Rebirth of Bayi Fishing and Hunting in the Northwest

Chapter 1050 The Survival Problem of the Wooden House in the Mountains
Polati's horse had two large bags on it, so full that the horse couldn't run fast, otherwise its legs would hit the bags.

When they arrived at the cabin, Pollati dismounted, greeted Li Long, unloaded the two bags from his horse, and said to Li Long with a hint of pride:
"Look at all the good stuff I brought you today! Quite a generous amount, isn't it? Two big bags full!"

After moving the bag to the doorway of the cabin, Pollati clapped his hands, turned around, and saw Morinson. He squinted at him for a moment, then said:

"Have I seen you before? Are you also a herb gatherer in the mountains?"

“Yes, you not only met me, but you also took half a bag of fritillaria from me.” In the past, Morinsheng would not have dared to speak to Polati so directly, but after overturning the three thieves’ goods of fritillaria this morning, he became bolder.

“Well, there’s nothing I can do about it, that’s what I do,” Polati said with a smile. “You were unlucky to run into me back then.”

Mo Linsheng didn't reply. Polati guessed he was there to exchange something, so he ignored him and looked up at the wooden shelf, asking Li Long:
"Are you planning to build a shed? Will you use straw or branches on top?"

"I'm going to cut some thin branches this afternoon to lay down first, and then cover them with straw." Li Long scooped the vegetables out of the pot and placed them on the counter, then looked at the steamed buns in the steamer, saying as he looked:
"Summer is not really hot yet, and the sun will be too strong then. Let's build a shed now before it gets too hot, so it will be more comfortable later."

"Okay, let's work together after dinner, and then have a drink after we're done."

Li Long laughed. This guy was trying to find a way to drink here.

"Don't worry about the wine for now. My two kids want to ride horses. Put them on the horses and lead them around for a bit." Li Long noticed that Mingming and Haohao's eyes lit up when they looked at the horses, so he asked Polati, "Is that okay? Can they ride? Do you want me to lead them?"

"Of course they can ride! They could ride all day without any problem! If you're sure, I can teach both kids to ride on their own in half a day! No need to hold the reins!"

"That won't do! Our kids aren't like your little lads. They've never been on a horse before. What if they fall off? You hold them tight, let them sit on the horse, make sure they don't fall off, and just lead them around a couple of times."

"Alright, alright, I know, stop nagging. Don't worry, I won't let your kid fall!" Polati said as he led his horse to Mingming Haohao and said to him:

"Come on, you eagle-like young men, who wants to go first?"

"I'll do it! I'll do it!" Looking at the tall horse, Mingming and Haohao showed no fear at all. Haohao spoke first, which surprised Li Long.

Mingming originally wanted to speak, but his younger brother interrupted him, so he pursed his lips and remained silent.

“Let’s both of you get on together,” Polati said as he lifted Hao Hao onto the saddle. Finding there was still plenty of room, he added, “Come on, come on, brothers should ride together.”

After he helped Mingming onto the saddle, he didn't immediately lead the horse away. Instead, he carefully explained the precautions to the two children, such as holding onto the saddle, keeping their bodies slightly lower, and not to rush when the horse sways, but to sway their bodies along with the horse's movements.

Seeing that Polati had extraordinary patience with the children, Li Long felt relieved.

After a while, Polati led the horse forward. The two children were excited and thrilled on horseback. Li Long nodded as he watched Polati lead the horse slowly. He knew that this guy was very considerate of the children's feelings, which was quite good. He didn't know why this was so different from his usual self.

While Minghao and Haohao were on horseback, Polati led them around for about ten minutes before coming back to put them down. The two children smelled of the horse, but they didn't mind at all and eagerly shared their feelings and joys about riding with Li Long.

“If we come back in the future and run into Uncle Polati, you can still ride horses,” Li Long told the two of them, “but you’ll smell very strong.”

"I'm not afraid!"

"I'm not afraid either!"

The two children expressed their courage and determination in loud voices.

That’s a happy decision.

After a short while, seeing that the steamed buns were ready, Li Long wet his hands and peeled off the steamer layer by layer. The steamed buns were big and fluffy, and looked beautiful.

Li Long peeled the steamed buns off the steamer and laid them out to dry on the clean counter, which is a common practice among those who steam buns.

"Do you want naan or steamed buns?" Li Long asked Mo Linsheng. "Or will you eat here with us?"

Morinson glanced at Polati, but before he could speak, Polati said:
"Why are you looking at me? I'm definitely going to eat here."

Li Long smiled, ignored the two of them, and went to clean the pot himself, preparing to cook some rice porridge.

Mingming and Haohao were already hungry. When the steamed buns came out, they quickly went to the table. Pollati went over to wash his hands, picked up a steamed bun from the table, broke it in half, and gave it to the two children.

"Come on, eat first. Your dad's steamed buns are always delicious!"

Mingming Haohao turned to look at Li Long, who smiled and said, "Eat, eat, there's still food on the table. Polati, Lao Mo, you guys eat too."

Mo Linsheng was always called "Little Mo," so being suddenly called "Old Mo" surprised him; he felt a little strange. He had originally planned to grab something and leave, but now he suddenly wanted to sit down and eat together.

At this moment, Polati took out another pair of chopsticks, distributed them to the children, and then gave a pair to Morinsheng: "Eat up, eat up. I collected your fritillaria bulbs in the mountains, but here we are friends who eat together."

With an extra pair of chopsticks in his hand, Mo Linsheng simply grabbed a stool, sat down, placed the plate of food in the middle of the table, and then looked at Li Long.

After pouring the rice into the pot, Li Long stirred it with a spoon. Then he pulled up a stool, sat down at the table, and seeing that neither of the adults, except the child, had touched their chopsticks, he smiled and said:
"Come on, let's eat! Don't be shy, we'll eat as much as we want, regardless of how good it tastes."

Then let's eat.

Mo Linsheng remained silent, eating slowly with his head down, while Li Long and Polati chatted.

Mingming and Haohao would chime in from time to time, which made them seem quite childlike.

"How much longer can you stay in the cabin?" Pora asked. "Will you go back after the fritillary bulb season is over?"

"Yes. The child will be going to daycare soon. I don't have much to do in the mountains, so I'll have to take care of other things. I'll come back when I need to cut grass."

“That's still half a month.” Polati nodded. “It’s alright, my son’s house is in the county. I’ll come find you then, and we can have a drink at your place. You’re a bit of a dull guy, but you can hold your liquor really well. Drinking with someone like you is so enjoyable!”

Li Long laughed; he hadn't expected that Polati would evaluate his friends based on their drinking capacity.

Mo Linsheng also suppressed a laugh. He didn't expect that Polati, who had accepted his fritillaria with a cold face, would have such a side. Such a person clearly distinguishes between work and life.

The rice porridge was cooked. Li Long got up and went to the stove, stirred it with a spoon, bent down to turn off the fire, and took enamel basins from the house, filling one basin for each person.

Mo Linsheng found the rice porridge a bit too hot to drink right away, so he carried it to the spring, put the enamel basin in the water, held it with one hand to prevent water from getting in, and stirred it with chopsticks in the other.

Mingming and Haohao wanted to imitate them, but their enamel basins were too hot to lift.

The two children were anxious to ask their father for help, so Li Long picked up an enamel basin in each hand and took it to the edge of the spring. He found a spot where the water was relatively calm, grabbed a few handfuls of grass and put them in the water, then placed the enamel basins on top of the grass. This way, the enamel basins wouldn't sink to the bottom, and half of the grass would stay on the bank and wouldn't be washed away.

The two children waited happily by the water.

Li Long continued eating with Polati there.

“That Han Chinese guy eats so little, he’ll suffer if he goes to work in the mountains,” Polati commented on Mo Linsheng while eating. “He’s too skinny, he can’t even win a fight.”

“That’s hard to say. This guy has a ruthless streak.” Li Long shook his head and said, “You took his fritillaria bulbs the day before, and then someone else stole them from him. This morning he took a shovel and fought back. Look at the wounds on his body; they were from the fight.”

Today he protects his own things, but tomorrow he might be stealing from someone else to get revenge. Who can predict what will happen in the mountains?

After finishing his porridge, Mo Linsheng washed the enamel basin and placed it on the table. Then he poured the fritillaria bulbs onto the wooden floor under the shed, picked up the bag, and prepared to leave.

Li Long stopped him, took out a set of work clothes from the house, wrapped four steamed buns in a cloth, and handed them to him.

"Take it. Your clothes are all tattered and worn out; you won't be able to show your face in public if you wear them any longer. Don't worry, I won't charge you for any of this. The fritillaria you gave me is enough." "Not enough. Let me calculate; I need to give you twenty kilograms of fritillaria to make it enough." Mo Linsheng took the clothes and said solemnly, "Thank you! I'll go dig up some fritillaria now and bring you another twelve kilograms tomorrow."

I don't want to take the fritillaria bulbs out anymore. Could I sell them directly to you if I find any in the future?

“Sure.” Li Long definitely had no objections. “I can exchange not only goods, but also money here.”

"Okay, I'm leaving." Mo Linsheng left with his clothes.

Polati muttered, "Look at you, look at you! You're so clever! Now I'm buying less fritillaria. If they all came to you to exchange for money, we wouldn't be able to earn any extra income!"

"Then I'll give you your extra money for today." I pointed to the two bags of fritillaria bulbs and said, "These two bags of fritillaria bulbs must weigh at least fifty or sixty kilograms. Let me see... Some of these fritillaria bulbs are fresh, and some are semi-dried and semi-wet. I'll give you twelve yuan a day, so these fritillaria bulbs are worth seven hundred yuan..."

Upon hearing that these fritillaria bulbs were worth seven hundred yuan, Polati's breathing suddenly quickened, and then he hurriedly waved his hand and said:

"Don't try to talk to me with money! I told you these fritillaria bulbs are a gift for you, they're free! I'll bring the fritillaria bulbs over tomorrow, then you can give me the money. Today's ones are free!"

Polati emphasized this, as if making a decision for himself.

Li Long smiled and said, "Want me to get you some more wine? Hmm, how about we just bring back two cases of wine this time?"

"Alcohol? Sure, sure," Polati licked his lips, then immediately changed his tune. "Two bottles are too much. Those guys will definitely take a slice if we take them back. I'll just take one. You can keep the other one; we'll enjoy it slowly later!"

"Okay, take the wine, and some cooked offal too. If you have wine, you definitely need meat. Oh, by the way, do you want these freshly steamed buns? If you do, I also brought some naan today, take them yourself."

"Okay, okay, that's good. It's much better than giving me money..." Polati happily followed Li Long to the cabin to get things. Mingming and Hao Hao also helped out. Although there were only four of them, it looked quite lively.

They put the things for Pola into a bag, tied it to the horse, took off the whip, mounted the horse, waved to Li Long and the others, pulled on the reins, adjusted the direction, and spurred the horse forward.

Mingming and Haohao were already sleepy, so Li Long took off the clothes from the two children and let them sleep on the kang (a heated brick bed) wearing only their vests. He then took his coat to the spring and gave it a quick wash.

The main reason is that I just rode a horse and still smell of it, which is quite pungent.

After washing and wringing the clothes, Li Long hung them on the line to dry. He then tidied up the pots and pans. Feeling a bit sleepy, he moved a chair to the doorway and took a nap.

Before the shed was even set up, he suddenly remembered what Pollati had said: that guy had promised to help him build the shed, but then ran away.

That guy doesn't keep his word.

Li Long woke up half an hour later. He looked at Mingming and Haohao, who were still fast asleep, gently closed and locked the door, and then quickly walked towards the woods to the south with his machete.

The wooden frame of the shed is complete. Now we just need to lay thin rafters and leaves on it, and of course, we also need to lay dry grass, otherwise the sun will shine through.

Fearing that the child would be anxious if he woke up and found himself gone, Li Long hurriedly chopped some thin wood, carried it back, and dragged it home.

These logs all had leaves on them, which made them a perfect place to lay on top.

When Li Long rushed back to the cabin, he found that the two children were still asleep and fast asleep.

Mingming and Haohao now take a nap for about two and a half hours every day at noon, which is still early.

Li Long then went to cut some more wood, making two trips back and forth. After calculating that he had enough materials, he began to move the table to the wooden frame and carefully lay it on top.

It was more than an hour later when all the cut branches were laid out on the wooden frame.

The shed is mostly finished, with only a few places where light leaks in, but it's not a big problem.

Of course, it's not exactly exquisite. The wood and leaves on it certainly wouldn't withstand strong winds, and the leaves will fall off when they dry. There are many problems.

But at least for now, the shed is functioning properly, providing adequate shade. As for the rest, we'll take it one step at a time over the next few days.

After waiting for more than an hour, Mingming and Haohao, who had been sleeping for a while, woke up one after the other.

Wow! Dad, you're amazing!

"Yeah, Dad, do you know magic like Sun Wukong? We took a nap, and you conjured up a whole shed! That's amazing!"

The praise from Mingming Haohao after he woke up greatly satisfied Li Long's vanity, and he smiled and said:
"I don't know magic, and I don't know who created it. Can you guess?"

The two children actually started guessing. At the age of two or three, their imaginations are at their peak. They could name all the main characters from the stories they knew, from Sun Wukong to the Dragon King to Nezha. There were quite a few.

The children's guessing game was interrupted by a man who came to exchange fritillaria bulbs. He exchanged more than ten kilograms of fritillaria bulbs, some for money and the rest for supplies.

Before the man left after the exchange, the Wu family uncle and nephew came over again, bringing nearly 30 kilograms of fritillaria bulbs, all of which they wanted to exchange for money.

Li Long felt that Mo Linsheng was somewhat like his lucky charm; earlier he said he was going to exchange fritillaria for money, and then so many people followed suit.

How great.

Fortunately, Li Long habitually brought some money with him when he went out, and these people were selling fresh fritillaria bulbs, so the prices weren't high; otherwise, he really wouldn't have had enough money.

As the sun set, Li Long loaded the more than 200 kilograms of fritillaria bulbs into the car, then had Mingming and Haohao sit inside, locked the door, and drove the jeep back home.

Not long after he left, someone emerged from the woods, looked around to make sure there was no jeep and no one was around, then quickly ran over to the shed next to the cabin, the same thatched shed where Sun Jiaqiang had lived before.

The thatched shed is now piled with firewood, straw, and quite a bit of coal.

The man skillfully spread out the straw, piled up a small screen near the door with firewood, then took out his bedding from the bag he had brought, laid it on the straw, and lay down comfortably to sleep.

Clearly, this wasn't the first time this person had done this. They were quite daring, and the location they chose was good—better than sleeping in a cave or a damp dugout.

Some people have moved into the dugouts that Li Long and his men used to build, and others have moved directly into Halimu's winter shelters.

It's still quite cold in the mountains at night in April. If you don't have a suitable place to sleep, let alone collect herbs, you'll definitely get sick, catch a cold, or have a fever if you sleep outdoors for two or three nights.

When it was just getting light the next day, the people who had been sleeping in the shed got up early, restored the place to its original state, and then hurriedly left.

Mo Linsheng woke up in the earthen cave, ate a simple meal, washed the fritillaria bulbs he had dug up the day before in water, and laid them out to dry on a sunny stone slab. He continued digging for fritillaria bulbs nearby, while also keeping a watchful eye on his surroundings, wary of any ill-intentioned people.

I figured I could pay off the debt today, and the rest would be pure profit.

Over the next few days, Li Long received several thousand yuan worth of fresh fritillaria bulbs every day. A small portion of these people who came to exchange the fritillaria bulbs exchanged them for supplies, while the majority exchanged them for money.

Li Long learned from Bolati that Captain Ai Li had emphasized that the forest rangers should increase their patrols. As a result, those who were digging for fritillaria bulbs were even more afraid to leave the mountains and simply exchanged their money directly with Li Long.

Actually, this is quite good. Li Long has three lines of acquisitions. In any case, all the things he dug up will eventually end up in his own hands.

Judging by the time, Jia Tianlong should have arrived by now; otherwise, he might not have been able to transport even a single truckload of the fritillaria bulbs piled up in the warehouse.

The happiest person during this time of year is Chen Hongjun, who is glad that he made the right decision.

Running a recycling station can be really profitable!
(End of this chapter)