Chapter 485

After coming out of the purchasing station, Li Long returned to the compound to start the tractor, preparing to go buy things.

Li Long estimated himself that for the next period of the fritillaria season, most of those digging for fritillaria would have exchanging for money as their main goal.

The nearly two thousand yuan he had on him could be exchanged for six hundred kilograms of fresh fritillaria, or in other words, nearly one hundred kilograms of dried fritillaria.

In the area currently within his own sphere of influence in the Southern Mountains, he could receive an average of over one hundred kilograms of fritillaria per day, and the money could last for about five days—he still needed to buy some supplies to take up there.

The timing was about right; after five days, the number of carrying poles would also be around five hundred or more.

While calculating, he drove the tractor to the department store. The daily supplies needed here were mainly salt, sugar, sesame cakes, and other dry rations. There were still a few pairs of rubber shoes left at the wooden cabin, so there was no need to purchase them for now. Li Long bought five razors, not knowing if he would be able to sell them by then.

However, it didn't matter; if they couldn't be sold, he would take them to Little Bai Yang Gully. Big Brother and the others would definitely be able to use them. Labor cloth clothes weren't needed either; these fritillaria diggers had almost all changed their clothes, and those who hadn't were extremely frugal and didn't need to change.

At the department store, Li Long specifically bought a black handbag, inside which he packed matches, a lighter, a bag of salt, a bag of cube sugar, one kilogram of sesame cakes, and a small knife. He intended to give these things to Liu Shanmin; after all, this person staying in the wooden cabin for these two days could be considered to have helped him quite a bit. He also stuffed ten yuan into the bag, considering it a personal favor.

After buying these things, Li Long went to the market and bought a few bags of rice flour and corn flour. He vaguely remembered that a drifter had specifically told him that there was no need to provide so much rice and white flour; everyone had come from poverty, and they came here to find money, not to enjoy themselves. Corn flour was just fine.

Alright, satisfy their wishes.

Eggs also needed to be bought; he had to eat better himself. Seeing that there were leeks, green onions, and garlic for sale, Li Long also bought some. Then he went to the food company's distillery to buy some bulk liquor. Bottled liquor was out of the question; there was still some left at the wooden cabin, so he would take it to Sun Jia Qiang; the rest probably no one would think of drinking.

Originally, Li Long also wanted to talk to Li Xiangqian about the matter of raising the carrying poles, but Li Xiangqian was not at the supply and marketing cooperative, so this matter was dropped.

He went to the oil depot, first filled the tractor with fuel, then bought two twenty-five-liter jugs of diesel, and drove toward the mountains.

This time, because Liu Shanmin was leaving, Li Long didn't stay long. Fortunately, he planned to go down the mountain again in two days, so he wouldn't meet with Gu Xiaoxia. She should know that he had gone back once when she saw that roe deer.

The tractor was still chugging along the road quickly, and Li Long's mood calmed down. He still felt a little regret about Liu Shanmin's departure, but it was also within his expectations. The person had things to do, and it was obvious that he was not an ordinary person, so he definitely couldn't be kept. Being able to stay here for a few days could already be considered a good deed.

On the stretch of road past the Qingshui River heading into the mountains, Li Long saw two people walking forward at the red willow forest. After hearing the sound of the tractor, they quickly hid behind the red willows.

Li Long guessed that these two people might be fritillaria diggers, not knowing if they had just entered the mountains or were returning after selling fritillaria. He didn't care, and his speed didn't decrease, chugging forward.

By the time he arrived at the wooden cabin, the sun had already shifted to the west.

Liu Shanmin was drying those fritillaria in front of the wooden cabin. The bedding he slept on was spread out on the grass.

"Back? You ran this trip quickly." Liu Shanmin said with a smile.

"Nothing major, just sent the fritillaria down and bought some things." Li Long said casually, "Have you eaten lunch?"

"Not yet. No appetite."

"Nonsense." Li Long didn't believe his words at all, "I'm hungry, wait until I put the things down, I'll cook."

Liu Shanmin also knew that his own cooking wasn't good, so he smiled and said:

"I'll move the things, you go cook."

Li Long didn't answer; grain and such things were still quite heavy, and he didn't intend to exploit Liu Shanmin, this slightly injured person.

He took the black handbag down from the tractor bucket and handed it over:

"Here, this is prepared for you. Helping me for a few days, I can't let you work for nothing."

"This..." Liu Shanmin was a bit embarrassed; he felt that if he did this, he would owe Li Long even more.

"Just take it quickly, don't be so womanly." Li Long shoved the black bag into Liu Shanmin's arms and went to unload the things.

After unloading the things, Li Long stuffed a few pieces of coal into the stove in the room, then sat down to boil water, preparing to steam rice. In the stove outside, hot water was burning, and Li Long cleared out one of the pots, preparing to stir-fry dishes.

He had already thought about the dishes; the newly bought leeks and eggs could be stir-fried together, and now he would go to the grass to find some straw mushrooms and stir-fry a mushroom and meat dish; two dishes would be enough.

Li Long first picked the leeks, went to the spring to wash them, and cut them for later use. He didn't beat the eggs for now; he ran a circle in the nearby grass and picked about half a kilogram of fresh, small mushrooms that had just opened their caps.

Straw mushrooms are different from the reed mushrooms near the Fourth Team. Reed mushrooms don't open their caps when they are fresh underground; once they open their caps, they feel aged, which is like round mushrooms. Straw mushrooms are born with open caps; if insects eat them, it means they are mature and aged.

He rinsed the wild mushrooms at the spring, took them to the cutting board without cutting them, tore them into small pieces, and set them aside on a plate, then went to the small wooden cabin to get meat.

The water in the room boiled, Li Long put the rice into the pot and said to Liu Shanmin, who wanted to help:

"Keep an eye on it, skim the soup out when the water boils again."

He would still do the stir-frying himself; he was worried that Liu Shanmin would put in too much salt and ruin the dish.

By the time the meal was made, it was only twenty or thirty minutes; besides drinking rice soup, Li Long was also in the mood to make a salty soup.

When Liu Shanmin was eating, he said:

"Actually, I really admire you, living so well by yourself. I've seen some people who, when living alone, seem to want to cook less and less, just muddling through and eating whatever."

"Filling your own stomach, with so much time, not cooking well is being irresponsible to yourself." Li Long thought to himself, if there were smartphones here, internet signals, or even television signals all day long, would you see me doing this?

When eating lunch, there would usually be people coming to sell fritillaria. Like Wu Benzhong, who hadn't come for a long time, this time he came carrying one bag and holding another of fritillaria; Li Long was even doubting whether he was specifically coming to take advantage of the situation every time. Must he wait until lunch to come?

Fortunately, Li Long was accustomed to making a little more, and just like treating Li Zhengting and the others the day before, since there was food, he would invite them for a meal.

Wu Benzhong was also embarrassed to eat for free and explicitly said to let Li Long count one kilogram less of fritillaria money. This time he brought nearly thirty kilograms of fritillaria, and he didn't know how it was dug out.

Li Long was even thinking whether this guy had stolen someone else's fritillaria. After all, this speed was also a bit exaggerated.

However, Li Long wouldn't ask about the source of the fritillaria. He weighed it for Wu Benzhong after he finished eating. This time Wu Benzhong wanted money for twenty-five kilograms, which was seventy-five yuan, and wanted some rice flour, a pair of shoes, and three liters of bulk liquor.

Li Long gave it all to him. After watching him leave, Liu Shanmin went to wash his own bowl and chopsticks, tidied up the pots and such, and after folding the bedding that was being dried and putting it together, he said to Li Long:

"Boss Li, I plan to leave now."

"Alright then." Li Long was a bit surprised, but thinking about it, this was normal; half a day earlier or later actually made no difference to him, but Liu Shanmin being so urgent must have a reason.

Watching Liu Shanmin leave the wooden cabin carrying his bag and stick, walking toward the southwest, Li Long sat in front of the wooden cabin, watching him disappear into the forest until he stood up and began to wash those fritillaria.

Liu Shanmin hadn't stayed here for more than a week; for Li Long, he was just an unexpected passerby. Living alone was his normal state, so there were no feelings of gain or loss or any other emotions.

After washing the fritillaria clean and putting them out to dry, Li Long took an axe and went to the forest in front to cut wood. He intended to cut the eight pieces of wood for the tractor frame today. Then he would build the frame tomorrow.

Even if it wasn't used now, it would be needed when the team pulled wheat later.

A piece of wood fifteen centimeters in diameter and three meters long; Li Long quickly found his target in the forest. Without a chainsaw, fortunately, he had strength. Aiming at the target, he began to cut, and soon a tree was cut down. Removing the branches, Li Long held the axe in one hand and dragged the tree with the other toward the wooden cabin.

He didn't intend to finish cutting all at once; this work had to be done slowly. Anyway, there was plenty of time.

Dragging the tree to the wooden cabin, Li Long put it down, measured the length, and then cut off the top.

The cut-off piece wasn't wasted either; Li Long threw it on the east side of the shed for later use. Even if it wasn't used for anything, cutting it into small pieces and drying it as firewood was no problem.

When cutting the third piece of wood, two people came to sell fritillaria. When they arrived at the wooden cabin and didn't see anyone, just as they were puzzled, Li Long shouted from the south.

After those two people saw Li Long, they calmed down instead, and then the two watched Li Long dragging a piece of wood toward this side; they discussed it, put down their bags, and came to help.

Li Long didn't refuse their help; after dragging the wood to the wooden cabin, he began to weigh the fritillaria. These two people had been here before, but Li Long hadn't asked for their names, and they wouldn't say. One was a little over sixteen kilograms, and one was a little over fifteen kilograms; Li Long rounded them up a bit to make a whole number, and both were quite happy.

They both wanted money for fifteen kilograms, and the rest was exchanged for things.

After taking the money and things and leaving quickly, Li Long sighed; let's wash the fritillaria first.

Starting these few days, the fritillaria was obviously dirtier than before, but Li Long didn't lower the price. He had already earned a lot of money, so there was no need for that. He poured the fritillaria into a large basin and went to the spring to wash them; just as he was washing, another person came to sell fritillaria.

Li Long asked while weighing it:

"Usually you don't come morning and evening? Why come in the afternoon? Doesn't it delay digging fritillaria?"

"Sigh, it's all forced." That person sighed, "Those with the forestry team guard the gully mouth in the morning and evening. They have also learned to be cunning, driving the horses into the forest to hide, waiting in the morning and evening, and blocking us. The fritillaria dug for a day is confiscated; this is our hard work for a day or two! We just changed the time to come, coming in the morning or afternoon; although the digging time is less, we lose less."

Alright, this can also be considered a battle of wits and courage.

Li Long thought that Wu Benzhong might have chosen the best time, at noon, when those forestry teams also had to eat; catching this time point could maximize the chance of avoiding forest patrols.

After weighing it for him, he continued to wash the fritillaria.

As a result, he only cut three pieces of wood today; until night, people kept coming to sell fritillaria. He received over two hundred kilograms this day, which could be considered breaking a record.

!.

The result was that nearly one-third of the money was gone, one-fourth of the things were gone, but the wood wasn't cut enough.

Little Bai Yang Gully wasn't reached either; let's go tomorrow morning.

Collecting the dried fritillaria late at night and putting them into the small room, Li Long now regretted not leaving a few carrying poles here to dry fritillaria. Over two hundred kilograms, spread on the wooden floor in front of the room, spread in a thick layer, this way it wouldn't dry in a short time.

Collecting it was also quite troublesome, but earning money, where is there no hardship?

At night, there were still wolf howls here, but there were no roe deer and no Liu Shanmin outside now, so there was no need to worry.

I don't know where Liu Shanmin has run to now.

Then Li Long fell asleep in a daze.

The next morning, Li Long was woken up by Bolati knocking on the door.

Li Long opened the door draped in clothes, saw Bolati carrying two full bags of fritillaria, and said excitedly to him:

"Exchange for money, all these for money!"

Alright, Li Long knew that this was again some unlucky person who had been confiscated.

The two bags of fritillaria should have been piled together from several bags; the degree of cleanliness was different, which could be clearly seen when poured out. The total weight was forty-three kilograms, and Li Long gave one hundred and thirty yuan.

"Haha, you get busy, I'm leaving." Bolati even left Li Long two freshly baked naans, and then got on his horse and left.

Holding the still-warm naans, Li Long felt it was not bad; wasn't breakfast there?

After breakfast, Li Long drove the tractor to Little Bai Yang Gully; he really brought two boxes of razors.

Little Bai Yang Gully was already floating with smoke early in the morning. Some people hadn't finished using the strips cut yesterday, so after eating in the morning, they directly started a fire to roast the strips and weave carrying poles.

Seeing Li Long come, they just greeted him simply.

Li Long gave one razor to Big Brother Li Jianguo and one to Xie Yun Dong. At this time, there were not so many requirements; it was very normal for several people to share a razor, at most wash it after use.

"This thing is good!" Xie Yun Dong used it first without hesitation, "I didn't feel it at home, but after coming here, my beard feels like it's growing every day, and now it's this long!" He gestured.

Li Long looked and smiled; actually, it wasn't long, just a little over a centimeter, but for Han men, growing a beard at this age was truly unimaginable.

At least at this time it was. Except for those showing off their personality.

Li Jianguo's side was also using it, which led to everyone not just watching the fun; after Jia Weidong shouted "Old Xie, I'm second," they lined up one after another.

And to avoid the order being snatched, they didn't weave carrying poles either, just stood next to Li Jianguo and Xie Yun Dong waiting.

Li Long smiled, a bit regretting not bringing a few more. He felt that crowding wasn't a way, so he called those who were further back in line to check the carrying poles woven yesterday first.

There were fewer and fewer unqualified ones; after checking everything, only one unqualified one was found today, or rather, barely unqualified.

The person found out wasn't embarrassed either, reworking it according to Li Long's requirements, but it was a matter of ten minutes.

After shaving, two people shaved a bit too quickly and bled. Despite this, everyone was very happy, touching their chins from time to time, feeling different.

"Xiao Long, bring the clippers next time you come; our hair is long too, it's time to cut it." Xie Yun Dong took the opportunity to make a request to Li Long.

"Alright, I'll bring it to you in two days."

This wasn't a major matter, so Li Long agreed directly.

Sun Jia Qiang went to dig fritillaria and wasn't there. Li Long didn't wait for him either, took a few carrying poles and put them on the tractor, chatted with Li Jianguo for a few sentences, and then drove away.

People here lived happier than him, so he wouldn't disturb them.

When the tractor drove back to the wooden cabin, Li Long had just stopped when someone rushed out from the west side of the wooden cabin, which startled him, and he subconsciously aimed his gun at the other party.

"Don't, don't, don't! Don't shoot, don't shoot!" That person didn't expect Li Long to react so quickly, immediately raising his hands:

"I'm just here to sell fritillaria..."

Li Long looked and seemed to have some impression, and he cursed:

"People scaring people can scare them to death, do you know? Can't you come out normally? Why run?"

"There's a snake! A poisonous snake!" That person was also very aggrieved, "I saw you weren't here, so I wanted to wait for you to come back, and I was afraid of running into forest patrols, so I hid by the side of this house; who knew there was a poisonous snake there..."

There's a poisonous snake?

Li Long was also startled; there were poisonous snakes right by the house he lived in, wouldn't that be very troublesome?

He immediately found a stick and let that person point it out to him.

On the west side of the wooden cabin, there was indeed a small gray-white snake coiled there. Li Long estimated that this snake was at most twenty or thirty centimeters long, but the head looked quite scary, triangular, and the body was relatively thin, like a thumb.

"It's it, this is a poisonous snake, it can bite people to death!"

Watching the two people come over, the poisonous snake was still eager to try, wanting to poke its head out to attack.

Li Long wouldn't give it a chance to attack; he hit it with a stick, the snake darted to the side, Li Long had already expected it, the stick also changed direction, hitting the snake.

The snake skin was quite tough, and it didn't die with one hit; Li Long hit it a few more times, the snake head was smashed flat, and he felt it couldn't live again before he was relieved.

It seems he has to be careful from now on, and he has to remind the people at Little Bai Yang Gully to avoid being bitten.

Should he bring some snake medicine back next time he goes back?

This person brought over eight kilograms of fritillaria; after Li Long weighed it and gave the money, this person left in a hurry. After Li Long washed the fritillaria, he went to continue cutting wood.

By the afternoon, he finally cut enough wood, and also received over one hundred kilograms of fritillaria.

The things in the big mountains are really rich; Li Long felt that if this continued, he could earn several thousand yuan this fritillaria season! (End of chapter)