Rebirth of Bayi Fishing and Hunting in the Northwest

Chapter 965 The cabin is destroyed, Ma Xiaoyan visits.

The lunch was simple: stewed wild boar and lynx meat soup. We ate the meat and drank the soup.

After processing the half-grown wild boar, there were still over twenty kilograms of meat with bones. Li Long took half of it, chopped it up, and cooked it in a pot. The same went for the lynx; after carefully peeling off its skin, salting it, and letting it dry, he removed its two front legs, added spices, and stewed it.

The rest were left soaking in water, and Li Long planned to take them home along with the little wild boar after lunch.

There were only about twenty people working, and the stewed meat was enough to give each person two or three pieces, plus the broth with oil floating on top, so they were quite satisfied.

The morning's work yielded impressive results; over thirty trees had been felled and hauled to the flat ground, making them easy to walk on. Meanwhile, Meng Hai drove his tractor forward, widening what was originally a narrow path of only two or three abreasts to a width large enough to accommodate one and a half small four-wheeled tractors.

The current section of the road leading into the mountains runs entirely along a small river, essentially going upstream.

This section is relatively easy to develop. The riverbed here is flat and wide. All we need to do is cut down the trees blocking the way and then use bulldozers to level the uneven areas.

Because there were no obstacles in the short term, they advanced more than 100 meters from the starting point of the road construction in just one morning. Meng Hai was optimistic. Before coming to eat, he went to take a look inside and found that the road ahead was even easier to clear, with fewer trees, allowing them to continue advancing for nearly 200 meters.

Three hundred meters a day, more than one kilometer in three days... If you really want to calculate it, it might take a year to finish the actual workdays.

Of course, the reality is that it can't be calculated that way. Li Long knew that sometimes an unavoidable obstacle could take up a whole day.

Of course, a smooth start is a good omen, and Li Long was quite happy.

The people who came to work were even happier. They originally thought they would just be eating dry steamed buns with river water today, but unexpectedly, Li Long caught several things and they were able to eat meat for lunch.

How good!

Li Long saw a villager finish eating the meat, collect the bones, wrap them up, and plan to take them back.

Meng Hai also noticed, and he went over to ask:
"He Dongfeng, why are you taking these bones?"

"Hehe, we have a dog at home, so take this bone home to feed it," said the villager named He Dongfeng with a smile.

"If a dog dares to eat wild boar bones, would it dare to eat lynx bones?" someone asked, puzzled.

"Lynx bone...hehe, I won't feed this to the dogs." He Dongfeng had already gotten his hands on the bone and wasn't afraid of others copying him. He said, "This is good stuff. Take it back, wash it clean, and prepare it. It's great for making medicinal wine!"

"Soak it in alcohol? What does that cure?" Someone immediately perked up.

"Rheumatism, back and leg pain, and things like that." He Dongfeng carefully put the lynx bones he had picked up into his pocket. "Anyway, they're good stuff, you can't buy them even if you have money."

Everyone originally knew that lynxes were associated with nobility, but some people didn't expect them to be associated with nobility in this way.

Some people didn't want the bones when scooping the broth, only the meat, while others got the bones. Some of those who got meat on the bones gnawed the meat off the bones and then threw them away, while others, like He Dongfeng, kept the bones.

This is a lynx bone; even if you do nothing, you can take it back and show it to others to brag about.

Now that He Dongfeng has said this, some of those who threw away the bones are starting to regret it.

But only soup remained in the pot, and some people's eyes were drawn to the remaining lynx meat that Li Long had soaked in the water.

No one dared to go to Li Long for more—it was already quite generous of him to provide so much wild boar and lynx meat for everyone's lunch; they couldn't go too far.

The people Meng Hai called out were all relatively honest; those who weren't honest had already been eliminated.

Li Long also ate a piece of naan bread and occasionally drank a bowl of meat soup.

Honestly, lynx meat isn't very tasty when eaten plain. Although the spices mask the gamey smell, it's still wild, so the fibers are coarse and it doesn't taste as good as lamb.

However, since they were in the wild, there was no need to be so particular. He ate while talking to Meng Hai about their plans for the afternoon.

"I'll be going back in a bit. Keep an eye on things here. This afternoon's planned work is relatively easy, with no major obstacles. If any problems arise that you can't handle, stop or go around. Oh, and please be careful—remember, safety first!"

Li Long repeatedly emphasized safety, mainly because this is different from other jobs, such as cutting down trees or moving stones, which all involve certain dangers.

"Don't worry, I remember." Meng Hai said with a smile, "I led some men to do this at the winter shelter up ahead before, you know."

Li Long then felt reassured and fished the meat out of the water, put it in a woven bag in the back of the car, and drove away.

"Hey, it's so nice to have a car. You can go wherever you want with just a tap on the gas," someone said enviously. "Unlike us, we still have to walk to get around."

"What are you thinking? Just buy a small four-wheeled tractor like Old Meng. That little vehicle is fast, but it can't carry anything, can't haul anything, and can't do any work. It's just for show." Some people have very practical ideas.

"Work hard, earn more money, and you'll be able to afford one later," Meng Hai said with a smile. "Comrade Li Long said that our country can now produce cars. Those cheap cars that look like dung beetles are still expensive now, but they'll become cheaper as more are produced."

"How could anyone possibly afford that?" some people said in disbelief. "That would cost so much... enough for many people with tens of thousands of yuan!"

"Think about it, you just wanted to buy a bicycle back then, right?" someone thought Meng Hai's words made sense. "And now, you have a bicycle, right? You wouldn't have dared to dream of a small four-wheeled tractor before, would you? Now you can afford one almost now, and it's only been a few years."

"That's all thanks to working with Lao Meng, that's how we earned it." Some people are very conscientious. "In other villages in our commune, there are still many families who can't afford bicycles."

“That’s not following me,” Meng Hai quickly corrected, “that’s following Comrade Li Long. Aren’t all these jobs assigned to us by Comrade Li Long? It’s because he saw that we could make big brooms, and that trust was built up little by little.”

Actually, Meng Hai didn't say much, but the others knew a little about it. Ever since he met Li Long, Meng Hai would bring him some things every time he knew Li Long was going into the mountains. He would also send some local specialties to the Li family during festivals. They weren't very valuable, but they were the thought that counted.

When Li Long's son was born, Meng Hai also brought people to visit him.

The most important thing between people is to be sincere with each other. If you keep in touch, people will think of you when something good happens to them. Of course, first of all, you have to be good at your job. If you can make a good broom and a good handle, then Li Long will feel comfortable entrusting the work to you.

"Yes, yes, Comrade Li Long is really great. He always remembers us and helps us with any work. Our lives have improved these past two years thanks to him," someone said. "For us road repairmen, earning this much a day would be much better than those old skilled workers in the factory!"

"Alright, alright, that's enough. Let's go and get to work," Meng Hai said. "Don't keep talking and end up not finishing today's tasks."

Then the road repair work continued.

Li Long drove his jeep around to the cabin. Just as he expected, the cabin door lock had been pried open this year. The things inside were still there, but there was a lot of dust.

The stove and other appliances weren't damaged, and the door was closed, but the lock was gone.

Li Long went inside and took the bedding from the wooden kang (heated brick bed) outside. The table outside was still there, but the wire that used to tie the two poles was gone; someone had taken it and used it.

He swept the dust off the table with a broom, and then put the bedding on it to air it out.

The wooden frame in the small room was fine, but there were some leaves on the wooden floor; he didn't know if someone had put them in or if the wind had blown them in when the door was open. After cleaning the inside with a broom, he found a lock in the jeep and locked both doors.

I'll come back and take another look later.

Fortunately, they're going to build a road here later, so I can come and check on it every day or every other day. This wooden house was built with the help of Halimu, Yushanjiang, and others; it's a place for me in the mountains, and I definitely can't give it up.

After leaving the wooden house, Li Long drove his jeep out of the mountains and back to the courtyard.

Sister Yang was telling Mingming and Haohao a story, and while telling the story, she was also teaching them to recite ancient poems, which surprised Li Long.

The jeep drove into the yard, and Mingming and Haohao got up and tried to come closer. Sister Yang quickly pulled the two children back and only let go after the car was parked and the engine was turned off.

"Dad smells bad!"

Mingming smelled the blood as soon as he got close to Li Long and spoke frankly. "What's that smell?" Hao Hao asked as well.

“Blood. Dad hunted wild boar and lynx in the mountains, so it smells of blood.” Li Long made no attempt to hide the sight of the lynx pelt and the meat he had brought back from his two children.

The two children asked curiously what a lynx was.

"It's an animal that's bigger than a cat but smaller than a tiger, and it's very fierce." Li Long explained as he took the meat off the plate, carried it to the kitchen, put it in a large basin, and then took it to the hand pump well to pump water in and soak it.

"Hey, that's quite a lot," Sister Yang said with a smile. As the cook, she was naturally happy to have good ingredients.

"Let's untie the wild boar meat first to see if we'll braise or air-dry it. Lynx meat is difficult to cook; I'll probably just braise it, adding plenty of seasoning to mask the flavor," Li Long said. "Let's keep it in water for now and cook it tonight or tomorrow."

"Then let's do it tonight. Uncle, are you still going out?"

"I need to go out and check on the mountains. I'll be back later."

"Then let's braise it tonight, and you and Master Gu can have a couple of drinks then."

Li Long thought it was pretty good, so he nodded.

After a quick wash and a brief hug and kiss with Mingming and Haohao, Li Long drove the jeep into the mountains again.

He went back to the cabin first. Nothing had changed there in the short two hours since. Li Long put the bedding that had been drying outside back in, locked the door, and drove to the road construction site.

The work was in full swing, and Li Long realized he didn't need to be there at all. When he wasn't around, Meng Hai handed over the tractor-driving duties to someone else, while he himself ran back and forth on the road coordinating and directing operations.

Every so often, small four-wheeled vehicles and tractors would take turns pressing down on the road to flatten the newly cleared surface. Some people who had free time would even dig up sand and gravel from the river and throw it onto the road.

In this situation, Li Long felt that staying there was pointless, so he simply drove the jeep back to the winter hut and drove along the original road, partly to check the road condition and partly to see what the winter hut was like after they left.

The road is alright. After Yushanjiang and his group moved to a new location, it rained several times in the mountains. After the rain washed away the road, there was some mud and sand piled up in some places, but most of the road was still in good condition and hadn't changed much, which means that the road can withstand ordinary tests.

However, the situation in the winter shelters is not good. At least six winter shelters have been occupied. The wooden barriers that used to block the entrances have been removed, and three of the winter shelters are filled with a lot of garbage.

There's no one inside now; it must have been occupied by the herb gatherers who came here when they were digging for fritillaria bulbs.

Some people clean up after staying at a place and then leave, while others have poor manners.

Li Long walked along, looking around and helping with the cleanup. Overall, things were going well; the road conditions were good, the winter shelters were neatly arranged without any problems, and the water pipes were running normally. Li Long returned home feeling relatively reassured.

Meng Hai and his group finished their business when the sun went down that day. Li Long gave the money directly to Meng Hai and then went back.

The Dongfanghong 75 tractor was left at the road construction site. Meng Hai drove his small four-wheeled tractor to take the villagers back home, all the way to their houses. He then gave each person some money and told them to go home on their own.

As soon as Li Long returned to the courtyard, he smelled the aroma of braised pork.

"The phone in your bedroom kept ringing all afternoon, I don't know where it was calling from," said Sister Yang. "It called four or five times, I think."

Li Long was somewhat surprised. Who was calling?

The telephone was fixed in the bedroom, which wasn't very convenient back then. In later generations, you can buy telephone lines with crystal heads everywhere and move them around at will. Now, it's difficult to even find the materials.

A short while later, Gu Boyuan returned from the purchasing station and solved the mystery for Li Long.

"The supply and marketing cooperative called this afternoon and asked me to tell you that the county official, Officer Ma, asked when you would be repairing the road again and asked you to give him an answer. So I told the supply and marketing cooperative that you should go repair the road today."

Li Long suddenly realized that it seemed Ma Xiaoyan was going to follow up with further reports.

Sister Yang brought out the planned dinner: rice porridge, stir-fried vegetables, steamed buns, and braised lynx meat.

"This is a lynx we hunted in the mountains today," Li Long said with a smile. "Sister Yang braised it. Uncle Gu, shall we have a drink?"

"Great! Lynx meat, and a little tiger, these are good stuff!" Gu Boyuan laughed. "Not many people can afford to eat this meat, and the bones should be useful too, right?"

Li Long smiled but didn't reply. This bone should be useful, but it shouldn't be used by family members. If you have real tiger bones, you can use this one.

When Sister Yang made braised lynx meat, she used a lot of wine and spices to mask the spiciness, so there was basically no gamey smell when eating it. By the way, this lynx was also a male, and Li Long kept the penis. It might not be as good as a tiger's, but it would definitely be better than that of an ordinary animal.

So when he ate, Li Long collected all the bones, planning to clean them up and give them away later.

Don't underestimate these leftover bones; once prepared, they're so delicious that ordinary people can't even afford them.

After all, things are valued for their scarcity.

The two were drinking aged liquor that they had gotten from Wang Mingjun. Back when Li Jianguo was in charge, the company had been brewing liquor, and they would save some each year to age. The oldest liquor was over twenty years old. It was strong, but it didn't give you a headache at all (just like the special liquor I had stored myself).

Both of them had a good tolerance for alcohol, and they drank, chatted, and ate. Sister Yang, Gu Xiaoxia, and Han Fang finished eating early and cleared the table, leaving just the two of them there. Sister Yang even specially prepared a spicy red bean curd dish for them as a refreshing side dish, otherwise eating only meat wouldn't be good.

"There are so many things in the mountains," Gu Boyuan exclaimed. "We've been buying a lot of fritillaria bulbs these past few days, several hundred kilograms a day, it's a bit frightening."

"Is it okay to wash fritillaria bulbs with Tillandsia? It won't affect her health, will it?"

"It doesn't matter, this woman works incredibly hard," Gu Boyuan remarked. "She washed hundreds of kilograms a day, she really doesn't treat herself like a human being... and she cleaned them very well!"

Li Long was also startled and hurriedly said, "Uncle Gu, you have to tell her to take it easy tomorrow. She's pregnant, she can't do that."

"Yes, I understand," Gu Boyuan said. "There are quite a few people selling furs lately, and in this sweltering summer, are there even hunters?"

“There will be fewer of them later,” Li Long said with emotion. “Our country is about to promulgate a wildlife protection law, so there will be fewer pelts, and they may become more valuable.”

"Wildlife protection?" Gu Boyuan laughed as if he were hearing a joke. "Protect what? Protect wolves or wild boars?"

“We’ll protect them all, even the old sparrow,” Li Long joked. “Anyway, we can’t just fight them casually anymore.”

Gu Boyuan paused for a moment, then picked up his wine glass and drank it all in one gulp. He then said, "Since when do we have to protect wild boars and wolves? Back then, quite a few people here were bitten by wolves, and many others went missing, possibly because they were bitten by wolves!"

“Times have changed.” Li Long poured Gu Boyuan another drink. “There used to be a lot of this stuff, but the more we hunt, the less there is. Anyway, there will probably be less hides in the future, and the medicinal herbs will probably be protected. We’ll have to adjust the direction of our purchasing station’s acquisitions.”

"Yes, let's make adjustments. We can't control the general direction; we can only go with the flow."

Gu Boyuan could understand this point, since the country had to formulate policies from a holistic perspective, and it was impossible to only look at the situation in one place.

The two of them drank a bottle, not quite satisfied, but slightly tipsy, which was just right.

The next day, after breakfast, Li Long was about to leave when he ran into Ma Xiaoyan at the door.

“I heard on the phone yesterday that you’ve started road construction, so I reported it to my supervisor. I’m planning to go into the mountains with you today to take a look. What do you think? Is that okay?” Ma Xiaoyan asked.

"Sure, it'll definitely work." Li Long laughed. "Then I should thank you."

"Let's go then."

P.S.: Thank you so much to reader Crocodile Tears L for the generous donation! And thank you to all the other readers for your donations; I'd like to raise a toast to you all!
(End of this chapter)