Chapter 606: Accounts That Cannot Be Calculated, Lives That Cannot Be Envied

Li Long held a piece of naan in one hand and a meaty bone in the other, having casually found a wooden stump to sit on as he took large bites.

"Appetites these days are truly excellent," he mused inwardly; forty years from now, eating just a little would make his stomach feel full and unable to take more.

One really must protect one's teeth; the old man had lived past eighty with a full set, yet by the time Li Long reached sixty, hardly any of his own teeth remained.

"I can't compare, I can't compare."

Just as his thoughts were wandering, Sana arrived, leading her grandson Talihar by the hand.

Both held pieces of naan; Talihar dragged over a log and sat beside Li Long, who hurriedly greeted Sana, recalling that this elderly woman was the one who had initially claimed the cabinet and the chest for herself.

Li Long guessed she had come to discuss the furniture again.

Indeed, Sana spoke a string of words, and once she finished, Talihar translated for her:

"Li Long, my grandmother asks if it is true that you said more furniture will be brought later; also, can we specify what kind of furniture we want, and how much will these items cost?"

"My grandmother says she wants to prepare in advance and can trade items from our home; we still have some things gathered from the mountains, including deer antlers, jade stones, and that... natural gold..."

Li Long was momentarily stunned, then hastily waved his hands:

"No need, no need, that much isn't necessary."

After steadying his emotions, he answered each question in turn:

"At the woodwork factory I visited, I already brought back all the furniture featuring your Kazakh ethnic characteristics; however, if you need more, I can place custom orders with them, and I believe they will continue producing such items."

"That is why I hope you can state clearly what you need; write down a list so I can negotiate with them properly."

"As for the price of the furniture, it really isn't much; one piece of furniture costs roughly the same as one sheep, not expensive at all; those valuable items you found in the mountains are better kept as collections, for their value will only increase over time."

While Li Long spoke, his audience extended beyond just Talihar and Sana, as other interested people gathered around; even Harimu's wife stood on the periphery, eager to hear how Li Long would arrange the furniture distribution.

Talihar translated Li Long's words to his grandmother Sana, who nodded repeatedly before speaking another string of words.

Talihar's translation allowed everyone else to hear as well, and they immediately began considering what kind of furniture their own households needed.

In truth, if the cost really wasn't high, which of these elderly women wouldn't want to replace all the furniture in their homes? With new furniture available, who would still wish to use those chests with peeling paint, corners gnawed off by rats, and infested with worms inside?

It was true that these items had been passed down from older generations and were correct to keep as mementos, but in terms of practicality, they fell far short of this new furniture.

Soon, everyone began voicing their requests one after another.

At this moment, Brother Brother Yushanjiang spoke up:

"Do not rush; everyone is eating, and after the meal there will be a period of rest during which you can slowly tell Li Long what you need; if you speak now, how can Li Long possibly remember everything?"

"Alright, let us eat first; while eating, do not think about other matters; with such large pieces of meat before you, if you still have the mind to think of other things, that would truly be a strange occurrence!"

Once Brother Brother Yushanjiang finished speaking, everyone laughed and dispersed; Li Long had originally intended to set down his naan and meat to find paper and pen to take notes, but seeing the crowd scatter, he simply smiled and continued eating.

Talihar did not leave; instead, he went to the small table, picked up a piece of onion, handed it to Li Long, and took one for himself, saying as he ate:

"Li Long, do you know that I envy you? You can obtain all sorts of things we desire, and even bring bullets; everyone in our tribe, adults and children alike, likes you very much, and they all hope to see you often..."

Li Long felt embarrassed and shook his head, saying:

"Actually, you are very impressive yourself; killing seventeen wild mountain goats in one go is a feat that I doubt anyone, whether in the past or the future, could ever match; you will certainly become a very skilled herder and hunter in the future."

As he spoke, Li Long popped the onion into his mouth, transferred the naan from his left hand to hold it together with the bone, then reached into his satchel with his left hand to pull out a packet of bullets and handed it over:

"Take this; there are many wolves lately, and this will be useful to you."

Talihar accepted the bullets and earnestly expressed his gratitude.

"Tell me, will we be able to leave Dashan in the future and live in the outside world?" Talihar suddenly asked.

"Of course you can," Li Long replied, thinking of the settled livestock-raising project proposed and implemented by the authorities in later generations, during which all herders from the mountains were relocated, allotted land, and enabled to grow fodder and grain.

After all, the grasslands within the mountains were fragmented and unsuitable for large-scale cattle and sheep breeding; moreover, the migration of herders within the mountains made management difficult.

The settlement point of the livestock team was merely a pilot project; eventually, everyone would move out completely.

"If we truly leave the mountains, what will we be able to do?" Talihar felt quite conflicted; living in the mountains made them curious about the outside world, especially with someone like Li Long existing, making these young people feel that the outside must be wonderful.

The fact that he could continuously bring new things indicated that the world of Mian De Shi Da Jie must be splendid.

They had visited the livestock team before, but that place was very small to them and did not equate to the outside world.

Therefore, they wished to go see the broader outside world.

But if they went outside, without cattle and sheep, how could they survive?

The young people had already begun pondering such questions.

Thus, they felt very conflicted.

"If you go outside, you can farm or work as laborers," Li Long said:

"Actually, I think what you most long for is this kind of life: taking specialty products from the mountains, such as deer antlers or cattle and sheep, to exchange for supplies from outside, running back and forth between the mountains and the outer world."

Talihar took a bite of naan and pondered.

Yes, that must be it; not leaving the mountains behind, having the tribe as a backing, yet still being able to go to the world of Mian De Shi Da Jie, understand the situation outside, and bring back what they needed.

Indeed, Li Long was truly remarkable, hitting the mark of his thoughts instantly, even articulating feelings he himself had not fully clarified.

After the meal, during the rest period, Li Long took out paper and pen to record everyone's requests.

Sana had the most demands, as she was the one who managed the household; thus, not only did she receive the chest and cabinet this time, but she also requested a long kang table, another chest, and a small square table.

These were for the main room; her family's winter pasture site also had an empty house, for which she wanted a large cabinet, a larger square table, several small stools, and so on.

According to her idea, she intended to replace all the furniture in her home.

While recording, Li Long felt somewhat surprised; this elderly woman truly possessed great resolve.

Sana also stated what her family could offer as payment: the fat sheep brought this time would be given free of charge, and subsequently, Talihar would deliver a pair of deer antlers, a pair of roe deer antlers, two pieces of jade, and a piece of natural gold that was not very large.

When mentioning this piece of gold, Talihar felt somewhat embarrassed, noting that the gold was only about the size of a child's fist and had some holes in it.

Upon hearing this, Li Long hastily waved his hands:

"No need, no need, there is no need for the gold; those sheep, plus the deer and roe deer antlers, are sufficient; there is no need to bring anything else..."

Talihar did not agree, so Li Long told him to go and explain this to Sana.

Talihar whispered that he dared not go speak to her, as his grandmother would beat him.

Li Long was speechless.

He dragged Talihar over to Sana and had Talihar translate:

"Grandma Sana, that piece of gold is very valuable, and it will become even more valuable in the future, so it's best if you keep it. When Talihar gets married someday, it will be of great use then.

The furniture you mentioned, these sheep, plus a pair of antlers will be enough..."

Sana didn't know what Li Long was about to say; seeing that Talihar dared not translate after Li Long finished speaking, she called out to Brother Yushanjiang.

Brother Yushanjiang came over.

Li Long explained his meaning to Brother Yushanjiang, who smiled. He then translated it for Sana.

Upon hearing this, Sana spoke with great vigor, gesturing wildly as she talked, and finally clapped her palms together with a slap.

Brother Yushanjiang said to Li Long:

"Sana says, then let it be these sheep, plus the antlers, plus a smaller piece of gold. The matter is settled. Well, the old lady has her own thoughts, so just accept it."

Did Li Long not want the money?

He wanted it very much!

But holding this money, he felt it burning his hands.

Is this gold easy to find?

Definitely not.

Sana must be fifty or sixty years old. She has likely been in the mountains since childhood; how many pieces of gold could she have found?

There might be slightly more antlers, but if this dog-head gold were truly so easy to find, then there would indeed be a major mine in these mountains.

For so many years, only during the Qing Dynasty was placer gold mined upstream of the Manas River; afterward, there was none.

These pieces of dog-head gold were most likely produced upstream from the gold mines of that era. They will only become scarcer and increasingly valuable in the future.

That is why Li Long wanted them to keep it; if they ever move down 【from the mountains】 in the future, it will be of great use then.

He couldn't persuade them otherwise.

Then, if any changes occur in the future, he would simply act as their backing.

Actually, Li Long himself knew that he and the people of this small Kazakh tribe were already bound together; although not quite family, the difference was negligible.

In the coming days, several households would need some furniture, but basically just one or two large items each, which today's grass-fattened sheep could cover.

To every person, Li Long had to emphasize that the furniture was not expensive and required no additional money or extra items.

After tallying everything up, the total was seven small square tables, four long kang tables (I posted about these in the egg-gathering chapter), four chests, five cabinets, and five larger square tables.

Li Long estimated on his own that the cost of all these items combined was less than five hundred yuan.

However, with so many items, shouldn't that be enough for the woodwork factory to restart operations?

Recalling the furnishings in these households, Li Long had a sudden inspiration and asked loudly again:

"Do you want wool blankets or hanging tapestries?"

"!."

He remembered that the Department Store in Wucheng sold ethnic hanging tapestries and wool blankets. Neither Ma County nor Shicheng had them.

This was mainly because the minority population in these two places was relatively small. If one were in Southern Xinjiang, in the hometown of Yusupu and the others, even a small county town should sell hanging tapestries.

Actually, the moment Li Long asked, he regretted it a little; weren't most of the women in these herder families capable of felting and weaving blankets?

Sure enough, after Li Long asked, they laughed.

When the women of each household had free time at the pasture, they would join forces to weave blankets. The wool from each family's sheep was primarily used for this purpose.

After eating and resting for a while, they continued slaughtering sheep and skinning wolves.

Several wolves were quickly skinned and processed cleanly by Harimu and the others. The wolf skins and meat were all placed in the bed of the tractor.

Part of the wood shavings was unloaded and piled beside the winter shelter, presumably prepared for kindling. The rest still needed to serve as bedding; then the wolf skins and sheep skins would be laid underneath, upon which the sheep carcasses would be placed later.

The carcasses of fifty sheep were numerous. Without using ropes, they simply wouldn't fit.

Harimu and Brother Yushanjiang both told Li Long:

"You need to come back tomorrow to haul away these offal."

"It's hard to store them at night," Li Long thought for a moment, looking worried. "There are so many wolves at night..."

"You don't need to worry about that," Brother Yushanjiang looked around and said. "Once we're done shortly, a few young men will take their guns and escort the elders to our family's winter shelter.

The others will stay here with their guns. The offal will be sealed in the snow, tray by tray. As for tonight, we who are armed will lie in ambush here. Harimu and I suspect that those wolves will definitely come over tonight, so..."

Brother Yushanjiang didn't continue, but Li Long understood.

They were preparing to ambush the wolves.

That's good; these wolves are truly too rampant, and their arrogance must be severely crushed!

"With the bullets you brought, dealing with the wolves is definitely no problem for us."

With guns and bullets, Harimu could even shoot down a tiger; how could he possibly fear wolves?

Last time, not having a gun and being chased by wolves had made him feel humiliated; this time, he was determined to exact revenge.

Although Li Long wished to participate in the night wolf ambush, helplessly, he had to haul these sheep carcasses back.

After all, completing the mission came first.

"Then take this money and distribute it among everyone later." This time, Li Long wanted twenty fattened sheep; he had seen that each carcass weighed over twenty kilograms.

This year the water and grass were good, so these fattened sheep ate well and grew fat, different from those culled sheep.

Li Long calculated at one yuan fifty per kilogram, making each sheep worth thirty yuan; deducting the over one hundred yuan for the furniture, Li Long gave Harimu fourteen hundred yuan.

"No, no, no." Seeing Li Long pull out such a large bundle of money, Harimu waved his hand directly. "We can't use this much. For those who got furniture, the cost of the furniture must be deducted."

Li Long thought that was fine too; he took back four hundred yuan and left one thousand yuan for Harimu:

"Distribute this. The remainder is for the furniture; I'll give you the furniture list, and you can calculate it for them."

Harimu looked at Brother Yushanjiang, and Brother Yushanjiang smiled and said:

"Then just take it and distribute it among everyone. Tell them this is the money Li Long calculated for the sheep at market price."

Li Long calculated at one yuan fifty; strictly speaking, he wouldn't make much, but the herdsmen didn't want the offal, so Li Long took it to sell at the Old Street Market in Shicheng, where the profit came from.

Then there were the hides, which were another source of income.

But what he didn't know was that the Animal Husbandry Team bought sheep from the herdsmen much cheaper, calculating live sheep at seven mao per kilogram. In other words, the Animal Husbandry Team paid about twenty yuan per sheep, while Li Long calculated at thirty yuan.

Of course, the Animal Husbandry Team also provided other things to the herdsmen, but the herdsmen didn't calculate it that way; Li Long provided more things, and more scarce ones.

Medicine, salt, cube sugar, and the like were never given with any expectation of return.

It was just that the Kazakhs disliked taking things from others for free, so every time Li Long brought supplies, they would repay him with things from the mountains.

This feeling was different.

Li Long didn't overthink it either; once the money was given out, he felt at ease. For now, he just wanted to complete the sheep task, so that after returning he could sell the sheep offal together with the fish.

Of course, if anyone in the team needed them, the sheep offal could be sold directly within the team. A little cheaper, just earning enough for the tractor's fuel money would suffice.

As for the hides, he would ask Chen Hongjun later whether he would buy them; if not, he would go sell them to the leather factory.

The county leather factory was still quite prosperous at this time, buying all kinds of hides, even the skins of dead dogs.

Li Long still vaguely remembered that in another two years, in his previous life, when Li Qiang realized the importance of pocket money, he had once teamed up with a group of children, taking folding blunt knives from their homes, preparing to skin a dead dog in the canal south of the residential point.

That dog had likely been poisoned by eating a dead rat; it hadn't started to smell yet, but skinning it was far beyond the capability of children like Li Qiang.

In the end, the matter ended in failure, after all, that pair of scissors couldn't even cut through the dog skin.

After the incident spread, Li Long was mocked for quite some time.

Seeing he couldn't help, Li Long went and pulled a horse tail hair, folded it in half, rubbed it, and used it to clean his ears.

At this time, ear picks were rarely seen; when ears itched, there were usually two methods to clean them. Either pull out a matchstick to dig, or directly pluck a hair from a woman or girl in the family, fold it in half, then rub it, leaving a hole at the folded part of the hair, then insert it into the ear and rub.

This would rub out the earwax inside the ear.

Of course, more often than not, matches were used, after all, plucking hair right then and there was quite painful.

In the afternoon, when the sun was still two pole-lengths high, the slaughter and processing of fifty-three sheep were completed, and the young men who still had energy began helping Li Long load the vehicle.

Loading fifty-three sheep onto the tractor's cargo bed was somewhat difficult.

Fortunately, Ha Li Mu and Brother Brother Yushanjiang had made preparations. They drew seven or eight wooden poles, as thick as a calf's leg, from beside the winter camp, laid them flat across the cargo bed, then placed the sheep carcasses on them one by one, and secured them with ropes.

Li Long instructed them to put the three extra sheep inside the cargo bed; these sheep were to be kept for his own family.

As for the money for the three extra sheep, Li Long didn't calculate it, and neither did the others.

It was impossible to calculate clearly.

After tying up the sheep, Ha Li Mu and the others bid farewell to Li Long; Ha Li Mu's wife hastily scooped a few more pieces of mutton from the pot, packed them in an enamel basin, covered it with another enamel basin, tied it with a Mao Jin, and stuffed it into Li Long's hands.

Li Long didn't feel it appropriate to ask whether this was for him to eat on the road or to take home for his family.

After putting everything in order, Li Long slung his rifle over his back, bid farewell to everyone one by one, then started the tractor and drove away with a put-put-put sound.

Hauling over a ton of goods, the tractor obviously felt somewhat strained. Fortunately, the road had been cleared; the chimney emitted black smoke as it chugged put-put-put toward the outside of the mountains.

The sound of the engine echoed through the mountains; when turning, Li Long glanced toward the winter camp and saw they had already started a bonfire, while some people, armed with guns, escorted the elderly deeper into the mountains.

Clearly, they had begun making preparations.

Li Long felt a bit envious, but he knew he had his own matters to attend to.

As he was about to exit the mountains, he heard wolf howls again; Li Long thought, "Howl to your heart's content; you won't be able to howl much longer." (End of Chapter)