Rebirth of Bayi Fishing and Hunting in the Northwest

Chapter 168 Li Long and Gu Xiaoxia's World of Two

"Do you think I can really see mushroom circles?" Gu Xiaoxia kept asking along the way, "And the Tianshan Snow Lotus..."

"We can't see the Tianshan Snow Lotus for now, mainly because the timing is wrong. When the snow lotus blooms in June or July, if we have three to five days, it will be possible for us to climb to the snow mountain. But if you want to see the mushroom ring, it is still relatively easy to do."

"Really?" Gu Xiaoxia was like a child at this moment, chattering all the time while sitting on the back seat of the bicycle.

Li Long saw that Gu Xiaoxia might have been suppressed for a long time due to family reasons. Now that she has a job and her father is doing well, the thoughts that were suppressed before are slowly being released.

That's good. For young girls, it's not good to act old-fashioned.

"I'll take you to a place," Li Long said, "where you can find mushroom circles. If you're lucky, you might see wild boars, wild sheep, and the like. Of course, it all depends on your luck today."

"My luck..." Gu Xiaoxia's tone suddenly became low.

"I think you'll be very lucky today!" Li Long had a hunch and interrupted Gu Xiaoxia, "You can be right if you listen to me."

Gu Xiaoxia felt warm in her heart.

"Look here. I have hunted wild boars here before. See the raised soil and grass roots? Wild boars were active here a few days ago, and I hunted them. I also caught some young wild boars, and then the herd of wild boars stopped coming here."

"Really? Are little wild boars fun?"

"It's quite fun. The little one is not afraid of people. He knows how to push people. He is very wild."

After passing the ravine where Halimu and the others were, Li Long did not stop because time was tight, and ran directly to the location of his winter den.

"Look, this wooden house is our destination." Li Long proudly showed it to Gu Xiaoxia, "This is my winter home, please have a look."

"Your winter home? You actually have a house in the mountains?" Gu Xiaoxia looked puzzled, "Is it really yours?"

"Of course." Li Long said with a smile, "I have many friends in the mountains. They helped me build this winter home - actually it should be called a cabin in the mountains. Come in and sit down."

Li Long put his bicycle aside, opened the door of the wooden house and said, "It's still quite simple inside at the moment. I'll get a stove in a few days and add some other things and it will be almost ready."

There are beddings on the wooden kang now, and the stove and other utensils are also quite complete, but there is no furniture yet, so it looks quite messy.

"This house is really made of wood! It's like a small wooden house in the mountains in a fairy tale... It's really nice!" Gu Xiaoxia praised sincerely, "Living here is just like in a fairy tale..."

"Come on, I'll take you to see if there are any mushroom rings." Li Long smiled, "I picked up quite a few straw mushrooms a few days ago, and there may be more today."

When she heard that they were going to see the mushroom circle, Gu Xiaoxia no longer cared about the wooden house in the fairy tale. She turned around and walked out, asking impatiently:

"Which way?"

Li Long took the small-caliber rifle from his bicycle, put it down, loaded it with bullets, and then turned on the safety. He pointed to the hillside behind the wooden house and said:

"See? Those white spots in the middle of the grass are most likely mushrooms. Think about how the mushroom circles are described in the book of natural scenery. Just look for them. Let's go!"

"You still have a gun?" Gu Xiaoxia asked curiously as they walked, "Is it dangerous?"

"It's better to be prepared." Li Long said with a smile, "No one can guarantee what will happen in the mountains. Some time ago, the herdsmen helped me build a house. I treated everyone to a glass of champagne on the day of celebration. I stayed here at night. In the middle of the night, a group of wolves surrounded me and gnawed on the discarded sheep bones. I even killed a wolf."

"It sounds really exciting!" Li Long said it lightly, so Gu Xiaoxia didn't hear any danger and just felt it was exciting.

The two walked to the white spot and saw a palm-sized mushroom growing in the grass. Gu Xiaoxia happily bent down and picked it up, looked at it carefully, smelled it, and said:

“This mushroom can make a whole dish!”

"There are some over there, look, this is wild onion, this is wild garlic, there is also a patch of wild leeks over there, oh yeah, that thing over there that looks like mugwort, that's mugwort, you... eh?"

Li Long suddenly saw a fat head sticking out from a pile of dirt not far away, and immediately said:

"Look, a marmot!"

"Where is it?" Gu Xiaoxia asked excitedly:
"It's also in the Tianshan Scenery Records. The marmot said it was very cute..."

Her voice was a little loud, and the marmot was scared and went back into its hole.

"They've gone into the hole, but don't worry, they should come out soon." Li Long pointed to that area and said, "See, there's a lot of dug-out soil, and there's a marmot hole there. They're very curious, and they'll come out soon."

Gu Xiaoxia also knew that it was her voice that scared the thing back, so she stopped talking and followed Li Long in staring at that place.

Sure enough, the marmot came out after a few minutes and looked over here.

Since Li Long and his friends didn't get close, the marmot didn't burrow. After watching for a while and feeling no threat, it started to crawl out and look for something to eat.

"Wow! Chubby is so cute!"

"This thing is a groundhog," Li Long explained softly, "but I heard that this thing may carry virus number one, so we'd better stay away from it."

Disease number one is plague, which is still quite scary at this time. Li Long remembered that in his previous life, the marmots in Tianshan became Internet celebrities, and people often brought food to them. Those marmots were not afraid of people and ate directly.

When watching those videos, Li Long was worried for them. If that thing really got frightened and gave you a claw, you could be in trouble.

Even if there is a one in ten thousand chance, it is better not to try it.

"Let's keep going up. The grass above is more lush and there might be mushroom circles there." Li Long suggested.

"Good." Gu Xiaoxia was in high spirits at this time. She pointed to the distance and said, "There are cedars over there, and the clouds in the sky are very beautiful. Although I can't see the herd of wild horses, just looking at this scenery, I really feel the beautiful scenery in the Tianshan Scenery Notes!"

Li Long smiled and looked at Gu Xiaoxia. These scenes were common in Li Long's eyes, after all, he saw them almost every day. But for Gu Xiaoxia, it was the first time that the content of the book was reflected in reality, and it felt really wonderful.

"Wow! A sea of ​​flowers!" Walking further ahead and bypassing a small pine forest, Gu Xiaoxia saw the hillside in front of her covered with white, yellow, and purple flowers of all sizes, and she exclaimed again, "It's so beautiful!"

Li Long felt that this was the time when Gu Xiaoxia behaved like a girl should.

Gu Xiaoxia trotted to the flowers, bent down and greedily smelled the fragrance, then suddenly jumped back:
"Bees!"

Li Long smiled and picked a bunch of flowers and handed them to her: "Here, there are no bees on them."

Gu Xiaoxia took the bouquet, held it with a smile and continued walking forward.

"Look there, it looks a bit like the mushroom circle you mentioned..." Li Long suddenly pointed down the slope.

In front of them on the right, about ten meters lower, the grass was denser and darker than other places. When the wind blew, Li Long saw faint white mushrooms in the grass. He guessed that there must be many mushrooms there. Gu Xiaoxia trotted over and shouted in surprise as soon as she arrived:

"It's a mushroom circle! So many mushrooms... We're rich!"

Mushrooms can also make money, so cute!

Li Long walked over with a smile and found that there were actually dozens or even hundreds of mushrooms of various sizes in the dense grass. Some of them had already rotted and had worm holes on them, while others had just grown out and their umbrellas had not yet fully opened.

Li Long picked a few fresh flowers and said to Gu Xiaoxia:
"This mushroom ring should be considered quite large. It looks like it's about five or six meters in diameter."

"Well, mushroom rings are amazing!" Gu Xiaoxia said with satisfaction.

Gu Xiaoxia opened her small shoulder bag and put mushrooms into it. Li Long picked up a few large leaves and rolled them up to make a small package, but it couldn't hold much.

"Don't pick up the rest, as they will grow more later. And if no one destroys this mushroom circle, I think it will get bigger and bigger." Li Long said, "Let's go down the mountain and see if there is a stream there. We can wash the mushrooms while we're there."

Gu Xiaoxia followed Li Long to the stream. After Li Long put the mushrooms in his hand there, he said to Gu Xiaoxia:
"I'll go get a bag from the winter den. You wash your hands here."

Gu Xiaoxia nodded, lowered her head and began to wash the mushrooms.

Li Long strode towards the wooden house, looking back from time to time.

As soon as he entered the winter den and grabbed a cloth bag in his hand, he heard Gu Xiaoxia screaming. Li Long was startled and rushed out, running towards Gu Xiaoxia, shouting as he ran:

"what happened?"

"I...I found a piece of jade!" Gu Xiaoxia shouted loudly while holding a fist-sized object.

Li Long slowed down his pace and felt relieved - it turned out to be a piece of jade. He thought the other party had encountered a snake or some other danger.

He walked quickly to Gu Xiaoxia, looked at her excited expression, and asked with a smile:

"May I see the treasure you found?"

"I guess it's a piece of jade." Gu Xiaoxia held the stone and handed it to Li Long.

It is indeed a piece of jade, jasper.

It's seed material, but Li Long can tell it at a glance because it has been soaked in water for a long time. There is not much jade skin and it is transparent. There are many clear sesame spots. It is the most typical material of Mahe jade.

"Yes, it is indeed jade. You are so lucky!" Li Long took the jade and turned it around in his hand with a smile. "I have been here for so long, and I have never picked up such jade..."

"Really? Then this one is for you!" Gu Xiaoxia said with a smile, "It's for you!"

"Are you really giving it to me?" Li Long asked, holding the jade.

"Really?" Gu Xiaoxia nodded vigorously.

"Okay." Li Longzhen accepted the jade.

The two people began to clean the mushrooms. Gu Xiaoxia looked into the stream from time to time, but she didn't see any jade in this area.

The mushrooms weighed about two or three kilograms. After washing them, Gu Xiaoxia smiled and said:
"After I take it back, I can cook a good meal."

"Then let's fry it here?" Li Long suddenly had an idea. "We still have plenty of time. We have a stove and firewood. Why don't we cook a meal here?"

"Just cooking?" Gu Xiaoxia hesitated. "What's the staple food?"

"Can you cook rice?" Li Long asked. "I have rice and a pot, but I can't cook it well."

"I'll... give it a try." Gu Xiaoxia said with gritted teeth, "Fried mushrooms..."

"I can cook." Li Long smiled and said, "We have some meat here, how about stir-frying it with mushrooms?"

"Okay."

Li Long did what he said. He lit a fire on the stove he had set up, then took the two pots to the stream to wash them, and then went to the spring to fetch some water for use.

Gu Xiaoxia scooped a bowl of rice into an enamel basin, rinsing it, and then waited for Li Long to light the fire before pouring it into the pot.

"I'll lower the heat while simmering the rice. Don't be impatient. Cook it slowly. It's best to get some rice crust." Li Long said as he tore the mushrooms into pieces and started cutting the meat he brought on the board.

Wild onions and wild garlic are easier to deal with. After washing the mushrooms and tearing them open, they absorb more moisture. Li Long even pinches them to squeeze out all the moisture.

Gu Xiaoxia looked at the rice in the pot and watched Li Long's movements from time to time. She didn't expect that Li Long could really cook.

Heat the pan with cold oil, add the wild onions and stir-fry until fragrant, then add the meat and stir-fry, then add the mushrooms, and soon the aroma will waft away.

Looking at Li Long's skillful movements, Gu Xiaoxia suddenly felt a little ashamed. It seemed that she was not as good at cooking as Li Long.

It seems that I have to practice more in the dormitory in the future, and I can't let Li Long outperform me!

Soon, a plate of meat and mushrooms came out of the pot. Li Longsheng put the plate on a makeshift board. He said to Gu Xiaoxia, "You simmer the rice first. I'll see what else you can cook."

Gu Xiaoxia responded and continued to watch the fire, very carefully. Li Long went to the creek, where there was a patch of lush grass. He found some wild celery in the grass and picked some back.

Taking the stewed meat from the shelf of the small house, Li Long fried some lamb and wild celery, which felt about right.

However, at this time, Gu Xiaoxia had just scooped out the rice soup from the rice and started to turn off the fire. There was still some time before the rice was cooked, so Li Long simply went up the hillside again, picked some Artemisia from a sparse bush, washed the pot, boiled water, rinsed the Artemisia, and prepared to eat it cold.

"You are amazing. You have prepared three dishes in such a short time." Gu Xiaoxia couldn't help but admire Li Long as he was busying himself and prepared three dishes.

"The main reason is that this mountain is rich in resources, and we can easily come up with something." Li Long said modestly. He looked around and was about to continue talking, but then he saw a yellow shadow flash in the bushes and immediately said:

"There's a fox! Wait till I get my gun and shoot it down!"

Following the direction Li Long was looking, Gu Xiaoxia also saw the fox peeking out. At this time, Li Long had turned around and ran towards the house to get a gun!

The fox didn't know that danger was approaching. It was attracted by the fragrance, but when it saw people around, it wanted to escape, but couldn't bear to do so.

(End of this chapter)