Rebirth of Bayi Fishing and Hunting in the Northwest

When Chen Hongjun looked over, Li Long felt something was wrong. Although he was physically young, his mentality was actually quite old. He didn't have much desire to compete or show off. His truest thought was to make a fortune quietly.

But at the moment, Chen Hongjun didn't know whether it was because he was annoyed by this person or he felt that Li Long was his own and wanted to make him famous. Although he had seen the hint in Li Long's eyes, he still pointed at the bag in Li Long's hand and asked:

"Comrade Xiao Li, you also have Fritillaria in here, right?"

"Yes." Since Chen Hongjun had already said so, Li Long knew he couldn't deny it, so he simply admitted it generously, "I got it in the mountains a few days ago, and brought it here after it dried these two days."

"Then open your mouth and let this friend see your Fritillaria."

Last year, Li Long sold Fritillaria several times. In fact, not only Fritillaria, Li Long came to the purchasing place to sell things several times. Chen Hongjun saw the things that passed through his hands every time. He knew Li Long's mind. When he brought things to sell, they were all clean, except for things like deer antlers, which had no choice but to be of natural quality. For other things, they were mostly made clean, at least to make people feel good when they looked at them.

He turned to the man and said:

"This little brother is not the first time to sell me Fritillaria. If you look at his Fritillaria, you will know that I am not picking on you."

Li Long opened the bag, and a scent of Fritillaria medicine came out. The man vaguely guessed Chen Hongjun's thoughts and leaned over to look over.

From the time Li Long entered the room to the time Chen Hongjun spoke, the two of them didn't say anything in between. I also came here temporarily, so there should be no intentional acting for me.

So he also wanted to see what the comrade from the purchasing station meant when he randomly pointed to someone's mother-of-pearl and showed it to him. Could he have X-ray vision?
But when he saw it, his expression turned unhappy.

The Fritillaria in Li Long's bag were clean, with full grains, no mold, broken leaves, mud, etc. He was a little unconvinced and reached in to take a handful - the top layer of his Fritillaria bag was also clean, but Chen Hongjun was an experienced buyer, so he could tell what kind of stuff was underneath just by reaching in and touching it.

He thought Li Long was the same, but after digging it out, he found that the mother-of-pearl below was similar to the one above, and the grains below were even larger!
The man still couldn't believe it and reached under the bag again - no matter how clean the bag was, there should be some debris and dirt at the bottom of the bag, right?

However, when I dug all the way to the bottom of the bag, the Fritillaria I pulled out were all whole, without any broken pieces, dirt, or gravel.

This was obviously picked.

This is too much, isn’t it?
The man sighed, shook his head, and said to Li Long:

"Young man, you are too cruel, aren't you? We are digging for Fritillaria, so we shouldn't do this, right?"

Li Long smiled:

"If you make it this way, you'll get a high grade and a high price!"

The man thought about it and realized that this was the truth, so he said to Chen Hongjun:
"Comrade, you set the price for my goods. I'm convinced."

"Level 3, 37.5 yuan." Chen Hongjun said, "We have to screen it again after we collect it, which is quite troublesome."

"Okay, at your price." The man nodded.

Li Long was shocked by Chen Hongjun's offer.

Was the price of the first level last year the same? Is the price of the third level the same this year?
This price increase is quite fierce!
But he didn't say anything. After Chen Hongjun weighed the man, issued the invoice and paid him, and the man left, Li Long spoke:
"Old Chen, has the price of this medicinal material increased so much this year?"

"Yes." Chen Hongjun said with a smile, "Since the beginning of this year, pharmaceutical factories in the mainland have come to our place to buy medicinal materials. Our own pharmaceutical factories in Xinjiang are also buying them. They offer high prices, so the price we buy them at has to be raised. These Fritillarias are clean and pure, and they are definitely first-class. Do you know how much one kilogram of first-class Fritillarias costs?"

"How much? Over 40, right?"

"Yes, forty-five." Chen Hongjun said with a smile, "I heard that there are a lot of Fritillaria in the mountains this year. If you get more, you may be able to make half a million yuan in one Fritillaria season."

Not to mention, it’s really possible!

Chen Hongjun poured Li Long's Fritillaria into a basket and weighed it. This time, Li Long got more than seven kilograms of dried Fritillaria, which he sold for three hundred and twelve yuan. Considering that there are more than twenty kilograms of Fritillaria that can be dried at home, that's nearly one thousand yuan.

Who knows, this Fritillaria season, you can really earn half a million yuan - gross income.

"This skin... Damn it - you got another lynx skin?" Chen Hongjun was shocked when he saw Li Long spread out the skin. "Aren't you exaggerating a bit?"

Li Long was very proud of being able to scare Old Chen. He smiled and said:

"It was also a fluke. A friend told me that he saw a few elk in the mountains. When I went there with my gun to shoot, I found that this guy had bitten an elk calf and was then gored by a male elk. I chased after it and killed it."

"The leather is intact - not bad, this leather is very good! Although it is spring leather, the fur is intact, there are no rots or holes, and it has been well maintained... Are you going to sell it?"

"Well, there's no point in keeping it. It's more practical to sell it for money." Li Long said.

"If you really want to sell it, then I'll tell you something. The price of this skin has gone up. For example, I can give you one thousand yuan for this skin now. But I tell you, if you keep it for another two years, you might be able to sell it for one thousand five hundred yuan... Of course, you have to keep the skin well. For example, the snow leopard skin you sold last year was more than two thousand this year, and it might be three thousand next year."

"Well, I'd better sell it. I'm not very good at preserving leather."

"It's easy to preserve. Make a sanitary ball, wrap it with toilet paper and stuff it into leather to prevent insects. After wrapping the leather, take it out and dry it in the sun regularly." Chen Hongjun was quite clear about this.

"This deerskin is quite intact, but it's too small. It's 30 yuan. The price of leather has been rising since the beginning of spring. Winter leather may be more expensive, but this spring leather is as expensive as last year's winter leather."

The fur is good in winter, but in spring many animals shed their fur and the quality of their fur becomes poor.

Li Long waited for Chen Hongjun to issue the invoice, he signed it, and then collected the money.

Chen Hongjun got a thick stack of money, 1,342 yuan, and he was envious:
"Comrade Xiao Li, the money you've earned in this year is equivalent to my salary for ten years. If I were younger, I would follow you into the mountains."

"It still doesn't work." Li Long shook his head and said, "It cost me money to buy this Fritillaria. This lynx is also very powerful. Last year, it scratched me and left a big wound that was more than 20 centimeters long."

When he put the money away, he took out two pieces of spine from his pocket and handed them to Chen Hongjun:
"Old Chen, I heard from the people in the mountains that this lynx belongs to the cat family, and is a bit like a leopard or a tiger. Its bones can be soaked in wine to treat rheumatism and back and leg pain. You take these two pieces. Anyway, I'll share them with everyone now that I've got them."

"I didn't know it has such an effect." Chen Hongjun is knowledgeable, but he has never been involved in medicine. Even for medicinal herbs, he only knows the price and some common effects. The lynx bones are a bit biased.

"Well, that should be the case." Li Long said, "Okay, I'll go first."

After leaving the purchasing station, Li Long originally planned to save all the money, but then he thought that he would definitely need to buy some Fritillaria next time, so he only saved 500 yuan and put the rest in his bag in the courtyard, waiting to take it back to the mountains.

Then he went to the supply and marketing cooperative.

Li Xiangqian was not in the office. The guard said he was storing goods in the warehouse at the back, so Li Long went over to find him.

Seeing Li Xiangqian busy in the warehouse, Li Long did not disturb him and waited until he finished before walking over.

"You came at the right time. The task of carrying the leader has been assigned. Just like last year, the task must be completed before the end of May. One thousand pieces. Can you do it?"

"It's definitely no problem." Li Long smiled, "I'm just afraid there's no work. If there's work and money to be made, how can it not be done? Can you give me all 1,000 of them?"

"Well, I've got it all for you," Li Xiangqian said. "I believe you can finish it, but the quality must be the same as last year, or in other words, it can only be improved and not lower."

"That's fine." Li Long assured. "By the way, Chief, look at this." He took out a small cloth bag, which contained four lynx bones. "I hunted a lynx in the mountains, and I heard from the mountain people that the bones of this thing are similar to leopard bones. Although they are not as good as tiger bones, they can also cure rheumatism and back and leg pain when soaked in wine. I thought we should share some of it. You can take this and soak it yourself or give it to others."

"Hey, that's really good stuff." When Li Xiangqian heard that it was similar to leopard bones, he became excited. "Male or female? Did you sell the skin?"

"The skin is sold, the male one." Li Long said. "Well, I'll take the bones." Li Xiangqian nodded, "The purchase price I'll give you is eight yuan. It's higher this year, you can decide how to distribute it."

"Okay, I got it." Li Long was extremely happy. The price had increased by more than half. He had to give more to the people who worked in the village. Even so, he could still make a lot as a single worker.

After coming out of the supply and marketing cooperative, Li Long went to the big meat canteen to give Zhong Guoqiang two bones, then returned to the compound, drove the tractor to the food company to buy a lot of strong grain liquor, and then went to the team. After getting the tractor, the bicycle was only used occasionally in the county, just like those people who bought cars in later generations, even if they went out from home to the pharmacy outside the community to buy things, they would drive.

Too lazy to walk those few steps.

The rumbling sound of the tractor echoed in the team, and it soon arrived at Li's house.

At lunchtime, the Li family was very busy. Li Qingxia and his wife, Li Jianguo and his wife, and Chen Lirong and her two girls were all having lunch here.

Li Long was just in time for dinner. Liang Yuemei and Chen Lirong heard the sound of the tractor and both stood up. One served Li Long rice, and the other went to get him a small stool.

There were so many people, so the Li family ate outside. For lunch, they had noodles and fried meat. Li Xueping and Li Xueqin's mouths were full of vegetable juice. In more than two months, they had grown a lot and were obviously taller and fatter than when they came.

While eating in the yard, Li Long parked the tractor outside the yard, picked up the handle and carried the bag of bones into the yard.

"Come on, come on," Liang Yuemei served the noodles. When cooking noodles at home, the cook usually takes out all the noodles and puts them in a basin of water to rinse them so that they don't stick together. Those who like to eat hot noodles can rinse them in the soup, and those who like to eat cold noodles can directly serve them on the plate.

Liang Yuemei served Li Long a large plate of noodles. Chen Lirong asked him to sit on the table. Li Long waved his hand hastily:

"Second sister-in-law, I'll mix the vegetables and eat them on the side."

"It's on the table, why do you need to eat on the side?" Du Chunfang still felt sorry for her youngest son, and said as she ate. She had a small appetite, and the noodles in her bowl were less than one-fifth of Li Long's, and she ate them slowly - Liang Yuemei gave her wide noodles, which were easier to digest.

Li Long mixed the vegetables into the noodles, poured some vinegar, and started eating with the peeled garlic on the table.

"Uncle, I'm the one peeling the garlic!" Li Xueqin was sitting next to Li Long. She watched him take a bite of the garlic and suddenly said in a low voice.

Li Long was stunned for a moment, then smiled and praised:
"Okay, okay, peel it cleanly."

"Uncle, I peeled it too!" When Li Xueping heard Li Long praising his sister, she immediately raised her hand: "I peeled it too!"

"Good, good, good, you can all help with housework now, that's great! You two are awesome!"

After hearing Li Long's praise, the two little girls smiled happily, their eyes narrowed into crescents.

Du Chunfang watched from the side, wanting to say something, but in the end she didn't say anything and just curled her lips.

"Can you stay for two days this time?" Li Qingxia asked.

"I can't stay here," Li Long waved his hand. "I came back for two reasons. One is that I shot a lynx in the mountains. The people there said that soaking the bones in wine can cure rheumatism and back and leg pain. So I brought the bones back and bought some wine. Let's soak them. Sister-in-law, bring a few pieces from Uncle Liang as well. He knows Chinese medicine and should know what to do."

"Okay." Liang Yuemei was very happy. She was relieved that her brother-in-law often remembered his father's kindness.

"The second thing is to find the people to make the handles. The work has been received. This year there are more than last year, 1,000, and it is also more expensive than last year. I plan to give them four yuan for making a handle. It will be completed by the end of May. If there are still ten people, we have to decide on the people. It would be best if we can go into the mountains in the next two days."

"Four dollars for one?" Li Jianguo couldn't help but be tempted when he heard the high price, "Can you really give me four dollars? Then you still have money to earn?"

"Yes, you can make a lot of money." Li Long smiled.

"Then... I'll go too." Li Jianguo glanced at Liang Yuemei, who understood her husband's expression and nodded. Li Jianguo immediately made up his mind, "I'll also go as a porter. This money is earned by others and my family as well."

"You're going? Brother, what are you going to do there?"

"Your sister-in-law and your second sister-in-law can also help in the fields."

"Don't you still have me?" Li Qingxia was a little dissatisfied. His eldest son didn't even mention him, which made him lose face.

"What can you do? You catch fish all day long." Du Chunfang mercilessly exposed his past, "You haven't done any work since the beginning of spring."

"Should I water the back? Can I have my sister-in-law water it?"

"Hey, Xiaolong, you underestimate me." Liang Yuemei said with a smile, "I have done a lot of watering work in the team before. It earns more work points. I have even done it at night. If it doesn't work, call Wenyu over."

"That's useless. I can do the job, too." Chen Lirong interjected. Although she didn't sound powerful, one could tell she was determined.

"Brother, if that's the case, then just go. You can at least make a few hundred dollars a month by doing this." Since Li Jianguo had made the decision, Li Long didn't say anything else.

"Do you have enough people? If not, call Tietou's father, he is also an old hand." Li Jianguo said, "He has done the job of making up the gang, and it is no problem for him to make four or five a day."

"That's fine." One more or one less person really didn't matter to Li Long. If his elder brother asked him to do it, he would just go. "Brother, you must make it clear when you tell Brother Lu that we must improve the quality of this work. If the quality is not up to standard, we will have to send it back for re-assignment. I was able to do this job for two years because of the good quality."

"Don't worry, I will definitely tell him." Li Jianguo smiled.

"Don't just tell him, you should also be careful. Don't let others' stories be good while yours are bad. You will be embarrassed. Don't wait for Xiaolong to criticize you." Liang Yuemei said, "We don't want to lose that person!"

"Hey, what are you talking about? How can I be careless about this? This is definitely not just about making money. How can the work I give to Xiaolong be bad? Don't worry, even if I'm a little slow, I will definitely do a good job."

Li Long knew that this was his elder brother and sister-in-law's way of reassuring him, but it was obvious that his mother didn't notice it. When she heard his elder brother's sister-in-law talking about him, she was a little unhappy.

Dad actually heard it. Li Qingxia patted Du Chunfang gently. Li Long knew that he didn't need to think too much, because dad would definitely explain to mom later.

I live a very simple life, and that's the only way I can live long.

The matter was settled. After dinner, the tractor drove to the yard, the old wine was taken down, and the bones were spread out on the table. The Li family looked at them curiously. Li Long held up two pieces of spine and a leg bone and said:

"I'll take this to the team leader and tell him that the team won't get any money from the gang this year, but we have to make things clear first. I'll give the bones to Uncle Luo, and Xiaoxia's father will also have to give a share."

"It should be."

"Then you might as well wait until our family has finished brewing the wine and then bring it over directly." Li Jianguo said, "You have brought back so much wine anyway, why not just brew it before giving it to them."

"I thought about waiting for my sister-in-law to talk to Uncle Liang and see if he has a recipe and whether to add any ingredients." Li Long thought of his previous idea and said, "Then let's not worry about Uncle Luo and Uncle Gu for now. I'll take the captain's bone over first."

Li Long rode Li Jianguo's bicycle to Xu Chengjun's home, told him about the survival of the bearer, and then put the bones on the table and said:
"Captain, this is the bone of a lynx. It's the same as a leopard. Soaking the bone in wine can cure rheumatism and old age waist and leg pain. You should keep it and don't tell anyone else that I have it."

"Okay, okay." Xu Chengjun had just finished his meal. In fact, when he heard the sound of the tractor at noon, he guessed that Li Long had returned and that the porter should be removed from his post.

"Survived. Actually, they have discussed during the days when you were away that Old Huang will be the one to cook. Each person will do a task and pay Old Huang 20 cents. Each person will bring 10 kilograms of cornmeal, 2 kilograms of flour, and 1 kilogram of rice. We will gather together at the time. Old Huang will bring the cooking utensils. As for the rest, you can just ask Yundong."

Now that they have already discussed it, Li Long feels much more relaxed about this matter.

It’s better to worry less about the people in your own team. (End of this chapter)