Rebirth of Bayi Fishing and Hunting in the Northwest

The next day, Li Long drove a tractor to the mountains to help Halimu and his team pull grass. Some winter camps were too far for tractors to reach, so they pulled the grass to places they could reach, and the rest were pulled by horses to pile up at the winter camps.

In the next few days, Li Long went to collect grass in the morning, and when he came back in the afternoon he pulled a cart of brooms from Qingshui River back to the yard.

After the big broom was collected, it took another two days to pull the hay, and finally the hay was finished.

After the work that day, Li Long wanted to go back to the county, but Halimu and the others did not let him.

"We will also return to the summer pasture tomorrow. We should have a good meal and drink this afternoon." Halimu said to Li Long very seriously:

"We started hunting yesterday, but the wild animals are very smart nowadays. We have killed a deer and a wild goat between yesterday and today.

Actually, we also encountered wild boars, but you know we don't eat them, so we didn't hunt them. Today, we'll have a barbecue and drink a little wine to celebrate. Tomorrow, we'll go to the summer pasture, so you don't have to come tomorrow."

Li Long nodded. It was a celebration, but he seemed to have seen this before.

Someone dug a trench in the ground, and Li Long could tell that they were preparing for a barbecue. Someone had built a charcoal fire and set up a rack next to it. Could it be that they were preparing to roast a whole deer?

Of course there was a big pot, and the wine bottle was also taken out. There was only a glass cup, which could be used after being washed by the stream.

The wine was the loose wine that Li Long had brought over before, packed in a plastic cage with a capacity of three liters. If shared among a dozen people, each person would only get about three or four taels.

The deer has been skinned and now it's time to cut the meat, roast some and boil some.

There were limited food options back then, unlike in later times, where a restaurant in Yili could serve eight different ways to cook a lamb.

Li Long wanted to join in, and seeing that everyone had something to do, he went to the river to cut red willow branches. The meat was skewered with this stuff and it tasted really fragrant. Of course, it was not old branches that had been used for hundreds of times, but fresh ones.

Everybody was talking and laughing and it was very lively, especially when they were barbecuing. A trench had been dug and charcoal was put inside, then the charcoal was piled high and compacted on both sides, and then skewers of red willow meat were put on the rack and sprinkled with seasonings. A fragrant aroma wafted in the wind, choking the nose and tempting the stomach.

In a word, I want to eat.

The boys actually eat a lot of meat these days. In the past, they only hunted to protect the sheep, after all, they were not professional hunters. But now they are almost being exploited, and the first thing they think of when they encounter prey is to kill it and eat the meat.

There has been some improvement, but it is hard to say about the wild beasts in the depths of the Tianshan Mountains.

Both venison and wild goat meat are roasted. Anyway, when roasting these wild animals, adding more seasonings will suppress the mutton smell.

Of course, the key point is to express your emotions. We originally expected the descent to take more than a month, but who knew it would be over in less than half a month.

Although it seemed to start off well but end badly, everyone actually knew that Li Long's harvester and tractor played a big role.

Some young men are even thinking about buying such a machine.

It’s so convenient!

The barbecue was ready quickly. Although the pot was boiling, the meat was not yet cooked. Everyone took the skewers and drank a glass of wine in turns.

Li Long stated in advance that he could only drink one drink at most because he had to drive.

Everyone agreed with this point and knew that safety came first, so no one urged anyone to drink.

Baisha is spicy, but it can enhance feelings and make people communicate easily. The young men talked about their feelings and thoughts.

This time he shot a big male deer. The deerskin, deer penis and deer antlers were generally considered to belong to Li Long, so he didn't hesitate.

After taking a piece of red willow barbecue from Talihar, the boy stuffed two more into Li Long's hands as a token of thanks.

I had thought that I would have to cut grass for a month this time, and that big sickle was really annoying to use.

But this is a skill and experience that every herder must acquire when they grow up.

No one expected that Li Long drove a tractor with a harvester and cut down the grass that he needed to harvest for a month in just a few seconds.

It feels so good to see the grass on a hillside fall down in just one morning!
Even though Talihar was lucky enough to get a dozen wild goats as a reward to Li Long, he still felt he needed to thank Li Long.

You can always hunt as long as you are in the mountains, but to cut grass, you really need to cut it one cut at a time. If you miss one cut, you won't be able to finish cutting a whole slope.

Different.

I bit into a piece of meat, it was quite hot, and the fat mixed with juice and the taste of spices exploded in my mouth. It was very fragrant, tender and delicious.

This should be venison, Li Long tasted and felt it.

In the future, three skewers of meat like this would fill you up. Now I have an unusually large appetite, and after finishing three skewers, I can still eat three more, and I can gnaw on two bones when the meat is cooked. A young man was making naren, but Li Long was not used to eating it that way, after all, it always felt uncomfortable to hold it with his hands, so he gnawed on the bones, and finally drank a bowl of soup, and had some dry naan, and he was full.

It's a habit I developed since childhood that a meal doesn't count as a meal if I don't have some staple food.

Even just a small piece of naan is fine.

After eating and drinking, they watched the other people having fun. Although these people had good food these days, they basically only had two meals a day, worked, and occasionally had extra meals at night, but not often.

Nowadays, people are not used to eating three meals a day, except Li Long.

Once the wine started to flow, some people started singing, some dancing, some talking and laughing. It was really lively.

Halimu and his friends kept making noise until about five in the afternoon before they slowly dispersed.

Some people staggered onto the horse, bent over, and let the horse find the way and carry him.

Li Long was a little worried and asked Halimu, who smiled and said:
"Don't worry, the horses will take them to the winter den. By the time they get there, they will be awake. They will be fine tomorrow after a good night's sleep."

Well, although Li Long was a little worried, since Halimu said so, it should be fine.

Anyway, these people are carrying guns, so there shouldn't be any problem.

Li Long drove the tractor to the wooden house, where some things were hung out to dry. Some of the things he had caught these days, such as yellow goat horns and roe deer penises, were all placed here, along with the deer horns and deerskin he had collected today, which he was going to take back with him.

After that, he may not come for quite a long time.

When Li Long was packing up, he heard the sound of horse hooves and someone calling him outside.

Li Long came out of the small room and saw Bolati riding a horse and a bag on his horse's back.

"Hello Bolati, are you still patrolling the forest? You've been working hard." Li Long walked over and said.

"I have to patrol every day," Bolati complained. "Now the leaves have turned yellow and dried up. I'm afraid of fire, so I have to patrol every day. Today I collected a bag of this. Do you want it? If not, I'll hand it in. I guess it will be thrown away after I hand it in."

He dismounted, took the bag from the horse's back, and opened it in front of Li Long.

Li Long was a little surprised, as what was inside was dried Codonopsis pilosula.

It is very big and thick. Although it is a bit shrunken after drying, it is still a good thing.

"This is Codonopsis pilosula, a medicinal herb." Li Long said, "I want it."

"Is there any value in having fritillaria?"

"That's not true."

"Then give me twenty dollars for this bag. Is there any wine?"

"Let me see..." Li Long went to the small room and looked around, then found a bottle of Gucheng Daqu and handed it over:
"This is the only wine I have. Do you want some?"

"Yes, yes, yes. This wine is good. Better than loose wine." Bolati was very happy.

"I'll give you thirty dollars. Although this is not as valuable as the mother-of-pearl, it is also a good thing."

"Okay." Seeing Li Long raising the price on his own initiative, Bolati was even happier. "You are a good person. I know that if I give things to you, I will get good things in return!"

Bottled wine was a good thing for them, and Bolati had already planned to hide the wine and drink it slowly by himself.

Thirty dollars was counted out to Bolati, who happily took it, put it in his pocket, got on his horse and left.

Li Long picked it up and said that the bag of dried Codonopsis pilosula weighed more than 20 kilograms. Last year, the price of one kilogram of dried Codonopsis pilosula was 18 yuan. This year, the price will definitely increase a bit and may reach more than 20 yuan.

Since these Codonopsis pilosula were dug in the wrong season, their prices may drop a little.

It can probably be sold for three or four hundred yuan.

Li Long packed up everything in the small room, including the bag of Codonopsis pilosula, and put it in the truck bed, then locked the door.

Now there are only a few pieces of dried meat left in the small room, just in case I can’t get any meat next time I come over, I can use them as a supplement.

The tractor rumbled out of the mountain. Some people and some animals had become accustomed to it, and some people and some animals felt relieved all of a sudden.

At least there was no need to worry. Li Long's tractor stopped when it reached Qingshuihe Village. It had to stop. Militia company commander Meng Hai stopped in the middle of the road with a basket of honey in his hand.

The five-liter kind, why does it look so familiar to Li Long?
"Comrade Li Long, put this in the car." Meng Hai waited for Li Long to stop the car, went to the truck bed and put the honey in, saying:
"Last time when we had dinner at my house, you took some honey and paid for it. I didn't feel comfortable saying anything at the time. But to be honest, that honey was not worth five dollars.

I know you are a good person, but we country people know what is good for us. Take this home and feed it to the elderly, wives and children - children who are too young cannot eat it. Come often in the future, and I will kill a goose for you when you come home!"

After saying that, he stepped aside. Li Long was quite emotional. He waved at him and drove away on the tractor.

The tractor rumbled away, and when Meng Hai was walking back, he ran into He Yuqing.

"Accepted?"

"Take it."

"He's a good person, but I don't know what will happen next year..."

"No matter what happens next year, let's talk about it next year. At least this year, our villagers can have a good New Year."

"That's right, each family can earn at least ninety-one hundred, right?"

"About a hundred miles."

"Hehe, you're awesome. Well, it seems that this Achnatherum splendens can still be used to do something useful. Let's prepare in advance next year. Achnatherum splendens is easy to prepare, but we still need to prepare the pole in advance."

"That's right. After the wheat harvest next year, I will organize people to go up the mountain to get poles. Do you need them? Prepare them first."

"That's the truth."

Li Long drove the tractor back to the county compound. After unloading the things, he began to equip the broom.

Four thousand have already been shipped to the supply and marketing cooperative, and there are still more than a thousand in the yard. If a few more trucks are sent, it will be almost enough.

After transporting all the brooms in the afternoon, Li Long went to the finance department to settle the bill, then packed a bag of money and hurried home.

Take inventory of income.

The big broom costs four yuan each. He originally planned to charge three yuan for those who have a broomstick and two and a half yuan for those who don't. In fact, the broomsticks he brought back were all cut by his herdsmen friends, and they haven't been used up yet.

The big brooms in Qingshuihe Township are basically sold for 2.5 yuan. So, if you calculate it this way, you make 1.5 yuan per broom, and 5,000 brooms would make 7,500 yuan.

But in reality there aren't that many.

The eldest brother Li Jianguo was paid four yuan for the more than one hundred brooms he made, and He Yuqing was paid a hundred yuan as an acceptance fee. The brooms with handles that someone in the village made at the beginning were paid three yuan.

So the actual money earned in the end was 6,920 yuan.

I earned less than 3,000 yuan from weaving bags, a little over 10,000 yuan from cutting fritillaria, and more than 5,200 yuan from harvesting wheat. Now I have earned nearly 7,000 yuan.

The expenditure was not much, as I had some spare money, and I bought two color TVs for nearly 4,000 yuan.

Later, Li Long spent some of the money to buy a yard, a bicycle, and purchase goods for Gu Boyuan, and did not ask Gu Xiaoxia to pay. She had put the money in a fixed deposit at the time, hoping to earn some interest.

By this calculation, Li Long still has more than 25,000 yuan in his hands.

It seems like a lot of numbers, but in fact, it’s not even enough to buy a Tianjin Daihatsu.

After all, the price is still 28,000.

We still have to keep working hard!
Fortunately, Li Long was not worried. Even if he made enough money now, he could not send Daihatsu trucks to northern Xinjiang because all the trucks in major coastal cities were sold out.

You have to wait two or three years, by which time the same model of Songhua River will be available.

Of course, there is also Xiali.

As for which one to choose at that time, that’s another matter.

Li Long rode his bicycle to the bank with a bag of money and deposited 10,000 yuan directly in a one-year fixed deposit.

Anyway, it won't be needed for the time being, and when he pulled the broom over, Li Xiangqian had already made it clear that there would definitely be a lot of reed handles this year, so he asked him to prepare in advance.

This is to tell him directly that the job of making reed handles is still his.

Why?

Because Director Wei had enlarged the photo of him and the deputy director of the autonomous region and hung it in the director's office of the supply and marketing cooperative.

Although it is not Director Wei's own photo, it is also an honor for the supply and marketing cooperative. At the end of the year, Li Long can also be rated as an advanced individual.

With this photo, the supply and marketing cooperative will definitely get the green light.

Moreover, the things Li Long makes are of good quality, and the customers’ feedback after sending them out are all good, so why not do it?

So later on, when Li Long was not short of money, he simply put it in a fixed deposit.

He was also cautious. He divided the 25,000 yuan into three banks and opened three deposit certificates, two for 10,000 yuan and one for 5,000 yuan. It was risky to deposit it in only one bank.

Who knows if they will be investigated?
The interest rate is quite high. The annual interest on this ten thousand yuan is no less than a worker's annual salary.

After saving the money, Li Long went to the department store and bought a small bottle of champagne and a bottle of beer to carry home.

Fortunately, the 28-inch bicycle was strong enough and the brown paper box was thick enough, so they arrived at the yard safely.

There was meat at home, so he didn't go out to buy some. He planned to cook a few dishes in the evening to celebrate.

He doesn't have to go out for a while, and he plans to be a stay-at-home for a while.

Tao Daqiang's child is about to be born, and seeing that Gu Xiaoxia's belly is still not moving, they have to work together.

Gu Xiaoxia was also very happy when she came back from get off work in the afternoon. She had been busy checking the preparations for the start of school in various schools recently. Finally, it was coming to an end. Some schools had already started smoothly, and their work would be easier.

There were four dishes on the table, two small bottles of champagne, and two bottles of beer.

"Is it a festival today? Such a rich feast!" Gu Xiaoxia asked kindly, "Are you not busy?"

"Not busy anymore. You see, most of the brooms in the yard have been sent to the supply and marketing cooperative." Li Long said as he took off his apron.

He was cooking on time. Gu Xiaoxia had just arrived home and the last tomato and egg drop soup was just coming out of the pot.

There are still dozens of brooms left in the yard, these are extra. The supply and marketing department didn't buy many this year, so Li Long planned to give them out as gifts. The police station gave a few, the purchasing station gave a few, the education bureau gave a few, and then he took a truck to the animal husbandry team and gave one to each family.

Gu Xiaoxia changed her clothes and washed her hands, then sat at the dining table with Li Long. As she watched Li Long open the bottle, she asked:

"Does that mean you'll be at home for the next period of time?"

"Well, I will stay at home and be your safety backup from now on." Li Long said with a smile, "You know, Tao Daqiang will be a father soon, so we have to work hard too."

Gu Xiaoxia had been working and living among women, and had been influenced by them, so she was not afraid. After hearing what Li Long said, she half-truthfully complained:
"That requires joint efforts. How can you work hard if you just run from time to time?"

"Okay, okay, let's work together from now on. Come on, let's have a drink to celebrate our joint efforts!"

Gu Xiaoxia laughed, she also picked up the cup, clinked it with Li Long's, took a sip, then put it down, picked up a piece of meat and chewed it, and said after finishing it:
"Mm, it tastes good."

Li Long learned from later generations that if something is good, it is good, and you should praise the good parts. Don't use words like "okay", "average", or "okay" that can be easily misunderstood. When you praise someone, just praise them in a good way.

It’s great to be like Comrade Gu Xiaoxia!

We ate well, talked well, and drank to our heart's content. When it got dark, I didn't eat much, but drank six bottles of beer, three bottles of champagne, and went to the bathroom several times.

Two people stood up and bumped into the bottles, making a clinking sound, which was quite lively.

After cleaning up the mess while chatting and laughing, the two of them went into the house.

Watching TV is no longer an important thing. Since we have already said that we will work together to have children, we must put it into practice, right?

So the two of them went to bed tacitly.

People wear less clothes in summer, so everything was simple and proactive at the beginning. After all, we were married and legally married, so there was no need to say more.

I don’t know if it was because they were in a drunken mood or because Li Long was often busy in the past period of time and they were not close enough, but they were particularly compatible tonight. Moreover, both of them had extremely strong fighting power, and they tossed and turned until after midnight before falling into a deep sleep.

Li Long inexplicably felt that this time, maybe it would really happen. (End of this chapter)