Chapter 451

He bought four or five hundred yuan worth of things in total, with food accounting for the majority, such as sesame cakes, sponge cakes, and noodles, which could be eaten directly. In this day and age, such food wasn't very common in the department store; after all, everyone didn't have much spare money, and most snacks were made at home.

He bought some granulated sugar and fruit hard candies, but not many; after all, these things were considered snacks, and he figured those digging for fritillaria might not necessarily be willing to eat them.

Alcohol was a must-have, whether it was to trade with forestry team people like Bolati or those digging for fritillaria; there were always people who liked this stuff. After all, in the long, lonely nights, without any entertainment, just sleeping didn't seem very fun. Of course, it was mainly bulk liquor; he didn't bring many bottled ones, but he did bring a case of small champagne, and he would see if he could sell it depending on the situation.

Li Long also carried a portable radio; he thought he would listen to it himself if he had nothing to do, and if someone wanted to buy it, he would sell it. The price wasn't high; just exchange it for ten kilograms of fresh fritillaria.

The rest were some daily necessities: lighters, Mohe tobacco, shovels, sickles, and wind oil essence. He also went to the medicine company to buy some common medicines; these medicines were also very useful in the forest area.

Then there was grain, mainly rice and white flour. The stall owner at the market was overjoyed. Just these three times Li Long bought from him were enough for him to sell for several months.

He loaded a whole truck bed full of various things, and Li Long drove the tractor toward the mountains. These things would all have to be placed in the small room of the wooden house and arranged—could it be that he was really going to open a small shop?

Are you kidding?

But it didn't matter, as long as he could earn money. He wasn't a professional hunter; he wasn't even a decent amateur. Right now, he just had the advantage of being a step ahead, and there was no wildlife protection law, so he had a gun in his hand, which was why he could run rampant in the mountains. To make money, relying solely on hunting definitely wouldn't work; he had to walk on multiple legs.

Collecting fritillaria, trading things, and weaving carrying poles were all paths. Although short-term, they were truly profitable.

The tractor *chug-chug-chugged* toward the mountains. When passing Qingshuihe, it once again caused many people to come out and watch. Although Qingshuihe Township was relatively close to the mountains, the people here looked for food in the mountains, at most getting some wood or some medicinal materials. Since the forestry team was established last year, after those people specifically came to the villages near the mountains to promote it, the people here didn't go into the mountains much.

Unlike the Northeast where they "rely on the mountains to eat from the mountains," the people in Qingshuihe Township mainly relied on farming. Moreover, the people in the Northwest had relatively conservative concepts; they wouldn't do what the authorities didn't allow. As for whether they could do things the authorities hadn't mentioned, the probability was that they wouldn't do them.

This comparison had already been made by someone n years ago: why could Southerners get rich? Because as long as policies and regulations didn't forbid it, they would all go and do it. And why were Northerners relatively less flexible in their thinking? Because they looked at regulations and notices from above, and only did what they were told to do.

The Northwest was the same.

Throughout the northern side of the Tianshan Mountains, there were almost no orthodox hunters, because for the past hundred years or so, this area had mainly been herdsmen and farmers. There were some hunters in Southern Xinjiang, otherwise, the Xinjiang tiger wouldn't have gone extinct. There were too few full-time hunters, the population itself was small, and resources were relatively abundant. Most people who could farm to reduce the need for land wouldn't go into the mountains to take risks; after all, there were many wild beasts, and wolves eating people wasn't fresh news. A dozen years ago, it was very normal for a person or two to go missing.

After entering the mountains, Li Long first drove the tractor to Halimu's side. When he arrived, he found that their winter camp had been packed up, and some supplies were bundled and packed outside, just waiting to be put on horses and taken away.

Hearing the sound of the tractor, Halimu and his wife came out together. After exchanging greetings, Halimu said enviously:

"It would be great if the tractor could be driven to the summer pasture. Our things could be taken directly there. This tractor looks too good."

Li Long said with a smile:

"It will be realized in the future. Don't you also have a road to the summer pasture? It's just that the road is relatively narrow. In the future, when the pastoral team has money, they will definitely fix this road."

This wasn't just comforting words; a road was indeed built to the summer pasture later. Although it was just the most common gravel road, at least it could accommodate cars. Later on, when they moved, they could hire cars to take their things up.

Li Long brought some more daily necessities for Halimu and the others. After putting the things down, he drank two bowls of milk tea and prepared to leave.

"We plan to go to the summer pasture in the next two days," Halimu said to Li Long. "We might come down in the middle later; if we need anything then, I'll come find you."

"No problem."

With Li Long as a middleman, the people of Halimu's tribe didn't really want to go down the mountain to deal with too many people. They had been communicating with people of the same tribe since they were young, and they weren't used to seeing too many people. Although the young people in the tribe had started learning Mandarin from other herdsmen through radios, they were still quite shy when they really encountered many people to communicate with.

Li Long drove the tractor to the wooden house, opened the door, set up the stove, and then began to move things into the small wooden house.

The small wooden house already had shelves, so it was relatively easy to arrange these things. He didn't plan to go out this morning, so Li Long took out the fritillaria he had collected earlier and placed it on the wooden floor in front of the house to dry. With the bright sun shining down, it would dry faster.

While he was moving things, two people walked over from afar.

By the time Li Long saw their figures, these two people had already walked to within less than thirty meters of the wooden house.

Li Zheng Tang and Li Li Zhengting.

"You guys are here?" Li Long greeted them, "How have you been these two days?"

"We came to see you yesterday, but found your tractor wasn't here," Li Zheng Tang said. "We dug some fritillaria the day before yesterday and yesterday, and wanted to come over and trade with you for some things."

"Perfect, I brought some things over today; you guys see what you want to trade for." Li Long didn't expect this business to come so quickly. He pointed to the wooden house and said, "Take a look, I'm planning to open a shop here."

"That's great." Li Zheng Tang was very happy; this way they wouldn't need to run dozens of kilometers down the mountain to buy things. They had no money on them, and taking fritillaria down the mountain to buy things was an extra step, which was very troublesome.

Of course, going up the mountain to dig for fritillaria was also to earn money, and they would definitely have to exchange it for money later, but at the moment, they at least had to ensure a normal life; otherwise, if they couldn't even survive, what kind of money would they earn?

"Do you have any steamed buns?" Li Li Zhengting couldn't stop thinking about steamed buns. He had drunk porridge the day before; it felt delicious at the time, but he got hungry very quickly, and he always felt that steamed buns were better.

"Yes, I do." Li Long remembered the steamed buns he had steamed earlier. He went to the big room, pulled out the steamer, took a look, touched them, smelled them, shook his head, and said to Li Li Zhengting, who had followed him to the door:

"These were steamed earlier. I went back yesterday, and these buns weren't aired out, so they've gone sour."

"It's fine, it's fine, as long as they aren't moldy." Li Li Zhengting didn't care at all, "I'll trade for a few buns."

"Don't get a stomachache." Li Long was a bit worried. This Li Li Zhengting had just finished having a fever; if he got a stomachache again, there wasn't a village or shop for miles in this forest, and there might not be another chance to save him.

"It's fine, it's fine, boss, think about what we usually eat." Li Zheng Tang didn't care either, "These buns are just a bit sour, it's fine, just dry them out and they'll be good."

Since they said it was fine, then it was fine. However, Li Long still recommended the medicine he had brought.

Li Zheng Tang and Li Li Zhengting brought over more than four kilograms of fritillaria, which could sell for about ten yuan. Li Long brought a scale over, let Li Zheng Tang weigh it himself, calculated the account after weighing, and then began to trade for things.

Two packs of sesame cakes, one pack of granulated sugar, four small bottles of medicine, one shovel, one sickle, two bed sheets, and six steamed buns.

This was what the two of them traded for. In their view, trading two days' worth of fritillaria for so many things was very worth it.

Although they had traded for rice and flour from Li Long, with the cooking utensils they had on hand, they couldn't steam buns; at most, they could make some dough drop soup, flour paste, or bake some unleavened cakes on stones.

This was much better right now.

Satisfied, they left with their things, and Li Long continued to arrange the items. These two brothers didn't trade for alcohol or small champagne, obviously being quite frugal, using their money where it counted, hoping to exchange for the most practical things at the lowest cost, and being able to get more in the remaining month of the fritillaria harvesting period to exchange for more money in the end.

Reasonable.

Li Long picked out the dirt from the fritillaria, washed it, then broke the remaining few buns into pieces, put them in a basket, and hung them on a wooden pole outside to dry, then continued to arrange the items.

In the gully to the east, Sun Jia Qiang was quietly lying in the forest, watching the trap he had set more than forty meters ahead.

He had always been very patient when it came to improving his own life.

The trap was made of rope, and on the side were a few pieces of broken salt he had picked up from the rock salt mine cave. He knew that animals needed salt, and he had also confirmed that this rock salt wasn't a gemstone. Since it wasn't a gemstone, he might as well put it to good use. He set a trap where animals passed by to see if he could catch anything. Sun Jia Qiang had come early in the morning; the trap was set last night, and he planned to come and see the harvest. If there was anything, he would keep some meat for himself to eat and carry the rest over to the wooden house to trade for some things. If not, he would just find something to eat and then go dig for fritillaria.

As a result, when he came over, he found a small roe deer grazing nearby, and he immediately became excited, just waiting to see if that guy could discover the trap.

After waiting for about twenty minutes, the small roe deer really discovered the rock salt, then excitedly licked it, and then was caught!

Hearing the small roe deer crying in panic and watching it struggle desperately, at that moment Sun Jia Qiang became excited, rushed out of the forest, and ran over. Fearing the small roe deer would break free, he directly pressed it to the ground, tied it up with the rope used for the trap, and only then did he feel relieved.

Just this roe deer, it must have at least ten kilograms of meat, right?

Sun Jia Qiang licked his lips, hugged the roe deer, and headed toward the dugout where he lived.

However, as he walked, he ran into trouble. He didn't know how to kill or skin this thing. In the environment of his dugout, although he could boil a pot of meat, he couldn't boil meat with skin and fur, could he?

Might as well go trade for some things?

Sun Jia Qiang still had quite a bit of perseverance; he hugged the roe deer and headed west. He didn't even know if he could find the wooden house, but he just acted.

Fortunately, halfway there, he found the tracks of the tractor. This was when Li Long drove out from Halimu's winter camp and found a relatively spacious gully to drive through. Although Sun Jia Qiang wasn't very capable at living at home, he had practiced his observation skills in the mountains; otherwise, he would have been eaten by a bear.

By the time he hugged the roe deer and arrived at the wooden house, he was almost exhausted.

Seeing the tractor there, Sun Jia Qiang felt relieved and shouted loudly:

"Boss Li, Boss Li! I'm selling something!"

He remembered that Li Long had a gun in his hand. He was worried that if he approached rashly, the other party would take out the gun and *pew-pew-pew* a few times, and wouldn't he then die with regret?

Of course that wouldn't do.

!.

Li Long had already arranged the things and was preparing lunch. Hearing the shout outside, he came out to take a look and was a bit shocked.

No way, is this guy this fierce? Are roe deer this easy to catch now? Or was his luck slot leaking for the past two days and couldn't be filled, or was it because he was too "happy" at home, so there had to be shortcomings in other areas?

How to weigh this? Should he give up temporary happiness?

Impossible.

Li Long complained in his heart, but his movements weren't slow at all. He took the tightly bound roe deer from Sun Jia Qiang's hands, took a look, and then put it on the ground in disappointment:

"You strangled it to death. You tied this rope a bit too tight."

"I was wondering why it stopped moving." Sun Jia Qiang was still a bit puzzled, "I was planning to trade it for some supplies; steamed buns would be nice."

He had already seen the steamed buns Li Long was drying in the basket on the pole and licked his lips. After eating steamed buns earlier, eating wild vegetables later really wasn't easy to swallow.

"You can trade." Li Long pointed to the wooden house, "I brought some new things in there; you see what you want to trade for. I suggest you prepare some medicine. Living in the wild, you can't do without medicine; maybe a bout of diarrhea could dehydrate you."

"Mm-hmm, but I was thinking, if you skin this roe deer, can you give me a piece of meat? I haven't eaten good meat for a long time. It would be best if you could give me a cooked piece when you boil the meat."

"No problem, as long as you can wait." Li Long skillfully pulled out his knife and began to skin it.

Sun Jia Qiang didn't go into the wooden house to choose things either; he knew how to avoid suspicion and was tired, so he simply sat on the side and watched Li Long clean the roe deer.

It was strangled and not bled, so it had to be cleaned as soon as possible. Fortunately, the roe deer wasn't big; it should be a cub from early autumn last year, and now the total weight was only about eleven or twelve kilograms. In less than half an hour, Li Long finished gutting and skinning it.

"I'll wash the intestines and stomach." Sun Jia Qiang had rested enough and got up to help. Li Long felt this person was not bad; at least he wasn't someone who ate for free without working. He had an eye for work; how did he end up in this state?

The stone stove outside was repaired, a pot was set up, and water was boiled. After Li Long lit the fire underneath, he repaired the other stove as well.

With two stoves outside, burning firewood would be much better. The stove inside the house was okay for boiling water and stir-frying small dishes, but it wasn't enough for a big pot.

Sun Jia Qiang carefully washed the stomach and intestines clean and brought the whole basin back. Li Long said:

"Let's braise these internal organs together; you can take some away later."

"Alright." Taking some cooked ones away, Sun Jia Qiang felt it was quite nice. Although there weren't many things he could trade for, at least his diet would be better later. He was confident that he could catch things later; he didn't expect that the little tricks he learned from his grandfather would actually be useful!

The big pot was boiling, one pot of meat and one pot of internal organs. Only then did Li Long, who had become idle, start discussing with Sun Jia Qiang.

"You should know how much meat and internal organs you plan to take away, and how much money is left, right?"

This was a doe, with no horns or whip, so it definitely had no use. So the only things that could be used were the skin and meat. Not to mention the skin; it was small, and it was currently in the molting period, looking a bit miserable.

Of course, it could actually be sold for a few yuan.

"After eating, I'll take two more pieces of meat, cut some internal organs for me; I want some heart, liver, stomach, and intestines." Sun Jia Qiang thought for a while and said, "I'll trade for some steamed buns, medicine, and a bottle of alcohol from you, and that's it. You did all the cleaning, and the tools are yours too; I don't have the face to ask for more things."

A truly honest person.

Li Long packed the medicine and alcohol Sun Jia Qiang wanted and reminded him:

"These buns are a bit sour, so I dried them out. You take a look; if it doesn't work, trade for something else."

Sun Jia Qiang went over, flipped the buns, and said: "It's fine, they aren't moldy, and there are no mold spots. What's there to fear about sourness? Even rotten things can be eaten."

Alright, I wish you a stomach of steel. Li Long simply packed all the dried buns for him and even brought him a rope.

Sun Jia Qiang was very satisfied; this merchant had a conscience.

The small roe deer meat cooked very quickly. Li Long skillfully sprinkled seasoning, and he even went nearby to get a handful of wild onions, washed them, and prepared to put them in when serving the soup later. Eating meat and drinking soup—at this time, he wasn't afraid of high blood lipids.

Sun Jia Qiang had long been impatient. Li Long took an enamel basin for him and scooped out a leg bone with meat. He couldn't wait to take it, pressed it, and took a bite. It was so hot that he kept sucking in air, but he couldn't bear to spit it out. Watching Li Long, he felt pain too!

Li Long also scooped out a piece for himself, put it on the cutting board to cool first, and then went to check the situation of the internal organs.

They were cooked, but he didn't know if they had absorbed the flavor. Li Long used chopsticks to poke a piece, picked it up, put it in his own bowl, then found two more bowls, scooped two bowls of soup, sprinkled them with green onions, and put them on the cutting board to cool, only then starting to eat the meat slowly.

He scooped neck meat, and the lymph nodes and such were all removed. Sun Jia Qiang was still a bit dissatisfied, but Li Long didn't care about him; it was better to eat less of that stuff.

It would be even better if there was a piece of naan—but looking at the meat in the pot, Li Long thought, there's meat, why eat naan?

He admitted he had underestimated Sun Jia Qiang. Before he had finished half of his own piece of meat, Sun Jia Qiang had already finished the leg bone, not even leaving the tendons on it, leaving only a dry bone stick.

"Put this on the side, I'll knock out the bone marrow later." After Sun Jia Qiang put down the bone stick, he scooped out another piece, still a leg bone; the meat on it was big and delicious.

Li Long trimmed less than five kilograms of meat, and the rest was carried on the bones, so this meaty bone was truly fragrant to gnaw on.

Sun Jia Qiang hadn't eaten such fragrant meat for a long time, or rather, he had never gnawed on meat like this in his life; today he directly turned into a hungry wolf.

Three leg sticks, Li Long estimated at least one and a half kilograms of cooked meat had gone into Sun Jia Qiang's stomach. He was worried that this guy's stomach couldn't take it, so he hurriedly took the medicine.

At this time, the only medicine Li Long could use here was the Great Hawthorn Pill.

Sun Jia Qiang actually knew he had eaten too much; at this time, he didn't want to move at all. He accepted Li Long's kindness, slowly chewed the hawthorn pill, and watched Li Long drinking soup in a leisurely manner, truly envious.

This is what you call knowing how to eat! (End of chapter)