Rebirth of Bayi Fishing and Hunting in the Northwest

Killing a sika deer was no big deal for Halimu and his friends, but Li Long's cautiousness in collecting the deer blood surprised Halimu and his friends.

"Deer blood is a good thing." Li Long explained, "It's very nutritious. Bring some back for the old man to drink."

The blood from a deer is definitely not as good as the blood from antlers, but it also has a tonic effect. Li Long vaguely remembered the first time he saw someone drinking deer blood. It seemed to be in the movie "Yuanmingyuan", where the blood from antlers was cut raw and given to the emperor to drink.

Very impressive.

The blood of the sika deer was much more than that of the sheep. Li Long received more than half a basin of blood. The sika deer struggled desperately at first, but after the blood was drained, it slowly lay down.

Halimu was skinning the elk here, while Yushanjiang and the others went to deal with the other elk.

Dealing with two sika deer was no big deal for Yushanjiang and his men. They still had time to slaughter the remaining two cows after dealing with the sika deer.

Many people in the team were watching here, and some children came here after school and did not leave, warming themselves by the fire while watching the slaughterhouse.

"Xiaolong, how much is this venison?" This time it was Xu Haijun who asked the question.

"This is expensive." Li Long shook his head. "A whole red deer costs 800 yuan."

"So expensive?" Xu Haijun was also a little shocked. He had eaten elk meat before, but he didn't expect that the price of this deer was much more expensive than a harvester!
"I can't help it. Scarcity makes things valuable." Li Long smiled. "This price is still a friendly price. I have a good relationship with some of the leaders of the sugar factory. They want to give out benefits during the New Year. If they like this deer, I have to sell it at a lower price. Of course, if someone in our team wants to buy it, I will also sell it at this price."

You have to do favors for people, but you also have to let them know and accept the favor. However, Li Long knew that most people in the team would not buy venison, as the average price was too expensive.

A red deer costs 800 yuan, and weighs about 150 to 160 kilograms when weighed alive, which means 5 yuan per kilogram when weighed alive. Who can afford it?

The price of net meat is six or seven yuan per kilogram, and one kilogram of venison can be exchanged for four or five kilograms of mutton. Although the villagers of the fourth team have some spare money in the past two years, I guess everyone would shake their head when seeing this price.

"So expensive? Are they easy to sell? If so, I'll see if I can raise two next year!" Xu Haijun's thinking is different from that of ordinary people. He thought of the business opportunity first.

"This... is the only one who has come to me to buy it." Li Long pointed to the old horse's pen and said, "Look, I have been raising this for more than two years, and this is the first time I have sold an adult deer."

"Forget it then," Xu Haijun shook his head. "It can't work, and it looks pretty fierce. If it's hard to sell, I'd better not keep it."

He actually still wanted to try sika deer meat, but Li Long specifically wanted to send the two sika deer to the sugar factory. He wanted to see if Li Long would still slaughter them. If so, would he weigh one or two kilograms?
Forget it. If he weighs too little, he will be laughed at. If he weighs too much, his wallet won’t be able to support it.

But if I can’t afford elk meat, can I afford beef?

The two cows were slaughtered, Yushanjiang and his men were skinning them, and Li Long was counting the sheep's heads and hooves for another villager.

This villager came to buy sheep heads and sheep trotters for the second time - yesterday he bought a sheep head and four sheep trotters, and roasted and cooked them on the same day.

The whole family ate it in the evening - it was not enough!

For three dollars, there was quite a lot of meat, especially the big bunch of sheep brain inside the sheep's head, which was shared by the two children.

"Brother Qi, you have to be careful when you take this sheep's hoof back. Check if there is any wool boil inside the hoof. Don't eat it."

"Don't worry, I got it." Old Brother Qi, who was from southern Shandong, smiled and took a basket with two sheep heads and eight hooves, and paid Li Long five yuan each. This money was paid by Li Long when he was making a big broom, and now it has returned to Li Long's hands.

Lao Qi felt that the money was worth it - if you buy sheep heads and sheep hooves at the market, a cooked sheep head costs five yuan!
The main thing is that the sheep heads in the market don’t have as much meat as this.

Lao Qi walked back with the basket in his hand, smiling. Xu Haijun came over and asked Li Long:

"Xiaolong, how much do you sell your beef for?"

"Beef... I have to wait until tomorrow. Two dollars and eighty cents with the bone, three dollars and two cents for the meat."

Beef is more expensive than mutton and pork, mainly because there is less of it.

Although northern Xinjiang is also a major beef and mutton producing region, the price has always been lower than that of imported meat, but the production of beef is lower than that of mutton, and beef is considered a large animal, so it is quite troublesome to raise it.

From now to forty years later, except for the sudden surge in the price of mutton in the 21st century, which was once on par with beef and then dropped a little, the price of beef has always been the first among the three major meats.

Therefore, some villagers in Team 4 had never eaten beef properly all year round until the end of this century - the kind that they could eat at home.

This time, Li Long brought back more than a dozen yellow and brown cattle, which was another event that changed the course of history. In fact, in the previous life, until the first decade of the 21st century, there was only one Hui family in the village that raised yellow cattle. Moreover, those cattle were not raised for meat, but for feeding their grandchildren with milk.

It was not until the county introduced a policy of settling down and developing animal husbandry that all the herders in the mountains were relocated and dispersed to various villages and teams. Three ethnic minority families came to the fourth team and brought cattle and sheep with them, and the number of cattle in the team increased.

The four teams have a special habit: when eating meat during the Spring Festival, for at least the past twenty years, they basically won't go to the market to buy it, but just eat it themselves.

In winter, those who raise pigs will slaughter the New Year pigs. Those who don’t raise pigs but want to eat pork will make arrangements in advance with those they have a good relationship with, and ask for some pork weighed when the New Year pigs are slaughtered, or for a leg, half a chop, etc.

If you want to eat mutton, go to Ma Jinbao's house and several families can get together to buy a sheep.

Now with Li Long as another option, it will be difficult to sell Ma Jinbao’s sheep.

Even if Li Long was not there, because Ma Jinbao's mutton was not good, in two years, there would be several more households raising sheep in the team. Anyway, there was a lot of grass in the large tracts of wasteland, and the sheep would have something to eat if they cut it or let it go.

Beef is not cheap, but after doing some calculations, Xu Haijun felt that he could still afford it, so he said:

"Then when you slaughter the cow tomorrow, I'll weigh five or six kilograms of ribs."

This means eating the meat with bones.

"Row."

"How much do you sell the offal?" Xu Haijun asked again.

"Two dollars and fifty cents." Li Long quoted the price.

In fact, he didn't really want to sell beef offal. This stuff tastes delicious when braised with some dipping sauce, especially the beef tripe.

In later times, ox-head banquets were still popular in some places in northern Xinjiang. They were all greasy, but very fragrant.

It's stewed until it's mushy. I tear off some strips, dip them in the sauce, and put them in my mouth. They're so soft and sticky...

Okay, I can’t say anymore. I’m drooling.

During the 1990s, more people from the fourth team made money from farming, so they were more casual about buying meat. Most people bought beef offal, and they didn't buy them by weight. They would buy a whole set of offal, or a cow's head.

Li Long suddenly thought that the people in Team 4 seemed to have a special preference for eating beef and mutton offal, especially their tripe.

Is this a regional characteristic? Anyway, people in northern Xinjiang have more cardiovascular diseases, so it is considered a high-incidence area, which should be closely related to diet.

Xu Haijun actually wanted to get a set of food for the swimmers, but after thinking about it, he decided not to. A set of beef offal would weigh at least several dozen kilograms. He couldn't afford it this year, so he would have to work harder next year.

Because he already knew that Tao Daqiang and Xie Yundong would buy a whole sheep to eat. Following Li Long, he really got rich and could buy a whole sheep to eat meat.

I'm still a little bit behind, I have to work harder to catch up.

After slaughtering the two red deer and two cows, Li Long sent Halimu and the others to the county. They didn't spend much time shopping today. They just bought some eggs and other things. The main focus was on visiting the department store and the ethnic shops in the market.

Li Long could clearly feel that Halimu and the others were more relaxed than in the first two days. Their expressions and states were no longer so restrained, and they had also started to learn how to bargain when buying things.

This is a good thing. After all, they will communicate more and more with people outside in the future, and now is a good start.

The next day, Li Long took Halimu and the others to Laomahao again - they had to slaughter two cows and two red deer today, and slaughter some sheep in the remaining time.

After Li Long pulled them over, he waited for Song Ming to come over, then asked Tao Daqiang and others to load the slaughtered sheep, red deer, cattle, etc. into the car, and then drove the jeep with Song Ming to Shicheng to deliver the goods.

This time, Li Long got 5,135.80 yuan. The two elks were worth 1,600 yuan, and the two cows were worth more than 800 yuan as agreed upon earlier. To be honest, the beef was quite fat.

The mutton is still over 2,600, slightly more than yesterday.

All in all, they made a lot of money, mainly because red deer had almost no cost, while cattle and sheep had some cost, but the profit was almost half. This was due to the rising prices of beef and mutton, and also because in the past two months, Uncle Luo and his team followed Li Long's fattening method and fed the cattle and sheep very fat. Each sheep weighed more than ten kilograms, and the cattle gained even more weight.

Li Long and Song Ming agreed to pick up the fish when delivering the sugar residue a week later, and then drove the jeep back to the team.

Halimu and his team had already slaughtered the elk, cattle and sheep, and were now helping Tao Daqiang and his team to process the internal organs.

After a few days of contact, Halimu and his friends have become familiar with Tao Daqiang and his friends. They can chat with them, make jokes while eating meat, and even tell them which part of the meat on the sheep is the most delicious.

Li Long counted in the warehouse and found that there were twenty-one Klangzi sheep and two cows, but they were incomplete. It seemed that someone in the team had bought some beef.

There are two red deer, the skins have been peeled and the internal organs have been processed. These animals are fat and strong, and they eat concentrated feed, so the meat is much better than wild ones.

After looking at the things in the warehouse, Li Jianguo came to find him.

"Xiaolong, here's 167 yuan for the beef." Li Jianguo held the money in his hand, "and 75 yuan for the sheep's head and sheep's feet, count them. By the way, do you think we should bring some meat back for those ethnic comrades?"

Li Long had this idea, but he estimated that Halimu and the others would definitely not want it.

Sure enough, when Li Long went to ask, Halimu and the others refused to bring meat - of course, there was another reason, the jeep couldn't hold it.

After lunch, Li Long sent Halimu and the others back home. He planned to sort out the ice hole issue with Tao Daqiang when he came back.

Tao Daqiang, who was cleaning up the slaughterhouse, told Li Long:
"Brother Long, don't worry, drive slowly on the road. Brother Yundong and I will break the ice hole first to test the situation. We will go fishing together tomorrow."

"Okay." Li Long was still confident in Tao Daqiang's work. Besides, it was not a technical job. It just required a lot of strength.

In terms of strength, apart from him, Tao Daqiang is the strongest among the four teams.

Li Long originally planned to stay in the county. Yu Shanjiang, who was sitting in the co-pilot seat, waved his hand and said:
"It won't stop. We have to go back. We have bought everything we needed in the past few days. We should wait until spring to come again. It's still too cold here."

The others shared the same opinion, so Li Long sent them to the mountains and then drove back.

The journey was not fast. When Li Long returned to Team 4, there was no one at the Lao Ma No.

Bloodstains could be seen on the snow. A dog from some unknown family was licking the bloody snow. When it saw Li Long's jeep coming, the dog barked twice and ran away.

There is also a dog in Lao Ma's house, but it has been eating very well these past two days, and there have always been a lot of people outside, so it was simply tied up by Uncle Lao Luo and not allowed to come out.

Li Long parked the jeep in the compacted snow and went to Xinmahao to take a look.

The pen suddenly became much emptier. Li Long could see that there was fresh fodder in the trough beside the wall, and the cattle and sheep were eating leisurely, and they did not seem to be bothered by the fact that their companions had been killed in the past few days.

Li Long has collected more than a hundred pieces of leather in the past few days. He plans to sell them to the leather factory when he has some free time.

The purchasing station is really going to be closed. The deerskin can be left behind. The leather factory is accepting large orders, and both sheepskin and cowhide can be sold there. However, if the deerskin is sold there, it may be a loss. It would be better to sell it to Zhao Hui.

As Li Long was thinking about this, Uncle Luo came out from the gate of the Lao Ma Hao, holding a piece of naan in his hand. He looked at Li Long and said with a smile:
"This naan tastes really good. I was full after eating it just now, but looking at this naan makes me want to take a bite."

"That's right, this baked naan tastes really good." Li Long added, "The rest of the work will be easier."

"That's right, there are fewer sheep... But we may still be busy in the second half of January. The ewes will give birth then, and we have to pay attention to them at night. Otherwise, even in the warm pen, the lambs may freeze to death."

"Well, you still have to worry about it." Li Long said, "Tell me in advance if you need anything."

"Okay. Then I won't refuse Lao Liu and the others..." Uncle Luo seemed a little cautious when asking this question.

"What are you resigning for?" Li Long was stunned for a moment, then he reacted and said with a smile, "Why are you resigning for that? We have finally gathered all these people here, how can we resign them? Let them live here peacefully, there is still a lot of work to do."

Uncle Luo laughed. In fact, he knew that there was not much work and two people could do it, but he felt that Li Long hired a few more people just to feed the fattened cattle and sheep. Now that more than half of the cattle and sheep were gone, there was not much work left. If he still paid those people, Li Long would be at a loss.

Now after hearing what Li Long said, he felt relieved.

Xiaolong is still the same, righteous!
Of course, Lao Shu Luo also had his own thoughts. After all, he was the squad leader. If he really fired him, he would be left alone.

That's not good.

Li Long followed Uncle Luo into the yard and saw Yang Laoliu and the others turning over sugar residues in the room with a kang. The sugar residues had been half-dried after being baked for a while. There were ventilation windows in the room, so it was not very humid.

Seeing Li Long come in, Yang Laoliu and a few others smiled and continued with their work.

We have been eating well these days, so we must work hard.

The stove in the yard was still there, the pot was on it, the fire below had not been extinguished yet, the mutton soup in the pot was steaming, and there were still some meat bones left.

"I can't eat anymore." Uncle Luo said with a smile, "I thought we could eat meat every day without getting tired of it, but after just a few days I feel like I can't eat anymore."

"If you can't eat it, just take it out and hang it up. I've been very busy these past few days. I'll get two bottles of wine tonight. The meat can be dipped in vinegar, oil and chili, and it's not bad to eat with it."

"Yes, we were thinking about that too. We have been busy for three or four days, so we should relax tonight."

Li Long didn't say anything else and let Uncle Luo do his thing. He went to the warehouse and cut up half of a cow and a set of offal, and also took a sheep and two deer legs, and went to his eldest brother's house.

Li Jianguo and Liang Yuemei were very busy these days, and basically all the household affairs were handed over to Li Qingxia and Du Chunfang. They knew that their youngest son's affairs were more important, so they cooked for the child, cleaned the yard, set up the stove and fed the pigs, and took care of everything.

To be honest, Li Qingxia and Du Chunfang felt that their life in Team Four was almost like a god's life.

They have experienced something before. They experienced the Republic of China, and after liberation, they also experienced the land reform, communes, and big canteens. How should I put it? They have experienced the hardest days. Although they did not reach the point of eating Guanyin soil, they did eat tree bark, leaves, and grass roots.

During the Republic of China period, I had also seen how the nearby landlords lived. To be honest, even if Du Chunfang was not very knowledgeable, he knew that his life was much better than that of the big landlords in the town at that time.

The eldest son's wife had nothing to complain about them. They basically didn't have to do any housework and had food provided for them. Clothes for the changing of seasons were prepared every year. Li Qingxia still had a few thousand dollars in his hands, but he couldn't find where to spend it because everything he wanted was available at home.

What else can you think of?

No matter how hard they tried, they couldn't do anything. Their youngest son's children didn't even need them to look after them.

Contented.

Now is the time for them to contribute, so they will naturally do their best. Even if Li Jianguo didn't say anything, Liang Yuemei was still very satisfied.

It's a matter of kindness for kindness. She is a filial child and hopes that her sincerity can be understood and accepted by others.

When Li Long pulled the meat over, a family of four was talking in the west room, mainly talking to the old couple about what had happened in the past few days.

Hearing the noise outside, the first person to come out was Li Qingxia.

Watching Li Long get off the car, he smiled and said:

"You're exhausted these days, right?"

"Not bad." Li Long smiled and looked at Li Jianguo who followed behind him and said:

"Brother, let's move the meat down. We need to hang it up in the empty room to prevent rats from chewing it."

Li Long brought back a lot of meat. Li Jianguo asked in surprise:
"Why did you get so much meat?"

"Then eat slowly." Li Long said with a smile, "When you have time, braise some. I'll bring some back then."

"Okay, okay." Du Chunfang smiled happily. She was also happy that her two sons were so harmonious.

It is true that she favors her younger son, but she also knows that the two sons have a good relationship, which is the greatest blessing for the family. (End of this chapter)