Chapter 479

Li Long asked Sun Jia Qiang again about the location where the two-headed deer appeared, and he had a rough idea in his mind.

This two-headed deer had appeared twice in a mountain gully within a radius of four or five kilometers; its range of activity was relatively fixed, and Li Long felt he was very likely to run into it again.

Once encountered, he couldn't let it go again.

After eating, he continued to inspect the carrying poles, returning the five or six that were substandard; it wasn't a particularly big problem, just that they weren't tight enough and only needed a little more processing.

Pulling a cart of carrying poles, Li Long cranked the tractor and drove off with a chugging sound.

The sun had just set, and it wasn't dark yet; after Li Jianguo and the others rested for a while, they continued working, still able to work for another hour or so, and those with fast movements had already woven half a carrying pole.

When Li Long drove the tractor to the wooden house, he was surprised to find that Liu Shanmin, in his Zhongshan suit, was chatting with two drifters there.

Seeing the tractor coming, Liu Shanmin stood up and pointed at Li Long, saying something to those two people.

Li Long had sharp eyes and could tell that the expressions of those two people were slightly unnatural; he smiled and got off the tractor.

Just at this moment, a person in the distance came galloping over on horseback, and the two drifters took one look and were terrified!

Isn't this the forestry team patrolling the forest?

Are they here to arrest people?

In the forest, they had seen with their own eyes people being taken away along with their fritillary bulbs. The better ones would confiscate the fritillary and let the people go, while the worse ones would directly confiscate the fritillary and arrest the people to send them to labor reform camps.

Wouldn't that be the end of them?

Bolati also had a bag of fritillary bulbs strapped to his horse's back; seeing the two drifters and another person standing in front of Li Long's wooden house, he originally wanted to go over and see what was going on, but after thinking about it, he still rode his horse to Li Long's side.

"Adashi, how are things?" Li Long turned off the engine, got off the vehicle, and asked with a smile, "Why have you come so late?"

The two drifters over there saw Bolati and Li Long greeting each other and wanted to take this opportunity to run away, forgetting about the fritillary bulbs and such.

"You'd better not move." Liu Shanmin said quietly, "Can you outrun a horse, or outrun a gun? Didn't you see that this boss knows that ethnic person? Don't worry, since he dared to let you stay here to exchange fritillary, this boss will protect you."

"Will he really protect us?" The drifters clearly didn't quite believe it.

"Think about it, he's doing business here; if you were arrested right in front of his shop door, who would dare to come here later? He must have connections with these people. You stay put, so you don't get shot. That ethnic person looks like he has a good relationship with this boss, but he might not necessarily treat you that way. If you run, then this boss won't be able to help you."

Liu Shanmin was purely deducing this himself. For Li Long to be able to exchange fritillary here and establish a foothold, he must have something to rely on. Sending that tall, thin man away in the afternoon was one thing, not caring about his own identity was the second, and even the patrolling forestry team using fritillary to exchange for things with him was the third.

"Those two people..." Bolati pointed at the two drifters with his horse whip.

"They're here to exchange fritillary with me; you can just pretend you didn't see them." Li Long had a good relationship with Bolati and said half-jokingly, "On my turf, if I let you take people away, I'd lose face."

"Fine, fine, fine." Bolati said with a smile, "I'll give you face." He brought the fritillary to Li Long:

"Come, weigh it."

"Quite a lot today!" Li Long looked at the almost full bag of fritillary and said with a smile, "You've struck it rich."

"It's not just mine." Bolati smiled; actually, most of it was his. "I want money this time. As for the goods, I have everything, so I won't take any."

"Alright, I'll weigh it for you." Li Long went to open the door of the wooden house to get the scale.

"As for you two, I'll let it slide for his sake. From now on, you can exchange here, but if I run into you in the forest, your fritillary will be gone." Bolati pointed his horse whip at the two drifters and said, "Understand?"

Intimidated by the gun on his back, the two drifters nodded repeatedly.

Li Long took the scale and weighed it for Bolati; he even had to do it in two batches.

"Thirty-two kilograms, ninety-six... I'll count it as one hundred yuan for you." Li Long said with a smile, "Not bad, not bad at all!"

"Hehehe, there's quite a lot of fritillary in the mountains now." Upon hearing one hundred yuan, Bolati wiped his face, unable to hide the excitement in his heart.

It was almost equal to four months of his salary at the forestry team!

Li Long took the money out of his inner pocket, counted out ten "Big Unity" notes, handed them to Bolati, and said:

"Count it."

"No need to count, Adashi. I trust you. Alright, you look after them; I'm off."

After mounting his horse, Bolati also said to the two drifters:

"Behave yourselves here, or else the gun will speak."

After speaking, he turned his horse's head, flicked his whip at Li Long, and galloped away.

"Hey, if nothing else, that horse-riding skill is really good." Li Long praised, then turned to the two drifters and said:

"Are you here to exchange for money or for goods?"

"I want money."

"I want some money and some goods." The two people had different requests.

"Alright, the standard price is three yuan. If the quality is good, I'll add a bit; if there are too many impurities, I'll deduct a bit. No objections to that, right?"

"None, none." The two drifters nodded hurriedly and then opened the bags they had brought.

The fritillary in their bags was quite full, at least twenty kilograms each. These two must be here for the first time; they originally intended to haggle, but after what just happened, they couldn't bring themselves to do it.

Besides, they hadn't brought many bags to begin with, and since it was just the start of the fritillary season, it wasn't convenient to carry them out to sell, so it was better to just deal with them here.

Better to have the money in hand.

"Looks alright." Li Long reached into the bag; there were impurities, but not many. After all, it's impossible to dig fritillary without bringing along some soil and leaves; as long as it's not too much, it's acceptable.

The first one was twenty-four and a half kilograms; Li Long counted it as twenty-five kilograms, without deducting for the weight of the bag. Since the price he gave wasn't high to begin with, he didn't mind that little bit.

The second one was slightly less, a little over twenty-two kilograms; Li Long counted it as twenty-two and a half kilograms.

This attitude toward weighing made both drifters break into smiles. The boss was generous, and they were happy too.

The one with twenty-five kilograms first received seventy-five yuan, counted it twice, and tucked it into the inner pocket of his clothes.

The one with twenty-two and a half kilograms received sixty yuan; for the remaining seven and a half, he wanted some rice and flour, and two boxes of matches. When he saw that Li Long's wooden house also had air-dried meat, he asked for a piece of that too.

The one holding the seventy-five yuan felt a bit regretful; after his companion finished exchanging, he took out five yuan and asked Li Long:

"Boss, can I exchange for some meat? This meat is cooked, right?"

"It's cooked." Li Long said with a smile, "See this guy? Don't let his scholarly appearance fool you; he's the one who killed that wolf. He killed the wolf, and I skinned and processed it. This side is cooked, and this side is raw air-dried meat; see which one you want."

"Then I want... three yuan worth of meat. I see you have sesame cakes too; how about two yuan worth of those? Do you have shoes here too?"

After the two entered the house, they found that there were so many things to exchange for inside that the more they looked, the more they wanted to trade; as a result, when the one with seventy-five yuan left, he only had sixty-two yuan left in his pocket.

And the one with sixty yuan also took out another five yuan to exchange for shoes and other daily necessities, including an enamel basin and a bag of salt.

By the time the two drifters left, the evening glow in the west was almost gone. Liu Shanmin went to the rope to collect his washed Zhongshan suit.

"Come, Old Liu, this ten yuan is yours. For those two people just now, five yuan each, as a commission fee."

"Yo, you even know the word 'commission'?" Liu Shanmin didn't stand on ceremony, took the money, and asked, "Not simple at all."

In this day and age, ordinary people would call some middlemen "pimps," so being able to say the word "commission" really isn't simple.

"Heh, you underestimated me."

"A little." Liu Shanmin nodded, admitting it, "Ten yuan is a bit much, isn't it?"

"Not much. I just realized that if you hadn't persuaded those two, they might have run away when Bolati came. If they had really run, it would have been trouble." Li Long explained, then took a large basin to wash the fritillary. He had received quite a lot of fritillary today, nearly a hundred kilograms. He planned to wash the fritillary clean before going to bed and spread it out in the small room so it could be put out to dry tomorrow during the day.

As for the carrying poles on the tractor, he'd unload them tomorrow.

"When you left, there were still people in the southern forest observing this place; you might need to be careful these days." "Alright, I know." Li Long's mind flashed with the faces of Lin Xiao Hu and He Yi Ku. He guessed it was most likely those two.

Liu Shanmin collected his Zhongshan suit to the shed and went to find firewood to light the fire. He could really understand why Li Long wouldn't let him sleep in the house; this ten yuan wasn't much to him, but it was enough to show his value. If it weren't for matters at hand, staying here to recuperate would actually be quite nice.

Li Long already held Liu Shanmin in high regard. Being able to keep the two drifters today and also observe that someone was spying here showed that this person wasn't simple. Having someone like this to help in the forest was actually quite good.

It's a pity this person might not be able to stay; it's highly probable he will leave after his injuries heal.

After washing the fritillary, it was completely dark. Li Long put the fritillary into three basins and carried them into the small room.

Seeing that Liu Shanmin was already sitting at the entrance of the shed intending to rest, he thought for a moment, went into the large room, and poured a cup of water for Liu Shanmin:

"Drink some. It's warm; it'll be a bother if you get thirsty at night."

"Alright, thanks." Liu Shanmin didn't stand on ceremony, took the water, and drank it; after finishing, he said to Li Long:

"You don't need to worry about me, go inside and sleep. Leave the bowl with me; I'll wash it and use it tomorrow morning."

Li Long waved his hand, thought for a moment, and then took a large broom handle left over from last year from the house and handed it to Liu Shanmin:

"Take this for self-defense. Under normal circumstances, there shouldn't be any problems, but you never know."

!.

Liu Shanmin accepted it with a smile; this time Li Long returned to the room, latched the door, stoked the stove, and went to sleep.

He definitely wouldn't be able to fall asleep for a while, as he was pondering this Liu Shanmin.

From what he had seen so far, this person definitely had no malice toward him, and he had his own business to attend to, so he wouldn't stay here for too long.

Li Long's attitude toward him was also very simple; he wasn't a stranger, after all, he was a talent, but he also maintained a certain degree of vigilance.

As for what happens later, the man was a person with his own thoughts and couldn't be arranged by him like Tao Daqiang.

As for Liu Shanmin, he felt that Li Long was also quite interesting. Under normal circumstances, such local bullies are ruthless, and when squeezing ordinary drifters, they are basically not too merciful. Relying on the relationship with the forestry team, they would usually only intensify their actions, but this one was different; he even pleaded for them.

The man's foundation wasn't bad, he had brains, principles, and could even say the word "commission," so he shouldn't be someone unlearned.

It would be a pity for him to be holed up in this small place.

But he himself was barely holding on, so why worry so much about others?

In the middle of the night, there were still wolves howling, but unfortunately, those wolves didn't dare to come near. They could only howl toward this place from the distant mountains.

Who knows how many wolves had been killed here; they could smell the scent of their own kind, the scent of death. For them, this place had almost become a forbidden zone.

Wolves also have intuition; since this place is dangerous, they shouldn't come here.

Liu Shanmin was a little worried at first; after hearing the wolf howls, he sat up in his bedding, gripping the stick tightly.

The firewood pile hadn't gone out, but the flames were no longer large; Liu Shanmin thought for a moment and threw in two pieces of firewood.

The fire dimmed for a moment and then slowly rose again. Liu Shanmin turned his head, wanting to hear the movement inside the wooden house, but found that there was no movement at all inside.

He didn't know if Li Long was big-hearted and felt the wolves were no issue, or if he was sleeping too soundly to hear them.

Subsequently, Liu Shanmin heard the wolf howls only in the distance and not coming closer, so he slowly set his mind at ease, placed the stick by his bedding, and lay down.

When he woke up again, he felt a slight chill on his face; when he opened his eyes, the sky was already bright.

There was a sound by the wooden house; Li Long was already up and preparing breakfast.

Liu Shanmin smiled, stretched his body, climbed up, tidied up his bedding simply, and prepared to go over to help.

Li Long was cooking porridge, and there was freshly gathered wild celery on the counter outside. He had a good harvest yesterday and was in a good mood, so he planned to stir-fry a hot dish for breakfast.

The habit back at his eldest brother's house was that a meal didn't count as a meal without a hot dish. Without a staple food, it didn't count as a meal either. Or rather, if the pot wasn't lit, it didn't count as having a meal. No matter how troublesome or busy, or how difficult life was, one had to make a hot dish in the morning. This is different from the habits in many places, including many parts of Northern Xinjiang, where some people are used to a bowl of hot tea, steamed buns, or flatbread, with just a bowl of pickles.

But at his eldest brother's house, it wouldn't be like that. There must be a hot dish.

Having been away for more than a year, Li Long sometimes just made do, but when he was in a good mood, he still wanted to be more formal.

Liu Shanmin didn't know how to stir-fry this wild celery, so he went over to help cook the porridge; Li Long put oil in the pot, poured in the vegetables, stir-fried, added seasonings, and his movements were very fast.

It was a bit chilly outside, but neither of them cared much, and they ate breakfast outside. As the sun just rose, a touch of golden sunlight shone on them, which felt quite nice.

"Boss Li, you're living quite a good life, leisurely and with money." Liu Shanmin suddenly said while eating.

"Heh heh, that's your opinion." Li Long waved his hand, "In my view, this hellish life only needs to be lived for a month or so a year. I just got married this year, not even a month yet; come to think of it, I came into the mountains before my honeymoon was even over, and I have to find time to go back if I want to be intimate with my wife. If it weren't to earn more money and prepare for a life of lying flat in the future, I wouldn't stay here at all."

Liu Shanmin didn't expect that the life he saw as a paradise on earth would be so unbearable to Li Long.

But thinking about it, it makes sense; if he himself had run into the mountains during his honeymoon, he would have complaints too.

But this guy is quite honest.

After eating and cleaning up, Li Long took out the fritillary to dry as usual, hung up the air-dried meat that wasn't completely dry, and also took out the bedding to sun. Liu Shanmin was still a bit weak, so Li Long said to him:

"I'm going out for a stroll. I won't go far; if any drifters come to exchange fritillary, just have them stay. If the forestry team comes, just say you're my friend; they won't make things difficult for you."

After speaking, Li Long took his gun and loaded bullets into it.

"Then you have to be careful. I always feel like someone is watching you."

"Don't worry, I'm someone who values my life very much." Li Long loaded the bullets into the gun, chambered a round, engaged the safety, slung his bag, and walked south.

He wasn't entirely going hunting; for one, he wanted to see if he could run into that two-headed deer, and secondly, he wanted to see the spot where the tall, thin man Tang Hongsheng said things were washing out, and thirdly, he wanted to clear his mind. Just waiting in front of the wooden house felt too idle.

Liu Shanmin didn't expect Li Long to really just leave like that; the small wooden house door was locked, but the large wooden house door wasn't. Did he trust him that much?

Li Long felt that when he went back, he had to go to the department store to see if there were any of those backpacks; the current satchel couldn't hold enough things.

His direction of movement was mainly toward the hot springs, but because the place Tang Hongsheng mentioned wasn't far from the hot spring valley, Li Long planned to go there first; regardless of whether he found anything, he would go to the hot spring valley to take a look afterward.

If he could run into prey, that would naturally be best; if not, he would go to the place where he previously saw the two-headed deer to wander around.

When Li Long entered the jungle, he turned his head to look at the wooden house and found that Liu Shanmin had already walked out of the shed and had also brought out the bedding he had covered himself with, preparing to sun it.

Not bad, he knew how to improve his quality of life a bit, which showed he wasn't a stubborn person.

When Li Long entered the forest, Lin Xiao Hu and He Yi Ku had also arrived at the last point on the map.

The previous three points had all been exposed, either washed out by heavy water or dug up by others.

Although they found some good things near the treasure points, there was still a big gap from their expectations.

Whether they could truly achieve their goal depended on this last point.

Actually, that last point was basically determined after the rain, when they ran into Tang Hongsheng, but in order to scoop up more, the two of them searched well in the two locations where Tang Hongsheng had been.

Tang Hongsheng running to Li Long's place also allowed him to escape a disaster; Lin Xiao Hu didn't want to have a conflict with Li Long right now.

It wasn't the right time yet.

In his words to He Yi Ku, it was about distinguishing between primary and secondary contradictions. The primary contradiction now was to find all the things, and not to cause trouble; if the commotion was too big, they wouldn't have time to find those things they wanted.

He Yi Ku didn't dwell on it either, but silently added another mark against Li Long in his heart. He felt that that tall, thin man must have sold some things to Li Long, otherwise he wouldn't have hidden at Li Long's place.

Hmph, when the time comes, I'll get it all back twofold! (End of chapter)