Chapter 782: A Stagnant Pool Stirred Up by Li Long

"Fifteen residual skins, eight of which only have one or two gun holes, which are relatively good, thirty each, totaling two hundred and forty; seven skins have more than three gun holes, and there are also cuts made by knives when peeling the skin, these skins are twenty each, that's one hundred and forty; the remaining two are full skins, I'll give a higher price, fifty each. Calculated this way, it's four hundred and eighty yuan, I'll round it up to five hundred, how about that?"

Because Xu Haijun also brought two whole Mongolian gazelles, Li Long simply took a step back and added twenty yuan.

"Fine, definitely fine." Xu Haijun said with a smile, "This idea was still pointed out by you. We earned so much money in two days, it's already very good, don't you think so, Dejun?"

"Right, there's meat to eat, and money to earn, it only took two days in total, and we could hunt, where else can we find such a good thing?" Xu Dejun on the side was also very satisfied with this price.

"Then fine, have these skins been rubbed with salt?"

"Rubbed, rubbed. Last year, watching you guys handle skins in the mountains, we learned it."

"Fine, come, you two help me move the skins to the east wing room, just there, then let's go into the room to wash our hands and drink water, I'll get you the money."

"Good." Xu Haijun and Xu Dejun followed Li Long to move the skins to the wing room and arrange them, then entered the main room to wash their hands.

Aunt Yang and Han Fang were watching the children. Hearing the movement, they came out from the inner room. Seeing Li Long bring people in, they greeted them together, and Han Fang immediately poured water for them.

"This is Aunt Yang and Little Fang who are helping me and Xiao Xia watch the children. Aunt, Little Fang, they are from the team, Little Fang, call them Uncle."

"Hello, Uncle, hello, Uncle!" Han Fang poured water and greeted the two with a smile. After Aunt Yang finished greeting, she hurriedly went to the inner room to watch the children.

"Good, good, good." Xu Haijun and Xu Dejun hurriedly took the water and responded.

Li Long entered the east room to get the money. When he came out, he was holding a thick stack of ten-yuan notes, the brand-new kind. He counted them clearly one by one in front of Xu Haijun and Xu Dejun, and then handed them to Xu Haijun.

"Good, Xiao Long, this matter is settled, we'll go back. There's still some meat at home that needs to be processed. Seeing that the snow is about to melt, the timing isn't right, otherwise, we would have wanted to run another trip."

"Hehe, actually, it's possible to go when there's time in the summer. There are still many Mongolian gazelles then. Now some are running into the depths of the sand dunes, and some are running to the edge of the mountains." Li Long gave a hint.

"I understand."

After Xu Haijun and Xu Chengjun left, Li Long went to the wing room again to hang up the skins by category. These skins had only been peeled for a short time and weren't dry yet, so they couldn't be piled together, otherwise, they would easily stink.

There were quite a few skins collected from the eldest brother's old company last time, and now there were seventeen more. Looking at it, the room was almost full of Mongolian gazelle skins.

There were also two Mongolian gazelle *kelangzi*. Seeing that the meat was still frozen, Li Long carried one in each hand to the storage room. Little Black followed happily, jumping around, obviously looking greedy but not taking a bite.

Li Long hung up the two Mongolian gazelles and found a bone in the storage room to throw to Little Black, letting it go to the side to gnaw on it.

Wait for the Mongolian gazelles to soften before processing. They were too hard right now, not easy to handle.

He could also chop them open with an axe, but he didn't want to do it now, it was too much effort.

At this time, on the corps side, Wang Mingjun asked Old Chen:

"You said that younger brother of our old quartermaster, that Li Long, won't he not come? We hunted a batch of Mongolian gazelles before the New Year and got another fifty or sixty skins. I was thinking that after selling the skins in these two days, we'd buy a combine harvester in two days, so it would be easy to harvest when the wheat is ripe. If he doesn't come, won't these skins be cheap for those second-hand dealers?"

"Impossible, I see that young man speaks and acts very steadily. Besides, with the quartermaster's relationship, it's impossible for him not to come. It's not the fifteenth day of the first lunar month yet, the New Year hasn't passed, let's wait a bit longer."

"Fine." Wang Mingjun nodded. "Then let's wait a bit longer, I'm just afraid that when the snow melts and the road is hard to walk, it will be troublesome if he comes."

After Xu Haijun got the money, he didn't even stroll on the street, drove the tractor *tututu* back to the fourth team, and headed straight for Xu Chengjun's house.

Xu Chengjun was tidying up the Mongolian gazelle meat in the room. This time the four of them drove the tractor out, and besides the close families, no one else knew about the matter of hunting Mongolian gazelles. When they came back, they couldn't be low-key, after all, they had hunted seventeen Mongolian gazelles, and even if they used a tractor to load them, they had to use ropes to bundle them to be stable.

After Xu Haijun hit the Mongolian gazelles, he used a knife to pick open their stomachs to release the gas, which he also learned from Li Long.

After these Mongolian gazelles were brought back, the four families gathered together to peel and process them, and quite a few people who heard the news came to help.

Although the living standard of the fourth team was higher than other villages in this era, it wasn't that everyone could eat meat every day like the Li family.

So close neighbors and friends came to help process these Mongolian gazelles, and each family could share some meat to take back.

The Mongolian gazelles weren't shared equally. Out of seventeen, two were given to Li Long, two were shared with those who came to help, and other relatives of the Xu family. Xu Chengjun took the lead and also shared an extra one, and the remaining families got three each.

Just like this, the other three families were already very happy. Three Mongolian gazelles meant over a hundred kilograms of meat! Xu Chengjun also had to take the Mongolian gazelle meat to thank those who lent him guns.

When Xu Haijun and Xu Dejun returned to Xu Chengjun's house, Xu Chengjun put down the axe in his hand and asked:

"Did you get the money back? How much did you sell them for?"

"Five hundred!" Xu Haijun said excitedly, "Xiao Long calculated the price at four hundred and eighty, and rounded it up for us."

"Not bad, more than I thought." Xu Chengjun nodded, "Xiao Long does things quite generously, fine, let's divide the money."

The result of the discussion on dividing the money was that Xu Dejun and Xu Fei Hu, who didn't come, each got one hundred, Xu Haijun got one hundred and thirty, and Xu Chengjun got one hundred and seventy.

Everyone was very convinced by this division method. After all, the one who came up with the idea was Xu Haijun, and the one who provided the main support was Xu Chengjun, so it was right for the two of them to share more.

In the evening, most people in the team knew that the Xu family had gone out for a trip, and not only did each family share over a hundred kilograms of meat, but they also got so much money.

It only took two days from hunting to processing! This was much more cost-effective than making brooms at home!

Mainly, this was done during the slack winter season. In this way, didn't they have a way to earn money all year round?

Immediately, people gathered around these families to inquire about the situation. When they found out that the matter was Xu Haijun's idea and had Xu Chengjun's main support, Xu Haijun's house immediately became crowded.

Xu Chengjun was the team leader, so fewer people looked for him—mainly because they were afraid of being scolded.

And from Xu Haijun, everyone also knew that the Xu family hunting Mongolian gazelles was also an idea given by Li Long.

Originally, in winter, most people stayed at home to hibernate, and a small number of people learned from Li Long to smash ice holes to catch fish, set traps for rabbits to sell skins, etc.

These things could earn money, as long as you could endure the hardship.

But few people did these things, and few earned money.

Now everyone discovered that besides the team organizing to hunt Mongolian gazelles, they could also go themselves! A Mongolian gazelle skin was worth twenty or thirty yuan, hitting two was equivalent to a worker's monthly salary, and they could also get dozens of kilograms of meat to eat.

Everyone was a militia member, and when it came to marksmanship, who was much worse than whom?

Wasn't the difference just the tractor?

But other teams didn't have them, but in the fourth team, there were several tractors!

As for guns... there were always ways.

So, in these two days, the team became lively again. People were looking for those with tractors to partner with or borrow tractors, borrowing guns to find bullets, looking for partners, or when discovering that someone had already started preparing to go hunting, seeking to join.

As soon as the snow melted, the fourth team became lively again.

Making money, it's not shameful.

At this time, the villagers of the fourth team didn't realize that in just these two or three years, their thinking had already opened up a big step ahead of other teams, and even other commune villagers, and they had already started to actively seek opportunities to develop and get rich.

While the villagers of other teams mostly still put their minds on planting land, and their minds on planting land were mainly just planting grain, all following the big policy passively and following the crowd.

This kind of consciousness of being one step ahead not only played a role now, but would also play an increasingly large role in a considerable period of time in the future. With subjective initiative, when opportunities came in the future, the possibility of them hesitating would be smaller, the possibility of taking the initiative would be greater, and the chance of getting rich would also increase.

The richer one is, the easier it is to earn money. When the family foundation slowly thickens, when encountering opportunities, the confidence to resist risks is sufficient, and daring to try and make mistakes, and having the confidence to try and make mistakes, will give more opportunities to earn money.

A stagnant pool, Li Long stirred it up first.

Li Long stayed at the original collection station he rented for these two days. During the New Year, few people came. After all, it was the New Year, and even those who set traps for rabbits didn't have many, as everyone thought about letting the rabbits rest for two days.

Few things were collected, so Li Long simply stopped for two days, and then went to the department store to buy some stationery—school was about to start, and he thought Halimu and Yushanjiang's children all had to prepare to go down the mountain to the settlement point.

After buying the stationery, Li Long went to the private vegetable shop in the market to buy some onions, potatoes, Chinese cabbage, and other vegetables that could be stored, put them in the car, and drove toward the mountains.

The icy road surface was no longer as solid as before. The car drove over and made a *kaka* sound. Li Long knew that was because during the day when the sun was hot, the ice and snow on the surface started to melt, and when it froze again at night, it formed hollow cracks, and the sound was made when the car pressed over and crushed the ice.

The time for this snow to melt was about to arrive.

Entering the mountains went very smoothly. It hadn't snowed for a few days, and someone had entered the mountains and cleared a path in advance. This path not only had traces of people and cars passing, but also hoof prints of herds of cattle and sheep. Li Long's jeep easily drove into the mountain pass and drove all the way to the valley where Halimu's winter nest was located before driving became difficult.

Fortunately, the 212 jeep's snow-breaking ability was okay. There was already a path pressed out before, covered with a layer of snow. At this time, adding fuel and stepping on it, it passed through.

The sound of the jeep attracted the barking of dogs. Halimu and the others came out from the winter nest, all looking quite happy.

Li Long looked at the water piped down, which was still flowing, and had already formed a small stream, in which there was even green grass.

The jeep drove to the entrance of the winter nest. Li Long got out of the car, and after greeting Halimu, started moving things.

Nasen and Sasken came out together to help, and the things were moved quickly. However, Halimu didn't lead Li Long into the winter nest, but took him to the sheep pen.

"Look at these things," Halimu said with a smile, "They were all caught during this period."

Li Long looked very pleasantly surprised. These were seven small red deer!

The size of the small red deer was also different. The small ones were bigger than a large lamb, and the slightly larger ones were already about the same size as an adult sheep. At the moment, all of them were eating grass.

The smallest two looked at people coming over, calling there, jumping to the edge of the sheep pen, poking their heads out, curiously looking at Li Long and the others, their big eyes looking very cute.

Sasken ran over, pulled a handful of tender grass, and handed it to the small red deer.

"These two haven't been weaned yet. When you take them back, it's better to feed them some cow's milk. Sheep's milk is also fine." Halimu said, "They are very easy to feed, the bigger ones eat a lot and grow fast."

Li Long looked carefully and asked again. These seven small red deer, five males and two females, were quite economical—male deer could produce velvet in three years, one saw twice a year. At first, the velvet was a few kilograms, and later a pair of velvet could grow to ten or twenty kilograms, and the economic benefit was quite good.

"Good, good, good, too good." Li Long looked and smiled, squatted down to touch the small red deer that wasn't afraid of strangers, and after looking at them one by one, returned to the winter nest and said:

"I can't take these red deer back today, wait until tomorrow when I drive the tractor over—right, when are Nasen and Sasken going to school?"

"Preparing to go now."

"Then do you want me to send them over?" Li Long said, "Just happen to have a car."

"Good." Halimu wasn't polite either, said with a smile, "After sending them today, you send Yushanjiang's family tomorrow."

"No problem, after sending the children, I'll come over again to pull the red deer, just happen I didn't bring money today."

"Money matters later, right, there are also skins." Halimu pointed to the room next door and said, "The young guys found small red deer babies in the mountains, some didn't find them, but hit wolves, red deer, and roe deer, the peeled skins and the picked-up antlers are here, take them all away when the time comes."

The matter was decided so simply.

Next, Li Long talked about the main business.

"Snow lotus? How many do you want? In the mountains inside, there are many snow lotuses, there are some above the snow line, and some below the snow line. Of course, few people know, and few people go there." Halimu heard Li Long say someone wanted snow lotus, and said, "People in this tribe of ours can all pick them."

"That's too good, the more the better, five yuan a flower, pick as many as you can—don't break the roots."

"Five yuan? So expensive? Aren't you earning money?" Halimu asked.

"The guest collects at six yuan, I collect one yuan for shipping. As for your money, I won't earn it." Li Long said, "You just don't break the roots when picking snow lotus. Right, those above the snow line, keep them specially, and tell me."

"I understand, you can rest assured, we know that those above the snow line are good things." Halimu didn't talk to Li Long about money at this time either, talk about it later, after all, snow lotus blooms in July or August, everything said now is fake.

Li Long didn't mention much either. Halimu's mother was a local doctor, and the Kazakh ethnic group also had a tradition of using snow lotus as medicine, so there was no need to remind them how to preserve snow lotus.

Li Long even knew that when they picked snow lotus, to prevent the medicinal properties from dissipating, they would use wool to wrap the petals around the stamen and tie them up.

On this side, Halimu told his family about Li Long taking them down the mountain to the settlement point, and his family was very happy. After all, riding a horse took a long time, and it was quite cold on the road. With Li Long's car to send them, the speed was fast, and it was safe and convenient.

Halimu's family immediately started packing things. Actually, there weren't many things, just the children's study and living supplies, and some materials like grain and meat brought over—Li Long told them to bring less grain, he would buy it for them when the time came.

So Halimu simply followed the jeep to the settlement point. After all, they hadn't lived there for a whole winter, and cleaning up required labor. With him there, the speed would be faster. After everything was finished, Li Long would send him back.

After packing things, Halimu's wife also cooked the meal. The dish cooked at noon was *huldak*, and the staple food was *naan* that was only baked yesterday—*huldak* is a kind of stir-fry, stir-frying mutton, adding potatoes, carrots, onions, etc. These ingredients and meat are all cut into small cubes, stir-fried to look like our potato stewed mutton, but the pieces are smaller and easy to digest.

Drinking milk tea, everyone took a piece of *naan*, a large plate of *huldak* on the table, everyone ate together, very lively.

After eating, Halimu and his wife exchanged a few words, then sat in Li Long's car and headed down the mountain together.

Riding a horse is directly out of the mountain, taking a small path to the settlement point. Now in the middle of winter, the snow on the small path is too thick, and the jeep can't drive. Li Long drove directly to the Wuyi Highway, then followed the highway east, passed the county seat, and then south at the settlement point intersection. Although it took ten-plus kilometers more, it only took more than an hour to arrive.

"Every time riding a horse takes half a day," Halimu said, "It's still fast to take a car, the car is really very convenient!"

"When you have money in the future and there are many cars, you can also buy them." Li Long turned off the engine and got out of the car, said with a smile.

"Really?"

"Really, there are so many resources in the mountains, collect more now, sell them and save some money. When individuals can buy cars, your money will be saved enough, this isn't a difficult thing."

When he said this, Halimu believed it.

Friends don't lie to friends.

The snow in the courtyard was very thick, and everyone didn't say much. After getting out of the car, they started working.

The old lady bent down to find the key, opened the lock, entered the door, and started organizing things. The work in the courtyard was done by men, no need for her to move. She thought about setting up the stove first.

Although it was already the end of February, the room was still very cold. When they moved away, the stove was cleaned very cleanly, expecting that they would return at this time, so the things to set up the stove were prepared by the stove, just need to put them in order and light the fire.

Although the stove was set up and the temperature in the room would rise quickly, sleeping here today would be quite uncomfortable, because the cold air and dampness in the room couldn't be dispelled in a moment, and the bedding would be very cold.

Li Long and Halimu, plus Nasen and Sasken, two big and two small, spent more than an hour cleaning the snow in the courtyard. At this time, the old lady had already boiled the tea and was boiling milk. The milk was asked from the neighbor. The Kazakh tradition of helping each other is engraved in their bones.

When Halimu was drinking milk tea, he said with emotion:

"Moving last year felt so troublesome, there were many things to bring, the horse had to walk very far, the road was very bumpy, why does moving back today feel so easy?"

"Because the mood is good." Li Long joked, "Mood is good, working will be easy."

"Hmm, makes sense." Halimu knew Li Long didn't want to hear thanks, so he echoed, "After drinking milk tea, we'll go back. You send me back, I'll ride a horse to tell Yushanjiang's family, you come to pick them up tomorrow."

"Good." Li Long nodded.

The old lady, Nasen, and Sasken waved at the jeep outside the big gate. The two children knew they wouldn't see their parents for a while and were a bit sad.

However, the children's sadness was short-lived. When they couldn't see the shadow of the jeep, they hurriedly rushed to the big road and ran to their good friends' house. Having been holed up in the mountains for a whole winter without anyone else to play with, they were almost crazy.

Li Long drove the jeep to send Halimu back to the winter nest. When he came back, he pulled more than ten skins and two pairs of deer antlers.

Four red deer skins, three big and one small, all residual skins. Five wolf skins, four of which were full skins, don't know if they were hit by guns or caught by traps.

Two roe deer skins, one residual and one full, plus two wild goat skins with gun holes, and those antlers, totaling about eight hundred yuan worth of things.

Plus those seven small red deer babies, more than two thousand.

Li Long thought all the way about putting the skins away and bringing the money to give to Halimu tomorrow.

Just thinking, someone waved at him on the side of the road. Seeing Meng Hai in a military green cotton coat, he parked the jeep on the side of the road, turned off the engine, and got out.

"Hey, it really is you." Meng Hai greeted Li Long with a full face of smiles, "Comrade Li Long, Happy New Year!"

"Happy New Year, Happy New Year, is this waiting for me specially?"

"I heard that there was a jeep coming back and forth, thinking it was you, so I came over to wait and see." He kicked the basket at his feet and said, "Got some eggs, take them back for your two babies to supplement."

A big basket of eggs, more than a hundred, this was thoughtful.

After all, chickens definitely didn't lay as many eggs in winter as in summer. Li Long had to accept this heart.

He suddenly thought of two things and planned to ask Meng Hai.

After all, Qingshuihe Village was right by the mountain, convenient.

"Old Meng, has anyone in your village entered the mountains to pick snow lotus?"

"Snow lotus? Yes, but not many, that requires entering the deep mountains." Meng Hai said, "There are people in our village who like to enter the mountains, but few. Why, do you want them?"

"Someone is buying them from me at five yuan a flower." Since it was just a side task, Li Long gave a flat rate.

"So high?" Meng Hai was startled, "Although that thing is praised as miraculous, it's not particularly rare..."

He was obviously tempted.

"Also, after spring sowing, I want to find people to enter the mountains to work, mainly to repair houses, five yuan a day, can you find people?"

"Is there a specific time? People can definitely be found." Meng Hai heard five yuan a day, this labor price was okay.

Weaving *taibazi* could earn ten or twenty yuan a day, but there was little work.

A few yuan a day was actually considered a very good labor price!

"Just those few days of weaving *taibazi*." Li Long thought anyway he had to run into the mountains, so simply put it at that time, "Four or five will do."

"No problem!"

PS: The ice in the Dahi Reservoir melted. Last weekend, the old fishermen of the fourth team set nets and caught more than 150 kilograms of fish, pulled them to the big lump market in Maxian, and sold them for more than a thousand yuan. This is a true story in reality, not a novel.

If you have monthly tickets, cast a few. Looking at the ranking around one hundred, but can't get into the top one hundred, it's itchy in the heart. (End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 783 =====