Rebirth of Bayi Fishing and Hunting in the Northwest

The barber cut the old man's hair very carefully and even shaves his face at the end. Li Long was not in a hurry. He sat in the chair, feeling a little drowsy.

The main reason was that he was too tired yesterday. Li Long wondered if he could be ranked first if there was a WeChat step count ranking list now?

Oh, that's impossible. Li Junfeng and his idiots are ranked higher. After all, they have to walk ten more kilometers to get home than me.

Thinking about those guys who walked 40,000 or 50,000 steps and appeared on the rankings in later generations, it seemed magical at the time. How could they walk so much? Now think about it, if steps were counted in this era, most adults in rural areas would probably walk more than 30,000 steps a day, right?

Haha, no wonder in later generations, elderly people in their seventies and eighties in rural areas can still work in the fields, but once they stop working, they immediately become listless.

Life is really about movement—not absolutely.

While I was daydreaming, the old man's hair had been cut. The barber carefully wiped off the loose hair with a towel and handed him a mirror:

"Master Wang, do you think it's ok?"

"Okay, of course I can do it. I'm very satisfied with your haircut." Master Wang stood up, patted his hair, took out a roll of change from his pocket, counted out two cents and handed it to the barber: "Here, give me the money."

"Okay." The barber took the money, reminded the old man to put on his hat, smiled and sent him to the door, then looked at Li Long:
"Young comrade, what kind of hairstyle do you want?"

"Shorter." Li Long wanted to say buzz cut, but it seemed that there was no such term at that time. "Let's go with a crew cut. Or Master, please tell me what hairstyle suits me best."

"Okay... come sit over here and let me take a look."

Li Long sat in the barber chair. The barber wrapped a cloth around him, looked at Li Long's head and said:

"My dear little comrade, your head is not round, and it is not easy to cut it with a short flat head. I will cut it shorter to suit your head shape, okay?"

"Okay." Li Long didn't have high requirements - as long as it wasn't the traitor hairstyle that is popular nowadays, the kind with a few points, he seemed to be quite satisfied with it in his previous life, but looking back on it a few decades later, it would be really stupid.

You don't have to completely conform to the trend of the times. Since you have a second life, you have the right to plan your life independently to a certain extent, such as deciding on your hairstyle.

When Li Long came out of the barber shop and found someone nearby looking at his head shape curiously, he said this to himself silently and put on his hat immediately after he finished speaking.

Seeing that it was getting late, he returned to the big yard, packed some meat and divided it into two bags. He prepared to take one bag to the supply and marketing cooperative to give to Li Xiangqian, and take the other bag to the small yard where Yang Xiulan lived and put it there as meat for Gu Xiaoxia's daily lunch.

At least from the current point of view, the mother and daughter are still very grateful, which makes Li Long very satisfied. No one wants the result of their rescue to be like "Mr. Dongguo and the wolf" or "the farmer and the snake". These days, most people are still quite simple.

Arriving at the supply and marketing cooperative, Li Long saw that the snow in the yard had been cleared and there were trucks at the door transporting the snow out. Li Long greeted two acquaintances and then entered the yard.

The young security guard stopped blocking him because he knew he was one of their own.

Li Long came to Li Xiangqian's office. The door was half open and a mixture of warm air, a faint smell of coal smoke and cigarettes blew in his face.

Li Xiangqian was listening to the radio. Seeing Li Long at the door, he said with some surprise:
"How come you have time to come here? Aren't you staying at home for the winter?"

"I hunted some game in the mountains, and I'm bringing some to you."

"Hey? What are these?" Li Xiangqian stood up and looked at what Li Long was holding curiously.

"This bag is yours." Li Long put the bag of meat for Li Xiang on the table, "Deer meat and wolf meat. This time I got rid of a wolf pack and got a lot of wolf meat. It is said that this meat is very nutritious. Deer meat is from male deer, and you need to add more spices when cooking it. Male deer meat is also nutritious, but it is a bit smelly."

"Haha, I'm not afraid." Li Xiangqian took the meat with some joy. "Not bad, not bad. It seems that you have taken another step towards becoming a veteran hunter. You can kill a pack of wolves. Tell me about it?"

Li Xiangqian is not good at hunting, but he likes stories like this. Li Long looked at the time and saw that there was still some time before lunch, so he came in and wanted to open the window to let in some fresh air, but there was a plastic sheet nailed outside the window and he couldn't open it, so he had to give up.

Sitting on a wooden chair, Li Long recounted the story of a man fighting a pack of wolves alone - he had told it before, so it was much smoother to tell it now, and he could also polish it a little. Li Xiangqian felt very satisfied after listening to it, and he only regretted that he could not participate in person.

"Alas, I'm a busy man, otherwise I would have lived with you in the mountains for a while." Li Xiangqian sighed, "This hunting life is really something I yearn for. It seems that your choice at that time was right. If you don't have a regular staff, you will be a free man, you can come and go as you please. At least when it comes to hunting, if you are still a regular staff, you won't be so free!"

"Section Chief, don't get too excited." Li Long waved his hand. "I told you all the things you like to hear, but think about it. Just to fight these six wolves, I spent several days running back and forth. I felt like I had run fifty or sixty kilometers. How tiring it must be! You should just stay in the office. This job is really not suitable for you!"

"Okay, okay, that sounds good." Li Xiangqian knew hunting was not easy, so he smiled and said, "Are you going this winter?"

"I'll go again after New Year's Day if I'm free." Li Long said honestly, "I want to get a tractor in the spring and buy a TV. I have to save money for this."

"Then you have to work hard. Just hunting... it will take a long time to sell the skins. How much did you sell the skins for this time?"

"I didn't sell it." Li Long sighed, "I shot a lynx skin, but Comrade Chen from the purchasing station was not here. The newcomers didn't know the value of it and insisted that it was a fox skin. They also blamed me for not keeping the lynx's head... I thought its teeth were beautiful, so I pried them out, and the head looked ugly. Moreover, I shot it in the head with a gun and broke it, and the skin on the head was rotten, so I didn't want it..."

"What? Wait a minute, what did you hit?" Li Xiangqian stood up and looked at Li Long and asked:
"Lynx? You said you shot a lynx?"

"Yes." Li Long said, "In fact, not all of them were shot. There was a heavy snow in the mountains. I found the wolf's internal organs in the snow and got them..."

"Is the leather still there?"

"Yes."

"Bring it to me... No, no, come on, take me to see it!" Li Xiangqian was a little anxious. "It's a good thing you said it, otherwise I would have missed it... Come on, come on!"

Li Xiangqian hurriedly pulled Li Long out, and Li Long hurriedly reminded him:
"Captain, put on your coat and hat. It's quite cold outside..."

"Yes, yes, yes." Li Xiangqian was a little anxious, but he quickly calmed down. As if to ease the anxiety and embarrassment just now, he pointed at the other bag in Li Long's hand and asked:

"What's in here?"

"I found a place to eat with my partner. I plan to bring some meat over there so that we can have meat at noon and in the evening." "Not bad, not bad. Now that you mention it, I have to take the meat with me." Li Xiangqian picked up the bag of meat that Li Long gave him, and hurried out with Li Long in his hands, walking very quickly.

The two men arrived at the big yard, and Li Xiangqian urged Li Long to take out the leather so that he could see it.

"Chief, you'd better come with me and take a look." The skins were in the east wing, where there were many things, skins, meat, Codonopsis pilosula that had not been sold out in the fall, some Fritillaria prepared for personal use, deer whips, roe deer whips, deer heads and antlers, yellow sheep horns, etc.

"Wow, you have a lot of good stuff here!" Li Xiangqian took a glance, sighed, and then looked at the pile of leather.

“Is this lynx skin?”

The piece of leather on top immediately attracted Li Xiangqian.

"Yes, this is the one. The leather is intact. The gun shot only hit the head, but no other parts were injured." Li Long said with great pride, "The other leathers are mostly a bit damaged, but this one is relatively intact."

"Well, let me see." Li Xiangqian picked up the leather. The leather had not been tanned, it was very hard, and it was just coated with a layer of salt to prevent insects. In fact, there was little point in preventing insects in winter, but it was a habitual operation.

"This leather is really good... That person is really an amateur. He even thought it was fox fur?" Li Xiangqian looked at the leather from top to bottom, inside and outside, and then sighed, "It feels so comfortable. This is still untanned. If it is tanned and made into fur, the feeling will be..."

Li Long thought, maybe you are also an outsider, but to be honest, this leather feels better than the wolf skin. I don't know if it is a psychological effect or a physical effect. Maybe it is because things are rare and valuable?

"Sell me this leather." Li Xiangqian held on to the leather and refused to let go. "I know a little about the price of leather. This leather is not cheap, but we have a good relationship. Don't even think about asking me for a high price. One thousand yuan, and I'll take the leather."

"It's too expensive." Li Long waved his hands hastily. I was scratched by a lynx in July and August. I asked Lao Chen at the time, and he said that if they bought lynx skin, it would cost about 600 to 700 yuan..."

"Haha," Li Xiangqian was somewhat satisfied with Li Long's honesty, he said with a smile, "You don't know this. Once the market is opened up, everything will go up in price. In the past, it was the government that bought it, and the price was fixed, whatever price was given was the price. Now, private individuals can buy it too, and merchants from the south come to us to buy good things, so the price goes up all of a sudden. If you want to sell this leather to Lao Chen, it's about this price. Of course, with Lao Chen's authority, he can sell it higher, but if you meet a merchant from the mainland, let alone one thousand, it might be fifteen hundred... This thing is not easy to deal with!"

"Then I won't be polite." Li Long and Li Xiangqian were also not polite, "Section Chief, you can take it."

"Well, I'll take advantage of you." Li Xiangqian was really happy. He had a great use for this leather. Of course, there were some things that he didn't need to tell Li Long now. This was good for him. If it was done, it would also be good for Li Long in the future.

Now the more Li Xiangqian looks at Li Long, the happier he is. This Li Long is his lucky star!
You have to be nicer to this kid in the future. If there is a mission, you can think about this first and see which good things are for you first. This friendship is extraordinary!
"Okay, come on, follow me to get the money," Li Xiangqian said, "and then you can go about your business. I won't treat you to dinner today. I have something else to do."

"Don't worry about the money for now." Li Long looked at the time and saw that it was almost time for lunch.

"Okay, take the money. That way you can rest assured and I won't feel any worry." Li Xiangqian retorted, "Friendship is friendship, money is money. Okay, let's go. There are some things in your room that I miss, but I don't have enough money. We'll talk about it later."

Li Long picked up a roe deer whip from the side and handed it to Li Xiangqian:
"How about this?"

"Okay." Li Xiangqian smiled happily, "You are born to be a businessman!"

After getting the money from Li Xiangqian, Li Long carried his bag and went to the small courtyard on Wuinan Road.

It was time to get off work and Gu Xiaoxia had already arrived.

For lunch, we had rice, some stir-fried vegetables - shredded potatoes, braised pork with dried beans, and a soup.

Seeing Gu Xiaoxia, Yang Xiulan and Han Fang waiting for him at the table, Li Long put his bag aside and explained:

"I originally planned to come early, but someone wanted to buy skins on the way, so I wasted some time. Sister, this bag contains meat brought back from the mountains, wolf meat, venison, and wild boar meat. You can cook it and eat it normally."

"Well... I'm not very good at making it." Yang Xiulan was just a farmer in her hometown and had never made these things.

"It's okay, just cook it like normal meat. Rinse it a few times before cooking. Game has a strong fishy smell, so add more seasoning to reduce it." Li Long explained, "You need to gain weight in the winter, so eat more meat."

After he said that, Yang Xiulan had no objection.

Li Long was hungry and ate two bowls of rice. There were a lot of dishes, so some were left over.

After dinner, Li Long and Gu Xiaoxia rested for a while and then went out together. Li Long sent Gu Xiaoxia to the entrance of the Education Bureau and then returned to the big yard.

Gu Xiaoxia simply cleaned the snow in the yard. Since she had to go to work, she didn't do much.

Li Long was not very sleepy after dinner. He went to find tools and started clearing the snow.

The yard was too big, so he first cleared the snow on the road outside the yard and swept it into the ditches on both sides. The snow on the road had been compacted, so it had to be shoveled away with a shovel - Li Long swept the easy-to-remove snow first, then went back to the yard and swept the snow into piles.

How should I put it, living in a yard is indeed quite nice. There is flat ground right outside the door, which is down to earth and you can plant some things. But the downside is that it snows heavily in winter, and clearing the snow is a big hassle.

It would be fine if the yard was small, but if the yard was big, it would take several days just to clear the snow and you wouldn’t be able to do anything else.

Fortunately, the pace of life is slow now. Li Long has spent a few days in the mountains and has a limit on hunting. This time he comes back to work. Although it is a bit tiring, it feels good.

After working for two hours, the snow in the front yard was piled together into five piles. Li Long put down his tools and planned to take a break before transporting the snow out.

When he was about to go to the kitchen to drink water, there was a knock on the door, and then a familiar voice sounded.

"Is Comrade Li Long home?"

This is Lao Chen.

Li Long immediately realized that Lao Chen might have known that he had sold leather before. (End of this chapter)