Rebirth of Bayi Fishing and Hunting in the Northwest

Although Professor Yang said that Li Long didn't need to take care of food and lodging, Li Long still tidied up the room and made some preparations.

After all, he wasn't sure how many people Professor Yang would bring, and he felt he should extend the courtesy due to being a host. Professor Luo and Professor Yang had been a great help with the cotton planting, and Li Long certainly wanted to express his gratitude.

Once they arrive, we will definitely have to cooperate.

So Li Long also called his older brother Li Jianguo and asked him to tell Xie Yundong that when Professor Yang and the others came, our people should cooperate more.

Li Jianguo naturally had no objection and said he would go and tell Xie Yundong later.

On May 18th, Li Long was discussing the upcoming purchasing work with his father at the purchasing station. The fritillaria season was about to end, and the next half month to twenty days would still be the peak season for fritillaria purchasing. In other words, the farmers who dug the fritillaria out of the mountains would sort out their harvest before selling it.

Then they heard someone shouting anxiously from the entrance of the purchasing station:

"Li Long, Li Long!"

Li Long immediately recognized Yu Shanjiang's voice. He hurriedly ran out and saw Yu Shanjiang running into the yard, where his tractor was parked outside the gate.

Why did he come here?
Li Long jogged to the edge of the Yushan River and asked:
"What's the matter?"

"Buick's father is sick. I just took him to the hospital—we might not have enough money, and the hospital said it's difficult to treat... echinococcosis!"

"I...let's go!" Li Long grabbed Yu Shanjiang and pulled him towards his GAZ truck. Yu Shanjiang wanted to drive the tractor, but Li Long said:

"There's no time to spare, take my car—to the county hospital?"

“Yes, it’s the county hospital!” Yu Shanjiang followed after hearing Li Long’s words.

"Shuangcheng, drive the tractor into the yard!" Li Long shouted to Liang Shuangcheng, who followed him out of the gate, as he got into the GAZ truck and drove Yushanjiang out.

"Okay, I got it!" Liang Shuangcheng tossed the black bag that Li Long usually carried into the passenger seat. "Brother Long, take this with you!"

Li Long slapped his forehead, realizing he'd forgotten to bring this in his haste to leave.

Although I had a few hundred yuan on me, it probably wasn't enough.

Echinococcosis... it's a local disease here. It doesn't show obvious symptoms at first, and by the time symptoms appear, it may already be life-threatening.

There are several endemic diseases in northern Xinjiang, including echinococcosis, cardiovascular diseases, and tuberculosis. In some specific areas, there is also E. coli.

I don't know which bastard proposed not allowing HIV testing upon entry, nor do I know which scoundrels secretly approved it—I don't know if it's because their family has it, or if it's to suck up to certain people, but in the end, it's not them who suffer.

Far away.

Li Long drove his GAZ truck recklessly to the county hospital. At that time, there was no access control, and the hospital gate was always open. After entering, he parked the truck haphazardly, and Li Long, along with his bag and Yu Shanjiang, got out and rushed towards the emergency room.

Halim and Bek were still there. Bek's father was lying in bed with an IV drip. He was a man in his fifties, and now he was pale and sweating on his forehead. Li Long knew that he was in pain.

This disease can cause shock if it gets serious, and it's fortunate that he was able to persevere.

The doctor was talking to Halim and the others when he saw Yushanjiang and Li Long approaching. He frowned and said:

"Is this the person you found? Let me say it again, our county hospital doesn't have the medical facilities. Severe echinococcosis can be fatal! I suggest you take him to Shicheng No. 2 Hospital as soon as possible, or Wucheng is also fine. The hospitals there have better facilities, and the surgery will be safer."

"Okay, thank you, doctor!" Li Long said. "Then let's go now..."

The doctor was somewhat surprised that Li Long could make decisions for these people, but since the other patients' families did not object, he issued a transfer order.

Li Long and his team lifted Buick's father onto the GAZ truck, with Buick holding up the IV drip, and then took him to Shicheng No. 2 Hospital.

It was also an emergency, and the doctor there was very efficient. After learning about the situation, he immediately conducted an examination and, after confirming it was echinococcosis of the liver, scheduled surgery.

Remove the liver.

After paying the fee, Li Long waited outside the operating room with Buick and Yushanjiang.

"Don't worry, it's not a major operation." Li Long saw that Buick was so nervous that he bit his lip until it bled, and comforted him, saying, "This kind of operation is often done here, we're very skilled at it, and he'll be out in no time."

Buick nodded without saying anything.

"Are you sure you'll be out soon? Will everything be alright when you come out?" Halim asked from the side.

"Yes. Echinococcosis, you know, it's caused by eating undercooked meat. There are worms in the meat, and they get into the body and burrow into the liver. Then they stay there. The surgery now removes the worms..."

Li Long didn't finish speaking. Because there are two possible surgeries: either aspiration or liver resection. Given the severity of this case, liver resection is highly likely, and the patient will need to be hospitalized for a period of time afterward.

If only a small amount is removed, it's fine. But if too much is removed, a liver transplant may be necessary—given the current level of medical care in Shicheng, a liver transplant is unlikely.

This type of disease became widely known in later generations thanks to the internet. Of course, the tireless efforts of grassroots medical institutions also played a crucial role. Township health centers and village doctors regularly promoted awareness of these endemic diseases, advising people to eat less grilled meat, avoid raw meat, and so on.

Because the promotional materials were presented in a visually appealing way, Li Long now knows the entire circle of people suffering from echinococcosis, including which animals the eggs prefer to infest (herbivores), which animals the adult worms prefer to infest (carnivores or omnivores), and so on.

Later generations had more and more advanced treatment methods, while the current methods are relatively outdated.

Li Long even felt that there were probably many people in Yushanjiang's tribe who had latent echinococcosis, but it just hadn't manifested yet.

The situation is quite serious.

Since waiting here wasn't a solution, Li Long told Yu Shanjiang that they would split into two groups: one group would go to eat first, and the other group would stay here.

Yushanjiang agreed and told Halim and Bek to go eat first, saying that after the surgery, Bek and the others would need to work and take care of him.

Buick didn't want to leave, but Halim dragged him away. Li Long told them about nearby restaurants—it wasn't far from the old street, just a short walk away.

Li Long wanted to give Halimu more money, but Halimu said he had money.

Half an hour later, Buick and Halim rushed over, and Li Long and Yushanjiang went out together.

They randomly picked a restaurant nearby and ordered two bowls of noodles. While waiting for the noodles, Li Long expressed his concerns. He suggested that it would be best to take advantage of the improved road conditions and drive into the mountains to bring all the elderly people out for a checkup. If any of them had echinococcosis, it would be better to treat it now than to treat it after the disease develops.

Yushanjiang nodded silently, then suddenly said:
"Li Long, it's only now that I realize I'm actually quite useless."

Li Long did not expect Yushanjiang to say that.

“Look, the elderly in the tribe are sick, and there’s nothing I can do but wait. If we don’t have enough money, we’ll have to come to you… Actually, my parents also got sick and died while we were in the summer pasture. Back then… back then, most of the elderly in the tribe were like that. I was heartbroken for a while and thought that this was just fate.”

But now it seems that if I had been able to, my parents shouldn't have died so young..."

Li Long didn't know how to comfort Yu Shanjiang.

When the noodles were served, he urged Yushanjiang to eat quickly.

The two of them wolfed down their noodles and then rushed to the hospital.

On the way, Yushanjiang suddenly said:
“Li Long, I’m thinking of coming out and doing something, it’s better than staying in the mountains all the time. I want to make money, and once I have a car, I won’t have to drive my tractor down slowly anymore if anything happens on the mountain.”

"I have cars at my recycling station, you can drive one back first," Li Long said hurriedly.

“No, I can’t rely on you forever.” Yushanjiang shook his head. “Herding livestock in the mountains is our tradition. But I’ve realized that sometimes traditions need to change.”

If I had the money, I could have built the road sooner, and none of the elderly people on the mountain would have died from illness—not only my parents, but many others died on the mountain.

If we had better medical facilities, we could have examined them earlier and maybe cured them sooner. All of this costs money—and I need to earn money.”

After he said that, Li Long fell silent.

"You're in the county, can you help me think of a way to make money?" Yu Shanjiang asked Li Long when they arrived at the hospital. "I'm not too sure myself, but I know that I only have that herd of cattle and sheep on the mountain right now. I'll sell some to use as capital, and give the rest to Halimu and the others."

Anyway, my wife and kids are all in the county, there's nothing much for them to do up the mountain... I need to earn money so they can have a better life."

"Okay, I'll think of something for you." Li Long nodded.

There are quite a few jobs suitable for Yushanjiang; Li Long could think of several right away. But now wasn't the time to discuss that; they needed to go in and check on the patient's condition first.

When they arrived at the operating room door, Bek's father had not yet come out. Bek and Halim remained silent, staring at the operating room door.

More than an hour later, the operating room lights went out and the door opened.

"The surgery went smoothly. One-third of the liver was removed, and no residual worm foci were found," the doctor told Li Long and his team after coming out. "Now, he needs to stay in the hospital for a period of rest and observation."

Removing a part of the liver is very serious. Buick's eyes turned red—although he didn't understand, he knew that removing part of an organ was definitely not a minor illness.

When Buick's father was wheeled into the ward, there was another patient and a caregiver in the ward.

Seeing them come in, the two men fell silent.

Li Long left Buick there to stay with his father, who was still unconscious. It would be best if his father could see his son once he woke up. He and Yushanjiang went to find a nurse to get some essentials, and then went out to buy daily necessities.

"Do you think that once this surgery is done, I'll be completely cured?" Yu Shanjiang couldn't help but ask from outside.

"To be honest, it's hard to say." Since he was facing Yushanjiang, not Buick, Li Long didn't hide anything, "This disease is very easy to relapse."

Yu Shanjiang looked unwell.

There is nothing we can do about this.

In the pastoral life, diseases such as echinococcosis and brucellosis are difficult to prevent because they are in contact with cattle and sheep every day.

After a busy day, Yushanjiang and Buick stayed at the hospital to take care of him, while Li Long drove Halim back to the county. Before leaving, Li Long left Yushanjiang 500 yuan, saying it was for emergencies.

After all, the patient has just come out of the operating room, and no one can say what might happen next.

On the way back, Halim was rather quiet. As Li Long was dropping him off at the courtyard, he said:
"Take your mother for a check-up when you have time. Get her an X-ray at the county hospital, just to be on the safe side."

Although the old lady has not been in the pastoral area for many years, no one can be sure about these things.

Halim nodded and got out of the car.

When Li Long returned to the courtyard, Gu Xiaoxia and the others were already preparing dinner.

"How is that person?" Li Qingxia asked after Li Long parked the car.

"I had echinococcosis and underwent surgery at Shicheng No. 2 Hospital," Li Long said. "They removed one-third of my liver, and I'm doing well so far."

Shicheng No. 2 Hospital later became the affiliated hospital of Shida University. It was considered a very authoritative hospital in the two surrounding counties and one city.

"The surgery was successful?" Gu Xiaoxia asked. "Who did it?"

“Buick’s dad.” Li Long went to the well pump. Mingming was helping to pump water, and Haohao was waiting with a towel. Li Long washed his hands and then took the towel to dry his hands. “I reckon there are definitely some people among them who are infected with echinococcosis.”

Li Long knew about the disease, but Gu Xiaoxia, Li Qingxia, and even Sister Yang didn't understand it. At the dinner table, Li Long began to explain it to them.

"Then... we can't eat barbecue anymore?" Gu Xiaoxia was a little worried.

"It's edible, just make sure it's well cooked, even if it's a little charred. You can't eat it half-cooked. It's better here, mainly in the mountain pastoral areas, where many people have this disease."

Ma County is a major agricultural county. The herdsmen are concentrated in one township on the Qingshui River. Although each township has more or less specialized households that raise cattle and sheep, Han Chinese people are particular about cooking beef and mutton until it is very tender, and they also cook the roasted meat thoroughly.

Therefore, few people get this disease, and few people know about it.

Later, with government subsidies, some people raised cattle and sheep at extremely high densities to obtain the subsidies, which led to some people contracting brucellosis.

In fact, on average, more people in northern Xinjiang suffer from echinococcosis than from brucellosis.

During the meal, everyone was discussing these matters. Sister Yang was quite nervous at first, but she breathed a sigh of relief when she learned that everything would be fine once the meat was cooked.

Li Long knew what she was thinking; he was mainly worried that there might be some risks involved in the jerky she made, but there weren't any.

Li Long explained things in such detail to everyone in order to dispel their panic.

While Li Long was talking about this with his family, Halim was also talking about it with his mother in the yard.

He wanted to persuade his mother to get a checkup, since today's events had had a significant impact on him.

But Harim's mother did not intend to go.

“I’m almost seventy years old, old enough that there’s no need for any checkups. You take good care of the cattle and sheep in the mountains. I’m in good health now and will take good care of Nathan and Sasken here.”

The old lady was very satisfied with life in the courtyard and didn't want to cause any more trouble. So no matter how much Halim tried to persuade her, she refused to go for a checkup.

Halim couldn't force his mother to go for a checkup, so he could only think about seeing if Li Long or Yushanjiang had any solutions tomorrow.

Nathan and Sasken were happy to see Harim when they got home from school. They've gotten used to eating three meals a day now, but in the evening it's usually just milk tea and naan. Today, when Harim came home, the old lady fried an egg.

Halim left her money, and every day he would buy milk, make naan, and buy eggs to supplement the nutrition of the two children.

They buy meat occasionally, but not much. Harry finally took Li Long's words seriously—should they get a car? With a car, it would be faster to come from the summer pasture, and they could regularly slaughter a sheep and send it home, enough to last them a long time.

Of course, it needs to be air-dried, otherwise it won't keep well. At that time, Halim and his friends didn't even have the concept of buying a refrigerator.

As dusk approached, Talihar drove his tractor to Halim's yard. He had gone out to herd sheep that morning and only learned about what had happened at Bek's house when he returned. After telling his family, he hurriedly drove the tractor down the mountain.

Talihar and Bek are the closest of friends, and their families are on good terms, so this situation is quite worrying.

Halim didn't expect Talihar to come over. He let him into the house, explained the situation, and then said that Li Long would come tomorrow to take them to Shicheng to exchange for Yushanjiang.

Although Talihar was anxious, he didn't know the location of the Second Hospital of Stone City, so he had no choice but to stay at Harim's house for the time being and go there together the next day.

The next day, after breakfast, Li Long drove Mingming and Haohao to kindergarten, and then went to Harim's house.

Seeing Talihar's tractor at the gate, Li Long was somewhat surprised. Thinking about it, it made sense; the herders in the mountains all belonged to the same tribe and had good relationships. Unlike later, when pastures were divided and no longer organized by tribe, everyone looked after their own interests and gradually drifted apart.

Upon hearing the car, Halim and Talihar went out to greet it.

Seeing the old lady behind him, Li Long asked Halim:

"How about it, can you take it for a checkup?"

“My mom’s not going,” Halim said hesitantly. “She said she’s fine, nothing’s wrong.” Li Long thought for a moment and then looked at Talihar:
How is your grandmother's health?

"Is she... alright?" Talihar didn't usually pay much attention to his grandmother's health; in his eyes, she had always been in good health.

"How about this? Once Buick's father is feeling better, I'll drive to pick up all the elderly people in the tribe, and then bring your mother along on the way back. We'll all go for a checkup. If everyone goes, your mother probably won't refuse."

When Li Long suggested this idea, Halim thought it was a good idea.

After saying goodbye to the old man, Li Long drove Halim and Talihar to the Second Hospital of Shicheng.

When they arrived at the ward, they found only Yushanjiang there. He told Li Long and the others that Buick had gone to eat.

Buick's father woke up last night, and his complexion is still not very good, but it's better than when he was brought in yesterday. He's currently receiving an IV drip.

"The doctor asked, and I learned that I had already passed gas before dawn this morning, and they said I could eat liquid food."

The situation seemed relatively stable, which put Li Long at ease.

When Buick's father saw Li Long and the others coming over, he tried to sit up. Li Long quickly went over and held him down, telling him that it would easily pull on the sutures in his wound.

Too many people couldn't stay in the ward, so after chatting for a while, Li Long and the others came out and found a place to sit in the courtyard while Buick came over to watch over his father.

“I plan to go back and take care of the cattle and sheep, and then go out to do business,” Yushanjiang told Halim. “I feel that if I stay on the summer pasture like this, and something like this happens again, I don’t know how I will handle it.”

Halim could understand Yushanjiang's thoughts. As the tribe's chief, he was the backbone of the tribe, and people would definitely turn to him for help with any problems.

Now, after taking the person to the county hospital yesterday, Yushanjiang panicked when he realized the county couldn't handle it. Mainly, he lacks experience and is quite at a loss.

But when Li Long came over, transferred to another hospital, paid the fees, confirmed the surgery, and got everything done one by one, the difference was obvious.

That's why Yushanjiang had this plan—if the tribe wanted to develop, staying in the mountains wouldn't work, unless they were like their fathers, who didn't care much about birth, aging, sickness, and death. In that case, staying in the mountains wouldn't be a problem.

But Yushanjiang often interacted with the outside world, especially with Li Long, and knew that life outside was not like that.

So he wanted to make changes; as a tribal chief, he wanted to lead the entire tribe to change.

At least when I'm strong, if similar things happen in the tribe again, I won't be at a loss as I am today.

Talihar remained silent; he could not comprehend Yushanjiang's feelings.

Li Long could understand it, but in his opinion, this was a good thing for Yushanjiang. Coming out of the mountains earlier would allow them to adapt to local development more quickly and integrate into the community faster.

Because the herding team is going to be disbanded, the herders from Yushanjiang and his tribe will be scattered and assigned to various villages in Qingshuihe Township—mainly based on the location of their pastures, and they may not even be assigned to the same village.

Therefore, it will be difficult for them to gather together like before. Although they can still move between winter and summer, the units they belong to will be different.

The concept of tribes will gradually fade, while the concept of natural villages will become stronger.

As infrastructure in northern Xinjiang develops, and with investment from the state, the autonomous region, and provinces providing counterpart assistance to Xinjiang, rural medical facilities and other infrastructure will improve, and such incidents will gradually decrease in the future.

At that time, Yushanjiang no longer needed to consider the birth, aging, illness, and death of the people in the tribe; the village would take care of it.

However, this matter will take at least another ten years, and for now, Yushanjiang's considerations are not unreasonable, after all, everyone still relies on him.

"So what are you planning to do? What are you going to do out here?" Halim was actually quite envious of Yushanjiang. If Yushanjiang could leave, then he would have to stay—because he knew that if Yushanjiang left, the cattle and sheep pastures would be transferred to him for management.

At least he and his wife both lived in the mountains, so they could look after each other.

Otherwise, he would have figured it out himself.

Yushanjiang looked at Li Long.

The others also looked at Li Long.

"I think starting with the cattle and sheep business is the best approach." Li Long had actually been thinking about this last night. What should he ask Yushanjiang to do? He couldn't very well come and help him, could he? That wasn't realistic, and Yushanjiang probably wouldn't accept it either.

Naturally, we need to find something for him that he can do himself, and that he's not completely unfamiliar with.

Then the only option left is to trade in cattle and sheep.

"How do you do it? Resell it?" Talihar asked, sounding very interested.

Neither Yushanjiang nor Halimu spoke; they were both looking at Li Long.

"That's about it. I don't know if you're aware, but the livestock team is going to disband, and the food factory will no longer have its own source of cattle and sheep. Your cattle and sheep are your own, but if the food factory wants to sell beef and mutton, it will have to find its own channels."

Yushanjiang knew this, and he nodded.

However, to get through the food factory, he still needed to find someone, and he didn't know many people there.

Of course, anything is possible with effort, but he didn't mention that difficulty. If you decide to do it yourself, how can you expect to avoid difficulties? If you encounter problems and immediately turn to Li Long and complain, then what's the point of doing anything?

"Furthermore, as you've probably noticed, there's a surge in newly opened private restaurants in both Shicheng and Ma County. These restaurants mainly sell dishes like mixed noodles and spicy chicken, requiring a certain amount of beef and mutton daily," Li Long continued.
"Yushan Jiang, you're a master at butchering sheep. You can tell exactly how much meat a cow or a sheep can yield. So, in this line of work, you can do wholesale or retail first. I can introduce you to some friends, and we can start with retail, and then we can do wholesale later."

There's a livestock wholesale market across the Mahe River. You can get cattle and sheep from there, drive them back, and since your yard is quite big, you can build a pen in the open space, buy the cattle and sheep, sell them off, and make money that way.

The reason Li Long asked Yushanjiang to do this was because Yushanjiang had a skill that many herders possessed: they could tell the health status of cattle and sheep. When selecting cattle and sheep, they would avoid those that were sick and about to die, thus preventing some unnecessary losses.

By consistently providing healthy beef and lamb, a good reputation can be easily established, making it easier to sell beef and lamb in the future.

Li Long didn't say much, thinking that Yu Shanjiang would have to explore the rest of the path himself. Whether to continue buying in bulk and selling in retail, or to start a wholesale business in the future, that would depend on Yu Shanjiang's own ideas.

I'm just providing him with an introduction; this is a viable path to take right now.

Or rather, there are many opportunities now, but for Yushanjiang himself, this line of work is the easiest.

Yushan Jiang himself quite likes this, at least it's not an unfamiliar industry that he needs to learn from scratch.

Although he doesn't know how much he'll sell the meat for or where he'll sell it, he can butcher cattle and sheep, tell how much meat will be produced, and identify which animals are healthy. This gives him a significant advantage over some newcomers.

Talihar was quite interested and offered some suggestions, which, although they sounded naive, revealed that he was genuinely thinking about them.

However, Talihar is definitely not in a position to do this right now, as his family may not be willing.

Finally, Yushanjiang planned that once Buick's father's condition improved in the next couple of days, he would go up the mountain to deal with the cattle and sheep, leave most of them to Halim to look after, and then drive the rest down to sell as start-up capital for his business.

Li Long agreed with this. In fact, Li Long could provide the start-up capital, but he could tell that Yu Shanjiang was only trying to get advice from him and did not intend to completely depend on him.

If Yushanjiang needs to partner with him later, Li Long will naturally have no objection, but if Yushanjiang doesn't bring it up, Li Long himself won't bring it up on his own initiative.

Unlike Meng Hai and the others, he was friends with Li Long. This kind of thing was quite sensitive, and it was different from road construction, so Li Long tried to avoid mentioning these things.

Because Bek's father was recovering well, Halim and Yushanjiang returned to the county that day, while Bek and Talihar stayed behind to look after him. Talihar would also be going back later, so Bek would be left to look after him at the hospital.

Li Long drove the two men back to the county. At the purchasing station, Yushanjiang drove his tractor away, wanting to go back to his own yard to see his wife and children.

Li Long also went home. Gu Xiaoyu had already taken the train here today, and Professor Yang would be bringing his students to the county tomorrow. He also needed to make preparations to welcome them.

When Yushanjiang returned to his yard, Yerjiang and Ghana had already finished school and tutoring, and were helping their mother tend the vegetable garden.

The yard of Yushanjiang's house is quite large. After Li Long bought the yard, he hired someone to tidy it up and plant vegetables. Last year, Yushanjiang's wife moved in with their child and harvested potatoes and other vegetables. This year, she plans to plant the same plot of land again.

Women living among herders are very frugal; if they can eat the vegetables they grow themselves, they don't need to spend money to buy them.

Or perhaps she wasn't even used to spending money on things. Back in the pastoral areas, the milk and beef and mutton came from their own farms. The only things they needed to buy were flour for making naan, rice for pilaf, and brick tea leaves and salt for milk tea.

Vegetables are scarce, and other daily necessities are used with great care.

But when she moved to the county, she had to buy everything, which she found very difficult to adjust to, and she was even less able to adapt than Halim's mother.

After her child started school, she would visit Halim's house and complain to the old lady about how hard life was.

The old lady was already used to it. At the livestock team's outpost, she often needed to buy things, so she naturally adapted quickly after moving to the county.

Hearing the sound of a tractor, Yerjan asked uncertainly from the field:

"Listen, is that our tractor?"

“It seems so…” Ganaguli also felt it was similar.

Then I watched as Yushanjiang drove his tractor into the yard.

The two children ran out of the vegetable garden cheering and headed towards the tractor. Yushanjiang quickly stopped the tractor, turned off the engine, got out, hugged the two children, and then looked at his wife.

The children naturally asked more questions, and his wife also came out of the vegetable garden to ask him with concern if he had eaten.

Yushanjiang wasn't hungry, even though he hadn't eaten dinner. He briefly recounted how Buick's father had fallen ill and how he had driven his tractor to pull him down from the ground.

The wife and two children remained silent for a while after hearing this. Then the wife asked:
"Will everything be fine after the surgery?"

“I don’t know.” Yu Shanjiang shook his head. “Li Long said that it might relapse. He said that many people living in pastoral areas are susceptible to this disease. I’m thinking of taking you to get X-rays tomorrow. If it is, early treatment will be better.”

"We should be fine, right?" Aiman, Yushanjiang's wife, was reluctant to go to the hospital and hurriedly said, "Let's take the child for a check-up when the children are on vacation."

"I don't feel unwell, I don't need to be checked." Ye Erjiang also didn't want to be checked.

Yu Shanjiang didn't force him. Li Long had also told him that the illness was chronic, with no initial symptoms, and that things would gradually improve over time. His main concern right now was to tell his wife about his decision. Although he had already made the decision himself, he still needed his wife to know and understand.

Aiman ​​went to make milk tea, and Yushanjiang asked Yerjiang and Ganaguli about their studies. He then realized that the two children were doing well academically, and that he could no longer understand much of what they were saying.

He didn't understand things like mixed combustion and force, but he could sense that the two children had indeed learned a lot.

Both children are currently receiving after-school tutoring, and Yerjan proudly says that his grades are now in the upper-middle range of his class. According to his teacher, getting into high school shouldn't be a problem.

Ganaguli was struggling a little, mainly because physics was still a bit difficult for her, but her grades were average in the class.

Yushanjiang was quite satisfied with his two children's academic performance, saying that they should just do their best.

It was a rare occasion for the family of four to have dinner together. Yushanjiang talked about things in the mountains, while the two children recounted interesting stories from school. Aiman ​​listened quietly, enjoying this precious moment of happiness.

After the two children finished eating, tidied up, and went to their rooms to study and read, Yushanjiang told Aiman ​​about his decision.

"You want to do business here?" Ayman was genuinely shocked. "Aren't they going to take care of things in the mountains?"

“I brought some of the cattle and sheep down to sell, and then gave the rest to Halim and the others to help us graze,” Yushanjiang said. “Then I made money in the county by reselling cattle and sheep, as Li Long would say.”

"What if we lose money?" Ayman knew nothing about business, and she knew her husband wasn't good at it either.

“It’s alright. Li Long said he’ll introduce me to a few restaurants that need meat. I’ll definitely make some money at first. Of course, I can’t rely on him entirely. I plan to supply meat to these restaurants first, and then expand later. It would be best to do wholesale in the future.”

“If you’ve made up your mind and are sure about it, then go for it.” Aiman’s initial hesitation subsided. Having lived apart from her husband for so long, she actually longed for him to be by her side. Life in the county town was expensive every day, but if her husband could run a successful business, at least they could see each other every day, eat together, and relax together.

"Besides, we still have some things stored up, right? I'll take some out and give them to Li Long to sell. Part of it will be used as money for business, and the rest will stay with you. From now on, Li Long can no longer pay for the tutoring fees for Yerjan and Ghana. We'll pay for it ourselves."

“Okay.” Ayman originally wanted to say that the money added up to a lot each month, but in the end she didn’t say it.

She sensed that Yushanjiang was in a moment of excitement and didn't want to dampen his enthusiasm.

Yushanjiang explained his plan step by step, and Aiman, as a good listener, listened attentively and offered her own thoughts when she felt there was something to add.

The two of them slept very late that night. The next morning, when Ayman got up early to cook for the two children, she didn't feel sleepy at all; on the contrary, she was very energetic.

She seemed to see a bright future ahead. In fact, she had wanted to tell Yushanjiang a long time ago that living in the county would be better than living in the mountains, but she was afraid that Yushanjiang would not be used to it.

Now that her husband has chosen to return to public life, she is naturally overjoyed.

After dinner, the two children went to school. Yu Shanjiang tidied up the house and took two deer antlers and a palm-sized piece of gold to find Li Long.

Li Long was waiting to welcome Professor Yang and his group, and they would arrive in a little over an hour. Since the agreed-upon meeting place was at the purchasing station, Li Long waited there.

Li Long was somewhat surprised that Yu Shanjiang brought gifts. When he saw Yu Shanjiang take out such a large gold nugget and two deer antlers in the reception room, Li Long couldn't help but say:
“Yushanjiang, forget about the deer antlers, but this gold nugget, if you keep it at home for a few years, it will be worth a lot of money. Taking it out now is a loss.”

"I'm not losing out by handing this over to you. I need money right now anyway. I'm not thinking about what will happen in a few years. Maybe by then I'll have made even more money by using this as capital."

Li Long thought to himself, "This is the reality."

If you need it now, don't worry about the future. You can't just tighten your belt now and save it because it will appreciate in value later, can you?
"Then I'll take it." Li Long weighed the gold nugget in his hand. It didn't seem very pure, but it looked beautiful. It wasn't a perfectly round ring; there were three holes in the middle, one large and two small, like a grip ring that had been squeezed. It weighed about three or four hundred grams.

The official price of pure gold is around 40 to 50 yuan. While the gold nugget is not pure, it has some collectible value. Moreover, due to inflation, the price of gold in the private market is relatively high, now exceeding 100 yuan.

“I’ll value this piece of gold and the deer antler at 30,000 yuan,” Li Long said. “It might be more expensive if we leave it for a few more years, but I can’t say exactly how much more.”

"Thirty thousand? Is it really worth that much?" Yu Shanjiang was a little surprised. "I found this in the mountains a while ago. There are hot springs in the mountains, and there are a lot of rocks there. I went there to see if there were any deer antlers."

"Let's go back there again sometime, maybe there'll be more," Li Long said, remembering the gold nuggets he had found in the hot spring gully.

"Alright, alright." Yu Shanjiang smiled.

Li Long went to the counter, took out 30,000 yuan, wrote it down, and then handed it over to Yu Shanjiang.

“Now we have money for business and money for household expenses.” Yu Shanjiang counted out 1,500 yuan and handed it to Li Long. “This is for Buick’s dad’s hospitalization and the money you gave me yesterday.”

Li Long didn't stand on ceremony, took the money, and said:

"You should still take some time to check up the elderly people in the mountains. Also, you should practice driving a car. I'll see if I can find someone to help you get a driver's license. You can't keep driving a tractor to do business."

"It's alright for now. After all, it's convenient to use a tractor to haul cattle and sheep. I wouldn't be willing to use a car," Yushanjiang said with a smile. "I'll earn some money as soon as possible and then ask you to buy me a car."

Knowing that Li Long had something to do, Yu Shanjiang left quickly. He went to Halim's house, and then returned to the mountains with Halim and Talihar to distribute the cattle and sheep. He also needed to pack up the things in the yurt and bring them back, as they would easily spoil if left there since they weren't going to live there anymore.

Next, it's time to really show our skills.

P.S.: Some people really have a lot of influence. Today, the complete collection of the Treaties of the Qing Dynasty was taken down from all online stores, and even secondhand books are not allowed to be sold.

I can be reported for inciting disunity just for wearing my Han Chinese clothing; this is truly a tragedy for the dominant ethnic group. (End of Chapter)