Rebirth of Bayi Fishing and Hunting in the Northwest

The two men left more than three kilograms of fresh Fritillaria and took away the things.

Li Long could see that the middle-aged man was very happy, but the young man was unhappy.

But it doesn't matter, as long as I am happy. Besides, the middle-aged man is the one who makes the decision.

As young people, without having experienced the beatings in Nanshan, they have no idea how miserable it will be in here for another half a month.

Sure enough, as soon as they entered the forest, the young man asked again:

"Dad, you said that more than three kilograms of Fritillaria are worth at least ten or twenty yuan. Can't we go out of the mountain and exchange them for something in the village?"

"They won't change it for you." The middle-aged man patiently explained to his nephew, "The stores in the villages outside don't accept Fritillaria, they only accept money. Do we have money? No.

Besides, we don’t have a letter of introduction. If we meet someone with bad intentions in the village, they will tie us up with a rope and hand us over to the forest ranger of the forestry team. They will even give us a reward! How can we go to the forest?”

"Then let's go to the county! Isn't there a purchasing station in the county? You said it!" The young man always wanted to prevent Li Long from making money. He felt that Li Long was too black-hearted and made too much money.

If these fritillaria were taken out of the mountains, the things they could exchange for would definitely be twice as much as they are now!
"It's more than 30 kilometers from the county to here, and 60 to 70 li. It takes more than two days to go back and forth. How many Fritillaria can we dig in these two days?" The middle-aged man was a little impatient. When he first came out to dig herbs with others, there were not so many things to do.

"Isn't it dangerous here? You also saw that the man is very familiar with the forest ranger!" the young man asked again.

"It's because he is so familiar with the forest ranger that I dare to come here to exchange things." The middle-aged man stopped and said to the young man in a serious tone:

"Let me tell you, if you come here to exchange things properly, even if the ranger is here, he won't catch us. We'll be nearby with the bag of mother-of-pearl, and the ranger can just pretend he didn't see us. Do you want to try somewhere else?"

The young man stopped talking.

He didn't know that Li Long had such power!

"Didn't you see what kind of car he was driving? How could he have such bad intentions as to trick you into getting caught by the forest ranger? He's doing long-term business, he's not that petty!"

After persuading the young man, the middle-aged man carried his things into the mountains again. He had to put the things down as soon as possible so that he could dig some more Fritillaria today to make up for the loss.

Young people just have short-sightedness.

Li Long washed the more than three kilograms of Fritillaria in a basin and then hung them out to dry in the sun.

There was no place left, so he collected some of the Fritillaria that had been drying earlier and put them into a bag, intending to take them home to dry again.

He would never put any more Fritillaria here. If they were stolen, it would not be worth it.

What surprised Li Long was that people came one after another to exchange things, and in just half a day, all the things in his jeep were replaced.

Even the things that were taken back from the thief had basically been replaced.

People who come to exchange things are not picky. They exchange whatever they have. If they don’t have anything, they will tell Li Long.

Li Long wrote down the things one by one and planned to bring them with him when he came tomorrow.

I didn’t even have lunch because all the biscuits and sesame cakes I brought with me had been replaced.

Besides matches, the most popular thing is noodles.

By mid-afternoon, he had placed two bags of fresh Fritillaria weighing more than 20 kilograms in the trunk of his jeep, and another seven or eight kilograms were being dried in the sun.

The cabin, including the contents of the jeep, was empty.

Even the steamed buns that he had steamed earlier and were not discovered by the thief were replaced by someone else.

There was no way to change it. Li Long was now hungry. After the remaining Fritillaria dried up, he planned to drive the jeep to Xiaobaiyanggou.

Eat something there, then go back. I have to go back to the county before getting off work today to buy everything I need.

Seeing that the water droplets on the mother-of-pearl had disappeared, Li Long immediately collected them, put them in a bag and put them in the trunk of the jeep, then locked the door and drove away.

Not long after he left, someone came out of the woods, didn't see the car, shook his head and left.

The old herbalist knew that Li Long came to drive a tractor or a car, and since the car was not there, the man was not there either.

Most people still abide by the rules, or at least they are worried. Stealing is also a violation of moral bottom line, and of course severe punishment is also a factor.

After all, it was only 1983, and last year some people were arrested and imprisoned for seven or eight years for stealing. These people came here to make money, and they don't want to go to labor camps.

When Li Long arrived at Xiaobaiyanggou, he found that there were more braided handles in front of the pit where everyone was weaving the handles.

This time he didn't check. After getting off the car, he went straight to find his elder brother Li Jianguo.

"How is it?" Li Jianguo came out of the pit and asked, "What's the situation? If something is lost, it's lost. Just don't put anything in the back."

"I caught that thief." Li Long smiled, "I recovered his belongings, and I also took the several kilograms of Fritillaria he dug up."

"What about that person?"

"I let Bolati drag me away. Bolati was very angry and dragged me behind the horse. I fell several times and my face was almost worn off."

"That's good, that's good." Li Jianguo smiled, and then said, "We still have to be careful later. There are some shady people among these people. We have to be careful when dealing with them - Xiao Sun is in the minority after all."

"Okay, I understand. I even have a gun with me." Li Long nodded. "I need to eat something. Many people have exchanged Fritillaria for things today. I haven't eaten yet."

"Can't you make some?" Li Jianguo was a little surprised. "Didn't you bring any food?"

"Everything has been replaced." Li Long pointed to the trunk of the jeep and said with a smile, "Even the dried steamed buns I dried in the sun have been replaced."

"Then let's go find Lao Huang." Li Jianguo said, "He has some pancakes."

Xie Yundong and Tao Daqiang also came over. Li Long went to find Lao Huang and told him about the situation. They then felt relieved and went to form their own groups.

There was a lot to eat at Lao Huang's place. Li Long took a piece of bread and ate a few bites of the leftover roe deer offal fried at noon, then said goodbye to his elder brother and drove back in the jeep.

When passing by Qingshui River, Li Long vaguely saw green smoke curling around the west end of the village. He thought they must be making bands there.

After returning to the county, Li Long first went to the big yard to unload the Fritillaria and put it in the side room.

He didn't even have time to spread out the mother-of-pearl. He just said hello to Sister Yang who had returned and hurried back to the department store.

There were not many people in the department store at this time, with less than ten customers in total. Li Long's hasty appearance immediately attracted the attention of most of the salespeople.

This is a regular customer, and the sales clerks all have an impression of Li Long.

Li Long first arrived at the food counter and pointed at the packaged biscuits, noodles, etc. and said:

"Give me ten packs of this, this, and this. Twenty packs of noodles. Oh, and I want the noodles that come in paper packaging, not the loose ones."

At that time, the noodles were all wrapped in paper, not plastic bags. This stuff can be stored for a long time. As long as it is not damp and moldy, it can still be eaten after one or two years.

At this time, people don’t care much about the shelf life of food. They will judge whether something is expired or spoiled based on its taste and appearance.

Seeing that Li Long was buying such a large quantity of things, the salesperson at the counter considerately found him a large cardboard box and packed the things he wanted into it while recording them.

The cardboard boxes at that time were quite large, and the standard size for liquor and beer boxes was twenty-four boxes.

Li Long packed two large boxes of food and some wine.

When the other salespeople thought he was going to check out, he went to the daily necessities section.

Matches, gloves, rubber shoes, Li Long even bought a few packs of toilet paper.

At that time, toilet paper was packaged in very thin plastic covers, in towel-sized packages, and was generally used by women.

Li Long hadn't seen the female herbalist yet, but he thought it would be harmless to prepare some.

Four large boxes filled the trunk of the jeep, and the total cost was less than a hundred dollars.

In other words, if Li Long sold the Fritillaria that he brought back today, it would be more than enough to pay these bills.

Driving the jeep to the Education Bureau, Li Long looked at the time. There were still more than 20 minutes before get off work ended, so it was just right for him to go there now. Everything was timed just right today, which made Li Long feel pretty good.

The depression and unhappiness caused by the theft of the wooden house had now dissipated. It was May and the weather was getting hot. Li Long took off his coat while sitting in the car, then waited by the roadside after turning off the engine.

It was almost time to get off work, and some people were already walking or riding bicycles out of their offices on the street. Li Long just took a look and then turned his attention to the Education Bureau.

There were also some people coming out of the office and talking together.

According to what Gu Xiaoxia said in the past, the midterm exams are approaching and the schools and students will be relatively nervous, but the situation at the Education Bureau is still okay.

Some staff members in the Education Bureau were transferred to teach in schools, but not many, only occasionally. Gu Xiaoxia said she didn't really want to go, because she felt guilty when she taught others before, after all, she didn't graduate from a normal school, so she didn't learn much.

Li Long was thinking about all sorts of things here and waited until the Education Bureau got off work. Gu Xiaoxia was one of the first to come out.

She came out with a female colleague, who supported her. The two of them walked slowly and talked about something, and then Gu Xiaoxia saw Li Long's jeep.

Li Long started the car, drove to Gu Xiaoxia, opened the door and got out.

Li Long recognized the man, who seemed to be called Tao Min, and had been to the courtyard before.

"Tao Min didn't ride her bike today." Gu Xiaoxia said to Li Long as she got on the bike, "Shall we take her back?"

"Okay, just step on the accelerator." Li Long said with a smile.

Tao Min said hello to Li Long, then got on the back seat with Gu Xiaoxia.

After getting in the car, Li Long asked about the location of Tao Min's home, then drove her to Guangming Road in the west, where there was a vegetable market. Tao Min's home was near the market.

Tao Min was also very curious and a little nervous in the car. After all, it was her first time to ride in such a high-end car.

When she got off the car, she didn't say a few words. She just greeted Gu Xiaoxia and Li Long, and then met her old neighbor when she got off the car.

"Hey, Xiao Tao, did you come back in the leader's car? Is your relative a county leader?"

The old lady next door likes to gossip. This place is remote and she has never seen a jeep coming here.

"No, no, my colleague's lover drove the car." Tao Min smiled, "She dropped me off on the way."

"This is not on our way. I saw the car turn around and leave - it was specially to take you back, right? What, you don't want to tell me that you have a relationship? Xiao Tao, you are not right..."

The old lady kept on chattering, so Tao Min quickly found an excuse and hurried home.

But she didn't think it was troublesome, instead she found it a bit novel. Who would have thought that a jeep could directly change the neighbors' opinions?

When there were only Li Long and Gu Xiaoxia in the car, he drove back while telling them about the theft of the wooden house and how he used his "eagle eyes" to find the thief and bring him back.

"Then you must be careful!" Gu Xiaoxia was still a little worried after listening to it, "In that place... those people seem to be quite bad."

"Not all the people who ran over here are like Sister Yang." Li Long smiled, "But don't worry, I dared to chase because I had a gun with me. If I saw the situation was not right, I would definitely shoot. Of course, I didn't plan to stay there overnight, unless I couldn't wait any longer, otherwise I would rush back at night."

After hearing what Li Long said, Gu Xiaoxia felt relieved.

The jeep drove back to the yard. Li Long got out of the car and helped Gu Xiaoxia down. After getting out of the car, Gu Xiaoxia refused to let Li Long help her and moved around on her own.

Li Long locked the car door and went to the side room to spread out the Fritillaria to dry.

When the flowers were half-dried, Sister Yang called for dinner. Gu Boyuan also came to help Li Long dry the Fritillaria.

Looking at so many Fritillaria, Gu Boyuan sighed:
"You have collected a lot in one day. In the past, your elder brother and I were in the sideline team digging for Fritillaria, and it took us four or five days to dig this much."

"I received several families." Li Long smiled. "Today is not bad. Many people came to exchange things. I have exchanged all the things I prepared in the wooden house."

"Yes, this business can be done." Gu Boyuan said with a smile.

After the two of them finished drying the Fritillaria, they went to eat. Gu Xiaoxia told Li Long about the lock of the wooden house being picked, and everyone else also told Li Long to be careful.

Li Long explained the follow-up and then expressed his own thoughts. Gu Boyuan and Sister Yang also nodded. It was a cautious idea.

In the next few days, Li Long went out early and returned late, and in the middle he asked for two more vehicles from the team to go to Xiaobaiyanggou to pull the porters. This time he pulled back more than 200, and the car was really full.

Daqiang, Xu Haijun and others also came back, and the next day Li Long sent them to the mountains early.

These few days, Li Long was able to exchange some Fritillaria sporadically every day, but not as much as on the first day. This was normal, similar to last year. At the beginning of last year, there was not much exchange, and later when the supplies of the people who went into the mountains to collect herbs were almost consumed, a large number of exchanges began.

Of course, it also has something to do with the intensity of Bolati and his team’s forest patrols.

After a week's appointment with Qingshui River, Li Long drove a jeep to the village and went straight to find He Yuqing.

He Yuqing was not at the team headquarters. Someone at the team headquarters pointed to a field in the west and said to Li Long:
"Over there, the captain and the militia company commander are all over there, leading the men to form a banner."

Well, the captain is also involved.

The man pointed to a road, so Li Long drove the jeep over there and saw a threshing ground to the west of the village. To the west of the threshing ground was a canal, along which there were many large willows and poplars.

He Yuqing, Meng Hai and others dug a hole on the other side of the canal, set it on fire and burned the strips of wood to make handles.

Similar to those people in Xiaobaiyanggou, these people now all have black hands and faces. The smell of burnt wheat strips fills the threshing floor, and some children are playing nearby with unused wheat strips.

Seeing the jeep coming, He Yuqing and Meng Hai stood up hurriedly. Meng Hai turned around and washed his hands by the canal, then ran two steps and followed He Yuqing to see Li Long.

"Hello, Comrade Li Long!" He Yuqing said with a smile, "Are you planning to take the handle away today?"

"Inspect it first, and then I'll bring a car over to pick it up later." Li Long said, "You should have compiled a lot this week, so I think I have to come over, otherwise it will be difficult to pick it up."

"Yes, many of us are also thinking about when to take it away." Meng Hai said with a smile, "Lao He and I are also under pressure. Of course, we all believe in you - do you want to accept it now?"

"Come on now. There must be more than 300 bearers. It will take a long time for each of them to pass through." Li Long said, "I brought paper and pen. I will write it down here. You can write it down together."

"I have a pen, I have a pen." He Yuqing immediately took out a Hero pen from his pocket.

Starting from the first one, Li Long seemed to have seen that person before. He might have handed over a broom to him before, but he couldn't remember his name.

"Number one Liu Dashu." He Yuqing reminded Li Long and introduced him, "Let's start from here... He made up... Dashu, how many did you make up?"

"Thirty-seven." Liu Dashu said.

That’s a lot.

Li Long did not check immediately. He looked at Liu Dashu, then at the others, and said loudly:

"Although I have told the captain and company commander before, I will emphasize again that the quality requirements for this handle are extremely high, even higher than those for last year's broom. If it is unqualified, return it and I will explain the reason to you..."

"It's okay, Comrade Li Long, you can check it. Any unqualified ones will be ours. If we don't meet the requirements, we will take responsibility ourselves." Meng Hai took over Li Long's words.

Then start checking.

The large pile in front of Liu Dashu was divided into four groups. There were nine in the first group. Li Long found two with problems, one was tilted and the other was not curved enough.

The second time, out of the ten, there was one problem: the pole was cracked, and the crack was quite big.

There were no problems with the third set of nine, but there were problems with the fourth set of nine, four of which were flawed, three of which were messed up, and one pole had obvious differences in thickness at both ends.

The failure rate is not high, less than a quarter.

But Liu Dashu's face still turned red. When he found the problems, he immediately took the ones with problems aside. Li Long told him that some of them could be modified, but those that were dropped could basically not be adjusted.

"Comrade Li Long, don't worry. We will never let the unqualified ones be included in the qualified ones!" Meng Hai guaranteed here.

The following inspection also made Li Long very impressed. Among the twelve people, the pass rate of the team was over 80%, which was better than that of the veterans in Xiaobaiyanggou.

It seems that the requirements are really strict.

Meng Hai had the qualified bearers piled up in the middle of the wheat field. He assured Li Long that he would personally watch over them before the car arrived, and that they would never be stolen or replaced. (End of this chapter)