Rebirth of Bayi Fishing and Hunting in the Northwest

As Section Chief Hu was driving back, he was still thinking about those sika deer.

Many people know that the whole body of a deer is a treasure, but in the past, it felt a little far from ordinary people. If ordinary people wanted to get some deer products, they basically had to go to a pharmacy. If they wanted to eat venison, it was too difficult.

Now Li Long actually raises sika deer. When Section Chief Hu saw the sika deer, he was still thinking about whether to buy it or not. When the car was about to reach Ma County, he was already thinking about whether to buy one or two.

There are so many leaders, and one end may not be enough to share. And what about the whip, who should I give it to and who should I not?
It's quite troublesome.

Of course, it was also a happy trouble. Section Chief Hu narrowed his eyes, smiled, and then said to Song Ming:

"Let's go find Xiao Li. Do you know where their home is?"

Of course Song Ming knew it, so he drove the car east and headed towards Li Long's yard.

The car stopped at the gate of the courtyard. Section Chief Hu and Song Ming got out of the car. Looking at the old house and the gate, Section Chief Hu smiled and said:

"Xiao Li's yard looks very impressive."

"Well, it's said that this is an old house from decades ago. The original owner went back to his hometown and sold the yard to Xiao Li."

"This yard is really nice. There is really no yard like this in our Shicheng." Section Chief Hu was really envious. Living in a building has its advantages, and living in a courtyard has its advantages.

Shicheng is a new city, unlike Ma County which is an old city. The advantage of an old city is that you can find buildings that are dozens or even hundreds of years old.

It's obvious that this courtyard was built with great care. The gate and the courtyard wall look very majestic, and people can tell at a glance that the person living here is not an ordinary person.

While he was still watching at the door, Li Long came over and opened the door.

When Section Chief Hu came over, Li Long was clearing the snow in the yard. One of the disadvantages of living in a yard in the city is that it snows in winter and the snow needs to be cleared away. There are flower beds and vegetable plots in the front yard, but not much snow can accumulate in them. After all, the yard is large and a lot of snow falls.

When it snowed, Li Long would push the snow away first to clear the road. The snow could be piled in the corners and on the sides, but when he had free time, he had to clear away the excess snow, otherwise when the snow melted, the yard would be full of dirty water.

The snow looks white and clean, but if you look closely, you can see a lot of black dots in it, which are dust.

If you can't see it, grab a handful of snow and hold it in your hand. When the snow melts, you will feel a lot of tiny residues in your hand.

Not very clean anyway.

Li Long was loading snow onto the shovel. When it was full, he pulled it out to dump it. Then he heard the sound of cars and voices outside.

The car stopped at the door, so he naturally went out to take a look. When he saw Section Chief Hu and Song Ming, Li Long immediately realized that they were probably talking about sheep. He smiled and greeted Section Chief Hu:
"Hello, Section Chief, Hello, Squad Leader Song, what are you doing..."

"I came to see you." Section Chief Hu said with a smile, "What are you doing..."

"Snow clearing. One disadvantage of having a large yard is that it is very troublesome to clear snow in winter." Li Long pointed at the snow on the sled and said, "Take your time."

Later, many people preferred to live in high-rise buildings rather than bungalows. One of the major problems was that the snow in the courtyards and on the roofs of bungalows had to be cleaned. Li Long once heard a woman complain that in her small courtyard in the county, every time it snowed, she had to push out 48 wheelbarrows of snow - it took three or four days!
I'm so annoying.

"Then let us help." Song Ming said as he came over and pulled the rope of the sled.

"No, no, no, no need." Li Long waved his hand and said, "I have nothing to do this winter, so I use this to relax."

This was the first time that Section Chief Hu had heard someone so relaxed. He smiled and said, since Li Long didn't want him to help, he would get down to business:
"Xiao Li, I'm planning to buy a batch of your sheep as a year-end bonus. I went to see them today, and they're really fat, not bad."

Li Long thought that they came here for this purpose, and he was very happy to hear this:

"That's great. Just let me know when you need it, and I'll slaughter the sheep and prepare the internal organs and send them to you."

"Yes, yes, yes, this time we want all the internal organs and offal." Section Chief Hu reminded him, "I see your sheep is very fat, so it should have a lot of fat."

"Well, don't worry about that. But the stomach and intestines are not easy to clean..." Li Long said, "The heart, liver, lungs and other parts can be left behind, and the rest..."

"We still need to have a stomach." Section Chief Hu was also trying to get benefits for the workers in his factory. "Just think about it, how delicious it would be—"

"That's fine, but to be honest, washing the stomach in the middle of winter is not an easy job."

The small intestines have to be kept and sold together with the sheepskin. This is the rule of the leather factory for collecting sheepskins. It seems that they are used to make casings. The large intestines can be washed out, but to be honest, it is really troublesome.

But doing business, making money, is not that easy? Like Li Long collecting Fritillaria in the summer, transferring from one hand to the other, that is indeed easy. But such work is rare.

If you want to make money in this winter, you have to be prepared for hard work.

"Of course, don't worry. Since what I want is so complicated, I will definitely not let you down on the price." Section Chief Hu knows how to use the carrot and stick at the same time. "Don't even mention the wholesale price. How about I buy your whole sheep at the market price? You take care of it, Klangzi, and put the internal organs into the sheep's stomach. Then we can weigh it at my factory. The number is not certain at the moment, but it will be at least fifty."

"Okay." Li Long thought for a while and said, although it is a bit troublesome, he will definitely make money. The current market price is much higher than when he bought it. In addition, the sheep are fatter by an average of more than ten kilograms. Even if it is a bit troublesome, he can still make a lot of money.

"Give me two cows, and all their internal organs, too—of course, forget about the head, hooves, etc." Chief Hu continued, "It's also the market price, weighed now."

"No problem." Li Long thought that the cow must have grown more than ten kilograms in two months, at least twenty or thirty kilograms. The price of beef is not low, but the price of live cattle he bought is not high, which is the lowest price in the year.

"And your red deer..." Section Chief Hu spoke again, "How do you sell that red deer?"

This question stumped Li Long.

He hasn't sold it either.

The two young elks were sold at three hundred each. The big one would be sold at a higher price, but Section Chief Hu was unwilling to do so. If he sold it at a lower price, he would also suffer a loss.

"Chief, do you want a male or a female?"

"Of course it has to be public." Section Chief Hu said with a smile.

Li Long understood a little bit. He scratched his head and said, "To be honest, I have never sold this big red deer. Two years ago, I sold two young red deer at 300 yuan each. You know that this thing is rare. Of course, people also say that the whole body is a treasure. It is definitely not cheap..."

"Just tell me the price. How can I lose money on you?"

"If it were someone else, it would cost at least a thousand." Li Long thought for a moment and said, "Section Chief, since you are so considerate of me, I won't ask for it to be so expensive. How about eight hundred per piece?"

Eight hundred is enough for an ordinary person’s salary for two years. It’s really not cheap.

Of course, this price is actually not expensive for wild elk. More than ten years later, an adult male elk cost more than 10,000 yuan. At that time, the median salary of civil servants was about 500 to 600 yuan, which is more than 20 times.

And at that time, there were already many people raising red deer.

At that time, there were basically no deer farming in northern Xinjiang, and deer products were basically all wild, so deer antlers were so expensive.

Of course, the most expensive time is not now, but about ten years later. A pair of larger antlers can be worth hundreds or even thousands. Such a price will be unimaginable for people thirty years later.

After all, by the 2020s of the 21st century, even smaller antlers may not cost this much.

However, when deer farming had not yet taken off, but people had already become aware of the value of deer products, the prices of deer antlers, velvet antlers and deer penises were really sky-high in northern Xinjiang.

Can you imagine that people who sell deer antlers were privately escorted with guns? How outrageous was this in the mid-1990s when the country had already begun to issue gun bans?

So when Section Chief Hu heard the price Li Long quoted, to be honest, he also felt that the other party had really given a fair price.

"Okay, both ends." Section Chief Hu said with a smile. He really felt proud. He and Li Long had some dealings in the past. Although he was not high and mighty, he still had some psychological advantages.

But now it’s different. Li Long has become his partner, and even with that jeep, he can’t afford such a special car.

Li Long was able to make concessions to himself on the price of the elk, and he really felt honored, and all the previous concessions were not in vain.

"In that case, Chief, I'm going to prepare to slaughter the sheep." Li Long said, "Right now the sheep are in the pen, not in the mountains, so there aren't many people slaughtering sheep. You want a lot, so I have to prepare in advance."

"In fact, you can just ask the herdsmen in the mountains to come down and help you slaughter and skin the sheep." Although Section Chief Hu is not good at raising sheep, he is quite good at giving advice and finding solutions.

After hearing what he said, Li Long's eyes lit up. Yes, he could just ask Halimu and the others to come down the mountain to help him slaughter the sheep.

Not bad, not bad. He was in the game, while Section Chief Hu was outside it. No wonder our ancestors said that those who were in the game were confused. Li Long wanted to invite Section Chief Hu to come in and sit for a while, but Section Chief Hu looked at the time and said he didn't want to sit for a while and had to go back to work. He asked Li Long to prepare the sheep in the near future, probably around New Year's Day, and he would ask Song Ming to come and inform Li Long of the number of sheep and the delivery time.

Li Long agreed readily.

After Section Chief Hu and Song Ming left, Li Long began to plan to ask Halimu and others to come and help slaughter the sheep.

He believed that Halimu and the others would definitely come, but if he let them come, they would not affect the lives of the herdsmen in the mountains.

At this time, Nathan, Susken and others had not yet gone on vacation, and many winter camps in the mountains had only two or three people.

If the main labor force leaves, it may be okay during the day but it will definitely be dangerous at night.

Li Long was thinking about something and decided to discuss it with Gu Xiaoxia when she came back in the evening.

"My plan is this. Tomorrow I will go to the mountains and tell Halimu and the others to come with me. I will then be able to bring back five or six people in one jeep."

Li Long expressed his thoughts, intending to let Gu Xiaoxia hear if there was anything else she needed to add.

"I will go and tell them tomorrow that I will go there early the day after tomorrow to pick them up, then go back to the team to start slaughtering the sheep, and then send them back to the mountains in the afternoon. If one day is not enough, then I will come for two more days."

"Then you have to prepare delicious food for them. They may not be able to eat at Uncle Luo's, so you should ask about this and see if they should buy some naan at the naan shop. And since we have slaughtered sheep, you can cook the mutton first. Buy a new pot and cook it directly. That way they will feel at ease, right?"

What Gu Xiaoxia said made a lot of sense, and Li Long took it all to heart.

"Since the sugar factory needs so many sheep, we may not be able to finish them in one day. You can make it clear with Halim and the others, pick them up early and drop them off late, for several consecutive days, or leave some time in between. Anyway, I don't think it will take one day. By the way, do you also need to tell Lao Shu Luo and the others in advance so that they can be prepared as well?"

"Well, I'm thinking of going to the team tomorrow afternoon to talk to Uncle Luo and the others. Now that you mention it, I think we should find Sister-in-law and Sister-in-law Lu and ask them to come over to help, otherwise they won't be able to handle the work of turning over intestines and washing stomachs. The sugar factory needs sheep and offal this year, which is more troublesome."

"Sister-in-law, that's okay. If you ask other people for help, how are you going to thank them?" Gu Xiaoxia asked while patting Mingming gently.

Li Long patted Haohao and thought:

"Either give them money or give them a sheep's head and sheep's feet, it depends on what they want."

"Then let's give them a choice." Gu Xiaoxia thought for a moment and said, "It will be easier if we unify them. Otherwise, some people will be dissatisfied. If you give them a choice, they will definitely want to do it."

Li Long thought that Gu Xiaoxia used to be a teacher in school, and was she treating children in the same way?

Experts in later generations told parents that educating children and giving them multiple choices will help them lose the idea of ​​refusing and have to choose one of the two. But now Gu Xiaoxia directly gives them only one choice, which is to do it or not.

But in this era, this approach is actually more advantageous. It's a buyer's market. If you don't do it, there are plenty of people who will.

"Hey, I really need to discuss this with you. Otherwise, I will be in a mess." Li Long smiled. His words were obviously a compliment to Gu Xiaoxia.

Gu Xiaoxia wrinkled her nose proudly and raised her head, with an expression that said "of course".

The two men discussed some details, such as the price of sheep, the number of sheep to be slaughtered, whether they needed to slaughter two more sika deer at this time, and whether they should prepare some gifts for their friends in the mountains.

Li Long thought that Halimu and the others would definitely not want money, so he exchanged the money for supplies and sent more of them.

Gu Xiaoxia agreed with this. She could also feel the relationship between Li Long and the mountain people in the past two years. If she gave money at this time, Halimu and his men might be unhappy. So she could just give them supplies, which would make them more acceptable.

The two of them discussed until after eleven o'clock, and Li Long had almost written down everything and was ready to implement it tomorrow.

There were more than 200 sheep in the sheepfold, and Li Long planned to slaughter half of them in advance. Even if the sugar factory didn't need so many, the rest could be sold slowly. Otherwise, if other units wanted them later, it would be too late to pull Halim and his men in.

However, what's not worth it is that I originally wanted to keep the sheep until the New Year to slaughter it, thinking that it could still grow a few kilograms of meat by then, but now it seems that I can't wait that long.

The Spring Festival in 1985 was in late February. According to the original plan, we could still raise the sheep for more than a month, and it should be no problem for them to gain another seven or eight kilograms.

The next day, Gu Xiaoxia went to work, while Li Long drove a jeep to the department store and the market to purchase things.

Commonly used items such as brick tea, sugar cubes, salt, etc. are necessary, and some grains must be brought in. Potatoes and sprouts sold in the market must also be bought, and various common medicines must be prepared. In addition, some eggs, slaughtered chickens, etc. must also be bought.

After two hours, the jeep was full and Li Long drove into the mountains.

To be honest, the jeep is more comfortable to drive than the tractor now, but Li Long complained that the vehicle could not carry enough.

Well, it's hard to have it both ways.

Moreover, the steering wheels of the jeeps at that time were not power-assisted, and the various mechanisms were still slightly primitive compared to later cars. The shock absorption system was stronger than that of a tractor, but far worse than those of later cars. In addition, the road conditions were poor, and there was only a shed, so there was no need to brave the wind and snow.

Okay, Li Long knew that he was being pretentious.

When they arrived in the mountains, Li Long discovered that even though it was almost January, there were still people heading into the mountains nearby. Some people had even cleared the snowy road from Qingshui River to the mountains, which made it less difficult to drive the jeep into the mountains.

I don't know whether it was for pulling wood or doing something else, but it was convenient for Li Long.

The jeep was actually easier to drive when it arrived at Halimu's winter camp. The road that was originally covered with snow had been trampled by cattle and sheep. It was not known whether Halimu and his friends did it on purpose or they just took this road when they had nothing to do to herd the sheep.

When Li Long's jeep appeared in the valley, the black dog in Halimu's house started barking. It was not the kind of fierce barking, but the kind of welcoming barking that was like meeting a friend.

Halimu and his wife came out and smiled when they saw Li Long's jeep.

It's rare for friends to visit our winter home in the mountains, but whenever they do, it's a happy occasion.

The winter ranch written by Li Juan in later generations described it very clearly. At that time, in the winter nest, one might only see one or two outsiders in one or two months, which could really drive people crazy.

Fortunately, Li Long prepared a radio for them, and they were not too far away from Yushanjiang and the others. At least in this life, Halimu and the others lived better than in the previous life.

Of course, Li Long’s visit was an unexpected surprise.

Halimu wanted to let Li Long move into the winter nest, but Li Long was anxious to let him move his things down. Potatoes and sprouts cannot be frozen, or they will not taste good if frozen, so it is better to move them into the house first.

Halimu didn't expect that Li Long brought so many things, but he didn't say anything. He and Li Long, including his wife, started moving things downstairs.

After moving all the things, Li Long entered the house and explained his purpose while drinking milk tea.

"Go to your place to slaughter sheep? No problem." Halimu agreed without even thinking about it. "Anyway, I have nothing to do right now, so it will definitely be no problem to go."

"I'm thinking of picking you up early tomorrow morning. It would be best if I could ask Yushanjiang, Talihar and the others to come with me. My car can still seat four people, and if we squeeze in, five people."

There is no clear concept of overloading at this time. It is okay to squeeze a few more people into the jeep. As long as nothing goes wrong, no one will check.

Not to mention now, even twenty years later, few people would specifically check how many people are usually in a van.

Oh, a moment of silence for those kids in the overloaded school buses a few days ago, may they rest in peace...

Those drivers and teachers are such beasts!

Let’s get back to the topic.

When Halimu heard that Li Long's jeep could seat five people, he started to think about who to find.

"Is it okay for you to leave during the day?" Li Long suddenly asked. If there were wolves coming to attack during the day, he would not be able to do this.

"Don't worry, it's very safe during the day, and the wolves dare not come over." Halimu said, "I will go to call them in the afternoon. Besides..." Halimu turned his head and looked at his wife.

Halimu's wife raised her head and smiled at Li Long in a rather strange way:

"I can use a gun, too!"

Well, underestimated the power of women in this era.

The female militia at this time was still very powerful. (End of this chapter)