Rebirth of Bayi Fishing and Hunting in the Northwest

Chapter 611: Staying at home is not idle - Burning sheep's head (I have something to do today, so I'll just do one chapter)
In fact, Ma County is not considered a specialty leather production area, and the leather purchasing stations here only buy a few leathers here and there.

The sheepskins of the herdsmen in Nanshan are mainly handed over to the pastoral team and sold to the leather factory. This is why Halimu and his team slaughtered the sheep, and gave the mutton, sheep heads and sheep hooves to Li Long, leaving only the sheepskins.

This is because the pastoral team also has task requirements for leather.

The buyers were naturally very happy to receive such a large number of skins, especially wolf skins. The buyers were fed up with collecting rabbit skins all the time.

Although there is a great demand for rabbit skins, the profit margin is not as high as that of wolf or fox skins.

Li Long went back and took back all the wolf skins except that of the wolf king.

He planned to tan the wolf king's skin himself, and then make a wolfskin mattress for his parents.

I got a little over a thousand yuan from these two sales of leather.

This time when we went to the mountains to collect sheep, we basically didn't make much money from the mutton, but we made a lot of money from the wolf skins and wolf meat.

Selling the remaining wolf meat, plus the offal, I made a little over two thousand, which is pretty good.

After selling the wolfskins, Li Long asked about Chen Hongjun. The buyer didn't expect that Li Long knew Lao Chen and said that he had gone to the state for a meeting.

Li Long thought that Chen Hongjun might not be able to come back for a while, so there was no need to worry about it.

After returning to the courtyard and collecting the money, Li Long went to clean up an unused room and prepared to roast the sheep's head here.

I have to sell some of the sheep's heads, but I also have to make some for myself to eat.

He moved a stove over and set it up in the wing room. This wing room had not been occupied for a long time, and the stove had never been used before. Although there was a flue, no one knew how much ash was inside.

Before setting up the stove, Li Long cleaned out the flue. It would take some time for the stove to produce smoke in this cold weather, so he came out of the wing room and left the door wide open to let the smoke out.

The stove is usually set up in early winter, when it is not very cold outside and the smoke from the stove will rise.

If you set up the stove when the weather is hot, the smoke will not be easy to disperse upwards at the beginning and will rise in the house.

The smoke will only rise after the stove is burning vigorously, provided that the chimney is unobstructed.

After setting up the stove, Li Long went out again. He wanted to buy some things.

I need a new hardcover notebook, a better pencil, and a spray gun. I have gasoline at home, so I don't need to buy more.

After riding his bicycle for a while and buying things, Li Longzhi regretted it. He should have driven a jeep earlier. It was too cold to ride a bicycle.

Mainly, my face is cold.

Careless.

When I came back, I found the gate to the courtyard was open, and Sister Yang and Han Fang had already returned.

Seeing that Li Long bought something, Han Fang hurried over to help. Li Long asked her to take down the blowtorch and put it in the room with the stove and the open door.

"Uncle, why is there a stove in that room? Is there anyone living there?" Sister Yang asked in the kitchen with some confusion.

"No, I was planning to roast the sheep's head and hooves, but it's not convenient to do it in other rooms." Li Long explained.

All right, Sister Yang thought, this is what it means to be willful when you have a house. If it were someone else, they would just set up a stove outside and it would only take half a day, how cold could it be?
But thinking about it, Li Long was right. How many of these dozens of rooms were actually used? Many were idle, so they were used. Who made it so cold outside?
After Han Fang finished, she went into the house to do her homework. Li Long put the notebook in the main room and took the blowtorch to add gasoline.

Many people who use a blowtorch for the first time are quite cautious, but Li Long is not. He has used it many times and later he just took the gas tank with the nozzle to burn it. It is quite scary to hear the sound and see the fire, but it is actually very safe if operated properly.

After adding gasoline and increasing the pressure, Li Long took out five sheep heads and a pile of sheep hooves, and without counting them, he placed them on the ground outside.

Han Fang put her head close to the door and watched.

Li Long used a reed to light the fire in the stove, then lit the blowtorch and began to burn the sheep heads and hooves.

The yard was immediately filled with a burnt smell.

Without wind, the smell can linger in the yard for a long time.

Li Long didn't care about it. People at that time were not so pretentious - Oh, I wonder if Gu Xiaoxia will be disgusted by this taste after she becomes pregnant?
He thought about it and shouted:
"Xiaofang!"

Han Fang ran out of the house immediately.

"Uncle, what's the matter?"

"Go open the door and get rid of the smell, otherwise your Aunt Gu might feel uncomfortable when she comes back later."

"Hey, uncle, you are so nice to my Aunt Gu!" Han Fang's evaluation of the relationship between men and women at this time was just a matter of whether it was good or not, unlike the elementary school students in later generations, who would be in pairs and pay a lot of attention to details.

Han Fang opened the door and a gust of cold wind blew in, immediately dissipating a lot of the burnt smell inside.

Li Long then roasted the sheep's head with peace of mind, and adjusted the direction of the sheep's head and hooves from time to time.

"Uncle, the sheep's head is burnt. How can we eat it?" It was the first time that Han Fang saw a sheep's head burnt like this. She didn't quite understand. Looking at the sheep's head that had been burnt black, she felt a little worried.

She thought Li Long had messed it up.

"It's okay, just scrape it and the sheep's head will be ready." Li Long continued to cook for a while, then stopped and put the pot on the new stove and filled it with water.

I'm going to shave the sheep's head here later, and it needs hot water to wash it.

It's a troublesome job anyway.

It is not possible to cook the sheep head in one go. After cooking, scrape off the burnt fur and check for any unburned parts before continuing.

Do this two or three times, and when it is almost burned, scrape and wash it.

If it is a pig's head, you need to use an iron hook to burn the nostrils clean before washing them.

It is not easy to eat meat at this time, so people will be more careful when cooking it. Most people would not cook it as roughly as Li Long did, completely disregarding the need to burn off a few more layers of the edible skin.

While Li Long was cleaning, Gu Xiaoxia and Gu Boyuan walked into the yard one after the other.

"Why is the door open? Are there any guests coming?" Gu Boyuan asked as he entered the yard.

"My uncle was roasting a sheep's head," Han Fang ran out to explain, "He said the smell of the roasted sheep's head would bother my aunt, so he opened the door."

"Hey, you're quite attentive." Gu Boyuan smiled and came over with his hands behind his back to watch Li Long roast the sheep's head.

In fact, it was already cooked. The sheep's head and hooves were soaked in a large basin, and Li Long was scraping the burnt skin with a knife.

Li Long is very strong, but cleaning the sheep's head is not something that can be solved by strength. When it is a little bit tricky, you need to be patient.

After scraping the sheep's heads, they need to be put into the pot and cooked. They are not cooked all at once. Instead, after they are cooked, the lower jaw needs to be broken off to clean the tongue and contents in the mouth.

Some people just stop washing this part and cook the rest directly, and then clean it when eating.

Li Long would not do that. There is a cartilage bone in the nose of sheep, and many people like to eat it, but the noses of all animals are quite dirty, and this also needs to be cleaned well, as well as the inside of the ears. Well, anyone who picks ears should know this.

Li Long was washing the dishes while Sister Yang was calling for dinner.

As expected, Gu Xiaoxia didn't like the smell, so she simply didn't enter the room where Li Long washed the sheep's heads.

Before eating, Li Long added some more coal into the stove, planning to cook the sheep's heads and trotters in the pot after dinner.

After dinner, when Gu Xiaoxia went to work, Li Long continued to clean the sheep's head and hooves. When he was done cleaning them and putting them in the pot to cook, the sun was already close to the horizon.

Five sheep heads and twenty sheep trotters could not be cooked in one pot, so a large basket was placed next to them to store them.

Li Long felt a sense of accomplishment, but if he were asked to burn it again, he would definitely not do it again.

To use a phrase from some local people, I'm tired of doing this and don't want to do it anymore.

At dinner time, Gu Boyuan went to see the sheep heads and sheep hooves that Li Long had finished making. He praised:

"Not bad, it's very clean. I'll take one back later and have it with wine when I have time."

"Okay, one sheep's head and four trotters. It's up to you whether you plan to eat it cold or stir-fry it with spicy sauce." Li Long found a basin, scooped out the sheep's head and trotters, put them aside, so that Gu Boyuan could take them with him when he left.

Gu Boyuan was very satisfied with Li Long's attitude.

"Xiaoxia and I are going back to the team tomorrow. Are you coming back?" Li Long asked. "Not yet. I plan to work for another week and then go back to celebrate the New Year in the team," said Gu Boyuan.

"Okay, when we go back tomorrow, Xiaoxia and I will clean up your yard." Li Long said.

"Hey, okay." Gu Boyuan suddenly felt that with this son-in-law, his life, or the quality of life, was really getting better.

Li Long told Sister Yang again that she would not have to cook for him and Gu Xiaoxia tomorrow at noon, and possibly in the afternoon.

Sister Yang knew that Li Long and Gu Xiaoxia were going to join the team, so she nodded and agreed.

Li Long planned to take back two sheep heads and their hooves, as a way of showing his filial piety to his parents by using his craft. As for the rest, he planned to take them all back and let his father and elder brother take care of them.

My brother is more patient than me, and there must be someone in the team who likes to tinker with this thing.

The next day, Li Long set up the stove in the glass house and picked a lot of green vegetables and some celery, and put them in bags to prevent them from freezing.

Then put the sheep heads and sheep trotters that were loaded yesterday into the jeep, separating the cooked and raw ones. Anyway, the trunk is big and easy to load.

After Li Long finished his work and had breakfast, he drove to the team with Gu Xiaoxia.

Along the way, I met many people going to the county. This road from the county to the north leads to three communes, which are now three townships. Most people from the 40 or 50 villages in the three townships would find time to go to the county before the New Year.

Either they sell some things to save some money for the New Year, or they already have money and plan to buy some New Year goods.

When Li Long and his crew's jeep drove over, horse-drawn carriages, donkey carts, tractors and sleds all moved to the side of the road.

This made Li Long feel a little embarrassed.

When the jeep was approaching the Li family compound, Li Qiang and a few other kids of similar age were beating up the old cow on the road. When they saw the jeep, they immediately shouted:

"My uncle is back. I don't want to play anymore. I want to go home!"

After saying that, he waved at the jeep, turned around and ran towards the yard, ran two steps, turned back, picked up his old cow on the ground, and continued running.

The children all moved to the sides, waiting for the jeep to pass.

After the jeep passed by, they chased after it, shouting happily. Li Long didn't dare to drive fast for fear of hurting the children.

When the jeep arrived at the Li family's yard, Liang Yuemei and Du Chunfang had already come out, and Li Juan and Li Qiang had already arrived at the gate.

Li Long and Gu Xiaoxia got off the jeep, and Liang Yuemei hurriedly let Gu Xiaoxia in. At this time, Gu Xiaoxia was already a little pregnant, and her movements were a little slow, which made Du Chunfang happy.

Li Long took down the cooked sheep's head and hooves, and asked as he carried them to the kitchen:
"Where's Dad and my eldest brother?"

"They went to Xiaohaizi. There are a lot of fish these days, so they went there frequently." Du Chunfang said, "They went there early in the morning."

You are quite diligent.

After Li Long put the sheep heads and sheep hooves away, he moved down the unprocessed sheep heads and sheep hooves and sent them to the vacant house.

Du Chunfang didn't expect there would be so many, and asked:
"What are you doing with all this?"

"We went into the mountains to slaughter sheep for the Shicheng Sugar Factory a few days ago. This is what's left. We'll eat what we can. If we can't, we'll go to Shicheng to sell it in a couple of days."

"It's good to sell them, it's good to sell them, we can't eat them all." Although Du Chunfang doesn't have money in her hands, she thinks the more money her family earns, the better.

After cleaning the jeep, Li Long saw Gu Xiaoxia chatting with Liang Yuemei and asked:
"Xiaoxia, do you want to go to the small lake and see how they fish?"

"Why let her go there? It's very cold." Liang Yuemei didn't want Gu Xiaoxia to go there.

"I want to go and take a look. I've been in the county for a long time and haven't been to the team for a good look." Gu Xiaoxia said with a smile, "Sister-in-law, it's okay. I'm wearing thick clothes. Just let me go..."

Well, the woman who is about to become a mother started to act coquettishly, and Liang Yuemei couldn't stop her. Who made her take care of her brother-in-law's wife as her own daughter?
"Go ahead, come back for dinner. Xiaolong, watch out for Xiaoxia. Don't let her fall. The ice is slippery. Also, don't let snow get into your shoes..."

She was even more talkative than Du Chunfang. Du Chunfang didn't say a word, just watched and smiled.

What a joy this family is!
Li Long put a scarf around Gu Xiaoxia and asked her to put on gloves. Then he found the sled at home, tied the rope to it, and prepared to take her to Xiaohaizi.

Li Juan and Li Qiang also wanted to go, so Liang Yuemei had no choice but to wave her hand and let them all go. She had to find a way to cook.

The sheep's head that Li Long brought back is a good ingredient, so let's eat it.

The Li family has more than one sled. Li Jianguo and his friends took one when they went fishing. Li Long hasn't used it for a long time, but it's quite clean.

He laid two layers of sacks, and one adult and two children sat on them, then Li Long pulled them towards the small lake.

The road, less than one kilometer long, was all compacted snow, and it was not difficult to pull the sled.

When the sled reached the north dam of Xiaohaizi, Gu Xiaoxia, Li Juan and Li Qiang all got off. The slope was a bit high and it was difficult to pull up.

Li Long pulled the empty sled to the top of the dam. Looking down, he saw people in twos and threes fishing at seven spots.

Dad and the eldest brother were still in the southeast. The three people closest to them were Tao Dayong, Tao Daqiang, and a young man.

Li Long vaguely remembered that this was Yang Yong, Yang Pingping's younger brother.

The three brothers of the Liang family were the closest to Beiba. What surprised Li Long was that the three brothers dug three holes in the ice. Looking at the areas near the holes, they had caught quite a few fish.

Li Long helped Gu Xiaoxia down the slope, and then pulled the sled forward. Gu Xiaoxia went to the three brothers of the Liang family and greeted them. The three brothers were a little reserved.

Apparently, Gu Xiaoxia had become a state cadre and had rarely appeared in the team during this period of time. Everyone no longer associated her with the yellow-haired girl from the past.

Both her temperament, conversation and status are different from before.

Gu Xiaoxia also knew what was going on, so after saying hello, she walked towards Li Jianguo and the others.

On the ice, the two children, Li Juan and Li Qiang, were shouting and yelling. They were the happiest ones.

After all, who wouldn’t be excited seeing so many fish caught?
Gu Xiaoxia was still very polite. She would greet those who were nearby and call out to those who were a little further away. There was no need to say anything to those who were even further away.

Just keep a certain distance and maintain a certain degree of affinity.

If you ignore them, people will say you don't recognize people because you are in power and will scold you. It's not good to be too close to the people either, because people will think you have no status.

Well, it's quite troublesome.

"Dad, brother, today is great." Li Long said with a smile as he looked at the ice hole where there were five or six carps, grass carp and five black fish.

"It's OK." Li Jianguo smiled at Gu Xiaoxia, and then said, "It's OK these days. It's too cold, the ice is thick, and the fish can't breathe, so they come here. Why did you bring Xiaoxia here? It's so cold in the ice..."

"I came here to see the fun." Gu Xiaoxia said with a smile, "I've never seen anyone break a hole in the ice to catch fish..."

Well, since Gu Xiaoxia has spoken, Li Jianguo can't say anything to Li Long anymore. He just lets them take a look and go back as soon as possible.

Li Jianguo and his team will have to fish here for two or three hours, and Gu Xiaoxia definitely cannot stay here that long.

When Li Long and his friends returned, they took the fish with them. After they returned, Li Long asked Gu Xiaoxia to stay at her eldest brother's house while he went to clear the snow in Gu Boyuan's yard.

Since you have become someone's son-in-law, you must fulfill half of your obligations.

Fortunately, he was very strong and after he made some noise, young people from the village came to help and quickly cleared the snow in the yard.

The stove in the house hadn't been set up for a few days, so Li Long got some firewood and charcoal to set up the stove to smoke the air. The house hadn't been set up for a long time, so it was very damp, so he planned to light a fire before going home in the evening.

Tell Tao Daqiang later and ask him to come over and light a fire every day, so that the moisture in the house will be dispersed in three or two days.

Tao Daqiang's house is closer to here, so it's convenient.

All aspects have to be taken into consideration. Otherwise, when Gu Boyuan, a middle-aged man, comes back and the house is damp, it would be strange if he doesn't get sick after staying there for a few days.

After all, his physique is not as good as that of Li Jianguo and others.

After finishing here, Li Long looked around the house again. It was tidy and there was no dust, so he didn't clean it anymore. He came out, locked the door and went back to the yard.

When we arrived at the compound, it was time to have dinner.

(End of this chapter)