Chapter 612: Not idle at home, burning sheep heads (One chapter today because of something)

Actually, Maxian wasn't a specialty area for skins, and the acquisition station here basically collected skins in bits and pieces.

The sheep skins of the herdsmen in the South Mountains were mainly handed over to the pastoral team to sell to the leather factory. This was also why Ha Ha Li Mu and the others slaughtered the sheep, handed the mutton, sheep heads, and sheep hooves to Li Long, but uniquely kept the sheep skins.

It was because the pastoral team also had task requirements for skins.

Being able to collect such a large batch of skins, and wolf skins at that, was naturally very happy. They had been collecting rabbit skins non-stop earlier, which had annoyed these acquisition staff.

Although the demand for rabbit skins was also large, they weren't as profitable as wolf skins and fox skins.

Li Long went back and brought back all the other wolf skins except for that wolf king skin.

He planned to tan that wolf king skin himself and then make a wolf skin mattress for his father and mother.

After selling these two batches of skins, he got more than a thousand yuan in his hands.

This trip to the mountains to collect sheep didn't earn much from the mutton, but he earned quite a bit from the wolf skins and wolf meat.

Selling the remaining wolf meat, plus the sheep offal, was over two thousand, which was quite good.

After selling the wolf skins, Li Long asked Chen Hongjun a question. The acquisition staff hadn't expected Li Long to know Old Chen, saying he had gone to the prefecture for a meeting.

Li Long thought that this Chen Hongjun probably wouldn't be back for a while, so there was no need to worry about that much.

Returning to the large courtyard, after putting the money away, Li Long went to clean out an idle side room, preparing to burn sheep heads here.

Some sheep heads had to be sold, but they also had to keep some for their own family to eat.

He went to move a stove over and set it up in the side room. This side room hadn't been lived in for a long time, and the stove hadn't been burned before. Although a flue was left, he didn't know how much ash was inside.

Li Long cleaned the flue before setting up the stove. In this cold weather, it would return smoke for a while after burning, so he came out of the side room, opened the room door wide, and let the smoke dissipate.

Stoves were generally set up in early winter. At that time, it wasn't very cold outside, and the smoke from the stove would dissipate upward.

Setting up a stove when the weather was hot, the smoke wouldn't easily dissipate upward at first and would smoke in the room.

He had to wait until the stove was burning vigorously before the smoke would go up. Of course, the prerequisite was to ensure the chimney was unobstructed.

After setting up the stove, Li Long went out again; he had to buy some things.

Currently, he needed a new hard-cover notebook, a better pencil, and a blowtorch. There was gasoline at home, so there was no need to buy it.

Riding a bicycle to go around, after buying the things and bringing them back, Li Long regretted it immediately. If he had known, he would have driven the Jeep. Riding a bicycle was cold!

Mainly, his face was cold.

He was careless.

When he came back, he found the large courtyard door was open, and Sister Yang and Han Fang had already returned.

Seeing Li Long bought things, Han Fang hurried over to help. Li Long let her move the blowtorch down and put it in the room where the stove was set up and the door was open.

"Uncle, what are you setting up a stove in that room for? Is anyone living there?" Sister Yang was a bit puzzled and asked from the kitchen.

"No, I plan to burn sheep heads and burn sheep hooves; it's not convenient in other rooms." Li Long explained.

Fine, Sister Yang thought to herself, this is what it means to be willful when you have houses. If it were other families, they would just set up a stove outside to burn them. It would only take half a day; how cold could it get?

But thinking about it, Li Long wasn't wrong either. Out of these dozens of rooms, how many were actually used? Many were idle, so using them was fine. Who let it be so cold outside?

After Han Fang finished, she went to the room to do her homework. Li Long put the notebook in the main room, took the blowtorch himself, and went to add gasoline.

Many people who used a blowtorch for the first time were quite cautious. Li Long didn't need to be; he had used it many times. Later, he directly took a gas tank with a spray head to burn. Listening to the sound and looking at the fire was quite scary, but actually, if operated well, it was very safe.

Adding gasoline and increasing the pressure, Li Long brought five sheep heads and a pile of sheep hooves, didn't count them carefully, and placed them on the ground outside.

Han Fang leaned her head at the door and watched.

Li Long took a reed to light the fire in the stove, then lit the blowtorch and started burning those sheep heads and sheep hooves.

The courtyard was immediately filled with a burnt smell.

There was no wind, and this smell could stay in the courtyard for a long time.

Li Long didn't care about that much either. At this time, who was so delicate—oh, he didn't know if Gu Xiaoxia would be averse to this smell after she became pregnant?

He thought about it and shouted:

"Little Fang!"

Han Fang immediately ran out of the room.

"Uncle, what's the matter?"

"Go open the large gate and dissipate the smell; otherwise, your Aunt Gu might feel uncomfortable when she comes back later."

"Hey, Uncle, you're really good to my Aunt Gu!" Han Fang evaluated the relationship between men and women at this time as just good or not good, unlike the later generations of elementary school students, where they were all in pairs, and there were many requirements.

Han Fang opened the large gate, and a cold wind blew in, and the burnt smell inside immediately dissipated quite a bit.

Li Long felt at ease burning the sheep heads, and from time to time, he had to adjust the direction of the sheep heads and sheep hooves.

"Uncle, those sheep heads are all burnt black, how can they be eaten?" Han Fang saw this way of burning sheep heads for the first time, didn't quite understand, looked at the sheep heads that had been burnt black and fuzzy, and felt a bit worried.

She thought Li Long had ruined them.

"It's fine, scrape them a bit later, and those sheep heads will be fine." Li Long continued burning, burned for a while more, stopped, and went to set a pot on the newly set-up stove, filling it with water.

He would need hot water to clean them later when scraping the sheep heads here.

Anyway, it was a troublesome job.

Burning sheep heads couldn't be done well at once. After burning, scrape off the burnt hair and skin, see where there were still unburnt parts, and then continue.

Doing this two or three times, when they were burnt enough, then scrape and wash.

If it were a pig head, he would also have to take an iron hook to burn the inside of the nostrils clean, and then go wash it.

Eating meat wasn't easy at this time, so everyone would be relatively careful when burning. Like Li Long, burning them so roughly and completely ignoring burning off a few more layers of edible skin, ordinary families wouldn't do it.

When Li Long was cleaning, Gu Xiaoxia and Gu Bo Yuan entered the courtyard one after another.

"Why is the large gate open? Did guests come?" Gu Bo Yuan asked as soon as he entered the courtyard.

"My uncle is burning sheep heads," Han Fang ran out to explain, "He said the smell of burning sheep heads would smoke my aunt, so he opened the large gate."

"Hey, quite thoughtful." Gu Bo Yuan smiled, walked over with his hands behind his back to watch Li Long burn the sheep heads.

Actually, they were already burnt, and were soaking in a large basin. Li Long was using a knife to scrape the burnt skin hard there.

Li Long had great strength, but cleaning sheep heads wasn't something that could be solved just by having great strength. For some fine parts, he had to have a lot of patience.

After scraping the sheep heads, he had to put them in a pot to boil. It wasn't boiling them until cooked at once, but after they were cooked, he had to pry off the lower jaw to clean the tongue and the stuff in the mouth.

Some people finished washing when they reached this part, and the rest was directly boiled until cooked, and then cleaned when eating.

Li Long wouldn't do that. There was a piece of cartilage in the sheep's nose; many people liked to eat this, but the inside of all animals' noses was quite dirty, and this also had to be cleaned well. There was also the inside of the ears—well, people who picked ears should be clear.

Li Long was washing and brushing here, and over there Sister Yang was already calling to eat.

Gu Xiaoxia really didn't like this smell, so she simply didn't enter the room where Li Long was washing the sheep heads.

Before eating, Li Long added some coal to the stove, planning to boil a batch in the pot after eating and getting the sheep heads and sheep hooves ready.

After eating, Gu Xiaoxia went to work, and Li Long continued to clean up these sheep heads and sheep hooves. By the time everything was cleaned up and put in the pot to boil, the sun was already close to the horizon.

Five sheep heads with twenty sheep hooves couldn't be boiled in one pot, so he put them in a large basket on the side to store first.

Li Long felt quite a sense of achievement, but if he were to burn them again, he definitely wouldn't do it again.

To use a local saying, he was exhausted and didn't want to do it anymore.

When eating at night, Gu Bo Yuan went to look at the sheep heads and sheep hooves Li Long had finished again, and he praised:

"Not bad, cleaned very well. I'll take one back later, and when I have time, I'll take it to drink with wine."

"Alright, one sheep head paired with four hooves, see if you plan to eat it cold-mixed or stir-fry it spicy." Li Long found a basin, scooped up the sheep heads and sheep hooves, put them in, and placed them on the side, convenient for Gu Bo Yuan to take when he left.

Gu Bo Yuan was very satisfied with Li Long's attitude.

"Gu Xiaoxia and I plan to go back to the team tomorrow, are you going back?" Li Long asked. "Not going back for now, I plan to work for another week, and then go back to spend the New Year in the team." Gu Bo Yuan said.

"Alright, going back tomorrow, Gu Xiaoxia and I will clean up that courtyard of yours." Li Long said.

"Hey, alright." Gu Bo Yuan suddenly felt that with this son-in-law, his own days, or rather, his quality of life, was really improving day by day.

Li Long also told Sister Yang that tomorrow noon, and possibly the afternoon, she didn't need to cook for him and Gu Xiaoxia.

Sister Yang knew Li Long and Gu Xiaoxia were going to the team, nodded, and agreed.

Li Long planned to take back two sheep heads with paired hooves, which could be considered filial piety to his father and mother with his own craftsmanship. As for the remaining ones, he planned to haul them all back and let his father and older brother clean them slowly.

His older brother had more patience than him, and there were probably people in the team who liked to tinker with this stuff.

Getting up the next day, Li Long set up the stove in the glass room, picked quite a few small green vegetables, and also picked some celery, putting them in a bag to avoid freezing.

Then he put the sheep heads and sheep hooves packed yesterday into the Jeep, separating the cooked and raw ones. Anyway, the trunk was big and easy to pack.

After Li Long finished getting things ready and had breakfast, he drove with Gu Xiaoxia toward the team.

=9+Shu_ba

Along the way, they met quite a few people coming toward the county seat. This road north from the county seat led to three communes, which were now three townships. Now, people from forty or fifty villages in the three townships would mostly find time to rush to the county seat before the New Year.

Either to sell some things to save some money for the New Year, or they already had money and planned to get some New Year goods.

When Li Long's Jeep drove over, whether it was horse carts, donkey carts, tractors, or sleds, they all retreated to the side of the road one after another.

This made Li Long feel a bit embarrassed.

When the Jeep was about to reach the Li family's large courtyard, Li Qiang and a few children of similar age were playing with old cows on the road. Seeing the Jeep, they immediately shouted loudly:

"My uncle is back, I'm not playing anymore, I'm going home!"

After saying this, he waved at the Jeep, turned his head and ran toward the large courtyard, ran two steps and then turned back, picked up his old cow on the ground, and continued running.

The children all retreated to both sides, waiting for the Jeep to pass.

After the Jeep passed, they chased after it happily. Li Long didn't dare to drive fast, afraid of hurting the children.

When the Jeep drove to the Li family's courtyard, Liang Yuemei and Du Chunfang had already come out, and Li Juan and Li Qiang had arrived at the large gate long ago.

Li Long and Gu Xiaoxia got off the Jeep, and Liang Yuemei hurriedly let Gu Xiaoxia enter the room. At this time, Gu Xiaoxia was already a bit showing, and her movements appeared slightly slow. Du Chunfang was happy looking at it.

Li Long took down the boiled sheep heads and sheep hooves, and while carrying them to the kitchen, asked:

"Where are my father and my older brother?"

"Went to Little Haizi, there's a lot of fish these two days, they go quite often." Du Chunfang said, "Went early in the morning."

Quite diligent, huh.

After Li Long put the sheep heads and sheep hooves away, he moved the uncleaned sheep heads and sheep hooves down and sent them to the idle room.

Du Chunfang hadn't expected there would be so many, and asked:

"What are you doing with so many of these?"

"Slaughtered sheep in the mountains a few days ago for the Shicheng sugar factory, this is what's left. If our family can eat them, we'll eat them; if we can't finish them, we'll go to Shicheng to sell them in a couple of days."

"Selling them is good, selling them is good, how could we finish eating all these." Although Du Chunfang didn't hold the money in her hands, she felt that the more money the family earned, the better.

After clearing the Jeep, Li Long saw Gu Xiaoxia chatting with Liang Yuemei and asked:

"Xiaoxia, do you want to go to Little Haizi and watch them fish?"

"What is she going there for? It's quite cold." Liang Yuemei didn't want Gu Xiaoxia to go over.

"I want to go see, I've been in the county seat all along, and haven't been to the team to walk around properly for a long time." Gu Xiaoxia said with a smile, "Sister-in-law, it's fine, I'm wearing thick clothes, just let me go..."

Fine, someone who was about to be a mother started acting like a spoiled child, and Liang Yuemei couldn't stop her. Who let her take care of this little brother-in-law's wife like a daughter back then?

"Go, go, come back to eat later. Little Long, you watch out, don't let Gu Xiaoxia fall, the ice is slippery, and don't let snow get into her shoes..."

More long-winded than Du Chunfang, Du Chunfang didn't say a word, just watched and smiled.

This family is so happy!

Li Long wrapped the scarf for Gu Xiaoxia, let her put on her gloves, then found the sled at home, tied the rope, and prepared to pull her to Little Haizi.

Li Juan and Li Qiang saw they also wanted to go. Liang Yuemei had no choice, waved her hand, all go. She had to find a way to cook.

The sheep heads Li Long brought back were good ingredients, so that was it.

The Li family had more than one sled; Li Jianguo and the others had taken one to fish, and while Li Long hadn't used his for a long time, it was still quite clean.

Spreading two layers of gunny sacks, one adult and two children sat on it, and Li Long pulled it toward Little Haizi.

Less than a kilometer of road, all pressed solid snow, pulling the sled wasn't laborious at all.

When the sled was pulled to the north dam of Little Haizi, Gu Xiaoxia, Li Juan, and Li Qiang all got off. This slope was a bit high, not easy to pull up.

Li Long pulled the empty sled to the top of the dam. Looking down, he saw people in twos and threes fishing at seven different spots.

Father and older brother were still over at the southeast side. The closest to them were three people: Tao Dayong, Tao Daqiang, and a young man.

Li Long vaguely remembered this was Yang Yong, Yang Pingping's younger brother.

Closest to the north dam were the three Liang brothers. To Li Long's surprise, the three brothers had opened three ice holes, and judging by the edges of the holes, they had caught quite a few fish.

Li Long helped Gu Xiaoxia down the slope, and then pulled the sled forward. Gu Xiaoxia went to greet the three Liang brothers. The three brothers were all a bit reserved.

Clearly, Gu Xiaoxia had become a national cadre, and hadn't appeared in the team much during this period, so everyone no longer connected her with the yellow-haired girl from before.

Regardless of temperament, speech, or status, it was all different from before.

Gu Xiaoxia also knew it was like this. After greeting, she walked toward Li Jianguo and the others.

On the ice, the two children Li Juan and Li Qiang were shouting there, and the happiest were them.

After all, looking at so many fish caught, who wouldn't be excited?

Gu Xiaoxia was still very polite, actively greeting those close by, shouting to those slightly further away, and not saying anything to those further away, which wasn't necessary.

Keep a certain distance, keep a certain affinity.

Not paying attention at all, people would say you don't recognize people after gaining power, and would scold you. Being too close to the people wasn't good either, people would feel you have no status.

Fine, it's also quite troublesome.

"Father, older brother, not bad today." Li Long looked at the ice hole, five or six carp, grass carp, and five-striped black fish, and smiled.

"It's alright." Li Jianguo smiled at Gu Xiaoxia, then said, "These few days are all alright. It's too cold, the ice is thick, the fish can't breathe, so they come here. Why did you bring Gu Xiaoxia over, it's so cold on this ice ground..."

"I just came over to see what the excitement was about," Gu Xiao Xiao said with a smile. "I haven't really seen much of this ice-hole fishing..."

Fine, since Gu Xiaoxia had spoken, Li Jianguo couldn't scold Li Long again, just letting them look and go back as soon as possible.

Li Jianguo and the others still had to catch fish here for two or three hours, Gu Xiaoxia definitely couldn't stay here for so long.

When Li Long and the others went back, they incidentally brought those fish back. After returning, Li Long let Gu Xiaoxia stay at the older brother's house, and he went to Gu Bo Yuan's courtyard to clear snow.

Since he was someone's son-in-law, he really had to fulfill half a son's obligation.

Fortunately, he had great strength, and after making a commotion, young people in the village came to help, and soon cleared the snow in the courtyard.

The stove in the room hadn't been set up for many days, so Li Long also got some firewood and charcoal to set up the stove to smoke the flue. The stove hadn't been set up in the room for a long time, and the dampness was very heavy. He planned to set up a stove of fire before going back at night.

Tell Tao Daqiang later to come over every day to set up a stove of fire, so the dampness in the room would be baked away in two or three days.

Tao Daqiang's house was closer, convenient.

Every aspect had to be considered; otherwise, if Gu Bo Yuan, this half-old man, came back, the room would be damp, and it would be strange if he didn't get sick after living for a few days.

After all, his body wasn't as good as these people like Li Jianguo.

After getting this done, Li Long looked at the room again, it was tidy, and no dust had fallen, so he didn't sweep again, came out, locked the door, and returned to the large courtyard.

By the time he reached the large courtyard, they were planning to eat dinner here.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 613 =====