Chapter 735: Seeing Treasure Hunters Again

Not cheap, but worth it.

Li Long could be considered to have some understanding of these herdsmen. The saddles they used weren't used for a short time; decades were very normal.

Saddles used wooden skeletons, supplemented by leather, copper and iron parts, and wool textiles. Everything was quite sturdy, and it wasn't easy to wear out on the horse's back.

Herdsmen would also repair some easily damaged parts themselves. So using a set of saddles for decades was considered normal in that era.

Some families' saddles had a heritage.

So equipping a full set of horse gear might be a bit expensive, but when calculated over the years, it was actually very cost-effective.

"I want all these eight saddles, and each set must be equipped with a horse whip, reins, halter, and pad," Li Long said. "Can you negotiate the price?"

"No negotiation, no negotiation," the old grandfather said with a smile. "It has always been this price, honest and fair, you've seen it too, all using top-quality leather, good stuff! Rest assured to use it, if you are not satisfied, come find me! I've been making this saddle for fifty or sixty years, rest assured, rest assured!"

Then buy it. Eight sets cost nearly six hundred yuan, filling Li Long's jeep to the brim.

The old grandfather was very happy. Li Long cleared out the inventory he had made for a long time, and the old man immediately had motivation again.

Li Long drove the jeep away from this shop, but he noted the location.

When looking at the saddles, Li Long also compared them. He found that the saddles made by the old man were of better quality than the shop in the county, and they also looked more comfortable, regardless of the feel or the materials used, they were different.

He planned to go into the mountains in the afternoon to send the saddle sets to Halimu's place, and tell them about it by the way.

If they were in a hurry for saddles, then buy from both sides. If they weren't in a hurry, then prioritize this side, which was relatively better.

This old man made saddles relatively slowly, because the saddle production process was relatively cumbersome, especially the carving of that wooden mold, which was very slow to make by hand and couldn't be rushed.

Li Long drove the car away from this road, went to the city center, found a state-run canteen to eat a bowl of mixed noodles, and then drove the car westward.

Arriving at Ma County, it was not yet four o'clock in the afternoon, and he didn't stop, driving the car directly into the mountains.

Heavy snow covered all the fields. When Li Long passed by Qingshuihe Village, he found that almost no one went out, and everyone was hiding at home resting.

There was no one on the red willow beach either. Occasionally, one could see yellow sheep and such flashing by and disappearing into the forest.

Li Long drove the jeep to the mountain pass and found horse hoof prints, but relatively few.

Li Long guessed that at this time, Bolati and the others shouldn't be patrolling anymore. In mid-winter with such thick snow, patrolling was easy to have accidents.

Unless living at the mountain pass, otherwise patrolling the forest was really dangerous.

The jeep drove to Halimu's winter corral. Halimu was feeding the sheep.

Seeing Li Long's jeep, Halimu's dogs were already familiar with it, running over to jump around the jeep, occasionally barking a couple of times, indicating welcome.

Halimu put down the wooden fork, walked to the jeep, and shook hands with Li Long who got off the car.

"I bought eight saddles from Beiting today, as well as reins and horse whips. Take a look."

Li Long said, opened the jeep's back door, and moved those saddles down one by one.

Halimu immediately walked to the other side, moving them while saying:

"So many!"

"Haha, there are many people in your tribe, these definitely aren't enough."

"You really intend to let everyone have one?" Halimu was also startled. "This requires quite a bit of money!"

"Rest assured, the money from those skins is enough," Li Long said with a smile. "Don't worry about the money, I don't do business at a loss either."

"Hahaha." Halimu said with a smile, "We can't let you lose money either."

"This saddle, it's quite good!" Halimu's wife came out of the house, saw the saddles and those blankets, and praised:

"I feel it's even better looking than the one brought yesterday!"

Halimu's wife also had her own horse. Although there was a saddle on the horse's back, that saddle had a history of decades and was already too worn to be repaired well.

Seeing so many beautiful saddles, she also wanted one very much.

Eight saddles were all moved down, piled into a heap at the door of the winter corral.

Li Long clapped his hands and said:

"I'll leave them to you to handle. Later if there are more, I'll pull them over when the time comes, striving for this winter, including before you migrate next spring, to let everyone have a new saddle to use."

Li Long felt he had a new goal.

Just taking things from the herdsmen, and what he gave them were ordinary grain, medicinal herbs, and the like, feeling the value was very unequal.

This saddle was different. It was both what Halimu and the others needed and relatively high in value. At least like this, Li Long's psychology would be more balanced.

"Have you eaten? Go, go inside to drink some milk tea first, then I'll cook for you." Halimu said.

"Move them into the house first, right? These saddles can't be left outside." Li Long indicated.

Halimu opened the door of the small room, tidied up the things inside, and together with Li Long, moved those saddles in. Halimu's wife was still worried about getting these saddles and those blankets that looked very exquisite dirty, and tidied up for a long time.

Li Long entered the house, drank a bowl of milk tea, and prepared to leave again.

These two days he had been busy entering the mountains. Now the saddle matter was proceeding in an orderly way, and there was no lack of other things in the mountains, so he could go home and rest for a while first.

Halimu didn't keep Li Long either, watching him leave the mountain gully. After Li Long left, Halimu led the horse out, put on a saddle, took two saddles from the ones Li Long brought, put them into a bag, tied them up, placed them on both sides of the horse's body, and rode to Yushanjiang's house.

Yushanjiang was also feeding cattle and sheep. Seeing Halimu riding over, he was a bit suspicious.

Halimu rode to his side, got off the horse, took down the two bags, and while untying them, said:

"Yushanjiang, look, this is the thing Li Long brought today."

"Saddle?" Yushanjiang guessed what was in the bag.

"Yes, look at it, the things inside, new, even better than yesterday's, complete sets, eight sets in total. Li Long said, striving to let everyone in our tribe have a new saddle to use before migrating."

"Not cheap, right?" Yushanjiang immediately thought of the key to the matter. "Our tribe has dozens of people, big and small. If everyone has one, how much money is that! A flock of sheep can't buy it, right?"

Halimu nodded with a heavy face, he meant the same thing.

!

"Li Long sends us things every time, helps us repair water pipes, will repair houses next year, and now wants to equip us with saddles. Although we also gave him some things, compared to it, his contribution to us is more."

Yushanjiang didn't understand the market price of things outside, but he believed that taking these things out to sell to others, the things exchanged definitely wouldn't be as much as what Li Long gave.

And most people who got the things they gave, the first thing they thought of was to lower the price.

They hadn't encountered similar things once or twice.

"I think, we should also think more about how to help Li Long get the things he wants," Halimu said.

"Hmm, we all have to think about it," Yushanjiang nodded.

Next, Halimu and Yushanjiang discussed the distribution order of these saddles.

Li Long's jeep drove out of the mountain gully where Halimu's winter corral was located. When he was about to reach the mountain pass, he was surprised to find that on the mountain slope to the east, someone was climbing down the snow slope.

What is this person doing in the mountains in mid-winter?

Li Long looked at this person's attire. He didn't look like someone cutting wood. It was impossible to collect medicinal herbs in mid-winter, and he wasn't carrying a gun, and his attire didn't look like someone hunting.

What is this person doing entering the mountains? Isn't he worried about being eaten by wild beasts?

Li Long slowed down the jeep's speed. Although he maintained vigilance against strangers, his basic moral principles were still there. If this person wanted to go out of the mountains, he could give him a free ride.

Seeing Li Long's car slow down, that person also accelerated his speed. Later, he simply sat and slid down from the mountain slope, then ran across the frozen small stream and came to the jeep.

Li Long got off the car and saw that this was a middle-aged or elderly man of forty or fifty. His beard wasn't long, but his eyebrows were all white—covered with frost.

"Young man, hello, do you often come into the mountains?" That person asked Li Long.

Li Long saw that he was carrying a large travel bag, didn't look like a local farmer or herdsman, and his Mandarin was quite standard, so he nodded and said yes.

"Then do you know if there is a mountain that looks like a steamed bun nearby?" That person was quite excited after hearing this and asked again immediately.

Li Long understood immediately, this was another treasure hunter.

Don't these people know to come in summer? In the mountains in mid-winter, not finding a suitable shelter can freeze people to death!

Li Long shook his head and said:

"There is no round mountain in this area. Here are all mountain ridges, I haven't seen a single mountain."

That man immediately showed a disappointed expression.

"Are you going out of the mountains? If you are going out, I'll give you a ride."

"No, thank you, I still have to look," that person said, and then asked, "Do you have any food in your car, as well as matches and such? My supplies aren't enough, I want to replenish some—I'll buy them with money."

Li Long actually had some reserve grain in the car, mainly sesame cakes, sponge cakes, etc. Li Long thought that if he could help, he would help, so he took these things out.

This man was very happy. He took out his wallet, counted twenty yuan from it, and handed it to Li Long.

Li Long wasn't polite either, took out a few packs of matches, and handed them to this man.

That man took off his travel bag, put the supplies into it, left a pack of sponge cakes, tore it open, and ate it in big mouthfuls.

Obviously, he was starving.

Li Long just discovered that in this person's travel bag, there was a gun handle—this person was carrying a gun.

A short-barreled hunting gun—it's just that it wasn't carried on his body, but put into a large travel bag.

Li Long felt it was better to stay away from these people, so he drove the jeep away after finishing.

But the doubt in his heart remained: in these mountains, is there really treasure? (End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 736 =====