Rebirth of Bayi Fishing and Hunting in the Northwest

Chapter 1183 Is Li Long about to make a fool of himself again?

"Let me tell you, it wasn't easy to get these shrimp and crab seedlings transported here," Huang Lei said, sipping tea in the reception room of the purchasing station, expressing his gratitude for the effort.

"Although I know that this thing is unlikely to survive here, since you've spoken, I still have to do it, right? A relative of mine happens to be doing this in Taihu Lake, so I went over to ask."

"They're experienced. They said that for long-distance transport, it's best to choose strong ones, keep them at a low temperature throughout the journey, and select them two or three days in advance. Don't feed them; let their stomachs empty so they won't defecate and pollute the environment on the way..."

Li Long looked at the tiny crab and shrimp larvae that Huang Lei had brought over in a plastic bucket.

You can tell that most of them are actually alive. People with trypophobia would have a bad experience looking at this.

"...My relative set it up. They laid palm fiber and sponge underneath, and I had to water it from time to time to keep it moist—by the way, although it needs to be watered, this thing is called dry transport." It's impressive that Huang Lei wrote down the whole process.

"Luckily, I bought a sleeper berth, and it's not school holidays or migrant workers going home, so there weren't many people. Even so, when I poured water on this thing on the way here, it actually attracted quite a few onlookers."

"Haha, anyway, it's good that they're alive. How much do these things cost?"

"Let's not talk about money," Huang Lei waved his hand. "If it weren't for you, I'd probably be bankrupt by now. I've always felt guilty about the poisonous mushroom incident. This is just to repay a favor."

"Alright, then I won't stand on ceremony," Li Long said with a smile. "Once the giant crabs are raised here, I'll treat you to some."

Seeing Li Long's confidence, Huang Lei hesitated. However, he still said:

“Mr. Li, my relative said that this thing… is really not suited to this place in northern Xinjiang. To be honest, I don’t have much hope.”

“I think you should believe in miracles.” Li Long smiled. “When you went to the Southern Xinjiang region and came back empty-handed, it was an adventure in itself. Were you a little disheartened at the time?”

"Then things took a dramatic turn for the better," Huang Lei said with a smile. "Okay, you always manage to create miracles. I know about your growth process, and I believe you will create miracles too."

Despite saying this, Li Long felt that Huang Lei would still have doubts.

Actually, this is nothing. Let alone him, locals like Li Jianguo have been here for over twenty years, worked in fish farms, and never even seen a frog, let alone a shrimp!
In his previous life, Li Long first saw a frog in 1995 or 1996. He also first saw a shrimp around that time.

Where did these things come from? At least in Ma County, in Xiaohaizi, they weren't there before. Later, they most likely came from fish fry brought in from the mouths of several reservoirs with a tradition of aquaculture.

Then they started breeding—it's unclear whether frogs and toads have reproductive isolation, but locals believe that the frogs that first appeared in the area were probably hybrids, because apart from the three golden stripes on their backs and the ability to jump, which proves they are frogs, they look very much like toads.

(After checking, I found that there is reproductive isolation, which means that Li Long and his team saw a different species of frog than the one described in the book.)

Anyway, it didn't feel quite pure. It wasn't until about ten years later that the frogs in the water started to have not only gold lines but also bluish skin and black spots.

Asking Huang Lei to bring shrimp and crab seedlings was an experiment; if he could bring them, he would definitely bring more in the future.

So, the attempt has been successful.

Huang Lei didn't bring a car with him this time, so he plans to hire a truck from a transportation company tomorrow to transport the wild mushrooms to Wucheng Railway Station.

"If you're not hungry right now, how about we go put these things in the water first?" Li Long was getting impatient.

"Hehehe, don't!" Huang Lei hurriedly waved his hand. "We can't do that. My relative said we need to let them get used to the water environment here first, especially the temperature. Otherwise, if we suddenly put them in, they'll die from the shock."

Li Long smiled.

Yes, I was a bit too hasty. Now that they've been transported and most of them are still alive, there's no need to rush.

"Okay. Leave it there for now, I'll get it some water to help it adjust."

"Don't get too wet." Although Huang Lei didn't care much about this matter, it was something he had transported from afar, so even if he didn't have any emotional attachment to it, he was starting to care more and more about it.

Being alive is of course the best outcome; who knows, we might even make history.

That's what Li Long said when he asked him to bring shrimp and crab seedlings.

"Alright, alright, now you're the expert, I'll listen to you," Li Long said with a smile.

"Alright, after we water them, let's go check on the mushrooms." Huang Lei felt relieved, as if a major task had been accomplished. Even though they weren't being taken away today, he figured the dried mushrooms were of good quality.

The dried mushrooms that Li Long provides are always of very good quality, but since he's already here, he should still take a look.

Li Long fetched a bucket of water and put it in the sun to dry, as it was definitely too cold. He planned to water the shrimp and crab larvae after drying them in the sun, to help them adapt to the water quality first.

As for the temperature, we'll talk about that when we get it to Xiaohaizi.

By the way, there are far fewer black shrimp and crab larvae in Xiaohaizi now, so there might be fewer natural enemies of these shrimp and crab larvae.

After preparing the water, Li Long took the key, opened the warehouse door, and showed Huang Lei the dried wild mushrooms.

"Right now, we're mainly harvesting morel mushrooms. There are a lot of people going into the mountains this year, so even though it's only early May, we've already harvested quite a lot of morel mushrooms. We've also harvested some other dried wild mushrooms, but we don't dare to harvest most of them because we're afraid they might be poisonous. We're mainly harvesting reed mushrooms and straw mushrooms."

Morel mushrooms are not poisonous. Reed mushrooms and straw mushrooms are commonly eaten by people here. They are easy to identify and are also not poisonous, so I feel relatively safe buying them.

Other mushrooms were also sold, especially those mixed together. Li Long made it clear to Li Qingxia that he would not buy those.

There are probably no fewer than forty or fifty species of mushrooms in the Tianshan Mountains, and even some experts can't say for sure which ones are poisonous and which ones are not.

Some mushrooms are poisonous in some cases and not in others, so it's best not to take the risk.

Although this would have some impact on the reputation of the acquisition station, Li Long felt that he couldn't afford to lose more than he gained.

As soon as the warehouse door opened, a strong mushroom smell wafted into my nostrils.

Huang Lei couldn't help but turn his head and sneeze. He laughed and said:

"These wild dried mushrooms are just different from the farmed ones; the flavor is so much stronger."

Li Longxin thought to himself that there were some mushrooms he couldn't cultivate at this time.

Li Long didn't do anything, letting Huang Lei see for himself. Huang Lei casually grabbed a bag, untied it, and reached inside to pull out a handful of dried wild mushrooms.

This bag contains morel mushrooms, and the rustling sound indicates that they are very dry.

Morel mushrooms are very light; one might not even weigh a gram. Holding a handful of them doesn't feel very pleasant, but they all look very intact, with their stems and feet trimmed, and they're very clean, without any mud or grass.

The fact that they were so light meant they were free of impurities and contained nothing. Huang Lei grabbed another handful to examine them, then looked at them again in a different bag, and then laughed.

After his business grew, he not only collected wild mushrooms in northern Xinjiang, but also went to many other wild mushroom producing areas.

Some unscrupulous middlemen have started adulterating morel mushrooms, filling their hollows with sand or even iron filings to increase their weight.

Some are of inferior quality, with the top layer being good dried mushrooms, the middle layer being of slightly lower quality, and the bottom layer being just dregs, etc.

How should I put it? It's infuriating.

After inspecting several bags, he clapped his hands and said:
"Mr. Li, to be honest, it's rare to find someone as honest as you."

Ordinary, reputable business owners generally don't adulterate their products; they only sell genuine goods.

However, most of these things contain residue, since the residue was collected along with the dried wild mushrooms. If you sift them all out, you'll suffer a significant loss.

After Li Long collected them, he simply processed them again, removing all the impurities and residue.

The losses, when factored in, are quite substantial.

But the quality has also improved, allowing it to fetch a higher price.

Li Long smiled and said:
"Everyone has their own way of doing business. As for me, I just want to survive and develop by focusing on quality. In the minds of people in the region, northern Xinjiang is primitive, desert, Gobi, and backward."

I do business with you people from this region, hoping to see if I can change this negative perception.

Huang Lei smiled and said that Li Long was telling the truth. In fact, he had been to Northern Xinjiang and, after learning about it, he would refute such ridiculous claims when he heard people talking about it there.

However, unfortunately, one's voice carries little weight, or rather, one person cannot reverse the entire public opinion atmosphere.

Let alone now, even forty years from now, some people will still think that every family in northern Xinjiang has cattle and sheep and lives on grasslands. Not everyone has that kind of perspective.

"By the way, what's the price of morel mushrooms like now?" Li Long asked.

"A slight increase. People don't really recognize the value of such good wild mushrooms yet," Huang Lei remarked. Those in the industry know these things are good, but unfortunately, no one is currently endorsing them, so although morel mushrooms are slightly more expensive than ordinary wild mushrooms, their true value is not reflected.

Li Long knew he couldn't rush things. Ten years into the reform and opening up, many things were developing, including the domestication of wild mushrooms. When people realized that wild morel mushrooms couldn't be artificially cultivated, at least for a considerable period, the price would rise.

In addition, it also needs expert endorsement to demonstrate the extraordinary nutritional value of morel mushrooms.

After checking the quality of the wild mushrooms, Li Long asked Huang Lei to wait while he watered the shrimp and crab seedlings before taking Huang Lei to eat.

Zhong Guoqiang was quite pleased to see Li Long bringing guests again, and said:

"Comrade Li, you're really giving us face! How about we bring you some food today? Braised pork?"

"Okay," Li Long said with a smile. "Thank you."

Every ten days or so, when Liu Gaolou and his group came over, Li Long would bring them here. As a result, people in the county knew that outsiders liked to eat at the Big Meat Restaurant, and its reputation grew even more.

So Zhong Guoqiang was naturally happy.

After Zhong Guoqiang left, Huang Lei whispered to Li Long:

"You're quite popular here, even giving away free food! This plate of braised pork must cost at least five or six yuan, right?"

"Haha, it's nothing. I've known Lao Zhong for five or six years," Li Long said. "I'm also a regular customer here."

Another table of guests joked with Zhong Guoqiang:

"Manager Zhong, I'm a regular customer, why aren't you delivering vegetables to me?"

"If you can increase my monthly turnover by two hundred yuan, I'll give you an extra two yuan, how about that?" Zhong Guoqiang said half-jokingly.

"Then forget I said anything." Although he's a regular customer, he comes twice a month, and spending ten or so yuan on a meal is a luxury for him. How could he possibly provide more than two hundred yuan?

After dinner, Li Long drove Huang Lei to the guesthouse. Huang Lei was very envious of Li Long's car.

Li Long then casually asked him if he wanted to buy one and take it home, but Huang Lei thought about it and decided against it.

As for the reason, he didn't say, and Li Long didn't ask.

Anyway, there's no worry about selling cars these days. GAZ trucks are especially popular. Ablat drove away the GAZ truck that Liu Gaolou brought over last time, and it also brought him two customers who were also buying GAZ trucks.

One was Uyghur and the other was Kazakh. According to Ablat's introduction, one of them was a wool reseller and the other was a large-scale livestock farmer.

Li Long didn't stand on ceremony and offered these two men 25,000 yuan—mainly because they wanted to choose a nice car, so there was nothing he could do about it.

Abulaiti didn't try to persuade him either. He bought the car for 15,000 yuan and now he feels even more that Li Long was a good friend.

There's one GAZ truck left, priced at 20,000 yuan, but its condition is slightly worse. According to Li Long, if these two people don't want such a good truck, they can take the 20,000 yuan one.

But both of them wanted a car in good condition and at a low price. Especially the Uyghur businessman, who couldn't speak Mandarin, kept trying to persuade Li Long to lower the price.

Li Long glanced at Ablat, who understood and briefly explained that the two were just ordinary friends.

Li Long understood; the price would not be lowered.

The two men had no choice but to buy the car for 25,000 yuan.

Next, two people from the Corps bought the remaining GAZ, while the other person, who didn't get a GAZ, bought a Volga instead.

The man who bought the Volga was originally the company commander, but he's now working at the regimental headquarters. According to him, the regimental headquarters is closer to Stone City, the road conditions are better, and the Volga is a good option.

So now, the only cars left in the recycling station are a Volga and a Lada.

Since Huang Lei isn't buying a car, Li Long doesn't care about him anymore. He's been here many times and isn't worried about getting lost or anything else. The security in Ma County is pretty good now, so he doesn't worry about anything else happening.

Li Long returned to the purchasing station, carried the two buckets of crab and shrimp seedlings back to the courtyard, and planned to take care of them for a couple of days before releasing them into the small lake.

The temperature difference between day and night is quite large in northern Xinjiang, so we really need to let them get used to it. Otherwise, if we put them in the small lake rashly, the low temperature at night might kill them.

The next day was the weekend, and Li Long did not return to the fourth squad, but Li Qingxia did return that afternoon.

Then, outside Li Jianguo's courtyard, Li Qingxia told him about this strange thing.

Lu Yingming and his wife were both there; they had eaten and were chatting outside in the cool air when the news spread.

"Li Jiaxiaolong is up to his old tricks again, raising crabs in Xiaohaizi. How could he even think of that!" Ma Jinbao finally turned the tables. With this topic, others could still criticize him, but no one could refute what he said.

Nobody believed that crabs could be raised in the small lake.

“Rich people, they do whatever comes to mind. They have money to do whatever they want.” This time, someone agreed with Ma Jinbao.

This conversation took place during the second time when they were drinking in the store.

Thanks to economic development, the fourth team now has two stores, one of which is newly opened. They have even opened up a corner of their own yard specifically for people who drink to sit and chat.

Sometimes they even offer roasted sunflower seeds, which are quite tempting.

"Maybe we can actually keep them alive? If we do, we can go to the small lake to catch fish, and maybe we'll catch some crabs and shrimp."

"That's wishful thinking, impossible." Ma Jinbao said firmly, "How could those things possibly survive in our water? Those creatures are raised in warm places, in the south!"

Many people agree with this point.

In other words, while most villagers felt that Li Long had a unique way of making money, they thought that releasing crabs and shrimp larvae into the small lake was just a waste of time.

Li Long naturally didn't care about all that; people can say whatever they want.

In my previous life, back in 2006, the fish farmer who put crabs in net cages at Dahai Lake was also ridiculed.

And what happened? In the fall, the crabs grew incredibly fat, then they gnawed through the net cages, filling the entire lake with them, and the four teams ate quite a lot.

Finally, they got tired of eating it—mainly because all four teams valued convenience when it came to food, and crabs are the antithesis of convenience.

That's how it appears, at least to the four teams.

Of course, some people steal them directly to sell, and then the crab farmers report them to the police station.

Think about it, the crab farmers sell their crabs for 60 yuan per kilogram, while these people sell them for 30 yuan in the old street. How can people not complain?
Far away.

After leaving the crab and shrimp larvae at home for two days to let everyone see them, Li Long drove to Xiaohaizi to release them into the lake.

These little guys have adapted quite well these past two days; the number of deaths hasn't increased. However, the baby crabs are feeding on the dead crabs, which looks quite scary.

Li Long went to the small lake in the morning, thinking that once they were put in, the little guys would have at least half a day to get used to the temperature and dig burrows to hide in.

Shrimp are fine; they're very adaptable. The main problem is crabs.

First, some water from the small lake was poured into the bucket to make the little creatures float. Then, the water was poured in, and the shrimp and crabs floated into the small lake with the current.

Li Long originally intended to pour the contents in separately, but finding it troublesome, he poured them all in at once.

Anyway, it's free-range, a piece of cake. I'll ask Huang Lei and others to raise more in the future, and pour some in every now and then. I don't believe we can't keep them alive.
At this time, this stuff isn't expensive. If you invest every year, and it accumulates over time, more and more lucky people will survive, and then you can eat it.

Hairy crabs, oh, the hairy crabs in that little lake!

It sounds delicious!
In his previous life, Li Long ate crabs twice in one week. Once he fished them out of a large lake, and the other time he ate the big kind that cost 39.8 yuan each in the supermarket.

As it turns out, the wild ones from the big pond taste even better!
(End of this chapter)