Chapter 394

Number 76 watched Li Long throwing more things onto the carriage, and the way it looked at Li Long changed.

"Hehe, this is good stuff. I'll give you extra feed when we get into the mountains!" Li Long said with a smile, flicking the whip.

Whether it understood or not, the basic attitude was there.

Number 76 pulled hard again. Li Long put the whip away and pushed from behind. He knew this stretch of uphill road was actually the hardest; once they reached the mountain pass and headed inside, the terrain wouldn't be as steep.

After nearly an hour, Number 76 finally pulled the carriage to the mountain pass. Although this wasn't the highest point, it was the end of the longest slope.

Li Long let out a long sigh. He regretted not bringing two steamed buns along.

He'd eaten breakfast early, and helping push the cart had been tiring. Seeing the sun now directly to the south, it was lunchtime. His stomach wasn't growling yet, but he could already feel the power of hunger.

He would just have to mix a bowl of milk tea at Ha Ha Li Mu's place and go from there.

During the break, Li Long was still wiping sweat off Number 76. The dazzling sunlight reflected off the snow was very hard on the eyes. Li Long fashioned a semi-transparent cloth to tie over his eyes and urged Number 76 to continue forward.

A faint fragrance permeated the mountain path. Li Long had a fleeting illusion: was Ha Ha Li Mu boiling mutton? But there was also a fishy scent—was a pack of wolves hunting nearby?

The wild wolves in the mountains included lone wolves and packs. It was said that several packs would sometimes unite at specific times to surround and hunt the herdsmen's sheep.

Li Long used to think such things were nonsense, but after seeing wolves ambush the herd at Ha Ha Li Mu's place last year, he felt it was truly possible.

This creature is smart!

As the carriage rose and fell, Li Long kept Number 76 moving as slowly as possible, especially on the downhills. After all, the things on the cart weren't tied down very securely, and it would be quite troublesome if they fell off; it was really hard for him to handle it alone in the mountains.

After much difficulty, when they finally reached the spot opposite Ha Ha Li Mu's winter shelter, Li Long was stunned by the scene before him.

The most eye-catching thing was a large pot set up in front of the winter shelter. Pine wood was burning underneath, smoke filled the air, and the fragrance drifted out—they were boiling mutton.

Of course, what shocked Li Long most wasn't that, but the high stack of mutton piled up by the sheep pen—yes, a stack of mutton.

Each sheep, cleaned and gutted, was split in two after freezing solid, and they were stacked high, one by one, very neatly.

But another scene quickly drew Li Long's attention—that was the place where the sheep were being slaughtered.

The slaughtering area was right by the sheep pen. A sheep would be led out, tied up, and while someone watched and talked nearby, a young man holding a knife would lay the sheep down with one stroke, then lift it up and press its neck against a wooden trough.

That wooden trough was high at one end and low at the other, polished very smooth in the middle. The high end was propped up, and the slaughterer pressed the sheep's neck against that high end.

The low end was also propped up, but not very high, and a pot was placed underneath; the sheep's blood flowed along the trough into this pot.

From where Li Long stood, he could see the sheep blood in the pot was almost full.

The slaughtered sheep would be taken over by young men on the other side, who would nimbly skin the sheep and then open the carcass.

There were four people skinning and gutting, two slaughtering, and another five or six people specifically tasked with taking out the contents of the sheep's stomach and setting them aside; they also had to squeeze the feces out of the sheep's stomach and intestines.

They weren't washed; there probably wasn't time to wash them.

Originally, they didn't do any of these things. But now, they were doing it all.

The slaughtered and skinned sheep were left to freeze after being gutted. When the slaughterers were free, they would split the whole sheep in two, and there was another young man specifically for stacking them.

They had turned slaughtering into an assembly line; truly impressive!

This was the first time Li Long had seen such a scene; he truly felt shocked!

They hadn't noticed Li Long until the dogs started barking.

Li Long saw that Ha Ha Li Mu was also among those gutting and skinning; he was working with Yushanjiang.

Ha Ha Li Mu's work wasn't finished. After Yushanjiang finished skinning a sheep and gutting it, he put down his knife, grabbed two handfuls of snow to rub his hands, and walked toward Li Long with a smile.

After exchanging greetings, Yushanjiang and Li Long worked together to slowly and steadily push the carriage across the ditch and arrived at the edge of the winter shelter.

Those people basically stopped what they were doing, looking at Li Long and the things on the carriage with eager eyes.

"Two hundred kilograms of flour, two hundred kilograms of coarse salt, plus brick tea, sugar cubes, fine salt... oh right, and common medicines. I'll tell you what each medicine is for in a moment."

Li Long briefed Ha Ha Li Mu and Yushanjiang on these supplies.

"The carriage is only this big, so I can only pull this much at a time. I'll bring more next time I come."

"It's enough, it's plenty!" Yushanjiang said hurriedly, "Just that salt, those vegetables, especially those medicines, it's enough..."

"It's not enough, how could it be enough." Li Long had a mental account: thirty-five sheep, even at fifteen kilograms each, was over four hundred kilograms. Even at the cheapest price of seventy or eighty cents per kilogram, that was four hundred yuan. The things he brought added up to less than three hundred yuan.

"Don't argue," Ha Ha Li Mu pointed to the big pot and said:

"The mutton will be ready soon, and the sheep are almost all slaughtered. I'll have someone unload the cart, and we can eat meat soon. Li Long, you must be hungry too!"

"I'm definitely hungry!" Li Long said with a smile, "I only had breakfast, haven't had lunch yet, just waiting for this meal."

"Hahahaha, I guarantee you'll be full!"

It was all joking, but everyone was very happy.

Li Long and the others unloaded the supplies and had Ha Ha Li Mu write down the uses for the medicines. Li Long learned the identity of the person speaking at the slaughtering site by the sheep pen: an Imam.

The winter shelter was too small, so they built several fires outside. Ha Ha Li Mu fished out meat and bones for everyone, and they gnawed on them while standing or sitting outside. There was also freshly baked naan, eaten with mutton soup and onions; it tasted really good.

Li Long held a large piece of mutton neck and gnawed on it. The mutton wasn't stewed until it was falling apart, but it was chewy, and eating it this way had more flavor.

"Are you leaving today, or tomorrow?" Ha Ha Li Mu asked Li Long while gnawing on meat.

"Leaving early today. I need to get the mutton to the unit over there as soon as possible, so I can bring you more grain."

"No need, no need, it's enough!" Ha Ha Li Mu waved his hand.

"I still need to pull those things back when I come over," Li Long pointed to the internal organs and offal, as well as the sheep blood, "I'll do it while I'm at it."

He knew Ha Ha Li Mu and the others didn't eat these things; they were definitely saved specifically for him.

The mutton didn't have to make money; just making money from these things was enough. After all, he had sold them once last year.

"Hmm, take the sheepskins with you when you go," Ha Ha Li Mu thought for a moment and said, "We'll rub the sheepskins with salt, and wrap the small intestines inside."

The leather factory bought sheepskins, and the foreign trade company bought sheep small intestines; these could all be sold for money separately.

Li Long didn't argue further.

While they ate, Number 76 was also enjoying good treatment. When Li Long came, he brought a bag of sugar dregs; this was its current delicacy.

After eating and resting for a while, Ha Ha Li Mu called the young men to load the cart.

Li Long had them load thirty sheep first—these thirty were to be delivered to the sugar factory, and he planned to come back for the remaining five tomorrow.

"That yellow sheep of yours, I'll process it for you after it thaws, then you can pull it together," Ha Ha Li Mu pointed to the yellow sheep that hadn't thawed yet.

"Good." Li Long didn't stand on ceremony with them.

Given their current relationship, being overly polite would only create distance.

Once the thirty sheep were loaded, the young men tied them down securely with ropes and helped Li Long push the carriage to a relatively flat mountain path before they stopped and watched Li Long leave.

Li Long drove the cart as steadily as possible to the mountain pass; the downhill road ahead was much friendlier for Number 76.

By the time they reached the Wuyi Highway, the sun was already slanting west. Li Long had originally planned to deliver the goods to the sugar factory today, but he saw that even if he arrived at Shicheng before dark, it would probably be midnight by the time he got back.

He had no choice but to drive the carriage back to the big courtyard.

Gu Xiaoxia hadn't finished work yet. Li Long found a stool to wedge under the carriage shaft to prop it up, unhitched Number 76, and put it in the backyard to eat feed.

He was exhausted too, but he still had the energy to make a simple dinner: soup, stir-fried pickled vegetables with meat, and some heated steamed buns.

When Gu Xiaoxia returned and saw the door open, she knew Li Long was back. She smiled and pushed her bike into the courtyard—Li Long hadn't latched the door, leaving it for her.

Early the next morning, after eating, Li Long hitched up Number 76 and headed to Shicheng with his gun. He was prepared for the road, especially the stretch through the poplar forest, in case he ran into those blind fools, but to his surprise, the road was completely clear.

When he reached the sugar factory, Li Long told the guard and drove the carriage into the courtyard.

The sweet, burnt smell permeated the air. Li Long took a deep breath and drove the cart in front of the building.

Section Chief Hu, having received word from the guard, had already arrived at the entrance with his people and said to Li Long with a smile:

"Comrade Li, your efficiency is very high!"

"Haha, this concerns the welfare of our sugar factory workers, so it must be high efficiency!" Li Long knew how to use polite phrases too.

"Our peasant brothers have such high awareness!" Section Chief Hu smiled and gave a thumbs up, "Look at these sheep... not bad, not bad!"

The logistics people weighed them: thirty sheep, four hundred and seventy-one kilograms. This surprised Li Long a bit; Ha Ha Li Mu and the others had really provided big sheep this time!

The mutton looked quite fatty to the naked eye, and the logistics people here were very satisfied. They issued the receipt, signed it, and paid: five hundred and eighteen yuan and ten cents. Li Long signed, took the money, and let out a long sigh; the first step was complete.

"Comrade Li, we'll be waiting for your next batch of supplies." Section Chief Hu was also very satisfied. The logistics staff praised the mutton Li Long brought, and it clearly wasn't just to flatter him; this showed that the workers were at least satisfied with this choice.

"Alright, I'll be as quick as I can." Li Long thought about going into the mountains one more time to bring back the remaining things, and then he could go back to pulling fish and rabbits.

"Comrade Li, do you want sugar dregs now? If you do, just go directly to the workshop; no need to run to the dregs pit anymore," Section Chief Hu suddenly thought of something and said with a smile, "Let the workshop load them directly into sacks for you to take away."

!.

"That would be greatly appreciated!" Li Long hesitated only slightly before agreeing.

Driving a cart with twelve sacks of sugar dregs out of the sugar factory, Li Long hummed a little tune, feeling extremely satisfied.

Number 76 had also eaten quite a bit while the sugar dregs were being loaded, enjoying it in advance.

When he reached the poplar forest on the way back, Li Long saw the people ahead. He really didn't want to provoke any trouble, so he took out his gun and fired a shot into the sky. The people, still seventy or eighty meters away, were stunned by the sound of the gunshot and then scattered instantly.

Watching these people flee into the poplar forest, Li Long sighed. Just endure it; it won't be long now.

After all, it was already January.

When passing the checkpoint before the Mahe Bridge, a policeman asked Li Long:

"Did you hear a gunshot when you came over? It felt like there was some movement over there?"

"I heard it, sounded like it was in the forest," Li Long lied without blushing, "Don't know what it was about."

The checkpoint here basically didn't inspect carts like his or passing pedestrians.

Back in the county, Li Long bought a few steamed buns at the meat canteen and drove the carriage toward the team.

Indeed, plans never change as fast as reality.

Back at the old horse station, he unloaded six sacks of sugar dregs, and Uncle Uncle Lao Luo Shu was overjoyed.

"With these sugar dregs, the deer, roe deer, and wild boars can gain a few more kilograms this winter."

"Uncle Uncle Lao Luo Shu, you stay busy. I still need to go to my older brother's place to unload some."

"You go do your work," Uncle Uncle Lao Luo Shu knew Li Long had been very busy lately and said hurriedly, "Don't worry about this place, I can look after it well."

Li Long drove the carriage to his older brother's house. There was no one in the courtyard today.

However, a faint fishy scent permeated the air. Clearly, even in winter, this fishy smell couldn't be suppressed.

Hearing the movement, Li Jianguo and Liang Wenyu came out of the house. Seeing the sugar dregs on Li Long's carriage, they were both a bit surprised.

"When I delivered the sheep, they were very hospitable and let me load a cart of sugar dregs," Li Long explained, "I left six sacks at the old horse station."

The three of them unloaded the remaining sugar dregs. Li Jianguo unhitched Number 76 and took it to the pen to tend to it. Li Long pushed the carriage under the shed and finally let out a sigh of relief.

"The rabbits are already over a hundred, and there are over six hundred kilograms of fish," Li Jianguo said to Li Long after returning, "Should we keep collecting?"

"Keep collecting," Li Long said, "As long as the people in the team can catch them, we'll collect them. Is there enough money?"

"Enough," Li Jianguo said, "If we run out later, I have more here. You go do your work, don't worry about this."

Li Long didn't ask further.

The more things they could collect, the better; they could sell more for money before the new year.

Originally, Li Long had planned to rush back to the county after unloading the sugar dregs and go into the mountains to buy things the next day, but Li Jianguo persuaded him otherwise.

"You're young, and it's good to be hardworking, but you can't work like this," Li Long could take Li Jianguo's words to heart, "They gave you ten days or half a month; there's no need to finish this in a week. We can take it slow. A person isn't a machine; even if you're young, your body needs rest. You can't keep pulling all-nighters. You don't want to be aching everywhere when you're old, do you?"

Listening to his older brother, Li Long spent the afternoon resting and had a relatively leisurely time. He went to the small lake to watch Tao Daqiang and Yang Yongqiang fishing, only to find that several other families had broken the ice and were fishing there too.

This was a good thing; the trend he had started allowed more people to earn money.

Yang Yongqiang was a bit resentful because there were so many people breaking the ice, and they had only caught thirty-some kilograms of fish yesterday and today, clearly less than the previous two days.

"Haha, let it be less," Li Long wasn't that concerned, "Has anyone gone to the big lake?"

"Yes, but I heard they broke the ice and only got less than two kilograms of fish in a day. The fish in there need two or three years to recover."

True, once the bottom is cleared, even if the fish aren't all caught, the fish from the downstream reservoir will swim upstream, and the fish in the big lake will take several years to recover.

In the evening, they stewed fish soup at the horse station and ate it with flatbread. Li Long happily drank two large bowls and felt great.

He had been rushing around working and eating for the past few days, so finally getting to rest and drinking this delicious fish soup was truly a treat!

It was only half a day of leisure. The next day, Li Long was back early, driving the carriage to the county.

This time, he mainly pulled grain. He didn't have enough grain coupons, so Li Long went directly to the market to buy high-priced grain without coupons. He also went to the vegetable store to buy two bags of onions, wrapped them in several layers of bags, and drove the cart into the mountains.

He knew the way; Number 76 had been there once and knew how to go. This time, he wasn't pulling as much as last time, so it was much lighter. When he reached Ha Ha Li Mu's winter shelter, Li Long found that the trough used for sheep blood was gone. The mutton and offal were also gone, and there was a large pile of snow outside the winter shelter—Li Long guessed the things were probably under the snow.

What surprised him was that two wolves were hanging by the sheep pen!

It seemed these thieves had been ambushed while trying to steal things in the middle of the night.

The barking of the dogs attracted Ha Ha Li Mu, followed by his two sons.

Li Long guessed that Yushanjiang and the others must have all returned to their own homes.

Ha Ha Li Mu followed Li Long and drove the cart to the winter shelter. After unloading the grain, Li Long drank some milk tea, warmed up, and started loading the cart.

There was a lot to do, and he planned to go back as soon as possible, even if it was just to get back to the county.

The sheepskins were placed at the bottom, the frame was set up, and then the mutton and offal were loaded. These offal were all frozen together, which was quite convenient. There were also those blocks of frozen sheep blood.

"There are a few more skins," Ha Ha Li Mu said, "Deer skins, wolf skins, take them away and sell them with these sheepskins. You've worked hard these past few days."

Li Long didn't say much; their friendship was deep, and some things were hard to calculate.

On the way back, Li Long let out a long sigh. Things in the mountains were basically finished; he wouldn't be coming back for a while. Next was the team's side.

In two or three days, this matter would be over.

In Section Chief Hu's words, his efficiency was indeed quite high.

Of course, he didn't earn much, but keeping this line open meant a steady stream of business.

After all, such a big factory was there; he couldn't lose it, if only for those sugar dregs.

On the return trip, Number 76 seemed to know Li Long was in a good mood; its speed wasn't slow. Li Long sat on the carriage, the sun shining on his back, feeling sleepy.

Quite good. (End of chapter)