Li Long from the Li family was considered a troublemaker in the production team. He didn’t work hard at home or in the team. Yet, when friends or his girlfriend, Wu Shufen, asked, he’d rush to help. His brother, Li Jianguo, could hardly get him to lift a finger, but he’d always be at the service of his rowdy friends.

So, it wasn’t surprising that Aunt Lu had come over to share the news with Liang Yuemei, Li Long’s sister-in-law. Part of her visit was out of curiosity—she wanted to see the reaction.

In the past, Liang Yuemei would have been upset by such comments, but this time, she found herself defending Li Long:

“Li Long genuinely wants to bring back wood for us this time. Since he’s trying, of course, we’ll support him.”

Aunt Lu was taken aback. Since when did Liang Yuemei start excusing her brother-in-law?

“Your brother-in-law got fired from his factory job, and you’re not the least bit upset after all the money you invested in him?” Aunt Lu shook her head. “If it were me, I’d be furious!”

But Liang Yuemei just smiled, sewing a shoe sole as she spoke. “Everyone makes mistakes. As long as he’s willing to learn and improve, that’s what matters. I think getting dismissed was actually a good thing. As they say, ‘a setback teaches wisdom.’”

Besides, she thought, just the guagua chicken Li Long caught, along with the fish, would sell for quite a bit if they needed it. Not to mention, his borrowing the cart had gone so smoothly, a marked change from the careless young man he used to be. She was genuinely proud of his progress.

Suddenly, a cheerful voice called from outside, “Brother-in-law, Sister—I’m here!” At the sound, Liang Yuemei perked up and stood, excited. “Wenyu, come in!” she called, opening the door.

It was her younger brother, Liang Wenyu. He entered, carrying a bag, and placed it by the wall. Taking off his winter hat, he smiled at Aunt Lu before turning to Liang Yuemei and asking, “Where’s Brother-in-law? And is it true Li Long’s back?”

She hadn’t expected the news to spread so fast. With Aunt Lu still there, she just nodded. “Yes, your brother-in-law’s busy in the east room. What brings you by?”

“Mom and Dad sent me over to check on you and bring a few things,” he replied, looking around. “Where are Juan and Qiang?”

“They’re in the east room. Go say hi,” she told him.

Aunt Lu had hoped for more drama, knowing that Wenyu, as the eldest son of the Liang family, had always disapproved of Li Long. However, with a visitor in the house, she decided to take her leave.

Once she was gone, Wenyu said, “Dad sent some white flour and twenty yuan. With Li Long back, you’ll be running low on coal soon, so Dad thought you might buy some from the team to get through the winter…”

Sensing the frustration in her brother’s voice, Liang Yuemei smiled and said, “Thanks, but we won’t need it. Li Long went to the mountains for firewood, and he’ll be back today. Once he brings it, we’ll have enough to last the winter. Come on, let’s check in with your brother-in-law in the east room. He’s working on some fish—you can take a few home with you.”

“Fish? Where’d you get fish?” Wenyu’s eyes lit up. His own production team relied on wells, and with no pond or river nearby, fish were rare. Li Jianguo’s team, blessed with natural water sources, had fish available, and Jianguo often sent some to Wenyu’s family.

“Li Long took your brother-in-law to cut through the ice at the pond—got quite a haul.”

“In this freezing weather? Well, that’s tough work! But I guess Li Long does like fooling around.” Wenyu followed his sister to the east room, grumbling about how Li Long seemed to only be interested in “fun” activities. Li Jianguo and Liang Yuemei knew Wenyu held a grudge against Li Long—after all, he’d earned his reputation. The two were close in age, yet Wenyu had long since taken on family responsibilities while Li Long still acted like an overgrown child.

Stepping into the east room, Wenyu’s eyes widened at the pile of fish in the washbasin. “Wow, Brother-in-law, that’s a lot of fish!”

“Wenyu, you’re here!” Li Jianguo was gutting fish with help from Juan and Qiang. Hearing her uncle’s greeting, Li Juan looked up, while Li Qiang gave him a cheerful wave.

“These fish are from the ice hole that Li Long cut open at the pond. I never expected to catch so many in winter, especially such big ones! Li Long planned to give some to you, along with two guagua chickens.”

“Li Long did all this? And he even got guagua chickens?” Wenyu was shocked. This didn’t sound like the Li Long he knew, who’d never accomplished much of anything.

“Yep,” Li Jianguo said, half-amused at Wenyu’s expression, half-proud. “Even though he got fired, he’s come back a changed man.”

“Uncle really did catch the guagua chickens, and they were delicious!” added Li Qiang with a sniff, speaking loudly.

He is different from Li Juan. Li Juan still remembers that she had to help with housework, but Li Long didn’t. Li Qiang just remembers that his uncle roasted old sparrows, caught chickens and fish for him, and also the fun glutinous rice paper.

Carrying his surprise and a lot of questions, Wenyu helped them clean the fish. Working together, they finished quickly.

“Take ten of these fish back home with you,” Jianguo told Wenyu. “They’ll make great soup for Mom and Dad. We’ll go again before New Year and send you some more.”

“Ten fish? These aren’t small—that’ll be a load.” Despite his words, Wenyu wasn’t about to refuse. There were at least thirty or forty large fish here, along with plenty of smaller carp, so he didn’t feel bad taking some.

After freezing the fish in the snow, the family went to the west room to wash up. Wenyu, sitting on the kang, asked, “Brother-in-law, are you sure it’s safe for Li Long to go to the mountains for wood? The mountains are isolated, with rough paths—will he be able to manage?”

“He said he has a friend from Qingshui who lives right at the edge of the mountains,” Jianguo said, rolling a cigarette. Taking a deep drag, he felt calmer and continued, “Li Long’s different now. He organized the cart himself, planned everything. I say let him try it. There’s not much to do in winter, anyway.”

“Still, it’s too bad about his job.” Wenyu sighed, wishing he could work in Wucheng himself. But as the eldest, he needed to stay close to his parents. To him, the lost factory job was a real missed opportunity.

“It’s not that bad,” Jianguo said with a faint smile. “Losing the job might’ve been what it took for Li Long to finally learn a lesson.”

“He has lost his job, will his partner be okay?” Wenyu asked.

“It’s over,” Jianguo replied, shaking his head. “Word spread that he got fired, so she broke things off. No big deal; he’ll find someone else eventually.”

Jianguo still had faith in his brother’s future.

But others in the team didn’t feel the same. By the end of the day, word had already spread about Li Long, the “good-for-nothing” who’d spent work points to borrow the team’s cart to go haul wood from the mountains.

Many were waiting to see him fail.