.

Someone from the third team came over to look at the sheep offal, and after looking at the sheep offal, they saw wolf meat, sheep heads and sheep hooves. Then they asked about the price.

After knowing that wolf meat and sheep offal were the same price, I decisively chose wolf meat.

"Old Li, your family can get wolf meat, that's amazing." The visitor knew Li Jianguo, although not very familiar with him, but they could call out his name and knew his general background.

"Well, my brother has a herdsman friend in the mountains. A few days ago, he killed a wolf but didn't eat it, so he asked us to bring it back." Li Jianguo also spoke vaguely.

But he also said:
"After all, this wolf meat is wild and has a strong flavor. It needs to be flavored with spices, otherwise it won't taste good..."

"No matter how bad it tastes, it's still meat, and it's better than cabbage and radish, right?" The man's surname was Wang, and he said with a smile, "Take it home and slowly prepare it, and it will taste good."

Well, people know it, so there’s no need to say more.

Next, more people came from Team Three, which made many people from Team Four a little nervous.

At the end of the day, more than twenty sheep were sold out, and one and a half wolves were also sold.

Li Long kindly reminded those who bought wolf hind legs to remember to take off the thigh stone, after all, wolf thigh stones are really not cheap anymore.

When the sun was still high in the sky, Li Long drove his tractor back. He had no plan to have dinner here.

The main thing is that it is getting colder day by day, and he has to hurry back to pick up Gu Xiaoxia.

Before going back, he went to Gu Boyuan's yard and added some coal to the stove.

After arriving at the county, Li Long parked the tractor in the yard, released the water, and then went to pick up Gu Xiaoxia.

He planned to bring the remaining wolf meat back to the team tomorrow and sell it in the village, so he would not go to Shicheng. He thought it would be best to sell only fish in Shicheng, without taking anything else.

Not only the wolf meat, but also the wolf head and wolf paws are pulled to see if anyone wants them.

Anyway, just sell it cheaper and don’t waste it.

On this day, the village was not only filled with news and gossip about Li Long selling meat, but also news about Huang Siping going to the Tao family to borrow money to be taught a lesson by Tao Daqiang.

It's really news that Tao Daqiang can educate people. Who would have thought that two years ago, a spoon-like person who was considered to have abnormal brain development could now educate people?

And what he said made others feel that it was very right. I worked hard to earn the money, why should I let you who have nothing to do borrow it? If you want to make money without working hard, you are dreaming.

The gossipmongers don't care who you are or what's at stake, and the news soon spread throughout the village.

Huang Siping originally thought that if he failed to borrow the money, he would go and give Tao Daqiang a taste of his own medicine to ruin his reputation.

Unexpectedly, Tao Jianshe brought this matter up first. Now, he has become the representative of lazy people!
Huang Siping was very angry, but he had no other choice. He had intended to go to Xiaohaizi to break a hole in the ice to catch fish, but he didn't expect that he would break a hole in the ice and only caught a few small crucian carps after fishing for a whole morning.

Tao Daqiang asked him to come back in the afternoon. He came back in the afternoon, but didn't get anything, so he simply quit.

This reputation was then realized. (End of this chapter)