Rebirth of Bayi Fishing and Hunting in the Northwest

When Li Long arrived at Halimu's winter home, Halimu's wife had already returned from Talihar's home.

At present, in Halimu's family, only Nathan and Suskenhan can speak the language better, so Li Long told them the basic situation, and then the two of them rushed to translate for their grandmother and mother.

Knowing that it would take a few days for Halimu to come back with Talihar, Halimu's wife just nodded and let Li Long get on the kang to drink milk tea.

Li Long waved his hand and said:

"I have to go back now. I will go to the hospital to see Talihar tomorrow morning. He might be a little nervous in the hospital. I will go to the hospital in the next two days. I will come back to tell you if there is any situation."

After Li Long finished speaking, he hurriedly drove the jeep down the mountain.

At Qingshuihe Village, Li Long saw Meng Hai waving at him on the side of the road.

He stopped the car, turned off the engine, got out and shook hands with Meng Hai.

"Comrade Li Long, I heard the sound of a jeep twice and thought it was you, so I came here to wait and see. Hey, you really were the one waiting for me. What are you doing..." Meng Hai asked in a loud voice.

"My friend in the mountains was injured. I took him to Shicheng Hospital this morning and he is hospitalized. I came back to inform their families."

"Is it serious?" Meng Hai, who was originally smiling, turned serious. "How did you get injured in the mountains? Did you fall off a horse?"

"I was gored by a wild boar while hunting." Li Long explained, "The injury was quite serious, but it was treated at the hospital. It was mainly because the inflammation in the mountains was difficult to treat."

"This wild boar is quite dangerous." Meng Hai nodded, "Be careful if you encounter one. We encountered a few groups of them after the fall, but fortunately there was nothing to dig up. By the way, we also killed some yellow sheep and other animals later. We kept the skins at home. I heard that the purchasing stations were closed, so we can't sell them..."

"It's OK, it will open in the spring." Li Long said with a smile, "I have taken over the purchasing station. You can send them there in the spring, or I can come up and collect them from the team when I am free."

"Really? That's great!" Meng Hai said with a smile, "Come here, this is for you, you must take it. Well, it's almost dark, I won't keep you here, send you away."

Meng Hai picked up a fertilizer bag from under his feet. Li Long hadn't noticed it before - mainly because the bag was grayish white, similar to the color of the snow on the roadside.

The bag was tied with a hemp rope, and something was moving inside. Li Long asked:

"What?"

"Two roosters and two hens, nothing good, take them home to eat. Your children are young, and both adults and children need to have some tonic. Okay, hurry up and leave, it's very cold today, I'm going home too."

After saying that, Meng Hai waved his hand, turned around and walked towards the team.

He was afraid that Li Long wouldn't want it.

Li Long smiled, put the bag in the trunk, looked at Meng Hai again, got in the car and left.

When we returned to the courtyard, the sun was still a while away from setting. Han Fang was the one who opened the door again. She was quite cheerful after returning from Team 4, and occasionally asked when she could go there again.

Li Long took the bag of chicken from the trunk and said to Han Fang, who had closed the door:
"Xiaofang, go prepare a basin. We are going to kill a chicken. After we kill it, gather the chicken feathers and make a shuttlecock."

At that time, shuttlecocks were made with hair from the rooster's neck or both sides of its tail, a piece of cloth, two copper coins, and a piece of string.

At this time, children will not think it is cruel. Some even pluck feathers directly from the necks of live roosters. Seven or eight feathers are enough for a shuttlecock, and they can be tied tightly to play with for a whole winter.

"Okay, okay!" Han Fang was very happy and immediately ran to the kitchen to get a basin, and then brought a bowl.

Li Long smiled, he untied the fertilizer bag and took out a colorful rooster from it.

This rooster weighs three or four kilograms and is quite fierce. It looks like it might give Li Long a try if he isn't careful.

Li Long raised his arms, grabbed the chicken's comb and put it in his left hand, took out his knife with his right hand, wiped the feathers on the neck, and then slaughtered the chicken.

Han Fang hurriedly took the bowl to catch the blood. When the blood was almost caught, she took the bowl to the kitchen, put it down, and ran back. Li Long had already thrown the rooster to the ground and went back to the kitchen to boil water to scald the chicken feathers.

After watching the big rooster flap its wings for a few times without moving, Han Fang hurriedly stepped forward, squatted down, and began to pick out the feathers she liked.

When Li Long came out and put the rooster in the basin and prepared to take it to the kitchen to perm its feathers, Han Fang had already run into the house clutching a handful of chicken feathers.

At her age, making a shuttlecock is not a big deal. As for copper coins, almost every family can find a few these days.

Sister Yang was looking after the children. She took some time out to come out and see Li Long. She greeted him and hurried back into the house. Mingming and Haohao can crawl now, and they don't want to be idle as long as they are awake, so it's even more tiring to watch them.

Li Long let the remaining three chickens run around in the yard. Actually, he had no plan to raise chickens in the yard. Not only would their feces stink, but they would also be everywhere, making it troublesome to clean up.

However, there is no need to kill three at once. You can feed them for a few days first, and then kill them all and hang them up before the New Year to eat slowly.

After taking care of the rooster, Li Long didn't wait for Sister Yang to take over. He peeled potatoes, soaked chili peppers, and peeled garlic, preparing to make a big plate of chicken.

Of course he didn't finish it all. He used the chicken back to stew some chicken soup and planned to send it to Talihar tomorrow.

The injured need to be nourished. Noodles in chicken soup are still very good, at least it is suitable for patients to eat at this time.

Sister Yang saw that it was time to cook, so she called Han Fang to take over the shuttlecock. She was mainly embarrassed to call Li Long. Han Fang went over to look after the two children. The shuttlecock in her hand was already formed. Mingming and Haohao were immediately attracted by this colorful novelty. They both rushed to get it and stuffed it into their mouths as soon as they got it.

Han Fang quickly snatched it away and hid it - this thing is not edible!
The two children were a little unhappy and started yelling - they couldn't speak yet, but when they were dissatisfied they didn't cry, they yelled first.

Han Fang couldn't understand the baby language, but fortunately she knew what to do, so she explained slowly and softly:

"Mingming Haohao, this is not edible. You will get sick if you eat it. When Aunt Xia comes back later, you will have something delicious to eat."

Normally, Han Fang calls Li Long uncle and Gu Xiaoxia aunt. But Han Fang habitually calls Li Long uncle and Gu Xiaoxia aunt, considering both sides older.

Sister Yang came back after a while. Li Long had almost finished cooking and there was no need for her help, so she went back to look after the children.

When Gu Xiaoxia came back, the meal was ready. At the dinner table, Li Long told her about Talihar's situation, and Gu Xiaoxia said worriedly:
"It won't affect anything in the future, right? You won't become a cripple, right?"

"No, it may leave scars." Li Long said with a smile, "For them, this is nothing."

"Then you must be careful when hunting next time." Gu Xiaoxia's focus is here, "The wild animals in the mountains are not like domesticated ones, so you must be careful. We don't lack them at home now, so we should not touch them if we can."

"Okay, I understand." Li Long explained:

"I'm different from him. When I went hunting before, I always shot from a distance. I have good eyesight and good marksmanship, so I can shoot far and accurately. For things like wolves, wild boars, and even bears, I would never run towards them if I could shoot them from a distance.

He was a green hand, and the terrain where he hunted was dangerous, so this happened."

"In any case, you still have to be careful."

Li Long recalled his hunting experiences. Except for the time when he encountered a bear in a tree hole and a wolf lying in ambush outside Halimu's winter den, these two times were relatively dangerous. There was also an time when he and Tao Daqiang were hit back when hunting wild boars in the mountains. The other times were relatively safe.

By the way, there was also the time when I fought a lynx and got scratched by its claw. That was the only time I saw blood.

Generally speaking, most of the time when hunting, Li Long aims from a distance, which is the advantage of hunting with a rifle. This standard rifle is powerful and can be used to shoot from a distance, without having to wait until the prey is close, thus avoiding most of the dangers.

However, Talihar's injury this time really reminded Li Long that the wild beasts in the mountains are ferocious creatures after all, so he really needs to be more careful when fighting them in the future.

The next day, Li Long took the cooked chicken soup and noodles to Shicheng Second Hospital.

In order to prevent the noodles from clumping together in the soup, Sister Yang mixed the noodles with cold cooked rapeseed oil after putting them in the soup. This way, when she poured the noodles into the chicken soup when it was time to eat, they would not be too mushy.

In the hospital, Halimu and Talihar were brushing their teeth in the bathroom. There was white foam on both of their mouths, but there was no blood and they were both very serious.

Talihar was quite shy at first, but Halimu took advantage of the fact that no one was around and repeated Li Long's words to him, and Talihar felt relieved.

That’s right, we learn what we don’t understand, and there are also things that you don’t understand that we know, and that’s okay.

If you think more positively, things will be easier.

At first, there were still some people watching. After all, the department was so small, and people knew about the comings and goings. They knew that there were two ethnic minorities from the mountains, and their living habits were still relatively "primitive", so there were still some people watching at first.

Halimu was okay, but Talihar was still a little embarrassed. Fortunately, Halimu would remind him from time to time, and as a studious young man, he would also ask questions actively.

Gradually, those patients and their families who wanted to laugh at the joke stopped saying anything, and some even took the initiative to remind them.

The nurses would also help protect them, which made Halimu and Talihar quite happy. They just had never lived in such an environment, but they were not stupid. They could basically tell who had good intentions and who had bad intentions.

"I never thought that Li Long and his friends' life is like this. It's quite fresh." After brushing his teeth, Talihar felt numb in his mouth, which was quite interesting. He said while washing the toothbrush holder.

This jar is not only used for brushing teeth, but also for drinking water after washing.

"Nathan and Susken told me about it, but I didn't pay much attention to it. He said some of his classmates lived like this, brushing their teeth every day, washing their feet every night, and cleaning behind their ears."

Harimu finished brushing his teeth and said while washing his face.

The water was cool, but hotter than the water in the pipe outside the winter nest. It was very comfortable to wash in, and I felt awake all of a sudden.

He slept on the extra bed last night. Talihar snored, so he didn't sleep very well. At the same time, he was worried that his and Talihar's snoring would affect the middle-aged man.

Fortunately, I didn't hear the middle-aged man complain about anything from beginning to end. Halimu thought this person was a good person.

He didn't sleep very well, and thought that if he had nothing to do during the day, he could catch up on some sleep.

After washing, Halimu went to get food. Although Li Long had accompanied him for a walk yesterday, he was still a little nervous.

I was holding the money in my hands and they were almost sweating.

He asked Talihar, and the middle-aged man also reminded him that there was porridge, steamed buns, pickles, and cornmeal cakes in the morning.

It’s a pity that there is no naan and no milk tea.

"What do you want?" the person serving the food asked Halimu.

"Two bowls of porridge, four steamed buns, and two pickles." Halimu had repeated it several times, so he said it smoothly.

"Fifty cents." said the person inside.

The unexpected cheapness really surprised Halimu.

He hurriedly opened the money he had prepared, took out a fifty-cent note and handed it over.

"lunch box."

"Ohhh... here!"

One lunch box contained two portions of pickles and four steamed buns, and the other lunch box contained two portions of porridge mixed together.

Usually, when you order a meal, the waiter will put pickles and steamed buns on the lid of the lunch box and put porridge in the lunch box. This lunch box is enough.

But now one person has to carry two meals, so this is the only way.

When I returned to the ward, Talihar was already waiting.

While the two were eating, the middle-aged man went to get the food leisurely. When they finished eating and went to the bathroom to wash up, the middle-aged man came back.

The nurse came to give me an injection during working hours, and surprisingly there wasn't a particularly strong smell in the room.

Talihar sensed her surprise and smiled smugly at Halimu.

It turned out that they washed their socks together last night and hung them on the radiator in the bathroom. They got up early today and put them on. They also took their shoes to the bathroom and put them next to the radiator to warm them. The smell dissipated and naturally it was not so smelly.

To be honest, not many people at that time could wash their feet and socks every day. After all, the resources were limited and far less abundant than in later generations.

While the injection was being done, Halim took a bench and dozed off by the heater. Talihar slept better last night, so he didn't need to watch while the injection was being done.

The middle-aged man was also receiving an IV drip. When a doctor came to check on him, he examined his wound and told him to eat less spicy food.

When Li Long came over, Talihar's injection had already been completed. In fact, he was not allowed to come in that morning, so Li Long went directly to the department director and explained the situation.

The department director thought that it was a good thing for a young Han man to take care of two people from ethnic minorities who were hospitalized for the first time, so he made an exception and allowed him in.

"It looks good." Li Long saw that Talihar looked much better, and said with a smile, "Here, I brought you some chicken noodle soup. The soup is still hot. Come on, have a try."

The middle-aged man looked at Li Long's actions with curiosity. Li Long noticed this and asked:

"My fellow patient, would you like some?"

"I can't do that." The man waved his hand. "You came all the way from Ma County? It must be very hard, right?"

"Nothing, I'm used to it. When there's nothing to do, I run there often." Li Long said casually, "Are you from Shicheng?"

"Yes, from the Corps." The man replied.

While Li Long was talking, he had already divided the chicken soup into two lunch boxes, and it was still warm.

This big rooster is fat and oily, and it won't cool down in a short time. There was once a legend about chicken soup. It was said that a foreigner from the Eight-Nation Alliance used steaming ice cream to ridicule a Qing Dynasty official for being unworldly. The Qing Dynasty official then used chicken soup with coriander and a layer of oil on top to scald the foreigner's mouth.

I don’t know if it’s true or not, but it’s true that there’s a layer of oil on the chicken soup, so it must be difficult to cool down.

Li Long also divided the noodles into two halves and put them into two lunch boxes for them to eat.

While eating, Li Long asked:

"You don't have a fever anymore?"

"The fever is gone. I've applied medicine on the wound. Although it hurts, I feel better on the outside." Talihar said while eating.

The chicken soup contains shredded chicken, and although it only has a little salt, it is a good thing in itself and very fragrant.

"Li Long, you don't have to come every day from now on." Halimu said while eating, "You have your own things to do, so don't bother us like this."

"It's okay. I'm just sitting around doing nothing. Besides, I have to know when you'll be discharged from the hospital, right?" Li Long said with a smile, "I still have to send you home safely."

"Okay, you have a car anyway." Halimu no longer insisted. He felt more at ease when Li Long was around.

When Li Long left, he asked the doctor, and the doctor gave a very optimistic answer.

"After staying here for seven days, you can go back and rest. As long as you don't do any strenuous activities, and it's winter now, the wound will basically be fine."

The doctor also told me some things not to eat. He already knew about the friendship between Li Long, a Han youth, and Halim and other ethnic minorities, and he admired it.

Over the next few days, Li Long brought him chicken soup every day. When Talihar was discharged from the hospital, he said he was about to vomit.

Halimu slapped him.

Talihar didn't know much while lying on the hospital bed. Halimu was busy running around but he heard many patients say that Li Long was Talihar's relative, otherwise he wouldn't have brought him chicken soup every day.

Chicken is also quite expensive at that time. It would be good if it could be delivered one or two days. It is delivered every day, and you can smell the aroma and see the bones being cleaned. It is fresh every day. It is not the kind of chicken that has been stewed for many days.

I don't know whether it's scientific or not, but other patients said that the chicken noodle soup played a big role in Talihar's quick discharge from the hospital.

People at this time are still quite obsessed with taking nutritious foods to replenish their bodies.

But you know what, when he was discharged from the hospital, Talihar was not only a lot whiter, but also a lot fatter.

"Now that we're discharged from the hospital, let's go have a good meal, get a haircut, and then go back to our winter home to show everyone that our time outside was not in vain." Li Long drove the car and took the two of them out, talking as he walked.

"No, no, I just want to eat naan and drink some milk tea." Talihar can walk by himself now. His wound has healed, but the scar has not fallen off. He can still move a little. He yelled, "I miss it so much!"

"Okay, okay, then I'll take you to drink milk tea." Li Long smiled.

That's right, it's not easy to change a habit of more than 20 years. If you don't drink something you drink every day for a week, you must be thinking about it. (End of this chapter)