Rebirth of Bayi Fishing and Hunting in the Northwest

The noise of the tractor in the forest echoed in several nearby valleys, and the small animals that were originally active nearby all moved away.

After the grass on this hillside was cut, Halimu directed Li Long to another hillside. This pasture had been inspected by herders, and some of the wooden stakes had been cleared.

"I never thought that cutting grass would be so easy." Halimu sighed again, "It feels like playing. I just walk around the hillside grassland and come back."

"You are also working. It takes time to remove the wooden stakes." Li Long joked.

"That's not work. Nathan and Susken can do it." Halim sighed, "If we do it this year, next year..."

"I'll come again next year." Li Long said as a matter of course.

Halimu looked at him and smiled.

In the afternoon, before the sun set, Li Long drove a tractor back to Halimu's winter home.

The other guys had also returned along with Yushanjiang.

"We have finished visiting all the grasslands around this area." Yushanjiang got off his horse and said to Li Long and Halim, "Tomorrow and the day after tomorrow, we will basically be able to visit all the grasslands. Except for a few areas with a lot of shrubs, where we can't use tractors to cut grass, we can visit all the other areas."

"At Li Long's rate of mowing," Halimu thought for a moment and said, "five or six days? It should be enough to finish it, right?"

"almost."

At present, people do not have as much pasture as in later generations. After all, there are only a limited number of cattle and sheep, and manpower is also limited.

They ate wolf meat again in the evening. Li Long felt greasy, so he boiled some wild vegetables. Halimu only had salt, no vinegar or other seasonings, so he had to make do with it. He planned to bring some vinegar or something tomorrow morning, otherwise he would soon be unable to eat just this.

Halimu and Yushanjiang were grumbling to each other in private again. Li Long didn't care too much. Even if they talked about him, it was basically a good thing.

People are mutual.

After dinner, we drove the tractor back home. The sun had not yet set, and we had to go back quickly to prepare the roe deer meat.

It's not okay to soak in water all the time.

When he returned to the cabin and opened the door, he smelled a stench. The fire in the stove had gone out, so Li Long first lit the fire, then put the pot on the stove outside and lit the fire.

When the fire started, he first pulled the wooden table out of the small room, then wiped it clean with a rag, and then pulled the roe deer meat out of the basin.

It was already cut into pieces, but the cuts were relatively large, including four legs, ribs, spine, etc. Now, to cook and stew the meat, you have to cut it into small pieces and remove some of the meat, including the little fat.

There is no other way. There is no refrigerator in the summer, so this is the only way.

Throw the chopped bones into a pot and cook them, scrape the water from another pot and pour it into the thermos. After the pot is dry, pour some vegetable oil as a starter, and then put the lard cut into small pieces in. Listen for the sizzling sound, which is the melting of the oil.

The next step is to cut the meat into small pieces. The oil slowly melts, filling up half the pot, and the meat in the meat is actually forced out, slowly covering the meat.

When the oil started boiling and bubbling, Li Long turned off the fire. When it cooled down a bit, he found a large enamel basin to serve the meat. The oil sealed the fried meat inside, and then solidified it. He put it in a cool room and it would not go bad for a long time.

When frying, just scoop up some oil and meat and it will be a delicious dish.

The bones were also boiled, and Li Long used a spoon to skim off the blood foam on the grass. When he was fetching water, he saw that the parts of the roe deer that were eaten by the wolves when he was skinning them in the morning were gone.

I don't know if it was taken away by a wolf or eaten by a fox. There are many small carnivorous animals in the mountains, so I have no idea where to start.

When the roe deer meat was cooked, the braised meat and oil were poured into a basin, and the stars rose up again.

Hi, it’s a hard life.

The meat and oil were moved to the small room and the door was locked. Li Long carried a piece of bone and walked into the big room while chewing it. He knocked on the door, ate, and went to sleep.

I didn't have to get up so early the next day, so I went out to pee, and sure enough, my urine still had a fishy smell.

I came back, set up the stove, boiled some water, went to the next room to get a bone to heat up, and also heated up the remaining unleavened bread, and had a simple meal.

He planned to come back in the afternoon to steam buns, as he felt uncomfortable eating only unleavened bread.

After dinner, we cleaned up the place, added oil and water to the tractor, and prepared to set off.

I brought two oil drums with me when I came here, but judging by the current situation, they may not be enough.

I have to go down the mountain tomorrow or the day after tomorrow and bring back more diesel.

When we were driving the tractor towards Halimudongwozi, Yushanjiang and his team had already arrived.

They ate when Li Long was eating. Because they had to work together, they simply got up early and ate together at Halimu's place.

There was still some wolf meat left, so no one wanted to eat the dry naan alone.

After Yushanjiang and Halimu discussed it, they expressed their ideas to these herder brothers.

"We will have some free time these two days. When we have some free time, we can go hunting and pick up stones. Li Long came and gave us grass for free, but we can't just accept it for free.

Whether we get leather while hunting, or pick up jade or other things, giving them to him is also our thought.

We didn't bring anything with us this time, otherwise we could give him a few sheep, but now we can only hunt or pick up stones. These things are of little use to us, Li Long can exchange them for money to do other things, even to exchange oil, we can't let our friends work for nothing."

The young men and gentlemen all agreed loudly.

Kazakhs are the most sincere to their friends. If others give one, they will give five to ten.

When Li Long's tractor rumbled over, everyone was joking as usual, and then some followed Li to cut grass, while others went to other hillsides.

We had lunch together at noon, and after Li Long finished his work in the afternoon, he went straight back to the cabin.

He had to make dough to make steamed buns, so he had to go back early. Anyway, he had mowed four hillsides today, which was more than the target.

After hurriedly finishing their dinner in Halimu, the herdsmen rode their horses back to their winter dens.

Their winter dens were far apart, only three or four ravines away.

In fact, herders are relatively clear about what is near each winter den. Usually, hunting is just to prevent wolves and other animals from harassing the sheep, but now it has a new meaning.

Li Long returned to the wooden house, parked the tractor, opened the door and saw that the fire in the stove was still there, so he poked it a few times, added coal, and began to knead the dough.

The old dough has dried out and needs to be soaked in water to serve as a fermentation starter and then kneaded into dough.

While waiting for the dough to rise, Li Long went to the nearby area to get some wild mushrooms. The grass in the mountains was slowly turning yellow, and it was difficult to get wild vegetables.

According to last year's practice, we should have gone into the mountains a month ago to get black tiger paw mushrooms. This thing is big and has a lot of them, so if we get more, we can sell it for some money.

But because he was busy harvesting wheat, he had no time to come over. Li Long could see that many black tiger paw fungi had dried up and rotted, returning to dust.

There are still some straw mushrooms. Although there are not many because the grass has grown, you can still find some.

No need to eat meat anymore. He planned to stir-fry some wild mushrooms while steaming the buns later, and make a cold dish tomorrow morning. It should be delicious.

Making the dough rise and kneading the steamed buns is Li Long’s strong point.

After kneading, put it on the table to rise for a while, boil water in the pot, brush a layer of cooked oil on the steamer, and then put the steamed buns in.

If you are in the village, you would put a layer of reed leaves on the steamer when steaming buns. The steamed buns will have the fragrance of reed leaves and a hint of rice dumpling flavor.

After steaming the buns and before cooking the dishes, Li Long took the blocking net placed in the corner and strode out.

The water in the valley stream, only five or seven hundred meters away from here, is not as strong as before, but the place with a drop in height is still a good place to cast the net.

After putting the net under the water and pressing it with stones, Li Long went back.

Come earlier tomorrow, there will definitely be fish in this net.

Since we are in the mountains, and not just for one day, we have to find a way to eat well.

When he returned to the wooden house, the sun had just set. Li Long broke the washed straw mushrooms into small pieces and shook off the water. He put a pot on the stove outside, scooped a spoonful of steamed oil with a dozen pieces of meat in it, melted them in the pot, and then started stir-frying.

Some people find it annoying, so they don't say much. The steamed buns are out of the oven, the dishes are out of the pot, and some porridge is added to make a good meal.

The steamed buns were spread out on the table to dry, then placed in a steamed bun bowl and covered with a cloth. I hadn’t had a proper meal for two days, so there was nothing left of the fried mushroom and meat dish.

After cleaning up the mess, Li Long put out the fire outside, picked up the crank and went back to the house to rest.

At night, gunshots could occasionally be heard in the mountains, but because the mountains were high and the forests were dense, the sound would not be heard too far away.

I was worried about something, so I got up a little early.

He still went to the back to deal with the important matters of life, then set up the stove and boiled water.

Without doing anything else, he walked out quickly to the place where the net was set. Looking at the fish struggling at the bottom of the net, Li Long smiled.

You can add some extra food to your breakfast.

I removed the stone that was weighing down the net, lifted it up and shook it, and three or four small fish slipped through the mesh and fell into the stream, swimming away quickly. The remaining slightly larger pike and whitebait weighed about one kilogram.

It can be used to stir-fry a dish and make soup, which is good.

Li Long walked back with the fish, came to the spring in front of the wooden house, and squatted down to work.

The fish are not very big, so you don't actually need any tools to skin them. You can just use your fingernails to cut open the belly of the fish, take out the internal organs, pick out the gills, wash them and set them aside.

The puppy fish has no scales, and the scales of the whitebait are almost negligible. Divide these fish into two portions, stew one portion later, and make soup with the other.

It is quite rare to eat stewed fish early in the morning.

But it doesn't matter. Li Long was harvesting wheat the previous month, and he spent nearly half of his time eating lunch with the landowner at the farm. He had to run back and forth between breakfast and dinner, and the food wasn't good.

Because of the busy farming season, Li Qingxia had no time to go fishing. Not to mention him, almost no one in the entire village went fishing.

So even though he didn't get to eat the fish, Li Long still missed it very much.

That's why I logged off the internet last night.

Stew the fish, slice the steamed buns and roast them on the stove lid, put a bowl of fish soup on the table, and you're done.

After the meal, Li Long felt satisfied for a while.

After cleaning up this side and seeing the sun half showing its face, Li Long took out the crank, started the tractor, and drove towards Halimu's winter home.

There are few people in front of the winter nest today, only Halimu, Yushanjiang, and two other young men.

The others didn't arrive.

Li Long was also a little surprised, but he didn't think too much about it. After driving the tractor into place, he unloaded the truck bed and went to clean the grass residue on the harvester.

I worked all day yesterday and haven't cleaned the harvester yet.

There is no need to oil it yet, but when the diesel runs low and you go down the mountain to refill it, you should clean it well and apply some butter.

Anyone who works on agricultural machinery these days has to know this. There is a grease gun, which is similar to the glass glue gun of later generations. It is cylindrical with a nozzle. When you press the back, the grease in the nozzle at the front will come out.

The butter is used for lubrication. Mechanical devices will easily rust and have poor friction if they are not lubricated.

Yushanjiang is skinning a roe deer that he caught this morning.

Li Long went over to take a look. The bullet hole was at the neck, but the whole skin was not damaged.

The male roe deer has horns on its head, which are not long and should be the antlers that have just hardened.

"Li Long, the leather is yours now." Yushanjiang said, "Rub it with salt and hang it up to dry. You can take it back in the evening."

"Okay." Li Long wasn't polite.

Halimu took out two stones from the house and put them in Li Long's cart.

Well, two pieces of jasper - one is of top quality, without any pitting, and the other has a dark blue skin and some pitting, but the quality of the jade also looks good.

Li Long was amused. These people were silent, and they were collecting wealth for themselves.

After a while, young men and old men came over one after another, some had gained something, while others felt embarrassed for not getting anything.

Actually, this is normal. Only three people actually got something, two roe deer and a wild goat.

Another person picked up a piece of jade. It was quite large, of average quality, but at least it was a seed material, weighing more than ten kilograms. He also put it in the car.

Two people are left here to clean the meat, cooking some of it and air-drying some of it.

The rest went to work.

Li Long drove the tractor up the mountain and started cutting grass.

This side of the slope is a bit high, and it is the steepest of all the previous slopes combined.

Li Long tried it and felt that the tractor could also go up there, so he stepped on the accelerator and started cutting the grass.

It's OK, although it consumes a little oil, but it can really mow. Anyway, oil is cheap nowadays, and compared with the hard work of mowing, this little oil is really nothing.

It was not easy to get up there, but it was much easier to get down. Li Long had to keep the car in first gear, otherwise he would slide down and fail to stop, causing the car to flip over.

While they were mowing the grass, a pheasant suddenly jumped out from the harvester. However, both of its wings were half broken off, and its body was covered in blood. It fluttered twice and fell to the ground. Li Long hurriedly braked and jumped down to hold down the pheasant.

It's quite big, a male. The feathers on its wings are gone, but the feathers on its tail are still there. It's quite pretty.

And it was quite ferocious. When Li Long pressed it, the pheasant turned its head and pecked Li Long.

Li Long twisted its neck, carried it onto the tractor, and placed it on the toolbox next to it.

You can have a snack at noon.

Li Long continued driving down, and soon two pheasants jumped out from the bushes. These two were female pheasants, and they flew to the woods next to them after jumping out.

Although they couldn't fly high, they were also unattainable for humans to catch up with. Li Long could only watch them disappear into the woods.

All right, just run away.

Anyway, we have already caught one, and we can’t eat it for everyone, but it’s still okay to have a snack.

After all, raking grass and hunting rabbits is a bonus in itself.

After driving down the slope, Li Long threw the pheasant to Halimu.

Halimu's main purpose here is to follow and see if there is anything he can help with.

He was very happy at the moment and started plucking the pheasant.

Li Long drove up again, originally hoping to catch another one, but unfortunately no pheasant was fooled.

That male pheasant must be a fool.

After finishing one slope, we moved to another area. This one was better. It wasn't even a slope, it was just flat grass.

Although there are some ups and downs, it is much easier to mow than the hillside.

Li Long finished cutting this piece and went back to the winter den with Halimu. Halimu had already cleaned the pheasant's internal organs and was just waiting to chop it up and fry it.

The meat in the big pot was already cooking. Because there were a lot of game, there was a lot cooked this time, and more was made into dried meat, rubbed with salt, and now hung on the wood next to the winter den.

There were wasps surrounding it, but they didn't dare to approach. The salt was quite effective.

The young men came back on horseback one by one. This time they went to the pasture in groups, with two or three people responsible for one area. A group of people only needed to clear two or three pastures in the morning.

I have been cutting grass all year round, so I know where the wooden stakes are in my own pasture, so this job is easy for me, and I can chat and laugh when I come back.

When he looked at Li Long, his eyes were filled with enthusiasm, gratitude, and happiness. With Duosen here, this year's grass-cutting season is really easy.

It's easier than herding sheep.

I must look for it carefully when I go back at night. I can't let this Dosenbai drive the tractor here to cut grass.

Li Long parked the tractor, added water to the water tank, and went to look at the roe deer meat in the pot.

Several young men came up to the tractor and pointed and talked. Some of them rushed to sit on it and turned the steering wheel to simulate driving a tractor. Then they got off after being scolded by Halimu.

Obviously, the tractor-harvester is a treasure to them at the moment, and Halimu doesn't want the boys to damage it.

The young men didn't take it seriously. They came down laughing and continued to watch.

Both tractors and harvesters are new to them, and it is impossible not to be excited.

After all, we have to cut the grass every year. If we have something like this, it will be so convenient to cut the grass.

Of course, it was just a thought at the moment. The tractor was not cheap, so the young men were just thinking about it.

Middle-aged people like Halimu Yushanjiang don't have such ideas. They just herd sheep and cattle honestly and think about other things later.

After all, life is getting better and better now, much better than before.

They may have unrealistic ideas, but they won't show them.

Halimu poked the meat with a pair of chopsticks. When he saw that it was cooked, he took a salt bag and poured salt into the pot. Then he stirred it a few times with a spoon and announced that the meat was done.

Take it and eat it yourself! (End of this chapter)