Rebirth of Bayi Fishing and Hunting in the Northwest

In the room of the Old Horse.

The departure of Li Junshan and Li Junfeng left the room a little empty. Li Anguo packed his bag, folded and put away the clothes he didn't need, and stuffed some small things he didn't usually use in it, so as not to forget them when he left.

They planned to go back in early January. Although the Chinese New Year was in mid-February, they still had to prepare some things when they returned. Some villagers who had gone out to work in the winter also returned, so they could feel proud of themselves when they returned.

After all, no one wants to walk around at night in fancy clothes.

Li Anguo roughly calculated that the money he earned from this trip plus the money Li Long gave him privately, his savings would almost reach one thousand yuan!
This is a huge sum of money! A huge sum that I have never imagined!
He was already trying hard to think of how to spend the money when he returned, but after much thought, he realized that after deducting the money he planned to spend, there would still be a lot left.

It's really a happy worry - the money is not spent, but it's hard to save. What if the neighbors and relatives find out and come to borrow money?

And it’s not safe!

Just as I was thinking about it, I heard Chen Xingbang asking over there:

"Brother, what are you going to bring back?"

"I don't think I have much to bring." Li Anguo said honestly, "Almost all of these are available in my hometown. Go back and buy some. It's not convenient to bring them with you on the bus."

He experienced it on the trip here. There were so many people on the train that the aisle was full. It was already very inconvenient for everyone to carry a bag. It would be troublesome to carry more things back home! Fortunately, the train did not reverse, otherwise it would be very annoying!

"I think I should still take some." Chen Xingbang made more money than Li Anguo this time. Li Long also gave him some money privately, saying it was pocket money for his nephew.

Chen Xingbang's impression of his brother-in-law was not very good at the beginning, but now he still admires him very much.

You are capable, kind, have your own goals, and your partner seems pretty good now, so you should be very happy in the future.

He didn't tell anyone. He planned to discuss it with his wife when he returned. If everything was fine, he would come back during the New Year and settle down here!
There are so many opportunities to make money in northern Xinjiang, and everyone in this village has a good relationship with each other.

Although there are many relatives in my village, there are also many bad things. Some old customs and habits are really annoying, which restrict people from developing well.

Besides, there is so little land in my hometown, so if I want to make money, I have to go out. If I go to the southeast of the coast, I have no one to rely on and I have to work hard on my own. If I come here, I may not become rich in the end, but if I work hard, I can guarantee that I will live better than in my hometown.

He believed that his elder brother-in-law and younger brother-in-law would definitely help him if his family moved here. As long as he worked hard, his life would definitely be better.

After all, I now have a huge sum of money on me, a sum that I could never imagine in my hometown. I earned it in less than half a year!

It turned out that when I heard my father-in-law talking about how to make money in Northern Xinjiang, I thought he was bragging.

Now, it’s the real deal!
"That's something we need to ask Xiaolong." Li Anguo didn't know that Chen Xingbang had his own plans. He said, "I don't think the things we see on the street are any good."

"I have to ask Xiaolong." Chen Xingbang was thinking about another thing. Should he persuade his father-in-law to move to northern Xinjiang after he returned? With the two of them around, the relationship between his family and his elder and younger brothers-in-law would be connected.

"So when can we buy the tickets? I have to send a telegram home in the next two days. I think it will only be these few days. It's winter in northern Xinjiang and it's getting colder outside." Li Anguo thought for a while and said, "Let's discuss it with my eldest brother tomorrow or the day after tomorrow. Let's go back when we set a time. Anyway, there's nothing to do in the next few days, so it's better to go back early."

He actually missed home, his wife and children.

As the saying goes, a wife, children, and a warm bed are everything. I didn’t have money before, so I tried every way to make money so that I could live a better life.

Now that he has made money, he naturally wants to go back - Li Anguo does not have big ambitions, he just needs some spare money and his wife and children around him.

As they were discussing, they heard voices outside. Li Long and his friends had returned.

As soon as Li Anguo stood up, Li Junfeng and others pushed open the door and walked in, bringing a gust of cold air with them.

"Did you catch any fish?" Chen Xingbang asked with a smile. Even though he had already smelled the fishy smell, he still wanted to know the specific results.

"We caught quite a few." Li Junfeng was very excited. "Not only fish, but we also caught two rabbits today. We sent a small one to Uncle Jianguo, and we'll eat the smaller ones here. Uncle Xiaolong said we'll fry the rabbits and stew the fish and drink some wine later!"

"That would be great!" Chen Xingbang likes excitement. Who doesn't like excitement these days? Entertainment life itself is very scarce these days. It is a very happy thing for many young people to get together.

The two men stood up and walked outside to see how many fish they had caught.

It was getting dark outside. There was a bag of fish leaning against the wall. Chen Xingbang went over to take a look and found that most of them were crucian carp, mixed with some carp, black carp, silver carp, etc.

Tao Daqiang fetched two large basins from the kitchen, poured the bag of fish into them, and began to sort them out. At the current temperature, if the fish were not sorted out in time, they would probably freeze into a whole block of ice in less than an hour.

Li Long said that they could go to the ice hole to fish for an hour or two tomorrow morning, when there should be more fish. After catching them, they could sell them in the county. Compared with the fish in stock before, these fish were considered fresh, and they looked good, so they would definitely be popular.

Li Long and Yang Yongqiang came out of the kitchen with knives. At this time, the rabbit was already frozen hard. They planned to take out some fish, peel them, and stew them in the pot. They planned to thaw the rabbit by the stove first, and then peel it after it softened.

With the young people around, Chen Xingbang and Li Anguo were not responsible for cooking. When Uncle Luo came out and saw the rabbit and fish, he also said happily when he heard Li Long say that he would have two drinks in the evening:
"Okay, okay! With something this good, we should have a couple of drinks!"

The young people gathered together to prepare the feast, and everyone would find a job that suited them. After Li Junshan delivered the rabbit to Li Jianguo's house, he quickly ran back and saw Li Long and Yang Yongqiang preparing the rabbit, Tao Daqiang dividing the fish, and Li Junfeng peeling the fish, and then he went to the kitchen to prepare the ingredients.

Whether stewing fish or stir-frying rabbit, a lot of auxiliary ingredients are needed, such as chili peppers, which need to be soaked in advance.

While preparing the ingredients, Li Junshan was thinking, will he miss the food here when he returns to his hometown?
After all, the cooking method in my hometown is different from that here.

Or maybe I could get some fish or rabbits when I get back and cook a meal for my parents to show off?
When it was completely dark, Uncle Luo added the last feed to the animals in the stable. After they finished eating, he drove the two deer and two roe deer into the warm circle and let down the thick door curtain of the warm circle.

As for the wild boars, they will naturally run to the warm circle when they are cold and do not need too much care - wild boars have thick skin and flesh and are really easy to feed.

Because a lot of chili peppers were used, the kitchen door was half open, and the whole yard was filled with fragrance - as long as you are willing to use oil, the presence of these meaty dishes is enough to make anyone of this era drool.

The dining table was set up in Li Long's room. It was big enough to accommodate so many people. The rabbit and fish were placed in two large plates in the middle of the table. Although it was a bit crowded for eight people to sit, it was lively enough. Each person had a bowl and a cup. On the table was Baiyang Special Liquor, which was a Shicheng wine. The wine of this year was brewed with pure grains.

Everyone was seated and looked at Li Long.

Li Long did not refuse, he raised the glass of wine and said:

"Today is not a festival, but we are happy to sit together. Before last year, no one would have thought that we could eat so well in the winter and live so well. We drank this first glass of wine, hoping that our lives will get better and better in the future!"

The words were simple, but they touched everyone's heart. Yang Yongqiang and Tao Daqiang, who didn't drink much and thought of just taking a sip or drinking half a glass, raised their glasses with trembling hands this time.

Li Long stood up when he raised his glass while speaking, and everyone stood up. Tao Daqiang even knocked over his stool when he stood up. No one laughed at him. Everyone tried hard to raise their glasses, clinked them together, and drank the wine in them.

Yes, a year ago, no matter whether it was these four people who came from the village or these four people who had lived in the village, who could have imagined that there would be such great changes in this year and that life would become so good?

Isn't this worth a drink?

The cup was 50 grams and the liquor was 50% alcohol. After drinking it, Tao Daqiang and Li Junshan's faces turned red immediately.

"Let's eat some food first." Li Long pointed to four large plates and said, "There is enough food for today, and there is more in the pot. It's nothing new to us, but to be honest, it's all good stuff. Eat, pick up your chopsticks!" He didn't let Uncle Luo speak, he took the lead today and directed everyone to pick up their chopsticks.

Uncle Luo was not angry at all because Li Long was young and made the decision. He put down his wine glass, watched Yang Yongqiang fill it for him, smiled and wiped his mouth and said:

"I'm an old man, but I never thought that life would change so much in just one year. Xiaolong, I owe you so much."

"Yes, yes." Yang Yongqiang also said so. Although he followed Li Long relatively late, in the last one or two months of this year, the money he made was beyond imagination.

Tao Daqiang didn't say anything. He was the first one to follow Li Long and thought he had benefited the most. He felt that there was no need to say anything between him and Li Long. He would just do whatever Li Long asked him to do. This kind of thinking-free approach was most suitable for him.

Even his wife, after knowing what happened that year, said that he met a good person.

"The fish is good, really fresh... I'll do the same when I get home." Li Anguo said as he ate the fish with five black stripes on his chopsticks. "I don't know if I can catch this many fish when I get home."

"That's definitely not possible." Chen Xingbang waved his hands. "It would be difficult to deal with you even if we caught you. Where would we get so much firewood? How could we burn fires so freely in our hometown like in northern Xinjiang? The grass on the edge of the field has been taken back by each family."

He has been comparing the situation in his hometown with that here. There are many people in his hometown, and it is lively. There is a market in the township every ten days. Although the market is not crowded, it is at least much more lively than here.

Moreover, as it is approaching the twelfth lunar month, many people in my hometown village have started to roll their own firecrackers. The sound of firecrackers can be heard in the village from time to time, and it is so loud.

At this time of year, I would often visit my family members in my hometown, with my sleeves rolled up. It wasn't that cold outside, and even if there was snow, it was only a thin layer. There was a thin layer of ice on the river, so it couldn't even freeze.

When winter comes here, it is really inconvenient to travel and there are few people, but to be honest, it feels reassuring to have a bag of money in your arms!

He had an urge to spend the money. He was already planning to spend it on his children at the fairs and markets in his hometown.

In the past, spending a few dollars at the market was considered generous, but now? I don’t even care about that little money!

However, it is not easy to earn a few cents in my hometown!
The difference is huge!

There are so many differences that it is impossible to compare them one by one.

"That's right." Li Anguo was stunned for a moment, thinking about the environment in his hometown, shook his head and sighed: "I really want to live here. Some things in my hometown are really inconvenient..."

"Should we persuade our parents to come over?" Chen Xingbang took the opportunity to say, "It's not easy to raise people in our hometown in winter."

"Go back and ask Dad." Li Anguo also thought that it might be better to let the old man come here. It was obvious that after coming to Northern Xinjiang, both Dad and Mom were in a much better mood.

While eating and chatting, Li Junfeng, as an experienced person, would occasionally tease Tao Daqiang who had just got married.

Li Junshan suddenly asked Li Long:
"Uncle Xiaolong, are you getting married next year?"

"Well, it will be settled next year. If you come over in the spring of next year, you can help me build the house." Li Long said half-jokingly, "You can all be skilled workers. I see you brought all the tools. If you can't use them this time, you can use them next time."

"Hey, let's come over after the New Year." Li Junfeng was determined to come over. Although he didn't get the construction job this time, to be honest, the money he earned was no less than that of the construction job.

As for helping Li Long build a house, that's what I should do.

Li Junshan was a little hesitant. He would definitely go back for a blind date, but then what? He didn't have enough money to build a new house. The rules in his hometown were different. If he wanted to get married, he could get a new piece of land for his house. Plus the materials, it would cost a lot of money. He already had a lot of money, but if he wanted to get married, he still needed a lot.

Before Li Junshan could figure it out, the topic had already turned to something else.

Li Anguo advised Li Long to get things done as soon as possible and have a child, saying that he should persuade his parents to come over and help take care of the child. However, Chen Xingbang did not say that. He said:

"If Xiaolong really marries that girl from the Gu family, he might not want me to take care of the child. How can I take care of the child in that situation? They live in the city, so they must have higher requirements for taking care of children..."

The two people almost started arguing about this, but Li Long changed the subject and talked about the things he brought for them, which attracted their attention.

"I thought I'd bring you some honey. I got it from the mountains. There must be some in my hometown, but it's hard to find." Li Long said, "Take some for yourselves and bring some for your parents." Li Qingxia died of pulmonary heart disease in his nineties. Li Long wanted them to drink more honey for nourishment.

"As for loose wine, we can get some. Whoever wants it, it's cheap, and the wine is good."

Li Long couldn't give them all away. He wanted to give some to the old man. As for the others, it would be no problem to get a purchase price.

After all, as an employee of the supply and marketing cooperative, I do have this ability.

"I want it." Chen Xingbang said immediately, "Get me a cage." The cage mentioned here is actually that kind of square plastic pot, which comes in three liters, five liters, and ten liters.

"How many liters?" Li Long asked.

"Five liters, please." Chen Xingbang said, "Ten liters is too big to carry, and three liters is not enough."

"it is good."

"I want five liters, too." Li Junshan suddenly said, "My dad likes to drink a little too. The wine here is different from that in my hometown. We can also treat you during the New Year."

Li Junfeng didn't say that he didn't plan to bring any wine back. He didn't particularly like drinking it, and his old man didn't like it very much either.

You can bring more honey.

Everyone has their own thoughts, and the topic changes from time to time when drinking. Tao Daqiang and Yang Yongqiang plan to go to the ice cave to catch fish tomorrow morning, so they didn't drink much. Lao Shu Luo was thinking that Li Anguo and Chen Xingbang were leaving, and then he and Li Long would be left in the stable. Li Long often ran back and forth, and he was lonely. Today he felt a little sad, drank a little too much and was a little anxious. After a while, Li Junshan helped him go back to sleep.

Uncle Luo's departure did not affect the drinking. Instead, it made everyone feel that today's gathering was even more rare. Although there was no finger-guessing game, everyone clinked their glasses.

They were all young people, some of them had some minor conflicts and some small knots in their hearts, but once they drank the wine and talked, they didn't care about anything. The dishes on the table were eaten quickly, and the wine in the bottle was also drunk quickly. Li Junshan went out to vomit once, and came back to continue drinking.

He was originally a sullen person, but in this situation, he seemed to talk more than Li Junfeng. He held Li Long's arm and spoke his own thoughts and contradictory ideas - he wanted to come, but the situation at home was more complicated, and he was not sure whether he could come back in the early spring of next year.

As he was talking, Li Junshan actually shed a tear. Some things can easily make a person sick if kept to himself for too long.

Li Long was just a bystander, feeling the complexity of it.

Every family has its own problems, just like Tao Daqiang. Now he has even started to drag Li Junfeng into a drinking contest. Can you believe he is like this all the time?

The meal actually gave me psychological comfort, so I was quite satisfied.

When the show was over, except for Uncle Luo, everyone else was basically still sober. They helped clean up the scene and opened the door to dissipate the smell of alcohol. Tao Daqiang and Yang Yongqiang helped each other back. Although Li Long drank quite a bit, he still kept reminding them to be careful on the road.

Safety first. (End of this chapter)