Rebirth of Bayi Fishing and Hunting in the Northwest

After getting out of the jeep and walking closer, Li Long saw that what Halimu was skinning was not a domestic sheep, but a Siberian goat.

The ibex was not very big, its horns were not long and had a certain curvature, its fur was grayish white, and from a distance it looked a bit like a domestic goat.

Halimu was skinning the goat, while Talihar and Yushanjiang were watching. Talihar was holding a gun in his hand, and Li Long guessed that he must have shot the goat.

When Li Long arrived, the three of them stopped what they were doing and came over to greet Li Long.

"Was this hit by Talihar?" Li Long asked, pointing at the ibex, after shaking hands with them.

"Yes, I shot it this morning. The mountain goats I saw before were all on the top of the mountain, and they were in groups. This morning I saw only one, on the hillside south of our house, and then I shot it down."

"This is good stuff." Li Long thought about it and realized that this thing was also called blue sheep or rock sheep in other places. He even made some wine with its blood, but he hasn't drunk it yet and doesn't know how effective it is.

The skin of this northern goat has almost been peeled off, and the blood is definitely impossible to get, and Li Long didn't think about it. To be honest, it's quite easy to fight this thing here.

The Siberian goats like to live on the tops of mountains over 3,000 meters above sea level. And they don’t like the kind of mountains with trees, but the kind of steep mountains with bare tops and only some weeds and low shrubs.

This creature is also found in southern Xinjiang, where it lives in several large canyons and eats shrubs and weeds.

As for whether it is possible to hook horns onto rocks and sleep, Li Long has never seen it.

The meat of the ibex is not more fragrant than other animals just because of the legend. This thing is also wild, but the meat of wild animals usually has a fishy smell, and it needs to be cooked with heavy ingredients, otherwise it can't be suppressed.

Li Long turned around and opened the door of the jeep. This time he brought two saddles and several floral blankets.

The main means of transportation for herders here is horses, but not every herder's horse has a saddle. Some herders have only one or two saddles at home, one for each family, and the other may be used in turns or given to one person.

Then the rest of the people rode horses, maybe just putting a blanket on the horse's back.

Li Long once saw many children aged five or six in the mountains who already had their own horses, but there was only a blanket on the horse's back.

So the market opened and there were people selling saddles. He thought he could buy more and take them to the mountains to give away to everyone.

Sure enough, the two saddles attracted the attention of the three people. Halimu didn't even peel the skin. He walked over with a knife and commented on the saddle together with Talihar and Yushanjiang.

"The cowhide is a bit dry and the tanning is not very good." Yushanjiang said.

"This wood is carved quite well. It looks beautiful and has nice patterns." Talihar liked it very much.

"I think it's a little big." Halimu was thinking about Nathan and Susken at home. If they came back in winter and saw saddles on their ponies, they would be surprised!
"There were only two in the store, and I bought them all." Li Long said, "I told them to make as many as they could, I want them all, but of course they have to be of good quality."

"Okay, okay." Talihar said hurriedly, "I want the third mate!"

Yushanjiang couldn't help but pat him on the shoulder. What do you mean? Do you want it all for yourself?
"They say they can make about ten pairs a month," Li Long said. "Two months should be enough for everyone to have a saddle, right?"

"Not enough." Talihar immediately shook his head. "We need three pairs in our family alone. My grandma's pair should also be replaced. It's been decades, and the belt has broken several times..."

"Then come for another month or two." Li Long said with a smile, "Don't worry, everyone has it."

When Li Long said this, Halimu and the others started laughing.

Yushanjiang picked up the two saddles and walked towards the winter den while saying:
"Talihar, these two saddles, one for you and one for Halim. As for mine, you can take it when Li Long comes next time."

Look, this is the style of Big Brother.

Li Long thought that if he could find a similar store in Shicheng or Beiting, he could buy the saddle as soon as possible.

After all, although Kazakh herdsmen grew up on horseback, there is still a big difference between having a saddle and not having one. There are many hidden traps in the mountain pastoral areas, and sometimes you still need to be careful.

Halimu went back and started skinning the ibex. He quickly skinned the sheep and gutted it, keeping some of the internal organs and throwing some to the family dog.

Li Long and his friends entered the house and got on the wooden kang. After Halimu's wife served them milk tea, she began to change the pot and prepare to cook the meat.

In fact, Halimu and his friends had slaughtered the goat in winter soon after they came back, so they had meat at home. But Talihar sent this northern goat today, and he came with Yushanjiang, and since Li Long happened to come, he must treat him well.

"I came here to ask if you have any extra bullets." Talihar said with some embarrassment, "I came back from the summer pasture and have been wandering around the mountains these days. I shot some things, but I'm running out of bullets now."

Li Long smiled and said:
"I just happened to bring some with me. I'll get them for you later."

Every time he went into the mountains, he carried the backpack he had seized from the three men. The backpack was quite sturdy, and this time he put two packs of fifty rounds of ammunition in it, intending to leave one pack for Talihar.

"I don't have much." Yushanjiang shook his head and said, "I plan to hunt wolves in the winter, so I won't give it to you."

"One pack of bullets is enough, enough." Talihar said hastily, "It will last for a month. I will use them carefully in the future."

Li Long thought for a moment and said:
"Don't worry. We will go to the uninhabited area in the west to hunt yellow sheep in a while. I will get you some bullets then."

Hearing that Li Long could continue to get more bullets, Talihar smiled happily. He sat on the wooden kang and held his rifle, which he had kept very clean, without any rust.

Li Long thought about not bringing gun oil or anything like that later on, so that they wouldn't have to clean their guns in an irregular way.

After drinking a bowl of milk tea, Li Long saw Talihar looking at him several times. When he turned his head to look at him, his eyes avoided him. Li Long knew what he meant.

"Wait a minute, I'll get you some bullets." Li Long stood up and went to the kang to put on his shoes. As he put them on, he said, "Are there many wild animals in the mountains right now?"

"There are a lot of wolves," Yushanjiang said. "At night, they run to the sheepfold and howl. It's very annoying."

Li Long understood. People like Yushanjiang were herders, and they would not change their identities easily. This was a kind of inheritance and inertia.

Talihar is a young man with active thoughts, so there will be changes, but people like Yushanjiang are accustomed to the pastoral life. They may allow their children to have a new life in the city, but they themselves will not go out and will not easily change their identities.

Li Long went to his jeep, opened his backpack and took out a bag of bullets.

Talihar had already followed out with a gun on his back, so Li Long handed the bullets to him. Talihar took the bullets and excitedly opened the paper package to look at them.

Yushanjiang was also there, so Li Long split the remaining bag of bullets, giving ten to Yushanjiang, ten to Halimu, and keeping five for himself.

Anyway, there will be basically no danger on the way back and forth. Even if there is, the ten bullets in the gun plus the five outside are enough.

At noon, they had boiled ibex meat at Halimu's place. Although Halimu and his friends had been with Li Long for a long time and had seen some other cooking methods, most of the time, they entertained guests with hand-grabbed meat.

It’s not easy to barbecue in winter, otherwise we would have to dig a pit outside to barbecue.

Halimu asked Li Long to take the leather away. Before leaving, he whispered to Li Long to ask him to find time to urge the saddle shop. Halimu wanted to give Nathan and Susken a surprise before they went on holiday.

Li Long naturally understood.

Driving the jeep back to Wuyi, Li Long thought that since he had nothing to do in the afternoon, he might as well go to Shicheng.

After parking the jeep at the carport, Li Long started strolling around the old street.

Although it was afternoon and winter had already arrived, there were still many stalls in the old street and many people coming and going.

Li Long walked around from beginning to end and saw that there were quite a few people surrounding Chen Xingbang's meat stall.

When he walked by, Chen Xingbang was cutting meat for a customer, so Li Long didn't disturb him and continued walking forward.

After walking around for a while, Li Long still couldn't find a stall selling saddles.

Obviously, the flow of people here is much greater than that of the market in Ma County, but Li Long only saw two stalls selling daggers and short knives, and one stall selling ethnic soap.

I didn't see the others.

Li Long bought three kilograms of frozen persimmons, carried them in his hands and walked back to Keyum's milk tea shop, ready to ask the local man about it.

Keyum was making naan and his waiter was serving milk tea to customers. Li Long sat down and ordered a cup of milk tea and a bowl of naan. The waiter served the milk tea and naan, and brought jam and honey to Li Long before going back to work.

After Keyum used an iron hook to take the freshly baked naan out of the naan pit and placed it in the wooden display window, he turned around and saw Li Long.

A smile flashed in his eyes. He waved his hand inside, indicating that the naan dough should not be taken out for the time being. Then, Keyum walked into the house and sat opposite Li Long.

"Comrade Li, right? It's been a while since we last met. How are you? Are you all right?"

He still spoke in pure Henan dialect. Although Li Long had known him for quite a while, he still felt distracted when hearing him speak like that.

"Very well, everything is fine at home. I'm wondering if your business is worse in the afternoon than in the morning?"

"That's right." Keyum nodded and said, "There were a lot of people when we first set up the stalls in the morning. It was cold in the morning, and those who set up the stalls were freezing just standing there watching over the stalls. When there were fewer people, they would come over to drink a bowl of milk tea or get a piece of hot naan to warm themselves up. After lunch at noon, they are not so cold anymore, so fewer people come."

It can be seen that Keyum is very satisfied with the current business. Although there are not many people in the afternoon, the flow of people in the morning is enough for his milk tea shop to break even and make a profit.

"I heard that the market on the old street is going to build storefronts?" Li Long asked about the situation here.

"Yes, it will be built next year, but the location will be widened on both sides, so that those who set up stalls can do so, and those who build houses can do so, without delaying either."

"Will you buy the storefront? If you build it, you might not be able to run your milk tea shop normally, right?"

Keyum's milk tea shop is behind the stalls in the old street. If he builds a storefront, it will block his small house.

"Then we have to buy one," Keyumul said amiably, "I plan to lend money to my brother-in-law to buy one as well. He specializes in selling naan, and I'll sell my milk tea. It would be nice to open a breakfast shop."

The plan is quite good, Li Long nodded in approval.

"Why haven't I seen you selling fish for a while?" Keyum asked. "It's strange that many old men and women come to ask from time to time, saying that the young man who caught fish has not come, and they can't eat such good crucian carp anymore."

Li Long smiled. He really wasn't in the mood to do those things right now - it turned out that digging holes in the ice to catch fish in the snow was for making money.

But now that life is better, there are some things that we don’t have to do anymore.

"It's still a little early to break the ice hole now." Li Long explained. "By the way, Keyum, do you know where to buy a saddle?"

"Saddle?" Keyum asked doubtfully, "What do you want this for?"

"Some of my friends are in the mountains, some of them don't have saddles, some of them have old saddles, I want to buy some for them."

"This..." Keyum scratched his head, grasped the curly hair on his head and thought for a while, "To be honest, I haven't heard of anyone selling this in Shicheng. You should have it in Ma County, right? Shicheng... there are still few people of our ethnic group."

"There are saddles in Ma County, but the production is too low." Li Long said, "The store I asked can make ten saddles a month. Anyway, we have to wait. I want to buy them before the snow gets thick in the mountains."

"Then why don't you go to Wucheng and have a look?" Keyum said, "There are many people there, and there are many shops selling these things."

Li Long thought about it and realized that this was the only option.

After finishing the milk tea and eating the naan, Li Long paid the bill, stood up and said goodbye to Keyumu and prepared to leave.

"Catch some fish and sell them here," Keyum said as he escorted Li Long out of the store. "Then I'll get to taste the good fish you caught."

Li Long was a little surprised at first, but then he thought that even Keyum's accent had changed, so adding a little fish eating into his lifestyle shouldn't be a big deal, right?
He agreed with a smile and walked to his jeep.

There is not enough time today, so Li Long plans to go to Beiting early tomorrow morning. If it is available in Beiting, he will buy it there. If not, he will go to Wucheng to have a look.

He believed that there must be someone selling saddles in Wucheng.

When they got back to the courtyard, Gu Xiaoxia hadn't finished get off work yet, but Han Fang had already finished school. Li Long went to the kitchen to wash and cut the frozen persimmons into pieces and put them there for anyone to eat.

He also specifically told Han Fang that this thing should not be eaten too much, just keep it cold and taste it for fun.

When Sister Yang saw Li Long coming back, she asked him to look after the child while she went to cook.

Mingming and Haohao were lying on the wooden bed, one of them holding a rag doll that Sister Yang had made and waving it. They were wearing clothes that Li Xia had made, and underneath them was a cotton mat that Sister Liang Yuemei had made.

The two children have become very active now, twisting their bodies and turning over and over, and sitting down from time to time - they are almost six months old, and the two children can actually sit up, but Sister Yang is more cautious and does not let the two children sit for long periods of time, as they will be pushed down if they sit down.

The two children were very excited when they saw Li Long, and waved their arms as if asking for a hug.

Li Long first checked to see that the diapers of the two children were not wet, then he picked up one child in each hand.

It's quite cold outside, so I can't go out at this time. I have to stay by the window and feel some coolness.

The two children giggled. Being able to move around in the house was a rare enjoyment for them.

When Gu Xiaoxia got off work, Li Long had already changed the clothes of the two children, and he also changed his own clothes - just now when he was holding the children and walking around the house, both children urinated, and the amount of urine was quite large, not only soaking their diapers, but also soaking Li Long's clothes.

For Li Long, this was normal. As a father, how could he not be peed on by his child? At that time, there were no diapers as common and durable as in later generations.

The next day, Li Long said goodbye to Gu Xiaoxia and drove to Beiting.

There were also some small shops along the way, which were now painted with store signs, but Li Long did not stop. He did not think these small shops would sell those national products.

Beiting City is much larger than Ma County, and Li Long is not very familiar with it. He wanted to find Xiao Si and ask him to show him the way, but then he thought better of it.

If he told Xiao Si, Director Qian would definitely know about it. Director Qian would definitely invite him to his home for dinner, so Li Long thought he should just go shopping by himself first.

Don't cause so much trouble.

Li Long drove his jeep to the Beiting Farmers' Market first. He walked around but didn't find anyone selling saddles, so he drove around the city.

Fortunately, although Beiting is larger than Ma County now, it is still much smaller than in later generations. Li Long found a shop selling horse harnesses in a corner of the city.

The store was not big. Li Long recognized it only after seeing a horse whip hanging at the door.

He didn't know the minority language, and he couldn't understand the sign. It was only this whip that made him sure that this was the store he was looking for.

When Li Long knocked on the shop door, he found that it looked simple from the outside but was quite large inside.

There was a stove in the middle of the room with a teapot on it.

An old man from a minority ethnic group was sitting by the stove, wearing a leather apron, and whittling a piece of wood with a knife.

Li Long could see that the wood was the saddle of a saddle.

Saddles, reins, bridles, whips and other things were hung on the walls of the room. He counted them and found that there were eight ready-made saddles.

This made Li Long feel surprised. He didn't expect to find what he had been looking for here.

Then there is no need to go to Wucheng.

Seeing Li Long coming in, the old man looked at him and asked:
"Young man, what do you want to buy? Maybe you don't need these things here?"

Li Long smiled and pointed to the saddle on the wall and said:

"I want to buy all these things. Can you tell me the price?"

Hearing what Li Long said, the old man was a little surprised. He spoke Chinese quite well and quoted the price skillfully:
"A saddle is forty-five dollars, a leather whip is seven dollars, and a bridle with reins is ten dollars. The reins are leather, so they are more expensive. The blanket on the horse's back is twelve dollars. This one is made of pure wool and is very beautiful!"

Li Long calculated that the whole set cost seventy-four yuan.

Not cheap. (End of this chapter)