Rebirth of Bayi Fishing and Hunting in the Northwest

Chapter 1181 Yang Laoliu's skills are as strong as ever!

First, let me mention something: the Shi Family Compound in Shicheng Old Street has been renovated. The Shi Family Compound was the residence of Shi Bingyi, the former magistrate of Suilai County during the late Qing Dynasty, and was built in 1899. At that time, Shicheng was still under the jurisdiction of Suilai County (also known as Ma County). The Shi Family Compound is located here—but to be honest, I only just found out; I had no idea the old street had this historical site before.

……

Jia Tianlong finally arrived in Ma County before the end of April.

This time he came alone. When he arrived at Li Long's place, Li Long asked him where his wife and children were. Jia Tianlong smiled and said that his son was too delicate to bring out yet.

Li Long took out a pair of small gold bracelets that he had prepared beforehand and gave them to Jia Tianlong, saying that they were a gift for the child.

"Also, this jade bracelet is for my niece. Keep it." Li Long took out another item and said to Jia Tianlong, "Both of you have one, good things come in pairs."

"It's only because of you that your family sent gifts to both of our children." Jia Tianlong didn't stand on ceremony and carefully put the gifts into his bag, saying with emotion, "When my child was born, for the full moon and 100-day celebrations, everyone sent gifts to my son, but not my daughter."

Well, actually, I often travel to northern Xinjiang, and my horizons are broadening. Kids, you know, they're all the same. My daughter was born smart and sensible. So, I like her very much. I just think, even though you're younger than me, you're much better at doing things than I am!

Li Long smiled. After all, he had lived two lives, and in the northern Xinjiang region, or at least in Ma County and the Fourth Team, the level of gender equality was better than in most other parts of the country at this time.

"Besides buying fritillaria and other medicinal herbs, I also wanted to buy some antelope horns from you to take back with me," Jia Tianlong said after taking a sip of water after their casual conversation.
"The price of antelope horn has gone up now. Many people know that the supply of antelope horn will be tightened in the future. Some people are hoarding it, and some pharmaceutical companies are in urgent need of it. So now it costs more than 300 yuan per kilogram."

Li Long thought to himself, "It hasn't increased by much, has it?"
"I think the price is still far from right," Li Long shook his head. "Are you in such a hurry to buy it?"

“I have an old client with whom I have a good relationship. They urgently need someone, and I owe them a favor,” Jia Tianlong said honestly.

"Five hundred, right?" Li Long thought to himself, then he'd throw away a little first, but he'd definitely save the lion's share for himself.

"Okay, that's enough for me." Jia Tianlong didn't need much; as long as it was enough to get by, that would be fine.

Antelope horns are in short supply right now, but he has some here, and five hundred pairs is quite a lot. He can already repay that favor and still make a profit.

“Since I asked you for this, I won’t make any money from it. It’s 350 yuan per kilogram, so 500 pairs would be about 400 kilograms. The total price would be around 150,000 to 160,000 yuan.” Jia Tianlong wrote it down. “I’ll transfer the money to you. I used to like carrying cash, I thought it looked cool, but now I think bank transfers are more convenient.”

"Okay." Li Long was naturally indifferent.

"How much fritillaria do you have here? I went to Old Chen's yesterday, and he bought about 300 kilograms of dried fritillaria. Old Chen cleaned the fritillaria very well, just like you, so I couldn't even try to bargain down the price." Jia Tianlong and Chen Hongjun had known each other for a long time and were quite familiar with each other.

“Me here? I have a ton and a half here,” Li Long said with a smile. “My father-in-law went to Yili and opened a purchasing station there. He bought several hundred kilograms right after opening. In the last ten days or so, I’ve bought more than a ton of dried goods. So…”

There should be quite a few fritillaria bulbs from the forestry team, but Li Long hasn't gone to collect them yet. Right now, he's only getting them from middlemen and the herb gatherers themselves.

"Not bad at all," Jia Tianlong said with a smile. "The price of fritillaria hasn't changed much this year, mainly because some people in the region have already started artificial cultivation, and the area is quite large."

Li Long didn't think there was anything wrong with it. Medicinal herbs, if left to be dug up unchecked, will only become scarcer with each passing day. Therefore, to meet demand, artificial cultivation is the only option.

There are still people cultivating Tian Shan snow lotus for artificial planting.

"Then the top grade is two hundred, and the fine grade is one hundred and fifty?" Li Long remembered the prices Jia Tianlong had quoted.

"Slightly higher, the premium grade, which is the large-particle, extra clean kind, is 220 per kilogram. The first-grade premium grade is 170 per kilogram. It's gone up a bit, but not by much."

“Alright, I have a ton and a half of goods here, with over 100 kilograms of top-grade, and the rest will basically be premium grade one,” Li Long said.

Another nearly 300,000 yuan came in.

Of course, the purchase price of fritillaria bulbs at the purchasing stations is now increasing; otherwise, the herb gatherers would sell them elsewhere. After all, transportation is becoming increasingly convenient—compared to before—so these people are willing to spend a few yuan on bus tickets to travel more in order to earn a few yuan, ten yuan, or even tens of yuan more.

Most of the local middlemen would go to Li Long, but the herb gatherers might not.

"By the way, Lao Jia, I asked you about the donkey hide last time, you said fifty yuan?" Li Long suddenly remembered something. Now Lao Ma's shop has more than thirty donkeys, of all sizes.

However, he worried that if the quantity was too small, Jia Tianlong might not take it.

If Jia Tianlong really accepts the donkey hide, Li Long will handle both the hide and the meat. If he doesn't, then the hide will be sold to a tanneries—Zhao Hui doesn't buy donkey hides; the profit margin is too low.

"Sure, I'll take as much as you want. We're practically family."

"But my main production area isn't here; Hebei is where the main production is," Jia Tianlong asked. "How much can you get? With our relationship, I'll buy from a single sheet, how about that? Pretty brotherly, right?"

"Enough, definitely enough," Li Long said with a smile. "As for how much, I dare not say yet. More and more people in the rural areas of Ma County are buying small four-wheeled tractors, and the donkeys that farmers used to raise are no longer of any use, so I'm thinking of taking them back."

Although there aren't any donkey meat restaurants around here, the donkey meat is still quite delicious.

“Hey, you’re right.” Jia Tianlong was also a foodie, and he said with a smile, “Donkey meat is really delicious… I’ll buy donkey hide, but to be honest, there’s a lot of that stuff over there, so it won’t be too expensive.”

"It's better than having no one at all."

"Since you put it that way, I understand," Jia Tianlong said with a smile. "I mentioned it on the phone last time: fifty yuan per piece, depending on the size; larger ones are more expensive, smaller ones are cheaper."

In fact, donkeys are far more common as a form of animal power in southern Xinjiang than in northern Xinjiang, and they have been used for a much longer period of time.

In the next ten years, donkeys in Ma County will basically no longer be used as draft animals, but in southern Xinjiang, they will still be used for the next thirty years.

Of course, by the 1920s, donkeys in southern Xinjiang were basically used for their hides and meat.

Jia Tianlong came in a hurry this time. He left as soon as he had the goods, and then hurriedly left. He also had a few connections who needed to have their goods packed up and taken away in a whole truckload.

When I come over next time, it will be around mid-May.

Now Li Qingxia is able to handle things on her own at the acquisition station. On May 2nd, Liu Gaolou returned with a convoy. This time, he not only brought Li Long the $50,000 worth of sugar from last time, but also a long convoy.

“This time I still want to haul the sugar and cement back together,” Liu Gaolou said. “For this, I went to Huacheng Grand World to find a transportation company in Yili, and then asked Wu Yongbo to contact them to find enough trucks.”

Because there were enough trucks, Liu Gaolou brought seven trucks for Li Long this time, carrying three thousand pairs of antelope horns and two thousand hides.

Spring skin.

"There's nothing we can do. The disaster over there is getting worse, and many people are really going hungry. Although hunting wild animals in the spring has always been forbidden, we can't worry about that right now," Liu Gaolou said.

“That’s true, food is the most important thing for people.” Li Long could understand.

"Actually, if I had used all the trucks I brought to transport grain, even coarse grains like corn, I might have earned more," Liu Gaolou remarked.

“That’s impossible,” Li Long shook his head. “There’s no way I’ll let you transport it there.”

“Yes, that’s what my second uncle said too.” Liu Gaolou nodded. “It’s already a special favor that sugar can be transported over; grain is out of the question.”

Li Long didn't say anything more.

Four of the seven vehicles are GAZ trucks, so we don't have to worry about that now. The remaining three are two Volga trucks and one Lada truck.

"The cars are all in good condition, and the prices are cheap. You can't even imagine that some people have started walking to buy enough food. Gasoline is cheap, but food is more important," Liu Gaolou said, recounting what he had heard from his second uncle.

"It's not at its worst yet," Li Long shook his head.

Actually, they didn't really arrive there. Or rather, because the land area there is large enough and there are enough wild animals, if they were really starving, even if they were Han Chinese, they wouldn't starve to death by hunting outside.

That's getting off-topic; Li Long couldn't think that far ahead.

Liu Gaolou plans to stay a couple more days. The round trip has been quite tiring, and he drove halfway here, so he wants to get some rest.

If it weren't for having so many vehicles, he would have liked to take a trip to Wucheng, but alas. "Next time, let's not haul so much stuff. You have vehicles, so going anywhere you want is a piece of cake," Li Long said.

He was telling the truth. Nowadays, most famous places, although they may not have paved roads, still have gravel roads. Even if a car can't drive right up to them, it can still get there within a reasonable distance.

So Liu Gaolou, who drove the Volga, is very free to go wherever he wants.

"Alright, I'll rest for two days. Next trip... next trip won't work either, I have to haul away the remaining 100 tons of cement next time. When I come back the next time, I'll stay a couple more days and look around."

Li Long was quite happy. This time, when Liu Gaolou came, the US dollars he received, even after deducting the sugar factory's needs and the cost of the car, still left him with 100,000.

After two years, you can do so much with that 100,000. If you want, getting a few tanks wouldn't be a problem!

Of course, Li Long didn't want that thing either.

It's better to get a few more high-horsepower machines than that thing. Of course, even if we got this thing back, we wouldn't have any customers.

After settling accounts with Liu Gaolou, Li Long took them to Zhong Guoqiang's place for dinner. This time, with so many people, including Zhong Guoqiang, his smile stretched from ear to ear. He personally hosted them, opening a private room and even bringing out several bottles of beer—the trucks had all been left at the recycling station, so these drivers were capable of drinking.

They would drink even while driving, so there was really no restraint on drunk driving at that point. However, Li Long and Liu Gaolou both knew the difference between right and wrong.

After treating them well, Li Long returned to the compound. Most of the antelope horns still had bloodstains on them, indicating that they had been slaughtered recently.

What does this mean? It means that there is a real food shortage over there.

Li Long didn't care. He wasn't a great philanthropist; there were only interests between countries, as explained in a brief history of social development.

By the way, at this time, the elementary and middle school students did not have the Taoist magic that is often misunderstood in later generations. Instead, there was a course on a brief history of social development, which is the dragon-slaying technique that is often talked about online—this thing is not about history.

After seeing Liu Gaolou and the others off, Li Long frequently went to the fourth team.

He was mainly concerned about the cotton growing well. Since his father, Li Qingxia, was capable of managing the purchasing station independently, he didn't need to pay much attention to it.

"Hey, I really didn't expect that out of more than 10,000 goji berry seedlings, 70% would survive." Li Long looked at the large patch of goji berry seedlings in front of him, which looked quite lush and green, and said with some emotion.

The idea to buy this thing was just a spur-of-the-moment thing. I vaguely remembered that in my previous life, someone reclaimed saline-alkali land, bought seedlings, and planted them. At that time, they probably planted this thing to obtain the national compensation for returning farmland to forest.

So after planting them and receiving the compensation, nothing more was done. The vast majority of the goji berry seedlings died because they were left unattended, without water or fertilizer.

But 10% of the seedlings survived the harsh conditions and even bore fruit that year—those people bought large seedlings to collect compensation, otherwise it wouldn't make sense.

The vast expanse of saline-alkali land in front of us, or at least at this point, no longer appears to be so saline-alkali.

“I watered it three times,” Li Junfeng explained from the side. “I fertilized it once, and then I poured water on it, which washed away all the salt and alkali on the surface. These goji berries are really quite salt-resistant.”

The seedlings are growing very well, and at least for now, it seems there won't be any problem getting fresh goji berries this year.

Li Long is quite looking forward to the idea that goji berries grown in saline-alkali soil will be sweeter.

Not far from the goji berry field is a cotton field.

The cotton is growing well, already nearly 30 centimeters tall, with about 70 or 80 leaves that can barely cover the color of the thin film.

Li Long glanced around, looking at the piles of camel thorn and yellow privet that had been cleared from the edge of the field, then at the cotton in the field, where there were almost no weeds and no signs of recent tilling, and nodded approvingly:

"You guys are very diligent in your work!"

"Hey, Uncle Xiaolong, don't tell anyone. You said you'd raise wages compared to last year, wouldn't everyone work harder?"

Li Long thought to himself that this was indeed the truth. The young and strong men came here to make money, and if he treated them well, they would naturally work hard.

To be honest, the profit from these 100 acres of cotton is not high. After deducting all costs and paying the wages of these people, what's left is really not as good as planting watermelons or sunflowers.

But that's not how it works. Most of the cotton fields now are saline-alkali land, and growing cotton is itself part of land improvement. Besides, these young and middle-aged people come here to work not just to grow cotton.

The Li family cultivates a considerable amount of land, including wheat and corn for grains, sunflowers for oil crops, and also manages a large number of wolfberry fields.

Even if this year's goji berry harvest isn't large, there's still quite a bit left on this large plot of land. He asked Jia Tianlong, and now a kilogram of dried goji berries costs about five yuan, so he could collect a lot!

In addition, there's the income from plowing the fields with a high-horsepower tractor and harvesting wheat with a small four-wheeled harvester. These two items alone will cover the wages and there will still be some left over.

Li Long didn't say much. He went into the field and took a look. He found that the leaves were growing well, there was no lack of fertilizer, and there were no pests.

After walking around a bit, I noticed that the watermelon vines that I had replanted in the field had already grown. So I straightened the vines and let them grow on the plastic film so that they wouldn't break easily when I cultivated the soil.

The Li family's 100 mu of cotton was divided into several plots. While he was busy working on it, Xu Chengjun drove over to find him.

“Someone was electrofishing in Xiaohaizi, and Yang Laoliu caught him, beat him up, and now he’s been taken to the police station,” Xu Chengjun said. “Xiaohaizi is your contracted area, so we have to go there.”

Electric fishing?

"Let's go." Li Long felt he wouldn't care if someone set nets in the small lake. Anyway, he had leased that place, mainly to make up for the regrets of his previous life.

It's pretty good now.

But electrofishing, that's unacceptable!

Two cars drove to the township police station one after the other. As soon as Li Long got out of the car, he heard someone arguing there:

"It was a wild reservoir, full of wild fish! I just used an electric shock to catch some fish, I didn't hurt or harm anyone, but this old guy beat me up, and now I feel like I can't even walk..."

"Go to hell with that wild reservoir! That reservoir is contracted by our team. Even if no one else contracted it, it's still our team's reservoir. Where did you come from?" Although Yang Laoliu was old, his voice was loud and clear.

The food at Lao Ma's place has been quite good these past few years, and Yang Laoliu's health has improved significantly. He's recovered his strength and is currently arguing with that person.

When Li Long and Xu Chengjun went in, they saw two people sitting on either side of them, and two policemen taking notes at a table.

Li Long glanced at the person and couldn't help but laugh.

The man's appearance at that moment certainly lived up to the description of "bruised and swollen face," as he was now seeking justice from the police.

Li Long and Xu Chengjun entered. Xu Chengjun recognized the police officers here, and he immediately handed them the materials he had prepared beforehand.
"The reservoir has indeed been contracted out..."

“You can’t just hit people like that…” Some young police officers felt that the beating had gone too far.

Although it was a young man in his thirties who was beaten by an elderly man in his sixties, beating someone is beating someone.

“This old man was helping me herd sheep,” Li Long had to step in at this point. “He must be angry because this person was fishing with electricity at this time.”

"Don't eat crucian carp in spring, don't kill birds in spring." This is the time when crucian carp lay their eggs. Electrofishing may stun the big fish, but it can kill all the small fish, which is a significant loss!

A kilogram of crucian carp currently sells for 1.8 yuan on the market. Just that sudden electrocution, how much damage will this reservoir suffer…?

The police officer's expression turned serious when this topic was brought up.

Ordinary electrofishing is nothing, but when it comes to losses and fish fry, that's a different story!

Li Long looked at that person, thought about Yang Laoliu's identity, and thought to himself, "You're the one who's going to be unlucky!"
I'll start with you!
(End of this chapter)