Chapter 147: The Power of Yu Shanjiang

After eating the hand-grabbed mutton at noon, Yu Shanjiang’s family began to bustle about. Halimu rode his horse back home and soon brought his family over—except for the grandmother who stayed behind to watch the house, the whole family had come.

The gathering took place on the grassy slope in front of the winter shelter. It was late March; while the grass on the plains had already turned green, here it was only just beginning to sprout tender buds.

Yu Shanjiang’s son and Nasen brought back driftwood washed down by the flood from the river gully, stacking it up for the evening bonfire.

Yu Shanjiang slaughtered another sheep, and his wife and Halimu’s wife set to work processing the meat.

Halimu chose a spot to dig a long trench, clearing out the inside and piling the excavated earth along the edges to raise it.

"Are you making a trough for roasting mutton?" Li Long had watched plenty of short videos in his previous life and made a guess.

"Yes," Halimu replied while working. "A lot of people should be coming tonight, so we need to roast plenty of meat. Besides, Yu Shanjiang will definitely need these people to help build your house later."

Li Long suddenly felt a bit overwhelmed—what had he done to deserve so many people working for him?

"Don't feel embarrassed," Halimu said, sensing Li Long’s hesitation. "You brought us so much brick tea, salt, and sugar before. Do you think we ate it all? We couldn't possibly eat that much."

"We used to belong to the same tribe, so in the winter, Yu Shanjiang and I gave the surplus to the others. They don't speak much Han, but they need those things even more than we do—"

Li Long understood. He looked around and thought for a moment before saying:

"Then I'll head to the county town right now and buy some more things."

"No, no need," Halimu grabbed Li Long, who was about to leave. "Don't go, it's too far. We aren't short of anything right now. You just stay here, eat big chunks of meat, and drink big bowls of mare's milk later."

"Today, you are our honored guest, so don't overthink it. Just enjoy yourself."

Li Long couldn't leave, so he simply joined Halimu in the work.

After the trench was dug, they lit a fire inside, burning wood. Li Long knew that once the wood burned down into red charcoal, it could be moved into the trough to serve as the heat for roasting the meat.

Next, they went to the red willow thicket by the gully to break off branches for skewers.

In his previous life, Li Long had eaten "red willow roasted mutton" at night markets, but those skewers had been reused countless times and had long since lost any true red willow flavor.

In reality, only the first time a skewer is used does the meat take on the unique aroma of the red willow. Locals only use them once, and because red willow is now protected for its role in windbreak and sand fixation, it’s rarely harvested anymore. Aside from locals, it’s hard for anyone else to eat the authentic version.

They broke off branches about the thickness of a pinky finger, stripped the leaves, and used small knives to sharpen one end, trimming the thicker ends to a uniform length before handing them over to the women.

The women marinated the cubed meat in onion water and threaded them onto the red willow skewers, piling up a large stack in no time.

The fire was roaring, and guests arriving on horseback began to appear.

Li Long noticed that most people arrived as families. It seemed Halimu was right; they were likely from the same tribe, and even if they weren't blood relatives, they shared other bonds.

Most of the arrivals didn't speak Han at all. After greeting Yu Shanjiang and Halimu, they either went into the winter shelter or tethered their horses and joined in the work or conversation.

At first, Li Long felt awkward, repeating the same phrase, "Adaxi, jia kesi ma" (Friend, how are you?), over and over. He didn't understand anything else.

However, he could see that even though they didn't understand the rest of his words, the joy and sincerity in their eyes were genuine. The language barrier didn't dampen their enthusiasm.

Li Long felt this was truly a warm, hospitable people. Making friends with them was a wonderful thing!

He and Halimu added red charcoal to the trough. Once Yu Shanjiang had finished slaughtering the sheep and cleaning the pelt and offal, he proudly brought out the radio. When the Kazakh broadcast began to play, most of the dozen or so people present gasped in astonishment!

Most of them had never seen a radio and couldn't imagine how such a small object could produce human voices, let alone in their native tongue!

Yu Shanjiang proudly pulled Li Long over, introduced him in Kazakh, and Li Long was once again ceremoniously shaken hands with by everyone, which he took to be a gesture of respect and gratitude.

He was a bit dazed.

By the time the sun dipped low and the air grew cool, the wood gathered by the young men had become a massive pile, and they lit it.

The meat began to roast, the hand-grabbed mutton in the large pot began to boil, and mare's milk was brought out for everyone to drink.

The radio kept playing. Although Li Long couldn't understand the words, he could tell from the announcers' tones that they were broadcasting news, telling stories, playing music, and airing what sounded like movie audio clips.

A group of children gathered around the radio, curiously watching the device that could speak, while adults occasionally came over to inspect it and offer Li Long a smile.

Throughout the day, Li Long received countless expressions of goodwill. Though he couldn't understand the language, he understood the sentiment.

Suddenly, a melody played on the radio that made everyone cheer—

Li Long, having scrolled through countless short videos in his previous life, recognized it as the dance music for the traditional Kazakh dance, "Kara Zhorga" (Black Steed). At that moment, many who had been sitting jumped up, and one by one, they began to dance around the bonfire.

The bonfire illuminated their smiling faces; their joy was simple and pure.

Li Long was pulled into the crowd. Though he didn't know the steps, he could sway his shoulders and arms to the rhythm. The infectious atmosphere was impossible to resist.

After a while, a bowl of mare's milk was handed to him. He didn't check who gave it to him and took a sip.

The sour, slightly alcoholic beverage invigorated him, and he continued to dance. Tired from dancing, he ate meat, drank mare's milk, and listened to the chatter in a language he didn't know. Li Long felt he didn't want to think about anything; he was truly happy.

The party lasted until very late. The meat was gone, the mare's milk was finished, the radio had stopped broadcasting and was emitting only static, and the bonfire had dwindled to dark red embers.

It had been a night to remember.

Li Long returned to Halimu’s winter shelter.

The next morning, just as Li Long was drinking milk tea, Yu Shanjiang arrived with a group of young and middle-aged men, dragging logs behind them.

"Are you really going to build me a house?" Li Long still felt like he was dreaming.

"Li Long, we are friends. You’ve been a true friend to us, so we must do what friends should do. Don't worry about this; just decide on the location..."

Li Long was deeply moved. "Alright, you guys handle the work, I'll pick the spot." After careful consideration and following the advice of Halimu and Yu Shanjiang, he chose a site by a gully less than a kilometer west of Halimu’s shelter. There was a stream nearby, and the location was between Yu Shanjiang’s and Halimu’s shelters, closer to Halimu’s, which made transporting the logs easier.

Nearby was a Fritillaria gully, and it wasn't far from the hot spring Yu Shanjiang had shown him.

The site was relatively flat. They planned to dig out a level area on slightly higher ground and then stack the logs to build the house—similar to a winter shelter, with the mountain slope serving as the back wall to save on materials.

Once the site was chosen, the herdsmen began transporting logs with great enthusiasm, while Li Long rode his bicycle down the mountain.

He sped to the department store, bought sesame cakes, rock sugar, and several bottles of white liquor, though he was running low on money.

Li Long suddenly thought of the jade stones. It seemed he had no choice but to sell them now.

He stored the items at the courtyard, wrapped up two high-quality jade stones, and headed to the Wuyi Highway bus station.

Starting this spring, there were buses from the county station to Urumqi.

Li Long bought a ticket, and with time to spare, bought some sesame cakes for lunch at the station kiosk.

He boarded the bus, and nearly three hours later, arrived in Urumqi.

[!]

Leaving the August Executive Office courtyard, Li Long quickly hopped on a bus to the Second Light Industry Bureau’s jade processing factory.

Li Long navigated his way to the elderly man who had bought his jade last time—this time he learned the man was a veteran jade carver named Liu Yuzhang, who had worked at the factory for over twenty years before being sent down during the turbulent years and only returning to work early last year.

Old Man Liu actually remembered Li Long. In the office, he smiled and said:

"Young man, the jade you brought last time was excellent; we’ve already made it into an ornament. What treasures have you brought this time?"

"This jade isn't as good as the last batch," Li Long said while taking out the stones. "I originally intended to keep them, but I’m in urgent need of money recently, so I brought them here."

One was from Yu Shanjiang, and the other was later gifted to him by Halimu.

"Hmm, indeed, the quality isn't as good as the last time." The old man took a look through his glasses, then took them off and said, "This one is alright—"

He pointed to the one from Yu Shanjiang: "It’s worse than the best one from last time, but better than the worst one. As for this one..."

He pointed to the other, which had visible black spots in the jade texture:

"This kind of jade doesn't sell for much. Fortunately, the spots aren't too heavy, so it has its own character."

He thought for a moment and said:

"How about this, I’ll call Section Chief Chen over, and we’ll set a price for you together."

Section Chief Chen was the tall man from last time, and he also remembered Li Long.

After discussing it, they set a price of 65 yuan and 15 yuan for the two pieces of jade.

"Young man, don't be unhappy with the 15 yuan per kilogram price. To be honest, this jade really isn't that good. If you feel the price isn't right, you can take them back."

"I won't take them back," Li Long said hurriedly. "I know the price you’re giving is already very fair. Thank you!"

In truth, he had been nervous coming here; if they hadn't bought them, he would have been in real trouble.

"The young man is quite reasonable," Old Man Liu smiled. "If you find good jade in the future, bring it over and we’ll buy it. Of course, good jade is hard to come by, as you know."

After weighing the jade and issuing the payment, Li Long received 374 yuan.

He bid farewell to Old Man Liu and Section Chief Chen and hurried back to the August Guest House.

Li Long’s plan was to catch the last bus back if possible; if not, he would buy the supplies, stay the night, and return in the morning.

To his surprise, the last bus hadn't departed yet, so he quickly boarded—at this time, you could board first and pay later.

By the time he returned to the county, it was pitch black.

Li Long stumbled back to the courtyard. Although the room was still cold, he felt a sense of relief.

It had been a tense day, but he had managed to get everything done.

Dragging his exhausted body, he lit a fire, cooked some porridge, and while drinking it, planned what to buy the next day.

Although it was Yu Shanjiang who had rallied the people to work for him, as the host, Li Long had to show his appreciation.

He decided to buy a gift set for everyone working, including brick tea, rock sugar, a bottle of liquor, two cans of food, and a bag of salt as a token of his gratitude.

As for the duration of the work, Li Long decided to buy some snacks as well.

He regretted not bringing the horse cart, but since the cart was needed at the production team, he would just have to make a few trips with his bicycle.

The next morning, after eating at the canteen, Li Long began his shopping.

In addition to the gifts, Li Long bought plenty of thick and thin wire, nails, plastic sheeting, and other supplies, packed them onto his bicycle, and headed toward the mountains.

The heavy-duty bicycle was sturdy, and in less than two hours, Li Long had transported the supplies to Halimu’s winter shelter.

When Halimu saw the items Li Long had brought, he told him very seriously:

"Li Long, if you want everyone to work hard, don't bring these things out yet. Otherwise, the work won't get done, and their families will just complain about you."

Li Long was puzzled. Why?

He clearly meant well.

[End of Chapter]

Li Long was a bit puzzled, why?

He was clearly well-intentioned.

(End of chapter)