Rebirth of Bayi Fishing and Hunting in the Northwest

The sound of the tractor attracted the attention of many people around the stall. Chen Xingbang, who was cutting meat, looked up and saw Li Long. He smiled and waved the knife at Li Long. Li Long stepped on the brakes to stop, pulled the handbrake, got out of the car, walked to the stall and said:
"Brother-in-law, this sheep has just been brought back from the mountain. Give me the key and I'll unload it in the yard."

"Okay, I'll be over there after I close my stall." Chen Xingbang took a bunch of keys from his belt and handed them to Li Long.

"Don't worry about it. I'll open the door and unload the meat myself. Just sell your meat."

"Young man, are these sheep all brought from the mountains?" an old man nearby asked.

"Yes, we just brought them from the mountains. This is the last batch. The sheep will be moved to the mountains tomorrow or the day after tomorrow." Li Long pointed at the sheep on the car and said, "If you want to eat them, buy more in the next two days. Otherwise, if you want to eat sheep from the mountains, you can only wait until autumn."

He said this in line with what Chen Xingbang had said. Li Qingxia relayed Chen Xingbang's meaning, and Li Long understood.

"Come on, young man, weigh me two kilograms of ribs and two kilograms of meat, and make sure it's fatter." The old man immediately shouted at Chen Xingbang.

Several people also joined the "rush to buy".

Although there are still a lot of sheep on the tractor, who knows how long they can be sold? It is really important to get them now.

However, some people did not buy and were just waiting and watching. Li Long guessed that they wanted to wait for two days until Chen Xingbang sold the new batch of sheep he had pulled before buying.

After all, everything is better when it’s fresh.

Li Long took the key and drove the tractor to the yard he rented.

There were a few sheep in the yard, looking lonely. When they heard the sound of the tractor entering the yard, they turned their heads to look this way.

Li Long parked the tractor in the yard, turned off the engine, opened the trunk, took the sheep down one by one, untied the rope and put them into the yard.

The sheep had been tied up in the tractor for a long time and had not moved. After entering the yard, some of them could still stand up, while others simply lay on the ground to rest. Li Long did not care. Yu Shanjiang and the others had some skills in tying them up, so they should not be damaged.

By the time the last sheep in the carriage was put into the front yard, the first few sheep had already recovered and started to eat grass in the yard.

Because these sheep are going to be slaughtered, Li Long did not bring any grass this time. Li Long does not care what they eat before being slaughtered. Let Chen Xingbang figure out a solution.

After unloading the sheep, Li Long put the box boards away, gathered the ropes together, and then sat on the flower wall in the yard to rest.

A few minutes later, Chen Xingbang came back pushing a cart. He smiled and said to Li Long:
"Xiaolong, you have helped me a lot. If this truckload of sheep doesn't arrive, I will have no sheep to slaughter in the next two days."

"I see that your business is so good, and it will take you only a few days to slaughter these eighteen sheep."

"That's fine. I've seen some pig farmers nearby these past two days. I plan to buy live pigs and kill them after I sell my sheep. Although I don't make much money that way, it's more convenient."

Since Chen Xingbang already had his own ideas, Li Long didn't say much.

"How much is a sheep? I'll give you the money." Although Chen Xingbang is not very rich now, he still has some capital.

"Fifteen." Li Long said, "Two hundred and seventy yuan." Last time Yang was considered a help, this time he had to settle the bill clearly.

Chen Xingbang had a total of more than 300 yuan in his pocket. He counted out 270 yuan and handed them to Li Long, then said:
"Let's go and have dinner. Dad and Daqiang are here too. The fish should be almost sold out. Let's go over and take a look. I'll take you to dinner after they're sold out."

Although he didn't have much money left in his pocket, he still had the confidence to treat everyone to a meal, and Chen Xingbang was confident that he could sell these 18 sheep for 400 yuan.

It doesn’t take half a month!

This is just a hundred yuan, if you think about it, back home, I don’t even have that much income in a year!

Li Long was also tired, so he parked the tractor in the yard and waited for Chen Xingbang to put down the cart frame and put grass for the sheep, and then the two went to the market together.

This time, Li Qingxia and Tao Daqiang set up their stalls together, which were relatively close to each other. The total weight of fish on their stalls was less than ten kilograms. Li Long and Chen Xingbang followed suit and shouted to help. In less than twenty minutes, the fish were sold out, and they packed up their stalls and left.

Although it was still a little early for lunch, everyone was tired and happy, so we went to eat.

"Dad, is it okay for you to ride here every day like this?" Li Long thought that in his previous life, there were electric bicycles a few years later than this time. However, they were real electric bicycles, with a 28-inch bar tripod frame with a motor in the middle. This motor drove the front and rear wheels. However, they only appeared for a very short time. It was not known whether it was because the technology was not mature or charging was inconvenient. Anyway, Li Long seemed to have only seen one or two of them.

If the old man has difficulty riding, have you considered getting him an electric one?
"What's the big deal?" Li Qingxia has always refused to admit his age. He patted his leg and said with a smile, "I'm just starting out. I have a bike and can make more than 10 or 20 yuan a day. Sometimes I can make 30 yuan. Where can I find such a good job? It's much better than when I was young and pushed a cart to sell ginger and garlic. Not to mention having a bike, with this income, even if I didn't have a bike, I could get up two or three hours earlier and walk here!"

We all have the motivation to live a good life. We just couldn’t see hope before, but now we can see hope, and those who work hard can get tangible benefits. Who can not work hard?

Even people like Tao Daqiang are working hard for a better life, thinking about providing a better living environment for their future children, let alone Li Qingxia?

When the four people arrived at the restaurant, Chen Xingbang wanted to order two main dishes, but was stopped by Li Qingxia.

"Just four noodles will do. They are filling and filling. We have chicken and mutton at home, so there's no need to be so polite."

Chen Xingbang knew that the old man was trying to save him money, so he didn't try to show off. He ordered four plates of fried pork noodles, then added more noodles and asked for noodle soup.

After paying the money and food coupons, Chen Xingbang came over to pour tea for the three people and said with a little excitement:

"The market in Shicheng is huge. Doing business here is much better than in Ma County. Dad, do you think you can move here in the future?"

"I won't," Li Qingxia shook his head with a clear goal in mind. "How good is your brother's village? There is rice and fish, and Xiaolong often brings all kinds of meat. Why would I move here? To slaughter sheep with you? It's easy to make money here, but life here is too depressing."

Chen Xingbang smiled, yes. This is a good place to do business, but it is definitely not possible to catch fish and loaches freely like the old man.

"What about you, Xiaolong? Are you staying in the county?" Chen Xingbang asked Li Long.

"Well, Xiaoxia works in the county, so I won't go far. You can bring my sister over to live here. It's not far away anyway. If you really want to move here, it's easy. Just buy a yard."

Li Long said it lightly, and the waiter who served the meal curled his lips. These people looked like old farmers. What they said was quite big. What do you mean by simply buying a yard? Is it easy to buy a yard? After she came back from the educated youth, she lived with her family. There were five or six children in the family and they lived in three rooms. Although it was not as crowded as the big coastal cities, it was not spacious either.

Although it was relatively easy to arrange work here, how could a girl like her do manual labor in the tractor factory, sugar factory, and gelatin factory? It would be so embarrassing to be with those men with bare arms!

Although the money I make from running a restaurant here is not much, it is stable. I plan to save money for a few more years and buy a small courtyard in the suburbs.

This is already a very impressive plan, but in the eyes of these farmers, is buying a yard so easy?

Just brag!
The noodles were served quickly, and Li Qingxia ate first. Li Long clearly felt that there was something wrong with the waiter's eyes, but he didn't care too much. He would leave after eating, and they didn't have much interaction, so why bother so much?

As soon as the noodles were served, they were poured into the plate and mixed. No one spoke a word and they all started to eat voraciously.

After finishing the noodles and leaving the restaurant, Chen Xingbang asked:

"Xiaolong, are you coming back directly?"

"No, I'm going to the sugar factory to get a load of sugar residue." Li Long said, "My family, the stable, and the big yard all need some. After I bring it back and drop it off, I'll go to the mountains."

"Okay, let's go back to the yard. I need to slaughter another sheep. I should be able to sell one this afternoon."

"We'll follow you to the sugar factory to load up the sugar residue before we leave." Li Qingxia said.

"Okay." Li Long said, "After loading, you don't have to ride anymore. Put the bicycles on the tractor and sit on the tractor with us. Don't ride anymore. It will take another two hours to ride back and you will be exhausted."

The matter was settled. They went to Chen Xingbang's yard, took the tractor, and waved goodbye to him. Li Qingxia and Tao Daqiang lifted the bicycle and put it on the tractor. The two of them held the bicycle in the tractor bed, and Li Long drove to the sugar factory.

After waiting for a while at the back door of the sugar factory, I saw Song Ming and his apprentice driving out with a cart full of sugar residue.

Song Ming stopped immediately when he saw Li Long sitting on the tractor.

He leaned out of the cab and asked with a smile:

"Comrade Xiao Li, are you dealing with sugar residue?"

"Well," Li Long said with a smile, "I'm running out of sugar residue at home, so I thought I'd come over and get a load of it back."

"Hey, you should have gone directly into the factory just now. But it doesn't matter. Xiao Zhang, take Comrade Li to the yard and bring him a few more sacks. Tell him what Section Chief Hu said. Comrade Li, follow Xiao Zhang to the yard to load directly. That way it will be more convenient. My car can't stay here for too long. Let's talk later?"

"Okay, okay, go ahead and do your thing." Li Long waved his hand.

The car drove away. Song Ming's apprentice Zhang Xueliang smiled and climbed onto the fender of Li Long's tractor. Holding the seat, Li Long started the tractor.

"Brother Li, you are amazing! It has only been a short while and you have already bought a tractor. This thing is amazing, it must be very expensive!"

"It's not expensive, just a few thousand dollars, I saved it up from here and there." Li Long said as he drove, "It's far less than what you guys drive."

Zhang Xueliang smiled, a little proud in his eyes, and said:

"Well, my master said that in another month I will be able to drive on my own."

"You are amazing. You can become a master, which means you can drive and repair cars," Li Long was really surprised. At that time, most drivers could repair cars and drive at the same time. Even if you go to a driving school to learn driving skills in two years, you still need to learn car repair at the same time, which usually takes at least half a year. Unlike later generations, when there are more electronic devices in cars, ordinary drivers don't need to learn car repair.

The two men chatted as they entered the back door of the sugar factory. The tractor drove to the door of the workshop. Li Long stopped and Zhang Xueliang got off the tractor and directed Li Long to move the tractor closer to the discharge port.

Li Qingxia and Tao Daqiang unloaded their car and parked it aside, waiting for Zhang Xueliang to get seven or eight sacks. The two had also found shovels, and after the sugar residue came out of the discharge port, they began to load it onto the car.

Actually the truck bed can’t hold too much, so most of the stuff is put into sacks, which are then pressed on top of the sugar residue in the truck bed.

Finally, leave a few more sacks and put the bicycles on them so that people won’t get their butts wet when they sit on them.

After finishing here, Song Ming came back driving.

Li Long and Song Ming chatted for a few more words. Knowing that Li Long was in the mountains, Song Ming said:

"If you have time, come over and bring me some Fritillaria. We also need some here. My mother has an old cough."

"No problem." Li Long could accomplish this small matter easily. "I can deliver it to you tomorrow or the day after tomorrow." There are some in the big yard. I will go back and get some later, and ask Tao Daqiang to deliver it to you tomorrow.

"Really? That's great." Song Ming was delighted. "Don't give too much. Just a handful will be enough."

"Okay." Li Long didn't say much. The sugar residue in the tractor bucket was already leaking water. "Let's go first. It's not good to have the water here."

"Okay, okay, let's go. Are the sacks enough?"

"Enough, enough." Li Long smiled and waved his hand, started the tractor, and quickly left the sugar factory yard.

There were cars and people on the road, but they were few and the cars were driving very fast. When crossing the Ma River Bridge, Li Long saw that the river was very strong, and the snowmelt flood must have come. There was also a glacier at the source of the river, but it was too deep and no one had ever been there. After all, the widest part of the Tianshan Mountains is 600 kilometers, and the narrowest part is also 100 to 200 kilometers. Some places have never been walked by anyone, and it is a paradise for wild animals.

There were no adults looking for jade by the river, but there were a few children digging for something in the sand. Li Long remembered that the county annals had records that there was a gold mine in the Ma River, and the nugget gold that Halimu and his friends had given him proved this. However, the gold mine was said to have been cleaned out later, and only a few pieces remained. He didn't know if he would be lucky enough to pick up a nugget gold in the future.

After crossing the bridge, it feels like it's still a long way to the county. Imagine the future, when Ma County and Shicheng are connected, with a bridge in the middle, and both sides of the bridge are already bungalows, buildings, and factories. It seems that the city is right by the river. The development in the next few decades is really too fast.

The tractor first drove to the large yard. Gu Xiaoxia was not there. Li Long and his team unloaded two sacks of sugar residue, which was food for the deer. Li Long got half a kilogram of Fritillaria from the wing room, divided it into two parts, found a cloth bag to put it in, and gave it to Tao Daqiang, asking him to give it to Song Ming when he sells fish tomorrow. The dried Fritillaria is very light, and half a kilogram is a large bag.

He did not stop here, but drove directly back to the team, put six sacks of sugar residue at the stable, unloaded another sack for Tao Daqiang's family, and took the rest to Li Jianguo's yard. The sow had already given birth to nine piglets, and this professional pig farmer was truly established.

Li Long came back from time to time these days, and Du Chunfang was very happy every time she saw her little son. But Li Long didn't have time to stay for long. He unloaded the sugar residue, chatted with his parents for a while, then filled up the oil, filled up the oil barrel, added water to the tractor, and drove away.

"Every day, they come in a hurry and leave in the same hurry. When will it end?" Du Chunfang was very dissatisfied.

"You have to make money." Li Qingxia was very open-minded. "Otherwise, where would you get so much meat to eat? Where would you get to watch TV?"

These days, Du Chunfang went to Li Long's room to watch TV at night, and then went back to the east room to sleep. After hearing what Li Qingxia said, she blushed and stopped talking.

"Wait, you'll have some free time in winter. But by then you'll probably have a baby, right? Will you still be able to take care of the baby?" Li Qingxia joked, "You won't be able to take care of the baby, right?"

"I would like to take care of her, but my daughter-in-law has to let me take care of her." Du Chunfang admitted generously, "The way we take care of children here is different from that of people in the city. My daughter-in-law is a cadre, so how can she agree to that?"

Far away.

Li Long stayed in the big yard that day and went into the mountains early the next morning.

Although I was in a hurry every day, to be honest, I was still very happy, and Gu Xiaoxia was also very happy. At least it didn't feel like we were living apart. It was still a little pleasant surprise to see Li Long coming back occasionally.

A short absence makes the heart grow fonder!

There wasn't much change in the wooden house. There were only a few people stealing things like in the first few days. After all, in such a large mountain, if you count the number of people who are actually wandering around, there are very few.

After Li Long drove the tractor to the wooden house for a rest, he took a shovel, loaded some bags into the tractor bucket, started the tractor, and set off.

He plans to dig some coal.

It was impossible to drive directly to the coal-producing area, but Li Long was familiar with the nearby terrain and was able to drive to a ditch less than a hundred meters away from the coal seam.

After driving there, he planned to dig the coal into bags and then carry them on the tractor. He would first get a dozen bags, which would be enough for him to burn for a whole summer.

The rumbling sound of the tractor broke the tranquility of the mountains. It was heard by people, birds and animals.

Although he could drive faster, Li Long did not drive very fast. There were no real roads in many ravines here, only some parts were relatively flat, so the tractor could pass through. But if he drove too fast, there was a possibility of overturning.

The speed was very slow, less than 10 kilometers per hour, but Li Long was not in a hurry. He thought he would get as much as he could today.

When the tractor reached the nearest ravine, Li Long stopped and turned off the engine. He took the shovel and sack from the truck bed, put a Type 56 semi-automatic rifle on his back, and walked towards the coal mine.

When he arrived at the coal mine, Li Long put down the sack, sorted out the broken coal, and prepared to get some lumps of coal first.

At this moment, there was a loud noise coming from the ravine in the east, including screams, wolf howls, and the sound of kicking grass. Li Long hurriedly dropped the shovel, took off the five-six-and-a-half gun on his back, opened the safety, pulled the bolt, loaded the bullet, and leaned against the coal seam, looking over there vigilantly.

A few minutes later, a large roe deer jumped out from the ditch, followed by a gray wolf. The wolf would occasionally bite the roe deer's hind legs and back. Then two more roe deer jumped out, one large and one small, followed by one or two wolves. Later, a half-grown roe deer jumped out and was knocked down by a wolf. The wolf bit the roe deer's neck. The roe deer struggled desperately, but unfortunately died in the end.

Then, the gray wolf found Li Long. (End of this chapter)