Chapter 627: It's quite difficult to dig a sheep-washing pool (only one chapter today)

Li Long's idea was to unload the furniture, drink two bowls of milk tea, and then go out of the mountains back to the county. If time was abundant, he could pull another load of furniture into the mountains.

But he hadn't come for a long time, and it wasn't easy to come once, so Halimu's family didn't intend to let him leave so hurriedly at all.

Keeping Li Long here, Halimu's mother and wife cooked together. At noon, they made pilaf, which required a process. Li Long and Halimu took time to go out of the winter quarters, waded through the snow to see the location where they planned to divert water pipes in the spring, and when they returned, the fragrance of the pilaf was already drifting out from the door crack of the winter quarters.

The two children, Nasen and Sasken, could already do work for the family. When Li Long and Halimu waded through the snow and returned, they were cleaning the grass stalks that had been eaten bare in the sheep pen. They used wooden forks to pile the grass stalks together, then carried them out to throw them aside. After the pen was cleaned, they carried the grass bundles into the pen and spread them out for the cattle and sheep to eat.

They had to do this kind of work three or four times a day. The grass stalks cleared out piled higher and higher. When they were dried in the spring, they could be used as kindling.

Li Long and Halimu didn't enter the winter quarters. They took the wooden forks from Nasen and Sasken, finished the remaining work, and then put down the wooden forks.

"If the water pipes can be connected, the opening will be placed here." Halimu pointed to the side of the sheep pen with excitement, "It will be much more convenient to water the sheep then.

If the water is relatively large, I'm also thinking about digging a sheep-washing pool here. When driving the sheep to the summer pasture, see if we can wash the sheep first, and then it will be much more convenient to go to the summer pasture."

Li Long knew a little bit about sheep washing.

Sheep have a lot of hair, more and longer than cow hair, and are prone to parasites. If not handled, it will cause the sheep to get skin diseases, leading to all the wool falling off, and even skin ulceration and death.

So every early summer, people who raise sheep will drive the sheep to the sheep-washing pool to let the sheep "take a bath."

Actually, it's a long, narrow pool, with water in the middle, and medicine to kill parasites in the water, usually chlorophos. People driving the sheep drive the sheep to one end of the sheep-washing pool, and then drive the sheep into the water pool one by one.

The water pool must be twenty or thirty meters long, enough to soak the sheep's body thoroughly to kill the parasites. The other end of the sheep-washing pool is a sheep pen. The washed sheep stay there. After all the sheep are washed, the sheep owner drives the sheep away.

Usually, such sheep-washing pools were used publicly when it was a large collective. Later, after the household responsibility system, this sheep-washing pool continued to be used. It was located by the water channel, and whoever used it would release water, bringing their own medicine.

The Fourth Team had a sheep-washing pool, but because it was dug directly as a pit with rammed earth walls on both sides, it was a bit simple. After being used for a few years, it was slowly abandoned—no one repaired it.

Later, private individuals specifically repaired sheep-washing pools. Their shape reminded Li Long of the shape of the Western Zhou large tombs he had seen in books, but they were dug out earth pits, then paved with bricks and plastered with cement, and could be used for a long time.

This kind of sheep-washing pool could be rented out, charging a certain sheep-washing fee for each sheep washed. Li Long vaguely remembered that around the year 2000, the sheep-washing fee was 1.5 yuan per sheep.

How it was handled later, Li Long didn't know very well.

Halimu said with excitement:

"If we can dig a sheep-washing pool, our sheep won't have to be driven to the sheep-washing pool at the pastoral team's reserve point down the mountain to wash. Going back and forth takes a day, it's too troublesome."

"If it takes you a day, then those who live deeper in the mountains might take even longer, right?" Li Long sighed, "It's indeed quite troublesome."

"Yes, but what other way is there? Sheep must be washed, otherwise there are many bugs on them, and the sheep will die."

Those parasites not only suck sheep blood but also transmit diseases, which is indeed very troublesome.

Li Long thought and said:

"Digging is possible, but to be honest, the engineering volume is a bit large."

Halimu also knew that what Li Long said was the truth. A sheep-washing pool must be at least thirty or forty meters long from beginning to end, and at least sixty centimeters deep. This is not just digging an earth pit, but also ramming the bottom of the pit and building walls around it.

Even if it is near his pasture now, which can save the engineering volume of the sheep pen at the very back, even for a simple version, it is not something that the laborers in their small tribe can complete in a short time.

Besides, in early spring, their main time must be used for grazing. At that time, they must catch up the fat of the cattle and sheep as soon as possible—green grass is the best feed.

Halimu sighed, just think about this matter.

The pilaf was ready. Halimu's wife came out to call them to eat, and the topic about the sheep-washing pool ended here.

The pilaf had carrots, onions, and mainly lamb chops, with a lot of oil, which was very fragrant.

In his previous life, Li Long had never liked eating pilaf in restaurants outside. Of course, it might be that the few restaurants he went to didn't make it well.

In the street, pilaf is divided into vegetarian pilaf and meat pilaf. Vegetarian pilaf won't be mentioned; after all, most people still like to eat meat.

Meat pilaf needs to fry the meat bones first, fry them until fragrant, then add rice and other vegetables, and then steam the rice.

But some restaurants, in order to save time, and possibly for other things, make meat pilaf that has meat, but the rice doesn't have the fragrance of meat.

Normal pilaf uses meat soup to steam the rice after frying the meat, but individual restaurants boil meat as boiling meat, and steam rice as steaming rice. After steaming, they put a few pieces of meat on the pilaf—that kind of rice isn't fragrant.

So some people are fond of small-pot pilaf, because most of the steps of this small-pot pilaf are the same as the pilaf made at home.

The taste was very fragrant, and Li Long ate two large plates. Halimu and the others had the habit of eating pilaf, with two large plates of pilaf on the table. Before, they ate with their hands, but later, after getting to know Li Long, they slowly changed, putting a few iron spoons on the plate, each person having a plate or an enamel basin, and using a spoon to scoop rice into their own plate.

The two children ate fast. Although they occasionally aimed at the meat in the pilaf, when they really ate, they ate at most one or two pieces of meat, mainly eating rice, which was quite sensible.

After eating, they drank brick tea—this time it wasn't milk tea, but brick tea without milk. Because pilaf is very oily, drinking this tea can wash the oil in the mouth and throat down, which is very comfortable.

In some restaurants in later generations, rose tea is used, which tastes more fragrant, but Li Long felt that brick tea and pilaf are the best match.

After eating, they rested for another half an hour. Li Long got up to say goodbye to Halimu and the others, went out to shake the tractor, and amidst the waving of Halimu's family, drove out of the mountains with a "chug-chug" sound.

After cleaning up the things after the meal, Halimu's wife and mother looked at the furniture Li Long pulled over, and there was light in their eyes.

The furniture Li Long ordered for this side before was mainly small kang tables, which were for Nasen and Sasken to do homework.

Later, Halimu's wife also wanted other furniture.

At the moment, she was just envious of Talihaer's grandmother, Sana, for being so decisive and capable, directly replacing all the furniture in her house.

To be honest, there really isn't much furniture that can be placed in the winter quarters, but these pieces of furniture are what the sheep-herders have to use every day. Who doesn't like to use new, easy-to-use, sturdy cabinets and chests?

A new kang table is set up, and the mood will be much better when eating, right?

The two of them discussed the practicality of this furniture, the style of the patterns, and whether these patterns could be used on the wool blankets woven in their own homes in the future, etc.

Halimu didn't participate in this discussion. Seeing Nasen and Sasken grabbing knuckle bones on the wooden kang, he scolded them twice, telling them to hurry up and do their homework.

Having a new kang table and not doing homework well, in his view, was simply unforgivable.

Even he himself didn't have a piece of furniture for his own use. Li Long was too good to them.

Li Long drove the tractor "chug-chug" out of the mountains and went north along the road he came.

The snow in Northern Xinjiang in winter at this time, after falling, first turned into ice particles, with a layer of snow shell on top, and underneath it was all salt-like particles. After being pressed by the tractor on the road, the snow was pressed solid or pushed to both sides, and the ruts extended far to the Qingshuihe side.

Although the temperature was still very low, after eating, Li Long felt warm all over at this time. Wearing a cotton hat, although he was wearing an overcoat, he didn't button it, and he didn't feel that cold.

In early February, even the temperature on the edge of the mountains had risen from the original minus thirty-something degrees to minus twenty-something degrees. The daytime in the county town was occasionally minus ten-something degrees, which was much easier to bear.

With the rise in temperature, people in Qingshuihe Township were also more active outdoors, picking firewood, picking manure, etc.

There were also people visiting.

Passing by Qingshuihe Village, Li Long didn't see anyone he knew, so he didn't slow down, drove past the village "chug-chug," and headed toward the county.

When several people in the village who knew him heard the tractor sound and ran out, they found that the tractor had already driven far away.

When Li Long's tractor drove to the county, the sun hadn't set yet, so he simply drove to the furniture factory.

Qi Xinzhi wasn't there, and Factory Director He Changming was talking to the workers in the workshop. Seeing Li Long drive the tractor in, he came out and greeted him.

"Factory Director He, hello, I'm here to pull away the remaining furniture."

"Good, good, good, Old Qi told me. Wait a moment, I'll find someone to open the door." He Changming said with a smile, "How is it? Is the furniture made by our factory good?"

"Very good, my friends like them very much, and they might want more later." Li Long said with a smile, "Today, let's take away the furniture that has been made." "Good, good, good, as long as you order, we can make it here." He Changming said with a smile, "You can rest assured about the quality!"

He Changming called someone to open the door, and then called several young people to help Li Long put the furniture on the car, and also got a lot of wood shavings to pad under the furniture, and then tied the furniture with hemp rope.

Because the account had already been settled before, Li Long gave the factory a receipt to prove that the furniture had been completely received, and then greeted He Changming and drove the tractor toward the county.

When he returned to the large courtyard, it was almost dinner time. Li Long was a bit surprised to see Gu Bo Yuan.

"Uncle Gu, are you up today?" Li Long got off the tractor and greeted Gu Bo Yuan.

"Yes." Gu Bo Yuan wiped his face, "I have to come up, there are too many people looking for me to drink, and there are people from the third team and the second team. I'm afraid if this continues, I'll be drunk to death in the team, so I hurried up."

Gu Bo Yuan said seriously, and Li Long laughed when he heard it. He went to get a basin and drained the water in the tractor. While draining the water, he said:

"That's just right, I smell that Sister Yang should have cooked porridge, drink more porridge, and nourish the stomach."

"Hmm, I thought Xiaoxia had already finished work." Gu Bo Yuan hadn't entered the house all along and stood outside, thinking it was inconvenient, "I didn't expect it hasn't arrived yet today."

"It should be soon," Li Long looked at the sun and said.

He had a watch, but to be honest, he didn't really want to wear it, and occasionally took it off and forgot to put it on.

Sister Yang knew Li Long was back, came out of the kitchen to greet him, and then continued to cook.

However, half an hour later, Gu Xiaoxia finished work. It was indeed a bit later than usual today.

"The New Year is over, and there are many notices issued from above, and some documents need to be studied, and there is also some preparation for the school opening." Gu Xiaoxia returned and said to Li Long while changing clothes, "Originally, they wanted to send people to the countryside to see the situation of the schools, but because of my physical condition, they didn't let me go."

Li Long nodded, this should be the case, right?

After breakfast the next day, Li Long drove the tractor toward the mountains again.

What surprised Li Long was that when he arrived at Halimu's winter quarters, quite a few people had already gathered there. There were also many horses tied at the horse shed.

Seeing Li Long's tractor drive over, many people cheered and then rushed over to follow on both sides of the tractor.

Li Long slowed down the tractor, drove to the front of the winter quarters, turned off the engine, and got off.

Yushanjiang was also there. After he and Li Long greeted each other, he said:

"Knowing that you pulled all the furniture here, everyone is very happy."

"Good young man!" Talihaer's grandmother, Sana, patted Li Long hard, full of smiles.

Although her furniture had already been obtained, she still wanted to come over and take a look. It was like a party here.

Li Long couldn't understand her words, but he could understand her meaning, smiled, and responded.

He also saw Talihaer, this young man who was originally very confident and flamboyant, looking a bit silent today.

Li Long wanted to ask about the detailed situation of that big brown bear, but it was obviously not the time now. Some people had already boarded the tractor trailer and started to unload the furniture.

And Halimu also opened the door of another room in the winter quarters, greeting the young men to move the other furniture out.

These pieces of furniture were put together, and they really looked very beautiful.

Li Long and Halimu stood at the door of the winter quarters, watching the herdsmen picking their own furniture.

They didn't quarrel, the elders first, the young later, the elderly took what belonged to them first. Everyone remembered what furniture they had registered and what had been made. Some were interested in the furniture registered by others that had been made, and just went to ask.

Very quickly, everyone got their furniture, and the matter didn't end there. Instead, everyone chatted more enthusiastically, talking about the benefits of this furniture: sturdy, good-looking.

And they also talked about how to use this furniture. The old furniture at home wouldn't be thrown away, but would be used for other purposes.

Although Li Long didn't understand much, he could feel this love for life.

"Talihaer, come, come, come, look at how good and sturdy this table is... don't hang your head, look, come and look..." Old lady Sana called Talihaer over, letting him look at the furniture in other people's homes.

Li Long guessed that Talihaer's grandmother called him over to let him relax and open up.

"I can already imagine the appearance of dried fruits, sour milk lumps, and cream on this long kang table," another woman in her fifties said with a loud laugh, "This table is really sturdy, it looks good, really good!"

Everyone's voice wasn't small, sounding quite hearty. Although the weather was still a bit cold, Li Long felt that the enthusiasm of these people for life was really heartwarming.

Music suddenly came out of the winter quarters. Although it wasn't traditional Kazakh music, some people had already started to dance, and some people didn't know where they got the Dombra and started playing.

The sound of the Dombra was a bit monotonous, but in this monotonous music, someone immediately started to dance, the Black Horse, this dance posture, even Li Long, a layman, recognized it immediately.

Halimu and Yushanjiang were watching from the side, and Li Long was in the middle of them. Halimu's wife and mother also couldn't help but enter the circle of dancing and danced together.

The one playing the Dombra was a man in his thirties. Seeing this situation, he played even more vigorously.

Seeing Li Long watching seriously, Yushanjiang touched him with his arm, signaling him to follow his own arm movements and learn the dance movements.

Li Long had seen many such videos in later generations, and he felt that this movement was still quite simple.

But when he really started to swing, he found that his arms were really stiff, and it was difficult to swing smoothly with the rhythm of the music—even if he could swing, the movements weren't in place.

Sure enough, it still needed practice.

This small dance party that started spontaneously didn't last long. After the herdsmen got the furniture, they couldn't wait to rush home to use it. They tied the furniture on the horse's back, said goodbye to each other, and rode their horses toward the mountains.

Li Long originally thought about keeping Talihaer to chat about the big brown bear, but seeing that although Talihaer became slightly more cheerful because of this small gathering, he still hadn't recovered, so he dismissed this idea.

Better wait until laying the water pipes to ask again. I think Talihaer should have recovered by then.

The last one to leave was Yushanjiang. He also told Li Long about the big brown bear, and also said that he had seen a few deer recently, just because they ran too fast, he didn't hit them. If Li Long had the idea of hunting, he could tell Li Long where they were.

"If you want to hunt, you must call us." Yushanjiang warned Li Long, "It's not safe in the mountains. Brown bears, gray wolves, and other animals that are woken up will become even more fierce when it's almost spring. If one person hunts, it's very dangerous."

Li Long nodded to show he understood. He also told Yushanjiang that he currently had no idea of hunting, and after going out of the mountains this time, the next time he came might be when the snow melted.

Hunting used to be a main way for him to make a living and earn money, but now he had more ways, so hunting became a pastime and hobby.

Of course, if he encountered it with a gun, he would definitely still hunt, such as that big brown bear, he really wanted to ask about the specific situation.

Even if he couldn't hit it, at least he would know the specific details.

It would also be good for his activities in the mountains in the future.

This time, some people registered some furniture, which was an increase, not as much as the last time. Li Long estimated it, and it added up to less than a tractor trailer.

And they didn't need it urgently, just send it in the spring.

The herdsmen who ordered the goods didn't bring anything. After all, it was a spur-of-the-moment thing. They said that next time they came, they would bring things to exchange for the furniture for Li Long.

Li Long naturally didn't care.

Next, he had to go to Kuitun. (End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 628 =====