Rebirth of Bayi Fishing and Hunting in the Northwest

In the county town, it was a quiet night, no different from any other night.

Li Long, who was tired after a day's work, went to bed early. In the middle of the night, he heard Gu Xiaoxia talking in her sleep. He woke up, turned his head to look at his wife, and found that the expression on her face was calm. He could not hear her talking in her sleep clearly, and there was only one sentence, so he went back to sleep.

Early the next morning, Li Long got up and poked the stove in the house, added firewood and coal. After the fire was lit, he went out of the house and saw Sister Yang and Han Fang were already busy in the kitchen.

It's such hard work.

Li Long went to the glass room at the back and lit the stove there. He also picked up a handful of larger vegetables and brought them back, intending to have Sister Yang fry them in oil in the morning.

There was a thin layer of frost on the tractor cover. Li Long wiped it and his fingers felt cold.

After he handed the small green vegetables to Han Fang, he went to install the well and poured a bucket of hot water into it, which opened the rubber mat while also sealing the air flowing downwards. After pressing a few times, the gas below was pumped up and the water followed.

After filling a bucket with water, Li Long placed the well pump flat, carried the bucket to the kitchen and poured the water into the large vat. After carrying two more buckets, the large vat was half full of water, which was enough.

Don't store too much water, as it will easily grow something.

Then he pressed another bucket of water and carried it into the house.

Gu Xiaoxia had already gotten up and was combing her hair. Seeing Li Long coming in with a bucket, she asked:
"Boil water and put it in the tractor?"

"Well, let's go to Shicheng after breakfast. The earlier we go, the earlier we can return."

"Be careful on the road. You're pulling a cart of stuff, so go slowly." Gu Xiaoxia warned.

"Got it. Do you want to buy anything?"

"No. Are you going to meet your sister and brother-in-law? If so, do you want me to bring them some meat?"

Li Long thought for a moment and said:

"Take a leg of lamb. They shouldn't have trouble finding meat, but we're bringing it as a token of our appreciation."

"Okay." Gu Xiaoxia nodded and asked, "Is one lamb leg too much?"

"It's quite a bit." Li Long smiled, "It's enough for them to eat."

Last time I gave you a yellow sheep, this time I gave you a lamb leg as a token of my appreciation.

As for the fish and offal, I’ll give them to you next time I drive to Shicheng to sell them.

He opened the stove lid, put the pot on and poured the bucket of water into it, then went to the well to fetch another bucket of water. Then he took a shovel, opened the stove door, took out a few pieces of red charcoal, shoveled them out and poured them onto the iron tray under the tractor's diesel engine.

When he came back, Gu Xiaoxia had already packed up, and Li Long hurried to wash up.

When Han Fang called for dinner at the door, the water on the stove had already boiled. Li Long scooped half a bucket and poured it into the water tank of the tractor.

The layer of frost on the tractor hood immediately melted into water droplets.

He carried the bucket into the house, put it down and went to the kitchen to eat.

Breakfast was millet porridge. This millet was a welfare provided by Gu Xiaoxia's company. Although it was not much, it was enough to eat porridge for a while.

Li Long plans to go to Shicheng Old Street later to see if there is any millet and buy some back.

After dinner and sending Gu Xiaoxia to work, Li Long came back to the storage room, took down a leg of lamb, found a clean bag to wrap it up, stuffed it into the tractor's bucket, and then installed the melon board on the back compartment.

Next, he drained the water from the tractor's water tank and added half a bucket of boiling water. At this time, the red charcoal fire below had been extinguished. After cleaning these up, he took the crank and started the tractor.

After two or three times, the tractor was driven, and Sister Yang and Han Fang opened the gate together.

After Li Long was dressed, he drove the tractor out of the yard, waved to the two people, and then drove west at a rapid speed.

The fifty grams of mutton pulled by the tractor were piled up like a mountain, very eye-catching.

When he got to the Wuyi Highway, Li Long couldn't see behind him because of the sheep's body blocking the way, so he could only drive slowly to the right. Occasionally, a large truck would honk its horn, and he would continue to drive to the right to give way.

Although the lane is a two-way two-lane road, the snow on the roadside was basically not compacted, so Li Long still drove very carefully.

When the tractor drove to the sugar factory, the guard was also startled and hurriedly called inside.

By the time Li Long was allowed to drive his tractor into the sugar factory, many people in the office knew the news. Section Chief Hu came out, followed by many people.

"This is Yangshan." someone exclaimed.

The tractor bed was not very big. In order to fit the fifty sheep, wood was laid on the bed and the sheep were placed on it, layer by layer, like a pyramid.

Section Chief Hu was also surprised when he saw it, and then he laughed.

"Go quickly, ask someone to call the finance staff and the warehouse manager. Oh, and ask them to bring the scales over. Hurry!"

This is a benefit given to everyone before the Chinese New Year. Although it needs to be unlocked later, it is a pleasure to look at it now.

Even Song Ming took the opportunity to run over and say hello to Li Long while the truck was being loaded.

Obviously, he was very happy too.

A young man came to help, removed the rope, and carefully lifted the sheep down one by one from the top, put them on the scale, and then recorded the numbers.

After all fifty sheep were weighed, the warehouse manager and the finance staff reported the total figures together:
"There are fifty sheep in total, weighing 1,023.6 kilograms. At the price of $1.60 per kilogram, the total amount to be paid is $1,637.76."

Some of the sheep weigh less than 20 kilograms, and some weigh more.

Li Long did not round off the numbers this time and allowed the finance department to record the actual figures.

"Okay, Comrade Li Long, I think this mutton is good. Is it freshly slaughtered?"

"Yes, we just slaughtered it yesterday." Li Long said to Section Chief Hu, "We originally planned to bring it here right after slaughtering it yesterday, but it was almost dark when we came out of the mountain, and we thought you would have been off work by the time we brought it here, so we sent it here this morning."

"Good, good, very dedicated, very good." Section Chief Hu praised, "Come, I'll sign, you go with the finance department to get the money. By the way, do you want to take some sugar residue before you leave?"

"Yes." Li Long was a little embarrassed.

"Okay, I'll talk to Song Ming and have the tractor go directly to you to load it. You can go and get the money first."

Section Chief Hu was very considerate. Li Long had done a great job for him, so he naturally had to give Li Long some reward.

The mutton looks delicious and the price is good too. He, as the head of logistics department, deserves credit for this.

Li Long went to the finance department to sign and collect the money. After putting the money into his bag, he went out, said goodbye to Section Chief Hu, and then went to the slag discharge exit.

Song Ming was talking to the workers about loading the truck. Seeing Li Long coming over, he stepped forward and said:
"Comrade Li Long, can you give me two pieces of that wood? I want to build a shelf at home."

He was referring to the pieces of wood as thick as bowls that Li Long had pulled out of the mountains and laid on the bed of the cart.

"I'll give it all to you." Li Long had no use for the wood. It was too thick to be used as a shovel handle, and too thin to be used to build a house. It was useless.

Song Ming was overjoyed, patted Li Long hard, and said with a smile:

"You are such a good friend!"

Li Long also smiled and said:
"We are all the same, sons and daughters."

The two men laughed.

The bag was filled with sugar residue, and there were ten full bags on top. Li Long also explained that the lamb leg was for his sister.

After the sugar residue was loaded, Li Long drove the tractor out of the sugar factory and went to the old street.

Chen Xingbang was still setting up a stall in the old street. Li Long went to the compound, gave the lamb leg to his sister, and said that he would come with his father and others to sell fish in a few days. He might also take Hongqin to stay with the team for a few days. Li Xia didn't mind, but Hongqin was very happy.

Finally, there is someone familiar to play with me.

Although there were children in the surrounding yards, Hongqin was a girl who had just arrived here and it was difficult for her to integrate into the group. She was also easily bullied.

It will be better once you go to school. With classmates, you will have natural allies.

Li Long did not stay in the old street for long. It was quite troublesome to pull a cart of sugar residue which was dripping constantly.

Let’s pull it back first.

When the tractor rumbled back to the county town, it was already lunchtime.

Li Long returned to the yard to eat. After telling Gu Xiaoxia about the situation, he pulled another sheep and drove the tractor to the team without stopping.

First I went to the old horse farm and unloaded eight bags of sugar residue for Uncle Luo. Together with the last bag, this bag is enough to feed the livestock here for half a year.

Li Long also unloaded a leg of lamb for Uncle Luo here.

"I don't want the meat anymore. I can't finish it." Uncle Luo said, "I still have some."

"You can store it in the winter and eat it slowly." Li Long still kept the lamb leg. "Take this." Uncle Luo took the lamb leg and put it in the kitchen. After turning around, he dug out two pieces of something from the snow pile and handed them to Li Long.

"What?"

"Deer fetus." Uncle Luo looked a little proud. "A deer fetus was born a few days ago. I kept an eye on it and finally got it. The sugar residue will arrive in the next two days. I will get some concentrated feed, corn or something to feed them to supplement their nutrition."

Li Long was also moved when he looked at the two deer placentas.

To be honest, this thing is easier to do in the summer, but in the winter, you really have to keep an eye on it all the time. Uncle Luo must have been freezing outside these days.

"Okay, Uncle Luo, I won't be polite." Unable to express gratitude to Uncle Luo, Li Long took note of this matter.

After putting the placenta into a bag, Li Long left Laomahao and went to his eldest brother's yard.

Li Jianguo and Li Qingxia were both not at home. They had gone to Xiaohaizi to dig holes in the ice to catch fish.

Li Juan and Li Qiang were both there, and when they came out to greet Li Long, they were holding pens and rulers, obviously doing their homework.

Although Li Qiang was somewhat dissatisfied, his sister Li Juan was strong enough and did well in school, so he had no choice but to obey her.

Liang Yuemei came out and was very happy to see Li Long pulling a cart full of sugar residue.

We have several pigs at home, and feed is always a big problem. It's not so bad in summer, we just need to cut more pig grass, but it's more troublesome in winter.

With this sugar residue, you can save a lot of things.

Fortunately, she and Li Jianguo have agreed that they will gradually get rid of the pigs next year and only raise one or two pigs a year.

Du Chunfang looked at the sheep with a missing leg that Li Long brought down and asked:
"Why did you bring the sheep back?"

"We went to the mountains to slaughter sheep and sell them to the Shicheng Sugar Factory. This is a surplus. I cut off a leg of sheep for Uncle Luo." Li Long carried the sheep into the house. "There is another one in the county. I will go to Grandpa Juan's house in two days and take half of it with me then."

Liang Yuemei was also very happy to hear this. Li Long had never forgotten the help from his father, and it was worth it to take care of him for so many years.

After putting the sheep away and unloading the sugar residue, Li Long sat in the house for a while, then went to the front yard to check on the fish he had collected.

In the past few days, there have been two or three hundred kilograms of fish piled up in the idle house in the front yard. It seems that the weather has been cold these days, and the fish are easier to catch than before.

Li Long did not wait for Li Qingxia and Li Jianguo to come back. He still had a lot of things to do, so after resting, he picked up a bag of peeled small crucian carps and drove away on the tractor.

I'll be here in two days anyway.

On the way, he met Xie Dafa, who was coming from the east carrying two rabbits. Li Long stopped and greeted him.

"Why don't you drive your jeep? The gas is expensive?" Xie Dafa joked. "I just caught a rabbit. Why don't you take one home to eat?"

"It's not that convenient to use a jeep to carry things." Li Long no longer hesitated to say that the jeep had its own autonomy. He shook his head and said:
"You can eat the rabbits yourself. By the way, keep the skins. The county purchasing station sells them for three yuan a piece. If you get more, you can earn enough money for the New Year in one winter."

After Li Long finished speaking, he drove away in the tractor. Xie Dafa was a little surprised. Is the rabbit skin so expensive?
Wasn’t it just a few cents before?
Hey, this leather costs three dollars, so I have to make a good trap myself, right?
He walked home quickly, planning to go to Hongliu Beach in the east before tonight to set more traps.

The next day, when Li Qingxia and Li Jianguo were preparing to go to Xiaohaizi, Xie Dafa had already returned with the rabbits. He came to Li's house with two rabbits and handed them to Li Jianguo:
"Brother Li, keep this rabbit."

"Hey, why did you think of sending me a rabbit when it's not a festival?" Li Jianguo was joking. The relationship between the two families was not that close, not as good as that between Lu Yingming's family.

"I ran into Xiaolong yesterday. He told me that rabbit skins are now sold at the purchasing station for three yuan each. That's not a low price. I set up more traps yesterday and caught seven or eight today. I plan to skin them later and sell them at the county purchasing station."

Xie Dafa is a man who values ​​people. When someone does you a favor, you naturally have to repay them.

"Hey, okay. I'll just keep one rabbit, just to taste it." Li Jianguo said.

"No, no, no, take them all." Xie Dafa said and left.

Li Long didn't know that his casual words would have such a follow-up. He drove the tractor back to the county and entered the compound.

Seeing that there was still time, he cut half of the sheep left at home and put it on the jeep. He also poured half of the peeled crucian carp brought from Team 4 into another bag and put it in the trunk. He also took a few tiger bones, filled the jeep with water, started it, and drove to the village where Liang Donglou was.

The jeep is fast, easy to get around, and not cold. Li Long doesn't want to drive a tractor unless he needs to haul something.

I changed to a jeep for its speed and comfort, otherwise I would just leave it there for use.

In winter, the countryside in northern Xinjiang is basically quiet. Except for the occasional firecrackers during the New Year, it is a bit lively. Usually, you rarely hear any big noise.

It is rare to see people in the wild. It is icy and snowy, and there is a price to pay for coming out.

Liang Donglou was reading, Liang Wenyu was also reading, and Chen Xiuzhu was making shoes. The village director Liu Xiazi wanted Liang Wenyu to be the secretary of the Youth League branch. After consulting his father, Liang Wenyu decided to do it. He was already a probationary party member, so it was no problem for him to be the secretary of the Youth League branch.

He is now reading a book about the League branch's constitution, which was found by Blind Liu so that he can familiarize himself with the work process first.

When they heard the sound of the engine outside, the whole family knew that Li Long was coming.

As soon as the door opened, Li Long walked to the door carrying half a sheep, and several people immediately made way for him.

"Why did you take the meat again?" Chen Xiuzhu complained, "We have enough meat at home, and there is still a lot of meat for stewing, which can last us until the second half of the year."

"Eat more," Li Long said with a smile, "Life is getting better and better, isn't it?"

That's really nice.

Liang Donglou knew that since he had taken the sheep, it would be impossible to take it back, so he asked:
"You went into the mountains again?" My daughter and son-in-law didn't raise sheep, so the sheep Li Long could get were basically from the mountains.

"Yeah." Li Long didn't consider himself an outsider. He went to bring in the peeled fish, closed the door of the jeep, went into the house to wash his hands, and then said:
"When I was pulling sugar residue from the sugar factory, they said they wanted dozens of sheep for the welfare before the New Year. I went into the mountains the day before yesterday and got some sheep."

"Well, it's a good thing." Liang Donglou knew that Li Long was a kind person and would not over-exploit the herdsmen in the mountains. In his words, this was a "win-win" situation.

Chen Xiuzhu brought Li Long a bowl of tea and said:

"Come, drink some hot water. It's cold outside. Don't run around so often. It's painful."

Li Long smiled and said, "I drive a jeep, it's OK."

Liang Wenyu felt a little envious. Li Long used to be someone he looked down upon, but now he has become someone he looks up to.

Driving a tractor, driving a jeep, having a job, making money...

Thinking that he could earn money by driving a tractor to harvest in the summer, Liang Wenyu became motivated.

Who is worse than whom?
We are not comparing now, and we are one family, so there is no need to compare.

After chatting for a while and talking about their recent situation, Li Long went to the jeep to get the things he brought with him and sincerely asked Liang Donglou for advice.

"Deer fetus? You want to supplement your wife's baby when she gives birth, right? This bone..."

"This time I delivered some furniture to the people in the mountains, and they gave me the bones, saying they were tiger bones..." Li Long did not tell the truth.

Liang Donglou's hands trembled.

The last time Li Long held a lynx bone, which was already precious enough.

This time, they brought the tiger bone directly. Liang Donglou took it and looked at it for a long time, then nodded and said:
"It's true, and... it didn't last long."

Li Long was ashamed. His sister-in-law's father had such a sharp eye.

"Dad, have you ever seen tiger bones before?"

"Well, before I followed your grandfather to study medicine, I worked as an apprentice in someone's pharmacy and saw the master prepare this."

Liang Donglou said calmly, "It was a whole tiger at the time. It was said that an official of a warlord brought it from the south."

"Uncle Liang, do you know how to make it?" Li Long was overjoyed. He knew how to make this thing by directly brewing wine, but he estimated that it probably shouldn't be done that way.

"Yeah," Liang Donglou nodded, stood up, went to his room, and when he came out a while later, he was holding a handwritten notebook in his hand and handed it to Li Long.

"Here, take it back and have a look."

Li Long opened it and took a look, feeling as if he had found a treasure.

Here are the preparation methods and recipes of various precious medicinal materials.

Not only tiger bones, but also deer fetuses are used.

"Uncle Liang, I'll go back and make a copy and send it back to you!"

"Okay." Liang Donglou nodded.

Li Long chatted for a while at Liang's house and then left.

The tiger bone was left in the Liang family, and no one said anything. (End of this chapter)