Rebirth of Bayi Fishing and Hunting in the Northwest

When the tractor arrived at the county town, Sun Jiaqiang shouted from the back of the tractor:
"Boss Li, let's go to the bus station. I want to see if there are any tickets available now."

Li Longtou said without replying:
"Do you want to stay in the county for one night? Don't you want to take a rest?"

"No, no, I can't wait to go home." Sun Jiaqiang said with a smile, "I can't wait any longer. You're married, so you should understand..."

Well, Li Long really understood, so he drove directly to the bus station.

Sun Jiaqiang got out of the car, waved to Li Long and said:

"Boss Li, see you next year."

"Okay, see you next year." Li Long watched Sun Jiaqiang enter the bus station, then turned and drove towards the yard.

Gu Xiaoxia hadn't gotten off work yet, so Li Long first took the bear gall out of his bag, found a room to tie a rope to it and hung it up to dry, then spread the bear skin out in the side room to dry, and then put the pot of braised bear meat in the kitchen.

After getting all four bear paws back, Li Long didn't distinguish between the front and back paws. He found a bag to put one of them in, then rode his bike to the supply and marketing cooperative.

It was almost time to get off work at the supply and marketing cooperative. When Li Long went there, some people had already started packing up their things. When they saw Li Long, some people they knew greeted him.

"Xiao Li, are you here to see Section Chief Li?"

"Well, is the chief here?"

"Yes, yes, yes, what have you brought for the section chief again?" the man asked.

"The section chief asked me to go to the mountains to help him find some medicinal herbs. I found them now and brought them here." Li Long lied.

The man smiled and left with his colleagues.

The new colleague walked out a few steps and whispered:
"It smells like blood. Doesn't it look like medicinal material?"

"Why do you care so much? This guy is a talent in our company. If he says so, then that's it."

"He's from our company, but he's not at work?"

"He's a temporary worker. The commune wanted to give him a job, but he refused. But his work is impeccable. He has won many honors for the commune, and he has done a good job on several important jobs. The director and deputy director of the commune all know him, so it doesn't matter whether he comes or not."

"That's it..."

Li Long didn't know what his colleagues were saying about him behind his back. He carried his bag to Li Xiangqian's office. Li Xiangqian was on the phone, and when he saw him coming, he pointed to a chair and asked him to sit down first.

"Okay, okay, as long as it's qualified. I've reported this to you before. Don't worry, the materials we handed over are definitely the best. Yes, yes, yes, um, okay, goodbye, leader!"

After hanging up the phone, Li Xiangqian asked with a smile on his face:

"Have you returned from the mountains or from the team? Did you hear the phone call just now? The leaders of the state commune praised us, saying that our group of porters is good. They have already used them, and the workers all say it is good."

The sedan chair was carried by many people. Li Long did not take it seriously. He pointed to the bag beside him and said:
"I went to the mountains to hunt a bear today and got a bear paw for you."

"Hey? You killed another bear? You're awesome!" Li Xiangqian came over, opened the bag and looked at it, then said with a smile, "Not bad, not bad. Although it's not big, it looks good."

"Okay, Chief, I'll leave first." Li Long said, "The finishing work in the mountains has not been completed yet. I have to go back to the mountains after I finish my work here this afternoon."

"Okay, go do your work, and come back and have a good rest when you're done. You've worked hard in the mountains during this period of time." Li Xiangqian patted his shoulder and said, "If you have any difficulties, call me or come to me directly."

"it is good!"

Li Long rode his bike out of the supply and marketing cooperative and headed for the compound. Of the remaining three bear paws, he planned to keep one here and take two home. This thing just sounds good in name, but it is actually very troublesome to make, and even if it is made, it may not taste good - after all, we are ordinary people, and we don't have the skills of a chef.

He drove the tractor out of the yard and headed straight for the team.

When he arrived at the village, he saw that the school had already been dismissed. The water in the Mohe Canal was quite high, and there were children swimming by the canal. Li Long did not chase them away - those days were different from later times. A group of teenagers in their teens jumped down from the shore one by one, laughing and having a great time.

Occasionally he would meet one or two students from the team on the road. Li Long was not driving fast, but since no one was trying to hitchhike, he drove straight to the team. When he was almost at Weigou, he saw Li Juan and Li Qiang walking on the side of the road. When they heard the sound of the tractor, the brother and sister turned their heads and then jumped up happily.

Li Long drove the tractor to a place about seven or eight meters away from them and stopped, because the two children were running towards the tractor and Li Long was afraid of hurting them.

"Get on the cart." Li Long said, "Climb slowly."

It is actually normal for children to get bumps and bruises these days, and raising children is not as pampered as it is in later generations. Having many children is one reason, but the most important thing is that adults have gone through this, and it is normal to get bumps and bruises.

When the tractor arrived at the three-way intersection of the residential area, Li Long saw someone riding a bicycle towards Dongzhuangzi in the distance.

Has anyone in the team bought a bicycle?
He drove the tractor to the big yard and saw Tietou from Lu Yingming's house next door learning to ride a bicycle by tying his legs on the road in front. When he saw Li Long's tractor, Tietou felt a little embarrassed and ended up not being able to control the handle well, and crashed into the haystack beside the wall of their front yard.

Li Long was happy. At this time, when people first started to learn how to ride a bicycle, they would look for a place with haystacks nearby. If they didn't know how to brake or didn't have time to brake, they would just dive into the haystack. At least neither the person nor the bicycle would be hurt.

At this time, in the eyes of some people, even people are not as valuable as the owners of bicycles. If a person falls and gets a little scratched, at most they will put a ball of cotton and ash on the wound. If a bicycle is broken, strict parents will scold the owner.

He might even get a beating.

The Lu family also bought a bicycle.

The 28-inch bicycle is still popular.

The tractor drove into the yard. Li Qingxia had just returned from fishing and was looking at Li Long with a smile.

Li Jianguo and Liang Yuemei were both setting up a trellis for beans in the vegetable garden. Li Juan and Li Qiang got off the truck and ran into the house to put down their schoolbags first.

When Li Long came down carrying the bear paw bag, Du Chunfang and Chen Lirong also came from the front yard, accompanied by two children, Xueqin and Xueping.

Li Qingxia smiled and asked:

"What did you get? Why are you back again?"

"Then why can't I come back?" Du Chunfang was immediately unhappy when she heard her husband's question. "Home is here, my parents are here, so I can come back whenever I want."

"I thought Xiaolong came back for something. I want to know what it is." Li Qingxia was not annoyed and explained with a smile, "He came back in such a hurry, there must be something wrong."

"We hit a bear." Li Long took out the bear paw from the bag and showed it to everyone, "Bring back two bear paws and cook them for yourselves."

"Hey, this is good stuff." Li Qingxia looked at the bear paw with excitement, "Good stuff."

"Did you hit a bear? Are you okay?" Du Chunfang and Li Qingxia were not paying attention to the same thing. She hurried over and asked, "Are you not scratched by the bear?"

"No, I shot the bear dead with three shots from more than 30 meters away." Li Long said easily, "Nowadays, people hunt with guns. Once you see a bear or wolf, you can kill it. If you can't kill it, it will be scared away."

Li Long took the gun out of the tractor bucket and showed it to my mother.

The bear was already being held and played with by several children. Li Qingxia came over, took the gun, looked at it, and exclaimed:

"Hey, this thing is great! If only we had this thing back then, hey!"

Before he finished speaking, Li Long knew what he was going to say. His family had a genealogy, and they were a prominent family for hundreds of years, but by the time of my father and grandfather, they were already poor, and by the time of my father, they were even poorer. They suffered a lot, and were also oppressed before liberation. So they were more sensitive to guns than his generation.

Li Jianguo and Liang Yuemei came out of the vegetable garden and looked at the bear paw. Li Jianguo frowned:

"This guy is not easy to deal with."

He used to be the quartermaster in the corps. Li Long didn't ask him whether he had ever dealt with bear paws before, but from what he said, it seemed that he at least knew what to do.

In my previous life, I glanced at the video on how to cook bear paws. I only vaguely remember that I had to boil it hard, use various broths, or braise it. Anyway, the final evaluation I gave was that it was not very delicious.

"Brother, what's going on?"

"Cook it. Boil the paw until it's soft, remove the hair and claws, and then stew or braise it. You have to use some spices, otherwise it won't taste good. And it has to be cooked through. You have to cook it overnight, right?" Li Jianguo was not sure, "Otherwise it won't be cooked through, and it will taste like leather."

Well, it's another case of slow work producing fine results. Li Long simply ignored it and said to Li Qiang:
"Qiangqiang, be careful, don't let the claws scratch you, there's a lot of dirt on it!"

Although the brown bear was not big, its claws looked very sharp. Li Long saw with his own eyes that the brown bear's two claws almost scratched through the deer's neck.

"Then you take a rest. I'll prepare this thing later and we can eat it for lunch tomorrow." Li Jianguo said so, but when it comes to such legendary ingredients, it is impossible to say that he has no interest.

"I won't wait any longer. There's another one in the county yard. Xiaoxia is busy with work, so I'll go back and deal with that one as well. Big brother, tell me in detail how to deal with it."

After hearing what Li Long said, Li Jianguo explained in detail how to eat it. In fact, he also knew the general idea, but it was much more detailed than Li Long.

You need to brush it, cut its fur, and then boil it until it is soft, and then remove the fur and claws...

Li Long suddenly thought of using a pressure cooker!

With that thing, it should be easy to stew the bear paw.

Stewing is the first step, and also the most difficult step. The next steps will be easier. So Li Long was not listening so seriously. He waited for Li Jianguo to finish speaking, and then asked another question:
"Brother, I see someone in the team bought a bicycle again?"

"Hey," Li Jianguo smiled when he said this, "Do you know how many cars the team has added in the past two days?"

"Two?" Anyway, Li Long saw two new ones.

"Six!" Li Jianguo gestured with his hand, "They are all going to be the porters. The team doesn't have that many tickets, so they directly take rice and flour to the third and second teams, and some go to the township to exchange tickets. Now you are famous."

"What does it have to do with me?" Li Long shook his head. "That's their own ability."

"Don't say that. They all say that you made the money by bringing them into the mountains. Hey, the village even said they would make you a leader in getting rich."

Li Long immediately shook his head. He didn't want to wear such a hat. Wearing this thing was equivalent to having an extra protection, but he would have to be a representative, and it would be troublesome to attend meetings from time to time. He didn't want to go.

Seeing that the time was almost up, Li Long said:

"Then you guys can do it, I'm going back to the county." He was still thinking about the pressure cooker. Pressure cookers were already available these days, but Li Long was off work now, so he planned to buy it early tomorrow morning and make it ready, so that he could eat the bear paw by noon and go to the mountains in the afternoon.

Du Chunfang was somewhat dissatisfied. Her youngest son must be in such a hurry to come and go. It must be so hard for him.

She wanted to say something, but Li Qingxia pulled her back and she didn't open her mouth.

Chen Lirong also wanted to say something. Her brother-in-law had made great efforts to bring her family here. Now she lived in her brother-in-law's yard, which was much better and more convenient than the old horse house. She also wanted to thank Li Long, but Li Long came and went in a hurry, and she was introverted and it was difficult for her to say anything. When her lips moved, Li Long had already started the tractor to leave.

"Slow down, slow down!" When Li Long got on the tractor, Liang Yuemei had already gone to the vegetable garden and came out again, holding a wicker basket in her hand. She put the basket in the truck bed and said:

"Chives, Chinese cabbage, wild amaranth. The others haven't grown yet, so take them when you come back later. These vegetables can be kept in the kitchen for two days. Tell Xiaoxia that she has to eat no matter how busy she is!"

Okay, this familiar feeling is back. In the nearly ten years since Li Long came here, Liang Yuemei has almost always played the role of a mother. She is not polite and does everything spontaneously. Bringing food to Li Long is also the simplest behavior. When the family members are not living at home, bring all the good things at home.

The tractor left the yard. Li Long waved to everyone, stepped on the clutch and changed gears, and drove north and then west.

"Alas, when will this end?" Du Chunfang looked unhappy, "I don't know when I can come back next time."

"What are you talking about?" Li Qingxia complained, "Xiaolong has something important to do. Besides, his wife is in the county, he can't just stay here to watch over her, right? If you want to see her, then tell Xiaolong and ask him to let you move to his county compound and live there for a few days."

"Then I won't go!" Du Chunfang shook her head. "Here, when I have free time, I can grow vegetables in the yard and talk to Qiangqiang's mother and Xueping's mother. There, Xiaolong goes to the mountains and his wife goes to work. What am I going to do alone?"

"That's right. You know they are all busy. Just take care of yourself and don't cause any trouble." Li Qingxia is now attending a formal class, so he is really talking without any worries.

Du Chunfang had no choice but to keep silent.

After dinner in the evening, Li Jianguo started to play with the bear paw. The children seemed quite interested at first, but later they found it boring and ran away to play.

Li Long drove the tractor forward towards the setting sun. When he arrived at the compound, it was already getting dark.

Gu Xiaoxia opened the door and smiled when she saw him:
"I saw the things in the kitchen and knew you were back. I thought you were just like last time, coming and going without a trace, and went into the mountains now."

"How can that be possible?" Li Long got off the tractor, closed the door and fastened it, then the two of them went into the kitchen together. He said:
"We killed a bear. I plan to cook bear paws tomorrow. We'll eat them when they're done, and then I'll go back into the mountains."

Hearing that Li Long was about to go into the mountains again, the smile on Gu Xiaoxia's face faded a little.

"Don't worry, we'll be back in three to five days at most after finishing the work." Li Long assured again, "The Fritillaria has begun to bloom, and they won't be able to dig it for a few more days. I've just started it, and I can't leave it unfinished. Okay, we've all been tired all day, have you eaten? I'll get you something to eat..."

"It's been ready a long time ago, just waiting for you to come back." Gu Xiaoxia said, pointing to the food on the table.

"What if I don't come back?"

"Then I'll eat alone." Gu Xiaoxia said.

Li Long understood a little. Although the words were said very naturally, he could understand the mood.

Waiting in vain, how lonely.

He felt a little regretful, but he still had to do it, so he changed the subject:
"Are we going to eat this bear paw at home tomorrow at noon, or should I go to Sister Yang's place after I'm done?"

Li Long didn't have much contact with Sister Yang and others, so he asked Gu Xiaoxia for her opinion.

"Let's go to Sister Yang's place and let Sister Yang and Xiaofang try it. This is the Eight Delicacies, right?" Gu Xiaoxia said.

"Okay, I'll bring it over when I'm done."

"Yes, come, wash your hands and eat." Gu Xiaoxia went over to remove the bowl with the food on it, and used cloth chopsticks to serve the porridge.

Li Long didn't say anything more, but was thinking in his heart that he would go back to the mountains to collect his tail, and then come back to live in the yard for a while.

What's the point of running around like this all the time?

After dinner, Li Long simply washed up. Gu Xiaoxia didn't need to work overtime tonight, so the two of them went to bed early.

I won’t go into the details.

Not allowed to speak.

After breakfast the next day, Gu Xiaoxia went to work, while Li Long went to the department store to buy a pressure cooker.

Although pressure cookers were introduced into the mainland in the 1960s, they were not introduced to Ma County in northern Xinjiang until the early 1980s. They were available on the shelves of department stores, but it seemed that no one was buying them.

Li Long bought the pot, but the salesperson didn't let him leave. He gave him a detailed introduction to how to use it and told him to be careful not to block the vent to avoid an explosion.

"If this thing is not handled properly, it will explode like a bomb. You must be careful!" The salesperson reminded him again and again. Li Long felt that this thing might have exploded before, so he contacted the salesperson of the building.

Taking the pot back, he first carefully cleaned the bear paws, trimmed the hair, and then put them in, added water and started to cook. Anyway, Li Long's plan was that if it didn't cook well the first time, he would cook it twice more, and it would eventually be cooked.

If all else fails, just eat it as pig's trotters. Add some dipping sauce and you can still taste the flavor even if you eat it as braised meat, right?

With this thought in mind, Li Long started to tinker with it.

When Gu Xiaoxia went to Sister Yang's yard after get off work, Li Long was already there.

He pointed to the dish on the table and said:

"This is it. Let's all try it later. Oh, Sister Yang, leave some for Han Fang too. Let's all try it."

The bear paw was not small, so Li Long prepared it, boiled it until it was soft, and instead of braising it, he added some marinade to it and braised it like a pig's trotter.

He took a plate to try. There was still a lot left at home, so he planned to let Gu Xiaoxia eat slowly. (End of this chapter)