Chapter 883

Meng Hai had driven a tractor over, which surprised Li Long, but he was quite happy.

"Comrade Li Long, let me tell you," Meng Hai's tractor was parked outside the large courtyard and hadn't entered. He walked into the courtyard carrying two baskets of things. After putting them down and wiping his sweat, Meng Hai explained to Li Long, "I scraped together the money for this tractor.

These past two years, following you to weave baskets and tie large brooms, I made some money, but it wasn't quite enough. Last time you pointed out that I should go cut poles, I thought that without a tractor it wouldn't work, so I borrowed some money from Old He and bought a tractor."

Actually, last time Meng Hai had wanted to go cut poles to make money on his own; he just sought confirmation from Li Long to see if it would work, and Li Long told him there was no problem.

Now that he said it was Li Long's guidance, he was naturally praising Li Long. Li Long knew this in his heart but didn't expose it. Meng Hai was a man with courage and brains; as long as he could seize the opportunity, he would definitely be able to make it big in the future.

"Having a tractor is good. It's the wheat season now, why don't you get a harvester and go cut wheat?"

"Sigh, I just found out too. I've been wandering in the mountains, getting lost while cutting poles. It was also while cutting poles that I ran into Yushanjiang and the others. When they saw us driving a tractor, they asked if we knew you. Well, that was it, we matched up."

Meng Hai had led people to renovate the houses for Yushanjiang and the others, so he naturally knew who lived in these places. Although he didn't know them, seeing this group of people riding horses and carrying things down the mountain, he could guess seven or eight tenths of it.

When Yushanjiang and the others found out that Meng Hai knew Li Long, they were also very happy. They took Meng Hai and the others to eat air-dried meat and pilaf at the winter shelter, and then let Meng Hai go down the mountain to notify Li Long that they had returned.

"Then I'll go up the mountain tomorrow," Li Long said. "Old Meng, you go to the acquisition station later and take a harvester. That thing is simple to use. I'll go over with you and teach you how to use it. Using this to cut wheat is more convenient than manual cutting."

Although the wheat season had started and some families had already cut their wheat, there were still many who hadn't. At this time, if Meng Hai entered the field, he could still earn some money. Although not much, it would be just right to finish cutting, and then he could connect with the large broom tying later on.

Meng Hai was very happy, but he didn't let Li Long go over.

"Someone on our team has already had others cut wheat, and I've brought the person along; they are over at the acquisition station. I'll go buy the harvester later and head back. You keep these two baskets of things; it's midsummer, so I didn't dare bring too much—I'll bring more next time I come."

Of the two baskets, one was eggs and the other was fresh fish. Qingshuihe Village was right next to the Qingshui River, and there were small pike in the river. These pike were caught this morning and had already been gutted—pike die shortly after leaving the water. Now, there was plastic sheeting at the bottom of the basket, and there was about seven or eight kilograms of fish, covered with grass, still fresh.

"Hey, then thank you, Old Meng. I really wanted to eat this," Li Long said with a smile. "A few days ago when I went to Wucheng, I bought some things back; you can just take them back for your family to eat."

Li Long took out some things with packaging bags from the room, including milk candies, Sachima, chocolate, etc., which the children ate more of.

Meng Hai looked at this bag of things and rubbed his hands, saying:

"This is too polite..."

"Old Meng, look at what you're saying. I feel this bag of things isn't as good as your two baskets," Li Long smiled. "In a few decades, it won't be easy for people in the city to eat this stuff..."

"How can that be the same?" Meng Hai thought Li Long was joking. "Can't I just get these things of mine in the village whenever I want?"

Li Long smiled and didn't speak again. In a few decades, these snacks in the city would be available everywhere, but these green foods by the mountains wouldn't be something everyone could eat.

After Meng Hai left, Li Long carried the two baskets inside and handed them to Sister Yang to handle.

"Sister Yang, we can't finish all this fish. Let's stew some today and fry some—by the way, I'll take some to the acquisition station later and let Little Sun have a taste too."

"Will Little Sun know how to cook it?" Sister Yang was a bit worried. "Should I stew more and take it to him then?"

"That works too," Li Long thought so too; Sun Jia Qiang might not know how to cook this kind of small fish.

Since Yushanjiang and the others had come down from the mountain early, Li Long should also go up the mountain.

He planned to drive the tractor up the mountain tomorrow, both to haul some supplies for the people in the mountains and to get the tractor and harvester up there, so he could mow grass for Yushanjiang and the others.

The tractor was currently still at the Fourth Team, so Li Long drove the jeep to the team in the afternoon to check.

The threshing ground of his eldest brother's family, or rather the Li family's threshing ground, was south of the residential area, which was 200 meters south of Li Long's courtyard.

When Li Long drove the jeep to the threshing ground, his own tractor was being driven by his father, Li Qing Xia, circling the threshing ground.

This threshing ground wasn't large; one family's wheat had to be threshed in two or three times to be finished. There were six families at the threshing ground. Currently, four families had finished threshing, and the threshed wheat was piled together and hadn't been processed yet, but there were quite a few children playing by the high wheat straw.

The wheat straw cleared after threshing was pressed very soft by the roller, so people wouldn't feel pricked even if they threw themselves onto it, which was why children loved playing on it or digging a hole in it to hide.

Seeing Li Long come over, the people waiting around greeted him one after another.

"Why are you here again?" Du Chunfang complained. "What are you doing here? It's all dust..."

"I came to see how many more days the threshing will take. I need to use the tractor in a couple of days." Li Long was talking about serious business. Du Chunfang didn't know, so she turned to look at Liang Yuemei.

Liang Yuemei, who was wearing a headscarf, turned her head to look, and then said:

"Two families haven't threshed yet, one threshing per day, at least until the day after tomorrow. If you need it urgently, then we'll use horses to pull the roller to thresh tomorrow."

"No need for that, it's not a matter of these two days," Li Long smiled. "I just came to take a look, see the situation, and adjust my arrangements on my side."

Since the tractor couldn't be adjusted, he would temporarily stop mowing grass.

Li Long felt that Yushanjiang and the others had come down from the mountain a bit early. Mowing grass now was fine, but it would be better in a few days. The grass was too tender now, full of water, and wouldn't weigh enough after drying.

In a few days, when the grass grew older and tougher, the mowed grass would have weight.

In the distance came the shouting of someone selling watermelons. It was mid-July, the peak season for watermelons to hit the market. Those selling watermelons would also pick their spots, specifically circling around the threshing grounds, just like those selling popsicles.

Li Long waved from afar, and the tractor pulling the watermelons drove over.

High wooden boards were erected around the tractor's cargo bed, which allowed for more watermelons to be loaded. There were two people selling watermelons, a man and a woman, most likely a couple; the man drove, and the woman sat on the vehicle.

They were both watching the melons and weighing them.

Don't underestimate some of the children at this time. When this watermelon-selling tractor was running on the road, some children could follow the vehicle, climb up, and steal melons—of course, most likely the stolen watermelons would break when thrown down, but it was also possible they would be thrown into the roadside ditch and kept.

So they also had to watch the melons.

"Where are the watermelons from?" Li Long asked when the tractor drove to the threshing ground.

"From Xiayedi!" the man shouted in a loud voice. "Authentic Xiayedi watermelons, seven cents per kilogram!"

Seven cents, the price had gone up. It was five cents two years ago—but seven cents was also not bad; actually, it wasn't expensive.

"How are the watermelons?" Li Long asked again.

"Take one down and have a taste!" The man turned off the engine, shouted to his wife above, then took a melon, didn't even use a knife, and smashed it open directly.

The melon was nine-tenths ripe—it couldn't be ten-tenths; if it was fully ripe, after another bump, the melon wouldn't be edible.

Once smashed open, juice splashed everywhere, and the watermelon looked very good.

"Come, comrade, have a taste!" The man selling the melons broke off a piece and handed it to Li Long. "Guaranteed sweet, if it's not sweet, no money!"

Li Long took it, tasted it, and then said:

"Alright, weigh two sacks." There were melons at home, but not many bought. Since he had come and run into them, he would buy some more.

"Alright!" Having landed a big business, the melon seller was very happy. Li Long took the freshly smashed watermelon from the man's hand and broke it into pieces, distributing them to the people by the threshing ground.

At this time, people in the village didn't say thank you; one by one, they smiled, took them, and started eating.

On a hot day, eating watermelon to relieve the heat—everyone knew this.

It was said to be two sacks, adding up to nearly two hundred kilograms of watermelon, which came to less than fourteen yuan.

Li Long paid the money. He put one sack of these two sacks of watermelons at his eldest brother's house, and he would haul the other sack up the mountain to Yushanjiang and the others.

He left two large watermelons on the threshing ground for the people working there to eat. These two watermelons each weighed seven or eight kilograms, and there weren't ten people working here, so it was enough.

Li Long didn't stay long either, mainly because Du Chunfang was afraid that her youngest son would work here. There were already three people from the family, plus a tractor, so they couldn't have more people. She would also have to go back to cook later.

Li Long asked the melon seller to drive the tractor to the Old Horse Station. Since he was back, he had to go to the Old Horse Station to take a look, and then buy some watermelons for the old brothers.

Don't look at the fact that these old brothers all had salaries; they might not necessarily buy many watermelons to keep. Except for Yang Laoliu, the others had been frugal all their lives, and they were still very stingy with spending money. Sure enough, when he arrived at the Old Horse Station and asked Uncle Old Luo, Uncle Old Luo said they had bought melons two days ago, bought five or six, and had only eaten one so far.

"People are old, can't eat much," Uncle Old Luo explained.

Bullshit they can't eat much. His father Li Qing Xia was older than Uncle Old Luo and the others, and he could finish half a watermelon in a while.

How could they not eat much?

Li Long didn't say much either, directly asking the melon seller to unload two sacks of watermelons—there were quite a few people at the Old Horse Station, five people.

"You guys eat these watermelons; the melon rinds can feed the small wild boars and those livestock," Li Long said, shaking his head when he saw Uncle Old Luo wanted to stop him. "On such a hot day, you have to eat watermelon, otherwise what if you get heatstroke?"

Yang Laoliu had gone to herd sheep; it was really hot outside.

However, the enclosure was cleaned very cleanly; every day, the grass stalks eaten by these livestock would be cleared out. There was no scene of feces and urine flowing everywhere in the wild boar enclosure; there was manure, but not much.

The old comrades were very attentive.

Li Long went into the mountains the next morning, but when he arrived at Halimu's winter shelter, he didn't see anyone.

No people and no horses; there wasn't even a trace of anyone having come to the entrance.

Li Long was a bit puzzled; did Meng Hai send the wrong message?

That shouldn't be?

Then he guessed it; most likely Halimu hadn't returned.

So he drove the jeep to Yushanjiang's winter shelter.

Sure enough, at Yushanjiang's winter shelter, the horses were tied outside, and smoke was still rising from the winter shelter's chimney.

Yushanjiang was making breakfast.

He didn't expect Li Long to come so early; he had originally thought about waiting until after breakfast, when everyone else came, to go to Halimu's winter shelter together to wait for Li Long.

He believed that as long as the message was sent out, Li Long would definitely come.

Hearing the commotion, Yushanjiang came out of the winter shelter. After seeing Li Long, he was quite excited. He strode over, hugged Li Long who had just gotten out of the car, and patted his back hard:

"Li Long, my friend, I missed you!"

"Hahaha, I missed you guys too. Why did you come so early this year?" Li Long was slightly unaccustomed to it, and asked after letting go.

"This year, the young men knew you were going to renovate the winter shelter, and one by one they couldn't hold back, wanting to come early. Besides, they also got some things and thought about bringing them down the mountain to you early."

"Did Halimu not come down this time? I went to his winter shelter just now, and he wasn't there."

"Yes, I handed my cattle and sheep to him, and he didn't come down. Now there are wild things in the mountains. Do you know what I saw? I saw a tiger!" Yushanjiang let Li Long into the winter shelter and talked while boiling tea.

He brought back some dried naan. Li Long simply went to the trunk and took down the sack of watermelons. This time he also brought some other supplies, brick tea, salt, air-dried meat, and the like, as well as grain, at least enough for Yushanjiang and the others to have supplies for the first few days.

As for later, these capable young men knew how to hunt and get food.

Yushanjiang still liked eating naan soaked in watermelon. He wasn't polite either, cut one open, gave half to Li Long, and ate half himself, talking while eating.

"I saw a tiger eating a deer, gnawing on a bear, and it even let me wound it, and then it often came near our pasture. Afraid that it wouldn't be safe for Halimu to be alone at the sheep pen, Halimu stayed behind."

Li Long nodded; this was correct.

Yushanjiang was quite capable to be able to wound that tiger.

"Are you satisfied with this winter shelter?" Li Long asked with a smile.

"Satisfied, very satisfied." Yushanjiang held the naan in one hand and gave a thumbs up with the other. "To tell you the truth, I thought you would just repair my winter shelter, but I didn't expect you to renovate my winter shelter entirely. When I came to see it, I was wondering if this was my winter shelter."

Li Long felt relieved; as long as he was satisfied, it was fine. He was really worried that Yushanjiang wouldn't be satisfied, but looking at it now, it was good.

"My tractor has something to do these two days, so I didn't drive it up. I'll drive it up in two days to mow grass for you."

"No problem, no problem. The young men will come over later, and I'll just let them pick up stones and wood to tidy up the pasture, which will be convenient when mowing grass later."

"Good." Li Long thought this was also fine; he had to find some work for the young men anyway.

After breakfast, Yushanjiang took Li Long to the house on the side and said:

"Come, look at the things I brought for you!"

Yushanjiang's tone was full of pride, which surprised Li Long a bit.

Good things again?

What met his eyes were two snow leopard skins; this was really a surprise!

Then there was more than half a bear skin. Yushanjiang pointed to the bear skin and said: "This is the bear that was half-gnawed by the tiger. I peeled the skin. The bear gallbladder was already gone, so I didn't take it."

There were also some deer skins, wolf skins, and roe deer skins, totaling about forty or fifty.

It could be seen that in these two or three months, Yushanjiang had really made a name for himself in hunting.

"There are some of Halimu's in here too," Yushanjiang said. "Actually, there are some deer antlers, but I couldn't bring them back. Those things, let's just leave them for now and bring them when we transfer pastures."

Just these dozens of skins were already very hard for a horse to bring back. On the way back, Yushanjiang spent most of the time leading the horse, as these things weren't light either.

"Everyone brought things, and they should be coming over later," Yushanjiang said with a smile. "It's still bad luck; otherwise, we would have brought back a tiger skin. I was thinking, you renovated the house for us, we have to thank you properly."

"That shouldn't be said that way," Li Long shook his head. "You already paid for the house renovation last year. I said long ago, we have to be clear about accounts now. You brought back so many things for me, I have to pay..."

"No money, no money." How could Yushanjiang want Li Long's money? He hurriedly waved his hands. "That won't do, it won't do!"

Li Long smiled; how could it not do?

It was impossible for him to keep taking things from the herdsmen for free and then make money by reselling them.

His conscience wouldn't allow it. He was already a representative now, and with this convenient condition, he was thinking about how to let the herdsmen get rich.

With him before, the herdsmen's lives became better, but he hoped they could be even better.

"How about this," Li Long thought for a moment and said, "I'll buy you a tractor and another harvester. Anyway, you know how to drive this tractor, so this machine is yours. These skins are enough to buy a machine."

"These skins? Buy a tractor?" Yushanjiang hesitated.

Although they were a nation on horseback, if you asked him if he wanted a tractor, would he?

Of course he would!

Mowing grass was convenient, hauling grass was convenient, going down the mountain to see the children was convenient...

He wasn't stupid!

But were these skins enough?

"Li Long, you buy me a tractor," Yushanjiang's thought turned. "For the money that's not enough, after I return to the summer pasture, I'll go hunt those things and make up for it with skins and deer antlers!"

"Enough, enough." Li Long pointed to the things in the room and said: "Really enough."

"Haha, Li Long, you can't fool me. Don't worry, my marksmanship is good, and I have bullets."

Last time Li Long got a large box of bullets from the forestry team, the kind with 1,500 rounds, half of which he prepared to hand over to Yushanjiang and the others; he actually couldn't use that many himself.

Hearing Yushanjiang say this, Li Long went out, moved that tin box of bullets from the jeep, and placed it at the entrance of the winter shelter, saying:

"Yushanjiang, these bullets are handed to you. You distribute them to everyone. Since you mentioned there's a tiger, it seems this summer pasture is also quite dangerous. It's safer to have guns and bullets."

"So many? Great!" Yushanjiang now had even more confidence!

He secretly exerted himself, thinking that he must take down that tiger. A tiger, exchanging for a tractor, should be no problem, right? (End of chapter)