Chapter 471: Targeted by Someone

Sending away the two people carrying bags, Li Long's eyes revealed a bit of solemnity. He felt that these two people weren't simple.

It wasn't to say that he directly judged these two people as bad people; it was mainly that these two people gave people the feeling of being a bit too harmonious.

One of them had sharp eyes, as if he could see through people's hearts. When Li Long's expression changed, he seemed to be able to guess what Li Long wanted to do.

Such a person, if placed in later generations, would definitely be able to help the boss handle things properly if he were a secretary or assistant.

The other one, although not as tall as Li Long, looked strong and powerful, with coordinated steps, looking like someone who practiced martial arts, or if not, someone who often fought or exercised.

A combination of one literary and one martial, such people running into the mountains to beg for food must have some special reasons. Otherwise, they could easily mix well in Wucheng or Shicheng.

Li Long carried the Type 56 semi-automatic rifle at his side. The gun's safety was off, and the bullet was in the chamber.

The strong man just now glanced at this gun several times, and there was no lack of envy or jealousy in his eyes.

This person wanted this gun.

Li Long originally suspected that these two people should be the ones who beat Hamiti, but seeing this person's gaze toward the gun, he felt it wasn't like that. Hamiti had a gun. If this person was the one who beat Hamiti, it was estimated that he should have snatched Hamiti's gun, right?

But no matter what, he had to be careful staying here. Otherwise, it was estimated that the next Hamiti would be himself.

Li Long washed the collected fritillaria and spread it out, then waited quietly.

It was already afternoon. After another hour or two, when the fritillaria and air-dried meat outside could be collected, he could go to Little Bai Yang Gully to collect the carrying frames. This would also save the trouble of not being able to reconcile the numbers at the end.

After the two people carrying things left and walked into the forest, the strong one suddenly opened his mouth:

"Boss, I want that gun."

"Why didn't you take that guy's gun when you beat him up the day before yesterday?" Lin Xiao Hu, called the boss, frowned and asked, "This person... he's still useful."

"If we took that guy's gun, the forestry team wouldn't let it go, and they might search the mountains, then we'd be in trouble."

"You want the gun... wait a bit, this person is useful. We can trade for some supplies from his place from time to time. Otherwise, relying on the two of us, we'll be wild men in the mountains in less than half a month. We're not sure if we can find those things in half a month. I think we should wait until we're ready to leave before making a move."

"Is it okay to do this person?" The strong man He Yi Ku asked.

"This person should have some connections, otherwise it's impossible to set up such an exchange point in the mountains. But it's not necessarily that the connections are very strong. If the connections were strong, he could clearly be like those other forestry teams and come to rob. But he didn't do that, so the background shouldn't be very strong. Doing him might have some influence, but the influence won't be very big."

"Then let's do him, and take the things by the way, and drive the tractor away and hide it, so that others won't find him for a while, and won't find anything. Anyway, in the mountains, no one can say where he went..." He Yi Ku's eyes flashed with a ruthless look.

"Don't be impulsive first." Lin Xiao Hu waved his hand, "Let's find the target first. If I judge wrong, and he disappears and is noticed, we won't be able to stay in this mountain area. After finding the things, we'll do other things. Then we'll do one ticket and leave. Even if we're investigated, we'll have already gone far away by then."

"Fine." Although He Yi Ku wanted to get the gun as soon as possible, he also knew that what Lin Xiao Hu said was the most important thing. Of course, he didn't just want the gun as a hobby, because there were really some fierce beasts in this forest that he couldn't beat, so having a gun on his body was safer.

Li Long didn't know that these two people had already set their sights on him, but he just felt that he had to be more careful outside. After basking in the sun, feeling his energy recovered, he began to wipe the gun. This Type 56 semi-automatic rifle, although it was second-hand, was honest, reliable, sturdy, and durable, and felt much more reliable than small-caliber and double-barreled sand guns.

Someone came to sell fritillaria in the afternoon, trading directly for money. This time it was one person, also over fifty years old. Listening to the voice, he was from Gansu. He was not tall, a bit hunched, very thin, carrying a bag and holding a stick in his hand. Even so, Li Long still carefully checked the fritillaria and then paid the money. This bag of fritillaria was dug in these two days, quite fresh, with ten or twelve kilograms. It could be seen that large-scale fritillaria had already begun to come out. Just the amount of fritillaria collected today was enough to dry ten kilograms of dried fritillaria, which was a good harvest.

I don't know how the carrying frames side is doing. Li Long looked at the sky, the sun had already slanted to the west, so he began to collect things. The bedding was dried very hot, and there was still a smell on it. I don't know if it was the smell of mite corpses being scorched or the smell of sunshine.

After spreading the bedding, Li Long collected the half-dried fritillaria on the wooden floor and put it into the basket in the small room. It would be almost completely dried after drying for two more days. The fritillaria wasn't very big after drying, but this was the authentic wild fritillaria.

The fritillaria on the case outside was also collected into the basin, and it would continue to be dried tomorrow. The air-dried meat on the rope was almost dry now, emitting a fragrance mixed with inexplicable smells.

Li Long tore off a small strip and chewed it slowly in his mouth. Mm, it's not as fragrant as marinated.

After putting the meat into the small room and locking the door, Li Long carried his gun, drove the tractor, and chugged toward Little Bai Yang Gully.

In Little Bai Yang Gully, Xie Yun Dong, Wei Zhong Hua, and the others who had just arrived were digging dugout shelters. Old Huang was already preparing dinner. Actually, they basically still ate two meals a day at home, but they still had to ensure they were full when they came out to work. Even if the third meal was thinner, at least they had to have something to eat, otherwise, they would be hungry at night.

"If I had known, I would have followed Xiao Long and come a day earlier." Wei Zhong Hua looked at the few carrying frames piled up beside the Xu brothers and was full of envy.

He felt that he had come last year and was familiar with this place, plus he had some things at home to pack, so he came a day late. He didn't expect that he would fall behind by coming late.

They all already knew that this year's carrying frames were four yuan each. In that case, the four carrying frames in front of Xu Fei Hu were sixteen yuan!

It was equal to the salary of those workers for half a month!

Although they only earned this money for a few days a year, it was so easy to get!

Thinking this in his heart, the speed of digging the dugout shelter under his hand became faster.

Xie Yun Dong arranged things and also began to clean up the dugout shelter he lived in. Because Li Jianguo and Lu Yingming dug their own dugout shelters, although Sun Jia Qiang occupied one, the dugout shelters were generally enough. It was just that the entrance position had collapsed a bit after a year, and there was a lot of dirt and debris inside that needed to be cleaned up.

After spending some effort to finish this, Old Huang over there had already pasted the cakes and was preparing to boil corn flour paste.

He also cut some poles and cut some strips during the time between the two meals today, planning to weave a few carrying frames himself to earn money. However, he hadn't woven much before, so the first one was a bit of a failure, but Old Huang wasn't discouraged. Anyway, there were plenty of materials in this big mountain, so he continued to get materials, and by the way, picked some grass mushrooms back.

Because he was responsible for the food of these people, Old Huang was also very cautious about the mushrooms he picked. Except for grass mushrooms, he didn't pick other mushrooms, fearing poisoning.

They stir-fried mushrooms and meat at noon, and they stir-fried a lot, so they heated the leftovers from noon for dinner and made do with it.

When Li Long came over, Old Huang was already planning to greet everyone to eat.

These people who came over each brought their own rice basins, and Old Huang was responsible for serving food. Like Li Jianguo, who brought two rice basins, he could have one basin of vegetables and one basin of porridge. Like Wei Zhong Hua, who brought one basin, he could only eat first and then go drink porridge after eating.

"Yo, is the meal ready? Brother Old Huang, is there a portion for me?" Li Long got off the tractor and asked with a smile.

"How could there not be?" Old Huang grinned and laughed. He had stewed the meat Li Long brought over yesterday. Although there wasn't much oil, there were meat cubes, which were good things. With this meat, he could let everyone eat comfortably for this month. With meat every meal, who would dare to say the food wasn't good?

Vegetable oil was also provided by Li Long. Everyone brought plenty of rice and flour. Besides, even if it wasn't enough later, could Li Long watch everyone go hungry?

Old Huang knew very well whose food he was eating.

Li Long brought a rice basin, just wanting to join for a dinner. Old Huang gave him special care, served more vegetables, and gave him two pasted cakes. Li Long carried the rice basin, greeted Xie Yun Dong and the others, came to Li Jianguo, and asked with a smile:

"Big Brother, how many did you weave today?"

"Six." Li Jianguo had enough materials stored before, so he wove all day today. Six carrying frames were twenty-four yuan. He was very satisfied and very proud.

"Big Brother Lu, what about you?"

"Five and a bit, I can't compare to your eldest brother." Lu Yingming gnawed on a cake and said with a smile, "His hands are faster."

Sun Jia Qiang was also sitting here eating. Hearing Li Long ask, he said:

"Boss Li, are these carrying frames for public use?"

"Yes. Why, do you want to weave too? I think you'd better honestly dig your fritillaria." Li Long smiled, "This is a technical job." "That's true, I watched the two big brothers weave, and I really didn't know how to do it just by looking." Sun Jia Qiang said while gnawing on the cake:

"What is this used for?"

"In government agencies, carrying coal, carrying garbage, and carrying snow in winter." Li Long explained, "Schools use them too."

"This... it won't be used for a few years, right? It's impossible to still use this later, right?"

"Of course, at most three years," Li Long said, "After three years, this work will be gone. At that time, it's estimated that government units will have their own handcarts."

He was thinking that it was almost May, and he didn't know if the Kuitun Agricultural Machinery Factory had produced the harvester? Could he also cooperate to engage in a batch of handcarts? But thinking about it, he gave up. The technical content of that thing was too low. Unless it was made into a scale, the price couldn't be lowered, and it would soon be beaten to death by large factories.

Sun Jia Qiang was familiar with Li Jianguo and Lu Yingming who arrived first. Although he was a bit younger, he was a social butterfly and could chat about anything, so the two of them didn't dislike him.

After Li Long finished eating and rinsed the rice basin at the small stream, Xie Yun Dong came over with a lunch box and said to Li Long:

"Xiao Long, why don't you say a few words to everyone after eating?"

"Fine." Li Long nodded. It was just right that everyone was there. Explaining the rules clearly would avoid trouble like Xu Jianjun last year.

Xie Yun Dong notified them one by one. Some people hadn't finished eating, so they didn't concentrate for a while. After Sun Jia Qiang put away the lunch box, he brought over the small half-bag of fritillaria he dug today, and also held a broken deer antler in his hand.

"Unexpected harvest today?" Li Long said with a smile, "This deer antler break is quite new."

!.

"I just looked like it was new, so I picked it up. This can sell for a few yuan, right?"

"Mm, it's a new antler this year, more expensive than fritillaria."

"I'll count it as one yuan for you. There's not as much fritillaria today as yesterday, about three or four kilograms."

Digging every day, Sun Jia Qiang also knew the approximate weight of the fritillaria in his hand.

The deer antler was more than a kilogram, plus four kilograms of fritillaria, Li Long gave Sun Jia Qiang seventeen yuan.

Sun Jia Qiang poured the fritillaria into Li Long's bag, folded his own bag, and went back holding it. These drifters digging in the deep mountains regarded everything as precious, including this urea bag.

Xie Yun Dong had already gathered the people. After Li Long went over, he said:

"Everyone find a place to sit. Today the people are considered to be all here, so I'll explain the rules. Those who came last year know some, and those who didn't come last year, listen together."

He found a stone first and sat down, and the others also sat down scattered, and some took out Mohe tobacco to roll and smoke.

"This forest belongs to the forestry team, and they will often ride horses over to patrol. On the surface, what we are doing has reasons for them to check. However, I have already opened a note from the supply and marketing cooperative in advance, and the forestry

This set the tone, and everyone listened without issue, relaxing one by one.

"What I want to say is that I'm worried about you doing other things. Last year, Xu Jianjun came over, felt that weaving carrying-frames was too tiring, and ran off to secretly dig for fritillaria. As a result, he was caught by the forestry team, and not only was he beaten, but he wasn't given food for a day. In the end, it was still me who had to use my status at the supply and marketing cooperative to go and claim him; it was a huge embarrassment."

"What I want to tell you is, don't look at that person over there digging for fritillaria and making money; they have connections and know people on the forestry team, so even if they are seen by the forestry team, they won't get caught. So don't even think about it. If anyone secretly goes to dig for fritillaria this year and gets caught, don't expect me to go and claim you; I can't afford that kind of shame."

Once this was said, those who still had some ideas basically gave them up.

"Another thing is that there are many mushrooms in these mountains, some edible and some poisonous. We brought our own supplies, so try to eat what you brought. Even if you pick mushrooms, do it like Brother Lao Huang did today—just pick straw mushrooms, and don't touch the others. Some poisonous mushrooms look exactly like the edible ones; if you really end up poisoning everyone, no one can bear that responsibility."

Everyone believed this point; life comes first—what's the point of making money if you're dead?

"And the most important point: we are here to weave carrying-frames. Those who came last year know that I am strict. If the quality of these frames isn't up to standard, I will send them back. From now on, I will come to collect the frames every afternoon. I'll inspect them after they're woven; if they pass, I'll collect them and haul them away. If they don't, you'll either have to rework them or weave them over again. I just told the others that I want to keep doing this carrying-frame work for a few more years, and I don't want to ruin it because of quality issues. You can earn several months' worth of a worker's wages in a month, and I'm sure you all want to keep doing this for a few more years. If you want to make money, you have to bring out good products, right?"

Hearing this, everyone laughed.

"Alright," Li Long stood up, "I'm collecting the frames now. Xie Yun Dong, come over and help me out. Everyone else, come over and take a look, mainly to see where things aren't up to standard, so you can be careful when you start weaving later. Otherwise, if you have to rework them later, it's a waste of effort and time—it's a hassle."

After he said this, Xie Yun Dong followed Li Long over, and the others gathered around as well.

On the outermost edge were Xu Fei Hu's; he had woven three frames today. Li Long took a look and found one was a bit loose, so he sent it back.

"Redo this section here, weave it tighter. These frames are taken to the government offices to carry coal; if they're loose, the coal won't stay in and will leak out, which will ruin our reputation."

After the inspection, Li Long let Xu Fei Hu put the two frames on the cart; he took out his notebook to record them and also had Xu Fei Hu sign his name.

When Xu Fei Hu was pointed out for having a problem with his frame, he lost a bit of face, but when Li Long asked him to sign, he became happy again.

Although there was a slight setback on the first day, having eight yuan in hand made him quite happy.

The second was Xu Dejun, who also wove three; like Xu Fei Hu, one had a problem.

"Dejun, the strip section in the middle of this frame needs to be one meter long; your distance isn't enough. Tomorrow, undo the edge and add some more," Li Long said. "Trim the handles on the sides cleaner; don't let them scratch people's hands when they're carrying them."

After registering two for Xu Dejun as well, Xu Fei Hu felt even more balanced.

Next was Tao Jian She's; he had woven three and a half frames today and planned to finish the remaining half later.

What surprised Li Long a bit was that Tao Jian She's three frames were all up to standard. The length was sufficient, the middle was tight, and the handles were trimmed very smoothly.

Registration, signature, and then it was Jia Weidong's turn; he only wove two today, but both were up to standard.

It seems everyone had taken Li Long's words to heart.

Li Jianguo had a total of nine including yesterday's, and Lu Yingming had eight; the two of them suddenly had over thirty yuan on the books, which was equivalent to a month's wages for an apprentice, making the others incredibly envious.

Actually, Li Long intended to pay his older brother in full; deducting his money would be a bit heartless.

After putting all the frames on the cart, Li Long said:

"Don't work too late at night, and make sure to rest. Tomorrow, when you go out to cut strips, it's best to go in groups of two or three. There are wolves and bears in this forest, and it's quite dangerous; don't let the wild beasts gore or grab you—that wouldn't be good."

Xie Yun Dong and the others indicated they understood, and Li Long cranked the tractor and drove toward the wooden cabin.

The sun had already set, and the afterglow was slowly fading. Although Li Long wanted to return to the wooden cabin immediately, he didn't dare to speed all the way; after all, the frames were in the cart, and it would be a hassle if they shook loose.

By the time he drove to the wooden cabin, it was already dark. He didn't plan to unload them today; he'd do it tomorrow. (End of chapter)