Rebirth of Bayi Fishing and Hunting in the Northwest

After sending away the two men with bags on their backs, Li Long's eyes showed a bit of solemnity. He felt that these two men were not simple.

It’s not that we can directly judge these two people as bad guys, but it’s mainly because these two people give people the feeling that they are a little too harmonious.

There was a man with a shrewd look, as if he could see through people's hearts. When Li Long's expression changed, he seemed to be able to guess what Li Long wanted to do.

If such a person were placed in the future and worked as a secretary or assistant, he would definitely be able to help the boss get things done.

Although the other man was not as tall as Li Long, he looked strong and powerful, with coordinated steps. He looked like a martial artist. Even if he was not, he must have been someone who fought or exercised frequently.

It was equivalent to a combination of one scholar and one warrior. There must be some special reasons for such a person to go to the mountains to beg for food. Otherwise, he could have gotten along well in Wucheng and Shicheng.

Li Long was holding a Type 56 semi-automatic rifle at hand, with the safety on and the bullet loaded.

The strong man just now glanced at the gun several times, with envy or jealousy in his eyes.

This guy wants this gun.

Li Long originally suspected that these two people were the ones who injured Hamiti, but when he saw the man looking at the gun, he felt that it was not the case. Hamiti had a gun, and if this man was the one who injured him, he would probably take Hamiti's gun away, right?
But no matter what, you have to be careful when you stay here. Otherwise, you might be the next Hamiti.

Li Long washed the Fritillaria he had collected, hung them up to dry, and then waited quietly.

It was already afternoon. In another hour or two, when the Fritillaria and dried meat outside could be collected, he could go to Xiaobaiyanggou to collect the harvest.

The two men left with their belongings and walked into the forest. The strong man suddenly spoke:

"Boss, I want that gun."

"Why didn't you take the gun of that traitor when you injured him the day before yesterday?" Lin Xiaohu, who was called the boss, frowned and asked, "This person... is still useful if we keep him."

"If we take the gun wrapped around the head, the forestry team won't give up. They might search the mountain, and then we'll be in trouble."

"You want a gun... you have to wait. This guy is useful. We can exchange some of his supplies from time to time. Otherwise, we will be wild men in the mountains in less than half a month. We are not sure whether we can find those things in half a month. I think it is not too late to take action when we are ready to leave."

"Is it okay to touch this person?" asked the strong man He Yiku.

"This person must have some connections, otherwise he wouldn't have set up such an exchange point in the mountains. But it's not clear how big the connection is. If the connection was strong, he could have come to rob like the other forestry teams. But he didn't do that, so his background shouldn't be very strong. If he did, he might have some influence, but it wouldn't be a big one."

"Then let's kill him and take the things away. We will also drive away and hide the tractor. This way, no one will be able to find him for a while and won't discover anything. Anyway, we are in the mountains and no one can tell where he is..." There was a ruthless look in He Yiku's eyes.

"Don't be impulsive." Lin Xiaohu waved his hand, "Let's find the target first. If I'm wrong, he disappears and is being watched, and we won't be able to stay in this mountainous area. If we find something, we can do something else. We can just do it once and leave. Even if we are tracked down, we will have already gone far away by then."

"Okay." Although He Yi wanted to get the gun as soon as possible, he also knew that what Lin Xiaohu said was the most important thing. Of course, he wanted to get the gun not just for fun, because there were some ferocious beasts in the forest, and he couldn't beat them. It would be safer to have a gun.

Li Long didn't know that the two men had set their sights on him, but he felt that he should be more careful outside. After basking in the sun for a while, he felt that his energy had been restored, so he began to clean his gun. Although this 56 semi-automatic rifle was second-hand, it was honest and reliable, sturdy and durable, and it felt much more reliable than a small-caliber and double-barreled sand gun.

In the afternoon, another person came to sell Fritillaria for money. This time it was a man, older, in his fifties, and not very strong. Even so, Li Long still carefully checked the Fritillaria and paid for it. This bag of Fritillaria was dug these two days, and it is quite fresh, weighing about 11 or 12 kilograms. It can be seen that Fritillaria have begun to be produced on a large scale. The amount of Fritillaria collected today is enough to dry out 10 kilograms of dried Fritillaria, which is a good harvest.

Not knowing what was going on with the bearers, Li Long looked up at the sky and saw that the sun had already set a lot, so he began to pack up. The blankets were very hot and there was a smell on them, and he didn't know if it was the smell of the mites being burnt or the sun.

After laying out the bedding, Li Long collected the half-dried Fritillaria on the wooden floor and put them into the basket in the small room. After two more days of drying, they will be almost completely dry. The Fritillaria are not very big after drying, but this is the authentic wild Fritillaria.

The Fritillaria on the table outside were also put into the basin and will be dried tomorrow. The dried meat on the rope is almost dry at this moment, and it emits a fragrance mixed with an inexplicable smell.

Li Long tore off a small piece and put it into his mouth and chewed it slowly. Hmm, it was not as delicious as braised ones.

After putting the meat in the small room and locking the door, Li Long drove the tractor with a gun on his back and headed towards Xiaobaiyanggou.

In Xiaobaiyanggou, Xie Yundong, Wei Zhonghua and others who had just arrived were digging a cave. Old Huang was already preparing dinner. In fact, at home, people still eat two meals a day, but they still have to eat enough when they go out to work. Even if the third meal is thinner, at least there must be something to eat, otherwise they will be hungry at night.

"If I had known, I would have followed Xiaolong here a day earlier." Wei Zhonghua looked at the several porters piled up next to the Xu brothers with envy on his face.

He felt that he had been here last year and was familiar with the place, and he came a day late because he had some things to clean up at home. He didn't expect to be late that night.

They all already knew that this year's porters cost four yuan each, so the four porters in front of Xu Feihu cost sixteen yuan!
It’s equivalent to half a month’s salary for those workers!

Although I only earn this much money a year, it’s so easy to take it!
As he thought this, he dug the hole faster.

After Xie Yundong arranged everything, he also began to clean up the dugout where he lived. Because Li Jianguo and Lu Yingming dug their own dugouts, even though the Sun family occupied one, the dugout was still sufficient. It was just that the entrance had collapsed a bit over the past year, and there was a lot of dirt and debris inside that needed to be cleaned up.

After taking some effort to finish this, Lao Huang had already made the pancakes and was preparing to cook cornmeal porridge.

He took advantage of the time between meals to cut some poles and strips, planning to weave a few handles himself. However, he had never made them before, and the first one was a bit of a failure. Old Huang was not discouraged, anyway, there were enough materials in the mountains, so he continued to get materials and picked some straw mushrooms.

Because he was responsible for the meals of these people, Lao Huang was very cautious about the mushrooms he picked. He would not pick any other mushrooms except straw mushrooms for fear of poisoning.

I fried a lot of mushrooms and meat at noon, so I just heated up the leftovers and ate them in the evening.

When Li Long came over, Old Huang was already preparing to invite people to dinner.

Everyone who came here brought their own rice bowl, and Lao Huang was responsible for serving them rice. People like Li Jianguo who brought two rice bowls could have one bowl of vegetables and one bowl of porridge, but people like Wei Zhonghua who brought only one bowl could only eat rice first and then drink porridge.

"Oh, the meal is ready, Brother Huang, is there a portion for me?" Li Long asked with a smile after getting off the tractor.

"Of course there is." Old Huang grinned. He stewed all the meat that Li Long brought yesterday. Although there was not much oil, there was diced meat, which was a good thing. With this meat, he could make everyone eat comfortably for a month. With meat for every meal, who would dare to say that the food was not good?
The cooking oil was also provided by Li Long. Everyone brought a lot of rice and flour. Besides, even if there was not enough later, could Li Long just watch everyone starve?
Old Huang is very clear about whose food he is eating.

Li Long came with a rice bowl, he just wanted to have a dinner. Old Huang gave him special care, ordered more dishes and put two pancakes for him. Li Long took the rice bowl to greet Xie Yundong and others, then came to Li Jianguo and asked with a smile:

"Brother, how many did you make up today?"

"Six." Li Jianguo had enough materials stored before, and he spent the whole day editing them. Six handles meant twenty-four yuan, and he was very satisfied and proud.

"Brother Lu, what about you?"

"A little more than five. I can't compare to your elder brother." Lu Yingming took a bite of the pancake and said with a smile, "His hands are faster."

Sun Jiaqiang was also sitting here eating. When he heard Li Long's question, he said:

"Boss Li, is this handle of yours for public use?"

"Yeah. Why, you want to make one too? I think you should just focus on digging your Fritillaria." Li Long smiled, "This is a technical job." "That's true. I saw the two big brothers making one, and it's not something you can learn just by looking at it." Sun Jiaqiang said while biting a pancake:
"What is this thing used for?"

"In government agencies, they are used to carry coal, garbage, and snow in winter," Li Long explained. "Schools also use them."

"This... won't last for a few years, right? I can't expect you to use this all the time, right?"

"Of course, three years at most," Li Long said. "After three years, this job will no longer exist. By then, I guess all government agencies will have their own trolleys."

He was thinking that it was almost May, and he wondered if the Kuitun Agricultural Machinery Factory had produced a harvester yet? Could they also cooperate in making a wheelbarrow? But after thinking about it, he decided not to do so. The technology content of that thing was too low, and unless it was made into a large scale, the price would not be reduced, and it would soon be beaten by the big factories.

Sun Jiaqiang was familiar with Li Jianguo and Lu Yingming who arrived earlier. Although he was younger, he was very outgoing and could talk about anything, so the two of them didn't dislike him.

After Li Long finished eating, he went to the stream to rinse the rice bowl. Xie Yundong came over with the lunch box and said to Li Long:

"Xiaolong, after dinner, tell everyone about it."

"Okay." Li Long nodded. Since everyone was present, he made the rules clear, thus avoiding trouble like what happened to Xu Jianjun last year.

Xie Yundong went to notify them one by one. Some people had not finished eating yet, so they were not focused for a while. After Sun Jiaqiang put away his lunch box, he came over with a small bag of Fritillaria he had dug today, and a broken deer antler in his hand.

"We have an unexpected harvest today?" Li Long said with a smile, "This stub of antler is quite fresh."

"I just picked it up because it looked like new. Can I sell it for two cents?"

"Well, it looks like this year's new horn, a little more expensive than the Fritillaria."

"I'll give you one. There are not as many Fritillaria as yesterday, about three or four kilograms."

After digging every day, Sun Jiaqiang also knew the approximate amount of Fritillaria he had.

There was more than one kilogram of deer antlers, plus four kilograms of Fritillaria, and Li Long gave Sun Jiaqiang seventeen yuan.

Sun Jiaqiang poured the Fritillaria into Li Long's bag, folded his own bag and took it back. These blind migrants dug in the mountains, everything is very expensive, including this urea bag.

Xie Yundong had already gathered the people together. Li Long went over and said:

"Everyone, please find a place to sit. Today everyone is here, so I will explain the rules. Those who came last year will know something about it. Those who didn't come last year can listen together."

He first found a rock and sat down. Others also sat down separately, and some took out Mohe cigarettes and smoked opium.

"This forest is under the management of the forestry team. They often come here on horseback to patrol. On the surface, they have a reason to check whatever we do. But I have already opened a note at the supply and marketing cooperative, and the forestry team also recognizes it. So as long as we form a group here and don't cause forest fires or do other things, there will usually be no problem."

This sets the tone, and everyone listens and thinks it’s okay, and they all relax.

"What I want to say is that I am worried that you might do other things. Last year, Xu Jianjun came here and felt that it was too tiring to be a porter, so he went to steal Fritillaria. He was caught by the forestry team, who not only beat him up, but also deprived him of food for a day. In the end, I had to use my identity as a supply and marketing cooperative to bring him back. It was such a disgrace.

What I want to tell you is that even though the guy over there is making money digging Fritillaria, he has connections and knows people from the forestry team. Even if they see him, he won’t be caught. So don’t even think about it. If anyone secretly goes to dig Fritillaria and gets caught this year, don’t expect me to go and pick him up. I can’t afford to lose face.”

Once these words were spoken, those who had originally had some ideas basically gave up on them.

"Also, there are many mushrooms in this mountain, some are edible and some are poisonous. We brought things with us, so try to eat what we brought. Even if we pick mushrooms, we should pick straw mushrooms like Brother Huang did today, and leave the others alone. Some poisonous mushrooms look very similar to edible ones, and if we really get everyone down, no one can take the responsibility."

Everyone believes this point. Life is the most important thing. How can you make money without life?

"And the most important thing is, we are here to make handles. Everyone who came here last year knows that I have strict requirements. If the handles are not of good quality, I will send them back. From now on, I will come to collect the handles every afternoon. After weaving, I will check them. If they are qualified, I will take them away. If they are not qualified, they will either be reworked or remade. I just told others that I want to do this job of making handles for a few more years. I don't want to mess it up because of quality issues. I can earn several months' salary of a worker in one month. I think you must want to work for a few more years. If you want to make money, you have to produce good things, right?"

After hearing this, everyone started laughing.

"Okay," Li Long stood up. "I'm going to stop carrying the weapons now. Brother Yundong, come over and give me a hand. The others should come over and take a look as well. The main thing is to see where the parts are not up to standard so that we can be careful when we start editing later. Otherwise, we will have to redo the editing later, which is a waste of time and effort and trouble."

After he said this, Xie Yundong followed Li Long and the others also gathered around.

The outermost one was Xu Feihu's. He had arranged three handles today. Li Long took a look and found one was a bit loose, so he beat it back.

"Reweave this section and make it more solid. The handle is used to carry coal in the government office. If it's a little loose, the coal won't be held down and will leak out, which will be bad for your reputation."

After the inspection, Li Long asked Xu Feihu to put the two porters on the car. He took out a notebook to write it down and asked Xu Feihu to sign his name.

Xu Feihu felt a little embarrassed when his position was pointed out to be problematic, but when Li Long asked him to sign, he became happy again.

Although I was a little frustrated on the first day, I was still very happy when I got the eight dollars.

The second one was Xu Dejun, he also compiled three, and like Xu Feihu, one of them had a problem.

"Germans, the length of the middle of the handle should be one meter. Your distance is not enough. Take the edges apart and add more tomorrow." Li Long said, "Shave the edges of the handle more cleanly so that people won't get hurt when they lift it."

By also registering two for Xu Dejun, Xu Feihu felt more balanced.

The next one was Tao Jianshe’s. He had braided three and a half handles today and was planning to finish the remaining half later.

What surprised Li Long was that all three of Tao Jianshe's handles were up to standard. They were long enough, tight in the middle, and the handles were shaved very smoothly.

Register, sign, and then it was Jia Weidong's turn. He only compiled two today, but both passed.

It seems that most people listened to what Li Long said.

Li Jianguo and the ones from yesterday had a total of nine, and Lu Yingming had eight. The two of them suddenly had more than 30 yuan in their accounts, which was equivalent to a month's salary for an apprentice, making others envious.

In fact, Li Long was planning to pay his eldest brother the full amount, so it would be a bit inhumane to deduct any money from him.

Put all the handles on the car, Li Long said:
"Don't work too late at night. Get some rest. It's best to go out in groups of two or three to cut strips tomorrow. There are wolves and bears in this forest. It's very dangerous. Don't let the wild animals grab you or you'll get caught. That would be bad."

Xie Yundong and others said they understood, and Li Long drove the tractor towards the wooden house.

The sun had already set and the sunset was slowly fading away. Although Li Long wanted to return to the cabin immediately, he did not dare to run all the way. After all, there was a handle in the truck bed, and it would be troublesome if it got shaken apart.

By the time they reached the cabin, it was already dark. He was not going to unload the truck today, so he would wait until tomorrow. (End of this chapter)