Rebirth of Bayi Fishing and Hunting in the Northwest

Chapter 936 First, let's go to the memorial hall, that's a must!
On the way to Tiananmen Square, Li Long was carrying a backpack and holding a baby. Li Jianguo asked:

"Just put some things out of the backpack. It's tiring for you to carry it like that. Let Mingming carry it..."

“We have to bring everything with us,” Li Long chuckled. “A camera, we’re at Tiananmen Square now, we have to take a picture, right? And we need to eat whatever snacks Hao Hao brought, we can’t leave them at the hotel without worrying about them…”

The thing he was worried about was naturally his money. Li Long's backpack was a captured item; it was sturdy, had a large capacity, and looked quite stylish.

The valuables, including money, were all inside, so Li Long naturally carried them with him at all times.

Knowing that Li Long had brought a camera, Li Juan and Li Qiang became especially excited. Although there was no concept of "checking off" specific times at this point, it would be unreasonable to visit Tiananmen Square without taking pictures.

When Li Long arrived at Tiananmen Square, he was somewhat surprised.

There weren't many people in the square. Whether it was the flag-raising platform, the empty square, the memorial hall, or the entrance to the Forbidden City, there weren't many people.

"Tiananmen, Tiananmen!" Li Qiang exclaimed excitedly, pointing at Tiananmen.

Although Li Juan didn't say anything, she was just as excited as she looked at Tiananmen Square.

The Tiananmen Square in textbooks, on coins, on banknotes, and in other places finally overlapped with the tall and magnificent building in front of me.

"Long live the People's Republic of China" and "Long live the great unity of the people of the world"—these two lines of text clearly come into view. The huge portrait of the instructor in the middle is solemn and dignified, making one involuntarily put away any playful thoughts.

It was the first time they had ever seen Tiananmen Square so closely and clearly. Li Long was relatively calm, but both Li Jianguo and Gu Xiaoxia were quite excited.

People of later generations cannot understand the feelings of those living far away on the frontier when they saw Tiananmen Square and that huge portrait.

Why was "Riding a Donkey into Yanjing" made into a movie? The simple emotions of ordinary people in that era resonated with us, but later generations, due to advanced transportation and easy access to information, could no longer feel them.

"Come on, let me take your picture." Li Long was the first to react. "Qiangqiang, turn to the side and give a Young Pioneers salute. Juan, aren't you already a member of the Youth League? Then you don't need to salute... Come on, come on."

There were people taking photos in the square, and you could even see foreigners. You didn't have to worry about being chased away by those who regularly took photos there.

After taking photos of Tiananmen Square, the Monument to the People's Heroes, and the Chairman Mao Memorial Hall, Li Qiang excitedly clamored to go inside Tiananmen Square (the Forbidden City) for a look.

"No, no, we have to go to the memorial hall first!" Li Jianguo declared. "We'll go to the memorial hall first today!"

There's no question about that. Although Li Qiang was a little puzzled as to why his father was so determined to go to the Chairman's Memorial Hall, he nodded habitually.

“In there is Chairman Mao,” Li Long said to Li Qiang. “Now that we’ve arrived in Yanjing, shouldn’t we first pay our respects to the Chairman—he’s the one who made our lives better…” Li Long explained to Li Qiang.

"Yes!" Knowing that they were worshipping Chairman Mao over there, Li Qiang immediately nodded seriously. "Let's go!"

There were more people at the Chairman's Memorial Hall. As we approached the entrance, everyone wore solemn and respectful expressions, truly feeling a deep sense of reverence as they climbed the steps and went inside…

When they came out, neither Li Juan nor Li Qiang said a word. Li Jianguo and the others also remained silent for a while.

"Let's go, let's go see the Forbidden City." Li Long said immediately as he watched a group of people go in, "Let's go in and see what kind of places the emperors used to live in."

"That's definitely better than where we're staying," Li Qiang exclaimed. "The Emperor..."

Li Qiang has started secretly reading martial arts novels. Although there aren't many descriptions of emperors in them, he can imagine what they are like.

"It's nice, but the place isn't necessarily big." Li Long smiled. "You'll know once you go in and take a look."

He didn't have a good impression of the Forbidden City. It felt gloomy, with many small rooms, and frankly, he couldn't see the good stuff there now... Plus, there were a lot of negative rumors about it.

Fortunately, photos could be taken inside. Li Long took photos of everyone in several important and famous halls. He also took a group photo with Gu Xiaoxia, Mingming, and Haohao. The photo was taken by Li Juan, who learns to do this very quickly and looks quite good.

They even tagged along with other tour guides inside, and no one bothered them as they followed behind. Li Long felt a little embarrassed and wondered if he should give them a service fee when they left, but the tour guide said it wasn't necessary; they were just doing their job and didn't need it.

Okay, times have changed, and so have perspectives.

When we came out, we were starving, so we randomly picked a noodle shop and ate some Zhajiangmian (noodles with soybean paste).

It was pretty good. The meat sauce tasted good, and there were plenty of meat chunks. And the owner didn't discriminate against Li Long and his friends because of their accents. After learning they were from northern Xinjiang, the owner even added extra sauce. Li Long thought to himself, "Is the owner mistaken? We're not refugees here to beg for food."

Walking back after dinner is like taking a stroll, Li Long said as they walked:

"We need to find a post office to call the purchasing station and the team to let them know we've arrived."

"Can we get through?" Li Jianguo doesn't make phone calls often and isn't sure if he can get the call transferred.

"Give it a try," Li Long said. "We'll see if we can get across."

When they returned to the hostel and still couldn't find the post office, Li Long asked the front desk staff for directions. Li Long then told Li Jianguo and Gu Xiaoxia to rest while he went to find the post office to make a phone call.

Of course, it's not just about making phone calls. Sometimes in northern Xinjiang, people gather at the post office. Some exchange stamps there, while others exchange other things, such as food coupons or even US dollars.

So Li Long thought he should come here to see what the "black market" was like. Of course, he also knew that most of the people who could exchange things here were not good people, so he was prepared to switch from literature to martial arts.

To Li Long's disappointment, this was a small post office, and apart from a few stamp collectors who were waiting there to exchange stamps, there was no one else around.

He went into the post office and told the staff that he wanted to pay to make a phone call.

At that time, postal and telecommunications services were not separated; they were integrated, and phone calls and telegrams were all made and sent from there.

Unfortunately, the call didn't go through. He didn't know if it was because there were too many layers of intermediaries or if the line was faulty. In the end, Li Long had no choice but to send two telegrams, one to the purchasing station and one to the team, simply saying that they had arrived safely in Yanjing.

After sending the telegram, Li Long left the post office and headed towards the hotel.

While Li Long and his group were touring the Forbidden City, Halimu and his men had already slaughtered twenty cows and one hundred sheep at the Old Horse Shop.

Because Li Long wanted even more sheep, Halim and the others continued slaughtering them. Meanwhile, Song Ming brought over some sugar residue and, seeing that they had enough cattle and sheep, brought a truck to take the sugar factory's sheep away first.

Xie Yundong and the others naturally had no objections, as it was inconvenient to pile so many cattle and sheep together.

Xie Yundong and Tao Daqiang then took a car and drove the cattle and sheep to the sugar factory.

Section Chief Hu knew that Li Long was not present, so he simply handled the matter officially.

Because some of the cattle slaughtered were brown cattle, which are large, the beef weighed over 5,000 kilograms. The mutton was not much different; 100 sheep weighed over 3,000 kilograms, totaling less than 20,000 yuan.

Xie Yundong and Tao Daqiang both felt the money was burning their hands.

After the invoice was issued and signed, Section Chief Hu said to Xie Yundong:
"Did Xiao Li tell you anything? We also asked for venison last year. Do you still have any venison?"

"Yes," Xie Yundong said.

"Alright, slaughter three more deer. I'll have Xiao Song go pick them up tomorrow. We'll weigh them over there. I'll have Xiao Song bring the money over directly. Oh, and," Section Chief Hu said quietly at the end, "make sure to leave the whips for us."

After finishing his sentence, Section Chief Hu returned to his office without waiting for Xie Yundong and the others to say anything.

He doesn't need to check on things like beef and mutton being stored anymore.

Xie Yundong and Tao Daqiang stared at each other, both bewildered. Li Long hadn't mentioned the deer slaughter either. "Let's go back and ask Uncle Luo what's going on," Xie Yundong said, not daring to make a decision rashly.

After unloading the truck, Song Ming took the two men back to the old horse ship.

Back on the old horse, Halim and the others were resting, drinking meat soup and chatting.

Upon seeing Xie Yundong and Tao Daqiang return, Uncle Luo hurriedly invited them to drink soup to warm themselves up.

Xie Yundong took the enamel basin, blew on it to take a sip, and recounted Section Chief Hu's request for the deer. Then he asked, "Uncle Luo, did Xiaolong mention anything about slaughtering a deer when he left?"

"I didn't say that," Uncle Luo shook his head. "I just said you two would handle this. Since we can't get in touch with you, why don't you two discuss it together?"

Xie Yundong looked at Tao Daqiang. Tao Daqiang shook his head; he didn't have any ideas. Before, when he was with Li Long, he listened to Li Long in everything. Now that he had a family, he mostly discussed things with his wife. Despite his tall and strong appearance, he wouldn't have a definite idea unless pushed to a certain point.

Xie Yundong scratched his head, looking a bit troubled.

Should we fleece them or not?
Thinking back to what Li Long had said when he came to his house, Xie Yundong gritted his teeth and said:

"Then slaughter it! Anyway, we'll just slaughter this deer for meat, and since they've specifically asked to buy it, there's no reason not to take the money that's being offered to us. Slaughter it!"

After he said that, Uncle Luo and Tao Daqiang had no objections, so they decided to proceed with the slaughter.

There are more than 20 deer and more than 10 roe deer in Lao Ma's farm. Some of them have been bred in recent years, while others are small animals caught in the mountains and sent over to be raised.

Since Section Chief Hu wants to whip the stag, then the male stag must be slaughtered. Uncle Luo was a little disappointed, since a mature male stag can have its antlers harvested twice a year, which can fetch a good price.

But he also knew that the sugar factory was a big customer. Not only did they buy beef and mutton at the end of the year, but how much sugar residue could they deliver in a year? Although the sugar factory didn't charge him for throwing away the sugar residue, the fact that they agreed to bring it over was a favor.

The three male deer weighed over 400 kilograms when slaughtered, and the deer blood filled two large basins!

The deer penis and kidneys were put into the deer's roe, while the rest were left out.

Xie Yundong started to worry again: how to calculate the price of the deer?
"Last year, a deer cost 800 yuan, but this year it might go up a bit." Uncle Luo still remembers last year's price, "It must have been at least 1,000 yuan, right? Beef and mutton prices have both gone up."

Xie Yundong thought about it and decided to go with this price, figuring that Section Chief Hu probably already knew what was going on.

Sure enough, when Song Ming came to pick up the deer the next day, he checked the size of the deer and whether the whip and kidneys were there. He then readily paid three thousand yuan and had Xie Yundong sign a receipt.

After Song Ming left, Xie Yundong breathed a sigh of relief, realizing that the matter with Da Tou was settled.

While Halim and his men were slaughtering cattle and sheep, people from the village had already come to buy offal, heads, and hooves.

Li Long wasn't there, and the villagers wanted to buy at last year's price, but Xie Yundong didn't agree. He explained to them one by one that last year's price was the annual price, and this year everything has gone up in price, even beef and mutton. The price of meat, hooves, and offal will definitely go up.

Of course, the price increase for villagers won't be as much; it will be slightly lower than the market price, which can be considered a benefit that Li Long is providing to the villagers.

And so, some people bought the goods and then secretly cursed Xie Yundong.

The news quickly reached Xie Yundong's ears, but he didn't care.

His wife complained a little, but Xie Yundong was very open-minded and said to her:
"Think about how our family is doing now. Our hard work is part of the reason we are doing so well. If it weren't for Xiaolong giving us those opportunities, would we be able to live like this? He entrusted this matter to us, so we have to do it well."

Think about it, what kind of person is Xiaolong? The fact that he entrusted this matter to me means he trusts me. He's not here now, so I have to make the decision. Don't overthink it; with Xiaolong's temperament, he won't let us suffer."

Deng Guilan thought about it and agreed. She used to be a little resentful that her husband was with Li Long, but in the past two years, their lives have gotten better and better, and together with Tao Daqiang, they have become one of the families with the best lives in the team, so she no longer had anything to say.

What could be more convincing than living a better life?
"If I hear those people nagging again tomorrow, I'll yell at them! This price is lower than the market price, and those people are still not satisfied. They really don't know their place!"

With a change of mindset, Deng Guilan's thoughts immediately changed. She was not the kind of woman who would swallow her anger. With a better life at home, she had more confidence and dared to scold some people who deserved it!
Halim and his men slaughtered all the cattle and sheep in less than a week, then drove their tractor back to the mountains. When they left, Uncle Luo asked them to take the sheep with them, but they refused. In the end, Xie Yundong, Tao Daqiang, and others threw the sheep onto the truck.

A large quantity of hides, offal, and cow, sheep heads, and hooves remained at the old horse shop. To Xie Yundong's surprise, the cow heads were the first to sell out, and they were almost all bought by villagers. He specifically set aside a few pieces of offal to send to the Li family, and also sent some cow heads, cow hooves, sheep heads, and sheep hooves there. The rest remained at the old horse shop for sale.

Since he had nothing to do in the winter, Xie Yundong would come to Lao Ma Hao every day to deal with the remaining things after Halim and the others left, just like going to work.

According to what Li Long left behind, each family took one sheep, and each family also bought offal, head, and hooves, all of which cost extra. Xie Yundong kept a record of it all.

After leaving the hostel, Gu Xiaoyu returned to school. She shared a dormitory room with someone else, but her roommate had already gone home.

The old gatekeeper greeted Gu Xiaoyu with a smile when he saw her:
"Teacher Gu, you're back? Someone from your family came looking for you and asked you to go back home when you returned."

"Okay, thank you, Uncle Hu." Gu Xiaoyu took out a bag of raisins from her bag and handed it to him. "Uncle Hu, these are some local specialties from northern Xinjiang that I brought back. Please have some."

"Wow, raisins! These are good stuff!" Grandpa Hu was a little surprised. Although there weren't many raisins, only about a kilogram, they weren't cheap in Yanjing. He smiled and said, "Then I'll take them?"

"Take it, take it. It'll be a snack when you're bored," Gu Xiaoyu said with a smile. "Then I'll go in."

"Okay."

Gu Xiaoyu entered the dormitory building, walked through the various items in the corridor, and arrived at her own dormitory door.

After opening the door and entering the dormitory, Gu Xiaoyu did not feel as relaxed as before.

In the past, when she came back to the dormitory from home, she always felt relaxed, even if she was sharing a room with others. Her roommates were from out of town and had good tempers, so they were always easy to talk to.

But as I get older, it becomes increasingly inconvenient to stay at home, and I feel more and more like a guest.

On the contrary, this dormitory gave her a sense of belonging.

But things are different now. When I'm with my sister and the others, even in a hostel, I feel very relaxed.

Although Gu Xiaoyu knew this mindset was wrong. No matter what, her stepfather and stepmother had raised her and supported her through university; they were kind to her.

But Gu Xiaoyu truly cherished the feeling of being with her sister's family—no pressure, no scheming, no superficial harmony but inner estrangement, and the freedom to say whatever she wanted.

I used to think that all families were like mine, but after getting to know my sister's family, I realized that some families really don't have any conflicts and are just harmonious.

Even when she was with Li Juan, Li Qiang, Mingming, and Haohao, she was always happy and joyful.

After a few days away, the dormitory had developed a slightly unpleasant smell. Gu Xiaoyu opened the door to let in some fresh air, but the unpleasant smell wafted back in from the hallway, so she had to close the door and start packing her things.

No matter how much I delay, I will eventually have to go home. My mother knew I had gone to northern Xinjiang, but she didn't object to my return. Now that I've gone and come back, I should go home and explain things.

If I calculate the time, by the time I finish packing up and go home, my mom and the others will be off work, and I can tell my mom then.

Besides the jade bracelet, the bag also contained a jade Guanyin pendant for each of her stepfather and stepbrother.

These two jade Guanyin statues were later given to Gu Xiaoyu by Li Long. He felt it was inappropriate for Gu Xiaoxia to give her mother a bracelet without giving anything to other family members, so he took out some jade carvings for Gu Xiaoyu to choose from. Gu Xiaoyu chose two jade Guanyin statues, one large and one small. She gave the larger one to her stepfather and the smaller one to her stepbrother.

After packing her things, Gu Xiaoyu sighed, locked the door, and headed home.

Should we really buy a house?
PS: Thank you to readers Xie Lan'an, 202505147456, Yao Tong, 20171009213952189, and readers Zhong Shen Si Wo, 20250616163248348, 20250419195528243, and Gu Gua Ren for their donations. Thank you all for your subscriptions, monthly tickets, and recommendation votes!
(End of this chapter)