Chapter 542

The next day, Li Long drove the tractor into the mountains to help Halimu and the others haul grass. There were winter shelters the tractor couldn't reach, so they hauled the grass to where it could, and the rest was hauled by horses to pile up at the winter shelters.

Over the next few days, Li Long hauled grass in the morning, and when he returned in the afternoon, he hauled a cart of brooms from Qingshuihe back to the courtyard.

Once the large brooms were finished being collected, and the forage grass had been hauled for two more days, it was considered finished.

On the day they finished, Li Long wanted to return to the county, but Halimu and the others wouldn't let him.

"Tomorrow we are also going back to the summer pasture; this afternoon, we must eat well and drink well." Halimu said very solemnly to Li Long:

"Yesterday, we started hunting, but the wild things now are very clever; from yesterday to today, we only caught one deer and one wild goat.

Actually, we also encountered wild boars, but you know we don't eat those, so we didn't hunt them. Today, we'll eat roast meat, drink a little wine, and celebrate; tomorrow, we'll go to the summer pasture, and tomorrow, you don't need to come over."

Li Long nodded. Calling it a celebration, he actually seemed to have seen this routine before.

Someone dug out a trench; Li Long could tell this was in preparation for roasting meat. Someone set up charcoal fire, and racks were placed on the side; could it be that they were preparing to roast a whole deer?

There were naturally large pots, and wine bottles were also brought out; there was only one glass cup, which could be used after washing it by the stream.

The wine was the loose liquor Li Long had brought over before, in plastic containers with a three-liter capacity; if divided among a dozen people, it was about three or four taels per person.

The deer had already been skinned and cleaned; now it was time to carve the meat, with some for roasting and some for boiling.

In this day and age, the variety of food was limited, unlike later generations where a restaurant in Yili could come up with eight ways to eat a sheep.

Li Long wanted to participate, but seeing everyone had tasks, he ran to the riverside to whittle red willow branches. Meat roasted on these skewers really had a fragrant scent; of course, it wasn't old branches used hundreds of times, but freshly cut ones.

Everyone was chatting and laughing, very lively, especially at the roasting area; the trench was dug, charcoal fire placed inside, both sides piled high and packed down, red willow meat skewers placed on top, and seasonings sprinkled on—a scent drifted with the wind, choking the nose and tempting the stomach.

In short, one word: delicious.

The young men had actually been eating plenty of meat these days. Hunting before was only to protect the sheep flocks, as they weren't professional hunters. But now, they were almost being developed; the first thing they thought of when encountering prey was that they could hunt it down and eat meat.

There was improvement, but as for those wild beasts deep in the Tianshan Mountains, it was hard to say.

Both venison and wild goat meat were being roasted; anyway, for these wild animals, adding more seasoning when roasting suppressed the gamey smell.

Of course, the point was to express feelings; the descent from the mountain was originally expected to take over a month, who knew it would end in less than half a month.

Although it seemed like a tiger's head and a snake's tail, everyone actually knew clearly that Li Long's harvester and tractor had played a major role.

Some young men were even thinking about whether to buy such a machine.

It was simply too convenient!

The roast meat was ready first; although the boiling pot was rolling, the meat wasn't done yet, so everyone took meat skewers, one cup of wine per person, and drank in turns.

Li Long stated beforehand that because he had to drive, he would drink at most one cup.

Everyone agreed with this point, knowing safety comes first, so they didn't urge him to drink.

The white liquor was very spicy, but it was great for enhancing feelings and making it easy for people to communicate. The young men spoke one after another about their feelings and thoughts.

What they caught this time was a large stag; the deer skin, deer penis, and deer antlers were customarily Li Long's, and he wasn't modest about it.

Receiving a red willow meat skewer from Talihaer's hand, the kid stuffed two more into Li Long's hand; this was out of gratitude.

Originally, he thought he would have to spend a solid month cutting grass, and that large scythe was really uncomfortable to use.

But this was a necessary skill and experience for every herdsman after growing up.

No one expected Li Long to drive the tractor with the harvester, chugging along, and in a few moments, the grass he needed a month to cut was gone.

Watching the grass on a mountainside all fall in one morning, that feeling was truly too satisfying!

Even if Talihaer's luck exploded and he got a dozen wild goats to repay Li Long, he still felt he needed to thank Li Long.

Hunting could always be done as long as one was in the mountains, but cutting grass really required cutting it bit by bit; if you missed a bit, a slope wouldn't be considered finished.

It was different.

Taking a bite of meat, it was quite hot; the fat mixed with the juices and the flavor of the spices exploded in the mouth—very fragrant, very tender, very delicious.

This must be venison, Li Long tasted and felt.

In later generations, three skewers of such meat would be enough to be full. Right now, his appetite was surprisingly large; after finishing three skewers, he could eat three more, and when the boiled meat was ready later, he could gnaw on two bones. Some young men were making Narin; Li Long wasn't quite used to eating like that, after all, eating with his hands always felt a bit uncomfortable, so he gnawed on bones, finally drank a bowl of soup, and paired it with some dry naan—full.

A habit cultivated since childhood; if you don't eat some staple food, it doesn't seem like a meal.

Even if it's just eating a small piece of naan, it's fine.

Full and satisfied, he then watched the others being lively. Although these people had been eating quite well these past few days, they basically had two meals, worked, and occasionally added a meal at night, not very often.

In this day and age, people weren't very used to eating three meals a day, Li Long excepted.

Once the wine was opened, there were those singing, those dancing, chatting and laughing—it was indeed quite lively.

Halimu and the others kept at it until past five in the afternoon before slowly dispersing.

Some swayed as they mounted their horses, bending over in the saddle, letting the horses recognize the way and carry them.

Li Long was a bit worried and asked Halimu; Halimu smiled and said:

"Don't worry, the horses will take them to the winter shelters. By the time they sway to the winter shelters, they'll be awake, sleep for a night, and they'll be fine tomorrow."

Alright, although Li Long was a bit worried, since Halimu said so, it should be fine.

Anyway, these people all carried guns, so it should be no problem.

Li Long drove the tractor to the wooden house, where some things were still drying. Some things caught sporadically these days, such as yellow sheep horns, roe deer penises, etc., were all kept here, along with today's deer antlers and deer skin; he had to take them back together.

He might not come for a very long time after this.

As Li Long was tidying up, the sound of horse hooves came from outside, along with the sound of someone calling him.

Li Long came out of the small room and saw Bolati riding a horse, and a bag on his horse's back.

"Hello Bolati, are you still patrolling the forest? Thank you for your hard work." Li Long walked over and said.

"Patrolling every day," Bolati complained, "Now the leaves are yellow and dry, afraid of fire, so I have to go around every day; today I collected a bag of this, see if you want it. If not, I'll turn it in, and I reckon it'll just be thrown away if turned in."

He dismounted, took the bag of things off the horse's back, came to Li Long, and opened it.

Li Long was somewhat surprised; inside were sun-dried Codonopsis pilosula.

The size was very large and thick; although it was a bit shriveled from being sun-dried, it was also a good thing.

"This is Codonopsis, it's a medicinal herb." Li Long said, "I want it."

"Is it as valuable as fritillaria?"

"Not really."

"Then for this bag, give me twenty yuan; do you have any wine?"

"Let me see..." Li Long went to the small room to look and found a bottle of Gucheng Daqu and handed it over:

"Only this wine left, do you want it?"

"Yes, yes, yes, this wine is good, better than loose liquor." Bolati was very happy.

"I'll give you thirty yuan; although this isn't as valuable as fritillaria, it's also a good thing."

"Good, good." Seeing Li Long take the initiative to raise the price, Bolati was even happier, "You are a good person, I know that handing things to you will be exchanged for good things!"

A bottle of wine was a good thing for them; Bolati already planned to hide this wine and drink it slowly by himself.

Counting out thirty yuan for Bolati, he happily took it, put it in his pocket, mounted his horse, and left.

Li Long lifted it; that bag of sun-dried Codonopsis must weigh over twenty kilograms. Last year, the price of dried Codonopsis per kilogram was eighteen; this year it would definitely rise a bit, reaching over twenty yuan.

Because these Codonopsis were dug in the wrong season, the price might be a bit lower.

It could sell for three or four hundred yuan.

Li Long packed everything in the small room, including this bag of Codonopsis, into the tractor bed, and then locked the door.

Now only a few pieces of air-dried meat were left in the small room, prepared in case he couldn't get meat for a while when he came next time, so he could replenish it.

The tractor chugged out of the mountains; some people and some beasts had gotten used to it, while some people and some beasts felt suddenly relieved.

At least they didn't have to worry anymore. Li Long's tractor stopped for a moment when it reached Qingshuihe Village; it had to stop, as the militia company commander Meng Hai blocked the middle of the road, holding a cage of honey in his hand.

The five-liter kind; why did Li Long find it so familiar?

"Comrade Li Long, put this in the car." Meng Hai waited for Li Long to stop the car, went to the tractor bed, put the honey in, and said:

"Last time I went to your house for a meal, you took the honey and even gave money; I was too embarrassed to say anything at the time. But to tell you the truth, that honey isn't worth five yuan.

I know you're a good person, but we country folk know what's what; take this home for the elders, wife, and children to eat—though very small children can't eat it. Come often in the future, and when you come to my house, I'll slaughter a goose for you to eat!"

After finishing, he stepped aside; Li Long was quite moved, waved at him, and drove the tractor away.

As the tractor chugged away, Meng Hai ran into He Yuqing on his way back.

"Did he accept it?"

"Accepted it."

"He's a good person, it's just that I don't know about next year..."

"Never mind next year, we'll talk about next year when it comes. At least this year, our villagers can have a good year."

"That's true, each family can earn at least ninety or a hundred, right?"

!.

"Pretty much, I earned over a hundred."

"Hehe, you're impressive. Alright, it seems this reed grass can still be made into something. Let's prepare in advance next year; the reeds are easy to talk about, but those poles still need to be prepared in advance."

"That's true. After the wheat harvest next year, I'll organize people to go up the mountain to get poles; no need to prepare them beforehand."

"That's the logic."

Li Long chugged the tractor back to the county courtyard, and after unloading the things, he began to equip the large brooms.

Four thousand had already been transported to the supply and marketing cooperative, and there were over a thousand left in the courtyard; transporting a few more cartloads would be about enough.

After transporting the large brooms in the afternoon, Li Long went to the finance department to settle the account, then packed a satchel full of money and hurried home.

Taking stock of the income.

The large brooms were four yuan each; originally, he planned to collect them at three yuan if there were poles in the team, and two-point-five if there were no poles. In fact, the poles he hauled back himself were also cut by herdsman friends, and they hadn't been used up yet.

The large brooms from Qingshuihe Township were basically collected at two-point-five; calculating this way, earning one-point-five per broom, these five thousand brooms meant seven thousand five hundred yuan.

But in reality, it wasn't that much.

The over one hundred brooms tied by Big Brother Li Jianguo were given at four yuan, plus the one hundred yuan acceptance fee for He Yuqing, as well as the brooms with handles tied by people in the village at the beginning, which went at three yuan.

So the actual money earned in the end was six thousand nine hundred and twenty yuan.

Knitting the handle-brooms earned less than three thousand, fritillaria earned a little over ten thousand, harvesting wheat earned over five thousand two hundred yuan, and now he had earned nearly seven thousand yuan.

The expenses weren't much; he had some spare money originally, and at that time, he bought two color TVs for nearly four thousand yuan.

Later, for buying the courtyard for Gu Bo Yuan, buying bicycles, and stocking goods, Li Long spent some money and didn't let Gu Xiaoxia pay. The money in her hands was in a fixed deposit at the time, just thinking of earning some interest.

Calculating this way, Li Long still had over twenty-five thousand yuan in his hands.

The number sounds like a lot, but in fact, it couldn't even buy the list price of a Tianjin Dafa.

After all, the list price was twenty-eight thousand.

Still have to continue working hard!

Fortunately, Li Long wasn't worried; anyway, even if he earned enough money right now, the Dafa car couldn't be delivered to Northern Xinjiang, as the large coastal cities had already snatched them all up.

Have to wait two or three years; by then, the same model Songhuajiang would also be out.

Of course, there was also the Xiali.

As for which one to choose by then, that's another story.

Li Long took a satchel of money and rode his bicycle to the bank, directly depositing ten thousand yuan in a one-year fixed deposit.

Anyway, it wouldn't be needed for a while, and when he hauled the large brooms over, Li Xiangqian had already stated clearly that the number of reed handles this year would definitely be even higher, telling him to prepare in advance.

This was telling him directly that the work of making reed handles was still his.

Why?

Because his photo with that deputy director of the autonomous region had already been enlarged by Wei Zhuren and hung in the office of the director of the supply and marketing cooperative.

Although it wasn't Wei Zhuren's own photo, it was also the honor of the supply and marketing cooperative. At the end of the year, Li Long could even be rated as an advanced individual.

With this photo, the supply and marketing cooperative would definitely be a green light all the way.

And the quality of those things Li Long produced was good; after being sent out, the feedback from customers was all good words, so why not do it?

So Li Long wouldn't be short of money later, so he just put it in a fixed deposit.

He was also vigilant, splitting the twenty-five thousand into three banks, opening two ten-thousand-yuan certificates of deposit and one five-thousand-yuan certificate. Depositing in only one bank had risks.

Who knew if someone would investigate?

The interest was also quite high; the interest on this ten thousand yuan for one year was not lower than a worker's annual salary.

After depositing the money, Li Long went to the department store to carry a case of small champagne and bought a case of beer to ride home.

Fortunately, the 28-inch bicycle was sturdy enough, and the kraft paper box was thick enough, so it arrived safely at the courtyard.

There was meat and vegetables at home, so he didn't go out to buy any, planning to cook a few dishes well in the evening to celebrate.

He wouldn't need to run out for a while, and he was prepared to be a homebody for a while.

Tao Daqiang's child was about to be born, and seeing that Gu Xiaoxia's belly still had no movement, didn't they need to work together?

Gu Xiaoxia was also quite happy when she came back from work in the afternoon; recently, she had been busy checking the school opening preparations for various schools, and it was finally coming to an end. Some schools had already started smoothly, so their work would be a bit easier.

Four dishes were placed on the dining table, two bottles of small champagne, and two bottles of beer.

"Is today a holiday? So sumptuous!" Gu Xiaoxia asked with some good intentions, "Are you not busy?"

"Not busy anymore. Look, most of the large brooms in the courtyard have already been sent to the supply and marketing cooperative." Li Long said while untying his apron.

He was cooking dishes on time; Gu Xiaoxia had just arrived home, and the last tomato and egg drop soup had just come out of the pot.

There were still dozens of large brooms left in the courtyard; these were extras. The supply and marketing side wouldn't collect many this year, so Li Long planned to send them out as consolation gifts when the time came. Send a few to the police station, a few to the acquisition station, a few to the education bureau, and then haul a cart to the animal husbandry team, distributing one to each family.

Gu Xiaoxia changed her clothes and washed her hands, sat at the dining table with Li Long, and watched Li Long open the bottles; she asked:

"Does that mean you'll be at home for the next period of time?"

"Yes, next I'll be holed up at home, acting as your safety backup." Li Long said with a smile, "You know, Tao Daqiang is about to be a father, so we have to work hard too."

Gu Xiaoxia worked and lived among women and had already been influenced, so she wasn't afraid; hearing Li Long say this, she complained half-truly and half-falsely:

"Then we have to work together; you run around from time to time, how can we work hard?"

"Alright, alright, next we'll work together; come, let's have a toast to our working together!"

Gu Xiaoxia laughed "puchi"; she also picked up her glass, clinked it with Li Long's, took a sip, then put it down, picked up a piece of meat, put it in her mouth, chewed, and after finishing, said:

"Hmm, it tastes quite good."

Experience Li Long learned from later generations: good is good, praise it well, don't use words like "it's okay," "average," "can do" that are easy to misunderstand; if you praise someone, praise them well.

Like Comrade Gu Xiaoxia, it's quite good!

Eating well, chatting well, and drinking to their heart's content; when it got dark, there wasn't much food left, six bottles of beer were drunk, three bottles of small champagne were drunk, and they went to the bathroom several times.

The two stood up, bumped into the bottles, clattering, which was also quite lively.

Chatting and laughing, they cleaned up the leftovers, and the two entered the room.

Watching TV was no longer considered an important matter; since they had already said they would work together to have children, they had to practice it, right?

So the two got into bed with great tacit understanding.

In summer, they wore few clothes, so starting was very simple, and both were very proactive; after all, they were married, legal, and didn't need to say much.

Don't know if it was because of the wine or because Li Long had been busy for a period of time before and wasn't intimate enough, but tonight they were exceptionally compatible, and both of their fighting strengths were extremely strong, tossing and turning until after midnight before falling into a deep sleep.

Li Long inexplicably felt that this time, maybe they really had it. (End of chapter)