Rebirth of Bayi Fishing and Hunting in the Northwest

Chapter 1256 Facing the Forest Police: This is my territory!
Reseeding is expensive and labor-intensive, but not reseeding is not an option.

Li Long guessed that some of these people might be lazy and skip the broadcast, but he didn't care too much. They came to him for advice, and he shared his thoughts; that was enough.

Since the cooperative didn't suffer much loss and the weather is nice today, we might as well just replant to avoid future trouble.

There was only one plastic film, less than 200 meters long, so only one tractor was driven over with a seeder.

But the cooperative members, and many others who came to inquire about the situation, also went along.

The people in Team Four were also seeing cotton replanting for the first time, and they were quite curious.

Li Long didn't worry about the details; the loss wasn't significant, and he didn't need to bring too much. The tractor carried a seeder, and the truck following behind was loaded with a roll of plastic film and some seeds.

Some people even brought two shovels, which was enough.

Once inside the land, they saw footprints and knew that these were left by their older brother and the others when they came to check on the land.

Finding the row where the plastic film had been blown away, the small four-wheeled tractor drove in from the edge of the field, following the film until it reached the spot where it had been blown off, and stopped. Li Long used a shovel to cut the torn film, shoveled soil around the broken ends, and then walked forward to check on the seedlings emerging from under the film.

About 50-60% of the seedlings have emerged, which is acceptable.

However, these seedlings were no longer needed. He directed the tractor to stop in position, attached the film roll to the back of the seeder, tore off a strip and pressed it into the soil, poured the seeds into the seeder, and began sowing.

Others either watched the replanting process or squatted down to check the germination status inside other films.

Some seedlings have already pushed their way out of the soil in their seedbeds and grown on the plastic film. Their two leaves look quite tender and cute.

The rebroadcast was quick, just a few minutes. Because it was a new broadcast, and we learned from last night's experience, the film was pressed even better.

The soil that originally covered the other films had hardened due to yesterday's wind and rain, and even a strong wind wouldn't be able to blow them off.

On the contrary, this latest re-broadcast segment is the least secure.

"The seedlings are sprouting quite well this year," Xie Yundong said to Li Long as he looked at the sprouting.

"It's probably related to yesterday's rain," Li Long said. "I'll come back and check again tomorrow or the day after. If we can get about 70-80% of the seedlings out, that will be enough for the end of the year. Right now, it doesn't look like enough, but there's no rush. Let's wait a couple more days. After all, this is saline-alkali land, so it's good that we've gotten this many seedlings."

Before they even started planting, they thought that if 70% of the seedlings sprouted, they would consider it a success.

Li Long didn't ask about the seedling emergence rate of other farmers at the same time; he focused on doing his own job well first.

“After five or six days, once the seedling situation has stabilized, we need to organize people to start replanting,” Li Long told Xie Yundong. “We should call on as many people as possible for replanting, whether it’s people from the team or casual laborers from the county. In short, since we’re running a cooperative, the goal is to make things easier and less troublesome for everyone.”

Of course, if our own people want to do it, that's fine too; they just need to register and be paid the same way. This way, we might earn a little less money, but things are clearly separated, and there won't be any disputes later.

Xie Yundong nodded, indicating that he understood.

“There’s road construction going on these days, so I might not be able to come every day. I’ll just come from time to time to check on the seedlings. If there’s anything I can’t do, just call the purchasing station,” Li Long added.

"I see."

Although Xie Yundong was the manager of the cooperative, this was all new to him, and he was still learning and figuring things out. He had already noticed that Li Long was very familiar with the procedures, so he decided to ask him.

Some people, seeing that the cooperative's replanting process was unremarkable, went back to their own homes and started messing with the plastic film that had been blown away by the wind.

Some people are still reluctant to replant, after all, the land where others grow cotton is much better than the saline-alkali land. Some people's fields have reached 70% to 80% germination, so they think of simply covering them with plastic film, letting the seedlings emerge, and then covering the seedlings with soil.

This way, seedlings can be protected and seeds can be saved.

Li Long walked around the cotton field and was relieved to find that the saline-alkali land was in good condition.

The snowmelt floodwaters are coming down quickly, and water is already accumulating in the small lake.

After sowing, watering will be delayed for a while. There's not much work to do right now, so Li Long walked around the cotton field for a bit before heading back to his older brother's house.

He went to check on Li Junfeng's yard. Dong Xiaojuan was tidying up with the children, and her mother, Du Chunfang, was helping. The top layer of soil in the vegetable garden in front of the yard had been removed, and fertilizer had been applied to the soil underneath, but it hadn't been turned over yet.

There's no drainage ditch outside the door near the road, and no well has been dug inside the house. The location is alright, but because it was built temporarily and isn't within the original planned residential land area, there's no irrigation canal leading from the main canal to the vegetable garden.

These things need to be done gradually.

After looking around, Li Long reminded Dong Xiaojuan:
"Xiaojuan, tell Junfeng when he gets back that the road repairmen will be coming in a few days to pave the alleyway with asphalt. It would be best if they could also level the road leading from your yard to the outside when they have some free time, so that the road repairmen can work their way inwards and make things more convenient."

"Okay, okay, Uncle Xiaolong, I understand."

Du Chunfang looked at Li Long and seemed quite happy, and said with a smile:

"Xiaolong, now that the road is open, won't it be faster to get to the county? And it'll be quicker for you to come back too?"

“Of course,” Li Long said. “The road from the county to the township was originally paved. Now that the remaining section is being repaired, it will save us about ten minutes. It will also make it easier for Juanjuan and Qiangqiang to go to school.”

He decided that once the road is repaired, he would donate some money to the Transportation Bureau so that they could maintain it regularly and make it usable for a longer period of time.

As long as large trucks don't frequently travel on this road, it can be used for a long time.

Repairing any dents promptly will extend the product's lifespan.

After having lunch at the Fourth Team and taking some alfalfa with him, Li Long returned to the county.

They went to the recycling station first. Liang Shuangcheng and Sun Jiaqiang had already removed the tarpaulin that had been covering the car, and the car had been cleaned. There were still a few people gathered around the car, watching it, while Liang Shuangcheng stayed with them.

Sun Jiaqiang was busy at the agricultural supply store, while his father, Li Qingxia, was collecting things at the counter. To Li Long's surprise, someone had already come to sell fritillaria bulbs.

Are fritillaria bulbs harvested this early?
Fritillaria bulbs are a major source of revenue for the purchasing station every year. Last year, the forestry team changed, and the forest rangers can no longer confiscate medicinal herbs from the collectors. It's uncertain how the fritillaria bulb purchase will go this year.

According to Li Long's prediction, there should be a certain degree of decline—a quarter? Or even a third?

Of course, this is just speculation.

Li Long suddenly thought, could he go back into the mountains and exchange for fritillaria bulbs at the cabin? Since he had nothing better to do anyway, why not give it a try?

Of course, he felt the situation might not be too optimistic at the cabin either. Without the supervision of forest rangers, the forest police alone wouldn't be able to truly manage the herb gatherers.

Without the supervision of forest rangers, these people have more freedom to go in and out of the mountains.

Of course, since Nanshan is far from the county seat, most people probably do what they used to do: dig up enough medicinal herbs in the mountains before leaving.

During dinner that evening, Li Long shared his thoughts with his family. Li Qingxia naturally had no objections, but Gu Xiaoxia was worried about whether he could come back in time to pick up Mingming and Haohao.

"It's alright, I'll be back soon after I've stayed a while," Li Long said. "Our cabin isn't very far in, I'll go down the mountain before the sun goes down, I should be able to make it."

"If you miss it, I'll be there for you. If you're not back by then, I'll go pick you up," Li Qingxia said cheerfully.

"Then take your gun with you. You never know what kind of wild animals you might encounter in the mountains," Gu Xiaoxia reminded her. "Be careful around strangers too, and don't trust people too much."

After spending some time at the school, Gu Xiaoxia sensed the malice lurking within some people. The environment here was vastly different from the simple atmosphere of her former office.

Don't assume that children, as the flowers of the motherland, are only cute—some flowers are poisonous.

The next day, after breakfast, Li Long took Mingming and Haohao to kindergarten, and then went to the department store to buy supplies. The people in the mountains lacked not money, but supplies.

A GAZ truck can carry more than a 212, so it's definitely a GAZ truck.

Li Long loaded the truck with supplies, took a gun and a bullet, and finally a scale before driving into the mountains.

Along the way, you could see people working in the fields by the roadside. However, most of the land was uncultivated wasteland. The road leading to Qingshuihe was still a gravel road, and historically, it was unlikely to become an asphalt road even in seven or eight years.

Paving the rural roads with asphalt will have to wait until the village-to-village road construction project begins.

As we drove towards Qingshuihe, there were fewer people working in the fields. However, Qingshuihe Village itself has little land, and the township governs no herders.

Li Long drove straight to the mountain pass, stopped to see that the door to Bolati's wooden house was locked, and then continued driving in.

He didn't go to Halim's place this time; he guessed they were shearing and washing sheep, and he couldn't help with those tasks, so he didn't want to cause trouble.

Halim and his team will definitely have to move to another location before the end of April. I don't know if Meng Hai and his team will be able to finish repairing the remaining roads by then—with bulldozers and excavators, the road repair speed will be much faster.

The path leading to the cabin was overgrown with grass, a result of infrequent use. Fortunately, the area he had previously traversed was relatively flat, and the GAZ truck still had off-road capabilities. However, when he arrived at the cabin, he found a sidecar motorcycle parked beside it.

A forest police vehicle?

As Li Long was making his guesses, two people dressed in old-fashioned police uniforms came out from the wooden house. After seeing Li Long's GAZ truck, they exchanged a glance and walked over.

Li Long got out of the car. The two men were both in their thirties, one of ethnic minorities and the other Han Chinese. The Han Chinese man looked at Li Long and asked:

"What do you do for a living? Did you build this wooden house?"

“My name is Li Long, and I work part-time as a forest ranger.” Li Long pulled out the piece of paper that could prove his identity. “This wooden house was built by the herdsmen, so it is indeed mine.”

The Han Chinese policeman took the paper, glanced at it, and frowned, saying:

"You know about the reorganization of the forestry team, right? Yours is outdated and invalid."

“I know,” Li Long said matter-of-factly. “I’m just showing you my identity to prove I’m not a vagrant.”

The policeman smiled, but then pointed to the wooden house and said:

"Some people say that your wooden house was built illegally."

“This grassland belongs to Yushanjiang,” Li Long explained. “It’s not illegal for them to build wooden houses on their own grassland, is it? Besides, these wooden houses have been there for six or seven years, a long time ago. Who reported them as illegal constructions?”

"Then we can't tell you. But you said this is the grassland of Yushan River?"

“Yes, these areas are all designated as traditional pastures for Kazakh herders,” Li Long said. “It’s like they built their winter shelters on their own pastures, right?”

The police officer neither confirmed nor denied it, and then asked:

"What are you doing in the mountains? Hunting?"

“No,” Li Long waved his hand. “I buy mountain products. I run a purchasing station in the county and I buy some mountain products. Hunting is illegal, we know that.”

The purchasing station couldn't be kept secret, and besides, Li Long was a local celebrity; people would find out easily. If he lied now, it would be even more troublesome to cover it up later, so it was better for him to tell the truth from the start.

"Oh, I see, you're that... advanced individual in ethnic unity, right?" The police officer realized what he meant. He was newly transferred here and had some knowledge of the situation, but the information in the documents and the actual situation might not match up immediately.

“Yes. I got it a few years ago.” Li Long nodded.

"Alright, you can go about your business now." After verifying Li Long's identity, the police officer relaxed, shook hands with Li Long, and said, "There are some herb gatherers around here, so please be careful."

"Okay, thank you. By the way, what's your name?"

"My surname is Qiao, Qiao Yansong." The police officer smiled. "This is my colleague, Alimjan."

Li Long noted down the two men's names, watched them leave, and then began to tidy up the place.

The cabin door was still locked, which was good. But when Li Long went to open it, he discovered the lock had been pried open and then re-nailed. Once inside, he found it had indeed been ransacked—luckily, there wasn't much left to begin with, so the ransacking didn't cause any major damage.

I opened the doors to both rooms and started cleaning them carefully—mainly because they hadn't been lived in for a long time, so there was a lot of dust inside, and the musty smell was quite strong.

As the sun rose, Li Long lifted the paper window to let in as much sunlight as possible for ventilation.

After he finished cleaning, he set up the stove and then began cleaning outside.

There were a lot of fallen grass leaves outside, covering the wooden floor. There were also some animal powder boxes and other similar items that needed to be cleaned.

Li Long took a large broom and swept around the wooden house, piling up all the things he had gathered, intending to burn them later.

After cleaning all of this, take out everything that can be dried in the house and put it out to air.

The spring is still flowing, and the flow is quite substantial. That area has formed a rather large and lush circle of grass.

When Li Long went over to look, he could see a lot of paw prints and footprints, which were left by small animals that came to drink water.

Now that Li Long has arrived, these small animals should have hidden themselves away.

After rearranging the wooden shelves in the small room, Li Long drove the GAZ truck to the door and took the contents out and placed them on the shelves.

There wasn't much coal left in the shed; some had been taken away, and some had been burned by someone who lit a fire next to the wooden house.

After tidying up the place, Li Long re-nailed the lock on the wooden house door, and then drove the GAZ truck into the mountains, intending to bring back some coal.

When the GAZ truck passed by the winter settlements of Halimu and Yushanjiang, it could indeed be seen that they were busy at work.

They didn't see Li Long, so Li Long didn't stop and drove towards the open-pit coal mine.

Upon arriving at the location, Li Long discovered that it had changed considerably from before. It seemed that someone frequently extracted coal from there, as most of the exposed large chunks of coal had been broken up and taken away.

Fortunately, Li Long had brought his tools. He used a shovel to knock down large chunks of coal from the coal wall. He filled three or four bags with the coal before stopping.

Li Long estimated that there should be a place where herb gatherers lived not far away, and he could also see traces left by some people hauling coal.

However, he didn't have any particular thoughts about these people. He loaded the coal into the truck and prepared to leave.

Just then, Li Long saw someone carrying a sack walking towards them. Upon seeing the GAZ truck, he was so frightened that he hurriedly hid in the ravine.

"I'm not arresting you," Li Long shouted as he stopped the car.

"I have a wooden cabin on the mountainside to the north. You can exchange fritillaria bulbs for supplies, including food, clothing, and other necessities. If you need anything, you can go there to exchange!"

After Li Long shouted, the people didn't react, so Li Long ignored them and drove away.

The car drove back to the cabin, Li Long unloaded the coal, added a few pieces to the stove, and then prepared to build the outer stove.

It was a habitual action of his; he stopped after building half of it.

If we can't hunt, what's the point of building this stove?
It's better to save your energy for other things.

However, since one stove was already half-built, Li Long felt embarrassed to give up halfway, so he simply finished building the stove, then took a pot, set up a fire under the stove, and boiled water.

While boiling water, use an iron shovel to clear the path from the spring to the wooden house, then pile the cleared items together with the previous items and burn them.

After finishing all that, Li Long looked at the woods to the southeast, but no one came out from there.

A few years ago, whenever there were people in this little wooden house, they would come in droves every day to exchange things, but now there's not a single person there.

It's impossible not to be disappointed, but Li Long didn't think too much about it. After two or three years, starting over again, it's impossible for things to go smoothly all at once.

He prepared to cook—since he hadn't hunted, he would eat what he had brought.

The items brought from the county included naan bread, seasonings, noodles, rice, and some dried meat made by Sister Yang.

Li Long went out and walked around the grass, collecting a bunch of straw mushrooms. Morel mushrooms hadn't sprouted yet, so Li Long didn't go into the woods to try his luck; these straw mushrooms were already quite good.

The bigger the family business, the more precious life becomes. Li Long also saw some brightly colored mushrooms in the grass, but he didn't dare to pick them.

Too many people in later generations have been poisoned by mushrooms, so it's best to be cautious when living deep in the mountains.

Li Long took the mushrooms to the spring, then fetched an enamel basin, washed and tore the mushrooms apart, preparing to stir-fry them later.

I didn't bring any green chilies, but I brought some dried chili pepper skins from last year, which is fine.

Wild onions, wild garlic, wild leeks, and the like have already sprouted—these wild vegetables are only now sprouting in the hills where Meng Hai and the others are working, but they are already growing lush and green where the wooden house is located.

The sound of horses' hooves rang out, and Li Long straightened up, holding an enamel basin, and looked into the distance. Then he saw Polati riding over on horseback.

To Li Long's surprise, his horse was carrying something that looked like a wild animal from a distance.

Li Long walked to the wooden house and placed the enamel basin on the wooden table—the table was still there, undamaged, though there were obvious signs of damage, but it was still preserved in the end.

Polati's horse was fast, trotting to the wooden house. He dismounted, and at that moment, Li Long also saw what was on his horse's back—a wild boar.

Li Long was somewhat surprised and asked:
"Polati, you hunted that wild boar? Doesn't the forest police care?" "They care about you, but not me." Polati's tone was somewhat resentful. "We're protecting the forest in the mountains. What if we encounter something? If we really run into a wild boar and it tries to attack me, am I not supposed to fight it?"

Li Long laughed, agreeing, and then asked, "When did you fight?"

"This morning, I was planning to sell them to those who went into the mountains to collect herbs, but no one came looking for me. Also, I saw your tire tracks in front of my house, so I guessed you went into the mountains."

"And then you followed the tire tracks here?" Li Long said with a smile.

"Hmm, I thought you went to Halim and the others, but it turns out the car turned this way as soon as it entered the mountains. What's up? Are you planning to stay in the cabin again?"

"Well, there's not much to do in the county right now, so I was thinking of exchanging some fritillaria bulbs here at the wooden cabin," Li Long said. "Business is tough these days, so we have to be proactive."

“Your business isn’t doing well? That can’t be right,” Polati said as he unloaded the wild boar. “I remember your business was doing really well; you even sold cars.”

“But collecting fritillaria bulbs is the most profitable thing every year. This year you’re not taking care of it, so I won’t be able to collect as many fritillaria bulbs as before. So, I have to go out and collect them myself.” Li Long explained logically.

“That’s true,” Polati said. “Are you cooking lunch today? You can have this wild boar meat, I won’t eat it. But please save some of the other dishes you make for me.”

"Of course, no problem. I have some dried beef and mutton here, would you like to take some back?" In return, Polati brought over a wild boar weighing forty or fifty kilograms, and Li Long couldn't let him go back empty-handed.

"Good, good, good." Polati was happy; the trip hadn't been in vain.

Li Long went to the shelf in the small room, took out two paper bags that came in one-kilogram packages, and gave two bags to Polati, saying:

"Come on, have a taste."

Polati didn't stand on ceremony. He brought Li Long a wild boar, feeling like a hero. He took the paper bag, looked at it, tore it open, picked up a piece, and ate it.

"Delicious, delicious, very good! Li Long, did you buy this from a department store? It must have been expensive."

"No, they're made in my own workshop," Li Long said with a smile. "They're sold in Yanjing and Koukou."

"I see," Polati's expression changed instantly. This was something sold in Yanjing, high-end stuff!

He continued eating the one whose bag he had torn open, and hurriedly stuffed the unopened one into his pocket, intending to take it home for his family.

Good things are meant to be shared.

Li Long originally planned to stir-fry the vegetables, but since Polati brought the wild boar, he started preparing to skin and gut it.

“You go ahead with your work, I’ll take care of this wild boar,” Polati said. “Hunting is prohibited now, otherwise I could have hunted a couple more. That group of wild boars are eating grass roots at the foot of the mountain as soon as it’s light, they’re easy to hunt.”

In the 1970s and 80s, ethnic minorities did not have many restrictions on wild boars and domestic pigs. In fact, as late as the 2020s, some ethnic minority villages even became wealthy by raising pigs.

So some people care and some people don't.

Li Long then handed the wild boar to Bolati. He went to the wooden house to fetch two large basins and placed them aside. He then scooped a teapot of half-boiled water and went to cook the rest of the dishes.

Soak the dried chili peppers until softened, then cut them into strips. Tear the mushrooms into strips and set aside.

Seeing that Polati was already peeling the skin, he called out:
Can you eat wild boar meat?

“No,” Polati said as he peeled the skin, “you’re not cooking this meal.”

"Okay." Li Long smiled and said, "Let's make it stir-fried with vegetables then."

He brought some dried meat, but that stuff isn't suitable for cooking with rice.

I stir-fried some mushrooms and wild onions with eggs—I brought dozens of eggs with me. I mainly thought someone might trade them for eggs to take home; these are good for boosting nutrition, and even if you can't stir-fry them in the wild, you can boil them.

If all else fails, you can wrap it in mud and burn it.

It's very convenient.

We brought naan bread, which we'll eat for lunch, but Li Long plans to start preparing the dough and steam some buns in the afternoon.

If someone were to come and exchange something, steamed buns would be one of the top choices.

Li Long was preparing according to the original plan, but whether someone would come to replace him was uncertain. Too many people were going into the mountains, and it was hard to say whether the old herb gatherers were still around.

Polati was quick. By the time Li Long had finished cooking the two dishes and made an egg drop soup, he had already skinned the wild boar, gutted it, and cut the meat into many pieces.

His stomach and intestines were still inside—it would be a bit much to ask of the forest ranger to clean them up as well.

"Alright, wash your hands and come eat," Li Long called out to him. "You're quick."

“Hey, no problem.” Pora said smugly, “I’m the one who slaughters sheep at home. My son can’t skin them as well as I can.”

Life is full of variety. In this era, due to the backwardness of production tools and the lack of resources, everyone has some skills.

Polati washed the grease off his hands with warm water, took the chopsticks, and ate the naan bread that Li Long handed him.

At the cabin, Polati ate very simply, just milk tea and naan. It wasn't that he couldn't cook, he was just too lazy to.

If they manage to hunt, the forest police generally turn a blind eye to these forest rangers hunting. Unless they see it with their own eyes, they usually won't do anything. Even if they do, the forestry bureau will take action.

But Polati doesn't farm much unless he's planning to exchange for supplies.

His family lives in the county, and he lives alone in a wooden house, where his life is very simple.

So, Polati was quite happy with Li Long at this wooden house, at least he could get a hot meal at noon—a hot meal he didn't have to cook himself, how nice!

He didn't really like mushrooms, so he finished off most of the plate of eggs.

Li Long also knew that Polati had a big appetite, and that they might not accept the deliciousness of mushrooms for another twenty years, so they didn't eat them much now.

"I'll bring some beef and mutton over tomorrow. I'll add some when I stir-fry it, so you can eat it," Li Long said. "Actually, you should try the mushrooms; they're delicious."

“We don’t eat grass,” Polati shook his head.

Well, whether it's wild vegetables or mushrooms, in Polati's eyes, they're all just grass, meant for cattle and sheep, not for humans.

Of course, he didn't refuse egg drop soup either, as it was better than eating dry naan in the wooden house.

After finishing his meal, Polati didn't linger. Having already eaten, he worried that Li Long would make him stay and do the gut-cleansing work again, so he left in a hurry.

Li Long didn't try to stop him; he even gave him a few eggs when he left.

After tidying up the dishes, Li Long brought over a pot of warm water and began cleaning the wild boar's internal organs.

The belly will definitely be left behind. It's easy to wash, there's a spring nearby, and the spring is quite large, it's already formed a small river.

After cleaning out the wolf's stomach and intestines, Li Long carried the rest of the items and threw them further away from the spring. Originally, there was an ice platform there to display the wolf's head, but it hadn't been used since.

He left these leftovers here to attract wolves.

The wooden hut is too conspicuous; many herb gatherers will surely think of coming here. With Li Long away at night, attracting a few wolves to intimidate the others would be a good idea.

Since no one came over, Li Long began to process the wild boar meat.

He got some salt and rubbed it on the pieces of meat that had been cut up. The drying poles were still there, but the wire was gone. So Li Long took some wire and fixed it to the two poles, then hung the meat pieces up one by one.

He didn't plan to take the wild boar meat back—the meat was too coarse; he used to be able to take some back to try. Later, as the number of wild boars raised at Old Ma's place increased, he stopped doing that.

After all, wild ones don't taste as good as farmed ones.

Besides those hanging up, Li Long also planned to cook some.

We'll use the stove inside the house to steam the buns, and use the stove outside to cook other things.

If anyone wants some cooked meat instead, that's perfect.

Li Long calculated things according to the old habits of exchanging items at the wooden hut, doing what he thought of as soon as he had an idea. After washing the pot clean, he poured in more than half a pot of water and then started boiling it.

After cooking the wild boar meat, they went inside to knead the dough and steam the buns.

This kept me busy for most of the afternoon.

To Li Long's dismay, the meat in the pot was already cooked and tender, and the steamed buns were ready, but no one came over.

Did we arrive too early, or is the person who knows about the cabin for exchanging goods not in the mountains?
Or perhaps it hasn't been replaced in the last two years, so everyone has forgotten about the cabin?
Looking at the sky, Li Long knew he should go back, otherwise he would be too late to pick up Mingming and Haohao.

He took the meat out of the pot and put it inside the house, then took the meat hanging on the wire and put it on the wooden rack. He then washed the pot and put it inside the house as well.

After locking the cabin door, Li Long drove away.

Not long after he left, five or six wolves came running after him, drawn by the scent.

Actually, these wolves had been lurking nearby for a long time, but in broad daylight, with Li Long's car nearby, they didn't dare to come closer. Only after Li Long drove away did the wolves feel the danger had passed and dare to approach.

There were originally two people observing in the woods, but when they saw several wolves running over and eating the wild boar's entrails, they immediately ran away—if the two of them encountered this pack of wolves, they would only be eaten.

Back in the county, Li Long first picked up Mingming and Haohao. He had some leftover mushrooms in his car, which he planned to take home so his family could try them.

Mushrooms and wild vegetables are easy to find in the mountains, and there are plenty of resources. Since we've come all this way, we can't just go back empty-handed.

During dinner that evening, Li Long said he hadn't made any progress that day, and Li Qingxia smiled and said:

"You haven't been to the cabin for two years, how would anyone know? If you want to exchange it, you'll have to wait. Besides, there aren't many people coming to deliver fritillaria bulbs right now. Those people have probably just started digging in the mountains, so they don't have much stock yet."

Li Long thought about it and realized it made sense.

“No rush,” Gu Xiaoxia said. “A fritillaria season usually lasts more than a month, right? This is just the beginning.”

So Li Long stopped being in a hurry.

Sister Yang said with a smile:
"It's good to bring back mushrooms and wild vegetables every day. We can eat more wild game in different ways now."

In short, the words were all encouraging, which made Li Long feel pretty good.

The next day, after breakfast, he went to the meat processing workshop. When Keyum delivered the meat, he took several kilograms of beef and mutton, packed them up, and planned to take them to the mountains.

Then we took Mingming and Haohao to kindergarten and headed back to the mountains.

This time he went to Harim first.

The sheep at Halim's house had already been sheared, and large piles of wool were stacked next to the winter shed, where his wife was processing it.

Halim was bathing the sheep; there weren't many sheep at the sheep-washing pit. Li Long wondered if Halim planned to wash his own sheep first before calling others to wash theirs.

When they saw Li Long's car drive up, both Halim and his wife looked over.

Li Long parked the car at the entrance of the winter hut, got out of the car, greeted Halimu's wife first, and then went to Halimu's place.

After exchanging greetings, Li Long learned that Yu Shanjiang and the others would be bringing the sheep over here to wash them later. Halimu washed the sheep first to make time and space for the rest of them.

He was used to washing sheep, and in theory, one person couldn't do it all, but Halim had dogs herding the sheep behind him, and this whole area was his pasture, so he only needed to push the sheep that had been herded into the sheep pen into the medicine solution to soak for a while.

Li Long came over to help, herding the sheep into the sheep-washing pool.

The smell of clazole was unpleasant, but Li Long didn't mind. It was poisonous, but smelling it for a while was nothing to worry about.

People tend to live a more carefree life at this time, and shouldn't be too concerned about things.

Sure enough, before the sheep were even washed, Yushanjiang drove them over. He was quite happy to see Li Long, greeted him, and then came over to help.

After the sheep at Halim's house were washed, Talihar came over as well.

At this point, Halim's wife stopped worrying about the wool, went inside to make milk tea, and then prepared a meal.

Li Long called out to her that he had meat in his car. She waved her hand, and Li Long said it was fresh meat and told her to take it out and cook it.

Seeing Li Long's insistence, she looked at Halim, who nodded, and then went to get some meat and went inside to cook.

"That's more like it, don't be shy," Li Long said with a smile.

“I’ve been quite blunt with you for a while now,” Halim said. “In about ten days, we’ll be moving to a different pasture. This time we should be able to get our stuff to near the summer pasture, and then we can make our way in the rest of the way.”

"We'll see. Meng Hai and his team have machinery now, which will speed things up. We don't know if they can finish the road ahead of schedule."

“It might be difficult. The rest of the journey is not short,” Yushanjiang said.

“Well, even if this trip doesn’t work, we can do it when we come back. Maybe by the time you go down the mountain to cut grass, you’ll already be able to drive the tractor up.” Li Long said with a smile, “They can continue repairing the road without delay now, unless they have a new project to do.”

There's a clear difference between professional workers and part-time workers; this alone can significantly increase efficiency.

After washing the three flocks of sheep, it was time for lunch.

There was meat in it. Halim's wife made Naren. Having been friends with Li Long for a long time, Halim and his friends had gotten used to eating Naren with chopsticks—the noodles inside.

After finishing his meal, Li Long said goodbye, as he was going to check on the cabin. Halim packed two bags of wool for him, which he accepted without hesitation. He took them back to his mother, who would use them to spin yarn whenever she had free time, so she could keep busy.

When they arrived at the cabin, Li Long got out of the car and discovered that the entrails he had put in the car yesterday were gone, and the wild boar skin he had peeled off was also gone.

There were many wolf paw prints near the spring. To Li Long's surprise, there were also footprints near the wooden house. The prints looked quite fresh. He slapped his forehead, realizing he had forgotten about Polati.

Fortunately, there was still some meat left. Li Long thought about it and went to soak some spicy peppers. He then planned to stir-fry some meat and make some meat-filled buns with the steamed buns from yesterday. He would give them to Polati when he got back, as a dinner for him.

Polati has a lot of flaws, but he's been good to Li Long, so Li Long thought he should still be friends with him.

He hadn't come over this morning, and he didn't know if anyone wanted to come and exchange things. The lock on the wooden house was fine. After thinking for a moment, Li Long used burnt charcoal to write on the wooden wall, mainly offering fritillaria and other mountain products in exchange for supplies.

After finishing writing, I saw that the chili peppers were soaked, so I chopped meat and stir-fried vegetables.

The stove in the house was also on, and a few steamed buns from yesterday were taken out and put on the stove to heat up, so that it would be better to stuff them with meat while they were still warm.

After finishing all this, Li Long went to pick mushrooms on the nearby grass. The temperature difference between day and night is quite large now, and mushrooms grow on the grass every day. Most of them decompose and return to the earth after a day or two.

Li Long wasn't picky; he'd get his hands on anything he came across, not just mushrooms, but also wild vegetables and the like, and take it back with him.

Even if they can't finish eating in the courtyard, there are still Liang Shuangcheng, Sun Jiaqiang, and the Fourth Team; they'll eventually finish it all.

After all, apart from wild vegetables like alfalfa, leeks, and celery, there aren't many fresh vegetables to eat in the fourth team right now.

After collecting seven or eight kilograms of mushrooms and filling most of a bag with wild vegetables, Li Long finally returned to the wooden house.

To his surprise, Polati arrived.

This time there was no prey on his horse, but Li Long didn't say anything and took out the steamed buns with meat that he had made.

"I brought some meat from the county today," Li Long said. "Try it."

If you promise him something, you must keep it.

Polati ate with great satisfaction, and as he ate, he took a fist-sized piece of jade from the bag on the left side of the saddle and handed it to Li Long:

"Look, this is from a herb gatherer I met today, that's what I asked him for."

"He wants it?" Li Long was somewhat surprised. "This jade is quite nice, worth some money. He's willing to give it to you?"

“I told him that if he didn’t give it to me, I would tell the forest police that they were digging up medicinal herbs and damaging the forest, and then he gave it to me.”

Li Long was a little surprised. Could it really be done like this?

Polati, that's ruthless.

(End of this chapter)