Rebirth of Bayi Fishing and Hunting in the Northwest

After breakfast, Li Long drove the tractor back to the compound. Gu Xiaoxia had already gone to work.

He closed the door, got a bucket from the kitchen, fetched some water, then dragged the half-grown wild boar off the truck bed, ready to skin and gut it.

It's not winter now, so it won't become smelly if it's not opened.

Hearing the noise, the two fawns and the roe deer ran over from the backyard. They did not dare to come forward, but just looked at Li Long vigilantly and sniffed from a distance.

Li Long ignored them and started skinning the wild boar. He hadn't done it for a while, so his skills were not rusty, but the skin of the half-grown wild boar was a bit thick, so it was not so smooth to peel.

After the skin was peeled off, the deer seemed to feel that Li Long was not that dangerous and actually came closer. It seemed that it smelled the blood and it was not known whether it was out of curiosity or wanted to taste it.

Li Long waved his arms to drive the three little guys aside, and then he started to cut open their stomachs.

A foul smell came out, and the three little guys ran away immediately. Li Long put the wild boar's internal organs into a large basin, and then began to dismember the wild boar. He removed all four legs and put them in the basin and pulled them with cold water, and then he began to clean the intestines and stomach.

It was more convenient in the big yard, and after cleaning, he soaked the drain in water, then lifted up a few legs and drove the tractor out the door.

Just like in later generations when people had cars they didn't want to move their legs. Li Long now explained to himself that it was tiring and inconvenient to carry these three legs, and it was more convenient to drive a tractor.

He went to the purchasing station first, and seeing that Chen Hongjun was not there, he went to the big meat canteen and gave one leg to Zhong Guoqiang. Then he went to the supply and marketing cooperative and gave the other leg to Li Xiangqian.

"Are you going to the mountains?" Li Xiangqian asked, looking at Li Long's legs as he came in.
"When did you go there? Is it so easy to fight?"

"I went there yesterday and caught it this morning." Li Long smiled, then couldn't help but say, "What a pity. Section Chief, guess what I saw this morning?"

"What can we see in the mountains? Wolves? Bears? We can't expect to see tigers, right?" Li Xiangqian kept guessing.

"No, there are wolves and bears in the mountains, so there is no tiger." Li Long waved his hand, poured a jar of water to soak some tea leaves, blew on it, took a sip and said:

“I saw a two-headed red deer this morning!”

"What? A two-headed elk?" Li Xiangqian was shocked and stood up and asked, "Two heads?"

"Yes, there were two heads." Li Long said, "One big and one small. They were far away, about a hundred meters away. When I looked at it, it also looked at me. The two heads looked at me together, and I was scared! I almost ran away!"

"Where's the back?"

"I thought about it and it didn't make sense. It was a deer. Both of them were deer! I chased after it with my gun, but I ran for several kilometers and didn't catch up."

"You have a gun in your hand, why don't you shoot?" Li Xiangqian was more anxious than Li Long at this time.

"Yes, I shot him. When we were crossing the ditch, I felt I couldn't catch up, so I fired a shot."

"Did you hit it?"

"I hit it, but the deer didn't react and kept running forward."

"Where were you hit?"

"It was on the back of the neck. I felt that the bullet hit the neck, which should be a vital part. A normal deer would have fallen down long ago, but it just kept running as if nothing had happened. So I had no choice but to keep chasing it."

"Yeah, that's strange, nothing happened?" Li Xiangqian had also shot a gun before, and he knew that if someone was hit in the neck by a Type 50 or 6 semi-automatic rifle, he would usually just declare it a fatal blow.

How can you keep running?

"Then I continued to chase it, and a group of wild boars chased by wolves came out of the woods and blocked my way. Of course I would not miss this opportunity, so I took the opportunity to kill the wild boar. When I looked again, the deer had disappeared."

"So this wild boar was brought along as a gift." Li Xiangqian smiled, "I just don't know if the two-headed deer is real or not. Did you really see two heads?"

"Really? The four corners are all tangled together." Li Long took another sip of tea and said, "Really!"

"Oh, what a pity."

Li Long just chatted for a while, and when he was about to leave, Li Xiangqian said:
"By the end of this month, the job of making the handles will be assigned. This year's task of making handles is more than last year's. Do you want to do it?"

"Yes!" Li Long smiled. "Of course I will. I can take on as many as you want."

There are many resources in the mountains, and the police won't just take them. Besides, I have the identity of a forest ranger, so I don't have to worry about being fined. I can also protect the people I call from the team. How can I not make money?

"Okay, I'll get the job for you then. As I said before, I don't care about anything else, but I must ensure the quality."

"Don't worry, Chief. Have you ever seen me have diarrhea while working? I never did. I know it's not easy to build a reputation for integrity, but it's easy to lose it. If you can trust the quality of my work, I won't destroy it myself."

"Well, go get busy then."

Li Long left the supply and marketing cooperative, drove his tractor back to the yard, and began to deal with the sewage.

He kept one leg and planned to take it to Sister Yang later. He removed most of the meat and prepared to stew it. There were still some bones with meat on them, so he planned to spread salt and soy sauce on them and make them into dried meat.

Some of the meat was left unprocessed. After the meat was dried, the remaining meat and internal organs were pulled out in water, and he drove the tractor to the market.

Seeing that Sister Yang was not there, I guessed that she was cooking in the yard. There were a few people from the team selling fish, including Lao Meng and someone whose name I couldn't remember for the moment.

The tractor made a lot of noise. They looked at Li Long and greeted him. Li Long waved his hand and drove towards the Wuyi Highway.

The tractor was parked in the open space behind the yard. He did not drive it into the alley because it would block the road and affect other people's passage, which would get him scolded.

At that time, the roads in the alleys were relatively narrow, and when the houses and yards were built earlier, no one thought that tractors and cars would pass by in the future.

Holding the crank in his left hand and the wild boar leg in his right hand, Li Long walked to the door, saw that it was not locked or latched, and pushed it open to go in.

There was still some time before the end of get off work, so Gu Xiaoxia and Han Fang should not have returned yet.

The yard has not changed much. The small vegetable garden is now much cleaner. The originally small area is divided into six small plots. Some tender seedlings have grown out. Except for a plot of Chinese cabbage and a plot of leeks, Li Long couldn't tell what other vegetables were planted.

Hearing the noise, Sister Yang came out of the kitchen and was stunned when she saw Li Long.

"I shot a wild boar in the mountains and brought a leg. Here you go." Li Long handed the leg to Sister Yang. "I'll eat here today. Sister Yang, what are you cooking for lunch?"

"Steam the flower rolls, make a sweet soup, and stir-fry two dishes." Sister Yang took the wild boar leg and said with a smile, "The flower rolls are filled with chopped green onions and spicy noodles, which are quite flavorful."

"Okay, I like this." Li Long nodded and said, "You go ahead and do your thing. I'll walk around the yard."

"Uncle, please come in and sit down." Sister Yang said, "The room has been cleaned all the time, and we haven't touched it."

"No, just do your thing and leave me alone." Li Long waved his hand. "I just drove the tractor this morning and was busy cutting the meat. Now is a good time to take a walk."

Sister Yang didn't say much. She carried the pork leg into the kitchen and started to get busy.

The yard is a lot cleaner than last year. You can tell that the person living here is very attentive. All the corners have been cleaned, some places where the white lime has fallen have been repainted, and the gaps between the bricks on the ground have also been cleaned, and there is no grass growing.

There was no peculiar smell from the toilet, and the window screen on the kitchen window had been re-nailed, so it seemed to be well maintained.

Li Long nodded. It seemed that Sister Yang and her daughter were very thoughtful about living here.

He walked to the door and looked around. The trees on the roadside were beginning to sprout leaves. Flower seeds were planted in the gaps between the trees, and now they were sprouting. Both sides of the door had been swept, and this side was obviously cleaner than the opposite side. Li Long smiled.

The gate of the courtyard opposite opened, and a man in his fifties was stunned for a moment when he saw Li Long, and then seemed to examine him.

What does Li Long think? Does he not see that he is the owner of this place, or does he think that it is a bit strange for a man like him to be here?
He and the man looked at each other, and the man withdrew his gaze and shrank back silently.

Li Long walked around the door with his hands behind his back, like a lion patrolling his territory, and then returned to the yard. After a while, the sound of a bicycle bell rang. Li Long came out of the yard and saw Gu Xiaoxia turning from Wuyi Highway. There was a person walking in the middle of the road in front. The bell should be for this person. The person was a woman in her fifties. As he expected, the woman avoided the roadside and walked to the opposite door. She also turned her head to look at Li Long, a little surprised, and finally went in.

Gu Xiaoxia was also surprised to see Li Long, then she smiled and waved, and when she reached the door, she happily asked:

"Why are you back?"

"I shot a wild boar this morning, and then I came back. Let me tell you, I also saw a two-headed deer. I kept chasing it and almost caught up with it, but then I was blocked by these wild boars."

"Two-headed deer? Are you sure?" Gu Xiaoxia pushed the car into the yard and asked curiously:
"Wapiti? Has it grown horns? Is it an adult?"

"Yes, a mature red deer, the kind with horns, and the horns are all tangled together."

"Is it deformed?" Gu Xiaoxia chose to believe Li Long at the first moment, and then guessed. After all, she went to high school and had some common sense, so she judged from a scientific perspective first.

"I don't know. I shot it in the neck, but it didn't die. It ran away." Li Long shook his head. "I don't know if I will see it again in the future."

"Maybe we can meet again." Gu Xiaoxia was happy that Li Long was fine. "When will you go into the mountains again?"

"Tomorrow," Li Long said. "I've delivered several legs, and I'll go back and clean up the remaining meat. I've taken a leg here, and some meat has been braised in the yard. I've also processed the internal organs and offal, and I'll bring some over when the time comes, so it'll be convenient for you to eat at noon."

The two of them were chatting, and soon Han Fang came back from school. She was quite surprised to see Li Long, and shyly called him "uncle", then went to help her mother wash her hands.

At this time, Sister Yang had almost finished cooking the meal, and the only help she could provide was carrying plates, laying out chopsticks, etc.

The four of them sat down to eat. Because Li Long was there, Sister Yang and Han Fang spoke less, so Li Long asked more questions. Gu Xiaoxia helped to answer some of the questions that were difficult to answer, such as Han Fang's academic performance was quite good, which surprised Li Long.

After dinner, Sister Yang and Han Fang cleaned up the table quickly. Li Long and Gu Xiaoxia took a rest for a while and then left. One went to the Education Bureau and the other went back to the compound. Because Li Long was driving a tractor and it was difficult to drive at the same time, they went their separate ways.

Li Long returned to the courtyard and began to stew the meat and deal with the internal organs. He kept the pig stomach and cooked the rest in one pot. The fawns were no longer afraid of Li Long at this time, and they would run over and bark at the kitchen door from time to time. Li Long took the time to check on them, left some water for them, and then gave the little guys a good scolding, mainly because they had pooped a lot in the yard.

After learning their lesson, the little guys became much more obedient and no longer came here. Li Long felt that he needed to talk to Gu Xiaoxia when she came back. These little guys had to be locked up, otherwise the vegetable patch and the things planted in the garden behind would probably be ruined.

When Gu Xiaoxia came back in the evening, Li Long had already packed up everything. He cut a plate of offal and put a bottle of wine and two glasses on the table.

"Would you like a drink?" Gu Xiaoxia asked after putting her bicycle away and seeing this situation.

"If you have nothing to do, then drink something. If you have something to do, forget it." Li Long said, "It depends on your situation."

"That's really nothing, but don't drink too much, just one or two glasses to show your appreciation."

"Why?" Li Long asked curiously, as he rarely saw Gu Xiaoxia controlling him.

"We, we have to have children, don't we?" Gu Xiaoxia said softly, "I heard that drinking is not good for having children!"

"Yes, yes, yes." Li Long nodded immediately after listening, and then put away the wine. "Then I won't drink it."

"One drink." Gu Xiaoxia didn't want to spoil his fun, so she went upstairs to change clothes and whispered, "Just give it as a token of your appreciation."

"Hey, okay."

A glass of wine, a plate of offal, and two cups of tea, the two of them ate and drank while chatting.

The day was not particularly long at this time. After the two of them finished a plate of cold mixed vegetables, it was already dark. The two of them tacitly cleaned the table, washed the dishes, then locked the door, turned off the fire, and went into the house.

All in all, we have been married for less than half a month, and it is already the hottest time of the year. The feeling is something that cannot be described to outsiders.

Then, it was a sunny day.

The next day, Li Long ate the breakfast made by Gu Xiaoxia and was reluctant to leave. No wonder the old saying "a wife and children make a warm bed" is true.

But no matter what, you have to go into the mountains. After all, you need to make money. If you want a better life, you have to go to the mountains.

Of course, he was also thinking about the two-headed deer, but he didn't know if he could encounter it.

So he added water and oil to the tractor, prepared supplies, drove the tractor to deliver a pig leg to Chen Hongjun, and then drove into the mountains.

Sister Yang and Han Fang went out to sell food early in the morning. Aunt Wu from the opposite door saw them and asked:
"Her elder sister, who was that man who came yesterday?"

"That's Han Fang's uncle. This yard belongs to him." Yang Xiulan said, "I'm just staying here temporarily."

"So that man is in this yard? Where does he work? Why don't you see him often?"

"He works for the supply and marketing cooperative. He has a yard in the north city and lives there. He comes here from time to time, but you don't often see him when he comes." Sister Yang said this with mixed feelings.

"Is that so?" Aunt Wu nodded thoughtfully, "It's from the supply and marketing cooperative."

Sister Yang and Han Fang pushed the cart to the market. Aunt Wu went into the yard and told her husband about the incident.

"Supply and marketing cooperative? It's a good unit." Wu Zhenghu was a little skeptical and a little afraid of the man Li Long had met.

"Mom, why did you tell them about my uncle?" Han Fang asked, somewhat puzzled, while helping her mother push the cart.

"If we tell them, they will know that we are not without foundation and will not bully us." Sister Yang did not hide her meaning. "We don't harm others, but we have to be on guard. Some bad people will think that we have no support and will bully us."

"Is it Uncle Wu and Aunt Wu? Will they bully us?"

"I don't know, but whether it is or not, this word will reach those people's ears."

"Oh...Is that so!" Han Fang is not the kind of girl who is obedient and unaware of the sufferings of the world and the warmth and coldness of human hearts. Having experienced ups and downs with her mother, she has a certain understanding of the wickedness of human nature.

When Li Long drove his tractor across the Qingshui River and continued into the mountains, he was surprised to find that some people were already heading into the mountains carrying bags and holding sticks.

Apparently, he wasn't the only one who wanted to go into the mountains to find some money.

Judging from the equipment these people had, Li Long guessed that they were digging for Fritillaria. Although Fritillaria had just grown out and were not big at this time, they could already be dug. Li Long guessed that these people were not locals, but probably migrant workers or those who had no jobs in the county. They had no money, so they could only take it from the mountains.

Now the market is gradually opening up. Spring has arrived in the mountains, and wild vegetables and mushrooms have begun to grow. You will definitely not starve to death. If you are lucky, you can pick up deer antlers or catch a baby deer and sell them for a lot of money. Isn't that rich?
Of course, at that time, most people didn’t know that there were jasper in many streams near the Ma River in the mountains, and there was a mountain full of jasper further in. In fact, people mined jade in the mountains during the Qing Dynasty, but few people knew about it, including the locals.

The lack of information is so serious. Imagine if something rare happened in the future, it would be known in other cities and provinces in a few days, not only in the local area. In this era, some news may not be known even in the next village.

When those people saw Li Long's tractor appear, they did not wave to hitchhike as expected, but instead hurriedly hid in the bushes on the side.

Li Long understood that although it was not illegal to collect Fritillaria at this time, the forestry team would definitely reject him. The person who could drive a tractor into the mountains was most likely related to the forestry team, so they were afraid.

Li Long didn't care. He stepped on the accelerator and drove into the mountains, then turned towards the wooden house.

The tractor stopped outside the wooden house. Li Long got off and opened the wooden door. He brought the crank and five or six semi-automatic rifles into the house, and then set up the stove.

I’m not hungry, but I have to cook and then plan to go out for a walk in the afternoon.

The house is still a little damp, mainly because it is cool in the mornings and evenings. In addition, there is more moisture in the mountains than outside. There is no insulation or waterproof layer outside the wooden house, only a layer of mud, which is not very moisture-proof.

Li Long set up the stove and boiled water. After the water boiled, he took the pot down, covered it with a lid, put an iron grate on it, cut the steamed buns into slices and toasted them.

For lunch, I just have toasted steamed bread slices and red bean curd. I don’t care about nutrition. As for dinner, I just see what I can get back from going out. If there is meat, I eat it. If there is no meat, I can just mix some wild vegetables.

Of course, he still hopes to eat something good. (End of this chapter)