Rebirth of Bayi Fishing and Hunting in the Northwest

"One hundred and fifty each for each of you two," Li Long said. "This is the money we will get from the fish and rabbits before today. From tomorrow on, if we sell fish and rabbits again, we will charge you extra."

"Okay!"

"Thank you, Brother Long!"

Tao Daqiang and Yang Yongqiang responded with a smile.

Li Long counted out the money and handed it to them, saying, "Take the money back and put it away first. You haven't had dinner yet, right? Uncle Luo has made something delicious, come over for a drink later."

"Brother Long, I won't drink anymore..." Tao Daqiang smiled innocently.

"If you don't drink, there's champagne. Take two bottles back for your wife. Yongqiang, take two bottles back for your family to try." Li Long took out a bottle of champagne and said, "This is sweet water. You should know that it doesn't have alcohol. It's okay for women to drink it."

"Okay." Tao Daqiang agreed.

The two men took the money, carried the bottles of champagne and left talking and laughing. Li Long breathed a sigh of relief. Next, he prepared to buy some more food for the mountains.

Some people may think that people in the mountains eat less food, while some others may think that people in the mountains eat meat for every meal - how is that possible?

Food, or what fitness experts usually call carbohydrates, is the main source of energy. No matter where you are from, you basically need to eat a variety of foods.

The staple food of the herdsmen in the mountains is actually grain, which is the naan they make. In Mongolia, there is fried rice, which is eaten with milk tea. They also have their own vegetables, but they are not the same as the vegetables commonly eaten by the Han people, or the types are relatively limited.

They would also be very happy if they could have enough food.

Cattle and sheep are their wealth, and they cannot slaughter sheep for meat every day. After all, there are only so many livestock, and what will they do after they are eaten?
We also have to guard against natural disasters, diseases, etc.

So we basically don’t eat meat on a regular basis. We only eat meat when guests come or on important festivals.

When Li Long first came to Halim's house, they ate milk tea and naan. When the whole country was in trouble, it was impossible to have so much fine grains and white flour, so they had their own mixed flour naan - baked with corn flour or other coarse grains, also called za ke naan (mixed naan), which could still be bought in some naan shops of ethnic minorities in the alleys of Yining until the 1920s.

Of course, if they had white flour, they would naturally make white flour naan. At this time, fine grains were also precious to them.

Rice is mainly used for pilaf, and is rarely eaten for other purposes. Some people also eat fried rice, but very rarely.

So Li Long would bring a large amount of food, which is a very precious thing for the herdsmen who spend the winter, more precious than cattle and sheep.

Uncle Luo was cooking, and Li Long didn't know whether Tao Daqiang and the others would come back. This time he planned to drink the few bottles of Baiyangtequ that he had stored here.

At lunch, he listened to his elder brother's words and thought that when he had time to go to the department store or food company, he should buy some Yilite. Although he didn't like drinking much, alcohol was inevitable in some occasions, so he might as well prepare it in advance.

There is also the matter of getting married. Li Long is already thinking about whether he should prepare bottled wine or just follow the crowd and get some bulk wine?
While Li Long was still thinking, Uncle Luo had already started serving the dishes. Li Long went over to help. Not long after, Tao Daqiang came over with a bag of fried crucian carp. He found a plate to put the fish on the table and said with a smile:
"Let me add a dish."

"Okay, deep-fried small crucian carp." Li Long said with a smile, "It smells good."

"They are all small fish, not only crucian carp, but also pike. They are not big in size. After frying, one bite at a time, they taste delicious." Tao Daqiang boasted, "My wife fried them."

"Come, help set the table." Li Long called, "It's good to have a wife. Your life will get better and better."

Tao Daqiang smiled with a bit of pride, then set the table and put things on it.

After a while, Yang Yongqiang came over, holding something in his hand, a pot of braised offal.

"This is braised by my father. It tastes really good to me." Yang Yongqiang put the braised food on the table and helped.

After putting the things away, Li Long asked Uncle Luo to sit down first, then he sat down himself and asked Tao Daqiang and Yang Yongqiang to sit down. He unscrewed the wine bottle and started pouring wine.

"Let's all have a drink today. This big job before the New Year is over, and this year is almost over. Come on, we all contributed this time. You two caught fish and rabbits, and Uncle Luo is here to protect us. Every time I come back, I have hot meals and delicious dishes to eat. As for me, there's no need to say anything. This trip is now over. Come on, let's have a drink!"

Li Long raised his glass, followed by Lao Shu Luo, Tao Daqiang and Yang Yongqiang also raised their glasses, the four of them clinked their glasses, and then drank them all in one gulp. Tao Daqiang drank a little champagne, and he was a little embarrassed. But no one said anything to him.

"This bottled wine tastes different from loose wine." After drinking, Uncle Luo put down the glass, wiped his mouth, and said with emotion, "It is only because of you that I can drink bottled wine now. In the past, I thought it was good to have a glass of loose wine from time to time."

"Eat, eat, eat." Li Long said with a smile, "This is the first cup. We're looking for an excuse. Let's eat now."

The room was hot, so everyone took off their cotton-padded clothes and ate and drank in their fleece or autumn clothes. It was getting dark, so Li Long turned on the light, and the four of them ate and chatted.

"... Speaking of life, it's better now." Uncle Luo is old and has been drinking, so he habitually compares it. "In the past, we couldn't eat enough. At that time, let alone meat, it was good enough to have something to eat. After the war, we went home to farm, and thought that we would have nothing to do and live a good life..."

Li Long thought of the war heroes who were found in later generations. Almost all of them were awarded medals or medals. They did not ask for any treatment. After returning from the war, they honestly farmed or worked. In their eyes, what they did was really nothing.

And the people who came later, who enjoyed the happy life that they had paid for with their blood and even their lives, could hardly believe it when they heard them talk about their battle experiences.

Some big Vs with ulterior motives will deny their achievements, saying that what they did is something that normal people cannot do.

All we can say is that they underestimated the determination of the heroic veterans to create a peaceful environment for future generations.

The man in front of us is like this. He fought in the war, but he did not think of himself as a hero. Like those heroic veterans who were discovered last, he felt that compared with his comrades who died on the battlefield, he was lucky to be alive.

Simple veteran thinking.

"Now we can eat our fill, thanks to Uncle Luo and you guys winning that battle." Li Long picked up the cup and said, "No one will fight with us anymore, life will get better and better, you can enjoy your life slowly."

"We are enjoying life now." Uncle Luo picked up a piece of braised pork with chopsticks and ate it while saying, "Back then, during the war, we only ate fried rice and fried noodles. Who would have thought that we could eat meat every day?"

"You guys should enjoy it." Li Long picked up the cup and said, "Come on, let's toast to Uncle Luo. If they hadn't fought the war, we wouldn't know how we would live now."

People nowadays don’t have such a deep impression, and they don’t have a deep feeling about the founding war and the subsequent self-defense counterattack war. After all, there was no Internet at that time, and not many people talked about the historical significance of those wars.

Li Long has lived two lives, from not having enough to eat to eventually suffering from three highs - although he is sick, it is truly caused by his diet.

Where did those good days come from? Weren’t they earned by the blood and even lives of these veterans?

He looked at Uncle Luo's wrinkled face and thought of an old man who once said to a reporter in dialect, "I still want to go to the 38th parallel for another time." The two faces overlapped.

To put it in a broader sense, this is revolutionary optimism. To put it in a narrower sense, this is true fearlessness of death - for the sake of allowing future generations to live a good life, one is truly not afraid of death!

"That's not possible..." Uncle Luo also picked up the cup and said with a smile, "Compared with those comrades who fell on the battlefield, we are already very lucky. The country also gives us money..."

These words are so similar - they don't think they are heroes. The topic was a bit heavy, and Tao Daqiang and Yang Yongqiang, who had never experienced the Internet, didn't know how to respond. Li Long changed the topic and asked Tao Daqiang:
"Da Qiang, life has been much better this year. Have you thought about what to do next?"

"Me?" Tao Daqiang didn't expect that it would be his turn next. He touched his head and said with a simple smile, "I think it's good now. I have extra money, extra food at home, I'm married, and I'm waiting to have a baby. I think my life is good enough now, and I don't dare to think about the future."

Well, I won’t say that I have no ambitions, I can only say that I have lived in poverty for a long time, and now I just want to live a simple and happy life in peace and stability.

It can also be considered a kind of pursuit.

"Then why don't you plan to earn more money next year and renovate your house? When you have a baby, the current house won't be big enough to live in. How about saving some money and building a brick house?"

Nowadays, houses covered with bricks are actually very good and expensive houses. They are similar to the kiln with green bricks and tiles that Sun Shaoan built for his family in "Ordinary World". They are built with adobe and then covered with a layer of bricks. From the outside, it looks like a brick house, but the core is actually adobe.

Such houses are not just for show. In northern Xinjiang, adobe houses are warm in winter and cool in summer, which is actually the most suitable. In the 21st century, everyone built pure brick houses. They look good, but as the weather gets hotter, the shortcomings of brick houses are revealed. In the summer, it is hot outside and inside the house. Because bricks have better thermal conductivity than adobe, if it is hot outside, it will also be hot inside.

Adobe houses are different. They have poor thermal conductivity, so even if it's hot outside, it's still cool inside.

The same is true in winter. With a stove burning inside and a fire wall, it is cold outside the adobe house, so less cold air is conducted into the house, and less heat is conducted out of the house, so it is warm in winter and cool in summer.

But pure brick houses dissipate heat quickly in winter and require burning more coal. Fortunately, by the 1920s of the 21st century, the country provided subsidies for exterior wall insulation, and every household installed exterior wall insulation, which was better.

But this gave rise to another problem. Because of the external wall insulation, some families in the village bought buildings in the county, and went upstairs in winter to melt the snow and go into the courtyard in spring. When they went into the courtyard, because of the external wall insulation, the dampness and coldness in the house were difficult to discharge. Even when it was sunny and warm outside, it was still cold in the house at night and a stove was needed.

Finally, subsidies for electric heating were introduced. Those who lived upstairs in the winter turned on the electric heating and maintained the temperature at ten degrees, so that the temperature in the house was always above zero and there was no moisture - but it cost one or two thousand yuan to burn electricity in the winter, so there was nothing to be done about it.

"Build a brick house? I don't have the money. I won't be so arrogant!" Tao Daqiang shook his head firmly, "Just a mud house will do. I have to build a big house, otherwise there will be no room for my family to live in, and it will not be very convenient."

Li Long didn't want to go into details, so he asked Yang Yongqiang:

"What about you? Yongqiang, what do you think?"

"Me?" Yang Yongqiang was tearing and eating a fried crucian carp. After listening to Li Long's words, he finished the fish in two or three bites, smeared the oil on his hands on his clothes and shoes, and then said:

"I plan to earn more money and support my sister first. It would be best if she can get into a technical secondary school or a normal school. When she passes the exam, I will think about building a brick house, the kind with bricks wrapped around the skin, big and bright, and then the whole family can move in. Oh, by then I will also get married, hehe, and then I will get a bicycle to ride and a horse-drawn carriage for housework."

"Have you two ever thought about getting a small four-wheel tractor for household chores?"

"A small four-wheeler? Hehe, I'd be so happy if I could get a grasshopper leg!" Tao Daqiang really dared to say, "That one costs several thousand! How long will it take to earn that much?"

"The land will be contracted out next year," Li Long said. "I'll see if I can contract out more land and grow something profitable. I plan to make some plans by then."

Li Long said this, Tao Daqiang and Yang Yongqiang looked at each other, and then Tao Daqiang said:
"Brother Long, I'll plant whatever you plant. If my father doesn't agree, then I'll let you plant my share of the land."

Yang Yongqiang didn't say anything, just nodded with a determined expression.

"Then I'll find out clearly and tell you when I'm done." Li Long said, "We can make some money by doing small things. I can make more and you can make less. Later, if we can make money from farming, we can make a lot. Then, whether we build a brick house or save up for two years to buy a tractor, it won't be a problem."

Nowadays, a small four-wheel tractor with 12 horsepower costs about 5,000 to 6,000 yuan. The grasshopper leg is cheaper, but the power may be lower.

Nowadays, a brick costs about three cents, and building a three-room brick-covered house requires about 10,000 bricks, while a full brick house requires 60,000 to 70,000 bricks - of course, it is a large house with a construction area of ​​140 to 150 square meters, and small compartments inside.

Li Long was thinking that if he wanted to build a house next year, he would need to prepare wood, reed stalks, bricks, and adobe, especially the purlins and rafters.

He can get wood for free, but bricks must be bought. There is only one state-owned brick factory in Ma County now, and the price of bricks follows the price of coal. If you want to get some, you have to tell us in advance.

Li Long suddenly thought of something. Actually, it is quite profitable to run a brick factory now. Because from now on, the reform and opening up in northern Xinjiang will be gradually implemented, and individuals will gradually be allowed to run businesses. The key point is that there will definitely be a large-scale construction in the future. Whether it is official or private, the amount of bricks used will definitely increase greatly. Not only bricks, but also brick factories that are used by local people and rarely used by local people are very profitable.

It’s not impossible to do this...

Li Long's thoughts were divergent, and Tao Daqiang, Yang Yongqiang and the others did not delay and chatted with each other.

Li Long calculated that he had saved about 10,000 yuan, and selling fish a few more times before the New Year would not add much. In this way, he could buy a tractor and build a house. The money for materials would be enough, but he would have to hire workers, and that might not be enough.

There is still one month left until the Chinese New Year. This year the Chinese New Year is late. If I do something else before the New Year and see if I can make more money, then it is possible that I can prepare everything by then.

Of course, it's just a thought. Plans are not as fast as changes. Having lived two lives, he already knew this. This is how things are. No matter what you want, fate may not let you achieve your goals so easily.

So when it comes to money, you have to leave a certain amount of redundancy.

Of course, he will be able to afford it in the end, Li Long is confident. The existing tasks will basically not change with Li Xiangqian. The key point is that he wants to expand his source of income, otherwise, relying on what he has now, he will be at best like this.

Although for ordinary families, this is already very impressive, who would dare to think of becoming a millionaire with a yearly income of 10,000 yuan?

But for Li Long and what he wants to do, this is still far from enough.

keep it up.

Compared with the other three, Uncle Luo has the least idea about his future life. He has the happiest life he can have now. He lives in a brick house, eats meat every day, gets a salary every month, and the government gives him money. There are people to cultivate the land, and he does the work he enjoys doing. What else does he want?
Although he has no offspring, the three young men in front of him all respect him very much, and he is very content.

Before they knew it, the four of them were eating and drinking until late at night. Uncle Luo was the first to give up. He had drunk almost a bottle of 500-gram wine today, which was a bit too much, so Li Long helped him go to bed.

Yang Yongqiang drank a lot and talked a lot. He asked Tao Daqiang to tell his wife to help him find a partner. Then he told Li Long that his sister was a good student and he actually wanted her to go to college, but she wanted to go to a technical secondary school or a normal school. In this way, she could go directly to work after three years and become a government official.

Although Tao Daqiang was drinking a small bottle of champagne, in this atmosphere, he couldn't help but complain that his eldest brother came to his father from time to time to ask for money and things.

Tao Daqiang would never say such things before, but now things have changed.

Every family has its own scriptures that are difficult to recite!
Of course, to Li Long, these were actually trivial matters. The more he went out, the broader his horizons became, and some things were really not worth mentioning in his opinion.

You should think carefully about how to expand your source of income and earn a tractor first!

He also wanted to get the car in one go, but that was impossible. Now the collective enterprise in the county has a transportation company, what kind of transportation is used there?

carriage!

Want to buy a car privately? It’s better to save money first, it’s still early! (End of this chapter)