Chapter 78: The Efficiency of Mountain People

Seeing that it was still early, Li Long drove the cart to the Meat Canteen first, bought a few buns, and ate while heading toward the mountains.

It is said that an old horse knows the way. The No. 76 big red horse was indeed very familiar with the road into the mountains and didn't need Li Long to drive it; it followed the road into the mountains by itself.

When they arrived at the "parking spot" near Halimu’s winter shelter, the dog by the sheep pen barked in time.

Halimu bent over and crawled out of the winter shelter. He was a bit surprised to see Li Long’s cart.

"I have a relatively important matter to discuss with you this time." Li Long got straight to the point, not even entering the winter shelter before saying to Halimu:

"I heard you and Brother Yushanjiang say last time that your stored fodder might not be enough, so I thought about whether I could help. This time I went down the mountain to the county town and contacted the supply and marketing cooperative. 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:

"The supply and marketing cooperative collects sheep, ten or more?"

Li Long thought Halimu didn't understand what he meant, so he explained: "I remember you said that the fodder wasn't enough, so why not slaughter some of the weak sheep that won't survive until spring and sell them? Wouldn't the remaining sheep be able to survive until spring when the grass grows?"

Halimu nodded repeatedly:

"That would certainly..."

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

"Both." Halimu said, "If by weight, you have to slaughter the sheep, skin them, remove the internal organs, and weigh the carcass (only sheep bones and meat). They collect it for five or six mao per kilogram. If it’s a whole sheep, it’s estimated to be about ten yuan per sheep."

"Then I might need you to slaughter the sheep here, and I’ll take the carcass, how about that?" Li Long asked.

"Of course, no problem. Ten sheep, I can finish slaughtering them in a day." Halimu was very confident. "If you need, twenty or thirty sheep are fine."

"Yushanjiang can do the same, right?" Li Long asked again.

"Of course he can."

"That’s fine. Please help me notify him. You prepare ten each, and I’ll come to pick them up tomorrow." Li Long took out the remaining dozens of 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, don't we trust you? You just come to pick up the sheep tomorrow."

Seeing Halimu insist on not accepting, Li Long couldn't say anything more. He had things on his mind, drank a bowl of milk tea at Halimu’s house, and after Halimu slaughtered another sheep, skinned it, and cleaned the carcass to put on the cart, he hurried back.

Li Long planned to take the fish to Shicheng tomorrow first. If he went around the agricultural machinery factory family quarters, the sugar factory family quarters, and the textile factory family quarters, he would see if he could find suitable people to ask if they needed sheep.

Thinking of Halimu’s movements just now, he was really quick!

Returning to the county town, Li Long went to Ma Mengqi’s place first, or rather, his own house.

Hearing the knocking, after about three minutes, the old man Ma came to open the door. Seeing Li Long, he said with a smile:

"How is it, Xiao Li, are you impatient to move in?"

"That’s not it." Li Long laughed and said, "I might pull a cart of sheep over tomorrow. It might not be sold directly, so I might put it here. Does this courtyard have an empty room to put it in?"

"Yes, yes, yes." Once Old Man Ma heard this, he said with a smile, "There are over twenty rooms in this courtyard, most of them are empty. You can put it anywhere. By the way, I’m leaving tomorrow noon to go to Wucheng to see some friends. You take the key first, and you can just come in directly when the time comes."

Li Long wasn't pretentious either, took the key, and said:

"Then, old man, I wish you a smooth journey. You go do your business, I’m going back first." Leaving here, Li Long drove the cart and hurried back to the production team.

When he reached the team, the sun hadn't set yet. Li Jianguo and Tao Daqiang were still catching fish at Xiaohai, and Li Juan and Li Qiang had followed.

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

"Going to sell fish tomorrow? Good." Tao Daqiang laughed. "Then you guys are here, I’m going back first." After saying that, he walked toward his house with big strides. Looking at his pace, he was clearly in a 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 two days? Seeing you coming and going."

"My friends in the mountains are short of fodder, and they have many sheep, so I plan to let them slaughter a batch and help them sell them."

"How many to sell?" Li Jianguo also knew these days that Li Long’s friends were very loyal to him, so he asked, "If not, let’s see if we can buy some fodder from our side to send over."

"Fodder is still scarce on our side," Li Long shook his head and said, "I plan to help them sell a few dozen."

"A few dozen?" Liang Yuemei also came over to help and was startled when she heard this. "Can they be sold?"

!.

"I asked the supply and marketing cooperative. The procurement section chief there is from our clan, also surnamed Li, and he said he would take them if there were ten or more. Besides, I actually pulled two sheep down yesterday, and they were bought up at the supply and marketing cooperative.

Now the meat in the butcher shop is also quite tight, and meat coupons are needed. What I sell directly doesn't need meat coupons, and this meat is fresh, so many people want it. I plan to take that sheep to Shicheng tomorrow to see if there is a market."

"Mm, this idea is right, you can't just rely on the supply and marketing cooperative." Li Jianguo always did things steadily, and hearing Li Long’s idea, he nodded.

Liang Yuemei was thinking about something and didn't speak.

Today Li Jianguo and Tao Daqiang caught fifty or sixty kilograms of fish. There were seventeen or eighteen large fish over two kilograms that could be taken out to sell, and there were less than ten kilograms of crucian carp that could be sold.

Added to the previous day’s, 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 frozen again.

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

"Xiao Long, you lie on the kang for a while, the fish soup on the stove is ready, I’ll roast some bun slices, it will be ready in a while." As a traditional housewife, Liang Yuemei was a typical example of being hardworking and complaining about nothing, and she still had to be responsible for cooking after finishing work.

Li Jianguo was already using a broom to sweep the stove. After sweeping it clean, he put on the iron grate and placed the sliced buns on it. The stove fire wasn't very strong at this time, and soon the buns were roasted golden brown on one side, and the fragrance filled the air.

Li Long laughed and said:

"These roasted bun slices are really fragrant!"

Li Juan and Li Qiang didn't speak, but they watched eagerly. Soon, a large plate of buns was on the table, and the family ate happily.

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

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 79 =====