Rebirth of Bayi Fishing and Hunting in the Northwest

Chapter 1094 Compared to others, I am truly nothing.
Li Long and Liu Shanmin sat in a milk tea shop near the train station, each with a bowl of milk tea, a naan bread, a plate of honey, a plate of jam, and a plate of cream, eating and chatting there.

“I never expected to run into you here. To be honest, after things settled down here, I went to the mountains to look for you, but the wooden house was still there, but the door was locked and no one was home,” Liu Shanmin said. “Was it… more than a year ago?”

“I haven’t spent much time living in the cabin these past two years,” Li Long explained. “Before, I would stay in the cabin, collecting medicinal herbs like fritillaria, as well as furs and wild mushrooms. Later, I opened a purchasing station, so I went into the mountains less often.”

"You accept medicinal herbs other than fritillaria?" Liu Shanmin asked, somewhat surprised. "Do you accept licorice and astragalus?"

"Sure, I'll take it." Li Long smiled. "But the price can't be high. I'm just a middleman making a profit from the difference."

Liu Shanmin nodded, lost in thought.

Li Long broke off a piece of naan, spread some butter on it, and ate it. Many people don't like butter and ghee, but he wasn't an exception. Following Harim and the others, he not only got used to eating these things, but also found them quite delicious.

Fortunately, I don't eat it often, so I don't have a muttony smell on my body.

"Do you know where I went after I left your cabin?" Liu Shanmin broke his silence and began to speak.

"I don't know, but judging from your appearance, you must have suddenly become rich," Li Long said with a smile, his gaze sweeping over the gold watch on Liu Shanmin's wrist and the gold ring on his finger.

“Yes, I went to the Soviet Union.” Liu Shanmin didn’t hide anything. “To be precise, I went to the Kazakhstan Soviet Socialist Republic.”

"You've gone abroad? That's great." For ordinary people at this time, going abroad is indeed a good thing.

Although the Soviet Union was already facing many internal problems at this time, it was still seen as a world superpower by ordinary people in northern Xinjiang.

Ordinary people generally have two opinions about this powerful country: first, I am not afraid of you; second, you are very powerful.

Li Long knew its development trajectory, so he knew it would become history in a few years, but ordinary people didn't know this.

"Can you imagine what life is like for people over there?" Liu Shanmin asked again.

Li Long was a little surprised that he would be asked this question, but shouldn't he be an ordinary citizen at this point? So he said:

"Didn't a group of people run away in the 1960s? The propaganda they received was that there was milk and bread everywhere over there. I imagine they were eating rye bread and beef stew with potatoes."

"More or less, but not quite what you imagine." A complicated expression flashed across Liu Shanmin's face. "Over there—we're missing a lot of things. That's what I do, just like you, buying low and selling high, acting as a middleman."

Li Long nodded and continued eating his naan.

International trade, impressive! Without connections, skills, and capital, you can't succeed in this industry.

The amount of money he had would be a huge sum in the eyes of ordinary people, but it probably wasn't much in front of someone like Liu Shanmin.

Li Long had no intention of venturing into that direction; he didn't yet have the capability. His current life had already exceeded his initial expectations; he had only ever wanted to be a landlord.

Even now, he remains obsessed with this.

"Back here, I finally feel like I'm living a normal life. Life over there... is so much worse. Can you imagine? They can't even get a few kinds of vegetables over there!" Liu Shanmin started talking to himself while Li Long remained silent.

Li Long guessed that he didn't have many friends to talk to over there, which was why he was talking to someone like him, who was practically a stranger.

As for the lack of food there—Li Long knew a bit about it. It wasn't that they couldn't get food, but there were only a few kinds of dishes available: potatoes, tomatoes, pickled fatty meat slices, and so on.

The region was extremely poor in terms of natural resources.

The main crops produced are just a few kinds: wheat, oats, rice, etc.; there is plenty of meat, but people can't just eat meat.

By the way, the ethnic groups over there raise pigs; I think that's Stalin's doing?

After the split, the issue gradually returned to matters of faith, so they stopped raising animals.

Li Long had a lot of jumbled information in his mind, and Liu Shanmin continued speaking:

"But to be honest, once you've got the connections, making money is really easy."

Li Long vaguely remembers that a decade or so later, in the early 2000s, the Autonomous Region Daily often carried news about a need for supplies, namely light industrial products such as sugar and cement.

They lack these kinds of light industrial products, whether it's daily necessities like clothing, food like sugar, or building materials like cement.

For a period of time, many people went there to grow vegetables, build factories, and work.

Unfortunately, the people there couldn't get their hands on these things, and they also harbored resentment towards the people from northern Xinjiang, or rather, the people from the border region. Eventually, only the Kazakhs went there from northern Xinjiang, and no one else went.

Legend has it that there are too many victims, and many business people have been extorted and have nowhere to turn for help.

There is no such thing as eternal friendship between nations; there's nothing we can do about it.

However, Liu Shanmin must have some connections to have managed to get this done.

Do they have influence over there?
Li Long made wild guesses.

“When I come back, I think the noodles I eat in Alashankou and Khorgos are the best food in the world.” Liu Shanmin drank a bowl of milk tea. “But this stuff, they have it over there too, and it tastes pretty much the same.”

Li Long nodded, thinking it made sense. After all, the livestock industry there was quite developed. After all, Outer Ili was considered their territory, and Kazakhstan, with its more than two million square kilometers, was larger than both northern and southern Xinjiang combined, yet its population was less.

More importantly, most of that area is still flat land. Just think about it, what a wonderful place!

Unfortunately, it's not ours.

Li Long, who had an abnormal obsession with land, thought that if he had a piece of land of his own over there, not much, just one square kilometer...

Of course, this is on the premise that the other side belongs to this side.

Imagine it.

Liu Shanmin returned to normal and said to Li Long:
"If I bring back ten tons of astragalus and licorice, could you eat it all?"

"Of course I can eat it, but once we get through the border, the price will be about the same as here?" Li Long asked doubtfully. "If it's about the same as the market price, I can't accept it, because the price I give to the seller is even a little lower than the market price."

He could make a profit by buying raw medicinal herbs from herbalists at low prices. If the price of the herbs he bought was high and there was no profit, there would be no need for him to buy them.

"Don't worry, the price will definitely not be high." Liu Shanmin became interested in Li Long. There aren't many people who can buy ten tons of medicinal herbs at once.

“You wouldn’t… smuggle, would you? I can’t do that.” Li Long hurriedly waved his hand. “I’m a law-abiding businessman. I would never do anything illegal. I don’t even do tax evasion, let alone something like that.”

What he was talking about was, of course, selling stolen goods.

At this time, smuggling along the southeastern coast had already begun and was becoming increasingly rampant.

Li Long absolutely did not want to be a wanted person.

"What are you thinking?" Liu Shanmin laughed. "How could I let you do something like that?"

He took a piece of paper from his bag and said:

"Do you know what a quota is? Don't worry, it's definitely from legitimate channels. What I actually brought in from over there are other things; these medicinal herbs are just a side item."

Li Long looked at the paper. What was it called... an approval document?
He didn't understand these things, but he remained somewhat cautious.

He doesn't want to touch things of dubious origin; he just wants to be a law-abiding citizen.

Seeing that Li Long remained wary, Liu Shanmin changed the subject and asked:
"Do you know what's the most profitable thing to import from over there?"

"Animal offal?" Li Long replied subconsciously.

The main reason was that he had heard that no one ate or wanted animal organs there.

So, in the next twenty or thirty years, people will occasionally smuggle offal from beef and mutton over there, mainly tripe and intestines. Li Long remembered it vividly, so he answered instinctively.

"Huh? You know that nobody wants these things over there?" Liu Shanmin was clearly surprised by Li Long's answer.

"I heard it from someone," Li Long chuckled. "You know I run a purchasing station, so I deal with all sorts of people, including people from Yili who come here to sell fritillaria bulbs."

“That’s true.” Liu Shanmin nodded. “You’re right, but once we buy this thing, nobody will buy it.”

“It’s winter.” Secretary Li Longre’s true nature came out again, habitually offering advice, “Send a few truckloads over in the winter. That stuff can’t be solved in a short time, but it can be frozen. Bring it to the mainland in the winter, and sell it for a little less than meat. There will always be people who want it.”

“That makes sense.” Liu Shanmin nodded again.

“If you want to buy jade carvings, go to the jade carving factory,” Li Long said. “Yu Sufu is my friend. He used to sell jade, but right now he only sells small pieces. If you want large pieces, you have to go to the factory.”

After Li Long finished his milk tea, Liu Shanmin waved and asked him for another bowl.

“If my train wasn’t in the afternoon, I would have treated you to a meal and we could have a good chat,” Liu Shanmin said. “How about this, is your purchasing station in Ma County? I’ll come visit you when I have time. I think we can cooperate.”

Li Long thought it was better to stay away. He didn't understand those things, and if it really involved smuggling, he couldn't get involved at all.

Liu Shanmin and Li Long came out of the milk tea shop together. He went to the train station to catch today's train back to the mainland, while Li Long went to Yu Sufu's stall again and bought most of the small jade stones.

The price wasn't expensive; twenty-odd pieces of raw jade cost less than three hundred yuan. If Yu Sufu hadn't said he needed to keep some for his business and that the next batch wouldn't arrive for several days, he would have bought them all.

Li Long bought some raisins and dates along the way, and then drove his Jeep back home.

Recently, my mother, Du Chunfang, and my husband, Li Juan and Li Qiang, have both enjoyed eating these things. Mingming and Haohao also eat a little, but not much.

So we need to buy some and put some in each household.

On the way back, Li Long was still thinking about Liu Shanmin, wondering how he would refuse him when he came over.

After all, his current development is going smoothly, much like he planned, unfolding step by step, and even more smoothly than he had planned.

I don't want to deal with so many variables; it's easy for things to go wrong.

Back in the county, Li Long went to the fourth team, put down the raisins and dates he had bought, and then went to give some to Old Ma.

Only one family had left with their stacks of wheat on the threshing floor. In another two days, they should be able to winnow it. When Li Long arrived, this round of threshing had already ended, and the wheat straw had been moved to the side and piled up. Li Junfeng and the others were using pushers to gather the wheat grains spread on the ground together.

Li Long glanced at the scene from afar and saw that there were quite a few people on the threshing floor, so he didn't go over to help.

He chatted with his mother for a while, then went back to the county.

Sister Yang has been quite busy lately, so Li Long has to cook in the courtyard.

During dinner, Gu Boyuan said to Li Long:
"Huang Lei, the guy who collects wild mushrooms, came over, but when he saw you weren't there, he went back to the guesthouse and said he'd come back tomorrow. Oh, and he brought his car; he's probably going to haul a whole load back this time."

"How many wild mushrooms do we have now?" Li Long asked. "Have Sun Jiaqiang and Liang Shuangcheng processed all the ones we collected?"

"There are still three or four hundred kilograms that haven't been processed yet. This was collected in two days, and we don't have time to process them all," Gu Boyuan said. "We've processed more than three tons, and I've checked them all. The processed mushrooms were very clean, with the stems cut off and no residue. However, it's hard to say what will happen during the transportation process."

"Are all three tons of black tiger paw fungus?" Li Long asked.

"Well, the small amount is mostly morel mushrooms, the majority are black tiger paw mushrooms. You know there are a lot of these mushrooms in the mountains, you can easily get a whole sackful, and they're quite expensive."

Many herb gatherers didn't expect that black tiger paw mushrooms could be sold for money. However, after learning that Li Long's purchasing station had started buying these wild mushrooms at a good price, many people who were digging for fritillaria went down the mountain to rent houses in the county or stay with relatives for a while. Once the black tiger paw mushrooms started to grow, they went back into the mountains to start picking mushrooms again.

However, they only went out of the mountains every now and then during this period, because although the forest rangers collected fritillaria bulbs, they didn't collect many wild mushrooms.

Legally, fritillaria is classified as a medicinal herb that needs to be dug up, which requires disturbing the earth and may cause soil erosion, so it can lead to arrest.

But wild mushrooms are different. These things grow on the ground, and picking them won't affect the vegetation, so they are generally not caught.

Of course, there are some eccentric rangers who want to take them in, and there's nothing we can do about that.

Li Long had nothing to do recently, so he went to the purchasing station the next day to wait.

Huang Lei arrived quite early. He brought a truck and two helpers, though it's unclear whether they were hired temporarily or brought directly from abroad.

This time, Huang Lei was no longer as dejected as he had been when he was suspected; instead, he seemed quite spirited. Upon seeing Li Long, he smiled and said:

"Mr. Li, they said you were out on business yesterday. You've been quite busy lately?"

"Yes, I am quite busy." Li Long nodded. "Judging from your appearance, your business is getting bigger and bigger?"

"It's alright. It's also thanks to you that the jerky played a big role. Many people in our area like it, but the quantity is too small and the price is relatively high."

“I use only pure meat, without any scraps or trimmings. How can it not be expensive? This is a high-end approach from the very beginning,” Li Long said. “Think about it, how much meat can you cut into strips from a sheep or a cow?”

Huang Lei nodded. He naturally knew that these dried meats were of very high quality, which was why he kept buying them.

Talking about dried meat was just a way to start a conversation; the main purpose was to buy wild mushrooms.

Bags of dried wild mushrooms were brought out. They were quite light, so nearly a hundred bags were taken out. Huang Lei knew that one car was not enough, so he borrowed the phone at the purchasing station to call the transportation company and hire another truck.

Whether it was Huang Lei, Zhao Hui, or Jia Tianlong, they all insisted on trading with Li Long.

Gu Boyuan was in charge of receiving the goods, and Li Long was in charge of delivering them. With both channels controlled by their own people, Li Long's purchasing station was not afraid of being imitated or surpassed.

When Huang Lei left, he not only took away dried mushrooms, but also more than 300 kilograms of dried meat.

The income of nearly 80,000 yuan could no longer cause much of a stir for Li Long. He gave Gu Boyuan 5,000 yuan and Sun Jiaqiang and Liang Shuangcheng 200 yuan bonuses, which was considered a summary of his income for this period.

These dried wild mushrooms brought Li Long a net profit of nearly 30,000 yuan, which is quite a high percentage.

When Huang Lei left, he told Li Long that the price of dried wild mushrooms would not rise any further in the near future, but it was hard to say what would happen later.

Li Long said that the price of dried meat might rise because it consumes too much beef and mutton. Huang Lei understood this and said that he would come again in August, hoping to bring back more dried meat then.

After Huang Lei left, Li Long was fine for a short time. Around August, when the wheat harvest was over, he went to Qingshuihe and told him about the bridge and sluice gate repairs.

Yes, Li Long planned to entrust the gate matter to Meng Hai as well, so as not to trouble two people with one matter.

Meng Hai naturally had no objection, but now that the wheat harvest was over, everyone was handing over their grain quotas, and they would have to harvest sunflowers and corn later, which would have to wait until October.

Li Long wasn't in a hurry; he still had to deal with the sluice gates and cement, and he needed to find out about those things gradually.

By mid-August, the sluice gate was ready, and Li Long had Li Jianguo, who was temporarily free, drive a tractor to the place designated by Yang Bo on the north side of Xiaohaizi Dam to start pushing soil in.

In just one day, the excavated soil formed an arc in front of the dam line, allowing construction to proceed in a dry location.

It wasn't time to irrigate the winter wheat yet, so the water level in the small pond was at its lowest. Li Long and Meng Hai both knew that the sluice gate had to be repaired before irrigating the winter wheat; otherwise, if the water volume was too high, water might seep into the soil, which would cause problems.

Then Li Long entered another period of boredom, and he simply became a stay-at-home dad, spending his free time with his children, cooking lunch and dinner, and occasionally going to the fourth team.

His relatively leisurely period only ended in mid-August when Liu Shanmin came to Ma County to find him.

P.S.: Fish have come out of the small lake again, all palm-sized crucian carp, but they're not as pretty as before.

P: When I went to throw away the trash today, I saw a freshly skinned goatskin in the bin. Is everyone this extravagant these days? Or has the leather industry declined? Are goatskins just thrown away like that now...?

(End of this chapter)