Chapter 648

Li Long hadn't thought before that four thousand carrying poles would directly expose a huge loophole in his plan that he had felt was quite good.

Transportation was a big problem.

In fact, he could also do nothing all day and just drive the tractor to transport the carrying poles out from the mountains. If he did three trips a day, he could almost transport them all out.

If all the tractors in the team were mobilized, doing one trip every two or three days would also work.

But the tractors in the team also had to be used. Although it was the slack farming season, they had to prepare for things during the busy farming season, and there were quite a few miscellaneous tasks; at this time, even if the strong labor force went out, the family members still had to work.

Moreover, Li Long didn't want to spend his time on the road every day.

Fortunately, Captain Ma, who succeeded Captain Hong, was also familiar with Section Chief Li Xiangqian and was willing to do this private errand to earn some pocket money; otherwise, Li Long really wouldn't have known how to handle it.

This time he wanted three cars; although the three cars were all filled to about seventy or eighty percent and not full, Li Long was very satisfied.

After all, he could pull them away in one trip, costing a bit more in freight but saving time.

Isn't earning money for spending? Moreover, he could earn even more money; Li Long understood this point very thoroughly.

Lunch was eaten at the home of He Yuqing, the captain of Qingshuihezi Village, and afterward, He Yuqing went to replace Meng Hai.

This was no small matter; Li Long wouldn't have to say it, and he would also pay attention. After all, there were many carrying poles later, and Li Long also said that these carrying poles would be piled directly in the Supply and Marketing Cooperative warehouse after being pulled back, and then inspected again by the people from the Supply and Marketing Cooperative.

If these carrying poles had problems, it went without saying that Li Long wouldn't collect carrying poles from here in the future.

A meal of meat versus meals with meat—He Yuqing and Meng Hai could still distinguish. Last year's large brooms, this year's carrying poles—just these two things could make Qingshuihe Village change its appearance.

Could they not attach importance to it?

In the afternoon, Li Long drove the jeep and brought three cars to Qingshuihe; He Yuqing and the others were still weaving carrying poles over there.

Seeing Li Long coming, Meng Hai and He Yuqing both scrambled out, and after greeting Li Long, they shouted loudly for the other people to come and load the carrying poles onto the cars.

Those people moved very quickly, working together up and down; in less than half an hour, all the carrying poles were loaded.

They also used poles to wedge the outside of the carriage boards, which could hold more.

Li Long could see that those carrying poles he had inspected as unqualified in the morning had already been dismantled. Some branches could still be recycled, including the poles, and some were just thrown to the side.

Obviously, Meng Hai and He Yuqing had executed this requirement very strictly.

Li Long pulled the two people to the side and said to He Yuqing:

"Captain He, what we inspected in the morning, the qualified carrying poles total three hundred and seventy-four, four yuan each, which is one thousand four hundred and ninety-six yuan; this is one thousand five hundred, you count it."

Li Long took a thick stack and a thin stack of "Big Unity" (*Da Tuanjie* - 10 yuan notes) from his satchel and handed them to He Yuqing.

He Yuqing handed the thin stack to Meng Hai for him to count, while he himself spat on his fingers and counted quickly.

Meng Hai's movements were obviously a bit slower than his; the two counted them almost at the same time.

"Correct, correct, Comrade Li Long, you wait a moment, I'll find the money for you now." He Yuqing said.

"No need, put it there first." Li Long waved his hand, "You have to help me find a few young men to unload the cars. When these cars are pulled back to the Supply and Marketing Cooperative, I can't unload them by myself; I'll send them back later."

"No problem." He Yuqing could still handle this small matter.

At this time, the matter of weaving carrying poles was also almost done, so He Yuqing called six young men; Meng Hai took the initiative to lead the team, three sat in the passenger seats of the trucks, and four sat in Li Long's jeep and headed toward the county.

Meng Hai sat in the passenger seat of the jeep, curious, touching this and that for a while; he was not only curious but also nervous, his body sitting bolt upright.

Li Long smiled, didn't say anything, and continued driving in the lead.

He had to unload the carrying poles of these three cars into the backyard of the Supply and Marketing Cooperative before dark; his own large courtyard couldn't hold so many.

And he also planned to pull the carrying poles from his home to the Supply and Marketing Cooperative tomorrow; although they added up to less than one thousand, there were still seven or eight hundred.

That was enough for the Supply and Marketing Cooperative side to have a good inspection.

When the cars entered the Supply and Marketing Cooperative courtyard, there was no one in the courtyard; they had all gotten off work.

If Li Long hadn't been leading in front, the guard wouldn't have let him in.

"Come, unload here." Li Long said to the few young men, "After unloading, line them up neatly, twenty in a stack."

Li Long now also understood that he could only put the carrying poles here in batches, and the Supply and Marketing side would also send the carrying poles to the prefecture in batches.

Although the backyard of the Supply and Marketing Cooperative was large, if all four thousand carrying poles were pulled over, they probably wouldn't be able to be placed; even if they were placed, there would be no need to do anything else.

It stood to reason that after pulling the carrying poles in the courtyard over tomorrow, the Supply and Marketing Cooperative side would have to organize cars to transport them to the prefecture, right?

Meng Hai organized the young men to unload very quickly; Li Long went over and stuffed a pack of cigarettes to each of the three drivers, chatting about the subsequent matters.

"Later, I might ask you to pull a trip of carrying poles every two or three days; no problem, right?"

"Definitely no problem." The driver who had followed Li Long several times said with a smile, "As long as there are idle cars, who wouldn't want to come after getting off work?"

After all, it was earning extra money; one trip was equal to a week's wages, so everyone definitely wanted to come.

After unloading all the carrying poles, the afterglow of the sun had completely disappeared, but it wasn't dark yet; in the sky, one could vaguely see stars twinkling.

The three cars drove out of the courtyard; Li Long let the young men squeeze in the back seat and the trunk; he was going to send them back.

One sat in the passenger seat in front, four squeezed in the back, and two sat in the trunk; it was considered loading the people.

When Li Long sent the people to Qingshuihe, it was already dark. A waning moon hung in the sky, very dim, making the stars look very bright.

Saying goodbye to Meng Hai and the others, Li Long drove the jeep with the high beams on and ran back; here, the ten or so families of Qingshuihe were bustling.

Meng Hai returned to the team headquarters and received the money that belonged to him.

The person who got the least also received more than one hundred yuan; this was just the income for one week.

Thinking about working for a month, wouldn't they be able to get three or four hundred yuan?

This was equal to the pure income of a year!

Could they not be happy?

Things couldn't be hidden in the village; soon this matter spread throughout the whole village.

Many families who weren't picked by He Yuqing and Meng Hai to weave carrying poles were saying sour things.

But there was no way; there were so many people in the whole village, and it was impossible for them to be like in the days of the "big pot of rice," where when work came, everyone did it together, and when there was money, everyone divided it together.

Naturally, whoever's family was close to the team cadres and whoever had good skills could be assigned work.

This time, those picked by He Yuqing and Meng Hai weren't just their close people; at least three were "technical personnel" who were relatively good at weaving carrying poles, so everyone also understood that the team cadres had reasons for picking people.

That night, some people carried things—either a string of fish, or a jar of honey, or a chicken—to the homes of He Yuqing or Meng Hai, inquiring about the situation of weaving carrying poles.

They also wanted to join in, but they were all refused, and the things they brought were also refused.

He Yuqing and Meng Hai had already made it clear at the beginning of selecting people that they wouldn't add more people this time; if there was another task next time, they would select people from the whole village.

Although those who brought things were a bit dissatisfied in their hearts, they were given a promise that they would try their best to strive for the work of tying large brooms in the autumn.

By then, they should be able to earn a few more yuan.

The happiest were naturally He Yuqing and Meng Hai. Being able to hold onto this relationship with Li Long, in the future, the people of Qingshuihe Village would be one step richer than others, one step ahead in buying bicycles, one step ahead in buying tractors, one step ahead...

Buying a car?

This thought flashed through Meng Hai's mind.

When Li Long went back, there were several more kilograms of cleaned alpine loach fish and two plastic cages of honey in the jeep.

This honey was from last year; this year's hadn't come down yet. The honey had crystallized, and it wasn't very easy to get it out to eat. After all, the mouth of the plastic cage was small; pouring oil was fine, but pouring honey was a bit lacking.

Li Long planned to wait until the weather got a bit hotter to eat it; this stuff, when the weather got hot, the crystals would melt.

By the time he returned to the large courtyard, it was already eleven o'clock at night.

Gu Xiaoxia, Sister Yang, and Han Fang hadn't slept; after the jeep entered the courtyard, Han Fang tried hard to close the gate and then inserted the bolt.

When Li Long took those fish out of the car, Sister Yang laughed:

"Hey, have to fry them again; fortunately, the fire in the pot hasn't gone out yet."

She wasn't angry because of the extra work at night; instead, she was quite happy.

Gu Xiaoxia's eyes also narrowed into crescent moons; it wasn't because there was something delicious, but more because Li Long had returned safely.

This tossing and turning lasted until past twelve o'clock, and the lights in the courtyard were only extinguished then.

The next day, Li Long drove the jeep to send Gu Xiaoxia to the Education Bureau, and he himself drove the tractor, sending the carrying poles piled in his own courtyard to the Supply and Marketing Cooperative trip by trip, and then let the Supply and Marketing Cooperative send people to inspect and sign.

Li Long was one of their own, so the Supply and Marketing side naturally cooperated. After Li Xiangqian took people to inspect the carrying poles seriously, signed and filled out the form, when Li Long walked out of the Supply and Marketing Cooperative, he already had a payment of more than five thousand yuan in his hand.

Paid and settled on the spot; this efficiency was indeed not bad. He didn't go into the mountains that day; he went to buy some things in the afternoon to prepare, which counted as a rest.

The next day, after sending Gu Xiaoxia to the Education Bureau, Li Long drove the jeep west and then south.

Passing by Qingshuihe Village, he put the basin at the team headquarters.

The trunk was filled with supplies again; Li Long went to Xiaobaiyang Gou to say hello, and then arrived at the wooden cabin.

He hadn't been airing the bedding for long when Bolati came over.

"Li Long, you didn't come yesterday, right?" Bolati dismounted and took down two small half-bags of fritillaria bulbs as usual, "Over at Mantou Mountain (*Steamed Bun Mountain*) to the east, there are many more people this year; the newcomers are very fierce; if I hadn't been carrying a gun, they would have wanted to beat me up!"

"Mantou Mountain?"

Li Long felt like he had heard such a term before. Just as he was searching his memory, Bolati revealed a lewd smile:

"It's just Mantou Mountain! The young men on our side also call it Naitou Mountain (*Nipple Mountain*); that round shape..." He winked at Li Long, meaning "you know."

It was just that Li Long didn't respond to this smile of Bolati's, making Bolati feel that Li Long actually didn't understand this, and he shook his head.

Please... collect_(!)

Young man, he still doesn't know what's fun!

Li Long suddenly remembered where he had heard the term Mantou Mountain.

Bolati didn't let him continue to recall; he took down the two small bags of fritillaria bulbs, let Li Long weigh them, and said:

"This time, exchange for money. I say Li Long, those good things of yours from last year are gone!"

"What good things?" Li Long asked while weighing.

"Meat! That air-dried meat, what good meat; this year you get more, and I'll get more fritillaria bulbs to exchange with you! That air-dried meat is very delicious; it's very good for drinking; one piece of meat, and you can drink a bottle of wine!"

Li Long thought it was also true. Last year he had hunted quite a few things; it wasn't easy to take them back, so he air-dried them on the spot. Whether it was the forest rangers of the Forestry Team or those digging medicinal materials, they would all exchange for some.

This year he only thought about the carrying poles and forgot about this matter.

"Okay, you wait, I'll go hunting in these two days; after I finish hunting, I'll come over and air-dry the meat."

Hunting wasn't just about exchanging things here; it could also improve the family's meals. Right now, both his father and mother were there, and Gu Xiaoxia was pregnant; these were all times when nutrition was needed, so getting more meat was never wrong.

The two small bags of fritillaria bulbs totaled seven kilograms; Li Long gave Bolati twenty-one yuan. After he counted the money happily, he rode his horse away.

Only then did Li Long wash the fritillaria bulbs while slowly sorting out the relevant information about Mantou Mountain.

This mountain was related to a treasure.

The people of Maxian didn't have the habit of naming the mountains to the south, because the mountains here were layered and layered, and one couldn't see the end on either side, and inside, layer by layer, it seemed one couldn't see the end either.

So they just named them by gullies.

For example, Que'er Gou, Meiyao Gou, Dabaiyang Gou, Xiaobaiyang Gou, etc.

At most, they would name places with geographical features like "Hongshan Zuizi" (*Red Mountain Mouth*), "Qingshi Taizi" (*Blue Stone Terrace*), etc.

The name Mantou Mountain was heard by Li Long when he was drinking with Old Luo and several people with "five guarantees" (*wubaohu* - elderly/disabled/orphaned/widowed/childless) in the team. He didn't know if it was last winter or the winter before last; it should have been the year before last, right?

At that time, several people with "five guarantees"—who were once soldiers here in Northern Xinjiang—after the peaceful liberation, a large number of old soldiers, including the People's Liberation Army who later entered Xinjiang, either transferred to become soldiers of the Production and Construction Corps or retired to become builders of Northern Xinjiang.

They were also one of those batches.

At that time, it was rumored that during the Kuomintang period, when Sheng Sheng Shi Cai was in power, he had amassed a large amount of wealth here. When he left, some valuables weren't taken away, especially gold, so he arranged for people to bury it in the Southern Mountains of Maxian; it was said that the place where it was buried was Mantou Mountain, and iron stakes were even set up as markers.

At that time, high-ranking officials in the Northwest fled south one after another; when some people from Gansu, Shaanxi, and Qinghai fled, they took away a large amount of gold.

Of course, what they took away wasn't much compared to what they had amassed over many years.

More of it was still buried.

It was just that a place name like Mantou Mountain made Li Long feel strange. He tried hard to think, only to find that in the Southern Mountain area he had set foot in, there was no such shaped mountain.

As for the treasure, Li Long didn't have too persistent thoughts; in the forty years of the later generation, he had never heard of any treasure discovered in the Southern Mountains. Being able to get those things last year could already be considered as having had dog-shit luck.

So he wasn't persistent; after hearing it at the time, he just took it as a legend, and remembering it was just to serve as gossip material.

Right now, hearing Bolati say this, he really thought, could this be a coincidence?

However, it was indeed time to go to the east to take a look; he didn't know if there would be any harvest at that salt mine cave.

Thinking and doing, Li Long put the washed fritillaria bulbs into a bag, put them in the car, and prepared to drive the jeep to the east.

At this time, a person carrying fritillaria bulbs came out of the woods, so Li Long had to get out of the car again.

This person was very silent; the whole time it was one or two words, his hair was messy, and his beard was quite long; it looked like he hadn't been in the mountains for a short time.

He brought nearly ten kilograms of fritillaria bulbs; half wanted money, and half wanted supplies.

Li Long still calculated it at the price of three yuan per kilogram, and the other party didn't bargain either.

When he was about to leave, this person asked:

"Do you have meat?"

"I'm going hunting now; maybe there will be meat tomorrow." Li Long said.

It seemed meat was still quite popular.

That person nodded and left.

Li Long thought it seemed he really had to hunt seriously once.

He also loaded the collected fritillaria bulbs and drove the jeep to the east.

Li Long's idea was to go to the salt mine cave to take a look; if there was nothing, he would continue to the east; if he could drive over, he would drive; if he couldn't, he would turn back to Xiaobaiyang Gou to eat lunch, and then continue to the east in the afternoon to see what Mantou Mountain looked like.

The jeep drove for more than ten minutes, and someone showed their head from the woods again, but after seeing that there was no jeep in front of the wooden cabin, they shrank back in frustration.

Later, someone else came out, walked all the way to the wooden cabin, saw the door was locked, walked back and forth, thought for a while, picked up a stone and scratched a few characters on the mud wall, and then left.

Li Long drove the jeep all the way to the mouth of the gully where the mine cave was, stopped the car, took the gun, locked the door, opened the safety, loaded the chamber, and then walked forward carrying the gun.

Past experience told him that there were too many dangerous things in these mountains; he couldn't help but be on guard.

When Li Long reached the mine cave, he found that there were still quite clear hoof prints at the entrance; it looked like animals had just entered and exited here early in the morning.

He stopped and listened quietly, and then a look of joy appeared on his face.

There was breathing inside the cave, and it wasn't just one sound.

He walked slowly inside carrying the gun, planning to shoot if he encountered them.

Just as he walked into the cave, Li Long stopped, thinking about adapting to the light, otherwise he wouldn't be able to see clearly inside.

Those two breathing sounds obviously became rapid; they should have discovered Li Long.

They didn't run out?

Li Long walked further inside, his hand already pre-pressed on the trigger.

It was impossible to catch two alive no matter what; if they were carnivores, he would only be able to fire.

Just as he saw those two black shadows, the smaller one suddenly jumped up and rushed out!

Li Long was just about to pull the trigger, but his hand relaxed again.

This was a red deer fawn about the same size as the roe deer jumping around at home; obviously, it wanted to escape.

The mother red deer, who had originally been hiding, saw her child running and also jumped up, rushing toward Li Long.

Li Long guessed she should be buying time for her child—otherwise, she wouldn't have crashed directly into Li Long.

Li Long dodged, then watched the two red deer, one big and one small, rush toward the foot of the mountain, kicking up a small cloud of dust, and soon disappeared into the bushes.

He had originally had a chance to shoot, but his heart softened.

Li Long put the gun on safety, looked inside again, and naturally, besides feces, there was nothing left.

If there wasn't, there wasn't; there were many animals in these mountains, so one or two didn't matter.

There was nothing to regret; Li Long came out of the mine cave carrying the gun, looked at the mouth of the gully, then looked to the east, and immediately went to the east carrying the gun.

He wanted to know how far it was from here to the Mantou Mountain Bolati mentioned.

It was just that walking all the way, walking for two or three kilometers, passing this gully and then another gully, before his eyes were still layered and layered mountains; he didn't see which one looked like a steamed bun.

It seemed it would be even further.

Seeing that it was time to eat lunch, Li Long walked back.

He didn't hunt anything, which was somewhat frustrating. When he walked to where he could see the mine cave, he thought, should he go in and take another look? (End of chapter)