Rebirth of Bayi Fishing and Hunting in the Northwest

Polati refused Li Long's money; the jade was small and worth little in Polati's eyes. He was quite pleased that Li Long cooked for him—at least he hadn't forgotten him.

He wanted to maintain the relationship, so that he could have hot meals every day. Who would want to eat dry naan bread there? Naan bread tastes good when it's freshly made, but it gets dry and hard after a couple of days, not as good as he imagined.

After finishing their meal, Li Long packed a few more for Polati to take home for dinner and breakfast, and then Polati left.

Li Long was quite happy. Regardless of whether he came back or not, Polati would come over every day to help him look after the wooden house.

Now that there are fewer wild animals, the cabin area is relatively safer. I can bring my family here to play in the future, including the hot springs.

Thinking of the hot springs, Li Long decided to go there tomorrow. It had been a long time since he had been there, and he wondered if anything had changed.

Think about the hot spring resorts that people built in the mountains in later generations; you could actually build one yourself.

Anyway, the management in the mountains isn't very orderly right now, so it's relatively easy to apply to the forestry department for a piece of land to build a villa or something.

It won't be so easy later on.

Of course, once it's built, it needs regular maintenance. People should come and stay there from time to time. Otherwise, no matter how well it's built, it will be abandoned after two or three years if people don't live there.

Seeing that no one came in the afternoon, Li Long tidied up the cabin, locked the door, and left.

The wolves who had taken advantage of the area yesterday quickly returned after Li Long left, but they were disappointed to find nothing to eat.

The wolves lingered nearby for a while before leaving.

It wasn't until the sun was almost setting that two people came to the cabin together. They were carrying sticks, so they could fight off any wolves that might come.

Upon reaching the cabin, they saw the words written on the wall. The two men exchanged a glance, looked at the lock, and one of them leaned over the door, pushing it in forcefully, trying to peek through the crack to see what was inside.

But the door was closed very tightly, with practically no gaps, so you couldn't see anything.

After some hesitation, the two disagreed, and the one who decided to leave ultimately prevailed, so they left together.

As they walked closer to the woods, they heard a noise and saw someone riding a horse approaching and circling around the cabin.

The man who had originally decided to break down the door broke out in a cold sweat. If his idea had prevailed earlier, the two of them would be in trouble now—after all, the man on horseback was carrying a gun.

When Li Long rushed back, it was still early. He didn't go back to the compound; instead, he drove straight back to Team Four.

The road is almost at the boundary of the third team, about 700 or 800 meters away from the third team's residential area, but this means that the road construction is almost halfway there.

The asphalt road coming from the countryside is now drivable; it's very smooth and comfortable to drive on.

When they reached the section where the road was under construction, Li Long had to go down to the side road, and when he turned back up, it was a gravel road. Fortunately, these gravel roads had been paved and leveled, unlike before when there were many potholes.

He drove all the way to the fourth team. When he entered the Li family's house, his mother, Du Chunfang, was cooking pig feed in the yard.

Seeing Li Long return, Du Chunfang was very happy and took the initiative to say:

“Your eldest brother and sister-in-law have both gone to the fields to replant seedlings, sow seeds, and clear land. They’re busy every day.”

"Mom, I brought you two sacks of wool. Use them if you think they're useful." Li Long took the two sacks of wool down. "You can spin some yarn or something and make some wool socks for my dad to wear in the winter."

"What should I make for him? I'll knit a wool vest for Mingming and Haohao." Du Chunfang looked at the two bags of wool and was very happy. "This much will last a long time."

Li Long put the wool away and then took down some wild vegetables and mushrooms, saying, "These wild vegetables and mushrooms are what I brought back from the mountains. You can cook them and eat them."

"You'll eat here tonight too. I'll wash these mushrooms now; they won't be back for a while," Du Chunfang said, removing the remaining firewood from under the stove after seeing that the pig feed in the pot had been cooked.

"No, I have to go back to the county now. Mingming and Haohao's kindergarten is about to let out. Xiaoxia has been quite busy lately, so I'm in charge of picking up the kids."

"Alright, then go ahead." Du Chunfang didn't dare to be negligent when it came to the baby. "Come back earlier when you come back later. Hmm, it's almost Sunday, so you can come back on Sunday too."

She was thinking about how to cook something nice for her youngest son. In fact, she knew that Li Long had everything he needed in the county and probably ate better than he did in the production team.

But I always felt that as a mother, I should cook for my son so that I could feel at ease.

Li Long hurriedly returned to the county. On the way, he encountered students leaving school. Most of the students were still walking and playing around.

He tried hard to make out who Li Qiang was, but couldn't find him. He wondered if Li Qiang hadn't left the school yet, or if he had gone to someone else's house.

Back in the county, we went to the kindergarten to wait until it opened, picked up Mingming and Haohao, and then went back to the purchasing station to pick up Dad.

There were still quite a few people at the purchasing station at this time. Li Long spotted someone selling fritillaria bulbs and asked them:
"Did you dig these fritillaria bulbs yourself?"

“No, it’s not that. It was people who came to our village to dig for fritillaria bulbs and traded them for food. They gave it to me.” The man smiled and said, “Those people who dig for fritillaria bulbs don’t want to go to the county, saying it’s too much of a waste of time. After they came to our village to trade for food and supplies, they hurriedly went into the mountains.”

It turned out to be the case.

If that's the case, then his little wooden house should still be able to be traded for some things. However, Li Long himself knew that this was somewhat of a joke, and whether it would work or not, he'd have to wait and see.

However, he won't be able to go tomorrow. Liu Gaolou called and said he's bringing a convoy over tomorrow. Li Long has to wait until they're settled and their belongings are exchanged before going into the mountains.

Wild mushrooms and wild vegetables were a hit with everyone. Sister Yang not only cooked them for dinner that night, but also planned to make wild vegetable pancakes for everyone to try the next morning—these were used to fill stomachs when rice and flour were scarce.

Now, it's become a rare treat, something we can only try occasionally, and Hao Hao seems to really enjoy it.

The next day, after breakfast, Li Long took Mingming and Haohao to kindergarten and then went to the recycling station.

Liu Gaolou arrived around noon today. He planned to tidy up the people in the back first so that the convoy could be parked when it arrived.

Liang Shuangcheng and Sun Jiaqiang, one was to ship goods at the agricultural supply store, and the other was to help Li Qingxia.

Li Long looked around the backyard and found that there wasn't much to tidy up.

The fresh fritillaria bulbs that had been collected were being washed and dried, but there weren't many, so Li Long moved them aside. He was thinking that if there were more, he would have to hire some odd jobs to help.

There were quite a few people selling things in the morning, mostly common medicinal herbs such as licorice root. Now that the wasteland has been plowed and the sowing in the fields is almost done, people start doing some side jobs to earn some pocket money.

When Liu Gaolou arrived, Li Long and the others had already finished lunch and were chatting at the purchasing station.

During the midday period, fewer people come here because people need to eat, so this is also a break time for the purchasing station.

The long convoy drove straight to the backyard of the purchasing station. Li Long greeted Liu Gaolou, who got out of the car, and then asked Liang Shuangcheng to drive the GAZ truck to find some odd jobs. This trip had brought back quite a few cars, and unloading them would be too slow for just the few of them.

While waiting for the day laborer to arrive, Li Long chatted with Liu Gaolou.

Liu Gaolou brought ten more cars with him on this trip. Harbin is currently experiencing a shortage of supplies, but it's still better than winter.

However, more and more families are finding it increasingly difficult to afford cars, or rather, they need to save money.

Due to certain circumstances within the Soviet upper class, coupled with the inherent flaws of the union itself and the famines of the past two years, some middle-class families have also found themselves in dire straits.

Unfortunately, in the 1980s and 1990s, although China's economic and social development also had some problems, it presented a thriving scene. No ordinary people would have thought that the big empire next door would collapse so suddenly.

"The main problem is that it's not easy to bring them over here. Seeing how quickly you're selling, I'm thinking of bringing over twenty cars at once." Liu Gaolou had already circled the front and back yards once.

Four of the ten cars he brought over last time have already been sold, but the high-horsepower tractors have all been sold, which has shocked him.

It's not easy to acquire one of these high-horsepower tractors, and it's even harder to sell them.

In Liu Gaolou's view, the main problem is the lack of cost-effectiveness. One high-horsepower tractor can be exchanged for at least four or five Dongfanghong 75 tractors, but the speed is two or three times faster.

Of course, saving people is a real way of saving people, but what China has in abundance right now is people.

“I have nowhere to put it even if you bring it here,” Li Long said with a smile. “It’s fine as it is now.”

Every two weeks, Li Long would receive tens of thousands of US dollars from sugar. By the end of the year, combined with the dollars he had earned previously, his total dollar balance would exceed one million.

Two years from now, something will happen in the neighboring country. Li Long hasn't decided yet what to buy from there, but saving more US dollars is never a bad thing.

So he wanted to do business steadily. If he brought in twenty or thirty cars and left them here, they wouldn't sell in a short time, and the cars would just get old if they weren't driven.

Ten units would be just right, and they should sell out in about one or two months, so there's no need to worry about running out.

The main problem is that Ma County is too small. If Li Long had opened such a company in Wucheng, he could have sold more than ten or twenty cars at once, based on the price he offered.

This trip brought in a small number of hides, mainly because after spring arrives, many wild antelopes and gazelles have wandered away from human settlements. Herding and planting both require manpower, so there are fewer hunters.

A thousand hides were considered a small amount in the transaction between Li Long and Liu Gaolou, as were a thousand pairs of antelope horns.

The temporary workers arrived and began unloading the truck and other supplies, while Li Long and Liu Gaolou continued discussing the transaction.

In the mountains, Polati rode his horse to the cabin on his routine patrol. He knew Li Long hadn't come into the mountains; his cabin was at the mountain pass, and if Li Long came, he would hear the sound of a vehicle.

Not today.

Li Long must have had something to do, but Polati still came to the cabin, mainly to make sure that no bad guys broke into it.

Upon arriving at the cabin, they indeed saw two people hurriedly leaving. Polati quickly rode after them, and seeing that the two men only carried sticks and nothing else, he cursed and asked:
"Are you here to exchange something with Li Long?"

“Let’s take a look.” One of them, seeing that they couldn’t escape, stopped and said to Polati, “We just want to take a look.”

"Li Long didn't come this morning. He'll be here this afternoon or tomorrow. You can come over then." They didn't have anything with them, so even if Polati wanted to use a time difference to fool them and confiscate their things, he couldn't do it. He might as well be generous and tell them.

"Okay, okay," the other person quickly replied.

“I’ll keep an eye on the house. Don’t even think about destroying it, or I’ll shoot you!” Polati said, patting the gun tucked in his saddlebag.

"No, no, we won't," the two people hurriedly replied.

"Alright, you can go now." Polati knew they had hidden the item, but he couldn't force them to hand it over. The forest rangers no longer had enforcement power; he could have kicked the two men out of Nanshan, but theoretically, they might be potential clients of Li Long, so he decided to let it go.

Watching the two men enter the woods, Polati rode his horse around the area. He could hear wolves howling in the distance, but he didn't dare go too far west. He tugged on the reins and turned back.

He was hoping to meet more herb gatherers and spread the word that he could trade things at the cabin, so that he could come every day during the fritillary bulb season.

Staying in the wooden cabin at the mountain pass is boring, so I come over to Li Long's place from time to time. There's food and drink, and people to chat with. It's so nice.

Li Long had no idea what Bolati was up to. After unloading the car body and other supplies, he took Liu Gaolou to eat and then sent them to rest. He continued to carry the odd jobs and supplies—the cement had to be loaded first, and then the sugar would be loaded the next day.

Liu Gaolou also said that they will continue to need cement and sugar for some time to come. In fact, they also need fertilizer, but Li Long has no intention of selling it there.

Making money is perfectly acceptable nowadays. At that time, magazines even published articles satirizing the tomb raiding craze, which led to people robbing their own ancestral graves. So you can see that some people will stop at nothing to make money.

But Li Long still couldn't bring himself to do something that "aids the enemy," even though Liu Gaolou subtly hinted that selling a bag of fertilizer to a neighboring country might yield a higher profit than selling cement.

But Li Long just shook his head.

He has the channels and the resources, but this is something he can't do.

We've earned enough already, that's enough.

Liu Gaolou didn't try to persuade him further. Actually, his second uncle, Liu Shanmin, had just mentioned it casually. He himself thought that since he was staying there, he might as well see if he could expand the results of the battle. As for the role of fertilizer, it was nothing more than increasing grain production.

If it's just a few cars, the impact shouldn't be too great, right?

Of course, if Li Long didn't provide it, Liu Gaolou didn't think too much about it. The current business was making a good amount of money, and his second uncle was quite satisfied, so that was enough.

Li Long usually oversees loading the trucks himself. Liu Gaolou leads the convoy back in two days, and if the loading isn't done properly, it can be quite troublesome if they end up in the middle of nowhere.

We can't go to the mountains today, and we can't go tomorrow morning either. Tomorrow we have to take Liu Gaolou to collect sugar.

Before the cement was even installed, Liu Gaolou came over again.

Li Long figured he must have nothing to do and nowhere to go, so he chatted with him while watching people load the truck.

Liu Gaolou asked Li Long what he was going to do next, and Li Long didn't hide anything. He said that after he sent them away tomorrow, he planned to go for a walk in the mountains. He had a small wooden house in the mountains where he used to go hunting and take a hot spring bath.

Unexpectedly, Liu Gaolou immediately became interested and asked, "In the mountains? You even have a wooden cabin? And a hot spring? That's wonderful! Can you take me there tomorrow?"

"You're going over there? Aren't you in a hurry to go back?" Li Long asked, somewhat surprised.

"I'm in a hurry to go back because there's nothing to do here. If I go to Khorgos, at least I know that place well, and I can find places to rest and have fun. You're like a block of wood when it comes to business, you don't care about anything, and this Ma County isn't very big, it feels like there's nothing here, so I have to leave as soon as possible."

Li Long was both amused and exasperated. So this was also his fault?

"Alright, as long as you're not in a rush to leave, we can go tomorrow. Who are you taking with you?" Li Long thought to himself, with so many drivers here, it wouldn't be right to go without one, would it?

"No, no, not a single one." Liu Gaolou waved his hand. "They get paid, and they get a subsidy for staying here for a day. Let them have fun in the county, or if they don't like it, they can go to Shicheng."

You don't need to worry about these people; they're all experienced and have their own skills.

Li Long then said no more.

Now that Liu Gaolou had a target in mind, he didn't linger at the purchasing station and went back to prepare. Li Long had originally planned to invite him to lunch in the afternoon, but there was no need to trouble him anymore.

Since Liu Gaolou was going, Li Long tidied up the GAZ truck. Liu Gaolou was considered a major client, so he would try his best to meet his needs.

He was going to bring the gun, whether he could actually hunt or not was another matter, but he had to bring it, just to make a show of it. He also planned to get some more meat from Keyum the next morning, and bring his own welded barbecue grill with him.

Hmm, let's pack another case of beer. Whether I drink it or not, Liu Gaolou might.

After entering the mountains, we took Liu Gaolou to soak in the hot springs, pick mushrooms, dig a trough, and grill some meat.

Actually, Li Long guessed that Liu Gaolou had been taken by Wu Yongbo to do these things in Yili, but since it was done sporadically, and Liu Gaolou was still a city person, he was always curious about doing these kinds of things, so he took him to the mountains for a stroll.

During dinner that evening, Li Long brought up the matter.

"Maybe he's gotten too used to city life and wants to go to the mountains for a visit," Old Man Li Qingxia guessed. "Anyway, we don't have anything else to do. You'll have to go to the mountains too when he leaves, so let's take him. I wonder what's so interesting there."

“City people like to see things they don’t usually see,” Gu Xiaoxia said with a smile, even though she had lived in the county town for several years. She considered herself a country person. “They don’t often see the scenery in the mountains. Besides, there are hot springs and such, which are rare for city people.”

The next morning, Li Long first sent Mingming and Haohao to kindergarten, then waited for Keyum to come over, picked up a few kilograms of meat, and went to the naan shop to buy naan before picking up Liu Gaolou.

Liu Gaolou had already eaten breakfast and was waiting at the guesthouse. After getting in the car, he said excitedly, "Going into the mountains with Wu Yongbo was fun at first, but it got boring later."

"I've never seen these mountains before; I'll have to see them for myself today." "It's different from over there," Li Long explained as he drove. "The mountain meadows over there aren't very hilly, but here the mountains rise in layers, and there are fewer meadows; the terrain is much more undulating."

Liu Gaolou nodded, looking thoughtfully at the mountains to the south.

There are no 3D maps or sand tables like those commonly seen in later generations. If you want to know the full picture of the Tianshan Mountains, it is difficult to imagine it comprehensively based solely on the topographic maps in Xinhua Bookstore.

Upon reaching the mountain pass, Li Long deliberately slowed down. Seeing that there were no horses or people at Bolati's wooden house, he knew that Bolati must have gone into the mountains, so he continued driving into the mountains.

"These mountains are quite desolate," Liu Gaolou remarked, looking at the first two sparsely shrubbed mountains. "I never expected that these mountains would be so different from those in Yili."

“It gets better as you go further in,” Li Long said with a smile. “The mountain path here progresses in layers, first earthen hills, then rocky hills, then shrubs, and then forests and meadows.”

"Hey, is that what they say? I'll have to see... Yes, this level is indeed just grass, a rocky hill. Let me check the next level—wait, there really are shrubs!"

As if to confirm this, Liu Gaolou sat in the passenger seat, rolled down the window and looked out, occasionally letting out a gasp of amazement.

The mountain itself was indeed as Li Long had said, with layers upon layers, which Li Long was used to.

But for someone who is used to seeing undulating grasslands or dense forests as soon as you enter the mountains in Yili, it really feels different.

However, before they reached the depths of the dense forest, Li Long turned west, stepping over the turf and turning into another ditch.

"Where is your cabin?" Liu Gaolou immediately guessed and asked.

"Yes, it's over there," Li Long said. "It's still a few kilometers away. Oh, and the hot springs are in that direction too. How about we go to the cabins first, rest for a while, and then go to the hot springs?"

"Sure," Liu Gaolou naturally agreed.

Before the GAZ truck even reached the cabin, Li Long saw Polati riding towards them on horseback. To Li Long's surprise, Polati's horse was carrying something on its back; it looked like a deer.
That thing is still alive!

Sure enough, Polati is quite capable; to be a forest ranger here for several years is truly impressive.

Seeing Li Long's GAZ truck, Bolati was quite happy. He had to sell the little deer to Li Long as soon as he caught it, otherwise the forest police would find out and make him release it, and he would lose the money he had just earned.

Li Long stopped the car, rolled down the window, and asked:

"Polati, did you go to the cabin?"

“Yes,” Polati said with a smile, “I went to see if you were here, but you weren’t. By the way, who were you pulling?”

“My friend has never been to Nanshan before, so I brought him here to take a look around and have some barbecue,” Li Long replied. “Are you free right now?”

“It’s alright, it’s alright.” Polati laughed. “That’s perfect. Look, I caught a little deer. I’m good at grilling meat.”

Upon hearing this, Li Long understood and said with a smile, "Then let's go together."

Polati turned his horse around and headed towards the cabin, while Li Long sped up and arrived first.

"Who is this Polati?" Liu Gaolou asked from inside the car.

“The forest ranger is my friend,” Li Long said. “I used to collect fritillaria here. This Polati often dug up fritillaria from those medicinal herb diggers and then sold it to me.”

Now that the forest police have been established, they no longer have law enforcement power and can't collect fritillaria bulbs anymore, so they come to me to exchange other things for money.

"That little deer? How much are you going to pay for it?" Liu Gaolou was also quite curious.

“Five hundred,” Li Long said. “I have a stable in the village, that’s where I raise these, as well as cattle and sheep.”

"Not bad, not bad, things are developing quite well." Liu Gaolou knew that Li Long ran a purchasing station before, but he didn't expect Li Long to be involved in this.

"We're here." Li Long parked the car in front of the wooden house, got out, and retrieved his things. Liu Gaolou got out of the car, looked around the wooden house, then went to look at the spring, finding everything quite novel.

Polati rode over, dismounted and tied up the foal, put the foal down, and after looking around but not finding a suitable place, he simply tied the foal's muzzle and placed it on the back seat of the GAZ truck.

Seeing Li Long open the door and take the meat out of the car, he came over to help.

"Polati, you set up the stove outside, and I'll go set up the stove inside too."

Polati went to get hay, firewood, and coal, and while tidying up the stove outside, he said:
"If you want to barbecue, I see you brought a barbecue grill. Will you set up the fire and put the charcoal in directly?"

“Okay,” Li Long said. “Let’s start the stove first. Once the charcoal is red-hot, we can move it to the barbecue grill. I’ll get some red willow branches to skewer the meat later.”

“Sure, sure,” Polati said, quite enthusiastically. “I’ll handle the meat; I’m good at that.”

Liu Gaolou looked around, and after he finished, he asked:
What am I supposed to do?

“Look, there are mushrooms on that grass. Go pick some,” Li Long said. “We’ll stir-fry some mushrooms later; we can’t just eat roast meat all the time.”

"Okay, okay." Liu Gaolou then found an enamel basin and happily went to pick mushrooms.

Everyone wants to do this kind of work that yields direct benefits.

"What does this person do?" Polati asked while cutting meat after Liu Gaolou left.

“He’s a businessman,” Li Long said. “See this GAZ truck of mine? He imported it from that western country and sold it to me.”

“Oh, a businessman,” Polati nodded. “Impressive that he can get things from over there.”

"It's pretty impressive." Li Long smiled, set up the stove, and started boiling water.

Liu Gaolou didn't know which mushrooms were edible and which weren't, so he just picked up any mushrooms he saw. The mushrooms on the lawn were just sprouting and were very tender, so he picked them happily. In no time, he filled an enamel basin with them, then ran back, dumped them on the table, and went to pick more.

"Old Liu, Old Liu, pick these mushrooms." Li Long hurriedly called out to him, pointing to the very tender mushrooms that had just sprouted, "These are straw mushrooms, they're the best."

Mushrooms like these, with their caps wide open and blackened, are old, from before yesterday, and won't taste good; they might contain worms. And these, they're poisonous and shouldn't be eaten either.

Seeing that Li Long had thrown away most of the mushrooms he had picked, Liu Gaolou felt a pang of heartache, but after hearing what Li Long said, he blushed a little and then said:

"Okay, I got it. I'll pick the tender, edible ones."

Sure enough, when Liu Gaolou picked up more mushrooms, Li Long saw that the effect was excellent.

Polati couldn't help but laugh as he watched Liu Gaolou being "instructed" by Li Long like a student. But then he thought, it's quite normal that these city people have never lived in the mountains.

While watching Bolati cut meat, Li Long went to a nearby tamarisk bush, broke off a large bunch of tamarisk branches, sharpened them with a knife, and brought them back, placing them next to Bolati for later use.

Despite being a bit fussy, Polati is quite skilled at cutting meat. He cuts the meat into small pieces that cook very easily.

Li Long had seen many people cut meat into large pieces, which were satisfying to eat skewered, but grilling them required skill – if the fire was too high, the outside would burn while the inside remained uncooked.

These small pieces of meat cook very quickly and don't take long to bake.

Three pieces of lean meat sandwiched with a piece of fat in the middle, grilled until cooked through, the alternating layers of fat and lean meat make it taste delicious.

Seeing that the charcoal fire under the stove wasn't burning red enough, Li Long soaked some red chilies and washed some mushrooms, planning to stir-fry them later. Then he went to gather some wild vegetables—thinking of making a cold wild vegetable salad.

Now that Liu Gaolou has come along, we should treat him properly.

There are more wild vegetables in the mountains than in the village. In addition to wild onions, wild garlic and wild leeks, wild celery, dandelion, plantain and artemisia have already grown. It's no problem to make some cold dishes.

Li Long brought back a large bundle of wild vegetables and mushrooms and sorted them by the spring. After he finished, he saw that Pollati had already started grilling meat, drinking a bottle of beer as he did so. Seeing Li Long looking at him, Pollati smiled and said:

"I saw you had beer in your car, so I opened a bottle. We'll have barbecue and beer later, it'll taste great!"

Li Long smiled and didn't say anything to him; this guy was just naturally outgoing.

Liu Gaolou had finally finished picking most of the mushrooms in this area. He came over and saw that Li Long had already washed the mushrooms he had picked earlier, so he asked Li Long what to do with the remaining mushrooms.

“Take it back with you. We can’t eat that much,” Li Long said. “We definitely can’t finish what we’ve cooked right now. Wash your hands. The barbecue over there in Polari is almost done. You can have a bite and see what his cooking is like.”

Liu Gaolou then placed the mushrooms on the table, went to the spring to wash his hands, and then, following Polati's advice, went to get a bottle of beer. He ate the barbecue and drank the beer at the same time.

"This barbecue tastes so good!" Liu Gaolou exclaimed sincerely after eating a skewer, then took a sip of beer and a bite of barbecue, looking completely blissful.

“This barbecue is best eaten right by the grill.” Li Long said as he chopped soaked red chilies at the counter, “The meat tastes best when it’s freshly grilled. Even if there’s a table next to you, the feeling is completely different when you bring it to the table.”

"Exactly, I often go to Khorgos for barbecue. But back then, we always sat at a table and drank beer, sometimes a little baijiu. The meat the chefs grilled was supposed to be pretty good, and they even marinated it with eggs and onions, but it just didn't taste as good as this."

Li Long smiled to himself, thinking that it wasn't just about whether it was marinated or not, but also about the environment. Eating barbecue in a city restaurant is a completely different experience from eating it in this natural setting, with blue skies, white clouds, and fresh air.

Polati grilled a bunch, took them over and handed a few skewers to Li Long, saying:
"Eat first, we'll get back to work later."

Li Long put down the knife in his hand and took the kebab to eat.

"Hmm, the Polati barbecue is really good," he said with a smile.

"Polati, after you retire, you can open a barbecue stall in the county. You can make money that way. This meat is grilled really well!"

After receiving Li Long's praise, Pollati smiled smugly and said, "Maybe I'll really set up a stall someday."

Li Long also opened a bottle of beer, came over to the barbecue grill, clinked his bottle against the other two, and said:

"I came here these past two days to try and trade some fritillaria bulbs with those people. But it seems like it's not going to work out here, no one's coming."

“You’re working at the purchasing station, how can you have time for this?” Liu Gaolou said, somewhat surprised. “Coming over occasionally is fine, but you can’t come every day, can you? Wouldn’t that be penny-wise and pound-foolish?”

Li Long smiled and said, "I have plenty of time, but I feel that many people are different now than before. It's been two years, and this wooden house hasn't been built yet, so it might not be able to be built."

“Then why don’t you just give it to him?” Liu Gaolou said. “Isn’t Polati a forest ranger? He’s here every day anyway, so let him help you exchange it. You provide the items, he exchanges them here, and you just give him a cut.”

Li Long's heart skipped a beat. This was indeed an idea. He looked at Bolati and said, "What do you think? I have quite a few things in this wooden house, such as rice, flour, oil, steamed buns, and other food, as well as some living supplies and tools. If you are capable, I will tell you the exchange price. When you exchange, I will give you a cut based on the kilogram."

Polati thought for a moment and said:

“I can’t stay here forever. I can come here once a day, but I don’t know if I’ll be able to find someone to replace me.”

"Just come a few more times." Liu Gaolou was quite happy to have facilitated a cooperation. "Think about it, as long as you come here and find someone to exchange things with, it's fine. You don't necessarily have to stay here all day."

Polati was naturally tempted.

With the ranger's authority tightened, making money won't be easy for him. Catching a deer isn't something he can do every day. In a few days, the fawn will grow a bit bigger and be able to run alongside the adult deer, at which point he won't be able to catch it anymore.

Gathering deer antlers isn't something you can do every day, and he really couldn't bring himself to dig for fritillaria bulbs.

"So... how much commission will you give me?" Pora asked.

"How about two yuan per kilogram? Fresh fritillaria is two yuan per kilogram. You can exchange it for rice, flour, and oil, which is about five or six yuan worth of goods for one kilogram of fresh fritillaria. I'll take it from you and give you an extra two yuan."

The current purchase price of fresh scallops at the collection stations is around 15 yuan, but the ones they buy are generally quite clean.

Li Long knew that the fritillaria bulbs he obtained in exchange from these herb gatherers were definitely not clean. He wanted to see if Polati would agree. If she did, then they could discuss the standards.

“Okay.” Polati knew that during the peak season for fritillaria, Li Long could exchange dozens or even hundreds of kilograms of fritillaria a day, earning a commission of two yuan per kilogram, which was one or two hundred yuan!

How much is my salary?

I wouldn't do something that pays a month's salary in a day!

He agreed, and Li Long then talked about the standards, which meant that after he received the fritillaria bulbs, he would wash them in a large basin at the spring. Li Long would come to collect them every few days and bring the supplies up.

Polati also needs to write down which supplies are in short supply so that he can bring it up when Li Long comes next time, and then Li Long can replace them.

“What if they want money?” Pora asked.

“Then we’ll trade it for five or six yuan per kilogram. The fritillaria bulbs they brought were quite dirty, so we can’t offer a high price,” Li Long said. “If they were very clean, we could offer seven or eight yuan. You can decide for yourself.”

I'll say it again: if the fritillaria bulbs are clean, I'll raise the price to nine or ten yuan per kilogram. After washing them thoroughly, you can earn a cleaning fee.

The price difference was quite significant. Polati quickly realized this and a smile appeared on his face.

He has plenty of free time, so he can earn a lot by taking this job!

The two discussed the details, with Liu Gaolou occasionally adding his own insights. He was quite proud of himself, after all, he was the one who facilitated the whole thing.

The three of them each drank two bottles of beer and finished eating dozens of skewers of grilled meat from Bolati. Then Li Long went over to chop and cook vegetables.

Then continue drinking.

Li Long then gave the key to the cabin to Polati, which was equivalent to officially handing over the task of exchanging supplies inside the cabin to him. Polati was quite excited, and after entering the cabin, he listened to Li Long explain how the supplies would be exchanged for fritillaria.

"These are just approximate quantities; you can adjust them flexibly. In the mountains, the initiative is in your hands. After all, they don't have anything else besides fritillaria. If they want to exchange supplies, they can only come to you, otherwise they have to leave the mountains."

The fritillaria season is almost over, and these people certainly don't want to waste their time coming out of the mountains.

Liu Gaolou asked a crucial question:

"If the forest police encounter Bolati, will they investigate?"

Li Long didn't know either, and looked at Polati.

“No,” Pollati shook his head. “We have an agreement with them. Unless we hunt or cut down trees in front of them, they don’t care about us. The forestry bureau is mainly responsible for us.”

This is reassuring.

After dinner, the three of them sat on the clean wooden floor, basking in the sun and chatting, until the effects of the alcohol wore off, at which point Li Long suggested going to the hot springs.

Polati refused, saying:

"I'll wait here and see if anyone comes to exchange the fritillaria bulbs later. Maybe by the time you come back from the hot springs, I'll have already exchanged a bag of fritillaria bulbs."

Li Long thought to himself that it was quite possible. While he was eating barbecue and drinking beer, he kept feeling that someone was spying on him from the other side of the woods, but he couldn't see clearly.

Maybe those people saw that there were many people here and didn't dare to come over?
So he took Liu Gaolou and drove away.

Polati remained, with the doors of his two wooden cabins wide open, waiting there. (End of Chapter)