Siheyuan: All the incense in the family is counting on you

Li Bowen took out the braised food and wine he had bought earlier from his bag and handed them to Hu Li's wife.

"I'd better go look for him in the field! You clean up this dish, and we'll have a drink when you come back."

Hu Li's wife took it and said, "Then go ahead. He's just over on the west side of the village!"

Although the era of communal meals has passed, collective labor is still practiced, and food is distributed according to work points every year. When you walk to the west of the village, you can see waves of people working in the fields.

Li Bowen walked over, put his hands on the awning and searched among the crowd: "Fox! Come here!" After finding the figure, he shouted loudly.

Although the name of Fox sounds like a skinny dog, it is actually not weak at all. It has a tall and strong build. It's just that due to the famine in the past two years and the lack of food at home, it has lost a little weight. But when it was fifteen or sixteen years old, it could carry Li Bowen and run 100 or 200 meters without panting.

He is even more reckless when fighting. It is said that a good dog protects three neighbors, and a good man protects three villages. Although this guy is good at fighting, he never bullies people nearby. It is probably because of this reason that he was chosen as the captain at such a young age.

Seeing that the person coming was Li Bowen, Hu Li told the people around him and walked over carrying a hoe.

"When did you come back?"

"I just got home today. I have something to talk to you about. Let's go back to your house and talk!"

The two walked back side by side. No matter how you looked at it, Li Bowen, who was almost 1.8 meters tall, looked more like the thin dog.

"Wow, you brought some food! You must be asking me for something important!" Hu Li felt something was wrong when he saw Li Bowen coming with something empty-handed.

"Hey, hey, hey, my buddy is getting married on Sunday and he's here to invite you over!"

Hu Li sat up straight abruptly: "So sudden? How come I haven't heard anything? Who did you find in the city?"

"No, she's from our village. She was just chosen last week. Her name is Chen Qiao! Do you remember her?"

"Chen Qiao?" Hu Li frowned in thought, then suddenly his expression became clear: "That little widow? She is three years older than you? What did your grandparents think? To marry you a widow?"

Hu Li's wife also stared at him with a curious expression.

"Hey, you know my family situation. Marrying Chen Qiao was just a wedding banquet without getting a marriage certificate. If it weren't for this kind of family, who would be willing to follow me like this!" Li Bowen smiled bitterly.

"Oh, that's right. So, grandpa and grandma have good taste. I've seen Chen Qiao. She's pretty and has a good figure. She's a good match for you!" Hu Li nodded in understanding.

But his wife still didn't understand and looked at the two of them in confusion: "What's going on?"

The two of them explained the situation to his wife one after another. Hu Li's wife opened her mouth wide and said, "Doesn't this mean that you are going to marry three wives?"

"It seems to be the case. Is there anyone suitable, my sister-in-law? Introduce me another one!"

Fox's black face: "Call me sister-in-law!"

They are the same age and their birthdays are only a few days apart. Since they were little, they have been vying to be the older brother and have always called each other the younger brother.

Hu Li's wife chuckled: "With your looks, it's hard to find a wife. Forget about marrying three. Even if you marry ten or eight, there will be women to follow you!"

"It's not that exaggerated. A mosquito also has a mouth and two eyes! How can it be so attractive to women?" Hu Li looked Li Bowen up and down.

"What do you know? His looks are rare in our village, let alone in the city. You are allowed to like pretty girls, but we women are not allowed to like good-looking men. It's just that I haven't seen him before we got married, otherwise what would you have to do with him! You big bull!" Hu Li's wife rolled her eyes at her husband.

Well, he admitted that Li Bowen was indeed quite good-looking.

"Don't forget to go over and help the two of you on the first day, and let your parents bring the children over for the feast the next day!"

"Okay, got it. I'll definitely be there on time. Let's meet each other. Congratulations on your marriage!"

The two drank a cup, and Li Bowen continued, "Fox, there is one more thing I want you to do. I have been transferred to the purchasing department of our steel rolling mill. The purchasing rights for this area belong to me. Please help me collect the goods in the village, and we can also make some money."

"Okay, no problem! What do you want to purchase?" Fox didn't even care whether it was against the rules. He agreed as soon as Li Bowen proposed it.

"Anything is fine, chicken, duck, fish, meat, various vegetables, peanuts, soybeans, soybean oil, sesame oil, etc. As long as there is something, we will buy it. My third uncle is leading a few people in the village to fish in the reservoir. I remember that there are hunters in your village. Can you go up the mountain to hunt game?"

"Can the things we collected be exchanged for food? Everyone in the village is starving!"

Li Bowen nodded: "Of course, it's possible, but the food in the factory is also tight, so the ratio won't be too high. 1,800 kilograms should be no problem."

"That's fine. As long as we can exchange it for food, everyone will be very motivated!"

It is true now. Natural disasters have occurred for two consecutive years. It is said that if you live by the mountain, you can eat from the mountain; if you live by the water, you can eat from the water. However, the wild vegetables on the mountain have been almost dug up by the villagers. Wild animals cannot be caught just by hunting. Going to the reservoir to fish does not always yield a harvest. But people cannot live without food.

Now it is the autumn harvest, and the food that each family is allocated may not last until the summer harvest next year, and it may not even last until the beginning of spring.

As the production team leader, Hu Li not only has to consider production labor issues, but also has to care about the living conditions of the team members' families.

"I have quite a few purchasing tasks every month. This is the list I made. You can buy from the villagers according to the prices on it. I will come here once a week and bring the grain back to you when I come back." Li Bowen handed over the purchase list and price list he made.

Although he wanted to make money, Li Bowen couldn't let his fellow villagers down when he collected things from his own village, so he took a price between the purchase price and the retail price. This price was slightly higher than what the villagers would get from going to the supply and marketing society themselves, but not too much higher, otherwise his work would be in vain.

Hu Li took the list and looked at it for a few seconds, then gave it to his wife and asked her to keep it. "I will gather the team members to talk about this matter after work tonight. I see that you need a lot of things, and our two villages alone will definitely not be able to provide them. Have you looked for Lao Zhu and Er Gouzi?"

"What do you think? If not you, who else should I ask for help? If I ask someone else, you'll be more anxious than me!"

Lao Zhu and Er Gouzi were their elementary school classmates, and also from nearby villages. However, their relationship with Li Bowen was not as close as that with Hu Li. The main reason was that Li Bowen was not strong enough at that time and could not beat them. The two guys were defeated by Hu Li and begged Hu Li to be their big brother.

"Hehehe! That's right. Let's go look for them together tomorrow. You haven't informed them of your marriage yet, right?"