Chapter 664: Do You Want This Kind of Benefit?

Li Long spent the next few days in such busyness. What surprised him a bit was that he could harvest over a hundred kilograms of fritillaria every day.

The biggest source of fritillaria was still forest rangers like Hearing Bolati.

After trading for money and meat once, Hearing Bolati also complained to Li Long:

"There's really no way, too many people have entered the mountains. The weather has had good rain this year, so the fritillaria has grown well, and there are especially many people coming to dig for it.

Those who are a bit more professional just dig for fritillaria, and the pit left after digging one plant isn't big, so we collect the fritillaria and let the people go.

But there are some scoundrels who don't know how to dig but still run into the mountains, wanting to get rich until they're crazy. They dig a pit the size of a washbasin for one fritillaria plant; wouldn't the rain wash away the soil and water?

We have to catch these people when we run into them, send them to the Forestry Team to be locked up, and then repatriate them. Do you know? Some are from the county, and now that they're idle, they run here to dig for fritillaria... sigh, it's annoying!"

Only then did Li Long know why he could collect so much fritillaria every day.

It turned out that too many people had entered.

The fritillaria Hearing Bolati and the others brought was mainly traded for wine and meat, and also for money.

After all, in the Forestry Team, it wasn't easy to want to eat meat. According to their traditional customs, they could only eat the meat of cattle and sheep that had been slaughtered and prayed over by an Imam.

Meat from abnormal, that is, accidentally dead livestock, couldn't be eaten.

But the Forestry Team wasn't a pastoral team, and even a pastoral team couldn't slaughter cattle and sheep every day for themselves to eat.

What to do if they wanted to eat meat?

Li Long's place was equivalent to a place to exploit a loophole. After all, it was this time, and there were always some people whose thoughts weren't so firm. Putting fragrant meat in front of them—this meat was obtained by hunting, not accidentally dead, and it was cooked—it was yellow sheep, roe deer, red deer, not that kind of "big-eared sheep"—would they eat it or not?

Most young people ate it.

In some places in the border region, the rules in this regard weren't very strict. In Li Long's memory, in the next thirty or forty years, there were only a few years that were a bit extreme, where smoking and drinking weren't allowed in restaurants, and then it was suppressed.

Now and in the future, it's very normal for the uncle roasting lamb to smoke a cigarette or drink a cup of Big Wusu during his break.

It's also very normal for several old people to gather together and show off their tobacco boxes for Mohe tobacco to each other, and then roll a big cannon to smoke.

Li Long also saw or discovered on the internet in his previous life that these behaviors were actually taboos in some places in our country.

It can only be said that they were pressed too lightly. Thoughts are different.

It would be better if there were more people like Aili and Yili.

Unlike people like Hearing Bolati, those medicinal herb diggers who came to trade for things mainly traded for daily necessities. Li Long didn't know if Sun Jia Qiang had run into any, but he hadn't noticed any local people when he was there.

Originally planned for more than a month, that is, more than forty days, to be finished by the end of May, the carrying pole task was over-fulfilled on the morning of May 20th because some people joined, and Li Long underestimated the combat effectiveness of those people in Qingshui River Village.

Of course, this was also the result of the three-party competition over at Little Bai Yang Gully.

Last year, there were only eleven or twelve people making carrying poles, and everyone was familiar with each other, so there was no competition. Anyway, they knew some people had good skills and some had average skills, so they earned the money they should earn, and didn't roll (compete).

But this year was different. After being divided into three groups, Xu Haijun's group had the lowest pass rate at first, but the young men had a fighting spirit and weren't convinced, so they had been working hard later.

And Liang Wenyu's group, because they were considered outsiders, felt their starting point was low, so their requirements were stricter and higher, and their pass rate was in the middle.

Li Jianguo and these people were all old hands, so their pass rate went without saying. But very soon they discovered that if they didn't work hard, they would be surpassed by those young people, so they had to be forced to roll.

In this way, the speed and efficiency came up.

As for the Qingshui River side, it went without saying. Li Long gave them this opportunity, which made He Yuqing and Meng Hai very excited. They trusted Li Long, and every time Li Long inspected and accepted the carrying poles, he gave them the money in real terms.

This was good; their enthusiasm was soaring.

Rolling like this, the speed and efficiency came up.

It could be considered over-fulfilling the task.

Li Long himself also calculated that on the Qingshui River side, eleven or twelve people averaged about one hundred and forty carrying poles per person.

On this side, Little Bai Yang Gully, twenty-one or twenty-two people, each made about one hundred and thirty.

Other than Li Jianguo, the one who earned the most was Old Huang. On this side, he could take two mao for each carrying pole, and finally could get about five hundred yuan in his hand.

He was overjoyed.

As for Sun Jia Qiang, he had received over five hundred kilograms of fritillaria in these days, which converted to more than two hundred yuan.

It couldn't compare to making carrying poles, but the work was relatively easy, which was also the reason he was most willing to stay.

Even though the carrying poles were finished, fritillaria still had to be collected for a period of time before it ended, so he still had money to earn. Li Long settled with him every day and would take the fritillaria away every day, so Sun Jia Qiang didn't store fritillaria here, and didn't worry about safety issues.

On the morning of the 20th, Li Long had the last batch of carrying poles from the Little Bai Yang Gully side loaded directly onto the cars to be taken to the supply and marketing cooperative. After unloading, he returned and asked the people preparing to pack up to stay for a moment.

"Let me tell everyone, there's a job tomorrow, it's my private job, of course, everyone can rest assured, it's just one day, and I'll pay wages too." Li Long gathered these twenty or so people and said.

"What job, you say." Li Jianguo didn't find it easy to speak, and Xie Yun Dong didn't care about this extra day, so he responded directly.

"I have a friend in the mountains, Daqiang knows. He's a herdsman, his winter shelter isn't far from here. Tomorrow I plan to have everyone help dig a sheep-washing pool in front of their door. I think we can get it done in half a day."

"That... can we dig it?" Xu Haijun was a bit surprised; he had never dug this kind of thing before.

"What's there that can't be dug?" Lu Yingming smiled.

"Exactly." Old Huang also laughed, "That thing, we've dug it before." He smiled at Li Jianguo, "Right, Old Li?"

"If everyone stays to dig, then it can definitely be dug." Li Jianguo then spoke, "It can be finished in half a day."

"If everyone stays to dig, I won't give too much in wages. You dig tomorrow, I'll go hunting, meat will be enough at noon, ten yuan in wages, how about that?"

Ten yuan was quite high. Usually, going out to work for a day, getting three or five yuan was already quite a lot.

Li Long naturally also thought that everyone was working hard in the mountains, so it could be considered sending benefits.

"What money? No need for money, just meat is enough." Xie Yun Dong said with a smile, "This time after finishing the carrying poles, who doesn't get three or four hundred? It's not like we're short of that little bit."

"Then still have to ask everyone." Li Long waved his hand, "Working, after all, still can't let people work for nothing."

"No need for money," Xu Haijun thought about it too; he wanted to continue getting this job every year in the future. Once earning a year's wages of a worker outside, such a good job, if Li Long didn't give it, where would he find it?

Others also said one after another that they didn't need wages, which made it hard for the few who wanted wages to speak.

"Then how about this." Li Long saw that everyone said they didn't need wages, so he said:

"Right now, there are still quite a few fritillaria plants in the mountains that haven't bloomed. If everyone doesn't need wages, then after digging the sheep pool, I'll talk to the Forestry Team later, find a few fritillaria gullies, and if anyone wants to stay, then dig for a day, how about that?"

The eyes of the older ones, like Lu Yingming and Xie Yun Dong, lit up immediately.

They naturally knew clearly that the Forestry Team managed it and didn't let ordinary people dig fritillaria, and they also knew clearly that the price of fritillaria was high.

If Li Long could manage to let them dig for a day, that was fine too.

"Then digging fritillaria, where to sell it?" A young man on Liang Wenyu's side asked.

"You can take it back to air-dry and sell it to the acquisition station, or you can sell it to me. Six yuan per kilogram, I'll buy it—but this price is our internal price, the price I buy fresh fritillaria from outside isn't this price."

"Fine." Old Huang was the first to respond, "Then in a day, we can dig two or three kilograms..."

Actually, more than that. With professional tools, people like Li Jianguo and Lu Yingming who had been in the side-line team before could dig five or six kilograms a day without a problem.

Even without professional tools, digging three or four kilograms in a fritillaria gully wasn't a problem—that was twenty or thirty yuan.

These people were immediately tempted.

After settling this matter, Li Long felt relieved.

Do things one by one. This year, the water pipe was connected, and if the sheep-washing pool was dug, it could really be considered completing a major project.

It could be considered accumulating virtue for the unborn child, and also repaying the debt to Halimu and the others—mainly because these brothers had given too much before, and it couldn't be repaid.

Do it bit by bit; it will always slowly make their lives better. "Then settling the accounts, do you want to settle now, or settle when you return home?" Li Long asked the final question.

"That's definitely settling now." Old Huang couldn't wait to get his money.

Li Long had actually already brought the money.

The money on the Qingshui River side had already been settled. Yesterday, when they finished, He Yuqing and Meng Hai invited Li Long to a meal together. If it weren't for Li Long driving and strongly refusing to drink, he estimated he wouldn't have been able to get off the table.

Even so, the two still strongly expressed that when Li Long had time later, he should come over again, and when he could stay for a night, he must drink well once.

After all, at this time, including twenty or thirty years later, wine culture was still very prevalent.

It was only forty years later that wine culture began to decline, and only then did people not drink so desperately.

People in Qingshui River knew how to be grateful, or rather, most people at this time were quite grateful. They could remember the good others did for them.

Li Long believed that if he had any trouble in the mountains, He Yuqing and Meng Hai would definitely bring people over to help.

However, they weren't needed for the time being. For benefits, Li Long still thought of the people in the Fourth Team first.

Read every line and every clause!

After settling this matter with the "family" in Little Bai Yang Gully, Li Long first took Li Jianguo, Xie Yun Dong, and a few others to Halimu's side.

As for the others, they could move freely nearby, but Li Long emphasized that they must be in groups of three or five, carrying things.

"There are brown bears in the mountains, the kind that are two meters tall. I ran into one when hunting two days ago; if it weren't for the gun in my hand, I wouldn't have been able to escape." Li Long emphasized to those few young people who were eager to try, "Don't take it lightly. Every year, there are people eaten by wolves and brown bears in the mountains."

Once he said this, those few young people were a bit more restrained. They had originally wanted to see which gully nearby had fritillaria.

Six yuan per kilogram; in their view, digging this thing, wasn't it more profitable than making carrying poles?

Although they knew the Forestry Team people would watch and not let them, but it was afternoon and they were idle, so shouldn't it be fine to dig a little secretly?

Actually, these days when cutting strips in the nearby gullies, some people had already recognized what fritillaria was.

Of course, they also recognized some wild mushrooms. Some people now went to the gullies, also wanting to pick some wild mushrooms, intending to bring them back home in a day or two.

And thinking about picking wild strawberries.

At this time of year, some fritillaria had already started to bloom, but there were also quite a few that hadn't. After all, the temperature in the mountains would be cooler, and some fritillaria grew later.

"I plan to dig a sheep-washing pool right here." Li Long pointed to the position in front of Halimu's winter shelter. This was forty or fifty meters away from the forest in front, and fifty or sixty meters away from the winter shelter.

This piece of land was relatively flat, and it was also in a lower position in the water source, which didn't affect Halimu's family grazing in winter, nor did it affect the cattle and sheep eating grass.

If they wanted to wash sheep, they could open a small canal from the end of the water pipe, let the water in, then pour in the insecticide, drive the sheep in from one end, and have someone stand in the middle and use a "Y"-shaped piece of wood to press the sheep's head into the medicinal water all at once. After the sheep were soaked in the medicinal water, drive the sheep to the other end.

"Digging here is no problem, but with this terrain, if there's no Gobi below and it's all soil, you have to pick up some stones from the riverside and lay them under the pool; otherwise, the water will seep too fast, and it won't be able to be washed." Li Jianguo said.

"Doesn't laying stones also have gaps?" Li Long was a bit puzzled.

"Lay pebbles, and fill the gaps with sand; this way, it will seep slower. If it's yellow clay below, that's even better, and you don't need to lay stones. But it's still best to lay some; even if it doesn't prevent seepage, it also prevents it from becoming a mud soup below."

"Got it." Li Long turned his head to look at the stream below.

It was covered with stones, enough to use.

Li Jianguo asked Li Long:

"How many sheep are going to be washed?"

"How about one or two hundred?" Li Long said.

Li Jianguo then found a stick and roughly drew the shape of the sheep-washing pool on the spot Li Long pointed out.

The pool wasn't very big; including the entrance at the front, all the way to the sheep pen at the back, it didn't exceed thirty-five meters.

Li Long initially felt it was small, but later thought about it and laughed. Why use such a big one? It wasn't like the village side here; here, there were pastures everywhere, and after the sheep were washed, they didn't need to be penned up again; just let them out and let them eat grass.

After this matter was determined, Li Long drove the jeep and sent Li Jianguo and Xie Yun Dong back to Little Bai Yang Gully. On the way, Li Jianguo said: "I'll go see where there's something to hunt nearby later; while we're still in the mountains, let's hunt and see, it's best if we can catch something."

Li Long pointed to the position of the rock salt cave on the east side and told him about the situation there.

"Then I have to go see..."

"I'll go see too." Xie Yun Dong was a bit tempted when he heard it, "I've really never seen such a place."

Rock salt and such weren't rare to these people, but if they could guard and hunt something, that was really a good place.

Li Long sent his older brother and the others to Little Bai Yang Gully and found that other than Old Huang cooking, and a few people resting, the others were nowhere to be seen.

He guessed they should have gone to the nearby gullies.

He planned to tell everyone when eating later how to deal with it if they really ran into patrolling forest rangers.

Of course, Li Long also believed that as long as the people here said their relationship with him, those forest rangers, whether they knew him or not, would give him some face.

In the afternoon, Li Long went to the wooden cabin to take a look. Sun Jia Qiang knew the carrying poles were finished, but the fritillaria season hadn't completely passed yet, so he planned to continue staying here for a period of time.

Earn a little bit more. Besides, right now, living comfortably and eating well here, and being able to earn money, and seeing many people every day, what else was there to ask for?

Seeing Li Long come over, Sun Jia Qiang, who was washing fritillaria by the spring eye, grabbed a handful of fritillaria and raised it proudly; it seemed the harvest today was also not bad.

Li Long came over to look; the fritillaria in the basin and the ones drying outside could be five or six kilograms, which was okay.

Coming over these days, other than the frequent items, Li Long had already taken the second batch of short knives, and some medicinal herb diggers even took two; according to them, they were taking them back as gifts for their families.

Li Long laughed. This thing could completely be bought in the market.

He guessed that maybe these people didn't see them in the places they usually went, or they would buy tickets to go back directly after the medicinal herb season ended. Trading for things with fritillaria at this time was just being lazy to look for them.

After all, not everyone had that kind of courage to venture. Coming into the mountains to collect medicinal herbs itself had the idea of avoiding the world. Being able to earn money without having to live under someone else's roof, and being able to support oneself without having to deal with other people, was quite good.

Li Long felt as if someone was staring at him in the forest. As soon as he appeared, not long after, two groups of people came to trade for things.

They specifically wanted to trade with Li Long, trading for meat, trading for steamed buns, trading for knives, trading for money.

Li Long was naturally willing, and after trading, he didn't forget to give people some extra things.

Although he came every now and then, in fact, the fritillaria he traded was more than Sun Jia Qiang's. This year's fritillaria season, the total fritillaria Li Long traded was a bit scary.

Right now, he went to the acquisition station to sell a batch of fritillaria every two days. The amount of money he sold was already very astonishing.

However, his focus was still on making carrying poles, and also digging the sheep pool.

Money had to be earned, and things had to be done step by step. After being reborn, he had received many gifts and kindnesses. Li Long felt he must do some things to repay them.

Just like connecting the water pipe, like digging the sheep pool, like slowly leading those who trusted him to become rich.

Just treat it as accumulating blessings for his unborn child.

After those who traded things left, Li Long told Sun Jia Qiang, then drove the jeep toward Halimu's winter shelter.

This time it wasn't toward Talihar's winter shelter; he planned to change direction.

The inner mountains of the Tianshan Mountains were layered, and wild animals always lived in some relatively steep places.

He thought if he ran into a brown bear this time, he absolutely couldn't let it go. (End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 665 =====