Chapter 912: Halimu wants to pull off something big

In the movie, the young members of the Heaven and Earth Society were fleeing while the lackeys of the Qing court pursued them. The audience felt their blood boiling, wishing they could join in.

There is a reason why martial arts films became popular; the sense of chivalry and heroism in the bones of the Chinese people is most recognized by the grassroots masses.

Li Long was revisiting an old film and found it quite flavorful. Beside him, Xie Yun Dong, Tao Daqiang, and the others were watching with relish. Xie Yun Dong finished the sunflower seeds in his hand, reached over to Tao Daqiang's pocket, grabbed a handful, and started cracking them, saying as he chewed:

"I told you, these sunflower seeds just aren't as fragrant as oil sunflower seeds."

Tao Daqiang smiled and simply took out some oil sunflower seeds from his pocket to share with Li Long and the others.

"Do you guys have anything going on tomorrow or the day after?" Li Long asked while cracking seeds.

"Nothing."

"Nothing at all. If you have something in mind, Long-ge, just say it."

"Exactly."

"Tomorrow at ten, drive your tractors to the county seat. We're going to the livestock market over at Mahe. I want to buy some sheep to put in the Old Ma Corral. We'll fatten them up for two or three months and sell them before the New Year."

The fattening sheep last year earned a profit, and Li Long felt this was definitely a viable path. Since everyone was idle during the winter anyway, Old Luo and the others were hoping Li Long would get more.

Li Long's operation was the first of its kind and the largest in scale. He didn't intend to become the king of animal husbandry in Northern Xinjiang; he mainly wanted to make it more convenient for himself to get meat.

It was just a matter of convenience.

"No problem. Should we add racks to the tractor trailers?"

Land plots in Northern Xinjiang are vast and they grow a lot of crops, so people like to add auxiliary equipment to their tractors. For instance, they add wooden racks for hauling wheat bundles and reed hoops for loading sunflower heads.

"We have to. I plan to buy quite a few. We'll need to fit fifteen or twenty on each tractor; if we don't add racks, they'll jump out and die."

That was settled.

Li Long calculated: he would drive one tractor, and with Xie Yun Dong, Tao Daqiang, Jia Weidong, and Liang Dachen, that made five tractors. They could haul nearly a hundred sheep at a time, and three to five trips would be enough.

They would haul one or two loads a day while watching the movies, and by the time the movies were over, the task would be done.

"I'll buy two sheep to raise myself. You know, Long-ge, the sheep from our production team really aren't gamey at all," Xie Yun Dong said. "They eat the grass on the saline-alkali land, so they're just different."

Every household now had corn stalks, which could be used as winter feed for the sheep. The leftover bare stalks could be used as fuel in the stove during the summer.

The sheep here didn't eat wheat straw; that stuff was pressed too flat. Cows ate it, but sheep didn't. Strangely, if the wheat was cut directly, the sheep would eat it.

"I'll get two sheep too," Tao Daqiang thought for a moment and said. "I saw that milk goat you had, Long-ge; it looked pretty good. I wonder if I can buy one. If I can, I'll get one for the baby to drink goat milk."

"I don't know. We'll see. If we run into one, we'll buy it. Goat milk is good to drink and doesn't cause internal heat." Li Long agreed with that point.

The group chatted there. Among the other young people, some were envious and wanted to join the circle but didn't dare, while others came over to say hello, spoke a few words, felt out of place, and eventually left.

Li Long himself didn't feel he had changed much. No matter how much money he made, he wouldn't put on airs in front of the people in the team. Whether they called him Li Family's Second Son, Xiao Long, or just Li Long, he wouldn't get angry—because that's how it had always been.

The Fourth Team had been like this for decades. Even if you became successful and had assets worth tens of millions, when it came time to slaughter the annual pig, you still had to turn the intestines, and if you didn't use enough strength when pulling the pig's legs, people would still mock you.

It was actually quite good.

As the movie neared its end, some people kept looking at the projectionist's box.

Usually, the county's mobile cinema showed two films. Although the team had been notified, the first film was so exciting that they felt unsatisfied and wanted to see another.

When the screen went black and the lights came on, the projectionist started packing his boxes, leaving the people feeling disappointed as they stood up with their benches to head home.

The crowd split into several directions, with familiar people gathering together, chatting as they walked.

The film was truly exciting, so they talked about it more. Some children even mimicked the moves from the movie on their way home, like the "Snake Fist" or the double-hook moves, while others debated whether Tie Biao was a good guy or a bad guy.

Although he had long known the ending, Li Long suddenly felt a pang of regret when the lights came on—why didn't he arrange for two movies every night?

He understood a little: he quite enjoyed these moments. Thinking of nothing, just watching the movie here, and chatting with the people beside him when the plot dragged. The stars in the sky were bright; he could clearly see the Milky Way and the Big Dipper's ladle scooping up the sky.

The older generation said the Big Dipper's ladle turned throughout the four seasons, just like someone cooking; in spring and summer, it scooped down into the pot, in autumn, it scooped up, representing the harvest, and in winter, it hung high, representing the idle time for rest.

He had been busy for these past few years, or on the road to being busy. There really wasn't much time for such leisure.

Of course, the regret was just a fleeting thought. Li Long looked around for Gu Xiaoxia and Mingming and Haohao, finding that both children had fallen asleep. Mingming was in his sister-in-law's arms, while Auntie Yang was holding Haohao. Gu Xiaoxia, Li Juan, and Han Fang were carrying benches and walking back together, so he walked quickly to start the car.

"Why don't you just sleep here tonight? The quilts were aired out the day before yesterday, and the beds are clean," Liang Yuemei said. "There's a bed and bedding in the east room. Xiao Fang and her mother can stay there too. You can get up early tomorrow for work and school."

Liang Yuemei was mainly worried about the sleeping children, thinking it would be troublesome if they were startled awake.

Since Liang Yuemei put it that way, Gu Xiaoxia looked at Li Long, who said:

"Let's stay then. No need to run back and forth. We'll head back early tomorrow."

So they stayed in the front courtyard that night.

After putting Mingming and Haohao to bed and tucking them in, Gu Xiaoxia remarked that it had been a while since they stayed here, and the quilts weren't damp at all, looking like they were aired out often.

They got up early the next morning, washed up, and went to the back courtyard for breakfast. Auntie Yang originally wanted to cook in the front courtyard, but she wasn't familiar with the stove there, so she went to the back courtyard to help.

After breakfast, Li Long drove back to the main compound. He originally intended to take Qiangqiang with him, but Qiangqiang wanted to ride his bicycle, so he let it be. Qiangqiang was in the fourth grade and rode his bike quite smoothly—at least that's how it looked to Li Long.

Usually, fourth-graders at this time weren't too tall and often rode by stepping through the frame, holding the handlebars with one hand and gripping the top bar with the other.

But life in the Li family had been getting better over the past two years, and Qiangqiang was much taller than in his previous life, reaching about 1.4 meters at nine years old. The bike Li Long bought him was a 26-inch model, not as tall as the 28-inch ones, and by lowering the seat to the bottom, he could barely sit and ride it.

So Qiangqiang liked riding his bike to school, whether out of showing off or vanity. What bad intentions could a little boy have? He was just eager to get to school and tell his classmates about the very exciting martial arts movie he had seen.

Back at the main compound, Li Long parked the Jeep and cranked the tractor to life.

Han Fang left in a rush for school, while Auntie Yang started tending to the livestock in the courtyard. Xiao Hei had been anxious all night without seeing his owners.

"Are you going out to haul something today?" Gu Xiaoxia asked as she pushed her bike, ready for work.

"I agreed with Daqiang and the others to go to the Mahe livestock market to buy some cattle and sheep for the Old Ma Corral. The herders have started their seasonal migration, so there should be plenty of cattle and sheep at the market."

"Shouldn't Halimu and the others be coming down soon too?" Gu Xiaoxia asked again as she reached the main gate.

"They should be. We harvested a lot of grass this year, so they should be back earlier, right?" Li Long said. "When Halimu and the others come down, I'll buy a tractor for his family too, so it'll be more convenient for them to haul coal and travel up and down the mountain."

Deep in the mountains, Halimu and Yushanjiang were discussing their descent this year.

"Let me tell you, it was really convenient for Talihar and me to each have a tractor to harvest grass this year. We even made quite a bit of money. When the time comes, we'll add some funds and buy one for you too," Yushanjiang said, beaming. "I tell you, at first, I didn't think much of the tractor; it didn't seem as convenient as a horse and required fuel.

But when I actually drove it, I realized this thing is really good. It hauls more, runs faster, and as long as you add fuel, you don't have to worry about anything else, and it's not tiring..."

Yushanjiang said a lot, and Halimu just nodded along.

The grass at the foot of the mountain had already withered and turned yellow, while in some large areas deep in the mountains, it was still a mix of yellow and green. Herds of cattle and sheep were grazing on the hillsides. Further away, the snow-capped mountains looked larger, and it had actually already snowed in the deeper mountains.

"During the time you were down the mountain harvesting grass, I shot a few deer and over twenty wild mountain sheep, and got five sets of deer antlers, though one set broke when I fell," Halimu said, patting his rifle. "That tiger you mentioned came by twice, but I didn't get a shot at it. The dogs barked fiercely; I saw a shadow during the day, but didn't see it at night. I suspect it was the one.

If I could bag that tiger, it should be enough to buy a tractor."

Halimu wanted to buy a tractor with his own skills; he naturally knew the great utility of a tractor. In fact, if he just told Li Long, Li Long would buy it for him—Li Long really wanted to buy a tractor for him.

Just as the two were talking, dogs were barking in the distance again. Halimu and Yushanjiang immediately grabbed their rifles and mounted their horses. In these deep mountains, few animals could stand against the Tibetan Mastiffs, but whenever they were discovered, they had to be cleared out; these were all threats.

When the two arrived, they found a small pack of wolves, about five or six of them, eyeing the cattle and sheep at the foot of the mountain from the bushes on the hillside.

Several dogs were barking across the mountain gully, their voices shaking the valley.

Halimu looked at the wolves with some disappointment. He would have preferred a bear; unfortunately, during the time Yushanjiang and the others were away, he hadn't seen any bears. He didn't know if it was because there was a tiger nearby that the bears and snow leopards didn't come around.

Halimu thought, a bear or a snow leopard would be fine; that way, he could earn more money.

Of course, without bears or snow leopards, and if the tiger didn't appear, bagging a few wolves would be better than nothing.

When the wolves saw the mounted herders, one let out a short howl and immediately turned to run. The others hesitated; the fat cattle and sheep at the foot of the mountain held a great attraction for them. Before winter arrived, these wolves also needed to store enough fat, and the best source of fat was these cattle and sheep.

Halimu took advantage of the wolves' hesitation, dismounted, crouched, raised his rifle, and skillfully aimed and fired.

Yushanjiang was half a step slower. By the time he aimed, the wolves had scattered, and he missed.

To his surprise, Halimu had hit two.

"Halimu, you're something else!" Yushanjiang went over to see the one dead and one wounded wolf, praising him. "Your marksmanship has improved quite a bit during this time."

"Heh, I just got better with practice." Halimu looked around, slung his rifle, and pulled out a small knife to bleed the wolves.

Yushanjiang followed to help. Several dogs were nearby, some sniffing the wolf blood, others vigilantly watching the direction the wolves had fled, worried that the remaining ones might return.

Two wolf pelts were quickly skinned, and Halimu took the opportunity to remove the wolf teeth and astragalus bones. He had many of these; he had bagged at least a dozen wolves that summer, and the teeth and bones could fill a pouch.

He vaguely remembered Li Long saying that these would be very valuable in the future, so he saved them.

They wouldn't spoil anyway.

He slit the wolves' bellies, took out the offal, and threw it to the dogs, who ate it happily.

Halimu stood up and looked toward the distant mountains. He always felt the tiger was nearby, and that it might come to check the place where the wolves had been after he left, to scavenge for leftovers.

Should he set some kind of trap?

Unfortunately, he didn't know how. After all, he wasn't a professional hunter; he had learned to hunt with a rifle over a long time.

Forget it, he'd find another chance.

Halimu and Yushanjiang hauled the wolf pelts and carcasses back to the pasture. The wolves might return for revenge, but that didn't matter; they'd just bag them again. Halimu and the others didn't eat wolf meat, but they could chop it up to feed the dogs.

There was still some time before they had to descend the mountain, and Halimu wondered if he could have some big harvest during this time.

Although Yushanjiang and Talihar's tractors were also stored at Li Long's place, those two tractors were newer. The two had carefully wiped them clean before leaving.

But Li Long still drove his own tractor, going to the Mahe riverside with Xie Yun Dong and Tao Daqiang.

The livestock market this year was much larger than last year. When they parked the tractors on the outskirts, they could see over a dozen herds of cattle and sheep scattered around the riverbank at a glance. There were quite a few tractors and trucks coming to buy livestock, as well as people leading one or two sheep to join the fun.

As soon as Li Long's group stopped, people swarmed over. With five tractors arriving together, anyone with a sharp eye could tell this was a big deal.

A man in his thirties came over and asked Xie Yun Dong with a smile:

"Old fellow, buying sheep or cattle? How many?"

Li Long looked at his attire and realized he was a livestock broker; he hadn't expected to run into middlemen so quickly.

"We come here often; no need for an introduction. You're a broker, right? Go find someone else." Although Xie Yun Dong had money, he didn't feel like spending it on this. For one, they understood the Uyghur and Kazakh languages, so daily communication wasn't a problem, and for another, they knew cattle and sheep well enough not to be cheated, so they didn't need a broker; they could just deal with the sellers directly.

The man was quite polite and, hearing Xie Yun Dong, smiled and backed away.

Jia Weidong didn't understand this, so he volunteered to stay behind to watch the vehicles, while the others went to find suitable cattle and sheep.

Li Long went straight to the largest herd of cattle and sheep. In this large group, there were over thirty head of cattle and two or three hundred sheep, which seemed to be the joint property of a small tribe or family. Five or six ethnic minority people were watching.

There were livestock brokers talking to them, and the communication seemed to be going smoothly.

When Li Long walked over, the livestock broker blocked him and asked:

"Buying cattle or sheep? How many?"

"I want to talk to them." Li Long pointed to the few people by the horses.

"They said they've authorized me to act as their agent." The broker smiled—there was a hint of triumph in his smile, as he had seen Li Long chase away the other broker earlier.

Xie Yun Dong heard this and asked loudly in Uyghur, and soon received a response.

"It's true."

"Then let's try another group." Li Long didn't really care, but since Xie Yun Dong had already said they wouldn't deal with brokers and would buy directly, they would do just that.

Walking toward the second largest herd, two young men were trying hard to circle the cattle and sheep to keep them from wandering off.

They were only in their twenties, not very old, and should be first-timers. There were over twenty head of cattle and over a hundred sheep here, which was actually quite a large scale.

The broker paused for a moment but then stopped.

Earlier, when these two young men drove the cattle and sheep over, several brokers here had gone over to try to secure the agency rights to earn a commission.

Unexpectedly, these two young men refused, and they had been at a stalemate since.

The broker had hoped to attract more customers to make it impossible for these two young men to make a deal, but clearly, the people who had just arrived didn't think so.

In fact, whether or not to let a broker earn money was entirely up to the seller. They understood the minority languages, and for those who didn't, brokers were a great help in facilitating communication.

But for those who did understand, they didn't like it much, feeling that some brokers would play tricks, so they preferred to communicate directly.

Seeing Li Long's group approach, the two young men looked a bit nervous but still came forward. One of them asked in rather broken Mandarin:

"Are you buying?"

"Yes, we want to buy cattle and sheep." Li Long replied, "What's the price for your cattle and sheep?"

The two men looked blank.

Clearly, they hadn't understood.

Li Long chuckled; so that's how it was. Wouldn't it be easy to get ripped off like this?