Chapter 646: The Stolen Cabin

It was Bolati who first discovered that the door to the wooden cabin had been pried open. He saw that the doors to both rooms had been pried off, some bedding in the large room was missing, the thermos had been smashed, and quite a few things in the small room were gone as well; he knew something bad had happened.

With Li Long away at the moment, Bolati immediately rode his horse toward Xiaobaiyang Gou.

He knew that the people weaving carrying poles in Xiaobaiyang Gou were Li Long's men, and finding them meant he could get in touch with Li Long.

Upon arriving at Xiaobaiyang Gou, Bolati looked around; it seemed only Old Huang was older and currently idle, so he rode his horse over to Old Huang. Just as he was about to speak, Xie Yun Dong, who had already noticed him, came over and asked:

"Hello, are you looking for Li Long?"

"Yes, yes, yes, I'm looking for Li Long." Bolati dismounted and said quickly:

"Li Long's wooden house has been robbed. You need to tell Li Long quickly; I don't even know how much stuff was lost inside..."

Nearby, Li Jianguo heard that Li Long's wooden cabin had been robbed and became anxious all of a sudden. He dropped the carrying pole he was currently weaving, scrambled out of the pit, ran over to Bolati, and asked:

"I am Li Long's older brother. Was the house pried open? Was anything else destroyed? Did you see anyone?"

"Yeah, the lock was pried off. As for people, I didn't see any, but it must have been those herb diggers—those few bastards! If I see them, I'll tie them to the back of my horse and drag them to death..."

Li Long was a friend Bolati had recognized; with Li Long suffering a loss, he was also very angry.

"Brother Lao Li, don't be anxious." Xie Yun Dong pulled back Li Jianguo, who wanted to run over there. "It's useless for you to go now. We can only wait for Li Long to return. If he wants to take people into the mountains to search, we'll just follow along."

Xie Yun Dong's words were correct. Right now, even if they wanted to search, where would they look in all these directions?

In fact, even Li Jianguo himself knew clearly that this matter might just end like this.

Prying off the lock and stealing the things inside meant that the person had definitely run far away. In these deep mountains and old forests, once they dove inside, others would never be able to find them.

"When you find Li Long, tell him. I'm going to find a lock to lock the door for him first." After Bolati finished speaking, he mounted his horse and rode off.

"This friend of Li Long's is not bad," Old Huang said, coming over. "He knows to help Li Long lock the wooden cabin door."

"The stuff is lost, what's the use of locking the door now?" someone said from afar.

"It's still useful. Not everything inside could have been lost; things like the stove can't be moved away." Xie Yun Dong said, "If it's not locked, and someone else comes by later and sees the door open, wouldn't they move the other things away too?"

These words were the truth.

You cannot test human nature. After all, just a few days ago, someone—an internet celebrity, no less—drove away the grain and vegetables that herdsmen had left in a seasonal hut, and even said, "I only took it because it wasn't mine." Is that something a normal person would say?

Li Jianguo returned to his spot for weaving carrying poles. He felt a sense of powerlessness at this moment—although he had a hunting rifle in his hand, he didn't know who to aim it at.

Li Long's wooden cabin was five kilometers away from here. Even if he ran over there right now, the thief would have long since run away. He wasn't a policeman and wasn't skilled at tracking; he had no idea where to start the pursuit.

It was the next morning, after Li Long had dropped Gu Xiaoxia off at her workplace and arrived at Xiaobaiyang Gou, that he learned the wooden cabin had been pried open.

He immediately drove the jeep toward the wooden cabin. Li Jianguo and Xie Yun Dong both shouted that they wanted to follow, but Li Long didn't let them.

The door to the wooden cabin had indeed been locked. Knowing it was Bolati's doing, Li Long felt this person was truly not bad—a real friend.

He didn't have the key and hadn't opened the door, so after getting out of the car and locking the jeep, Li Long walked slowly toward the turf on the south side.

After just a few glances, Li Long discovered the clues.

In some places, the grass had been trampled down and hadn't fully recovered.

It stood to reason that since a lot of things had been taken from inside, the person, burdened with the items, had left deep footprints, causing damage to the green grass on the turf that hadn't yet fully recovered.

Li Long immediately returned to the jeep, grabbed the Type 56 semi-automatic rifle, and chased after them.

He was grateful that after his rebirth, Heaven had given him strength, vision, hearing, and senses that surpassed those of an ordinary person.

Li Long believed he would soon find that thief!

When Bolati arrived at the wooden cabin again, he saw the jeep.

He dismounted happily, only to find that Li Long was not in the car and the car doors were locked.

Seeing that the door to the wooden cabin was still locked, Bolati waited there. He intended to wait until Li Long returned.

Bolati looked left and right; there was no one around, so he took down the two bags of fritillaria bulbs from his horse's back.

He had hidden yesterday's bag in the woods, and today he had collected another small half-bag, intending to hand them to Li Long in exchange for some things.

Li Long, carrying his rifle, followed the not-so-obvious tracks into the woods.

Once there, the tracks became clearer—because they were carrying heavy items, the thief's footprints were pressed into the soft soil, looking very obvious.

Li Long followed these footprints all the way, crossed two mountains, and entered a mountain gully.

It was clearly visible that quite a few fritillaria bulbs grew in this gully, and there were even more signs of digging; obviously, this place had already been dug over.

The thief's tracks stopped at an earthen dugout.

Looking at the empty dugout, Li Long knew that after the thief stole the items, they had brought the things from here and moved on.

Li Long looked around again. The tracks here were relatively messy, and there were many footprints.

He walked around looking for a good while before following a set of deeper footprints and chasing downward.

After walking out and climbing onto a mountain ridge, he saw a bit of cloth hanging on the bushes to the side; Li Long knew he had found the right place.

Damn thief, today I'm going to beat you until even your mother won't recognize you!

He could tell that this thief had left this dugout yesterday. They were probably also afraid of being caught.

The general direction of their departure was opposite to the wooden cabin, but they had deliberately circled the woods several times while walking. In a few places, because there was soft and very thick moss, if it hadn't been for Li Long's sharp eyes, he probably would have lost the trail.

Even so, it still took Li Long nearly two hours to finally find the thief's hideout in another fritillaria gully separated by two mountain gullies.

One side of this mountain gully was covered in dense pine trees, and the other side was bushes. Quite a few fritillaria bulbs grew along the edge of the pine forest, so it was no wonder this person had chosen to build a dugout here.

At the edge of the pine forest, Li Long saw that figure. They were digging for fritillaria bulbs, their movements very skillful; the shovel in their hand would dig once and pull out, and if there were bulbs, they would pick them up, never digging a second time if there were none.

The bag beside them was already filled with quite a lot; it looked like there were at least two or three kilograms.

Li Long quietly crept over. By the time that person heard the movement and turned around, Li Long's muzzle was already pointed at them.

Looking at the muzzle Li Long pointed at them, that person's face turned pale instantly, but they still said slowly:

"This... comrade, can you put the gun down? I'm just picking some fritillaria bulbs... that's not a capital crime, right?"

"Picking fritillaria bulbs? Where did the clothes on your body come from?"

The reason Li Long was certain this guy was the thief was because they were wearing a set of work clothes he had left in the wooden cabin—the work clothes were issued by the Supply and Marketing Cooperative, and Li Long wore them as labor protection clothes, keeping them in the cabin to change into occasionally.

Right now, they were being worn by this person—it looked like they were wearing an overcoat.

This was a man in his forties, with a hunched figure and very thin, but while he looked dull and honest, what was actually revealed in his eyes was a cunning glint.

"You mean these clothes?" The man looked down, then suddenly realized: "I picked these up in the gully this morning. I was even wondering why such good clothes were thrown in the gully. Did you lose them?"

"Slap!" Li Long put away the gun and slapped him directly across the face. Still quibbling?

Li Long dragged this person, and the person dragged the bag, pleading for mercy while trying to defend themselves.

Li Long had already observed clearly just now; he dragged this person to a stone cave and pointed at the bedding airing out not far away, saying:

"Did you pick this up too?"

"Yeah, picked it up?"

"And that too?" Li Long pointed at the stove built with three stones by the cave, as well as the unfinished biscuits and the dried noodles piled together.

The man stopped talking.

Li Long couldn't hold back his anger; with two punches, he knocked him to the ground, then stepped on him and kicked him wildly.

If it weren't for the worry that kicking the person to waste would leave no one to carry the things later, Li Long would have thought about just beating him to waste directly.

By the time Bolati saw Li Long, he was carrying one bag and escorting a person carrying two bags in front of him.

Bolati was a bit confused: What does this mean? Is this the person who stole Li Long's things?

At this moment, it wasn't just Bolati who saw Li Long escorting the person. There were two more people in the woods to the southeast.

The fact that things could be exchanged in the small wooden cabin was known to all old herb diggers, and most newcomers had also received information shared by the old herb diggers.

Some people felt they had brought enough things and that food in the mountains was easy to find, so they should be able to make it through this herb-digging season.

The old herb diggers would only say that you were thinking too simply.

Knowing there was a supply point—once you reached mid-May, you would know how precious it was.

The people watching here included both old herb diggers and newcomers; they were a bit unclear about what the situation was.

This jeep was a bit shocking; could it be that the person from before wasn't staying here anymore?

It wasn't until Li Long escorted the person over that they understood the person hadn't changed.

As for why Li Long was escorting this person, they soon understood. Li Long escorted the person to the front of the wooden cabin, and Bolati immediately asked:

"Li Long, what's going on? Is it him?"

"Yes. He stole my supplies, stole my clothes and quilt, and the shoes I was preparing to exchange... Damn it, this person is handed over to you!"

"I confess, I confess..." The man couldn't take it anymore; he was carrying two large bags of things, and every time he walked a stretch and wanted to rest, he would get beaten by Li Long.

Every time he wanted to rest again, he would get beaten again.

He really couldn't take it anymore.

He wanted Bolati to take him away quickly; he didn't want to be beaten anymore.

Being taken away by the Forestry Team would at most mean being locked up for a few days, and then being repatriated.

That was much better than being beaten.

Li Long handed the thief over to Bolati, while he himself took the stolen quilt out of the bag and hung it on the wire.

Please... collect_(!)

As for the clothes, he planned to soak them in a basin first; he would have to wash them thoroughly before he could wear them.

Although it wasn't very strong, he could smell a sour, stinky odor on the clothes.

If he didn't wash them, Li Long didn't want to wear them at all.

As for those unopened dried noodles, or the things that had already been consumed by this thief, Li Long used the seven or eight kilograms of fritillaria bulbs he had dug up as compensation.

"By the way, Bolati, take some fritillaria bulbs back so you have something to report." Li Long pointed at the thief, "Destroying forestry resources, there has to be evidence, right?"

He planned to let Bolati take two or three kilograms of fritillaria bulbs back to report, so that the people on the Forestry Team wouldn't disbelieve him.

"No need, no need." Bolati was tying the thief's hands and said, "I brought two bags this time, there are seven or eight kilograms of fritillaria bulbs; just splitting off a little bit is fine."

Judging by the current situation, Li Long guessed that the price of fritillaria bulbs would rise again this year. The fritillaria bulbs he had obtained right now were worth at least a few dozen yuan; the compensation was enough.

"Then what do you want to exchange these fritillaria bulbs for?" Li Long asked Bolati.

"Wine, tea leaves, rock sugar." Bolati thought about wanting a bit of everything.

Li Long didn't take what he had brought back this time; he opened the jeep's trunk, took out some things, put them into a bag, and handed them to Bolati.

"There are some canned goods in here, be careful when you eat them."

The lids of canned goods at this time were all pressed out, not the kind that you twist off like in later generations; they needed to be pried open with an opener, so it was very easy to hurt your hands.

Li Qiang's hand had once been cut by a canned goods lid.

Li Long had been right there at the time and had a deep impression of it.

"Okay, okay, I know." Carrying so many things, plus some money Li Long had stuffed into his hands, Bolati was very happy. He left the bag, then dragged the thief onto his horse and left.

"Slow down..." The thief shouted once, only to be dragged down by Bolati and dragged along by the horse for a stretch.

Even though it was on turf, after being dragged for a stretch, the skin on the man's face was worn away.

"Hurry up, if you don't keep up, I'll drag you all the way to the Forestry Team!" Bolati said from the horse, waiting for the person to climb up before continuing forward.

The horse's speed was naturally faster than a person's; soon the person fell again and was dragged for another stretch.

The people in the woods all saw it.

They also guessed pretty much correctly that this person had stolen Li Long's things.

"Is he a damn fool? Can you steal things in this wooden cabin? If his things are stolen and he doesn't come anymore in the future, won't everyone else suffer later?"

The old herb diggers started cursing.

Had no one thought about stealing things in the wooden cabin last year?

There must have been.

After all, Li Long's tractor was a sign; as long as the tractor was there, the person was there, and if the tractor wasn't there, the person had gone back.

But how many actually stole?

Most people knew that even if they didn't want to exchange a large batch of fritillaria bulbs with Li Long, with Li Long there, if they got sick, or ran out of fire, or ran out of grain, at least there was a place to call for help.

Although the price Li Long paid for fritillaria bulbs was low, at least matches, grain, medicinal materials, and everything could be exchanged.

You say you can exchange them in the county?

How many kilometers would you have to run to get to the county? If you had a high fever, being able to run that far would probably mean you weren't far from death.

The young, new herb diggers didn't yet know what this wooden cabin meant to the old herb diggers.

However, they would soon understand.

After Bolati left, Li Long finally had time to tidy up the things that had been destroyed.

Bolati had left the key; Li Long opened the room and started to sweep out the things the thief had destroyed.

Looking at these things, he now regretted beating that guy too lightly.

When he threw the swept-out things behind the house, preparing to dig a pit to bury them, seeing Bolati trip that guy again in the distance, Li Long felt it wasn't bad.

Thinking that when this person reached the Forestry Team, they would probably be half-dead, right?

After sweeping out these odds and ends and burying them, Li Long took some more out of the trunk and placed them on the shelves in the room.

However, he didn't put many things this time, to avoid them being stolen again later, which would be quite a loss.

In the future, he planned to keep more things in the trunk as a mobile small shop; anyway, the jeep's trunk could hold a lot, so he didn't mind that bit.

Today, he had harvested nearly fifteen kilograms of fresh fritillaria bulbs from Bolati and the thief. Li Long found a large basin, soaked these bulbs to wash them clean, and then spread them out to dry on the wooden floor in front of the door.

Fifteen kilograms of fritillaria bulbs covered the entire outside of the wooden cabin; not only that, but even the wooden table placed outside was covered with fritillaria bulbs.

After all, if you want to dry the moisture out of the fritillaria bulbs, you have to have enough space.

Although the sunlight at this time wasn't very intense, there was a breeze, and the moisture on the surface of the fritillaria bulbs had already dried in a while; what followed was the moisture inside.

This was a slow job.

After finishing all this, Li Long set up the stove again. The thermos had been smashed; he boiled water just thinking about filling the teapot with tea. He had to stay here for at least the better part of the day today.

Otherwise, if someone else came to steal things, wouldn't he be worked to death?

Although he could find the thief, that would waste time, wouldn't it?

Two figures came from afar.

Li Long discovered them and looked at the two people with some vigilance.

Both people were carrying bags, and he had a bit of an impression of the middle-aged man. The young man was more of a stranger; Li Long was certain he hadn't seen this young man before.

Had he come to exchange things last year?

"Hello, proprietor." The middle-aged man greeted from afar, "I came to exchange things last year, and I've come to exchange some more today..."

"Come on." Li Long nodded.

He didn't relax his vigilance; after all, the thief from before was also an herb digger.

"The one from just now was a thief, right?" The middle-aged man took the initiative to speak, "Damn it, he's really not a person. If others knew he was prying doors and stealing things here, they could beat him to death!"

Li Long was a bit surprised; what does this mean? Did he only say that to curry favor with me?

"We have to stay in the mountains for more than a month," the middle-aged man said with a Gansu accent, "The things we brought in May will be used up, and only here can we exchange for things.

If a fool like him steals things, and you don't come anymore because of this, then we in the woods will suffer!"

Li Long realized; so that's how it was.

Mutual benefit and win-win—this was confirmed by the herb diggers here, and Li Long was quite happy.

Thus, they exchanged things.

The two people mainly exchanged for medicine, salt, sugar, needles and thread, matches, and other things.

According to the middle-aged man, they had been in the mountains for ten days or so; they still had grain, but they were quite lacking in these things, as they were used up relatively quickly. Perhaps next time they would come to exchange for grain. (End of chapter)