[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-reborn-in-1981-fishing-and-hunting-in-the-northw":3,"chapter-reborn-in-1981-fishing-and-hunting-in-the-northw-reborn-in-1981-fishing-and-hunting-in-the-northw-chapter-73":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","Reborn in 1981: Fishing and Hunting in the Northwest",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},1933954,2572,"Chapter 73: For Friends","reborn-in-1981-fishing-and-hunting-in-the-northw-chapter-73",73,"\u003Cp>Li Long sat on the carriage, lost in thought, letting the number seventy-six great red horse trot along the main road toward the county town.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The sharp blast of a whistle ahead snapped him back to reality; he realized they had already reached the Wuyi Highway, and the county town was less than a kilometer away.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>An East Wind truck approached from the opposite direction. After the driver honked, he slowed down as he passed the carriage. The snow particles kicked up by the wheels drifted down, but they hardly affected Li Long.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He had been pondering how to help Harimu, Yushanjiang, and the others solve their difficulties, yet he still had no leads.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Once the car passed, Li Long jumped down from the carriage, stretched his nearly frozen feet, and led the carriage toward the county town.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Passing the black market, Li Long was surprised to find the area trampled by people had expanded significantly. Some trash remained uncollected; he spotted onion skins, spoiled potatoes, and fish scales.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Clearly, he hadn't visited recently, yet business here remained brisk, with even more sellers and varieties of goods.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Long even wondered if he could skip Shicheng and sell the fish right here.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Could Harimu, Yushanjiang, and the others sell their sheep here as well?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But he dismissed the idea. Few people in the county town could afford mutton, and most of them wouldn't come to the black market, so it wouldn't solve the main problem.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>To truly help them, he still had to go to Shicheng.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Long led the horse to the procurement station.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>To his surprise, he remembered Chen Hongjun wasn't on duty today, yet Chen Hongjun was behind the counter, with a woman sitting beside him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Comrade Li, you're here?\" Chen Hongjun greeted Li Long with a smile as he entered.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Haven't seen you in a few days. What good stuff did you bring this time?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Hello, Comrade Chen.\" Li Long shook his hand and said, \"I've brought a roe deer today. I don't know if you buy its hide. If you do, I'll skin it and bring it over after I return. If not, I'll keep it for myself.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"You mean a roe deer, right?\" The woman beside Chen Hongjun interrupted eagerly, her tone curious.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Do you really have one? Those are hard to get!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Yes, it's on my carriage right now.\" Li Long, worried about the items outside, asked, \"Do you want to take a look?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Let's go see.\" Chen Hongjun was also curious. Inside the procurement station, he often saw deer antlers and velvet, and plenty of Chinese medicinal herbs, but he had never seen a complete roe deer, a deer-like animal.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Outside the station, they saw that there was indeed a carcass of a deer-like animal on Li Long's carriage.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was a male roe deer with short, three-pronged antlers. Chen Hongjun stepped forward, gripped an antler, and twisted it. To Li Long's surprise, he actually twisted one of the antlers off.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"As expected,\" Chen Hongjun said with a smile. \"I've heard that male roe antlers have effects similar to deer antlers. They shed every winter and grow velvet again in spring. I thought I'd try, and I actually twisted it off.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"So you buy these antlers?\" Li Long stepped forward, twisted off the other antler with force, and held it up, asking.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"We do, though not as expensive as deer antlers. Per kilogram...\" Chen Hongjun examined the antler in his hand and said, \"It's fresh antler. I'll give you two yuan fifty per kilogram.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Agreed.\" Li Long naturally had no objection.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"If you can skin it completely, we'll buy the hide too,\" the female comrade hurriedly added. \"We're on duty tomorrow again. If you can bring it, I'll give you ten... fifteen yuan for the whole hide.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fifteen yuan was a decent price, so Li Long nodded.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Back inside the station, Chen Hongjun weighed the two antlers; they totaled two point eight kilograms, and he paid Li Long seven yuan.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Comrade Li, where did the sheep on your cart come from? The meat looks quite fresh,\" Chen Hongjun asked after registering and accepting the roe antlers.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"A friend in the mountains gave them to me. Why, Comrade Chen, do you want some mutton?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Yes, with the New Year coming up, I want to get some.\" \"Should I cut you a leg or some mutton?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"You can sell? Then I'll take a leg. By the way, what's your price?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Market price. One yuan per kilogram.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"That's quite cheap,\" Chen Hongjun said with a smile. \"The butcher shops are already charging one yuan twenty.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Give me a leg,\" the female comrade said immediately upon hearing how cheap it was.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With only a twenty-cent difference, Li Long didn't mind. He took out the knife he carried and went outside to cut the meat.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Chen Hongjun and the female comrade came out together. He said:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I'll take this hind leg. Cut it from here.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Then I'll take the foreleg. Cut it from that sheep,\" the female comrade requested with specific details. \"Some ribs would be best.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The leg cut for Chen Hongjun weighed three point two kilograms. The female comrade's portion, including some ribs, weighed four point three kilograms.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Receiving seven yuan fifty in hand, Li Long thought that meat was indeed very cheap at this time.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Comrade Chen, do you know where anyone is buying mutton in large quantities recently?\" He figured that with the New Year approaching, since both Chen Hongjun and the female comrade wanted to buy meat, there must be market demand.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>!.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Large quantities?\" Chen Hongjun thought for a moment and said, \"In the county, the ones buying in bulk are either the Supply and Marketing Cooperative or the various factories. Actually, I think you'd be better off going to Shicheng. The Corps units have fewer red tape issues; they definitely need some sheep for worker welfare during the New Year. As for which factory buys in bulk, I don't know.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Which other factories?\" The female comrade, who was finding something to pack her mutton, interjected, \"The Agricultural Machinery Factory, the Woolen Mill, and the Sugar Factory all need them. My neighbor's second brother works at the Shicheng August First Woolen Mill and said they distribute quite a lot of goods for holidays.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Long understood, thanked the two, and drove his carriage to the Meat Canteen.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Last time they wanted fish; he didn't know if they would want mutton this time.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>However, Li Long was somewhat disappointed when they stated that their mutton and lamb had designated suppliers, so they didn't need any.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Long bought two steamed buns, ate while walking toward the Supply and Marketing Cooperative. Upon reaching the front of the cooperative's store, he finished the remaining half of the bun in two or three bites, wiped the oil from his mouth, tied the carriage to a tree at the entrance, and went inside.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Two salesclerks were chatting and ignored Li Long as he entered. Li Long stepped forward and asked:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Excuse me, where is the Procurement Section of your cooperative?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"The Procurement Section? What do you want?\" one of the salesclerks asked.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I want to sell a batch of sheep. I'm asking if you buy them.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Sheep? Do you have an introduction letter?\" the person asked.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Introduction letter?\" Li Long was surprised, then shook his head. \"No. I collected these sheep from herdsmen in the mountains.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Without an introduction letter, who dares to buy your sheep?\" the salesclerk sneered. \"Who knows where those sheep came from? What if there's a problem?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Long paused, surprised that the other party had such thoughts.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But thinking about it, this was also a characteristic of the era.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>What a pity.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>(End of this chapter)\u003C\u002Fp>",1295,"2026-06-14T06:06:39.549Z",1,"Qwen3.5 122B","7278ec20acce93ec76775d250b0a801731897c0d2cadcafe1fa45e35523cbb47","reborn-in-1981-fishing-and-hunting-in-the-northw-chapter-74","reborn-in-1981-fishing-and-hunting-in-the-northw-chapter-72",180,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Freborn-in-1981-fishing-and-hunting-in-the-northw-cover.jpg"]