Rebirth of Bayi Fishing and Hunting in the Northwest

Li Long didn't expect that his second brother and brother-in-law planned to come and settle down.

He once again changed the life trajectory of some people.

But Li Long was worried about the outside world at the moment, because it snowed heavily for a whole day and night.

As soon as the day broke and the snow stopped, Li Long left the house of Lao Mahao and started shoveling snow. He shoveled the snow once when it was halfway through the day yesterday, and once again before dark, so although the snow outside was thick now, the snow in the yard was only a foot thick and easy to shovel.

Uncle Luo was cooking in the kitchen. He heard the noise, pushed the door open, took a look, smiled, and continued to do his own thing.

If I lived here by myself, it might take me a whole day to clear all the snow.

Li Longting missed the time when his second brother and his wife were together. They shoveled snow very quickly.

He was using a large push snowboard that had been nailed on in the fall. The ground in the yard of Lao Mahao was relatively flat, so pushing the snowboard was easier. Even so, when Uncle Luo called him, he had only finished pushing one-third of the way.

Fortunately, the snow was pushed outside when we cleared the snow yesterday. The terrain of Lao Mahao is relatively high, much higher than the surrounding areas, so the snow can be pushed outside and piled in the wasteland on both sides, without the need for secondary cleaning.

After breakfast, Uncle Luo went to feed the guys in the pen, Li Long pushed the rest of the snow, and then went to his eldest brother's house.

Li Jianguo and Liang Yuemei were shoveling snow. Li Jianguo and Liang Yuemei used push boards, Li Juan used a shovel, and Li Qiang, who was small, used a wooden shovel.

With Li Long's help, the snow in the yard was quickly cleared, and a path was cleared at the door. Each family pushed a section of the snow on the road in front of their door. Lu Yingming, Tietou and others also came out and cleared the snow from the two houses side by side and pushed it into the ditch on the side of the road.

By the time I finished all these tasks, it was almost twelve o'clock.

Every winter, snow clearing is a big deal, not only in rural areas but also in cities.

Li Long was thinking that Gu Xiaoxia probably didn't have time to clear the snow in the yard now. He could wait until he took Tao Daqiang and the others to sell fish and then clear it when they came back.

Is Sister Yang Xiulan also clearing the snow?

As his thoughts wandered and then came back, Li Long heard his elder brother Li Jianguo chatting with Lu Yingming:
"It snowed so heavily, the wheat harvest should be good next year."

"That should be it. This year the wheat is covered with three layers of quilts, and next year we can sleep on steamed buns. This snow will make the fields in good condition next year."

"Xiaolong, you guys can't catch the fish in a short time. It's snowing all day and the ice must have been broken badly, right?" Lu Yingming looked at Li Long again.

If there was something going on in the team, the news would spread quickly. After all, there were no other entertainment activities in the winter, and any small disturbance would spread quickly throughout the village. So everyone knew about Li Long and his team's fishing.

"It's okay. It won't freeze much in a day. We'll go over and take a look in the afternoon. It's snowing heavily now. The reeds are covered, and the fish under the water are even more short of oxygen. But on a snowy day, it's the best time to pry rabbits."

"Uncle Xiaolong, are you going to chase rabbits? Can you take me with you?" Lu Jia Tietou asked hopefully.

"No, it's too tiring. I plan to go get some condoms this afternoon. This is easier."

The traps that were set earlier must have been covered by the snow, so Li Long planned to set new traps. On a snowy day, most of the food that rabbits can eat is covered, so they need to find food again. The new marks left at this time are the best time to set traps.

Li Long had lunch at his eldest brother's house. While Li Jianguo and his friends were pushing snow off the road, Liang Yuemei was already at home preparing to cook. In winter, the main thing for ordinary people is to stay at home, or visit other people, but in the current family situation, each family does not have many houses, so visiting other people also depends on the environment of the house.

The Li family's situation is a bit special, as they also raise pigs and horses, which requires them to prepare at least three more meals for the animals every day.

Fortunately, these things are symbols of wealth. Although "a man of great wealth does not count if he vents his anger", the wealth represented by a horse, a carriage, and a pig is not comparable to that of later generations.

After Li Long had dinner at his eldest brother's house, when he returned to Lao Mahao to prepare the wire sleeves, Tao Daqiang and Yang Yongqiang came over together.

"The Zhao family has gone to Xiaohaizi to continue digging holes in the ice." Yang Yongqiang said as soon as he entered the door, like a gossiper.

"Some people in the team went out to the east, and it was said that they were trying to steal rabbits." Tao Daqiang also told the "intelligence" he had obtained.

"No hurry, get some more rabbit traps, let's go set them first, and then go to the small lake to clear the snow."

There were some fish caught these two days, but less than 100 kilograms. Li Long didn't plan to go to Shicheng just like that. If he wanted to go, he would have to get at least a few hundred kilograms, otherwise it would be troublesome enough to make a trip.

Tao Daqiang and Yang Yongqiang saw Li Long making traps, so they followed suit. Soon, the three of them were heading east to the red willow beach with dozens of rabbit traps.

Just after passing the cultivated land and before reaching the red willow beach, Li Long and his three companions heard loud shouting in the east, and then saw someone running out of the red willow beach, with a jumping gray rabbit in front. The rabbit jumped very high, but it was very strenuous - the snow was too thick, and every time it jumped up, it would sink deeply into the snow when it fell down, and soon the rabbit was caught by the people behind it.

There were four or five people chasing rabbits. Each of them was holding a rabbit in his hand, and some even had two. It was a good harvest.

Seeing Li Long and his group coming, someone shouted:

"Li Long, come chase rabbits with us! There are so many rabbits here!"

"Da Qiang, come quickly and see how much we have made. This stuff is really fat!"

"You guys chase them away, we'll go to the east to set up a trap." Li Long waved his hand. They were all in the same team, and no matter how their relationship was, now that they took the initiative to greet each other, they naturally had to respond well.

Seeing that Li Long and his friends did not join, the other people felt a little disappointed. This rabbit chasing activity is not just about chasing rabbits, it is also an entertainment activity. Shouting and screaming can release stress, and running can also vent excess energy. In this era, amateur cultural life is really rare and boring. Occasionally chasing a rabbit can be regarded as a way to adjust the body and mind.

Li Long had experienced too much in his previous life, and his threshold for entertainment activities was too high. Ordinary activities could hardly impress him. Only reading, which had no upper or lower limits regardless of the era, could satisfy him.

After all, we are not married yet.

The three of them first went to find the original rabbit traps - to Li Long's surprise, these traps were not all empty, and three of them contained rabbits, which were buried under the snow.

Carrying the rabbits and retrieving the traps that had been pressed under the snow, Li Long and his companions continued to walk eastward until they reached the easternmost part of Hongliu Beach, where there was a large dry ditch, three or four hundred meters wide and stretching for dozens of kilometers. Floods pass through here every year, and after the floods, the weeds and shrubs here become lush. Although it had just snowed, there were many rabbit footprints here, scattered in all directions, and extremely clear, and it was obvious that they were made today.

Just in time for the condom.

This place is remote. Less than a kilometer to the east is the Huoke Highway, and there are no villages within several kilometers to the south or north. Three or four kilometers east of the highway is the Corps' company, and few people come here. It is a perfect place to set a trap.

But it’s quite far from home, the straight-line distance is nearly three kilometers.

After carrying the three rabbits back to the village, the three of them immediately went to Xiaohaizi with their tools.

There were already footprints on the snow leading to Xiaohaizi, and there were also many rabbit and pheasant paw prints.

When they arrived at the small lake, they found some people were clearing the snow off the ice holes and breaking them again, and some people had already started catching fish.

Li Long and his team also rushed to the south of Xiaohaizi. The snow on the ice here was at least 30 to 40 centimeters thick, very large and thick. The three of them cleared the snow on the ice hole and found that a thick layer of ice had formed on the original ice hole.

Smash it.

That day, when the sun set, Li Long and his crew returned to the Laoma with seven or eight kilograms of fish.

Uncle Luo had already stewed the rabbit and was waiting for them to eat.

The next morning, Li Long called Tao Daqiang and Yang Yongqiang to set up the rabbit trap.

"They caught twelve rabbits yesterday," Yang Yongqiang said on the way. "They also caught a few alive and tied them up in the sheepfold. They said they were going to keep them for the New Year."

"You can't keep them alive. They will get angry and die in a few days." Li Long said, "Wild rabbits are not domestic rabbits. They have a bad temper."

Many wild animals have very bad tempers, including some adult birds. If they can't be kept alive, they will refuse to eat or drink, and then they will die.

Of course, some are OK, such as the nighthawk, which is very lazy and doesn't even build a nest in the wild. It digs a pit in the barren alkali beach as a nest, lays two eggs in it, and hatches them like that. If it really encounters a fox or something, it will become food. The scientific name of this thing is nighthawk. It can't be seen clearly when the sun goes down. It can fly more than ten meters and is easy to catch. Li Qiang caught one and fed it fish and meat. He forced its mouth open and fed it. After raising it for a while, he accidentally let it fly away. I'm getting off topic.

By the time they arrived at the place where the rabbit traps were set, it was almost an hour. But they got a lot - walking along the place where the traps were set, there was a rabbit not far away, and there were more farther away. They picked up 17 and a half rabbits along the way - it felt like a big harvest!
This area is simply a rabbit warren!
Li Long also had a guess. It was probably because the young men in the team made too much noise yesterday when they were prying rabbits, so they drove all the rabbits in the red willow beach here. Plus, there was more grass in this area, so naturally there were more rabbits.

But there are more rabbits and more carnivores. I saw 17 and a half of them, and there were two rabbits in the traps that were eaten with only legs left. I don't know if they were foxes or other animals.

Seventeen rabbits are not a small number, Yang Yongqiang said with a smile:
"Luckily I brought the bag with me, otherwise it would have been difficult for us to get it back!"

There were seventeen rabbits. Li Long wanted everyone to take two rabbits home and keep the rest to sell. Yang Yongqiang and Tao Daqiang wanted everyone to sell them and bring them back to eat if they couldn't sell them. Li Long gave everyone one rabbit and kept the rest in the stable, waiting to be sold.

In the next two days, Li Long, Tao Daqiang and Yang Yongqiang were lucky and caught thirty to forty kilograms of fish every day.

The three Liang brothers also reaped more rewards. Li Long guessed that the heavy snow must have blocked the possible ventilation holes in the reed marshes on the ice. The snow was thick and the air could not get down. The holes in the ice became the inevitable way for fish to find oxygen.

Not only are there many fish, but there are also big ones. Li Long saw that there were more than 20 to 30 fish weighing more than two kilograms, mostly carp and grass carp, with a few black carp.

He picked out five carps of relatively uniform size and planned to take them to the big meat canteen when he went to sell them.

Since you have promised Manager Zhong, you must keep your word.

On the third afternoon after the heavy snow, after returning from Xiaohaizi, Li Long went to Li Jianguo's place, tied No. 76, and pulled the carriage to the stable.

They planned to go to Shicheng to sell fish early the next morning.

The fish accumulated in the past few days are more than 200 kilograms, plus the rabbit trap set once again, a total of 24 rabbits are caught, which is not a small number.

The next morning, before daybreak, Li Long harnessed the carriage and loaded bags of fish onto it.

He had just started when Tao Daqiang and Yang Yongqiang rushed over.

Both of them were wearing thick cotton coats and hats. Seeing Li Long start working, they also joined in, loading everything onto the car. After putting two more bundles of grass into the car, Uncle Luo also prepared a simple breakfast.

Cornmeal porridge, sweet bean rolls, and fried pickles.

After eating, Li Long found three sticks from the house and put them in the carriage. After thinking for a while, he took out five or six and a half guns, loaded them with bullets, turned on the safety and put them in the holster, and stuffed them under the fish bag of the carriage. Then the three of them drove the carriage to Shicheng together.

The snow on the road from the village to the township had not been completely flattened. There were only traces of one person walking on it. The carriage pressed on the thick snow, making a squeaking sound. No. 76 also tried very hard. Li Long and his friends did not sit in the carriage, but followed directly beside it. It was not until the township turned to the county that the road condition improved. The snow on the road was pressed firmly and smoothly.

"Come on, let's get in the car and go to the county to buy some buns."

It took more than an hour to reach the county. The sun was just rising above the horizon. They went to the big meat restaurant to buy buns, and Li Long wanted to give the fish to Manager Zhong.

Manager Zhong was not there yet, so Li Long left the five carps in the cafeteria and asked the waiter to write a receipt.

The three of them ate buns and headed towards Shicheng, occasionally encountering trucks and buses coming and going on the road.

"Brother Long, do you think we can sell these fish?" Yang Yongqiang was still a little worried. After all, things are different now than before.

"Yes, definitely." Li Long is very confident that the market will only get bigger and bigger. After all, there are more and more people, and as the Chinese New Year is approaching, it has become a habit to stock up things for the New Year. Even after another thirty or forty years, whether in cities or rural areas, people will still have the habit of stockpiling goods when the Chinese New Year is approaching.

But in fact, by that time, large supermarkets and restaurants will not be closed, and you can buy whatever you want to eat at any time. Young people no longer have the habit of stockpiling, but the older generation still insists on it.

Therefore, when selling fish, meat and the like, there will basically be no unsold goods.

After all, you need a meat ticket to buy meat at a butcher shop, and no one has many tickets. But you don’t need one to buy fish at the market, and everyone can calculate the transaction.

After crossing the Ma River Bridge and passing the checkpoint, we walked along a section of road with poplar trees on both sides, and then we arrived at the urban area of ​​Shicheng.

When we arrived at the old street, it was already very busy. Li Long looked around and found it difficult to find a suitable stall, so he said to Tao Daqiang and Yang Yongqiang:
"I'll park the carriage outside first, and we'll split up. You two, one of you carries a bag of fish, and the other carries a few rabbits, and go inside to find a suitable stall. Some people will definitely be packing up and leaving. I'll lead the carriage and set up the stall outside. When you've sold everything, come to me and get it."

"I'll sell fish. I'm used to it." Yang Yongqiang said quickly.

"Then I'll sell the rabbit." Tao Daqiang didn't argue and asked, "Brother Long, how much do you sell this rabbit for?"

"The heavier ones are five yuan, and the lighter ones are three or four yuan. In big butcher shops, one kilogram of ribs is one yuan and eighty yuan, and pork belly is two yuan. We sell it like this, raw rabbits are one yuan per kilogram, which is not expensive." Li Long said.

"What about the fish?" Yang Yongqiang asked.

"Carp is one dollar, crucian carp is 90 cents if you pick them carefully, and 80 cents if you don't pick them carefully and just scoop them up." Li Long thought for a moment and said, "Five-striped black carp is also one dollar, silver carp is 90 cents."

After the price was set, Yang Yongqiang carried the scale and Tao Daqiang carried a bag of seven or eight rabbits and walked into the market.

Li Long tied No. 76 to a tree on the roadside. He wiped the sweat off its face first, then got a bag of fish from the car, spread a plastic sheet and poured it on top. He also placed a few rabbits on the side. When everything was ready, he started shouting loudly.

Li Long found that there were many people in the market, but most of them were in a hurry. There were two more market managers, four in total, patrolling back and forth in groups of two, and when the patrolmen left, some sneaky guys followed the pedestrians.

Very suspicious.

The manager collected 50 cents of management fee from Li Long and left. Before leaving, he reminded him:
"When selling, pay attention to your finances. If you notice anything suspicious, shout out and we will arrive in time."

Li Long reacted immediately.

It’s been 1983.

The location he chose was on the outskirts of the old street, where there wasn't a lot of traffic. Fortunately, Li Long's voice was loud enough, and after shouting for a while, people came over one after another to see the fish.

After hearing the price Li Long quoted, those people quickly started to pick.

This made Li Long seriously suspect that his offer might be too low.

Sure enough, after a while, Yang Yongqiang came over with a bag and hurriedly told Li Long that there were still people selling fish in the market, but the average price of the fish they sold was between RMB 1.1 and RMB 1.2, so theirs was indeed selling cheaper.

But since the price has been set, Li Long said to Yang Yongqiang:
"Let's sell it like this today. We won't suffer any loss. We will go back as soon as we finish selling. Looking at the market, there are quite a lot of people buying fish during this period. We can make some money before the New Year."

I came here to test the waters, and now that it seems like there is a chance, I will naturally make more money. Let's see if I can make another TV before the New Year.

The fish sold quickly, and the rabbits were also available. A middle-aged man who was obviously well-dressed picked out two rabbits, happily paid eight dollars, and left with the rabbits.

Li Long guessed that this person should give one to his family and one to his father-in-law's family. Of course, such a family is not short of money.

Li Long took the time to put a bundle of hay for No. 76. Before the hay was half eaten, Yang Yongqiang came back again, and then Tao Daqiang also came back.

Fish is obviously more popular than rabbit.

But fortunately, it looks like we should be able to ship out all the goods before noon today.

After a while, when Yang Yongqiang came over, there was blood on his face. Li Long was shocked and asked hurriedly what happened.

"I ran into a thief!" Yang Yongqiang didn't care, "We had a fight!"

Hey! (End of this chapter)