Rebirth of Bayi Fishing and Hunting in the Northwest

At midnight, in Xiaobaiyanggou, in front of the fire in front of the dugout, the sleepless young people listened to Li Jianguo telling stories from the past.

"…At that time, Usman led those bandits to northern Xinjiang, eastern Xinjiang, and later to Qinghai and Gansu. Anyway, those bandits did not do good things. At the beginning, they rebelled against Sheng Shicai. Later, when they became powerful, they started to rob. Whenever they went to a place, they would rob all the money and food... It's almost like they did all kinds of evil."

"Have they robbed our place?" Xu Feihu asked, showing great interest in this.

"Robbery. It seems like we fought a battle with Sheng Shicai's army here. When he was powerful, there were many people, thousands of bandits, all riding horses. They robbed a lot of things and killed a lot of people..."

"What about the things we stole? Did we spend them all?"

"I don't know. The food may have been eaten. As for the money, some of it was used to buy weapons and recruit people from the Soviet Union and the United States. It is said that when our Xinjiang was peacefully liberated, he was asked to surrender but he refused. At that time, a special envoy of the United States and a veteran spy had someone among his bandits. I guess that's where the money went."

"I heard that he was also responsible for destroying the city. Is that true?" Wei Zhonghua asked as he sat beside the fire.

“No, no.” Li Jianguo has been to many units, read many books, and personally experienced the Yita incident. He is very familiar with the history of northern Xinjiang. He said: “Pochengzi was destroyed at least before the Qing Dynasty. At that time, there was no Usman, so it had nothing to do with him. He robbed money and food, and at most burned a village or something, not a city.”

"Hey, Uncle Li, what if some of the treasures he robbed were hidden in this mountain and then found by someone later? Is this possible?"

"Of course there are! Bandits, if they can't defeat the regular army, they will have to run to the mountains." Li Jianguo didn't say anything, Lu Yingming said, "Maybe there are things left by the bandits near us."

"It would be great if we could meet them. If we could get a bunch of them, what would the point of working be? We could just go to Wucheng, buy a house, get a city hukou, and then live a life of luxury!" Xu Feihu's eyes were full of fantasies.

Li Jianguo smiled but said nothing. He remembered that the things Li Long had taken back seemed to be obtained from this mountain.

Although I have some guesses as to whether it was those bandits, I am not very sure.

"You? Even if you came across it, would you recognize it? Who knows what the rust has become of that thing from decades ago? It is said that there is jade in this mountain, but I don't know if it is real or fake." The speaker was Xu Dejun.

They looked at Li Jianguo together.

"There really is jade." Li Jianguo nodded. "The county annals of Ma County say that during the Qing Dynasty, the Ma River was a golden jade base, which means there were gold sand mines and jade in the river. This Jade Mountain was washed down from the Tianshan Mountain. Xiaolong's friend gave him a piece of jasper last year. But most of the jasper from the Ma River has black spots and is not very valuable."

Li Jianguo didn't want to bring disaster to Li Long, so he blurred this part. After hearing this, others could also think that the jade Li Long got was not valuable.

In fact, it is true that the jade found in the mountains is not very valuable, just like the jade that Li Long brought those three people into the mountains to hunt. That one is very ordinary.

"We are still too remote. If we were inland, there would be more valuable things in the land." Tao Jianshe said, "The old cities and old tombs in my hometown, those things will be exposed over time. We have a vast land and a sparse population. There were no famous cities in the past, and there are no good things."

This point was agreed by everyone.

The fire gradually died down, the moon rose, and Li Jianguo said:

"Okay, pack up and go to bed. Tomorrow morning, we need to get up early to cut the strips and weave the ropes. Earning money is the real thing."

"Yes, yes, yes." Xie Yundong agreed, "Those things are just for reference. What you earn from making up stories is the real thing."

Everyone dispersed, each went to their own dugout, pulled out their quilts and went to sleep.

During the day when there is sunshine, they will hang the quilts outside or spread them on the grass to dry in the sun, and cover them with the quilts at night to keep warm. After all, it is still damp in the cave now. Although there is hay underneath, the temperature difference between morning and warm is large, and it is quite uncomfortable when the moisture comes back.

In another ravine, in a cave, Lin Xiaofeng and He Yiku were sleeping head to head, with grass under them. Their blankets were very new. He Yiku couldn't sleep, so he asked:
"Boss, do you think we can find that location?"

"The map should be real, but it's a little too casually hand-drawn. I'll check the shape of the mountain tomorrow. I think we can still find it. There are several points on it. As long as we find one of them and confirm it, we will know the rest. The source of this map is fine, and I think the content should be fine too."

"Hopefully, all hope depends on this."

"I gave away all my family fortune in exchange for this picture. I think it must be real. As long as we can dig out the things in the picture, our future life will be better!"

There was a wolf howling outside. It was nearby. He Yiku looked at the stone cave blocked by a simple door made of branches and said angrily:
"Once we are sure and have found those things, I will go get the gun. None of these wolves will survive! They hang around here every day, maybe they want to treat us as a snack."

"Hehehe, don't act rashly for now, lest you alert the enemy. I think we should have gotten the hang of it in the past two days, and we should have preliminary results tomorrow or the day after tomorrow."

Everyone has their own thoughts throughout the night.

At dawn the next day, Lin Xiaohu and He Yiku got up. They cooked some porridge on a simple stove, put out the fire, covered the entrance of the cave, and walked into the mountain with their tools.

Lin Xiaohu would climb up the ridge from time to time and take out a piece of old yellow paper to look at it, compare it with the terrain, and then slowly find the rock where Li Long had dug something out last year.

"Found it! This should be it!" Lin Xiaohu was very excited. "Yi Ku, come on, let's move this stone!"

Lin Yi looked around and said:
"Boss, you keep an eye on the situation. I'll do the job."

He Yiku was very strong and quickly lifted up the piece of stone, revealing some messy things underneath.

"It looks like someone has touched it." Lin Xiaohu came over and squatted down to look at it carefully. Although there were still some things underneath, most of them were copper and not very valuable. Some cloth and other things were rotten.

"All the good stuff was taken away?" He Yiku was very disappointed. "If I knew who took it, I would kill him!"

"Don't be so angry." Lin Xiaohu said with a smile, "As long as we find the point, it means that this map is indeed real. Although the things at this point have been taken away, this is not the most important hiding place. There are several more locations. Let's look for it slowly. As long as we find the largest one, we won't have to worry about the rest of our lives!"

Lin Xiaohu looked down on these things and said:
"Put the stones back in a pile and bury them. Let's go!"

They quickly left the area.

Li Long slept in today, and when he got up, he saw that the sun was about to come out. He opened the door to let out the foul air in the room, went to the toilet at the back to flush the water, and then came over to set up the stove and cook.

After breakfast, seeing that the sun had just risen and the dew had not yet dried, I took down the handles from the tractor one by one and placed them next to the house, so that it would be convenient for me to pull the tractor again today.

There was enough space next to the wooden house to place the porters, but he planned to pull them down the mountain once he had collected a hundred of them. After all, the warehouse in the backyard of the supply and marketing cooperative was big enough to store them.

When the dew dried, he took out the Fritillaria and put it in the sun, and hung the dried meat again. Although he couldn't stay away, for fear that the person who brought the Fritillaria would not be able to find him, Li Long was not idle, and walked around on the grass nearby with a gun. In late April, morels had not yet come out, but there were already a lot of straw mushrooms. It would be good to pick more of these mushrooms and dry them to eat in winter.

The whole morning passed, and no one came to exchange the Fritillaria for other things or money. This made Li Long a little confused. Did someone dig it up and bring it down the mountain yesterday, or did someone else go around the mountain collecting Fritillaria like him, and they sold it to other people?
Of course, this thought only flashed through his mind and was unlikely. There were too many Fritillaria in this mountain, and Li Long guessed that the Fritillaria diggers were planning to collect a batch and then send them over.

Since no one had brought Fritillaria, he started to clean up the house. The Fritillaria that the two people brought yesterday were already half dried. Li Long picked out the dirt from them and dried them all afternoon. He dried them for another day today and Li Long felt that they were almost done. These Fritillaria were a little dirty, and because they were half dried, they were hard to wash, so he simply sat next to the Fritillaria and picked out the dirt.

Last time, Chen Hongjun showed it to others and said that his Fritillaria was clean and of high quality. Now that the brand has been established, it cannot be destroyed. So there is no other way, just pick it.

By noon, Li Long thought it was almost done and went to cook.

The mushrooms picked in the morning can be broken apart and dried on the grass. They are big and can be easily found in the grass. However, this is not the case with Fritillaria.

Li Long also used a pole as a drying ground and put some mushrooms on it to dry, which was also pretty good.

Since I'm free anyway, I have to find something to do.

As for the rice for lunch, he guessed that Lao Huang would make pancakes or steamed buns for the people in Xiaobaiyanggou at night, so he could just eat rice at noon. The remaining rice would be put in the house and fried with the eggs he brought tomorrow morning. When he was cooking, someone came over, which surprised Li Long.

"Boss, are you exchanging Fritillaria for something?" The man was about fifty years old and sounded like he was from Gansu Province. He was not tall, a little hunched, very thin, carrying a bag on his back and holding a stick in his hand.

"Change it." Li Long said while cooking, "How many Fritillaria do you have? What do you plan to exchange for?"

"Can I get a meal in exchange? I haven't had a full meal in days."

"Okay." Li Long didn't choose. "How many Fritillaria do you have? What else do you plan to exchange for?"

"Clothes, shoes, rice, flour, quilts, I want to exchange everything, but I don't have enough Fritillaria. I dug about seven or eight kilograms yesterday and today." said the man.

"Wait for me to serve this dish." This time it was wild celery and meat. Li Long served the dish and pushed the Fritillaria on the table to make room for the dish. "Open it so I can see how the Fritillaria looks."

The man opened his pocket and let Li Long look inside.

"You're leaning on the handle over there. How can you tell if you're weighing it this way?" Li Long said, "No, wait a minute. I'll weigh it for you."

The old man's shoes were torn, his clothes were tattered, and his face had several cuts. He must have suffered a lot.

Li Long went into the house and took out the scale to weigh him. It was 6.9 kilograms, and Li Long calculated it to be 7 kilograms for him.

"You still have wine here?" The door of Li Long's small room was not closed, and the old man saw the cage filled with wine inside.

"Yes, there is loose wine."

"Then can you give me a cage of loose liquor? I like to drink a little at night. I haven't had a drink in a few days."

"Yes, but I think it would be better for you to exchange more food." Li Long advised kindly.

"Okay, okay, let's change them all."

Since the old man couldn't carry it, Li Long gave him half a bag of noodles, a pair of shoes, a set of work clothes, a basket of wine, and an enamel basin, filled with rice and covered with vegetables.

Originally, Li Long wanted to let the old man eat here, but he refused and said he wanted to go back.

I don’t know if there are other people in the mountains.

So Li Long finally gave him another five dollars, saying it was the rest. He didn't dare to give the old man more things, for fear that he couldn't carry it.

Well, life is not easy.

The fritillarias that fell on the handles surprised Li Long. They were the cleanest fritillarias he had ever collected. There were almost no leaves and very little dirt.

There is almost no need to wash them, just dry them directly. The old man may be slow in digging medicinal herbs, but he is very meticulous.

Li Long felt a little regretful. He should have given the old man more money next time.

After lunch, Li Long habitually took out the quilt to dry in the sun. It was really comfortable to sleep on the quilt that had been dried in the sun at night. While the quilt was drying, Bolati came over.

Li Long was a little surprised that Bolati didn't bring Fritillaria this time.

After greeting, Bolati dismounted and said to Li Long:

"Our forestry team has informed us that there are wanted criminals in the mountains in the east, from Beiting, and they told us to be careful when patrolling the mountains. Everyone in our forestry team knows about it, so I came here to tell you. I have already told the people in your team, including your eldest brother, that they are fine because they have more people, so you should be careful too."

"Could it be the person who injured Hamiti?"

"No. There were two people who injured Hamiti, and the wanted criminal is one person. He is very fierce. In short, if you meet someone coming alone, be careful. You have a gun. If something bad happens, take out your gun first and shoot. The most important thing is to save your own life."

Li Long was a little surprised that Bolati could say this. He smiled and said, "Don't worry about this. I cherish my life very much. If anything happens, I will definitely save my life first."

"That's good. I haven't received the Fritillaria these two days. I'll send it to you when I receive it."

Bolati really just came to give a notice, and then left. Li Long dried the quilt and took the gun when he entered the house.

If someone is wanted, there is a high probability that he is extremely vicious, so you really have to be careful, otherwise if you really run into him, you will be the one who suffers.

He also knew that in the mountains, the target of those vagrants was actually small, because a person could easily hide in the forest and was not easy to find. On the contrary, he had a wooden house, which made him a big target. The house could not be moved, and there were things inside, which was equivalent to tying him up.

But it also has its benefits, otherwise there would be no way to set up such a "store" in the mountains to exchange things with various parties. Every exchange would add to his income. Although it is not much, compared with the income of the gang leader, it is very little, but a little adds up. He will not miss these.

Moreover, he knew that there were many valuable things in the mountains, not just Fritillaria. These drifters might be able to find some good things, and they might keep them or exchange them for things they needed.

Just like now.

"If this thing were in the past, it would be worth some money if it was good, but now, I think it can be exchanged for a few kilograms of rice." Li Long casually fiddled with the things brought by the tall and thin blind man in front of him.

He already knew the other person's origins from just a few words. He came from the mainland and heard that digging Fritillaria could make money quickly, so he went into the mountains. Unfortunately, although he knew Fritillaria, he was not good at digging Fritillaria. Others only needed to dig Fritillaria with a shovel, but he had to dig and search for a long time. Others dug several kilograms a day, but he could not dig even one kilogram a day. He had eaten all the dry food and was starving. When he met other blind migrants and heard that there was food to be exchanged here, he hurried over to get some food first.

Li Long held a round bronze mirror in his hand. He didn't know what era it was from. Anyway, the whole surface was covered with green rust. Fortunately, the rust seemed to be only on the surface. The whole thing was relatively intact. There were patterns on the north side, which seemed to be birds and animals. There was also a button.

"Let's exchange them. I found them in that ditch." Before Li Long could continue, the man said, "In the stream. I was drinking water. I saw them in the cracks of the rocks by the water. What can I exchange these Fritillaria for? Is there anything ready to eat? I'm starving!"

Li Long exchanged some sesame cakes and egg cakes for him, and also gave him some rice. He also wanted to exchange for shoes and sugar cubes. It seemed that he liked sweet food very much, and he also wanted some money.

"That's not enough." Li Long waved his hand. "Your little Fritillaria is only worth the price of this kilogram of sesame cakes and egg cakes. The rest is exchanged for this thing. I gave you a lot. Besides, why do you want money in the mountains?"

"I don't want to do this anymore. I'll make some money and find a new job or rely on relatives." The man said frankly, "I found that I can't make a living like this, so I might as well find another way out..."

He hesitated for a moment, took something out of his waistband and said:
"How much can you get for this?"

This is a yellow piece, quite heavy and pressing. One end is square and the other end is round, with a hole as big as a soybean on the round end. Li Long looked carefully and found words written on it, but they were not Chinese characters, and they did not look like the current Uyghur or Kazakh language. They were written vertically and could not be understood.

"It's made of copper, right? Worth seven or eight dollars?" Li Long weighed it and asked, "Where did you get it from?"

"I picked it up there too. I also found some rusty hemp coins and pieces of rags." The man said, "Can this one be sold for seven or eight dollars?"

"Ah."

"What about the other four?" The man took out three more from his waistband. "Can they be exchanged for more than 30 yuan?" His face lit up. "You said it, you can't go back on your word!"

Li Long was a little dumbfounded. What was this? Wholesale? Could it be imported from Yiwu?
He somewhat regretted the price he had offered earlier. (End of this chapter)