Rebirth of Bayi Fishing and Hunting in the Northwest

Chapter 1166 Ma Xiaoyan Shows Off Her Skills

Meng Hai walked up to Li Long and said with a smile:

"Comrade Li Long, I thought you'd be here soon. Our progress here is going well; things have been relatively smooth these past few days. But things are about to get a little tricky."

"What's wrong?" Li Long asked. "I think they're doing a great job."

"About 300 meters ahead, after turning the corner of the mountain, there is a huge rock blocking the river. If we want to build a road, we have to blast this rock away, just like last time. Otherwise, digging a section through the middle of the mountain would be too much work."

"So there's no explosives left?" Li Long smiled. "Okay, I'll apply for some tomorrow. Let's go take a look."

The workers saw Li Long; those who knew him greeted him, while others stopped to watch. Their wages all came from Li Long, and considering he built the road not for fame or profit, but simply to help a friend, they couldn't help but admire his character.

Li Long greeted them, walked around the construction site, and went forward with Meng Hai.

Ma Xiaoyan took a few photos, and when she saw Li Long and the others walking forward out of the corner of her eye, she immediately jogged to catch up. She tripped over a tree branch along the way, but was quickly helped up by a villager. She hurriedly thanked the villager and continued to chase after them.

The villager turned and stared blankly at Ma Xiaoyan's retreating figure, while a married, shrewd man next to him laughed at him:
"Hey, Lan Baozi, are you trying to marry a female cadre? Does a woman's touch make you unable to walk?"

"What...what nonsense are you talking about?" Lan Baozi's face turned bright red as she was teased. "If someone falls down, I'll help them up. People in the city are so polite; they even thank me. Hu the Cripple, if it weren't for me yesterday, you would have been hit by a rock, and you didn't even thank me."

"Hey, can I compare to city people?" Hu the Cripple joked, thick-skinned and not embarrassed at all. Of course, he wasn't really lame; he just saw others walking with a limp when he was a child and tried to imitate them. As a result, he almost couldn't correct his limp, and that's how he got this nickname.

"Go, go, go! Get to work!" their group leader yelled. "Those who don't want to work, don't blame me for telling Lao Meng not to let you come over."

"Alright, alright, you're the boss, that's what happens when you're the team leader." Hu the Cripple had no choice but to stop teasing him, but he still muttered under his breath while working.

These people are all the same normally, but once they are divided into groups and a group leader is appointed, the group leader's power immediately becomes apparent.

Although Hu the Cripple was not afraid of the team leader and often had the upper hand when joking, he could only act according to the team leader's mood when it came to work and money.

As Meng Hai and Li Long turned the corner of the hill, they saw the four-sided, sharp rock that looked as if it had suddenly pierced out of the ground.

There are many fault zones in the earth's crust beneath the Tianshan Mountains. This rock and the smaller, prismatic, pointed rock next to it, which are the same brown color, are probably the result of crustal fracture and compression.

The larger one was three or four meters high, blocking the road into the mountains. Halim and his group could go around it to get into the mountains.

The stone is located right by the river. From the marks on it, you can tell that when the river rises, it submerges the stone to about a quarter to a fifth of its depth.

Although the river is shallow right now, only reaching the base of the rocks, the rocks must be blasted up to build the road. The river next to it is a bit deep, so it's not feasible to cut off the riverbed for the road construction, nor is it likely to go around the mountain next to it.

The mountain is quite steep, and going around it would be too much of a project.

Upon closer inspection, Li Long discovered that this pyramid-shaped, pointed rock had virtually no gaps, unlike the rocks he had encountered during road construction. Those rocks had gaps, making them easier to blast with explosives. This large rock, however, was a single, solid piece, making it somewhat difficult to destroy.

Li Long walked around the rock, but couldn't find a good place to put the explosives.

“I’ve looked at it all.” Meng Hai shook his head. “There’s nowhere to put it, so we can only chisel it with a chisel. But luckily, we have people in our team who have done this kind of work before, so it’s not a big deal.”

“Any way will do,” Li Long said with a smile. “I’ll bring over some explosives tomorrow. One box should be enough, right?”

"That's enough," Meng Hai said. "Find a good spot down there and drill a few more holes. If we really want to blow it up, we can just put a few here and it'll collapse. Once it falls down, we can tie it up with ropes and have a tractor tow it away."

Li Long thought to himself, "Isn't this the principle of directional blasting?"

I didn't expect them to know this.

Or rather, the principle is the same, it's just that ordinary people may not be able to control such precise quantities.

After agreeing on the terms, the two headed back, completely unaware that Ma Xiaoyan had already taken photos of them discussing blasting rocks.

Feeling that the filming went well, Ma Xiaoyan was quite satisfied. She followed behind Li Long and the others, already brainstorming how to write the script.

“We’ve gotten used to staying here these past few days. When we arrived a couple of days ago, a wolf came over that very night. It must have been attracted by the smell of our cooking. It suddenly howled in the middle of the night, which gave us quite a fright.”

"You weren't bitten, were you?" Li Long was quite worried when he heard this.

"No, there were a lot of us. We all grabbed sticks and came out together, which scared the wolves away. During the day, I went back to get my shotgun, and then they came back at night. We ambushed them and killed three wolves. Hey, we had a delicious wolf meal!"

"Not bad," Li Long said with a smile, "You can even use a shotgun to kill wolves!"

"It's closer," Meng Hai said. "The rifles used for militia training in our team have all been handed over to the township, and they're hard to get now. Although the shotgun isn't as powerful as a rifle, it's easier to use at close range. The only downside is that the wolf pelt has a lot of small holes."

"Shotgun?" Li Long asked.

"Yeah, I didn't notice the bullet at the time."

"That works too. Let's go take a look at the wolf pelts."

As Li Long approached the cotton tent, he noticed three wolf pelts drying on the nearby grass.

By this time, the curtains on the doors and windows of the cotton tents had been lifted, and some people's blankets had been taken out and hung on the wood to dry.

The temperature is low in the mountains at night. Even though it's early April, the morning dew is still quite heavy. Moreover, with a dozen or so grown men living in a cotton tent, they definitely can't open the curtains at night to keep warm, and the smell is indescribable.

That's why we lift the curtain to let in some fresh air; otherwise, the smell won't dissipate and we won't be able to live there after a couple of days.

The wolf pelt is quite large, but the fur color isn't very good. In early spring, the undercoat inside the wolf's fur gradually sheds, and at this time, it has already fallen off the body, slowly revealing the stiffer hairs underneath, which eventually fall off.

So, the wolf pelt doesn't look very nice with patches of lint falling off here and there.

Furthermore, you can see the spots of blood on the surface, which should be wounds caused by shotgun shells.

“All three are damaged hides, and quite badly damaged at that,” Li Long said, stepping forward to examine the nearly dried hides.

"One of them can probably sell for around seventy or eighty yuan, right?"

"That's fine then," Meng Hai said with a smile. "With so many holes punched in it, I thought it wouldn't be worth anything."

"No, that won't happen. You weren't firing fine iron shot, but rather large particles. There are only seven or eight bullet holes on a single piece of leather, which are quite concentrated. So, this leather can still be put to good use."

He was just saying it casually; the specific price would depend on what price Zhao Hui offered.

Of course, regardless of whether he made a profit or a loss, he bought it at that price.

"I brought a pot of mutton offal today, it's cooked, and I also brought some mutton fat. You can keep it and add some to your cooking or stir-fries every day to improve your meals," Li Long said.

"Hey, I knew we'd have something good to eat when you came over." Meng Hai smiled. "I'll go get it now and give them an extra meal at lunchtime."

Meng Hai called two people over to move things from the GAZ truck, and Li Long followed along. Meanwhile, Ma Xiaoyan was still taking pictures.

After the offal and other ingredients were brought over, someone came to prepare the meal. Cooking for so many people is no easy task. Luckily, we had some offal on hand today; a stir-fry with some wild vegetables would make a dish.

Li Long saw that one of the kitchen helpers even pulled a net out of the river—they simply placed the net in the water where people were falling in, and weighed it down with stones on both sides.

This way, the fish that swim downstream fall directly into the net and cannot escape.

When the net was pulled out, there were about ten pike and a few whitebait.

"There aren't many fish, but we can make a soup every day, and it tastes pretty good," Meng Hai said to Li Long. "Fortunately, wild vegetables are growing in the mountains now, and we can occasionally find some wild mushrooms, which is better than eating flatbread every day."

It was already 1988. By then, the living conditions of every household had improved considerably, and it was no longer as arduous as when Li Long led Gu Boyuan and the others into the mountains to weave carrying poles.

At least they can eat steamed buns every meal now. The staple foods Meng Hai and his group brought were rice and wheat flour, and they also had cooking oil, but the vegetables were a bit bland.

Fortunately, there are wild vegetables in the mountains, such as dandelion, plantain, and wild garlic, which are all edible.

They had hunted three wolves before, but instead of sending them to the village, they butchered and butchered them here themselves, using smoke to preserve them for longer.

Plus, they could pick some mushrooms. Although the chef's skills were only so-so, at least they had a good variety of food, which was not bad. Li Long glanced at the corner that was temporarily serving as a kitchen.

Indeed, there was some smoked wolf meat, some wild vegetables that had been dug up, dried mushrooms, some with worms on them, and some mushrooms that had grown last year and had already dried up.

Although the mushrooms were dried out, they were still edible, just not very tasty.

But at this point in the mountains, you can't worry about that too much; it's better than having no food at all.

Eating only red tofu won't do.

Yes, Meng Hai and his group also prepared red tofu.

Ma Xiaoyan came over and took a picture of their kitchen supplies, but she subtly pursed her lips, seemingly dissatisfied.

In the past, I would come with Li Xiangqian and the others to watch or help with road repairs, so the food was always pretty good.

Today, I came here with Li Long. Although Meng Hai and the others had wolf meat in stock, it was obvious that the villagers' skills were not as good as Halimu's hand-pulled mutton.

Ma Xiaoyan wanted to tell Li Long that the photos of the road construction had been taken and that he should go back.

But if Li Long doesn't leave, she really can't bring it up—he asked to come, and if he leaves now that it's lunchtime, it would be obvious that he's looking down on him.

After thinking for a moment, Ma Xiaoyan simply put the camera in the car, rolled up her sleeves, and went to help cook.

If you can't beat them, join them! It's no big deal!
Ma Xiaoyan helped with the cooking, and the kitchen helpers were a little flattered and immediately declined politely. But Ma Xiaoyan insisted on joining in, so they could only watch Li Long and Meng Hai.

"Let her do it. It'll be a good opportunity for her to try Manager Ma's cooking," Li Long said with a smile.

This is communal cooking, Li Long thought Ma Xiaoyan was being a bit presumptuous. Communal cooking is completely different from home-cooked meals.

However, Li Long underestimated Ma Xiaoyan. Although Ma Xiaoyan's family was small, she had quite a few relatives, and she had helped her mother cook for more than a dozen people.

So the stir-fried wild vegetables with lamb offal turned out quite well.

The only thing that Meng Hai regretted was that he originally planned to eat this pot of mutton offal for several days, just adding a spoonful to his stir-fries each day.

As a result, Ma Xiaoyan used up almost half a bowl of this dish!
Seeing that everyone had a spoonful of vegetables in their rice bowl and smiles on their faces while eating, I didn't say anything.

"Comrade Li Long, take these three hides back with you. Don't give me the money. When you bring the explosives tomorrow, use this money to buy some offal like this. I think everyone likes it."

“Okay.” Li Long naturally had no objections. Three pieces of skin cost around two hundred yuan, and cooked mutton offal was only two or three yuan per kilogram, which could buy quite a lot.

Thinking about it, it makes sense. Meng Hai and his men will have to work in the mountains for at least another ten days. That wolf meat won't last long. Actually, they're not that short of money compared to ordinary families, so they should try their best to improve their lives.

After all, three wolf pelts are not easy to divide.

Since Meng Hai could make the decision, Li Long naturally had no objections.

He couldn't possibly come over every day to bring them things. Things were already a normal collaboration; Li Long was paying for their road repairs. The wages were already substantial, and adding more would be excessive.

Li Long didn't care about this small contribution; he was afraid of being resented if he didn't help. He was already slowly guiding Meng Hai towards becoming a construction team leader, so it was best to make things more and more formal.

Li Long served himself a bowl of rice, and the villager serving the dishes filled his bowl with mutton offal and vegetables. Li Long did not refuse, and thanked the villager with a smile. He then took the bowl to the wood and sat down to eat.

Ma Xiaoyan also came over with a bowl and whispered:

"I was quite hungry just now, but after cooking the vegetables, I felt like I couldn't eat anymore."

She watched Li Long shovel his food into his mouth and asked:

"How does my cooking taste?"

"It's quite delicious." Li Long nodded. It wasn't exactly a compliment, but to be honest, the taste was really good.

"Why can't I eat?" A hint of pride flashed across Ma Xiaoyan's face, but she was also a little worried.

"Because you've been exposed to the fumes," Li Long replied casually, ignoring her and continuing to eat.

After finishing a bowl of rice and vegetables in an enamel bowl, there was no need to wash the dishes. Instead, I scooped half a bowl of fish soup from the pot, gently swirled it to transfer the remaining rice and vegetable scraps into the soup, and used the hot soup to wash away the oil stains on the enamel bowl. After blowing on it, I drank it.

Beautiful!
Ma Xiaoyan ate in the same way as Li Long, except that she scooped out more soup—she preferred the fresh fish soup to rice.

After eating and drinking their fill, the group leaders urged their members to quickly wash the dishes and put them away, and then take a break.

With the group leaders supervising him, Meng Hai had a lot less free time. After eating, he came to find Li Long, mainly to report on where the money had been spent recently.

Those two cotton tents were of good quality, with two layers, the inner layer being thicker and able to block the wind.

The ground under the tent was leveled, covered with a layer of grass, and then covered with a layer of plastic sheeting to prevent moisture.

The workers slept on a large communal bed, with each person's bedding close together. The blankets were of various colors, and each person's small bag was placed next to their blanket.

Wages are recorded daily and paid out when they return to the village. Otherwise, if the money is paid here and they carry it on their person, it's hard to say what might happen if it gets lost.

Furthermore, those who make special contributions will receive certain rewards. For example, if Li Long is to bring the explosives tomorrow—the kind that can blast rocks—Meng Hai plans to give him an additional bonus on top of his salary.

After the household responsibility system was implemented, each production team had its own methods to improve everyone's enthusiasm for work. Recognizing and rewarding those who did well was not a new approach, but it was very effective.

After listening to Meng Hai's report, Li Long didn't linger. He told Meng Hai to continue with his method and just let him know when it was over.

Watching Li Long's GAZ truck drive away, once it was out of sight, Meng Hai picked up the whistle hanging around his neck and blew it loudly. After finishing, he shouted:

"Time to get to work!"

As the whistle blew, the villagers who had been lying haphazardly on the grass and riverbank got up in twos and threes, found their tools, and headed towards the road repair site.

On the way back, Ma Xiaoyan didn't say much, and Li Long was also thinking about going to find Li Xiangqian to talk about the explosives when they got back, so he didn't say anything either.

On the 40-50 kilometer journey from Meng Hai's place to the vicinity of Halimu's winter camp, Li Long encountered at least six people, each carrying a bag and holding a shovel or other tools.

Upon seeing the car, they quickly disappeared into the ravine, presumably still secretly observing it.

Li Long knew that with the road repaired, it would be easier for Halimu and his group to enter the mountains, and those who went into the mountains to collect herbs would also have the opportunity to go deeper into the mountains.

On the bright side, we may be able to harvest more fritillaria this year, since the resources in Satoyama are more abundant.

On the other hand, repairing the road may actually increase the likelihood of environmental damage in the mountains.

However, compared to the major event of Harim and his team's relocation, everything else is a minor matter.

Li Long felt no guilt about this; he only wanted to get the road completed as soon as possible, so that it would be much easier for Halimu and the others to get in and out of the mountains.

Back in the county, Li Long took Ma Xiaoyan to the county committee. When Ma Xiaoyan got out of the car, she told Li Long that she would like to interview him when she had time, mainly to find out his next plan.

Li Long thought to himself, "What are my plans? It's just to build roads and grow cotton."

“Growing cotton is also a good approach. I remember you mentioned wanting to reduce the burden on farmers through mechanization. We can talk about that later.” After Ma Xiaoyan and Li Long finished talking about this, they went into the county government compound.

Li Long didn't care much and quickly went to attend to his own business.

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Also, my roommate is Pipi Tree.

(End of this chapter)