Rebirth of Bayi Fishing and Hunting in the Northwest

Chapter 1271 Old Gu Wants to Remarry, and the Village Treats It as a Major Event

Old Gu naturally took care of making the call to Li Jianguo.

"The actual date is the 6th, right?" Li Jianguo answered the phone and asked, "What day are you coming back?"

“Today is the 2nd, we’ll set off tomorrow and arrive the day after tomorrow, which is the 4th,” Gu Boyuan said. “Let’s prepare on the 5th and start on the 6th, how about that? I have plenty of time, and Teacher Song can also take some time off, but Xiaoyu’s leave isn’t that long, so I’m thinking of not postponing it.”

"Right in your yard?" Li Jianguo asked again.

"Yes, it's right in my yard. Remember what you need and how much it costs, and I'll calculate it for you when we get back," Gu Boyuan said. "The key is under the brick on the windowsill; just flip it open and you'll get it."

"Alright then, leave this to me. Money aside, we're all family here," Li Jianguo said with a smile. "Then I'll get on with the planning."

"Okay, thank you." Gu Boyuan said politely.

"Hey, you're starting to act all polite with me," Li Jianguo said with a laugh. "Get lost, we're practically family."

"Shouldn't we at least exchange pleasantries? Whether you say it or not, you have to do it anyway. Wouldn't you feel better if you got a kind word?"

"You know I have to do it whether you tell me or not, so why are you being so long-winded? You don't need to worry about it. Just follow our usual routine, no other tricks, right?"

"What can we do? We're not young anymore, so let's keep it simple. We'll just invite everyone over for a meal and announce that it's happening. Oh, and no stage or gifts."

“That won’t do,” Li Jianguo waved his hand. “We have to give a gift. You didn’t get married here the first time either. Over the years, when people in the team get married or have other celebrations, they have to give a return gift.”

"Didn't Xiaoxia go back for her wedding?"

"That went back to my account, not yours. You can't always let people owe you favors. Alright, alright, stop talking, I'll handle this!"

"Fine, fine, you can manage it! You'll be busy to death!"

"Go to hell, I'm hanging up!"

After hanging up the phone, Gu Boyuan smiled.

"Is this Xiao Li's older brother? You two are close. I've never seen you talk to anyone like that before." Teacher Song was tidying up her clothes and listening to her husband's conversation with the other person, finding it quite amusing.

Gu Boyuan was, after all, a college graduate, so he had basic manners and was usually very polite, rarely using profanity.

This was also the first time Teacher Song had heard Gu Boyuan speak so "vulgarly," and she found it quite interesting.

"It's Lao Li. We arrived at Team Four together, and we were considered two of the more educated people among the team's founders..."

"He's also a college student?" Teacher Song was somewhat surprised.

"No, no, he's a middle school student, not even graduated from middle school... but he's still considered an intellectual." Gu Boyuan shook his head and said, "We two can get along very well. I was the one who persuaded him to stay in the fourth team. Among these people, we're probably the closest—"

Teacher Song nodded, which basically made sense.

"Old Li is also a troublemaker. Unlike me, I was discouraged in the past and don't want to stand out. He always wants to make a difference and improve his life. The production team made him a group leader—back then it was a mutual aid group, and he did a lot of things. Anyway, life in the group he was in was definitely more comfortable than others."

"In those days, for Old Li to think like that showed he had a sense of responsibility and ambition," Teacher Song commented. "It's a pity he stayed in the countryside all his life."

“He had several opportunities to go to the city to work as a laborer, but he didn’t go.” Gu Boyuan shook his head. “Well, maybe we have different ideas, but it’s fine.”

Li Jianguo was unaware that Lao Gu was talking to his new wife about his past. After hanging up the phone, he sat on the sofa and began to ponder.

His wife, Liang Yuemei, was tidying up the vegetable garden outside. After washing her hands, she went into the kitchen to cook. Seeing Li Jianguo still lost in thought, she asked him:
"What? What did Old Gu say?"

"He'll be back on the 4th, and he'll be handling some business on the 6th. He told me to prepare everything in advance, and that I just need to attend when they come back. That old Gu is cunning enough."

"Even if he's in the team, you still have to do this job, right?" Liang Yuemei knew that although Li Jianguo scolded Lao Gu, he was just complaining, and he was complaining without any resentment.

If Lao Gu hadn't entrusted this task to Li Jianguo, he would have really started cursing.

“That’s right, that means I’ll be in charge of organizing it.” Li Jianguo stood up and said, “I need to find people first. We can’t slaughter pigs in the summer, but we’ll need to slaughter two sheep. Even though Old Gu hasn’t been in the team for the past year or two, we still have good relationships with him, so we’ll basically have to ask everyone in the team…”

"Then let's find the team leader and announce it over the loudspeaker. Anyone who wants to come can come," Liang Yuemei suggested. "There's definitely no time to write invitations."

“That’s right.” Li Jianguo actually thought so too. “I’ll go to Yun Dong again and ask him to organize seven or eight young people to serve dishes.”

"Doesn't the bookkeeping still need to be done by the accountant? You should also inform them about that, right?"

"That's for sure. We need to talk about the head chef, the bookkeeper, the dishwasher, and the purchasing agent."

“Count me in for washing the dishes. I’ll call Tie Tou’s mom later,” Liang Yuemei said. “Even if we’re not slaughtering the pig, we still need to buy some pork, right? Braised pork should be on your menu.”

“Yes, we need to go buy some,” Li Jianguo said. “There’s quite a lot to buy, so… let Yun Dong go. Let’s see who he assigns to organize the waiters.”

“I think if things continue like this, Yun Dong will be able to take over your job. He can handle the general manager's duties when there are weddings or funerals.”

“Yes, he’s capable,” Li Jianguo said. “He’s also improved through experience… He’s made a lot of progress these past few years working with Xiaolong.”

Li Jianguo went out to get his car. His own young men had all gone to the fields with Li Junfeng to weed and spread fertilizer; they weren't there. He went to the production team first.

Xu Chengjun was loading fertilizer onto his tractor, preparing to apply it in the fields, when he saw Li Jianguo drive up. He grabbed the last bag of fertilizer, tossed it into the truck bed, clapped his hands, and asked:

"Brother Li, what's up?"

"Old Gu is coming back on the 6th to handle some business. I'll borrow your megaphone to let the team know. Time is tight, so I won't post anything."

"Hey, that's big news, we have to inform everyone." Xu Chengjun hurriedly went to the well to wash his hands, grabbed a piece of cloth from the clothesline to wipe them, and hung the towel back up. As he walked into the house, he said:
"Let's go, let's inform them."

Soon, Xu Chengjun's announcement came over the team's loudspeaker.

As soon as they heard the loudspeaker's "poof poof poof" sound, everyone working at home or in the fields would stop what they were doing and want to see what the team was announcing for the day.

"...Just a heads-up, everyone listen up. Old Gu, that is, Gu Boyuan, is having his wedding at his house on June 6th. Everyone come and attend!"

Old Gu has been with our team since its inception and has made many contributions to it. Although he has moved away to pursue his career elsewhere, he is still a member of the team, and his household registration is still with the team.

So everyone should come and join in the fun, and let Lao Gu's new wife see that we treat them like family.

I'll let you know again, Old Gu, that is, Gu Boyuan, Xiaoxia's father, and Li Long's father-in-law, will be holding his wedding on June 6th in his yard. Everyone, please come and attend..."

A voice whispered over the loudspeaker, "Two o'clock in the afternoon."

"Yes, yes, it's at two o'clock at noon. Li Jianguo is in charge of this, he'll be the general manager. When he calls on someone to help, nobody should slack off, or the team will be in trouble! Yes, yes, and one more thing, when they come to get married, don't have any of those weird games or anything, don't let the city folks look down on our quality..."

Xu Chengjun went on and on, making the announcement three times, each time with slightly different content, but everyone still got to enjoy the lively conversation.

"Is this the first time the captain has gone through such a long-winded explanation?" someone said with a laugh. "If Old Gu knew, wouldn't he be furious with him?"

"Why are you scolding him? It's for Lao Gu's own good; the team is giving him face."

After giving the notification, Li Jianguo was about to walk over to Xie Yundong to discuss something when Xu Chengjun asked him:

"Brother Li, has Lao Gu's yard been tidied up yet?"

"No," Li Jianguo said. "My family members are still working in the fields. I was thinking of waiting for them to come back and have dinner before I tidy up."

"Why bother? You can't always be the one handling Old Gu's wedding. If you don't care, I'll get someone to take care of it."

Xu Chengjun made the decision, and Li Jianguo naturally had no objections.

When he went to find Xie Yundong, Xu Chengjun drove his tractor around Xu Haijun's door. Xu Haijun was wiping his car. When he saw the team leader coming, he hurriedly went up to greet him.

"Go find a few people and clean up Old Gu's, Li Long's father-in-law's, yard."

"Who are you looking for?" Xu Haijun had just heard the loudspeaker, but he didn't expect it to involve him.

“Find Fei Hu and the others,” Xu Chengjun said. “Your cousins, whoever you can find.”

After cleaning the yard, ask Old Huang and Old Gao where would be a good place to build the stove. They'll definitely need to build two tall stoves in their yard. Oh, and we'll need charcoal for cooking. Old Gu isn't living here anymore, so we don't know if there's any charcoal in his yard. If not, bring a few sacks from our yard.”

"it is good."

Xu Haijun didn't dislike the job; in fact, he was quite happy about it. After Xu Chengjun left, he drove off to find more people.

Xie Yundong was at home planning some measures for the next stage of cotton pest control. He also heard what was said on the loudspeaker and joked with his wife, saying that this could be considered an old tree blossoming anew.

After Li Jianguo came to him, he told him two things. One was to organize the young people to provide support. The support had two aspects: first, to serve dishes on the day of the event; and second, to go to each household the day before to borrow tables, chairs, plates, bowls, and other items, and to mark them carefully.

Another matter is purchasing. As for the items to be purchased, I will write up a list for him after the head chef has made his decision.

Li Jianguo notified everyone one by one, planning to hold a meeting the next morning, and then everyone went about their own business.

Xie Yundong naturally had no objections and readily agreed.

Then Li Jianguo went to find the two master chefs. Lao Gao was there, but Lao Huang wasn't. Lao Gao naturally had no objections; he and Lao Gu were old acquaintances, and he would definitely help out.

Old Huang wasn't there, but his wife was. Li Jianguo asked her to tell Old Huang to come to his house for a meeting first thing tomorrow morning to get this matter settled.

After notifying everyone, Li Jianguo went to find the accountant, as he was responsible for bookkeeping—his handwriting was good, and his accounts were clear; professional matters should be handled by professionals.

The notification was given in a flurry of activity, and the next day, after breakfast, a group of people gathered at Li Jian's house.

Not only him, but also Xu Haijun. After learning about the meeting today, Xu Haijun came over on his own initiative, first reporting that he had cleaned the Gu family's courtyard, and then asking for the task.

After joining the cooperative, Xu Haijun became very active and worked very hard, which impressed many people.

Assigning tasks, discussing matters, and coordinating work are all things Li Jianguo excels at. Having served as the team's general manager for many years, he arranges these matters in an orderly manner, without rushing or overlooking anything, and he has the entire picture in his mind.

So all the busy and capable people in the village started to get busy.

The inner and outer gates of the Gu family's courtyard were all opened, and the courtyard across the street was also to be requisitioned—there would definitely be a lot of people coming from the team, and one courtyard would certainly not be enough. The Gu family's house hadn't been lived in for a long time, so it needed to be ventilated, and the bedding needed to be aired out.

The master chef set up his workbench in the yard and made preliminary preparations. Some neighbors had already planned to bring eggs and chickens over, but the master chef persuaded them to stop, saying they should come on the 5th, otherwise the things wouldn't keep.

While the team was busy, Li Long drove his wife, sister-in-law, and child to Khorgos.

This place is not well-known yet, and it is also a small place. It's just that Liu Gaolou has some connections here, which allowed Li Long and his group to take a tour of the border, look at the boundary markers, the boundary river, and the outpost on the other side.

Li Long recalled that someone had compared the changes on both sides of the national border over the past two or three decades. In those two or three decades, apart from some roads being widened and paved, the other side of the border had remained basically unchanged.

Houses and warehouses have sprung up here, and wasteland has been reclaimed into strips of wheat fields, resulting in tremendous changes.

I can only say I envy their vast land and sparse population. If this were our territory, hmph...

At this time, there were also stalls selling things in Khorgos, especially local specialties from the other side of the river, but there weren't many shops or stalls. After looking around, Gu Xiaoyu bought a mirror, and Gu Xiaoxia bought chocolates and candies for Mingming and Haohao.

Li Long, on the other hand, became a sucker, buying a telescope he knew was fake—as long as it could see, it was fine.

After Liu Gaolou treated them to lunch, Li Long and his group returned, but instead of going directly back to Yining, they went to the hot springs that Wu Yongbo had previously invited them to soak in, and spent some time there.

The hot springs in Nanshan, Ma County are too natural and not very good for soaking. This place has much better conditions.

After soaking, Li Long was thinking about whether to renovate the hot spring in Nanshan. After all, the area was located in the pastoral area of ​​Yushanjiang, so the procedures for renovation wouldn't be too complicated.

This will make it more convenient for family members to go to the mountains to soak in hot springs.

Yes, I can take a look when I get back.

After leaving the hot springs, Li Long drove his family back, and they tidied up the yard together.

The next day, when Li Long left, he handed the yard key to Gu Boyuan. "Don't worry, we'll take good care of it. When we come back, we'll bring someone over to clean it every now and then. But you're unlikely to come in winter, so we won't be clearing the snow there. We'll talk about it in the spring."

The two cars drove out of the city one after the other, heading west. The sky was still a bit overcast. As Li Long drove, he said:
"With this weather, it might rain when we get to Guozigou."

"Really?" Gu Xiaoxia was also a little worried. "It hasn't rained here yet, so it should be fine over there, right? It's best if it doesn't rain. I heard it's very dangerous there when it rains."

"Yes, there are several places in Guozigou where the mountains are too steep, and the vegetation on the western slope is not very dense. If it rains heavily, mudslides are very likely to occur."

Gu Xiaoyu remained silent. She didn't know much about this area and just silently prayed that there wouldn't be any mudslides.

As the car approached Huocheng, fine raindrops began to appear on the windshield, and Li Long became a little worried.

There was Gu Boyuan's car ahead. Old Gu didn't stop, so let's keep going.

The roads back then were nothing like those in later generations. With the construction of the Guozigou Bridge in later times, many dangers were avoided; things were different now.

When the car reached the entrance of Guozigou, the rain lessened a bit, but looking ahead, you could see dark clouds swirling among the mountains in Guozigou. In some places, the clouds looked like torn strips of cloth hanging down to the ground, while in others they slowly dispersed.

Li Long knew this was a case of localized heavy rain followed by localized cessation of rain. Seeing that the car in front of him was still moving forward, he rushed in after it.

The road was slippery, and neither car was driving fast. There were other vehicles in front and behind—further ahead, a large truck was driving slowly.

As Gu Boyuan approached the large truck, he suddenly accelerated and honked his horn. Li Long knew that Gu was signaling to him to overtake.

He immediately sped up and caught up, then overtook the large truck with Old Gu before the turn.

Further ahead, no more cars could be seen; the two cars were about twenty or thirty meters apart. We continued forward.

The raindrops suddenly intensified again, but Gu Boyuan did not slow down. Li Long quickly followed, because he saw that water was already flowing from the front of the road in some places.

The two cars accelerated and made two turns. Then they saw a ditch on the mountain to their right. The water was flowing from there onto the road. Now, not only was there water flowing on the road, but the flow was getting bigger and bigger, and it was also carrying some mud and sand. A layer of sand twenty or thirty centimeters thick had already accumulated on the left side of the road.

The water still carries mud, sand, and stones down the road, and some stones have reached the middle of the road.

Gu Boyuan, the driver of the car in front, honked his horn again and accelerated. Li Long immediately sped up to catch up and then sped through the dangerous section of road.

Further on, there were three more such sections of road, and both cars sped past them.

When we finally reached the halfway point of the mountain, the view suddenly opened up. The rain had stopped, and the sun was shining down, drying the ground.

The two cars stopped at a platform on the side of the road.

"That was really scary! I was so nervous I didn't dare say a word!" Gu Xiaoyu said, clutching her chest after getting out of the car. "I was really worried that a mudslide would come down the mountain and push our car off." "Me too! I regretted it then and there. I should have told them not to go any further when we were at the mouth of the ravine."

Li Long didn't speak. He took two steps forward and looked back at the road he had come down the mountain. Some parts were obscured by clouds, but others were visible—the mudslide had indeed swept down and covered most of the road. Large trucks were parked behind the mudslide, clearly unable to pass.

"Hey, this is really exciting!" Gu Boyuan also came over and stood next to Li Long. He took out a cigarette, turned halfway around to shield himself from the wind, lit one, took a puff, and said, "It's only because we ran fast that we were able to get through today. If we had been slower, we might have been blocked there and might not have made it through today."

There are road maintenance sections in Guozigou. When the weather is like this, people will be sent into the mountains to clear the road.

But in situations like today, several places could be mudslides, and it won't be cleared in a short time.

After resting for a while, we continued driving.

Perhaps the rainy days had been used up earlier, because the rest of the drive was sunny all the way out of the mountains. Sayram Lake was especially beautiful on a sunny day, with a particularly deep blue color. Moreover, Li Long noticed that from this angle, Sayram Lake seemed to be tilted, with the side closer to the mountain appearing to be higher than the side to the north.

Of course, it could be a visual illusion. At that moment, the road was right next to the lake. As we drove along, it felt like the lake water on the left was about to rush into the car, which was quite exciting.

Halfway there, before reaching the island in the middle of the lake, Gu Boyuan found a convenient spot, veered off the road, went down the slope, and stopped by the lake.

Li Long guessed that Teacher Song probably wanted to see the scenery, so he followed her down to take a look.

After parking the car, Gu Xiaoxia took out her point-and-shoot camera and started taking pictures of everyone. Finally, she used the camera's time-lapse function to take a group photo with the lake as the background, setting up the camera on the car's hood.

It was almost lunchtime by then, but there were no restaurants around, so we played around for a while and then continued driving. After leaving the lake area, which is past the area with the giant windmills in later times, we started to get foggy as we drove downhill.

Fortunately, the visibility in the fog was about fifty meters, so I could still see if there were any cars coming from the front.

Before entering the fog zone, we saw the same scene we had seen in Guozigou. The fog enveloped the vast space in front of us, seemingly without end. Moreover, several hundred meters ahead, the fog descended directly from a height of three or four hundred meters to the ground, stretching for several kilometers and drifting slowly, a truly magnificent sight.

For this scene, Li Long even stopped the car and had Gu Xiaoxia take out her camera again to take several more pictures of everyone in the car, including Mingming and Haohao, who also had their own solo photos in front of the clouds, before continuing on their way—at this time, Gu Boyuan had already driven into the fog area.

We drove slowly all the way, and by the time we arrived at Wutai, it was already past four in the afternoon.

Gu Boyuan parked his car in front of a meatball soup shop. There were also cars parked in front of most other shops, including buses, trucks, and cars, but not many.

The shopkeeper warmly invited the group inside. Gu Boyuan was at the door; he nodded when he saw them and then turned to go inside.

Eating here isn't cheap, but at this point you have no choice; it's the best of a bad bunch.

To Li Long's surprise, the food here was quite good; not exceptional, but not bad either. Although the price was a bit high, he could accept it considering the location.

After resting for a while, they continued on their way. Gu Xiaoxia wanted to switch drivers with Li Long, but Li Long refused. Firstly, the fog hadn't completely dissipated, and secondly, people tend to feel sleepy after eating. The road conditions were good on the way there, so driving slowly was fine, but now they needed to get to Jinghe, so he insisted on driving himself.

When they arrived in Jinghe, the sun was still high in the sky. Gu Boyuan led the way and found a newly opened hotel that looked quite nice. The hotel had its own restaurant, and the prices were reasonable, so they decided to eat and rest there.

To Gu Boyuan's surprise, the hotel reception had a phone that allowed him to make long-distance and local calls for a fee, so he paid to call Li Jianguo.

"Hello?" Li Jianguo answered the phone.

"I'm Lao Gu, I've arrived in Jinghe. How's it going on your end?" It was already dark when Gu Boyuan asked.

"What else can we do? Everything's arranged. Just come back and wait to get things done. Your yard is tidied up, the case is set up, and the stove is built. Oh, and the whole team has been notified. Think about who else in the other teams needs to be notified. If there are any, I'll go and tell them. If not, then the team will handle it themselves."

"No more," Old Gu said. Actually, there were still some people, but considering that he would mainly stay in the valley in the future, occasionally returning to Ma County, he would mainly be active in the Fourth Team.

Those people weren't exactly sworn brothers, so it's fine if they don't want to talk about it.

Li Jianguo asked about the situation on the road again, but Gu Boyuan felt there was nothing else to explain, so he hung up the phone and went to rest.

Today's journey was quite thrilling and exciting. Not only were we physically exhausted, but we were also mentally exhausted, so we all went to bed early.

The next day, after breakfast, we continued our journey at a relatively fast speed. By the time we returned to Ma County, it was only a little after 5 p.m.

In the county, the two cars separated. Li Long and his group returned to the compound, while Gu Boyuan couldn't wait to drive towards the fourth team.

In the courtyard, Han Fang was reading a book when she heard the car. She rushed to the gate and saw that it was Li Long and the others. She quickly opened the gate and let the car in.

It's Sunday today, and she's still studying hard. The high school entrance exam is coming up soon, and she can't afford to relax for a moment.

After getting off the bus, everyone relaxed. Mingming Haohao was the most energetic, playing happily with his animal friends for a while before Gu Xiaoxia dragged him to wash his face and hands.

It was quite dusty along the way; cars aren't as airtight as they are in later times, so they still got covered in dust.

Li Long wasn't too tired. He rested at home for a while before going to the purchasing station. He planned to go into the mountains tomorrow; he hadn't been to the wooden house there for several days and didn't know how many fritillaria bulbs Polati had collected.

When Li Long last visited, he had already told Polati that he was going to the valley, so Polati should have been prepared.

There were still people queuing up to sell fritillaria bulbs in the courtyard of the purchasing station, but fewer people were buying agricultural supplies. Li Long noticed two people gathered at the entrance, and he realized that one wanted to buy fertilizer and the other wanted to buy pesticides.

He went behind the counter, and Li Qingxia saw Li Long come in and said with a smile:

"came back?"

"You're back. Are you alright?"

“It’s nothing. I sold a car the day before yesterday,” Li Qingxia said. “I’ve already put it in the books.”

"Volga or GAZ?"

"GAZ truck, from the Corps area, the roads there are only easy to drive on with GAZ trucks."

Li Long nodded, indicating that he understood.

Gu Boyuan led Teacher Song back to the courtyard. They saw that a table had been set up and a pot was placed on the stove. The table and chairs had not yet been set up, but the space had been cleared.

In the courtyard, Xie Yundong and several young men were leveling some small pits in preparation for setting up a table for number six.

Seeing Gu Boyuan drive back, Xie Yundong greeted him with a smile.

"You can just call this Aunt Song," Gu Boyuan said with a smile. "Alright, no need to bother. Just bring the table over and find something to put on it."

"Alright, alright, Uncle Gu, you can rest now. We won't close the door, we're leaving." Xie Yundong said goodbye and then left with his men.

Gu Boyuan and Teacher Song could still hear them discussing Old Gu's "new bride" as they left.

Teacher Song blushed slightly and said, "I should have given them a pack of cigarettes earlier."

"It's alright, we'll thank you all at once after we're done." Gu Boyuan had watched these people grow up, so he wasn't being polite at all. "Come on, you must be exhausted from the journey. Let's go inside and rest for a bit. This rural area isn't like the city, so please make do with what you have."

"Are you underestimating me?" When there was no one else around, Teacher Song was quite cheerful. She said, "I've also experienced hardship. I used to live in a bungalow and do things like shoveling snow. Besides, this courtyard is quite nice. Although it's an earthen house, it's very tidy."

As for the house, I'm quite good at doing housework.

He then went inside first.

However, once inside, she found that the room was cleaner than the outside, with no dust, and the furniture was all in place. In the bedroom, two new quilts were neatly folded on the bed, and the dragon and phoenix satin covers showed that they were newly prepared. Double happiness pillowcases were placed on top of the quilts.

"This...you prepared this?" Teacher Song turned to ask Gu Boyuan, who had followed her in.

"No, I didn't tell Lao Li! This whole thing is... Hey, I know, it must have been Juan and Qiangqiang's mom, my sister-in-law, who did it." Gu Boyuan said, "Lao Li's family, huh!"

"It's obvious that you and this Old Li have a really good relationship," Teacher Song remarked. "He even thought of helping to prepare this."

"Then I'm related to their family by marriage." Gu Boyuan was quite proud, feeling much more respected this time.

"I'll go boil some water. Now that we're back, we need to have some water to drink." Gu Boyuan turned and walked out. "You rest first. I'll take care of boiling the water."

“You don’t even know how to cook in the countryside. This isn’t a coal stove; you need firewood. I need to go to the yard and get some firewood…” Old Gu said as he walked out to the outer room. He reached for the thermos near the stove, only to find it was quite heavy.

He casually pulled out the stopper and found that it was filled with hot water.

"Hey, neither of us has to do anything," Gu Boyuan said with a smile. "The water's already boiled for us."

"Now I truly believe you're a founding member of this team; most people don't get this kind of treatment."

“Hey, that’s right.” Gu Boyuan was genuinely proud.

After resting for a while, Teacher Song said she would check what was at home, since dinner still needed to be cooked. Gu Boyuan told her not to bother, but Teacher Song felt she still needed to cook.

Then, just as she was looking for something, a car honked outside, and Old Gu said with a smile:

"See? I told you not to worry about it. Here comes the person who's calling us for dinner."

When the two came out, Li Jianguo had just gotten out of the car. Seeing Lao Gu, he smiled and said:

"Hey, you guys got back pretty quickly. This must be your sister-in-law, welcome, welcome! We live in a small rural area, conditions aren't great, so please make do..."

"Brother Li, right? No wonder Old Gu said you two have a good relationship, you even say the same things. He also told me to make do, but when I got here, I found out it wasn't just making do at all! They've prepared new quilts for us, the room is spotless, and even the water is boiled. Isn't that wonderful!"

Li Jianguo felt quite pleased that the team's arrangements had been approved by the parties involved, and he said with a smile:

"That's only right. Alright, let's go. Dinner's ready at home. You must be hungry after your journey. Come with me for dinner."

Teacher Song was being polite, but Gu Boyuan didn't refuse and drove after Li Jianguo to Li's house.

The Li family was stewing crucian carp, and there were also flatbreads simmering in the pot. Milk was being boiled on another stove, which surprised Teacher Song a bit—is it so easy to get milk here?
She had developed a habit of drinking milk tea in the small river valley town, and originally thought that she might not be able to drink it after coming here, and would have to stop for a few days.

Now it seems that's not necessarily true.

Because there were many people, the tables were set up outside. Everyone sat down to eat, and Li Juan and Li Qiang were quite curious about this new middle-aged woman. Upon hearing that she was a teacher, they felt even more respect for her.

After learning that Li Juan and Li Qiang were both good students and aspired to go to university, Teacher Song encouraged them, saying that if possible, they could also apply to the university where she was studying.

Nowadays, college graduates are guaranteed job placement. The entrance scores for Yili Normal University are relatively lower, making it easier to get in.

Gu Boyuan then said to Liang Yuemei:
"Sister-in-law, did you prepare that quilt? Thank you so much."

"Hey, what's there to thank? Juan's dad said we had cotton at home, so it would be easy to make netting. Tie Tou's mom and I sewed it together."

Gu Boyuan sighed. Although he had boasted to Teacher Song, he was actually a little apprehensive. Now it seemed that he really didn't need to worry. Gu Boyuan hadn't eaten stewed crucian carp for quite some time, so he naturally praised it highly.

Ms. Song doesn't like crucian carp because it has too many bones. However, the braised flatbread tasted good. Dipped in the broth from the stewed crucian carp, it was very delicious. She ate two pieces of flatbread and even burped, feeling a little embarrassed.

After the meal, Teacher Song wanted to help Liang Yuemei clean up, but Liang Yuemei refused. However, Teacher Song insisted, so Liang Yuemei let her have her way.

The women busied themselves with each other, while the men chatted. Gu Boyuan talked about things in the valley, and he brought back a case of Yili Special Qu liquor for Li Jianguo, in a porcelain bottle.

“They can still get Russian liquor over there, but to be honest, I tried it and it wasn’t good,” Gu Boyuan said. “So I didn’t bring any for you.”

"Don't bring that, I won't drink it anyway," Li Jianguo said. "Xiaolong brought it before, and it doesn't taste the same as our wine."

When Gu Boyuan and the others finished talking and were about to leave, Liang Yuemei poured a basket of milk into Teacher Song's hand and said:
"This was burned today. Take it back and burn it again tomorrow to drink."

She had just seen Teacher Song drink two small bowls of milk, and thinking that she must like it, she shared some of the milk from home.

Old Ma's milk delivery service comes every day, and my family drinks it, so it's not like we're missing out.

Teacher Song looked at the basket of milk, which weighed a good three kilograms, and hurriedly said:

"We don't need that much. If the two of us mix it with milk tea, it won't even take a kilogram..."

"Why mix it with milk tea? It's much simpler to just drink it straight." These were the words of Du Chunfang, the old lady. She didn't know that Teacher Song and the others had a habit of drinking milk tea and thought it was to save money.

Everyone laughed.

On the way back, Teacher Song was still saying that she had a lot of fun staying at the Li family's house, and that the old folks were fun too.

“That’s why they say having an elder in the family is like having a treasure,” Gu Boyuan remarked. “The elders not only impart experience, but also bring joy. The Li family is truly enviable.”

"In the valley, some people have a custom of having a person of good fortune escort the bride when they get married. The Li family is one of them, right? They have both a son and a daughter, they are healthy, and there are no bad things happening in the family. They seem quite happy."

"Yes."

Back at the Gu family home, Teacher Song found a steel pot, poured out the milk, and planned to boil it again.

Gu Boyuan was puzzled that someone at the purchasing station cooked for him, so he didn't cook for himself and asked:

"Didn't your sister-in-law say that the milk had already been boiled? Why did you boil it again?"

"The weather here is hotter than in the valley. In the summer, milk needs to be boiled twice a day, otherwise it will turn into yogurt by tomorrow."

"Just put it on the fire and let it burn. Are you going to keep an eye on it?"

"You have to watch it when boiling milk, and you have to be careful, otherwise it might boil over in the blink of an eye. I can tell you've never boiled milk before... Alright, alright, you should rest now, I'll be done in a bit."

Gu Boyuan didn't rest either; he went to unload some things he had brought back from the car. There were Soviet candies bought from the border, Yili Tequ (a type of liquor), hawthorn candy, jam made by ethnic minorities, and some other things.

These are all gifts. After all, they'll be leaving after they've finished their business, and apart from the alcohol, the other items will just spoil if left out for too long.

Teacher Song boiled the milk, took it into the kitchen, covered it with a lid, and went into the inner room. Seeing that Gu Boyuan had already tidied up, she also began to tidy up her own toiletries.

“We’ll take care of some business on the 6th. After that, we’ll stay here for a few days before heading back to Yili,” Gu Boyuan discussed with Teacher Song. “Anyway, you’ve taken quite a long leave, and I’ve already arranged everything at the purchasing station.”

"I'll do whatever you say," Teacher Song said with a smile. "Actually, I quite like it here too. Although it's hot and there are mosquitoes, the atmosphere is great. Just by the fact that they've prepared all this for us, you seem to be quite popular here."

"Hey, of course," Old Gu said with a smile. "This place can be considered my base. I haven't transferred my household registration to the city yet; I'm keeping it here so that if I get tired of living in the city in the future, I can come back and live here."

Actually, after running the purchasing station in the valley for a while, Gu Boyuan started thinking about staying there permanently—mainly because the environment was good and it was comfortable to stay in. The city in the valley was larger than both Ma County and Shicheng, and although it was remote, it basically had everything.

Thinking back, he used to tell Li Jianguo that the Fourth Team was a land of plenty, good for people, and that he shouldn't go anywhere else.

Now, he's the one who ran away first, and he plans to stay somewhere else and not come back.

That's quite dramatic.

(End of this chapter)