Rebirth of Bayi Fishing and Hunting in the Northwest

Chapter 1020 Hunting is like barbecuing; returning home is just like a homely meal.

When Li Long received the stone, he assumed it was an ordinary rock and didn't pay much attention to it. Now that the stone was reflecting light and its color was clearly different, Li Long realized he had made a mistake.

He held the stone and looked at it from left to right, and found that some of the outer skin of the stone had peeled off, and the peeled-off areas were faintly showing a beautiful green color.

Is it a jade stone with a thick outer shell?
Li Long looked closely, but it didn't seem quite right. The green color here was different from that of jade, and it was made up of tiny, scattered crystals, some as big as a fingernail, others as small as a mung bean, not completely fused together.

After setting down the stone, which weighed over ten kilograms, Li Long touched its brown surface and suddenly thought of a possibility—could this be a special kind of stone—a meteorite?
In his previous life, Li Long enjoyed watching videos and had seen introductions to meteorites, but he wasn't very interested. Although the three eastern counties in the same state were rich in meteorites, and even more than a decade later, a multi-ton meteorite was secretly sold abroad, Li Long didn't care that Ma County didn't have any of those.

Could this piece in my hand be a rather special meteorite?

During lunch, he asked Gu Boyuan, who was more knowledgeable, about the stone. Gu Boyuan put down his chopsticks and looked at the stone with great interest, but ultimately couldn't come up with a solution.

After all, although he was a college student, the world's knowledge was vast, and he couldn't possibly know everything. However, after picking it up and noticing the exposed green area under Li Long's guidance, Gu Boyuan told Li Long to keep the stone safe, saying that perhaps a professional could recognize it later.

"Anyway, this stone is no ordinary stone."

These were the words Gu Boyuan left behind when he departed.

Li Long then placed the stone against the wall and covered it with several pieces of ordinary jade, as if to preserve it properly.

When Li Long returned from the mountains, he felt an unprecedented tranquility—except for Xiao Hei barking at him and preventing it from getting close.

After thinking it over, Li Long remembered that the tiger ear was still in his pocket. So he took it out and put it back in the house to keep it safe. It would be evidence in the future. After all, he had faced the Tiger King, which was a rare experience.

For Li Long, his time in the mountains was exciting and fun, and it allowed him to relax both physically and mentally. After returning home, he felt back to the mundane routines of daily life: firewood, rice, oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar, and tea. Although repetitive, it was a real and tangible part of life.

The sound of firecrackers outside changed from sporadic to undulating; the Little New Year had arrived.

Yesterday was the last day of work before the Lunar New Year. Li Long went over in the afternoon and gave Sun Jiaqiang a year-end bonus of 500 yuan and Liang Shuangcheng a year-end bonus of 200 yuan. Liang Shuangcheng's salary and bonuses over the past few months totaled six or seven hundred yuan. He immediately went and bought a bicycle, and after get off work, he couldn't wait to ride it home through the wind and snow.

Yes, it snowed again the day before the Lunar New Year, and quite heavily at that. Gu Boyuan, who had originally planned to go back today, had to postpone his trip until tomorrow, since he was different from Liang Shuangcheng. When Liang Shuangcheng went back, there were people in the house, and it was warm inside. When Gu Boyuan went back, he would have to shovel snow, and although there was a high probability that someone would have already shoveled the snow, the house would definitely be cold.

Sun Jiaqiang was also quite happy and said that he would bring his wife and children to pay New Year's respects to Li Long during the Spring Festival. Li Long said that it was unnecessary, as he would stay in the village for a few more days.

There weren't many supplies at the purchasing station. Li Long had planned to take a break at this time, so he called Huang Lei and Zhao Hui in advance to ask them to take away the hides, beef and mutton stored in the warehouse. In the end, when the break was over, there were only a dozen sheep carcasses and a cow left in the warehouse.

Li Long plans to make this meat into dried meat after the New Year, which he can then give away or sell. That would be a good idea.

This year has been quite fulfilling.

"Sister Yang, you and Han Fang have the day off today. If you want to go to the front yard, go ahead and do your work." After breakfast, Li Long said to Sister Yang. As he spoke, Gu Xiaoxia also took out a red envelope she had made herself and stuffed it into Sister Yang's hand, and gave Han Fang a small red envelope as well.

Sister Yang and Han Fang both blushed and declined, but Gu Xiaoxia insisted.

I gave Sister Yang two hundred yuan, and Han Fang ten yuan as New Year's money—that was already a lot.

But that year, especially during the holidays, Han Fang was reviewing her lessons while taking care of Mingming and Haohao. Gu Xiaoxia originally wanted to buy her a set of clothes, but she didn't have time, and Li Long was also inconvenient, so she simply gave her lucky money instead.

"What about Mingming and Haohao?" Sister Yang had been taking care of the family and the two children for a long time, and she was still a little worried.

“Leave it to me. They’re so big now, I can take care of them,” Li Long said with a smile. “They need to learn to take care of themselves too, they’re about to go to daycare.”

Yes, it's January 1987 now. In September, Li Long will be sending his two children to daycare.

Sister Yang nodded and said nothing more.

After Gu Xiaoxia went to work, Sister Yang finished cleaning up the kitchen and then took Han Fang on a bicycle to the front yard.

For the past few years, the mother and daughter have only visited that small courtyard during the Chinese New Year. Although they only go there for a few days a year, in their eyes, that is their real home.

Li Long took Mingming and Haohao to the greenhouse at the back.

Planting in this greenhouse started in early winter. Mingming and Haohao worked together during the planting process, although they mostly played in the mud, they still witnessed the growth process of the vegetables inside.

The fire in the stove hadn't gone out yet, and it was quite damp inside. After coming in, Li Long sneezed several times. Mingming and Hao Hao tried to imitate him, but Mingming was really sneezing while Hao Hao was just pretending. Afterward, the two children laughed happily.

Children's world is so simple; a very simple thing can make them happy for a long time.

The chives were reserved and are ready to be harvested now. Li Long plans to let them grow for a few more days, harvest a batch before the New Year, and bring them back to the village to make dumplings.

The chili peppers have grown, and some have already turned red, but there aren't many yet. After all, chili pepper flowers are small and very fragile, and they are easily knocked off during artificial pollination.

If the flower is knocked off, the part below that will form a chili pepper will be gone, and naturally fewer chili peppers will form.

Of course, a few are enough; these things are rare at this time.

Not many tomatoes are red, but there are quite a lot of fruits. However, the growing period is longer, and the flowers produce more pollen, resulting in relatively more fruit.

During the period when the powder was being applied, everyone in the courtyard, young and old, pitched in. Even Mingming and Haohao asked Han Fang to help with homemade cotton swabs—of course, they also made things worse.

Eggplants aren't used in as many dishes as spicy tomatoes, so a few are enough. Li Long saw he could pick seven or eight, which was sufficient. At this time, the only seeds available here were long eggplants, and the Li family only liked to eat long ones, not round ones.

The rest are bok choy, which grows the most abundantly in the greenhouse.

However, the two children's favorite thing is still tomatoes. Even though they had eaten breakfast, they still wanted to pick the red tomatoes when they saw them.

Li Long picked a large one, broke it in half, and they each took one. These were the earliest local tomatoes; the larger ones were rather flat, had a dent, and were a bit wrinkled—they didn't look very appealing, but they tasted absolutely delicious.

The two children quieted down considerably after eating tomatoes, and Li Long started working.

He set up the stove, then told Mingming and Haohao not to touch anything inside. He went outside and lifted the curtain on the awning to let in the light.

After the temperature inside the greenhouse rose, Li Long took Mingming and Haohao outside, closed the door, and lowered the cotton curtain at the entrance.

Although it's cold outside, the damp feeling is gone, which makes it quite comfortable.

He's going back to his village for the New Year in a few days, and he needs to take some things back with him. He has plenty of beef and mutton at home, but wolf meat isn't very tasty; he'll just give some away as a novelty.

After much thought, the best thing to take back in the end was still those vegetables.

Then he also needs to buy gifts for his parents and the younger generation's children.

As for my brother and sister-in-law, they don't need to buy anything now. After getting married, some things they did before are no longer appropriate to do now.

With nothing else to do and plenty of time before cooking, Li Long started the jeep and took the two children to the department store.

Mingming and Haohao often leave the compound, but they usually don't go far. Occasionally, they go to the purchasing station or to Sun Jiaqiang's house. During holidays, they also visit their grandparents.

But it was the first time that Mingming and Haohao had gone out shopping alone with their father, and the two brothers were very excited, with one of them pressing his face against the car window to look out.

Occasionally, someone would set off a firecracker nearby, which would startle the two children, who would then immediately huddle together and point at the spot where the firecrackers were set off.

Li Long had to repeatedly remind the two of them to be careful and not to lean against the car window for too long. The car pulled up to the department store and stopped at the parking lot, but the old man who watched the cars didn't come over to collect the money.

The main reason is that he was looking at bicycles; jeeps are too rare here, so he might not be sure if he was a leader.

Li Long got out of the car, drove off, took the two children out, locked the car door, and led one of them into the department store.

It's already the Little New Year, and there are quite a lot of people here. Most of them are selling food and daily necessities, while the clothing section is relatively empty.

It makes sense, considering that many households already had sewing machines at that time, and most ordinary families made their own clothes, as making clothes from fabric was much cheaper than buying them.

Moreover, even if you don't have a sewing machine at home, your neighbors can borrow one from each other. These days, even city dwellers live in bungalows or small courtyards, and the relationships between neighbors are mostly good. Borrowing is a way of exchanging favors.

Li Long took his two children to the children's section first, where there were toys and stationery. He picked out pencil cases, pencils, pens, erasers, notebooks, etc. for the children. At that time, both soft-covered and hard-covered notebooks were quite popular, as were soft-covered plastic magnetic pencil cases with a layer of sponge in the middle. Backpacks printed with cartoon characters were also very fashionable at that time.

After all, the vast majority of students still used yellow satchels, and some even used cloth backpacks sewn at home. Some students' backpacks were passed down from older brothers to younger sisters, washed until they were faded, yet they were still in use.

Li Long had bought one for the children before, and now he plans to buy one for each of them.

Backpacks are popular with children, but because they are relatively expensive, not many people buy them. Li Long bought five at once, and along with other stationery, he became the most popular customer at this counter.

At this time, sales clerks received bonuses for selling more items, as the reform was gradually taking place. Therefore, the sales clerk was very polite to Li Long and even found him a large plastic bag to pack all the items together.

Carrying a large bag, Li Long had his two children follow him as he led them to a food stall.

Each of the two children held a small rattle drum, which they would occasionally twist, enjoying the sound.

There were many people at the food counter, and Li Long, carrying bags and with his child, waited in line at the back.

He watched as the sales clerks behind the counter skillfully picked up items, weighed them, packaged them, and handed them to customers—and they seemed somewhat familiar.

As the saleswoman, with her hair up, looked up to speak to a customer, Li Long remembered. This saleswoman's surname seemed to be Liu? He hadn't asked; he must have remembered it from hearing other saleswomen call her "Little Liu" when he bought things before.

The woman also saw Li Long and the two children beside him. She paused for a moment, her expression slightly flustered, then complicated.

A customer was calling for her to weigh something, and Xiao Liu's hands were shaking so much that she almost made a mistake.

Li Long was a little puzzled. Was something the matter?

When it was Li Long's turn, he smiled and said:

"Hello, could you please weigh out five kilograms of shortbread, five kilograms of fruit candy, five kilograms of peanuts, five kilograms of rice noodles, and also..."

Li Long glanced around and saw that the food counter didn't have much stock. He bought some steamed egg cakes and sesame cakes—his family didn't eat these much because steamed egg cakes tasted better.

But other children in the village especially love to eat it. Some elderly people who can't afford to buy sponge cakes will buy this instead, because it's definitely tastier than the cornbread and steamed cakes they used to eat.

Xiao Liu hadn't expected Li Long to buy so many things, and she misunderstood something, saying in a low voice:
"You don't need to buy so much... My sales performance is already good enough..."

Okay, Li Long understands now, it was a real misunderstanding.

But this is hard to explain. Can he say it wasn't for the other person's sake?

Other sales clerks had already noticed this, so Li Long had no choice but to say:
"It's okay, go ahead and buy it. It's winter now, so it can be stored."

He felt it was best to leave as soon as possible.

Xiao Liu quickly packed and weighed the food, then calculated the bill. Li Long paid, picked up a large bag in each hand, said goodbye to Xiao Liu, and turned to leave with the child.

"Your child? So cute," Xiao Liu said from behind the counter, her tone rather complicated.

Li Long nodded without saying anything.

If you don't have much interaction with someone and they misunderstand you, it's better to avoid them.

After loading the things into the jeep, Li Long originally wanted to buy clothes for all the children, but then he thought about Xiao Liu's misunderstanding earlier and decided to give up and go home to cook.

Although Mingming and Haohao only went to the department store, they were really happy to see so many people and have fun activities. Li Long drove the jeep back to the yard, put the two children down, let them play in the yard, and gave each of them a piece of steamed egg custard to fill their stomachs before preparing to cook.

Gu Boyuan wasn't coming over for lunch, so Li Long planned to make only a small amount of dough. After kneading the dough, he washed the chili peppers, thought for a moment, and then went to the greenhouse to pick a few green chili peppers. He decided against the tomatoes, as there weren't enough; he'd save them to take back to the village so his family would have enough to eat later.

When we came back after picking them, we saw Mingming and Haohao feeding Xiaohei and the lamb with half-eaten chicken cakes. Crumbs were scattered all over the ground, and Xiaohei kept licking them up.

Li Long wanted to get angry, but then thought better of it. He hadn't taught him yet, so he'd educate him after they were done playing.

Spicy mutton rolls, stir-fried potato shreds, and homemade hand-pulled noodles.

Sister Yang and Han Fang went to the front yard mainly to clear snow, set up the stove to dry the house, and tidy up the kitchen. The mother and daughter would be staying there for a few days until Li Long and the others returned to their team.

There is rice and flour in this house. Originally, this courtyard belonged to Li Long, and the master bedroom was left for Li Long, so they didn't touch it. Later, Li Long said that the courtyard would be given directly to Sister Yang, so they moved their living quarters to the master bedroom, including the portrait of Han Fang's father.

The neighbors hadn't seen them in a long time, and it was quite a surprise to see them come over occasionally, but Sister Yang and her friends didn't plan to improve their relationship with the neighbors anytime soon.

Having lived in the county for so long, they know very well that neighborly relations in the city are different from those in the countryside. They are relatively more relaxed, but major conflicts are less likely to occur.

After all, not all neighbors are on good terms in the countryside; there are also long-standing feuds.

After tidying up and getting everything ready, the two locked the door and went back to the courtyard. Sister Yang was still a little worried—not that she was worried about Li Long taking care of the child and cooking alone, but mainly she felt a bit lost having a grown man do these things—after all, in her opinion, this was clearly her job.

In this era, people still hold strong traditional ideas. Although there is talk of gender equality and there are quite a few female tractor drivers, both men and women, especially those from rural areas, still have a strong sense of male chauvinism.

So when they entered the yard, they saw Mingming, Haohao, Xiaohei, and Yanggaozi playing, covered in snow, and felt a little resentful—they should have come back earlier.

Li Long didn't think there was anything wrong with it. Boys are normal to get rough and tumble when they're young. Some people often brag to others about how clean they've raised their children. But children, especially those from rural areas, need to be close to nature. If you raise them so cleanly, not letting them get dirty or play with flowers, plants, or insects, you'll have to make up for it later.

After putting down the car, Han Fang straightened Mingming and Haohao's clothes. Mingming and Haohao went to get her some chicken cake, but Han Fang hurriedly refused—she couldn't refuse.

The two children are quite stubborn.

Sister Yang then assisted Li Long – mainly by preparing the dough and vegetables, and now they would start cooking, as Li Long was quite skilled at it.

"Why didn't you stay a little longer?" Li Long asked with a smile while stir-frying. "Were you still worried about them? Did you think I couldn't take good care of them?"

"No, no." Sister Yang was caught off guard and quickly denied it, her face slightly red. "It's just... there isn't much work over there."

Li Long didn't say much. Yang Dajie helped take care of the child during the most difficult time, and he would repay her handsomely.

Now that the children are grown up, it's time for them to have their own lives.

(End of this chapter)