Chapter 156: Encountering a fellow jade farmer

Ha Li Mu simply didn't translate Li Long's words.

In their eyes, catching a fawn wasn't anything particularly difficult—not doing it specifically was mainly because it was meaningless; it was equivalent to having one more sheep, and it was hard to raise, often dying. After it died, there wasn't even as much meat as a sheep.

How much was a sheep? Only a dozen yuan. A deer only had value after it grew up, but raising a deer wasn't as simple as raising a sheep.

The remaining lads mostly wanted to use skins, jade, or other things to trade for radios, flashlights, or daily necessities like grain, sugar, salt, and liquor.

Li Long finally tallied it up: a total of six radios, 150 kilograms of flour, 20 bricks of tea, 33 bags of sugar, 30 bags of salt, and so on.

According to his calculations, the things placed here were naturally enough.

The immature deer calls occasionally coming from behind the wooden house reminded him that there were two living creatures also on the list for trade.

Although in this era, whether it was Ha Li Mu and the others or the villagers, they all had a philosophy: "Possessing a fortune, but not counting the breathing ones (not counting the furry ones)," but deer shouldn't be included in this category.

Li Long was a bit worried, thinking about how to take so many things back.

After everyone finished speaking, Li Long said:

"I'll take the stuff back now, and then bring the traded items in batches. Some of these things might need to be traded in Wucheng or Shicheng, so it might take a little longer. You have to be patient. Also, I'll try to bring some medicine for each family when I come tomorrow, so you can keep it at home; it should be useful."

After Ha Li Mu heard this, he said a few words seriously to the lads, and the look in the lads' eyes when they looked at Li Long changed.

Li Long could feel that besides enthusiasm and trust, there was also respect.

Everyone wasn't the type to drag things out. After arranging everything, Li Long immediately straightened the bicycle, and several lads came over to help. The jade was divided into two sacks, tied together, and draped over both sides of the back seat.

The skins were layered on the back seat, and then the antlers and roe deer horns were brought over, tied one by one with the tips facing backward to avoid poking Li Long.

"You guys keep busy, I'm heading to the county." Li Long said, "When I come back in a day or two, we'll hold a *tuoyi* (gathering where you can dance and sing) here. Bring your *dombra* (traditional instrument) and sing properly."

Ha Li Mu helped Li Long push the bike away and walked toward the mouth of the gully.

Yushan Jiang said to the men:

"Everyone work hard. When our *dorsen* (friend) comes again, he will bring back the good things everyone is looking forward to. At that time, we will also give him a surprise and let him see his own brand-new winter quarters!"

"Alright!" The lads roared and started working, full of enthusiasm.

At the mouth of the gully, Li Long said goodbye to Ha Li Mu and rode the bike away toward the county.

Once on the flat road, Li Long still pedaled fast. This bicycle wasn't just carrying cargo; it was carrying the heavy trust of his Kazakh brothers.

Li Long pedaled the bike directly to the acquisition station. To his surprise, Chen Hongjun was still there.

Seeing Li Long poke his head in, Chen Hongjun was also surprised and said with a smile:

"Comrade Li, what did you bring this time?"

"There's quite a lot this time. Comrade Chen, I remember you said you were on duty every other day?"

"Spring is here, so many people are coming here to sell things. We're on full-day shifts recently, with Sundays off. Come, let's see what you brought."

Chen Hongjun followed Li Long outside and was startled when he saw the things tied to the bicycle:

"Xiao Li, did you poke a deer nest? There's so much!"

"The brothers in the mountains are about to move pastures, so they entrusted me to sell these things and trade for some daily necessities." Li Long explained, "They don't come down the mountain often, and it's inconvenient for them to communicate, so it's more appropriate for me to do this."

"That's true." Chen Hongjun said with deep feeling:

"Language communication is a big problem. Of course, the fact that you can gain their trust shows you're a good comrade. Come, let's unload the stuff, and I'll estimate the price."

Chen Hongjun helped Li Long unload the antlers and skins and put them in the store.

"What's in that sack?"

"Mahe jade, not worth much." Li Long said, "I won't unload this one."

"Brother, you're something!" Chen Hongjun said with a smile, "The good things from the mountains are all with you."

"Not at all, not at all. Helping friends in the mountains solve their difficulties, and of course, I earn some money to spend myself."

Li Long never denied that he would earn some hard-earned money from this, but to be honest, several times he genuinely wanted to help his friends in the mountains, but he didn't expect them to pay him back sincerely, not wanting him to take a loss. Back and forth, he ended up getting more and more.

"These antlers are of two grades: first-class has three branches, second-class has four; the roe deer horns have been around for a while, let's call them second-class." Chen Hongjun skillfully categorized the antlers and roe deer horns, "Mainly because they've been left for a long time. They should have been quite good when they were picked."

While speaking, Chen Hongjun felt a bit regretful. The antlers Li Long had brought him during this period had indeed helped him complete many procurement tasks. He also hoped to give Li Long's items a high grade, but several of the horns were cracked and weren't from the current year.

"These skins are good skins, but the processing method is quite crude." Chen Hongjun looked at the skins again, "The herdsmen's traditional method is to use salt for curing, mainly to prevent rot. They still need secondary tanning; they're too hard."

Li Long knew this. Tanning skins, the common term was "nitrating," a technique ordinary people didn't know. The herdsmen in the mountains mainly used coarse salt to rub the skins, which was curing, so the skins wouldn't be eaten by insects or rot. So these skins were stiff, and to turn them into leather, they needed tanning.

"Deer skin is twenty-five yuan, roe deer skin is sixteen yuan, this wolf skin is good, thirty-one yuan, this one... a bit broken, twenty yuan..."

Chen Hongjun quoted the prices one by one, while someone over there was specifically weighing and recording them to issue a ticket. In the end, it totaled three hundred thirty-two yuan and sixty-eight cents.

It could buy six radios, but other things were still lacking.

It seemed he really had to go to Wucheng.

Li Long had originally thought that if these things were enough to buy what he needed here, he wouldn't go to Wucheng and would just go to Shicheng, but it seemed that wouldn't work now.

After getting the ticket and the money, Li Long said goodbye to Chen Hongjun, went out, rode his bike, and returned to the courtyard.

He parked the bike, closed the door, fetched a basin of water, unloaded the sack containing the jade, and began to test them one by one.

The smallest of these jade pieces were the size of two fists, and the largest was an irregular slab, seven or eight centimeters thick and weighing ten-plus kilograms.

He used water to wash away the mud on the surface of the stones, revealing their true colors.

They were all *zili* (seed jade), washed by natural water currents, so each piece had no sharp edges.

The smallest piece had a bit of stone skin and was green all over, but unfortunately, it had many sesame-like spots. This would be okay in later generations, but now it really couldn't be sold for money.

Li Long put this piece aside and went to look at the largest one.

More than half of this piece was covered in gray-green stone skin, with only two palm-sized areas of jade flesh exposed. He didn't even need to use a light; Li Long could see that the green was truly beautiful!

And there were no impurities! Not a single crack!

Li Long really didn't want to sell this piece of stone.

Twenty years later, this would be worth at least a hundred thousand, right?

He looked at the other jade pieces again. To his disappointment, except for one that had no sesame spots, the others mostly had sesame-like black spots, either thick or thin.

Some people might think this probability was already very good. But thinking about these jade pieces, they were picked by so many herdsmen in the Nanshan area over tens of kilometers for years or even over a decade, and they could be considered the essence. One would know that good jade wasn't actually that easy to pick. Thinking about the things the lads wanted, Li Long finally decided to go directly to Wucheng to sell the largest piece of jade, and leave the rest for now. If they couldn't be sold for money, it was better to save them.

He weighed it, and that piece of jade was fifteen and a half kilograms. Based on his previous experience selling jade, this piece had to be worth at least 【a certain amount】 per kilogram.

This one it was.

Li Long gathered the remaining jade pieces into a pile, didn't hide them much, and just placed them in the corner of the storage room. To be honest, at this time, really not many people were aware of the value of Mahe green jade, so leaving them here shouldn't attract much attention.

He packed the largest piece of jade in a sack, carried it, and went out.

It was already noon. Li Long went to the meat canteen, bought a few steamed buns, and while eating, hurried to the bus station by the Wuyi Highway.

The bus to Wucheng was about to leave. Li Long hurriedly bought a ticket, and two minutes after checking the ticket, the bus started.

After getting on, he saw that more than half the seats were taken. The people in the bus just glanced at Li Long. At this time, everyone's clothing was about the same. Li Long saw a few empty seats in the back, so he walked over and sat in the second-to-last row.

Those who often took such long-distance buses knew that the further back, the bumpier it was, so people prone to motion sickness usually wouldn't choose the back seats.

Li Long wasn't picky; if it was bumpy, it was bumpy. He was carrying a sack and didn't want to put it on the luggage rack above—in case it fell, not to mention the jade breaking, it might hit someone. Better to put it on the seat.

!.

The bus turned out of the station, got on the Wuyi Highway, and bumped all the way to Wucheng.

Passing through Letu Yi, Dafeng, Huxian, and Beiting, the bus stopped at each, but not many people got on later, so Li Long occupied two seats comfortably and sat all the way to the Wucheng Bayi Guesthouse.

Familiar with the road, this time Li Long went directly to the Jade Carving Factory to find Liu Lao, but the guard told Li Long that Liu Lao had gone to the interior to attend a trade fair. Li Long was left in the dark this time.

He thought of Section Chief Chen, who had appeared with Liu Lao last time, and told the guard to find Section Chief Chen.

A few minutes later, the tall Section Chief Chen appeared at the gate of the Jade Carving Factory. Seeing Li Long, he said with a smile:

"Comrade Li, you're here—Liu Lao isn't here. Is what you brought this time still Mahe green jade?"

"Yes, Section Chief Chen. The quality of what I brought this time should be quite good," Li Long said confidently.

"That's good. Come, follow me. Someone from Southern Xinjiang also came to sell jade this time. You can go together."

Li Long's heart skipped a beat, and then he felt a bit uneasy. The jade from Southern Xinjiang, whether now or in later generations, was world-famous.

His Mahe green jade couldn't compare.

With this comparison, could his jade still be sold for a good price?

He carried the sack and followed Section Chief Chen inside. When they reached the office, he didn't see anyone else.

"The person will be here in a moment. Wait a moment, I'll call the master to come and see your piece of jade."

Section Chief Chen made a phone call, speaking quite respectfully to a Master Wang to come and see the jade.

After hanging up, Section Chief Chen pointed to a wooden chair in the office and said:

"Comrade Li, sit down first."

After Li Long sat down, he continued:

"Actually, there are few people like you who come to sell jade yourself. We usually go directly to the jade producing areas to collect it. However, for example, this Mahe green jade of yours, people in the producing area generally don't have this awareness yet, and our state-run mining hasn't started yet, so your selling raw materials to us is also a very good supplement."

Only then did Li Long understand why Liu Lao had followed to look at the jade the first two times.

At this time, footsteps were heard. Li Long originally thought it was the master looking at the jade, but the person who walked in was a middle-aged man also carrying a sack. Judging by his face, he should be Uyghur, about forty or fifty years old. His face was tanned very dark, but he didn't look like a proper jade farmer.

Section Chief Chen said with a smile:

"You must be Yusufu, right? Hello, hello!"

"Hello." Yusufu's Mandarin was quite good. He put down the sack, smiled, shook hands with Section Chief Chen, and then took the initiative to reach out to shake hands with Li Long.

Li Long hurriedly shook hands with him and said:

"Yaximusesi (Hello)."

Yusufu originally intended to let go, but hearing Li Long's words, his eyes lit up, and he shook Li Long's hand tightly:

"Yaximusesi, Yaximusesi!"

"I'm also here to sell jade." Li Long pointed to the sack at his feet and smiled, "A fellow traveler, but your jade must be better than mine. Mine is Mahe green jade."

"Good, good." Yusufu nodded with a smile, "The same, the same."

Section Chief Chen said to Li Long with a smile:

"Xiao Li, I didn't expect you to know how to use their language to greet people."

"This jade of mine was also obtained from ethnic minority friends. After selling it, I'll trade for some daily necessities for them," Li Long explained simply.

As for that greeting, it was purely learned from watching short videos in his previous life. He not only learned this but also knew a little simple ethnic dance.

At this time, footsteps were heard again outside. The footsteps were a bit slow. Li Long guessed it should be Master Wang, who was coming to look at the jade.

Sure enough, an old man of about sixty appeared at the door. Section Chief Chen stood up and said with a smile:

"Old Wang, these two are the comrades who came to sell jade. Take a look and see how the quality of their jade is."

"Alright." Master Wang nodded with a smile.

Li Long said to Yusufu:

"Adaxi (Friend), you go first."

He was very curious about the jade Yusufu brought. Li Long had already discovered that the jade Yusufu brought was much more than his, and it wasn't just one piece; there was the sound of collision, so he also wanted to see what kind of treasures they were.

Thanks to book friend "Wo | Wei Shu Kuang" for the tip, thanks to book friends Wukong Babujie and Wujin Shushi for the tips, and thanks to everyone for the subscriptions, monthly tickets, and recommendation tickets. I don't know what happened on the Dragon Boat Festival; I felt dizzy all day—using the saved manuscript.

It doesn't seem to be heatstroke?

Everyone should take care of their health too.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 157 =====