Rebirth of Bayi Fishing and Hunting in the Northwest

When Liang Dongting left, most of the truckload of watermelons had been sold.

Thanks to Li Long, every household has some cash this year for making bamboo poles and big brooms, as well as digging Cynomorium songaricum. Besides, they can still spare a few yuan. A kilogram of watermelon costs three cents, and fifty kilograms costs only one yuan and fifty cents.

Although there are not many households in the team, they know that the watermelons are grown in the wild, and Liang Dongting directly pounded several watermelons next to the truck for everyone to taste. The watermelons are indeed good. Who would not buy more after eating them?
You take half a sack and I take one sack, and now most of the watermelons have been unloaded.

"I never thought that the melons I sold on the way from the wild field were less than one-third of what your team sold!" Liang Dongting said with emotion, "The people in your team are really rich."

"Hehe." Li Qingxia originally wanted to praise Li Long, but he held back and didn't say it.

"Okay, the melons are almost sold out, I have to hurry back today." Liang Dongting said, "Brother, when you have time to go to the wild field later, I will greet you and I guarantee you will be satisfied!"

"Okay." Li Qingxia said, "I'll definitely go there when I have time."

The truck left, and Li Long said:
"I'm going to the stable to rest for a while, and I'll come back to cast the nets in the afternoon."

"Go quickly, you are exhausted today." Liang Yuemei said, "It is all thanks to you."

Without Li Long, she would not know when she would come back to cook. After all, Du Chunfang could not manage this big pot of rice. It can be seen today that Liang Dongting is very satisfied.

The truck left Weihu Lake and saw someone holding a sack in front of him. Liang Dongting was a little puzzled. After the truck stopped, before he could say anything, he heard the person in front ask:

"Are you selling watermelons? Are you selling watermelons from the wild?"

"Yes."

“Let’s buy melons.”

Liang Dongting was overjoyed, and then he understood. They must have heard the shouting from the loudspeaker, and they must do the business that came to their doorstep.

Li Long went out to set up the nets in the afternoon. When he came back, someone brought some Cynomorium songaricum to him, so he naturally took some.

At this time, Shanli Halimu and his men came to the winter den on horseback.

They had already been to Li Long's cabin, and the door was locked.

"With Li Long not here, the naan we brought with us is only enough to last until tomorrow," a young man said to Halim, "Brother, what do you think we should do?"

"We'll wait for two days. If Li Long doesn't come, we'll go down the mountain to exchange leather. Isn't that what we did in previous years?"

"I did this in previous years, but now that I have Li Long, I feel like I'm losing out. I could have exchanged for more things, but in the end I only got so little."

"Don't talk so much. Let's wait two days. Maybe Li Long will go up the mountain. Then we can give the skins and antlers to him, and the rest we just need to collect grass." Halimu was not very worried. He came back with a gun. At most he could go hunting or something and bring back some animals to eat.

It’s not that they don’t know where the county town is, but except for Halimu who knows Chinese and is more convenient to communicate in, the others only know a few simple words at most and subconsciously don’t want to communicate with more people.

At this time, they are accustomed to living in their own circle and in their own way, and do not want to be disturbed by the outside world.

Even though young people are curious about the outside world, they have their own way of doing things. Unless they go to school or have great perseverance to break out on their own, they rarely break out of this circle.

Around the 1920s, tourism in northern Xinjiang became very popular, with tens of thousands of people flocking to some places. They discovered that restaurants run by locals, especially those run by ethnic minorities, had a very weak sense of service.

This is actually quite normal. Normally they only receive a dozen or even a few people a day. Regular customers are used to doing things on their own and have a tacit understanding of what to do.

How is it possible to serve hundreds or even thousands of people who suddenly come here?

The waiters were all confused!
At the beginning, they had no idea what the so-called service awareness was, because a small area, a small range, or even a local restaurant, is itself a circle with little mobility.

Of course, as more people come, more things are seen, more things are talked about, and more money is earned, some service awareness has improved.

But more often than not, these internet celebrity check-in spots are contracted out by capital, and then the locals go there to graze their livestock on the summer pastures. The houses are bought by capital and turned into homestays or check-in spots.

For example, Huanghuang Village and Hemu Village - there are more outsiders than locals.

In the 1980s, it was difficult for them to accept people from outside their circle to join. Once they accepted, they would trust them very much and give them almost unconditional services. Of course, when they asked you to do something, they would never hide anything and would say it directly.

They tied up the horses, and two of them went to the pasture with sickles to cut two large bundles of grass to share with the horses. Halimu and his men had already fetched water, boiled it in the enamel basin they brought, and ate it with naan.

The next day, after selling fish, Liang Yuemei prepared lunch. The wheat was finally harvested, and the next step was to sell the wheat straw. The wheat heads and tails were distributed among the families. The next harvest was the oil sunflowers, which would take some time.

There will be less housework and more free time.

"The steamed dried meat from yesterday was really delicious." At the dinner table, Li Qingxia was still talking about yesterday's events. "I think my dear brother enjoyed the meal very much."

"Dried meat is delicious. Besides, who eats meat like we do these days? My uncle probably hasn't eaten meat for a while. The pot has been served, how can we not eat it?" Liang Yuemei said with a smile, "Xiaolong's way of eating meat requires meat to be available."

"Well, we have to send some of this meat to our in-laws when we have time." Li Qingxia said, "Xiaolong, can you still get this meat?"

"Why not?" Li Long also boasted, "We should be able to do it in two days in the mountains. Then I'll go after I sell the fish tomorrow?"

"Let's go." Li Qingxia said, "We can sell fish together. Does anyone else want to buy your Cynomorium songaricum?"

"It's too little. There can't always be Cynomorium songaricum on the alkali beach. I've collected two or three tons these days. The roof of the old horse is full. But it doesn't matter. I'll leave the money to Uncle Luo and ask him to help me weigh it."

For some reason, Li Long also felt that he needed to go into the mountains.

"Do you have enough bullets?" Li Jianguo asked. "If not, I'll find you some."

"There are still quite a few left." Li Long said, "They can be used for a while."

The next day he got up early again, set up the nets, selected fish and sold them. After finishing these things, Li Long came back and put the basins, scales and other things in the yard. He washed the bag and clamped it on the back of the bicycle, which was to be used to pack the meat.

He also brought a rope, pushed the cart out of the yard, locked the door, and went to the big meat canteen.

It was not yet time for dinner, so he bought four steamed buns and four steamed buns to take with him. For the rest of the food, he would have to rely on the limited supplies in the wooden house.

Ever since he discovered that those animals liked to take hot springs, Li Long felt that this was equivalent to finding a fixed hunting spot.

After all, I have a fixed hunting spot, so I don’t have to run around looking for wild boars, roe deer and deer. I don’t have a dog, and all my herdsman friends have gone up the mountain, so it’s not easy to hunt prey.

It was already noon when Li Long arrived at the wooden house.

He was not in a hurry. He put his bicycle into the small room, locked the door, and walked around while eating buns.

I originally wanted to pick some mushrooms, but ended up seeing horse manure and large horse hoof prints.

Has anyone been here?

Li Long suddenly became alert. Who could be riding over here at this time? From the forestry team?
It was normal for the forestry team to patrol the mountains at this time. After all, the grass had slowly started to wither and turn yellow. If there was a wildfire, it would burn more than just the mountain. He checked the rooms, big and small, and the doors were all locked and not damaged.

Don’t these people have any ideas about their own wooden house?
Li Long was just guessing.

He put the matter aside and since everything was peaceful, he just ignored it.

After eating the buns, Li Long took the rope and bag and went to the hot spring. His idea was that if he could encounter a wild beast now, he would kill it directly. If he couldn't, he would come back early tomorrow morning.

It's only two or three days, and if you can't find the hot spring, then look somewhere else.

As he walked and looked along the way, Li Long discovered that it had rained here some time ago. Although some mushrooms appeared, there were no black tiger paw mushrooms.

It’s next season indeed.

Occasionally you can see late-blooming wild strawberries, just one or two here and there, but they aren’t growing very well.

Li Long walked through the mountains and when he came to the hot spring ditch, he saw that the water level had decreased a little.

He couldn't help but worry, if the water level was lower and there wasn't so much water in the pool, would those wild beasts come here to take a hot spring bath again?

With this question in mind, Li Long walked all the way to the hot spring pool.

No animals.

He held the gun and walked carefully around each pool. The water in the pool was less, about two-thirds of the original amount. After all, each pool needed enough water before it could flow into the next pool.

Li Long found some feces by the pond, which looked like sheep dung and was a bit dry. It should have been from three or five days ago.

It should be gone now. He looked up at the sky. There was still some time before the sun set. Li Long thought about lying in ambush in the mountains and waiting. Maybe he would get something.

He returned to the woods where he had ambushed the wolves, found a clean place to sit down, and stared blankly at the spot holding his gun.

There were mushrooms nearby, but Li Long didn't know them very well. There were too many things he didn't know in the mountains, so he didn't dare to take any risks.

It's not necessary either.

Not far in front of him, there was a Codonopsis pilosula plant. The plant was not big and the flowers had already faded. Li Long felt that the bottom was only as thick as a finger.

He remembered that when he traveled to Zhaosu, Yili, the pickles in the small shops there were pickled with Codonopsis pilosula, and they were not expensive. But he didn't think they were particularly delicious, and there was a bit of bitterness, but of course the food was good.

Should I also dig some small ones, wash them, dry them, and have my sister-in-law pickle them?
While he was daydreaming, the sun slowly set. Li Long looked at his watch. It was almost nine o'clock, so there should be no animals coming. So he stood up and walked back with his gun on his back.

When we walked back to the cabin, the sun had already set behind the mountain and the air was getting cooler. Li Long fetched some firewood and started a fire, then went to get some straw mushrooms. At this time, most of the wild vegetables had already started to wither and turn yellow, and only the mushrooms could still grow.

After washing the mushrooms in the spring, Li Long planned to make some mushroom soup, then steam the buns, and heat up the braised meat. It would definitely taste delicious if the meat was placed in the buns.

That was my thought, but right after I finished washing the mushrooms, I heard the sound of horse hooves.

When they turned around, they saw three horses rushing over. When they saw the fire, someone shouted loudly.

"Li Long, Li Long!"

Li Long heard a familiar voice, it was Halimu.

He put down the mushroom bowl and watched the horse rush to stop not far in front of him. Halimu jumped off the horse, came over and gave him a hug with a smile.

"Why are you back? Did something happen in the mountains?" Li Long hugged the three people one by one and asked.

"No, no, it's nothing. We came down the mountain to collect grass. The grass here needs to be removed so that the grass that grows back will be good for cattle and sheep to eat." Halimu explained, "We have to collect grass here for the winter."

Li Long understood.

They go to the summer pasture to graze, and the grass in the winter pasture can continue to grow. When it grows to a similar height, it is directly cut and used as winter grazing grass. After cutting, the grass can grow again, although it is not high enough, but it is enough for winter grazing.

"Are you just a few of you?" Li Long was a little confused.

"No, no, no, every family has one. They are living in their winter homes, and the rest of us are here because we need your help."

"We came here yesterday." Another young man said, "We have already eaten all the naan we brought. If you hadn't come, we might have gone hungry..."

Li Long smiled. It was impossible for him to be hungry. After all, he cut grass every year and he had only known him this year. How could he be hungry?
I just hope to trade those skins myself.

This is a trust.

"So what do you need? Rice? Noodles? Brick tea, sugar cubes, and anything else?"

"I need oil."

"As for the matches, we have none left."

"There's also wine, can you get some..."

"Pa!" A young man just mentioned the word "wine" and was slapped by Halimu. He glared at the man:
"Don't you want to live anymore?"

The young man smiled awkwardly: "Just kidding..."

Li Long smiled.

It seems that these people are quite convinced by Halimu.

"Okay, I'll go down the mountain early tomorrow morning and should be able to bring some rice and flour up at noon, and other things as well. It should take you a long time to cut grass, so I'll bring it up gradually... Do you want one of you to come down the mountain with me?"

"No, no, you can make more trips." Halimu said as a matter of course, "We are not in a hurry, our main task is to cut grass. We are relieved when you come. We will start cutting grass tomorrow morning. When you bring the rice and flour up, put it at my winter nest. It would be best if I am here, otherwise you can just put it at the door."

Li Long nodded, and the matter was settled.

As for how much the skins and antlers that Halimu and his companions brought were worth, no one asked and no one paid attention.

They believed in Li Long and Li Long believed in them.

"Then let's go back." Halimu and the others got on their horses, "You should get some rest early."

As the sound of horse hooves faded away, Li Long continued to wash the mushrooms. Although his appetite had decreased due to excitement, he knew he still had to eat, otherwise he would have to toss and turn if he was hungry in the middle of the night. (End of this chapter)