Actually, these days very few people form cliques.
The original meaning of "拉帮套" is to add an extra horse to a cart when the first horse can no longer pull it.
Later, "拉帮套" came to describe a distorted marriage custom.
For example, when the breadwinner of a family loses his ability to work due to an accident and is unable to take care of himself or support the family, they will ask his wife to find another man, usually a bachelor who cannot find a wife, to take care of supporting the original family.
The man she found to support her family was a "cheater".
The woman in this family had two husbands, and the children they had each took the surnames of their respective husbands.
This marriage custom, which clearly violates the "one husband, one wife" principle of the Marriage Law, still exists in remote and underdeveloped areas, and the local people consider it normal.
It was quite surprising that even in 1979, there were still people willingly forming cliques.
No wonder people view Scarface with prejudice, thinking he's blinded by greed and foolish.
With so much money to help Zhang Guihe's family, wouldn't it be better to stay and get a proper wife for yourself?
By then, your wife and children will be completely innocent and belong to your own family!
Many people have asked him this question, and now, He Chaochao couldn't help but ask it too.
They were all straightforward men, neither of them particularly proud or humiliated. He Chaochao felt it was too unfair to Scarface.
"If you can't find someone you like here, you can always look in other counties or cities!"
Scarface sighed, "Brother, you don't understand."
He couldn't describe the feeling. He wanted to leave, but he just couldn't let go of Mai Zi. He couldn't sleep when he thought of her sorrowful, smileless face and her back bent over by life.
Zhou Hongsong laboriously pulled out a cigarette from his pocket, lit it, took a puff, and exhaled a smoke ring. "That's it. If we leave Maizi alone, he won't be the Scarface I know!"
Li Xiangdong roughly knew what Scarface was thinking; it was probably a case of love arising without knowing its origin, and deepening over time.
"Scarface, how much more money do you need?"
Scarface was taken aback, but a secret joy welled up inside him in an instant, and he stretched out his fingers to carefully calculate.
"In the past two months, we sold five gazelles and earned 63 yuan. We also sold two sika deer, but they were a bit thin, for 108 yuan. The rest were wild rabbits and badgers, which we ate the meat of, and sold the pelts for 23 yuan."
"If we don't count the two roe deer we caught this time, we earned a total of 194 yuan from hunting. After deducting the cost of food, drink, and other necessities, the cost of bullets, and the money we gave to my older brother, I was left with 70 yuan."
The more Scarface did the accounting, the lower his voice became, and the more frustrated he felt.
Zhou Hongsong stubbed out his cigarette in the snow. "Didn't I say I didn't want my share? You can have it all!"
Scarface glanced at him, "You still owe Xiang Dong money..."
Zhou Hongsong coughed awkwardly, "That's between Xiang Dong and me, you don't need to worry about it!"
As he spoke, he looked at Li Xiangdong again, "Brother, I'll pay for the money later..."
Li Xiangdong interrupted him, "Stop, Fifth Brother, that money was given to Sister Hongmei by me, it has nothing to do with you. If anyone is to repay it, it should be Brother-in-law Jianjun."
He looked at Scarface seriously. "Scarface, how much money do you actually need?"
"Zhang Guihe went to the hospital for surgery, which will cost over two hundred yuan, and there's also over two hundred yuan in debt from before..."
Scarface encouraged himself, "In another two months, I'll almost have earned enough!"
"Can Zhang Guihe's back still wait?"
Scarface's half-inflated balloon deflated again. "I can't wait any longer..."
Li Xiangdong feigned ignorance and asked, "If he dies, wouldn't that be perfect for you and Sister Mai?"
Who knew that Scarface would refuse so firmly, "How can that be? Zhang Guihe broke his back while saving a child picking pine nuts. I, sigh, it's not that I haven't thought about just ignoring him and letting him die quickly, but, sigh, sigh, my conscience won't allow it!"
The fact that Scarface sighed several times in one sentence shows the inner turmoil he was going through, but in the end, his conscience prevailed.
Li Xiangdong immediately made a decision: "I'll cover the money you need, including Zhang Guihe's subsequent treatment costs!"
Scarface was first incredulous, then overjoyed at the realization of his premonition. He stared at Li Xiangdong with wide eyes, then suddenly began to shake his head. "No, no, your money didn't grow on trees. When the weather gets warmer, there will be more prey, and then..."
"Alright, enough nonsense. If you feel bad, then give me your share of the game we hunted this time!"
"This won't do..."
Seeing that Scarface was about to refuse, Zhou Hongsong gave him a push, "Alright, when you're better off in the future, you can pay Xiangdong back double. By the way, Xiangdong, I don't want my share either, you can have it too."
"Alright! I'm going to make a profit this time, let's hunt a lot more game!"
Li Xiangdong said excitedly.
"Then we don't want it either."
"I don't want it either."
He Chaochao and Li Guoqing said in unison that this was also to reduce the psychological burden on Daoba.
"Haha, okay, okay, but you can't stop hunting just because you don't have any prey!"
The matter was settled quickly amidst laughter and conversation, and Scarface's embarrassment and awkwardness were easily dispelled.
He bowed deeply to Li Xiangdong and said, "Xiangdong, I acknowledge you as my brother. I'll go through fire and water for you from now on, no questions asked!"
Then, turning to He Chaochao and Li Guoqing, he said, "Chao-ge, Guoqing, you two too!"
In an instant, the group felt closer and more harmonious, and the atmosphere became more relaxed.
After resting for half a day, the group continued on their way, especially Scarface, who couldn't wait to beat Li Xiangdong to a pulp.
Li Xiangdong glanced at Scarface, who was leading the way with an imposing air, and smiled slightly.
He is not that kind of person, but that doesn't mean he doesn't admire people like that.
Scarface is so loyal and righteous that he's almost pedantic, and so kind and generous that he's almost naive. But it's precisely this kind of person that Li Xiangdong admires so much.
A vast expanse of white snow, utterly silent.
Apart from them, it seemed that only the sound of the wind and the sound of falling snow remained in the world.
It seems all their luck on this trip came from finding those two silly roe deer that had died in the splits.
We've been walking for most of the day and haven't even seen a wild rabbit!
"I'm tired, I'm tired. Let's find a place to eat!"
Zhou Hongsong stopped at a spot where the snow had melted, revealing withered pine needles and fallen leaves. "It's warm here!"
"Wow, there's no snow here!"
The group took off their backpacks.
Just then, a yellowish color suddenly swept across the snow.
"Damn it, get the gun!"
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