Chapter 473: The complexity of human nature: not everyone can be judged by good or evil

In the end, Li Long still put those four metal pieces away.

These things were quite heavy and felt substantial in the hand. Li Long felt they should be a set, but he couldn't understand the characters on them and had no way to identify them.

That man, holding thirty yuan, was so happy that he even left the bag with Li Long. He said with a smile:

"Alright, alright, I've got the travel money now. I've had enough of staying in these mountains! I'm heading down the mountain today and going to Shicheng tomorrow!"

"I think it's best if you stay in the mountains and head down tomorrow during the day," Li Long kindly advised. "The sun is almost setting now. By the time you walk out of the mountains, it will be dark. There's still quite a distance from outside the mountains to Qingshuihe, and there really are wolves there. I've walked that road at night and encountered wolves. With your physique, you wouldn't last a single pounce."

When Li Long said this, the man really started to worry. He looked at Li Long's wooden cabin and suddenly asked:

"Then, Boss, could I borrow a place to stay at your place for the night? I'll pay for the room. How about two yuan? Staying in a dormitory in the county only costs two yuan!"

"No," Li Long refused decisively. "I suggest you'd better go back to where you were staying. It's not safe here either, and we don't know each other. If I let you stay here, I'd be worried myself. By the way, since I've already given you the money and you've taken a big advantage, could you tell me the specific location where you picked up these iron pieces?"

The man smiled and said:

"You still want to pick some up? Let me tell you, there's nothing left in that place. At most, you can only find some old copper coins that are rusted through. Nobody even buys them for scrap copper."

"That's none of your business, just tell me the location first." Li Long, acting on the idea of information gathering, asked for the location where the items were found.

He planned to go over and take a look when he was free. Listening to what this man said, it didn't look much like a tomb; it looked more like things had been washed out from somewhere.

After this person left, Li Long turned those metal pieces over and over for a long time without seeing anything of note. Only two points could be confirmed: first, these things were very heavy and had wear on them, but the characters were still quite clear, so they shouldn't have been directly exposed in the mountains before; they should have been buried somewhere.

Second, these things shouldn't be copper pieces. If they were copper, they would definitely have rusted just like that copper mirror; how could they still be so bright?

Could it be that both he and that man had misjudged? Should these be gold?

Li Long had this thought, and his heart rate suddenly accelerated.

These metal pieces were less than twenty centimeters long, five or six centimeters wide, and less than half a centimeter thick. He felt that one of them weighed nearly a kilogram. He didn't know how that man had managed to carry four of them on his waistband.

Unable to figure it out, Li Long didn't think too much about it. He put these four metal plates and the copper mirror away and hid them well. Then, seeing the sun was about to set, he began to collect the fritillaria and air-dried meat into the cabin. Just as he was collecting them, a shout came from outside again. Li Long came out of the small room and found it was still that same man.

He must have run over, and seeing Li Long, he asked:

"Boss, could I have a piece of meat? I haven't eaten properly all day. I always feel that what I brought isn't as good as meat. I see you have quite a lot of meat..."

"But the money I calculated for you just now was already a lot!" Li Long had originally intended to give him some meat, but fearing this man might be suspicious, he deliberately said with difficulty, "This meat isn't cheap either."

"Hehe, just give me a piece. You have so much!" the man said with a cheeky grin.

"Fine, fine, I'll give you one," Li Long said, pretending to be impatient. "It's settled, just this one piece. Eat it tonight and rest quickly. If you can't do this work, leave these mountains quickly tomorrow. There's a lot of fritillaria in these mountains, but it seems you're not cut out for this line of work; you'd better change jobs early."

Li Long said, took a piece of air-dried meat off the rope, and handed it over.

"Yes, yes, yes, I know all that." The man took the meat, echoed Li Long's words, and then put the meat to his nose and sniffed it, revealing an intoxicated expression. Looking at that expression, he was about to take a bite.

"Alright, hurry up and go. This meat is only half-cooked. Go back and boil it well or roast it. Eat it after it's cooked. Don't get a stomachache after you leave. There are no hospitals in these mountains!"

"Good, good, good, I know you're kind-hearted, Boss. Thanks!" With meat and money, the man happily turned and walked into the mountains.

Li Long watched him for more than ten seconds before continuing to collect everything from outside, covering the bedding and such, locking the door, carrying half a crate of loose liquor, and taking two pieces of air-dried meat, he drove the tractor towards Xiaobaiyang Gou.

He didn't dare take too much. There were ten people over there, and taking two liters of liquor meant an average of less than two hundred milliliters per person, which wasn't much. People's tolerance for alcohol was high at this time, and it was considered normal for one person to say they could drink a bottle without issue. He was actually just thinking about letting everyone relieve their fatigue.

Regardless of what later science or medicine says, in this era, after working hard, drinking a cup or two of white liquor during dinner really relieves fatigue, and one sleeps soundly.

But Li Long had seen on short videos and such in later times that drinking before sleep doesn't relieve fatigue. Anyway, some things haven't become widespread yet, so it's better to follow the habits of this era.

When the tractor chugged its way to Xiaobaiyang Gou, dinner hadn't started yet.

Everyone was weaving carrying poles in the shallow pits they had dug themselves. Li Long had been coming every day for the past two days, so they weren't that polite; they nodded and smiled, or simply ignored him. Weaving carrying poles was the most important thing now. If they could weave one more carrying pole before sleeping, they would earn four more yuan!

At this time, the miscellaneous fees for children to go to school were only two yuan!

Four yuan was enough to buy thirty or forty kilograms of corn flour, which a family could eat for a month if they were frugal. Four yuan could buy ten kilograms of white flour, and steaming a bun for the child every two days would make the child happy for a month.

Li Long turned off the engine and got off the tractor. Seeing Old Huang was cooking soup noodles, he brought the air-dried meat over and asked him to prepare it.

Old Huang, with a Mohe cigarette roll in his mouth, looked at the crate Li Long was carrying and asked:

"What's that?"

"Loose liquor, for everyone to have a drink during dinner to relieve fatigue. I didn't dare bring too much, fearing they'd drink too much and not be able to get up tomorrow."

"Hey, this is good stuff! If I'd known there was this kind of treatment, I should have competed with your father-in-law last year and come over last year!" Old Huang was happy when he saw the liquor. He wasn't actually addicted to alcohol, but who wouldn't want to drink free liquor? So he grinned with his big teeth.

"Brother Old Huang, why do I smell that your cigarette doesn't smell quite right?" Li Long didn't give him the liquor crate, carrying it instead, intending to give it to his eldest brother, Li Jianguo, later. No matter what, among these people, his eldest brother had the most prestige. Giving the liquor to him, he would know how to handle it.

"Hey, it's because I forgot to bring cigarettes. When I want to smoke, I just casually rummage for some dry leaves, roll them up, and smoke them to fool my mouth."

"Then I'll bring you some Mohe tobacco tomorrow." Li Long actually had cigarettes in his small room, but he wouldn't take the initiative to trade them with those drifters; it was mainly aimed at forestry team personnel like Bolati.

Drifters didn't have a comprehensive understanding of mountain fires, and they wouldn't care whether they caused a mountain fire or not. As long as they didn't burn themselves, they wouldn't care even if the whole mountain was burned.

On the contrary, Bolati and the others would be very careful and would consciously step out their cigarette butts when smoking.

"That would be great!" Old Huang smiled until his eyes were almost invisible.

Li Long went over and handed the liquor crate to Li Jianguo, and Li Jianguo told him to put it aside. Li Long put the liquor crate down and then went one by one to check the quality of the woven carrying poles.

It was alright; basically, they were all qualified, and everyone's efficiency was quite high. At a glance, basically everyone had three or four carrying poles in front of them, and there was still one unfinished one fixed in the shallow pit.

Li Long nodded and went to Xie Yun's place. Today, Xie Yun had also woven four carrying poles, and there was still one in the pit in front of him, less than a quarter woven; he might not be able to finish it today.

"Brother Yun, nothing happened today, right?"

"No, someone from the forestry team came and said there were wanted criminals roaming in the mountains, telling us to be careful." Xie Yun stopped his work, straightened his waist, and said:

"It's easier for us here, with ten or so people, no matter what, that person wouldn't dare come over. But you, alone..."

"Don't worry about that. Bolati also told me, I have a pistol." Li Long smiled and patted the Type 56 semi-automatic rifle on his back. "If I find something wrong, I'll shoot. Am I afraid of them?"

"That's true." Xie Yun looked at the rifle on Li Long's back with envy. Having such a rifle in the mountains, hunting should be very easy, and safety could also be taken care of.

Li Long looked again and found there was another pit at the very edge, with only one carrying pole finished, and another less than half woven. He guessed it should be Old Huang's work. The quality of that finished carrying pole was alright; he reckoned it was also because Li Long was watching strictly yesterday, so he didn't dare to cut corners.

Ten minutes later, Old Huang called everyone to eat. These people got up one after another, went to the stream to wash their hands, and then went to get their own rice bowls.

"Today, Xiao Long brought two pieces of air-dried meat. I boiled and cut them. Everyone gets two pieces of meat. Eat slowly later. This stuff gets more fragrant the more you chew it. Don't just chew it twice and swallow it, that would be a waste!" Old Huang said loudly.

Hearing there was air-dried meat to eat, most of these people smiled. Old Huang really put meat in when cooking, but that meat was cut into cubes, and it didn't feel that strong when eaten. This air-dried meat was cut into chunks, so it definitely tasted different.

The soup noodles were relatively thick. Li Long filled a large enamel basin, let Old Huang add two pieces of meat on top, and then carried it to Li Jianguo and the others. Just as he was about to eat, Li Long realized Sun Jia Qiang hadn't returned.

"That one who digs fritillaria came back at noon and said he found a fritillaria gully. He wants to dig hard today, so he might be back late. He said that gully is quite far away." Li Jianguo saw Li Long's thought and said, "By the way, do you know about that wanted criminal?"

"I know, Bolati specially came over to tell me. Didn't you see I carry a rifle back and forth? If there's anything wrong, I'll shoot directly."

"Yes, yes, just know it." Li Jianguo had a rich experience, and his character carried a bit of decisiveness. He was very supportive of Li Long's idea.

In these big mountains, it's hard to distinguish between good people and bad people. If you don't provoke me, then everyone goes their own way. But if you want to have any bad ideas, then don't blame me for being impolite.

During dinner, people gradually gathered around, and some people set their eyes on the liquor crate beside Li Jianguo.

"Eat first. If there's no food in your stomach, you'll get drunk after drinking that liquor for a while!" Li Jianguo said, "If you can drink, you also have to see how your carrying poles are woven. We'll drink when we don't work at night. After eating, those who haven't finished the carrying poles in the pit can weave for a while longer to make a whole one. If you drink now, your head will be dizzy, how can you weave?"

Li Jianguo's words made sense, so everyone didn't force it. But knowing they could drink at night, everyone was very happy.

Just as they were eating, Sun Jia Qiang ran back excitedly, carrying a bag, shouting from afar:

"Brother Old Huang, did you save me any food?"

!.

"Saved, saved." Old Huang quite liked this drifter; he had a good personality, greeted him actively back and forth, and could help him with work. When he was weaving carrying poles morning and evening, he could also help.

Hearing that food was saved, he wasn't that anxious anymore, but carried the bag to Li Long and said proudly:

"Boss Li, look, my harvest today!"

"Yo, this bag must be eight kilograms!" Li Long was also a bit surprised. "Got so much today?"

"Heh!" Sun Jia Qiang suppressed his excitement and said in a low voice, "You don't know, I found a good place today. In that gully, fritillaria were next to fritillaria. I could get half a kilogram without moving much! I'll go there again tomorrow!"

"Fine, you eat first, I'll calculate the account for you later."

After eating, collecting the fritillaria, and collecting the carrying poles, Li Long declined the proposal of others to drink together and drove the tractor back to the wooden cabin.

He was very careful all the way, and fortunately, no one blocked the road. Returning to the wooden cabin, the sky wasn't completely dark yet. Li Long unloaded the carrying poles. He originally wanted to wash Sun Jia Qiang's fritillaria this time, but after unloading the carrying poles, it was dark, and he didn't want to move anymore, so he simply locked the door and went back to the room to sleep.

He hadn't climbed mountains much in the past two days, so Li Long wasn't that tired. He got up early in the morning. Seeing he couldn't sleep, he ate two cold buns, drank some water, and then carried the rifle and the bag and walked out.

He wanted to see if he could get some more harvest in the early morning.

The sky was still dark, but Li Long could see the situation nearby, and he was familiar with it, so he headed straight for the hot spring.

Animals' biological clocks seem to be earlier than humans'. At this time, many animals have already started to move. On the contrary, after the big sun comes out, many animals hide, possibly to avoid natural enemies.

Li Long walked lightly in the mountains with the rifle on his back. He was very familiar with the road. Having not walked it for many days, he felt a bit excited.

He didn't see any animals along the way. Occasionally, he could hear the calls of pheasants. There were many bird calls, but he couldn't see them.

When Li Long entered the hot spring gully, he smelled a faint sulfur smell. At this time, the sky was already bright. Although this gully was narrow and dark, it was basically clear.

There were some hoof prints by the small stream. He could see there were wild boars and wild goats of this kind.

Li Long followed the small stream upwards, and twenty minutes later, he arrived near the pool.

Then he locked eyes with a wild goat.

That wild goat was extremely agile. It only looked at Li Long once before turning and running into the forest. Its body jumped very high, and its movements were also very fast. When Li Long aimed and fired, the wild goat had already entered the edge of the forest.

"Bang, bang," two shots. One shot hit a tree branch beside the goat, exploding a green thing mixed with tree bark and wood chips. The other shot grazed the top of the goat's neck, bringing out a mass of skin and flesh, but it didn't seem to be a serious injury, nor did it affect its actions. On the contrary, it made this goat's actions even more agile, and it darted into the forest in two or three moves.

Li Long immediately carried the rifle and chased after it. Since he had hit it, he couldn't let it go.

He used to like to set ambushes and fight prepared battles. Hunting like this was very certain. As long as he found a spot and ambushed, he would usually have a harvest.

But in the past two years, the wild beasts have also become smarter, and the spots are erratic. Li Long couldn't ambush, so he could only find them and then chase them.

Chasing is a test of physical strength. Fortunately, Li Long doesn't lack this.

The wild goat ran desperately towards the mountain, feeling a bit panicked and choosing the road blindly. The movement was very large, and coupled with the complex terrain, it was all forest, so Li Long could just barely keep an eye on it.

A piece of the wild goat's neck quickly turned red, and blood kept flowing down, staining the neck red while dripping down. Coupled with its own intense movements now, the wound was very difficult to clot.

Running out of this forest and arriving at an open area, Li Long aimed at the goat above and fired again. This gunshot spread very far, but it didn't hit. The goat darted into the grass, its figure appearing and disappearing, making it extremely difficult to aim.

Li Long had to continue chasing. He was now glad he had eaten something when he got up in the morning, otherwise, his physical strength might not have been able to keep up now.

Although this was only one shot, it spread wider in the mountains than the previous two shots. Many people in the mountains heard this gunshot and had different reactions.

Over at Xiaobaiyang Gou, everyone was eating breakfast. Hearing the gunshot, Sun Jia Qiang held his basin and asked:

"Who is hunting? Could it be Boss Li?"

"It's possible." Li Jianguo didn't speak, Lu Yingming said, "Xiao Long used to use a rifle to hunt in the mountains, wild boars, roe deer, and such."

"Heh, it's really good to have a rifle!"

Lin Xiao Hu and He Yi Ku also just got up. Hearing the gunshot, the two looked at each other and didn't speak. However, Lin Xiao Hu could see He Yi Ku's envious expression.

Lin Xiao Hu could understand He Yi Ku's thought: it's really good to have a rifle! They have to hide as soon as it gets dark, fearing being targeted by wolf packs. If they had a rifle, what would they be afraid of!

Li Li Zhengting and Li Li Zhengting heard this gunshot and were judging whether it was someone from the forestry team or Li Long. After all, this gunshot wasn't close to them, so they shouldn't be accidentally injured later!

Thinking of this, Li Li Zhengting said to Li Li Zhengting, who had just recovered:

"Li Zhengting, let's go west to dig fritillaria today. Don't go to the side where the gun sounded. These bullets don't have eyes, let's not make things difficult for ourselves."

"Fine." After this incident, Li Li Zhengting was much more obedient.

Li Long chased all the way to the top of this mountain, watching the wild goat rushing down, still forty or fifty meters away from him.

However, when going down the mountain, the goat's speed slowed down. He held the rifle steadily, half-squatted on the top of the mountain, and aimed at the wild goat that weighed thirty or forty kilograms.

Taking the lead, when the goat reached the bottom of the gully and started running horizontally, he pulled the trigger! (End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 474 =====