Chapter 658

"This is our Forestry Team's Deputy Captain, Nurmaimaiti." Bolati introduced him to Li Long, "He's here this time to inspect the forest area we are responsible for."

Then he introduced Li Long to Nurmaimaiti:

"This is Li Long."

"You are Li Long? Where did you get the car you're driving?" Upon hearing that the other person was Li Long, Nurmaimaiti didn't react for a moment, "This car... is yours?"

"It's not mine; it's from the prefecture." Li Long glanced over, saw Sun Jia Qiang and the other herb digger, who looked somewhat familiar, being held under control, and understood what was going on.

He stepped forward and said:

"This car was assigned to me by Director Qian of the Prefecture Supply and Marketing Cooperative for me to use on official business."

"Official business?" Once Nurmaimaiti heard it was the Prefecture Supply and Marketing Cooperative, the expression on his face immediately softened with a hint of a smile. As a deputy captain of the Forestry Team, he had some authority within the team, but one level up—at the various bureaus and cooperatives in the county—he could at most have a little acquaintance with the staff.

As for the prefecture level, he could basically only look up to them.

Right now, this Li Long was actually driving a jeep that only county-level leaders could sit in; even though he was an auxiliary forest ranger, his status was self-evident.

Nurmaimaiti even specifically looked into the jeep and could see that it was just Li Long alone, not that he had brought a leader with him.

To be able to have a county-level leader's official car entrusted to Li Long alone to drive into the mountains showed that this Li Long was truly highly trusted by the Prefecture Cooperative.

Although the Prefecture Supply and Marketing Cooperative and the County Forestry Team had no direct administrative relationship, to be honest, Nurmaimaiti also knew that while it was hard to say if Li Long could help him, it would be very easy for him to cause some trouble.

After all, between those various systems, the evaluation of grassroots personnel sometimes came down to just a single sentence.

Therefore, his tone couldn't help but soften.

"Director Qian said that although it's not convenient for the Supply and Marketing Cooperative to make large-scale purchases of the things in these mountains, they still need some. So, they let me set up a collection point here.

I don't just collect fritillaria here; I also collect some special items, like snow leopard skins, bear gallbladders, and the like. As for what the leaders want to do with them, I don't know.

Of course, as an auxiliary forest ranger, I am clear about setting up a point here. I will explain to these people that they must cherish the forest, not destroy the forest land, and protect the forestry resources..."

Hearing these two things, Nurmaimaiti caught the bureaucratic tone in them.

Bolati curled his lip as he listened; he could feel that Li Long's words really didn't have any substance to them.

But when Nurmaimaiti heard it, he felt that he was indeed worthy of being someone the leaders had their eyes on; his level of speaking was truly high!

"So that's how it is; then we have had a misunderstanding..." He immediately turned his head and said to the person he had brought:

"Alright, alright, let them go. It's a misunderstanding, a misunderstanding."

After Sun Jia Qiang and the herb digger were released, they were still a bit dazed, but they could also see that Nurmaimaiti's attitude—arrogant before and humble after—was entirely aimed at Li Long, or rather, at the jeep.

Li Long chatted with Nurmaimaiti for a few more sentences, intentionally or unintentionally revealing that he was a model of ethnic unity commended by the Autonomous Region, and that he currently also had a work relationship with the Prefecture Supply and Marketing Cooperative; he even specifically took out the paperwork handled by the prefecture to show the other party.

Nurmaimaiti was completely convinced this time, and his tone became even more enthusiastic:

"Comrade Li Long, I have heard of your name for a long time. Last year, you helped save people from our Forestry Team, and since you are a forest ranger—regardless of whether you are auxiliary or not—we are our own people.

We know about you doing this here, and we will strongly support it in the future. Don't worry, whatever you did before, just keep doing it the same way; we won't interfere with this. Bolati?"

He turned his head to look at Bolati, and Bolati nodded.

"Saixiti!" He looked at the other person, and that person also leaned over.

"You guys take note, and tell the others too: Li Long is in charge here, so you don't need to worry about it. If there's any situation in the future, Li Long will come find you, and you must help him. Got it?"

"Got it."

"As for that snow leopard skin, we don't have any, but if you happen to come across one, or if you happen to hunt one, you can send it to Li Long, you know?"

"Got it."

In truth, he also knew that what he was saying was all nonsense; could that thing be hunted easily?

However, having made this statement showed that Nurmaimaiti, at least on the surface, was very supportive of Li Long's work. Li Long immediately said:

"Thank you, Captain. I will definitely report this matter to Director Qian. We are our own people, and I have caused trouble for our Forestry Team with this matter..."

Both sides had at least done the work on the surface.

When Nurmaimaiti left, Li Long stuffed two bottles of liquor for him, and one bottle each for Bolati and that Saixiti.

Nurmaimaiti tried to refuse, but Li Long firmly stuffed them into the bag by the saddle, and the other party accepted them half-heartedly.

After they left, Sun Jia Qiang finally let out a long breath:

"It's only you; if it were me, I really wouldn't have been able to handle that."

Li Long smiled, then said to the herb digger:

"Sorry about that, you were startled."

"It's nothing, it's nothing." That person had long since recovered and said with a smile, "I really didn't expect this; it seems it will be even safer here in the future."

"Then what are you trading? Are you looking for me or him?" Li Long asked.

"Definitely looking for you; I was just waiting for you when I ran into them." The herb digger explained, then laughed, "But it wasn't a wasted wait; it was actually quite interesting to watch."

Li Long smiled; this matter was hard to explain in depth. He traded dried noodles and salt for the fritillaria from the other party.

Sun Jia Qiang took the fritillaria to wash. While he was washing, the herb digger left, and he couldn't help but say:

"It really is just you... I was thinking just now that I might be getting arrested."

"That wasn't me either; it was mainly this jeep." Li Long smiled and said, "This thing is incredibly useful."

Respect the clothes first, then respect the person—it has been like this since ancient times. Li Long, having lived two lifetimes, was certainly able to see through it.

It was just that what he didn't expect was that what followed would be somewhat unexpected.

Originally, he had prepared that once the matter here was resolved, there shouldn't be any more trouble. He waited for over an hour, seeing that it was almost lunchtime. Sun Jia Qiang didn't want to go over there and wanted to wait here, hoping to wait for people coming to trade fritillaria at noon.

There were steamed buns to eat, but Li Long's intention was that since he wasn't going, he would bring him back some food.

When he was driving the jeep eastward, he didn't go far before he ran into Bolati and another person riding horses over.

Li Long didn't expect them to move so fast; they had already made a round trip?

"It's him; just look for him in the future." Bolati saw Li Long get out of the jeep and said to that person, "Deputy Captain Nurmaimaiti said that we must strongly support Li Long's work in the future."

Then he asked Li Long:

"Li Long, what are you collecting?"

"Fritillaria, Codonopsis, deer antlers, velvet antlers, etc. Of course, I also collect skins of other animals, as well as bear gallbladders."

As soon as he said this, the person unloaded two bags tied together from the horse's back.

Li Long didn't have a scale, and the other party didn't intend to weigh it strictly; they just let Li Long estimate it.

The two large bags of fritillaria could be about thirty kilograms.

Li Long had supplies in his jeep, but the other party explicitly said they wanted money.

Li Long gave the other party ninety yuan.

Upon receiving the ninety yuan, the young man—who was a bit younger than Bolati and a bit older than Li Long—was overjoyed. He expressed in very broken Chinese that he would often go to Li Long's place in the future.

Then he rode off on his horse.

"To tell you the truth, I was really worried before you came." Bolati stayed behind to chat with Li Long for a bit. "Our deputy captain, sometimes, is very serious. But you were really impressive today; you actually convinced him..."

Li Long patted the jeep and said:

"It wasn't me who convinced him; it was this... he saw this and was convinced."

Bolati smiled and nodded; he also knew that was the logic.

"In the future, there will be quite a few people coming to trade this with you." Bolati kicked the bag. "Anyway, the money we get back after handing it in isn't much.

Since the deputy captain has spoken, everyone will know what to do later. But you, you still need to be there often; we still trust you."

Li Long nodded and asked what everyone liked to trade for.

"Liquor, meat, and those biscuits and bread; of course, some people like brick tea, salt, and then there's money." Bolati listed quite a few, which were actually all relatively easy to get.

Li Long understood; it seemed that in the future, he would just need to bring more of these things.

!. Read

Forest rangers don't just run around in the gullies outside; each of them has their own jurisdiction, and since they run around often, they naturally know where there is a lot of fritillaria.

Some people are lazier and pick the easy paths to patrol the forest. Some are more serious and walk every single gully they are responsible for.

Those herb diggers who can't hide in time will have their harvest for the day confiscated. If a forest ranger happens upon their dugout, they might lose their harvest for a period of time.

So, there have been quite a few people coming to Li Long to trade for money these past few days.

After all, if it gets confiscated, it's completely gone; it's better to trade it for money, as money is at least easier to hide.

This is what is on many people's minds.

After Li Long said goodbye to Bolati, he went to Xiaobaiyang Gou to eat. After eating, he brought a portion back for Sun Jia Qiang—on the way back, he was still thinking about hunting something.

He thought about it and decided he still had to go into the inner mountains.

The fact that Talihar could chase a dozen wild goats to their deaths at once showed that there were indeed many wild goats over there.

Hunting on the periphery, unless you run into a herd of Mongolian gazelles or antelopes, at most you'll get one or two.

If it's really as Bolati said, and several forest rangers are all coming to trade with him, then he must prepare more meat.

The one or two he hunts occasionally are simply not enough.

So Li Long planned that after this batch of carrying poles was inspected and hauled away, he would take the time to go to the inner mountains to see if he could find wild goats or other herds of prey.

After all, these ethnic forest rangers couldn't possibly eat wild boar meat; he should get something better.

Once the idea was confirmed, Li Long thought about finishing the work at hand first.

Going to the inner mountains isn't something where you can find prey all at once; it still takes time.

When he drove the jeep to the cabin, there was another herb digger waiting.

But seeing Sun Jia Qiang still washing, Li Long knew he had also traded for fritillaria.

After collecting this person's fritillaria and giving them the money, Li Long took the thirty kilograms of fritillaria from the car and started washing them with Sun Jia Qiang.

In the afternoon, when Li Long loaded all the fritillaria into the car and was preparing to leave, someone else rode over on a horse.

A stranger, but by the looks of it, carrying a gun, he should be a forest ranger like Bolati.

After this person dismounted, he didn't say much, took a bag of about ten kilograms of fritillaria from the horse's back, and placed it in front of Li Long:

"Trade for meat, trade for money."

Alright, although the voice was a bit stiff, Li Long could still understand it.

Then let's trade.

Li Long traded all the remaining venison to him and gave him another ten yuan or so to make it enough.

That person counted the money, the expression on his face softened, and finally, he put away the money, took the meat, nodded at Li Long, and rode off on his horse.

"The meat is all traded now." Sun Jia Qiang was still a bit reluctant, "If anyone wants to come and trade for meat later, there won't be any."

"Don't worry, there will be some in two days." Li Long gave Sun Jia Qiang enough confidence on the surface, "I'm inspecting the carrying poles tomorrow, so I'll be back soon. The day after tomorrow, I'll go into the mountains early; whatever I can hunt, I'll bring back."

"Good." Knowing that Li Long was also skilled at hunting, Sun Jia Qiang believed him.

Li Long drove the jeep back to the large courtyard, hung up the fritillaria he had washed earlier, and soaked the last bag of fritillaria first, planning to wash it after dinner.

Han Fang came over to help, and Li Long didn't stop her. Children these days really have a strong sense of taking the initiative to work; of course, it might also have to do with Han Fang's experiences.

The next day, Sunday, Gu Xiaoxia was off, so Li Long changed his plan and went to the transport company first to state his intentions. Captain Ma agreed readily, saying he would send a car into the mountains in the afternoon.

Although it was Sunday, since they could earn extra money, the drivers certainly had no objections to going out.

Li Long went into the mountains and first went to the salt cave to take a look, but unfortunately, there was nothing there.

The hot spring was the same; there weren't even any hoof prints from that day.

It seemed he could only go into the inner mountains after finishing the carrying poles.

After lunch, Li Long started inspecting the carrying poles. In two and a half days, quite a few carrying poles had been woven here, and the pass rate was even higher.

These ten people, including Li Jianguo, had an average of fifteen or sixteen qualified carrying poles each, and Liang Wenyu and Xu Haijun's group had about twelve or thirteen.

In this way, the total number of qualified carrying poles added up to nearly three hundred.

Two cars could barely fit them.

However, it was a bit too late for Li Long to go back and drive the tractor now; he thought he would just load as much as possible, and if it didn't fit, he would leave it here for now.

With so many people watching, he figured there wouldn't be any changes.

After the cars arrived in the afternoon, everyone helped out, and there were enough long poles to cut for the frames, so in the end, these nearly three hundred carrying poles were barely loaded.

However, the cars didn't dare to drive fast; they felt like they were swaying.

Therefore, when the cars drove back to the large courtyard, the stars in the sky could already be seen clearly.

By the time the cars were unloaded, it was already completely dark. (End of chapter)