Rebirth of Bayi Fishing and Hunting in the Northwest

After leaving the purchasing station, Li Long returned to the compound and drove the tractor to go shopping.
Li Long himself estimated that during the next period of the Fritillaria season, most of those who dig Fritillaria will make money as their main goal.

The nearly two thousand yuan I had on me could be exchanged for six hundred kilograms of fresh Fritillaria, or almost one hundred kilograms of dried Fritillaria.

At present, in Nanshan’s own sphere of influence, he can receive an average of more than 100 kilograms of Fritillaria every day, and the money can last for about five days - he also needs to buy some supplies.

At about the same time, five days later, the number of people carrying the banners had reached over five hundred.

He drove the tractor to the department store while thinking. The daily supplies needed here are mainly salt, sugar, sesame cakes and other dry food. There are still a few pairs of rubber shoes left in the wooden house, so there is no need to purchase them for the time being. Li Long bought five razors, but he didn't know if he could sell them in the future.

But it doesn't matter. If I can't sell it, I'll take it to Xiaobaiyanggou. My brother and his friends will definitely need it. The work cloth clothes are no longer needed. Almost all of those who dig for Fritillaria have changed their clothes. The remaining ones are very frugal and don't need to be changed.

At the department store, Li Long bought a black bag, which contained matches, a lighter, a bag of salt, a bag of sugar, a kilogram of sesame cakes, and a knife. He planned to give these things to Liu Shanmin, after all, this person had helped him a lot during the two days he stayed in the wooden house. He also stuffed ten yuan into the bag as a favor.

After buying these things, Li Long went to the market and bought a few bags of rice and corn flour. He vaguely remembered that a migrant worker told him that there was no need to buy so much rice and flour, because everyone had been poor and came here to make money, not to enjoy themselves. Corn flour was fine.

Well, fulfill their wish.

I also need to buy some eggs, as I always want to eat better. I also bought some leeks, onions and garlic from Li Long, who was selling them. Then I went to the winery of the food company to buy some loose wine. Forget about the bottled wine, there is still some left in the wooden house, so I'll give it to Sun Jiaqiang. I guess no one will want to drink the rest.

Originally, Li Long wanted to talk to Li Xiangqian about the matter of pulling up the boss, but Li Xiangqian was not in the supply and marketing cooperative, so the matter was dropped.

He went to the oil depot, filled up the tractor with gas, bought two 25-liter jugs of diesel, and drove into the mountains.

This time, because Liu Shanmin was leaving, Li Long did not stay long. Fortunately, he planned to go down the mountain in two days, so he did not meet Gu Xiaoxia. She should know that she should go back when she saw the roe deer.

The tractor was still chugging along the road at high speed, and Li Long calmed down. He still felt a little sorry for Liu Shanmin's departure, but it was also expected. He had something to do, and it was obvious that he was not an ordinary person, so he could not be kept. Being able to stay here for a few days was already a good relationship.

After crossing the Qingshui River and heading into the mountains, Li Long saw two people walking forward in a red willow forest. After hearing the sound of the tractor, they quickly hid behind the red willows.

Li Long guessed that the two men might be digging for Fritillaria, and he didn't know whether they had just entered the mountain or had sold Fritillaria and returned. He didn't care, and didn't slow down, and just drove forward.

By the time wood arrives, the sun has already moved to the west.

Liu Shanmin was drying the Fritillaria in front of the cabin. His sleeping quilt was drying on the grass.

"Are you back? You ran very fast this time." Liu Shanmin said with a smile.

"No big deal, just sent Fritillaria down and bought some things." Li Long said, "Have you eaten lunch?"

"Not yet. No appetite."

"Nonsense." Li Long didn't believe him. "I'm hungry. Put the food down and I'll cook."

Liu Shanmin also knew that his cooking was not tasty, so he smiled and said:

"I'll move the stuff, you go do it."

Li Long didn't say anything. Food and other things were quite heavy, and he had no intention of exploiting Liu Shanmin, a lightly injured soldier.

He took the black bag from the truck bed and handed it over:

"Here, this is for you. Help me for a few days, I won't let you work for nothing."

"This..." Liu Shanmin felt a little embarrassed. He felt that if this was the case, he would owe Li Long even more.

"Put it away quickly and stop talking like a sissy." Li Long stuffed the black bag into Liu Shanmin's arms and started to unload the things.

After unloading the things, Li Long put a few pieces of coal into the furnace in the house, and then put a pot on the stove to boil water to prepare to cook rice. The stove outside was boiling water, and Li Long took out one of the pots to prepare cooking.

He has already thought of the dishes. He can stir-fry the newly bought leeks and eggs. Now he will go to the grass to find some straw mushrooms and stir-fry the mushrooms and meat. Only two dishes will be enough.

Li Long first picked the leeks, washed them at the spring, and cut them for later use. Without beating the eggs, he ran to the nearby grass and picked up half a kilogram of fresh and tender mushrooms that had just opened their caps.

The straw mushrooms are different from the reed mushrooms near Team 4. When the reed mushrooms are fresh and tender underground, they do not open their caps. Once they open their caps, they feel old, just like the round mushrooms. The straw mushrooms open their caps when they grow out. When insects eat them, they are mature and old.

Rinse the wild mushrooms in the spring, then take them to the chopping board without cutting them. Tear them into small pieces and put them on a plate for later use, then go to the cabin to get the meat.

The water in the house boiled, Li Long put rice into the pot, and said to Liu Shanmin who wanted to help:
"Just watch and skim out the soup once the water boils again."

He was the one who did the cooking, as he was worried that Liu Shanmin would put too much salt and ruin the dish.

It only takes twenty to thirty minutes to wait for a meal to be ready. In addition to drinking rice soup, Li Long also has the mood to make some salty soup.

While eating, Liu Shanmin said:
"Actually, I admire you a lot. You're living well on your own. I've seen some people who, when they live alone, seem to be less and less willing to cook. They just muddle through and eat whatever they can."

"Fill my stomach. I have so much time. If I don't cook a good meal, it would be irresponsible for myself." Li Long thought, if there were smart phones, network signals, or even TV signals all day long, do you think I would do this?
At lunch time, as usual, someone would come to sell Fritillaria. Wu Benzhong, who hadn't been here for a long time, came this time with a bag of Fritillaria on his back. Li Long was wondering if he was just coming here to get something for free. Did he have to wait until lunch time?
Fortunately, Li Long habitually cooked more, just like he had entertained Li Zhengtang and the others the day before. Since there was food, he treated them to a meal.

Wu Benzhong didn't want to eat for free, so he told Li Long to charge him one kilogram less for the Fritillaria. He brought nearly 30 kilograms of Fritillaria this time, and no one knew how he dug them out.

Li Long even wondered if this guy was stealing someone else's Fritillaria. After all, this speed was a bit exaggerated.

But Li Long would not ask where the Fritillaria came from. He waited for Wu Benzhong to finish eating before weighing him. This time, Wu Benzhong wanted 25 kilograms of rice, a pair of shoes, and three liters of liquor.

Li Long gave him everything. After watching him leave, Liu Shanmin washed his dishes, put away the pots and other things, folded the quilts that were drying in the sun, and said to Li Long:

"Boss Li, I plan to leave now."

"Okay." Li Long was a little surprised, but when he thought about it, it was normal. It didn't make any difference to him whether it was half a day earlier or half a day later. But there must be a reason why Liu Shanmin was so anxious.

Watching Liu Shanmin leave the wooden house with his bag and stick and walk southwest, Li Long sat in front of the wooden house and watched him disappear into the forest before he stood up and began to wash the mother-of-pearl.

Liu Shanmin stayed here for less than a week. To Li Long, he was just an unexpected passer-by. It was normal for him to live alone, so he didn't have any worries or other emotions.

After washing and drying the Fritillaria, Li Long took his axe and went to the forest in front to chop wood. He planned to chop eight pieces of wood for the tractor frame today, and then build the frame tomorrow.

Even if it is not used now, it will be needed when the team pulls wheat later.

Li Long quickly found his target in the forest, a 15cm diameter log, three meters long. He didn't have a chainsaw, but luckily he had strength. He started chopping at the target, and soon the tree was chopped off. After removing the branches, Li Long walked towards the cabin with the axe in one hand and the tree in the other.

He didn't plan to finish the work all at once, he had to do it slowly. Anyway, there was plenty of time.

After dragging the tree to the cabin, Li Long put it down, measured its length, and then cut off the head.

The cut piece is not wasted, Li Long throws it to the east of the shed for later use. Even if it is not used for anything, it is fine to cut it into small pieces and dry it for use as firewood.

When they were chopping the third log, two people came to sell Fritillaria. They didn't see anyone in front of the cabin, and when they were wondering, Li Long shouted from the south.

After seeing Li Long, the two men calmed down. Then they watched Li Long dragging a piece of wood towards them. They discussed it, put down the bags and came over to help.

Li Long did not refuse their help. He dragged the wood to the cabin and began to weigh the Fritillaria. These two people had been here before, but Li Long had not asked their names, and they did not know how to tell. One weighed a little over 16 kilograms, and the other weighed a little over 15 kilograms. Li Long gave them both a little and rounded them off. Both were very happy.

They all asked for fifteen kilograms of money and exchanged the rest for other things.

After taking the money and things and leaving quickly, Li Long sighed and said, "Let's wash the mother-of-pearl first."

In the past few days, the Fritillaria was obviously dirtier than before, but Li Long did not lower the price. He was making a lot of money, so there was no need. He poured the Fritillaria into a large basin and went to the spring to wash it. While he was washing it, another person came to sell Fritillaria.

Li Long weighed it and asked:
"Don't you usually come here in the morning or evening? Why did you come here in the afternoon? Won't it delay the digging of Fritillaria?"

"Alas, we were forced to do this." The man sighed, "Those from the forestry team would wait at the mouth of the ditch in the morning and evening. They also learned to be cunning, and drove the horses into the woods to hide, waiting for us in the morning and evening, blocking us. The Fritillaria we dug for a day was taken away, which was the result of our one or two days of hard work! We might as well change the time and come in the morning or afternoon. Although it will save us time to dig, it will save us some losses."

Well, this can be considered a battle of wits and courage.

Li Long thought that Wu Benzhong might have chosen the best time. It was noon and the forestry team members also needed to eat. Going at this time would give them the greatest chance of avoiding the forest patrols.

After weighing it, he continued to wash the Fritillaria.

As a result, he only chopped down three logs today. Until the evening, people kept coming to sell Fritillaria. He collected more than 200 kilograms that day, which was a record.

The result was that nearly one-third of the money was gone, a quarter of the stuff was lost, but not enough wood was cut.

I didn’t make it to Xiaobaiyanggou either, so I’ll go there tomorrow morning.

At night, Li Long gathered the dried Fritillaria and put them in the small room. He now regretted not leaving a few baskets here to dry the Fritillaria. More than 200 kilograms were spread on the wooden floor in front of the house in a thick layer. It would not dry in a short time.

It’s quite troublesome to collect them, but making money is hard work, right?
There are still wolves howling here at night, but there are no roe deer or Liu Shanmin outside, so there is no need to worry.

I don’t know where Liu Shanmin has gone now.

Then Li Long fell asleep in a daze.

The next morning, Li Long was woken up by Bolati knocking on the door.

Li Long opened the door with his clothes on and saw Bolati carrying two bags full of Fritillaria. He said to him excitedly:
"Exchange money, all of these for money!"

Well, Li Long knew that he didn’t know which unlucky guy had it confiscated.

The two bags of Fritillaria were probably piled together from several bags. The cleanliness level was different, which was obvious when they were poured out. The total weight was 43 kilograms, and Li Long gave 130 yuan.

"Haha, you go ahead and do your work, I'm leaving." Bolati left two freshly baked naan for Li Long, then got on his horse and left.

Holding the still warm naan, Li Long thought it was pretty good. Isn’t this breakfast?
After breakfast, Li Long drove his tractor to Xiaobaiyanggou, and he actually brought two boxes of razors with him.

Smoke was already wafting through the Xiaobaiyanggou Valley early in the morning. Some people had not used up all the wood they had cut yesterday, so they started a fire right after breakfast to roast the wood and weave it into bamboo poles.

When they saw Li Long coming, they just greeted him briefly.

Li Long gave one of the two razors to his elder brother Li Jianguo and the other to Xie Yundong. At that time, there were no such things to be particular about. It was normal for several people to share a razor. At most, they just had to wash it after use.

"This thing is great!" Xie Yundong was the first to use it. "I didn't feel it at home, but after coming here, my beard seems to be growing every day. Now it's this long!" He gestured.

Li Long looked at it and smiled. It was actually not very long, just a little over one centimeter. But for a Han man, it was unimaginable to grow a beard at this age.

At least this time, except for those who are showing off their personality.

Li Jianguo also started using it, which led to everyone not just coming to watch the fun. After Jia Weidong shouted, "Old Xie, I'm the second one," they started lining up one after another.

In order to avoid being robbed of their place, they stopped making up their names and just stood next to Li Jianguo and Xie Yundong waiting.

Li Long smiled, a little regretful that he didn't bring more people with him. He felt that squeezing was not a solution, so he called those who were at the back of the line to check the handles that were arranged yesterday.

There are fewer and fewer unqualified ones. After checking all of them, only one unqualified one was found today, or it was barely unqualified.

Those who were found out were not embarrassed and just redo the work as Li Long requested, which only took a dozen minutes.

After shaving, two people shaved too hastily and their chins bled. Despite this, everyone was still very happy and touched their chins from time to time, feeling that they all felt different.

"Xiaolong, please bring a clipper next time you come. Our hair has grown long and it's time to cut it." Xie Yundong took the opportunity to make a request to Li Long.

"Okay, I'll bring it to you in two days."

It wasn't a big deal, so Li Long agreed to it right away.

Sun Jiaqiang was out digging for Fritillaria, so he was not there. Li Long did not wait for him, but took a few handles and put them on the tractor, chatted with Li Jianguo for a few words, and then drove away.

The people here are happier than him, so he won't bother them.

When the tractor drove back to the wooden house, Li Long had just stopped when a man jumped out from the west side of the wooden house. He was startled and subconsciously pointed his gun at the other person.

"No, no, no! Don't shoot, don't shoot!" The man didn't expect Li Long to react so quickly, and immediately raised his hand:
"I'm just here to sell Fritillaria..."

Li Long took a look and seemed to have some impression. He cursed:
"You know that scaring people to death can kill you, right? Can't you just come out normally? Why are you running?"

"There's a snake! A poisonous snake!" The man felt aggrieved. "I saw you were not here, so I wanted to wait for you to come back. But I was afraid of running into the forest patrol, so I hid by the side of this house. Who knew there was a poisonous snake there..."

Are there poisonous snakes?
Li Long was also shocked. There were poisonous snakes right in front of the house where he lived. Wouldn't that be very troublesome?
He immediately found a stick and asked the man to point it out to him.

To the west of the wooden house, there was indeed a small gray-white snake coiled up there. Li Long estimated that the snake was at most 20 to 30 centimeters long, but the head looked quite scary, triangular, and the body was relatively thin, like the size of a thumb.

"That's it! It's a poisonous snake. It can bite people to death!"

Seeing two people coming, the poisonous snake was eager to stick its head out and attack.

Li Long would not give it a chance to attack. He hit it with a stick and the snake jumped to the side. Li Long had expected this and changed the direction of the stick to hit the snake.

The snake's skin was very tough and Li Long didn't kill it with one hit. He hit it a few more times and flattened the snake's head. He felt relieved when he realized that the snake had no chance of coming back to life.

It seems that I have to be careful next time, and I have to remind the people in Xiaobaiyanggou to avoid getting bitten.

Should I bring some snake medicine back next time I go back?
The man brought more than eight kilograms of Fritillaria. Li Long weighed them and gave him money. The man left in a hurry. After Li Long washed the Fritillaria, he went back to chopping wood.

By the afternoon, we had finally chopped enough wood and harvested more than 100 kilograms of Fritillaria.

There are so many things in the mountains. Li Long thinks that if he continues like this, he can make several thousand yuan this Fritillaria season! (End of this chapter)