Rebirth of Bayi Fishing and Hunting in the Northwest

It was obvious that No. 76 was very happy to return to the Laomahao. He shook his head and wagged his tail. After unloading the carriage, he automatically followed Uncle Luo to the stable that had been vacated for him.

Li Long originally bought the old horse house because of its large size. It has many gardens, yards, and many houses.

Although this place is far away from the county town and the land is not valuable, this is a well-built place with a large yard, and it is very comfortable to live in.

You can also keep things grounded and run around by raising something.

After chatting with Uncle Luo for a few words and saying hello to the five-guarantee households, Li Long pushed his bicycle out of the yard.

He did not return to Li's house, but went to Xie Yundong's house first.

Xie Yundong and his wife went to see Tao Daqiang's new tractor together, and they were full of envy when they came back.

Deng Guilan initially thought of letting her husband work with Li Long and not take the risk.

Xie Yundong almost had a quarrel with her, but finally he managed to convince his wife.

The two have a daughter who is over four years old and can already run and play by herself.

At that time, we reached a consensus and waited for Li Long to come in the spring to discuss the tractor.

To be honest, it was not easy for them to ask for it actively, after all, the tractor was bought by someone else.

Today I saw Tao Daqiang's family drive the tractor back. Although they almost made a fool of themselves when entering the yard, to be honest, even if they knocked down the wall, it wouldn't be a big deal, it's just a tractor.

How many yards can one tractor exchange for?

Most families in rural areas do not have the habit of having a third meal. If conditions permit, they may cook some milk or goat milk at night. Those with children may cook some porridge or rice porridge, which is similar to a midnight snack and not a full meal.

Deng Guilan was in the yard, cooking and muttering:

"It's sunny, the ground is dry, and we're almost ready to go to the fields. Daqiang's tractor has also returned. Let's...his father, do you think you should go to the Li family to take a look?"

Xie Yundong is repairing a shovel. At that time, the most commonly used farm tool in each household was the shovel. There were also hoes, but to be honest, they were not as commonly used as hoes. The hoe at that time was called a planing hoe.

Almost every household has a good shovel, and those are the kind that are not loaned out.

Every family in the countryside has times when they don't have enough farm tools, so if they have the means, they will prepare a few more, like sickles, shovels, hoes, etc.

But for tools that are used very frequently, like a shovel, the owner of the house usually has one that he is particularly good at using. After use, he will clean the dirt off it and put it away. It is rarely loaned out.

The main reason is that the usage habits are different. It’s not that I’m afraid of breaking it, but I’m afraid that it will be twisted during use or not taken good care of, which will make it inconvenient to use later.

At that time, a number of square-headed shovels had steel blades. They were quite heavy, and became particularly sharp after being used for a long time. A piece of wood as thick as a child's arm could be chopped off with one hand by just picking up the shovel and chopping hard.

When Xie Yundong cleans up his shovel, he habitually checks whether the nails on the handle are rusted, whether it is firm, and whether a wedge needs to be added.

"If I'm not going, what's the point of going?" Seeing that the shovel was fine, he took the on-demand device and familiarized himself with it.

The land for planting melons has been selected, and I have an idea of ​​how to plant it. The only thing is that I have never used this on-demand device, so I am a little unsure.

As I was fiddling with it, I heard a bicycle bell. When I looked up, Li Long had already got off the bicycle outside the yard and pushed it in.

You cannot ride a bicycle into someone else's yard, nor can you ride it out of the yard.

"Hey, Xiaolong is here?" Xie Yundong stood up with a smile, holding the video player in his hand and said, "Xiuxiu's mother and I were just talking about you."

"Hey, what are you talking about? Are you thinking about the tractor?" Li Long propped up his bicycle and said with a smile, "See, I knew that once Daqiang bought the tractor, you would definitely get restless. So I came here to talk to you today."

"Hehehehe." Xie Yundong didn't say anything, which was equivalent to admitting it.

Deng Guilan went to fetch a small stool and handed it to Li Long: "Xiaolong, sit down. I'll get you some water."

"Okay." Li Long took the stool and sat down, looking at the on-demand device and asked, "Well, have you tried this thing? Is it useful?"

"I haven't used it yet, but it looks like it should be fine." As soon as Li Long came over, Xie Yundong no longer had the idea of ​​the on-demand device in his mind. Just like a cat scratching, seeing that Li Long didn't mention the tractor, he took the initiative to bring it up:

"Xiaolong, I see that Daqiang's tractor has been bought back, so let's..."

"Tomorrow." Li Long didn't tease him. He took the tea bowl handed over by Deng Guilan and took a sip. He said, "If you have nothing to do, come with me to the Shicheng Tractor Factory tomorrow and drive the tractor back directly."

"Sure. I'm fine here!" Xie Yundong said immediately, "When are you leaving tomorrow?"

"After breakfast, come to my yard and wait." Seeing that Xie Yundong was in a hurry, Li Long said, "I'll go to Dacheng and tell him later. We can go together and drive the tractor back together, so I don't have to make two trips."

Liang Dacheng can also drive a tractor, but his skills are not as good as Tao Daqiang's.

But Xie Yundong has a calm personality and good tractor driving skills, so at least he can run back from Shicheng without any problem.

So Li Long planned to buy both tractors directly to save himself from making another trip.

"Okay, okay, then what should I prepare?"

"It's nothing. Just ride the bikes tomorrow. We'll ride the bikes to the county, and then take a bus to Shicheng. When we come back, we'll pull the bikes to my big yard. Oh, and the harvester, too. We'll pull them together and come back."

"Okay, okay." Xie Yundong sat down, put down the jukebox, rubbed his hands, and didn't know what to say.

Li Long didn't say anything more, he finished his tea and left. He was still thinking about telling Liang Dacheng about the matter before dark.

When he arrived at Liang Dacheng's house, Li Long smelled a strong fishy smell.

Liang Dacheng was pinching fish in the yard. Liang Shuangcheng was not there, and Liang Zhongcheng was fiddling with something at the pot in the yard.

"Wow, we've gained a lot today." Li Long said with a smile as he pushed his bicycle into the yard.

Liang Dacheng and Liang Zhongcheng both stood up and greeted Li Long when they saw him.

Liang Dacheng's parents also came out of the house. Li Long greeted them and asked them to go in and rest.

Liang Dacheng's parents are not in good health, otherwise the three brothers would not be working together outside to earn money.

"At noon, Zhongcheng said there was some movement in the reeds under the gate of the big canal in the east, so we went to check it out that afternoon. There was half a meter of water in the canal, and there were a lot of big crucian carp fillets in it. My brother and I spent the whole afternoon and caught about ten kilograms."

Liang Dacheng said as he pinched the fish:
"Fish have a lot of eggs this spring, and these fish look beautiful. I wanted to sell them, but I haven't eaten fresh fish for a long time, so I thought of cooking them. It's a good thing that you're here, so take some of these back and make soup in the evening so you can enjoy them."

"Why take the ones that are already made? Bring me two kilograms of the ones that are not already made." Li Long said without hesitation, "I won't go to the county tonight. I'll eat in the front yard of Xinzhuangzi."

"Shuangcheng has already sent it to your eldest brother." Liang Dacheng said, "You may not have encountered it."

"That's right, I just came here from Brother Yundong." Li Long said with a smile, "You are thoughtful. By the way, I came here to tell you that if you have nothing to do tomorrow, let's go to Shicheng by bicycle. I plan to buy a tractor, and you can drive back."

"Tomorrow? Hey!" Liang Dacheng didn't go to see Tao Daqiang's tractor today. He spent the afternoon fishing. There were a lot of dry reeds in the ridge, so it was difficult to catch fish, but if there were fish to catch, he wouldn't be picky.

When he came back in the afternoon, he heard that Tao Daqiang had come back driving a tractor. He was also envious, but not as anxious as Xie Yundong.

"Yes, tomorrow. I'll bring the harvester back with me, so my yard can be freed up. Then I'll go to Kuitun to bring it back in two days."

Liang Dacheng was happy as he listened to what Li Long was saying.

"Brother Long, come and try it!"

Liang Zhongcheng handed a burnt paper bag to Li Long. He also had another one in his hand.

Li Long took it and smelled a fishy aroma.

Grilled fish.

In summer, every family has a stove in the yard, and they burn corn stalks, reeds, or sunflower stalks.

The burnt red ashes cannot be extinguished in a short time.

Team 4 was blessed with a unique environment, and you could find crucian carp in any canal with water. For the children, if they didn't have enough fish to fry, they would just grill them.

Scrape off the scales, remove the internal organs, pick out the gills or just twist off the head, since there is not much meat in the head anyway. Wash the processed fish, rub salt inside and out, add some chili powder if conditions permit, then wrap it in paper, wrap it with cotton thread, wrap it tightly, soak it in water, then dig up the red ashes under the stove and put it in, then bury it.

After ten or twenty minutes, the fish was grilled.

The thread is basically burned, but the paper is not completely burned. When you peel off the remaining paper, the fish inside is cooked and you can eat it by pinching and tearing it with your hands.

In summer, fish are usually wrapped with sunflower leaves, which is a local ingredient and environmentally friendly.

Li Long opened the paper package and found two big crucian carps inside.

Liang Zhongcheng opened the paper package and found two fish inside. He picked up one of them and put it into Liang Dacheng's mouth.

Liang Dacheng was pinching the fish, his hands were covered in blood and he couldn't eat it himself.

"You can eat it, I won't."

Liang Dacheng said something, but Liang Zhongcheng insisted on putting the fish into his mouth. After all, it was the best meat on the ribs and had big bones, so he was not afraid of being pricked.

The big fish bones cannot hurt people here, but what we cannot defend against are the small thorns and burrs.

Li Long was not polite and ate the two fish quickly. Then he made an appointment with Liang Dacheng to have breakfast in his yard tomorrow and rode away on his bicycle.

Since Shuangcheng has already sent the fish to his eldest brother's house, he doesn't need to take it.

When riding his bicycle towards his eldest brother's yard, Li Long met Shuangcheng at the bridge over the big canal. Shuangcheng was humming "Ge'er" happily on his way back, and he was a little surprised to see Li Long.

"Shuangcheng, did you go to my brother's place?" Li Long asked with a smile, supporting his bicycle with one foot on the ground, "Why didn't you ride the bicycle?"

"I was carrying fish, and I was afraid of getting the bike dirty, and I was also afraid of falling down." Liang Shuangcheng touched his hair and said, "I can't ride the bike steadily..."

OK, I understand. At that time, bicycles were still very valuable and could not be dropped casually. At least, people who owned bicycles, except for people like Li Long, basically took them very seriously. Even when learning to ride a bicycle, there would be someone to hold on from behind to try not to drop it.

Liang Shuangcheng said goodbye to Li Long and walked back humming a song. When he returned to his yard, he saw the whole family surrounding his eldest brother, talking excitedly about something.

"What's wrong?" he couldn't help but ask.

"Tomorrow, tomorrow big brother will follow Brother Long to buy a tractor!" Liang Zhongcheng was the first to say this.

There was no need to hide it now. The tractor would be back tomorrow anyway, so his voice was particularly loud.

"Really?" Liang Shuangcheng's eyes lit up and he looked at Liang Dacheng, "Brother, is it true?"

"Really, we'll leave early tomorrow morning." Liang Dacheng said with a smile, "Let's not squeeze the fish for now. Pick up the live ones and put them in a basin. Get up early tomorrow, get up early, and carry them to Li Long's yard in the county."

"Hey, hey, hey, I'll go get another basin!" Liang Shuangcheng ran away swiftly. This job had to be done!

When Li Long returned to his eldest brother's yard, Li Juan was making a fire and Liang Yuemei was putting the pinched fish into the pot, intending to make fish soup.

Seeing Li Long arrive, Du Chunfang, who was sitting on the doorstep in the yard, said:
"Hey? Xiaolong, why did you come back on a bicycle today?"

Li Qingxia and Li Jianguo were planning this year's planting plan in the vegetable field. When they heard Du Chunfang's words, they both looked over here.

Li Long propped up the bicycle and said with a smile, "I rushed No. 76 back from Uncle Liang's place today and put it in the Lao Ma No. 1."

"No. 76 has returned?" Li Jianguo was puzzled, and then he realized, "Did you drive the tractor you bought over there?"

"Well, the tractor and harvester are all gone." Li Long went to the stove and smelled it. There was no fragrance at this time, only a fishy smell. He left the stove and went to the vegetable field. "I plan to buy the other two tomorrow and give them to Brother Yundong and Dacheng."

Li Jianguo agreed to Li Long's plan, which was somewhat similar to the original cooperative plan. He also told Li Long that in the past during the commune period, in order to produce more grain and to explore a suitable path, Team 4 had taken the path of group cooperatives.

However, the cooperatives at that time were not exactly the same as the commercial cooperatives of later generations. They were based on groups, working together and helping each other. When anyone in the cooperative had difficulties, they would help each other. It was a bit like the feeling of early communism.

Of course, this kind of cooperative requires a high degree of awareness of action and a certain spirit of dedication, so it was not continued.

A cooperative like Li Long's is actually somewhat similar to cooperative management in essence, but the bulk of the money comes from Li Long, and he also takes the bulk of the profits, giving the feeling that those who work hard get more.

This matter was only mentioned briefly, and the main thing later was the fish soup. The ice had just melted, and the water in the small lake was still very cold, so the matter of setting the net was not put on the agenda for the time being.

Therefore, it is very nice to eat fresh fish at this time.

Li Long was a little hungry, so Liang Yuemei got him a steamed bun from the kitchen and soaked it in fish soup.

Li Juan and Li Qiang followed suit.

Li Qingxia and Du Chunfang just drank some fish soup and didn't even eat the fish meat.

Li Jianguo was different. He was happy today. He poured a glass of wine for each of the two elders. Then he sat at the small table outside, peeling the fish slowly and eating it, occasionally drinking a small glass. It was so wonderful.

Li Long returned to the west room of his yard. To his surprise, he felt the room was quite warm.

The stove felt warm to the touch, probably because someone had put some charcoal in it early in the morning.

It is March now, the ice and snow have melted and the grass sprouts are just beginning to grow. If there is no stove in the house, it will still be a bit chilly.

It seems that someone from my eldest brother's side often comes to look after my house.

I woke up the next day, washed my face simply, and went to my brother's place in the back to have breakfast.

Li Juan and Li Qiang had finished eating and rode their bikes to school. When Li Long was eating, Xie Yundong and Liang Dacheng came over on their bikes.

Liang Dacheng was also carrying a bag, and there was movement inside. Li Long knew it was fish.

Really thoughtful.

He hurriedly finished his meal, said hello to his parents, his elder brother and his wife, then rode his bicycle to the county with Xie Yundong and Liang Dacheng.

"I can't even eat in peace..." Du Chunfang complained as usual, mainly because she saw Li Long finish his meal in a hurry and she didn't know whether he was full or not.

Li Jianguo and Liang Yuemei didn't say anything, both wanted to laugh.

"Then Xiaolong must be full, so he needs to do some work." Li Qingxia said as he ate, "You just need to eat more."

"I'm full." The old lady put down her bowl and chopsticks angrily.

Li Jianguo looked at her and saw that she had really finished. Anyway, my mother didn't eat much at each meal, so she was angry and didn't ask her to eat more, because her stomach couldn't take it.

Li Long went to the compound with Xie and Liang. Sister Yang was pushing her bike and preparing to go out. Li Long greeted her, put down his bike, went to the inner room to get his bag and some money, then locked the door with the two of them and went to the bus station.

Knowing that Li Long had the money, Xie Yundong and Liang Dacheng became very nervous. One was observing to see if there was a thief, and the other was staring at the black bag. On the contrary, Li Long was not nervous at all.

This has been done more than once or twice. What he is thinking about now is that once he buys these three tractors, the money he had saved up from selling the harvesters will suddenly become more than 10,000 to less than 20,000.

You still have to work hard to make money!

The tractor seller recognized Li Long and knew he was a big customer, so two people accompanied them today. There were not as many tractors as there were five or six years later, and those who could buy tractors were all wealthy. But there were not many people like Li Long who bought one day and then bought more.

So even though it is a state-owned factory here, the treatment given to Li Long is different.

Li Long thought it was okay, he didn't think of himself as a middleman.

After the tractors were bought, Xie Yundong drove his own at the back, while Li Long sat on the steering wheel and directed Liang Dacheng to drive to the oil depot in front.

But he was already thinking about going to Kuitun to get a harvester tomorrow. The money was going fast, so he had to make some money back as soon as possible.

If the distance between the two places was not quite far, Li Long would have thought of pulling up twenty machines at once and putting them in his own yard to sell them slowly.

Otherwise it would be like this now, which is too urgent.

But this is the reality, there is nothing we can do about it. (End of this chapter)