Rebirth of Bayi Fishing and Hunting in the Northwest

In the Li family yard, Tao Daqiang and Li Qingxia were picking up the nets. If it was Li Long, he would call Li Qingxia "uncle", but if it was Li Jianguo, he would have to call him "master", so forget it, he would just follow Li Long's lead.

"Uncle Li, I think we should catch some fish and sell them in Shicheng?"

"Hey, I was thinking about that!" Li Qingxia actually had the same idea. When he heard what Tao Daqiang said, he immediately agreed, "It can't be sold at a high price in the county, and it's hard to sell."

This morning they took more than 30 kilograms of fish and went to the county together to sell the fish. They arrived at the market before the sun came out.

As a result, more than 30 kilograms of fish were not sold out by noon, so I had to go back. The price of fish is still fluctuating. In the summer, many people catch fish, and a kilogram only costs 70 or 80 cents. Even for this, some people are still picky.

The main reason is that the market in Ma County is too small to accommodate so many fish.

Shicheng, only Shicheng market can accommodate so many fish, and the price should not be low.

They had all followed Li Long to Shicheng and knew that the prices there were high, sales were fast, and the customers were not so picky.

"It's just a long way." Tao Daqiang said, "Uncle Li, it's more than 20 kilometers, you see..."

"It's only more than 20 kilometers, or about 50 li. When I was young, I had to walk dozens of li to sell ginger. Now I have bicycles, so what's there to be afraid of?" Li Qingxia is now very confident and in good health. "Let's catch the fish in the morning, add some water to urea bags, and carry them all the way to Shicheng to sell. Even if some of them die, the fish are still fresh, which is much better than selling them in the county."

"Okay, let's go to Shicheng tomorrow." Tao Daqiang is going to have a child, and he is more eager to make money. With a child, there are more places to spend money. Although it is easier to raise a child now, it depends on how you raise him.

The job is still until the end of the month, so I need to earn more money for now, at least to pay for the money my wife spent at the hospital when she gave birth. Tao Daqiang doesn't know how much he needs, he just knows to earn as much as he can. He can't just give birth at home like his mother did when she gave birth to him, right?
The two reached an agreement. After the nets were collected, Tao Daqiang went home for dinner and agreed to go fishing together in the afternoon. They planned to cast more nets this time. Li Long had more than a dozen nets anyway, so they might as well cast all of them. There were many people casting nets in the small lake at the moment. There were four or five families who caught fish and sold them in the county. The catch was not as much as before. They cast more nets and caught more fish, otherwise it would not be worth going to Shicheng.

In the Shicheng Market, Chen Xingbang was shouting in front of his stall. Occasionally, someone would come over and ask about the price of mutton. Among four or five people asking the price, one would decide to cut some meat to eat.

Currently, I can sell almost one sheep a day, but I can earn a dozen yuan here and there.

He was not in a hurry either. It was basically confirmed that within this market range, more people ate meat than mutton. Many people felt that mutton still had a smell and was not as fat as meat, so it was not satisfying enough.

But mutton is cheap, and those who want to eat some meat but don’t have enough money can only buy mutton by weight.

He was quite good at cutting meat. He could cut the mutton cleanly without leaving any meat on the sheepskin. He would leave some meat on the bones, after all, no one wanted to gnaw on the bones dry.

According to the market price, bone-in lamb costs RMB 1.20 per kilogram, mutton costs RMB 1.35 per kilogram, and sheep heads, hooves, and internal organs also have different prices.

A sheep can be sold for a small amount of money, about 20 or 30 yuan.

He planned to sell two more sheep and then go to a nearby village to buy two pigs to sell. After buying the pigs, he estimated that he could make 40 to 50 yuan from slaughtering each one, at least.

Just then an old woman came up with a wicker basket on her arm and asked:

"Young man, how do you sell this mutton?"

"Meat is $1.35 per kilogram, and bone-in meat and ribs are $1.20 per kilogram."

"Can you make it cheaper? I don't think your mutton is fat. Isn't it delicious?" The old lady was quite shrewd and good at bargaining. When Chen Xingbang was selling meat before, people would either leave immediately after asking or ask how much it cost. Now that he met someone who was picky, he was naturally unhappy and said with a smile:

"Aunt, you are wrong. I brought this sheep from the mountains. The sheep there are different from the ones raised in our yard. You know, in the mountains to the south, there grow Codonopsis and Fritillaria, which are all good things. People can't eat them, so they eat them. Can you imagine how good the meat is?
Let me tell you, the sheep on the mountain will be moved to Laoli soon. You won’t be able to eat such good mutton in the next six months. If you want to eat it, you have to wait until autumn. I asked someone to bring it from the mountain. There are only about ten sheep in total. Once they are sold, there will be no more. You won’t be able to eat it even if you want to.”

He used the words that Li Long had told them to fool the old lady, and the old lady asked doubtfully:

"Is it really that good?"

"That's right! Let me tell you, all the leaders in the county and city eat this meat. Years ago, the sugar factories and other units bought mutton from the mountains as welfare. Why? Isn't it because they eat Chinese herbal medicine and drink mountain spring water, which are better than what we eat? How can the meat be bad? You decide which piece you want, and I'll cut it for you!"

"Give me one...two kilograms of spareribs, and weigh me two kilograms of meat, and the scale should be high."

"No problem!" Chen Xingbang felt that his words were quite effective. Judging from the aunt's posture, she should have weighed only one or two kilograms of meat at most, but this time she had made a big investment.

The old lady took out a handkerchief from her pocket, opened it, and took out a wad of money. There were a few big unity notes, but more were one-yuan, two-yuan, and one-cent and two-cent notes. There were also quite a few fractional notes, which were quite thick.

After paying, Chen Xingbang had already cut and weighed the meat and showed the scale to the old lady. The old lady saw that the scale was indeed high and was very satisfied.

"My boy, I'll eat some meat when I get back, and I'll come again."

Chen Xingbang said with a smile:
"Don't worry, auntie, this meat is absolutely fine. I eat it at home, but I can't bear to eat too much. This meat is very nutritious."

The old lady left with her basket, satisfied, and Chen Xingbang continued to wait for the next customer. After a while, another old lady came over, this time carrying a cloth bag, and it seemed that she was heading straight for the meat stall.

Chen Xingbang immediately became excited. Is this a returning customer? He doesn't look like he's looking for trouble, but he seems to have never seen him before?

"Young man, are you selling mutton from the mountains?"

"Yes, these are sheep that are raised on authentic Chinese medicinal herbs grown in the mountains," Chen Xingbang said loudly as his mind moved. "They run in the mountains every day and are raised on Codonopsis and Fritillaria. They must be good mutton!"

"Then give me two kilograms of meat, two kilograms of spareribs. Do you have any lamb kidneys?"

"Yes, these two are still here."

"Give it to me too." The old lady was quite aggressive and didn't care about other people's eyes at all. "Let's weigh it one piece. By the way, how much is it?"

Asking the price now? This guy seems to be rich. Chen Xingbang has no intention of raising the price. He directly quotes:
"Pure meat is 1.35 yuan per kilogram, and spare ribs are 1.2 yuan..."

"Weigh it."

Chen Xingbang weighed it right away. His knife was quite accurate. He cut two kilograms and one hundred grams of meat and two kilograms of ribs. He looked at the old lady and praised her:
"Young man, you have a very accurate hand. If the meat is to taste good, I will come back to weigh it later."

Several people came over and asked if it was mountain mutton. Chen Xingbang realized that the old lady must have bought the meat and told her friends about it, so they all came. So the mutton stall was closed half a day earlier, and the meat of a whole sheep was sold out before lunch.

Chen Xingbang thought that if this was the case, then why bother with pigs? He could just get sheep.

Unfortunately, there weren't that many sheep, and I didn't have a tractor or a horse-drawn carriage, only a cart, so I could only collect them from nearby. If that didn't work, I had to call Li Long and ask him to bring a tractor over to pull a cart of sheep for me, or to help me get a pig.

There was still time in the afternoon, but Chen Xingbang didn't dare to slaughter any more sheep. If he couldn't sell them in the afternoon, they would not be fresh tomorrow.

He processed the sheepskins of the sheep that he slaughtered in the past two days, and planned to sell them at a purchasing station after they were done, which would also be a source of income.

Li Long's store received two orders. After Sun Jiaqiang finished eating the meat, he took away two bones, half a stomach, a piece of intestines and other things he wanted. Then the place became quiet.

Li Long rested for a while, then simmered the cut meat, and then took out the bones and internal organs from the pot, preparing to make them into dried meat after they were dry and ready to eat.

Although it is cool here in the morning and evening, the sun is hot enough at noon, so it should be okay. After finishing these things, Li Long smeared salt on the roe deer skin and nailed it to the wall outside the wooden house. Then he packed up and headed southwest with his gun on his back.

He vaguely remembered that he seemed to have made an agreement with a person who was digging for Fritillaria. If the other party wanted to exchange something, he should go over there. A few days had passed, and he didn't know whether the person had dug anything.

He also wanted to go over and see if there were any new traces of wild boars in the area where they had been seen last time.

The commissary is a side job, and hunting is also a side job. The commissary takes time, but hunting depends on luck.

When Li Long arrived at that place, it was already an hour later. This place was relatively flat, and it was easy to tell what was going on. There were definitely no wild boars at this time. After eating here in the morning, the wild boars ran into the ravine early.

There was a lot of wild boar feces on the grass. It seemed that wild boars had been here many times. Some of the feces were still soft. Li Long was sure that there were indeed wild boars doing this every day.

It's a pity that I didn't bring a trap. Otherwise, if I can't handle a big wild boar, I can catch a small one.

He looked around again and didn't see anyone, so he left with his gun on his back, feeling a little disappointed.

Just after he left for a while, someone came down from the eastern hillside and looked around. He was a little disappointed when he saw no one. But when he saw the wild boar dung that had been stepped on, he immediately became energetic.

Is there really someone coming?
There were no horseshoe prints nearby, so it wasn't from the forestry team. This person felt that it was most likely the person who reminded him!
So, where did he go and will he come back?
The man was carrying a bag of Fritillaria in his hand, intending to exchange for something else. He just passed by Li Long, and he felt a little regretful.

Finally, the man carefully identified on the grass, and then followed Li Longlai's footprints.

Li Long did not give up when he went back. He had already made the decision when he was sure that there were wild boars coming here. He might not be able to guard the wild boars tomorrow, so he planned to go back with tools and dig a hole, just like last year, to see if he could get a few wild boars to raise!
He returned to the cabin, came out with his tools, looked around, and saw no other people. It seemed that the store needed to close temporarily.

Li Long carried a gun and a shovel, and a bag filled with corn kernels. If you want to trap a wild boar, how can you do it without investing some money?

Li Long walked more than a kilometer carrying his things when he saw a man walking slowly towards him with a bag on his back. He stopped.

The man also noticed Li Long and stopped. When he saw clearly that it was Li Long, he felt relieved.

"Are you collecting Fritillaria?" the man shouted, his voice a little hoarse.

"Collect it." Li Long looked for a while and recognized that this was the man he almost shot. He and he had agreed to go to the west. So, was he coming from that side?

"I want to exchange for something to eat." The man was really hungry. "Is there anything to eat? Do you have any food in your bag?"

"Corn. I'm going to set traps for wild boars. How many Fritillaria do you have? Do you want to exchange them all for food? I have some other things here, would you like to exchange them for some?"

"What?" Hearing that there was something else, the man immediately became excited. "I have collected six or seven kilograms of Fritillaria, some of which are already half-dried. What do you think you can exchange for?"

"If you have a pot, I can exchange some rice and flour for you. Your six kilograms are worth about twenty yuan, which can be exchanged for thirty or forty kilograms of rice and flour. I have wine, sesame cakes, and daily necessities, such as ropes, sickles, etc. It depends on what you need."

"I want to exchange rice and flour. Is there anything that can be eaten now?"

"Yes, but you have to come with me. And do you want some of the meat I cooked today?"

"Yes." The man's mouth almost watered when he heard that there was cooked meat. He only knew how to dig Fritillaria, and he didn't know anything else. He dug Fritillaria these days, but there was nothing else. He was starving.

Li Long pointed to the way he came and said:
"Then come with me and get the things first. I'll come back later to set up the trap to catch the wild boar."

The man followed Li Long and walked towards the wooden house. When he saw the tractor, he was also surprised. Why are you still staying in the mountains when you have a tractor? Aren't you going out to work and earn money?

Li Long ignored the man's expression. He put down the shovel and bag, opened the door, found an enamel basin, put two pieces of meat bones in it, took it out and handed it to the man: "Eat it."

"Hey hey!" The man took the bowl hurriedly, and started eating without even washing his hands.

Li Long walked to the cabin, opened the door, and asked:

"What else do you need?"

This person also saw that Li Long had no intention of deceiving him. To be honest, it was not worth it for his little bit of Fritillaria. So he glanced at it and said:
"Give me a bottle of wine. Do you have any matches? I've been freezing for two days."

"Yes, but be careful when you light it, don't start a fire." Li Long took out a few boxes of matches and a bottle of wine. He poured the loose wine into a beer bottle after he got it, so it was easy to carry.

"Give me some more sesame cakes, and some rice and flour. Don't you have cornmeal?"

"No." Li Long waved his hand. "Eat more fine grains in the mountains and be good to yourself, otherwise it will be troublesome if you get sick. By the way, I have some medicine here, aspirin and analgin, do you want any?"

"Yes, yes, yes." The man's voice was unclear, mainly because the meat was too fragrant. He didn't even think about talking anymore, he just wanted to eat the meat as quickly as possible. It has been a long time, or even in this life, I haven't eaten meat like this. I envy Li Long so much!
Of course, if you have a gun, you might be able to get some meat in the mountains. Isn't the purpose of digging Fritillaria in the mountains to eat good food and live a good life?
Suddenly remembering what Li Long said about trapping wild boars, he stopped eating meat and asked:

"Boss, you're going to trap a wild boar later. Do you want to dig a hole?"

"Yes."

"Then can I go and work? I don't ask for much, just get a wild boar and give me a leg."

"You can just use the Fritillaria to exchange it." Li Long pointed to the house and said, "After you exchange these things, you still have money left, so you can exchange it for some meat."

"I don't have a pot." The man smiled bitterly.

"I can get you a pot, but it's an old one, and it's not convenient for you to carry it with you. Do you want to use a bigger basin? A basin will do, too."

There are steel pots in the department store, but Li Long didn't take any. He thought he could bring some of these over next time, maybe someone would want them - forget it, it's not like he's really opening a convenience store, so do he really want to turn this place into a grocery store?
"Why not just buy cooked meat from you?" The man was also annoyed. "How much meat do you have left? Can I exchange these Fritillaria for two bones or other meat?"

"I still have two pieces of meat, some offal, heart, liver, lungs, stomach and intestines. Do you want to eat them?"

"Eat it." The man smiled, "Those are delicious. I'll exchange some."

So Li Long packed the man with some meat and offal, and gave him a sickle and shovel, a roll of rope, and other necessary things.

Six or seven kilograms of Fritillaria was not a small amount, and Li Long could earn more than ten yuan by reselling it, which was not a small amount. Then he also knew that the man was called Hou Guoliang, and he said that he would come to exchange things after a while.

Li Long didn't take this to heart. After all, to be honest, they all knew that these people dug Fritillaria for money. Exchanging things was only temporary, and they had to save the Fritillaria. Li Long also told him that if he wanted to exchange money, he could also exchange money for them.

Hou Guoliang didn't plan to ask for money for the time being, saying that he would ask for it later. It was not the peak production period for Fritillaria at the moment, so some supplies had to be stored. When the peak production period for Fritillaria came, these people could dig several kilograms of Fritillaria a day. They were definitely going to exchange those Fritillaria for money, so they would not sell them so easily.

After all this trouble, the sun moved further west. Li Long thought about it and decided to dig a pit there. Whether it was to exchange meat for Fritillaria or for food at home, a few wild boars were needed, of course mainly small wild boars. They were good to raise because they had strong disease resistance and were easy to raise. Moreover, the meat was delicious when killed, so we couldn't give it up.

Carrying a shovel and a bag, and carrying a gun, he continued to head southwest. (End of this chapter)