Rebirth of Bayi Fishing and Hunting in the Northwest

Chapter 181 Water rats are good things!
The next day, Li Long slept until the sun was high in the sky before getting up.

It’s not that I’m deliberately staying in bed, nor am I tired, I just feel exhausted and don’t want to get up.

After getting up, Li Jianguo and Liang Yuemei had already gone to the fields. Li Juan and Li Qiang also went to school early. Apart from the occasional pig squeals, the only sounds in the yard were the hens and their chicks looking for food.

The sunlight was not very strong yet, Li Long went to the kitchen and saw that the breakfast was all covered, including porridge, steamed buns, and vegetables.

He finished his meal slowly, washed the dishes, sat in a daze for a while, then returned to his east room, spread a cloth on the floor, and began to wipe the gun.

During the time he was in the mountains, Li Jianguo had removed the kangs in the two rooms and replaced them with steel pipe beds.

The steel pipe bed is very simple. The bed frames at both ends are connected with angle iron to form a square frame, and then wooden boards are laid in the middle.

After removing the fire wall, kang and stove, the space in the room became much larger.

Ever since that shot injured an elk but got nothing, Li Long realized that when hunting in the mountains, the small caliber rifle was still too weak and he had to change to a 56mm semi-automatic rifle.

He cleaned the small-caliber rifle carefully, wiped the outside with gun oil, and put it into the holster.

I'll use this thing to hunt rabbits, foxes, etc. in winter.

When he held the Five or Six Half in his hand, he felt that it was very heavy. Li Long took it apart piece by piece, wiped it carefully, and then reassembled it.

The only problem now is that 50/60 rounds of bullets are not as easy to get as small caliber bullets. Although I still have 100 or 80 rounds of bullets, I can buy small caliber bullets, but 50/60 rounds of bullets can only be collected from the "civilian community".

It seems that we can only wait until the winter when the basic militia is training. At worst, we can just trade meat for bullets.

Just after wiping for five or six minutes, Li Long heard footsteps outside. His door was not closed, so he shouted:
"Who?"

"Brother Long, it's me." It was Tao Daqiang's voice.

Li Long asked as he picked up the gun cleaning cloth on the ground:
"Why don't you take a good rest? Why are you here so soon?"

"I'm not tired after sleeping for a whole day." Tao Daqiang smiled innocently, "Brother Long, are you still going to catch fish?"

"If you're not tired, let's catch them," Li Long said, "We'll pick up the nets later and go fishing in the afternoon."

"Why in the afternoon? Can't we do it now?"

"If we go there now and hang fish on the net, the silver carp will die within half a day. How can we sell them tomorrow?" Li Long explained to him, "We put down the net in the afternoon and take the fish out in the morning. If the fish hang on the net, they will most likely not die overnight. Even if they die, they won't stink."

"Oh, I understand." Tao Daqiang was very impressed.

Li Long put away his gun and walked out of the house. Just as he was about to get the net, he suddenly thought of something and said to Tao Daqiang:

"Shall we go dig for water rats?"

"Great!" Tao Daqiang also thought of the water rat and said excitedly, "The skin of the water rat!"

"It's just that the fur is falling off now, so the skin may not be as valuable as in winter, but it's easier to dig now than in winter..."

"I'll go get the shovel..." Tao Daqiang turned around and ran without waiting for Li Long to finish his words.

Li Long wanted to shout, but in the end he didn't.

I have a shovel at home, but since Tao Daqiang wants to take it, let him take it.

The two of them carried shovels and walked towards the small lake. As they walked, Tao Daqiang asked:
"Brother Long, do you think there are any water rats in the sea behind?"

"Probably not. Even if there are, they are few." Li Long thought for a while and said, "Water rats like to stay in places with reeds. Most of the land over there is bare. Even if there are any, they are on the south bank. We'll go over there and see for ourselves when we have time."

The two men came to Xiaohaizi, and Li Long took Tao Daqiang to the east bank.

"Brother Long, why are you walking this way?"

"There's a dike to the north," Li Long explained as they walked. "Even if there are holes made by water rats, we can't dig them. We can just dig the three south sides. It won't have much impact."

"Are there any signs of the water rat hole?" Tao Daqiang asked again.

"Let's see," Li Long recalled, shook his head and said, "The cave is by the water, it should be half above water and half below water."

The two began to search piece by piece. Li Long remembered that there were more water rats in this era in his previous life. They soon found a cave in the grass nest.

There was green feces at the entrance of the cave, which was covered by grass outside and could hardly be seen without careful observation. However, half of it was submerged in water, and it was obvious that something was coming in and out regularly.

"That's it, let's dig." Li Long said, "When digging, look at other places, maybe there are other exits."

Tao Daqiang started digging first, while Li Long watched the movements in other locations.

"This hole is quite deep." Tao Daqiang dug the hole from top to bottom like lifting a lid. Li Long could see that the hole was about thirty to forty centimeters deep from the ground and as thick as half a bucket. There was water in the hole at the beginning, but there was no water as he went deeper. Then, after turning a corner, he saw a nest made of reeds and hay.

But there was nothing in the nest at that time, only some half-eaten fresh reed sprouts.

"They're drilling in. Let me dig!" Li Long said immediately. "There must be something in the cave!"

"I'll dig for a while longer!" Upon hearing what Li Long said, Tao Daqiang became overwhelmed. He sped up the digging, while Li Long focused his attention elsewhere.

At this time, the water rats will most likely plan to escape from other places, so let's see where their other exits are.

"There!" Li Long suddenly saw a black shadow swimming into the water more than three meters away. He rushed over and used a shovel to push the black shadow out of the water. This push pushed the black shadow and the water directly to the shore.

Tao Daqiang hurried over and hit the black shadow with a shovel, and the thing started to squeak.

Li Long saw another black shadow coming out. He pushed it again, but the black shadow was very tenacious and turned around in the water. Li Long only pushed halfway before the guy's half body emerged from the water. He struggled and ran back into the water. Li Long hurriedly used another shovel and this time pulled it out.

Once the thing came ashore, its speed slowed down significantly. Li Long was afraid that there would be others who could take the opportunity to escape, so he slapped the guy with a shovel, and then used the shovel to poke at the hole fiercely. He felt that he had poked something soft, but he didn't dare to let go. "There's one here too!" Tao Daqiang turned his head to look at the place where he had just dug, and a black head popped out there. He hurried over, and the guy came out and gushed into the water, but his movements were too slow, so Tao Daqiang flipped it over in an instant, then shoveled it to the shore with a shovel and slammed it to death.

No more water rats came out, so Tao Daqiang continued digging. He dug a very large ditch and finally dug out a small one.

This water rat hole has a main path and several branches. The one that Li Long pressed down with a shovel is one of the branches. There is a big nest on the main path, more than two meters away from the hole. In addition to the small nest at the beginning, there are two other small nests on the branch.

These nests are made of reeds and hay. The largest one is nearly one meter in diameter and feels very soft. These water rats really know how to enjoy life.

When Li Long chopped with the shovel, there was also a water rat here. Its front legs were pressed by the shovel, and blood was flowing out. It could not be pulled back, and finally became the prey of Li Long and his men.

"Five, not bad." Li Long smiled. "Although it's spring leather, it looks shiny and smooth. One piece can be sold for at least five dollars."

"Hehe." In just a short while, he made more than 20 yuan. Tao Daqiang must be happy.

"Brother Long, I don't want this money. I still owe you money. Let's set the net this afternoon and get the fish tomorrow. I'll go to the market with you to sell the fish, okay? I'll pick up the net when I come back - I just want to see how the fish are sold."

"Okay, actually, I'll give you some of the fish I catch tomorrow. You can sell them at the free market, and I'll go to Shicheng to sell them." Li Long said, "I'll take you there and drop you off at the county, and then I'll go to Shicheng. But you said you owed me money - that money has been paid off, so don't say anything more."

"No, no! Let's get the fish tomorrow. We'll leave the net at home first, and I'll go to the street with the fish on my back. I walk fast and will be there in more than an hour." Tao Daqiang said excitedly, "You carry the fish, and you have to take Juan to school. I won't delay you..."

"Then how about this? You walk to the street, I'll sort the fish, and then I'll ride my bike to the free market to meet you..."

"Brother Long, that's really not necessary. Just go on your way. We'll go get the fish at daybreak, so it's still early. Just go on your way. I'll carry the fish and the basin to the market and find a place to set them up."

"Okay." Li Long saw that Tao Daqiang had made up his mind, so he stopped trying to persuade him. In fact, he was not very optimistic about Tao Daqiang selling fish, but since he wanted to try, then let him try it - even though he was talking to him nicely now, if he really set up a stall, firstly, it would be difficult for him to shout out, and secondly, he would probably not be able to deal with those smart and cunning citizens.

After getting five water rats, the two men placed the prey aside and began to fill the soil.

At this time, someone shouted not far away:

"What are you two doing digging such a mess?"

Li Long looked up and saw that it was Ma Jinbao, the former shepherd in the team.

Ma Jinbao is in his fifties and a bachelor. He used to herd sheep for the team. When the team was divided into production at the beginning of the year, he took over a dozen sheep from the team because of his debts, saying that he wanted to settle the account at the end of the year.

Ma Jinbao would work during the busy farming season, but he would herd sheep most of the time. Li Long knew that he was a lazy person who was used to herding sheep and didn't want to work - herding sheep was so easy. There were large tracts of wasteland outside, and people could just drive the sheep to the canal or the field where there was good grass and rest.

"Digging for water rats." Tao Daqiang was still so naive. Li Long shook his head slightly.

"That won't do." Ma Jinbao came over with a whip in his hand. "The water in this small lake is used to irrigate thousands of acres of land in our team. What if you dig the embankment down? Fill it up quickly, or I'll report to the captain..."

Li Long felt that this guy was just looking for trouble. He stuck the shovel into the soil and said:
"Old Ma, which eye of yours can you see there is a dike here? The east side is just a slope, and the flat ground will flood over. When the water is high, where you and I are standing will be full of water. How can there be a dike?"

"Hehe," Ma Jinbao originally wanted to bluff Tao Daqiang, but he was not annoyed when Li Long exposed him. He flicked the whip and said:
"What's the point of digging these water rats? You can't eat them, there's not much meat, and it's very troublesome. Li Long heard that you made money, so I'll sell you a sheep for a low price. How about 16 yuan?"

Li Long was speechless. People who can't make sense will never be clear-headed no matter where they go.

In his previous life, Ma Jinbao had been herding sheep all his life. He was still herding sheep when he was over 70 years old. He was a bachelor all his life. While other families became rich by farming, his land was contracted out to others for a long time at a low price, and they were given some grain and money every year.

At first he thought it was beautiful, but later the land price went up and he regretted it. However, the person who signed the contract and contracted his land was kind enough to increase the price for him, but he was still not happy, so he went to court and lost.

Later he gave up on himself and started herding sheep. The nice yard at home remained unchanged for twenty years. He didn't grow vegetables either. He just picked a handful of vegetables from everyone else. In the end, he became a hated person.

"No, your sheep is too thin." Li Long looked at his sheep with disdain, "My sheep still has plenty of meat..."

Tao Daqiang suddenly shouted:
"Old Ma, your sheep fell into the water!"

The old horse turned his head and saw that there was indeed a naughty goat that had fallen into the water while trying to eat the reeds in the water and was still struggling there.

Old Ma didn't have time to say anything else, and ran to get it with the whip in hand. Li Long kicked Tao Daqiang, and the two of them quickly picked up the shovel and took the water rat home.

Back at Li's house, Li Long took a knife and started to skin the water rats. This time he paid special attention and found a small meat bag between the navel and genital opening of the two water rats. This should be the scent of the muskrat.

I don’t know whether the purchasing station will accept it.

The skins of the five water rats were quickly peeled off. Tao Daqiang asked Li Long:

"Brother Long, do you want the meat of this water rat?"

"No, you want it?"

"Well, I think it's fat..."

"Then when you take it home to eat, make sure you cook it thoroughly," Li Long warned, "Don't let it catch any disease."

"I understand." Tao Daqiang happily left with the water rat meat.

The northern Xinjiang is vast, so firewood is easier to find in the summer, so there is no need to worry about firewood for cooking.

In fact, firewood ranks first among firewood, rice, oil, salt, sauce, vinegar and tea? Because firewood is not readily available in the Central Plains most of the time. Li Long didn't understand it at first, and only found out when he heard Li Jianguo gossiping.

When there was a shortage of food, Li Jianguo would go to the river to catch fish and shrimp. Usually he would either catch fish or shrimp. If that didn't work, he would catch snails (field snails). The worst would be clams and crabs.

I didn't want to catch river clams because it takes a lot of firewood to cook them. At that time, there were a lot of people eating there, unlike in XJ where you can just catch enough clams outside the yard to cook for a whole day.

That's why Li Long asked Tao Daqiang to cook and stew more. Anyway, firewood is cheap here and easy to find.

After Tao Daqiang left, Li Long rubbed the leather with salt, hung it up and went to cook - if he didn't go to the fields to work, he had to cook at least.

(End of this chapter)