Rebirth of Bayi Fishing and Hunting in the Northwest

Li Long planned to make dried meat out of four of the five wild goats, two cooked and two raw.

There were big fires on the two stoves in front of the wooden house, water was poured into the pots, one was cooking wild goat meat, and the other was cooking various internal organs.

Of course, the offal of five sheep could not be cooked all at once, so the stove in the house was lit, mainly used for stewing meat.

The fat from the five wild goats was enough to fill one basin. Li Long cut the fat and then cut some meat and put it in the pot to stew. That way, there would be no shortage of meat in the cabin this summer.

The meat cooked in the big pot had a strong smell of cooked offal that wafted far away. Li Long also had the meat of two sheep cut into pieces, rubbed with salt, and hung them up on iron hooks, ready to be dried into air-dried meat.

He had also finished processing the last remaining wild goat. He had removed the meat, separated the ribs, meat and bones, and also rubbed some of the internal organs with salt, ready to take them back.

The five sheepskins had been smeared with salt and spread out on the grass to dry.

Swarms of flies and wasps fluttered about, and then they would lie down on the grass and feast on the spots where the blood had flowed.

As for the meat, although flies and wasps like it very much, they dare not land on it because there is a layer of salt on it.

Sun Jiaqiang was helping out at this time. Two people did come over to exchange the Fritillaria, so Li Long wiped his hands and exchanged with them.

One of the two men exchanged money, and the other one did as Sun Jiaqiang said. When he saw the meat, he really exchanged it for two pieces of meat. The rest was exchanged for matches, salt and other supplies, as well as some rice.

When surviving in the mountains, rice seems to be easier to handle than white flour.

This was just an episode in the process of processing the meat. Li Long spent the whole afternoon processing the meat.

After processing the meat, he let out a long sigh and felt not so tired in a long time.

The meat in the pot is already cooked, but the high fire is still making the broth boil. The few grayish-white foams float on it, and from time to time they are stirred up by the boiling broth and splash onto the meat exposed outside the broth.

There was some foam on the edge of the pot. The upper layer had dried up, but the foam near the broth was still rising and falling with the broth.

Sun Jiaqiang picked up a bone stick and took a few bites of it, feeling great.

Then he scooped out another one, put it in the enamel basin and handed it to Li Long.

Li Long was also hungry at this time, so he took the enamel basin and put it on the table. After washing his hands, he picked up the bone stick and started to chew it. Although it was still a little hot, it was within the tolerable limit.

The meat on the boiled bones was not removed. After all, most of it was intended to be sold away. We couldn't just give them some dry bones in exchange.

So every bone has a thick layer of meat. Wild goat meat is not very fatty, and some of it tastes a bit tough, but at the moment, it's good enough to have meat to eat, and there's nothing to choose from.

While they were eating, Bolati came trotting over on his horse.

"There's meat? That's great!" Bolati smiled happily as he looked at the meat rolling in the pot.

Sun Jiaqiang looked at the two large bags on his horse's back and felt very envious.

Unfortunately, these must be handed over to Li Long.

"Would you like a piece?" Li Long pointed to the pot. "If you want to eat, scoop it out yourself."

This Polati was not very friendly at first, but after he treated himself as a friend, he became very supportive.

This win-win transaction has brought great benefits to Li Long and is also beneficial to Bolati.

Bolati didn't hesitate. He took chopsticks and scooped up a piece of leg bone from the pot. He blew on it and took it in his hand after a while and started eating it.

Sun Jiaqiang asked curiously while eating:
"Polati, you have a lot of grazing over there, don't you have a lot of cattle and sheep? You should be able to eat meat every day, right?"

"Haha, are you dreaming?" Bolati looked at him speechlessly. "These days, who can eat meat every day? There are only a limited number of cattle and sheep. If we eat them every day, the herdsmen will eat them all in less than a year. How will they live in the future?"

"So what do you usually eat?" Sun Jiaqiang was quite interested in this. After all, they were from different ethnic groups, and although they were in the same place, he really didn't know and was really curious.

"Eat naan, drink milk tea, and eat fried dishes." Bolati explained a few words to Li Long for his sake, then turned to go to the horse, chewed on a bone stick in one hand and untied the rope with the other hand, and put down the two bags.

"Well, this time I'll just exchange it for meat. Yes, I'll also exchange it for some wine, and just give me some money." Bolati said as he ate, "These are all for others. Their patrol area is quite far, and it's not easy to get here."

The forest rangers nowadays are different from those in the future. In the future, there will not be so many forest rangers in the forestry team, and most of those forest rangers are part-time. They rarely patrol their own defense areas every day like Bolati and his team do now. They just check occasionally to see if there is no forest fire and stop illegal logging.

Now that the forestry team has just been established, it still attaches great importance to the protection of the forest area, and is also gradually protecting various resources in the mountains.

These Fritillaria are also one of the protected resources, but people have been digging Fritillaria in this mountain for many years, and stopping it has to be done step by step. At present, the population policy is not very clear, and there will still be a large number of mainlanders settling in northern Xinjiang. The treatment of these people is still in a relatively contradictory state.

Therefore, the treatment of medicine diggers is also quite contradictory. Some are deported, some are detained for a period of time and then released, and so on.

As the system becomes more formalized, the forestry team will no longer need so many people, and these people will be dispersed to forestry bureaus in various places or to state-owned timber mills, etc.

This is also a stage for individuals to accumulate wealth.

Li Long quickly gnawed off the meat, put the bones aside, washed his hands, and started to pack supplies for Bolati.

"Raw or cooked meat?"

"Cooked meat." Bolati pointed at the meat in the pot and said, "I want it like this."

"For cooked meat, the exchange will be less." Li Long stated in advance, "This will shrink."

“I know, I know.” How could Bolati, who was originally a herdsman, not know this?

Li Long found a clean bag to put the meat in, and gave him half a box of wine, asking him to tie it on the horse's back, and finally gave him the money.

Bolati waved to Li Long, got on his horse and left while gnawing on the bone. It was not close to the forestry team's stay point, and he was not like Li Long who had a jeep and could drive there quickly.

After Sun Jiaqiang finished gnawing on the bones, he quickly put the Fritillaria that Bolati brought over into the basket and started washing them in the water. While washing, he said:
"Li Long, this Bolati is really good to you."

"Yeah, he's good." Li Long began to load the things into the car, and said as he loaded, "It's okay, once we get to know each other and become friends, he will treat you well too."

Sun Jiaqiang smiled but said nothing. He had been in Northern Xinjiang for more than a year or two, and he knew that it was not easy for these ethnic groups to identify someone as a friend.

He no longer had any hope.

However, when he saw Bolati bringing dozens of kilograms of Fritillaria to Li Long from time to time, he was really envious.

Before leaving, Li Long weighed the Fritillaria that Sun Jiaqiang had collected today, which was 21 kilograms. He gave him 10.5 yuan in cash. Sun Jiaqiang smiled and said:
"We have meat to eat, a house to sleep in, and we get paid quite a bit every day. This is a great life."

Li Long smiled and asked him to pack up the meat hanging on the wire outside and put it into the house as soon as possible, then lock the door and be careful.

Sun Jiaqiang patted his chest to reassure Li Long.

Li Long drove the jeep and returned before the sun set.

He had to go back as soon as possible to take good care of this wild goat.

Although Sister Yang is helping at home, it will probably take until twelve o'clock to finish.

After all, cooking meat alone takes a long time.

Whether it was Gu Xiaoxia, Sister Yang or Gu Boyuan, they were not surprised that Li Long brought back another wild goat from the mountains. Han Fang was very happy, and the little black dog was also very happy. It held the bone stick that Li Long gave it and chewed it.

Although I can't chew it.

After dinner, Sister Yang was processing the meat in the kitchen. Li Long wanted to help, but Sister Yang refused and asked him to stay with Gu Xiaoxia more.

Li Long washed off the smell of blood, changed his clothes, watched TV with Gu Xiaoxia, and told her stories about the mountains.

Gu Xiaoxia was amazed when she learned that Li Long faced a bear and caught six wild goats.

Li Long also told her about the rock paintings and caves in the mountains, and the stories in those rock paintings. "I really want to go and see them..." Gu Xiaoxia touched her bulging belly and simulated the scenes that Li Long described in her mind.

"Don't worry, there will be a chance. You'll have a chance to see the hot springs, wild mushrooms, caves, and rock paintings there."

The mountains are like Li Long’s territory. He can enter and exit freely, and naturally he can also bring his family in and out freely.

Unlike later, everything was circled.

After the meat issue was resolved, Li Long felt a lot less pressure. He planned to move step by step. He would collect the hunted items once every six or seven days at Qingshui River and once every two or three days at Xiaobaiyanggou. In between, he would go to the cabin every day and go hunting every three or two days. Well, perfect.

By the way, I also want to show Sun Jiaqiang those mushrooms...mushrooms?
Li Long reacted immediately. He said something to Gu Xiaoxia and then ran out quickly.

In his backpack were the morels he had picked up while hunting, but when he brought back the wild goat he was so busy skinning it that he forgot to show it to Sun Jiaqiang.

When I took them out of the backpack, half of the mushrooms were already crushed.

Fortunately, Li Longcai habitually removes the dirt from the stem of this mushroom, so it is relatively easy to clean.

Sister Yang was processing the mutton, boiling some of it and stewing some of it. Li Long took a basin, soaked the mushrooms, washed them three times, and told Sister Yang that he could use the mushrooms to make soup tomorrow.

Although stewing morels with chicken soup is the most classic way of cooking, it does not prevent Li Long from making it casually.

As for what is shown to Sun Jiaqiang, we will interview it later.

Without the pressure, Li Long had a sudden idea the next day. After sending Gu Xiaoxia to the Education Bureau, he went to the department store to buy some things, and then drove east all the way to the west bank of the Tashi River.

Didn't Bolati say there was a Mantou Mountain over there? Since there was a legend about treasure over there, Li Long planned to go over there to see if there was a Mantou Mountain and whether there was treasure over there.

It’s just like the mentality of buying lottery tickets in later generations, what if you win?
What if it happens?
The water level of the Tashi River is not as large as that of the Ma River, but at the turn of spring and summer, when snowmelt floods come, the river water is still much larger than in later generations.

There is a road on the west coast, but it is not very obvious and not very suitable for cars.

Fortunately, the terrain was relatively flat before entering the mountains, with paths trampled by cattle and sheep. Li Long's jeep sometimes drove on the Gobi Desert, sometimes on the grass, and sometimes even through knee-high bushes.

The car had just been maintained, so Li Long dared to drive with confidence in such an environment.

As you drive into the mountain pass, there is a gentle slope beside the river that cars can pass through. You can see hoof prints and feces of horses, cows and sheep, and occasionally human footprints.

However, you can't see any bun-shaped mountains from the mountain pass.

It's normal to think about it. If the treasure's burial place could be discovered easily, it would have been dug up long ago. It's impossible that there would be no news about it until now.

Li Long drove the jeep into the mountains. The first two layers of mountains were the same as the entrance to the mountains on the other side of Qingshui River. There was little vegetation. Stones and soil were scattered all over the mountains. The brown stones looked like they had been roasted by fire.

The jeep made a screeching sound as it rolled over the gravel.

It sounds very uncomfortable.

Li Long stepped on the accelerator, and the jeep roared and drove along the slope of the ravine.

After passing two more ravines, Li Long slowed down. The terrain was getting more complicated, and the space for driving by the river was much smaller. He was hesitating whether to turn into a wider ravine to take a look.

Otherwise, if he went any further, he was worried that he wouldn't be able to drive further toward the river, so he would have to turn around.

Going further, he found a wide ditch on the west side, which could accommodate at least two or three cars. Although there were some bushes in the ditch, there were no big trees. Li Long decisively turned a corner and drove the car in.

After driving the jeep more than a kilometer into the ditch, Li Long was a little surprised. This ditch was open on both sides. On the other side was another ditch running from north to south. This ditch was wider, or it should be said that it was not like a ditch. It should be more like a dry riverbed with some not-so-big trees growing on it, and some dry riverbeds with exposed stones.

You can drive here, but you have to drive slowly, otherwise it's easy to overturn or get stuck by rocks or wooden pillars.

Li Long drove to the opposite side and stopped.

This flat ditch can go a long way into the mountains, and the end is not in sight. He did not plan to continue running, but just wanted to find a high place to see if there is a Mantou Mountain, and whether there is a way to go to Xiaobaiyanggou.

If not, we will have to drive out of the mountain and then walk along the National Defense Highway outside the mountain towards Xiaobaiyanggou.

That is the famous S101 highway in later generations.

Of course, the current situation is not as good as in later generations, and it is still a dirt road.

Li Long carried his gun and climbed up the mountain on the west side using his hands and feet. This was the highest mountain nearby.

After looking around, he didn't see the Mantou Mountain anywhere. He was a little suspicious whether Bolati had pointed him in the wrong direction, or whether the place he mentioned was some distance away from here?
When Li Long was about to come down with his gun on his back, he suddenly found three people walking towards the jeep in the southeast direction.

Li Long immediately ran down the mountain with his gun in hand. Although the jeep door was locked, he was still worried.

This desolate mountain was not the area he had been in before. He was considered a landlord there, and he knew very well which areas were populated and which were basically deserted.

He was completely unfamiliar with this place - although it was all Nanshan of Ma County, the area was quite large and he could not cover it.

Li Long came to the jeep before those men arrived. He looked at the three men vigilantly.

One is in his fifties, and two are in their twenties and thirties.

A man in his fifties was wearing a Zhongshan suit. Although he looked sweaty, he didn't look disheveled, which showed that he was in good physical condition.

The two men, who were in their twenties or thirties, were both wearing cowboy suits, carrying double-barreled shotguns and backpacks on their backs.

He was wearing thick-soled, mid-rise hiking shoes, obviously he often hiked.

Seeing Li Longduan, there were five or six men, and the three men stopped about six or seven meters away.

"Young comrade, are you the one in charge of patrolling the mountains in the forestry team?" asked the man in his fifties with gray hair and a baseball cap.

"No. I'm here to do some work," Li Long replied. "What about you guys?"

"We? We're going into the mountains to look for something, and we need a guide who's familiar with the area."

"I'm not familiar with the place, and this is my first time in the mountains." Li Long shook his head. These three people gave him a hostile feeling, and he didn't want to team up with them.

“Hahaha, young comrade, you are very alert.” The man in the peaked cap laughed, “Don’t be so nervous, we are not bad people. My ancestor used to be from here, but he died of illness and was buried in the mountains. We haven’t been here for many years, and now we want to find the place where he was buried…”

This seems like an explanation, but for Li Long it feels a bit superfluous and like an attempt to cover up something.

He guessed that these three people came here to look for Sheng Shicai's treasure.

But it had nothing to do with him. He was not familiar with this area and had no intention of taking the treasure for himself, so he stopped talking.

The man in the peaked cap was a little disappointed when he saw that Li Long didn't say anything. He didn't expect Li Long to be so patient, so he thought about it and said:
"Little comrade, how about this? Today you show us the way, or you help us find someone who is familiar with the surrounding environment, and I will give you 100 yuan. How about that?
You can drive a jeep, so you must have status. It’s easier to find people like you than it is for us. It’s really hard for us outsiders to get things done here.”

"I can't do it. I told you, I'm not familiar with this place. I don't even know where this place is under the jurisdiction, so naturally I can't find anyone. Okay, you guys go, I'll be leaving soon while I do my job here."

Li Long's right index finger was always pressed on the gun guard ring intentionally or unintentionally, and the safety was on, so he could fire at will.

The two young men on the other side were holding shotguns and were obviously not good people.

He could see the eye contact between the three people, so he was more alert.

Perhaps it was because Li Long had a gun, or perhaps it was because of the jeep, so although the three men were somewhat unwilling, they eventually left.

Li Long guessed that the man in the baseball cap wanted him to show him the way because he probably thought that he must be an official because he could drive a jeep. What was he doing here? Would it mess up their plan?

After the three people left, Li Long was still hesitating. Should he continue searching, or go out of the mountain and go to Xiaobaiyanggou along the National Defense Highway?
Just when he was unsure about his decision, someone on horseback came from the northwest.

His jeep was too conspicuous, and the other party saw it very early. (End of this chapter)