Chapter 124 Going to the Countryside Again
Time flies. The courtyard has been a little quiet recently. Tian Shulin from the factory is still busy around Li Shengli every day without a single complaint.

Sha Zhu, ever since he had his blind date, matchmakers have hardly come to look for him anymore. Sha Zhu’s requirements are too high. With Sha Zhu’s requirements, those girls either already have a partner already, or they shake their heads and refuse when they hear Sha Zhu’s name.

Xu Damao has been much more well-behaved recently and has stopped tormenting Sha Zhu.

Time passed quickly and it was the autumn of 1963. The weather was getting colder day by day. Li Shengli was thinking about going to the countryside to get some furs. If there were enough furs, he could make a fur coat. This coat would be so cool to wear.

Li Shengli remembered that he had made an appointment with the hunter from the Red Star Commune when he went to the countryside before, so it was a good opportunity to go there and see if he had any extra skins.

On Sunday, when it was a day off, Li Shengli talked with Han Qiuyun and rode his bike towards the Red Star Commune.

"Isn't this Master Li?" The patrolling militia discovered Li Shengli.

"Hello, comrade. I'm here to look for Duan Quanan, Brother Duan." Li Shengli looked at the man and found him familiar, but he couldn't remember his name.

"I'll take you to see our captain." The man who looked like the militia captain said, "By the way, Xu the projectionist from your factory is also here."

"Okay, thank you, comrade." Li Shengli thanked him. It would be more convenient for him to have the captain here. But, Xu Damao is here too? It seems he has a projection task.

"Comrade, I don't even know your name yet." Li Shengli took out a cigarette and handed it to the militia captain.

"My name is Zhao Dehan." The militia captain took the cigarette and put it in his mouth, and Li Shengli struck a match to light it for the two of them.

Hearing that the militia captain's surname was Zhao, Li Shengli thought of Captain Zhao. These two people might be relatives, but Li Shengli did not ask.

Following Zhao Dehan, Li Shengli came to the commune compound.

"Li Shengli, why are you here?" Xu Damao had obviously just arrived, and the projection equipment had just been unloaded from the car.

"I'm here to talk to the hunter in the village about something." Li Shengli did not say clearly what he was here for.

Xu Damao obviously understood what was going on. People from the city often came to the countryside to buy things that were not available in the city.

Xu Damao nodded and said nothing more, nor did he invite Li Shengli to watch a movie, because he knew that Li Shengli had to go back early. This cook is different from the projectionist.

At this moment, Zhao Dehan came over with Captain Zhao.

"Master Li, we were still talking about you at that time." Captain Zhao said with a smile when he saw Li Shengli.

Li Shengli was confused and looked at Captain Zhao with a questioning look.

"It's not convenient here, Master Li, let's talk over here." Captain Zhao looked around and saw that others were busy working in front of him.

Captain Zhao took Li Shengli and Zhao Dehan to a deserted corner.

"Master Li, may I ask, how old are you this year?" Captain Zhao looked at Li Shengli and asked.

"Captain Zhao, I am 22 years old this year." Li Shengli didn't quite understand what Captain Zhao meant by this question.

After hearing Li Shengli's answer, Captain Zhao and Zhao Dehan nodded with satisfaction and looked at Li Shengli as if he were one of their own.

This look made Li Shengli's heart skip a beat. He finally understood what these two people meant. At the same time, it also confirmed his guess that Zhao Dehan was indeed a relative of Captain Zhao.

"Captain Zhao, I'm here this time to talk to Duan Quanan from your commune." Li Shengli quickly stated the purpose of his visit. What if Captain Zhao suddenly asked him to go on a blind date with someone in his family?
"Oh, you're looking for Xiao Duan." Captain Zhao nodded, "No problem, I'll let De Han take you there."

"Dehan, take Master Li to find Xiao Duan." Captain Zhao said to Zhao Dehan.

"Okay, I'll go right away." Zhao Dehan nodded.

"That's right, after you go, come to my place." Captain Zhao thought for a while and said, he would let Fangyun prepare herself, maybe the two of them would fall in love with each other.

Zhao Dehan nodded again.

"Come on, Master Li, I'll take you there." Zhao Dehan's tone this time was much more friendly than when they first met.

Li Shengli responded and walked towards Duan Quanan's home with Zhao Dehan. "By the way, Master Li, I haven't asked you yet, what do you want to see Duan Quanan about?" Zhao Dehan asked in a friendly tone.

"Oh, that's what I mean. Winter is coming soon, and I wanted to see if the fur is enough. I plan to make a pair of leather gloves for my partner." Li Shengli thought to himself that he finally got around to telling everyone that he had a partner.

"Oh, it seems that Master Li treats your girlfriend very well." Zhao Dehan said with a smile.

"Wait a minute, do you have a partner?" Zhao Dehan finally reacted.

"Yes, we are getting married after the New Year." Li Shengli said with a smile.

Zhao Dehan opened his mouth in surprise and didn't say anything else.

On the way to Duan Quanan's house, Zhao Dehan waved to a militiaman, put his arm around his shoulders and took him to a deserted place, whispered a few words to him, and then the militiaman quickly ran towards the commune compound.

After the others ran far away, Zhao Dehan brought Li Shengli to Duan Quanan's house.

"Knock knock knock." Zhao Dehan knocked on the door.

"We came at the right time. Old Duan just came back not long ago." Zhao Dehan pointed at the chicks on the ground in Duan Quanan's yard and said.

"Coming." Duan Quanan's voice came from the room.

"Old Zhao, why are you here?" Duan Quanan asked when he saw Zhao Dehan standing at the door.

"It's not me who's looking for you, it's Master Li who's looking for you." Zhao Dehan stepped aside to make way for Li Shengli behind him.

"Brother Duan." Li Shengli stretched out his hand and greeted him.

"Master Li, it's you." Duan Quanan only then remembered the appointment he had made with Li Shengli.

"Brother Duan, do you have any leather left?"

"Brother, to be honest, we have no big skins left, only some rabbit skins." Duan Quan'an said. Mainly because he didn't expect Li Shengli to really come, so he had exchanged the larger skins for other things.

"Then can you give me a few rabbit skins?" Li Shengli was a little disappointed. He was still thinking that he could get a bigger skin to make a genuine fur coat.

"I don't have a lot of rabbit skins, so I'll give you eight." Duan Quan'an was still a little embarrassed.

"It doesn't matter, eight is eight." Li Shengli didn't have any better idea, so he exchanged eight rabbit skins and a piece of bacon with Duan Quanan.

He took out the money and handed it to Duan Quanan, who then wrapped the rabbit skin, tied it up with a rope and handed it to Li Shengli together with the bacon.

After saying goodbye to Duan Quanan, Li Shengli and Zhao Dehan returned to the commune compound.

"You're back." Captain Zhao greeted Zhao Dehan and Li Shengli as if nothing had happened.

Zhao Dehan nodded, thinking that he had notified people in a timely manner, otherwise it would be embarrassing if Fangyun came now.

"Captain Zhao, it's about time for me to go back." Li Shengli thought for a moment and said goodbye to Captain Zhao.

"Stay for lunch," Captain Zhao said politely.

"I won't trouble you, Captain Zhao. Besides, I have to go to work tomorrow." Li Shengli declined. It was quite troublesome to eat out at this time.

"Okay, Dehan, you send him off." Captain Zhao did not force him to stay.

Li Shengli said goodbye to Xu Damao and left with Zhao Dehan.

When leaving the Red Star Commune, Li Shengli felt that Zhao Dehan still felt uncomfortable looking at him, as if it was a pity. Li Shengli didn't understand why.

(End of this chapter)