Rebirth of Bayi Fishing and Hunting in the Northwest

Team 4, evening, Tao’s house.

Tao Daqiang, who was driving a tractor back from the melon field, slowed down the accelerator after entering the yard because he was afraid of showing off his daughter.

The baby is already half a year old. Tao Jianshe made a wooden bed for him. He is still crawling and playing in the bed, holding his feet and chewing them.

Yang Pingping was sitting at the door. She could turn around and see her daughter sewing something with cloth in her hands.

Although I have a sewing machine at home, some clothes are too small to use, so I just sew them by hand.

After turning off the engine, Tao Daqiang took out the tools from the tractor and put them away. Then he took the washbasin from the washbasin rack in the yard, poured the water in it into the vegetable field through the flower wall, and then went to the well to fetch a basin of water to wash his face thoroughly.

"How about picking the melon seedlings?" Yang Pingping asked.

"It's growing well. My brother has pulled out all the grass, so he came over to help me for a while." Tao Daqiang wiped his face with a towel, but the towel was too dry, so he soaked it in water, wrung it out, and wiped his face again, saying:
"Brother Long said that some places in his mouth were very damp, and even a towel hung outside wouldn't dry, and it even got moldy - how is that possible? The sun is so strong in the summer, how could a towel not dry?"

"Maybe it's because the place is different. Do you remember what they called plum rain days when you were in school? It meant it would rain every day." Yang Pingping heard the old people in the village seem to have said something about continuous rain. After all, she had gone to school a few more years than Tao Daqiang.

"Then you have to go and have a look when you have time. But you can't stay here, what can you do without the sun?" Tao Daqiang chatted casually and wiped his body. He was still sweating a lot after working all day.

After wiping himself, Tao Daqiang walked over, looked at the work in Yang Pingping's hands and asked:

"Is this dress made for Xiuxiu? Isn't it a little small?"

"No, this is for the children of Brother Long." Yang Pingping picked it up and showed it to Tao Daqiang, saying proudly, "Our family can live like this and even drive a tractor, all thanks to Brother Long.

Xiaoxia is about to give birth, and the team must have sent a lot of red eggs, so her family will definitely have enough. I thought about making two sets of clothes. Babies grow fast, and clothes are very expensive, so it doesn't hurt to have more."

"Yes. But I heard that Xiaoxia seems to be pregnant with twins," Tao Daqiang whispered, "Two!"

"What? Two?" Yang Pingping said in surprise, "Did you tell me when the baby was born? Is it accurate?"

"It's almost right, right?" Tao Daqiang went into the room and teased Xiuxiu, saying as he did so.

"Then I have to make another one..." Yang Pingping quickened her movements, "If Xiaoxia wants to give birth, how many days will it take, right?"

"It will take several days."

"It's still in time." Yang Pingping felt relieved.

After she finished sewing the one in her hand, she immediately went into the house and started cutting cloth on the table.

Now that Tao Daqiang is looking after the child, she can concentrate on her work.

Some people in Team Four couldn't feel it, but Yang Pingping's home was in Team Three, so she could feel it very clearly.

Although the two teams were separated by a reed ditch, the lives on both sides were not terribly different, but at least the lives of ordinary families were really different.

In Team 4, almost every household has enough money for daily life all year round - not to say that they are financially independent, but they have enough money to buy oil, salt, and daily necessities.

It is said that one should live within one's means, and Team Three really lived within one's means. The only time throughout the year that one could really make money was during the wheat harvest season and in the fall when other crops were ripe, harvested and sold.

Although there may be some income occasionally in the winter, most people really don’t have the ability or the energy to do anything else.

So when spring comes, we have to buy agricultural supplies, prepare seeds and fertilizers, pay for mechanized farming and water, and pay for children's schooling, etc.

They all cost money.

Life is better than the first few years, but it is still very tight.

Some people who came to visit even missed the production team era, saying that at least they didn't have to buy seeds and fertilizers themselves.

Of course, this is also a joke. Now we eat fine grains every day, but we ate coarse grains every day back then. It is definitely an improvement. But in terms of spending money, Team 3 is just like most other villages. It is getting better every year, but it is still far behind Team 4.

On the side of Team 4, under normal circumstances, every household has extra money. To use the simplest measure, the number of bicycles in Team 4 is more than two or three times that of Team 3.

There is no way to compare the tractors. Up to now, no family in Team 3 has bought a small four-wheel tractor.

Yang Pingping would go back to her parents' home from time to time, so she felt the most deeply. Her parents' home was considered good in the third team, but they were not as well off as the ordinary families in the fourth team.

The bottom line is that Li Long would arrange work for the people in Team 4 at least three times a year so that they could earn money.

To be honest, Yang Pingping really couldn't understand why there were still people in the team who were saying bad things about the Li family. She had heard village cadres in her mother's village say more than once that if there was a person like Li Long in their village, they would have to worship him.
You don't know how lucky you are.

Yang Pingping knew that she had married into the Tao family and was really living a good life.

She also knew what kind of life the Tao family lived in the past. Before she had children, Tao Daqiang often talked about it before going to bed at night.

Although Tao Daqiang doesn't talk much in normal times, after getting married, he still often tells his wife about his past.

So Yang Pingping was sincerely grateful to Li Long and the Li family, and she really wanted to make a good piece of clothing for Li Long's unborn child.

She even went to the village to secretly visit Wu Shufen out of curiosity. For a while, she couldn't understand why this person didn't like Li Long.

She naturally didn't know, and Tao Daqiang wouldn't tell her what kind of person Li Long was in the past.

Many other families in the village were also discussing what gifts to give to Li Long and Gu Xiaoxia's children.

Those with average relationships would think of preparing some red-dyed eggs, while those with good relationships would do the same as Yang Pingping and prepare clothes, shoes, hats, etc.

When women here give birth and are in confinement, the ones who visit them are all married women, and the gifts they give are basically eggs with the skins dyed red.

Team 4 has no shortage of eggs, and every household does not need to exchange eggs for money for household use, so the eggs are basically kept for family consumption.

After all, eggs are nutritious, and this is known without propaganda. In the morning, you can fry eggs, boil eggs, make egg tea, or scramble eggs with garlic or chili, etc.

When eggs are available, it is much easier to make breakfast when the kids are at school.

Children also learned to wrap eggs in mud and roast them over a fire.

They also tried to burn the eggs directly in the fire, but the eggs exploded.

So later when some people from the village traveled to southern Xinjiang and saw the roasted eggs there, they would feel very novel and have a sense of sudden enlightenment - it turns out that roasting eggs is better than burning them when eating them by a fire in the wild.

At least it won't explode.

In the Shicheng obstetrics ward, there were two pregnant women in the ward where Gu Xiaoxia was staying.

The other one is a local Corps member from Shicheng. Her husband works in the Corps’ Eighth Division. He wears glasses and looks quite gentle.

This man is slightly older than Li Long, and his wife is of the same age as Gu Xiaoxia. When he learned that Li Long was going to have two children, he looked at him with envy.

Liang Yuemei accompanied Gu Xiaoxia for a walk in the yard, while the man and Li Long were chatting at the door of the ward.

"You don't look like you're from the countryside. Where do you work in Ma County?" The man handed Li Long a cigarette. Li Long waved his hand and pointed to a ward. The man said:
“I don’t need to be so careful, right?” But he still put the cigarette back into the cigarette box.

"I'm from the supply and marketing cooperative." Li Long said, "an employee."

The other party's expression was obviously a little reserved, and he said with a smile:

"I'm an office worker. You really love your wife, and you're willing to pay for her to come here. Have you named the child?"

"It's up," Li Long said with a smile, "The boy will be named Junming, and the girl will be named Junjing."

The Li family has a family tree, but Li Qingxia did not name his children completely according to the tree. Li Long was named An, while his eldest brother and he were not named according to the generational characters.

However, those who have been living in their hometown village are named according to their generation names, such as Junshan and Junfeng.

The village is big, so it is inevitable that people have the same name. Moreover, their clan is not only in one village. It is said that when compiling the family tree, it covers more than a dozen villages in four provinces and four directions, so there are many duplicate names. Because he was pregnant with twins, he actually named them twins. The boys were named Junming and Junwei, and the girls were named Junjing and Junchan.

This is a big name.

The boys’ nicknames are Haohao and Mingming; the girls’ nicknames are Yueyue and Xingxing.

Anyway, all the things in the sky are occupied.

This was discussed by Li Long and Gu Xiaoxia. Gu Xiaoxia was still a little worried and said that they should ask the parents of both families.

Li Long just wanted to be willful for once and name his own child.

"The name you gave sounds quite nice." The man was also stunned when he heard the name Li Long gave. Nowadays, boys are named Bing, Jun, Shan, Feng and so on; girls are named Juan, Xia, Mei, Ying and so on.

This guy's naming skills are obviously much higher.

He named his child Shan, a two-character name, with the surname Qin and the name Shan. It turned out to be a girl's name, and everyone said it was a boy.

With that said, he felt that the name he had given to the character might need to be changed.
Li Long was surprised by the name and was quite proud of it. He didn't have his own children in the last life, but he has one in this life. So this is his first time being a father, so he can be willful for once!

At this time, Li Qingxia was actually thinking about something at home.

After he and Tao Jianshe came back from fishing, they told Li Jianguo about it.

"What? You said you were going back to your hometown, Qiuli?"

Li Jianguo was a little worried. Qiuli was busy at that time and he couldn't send her off. Li Long would have given birth to a child by then, so he couldn't send her off either.

"Why would I need you to send me off?" Li Qingxia patted his chest. "I have something important to tell you when I go back!"

"What's the big deal?" Li Jianguo was already thinking about what Qiuli and he had to do, which of these things could be transferred, and when he could free up some time to send his father back.

After all, he is the eldest brother and he supports his father, so he has to take care of him.

So asking "What's the big deal" was just a casual question. I didn't think it would be a big deal. I even felt that my father was just trying to fool me.

"Continue the family tree!" Li Qingxia said solemnly, "When the old family tree was compiled, Xiaolong was still young, you had just gotten married, and Anguo had not yet married.

At that time, there were only the names of you three brothers in the family tree, and your sister didn't even have a name. Now you have Juan and Qiangqiang in your family, the two girls of Anguo, and Xiaolong has a child, so shouldn't they all be included in the family tree?"

It’s true that continuing the family tree is a big deal.

Even though Li Anguo thought about bringing his parents here to live, this branch would always stay in the northern border in the future.

But Li Jianguo, who received a traditional education, also wanted to include as many of his relatives as possible in the family tree while they were still alive.

As for what the family tree will become in the future, we will talk about it later. He certainly can't take care of what happens after his death, but now that my father said this is a big deal, it really is a big deal.

"How can it be so easy to compile a family tree?" Li Jianguo thought for a moment and shook his head. "We are the direct descendant, but there is no clan leader in our village. Family affairs are decided by you old people. You have been in Northern Xinjiang all the time. Can they compile a family tree just because you say so?"

Revising a family tree is no small matter. All branches recorded in the last revision of the tree need to be notified and asked to prepare the materials.

The Li family's genealogy has always been lithographed, and this photolithography version requires a lot of effort. It is not the kind of printing in later generations. Once all the materials are gathered, it can be done directly by editing it in the computer.

I'm in trouble.

"Hey, I heard about the renewal before I came here, but I didn't think too much about it at the time. I don't know what will happen now. Regardless of whether it will be renewed or not, I have to tell my parents the names of these younger generations first, so that they will have names when the renewal comes."

Li Qingxia was very persistent about this matter: "I have money. When the repairs are done, I will pay for it and my name must be written on it."

For young people in later generations, family tree and the like are really not that important, but in this era, the majority of people still pay attention to them.

It is said that one branch heard about the continuation of the family tree and sent people to look for them, hoping to incorporate their branch into the clan, that is, to recognize their ancestors and return to their roots. Unfortunately, because the materials were not reliable or complete, they failed in the end and returned crying.

Each era has its own mark. People in later generations may find this ridiculous, but at this time, it was a very pious thing.

Li Jianguo originally wanted to persuade him, but this matter not only concerned Li Long, but also his own children, Li Juan and Qiangqiang.

Must support.

He thought for a while and said:
"Dad, let's go back in late August. We'll be back for half a month. By then, the wheat will be harvested, but the corn and melons are not ripe yet. Xiaolong's baby will be out of confinement after one month, so it will be easier for us to go back here."

"Half a month, okay!" Li Qingxia thought about it and decided, "We've agreed that I'll pay for the clan, so don't worry about it. Don't get involved in this matter..."

Li Jianguo smiled without comment.

When Gu Xiaoxia was hospitalized, Li Long kept watch over her. Liang Yuemei lived in Li Xia's yard and walked to the hospital, or was picked up by Li Long.

The hospital was not able to provide confinement meals at that time. Although there was a cafeteria, some of the meals were not tasty enough for Gu Xiaoxia, so Liang Yuemei prepared them for Li Xia and sent them to her.

Although Sister Yang wanted to go over to stay with her, the hospital couldn't accommodate so many people, and Han Fang hadn't had her holiday yet, so she couldn't run back and forth.

That afternoon, when I was preparing dinner for Han Fang, I saw a person sitting at the gate of the courtyard with two large black bags beside him.

Sister Yang hurried over and asked:

"Comrade, who are you looking for?"

"I'm looking for...Aunt Yang?" Meng Hai stood up hurriedly when he heard the noise, and greeted Aunt Yang with a smile.

In fact, he was older than Sister Yang. He had followed Li Long to unload his weapons and had eaten in the yard with him before, so he followed Li Long and called her Sister Yang.

"Are you the Captain Meng?"

"No, no, I'm Meng Hai, the company commander of the Qingshui River militia," Meng Hai said with a smile, "Comrade Li Long and the others are not here?"

"We went to Shicheng Hospital." Sister Yang said as she opened the door. "Isn't Xiaoxia about to give birth? She'll be in a better condition if she goes to the hospital."

"Oh oh..." Meng Hai nodded and understood why there was no one here.

"Captain Meng, come in." Sister Yang said as she opened the door.

"No, no," Meng Hai said hurriedly, "I just came to take a look. I know Comrade Li Long's wife is about to give birth, so I brought some things from our village to take a look."

He opened the bag, which contained eggs, dried fish, honey, dried mushrooms, wild strawberry jam, small clothes, shoes, etc.

A big bag full of things.

Meng Hai handed the bag to Sister Yang and said:
"Please give these to Comrade Li Long. I will come back later. These eggs are raw. I didn't dare to cook them because I didn't know when they were born."

Sister Yang didn't know whether to accept it or not. She just hesitated for a moment, and Meng Hai had already turned around and left, not even taking the bag.

Sister Yang could only shout at his back:
"I'll tell Li Long when he comes back!"

After Meng Hai left, Sister Yang put two bags on the car and pushed it in. The bags were quite heavy.

After going back and parking the car, she sorted the things in the two bags and placed them in the kitchen. She felt emotional in her heart that Li Long was really popular. People sent gifts to him before the baby was even born.

Li Long didn't know all this. At that time, he was helping Gu Xiaoxia take a walk in the hospital.

The due date was almost here, but the baby hadn't been born yet, and Li Long was getting anxious. Fortunately, the hospital checkup showed that everything was normal, so he had no choice but to wait.

Finally, Gu Xiaoxia felt the pain and she cried out softly. Li Long hurriedly half-supported and half-carried her to the ward, calling for the nurse.

This is the birth. (End of this chapter)