Rebirth of Bayi Fishing and Hunting in the Northwest

Chapter 1062 Negative Situations Are Brewing

After exchanging the man's belongings, Li Long dried the fritillaria bulbs while pondering the matter, and soon figured it out.

First of all, the fact that they were able to ride a horse and carry a gun suggests they are likely connected to the forestry team; otherwise, they would definitely have been investigated by the forestry team in these mountains.

It's unclear whether they are forest rangers still working for the forestry team or people who have already left.

However, Li Long guessed that the people who were able to arrive precisely when he was away and confiscate the goods and money they had exchanged for fritillaria were probably employees of the forestry team.

Otherwise, it would be impossible to know the situation here. This area is patrolled by Polati, who has tacitly approved the presence of these people in this area.

This person not only needs to be familiar with the patrol times of Polati, but also with the time when I arrive here, or perhaps they are watching me from somewhere and coming over to take advantage of the time difference when I am not there.

To find this person, we mainly need to go through Polati or Captain Eli.

Li Long asked the herb gatherer who had just exchanged fritillaria for money about the person who bought the fritillaria.

But the person didn't observe closely; he only learned a little when someone pointed it out to him while he was exchanging items. He only vaguely saw that the other person was a relatively young ethnic minority.

It's quite troublesome to have to queue up here, so Li Long thought he would exchange the fritillaria here today. If Polati comes, that would be perfect. If he doesn't come, he'll have to make time to go to the forestry team.

This issue must be resolved, otherwise it will have a significant impact on my log cabin business.

After a simple lunch, Li Long was still pondering the problem. He had already realized that the negative impact of that guy's arrival was beginning to appear.

Although the jeep was parked right in front of the wooden house, not many people came to exchange fritillaria bulbs. The previous bustling scene was gone; occasionally someone would come by, carrying only a few kilograms of fritillaria bulbs, whether testing the waters or having other intentions was unclear.

The situation only eased somewhat after the Wu family uncle and nephew appeared.

Wu Bensheng brought his nephew over, and upon seeing Li Long, he smiled and said:

"Mr. Li, you're in real trouble this time."

"You mean the forest rangers came to collect fritillaria bulbs?" Li Long thought that this was probably what he meant.

"Yeah, let me tell you, with this troublemaker around, a lot of people who dig for medicinal herbs don't dare to come here. Even if you're here, they're worried that you can't control that person, and they're afraid that when they come to exchange their herbs, someone else will take them, and that would be a huge loss. So, a lot of people are watching and waiting now."

Li Long knew it would be troublesome, but this matter was not easy to resolve, so he asked:
"Then why aren't you afraid?"

“I’ve been digging here for several years now, and I know your skills, Mr. Li. I know that guy only came to collect fritillaria when you weren’t here. He definitely wouldn’t dare to come when you were here.”

Wu Bensheng has a good eye for people. He's come to the wooden house every year for the past two years to exchange supplies, and this year he's just doing what Mo Linsheng did and exchanging money here directly.

Although it's less money than exchanging it outside the mountains, it's safer.

“If everyone thought like you, that would be great.” Li Long shook his head. “Judging from the current situation, many people still don’t quite believe me.”

“There’s nothing we can do. After all, those fritillaria bulbs were dug up with great effort. And there are only a few days left in the fritillaria season. Everyone wants to exchange their fritillaria bulbs for cash, so who dares to be careless? They’re counting on these fritillaria bulbs to make a living all year round.” Wu Bensheng spoke the minds of the other fritillaria diggers.

"It seems we still need to catch that person to solve this problem," Li Long said. "But even if we do catch him, some people might not believe us."

“But at least we’ve caught it, which has resolved the potential problem, unless you can come and collect fritillaria every day from now on, Mr. Li.” Wu Bensheng placed the fritillaria he had brought on the table. “However, not everyone is skeptical. The old herb gatherer knows your abilities.”

"Come on, let's get down to business first, we'll talk about that later." Li Long pointed to his and his nephew's bags and asked, "Pour them out and let us see? Are we exchanging them for money or supplies?"

"Exchange it for twenty yuan worth of food, cooked. The rest can be exchanged for cash; my nephew can decide for himself."

"I'll exchange twenty yuan worth of food, no, thirty yuan worth, and the rest for cash," the young man said.

Li Long smiled and listed out all the food he had brought. Upon hearing there was meat, Wu Bensheng licked his lips and said:
"Mr. Li, the food here isn't as good as it used to be this year. In previous years, when you went hunting, we could catch some game, cook it, and have some variety so we could improve our meals. This year it's just rice and noodles, not much oil or fat."

"Great! At least we can finally have meat! I've been drooling over it!"

Li Long smiled and said:

"This year is different from previous years. I have too much work on my end, and there aren't any suitable workers here, so it's not easy to prepare meat."

“I think that guy with the cold face and who’s always carrying injuries is pretty good,” Wu Bensheng said while picking out food. “A few days ago when you weren’t around, I asked him to buy our fritillaria bulbs, and he actually did. I think his personality is suited for this kind of work.”

“You mean Old Mo? I’d like to too, but he won’t. He prefers the freedom of gathering herbs in the mountains.” Li Long sighed. “Everyone has their own ambitions, there’s nothing we can do.”

Given Mo Linsheng's personality, he is knowledgeable and capable of protecting himself. Li Long really hoped to keep him around to help him out, but Mo Linsheng was stubborn and there was nothing he could do.

Wu Bensheng and his nephew had a combined total of less than five kilograms of dried fritillaria bulbs, which they had washed quite clean. After selecting the food, Li Long gave them two hundred and sixty yuan in cash.

Li Long also brought 100-yuan bills this time, saying they were newly issued, but Wu Bensheng and the other two were cautious and didn't accept them, preferring the "Great Unity" bill.

Li Long didn't force him, since he had brought quite a few people with him anyway.

The cash stored at home, including some of the third set of RMB banknotes that show signs of wear, will gradually be spent.

Wu Bensheng and his nephew greeted Li Long with the food they had brought and then left.

Li Long asked them to spread the word to the medicinal herb diggers they encountered, and Wu Bensheng agreed.

Once inside the forest, Wu Bensheng addressed the other two herb gatherers who were waiting there:

“I told you, but you didn’t believe me. This Boss Li is incredibly capable. The guy who came to buy fritillaria yesterday only came when Boss Li wasn’t around. Today Boss Li is here, and that guy doesn’t dare to come back. If he dares to come, Boss Li will beat him up!”

"He has a gun!" one of the herb gatherers said, somewhat incredulously.

"Hey! You're obviously a newbie! You don't know that Boss Li also has a Type 56 semi-automatic rifle in his Jeep, do you? He's been too busy this year. Anyone who came last year knows that he used this gun to hunt, then skinned and cooked his prey on the spot, and could even trade fritillaria bulbs for meat!"
He was too busy this year, so he traded some braised pork for it. Look at this meat in my hand; he doesn't have much left. If you go too late, it'll be gone!

The aroma of braised meat was irresistible to the two men. Don't underestimate the allure of meat for these herb gatherers in the mountains. They'd been in the mountains for a month without meat, eating only rice and noodles, and had lost a considerable amount of weight.

Seeing that there was indeed meat, the two of them picked up their bags and hurried out of the mountain.

Of course, the fact that Wu Bensheng and his nephew successfully exchanged goods and money was also an important reason why they were willing to go out.

Perhaps it was the example set by the Wu family uncle and nephew, or perhaps they had observed all morning and felt that Li Long's place was more reliable, so in the afternoon more people started exchanging fritillaria bulbs for other things.

Each time someone came over, Li Long would explain the person's problem to them and tell them not to show up if he wasn't there, lest they get caught.

These people listened to Li Long's words and knew that this was the safest approach. They also promised to inform other people who hadn't come if they encountered them.

To Li Long's surprise, the most popular item to exchange was braised meat. The several tens of yuan worth of braised meat he brought was the first to be exchanged. When people who came later heard that they could exchange for cooked meat here, the first thing they asked was if there was any meat.

They were all a little disappointed when they heard there was no meat left.

This made Li Long think that he should bring more meat tomorrow.

Li Long finished work when the sun was still high in the sky. Today he had exchanged about 200 kilograms of dried fritillaria bulbs, not as much as before, but still quite a lot.

Because he needed to see Keyum back home, Li Long wanted to return early. He wasn't in a hurry to see Bolati today; he planned to come back tomorrow. Li Long drove his jeep back to the county purchasing station, and to his surprise, Keyum was already waiting for him there.

While helping to unload the fritillaria bulbs, Keyum explained the reason.

It turned out that after delivering the meat this afternoon, he was waiting for Li Long. Sister Yang and her family were making dried meat in their yard, and he couldn't help, so he thought he'd wait outside. Sister Yang told Keyum that this purchasing station also belonged to Li Long, and that Li Long would come here first when he returned, so Keyum arrived here first.

“From now on, I need beef and mutton every day. The orders are quite large, so you need to deliver at least 500 kilograms of beef and mutton every day. Can you do that?” Li Long asked.

“This should be fine,” Keyum said after thinking for a moment. “I’ve already contacted all the herders near Stone City. There are some who don’t want to sell beef and mutton right now, so I’m thinking of going directly to the livestock market. Of course, I’ll also go to more distant places on other occasions.”

Now that the communes have been reorganized into townships, the pastures in each commune are being adjusted. Some people no longer want to graze livestock and want to farm, so I'm taking their cattle and sheep in.

“I suggest you get a phone at home and a used truck with a double-decker rack to carry cattle and sheep. Otherwise, this job won’t be easy,” Li Long suggested. “Of course, it’s up to you. After all, this is a big deal, and these two things will cost a lot.”

Keyum said he would seriously consider it. In fact, he had been thinking about it for a while. Every time he bought cattle and sheep, the cost of hiring trucks alone was quite high, but he didn't have a car of his own, and it would take a lot of time to drive the cattle and sheep from far away, so he could only use trucks to transport them.

So he actually considered Li Long's suggestion.

Used trucks aren't actually that expensive these days; you can probably afford one if you grit your teeth and spend a little more. The only problem is the driver. Of course, converting the truck bed into a double-decker will cost some money, but once converted, it can easily transport fifty or sixty sheep at a time.

Li Long needs 500 kilograms of beef and mutton every day. All things considered, one cow plus a dozen or so sheep would be enough, which can be loaded into a truck.

After Keyum asked Li Long some other questions, Li Long also thought about the herb gatherers in the mountains who needed braised meat today, so he asked him how the offal of cattle and sheep was processed.

“I had my family open a side dish soup shop on the old street. These beef and mutton offal are cleaned, boiled, and sold for seven cents a bowl. Lots of people want to eat it,” Keyum said with a smile. “Every day, we can’t keep up with the demand, and we can make a lot of money, at least more than my old milk tea shop.”

"So, are the sheep's head and hooves sold together too?"

"Yes, together. A cooked sheep's head costs three yuan, and a sheep's hoof costs fifty cents. We can sell quite a few every day." Keyum is indeed a natural businessman; he even thought of this.

Li Long nodded and didn't say anything more.

Keyum went back to prepare, and Li Long drove his jeep to pick up Mingming and Haohao.

The reeds in the ditch have grown very tall. The Dragon Boat Festival is just around the corner, and the reed leaves will be ready to be used to wrap zongzi (sticky rice dumplings).

Because Li Long no longer bundles reeds, and the supply and marketing cooperative no longer has this task, the reed ditch is contracted out to private individuals, who then specialize in harvesting reeds and delivering them to the paper mill.

The county paper mill can still exist for a few more years. After the paper mill is shut down in a few years, the reeds will be even less useful.

At that time, the reed gully will gradually degrade, and eventually there will be no reeds left.

Actually, reed pulp is excellent. Reed pulp from Bosten Lake in southern Xinjiang has been used for a long time, and it has even been used on the RMB.

However, the area there is very large, so it cannot be evacuated. In the Fourth Team area, there is a reed ditch and a reed lake, plus the reeds in the small lake. To the locals, it is quite large, but in reality, it is not large enough for a factory.

As times progress, some things are destined to be eliminated, and reeds are one of them. There are also some things that people still want to keep, but fewer people like them and they have fewer uses, so they will eventually be abandoned by history.

After picking up Mingming and Haohao, we went to my older brother's house for dinner as usual. When we got back, it was still early, so we took Mingming and Haohao to Old Ma's place to see Uncle Luo and the others, as well as the animals they kept.

Mingming Haohao remembered those little wild boars and insisted on seeing them; otherwise, Li Long wouldn't have stopped.

The baby wild boar is already eating, but it's quite restless.

The pen not only contained baby wild boars, but also half-grown sows and mother pigs. Although they had been fed in the afternoon, the adult pigs still looked up at Li Long and grunted when they saw him bringing the piglets over.

He remembered an explanation he'd seen somewhere in his previous life, which said that pigs don't look up at people; if they do, it means they're going to eat them.

That's utter nonsense.

The pigpen is lower than the ground, and the outside is higher than the inside. When the pigs are hungry and want to eat, they have to raise their heads, right? It's normal for pigs to look up at people! I haven't seen anything wrong with it, and I haven't seen any pigs with red eyes or anything like that.

Sigh, with rumors spreading and people just repeating what others say, I really don't know what to say anymore.

After seeing the animals, Li Long had Mingming, Haohao, and Uncle Luo say goodbye, then drove away.

Many parenting experts from his previous life said that if children don't greet others on their own initiative, you shouldn't force them to. Li Long felt that children should still be taught what they need to be taught.

After all, some parenting experts don't even have children or are married, so it's unclear where they learned their theories from.

Back home, before Gu Boyuan had even left, Li Long told him about the forest ranger in the mountains.

"If that's the case, someone might be causing trouble." Gu Boyuan pondered for a moment, but couldn't come up with a solution. "What do you plan to do?"

"I'll go again tomorrow and wait for Polati. If Polati has any leads, that would be great. If not, I'll hide the car and see if I can catch the person."

"Yes, that's a good idea, but we need to be careful," Gu Boyuan said.

"Don't worry, I won't act recklessly, after all, I have a child now," Li Long said with a smile.

After Sister Yang finished cleaning up the kitchen, she told Li Long that Keyum had delivered two sets of sheep offal and one set of beef offal, all of which were cooked.

“That’s perfect. I’ll keep some food at home and send some to the team tomorrow. I’ll take the rest to the mountains to exchange for fritillaria bulbs. Right now, the people in the mountains really hope I can bring more cooked meat. I brought some braised meat today, and their eyes were practically red with envy.”

Two sets of sheep offal and one set of cow offal together weigh several dozen kilograms. Even cooked, under the current circumstances, several families combined couldn't finish it.

Li Long has already bought a refrigerator. These days, refrigerators are quite small and can't freeze much, so it's already crammed full. Therefore, using it to exchange for fritillaria bulbs is actually the best way to use them up.

The next morning, after breakfast, Li Long put some of the cooked offal into a basin, wrapped it in a cloth, and took Mingming and Haohao to the team.

After putting Mingming and Haohao in preschool, Li Long told his mother that he was already waiting there. He then went to his older brother's house to drop off the leftovers and drove back to the county.

When Li Long returned to the mountains, he found that Polati was already there.

When Polati saw Li Long, his usual smile appeared on his face. He explained that he knew Li Long had been busy these past two days, so he hadn't come over. Then he patted the two full bags of fritillaria bulbs on the table and said:

"How's it going? I brought a lot of stuff this time, didn't I? Same old thing...exchanging money. Hmm? I think I smell meat. You brought meat?"

"Yeah, I brought some offal," Li Long said with a smile. "How about it, want some?"

"Of course I want to!" Polati made no attempt to hide his gluttony. "Hurry up and get it out, is it hot?"

"No, I just want it hot, I'll just heat it up a bit. Oh, by the way, I have something important to tell you." Li Long explained the matter of someone confiscating the fritillaria bulbs while getting his things.

Polati was stunned upon hearing this, then flew into a rage:
"This is my territory. Who dares to cause trouble here?"

As expected, Polati didn't know, so we'll have to investigate this person's background thoroughly.

(End of this chapter)