Chapter 1034: Who Doesn't Love Such a Gift?

At this time, everyone was basically still quite disciplined, and plus it had snowed, so the things in the shop weren't displayed. Li Long was cracking melon seeds at the door and looking inside. The shop owner's wife was warming herself by the fire. Seeing Li Long standing at the door, she greeted him enthusiastically:

"Hello, comrade, what seasonings are you buying? We have Sichuan peppercorns, star anise, dried ginger, bay leaves, and so on. It's cheaper if you buy more..."

"Do you have cumin?" Li Long asked.

"Yes, how much do you want?" the owner's wife asked.

"Maybe three or five kilograms?"

"So much? Are you opening a barbecue restaurant?" the owner's wife asked in surprise.

Except for opening a barbecue restaurant, basically no one would want so much cumin. After all, the scent of this stuff will dissipate, and it will be worthless once it dissipates. Generally, families only buy a few hundred grams and have to pack it tightly in plastic bags or canned bottles.

"No, I'm making dried meat," Li Long said. "By the way, boss, you sell seasonings, do you know the seasoning ratio for making beef jerky? If you know, I'll buy some here and try it out."

"I know, I make it at home myself, but I don't make much." The owner's wife let Li Long in and pointed to the stove door, saying, "You can crack melon seeds, just spit the shells there."

Li Long entered the room. While the owner's wife went to move the cumin bag, she said:

"It's not that I'm pushing business away, but if you weigh so much cumin, you must be making several hundred kilograms of meat to use it all, right? Otherwise, you won't be able to use it. And generally, when making dried meat, cumin isn't used. People in Northern Xinjiang can eat this flavor, but people inside the pass can't."

Hearing her say this, Li Long was a bit surprised; this owner's wife was quite honest.

One could hear a slight accent from the Sichuan-Chongqing area, and she was in her thirties. At least listening to what she just said, she was very down-to-earth.

The owner's wife took out a large bag of cumin and placed it in front of Li Long, grabbing a handful of cumin powder from it and handing it to Li Long:

"Smell it, is the flavor right?"

"Yes, yes, yes, it's pungent and fragrant; it should be from last year." Cumin is actually a type of fennel, or rather, its scientific name is *Cuminum cyminum*, and it looks like that too. In later generations, Li Long had seen people intercropping cumin in other fields in short videos, and it grew quite well.

"So, shall I weigh this for you?" the owner's wife asked.

Li Long asked about the price, and it was even cheaper than the department store. As for the goods, they were about the same, as long as they weren't moldy and the flavor was right.

After weighing the cumin, Li Long asked the owner's wife about the recipe they used at home, weighed some according to the ratio, and planned to go back and do an experiment.

He had already made several flavors at home with Sister Yang using common seasonings, and it felt okay. But Li Long thought about making a few more types and seeing which ones everyone liked to eat.

After weighing the seasonings, they were all packed up—plastic bags weren't common at this time, so the owner's wife got a lot of newspapers, wrapped them in newspapers, and after wrapping them, wrote on them with a pen to indicate which seasoning it was.

Finally, several types of seasonings were packed into a large bag. After Li Long paid, he carried it out.

On his way back, he happened to run into the freshly baked naan bread, so he bought two and ate them while heading back.

When he sat back in the car, there were already red clouds in the west, and the sky had cleared on one side. This snow fell fast and hard, and it went away just as fast.

The next day, Li Long went to the transport company. There were quite a few trucks at this time. Because of the snow, some planned tasks had not yet been launched. Li Long agreed with the team leader and hired two vehicles, planning to drive into the mountains with the goods tomorrow.

The matter was settled. Tomorrow morning, two trucks would drive to Li Long's door. Li Long would take the trucks to load the goods, then drive into the mountains, unload the supplies, and pull the beef and mutton back.

They were old acquaintances. Li Long paid the hiring fee first, then went back and started listing the supplies to be pulled into the mountains.

Rice, flour, oil, and salt were a must. Not only iodized salt for people to eat but also coarse salt for livestock. Brick tea, cube sugar...

Li Long bought a lot of these things every year, and this time the list was mainly calculated based on the price of the cattle and sheep given by the herdsmen.

After listing them, the rest was to get the money and prepare to buy them tomorrow.

Sister Yang had also made preparations. The kitchen itself was quite large—this large courtyard was originally designed according to the residence of a large family. Usually, Sister Yang could only use a small part of the kitchen.

Now that she had to make so much dried meat, the kitchen could be fully utilized. Sister Yang herself was also thinking that if she really intended to open a shop in the market that also sold dried meat, the kitchen in her front yard might not be enough; first of all, the pot was a bit small.

Thinking of this problem, Sister Yang felt a bit conflicted. Everything in this large courtyard was handy, and she had feelings for it after living here for so long. The south courtyard was ostensibly her and Han Fang's home, and it was also close to Han Fang's school.

But would living there really be better than here?

Of course, it was just a moment of conflict. Although Liang Garden is good, it is not a place to stay for a long time.

This is someone else's home, not her own.

The next day, Li Long got up early, finished everything that needed to be done, handed Mingming and Haohao over to Han Fang, and then drove out, taking the trucks for a big shopping trip.

Although it was late February, the weather was still quite cold. In addition to rice, flour, oil, and other supplies, he also bought potatoes, onions, carrots, cabbage, and other vegetables that could be stored.

These vegetables couldn't be placed in the truck bed, as they would freeze, so he simply put them in the jeep's cabin.

By the time Li Long arrived at Huang Yang's winter shelter with the two trucks, a lot of beef and mutton had already been piled up there, and several tractors were parked on the side. These beef and mutton had obviously been pulled over by tractors.

When the trucks arrived, the young and strong men who were drinking milk tea in the winter shelter came out one after another and began to unload the supplies and load the beef and mutton.

These supplies were unloaded directly into the tractor beds and would later be pulled by Huang Yang and the others and delivered to each herdsman's household separately.

And now, in addition to unloading the supplies, they also had to help Li Long load the beef and mutton onto the trucks.

Li Long looked at the beef and mutton that had been unloaded and trimmed into pieces and frozen, and he was extremely satisfied.

Because this small tribe had harvested a lot of grass, and Li Long had also brought sugar dregs, the fat of the cattle and sheep hadn't dropped much after a winter. Looking at the meat piled up, it was still quite fatty.

According to what Li Long had agreed, some meat was left on the bones, so it wouldn't just be dry bone sticks. This way, it could be made into air-dried meat and could also be eaten.

Pieces of frozen solid meat were moved onto the trucks. Since the two trucks could hold them, Li Long was relieved.

Because he still had to go back to unload the trucks, Li Long didn't stay. He drank two bowls of milk tea with the two truck drivers, and after the trucks were loaded, he drove away.

According to Huang Yang's idea, although the loading time wasn't long, that was because there were many people. Li Long would be alone when he went back, so unloading would take a lot of time. It would be better to let him take a few people to follow Li Long back to unload.

Li Long politely declined. This back-and-forth was also very troublesome. The original meat and bones were frozen together. He said it was slow to unload, but actually, with him there, it wouldn't be much slower.

Since Li Long didn't agree, Huang Yang didn't insist. After Li Long left, he began to think about how to distribute those supplies.

Now with Li Long there, they were less and less willing to go down the mountain themselves to face those Han people to buy supplies; every time, they just needed Li Long to take them up. What they paid were those things they picked up in the mountains that they didn't usually use, as well as what they hunted.

No matter what, Li Long would accept it all, which made them feel quite at ease.

The three vehicles drove out of the mountains all the way to Maxian. When they arrived at the county, Li Long led the team directly to the state-run canteen.

The drivers followed. After getting out of the car, Li Long said:

"It's already mealtime. Let's eat first, and then drive back to my large courtyard, and then unload the trucks."

Li Long treated them to noodles, and the drivers were naturally happy. They saved a meal fee and ate well. Comrade Li Long was indeed as everyone said, generous and open-minded!

After eating, the three vehicles drove back to the large courtyard. Hearing the movement, Han Fang ran out and opened the door. She told Li Long that Mingming and Haohao had already taken a nap, and her mother was watching them.

Li Long drove the jeep into the courtyard. When the two trucks drove in, Li Long told them to keep the noise down.

The drivers had eaten the meal Li Long treated them to, so they couldn't let Li Long and a young girl move the meat there, so they all pitched in.

Actually, Li Long could do it himself. These meats were frozen together. The role Han Fang could play was just to lift the curtain, and Li Long didn't let her move them.

As for the drivers, they opened the side panels of the trucks, and they got on the trucks to help Li Long move the meat to the edge of the trucks. Li Long would then hold the meat and go down to put it in the room.

Because there was so much meat, the storage room couldn't hold it, so Li Long's plan was to put it directly into one of the side rooms. ===== CHAPTER 1035 =====