Rebirth of Bayi Fishing and Hunting in the Northwest

Chapter 1078 Taking chances is not advisable; Tao Shengli is arrested.

Today, Lü Dehai was less reserved than yesterday when he drove into the mountains. He took the initiative to chat with Li Long in the car.

“I heard my dad talk about the mountains when I was a child, but I’ve never been to the mountains myself. As you know, our Liuhudi is too far from the mountains. I’ve been to Shawozi a few times, but this is my first time in the mountains. I never thought that my first time in the mountains would be to bring my dad back.”

Perhaps because a lot of time had passed, Lü Dehai wasn't very sad; instead, he was quite curious about some things around him, occasionally offering his comments:
“The things on this mountainside look pretty much the same as what we have back home. The tamarisk and saxaul trees all look the same. But we have sand dunes to the north where we live, which we can’t see here.”

“Each has its own unique characteristics,” Li Long said as he drove. “Actually, your area is considered quite good. It’s separated from the desert by Beiwucha, the land isn’t as saline-alkali, and you can make money growing cotton.”

"It's alright." Lu Dehai looked at the farmland on the Qingshui River side and the almost barren land near the mountains and said, "This land is too dry, nothing grows here."

Li Long thought to himself that if things were to grow here, Meng Hai from Qingshuihe Village wouldn't need to come to him so often to do work and make money.

Good land is scarce in Qingshuihe Village, and it is close to the mountains with many gullies, so each family can not get much land.

After entering the mountains, Lü Dehai sighed again:
"Looking at the Tianshan Mountains from afar, I thought that once you entered the mountains, there would be trees everywhere, and then snow-capped mountains inside. I didn't expect that the outer layers of mountains are all bare, with nothing growing at all."

Li Long smiled and said, "This Tianshan Mountain has dozens or even hundreds of layers, and it grows as you go inwards."

Following the repaired road, all the way to where Meng Hai and his team had worked, Lü Dehai asked again:

"Why are they building this road? Nobody lives in these mountains. Are they planning to start a mine?"

"No, there are herders living deep in the mountains, and this road was built to facilitate their migration." Li Long explained, and then explained what "migration" meant.

He felt that Lü Dehai was like a curious child who didn't know anything.

But that's normal, since he lives in the plains and it's understandable that he wouldn't know what's going on in the mountains.

When Li Long arrived at the road construction team, he got off the vehicle and put down the debris. Meng Hai got off the tractor, greeted Li Long, and briefly explained the road construction progress over the past two days.

"You guys go ahead with your work, I'm taking a friend into the mountains," Li Long said to Meng Hai.

Actually, this place was already past where Li Long met Tao Shengli, but there were things in the car that couldn't be left for long. He had to give them to Meng Hai and the others first before going to take care of his own business.

Meng Hai naturally had no objections. After having someone take Li Long's things away, he told Li Long to come over for dinner at the appointed time, and then he led his men to get to work.

Li Long, carrying a gun, led Lü Dehai back, and after walking for a while, they entered the mountains.

Lu Dehai was carrying a large black bag and a shovel, which he intended to put his father's body inside.

Most of the people here are immigrants; they don't have many customs or traditions, and you can't find anyone who does. All we need to do is get Lü Youcai's remains back safely.

If this had happened a few years ago, we might have had to hire a fortune teller or something, but now we don't care about that anymore.

"Mr. Li, you're still carrying a gun. Are there wild animals in these mountains?" Lü Dehai asked.

"Yes, there are wolves, bears, wild boars and the like," Li Long said as he walked. "It's quite dangerous if you encounter them without a gun."

After winding through several mountain gullies, Li Long walked relatively slowly. This was mainly because Lü Dehai had never been in the mountains before. On one hand, he was curious and looked around, and on the other hand, he hadn't walked mountain paths much and would trip over them from time to time.

Nearly an hour had passed by the time they arrived at the location where Lü Youcai's remains were found.

Li Long said at the edge of the cave:

"This is where I found the bones. I've buried them nearby now; you see, in that pile of dirt."

Lu Dehai first carefully examined the hole and the place where Li Long had pointed out where the remains had been found, and then looked at the mound, or rather, the grave mound.

The burial mound wasn't large; after all, it wasn't a corpse, and it was mostly bones, so there weren't many.

Lu Deqing carried the bag to the grave mound, knelt down, kowtowed three times, and then said:

"Dad, I've come to see you. I didn't know you were gone from here..."

Li Long didn't listen any further; he picked up his gun and went to Tao Shengli's winter camp.

This unauthorized gold miner was quite obedient; he abandoned this winter shelter, but unlike the previous one, he didn't dismantle it. Instead, he simply took his belongings and left.

Li Long noticed the pit next to the stone where Tao Shengli had dug things away, but didn't pay much attention. After walking around, he was certain that Tao Shengli had left as soon as he left.

To his surprise, Tao Shengli didn't head towards the place where he had previously discovered him panning for gold, but instead headed northwest.

Is there something over there? Or is he thinking of turning back?
Li Long didn't follow; there was no need. The mountains were so vast that even if they deliberately searched, they might not be able to find it.

Li Long carried his gun and circled the area. Although it was already June, he found several morel mushrooms in the moss under the pine forest. These were late-blooming, but they were quite large.

Li Long picked up the mushrooms and put them in his backpack, planning to make some soup when he got back.

Most of the morel mushrooms that purchasing stations can get now are dried into mushrooms, which don't taste as good as fresh ones.

Li Long circled the area again and saw several grouse with their chicks pecking at insects in the woods. Upon seeing Li Long, the mother hen immediately darted into the grass, and the chicks scattered in disarray.

He didn't chase after them, but just watched the chicks run around. The mother hen would occasionally cluck in the grass, which became the signal for the chicks to find their mother. After about ten minutes, the little grouse finally all crawled into the grass and found their mother, but she was probably lying down, so they were basically out of sight.

He walked back for a while and saw Lü Dehai slowly digging in the soil with a shovel, occasionally picking out a bone or two and putting it into his black bag.

This is quite strange. Some people are afraid of skeletons and bones, but his relatives aren't. He could vaguely hear Lü Dehai talking as he searched there.

More than half an hour later, after finding all the bones and burning paper money there, Lü Dehai picked up his bag, stood up, and walked down the ravine.

He didn't see Li Long, so he shouted twice at the top of his lungs.

Li Long responded from inside the pine forest and came out carrying his gun.

"Are you done?" Li Long asked.

"Yes, it's done." Lü Dehai's voice was a little hoarse, and Li Long guessed that he must have been crying.

"Thank you so much." Lü Dehai bowed to Li Long. "If it weren't for you, I might never have found my father in my entire life."

"Are you sure?" Li Long asked.

"Yes, the old injuries are on the bone, that's for sure," Lü Dehai said.

"Okay, let's go. Let's have lunch at the road construction site, and then I'll take you back."

"Okay." Lü Dehai became much quieter.

The two returned to the road construction site. Dinner wasn't ready yet, and Meng Hai and his men were still working. Li Long observed that in the short time that had passed, the roadbed had advanced another two hundred meters.

This section of road is bordered by a hillside on one side and a river on the other, making road construction relatively simple. They simply used bulldozers to widen the narrow pasture trails on the hillside, and then the people following behind leveled the surface.

The cook built a simple stove on the dry riverbed, with two pots, one for boiling water and the other for cooking offal.

Li Long could vaguely see wild vegetable leaves floating on top, which was nice.

Lu Dehai told Li Long something, put the big black bag into the jeep, and then sat on a rock next to the car without saying a word.

Li Long didn't disturb him. He went over to check on the workers and then called Lü Dehai to eat with him when it was time to eat. After finishing his meal, he left.

Meng Hai knew Li Long had something to do, so he didn't disturb him and told him to continue resting.

Even after the car had driven quite a distance, Li Long could still see in the rearview mirror that many people were searching for something by the river.

This might be one of the few sources of enjoyment these people experience while working.

As they drove outwards, just as they were about to leave the mountains, Li Long saw Bolati. He was riding a horse, holding a whip in one hand and pulling the reins in the other, with a gun slung over his back. A person with their hands bound was tied to a long rope behind the horse.

Tao Shengli!
Li Long only glanced at him before recognizing the man who looked like he had been beaten and whose body was covered in dirt and grass scraps.

Polati also saw Li Long, pulled on the reins, and stopped the horse.

Li Long drove off the road, pulled up beside him, and said to Lü Dehai, "I've run into someone I know. Wait a minute."

Lü Dehai nodded without saying anything.

When Li Long got off the carriage, Polati also dismounted from his horse and said to Li Long with a smile:
"Adasi, long time no see! The fritillaria bulbs are all gone, what brings you into the mountains now?"

Polati's question was rather direct; it would definitely not have been pleasant for someone who wasn't close to him to hear it.

"I was leading a group to repair roads for Yushanjiang and his people," Li Long explained, pointing to Tao Shengli and asking:

"What's the matter?"

“I was patrolling the forest when he saw me in the river at the edge of the forest. I chased after him and caught up with him. When I asked him what was wrong, he said he was panning for gold. But panning for gold in the mountains isn’t allowed. If there’s gold, only government officials can pan for it. So I took him away.”

Tao Shengli looked at Li Long with pleading eyes, a mixture of sympathy and grievance. He clearly recognized Li Long, but dared not beg for mercy.

Li Long laughed and said:
“Polati, I know him. It’s not a big deal, please let him go.”

"Release them?" Polati hesitated for a moment. "Alright, let's release them then."

"Tao Shengli, where's the gold you panned? Give some to Polati, then leave the mountain. Forget it, I'll take you out, but you don't need to come back in. It's not easy to come into the mountain, and if you get caught again, you really won't be able to get out."

As Li Long spoke, he went over and untied the ropes for Tao Shengli, who then dared to speak:
"Okay, okay."

As he spoke, he took off his coat, unbuckled his belt, and then tore the belt open, revealing small cloth bags inside.

"Oh my!" Polati was a little surprised this time. "When I caught him, I took some gold dust from him. I thought that was all he had. I didn't expect he had some more hidden."

Tao Shengli smiled awkwardly, then handed the gold dust to Li Long.

Li Long pulled out a knife and cut the sewn-up small cloth bag in two, handing the slightly smaller piece to Polati:

"Here you go. I've brought this guy out of the mountains; he definitely won't be coming back this year. Of course, if he does come back, you can arrest him again, and I won't care." Li Long handed the remaining portion back to Tao Shengli: "As for you, you should leave the mountains. It seems this place isn't suitable for you anymore."

Having been caught twice in less than three days, Li Long had intentionally let it go the first time, but this time he was caught by Polati again. Li Long felt that Tao Shengli really shouldn't have stayed.

Tao Shengli had no objection, took the bag of gold dust and obediently took two steps back.

Polati didn't stand on ceremony, took the bag, weighed it in his hand, and said, "Don't you want it?"

"No, I already asked you to release them, shouldn't I compensate you?"

Seeing that Li Long didn't want it, Polati packed up the gold dust and said with a smile, "Actually, I've already taken some from him. But since you don't want it, I'll pack it up. Oh, and he also has some fritillaria. You can take it." As he spoke, he took a small half-bag of fritillaria from his horse and placed it at Li Long's feet.

“Then we’ll be going,” Li Long said to Polati. “We have things to do back home.”

"Let's go, let's go." Polati was quite satisfied. Although Tao Shengli's little bit of gold dust would definitely be found when they returned to the forestry team, it wouldn't be his anymore then.

He's quite happy to be able to earn extra money now.

Li Long had Tao Shengli carry the bag of fritillaria bulbs into the car, and then drove on towards the edge of the mountains.

"Mr. Li, I feel like you have quite a bit of influence in the mountains." After what happened, Lü Dehai's mood had improved considerably, and he asked in the car.

“Not bad. I’ve been in the mountains for several years and know a lot of people,” Li Long said. “This guy is Tao Shengli; he’s the one who discovered your dad’s mine the day before yesterday.”

"What?" Lü Dehai was somewhat surprised.

When Li Long was at his house, he told him that he had met a gold prospector and found the mine where Lü Youcai was through that prospector. He never expected that the gold prospector was Lü Youcai!
Tao Shengli never expected that Li Long would actually find the descendant of that skeleton!

“The owner of that mine is called Lü Youcai, and this is Lü Dehai, his son,” Li Long explained to Tao Shengli. “I came here to have him take his father’s remains back.”

"Mr. Li, you're amazing!" Tao Shengli gave a thumbs up. "Thank you so much! If it weren't for you, I would have really been arrested and taken back this time."

“The forestry team has regulations. Picking medicinal herbs is considered a minor offense; they're usually just confiscated. But panning for gold is a much more serious offense; what you've done is a serious violation.” Li Long explained further, “What you're left with isn't much, but it should be worth a few hundred yuan. Go back; don't risk your life here.”

He only considered offering a good path because Tao Shengli discovered Lü Youcai's mine, and there was no violent resistance whether he or Polati discovered it.

Tao Shengli didn't say anything more, so Li Long asked about Lü Dehai:

"Old Lu, if you're planting cotton and spraying pesticides, do you offer spraying services for people?"

"No. Each household has its own sprayer, and they can carry it themselves, so why would anyone help others spray? Some people do borrow sprayers from others, though. After all, if there are two able-bodied people in the family, spraying will be faster and easier."

You wouldn't believe it, that sprayer contains ten kilograms of water per tank. Carrying it on your back for a short while is fine, but carrying it all morning, plus the irritation from the medicine, is incredibly uncomfortable!

Lü Dehai truly suffered this hardship, so his account is very vivid.

"If, you know, if we could develop a machine that can be pulled by a tractor to spray pesticides, do you think anyone in your area would use it to help people spray pesticides?"

Li Long originally planned to wait until the fourth team, or at least the brigade, had started planting cotton before considering the issue of cotton spraying machines.

But after visiting Liuhudi, I learned that cotton planting technology was already relatively mature in this area to the north, near the production and construction corps farms.

My thinking is still somewhat limited, confined to my own little corner of the world.

I need to get out and about more often, otherwise the development of the four teams might lead me to make the wrong judgment.

It makes sense when you think about it. Because of its presence, the fourth team has taken on a lot of big jobs in recent years, and everyone's living standards are quite good, so they don't have a strong desire to change. Even if they engage in sideline farming, it's mostly to meet the needs of their own purchasing station.

So if we're talking about limitations, they're of our own making.

“Sure,” Lü Dehai said upon hearing Li Long’s suggestion. “If it’s like a combine harvester, yielding a dollar or eighty cents per acre, then people will definitely be willing to do it. Think about it, if you’re only growing a small amount of cotton, that’s fine, but if you’re growing a lot, the sheer amount of pesticides you have to spray will scare people away.”

So if there were machines for spraying pesticides, I'd definitely be willing to use them. Besides, we don't spray pesticides every day; we only spray when there are bugs. Of course, the spraying machine has to be easy to use.

Li Long naturally understood what he meant. When a person carries a sprayer to apply pesticides, they can simply aim the nozzle at wherever there are insects, making adjustments very flexible. But with machines, that's a different story.

Initially, pesticide spraying machines could only spray the surface of leaves. However, spider mites typically live on the underside of leaves, so spraying on the surface wouldn't kill them and wouldn't be effective.

Fortunately, the sprayer Li Long knew about could spray from both the top and bottom, not only insecticides but also pesticides to prevent cotton from growing too tall and defoliants to make cotton leaves fall off.

In other words, it's a one-step solution. If such a machine were actually developed and produced, it would definitely be popular.

"Old Lü, do you know how many acres of cotton are grown in your township?" Li Long asked again.

“More than a thousand mu,” Lü Dehai said. “We plant less here, but the Corps plants more. The 148th, 149th, and 150th regiments each have several thousand mu planted.”

The scale is indeed not large, but Li Long believes that with the development model of cotton, there will be more and more cotton in the next few years.

So, isn't it about time to develop pesticide spraying machines?

After all, producing the product first, whether for someone to buy it to harvest crops like a combine harvester or for personal use, is much more convenient than using a sprayer.

As he pondered, they arrived at the county town.

P.S.: Winners of the monthly pass and the top three winners in August should join the group and contact the operations officer as soon as possible, as the deadline is the 6th.

(End of this chapter)