Rebirth of Bayi Fishing and Hunting in the Northwest

Chapter 1244 Going Home, Going Home

The noodles with soybean paste made by Meng's mother were indeed authentic. Li Long ate two large bowls and praised them repeatedly, which made the Meng family very proud.

After Li Long left, while Meng's mother was tidying up, the neighbors inquired about what had happened. Upon learning that Li Long had eaten two large bowls of food, they praised Meng's mother once again.

After returning to the courtyard, Li Long put everything back in its proper place.

No one will be living in this courtyard for a while, so all the bedding and other items need to be put away, and some mothballs or something to prevent insects and borers.

Another issue is fire prevention. Many of the buildings in this courtyard are made of wood, and some of the antique-style structures were also renovated.

So all open flames had to be removed, and the coal in the coal sheds had to be weighed down. Of course, there were gaps left for heat dissipation, but it was impossible to seal them all off, since there were still coal mines in Zhundong that had been spontaneously combusting for hundreds of years.

All three courtyards needed cleaning, and Li Long wasn't afraid of the trouble, going through each room one by one. He could feel the change in the smell in each room—from the musty smell when he first came in, to the dry and clean feeling now, it was a completely different experience.

Some achievements.

Meng Yuchao came to the courtyard to find Li Long in the afternoon, but found the gate locked, so he had to leave. He didn't know where Li Long had gone, but thinking that the big boss must have a lot of things to do, he decided not to bother him.

Aunt Liu also came over, mainly because none of the people in the neighborhood office have relatives in northern Xinjiang, and they don't know how long it would take to mail things from there.

So everyone asked her to come and inquire. However, Aunt Liu was also a little embarrassed. Li Long hadn't taken any money from them, and they had all heard him make the phone call about buying things. It was really hard for her to come and urge him.

Since Li Long wasn't around, she took a stroll around the two courtyards. She heard that the Meng family had invited Li Long to dinner, and Li Long had brought out dates and other dried fruits, as well as wine. Meng's mother even gave some dates for Aunt Liu to try—they seemed to be bigger and sweeter than usual.

Aunt Liu stayed for a while before going back, as she had something to report.

They don't just send things to the neighborhood; they also send things to the Meng family. The items might arrive in the next couple of days.

Of course, this matter was not easy to say outright; he simply took some dried fruit he had brought from the Meng family back to try a couple of bites, the meaning of which was self-evident.

By the time Li Long finished tidying up all three courtyards and returned to the main courtyard, it was almost dark.

Gu Xiaoyu usually comes around this time, but she didn't come today, which Li Long found strange. He waited for a while but she didn't come. Since he had nothing else to do, he went out to eat and handed over some local specialties he had brought from the Beijing Liaison Office to Gu Xiaoyu.

I'm leaving tomorrow, and Gu Xiaoyu has to go to work, so tonight will be my farewell.

However, when Li Long walked to the gate of Gu Xiaoyu's courtyard, he found her talking to a young man.

Li Long had good hearing and could hear their conversation from a distance, which mainly consisted of trivial matters such as recent work and life.

Seeing that the young man had a decent appearance and spoke elegantly, like a cultured person, Li Long did not approach him, wondering if he was Gu Xiaoyu's suitor or someone introduced by someone else.

It wouldn't be appropriate for him to go over there at this point, so he simply picked up the bag containing the local specialties, turned around, and left to have dinner.

As for his belongings, he left them on the living room table in the courtyard. Li Long planned to leave a note when he left, which would be his way of saying goodbye.

After having a meal, as Li Long walked back with his bag, he was also thinking about whether he had missed anything.

After all, it's not easy to make a round trip, so we shouldn't leave anything behind.

Back in the courtyard, I basically went through the whole time I had been there and back, and found nothing I had missed. Then I washed up and had a good night's sleep.

No need to worry about plane tickets, just pack your bag and go.

So the next morning, Li Long didn't start a fire. He washed up with cold water, tidied up the house a bit, and went out for breakfast.

It's too early to leave now; it would be better to have breakfast and rest for a while.

When he returned to the yard after breakfast and was about to leave with his backpack, he found Gu Xiaoyu in the house looking at the note he had left.

Li Long was a little embarrassed, and said with a smile:

“I thought you had to go to work, and I left in a hurry without having time to see you again, so I left a note… This bag contains some local specialties that I brought from the Beijing Liaison Office. Keep it; use it yourself if you can, and give it away if you can’t.”

Xiao Wang from the Beijing office gave Li Long several small knives—knives aren't only produced in Yingjisha, but they're all very exquisite. Li Long left one for Gu Xiaoyu; that's what he meant by what he said earlier.

"So if I hadn't come today, you would have left?" Gu Xiaoyu stood up and looked directly at Li Long. "Brother-in-law, was it you last night?"

"Huh?" Li Long tried to play dumb, but seeing Gu Xiaoyu's gaze, he said, "Well, it was me last night. I went over to say goodbye, but I was afraid of causing a misunderstanding if I saw other people."

"What's the misunderstanding?" Gu Xiaoyu asked directly.

Li Long simply stopped talking. "Don't you know what the misunderstanding is?"
Seeing that Li Long remained silent, Gu Xiaoyu didn't press him further and explained herself:

“The person who spoke to me yesterday was a colleague from my school. He came over to talk about some work-related matters and then wanted to know about my personal life. He was speaking on behalf of the organization, since I am indeed not young anymore and the organization is quite concerned about me.”

She spoke frankly, and Li Long realized he might have misunderstood something.

It's normal for Gu Xiaoyu to have relationships with men, but her current statement suggests that she most likely has nothing to do with that guy. It's just that the timing is inconvenient—it's nighttime, which could easily lead to misunderstandings.

"Then be more careful. I've said everything I need to say. You still have to take charge of your own life. Be careful."

Gu Xiaoyu nodded without saying anything more.

"Alright then, I'll go to the Beijing Liaison Office now. They've already bought my plane ticket, and then I'll be off." Li Long said, slinging his backpack over his shoulder. "Xiaoyu, your dad and sister aren't here, so take care of yourself here."

As for settling down... let fate decide. These are things you probably can't force.

Fearing that Gu Xiaoyu might overthink things and cause the opposite of what she intended, Li Long decided that if they didn't want to get married, then they shouldn't.

It's better than making a big mistake.

Gu Xiaoyu was somewhat surprised, then smiled and saw Li Long out.

She had taken leave specifically to take Li Long to the Beijing Liaison Office. After dropping him off, she went back to the courtyard to tidy up, only to find that it had already been cleaned up.

He then picked up the small bag and left with the note.

When Meng Yuchao came out, he saw Gu Xiaoyu's back. He wanted to chase after her, but he was a little embarrassed.

After hesitating for a moment, Gu Xiaoyu had already disappeared out of the alley.

It's not meant to be for me.

Meng Yuchao already knew from Li Long that this person was a university professor, someone on a completely different level from himself. Now that he had the idea of ​​starting a business, his interest in pursuing Gu Xiaoyu had diminished considerably.

I don't deserve it!

When Li Long arrived at the Beijing Liaison Office, Director Dai had gone to a meeting. Xiao Wang gave Li Long his plane ticket and letter of introduction, and also gave him a bag of local specialties—mostly local products—before sending a car to take him to the airport.

Although there's still some time before the plane takes off, it's better to arrive earlier.

On the way, Li Long also mentioned the same thing to Xiao Wang, hoping that he could take some time to look after the yard. He didn't need to put in too much effort, just showing his face would be enough.

Xiao Wang readily agreed.

Li Long could sense that the main reason why both Director Dai and Xiao Wang were so enthusiastic towards him was because of Secretary Zhang.

It's fine to let them look after the courtyard, but Meng Yuchao's addition is still necessary. After all, Meng Yuchao relies on his business to make money.

As for Sister Liu, it seems she's sincere for now, but it's hard to say how long she can keep it up.

However, as long as I can continue to develop and maintain a good relationship with Secretary Zhang, or as long as the path I explore is beneficial to ethnic unity and agricultural development in northern Xinjiang, then the connection with Secretary Zhang will never be severed.

Once on the plane, Li Long's mind calmed down.

Instead of sleeping, he picked up a book and started reading.

The Legend of the Swordsmen of Shushan!
This book is quite famous; the author is a very renowned figure, and its influence on later generations is considerable. Of course, the sword immortals in this book fly by merging their bodies and swords, transforming into a streak of light and disappearing in an instant, unlike the swordsmen flying on the streets in later generations... that's too lowbrow.

Of course, some say this book is too explicit, but compared to Huang Xiaoming's works like *A Step into the Past*, *The Legend of the Condor Heroes*, and *The Great Swordsman*, it's far inferior. Even if ancient literati were considered erotic, they still maintained their integrity and wrote with literary flair, not just using vulgar language.

Of course, those that draw boxes and omit hundreds of words are even more low-class.

This time, I didn't feel as much pressure flying. I was engrossed in reading and not nervous at all. Everyone around me was busy with their own things. Li Long was in a window seat, so he could observe their reactions to the turbulence.

It's quite realistic.

It wasn't until the plane landed in Wucheng that these people finally came to their senses.

As soon as Li Long got off the plane and exited the airport, he was stopped by someone—an official from the Ethnic Affairs Commission.

As expected, Director Dai hadn't lied; he really did arrange for someone to come and pick him up, which surprised Li Long.

During the journey, Li Long took out two local specialties from his backpack and gave one to the man and one to the driver as a token of his appreciation. The two men were quite grateful.

The staff originally wanted to take Li Long out to eat, but Li Long said he had something to do and declined.

I met with several leaders at the Ethnic Affairs Commission, presented them with local specialties, and chatted with them for a while before finding my car and driving to the train station.

He plans to return today, but before he does, he needs to go to Yusufu's place to buy the jade he had previously promised.

To Li Long's surprise, Yu Sufu was not there, but his son was.

Yusufu's son has made great progress in speaking Mandarin and told Li Long that his father had gone back to southern Xinjiang to take care of important business.

Li Long guessed it must be about the tiger skin.

Li Long didn't say much. After Yu Sufu's son finished serving the customer, he went under the stall and took out a cloth bag. Inside were the jade stones that he had left for Li Long.

The largest piece was about the size of Li Long's two fists, and the smaller one was about the size of Mingming's fist.

Each one was wrapped in newspaper. Li Long checked them one by one and found that they were indeed all picked out, a total of eleven pieces.

He asked the price, and Yu Sufu's son had noted down the price of each piece. The total was 3,700 yuan—the price of mutton fat jade had also gone up. The eleven pieces weighed more than ten kilograms, which was not bad.

As Li Long finished paying and was about to pack the pieces together, someone next to him pointed to a piece of material about the size of an egg and asked:

"How much is this?"

“Three thousand,” Li Longtou said without even looking up.

"I clearly heard someone tell you it was three hundred!" the man exclaimed angrily. "That's a tenfold increase!"
"Yes, that's the price they gave me. If you want to buy it from me, that's the price."

This piece of material is naturally quite rounded. Not only is its shape like an egg, but its surface is also very smooth and without any sharp edges, making it look like a processed egg.

However, this is a peeled egg. It's made of mutton fat, so apart from a little bit of jujube-red skin, the whole thing is a smooth, jade-like color.

It doesn't need any processing; it's a naturally beautiful hand-held piece!
No wonder the customer next to him took a liking to it.

In fact, Li Long never intended to sell, so he offered three thousand, certain that the other party couldn't afford it or wouldn't be willing to pay that much.

After packing the jade, I bought some raisins and other dried fruits from here.

Yu Sufu's son is also doing business now. He didn't charge Li Long for the dried fruit. After wrapping it up, he thoughtfully put it in a bag for Li Long to carry.

Li Long said goodbye to the young man, ignored the still indignant guest, and turned to leave.

Business is always good at train stations because of the high volume of people, and it's convenient to buy Xinjiang specialties here without having to go into the city.

Most people coming and going here don't live in Urumqi permanently. They're people who work and live in various prefectures and cities in northern and southern Xinjiang, and it's only natural that they want to bring back some local specialties when they travel to other places. Since they don't know where to buy these things when they come to Urumqi, they might as well just buy them here.

In any case, most people don't think locals can tell the difference between good and bad raisins, so there's not much to it—in fact, most locals are the same.

It was only later that I gradually learned that there are many kinds of raisins.

Li Long first called the purchasing station from the nearby post office, saying that he had arrived in Wucheng and would be heading back today. Then, he took his bag back to his car, put the bag away, and started the car to head back.

The sun is already setting in the west; it will probably be dark by the time I get home.

Eager to get home, Li Long pushed the car to its maximum speed the whole way. The snow on the road was flat and there were few deep ditches on either side, so even if he slipped and fell into the snow, he would be fine, but the car might be in more trouble.

But I can't worry about that now.

As darkness fell, fewer cars came and went. Occasionally, a truck would pass by, and when it saw Li Long's car, it would honk its horn to signal them to move aside, so as to avoid any danger.

However, when the two vehicles passed each other, Li Long could still feel the strong thrust brought by the wind from the truck affecting the Jeep.

Indeed, keeping away from large vehicles is the key to survival for small cars on expressways.

Traveling under the starlight, the night sky wasn't actually that dark. Back then, there weren't clear road signs like in later times, so they could only drive by memory. By the time they reached Ma County, it was almost midnight.

Is everyone in your family resting?

As he made this guess, the jeep arrived at the gate of the courtyard.

I'm not used to honking my horn, mainly because I'm afraid of startling other people. After all, midnight is quite late in the dead of winter, and most people around are probably asleep. Honking my horn at that time would likely get me yelled at.

He was about to get out of the car and knock on the door when both doors opened inward, revealing the smiling faces of his wife, Gu Xiaoxia, and Han Fang.

Li Long smiled and drove in.

It feels so good to have someone waiting for you!
Sister Yang peeked out from the kitchen, smiling, and said, "His uncle's back?"

Old Man Li Qingxia watched from the side, and after Li Long came down, he asked:
"How was the journey? Was it smooth sailing?"

"Smooth sailing, smooth sailing."

Gu Xiaoxia and Han Fang closed the door together, but Li Qingxia didn't ask any questions. She simply put her hands behind her back and said:
"I'm glad I'm safe. I'm going back to sleep."

Li Long watched his father leave, not worrying about safety at that moment. In Li Long's memory, nothing much had ever happened in Ma County.

A few barks could be heard in the distance, adding a touch of life to the peaceful night.

"Mingming and Haohao knew you were coming back tonight, so they waited after dinner until after 11 p.m. They couldn't stay awake any longer and fell asleep by the bedside," Gu Xiaoxia said softly. "I wonder how annoyed they'll be tomorrow morning."

"Haha, it's nothing," Li Long said. "I brought them gifts. I'll put them by their beds later. They'll be happy to see the gifts when they wake up."

He brought quite a few gifts, including specialties from Yanjing and other regions. For Mingming and Haohao, he brought a cloth tiger from the south, made of fragrant herbs to ward off bad luck. The tiger was exquisitely sewn, looked very cute, and was stuffed with spices.

As they were talking, Sister Yang brought out a large bowl of noodles and said with a smile, "Farewell dumplings and welcome noodles. Uncle, you're back today, so you should eat noodles."

Han Fang followed behind her, carrying a pot of pork ribs with vinegar, chili oil, minced garlic, and a small bowl.

Li Long took his backpack out of the jeep, took out two items, and handed them to Sister Yang and Han Fang after they put their things down, saying:
"These are local specialties I brought back from the State Ethnic Affairs Commission's Beijing office. See if they're suitable."

Yang was given a wool scarf, and Han Fang was given a wool hat; both were for winter.

"I'm so sorry, how could you bring me things every time you come back?" Sister Yang was genuinely embarrassed.

Li Long said with a smile, "These were all given to me by others. I'm just passing them on. Anyway, there's a lot of stuff, so you can take them."

Gu Xiaoxia also tried to persuade them, and Sister Yang and Han Fang accepted the gifts with embarrassment.

"Uncle, you can leave this bowl there after you finish eating. I'll clean it up tomorrow morning. We won't keep you from talking any longer," Sister Yang said, and she and Han Fang left.

Li Long then sat down to eat his noodles—tomato and sour soup noodles, made with leftover tomato sauce from the summer. It tasted really good!

(End of this chapter)