Chapter 78: The efficiency of people in the mountains

Seeing that it was still early, Li Long drove the carriage to the meat canteen first, bought a few buns, and drove toward the mountains while eating.

They say an old horse knows the way, the Number 76 big red horse was indeed very familiar with the road into the mountains, it didn't need Li Long to drive it at all, it followed the road into the mountains by itself.

When arriving at the "parking spot" near Halimu's winter camp, the dog by the sheep pen barked in time.

Halimu crawled out of the winter camp, and was a bit surprised to see Li Long's carriage.

"I have a relatively important matter to discuss with you this trip." Li Long went straight to the point, didn't even enter the winter camp, and said directly to Halimu:

"I heard you and Big Brother Yushanjiang say that your stored forage might not be enough last time, so I thought about seeing if I could help. I contacted the supply and marketing cooperative when I went down the mountain to the county this time, they can collect sheep there, but it needs to be ten or more..."

Halimu was stunned for a moment, and repeated Li Long's words:

"Supply and marketing cooperative collects sheep, ten

Li Long thought Halimu hadn't understood his meaning, so he explained, "I remember you saying that fodder was running low, right? So, why not slaughter and sell the weak sheep that won't make it to spring? That way, the remaining sheep might be able to hold out until the grass grows in spring, don't you think?"

Halimu nodded repeatedly:

"That would certainly work..."

"Halimu, how did you sell sheep in the past? By the head or by weight?"

"Both," Halimu said. "If selling by weight, we'd slaughter the sheep, skin them, and remove the innards to weigh the carcass (just the bones and meat). They'd buy it for fifty or sixty cents a kilogram. If selling the whole sheep, we'd estimate it, and one sheep would be about ten yuan."

"In that case, I might need you to slaughter the sheep for me. I'll take the carcasses. How about that?" Li Long asked.

"Of course, no problem. Ten sheep? I can finish slaughtering them in a day," Halimu said confidently. "If you need more, twenty or thirty would be fine too."

"That works for Yushanjiang too, right?" Li Long asked again.

"Of course it does."

"Alright then, please notify him for me. You two prepare ten each, and I'll come by tomorrow to pick them up." Li Long took the remaining few dozen yuan from his pocket and handed them to Halimu:

"This is the deposit."

"What are you saying?" Halimu pushed his hand back immediately. "We're friends, aren't we? Don't I trust you? Just come by tomorrow and take the sheep."

Seeing that Halimu insisted on not taking it, Li Long didn't say anything more. He had things on his mind, so he drank a bowl of milk tea at Halimu's house, waited for Halimu to slaughter another sheep, skin it, clean it, and put it on the cart, then hurried back.

Li Long planned to take the fish to Shicheng first thing tomorrow. He would make a round of the agricultural machinery factory residential area, the sugar refinery residential area, and the textile mill residential area to see if he could find suitable people to ask if they were short on mutton.

Thinking of Halimu's movements just now, he really was quite nimble!

Back in the county, Li Long first went to see Ma Mengqi, or rather, to his own room.

Hearing the knock, after about three minutes, Old Man Ma came to open the door. Seeing Li Long, he smiled and said:

"What's this, Xiao Li? Can't wait to move in?"

"That's not it," Li Long smiled and said. "I might be bringing a cart of sheep over tomorrow. I might not be able to sell them all right away, so I might need to store them here for a bit. Does this courtyard have any empty rooms I could use?"

"Yes, yes, yes." Once Ma Mengqi heard what it was about, he smiled and said, "There are over twenty rooms in this courtyard, most of them are empty. Feel free to put them anywhere. By the way, I'm leaving tomorrow at noon to go to Wucheng to see some friends. You take these keys; just come right in when you get here."

Li Long didn't stand on ceremony, took the keys, and said:

"Alright then, old man, have a safe trip. You go ahead and get busy, I'm heading back." Leaving there, Li Long drove the horse cart and hurried back to the production team.

By the time he reached the team, the sun hadn't set yet. Li Jianguo and Tao Daqiang were still fishing at the Little Haizi, and Li Juan and Li Qiang had gone along too.

Li Long unloaded the sheep and returned the horse cart. By the time he returned to the Li family courtyard, Li Jianguo and the others had already returned.

"Selling fish tomorrow? That's great." Tao Daqiang smiled and said, "Since you're all here, I'll head back." With that, he strode toward home. Judging by his gait, he was clearly in a very good mood.

Li Long and Li Jianguo started sorting the fish together. Li Jianguo asked while sorting:

"Xiao Long, what have you been busy with these past two days? You've been coming and going quite a bit."

"My friends in the mountains are short on fodder, and they have a lot of sheep. I'm planning to have them slaughter a batch and help them sell it."

"How many are you selling?" Li Jianguo had realized these past few days that Li Long's friends were very good to him, so he asked, "If it's not enough, see if we can buy some fodder from our side to send over."

"We don't have much fodder here either," Li Long shook his head and said, "I'm planning to help them sell a few dozen."

"A few dozen?" Liang Wenyu had also come over to help and was startled when she heard this. "Can you sell that many?"

!.

"I asked the supply and marketing cooperative. The procurement section chief there is a relative of ours, also surnamed Li, and he said he'd take ten or more. Besides, I actually brought two sheep down yesterday, and they were bought up right there at the cooperative.

Meat is quite scarce in the butcher shops right now, and you need meat coupons. I'm selling directly without needing coupons, and the meat is fresh, so there are plenty of people who want it. I plan to take those sheep to Shicheng tomorrow to see if there's a market."

"Hmm, that's the right idea. You can't just rely on the supply and marketing cooperative alone." Li Jianguo was always steady in his dealings, and he nodded upon hearing Li Long's plan.

Liang Wenyu was deep in thought and didn't say anything.

Today, Li Jianguo and Tao Daqiang had caught fifty or sixty kilograms of fish. There were seventeen or eighteen fish over two kilograms that could be sold, and the remaining crucian carp that could be sold amounted to just under ten kilograms.

Adding the previous day's catch, Li Long calculated there were about forty large fish and twenty kilograms of small fish. The remaining miscellaneous fish needed to be processed now and then frozen.

The whole family pitched in, even Li Qiang helped scrape scales by the large washbasin. By ten o'clock in the evening, the fish were all processed, and Li Long didn't want to move anymore.

"Xiao Long, go lie down on the kang for a while. The fish soup on the stove is ready, and I'll toast some mantou slices; they'll be ready in a moment." As a traditional homemaker, Liang Wenyu was the typical example of someone who worked without complaint; even after finishing, she was still responsible for cooking.

Li Jianguo was already using a broom to clean the stove top. After sweeping it clean, he placed an iron grate on it and put the sliced mantou on top. The fire wasn't very strong, so the mantou slices soon turned golden brown on one side, and the aroma filled the air.

Li Long smiled and said:

"These toasted mantou slices smell so good!"

Li Juan and Li Qiang didn't say anything, but they watched eagerly. Soon, a large platter of mantou was on the table, and the family happily began to eat.

The next day, before dawn, Li Long and Tao Daqiang drove the horse cart toward Shicheng.

(End of chapter)