Rebirth of Bayi Fishing and Hunting in the Northwest

Chapter 230 Lynx skin is also expensive?

Hearing Li Qingxia's question, Li Long said with a wry smile:
"When I was chopping poles, I saw a fox. I wanted to catch it and skin it, but I didn't expect that it was prey to something else. When I was beating the fox, it startled the creature and it came up and hit me with its claws..."

"What kind of guy is so powerful?" Li Qingxia looked at Li Long's torn clothes and injured arm, and said with a bit of heartache, "Such a big wound, how much blood must have flowed... Can you go down the mountain and find a doctor?"

"No, no." Li Long waved his hand. "The bleeding has stopped. There is medicine here. Apply it. There will be nothing to bleed tomorrow."

"No bones broken?"

"No, no. It's just a superficial wound, a cut. It looks scary, but it's actually not that serious."

"Then you take a rest," Li Qingxia waved his hand, "I'll take care of the porridge."

"I have to cook two dishes?" Li Long said with a smile, "Dad, you are not as good as me when it comes to cooking."

"Why bother with that now? Just eat it."

"That's fine... I'll go pick some wild vegetables." Li Long said, "Just drinking porridge or eating steamed buns won't work."

"Don't we have red tofu? Two bites will do."

"If we have the conditions, we can just cook two dishes. We are doing hard labor, so we can't make ourselves suffer."

Li Long had his own reasons, and Li Qingxia could not convince his youngest son - mainly because he had not participated in Li Long's growth from adolescence to adulthood. Although he had a certain authority as a father, he lacked confidence.

He could also clearly see that although the younger son was excellent in all aspects, he was not as persistent in tradition as the older son, and was not as respectful of his father.

Li Long carried a basin in his right hand and went to the valley, where he first picked up some wild mushrooms - to be honest, having fewer people does have its advantages, as there are more resources in the mountains. Li Long picked and chose, specifically looking for those tender mushrooms that had just emerged from the ground.

Just pick some fresh and tender wild onions, and the same goes for wild celery. If they are old, even if you stir-fry them with meat, they will feel like ropes when you chew them in your mouth, and no one likes to eat them.

Not everyone can eat the cold-mixed pepper and wormwood, so Li Long didn't try it. He looked at the enamel dish and turned back.

Li Jianguo and Tao Daqiang had not returned yet and the sun was about to set, so Li Long washed the vegetables in the spring, broke the wild mushrooms into small pieces, and blanched them in boiling water when he came back.

After blanching the mushrooms in boiling water, drain them with cold water, squeeze out the water, add salt, soy sauce, vinegar, sprinkle some chili powder on them, cut some wild onions and put them on top. Finally, wash the pot, heat the oil and pour the oil on top. This is the universal cold dish recipe that Li Long has mastered.

"Oh, is there too much oil?" Li Qingxia watched Li Long operating there - and finally couldn't help asking.

I sniffed my nose and felt pretty good.

"Dad, does it smell good?"

“That smells really good!”

"That's all." Li Long said with a smile, "We do hard work and consume a lot of energy, so we have to eat more and eat nutritious food."

Fortunately, it was only the left arm that was injured, and the right hand that he mainly used was not restricted. So after Li Long washed the wild celery, he came over to cut the vegetables. Li Qingxia wanted to help, but Li Long refused.

"Dad, just watch the porridge and stir it from time to time. I can do it myself."

The pot of hot oil does not need to be washed. It is placed on the stone stove and continues to heat the pot. A spoonful of meat is scooped from the pot of simmered meat oil and put into the pot. There is a burst of noise. Li Long flips the spatula while watching the fire. When it feels like it's about done, pour in the wild celery, stir-fry a few times, add salt, and then prepare to serve.

Watching Li Long cooking, Li Qingxia said with a smile:
"Xiaolong, you are really good at this! Whoever you marry in the future will get to enjoy the happiness."

"Haha, that's a matter for later." Li Long took the pot down by the handle with a rag, broke off half a steamed bun to wipe the remaining vegetable residue in the pot, and then started eating.

tasty.

Li Jianguo and Tao Daqiang came back with the poles on their backs. When they saw the wound on Li Long's arm, they were also shocked.

"This mountain is so dangerous!" Li Jianguo was also a little surprised, "Xiaolong, do you see what that is?"

"I didn't see it clearly. It grabbed me and then hid in the grass. I noticed its ears were a little pointy, so I thought it might be a lynx or something..."

"How can there be such a thing in this mountain?" Li Qingxia knew about lynxes and was a little skeptical. "Isn't it on a high mountain?"

"It's hard to say." Li Jianguo also knew about this. He shook his head and said, "In these days in the mountains, what can we say for sure?"

"Eat first, and be careful later." Li Long said, "It's not a big problem. The main thing is that I touched the fox. Otherwise, it might not have caught me - that's its food."

This joke did not cause anyone to laugh. Everyone sat quietly at the wooden table and started eating.

"Brother Long, what is a lynx?" Tao Daqiang really didn't know what it was, so he asked in a low voice.

"Like a cat, but bigger than a cat and smaller than a wolf." Li Long described, "Very fierce, very good at catching things, but don't be too scared, generally won't hurt people..."

He gestured to size and said:
"Look, it's just that small, and it can't treat humans as prey. It must have been anxious at the time..."

"In any case, be careful." Li Jianguo looked a little solemn.

"Tomorrow we will cut the poles, two people together," Li Long thought for a moment and said, "Each group will carry a gun, with machetes and guns, so that safety can be guaranteed."

"Yes." Li Jianguo nodded in agreement. "One day we have to go down the mountain to deliver poles again. That way, the rest of us can be together. We make money by cutting poles, but we can't sacrifice ourselves...Xiaolong, do you want to go down the mountain to the hospital?"

"No, no." Li Long stretched out his arm and said, "Look, the scar has formed. It will be much better tomorrow."

The matter is settled.

The next day, Li Long and Tao Daqiang, Li Jianguo and Li Qingxia went to the mountains to cut poles. Li Long could use his right hand, but cutting was a bit troublesome, so Tao Daqiang took over these tasks.

The two men worked together quite well and cut down more than a hundred poles in the morning. At this rate, they would have enough poles in three to five days.

At noon, when the two men carried the poles back to the wooden house, Li Jianguo and his friends had already returned. Li Qingxia was training the horses, and Li Jianguo was cooking.

Li Long remembered that Xie Yundong said that Li Jianguo had worked in the kitchen and would have no problem cooking.

It’s great to eat ready-made meals!

On the third day, the injury on Li Long's arm no longer affected his movements. This time they had accumulated nearly a thousand poles, and Li Long and Tao Daqiang were sending them back together.

"Dad, you and my eldest brother should take a break. There aren't many poles left. When we come back, we can finish it in two or three days," Li Long said to Li Qingxia, "Don't worry." "Okay." Li Qingxia smiled and said, "It's a good time to pick some wild mushrooms and dry them in the sun. Dried wild mushrooms are great to eat in the winter."

The older generation is the most frugal. They will basically collect anything useful they see. To use an inappropriate metaphor, if Li Qingxia comes to the mountains and his main task is not to cut poles, he can bring back a load of things in a day.

Everything is useful. There are so many wild mushrooms, so many wild fruits, so many fallen trees, and so many edible wild vegetables...

It feels like a mouse falling into a rice jar.

So he would not be bored at all if he stayed in the mountains. There were so many good things he could pick up for free, so how could he be bored?
It’s not too late to be happy!
Tao Daqiang was pulling the carriage in front and Li Long was sitting on it. When they arrived at the county town, Li Long asked Tao Daqiang to stop at the purchasing station as he planned to consult Chen Hongjun.

"You mean those pointed ears? Not big? Yellow fur? Isn't that a lynx?" Chen Hongjun was sure as soon as he heard it, "You are really lucky!"

"What's good?" Li Long lifted his clothes to let Chen Hongjun see his arm. "It was scratched by a claw. Look at the long cut..."

"Then lynxes generally don't catch people?" Chen Hongjun was also a little surprised. "Usually they run away when they see people, or hide when they see people from a distance. After all, they are small..."

"It might be because of this." Li Long took out the fox skin and showed it to Chen Hongjun. "It must have been catching this, but I got it by surprise."

"That's possible." Chen Hongjun looked at the fox skin, shook his head and said:

"It's a little small and torn. It's made of spring leather... If you want to sell it, it'll be sixteen dollars."

"Okay." Li Long naturally had no objection to the unexpected fortune.

"If you can get that lynx skin, I can give you at least 800!" Chen Hongjun gestured with his fingers, "How about it, is it possible?"

“No!” Although Li Long was very tempted, he still shook his head. “That thing was too fast. I didn’t even see what it looked like. I just saw its two pointed ears. It scratched me. I injured it with the machete in my hand, and then it ran away… Even if I saw it from a distance, I couldn’t hit it with my gun.”

"It all depends on your luck. Maybe you'll get it. Your luck has always been pretty good." Chen Hongjun said with a smile, "I've been here for so many years, and I never thought I'd get a snow leopard skin. But now that I've met you, I got one..."

"That wasn't me who hit him." Li Long waved his hand. "Okay, I'm going back now. I have something else to do."

"Okay, walk slowly."

Li Long and Tao Daqiang pulled the carriage directly back to the team and unloaded the poles at Xu Chengjun's house.

He didn't stay at the middle school. He had an injury on his arm. Gu Xiaoxia was very careful and might have noticed it. It was better not to make her worry.

Tao Daqiang left Xu Chengjun's house and hurried back home. He didn't bring anything with him this time, but he was still a little worried about his old father.

Li Long drove the carriage back to Li's house, rested for a while, ate something, and then hurried back to the mountains with Tao Daqiang.

I didn't let Du Chunfang and Liang Yuemei know that I was injured so as not to worry everyone.

When they were almost in the mountains, Tao Daqiang suddenly pointed to the distance and said curiously:
"Brother Long, look, the wheat is still green!"

At this time of year, the wheat has begun to turn yellow, but the field of wheat that Tao Daqiang pointed to is still mostly green with a hint of yellow.

"It's closer to the mountains, and the temperature is lower here." Li Long explained, "It grows slower... Let's go, cut some and bring it back. We can go into the mountains to eat roasted wheat."

To say that Shaomaizi is particularly delicious is not the case. It is mainly for the feeling. In this season, basically every household comes back from work, either at home or in someone else's field on the roadside, cuts a handful of wheat, takes it home, roasts it under the stove, and then rubs the wheat kernels to eat.

No one will say anything. Even if the landowner encounters it, he will not blame you. Instead, he will let you get more.

Tao Daqiang jumped off the carriage, holding a machete and said with a smile:
"Don't worry about it, Xiaolong. I'll go cut some...I'll be right there!"

He rushed into the field, picked up the greener wheat, cut three or four handfuls, and then ran back to the carriage with the bunches in his arms.

Tao Daqiang was quick and did a good job. He tied the wheat into handfuls as thick as his arms and directly tied them with green wheat stalks.

Li Long picked up a handful and looked at it, then pulled off an ear of wheat and rubbed it, saying:
"It's quite full. It will be hard in a few days."

Returning to the cabin, Li Long saw a lot of wild mushrooms drying on the table in front of the cabin, and the whole area was filled with the smell of wild mushrooms.

"Come on, light the stove and let's burn the wheat." Li Long was full of heroic spirit. He hadn't done such a childish thing for a long time. He decided to "let go of his youthful enthusiasm".

Burning wheat is very simple. Put handfuls of green wheat on the fire, burn the wheat awns first, and then rotate the wheat heads to burn on the fire. But do not burn the wheat stalks yet, otherwise the wheat ears will fall into the fire and be difficult to take out, which will be wasted.

Tao Daqiang also had this interest. He lit the fire under the stove, added a few pieces of firewood, and then he and Li Long, each bringing a handful of green wheat, started burning it over the fire.

When Li Qingxia and Li Jianguo came back, they saw Li Long and Tao Daqiang, both with black hands and mouths, rubbing wheat kernels.

"Why did you think of eating this?" Li Jianguo said with a smile, "Is there still green wheat at this time of year?"

"It's in the fields on the mountainside." Li Long explained, "The temperature is low, so it turns yellow late."

"I was saying, at this time of year, the wheat on our team should be turning yellow, and we should start harvesting in ten days or so."

Harvesting wheat!

Li Long suddenly felt that the fragrant green wheat kernels in his mouth were no longer tasty - in fact, they were very delicious, with a burnt aroma and some green sweetness, and toughness. Of course, if you eat too much, your teeth will get tired from chewing.

Of course, you can’t just eat steamed rice for dinner. Li Jianguo steamed rice at noon and fried vegetables with the leftovers at night.

"The food in the mountains is the same as at home," Li Qingxia said with a smile while eating. "Who would believe this if I told others? In my hometown, every family said that you can't marry your daughter to a place in the mountains. If you can eat this kind of food every day in the mountains, every family would be willing to marry her there."

"It's just our place. No one else can eat like this." Li Jianguo said with a smile, "If you ask me, we are all benefiting from Xiaolong. If it weren't for Xiaolong, who would think of eating steamed buns and rice every day?"

"That's right." Tao Daqiang also said so.

Li Long waved his hands hurriedly:

"Let's work together, don't just blame me... Dad, you got a lot of wild mushrooms today."

"There are so many in the grass, and there are still quite a few. They look different, and I dare not pick them up for fear of poisoning. I only pick the ones you have picked up." Li Qingxia explained, "Tomorrow or the day after tomorrow, when we have cut enough poles, we will go around in the mountains. Tell me which mushrooms are edible, so that I can get some!"

"Row."

(End of this chapter)