Chapter 442: Xiaoxia Likes Deer Very Much

Two little deer with watery eyes looked at Li Long, looking very timid. Deer themselves are timid.

The roe deer wasn't as big as the little deer, but it wasn't as afraid. Seeing Li Long and the others coming over, it first looked steadily, and then seeing Li Long and the others not moving, it curiously leaned forward.

Quite cute.

"Then I'll pull them away." Li Long said with a smile, "Very good, very good, I like them."

"As long as you like them." Halimu smiled, and the young men behind him also smiled. They needed the things Li Long brought very much, and they also hoped that Li Long would need the things they brought.

Lunch was hand-grabbed meat. The sheep was slaughtered just now. When Li Long and the others' tractor arrived, there were young men over there starting to slaughter the sheep. Boiled in a pot, eating hand-grabbed meat with onions and salt, Chen Xingbang also felt a primitive taste.

But it was really fragrant.

After eating, they tied up the sheep, deer, and roe deer and loaded them into the car. Tying them up was also a technical job. They had to be tied so they wouldn't jump up, but they couldn't be tied too tightly, lest the legs be ruined.

"I'll come over tomorrow or the day after." Li Long said, "If only one truck of grain is needed, I'll unload the grain here and go to the wooden house. I'll stay for a few days to hunt."

"Fine." Yushanjiang said with a smile, "We have to move pastures in a few days. I'll ask around these two days where prey appears, and I'll tell you when I come back."

The tractor again emitted black smoke and drove toward the outside of the mountains.

Halimu and the others didn't watch Li Long until they couldn't see him. Once the tractor started and left, they began to divide these things. Time was pressing, and there was no time to be sentimental there.

The tractor was now loaded with two parts of things: one part was Chen Xingbang's sheep and forage, and the other part was the things Halimu and the others loaded for Li Long, including seven or eight deer antlers, roe deer antlers, a plastic bag of jade, which Li Long didn't look at carefully, and two little deer and a little roe deer.

Chen Xingbang intuitively felt that the things Li Long got might be more valuable. If there were one or two pieces of good-quality jade inside, one piece would be enough for all the things Li Long bought.

But whether it was Li Long or Halimu and the others who sent the things, they were all very indifferent, which made Chen Xingbang very moved.

He didn't say it, but he understood in his heart. This kind of trust and attitude of not caring about anything was the foundation that Li Long and them had laid with many things over the past year.

Originally, Halimu also said to bring the remaining hand-grabbed meat for Li Long, but Li Long refused. Chen Xingbang might not be clear, but he truly knew that herdsmen in the mountains couldn't eat meat very often.

It was better to leave it for Halimu and the others to eat.

After the tractor drove out of the mountains, Li Long said to Chen Xingbang, who was sitting on the page board:

"Brother-in-law, I'll send the sheep to you first, and then I'll go back. Can you handle it alone over there?"

"I can." Chen Xingbang was excited at this time, "After putting the sheep in the courtyard, I'll slaughter one tomorrow morning to try my hand! The rest will be in the courtyard, just give them some grass and water occasionally. Don't worry about this. If I don't make something out of it, I won't see you guys!"

With these sheep as a foundation, Chen Xingbang had the confidence to start the business later.

He had already planned it. After returning to the courtyard and putting the sheep away, he would go to the market to turn around, see the market for meat today, and then decide how to sell meat tomorrow. He had already brought back the case the day before, and there were scales and knives, so the next step was how to maximize the money from a sheep.

When the tractor passed Qingshuihe, Li Long stopped for a while, added water and oil, and asked Chen Xingbang to untie the sheep one by one to move their blood, lest the legs be ruined.

Not only the sheep, but the deer and roe deer were the same.

Walking and stopping like this, when they arrived at Shicheng, the sun had already tilted to the west. Li Long and Chen Xingbang put the fifteen sheep into the pen, took out two bundles of grass, and Li Long saw that the two little deer and the roe deer didn't forget to gnaw grass in the tractor bucket, so he simply pulled two bundles of grass and put them in the car.

"Brother-in-law, I'm going back. Contact is not convenient. If you have anything, take the bus to Maxian, find Xiaoxia at the Education Bureau, or call the team directly at the post office." After Li Long finished speaking to Chen Xingbang, he drove the tractor away.

Chen Xingbang blocked the vegetable garden gate, sprinkled grass for the sheep, and brought a basin of water to put inside. Only then did he lock the gate and go to the market.

Tomorrow, he would start making money!

Li Long drove the tractor past Keyumu's milk tea shop. Seeing the shop door was still open, he stopped. Without turning off the engine, he bought two hot naans and planned to take them back to eat.

The naan was fragrant. Li Long ate a piece of naan with one hand while driving the tractor. Before the tractor arrived at the Mahe Bridge, one naan had already entered his stomach.

Although he still wanted to eat, thinking that the remaining one had to be left for Xiaoxia, he held back and didn't eat it. He stepped harder on the accelerator and drove toward the east with a "tut-tut-tut."

Before dark, Li Long returned to the big courtyard.

The courtyard gate was completely open, and Gu Xiaoxia was looking at him with a smile by the gate.

Li Long drove the tractor in. After Gu Xiaoxia closed the gate, he first handed the naan to her, and then went to the back bucket to hold the two deer and the roe deer down.

"Ah? What a cute little deer!" Gu Xiaoxia looked at the little deer with cute big eyes and liked them immediately.

"Friends in the mountains caught them. Knowing I raise this, they let me pull them back." Li Long also took down the grass, but the three little guys smelled something more fragrant and kept leaning toward Gu Xiaoxia.

"They want to eat the naan in your hand." Li Long saw the thoughts of the three little animals and said with a smile.

Although grain could be self-sufficient in this era, due to the habits formed since childhood, grain was precious. Some people couldn't even eat flour food, so how could they feed it to animals?

Seeing Gu Xiaoxia hesitating, Li Long said with a smile:

"Feed them a small bite each, let them taste it too."

Gu Xiaoxia then tore off a small piece of naan and fed it to the little deer.

The little deer scrambled to eat, and Gu Xiaoxia was very happy watching.

Animals are basically cute when they are small, not to mention deer, which are often used as protagonists or fairy beasts in stories when they are small.

"Alright, let them eat grass. You watch them, I'll go tidy up the things in the tractor bucket."

He didn't intend to move these things like deer antlers down. He would take them to sell directly to Chen Hongjun tomorrow. Jade and such could be kept first.

There was no need to use these things to exchange for money in the short term, so keep them.

Moving the bag of jade down, Li Long found that two pieces were of very good quality, and the rest were relatively average. This didn't matter either. No matter what, they were all seed materials, better than those mountain materials dug out by blasting mountains in later generations.

Putting the jade into the idle room as usual, Li Long closed the door and came out. Seeing Gu Xiaoxia still teasing the little deer there, he said with a smile:

"I originally thought about taking the deer to the team tomorrow. Since you like them so much, let them stay in the courtyard for these few days."

"Good." Gu Xiaoxia agreed happily, "The courtyard is big, so I don't worry about them not having space to move. Right, is the forage enough? If not, I'll go look for some nearby at noon."

"Enough, there is forage left for Number 76 in the backyard. Number 76 won't be able to come for a while, and I have some in the tractor." Li Long said with a smile, "Alright, don't worry about them. After sitting in the tractor for most of the day, they also need to move around properly."

The two of them entered the room together.

Gu Xiaoxia guessed that Li Long could come back, so she made dinner for two, plus more than half a naan.

Eating the food Gu Xiaoxia made, Li Long remembered where he had seen it before. It seemed to say that home is where no matter how late you come back, there is a lamp left for you, and a bowl of rice kept warm in the pot.

This description is really good. Isn't it right now?

Seeing Li Long eating happily, Gu Xiaoxia was also very happy. She slowly tore the naan, piece by piece, slowly stuffed it into her mouth, and chewed slowly.

She didn't eat particularly fast, nor did she deliberately delay to extend this happy moment. After eating, Gu Xiaoxia tidied up the bowls and chopsticks, Li Long tidied up the tables and chairs. After wiping, he washed the rag clean, then washed his hands clean, and smelled them. There was no greasy kitchen smell.

Then Li Long looked at Gu Xiaoxia.

Gu Xiaoxia was tidying up the pots, bowls, and stove. She seemed to be able to feel Li Long's hot gaze, lowered her head, felt a burst of heat on her face, and her movements couldn't help but speed up.

After tidying up the kitchen, the two of them restrained themselves, walked back to the big room together, and after closing the door, Gu Xiaoxia still wanted to find a topic, but Li Long had already hugged her and kissed her down.

They were an old married couple, so don't put on so much drama.

The two of them became more and more tacit, and also experienced more different kinds of fun.

The next day, before dawn, Li Long was woken up by the little deer.

The little deer called out one by one. Li Long didn't know how, but he actually understood what they meant.

The little deer wanted to drink water!

Oh no, he forgot to give them water yesterday.

Li Long hurriedly climbed up and looked at Gu Xiaoxia beside him. She was still sleeping. She had been busy for most of the night last night and was a bit tired.

Li Long put on clothes and got up, carefully opened the door, went out to pour water for the little deer. The little deer drank happily, occasionally raising their heads to snort, spraying water.

Li Long checked the time. It was more than an hour away from the usual time to get up. Although he really wanted to continue to get into the quilt and hug Gu Xiaoxia to continue sleeping for a while, he gave up this plan. After washing up, he went to the kitchen to start cooking.

Halfway through, Gu Xiaoxia pushed the door and came out. Seeing Li Long, she came over, hugged his waist, and asked softly:

"Why did you get up so early?"

"The deer in our house have become spirits. I didn't give them water, they were thirsty and came to the door to shout, so I got up."

"I didn't hear it." Gu Xiaoxia leaned her head on Li Long's back, "Alright, you go to sleep for a while, I'll cook."

"Can't sleep anymore, let's cook together."

And then they cooked together.

After breakfast, Gu Xiaoxia went to work, and Li Long didn't want to leave. It was no wonder the old saying goes, "Wife, children, and a warm bed," which is true.

However, no matter what, he still had to go into the mountains. After all, he needed to earn money. If he wanted to live a better life, he had to ask the mountains for it.

Of course, he was also thinking about that double-headed deer, and didn't know if he could encounter it again.

So he added water and oil to the tractor, prepared supplies, drove the tractor to send a pig leg to Chen Hongjun first, and then drove "tut-tut-tut" toward the mountains.

Sister Yang and Han Fang pushed the cart to sell food early in the morning. Aunt Wu across the street saw it and asked:

"Sister, who was the man who came yesterday?"

"That's Han Fang's uncle. This courtyard is his." Yang Xiulan said, "I'm just borrowing it."

"This courtyard originally belonged to that man? Where does he work? Why don't I see him often?"

"He's from the Supply and Marketing Cooperative. He has another courtyard in the north city, where he lives. He comes over from time to time, but you don't often run into him when he comes over." Sister Yang said with words that were both true and false.

"I see." That Aunt Wu nodded thoughtfully, "Still from the Supply and Marketing Cooperative."

Yang Xiulan and Han Fang pushed the cart to the market. Aunt Wu entered the courtyard and told her husband about this matter.

"Supply and Marketing Cooperative? That's a good unit." Wu Zhenghu, the man Li Long had seen, didn't quite believe it, and was a bit wary.

"Mom, why did you tell them about my uncle?" Han Fang was a bit puzzled and asked while helping her mother push the cart.

"Told them, so they know we aren't without roots, and they won't bully us." Yang Xiulan didn't hide her meaning, "We don't harm people, but we can't not guard against people. Some bad people will feel that we mother and daughter have no support and will bully us."

"Is it Uncle Wu and Aunt Wu? Will they bully us?"

"Don't know, but whether it is or not, these words will reach the ears of those people."

"Oh... is that so!" Han Fang wasn't the kind of obedient child who didn't know the hardships of the world and the coldness of human hearts. Having followed her mother through ups and downs, she had a certain understanding of the malice of human hearts.

When Li Long drove the tractor past Qingshuihe and continued to walk into the mountains, he was surprised to find that some people had already carried bags and sticks and were heading into the mountains.

Obviously, he wasn't the only one who wanted to find a way to make money in the mountains.

Looking at these people's equipment, Li Long guessed that they should be digging for fritillaria. At this time, although the fritillaria had just grown and wasn't big, it could already be dug. Li Long guessed that these people shouldn't be locals; they might be blind drifters, or those in the county without work. They had no way to make money, so they could only take it from the mountains.

The market was gradually opening up, and spring had arrived in the mountains. Wild vegetables and wild mushrooms had also grown. They definitely wouldn't starve to death. If they were lucky enough to pick up deer antlers or catch a deer baby, they could sell them for a lot of money, and wouldn't they get rich?

Of course, at this time, most people didn't know that many streams near the Mahe River in the mountains had jasper, and there was a mountain full of jasper further inside. Actually, during the Qing Dynasty, people mined jade in the mountains, but few people knew about it, and even fewer locals knew about it.

Information blockage was originally so powerful. Think about later generations, where something rare appeared, and not only the city but also the province knew about it. In this era, some news wouldn't even be clear in the next village.

Those people saw Li Long's tractor appear and didn't wave to hitch a ride as imagined, but instead hurriedly hid in the bushes to avoid it.

Li Long understood. At this time, although picking fritillaria hadn't been said to be illegal, it was definitely rejected by the forestry team. Being able to drive a tractor into the mountains was likely related to the forestry team, so they were afraid.

Li Long didn't care either. He stepped on the accelerator and entered the mountains, then turned toward the wooden house.

The tractor stopped in front of the wooden house. Li Long got off and opened the wooden door. He brought the crank and the Type 56 semi-automatic rifle into the room, and then set up the stove.

He wasn't hungry, but he had to cook, and then planned to go out for a turn in the afternoon.

It was still a bit damp in the room, mainly because it was cool in the morning and evening, plus the water vapor in the mountains was fuller than outside, and the wooden house didn't have insulation and waterproof layers outside, just a layer of mud, which wasn't very moisture-proof.

Li Long set up the stove, burned water. After the water boiled, he took the pot down, covered it with a lid, put an iron grate on it, and roasted the steamed buns.

Lunch, roasted bun slices plus red bean curd, was solved. He didn't pay attention to nutrition. As for dinner, it depended on what he could get back after going out later. If there was meat, eat meat; if there was no meat, then mixing some wild vegetables would be no problem.

Of course, he still hoped to eat something good. (End of chapter)

After eating and saying goodbye to Halimu, Li Long drove the tractor, chugging along as he turned toward the wooden cabin.

The mountain road was a bit narrow; it was fine for a horse-drawn cart, but a bit problematic for a tractor. In the past, when trucks could drive through, they took a different route. Li Long intended to take a shortcut; although it was a bit difficult to travel, the distance was shorter.

When he reached the wooden cabin, Li Long understood why Halimu had said it was no trouble.

A shed had already been built next to the cabin using wood. He figured it must have been Halimu and Yushanjiang who had done it. Li Long remembered Yushanjiang mentioning back then that a shed was needed here to store the horse-drawn cart; he hadn't expected them to actually build it later on.

Still, it was redundant, all things considered; after all, he was driving a tractor, and he wouldn't be needing this shed for the time being.

But regardless, he was very grateful to them.

He drove the tractor to the front of the cabin and stopped. Li Long discovered that the wooden floor had also been swept, and a fair amount of firewood and fodder had been piled up by the wooden shed—this, too, was newly prepared.

Li Long got off the tractor and used the key to open the cabin door, catching a whiff of dampness. No one had lived in this house for a long time; although it was already spring and everything was blooming outside, the air inside was stagnant, and it hadn't yet caught up with the season of spring.

Li Long simply opened both cabin doors and uncovered the window paper to let it air out and breathe properly. He set up the stove to bake out the dampness inside the house, took out the bedding and such to sun them, and then brought in some of the supplies from the tractor.

There was rice and flour, as well as steamed buns and meat buns; these were intended for temporary meals. There were some dried vegetables, red bean curd, seasonings, and so on.

With the stove lit, Li Long went to check the spring; the water flow was normal. He fetched some water, boiled it on the stove, set out a towel, and began to wipe down the house.

After tidying up the house, the sun was already slanting to the west, and he went to the nearby grassland to pick wild vegetables.

Wild mushrooms were out now, but the quantity was relatively small. He wandered for over an hour, picked more than a kilogram of wild mushrooms, and gathered a pile of wild vegetables like dandelions and plantain. He brought them back intending to blanch them in boiling water and serve them as a cold salad.

He had eaten meat at noon, so he made the evening meal a bit lighter. He steamed some buns, boiled some porridge, and then mixed a cold dish—it was very refreshing.

Wild vegetables inevitably carried a bit of bitterness; if it were an average young person, they might dislike it. But Li Long didn't mind. With the experience from his previous life, he knew these wild vegetables were good for clearing the heart and purging fire, nourishing the liver, and promoting diuresis—they were all good things.

At this time, the evening weather was still cool, and the mosquitoes hadn't come out yet; it was actually the best time.

After eating, Li Long rose leisurely, went to the spring to wash the bowls and chopsticks, poured out the remaining wild vegetables, and then placed the buns and porridge in the small room. Only then did he bring the bedding that had been airing on the wire outside back into the house and spread it on the wooden kang. There wouldn't be any dampness when sleeping at night.

Actually, never mind this time; even two months from now, the nights in the mountains would still be quite cold. The stove was set up in the house, and although it had been baking for half a day, as night fell, the temperature inevitably dropped, and it was a bit cold outside.

Li Long brought the tractor's starting crank into the house, then closed the door, latched it, went to bank the stove, and then took off his clothes to prepare for sleep.

He had to get up early tomorrow to see if there was any game; he had to rest early now.

Tired for the whole day, Li Long fell asleep quickly, and snoring sounds began to ring out on the bed.

Occasionally, animals passed by outside, but they didn't make any sound, nor did they disturb Li Long.

In his dreams, Li Long shot and killed a tiger with his gun.

It made him laugh himself awake. (End of chapter)