Rebirth of Bayi Fishing and Hunting in the Northwest

Chapter 231: Who should I share this meal with?

Two days later, the last truckload of poles was pulled back to the team by Li Jianguo and Tao Daqiang.

Li Long and Li Qingxia stayed in the mountains for half a day longer, mainly to pick some wild vegetables and such.

The season for morels is almost over. Li Long dug several ditches and picked less than five kilograms of fresh ones in total.

He collected more than ten kilograms of black tiger paw fungus that had already begun to grow.

There are more porcini, pine mushrooms, and plenty of straw mushrooms.

There were many others he didn't recognize, including a mushroom that looked very much like a chicken mushroom, which he didn't dare to pick. He even saw a green hand mushroom and a purple mushroom that looked very beautiful, strangely beautiful.

Li Qingxia dug up a few Codonopsis pilosula roots. He said that he might not be able to wait until the late autumn Codonopsis pilosula harvesting season - of course, the main reason was that he heard Li Long say that the Codonopsis pilosula roots here were big. He didn't believe it, but after digging it out, he believed it.

Then I couldn’t help it - one Codonopsis pilosula weighs half a kilogram, who would believe it!

Most of these things were half-dried, so Li Long and Li Qingxia packed them in sacks and took them back.

While Li Qingxia was digging Codonopsis pilosula, Li Long specifically went to pick wild strawberries, also known as ground scoops.

At this time of year, there are not many fruits at home. They can eat them in the mountains, but not at home, so Li Long picked two full enamel basins - it was too much effort. Although this thing tastes better than strawberries, it is small!

Fortunately, there are large patches of fruits here on the mountain, so you can pick them for a long time without moving.

Li Long was picking and eating at the same time. When he had picked two pots, Li Qingxia also came out of the woods carrying a small bundle of Codonopsis pilosula.

These two days, Li Long made a special trip to the place where he was scratched by the lynx, but he did not find the "murderer" there.

Li Long was not very persistent in his desire for revenge. This lynx made him sober up. He was not a top hunter, not even a first-rate one.

After all, every time they go hunting, it’s basically an ambush, and the chase is just one time. It’s really not the case that the brave one wins when they meet on a narrow road - or it can be said that the lynx encountered it this time, and then failed.

So Li Long was very clear-headed and it was difficult for him to seek revenge. Unless, as Chen Hongjun said, he was lucky and happened to run into that guy, and he didn't notice him, then it was possible to ambush him.

The probability is too low to consider.

Without considering other things, cutting poles in the mountains during this period of time was considered a very rich harvest, so Li Long was not too reluctant to leave. He packed up the wooden house and sent all the things that could be taken away by the carriage. So when Li Qingxia dug out Codonopsis pilosula, Li Long packed up and prepared to go back.

The two of them packed up the things they had collected. The wild mushrooms and other things were put into the sacks, except for the two pots of wild strawberries, which Li Long poured into a large pot, then stuck it on the back seat of the bicycle and tied it with a small pot.

The two rode to the county town, Li Long bought a few buns, and the two ate while walking back.

When they arrived at the township middle school, Li Long asked Li Qingxia to go first while he went to look for Gu Xiaoxia.

Li Qingxia smiled and said he understood, then rode his bike back.

Li Long turned into the school. It was already time for class to be over and Gu Xiaoxia was cooking in the dormitory.

"What are we having for dinner?" Li Long asked without getting off his bike as he rode past.

When Gu Xiaoxia heard Li Long's voice, she looked up in surprise. Seeing that it was indeed Li Long, she smiled and walked over and said:
"I'm going to make some vegetable soup... Why are you here?"

"I just came back after finishing my work in the mountains. What kind of vegetable soup is this?"

"Green vegetable soup." Gu Xiaoxia whispered, "If you want to lose weight, just drink some vegetable soup."

"That won't do." Li Long shook his head. "You have such a good figure, why do you want to lose weight? You can't lose weight... Oh, by the way, I got some dried mushrooms in the mountains. They are not completely dried. I will leave some for you."

He took off the bag, took out the dried mushrooms, and asked Gu Xiaoxia to get a basin to put them in.

Gu Xiaoxia also knew that she didn't need to be polite to Li Long, so she took some dried wild mushrooms and said hurriedly:

"That's enough, that's enough..."

Li Long poured some more and said:
"I'll be able to get some more in the mountains later, so you can eat them. By the way, there are also wild strawberries, which are quite sweet..." He poured some more wild strawberries to Gu Xiaoxia.

It was also the first time that Gu Xiaoxia saw wild strawberries. She picked up a red one and put it in her mouth to taste it. She said in surprise:
"It tastes so good...it's wild strawberry!"

"Yes. There are many in the mountains. Locals call them di pi... I don't know why they are called that."

"I bought you something. Wait a minute." Gu Xiaoxia suddenly thought of something. She asked Li Long to sit down first, then took out a small rectangular iron box from the desk drawer and said:

"Come on, try it."

Li Long recognized it immediately. Isn't this a Flying Eagle brand razor? The manual one.

Li Long took it and touched his beard. It had grown a lot longer during this period of time.

Li Long inherited the beard from Li Qingxia, which is a full beard, which the locals call "faceless beard". However, Li Long is young now, so it has not yet become obvious, and it has just started to transform from a fuzzy beard to a beard.

"Then I'll try it." Li Long said with a smile.

"And there's shaving cream..." Gu Xiaoxia took out another tube of shaving cream and said, "It's not easy to scratch your face with this. I'm cooking now, wait for me."

Li Long came, and there were no steamed buns here, and it was too late to steam them now. There were wild mushrooms and braised meat, so Gu Xiaoxia planned to make some fried dough sticks.

Li Long first opened the razor box, took out a blade from the paper bag, put it on the razor holder, washed his face, applied shaving cream, and then began to shave carefully.

I haven't used this for a long time, so I'm not very familiar with it.

After all, in his previous life, he had used electric machines for most of his life. Now that he took this one out again, the sharp blade still made Li Long a little worried.

After carefully shaving his face and finding no injuries, Li Long was very happy.

I paid special attention to the Adam's apple and was very careful. There was no injury, which is good.

Then it was the sides of his chin - it hurt for a moment, and Li Long knew that blood was coming out.

Well, it was only a little bit. I'll be more careful after that - the scratch stung me really badly!
After finally finishing shaving, I rinsed the razor with water, then disassembled it and put it back in the box.

Finally, I washed my face and looked at the injured area. It was just a small cut, just a superficial injury, nothing serious.

Gu Xiaoxia was kneading the dough here. When she saw Li Long had finished scraping, she came over to take a look and nodded:

"It's OK, a little broken, I'll use it often in the future."

"Okay, I understand." Li Long put the razor box in his pocket, "Are you going to make noodles?"

"Well, sit down for a while. This is very fast."

"Okay." Li Long was not polite. He sat on Gu Xiaoxia's bed and looked around the single dormitory.

The room was quite big, but it was just a single room. Gu Xiaoxia kept it very clean, with a clear distinction between the cooking area and the living area. There were a lot of things placed there, but they were not messy.

The desk also served as a dressing table, with a layer of newspapers and a small mirror on top. A pile of books, paper and pens were neatly placed on the corner of the desk. The bedding on the desk was neatly folded, and you could faintly smell the scent of laundry detergent or something else.

Li Long glanced around and said:
"You still need a small table. I'll bring some wood over in the next two days and ask the carpenter to make you a small square table so you can put things on it. And a shelf..."

"No, no, no, the dormitory is so small, there's no room for it." Gu Xiaoxia waved her hands hastily, "It's fine like this now. You can keep the wood, keep it..."

"Then let's make a small table first, otherwise it's not good to put things on the ground. There's plenty of wood in the mountain. This time we need to pull the pole, otherwise I can pull a few carts of wood back."

As for things like tall and low cabinets, just build them and then pull them over when the time comes.

He himself did not realize that the relationship between the two of them was actually at a rather delicate stage. They were both thinking about each other, and when they gave, they did so without any utilitarianism, only hoping to make the other person's life better.

It is completely different from when I was dating Wu Shufen. At that time, I would pay attention to the other person's likes and dislikes, and hope to please the other person.

Now I just want to make the other person's life better, and I may even be a little chauvinistic because of this.

Gu Xiaoxia doesn't cook the noodles first, put the vegetables in the pot and then cook the noodles. She cooks the vegetables first, washes the pot, pours water and boils it before cooking. When the noodles are cooked, she pours the fried vegetables in. When serving, she adds some cilantro, chopped green onions, and a few drops of sesame oil.

Li Long did the same thing when he made a movie in his previous life. He subconsciously said:

"Pull the noodles thinner so they are more flavorful."

"Okay." Gu Xiaoxia grabbed the noodles quickly and put the long noodles on her arms. There was a little sweat on her forehead.

After turning off the fire under the pot, Gu Xiaoxia first served Li Long a large bowl of food, handed him the bowl and chopsticks, and then served herself a small bowl.

"Why are you so little?" Li Long asked.

"I don't have a big appetite." Gu Xiaoxia explained seriously, "This is enough."

She took out half a bowl of chopped pickles sprinkled with sesame oil and placed it on the desk.

Li Long picked some pickles and put them in the bowl and started eating.

"Mm, it tastes great!" Li Long took a bite and praised, "You can go to a restaurant and be a chef!"

"No way..." Gu Xiaoxia blushed, lowered her head and started eating in small bites.

Li Long's words made her very happy.

Teacher Wang next door also smelled the food. She went out to get a free meal, then saw Li Long's bicycle. She hesitated for a moment and went back.

It’s better not to disturb the couple’s warm moment.

Li Long ate very slowly at first, chatting with Gu Xiaoxia while eating.

“Are students difficult to lead?”

"It's OK. He's naughty sometimes, but mostly obedient." Gu Xiaoxia said, "Chinese is pretty easy to learn... I'm reviewing while attending classes."

"Have you been back these days?"

"I went back and met my dad. My dad said that because of you, the captain arranged an easy job for him. He asked him to distribute wire to each household and get work points. It's pretty good..."

Gu Xiaoxia felt a little complicated when she said this.

When he went back, Gu Boyuan said those words with self-mockery. When did he, a college student, fall to the point of having to accept favors from a person who hadn't even finished junior high school?

But what can we do about the way things are?

In fact, Gu Xiaoxia also wanted to persuade Gu Boyuan that if he really wanted to stick to his title of college student, he should just wait until the Education Bureau held the exam. With his background, it was not difficult for him to get a job - at that time, the entire northern border was in great need of talents, especially those with high academic qualifications.

But she didn't persuade him. She knew her father was obsessed and didn't plan to do anything in this life. He just wanted to stay here. It could be said that he wanted to escape from the world or to open up, but he just didn't want to think about so many trivial things anymore.

If that's the case, why complain?

This is my father, I can't complain like this.

If my father's character was half as flexible as Li Long's, life might not be like this now.

"That's not because of my face, Lao Xu. Captain Xu just said that to flatter me. He will give me more work to the team if I have any work in the future." Li Long picked up another pickle with chopsticks and said while eating, "But it's good for Uncle Gu to do this. Although the money is not much, it's not tiring."

"So how are you doing in the mountains?" Gu Xiaoxia still couldn't forget the last time she went to the mountains. "Is the grass yellow now?"

"Not yet, but the grass near the outer mountains is already turning yellow. If you want to see really green grasslands, you have to go far into the mountains..."

"That's fine too. I still remember the scenery..."

Looking at Gu Xiaoxia's intoxicated expression as she recalled the past, Li Long wondered if he should get a camera.
After finishing a big bowl of fried dough sticks, Li Long was already sweating. He enjoyed the meal and was very happy.

"There's still half a bowl in the pot. I'll serve it to you..." Gu Xiaoxia said as she stood up after seeing Li Long finish eating.

"I'm full." Li Long stood up and took the bowl to wash it. "That's enough. We ate something on the way."

"Put the dishes down and I'll wash them." Gu Xiaoxia stood up quickly and said, "What dishes are you washing..."

"Just wash and rinse, it's a simple matter." Li Long said, "Eat quickly, you can't eat too fast, but you can't eat too slowly either."

Gu Xiaoxia saw that there was still half a bowl of rice in her bowl, she blushed a little, and quickly lowered her head to eat the rice.

After dinner, it was already getting dark, and Li Long said:

"Then I'll go back first. If you think it's enough, just close the door. Is it safe here?"

"The school workers will patrol at night, and we will also knock on the door at night, so it's safe." said Gu Xiaoxia.

Li Long thought about it and felt that this dormitory was still a bit shabby.

Should we buy a yard in the countryside, or let Gu Xiaoxia take the exam to get into the county?
There is no rush for this.

Fortunately, there is more than one Gu Xiaoxia living in this row of dormitories. If anything happens, others can hear her if she shouts. So Li Long is not too worried.

After saying goodbye to Gu Xiaoxia, Li Long rode his bicycle back. When he was about to reach the next village, Li Long found that the wheat field had already been tidied up.

The most tiring and difficult season of the year is about to begin.

Li Long felt a bit of a headache when he thought about the wheat harvest.

Not only did they have to harvest wheat under the scorching sun, but the wheat awns were also prickly, making it inefficient, and they had to bend over all day, which was comparable to picking cotton by hand in later generations.

Too hard!

(End of this chapter)