Rebirth of Bayi Fishing and Hunting in the Northwest

For the next period of time, until June, Li Long basically went to the mountains once a week to deliver some supplies to Sun Jiaqiang.

What surprised him was that Sun Jiaqiang really stayed in the mountains and went picking mushrooms every day when he had nothing to do.

He not only picked morels, but also other mushrooms. He didn't dare to eat the other mushrooms, so he put them on the table to dry, waiting for Li Long to come and see.

When Li Long came over to take a look, he discovered that the mushrooms picked by Sun Jiaqiang were also of various kinds. It was only then that Li Long realized that there were so many mushrooms in this mountain, and he didn't recognize any of them.

He could only pick out the edible mushrooms he knew and give Sun Jiaqiang some "scientific knowledge". As for the others, he just threw them away.

What surprised Li Long was that black tiger paw fungi had already started to grow in some places in the mountains in early June. Although they were not big, they were really there.

Li Long was somewhat happy, so he told Sun Jiaqiang to pay more attention to this kind of mushroom when the morels were sold out, saying that it was not cheap.

As for the morels picked by Sun Jiaqiang, he asked Li Long if he wanted to accept them, and if so, he would take them away.

Li Long bought them, of course. He weighed them and found that Sun Jiaqiang had collected more than two kilograms but less than three kilograms of morels in the past week. Li Long had not yet asked about the price of morels at the purchasing station. Last year, it seemed to be more than 20 yuan per kilogram. Li Long bought his morels at 15 yuan per kilogram, and gave him 40 yuan for less than three kilograms.

Sun Jiaqiang was very happy. This was much better than working for relatives.

He took thirty yuan from it and gave the rest to Li Long, saying that it was for rent and money for supplies.

Li Long just let it go.

In addition to the days in the mountains, Li Long also went to the herdsmen's stay. Because he didn't hunt during this period, he went directly to the county's ethnic minority meat stall to buy a sheep and cut it in half, leaving one half with Halimu's mother and the other half at Yushanjiang's home.

The children were still very happy to see Li Long. They would tell him about their studies and the changes here in their already very good Mandarin. Li Long could still see people coming to the two wells to fetch water from time to time, and it was obvious that there were not many people digging wells in the whole village.

Or almost none.

Not everyone can afford to dig a well, or some people have become accustomed to it. There is not much work to do anyway, so they can either go to the river to fetch water or go to these two companies to pump water. It is not a big deal.

Halimu's mother, the old lady, was also very happy to see Li Long coming, and she was busy preparing a meal for Li Long. Li Long asked his child to explain that his wife at home was pregnant and could not stay too long.

I brought not only mutton to the two families, but also daily necessities such as rice, flour, oil, salt, tea, and school supplies for the children. I had already brought these and I would think about them every time I came.

The children were genuinely happy, after all, other families of the pastoral team that stayed behind did not have such treatment.

After returning from the pastoral team's stay point, Li Long began to pick out the remaining Fritillaria and the morels brought back from the mountains this time. After drying them thoroughly and cleaning them, he took them to the purchasing station.

The price of Morchella didn't increase much, the first grade was 28 yuan per kilogram. Li Long also asked about the price of Black Tiger Palm Mushroom, and he was a little surprised that the price of this large-volume mushroom not only didn't increase, but actually dropped a little, to 20 yuan per kilogram.

dry goods.

It’s a little different from what I expected.

However, the pricing power is currently in the hands of others, and there is nothing he can do about it.

After the last batch of Fritillaria were sold, Li Long returned to the compound and began to take inventory of the Fritillaria while Gu Xiaoxia was taking a nap.

If the robbery hadn't happened, Li Long expected Beimu to receive nearly 800 kilograms of dried goods in the last few days, which could be sold for nearly 40,000 yuan. The cost of each kilogram of dried goods was about 15 yuan, which means that the net profit was more than 20,000 yuan, which was a little short of 30,000 yuan.

But the seven bags of Fritillaria harvested from the robbers' hideout, although not completely dry and not particularly clean, gave Li Long nearly 300 kilograms of dried goods. At the end of this Fritillaria season, Li Long sold almost one ton of dried Fritillaria to the purchasing station.

The total price is about 50,000 yuan.

However, Li Long did not plan to keep the last 300 kilograms of dry goods all by himself. Although Bolati said that he only wanted 2,000 yuan, 1,700 yuan of which was still stored by Li Long, Li Long planned to give him at least 3,000 to 5,000 yuan.

Just because Bolati didn't tell anyone about him, Li Long couldn't treat him badly.

When Li Long first met Bolati, he didn't think much of him. He had many problems, was a troublemaker, and was an alcoholic.

But sometimes, the lower the social status of people, the more righteous they are, and most righteous people are butchers.

Li Long thinks that reading books can make people more rational, look ahead and behind, think more, and their thoughts are not so simple.

Of course, those scholars with firm beliefs are different. They are made of special materials and are different from ordinary people. What they do cannot be done by ordinary people, and Li Long cannot do it either.

So Li Long planned to leave the money here. As for what Bolati said about wanting to buy a house in the county town, he would definitely help and even add money to it.

In fact, Bolati's speaking out would not have much impact on him, at most it would just be a little troublesome.

But since they have insured it and take it very seriously, Li Long feels that he must let Bolati know the value of his insurance.

Later, when he went to the mountains, he didn't meet Bolati, but Li Longyuan was still thinking about meeting him, asking him where his home was, and then sending some things to his house.

There will be a chance later anyway.

In this way, he made more than 30,000 yuan from the Fritillaria, mainly because the cost was not as high as planned. He exchanged most of the Fritillaria for supplies, and the meat was killed by himself. He made a profit on both ends when he bought other supplies, so he made a lot of money.

He saved whatever money he earned. Anyway, with the money he had now, plus the more than 20,000 yuan he already had, he already had more than 60,000 yuan on the savings certificate.

I can’t think of where to invest so much money in a short time, so just put it aside for now.

Interest rates are high now anyway.

Although staying at home seems to be more relaxed, there are also more chores to do.

Li Long's main job every day is to help Gu Xiaoxia walk around the yard or on the street. The road conditions are not very good at this time. Gu Xiaoxia is getting older and doesn't dare to drive the jeep around, so her activities are mainly around the big yard.

At most, you can go to the market and take a look at the world.

I spend most of my time in the yard. There are dogs, roe deer, and hedgehogs moving around in the yard, so I don't feel lonely at all.

The trouble is that as the wheat season approaches, people come to him almost every day to buy harvesters.

They are all farmers nearby. Some of them said they would go to Kuitun, but people wouldn't sell to them.

Li Long was so annoyed that some people came over in a tractor and simply wanted to take away the harvester in his yard.

"Why don't you just go and fetch a truck?" Gu Xiaoxia could see that Li Long looked impatient, so she smiled and said:

"I won't be in any trouble for a day or two. My dad and Sister Yang are here."

"Then I'm still worried." Although the due date is still more than half a month away, Li Long knows that giving birth at this time is different from later times. Medical technology is not as advanced, and Gu Xiaoxia is pregnant with two children, so it is better to be careful.

"Then I'm annoyed if they come here every day." Gu Xiaoxia said, "You just go once and bring back a load of goods. At least you can have some peace and quiet for a few days. It only takes two days to go back and forth."

Li Long didn't want to leave for two days.

But it's not that there is no solution.

After lunch, when Gu Xiaoxia was taking a nap, Li Long asked Sister Yang to look after her while he drove the jeep to the transportation company.

"You said you want to run again? At night?" Captain Ma looked at Li Long and asked, "Where are you running to? In the mountains again?"

"No. I'll leave right after get off work. I want to go to Kuitun with two cars to transport goods. Cars run fast and I can be back tonight."

Li Long's idea was to use the transport company's trucks, which could carry a lot of goods quickly and return that same evening - although it would be a little late, it would not affect tomorrow's affairs.

"If we go to Kuitun, the freight will be..."

"The freight is what you say." Li Long naturally understood, "I'll add the gas."

"So, when?"

"If everything is fine, we can do it tonight," said Li Long.

Captain Ma flipped through the dispatch list on the table and said after reading it:
"Not tonight. The team's truck went to the state to pick up goods today, and it's a bit late to come back. Let's go the day after tomorrow. We have something to do in the morning, but nothing in the afternoon. You can leave a little earlier so you can come back earlier. As for the freight... it's fifty per truck."

"Okay." Li Long agreed.

When he returned home for dinner, Li Long told Gu Boyuan about this.

Gu Boyuan thought it was fine. He said while eating, "You go and do your own thing. I'll stay in the yard. I'll be there for you if anything happens."

Team 4, when the sun was setting, the tractor rumbled back to the Li family's yard.

Li Jianguo turned off the engine, Liang Yuemei got off the back seat and took off her headscarf.

"Are you done?" asked Du Chunfang, who had finished feeding the pigs.

Li Juan and Li Qiang also came out of the house and helped their mother take the tools off the tractor bucket.

"We're done." Li Jianguo responded. They were weeding the melon field. The melon seedlings were growing well, but there were a lot of weeds in the field.

Right now, watering is done by flooding, and there is no plastic film to hold it down. The grass in the field grows very fast and needs to be hoed every once in a while.

The use of herbicides is not very common at present. Some weeds, such as reeds and goosegrass, are very stubborn. After the surface weeds are removed, they will grow back in a short time.

There is also the wild amaranth. One grass can grow thousands of seeds in the autumn. Even if only one percent of them germinate, it will cause great trouble to the farmers.

So if you want good crops, regular weeding is inevitable - it is best to do it a few days after watering, when the ground is not completely dry and it will be easier to weed at this time.

Li Qingxia came over from the front yard. Although Li Long and Gu Xiaoxia didn't live there often, they would often tidy up the front yard and grow some good vegetables.

Originally, Li Qingxia wanted him to go to work in the fields with them, but Li Jianguo and Liang Yuemei refused.

The old couple can help take care of the household, and they can do all the work in the fields.

After finishing the work in the fields, Liang Yuemei said while enjoying the cool in the yard in the evening:

"Let's go to the county to see Xiaoxia tomorrow. She's about to give birth, and we don't know what's going on with her now."

"We have to see." Li Jianguo nodded, "Tomorrow is the weekend, our whole family will go."

After saying that, he looked up at Li Qingxia and Du Chunfang.

"Let's go, let's go," Li Qingxia nodded, "It's just right to take the net out early tomorrow morning. We won't sell the fish, so we can take them to Xiaolong and the others."

Du Chunfang also nodded. Although she was a bit lazy, as a mother-in-law, she still had to go and see her daughter-in-law when she was about to give birth, and she should take care of her during the confinement period.

In fact, Liang Yuemei herself didn't think about asking her mother-in-law to take care of her. She thought that after the housework was done and Li Jianguo had returned from his job, she would go to take care of Gu Xiaoxia during the confinement period after she gave birth.

She didn't even think of letting Du Chunfang take care of Gu Xiaoxia at the beginning. It wasn't that she looked down on Du Chunfang, but mainly because her mother-in-law was not someone who could take care of others.

Moreover, Gu Xiaoxia grew up under her care. Although she was nominally her brother's wife, she was actually more like her daughter-in-law. Gu Xiaoxia had no mother, so she had to do it anyway.

She had thought about this matter a long time ago, but was only ready to bring it up at this time.

She believed that Li Jianguo would definitely agree. After all, Li Jianguo actually raised Li Long as his son in the first few years.

But I didn’t expect that this little brother suddenly grew up in the past two or three years and no longer needed his big brother’s care.

There was even a period of time when he started to give back to his elder brother and sister-in-law, which made Li Jianguo a little uncomfortable at first.

No matter what, if Gu Xiaoxia wants to have a baby, the Li family will definitely have to send someone.

"That's settled then." Li Jianguo said, "Juan, Qiangqiang, you two should go to bed early and go visit your uncle and aunt tomorrow."

The Lu family next door came back from work a little later. They couldn't afford a tractor yet, so when the horse-drawn carriage came back from the fields, besides the people sitting on it, there was also a large bundle of grass. This was for feeding the horses at night, and it had become a habit.

After everything was settled there, Lu Yingming and Mrs. Lu came to the Li family's yard to chat together.

Li Qiang, who was roasting salted fish at the stove, took the roasted fish and shared them with everyone, including Lu Yingming and Mrs. Lu.

"Hey, Qiangqiang is so generous." Lu Yingming took the roasted salted crucian carp and praised with a smile.

Li Qiang smiled proudly, then took a large handful of dried salted fish and roasted them next to the stove.

When Mrs. Lu asked what work the Li family would do tomorrow, Liang Yuemei said she would go to see Gu Xiaoxia tomorrow.

"That's right, Xiaoxia is about to give birth. Will she stay in the county to recuperate after giving birth, or come back?" Mrs. Lu asked curiously.

She guessed that she should come back to recuperate after giving birth. After all, it would be more convenient for Du Chunfang and Liang Yuemei to take care of her in the team.

After all, Gu Xiaoxia was a state cadre, and she was a member of the team. At least it would be convenient for the women in the team to come and see her while she was recuperating in the team.

"I don't know. Let's listen to Xiaolong." Liang Yuemei shook her head. "Maybe in the county. After all, it's close to the hospital. If there is any problem, it will be easy to deal with."

She had given birth to a child before, and it was at home, so she naturally knew how dangerous childbirth was. The closer to the hospital, the easier it would be to deal with emergencies.

"In the county? Who will take care of it?" Mrs. Lu was still in a gossipy mood.

"I'll go." Liang Yuemei said as a matter of course, "Anyway, the big work is almost done now, and the best we can do is wait until July to harvest the wheat. We have a harvester, so we have nothing to worry about."

There is nothing we can do when it comes time to give birth.

Du Chun said weakly:
"Then it's my turn to go..."

"Mom, you stay at home." Li Jianguo smiled, "Juan's mother can go when the time comes."

That's how it's settled.

The next morning, Li Qingxia went to get the net, and the family caught the fish. When Tao Jianshe heard that they were going to the county, he didn't want the fish anymore, so he gave it to Li Long and his family.

Tao Jianshe didn't leave either. He helped to pick the fish and put the fishing nets into bags and took them back. He said that Li Qingxia didn't have time to pick them up, so he took them back to pick them up and would go fishing later.

The Li family put the fish in a bucket, had breakfast, fed the pigs, and then packed up. They picked a lot of vegetables from the front and back yards and put them on the tractor, filled a basket with eggs, caught four chickens, tied them up and put them in a bag, and then prepared to go to the county.

Mrs. Lu brought some eggs over and handed them to Liang Yuemei who was sitting on the truck:
"There's nothing good at home, so I'll use this egg to nourish Xiaoxia."

At this time, the traditional foods in rural areas are eggs and old hens.

There's nothing else good.

When the tractor drives west, it will meet people working in the team, and they will stop and say hello.

When they learned that the Li family was going to the county to visit Gu Xiaoxia who was about to give birth, they were all very gossipy and happy.

As the first young couple to make a name for themselves in the team after the reform and opening up, Li Long and Gu Xiaoxia are still quite popular. Now that they are going to have a child, the older ones have also sent their blessings.

They all slapped their thighs and complained that Li Jianguo should have said something and that they, the elders, should have brought something over.

Even after Li Jianguo and his group left, some people planned to go together at noon to take a look. They were looking for the Tao family and the Xie family. After all, these two families had tractors and could easily haul people.

In the end, some women said that it would be better to wait until after giving birth before going to see the doctor.

This is the custom.

A big part of the reason why everyone wanted to see it was because they had received a lot of favors from Li Long in the past two years. Team Four was obviously much richer than the other teams. Although some people were a little short-sighted, most people still knew what was good for them.

When Li Jianguo drove the tractor to the yard, Li Long had just sent away a man who wanted to buy a harvester.

He had already promised the other party that he would come to pick up the harvester in three to five days. The man strongly demanded to put down the deposit, but Li Long confiscated it, saying that he would definitely have it by then.

After all, with two cars, we can at least pull back a dozen or twenty vehicles.

One or two won't make a difference.

As soon as the Li family arrived, the courtyard suddenly became lively. Liang Yuemei was the first to notice that Gu Xiaoxia's belly was a little abnormal. After everyone had asked, she quietly asked Gu Xiaoxia:

"Is it double?"

Gu Xiaoxia didn't expect that this "sister-in-law" had such sharp eyes and saw it right away. (End of this chapter)