Rebirth of Bayi Fishing and Hunting in the Northwest

After sending this man away, Li Long looked at the dried meat hanging on the rope and decided not to go out today and to tidy up the wooden house first.

The wind is strong in the mountains. Yushanjiang and his team took this into consideration when they built the wooden house and added a layer of mud to the outside of the wood. After living there for a few days, Li Long found that the mud was not thick enough to provide a good warmth-keeping effect, so he prepared to mix some mud and apply another layer, mainly on the west and north sides. The cold wind blew from those two directions.

Of course, if there is enough time, he also plans to reinforce other directions.

There is still some technical content in this matter. It is not as simple as a baby peeing and mud. You have to find good soil first. The humus soil on the surface of the spring is not so easy to use. It is not sticky and it is easy to fall off after drying. Moreover, it is black mud. It looks a bit like feces when applied, and Li Long doesn't like it either.

So it is necessary to dig off a layer on top and use the hard clay underneath. Of course, it would be better if you can find yellow clay, but unfortunately this requires luck. Li Long dug two pits near the spring and found no yellow clay, so he did not force it. He used ordinary black sand and hard soil, plus broken grass residues, to plaster the wall. But without a tile knife and a shovel, the wall might not be smooth.

Anyway, you live there yourself and no one cares about you, so you don’t need to worry too much about it.

Dig out the soil from the pit one shovel at a time, find a flat area near the wooden house to pile the soil, dig a hole in the middle of the pile, raise the surroundings, and then bring a few basins of water to pour into the hole, slowly wait for the water to soak the soil, sprinkle with grass foam, and start to make mud. At this time, use a shovel to turn the wet soil over, turn it over several times and it will become mud, and the grass foam mixed in it will act as bones and muscles. Now it is a physical job.

When my eldest brother was putting mud on the roof of his house, I saw those people working so enthusiastically and it was so lively. When I was building my own house, those people and the mud were also happy and full of laughter. Why is it that now that I am alone and the workload is less than one-tenth of what it was then, why is it so tiring?
While he was talking, a man came from the east and greeted Li Long from a distance:
"Boss Li, what are you busy with?"

Li Long put down the shovel in his hand, recognized the man as Sun Jiaqiang, and said:

"Mix some mud and plaster the wall. This wooden house is still a little drafty at night and not warm."

"It's already good, right?" Sun Jiaqiang, who was carrying a bag on his back, said, "If you say that, how can we, who live in a cave, survive?"

Li Long chuckled.

"You've got a lot of meat again. Where did you get it? You haven't been to the place I told you about yet, right?" Sun Jiaqiang asked, having already seen the dried meat hanging on the rope.

"Yesterday, when I went to the mountains to collect coal, I encountered a group of wolves besieging roe deer. I happened to have a gun with me, so I killed the wolf and picked up a roe deer." Li Long said, "I have to keep the meat. I can't eat it all in a short time, so I thought of drying it for easy preservation."

"You have such a good life." Sun Jiaqiang sighed, "You can eat meat easily, but I have been using condoms for two days and got nothing."

After saying this, he glanced at the incomplete pile of coal that Li Long had covered with branches, and sighed again:

"There are treasures everywhere in this mountain. Can the coal area you mentioned be mined in the open air? Wow, this is an open-pit coal mine!"

"Yes. It's just far away. Otherwise, you can carry some back. Why don't you carry a few from here?" Li Long kindly suggested. Sun Jiaqiang was able to help him catch the thief. The bruises on his face have not completely disappeared. This person is not bad and worth making friends with.

"No, no. There's wood everywhere in the mountains, and it's too much trouble to carry that. I dug some Fritillaria yesterday and came to exchange some things with you. I wanted to exchange for some snacks, but I'll just exchange for some meat."

He put the bag down and opened it for Li Long to see, his tone somewhat smug:
"Look, I brought these all for you. I picked and washed them before bringing them. Are they clean?"

Li Long leaned over to take a look and found that it was indeed very clean.

He weighed it and said:
"You can get five or six kilograms. You can dig this much in two days this season. By the end of April or May, you can get seven or eight kilograms a day, right?"

"No, no, how is that possible?" Sun Jiaqiang waved his hands modestly, but there was still a hint of pride in his tone, "If we can get three to five kilograms a day, it's a lot. If we dry half a kilogram, we can sell it for ten yuan."

"Then you have to save it." Li Long said, "It's a loss to exchange it for snacks. Don't you have to save money to go back and marry a wife?"

"I don't want to think too much. I feel more comfortable here than in my hometown. I don't even want to go back. If I'm not caught after I finish the work on Fritillaria, I'll find a job outside the mountain. It's easy to make money here. I'll see what happens next."

This person lives a free and easy life.

"You can choose the meat yourself." Five or six kilograms of fresh Fritillaria could be exchanged for a sheep, so Li Long let him choose whatever he wanted.

"Do you have any wolf teeth? Can you give me one? How about half a kilogram of this mother-of-pearl in exchange for a wolf tooth?" Sun Jiaqiang heard from somewhere that wolf teeth can ward off evil spirits, so he knew that Li Long had got a wolf, so he asked this question.

"I'll give you one." Li Long took out a wolf tooth from his pocket and handed it over. This wolf tooth had never been polished and was grayish white.

"Thank you so much. If you can't mix the mud like this, why don't you take off your shoes and step on it?" Sun Jiaqiang took the wolf tooth and looked at it for a while. He couldn't let it go. Seeing Li Long continue to mix the mud, he couldn't help but say.

"I dare not step on it, for fear of something pricking my feet." Li Long was telling the truth.

When I was young in my previous life, I went to play in the fish pond and took off my shoes. Then a thin wire got stuck under my foot. It was stuck quite deep. When I tried to pull it out, I was so nervous that I couldn’t pull it out for a long time. It was really painful.

From then on, whenever Li Long went to work in the water, he would never put his feet in a dangerous position, even if he was stepping on mud.

"Hey, you're so squeamish." Sun Jiaqiang asked Li Long to move aside. He took off his shoes and was about to go up. Li Long waved his hand hastily:

"No, no, no, after you change your things, just go about your business. It's more important for you to make money. I have nothing to do here, so take your time."

"What are you talking about? You've been nice to me, but how can I walk when there's work to do? Come on, watch me." Sun Jiaqiang threw off his shoes and stepped directly into the mud, saying as he stepped:

"See? If you step on it more like this, you can break up the hard soil that has not been soaked by water. Then the mud will be easier to use. When you apply it to the wall, there will be no big lumps and it will be smooth."

Well, Li Long had nothing to say. Then he looked down and saw Sun Jiaqiang's shoes, which were already in tatters.

Thinking about the several pairs of yellow rubber shoes I brought with me in the cabin, I asked:

"Old Sun, how big are your feet?"

"Four Zero, what? Are you going to get me a pair of shoes?"

"I bought a few pairs of yellow rubber shoes from the county department store. I'll give you one pair."

"You still have rubber shoes? Boss Li, you are so dishonest! How come I didn't see such a good thing before?" When Sun Jiaqiang heard about the yellow rubber shoes, he immediately became excited and complained, "Quick, quick, bring them here, I don't want meat anymore, I want a pair of shoes! My mother made these shoes, cloth shoes with thousand-layer soles, but these shoes are comfortable to wear at home, but they are really uncomfortable in the mountains. They can't dry when they get wet, and my feet are all rotten!"

Listening to his complaints, Li Long smiled, went to the cabin and took out a pair of yellow rubber shoes, placed them next to the mud pile, and said:

"This piece of meat should be exchanged. If you help me with the work today, I will give you these shoes as a gift."

"That won't work. It's not easy to get it from outside the mountain." Sun Jiaqiang was also very honest, "The cost should be charged."

"Okay, okay, don't be polite, come and wash your feet and try on the shoes first. I have socks here, you can change into them together."

"No, no, no, just try the shoes on." Sun Jiaqiang hesitated for a moment, but still couldn't resist the temptation of the new shoes. He went to the spring to wash his feet, came over to sit on the wooden floor, wiped his feet with clothes, and happily put on the new shoes.

The laces of his new yellow rubber shoes were not tied properly. He tried them on, stepped carefully on the ground, and said:

“That’s just right!”

"Then wear it." Li Long said with a smile, "This is indeed more convenient in the mountains."

"It's more than just more convenient!" Sun Jiaqiang was very dissatisfied with Li Long's statement, "There is simply nothing better than this. It doesn't get wet even in the morning dew, and it doesn't worry about getting hurt when it hits hard branches. These big-toed shoes in winter and yellow rubber shoes in summer are the best stuff!"

He took off his shoes and started to tie his shoelaces. After he was done, he put them aside and also put the socks that Li Long gave him aside. He quickly ran to the mud pile and started to step on it again, very hard.

Li Long thought, you don’t know that in a few years, when hiking shoes come out, they will be useful in the mountains. Now these yellow rubber shoes will not even be worthy of carrying shoes for others.

Of course, yellow rubber shoes are really good stuff for ordinary people going into the mountains. He stepped on the mud, and Li Long went to get grass foam and find tools.

Two people working together are faster than one person. While Li Long was getting his tools ready, Sun Jiaqiang had already trod on the mud. After a short break, they started working again. This pile of mud was barely enough to cover two walls.

"Aren't you going to apply the paint on the two sides? Let's continue in the afternoon?" Sun Jiaqiang was still eager to work, so Li Long waved his hand:

"No, no, no, after lunch, just go and do your own thing." Li Long didn't want Sun Jiaqiang to work here all the time. He was not Tao Daqiang and couldn't delay others' way of making money.

"Okay, what's for lunch?"

"How about cutting up yesterday's braised heart, liver, lungs, intestines and stomach into a plate," Li Long said, "and stir-frying a plate of wild celery and steaming some rice?"

"Do you have steamed buns? I'm not used to eating rice." Sun Jiaqiang waved his hand, "You steam your rice, just give me a steamed bun."

"Okay, then I won't steam the rice. I'll steam the buns." Li Long readily agreed. "Go wash them and I'll make the rice."

"I'll help. I'm most familiar with building a fire." Sun Jiaqiang didn't want to eat plain rice. After putting on his new shoes, he happily ran to get firewood and build a fire.

Li Long thought it was good to have such a companion in the mountains, but he still had to keep him from working and making money. He could make money by doing nothing, but this one was different, he was taking risks.

Li Long went to the spring to find some wild celery. This thing looks relatively ordinary, similar to the kind of celery grown at home (not celery or hairy celery), but taller. There is also a kind of weed that looks very similar to this thing, which is a poisonous weed. Some people can't tell the difference and are easily poisoned.

After getting the wild celery, Li Long started cutting vegetables and braised meat on the table outside, while he steamed buns on the stove inside.

Sun Jiaqiang said as he lit the fire in the stove outside:
"Boss Li, I met a guy digging for Fritillaria yesterday. I told him that you can exchange things here, but he didn't believe me. He said it was impossible for such a good thing to happen. He said you must be from the forestry team and are here to catch us."

"It seems that there are a lot of people in the mountains collecting Fritillaria this year." Li Long did not answer this question, and he didn't need to answer it. If that were the case, Sun Jiaqiang would have been in jail by now.

"Yes, there are quite a lot. I have met several of them in the past few days. Many people come from Kou Lie. They can't find good jobs or they are afraid of being caught, so they go into the mountains." Sun Jiaqiang started the fire. One of the two stoves was used to boil water, and the other was used to prepare food. Seeing Li Long cut the intestines into a plate, he came over and picked up a piece to taste, then showed a satisfied expression:

“Meat is still delicious.”

of course!
Young people have big appetites. Both of them started with two steamed buns. The large plate of braised food was not enough for them, so Li Long cut another plate temporarily. There was some fried wild celery left.

After eating, neither of them moved. There was too much food in their stomachs and it was too tiring to stand up.

The radio was playing Mr. Yuan Kuocheng's storytelling of "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", and Li Long was fascinated by it. The old gentlemen's skills in telling this story were really extraordinary, and it was fascinating and made one feel as if they were there.

"Let's go." After a while, Sun Jiaqiang stood up and walked eastward:

"I can't stay here any longer. If I stay any longer, I'll feel like I'm not living a human life."

"Take the bag and put some meat in it." Li Long hurriedly stood up and handed him a bag to put the dried meat in. "And some braised meat for you?"

"No, no, this meal is already a lot...how about filling up your stomach a little?" Sun Jiaqiang finally couldn't resist the temptation of meat and left with the dried meat and braised offal.

Li Long started to clean up the dishes. After finishing, he rested for a while and prepared to go to the back to dig the toilet pit.

He planned to build the toilet with wood as thick as his arm, just like the wood used to build a raft, by putting wood of similar thickness together and nailing it down, clamping the upper and lower parts with wood, tying or nailing them together. There were no bricks here, and it was difficult to make adobe, so this was more convenient.

In fact, many people think that it is unnecessary to build toilets in the mountains. After all, the place is large and there are not many people. You can go to the toilet anywhere. But in Li Long's opinion, toilets are also a symbol of civilization. Of course, this is a big deal. In a small way, in a while, poisonous insects, snakes, ants and so on will come out, so it is better to find a clean and safe place to go to the toilet.

Halimu told him that at least two of his horses had been bitten by snakes over the years, and even more sheep had been bitten. Most of the snakes in the mountains are poisonous, and if you get bitten, you basically die - or in other words, horses are usually bitten on the legs, and horses sleep standing up, not lying down, so once the legs are injured, the horse is basically useless.

After digging the pit, he cleared the grass around it and leveled it. He laid wooden boards on the top of the pit, which was more convenient to step on. In order to make it more stable, he also shoveled away some of the soil under the wood, which was equivalent to embedding the wood into the soil, making it more solid and not shaking when he stepped on it when squatting.

There are not enough wood strips here. Li Long plans to cut some branches while driving the tractor to pull coal tomorrow and the day after tomorrow after the dried meat outside is ready, so that he can build a toilet.

After finishing all this, Li Long returned to the front of the wooden house with a shovel. After putting down the shovel, he returned to the small room and spread out the mother-of-pearls.

There were too many Fritillarias and they could no longer fit in the small room, so Li Long took some of them out and spread them out on the wooden floor outside to dry.

Sun Jiaqiang carried the bag of meat and walked happily back to his dugout wearing brand new yellow rubber shoes.

He did not throw away the cloth shoes with thousand-layer soles made by his mother, because he could find tools to sew them and wear them again. He hid the meat in the bag and put it away, then took the cloth shoes with thousand-layer soles to the stream to wash them. Since there was no brush, he found a small wooden stick to clean the mud on the soles, and then rubbed the shoes slowly in the water with his hands.

Some of his clothes were torn, and since he could get shoes from Li Long, he wondered if he could ask Li Long to get him a set of clothes next time. He had worn this set of clothes for a long time, and although he could wash them during the day when the weather was fine, he didn't dare to wash them too often. If this set of clothes couldn't dry, he would be the one to suffer.

When the shoes were almost clean, he placed them beside the dugout to dry. Then he packed his things into a bag and went to the nearby ditch to dig for Fritillaria.

Although he was laughing and didn't want to leave Li Long, Sun Jiaqiang was still very clear about what he should do in the mountains.

Only by digging more Fritillaria can he exchange money to make his life better. He now has some security because he has been recognized by Bolati and can exchange things with Li Long. There is basically no problem with safety and supplies, which is much better than other Fritillaria diggers.

Sun Jiaqiang entered a ditch and dug up a dozen Fritillaria thunbergii when he heard someone calling him:
"Hey, fellow, you're a little late today."

He looked up at the man whose clothes were more tattered than his, whose hair was longer than his, and whose beard had grown a lot, and said:

"I'm going to change my shoes."

"Change shoes?" The man was stunned for a moment, "You exchanged the shoes for mother-of-pearl? What kind of shoes?"

"Look, those yellow rubber shoes." Sun Jiaqiang proudly showed the man how he kicked.

The man came over with the bag and saw the shoes on Sun Jiaqiang's feet. He was stunned for a moment, then said with envy:

"Can it really be changed? You didn't lie to me?"

"Haha." Sun Jiaqiang didn't want to waste any more words. The day before, he said that Fritillaria could be exchanged for supplies, but this guy didn't believe it, so he stopped talking.

"I not only changed my shoes, but also some meat." Sun Jiaqiang said with a smile, "The braised meat is delicious."

He thought to himself, I envy you so much!

The man licked his lips and asked doubtfully:
"It's not the flesh of something dead, is it?"

"He's eating it himself, how could it be the meat of a dead thing?" Sun Jiaqiang retorted, "I just had lunch with that guy at noon. Okay, let's stop talking. Go dig the Fritillaria too. You're not interested anyway."

The man was about ten meters away from Sun Jiaqiang. He hesitated at this time, and finally couldn't help but said:

"Can you... give me your shoes in exchange? Those shoes only cost a few dollars outside, and I'll give you a kilogram of Fritillaria?"

"Get out." Sun Jiaqiang was angry. "If you say such nonsense again, I will beat you." Sun Jiaqiang had been eating well and nutritiously these days. Although he had never beaten that man before and there were bruises on his face, he could still beat the skinny and small man in front of him.

The man was startled, and seeing that Sun Jiaqiang's expression was genuine, he had no choice but to leave grumbling. (End of this chapter)