Rebirth of Bayi Fishing and Hunting in the Northwest

Chapter 1055 Killing a snake is a no-brainer, regardless of justice.

While Qin Liguo was busy selling his fritillaria bulbs, Li Long, like Jiang Ziya, was sitting in the mountains waiting for those who dug up fritillaria bulbs to come to his small wooden hut to ship their goods.

It's already mid-May, and it's become the norm for Li Long to bring supplies and Mingming and Haohao over every day.

There were almost as many people exchanging supplies as people exchanging money. By this time, even those who initially carried two large sacks of supplies into the mountains were almost finished.

Moreover, there are all sorts of unexpected situations in the mountains, such as attacks by wild animals, robberies by other herb gatherers, and flash floods, all of which could potentially destroy the supplies they are carrying.

For some herb gatherers who were in dire straits, the existence of the log cabin was like a savior.

After the wooden cabin's shed was erected, Li Long, Mingming, and Haohao became much more comfortable there. In May, the sun grew increasingly strong, and after a short time in the sun, their exposed skin would become painfully sunburned.

Even when Mingming and Haohao play, they only play outside for a while and then rest under the shed. Although they would rather go into the woods to pick mushrooms, they spend most of their time wandering around the cabin.

Li Long knew what the two children were thinking, so he tried to come over as early as possible every day. After arriving, he would take the two children to play in the woods when no one was around, picking mushrooms, collecting lichen, and digging up some small pieces of ginseng. Today, when he passed by the Qingshui River, Meng Hai gave him a chicken, so Li Long planned to make chicken soup.

Although it's still far from the harvesting season for Codonopsis pilosula, it's still usable at this time.

The rooster was a little over a year old, not a broiler breed, and not very heavy. Li Long planned to use the chicken back to make soup, and chop up the remaining meat with dried chili peppers to make a wild mushroom spicy chicken dish.

During this period, Polati would come over for meals from time to time, so he planned to make some noodles, save more sauce when making spicy chicken, and then mix it with the noodles.

The idea was good, but after picking mushrooms in the woods with his two children for less than half an hour, someone came out of the woods and headed towards the cabin. Li Long had no choice but to take the children back.

Fortunately, both children were quite sensible and obedient. They followed Li Long with the mushrooms they had picked, asking him what kind of mushroom each one was.

It's already mid-May, and there are plenty of morel mushrooms, as well as pine mushrooms. Mingming also picked a large bunch of enoki mushrooms.

Although Li Long told the two children the names of all kinds of mushrooms, after he finished, the two children started to come up with new names for the mushrooms.

"This one is called a pointed head, this one is called a black head, and this one is called a daylily..."

The ideas for naming the child are truly imaginative, and Li Long finds them quite interesting.

The two children were already used to it. When they arrived at the cabin, they automatically went inside to get an enamel basin, put the mushrooms in it, and then took them to the spring to wash them.

The two children were precocious beyond their years, not because they were poor children who matured early, but because Li Long thought it was probably because of him.

"What are we exchanging for?" Li Long asked the herb gatherer as usual when he arrived at the wooden house.

Every day I see different people, most of whom are silent, simply stating what they want in exchange or the money they want, and then they leave.

However, nearly half of them, after being alone in the mountains for a while, develop a strong urge to share. They'll talk non-stop with Li Long, recounting their experiences in the mountains, their family situations, and so on, becoming quite talkative.

Li Long felt like he was a story recycling center, hearing fresh stories and all sorts of messy gossip every day.

The reasons why these people come to the mountains to dig for medicinal herbs are varied. Most of them, like Mo Linsheng, are looking for a way to make a living. A few are tricked into coming here, and a very few directly admit that they committed crimes back in their hometowns.

Li Long was startled at first, but he got used to it later.

Li Long usually doesn't get involved in these things; he just listens. These people claim they've committed crimes, but it's hard to tell if it's true or not. He's not a policeman, so he can't actually arrest them. If those people have committed serious crimes, they wouldn't tell Li Long.

The most common thing they do is fight, and in their mouths, it's always because others provoke them.

After listening, Li Long would usually ask them whether they wanted to exchange money or supplies.

The price of fritillaria bulbs is relatively cheap here, so it's normal for people to talk; just listen.

"I'll exchange it for some food, enough for ten days. I'll exchange the rest for cash. Do you have any food that I can eat right away?" the person asked directly.

"We have naan bread, steamed buns, sesame cakes, and sponge cakes. What would you like?"

"Give me some of everything." The man placed most of a bag of fritillaria bulbs on the table. They felt quite heavy, and Li Long guessed that they were dried.

If they were completely dried, these fritillaria bulbs would weigh around 30 kilograms, and Li Long would pay them nearly 2,000 yuan each.

Li Long brought out cooked food and piled it on the table for the man to choose from. The man took five or six steamed buns, five naan breads, two bags of sesame cakes (each weighing one kilogram), and two bags of sponge cakes, which was enough for him.

Li Long asked him to pour the fritillaria bulbs onto the table for inspection. They weren't completely dry, and there were very few impurities. It seemed that Li Long preferred to collect clean fritillaria bulbs, so they must have been washed.

“Not very dry, fifty yuan per kilogram.” Li Long gave his offer, and the other party did not haggle, but simply nodded.

More than 32 kilograms of fritillaria bulbs, worth 1,600 yuan; Li Long considered the food a gift to him.

The man packed the money and food into the empty bag, carried it quickly into the woods, and tripped over something when he was almost there. He fell down, got up immediately, glanced at Li Long, and then hurriedly disappeared into the woods.

Li Long smiled and sensed that the man was quite excited, probably not expecting to exchange so much money at once.

Once the first person came, another one followed. Five people came that morning. The Wu family uncle and nephew would come every few days. They never took much fritillaria bulbs, but they were always very clean. They usually exchanged a small portion for food and the majority for money. Each time it was only a few dozen yuan. No one who saw it felt jealous or had any other thoughts.

Li Long guessed that this was a strategy employed by the uncle and nephew; since the money wasn't much, it wasn't worth it to have any crooked thoughts.

Li Long could only prepare meals in the gaps between harvesting fritillaria bulbs. Polati didn't come in the morning, and Li Long guessed that the captain had probably assigned him to guard the mountain pass.

It's peak season for fritillaria now, and the forestry team definitely needs to generate revenue. Every year, Aili receives a considerable amount of money from Li Long. Although most of this money is handed over, a small portion is distributed to the team members, and some of it becomes part of the forestry team's slush fund.

So it's normal that he and the forest rangers are very proactive.

Whenever someone came, Li Long would tell Mingming and Haohao to hurry into the wooden house. Having lived in the mountains for so many years, he knew that although most of these herb hunters were ordinary people, there might be a few who were targeted. He himself was fine, but he wouldn't dare to joke around with the two children.

Just as lunch was almost ready, Li Long had already placed the stir-fried spicy chicken on the counter, and the chicken soup on the other stove was almost done simmering. He washed the pot and was about to boil water for noodles when three more people arrived from Lin Zi's side.

Two men and one woman.

Li Long has excellent eyesight. He recognized the woman as the one from the man and woman pair from a while ago. The other two men were unfamiliar to him, as they seemed to have never exchanged any supplies recently.

Two men walked on either side, and a woman walked in the middle. All three of them were carrying bags. Li Long narrowed his eyes as he watched them approach.

Originally, Li Long was about to let Mingming and Haohao come out for dinner, but when he saw the three of them, he put the spicy chicken on the counter onto the low table in the room, gave each of the two children a pair of chopsticks, told them to eat first and not to worry about what happened outside, and then closed the door.

When the three men walked over, Li Long covered both pots and then asked:

"Exchange for goods or money?"

The two men, one in his thirties and the other in his twenties, looked somewhat alike. The man in his thirties had a slightly simple and honest appearance, and always wore a smile.

The man in his twenties had slightly sharp features. When he heard Li Long speak, he gently touched the woman.

"Most of it is exchanged for money, and a small portion for goods," the woman said, trembling slightly when touched.

His voice sounded slightly unnatural. After glancing at Li Long, he lowered his eyelids and then said to Li Long, "The main thing is food. We need some rice and noodles, and the rest should be cooked food."

"Put the fritillaria bulbs up here, let me check the quality," Li Long replied. "I don't have much cooked food left, but I still have plenty of rice and flour."

Three bags of fritillaria were placed on the table. Li Long stepped forward, opened one of the bags, grabbed a handful of fritillaria, and took it out to look at it.

The fritillaria bulbs are very dirty.

He glanced up at the woman; logically, this shouldn't be the case. This woman should know that cleaned fritillaria bulbs fetch a higher price; she even had them cleaned specifically when she came with her fellow villager last time. Surely she hadn't forgotten?
The woman lowered her head, avoiding eye contact with Li Long.

The fritillaria bulb was about 50-60% dry. Li Long then looked at the other two bags, which were quite dirty and were also half-dry and half-wet.

He then said, “There are quite a few impurities, and the fritillaria bulbs are not dry. The general price is thirty yuan per kilogram.”

"Why is it so cheap?" The young man in his twenties was very dissatisfied with the price. He walked up to Li Long, grabbed a handful of fritillaria bulbs from the bag, and held them out in front of Li Long, saying:

"Isn't this pretty clean? Where's the dirt? It's just a little dusty, but it'll come off with a shake. We know how things are outside. You have a tough life in the mountains, so it's fine if you earn a little money, but don't treat us like suckers!"

The young man's words were very impolite, but Li Long wasn't angry.

"Then you can sell it outside the mountains. The purchasing stations outside the mountains will give you a higher price."

When doing business, harmony brings wealth. There's no need to get angry over this. If you can accept it, then accept it; if not, then let it go.

"Isn't that nonsense?" The young man, whether because he had more people or for some other reason, said something quite rude. "If I could go out and sell myself, would I need to come here?"
In short, raise the price.

Li Longrang laughed in exasperation. He glanced at the honest-looking man in his thirties and asked:
"Is that what you think too? Aren't you going to try to persuade them?"

"Let's raise the price," the man said with a smile.

“Okay, then it’ll be two yuan more per kilogram.” Li Long thought for a moment and said, “These three bags of yours should weigh about eighty kilograms, so two yuan more is quite a lot.”

"Two yuan is definitely not enough, how about fifty yuan per kilogram!" The young man thought Li Long had given in, so he directly quoted a high price.

Li Long was truly angry this time. It had been a while since anyone had threatened him here. Did these two really not know how powerful he was?

To maintain harmony and make money, he didn't draw his gun. He could tell that the two men might be carrying melee weapons, but Li Long wasn't afraid.

"Fifty yuan is definitely not enough, thirty-five at most." Li Long gave the final price. These people live in the mountains, but he can't live in the mountains. This wooden house is his weakness, so he's a bit hesitant to act rashly.

"Fifty it is, not a penny less!" The young man shoved Li Long, a bit arrogant, and when he raised his hand, he deliberately pulled up his clothes to reveal the dagger tucked in his waistband.

"Talk is talk, but don't hit me." Li Long slapped his hand away.

After having a child, Li Long, who always tries to persuade people with reason, seemed to lose control today.

"So what? So what if you made a move?" The young man, having lost face at Li Long's hands, stepped forward to grab Li Long's collar, but Li Long grabbed his wrist and pinned him to the ground.

"Control your family." After striking, Li Long said to the middle-aged man, "Young people may be ignorant, but aren't you ignorant too?"

“It’s normal for young people to be impulsive, but the main problem is that you offered too low a price.” The adult pulled the young man up and took a step forward, the two of them seemingly planning to surround Li Long. “If you raise the price, we’ll pretend that what happened just now didn’t happen. Otherwise, if a fight breaks out, it won’t be good for anyone to get hurt.”

The young man was surprised by Li Long's speed and strength, as Li Long pinned him to the ground. After getting up, he immediately pulled out the knife.

Li Long's gun was in the jeep, and it would be a bit of a hassle to go there to get it later. Knowing that this matter couldn't be resolved peacefully, he casually picked up the fire hook from the stove next to him.

The middle-aged man also drew his knife; it seemed a fight was inevitable.

The woman hurriedly stepped aside without saying a word.

Originally, there were two people flanking Li Long, and they were armed with weapons, but unexpectedly, when the fight actually started, Li Long struck first.

With his long arms and legs, and the fire hook in his hand being a semi-long weapon, he struck the young man's wrist, which was holding a dagger, and the young man's dagger fell to the ground. Before the young man could even finish his scream, Li Long kicked him away.

The middle-aged man rushed over to help, but the knife that was slashing towards him allowed Li Long to grab his wrist with his left hand, twist his arm behind his back, and then fall to the ground.

Before the two men could get up, Li Long confiscated their short knives and daggers and kicked one of them.

"Boss, boss, please save me!" Before Li Long could finish dealing with the two men, the woman saw that Li Long had easily subdued them and immediately ran to Li Long's side, knelt down, and cried out for help.

"What's going on?" Li Long asked, taking a step back to avoid the woman's advances, while still keeping an eye on the two people out of the corner of his eye.

"They kidnapped me after they found me, did that to me, and forced me to cook, wash clothes, and dig for fritillaria bulbs for them... They forced me to come here to exchange things. Please save me..."

Is this still the case?
Li Long looked at the two men. He had avoided the woman's advances, originally to prevent the two men from attacking him if she grabbed his leg.

Unexpectedly, these three had such a past. After getting up, the two realized they couldn't beat Li Long. Although the younger man was a bit unconvinced, after being knocked down twice, he had a clear understanding of the difference in their fighting abilities.

The middle-aged man, also a bachelor, pointed at the woman and said to Li Long, "Don't listen to her nonsense. She abandoned her man to follow us. We admit defeat this time. The fritillaria will be 35 yuan per kilogram, as you said. From now on, we'll keep to ourselves..."

“Okay, I’ll go get the money.” Li Long nodded readily. “But don’t take this woman with you. She came here to buy fritillaria before, so it’s fate.”

"Okay." The middle-aged man nodded readily.

Li Long turned and walked towards the jeep. When he took something out of the car, the two of them were dumbfounded.

Guns!

"You can't be so dishonest!" the middle-aged man tried to retort even with a gun pointed at him. "Everyone says you're fair in exchanging things here and don't ask where they came from. If you do this, you'll ruin your reputation!"

"If I let you two go, you can set my house on fire tonight!" Li Long wasn't going to give them that chance. He kicked the two men to the ground while pointing a gun at them, then said to the woman:

Go and untie their belts.

The woman hesitated before approaching. The two men lay on the ground, too afraid to move, but she was still afraid they would take her hostage.

"Don't you dare touch her. If you make a move, I'll shoot. There are ten bullets in the gun. Let's see who gets more or less bullets," Li Long threatened, cocking his gun.

The two of them really didn't dare to move.

After the two men's belts were removed, Li Long threw two more ropes to the woman and told her to tie the two men's hands and legs together.

This time, the woman moved much faster. The fact that she was able to seek help from Li Long after he had knocked down the two men showed that she was quite adept at assessing the situation. And when she was tying up the two men, Li Long could tell that she wasn't holding back.

This shows that there was genuine hatred between them.

"Which bag of fritillaria bulbs is yours?" Li Long asked the woman after he had tied them both up.

“It’s not hers! She didn’t dig up many fritillaria bulbs; we stole them all!” the young man said.

"You're talking nonsense! You stole the dozen or so kilograms of fritillaria I dug up!" the woman argued. "Besides, you wouldn't let me dig fritillaria, you made me work every day, you tortured me..."

Li Long took out two hundred yuan from his pocket and handed it to the woman: "Ten kilograms of fritillaria bulbs, consider this money as payment. You can go now, follow this road to get out of the mountains, get out of the mountains quickly, it will be safer."

The woman hesitated for a moment, then asked Li Long:

What are you going to do about those two?

"Hand it over to the forestry team and see if they have any criminal records."

Upon hearing Li Long's words, the two men began to struggle desperately, and Li Long felt reassured.

"Can I go back and get some of my things?" The woman asked Li Long with a hint of joy on her face.

“If you’re not afraid of running into people like them in the mountains, then I don’t care.” Li Long guessed that the two people probably had a hideout in the mountains and probably stored other things there.

“But I’m going to hand him over to the forestry team. If the forestry team doesn’t find what these two people confessed, it might cause you some trouble,” Li Longxing said.

"Then... I'll just take my own things. I'll bring their things over to you." The woman came up with a compromise. "You'll definitely vouch for me, right?"

Pretty smart.

(End of this chapter)