Chapter 915: Love tiger meat!

Li Long sighed and helped Halimu and the others move things down and start setting up. What Halimu brought back wasn't just the tiger skin, tiger bones, and tiger meat, but also deer antlers, snow lotus, and other skins. So many things specifically required two horses to pull.

These things almost filled Li Long's jeep.

"You still have to come over tomorrow. By then, Talihar and the others will also bring the things they hunted over these two months. Talihar also said he would come over to drive the tractor back; he wants to haul coal and things."

"No problem. Starting a tractor in winter is a bit troublesome, but once started, it will be much more convenient to use." Li Long actually told Talihar and the others the process of starting a tractor in winter when they were harvesting grass, but he thought they would need to be told again when the time came.

"This tiger skin and tiger bones are enough to buy more than two tractors if sold. I'll bring the remaining money to you when I come over tomorrow." Li Long said.

"No, no, no, having this tractor is enough." Halimu was actually still a bit excited. He had always wanted to get something good for Li Long. And Li Long drove the tractor back before he even opened his mouth. The rest didn't need to be calculated so clearly; it wasn't necessary.

Li Long didn't say much more. Since Halimu didn't want the money, he would do something else. Anyway, he wasn't in a hurry. His friendship with this small tribe, with Halimu, Yushanjiang, and the others, would last a lifetime.

Because Halimu and the others still had to settle things, Li Long didn't stay long and drove the jeep down the mountain. By the time Yushanjiang rode over on a horse, he had already left.

Li Long didn't have that much energy, so he only cleared the snow and winter lair sheep pens for Halimu and Yushanjiang's families; he didn't do anything else. Yushanjiang brought over the things he had hunted and picked up these days, thinking about letting Li Long take them away together when he came over. He originally thought Li Long would leave after setting up the fire. Upon hearing from Halimu that Li Long was actually there just now, Yushanjiang said with some regret:

"I should have guessed he was with you. Since I saw fire in the stove, I should have thought of it... Sigh! By the way, the tractor outside was bought for you by him, right? A new tractor, you didn't drive it, did you?"

"Where would I have the time to drive it?" Halimu said while busy tidying up things. "There are so many things to do. Wait until tomorrow; tomorrow I'll drive it to the livestock team to see my family. Are you going?"

Halimu naturally knew how to drive a tractor, and Yushanjiang did too. But Yushanjiang's tractor was still in Li Long's courtyard; either he went down to drive it, or he just waited.

"Going, of course. After seeing my family, I'll go to Li Long's place to drive the tractor back, and call Talihar too. By the way, when the time comes, load the things and send them to Li Long's house."

The matter was settled just like that.

When Li Long drove the jeep out of the mountains, his mood was still quite excited.

To tell the truth, he really didn't expect to run into Halimu today. After the snow fell, he almost came every day. After all, the snow in front of the winter lair and the snow in the sheep pen couldn't be cleared in a short while. Fortunately, he had plenty of strength; he rested when tired, or if he was in the mood, he would go around in the mountains to see if he could hunt something.

He didn't run into large wild animals, but he did run into some small pheasants and rabbits. The first day he brought a. 22, which wasn't easy to hunt with, so the second day he brought the small-caliber rifle.

Today was his fourth day coming over. He didn't expect Halimu and the others to return, and even less did he expect Halimu to bring him such a big surprise!

Li Long hadn't recovered from the surprise when the jeep was stopped.

Unsurprisingly, the one stopping him was Meng Hai.

After Li Long got out of the car, Meng Hai smiled and said:

"Comrade Li Long, come, come into the house to roast by the fire and drink some hot water."

"No, I have to go back quickly." Li Long waved his hand. "Not busy recently, right?"

"Not busy, not busy," Meng Hai was in very good spirits now, smiling and saying, "Too idle, nothing to do, a bit unaccustomed."

"Then wait to hunt gazelles." Li Long knew that after a while, when the snow was thick, the gazelles would come. "Hunting wild boars is also fine. The gazelle skins this winter will definitely be more expensive. Let the people in your team hunt more skins and go to the purchasing station to sell them. I'll collect them there."

"Okay." Meng Hai replied. He actually guessed that Li Long wouldn't stop, so he took the urea bag at his feet, opened the car door, and put it into the car. While putting it in, he said:

"Two wild boars hunted yesterday. We'll eat one ourselves, and this one has already been skinned. Take it back and eat it."

Li Long wanted to decline, saying he wasn't short of meat, but Meng Hai had already stuffed that wild boar into the car, then slammed the car door shut, waved his hand at Li Long, and said:

"Okay, Comrade Li Long, hurry back. The road is slippery, be careful."

Li Long felt warm in his heart; this militia captain of Qingshuihe Village was always grateful to him. Actually, what he did was mutually beneficial to them, or in some cases, he earned more benefits.

But Meng Hai and the others firmly believed that it was Li Long who gave them the opportunity to get rich, so this gratitude always existed.

Quite proud.

Driving a car full of things back home, it was already afternoon when he arrived at the main courtyard. These days the weather was cloudy and overcast, unable to see the sun, unable to feel warmth. After Li Long entered the courtyard, Sister Yang heard the door sound and came out. Li Long let her go in to watch Mingming and Haohao, while he unloaded the things.

This time, Li Long didn't plan to let others know about the parts on the tiger, especially the tiger skin. He planned to tan it himself, and as for how to use it later, he would talk about it then.

Without the tiger skin, the tiger bones and tiger meat actually didn't look like anything on the surface, or rather, ordinary people couldn't tell. There was no tiger penis—this was a female tiger.

However, the black dog at home was clearly very vigilant about the tiger's scent and kept barking until Li Long took these things into the room.

The tiger skin was skinned very completely, even the head was skinned, so the skull was still there, and the meat on it was also frozen.

Li Long planned to distribute this meat to his family to eat slowly throughout this winter.

Tiger meat was also a great tonic; naturally, it couldn't be wasted.

As for tiger wine, let it be for now; he would slowly brew it later.

After tidying up the tiger's scraps, Li Long started unloading those skins and deer antlers.

Unlike Halimu's calculation method, Li Long estimated that these things were worth more than three thousand yuan. As for those parts of the tiger, there was really no way to estimate.

At least worth another jeep? Of course, he had to find the right path; otherwise, it should be able to sell for more than ten thousand yuan?

Of course, he wouldn't sell it for the time being.

The next day, Li Long got up and finished breakfast, just preparing to tidy up things to go into the mountains, when the sound of a tractor rang out outside the door.

Halimu and the others had come.

Whether it was Halimu driving the tractor or Yushanjiang and Talihar sitting in the trailer, everyone's eyebrows and beards were covered in white frost, but they were all happy when they saw Li Long.

"We came to drive the tractor." Yushanjiang smiled, "And to bring these things to you."

Halimu's tractor trailer was piled full of skins, deer antlers, and other things. This was what Yushanjiang and the others had managed to get during this period after they went back from harvesting grass. Although Li Long said that the things they brought were enough for two tractors, in Talihar and the others' view, it was still not enough, so they managed to get some more.

"You guys got up quite early today." Li Long welcomed them in, let Sister Yang pour tea, while he took Talihar and the others to move things.

Nearly a hundred skins, of all kinds. Li Long didn't count them. There weren't many deer antlers; after all, deer basically didn't shed antlers in the second half of the year. The velvet started to grow into antlers. If they were to shed, it would be either in winter or when they grew velvet the next year.

This pile of things was moved quickly. Li Long let Halimu and the others go into the room to warm up and drink a cup of tea, but Halimu and the others refused; they had to start the two tractors quickly.

"In the middle of winter, starting this tractor also takes time. You have to add boiling water, you have to roast the engine." Li Long said. "It's not that urgent; go into the room first, I'll boil water here."

Since they were on Li Long's turf, and what he said was also correct—Halimu and the others got up especially early this morning, and Yushanjiang and Talihar and the others came over to help, only then did they manage to start Halimu's brand-new tractor and drive it over.

So they knew this was quite troublesome.

Sister Yang was playing in the snow in the courtyard with Mingming and Haohao, while Li Long was boiling water in two pots in the kitchen. Previously, the two tractors were placed at the purchasing station. Later, because Sun Jia Qiang moved into the courtyard next door at the purchasing station, Li Long was a bit worried, so he drove the tractors back to his own main courtyard.

The front of the main courtyard couldn't fit them, but fortunately, there was a backyard with enough space to park them.

Now Li Long felt that buying Old Ma's courtyard was truly worth it.

First clear the snow on the two tractors, then add boiling water, roast underneath with red charcoal fire, and someone had to watch. By the time they were started and driven away, more than an hour had already passed.

Fortunately, they were new tractors, the engines had no problems, and driving them naturally was also no problem.

Because Halimu and the others were in a hurry to go to the livestock team's station, Li Long didn't follow them. Today's action was canceled, so he took the children outside to continue playing in the snow.

Mingming and Haohao were dressed quite thickly and wore hats, so they weren't afraid of the cold playing in the snow outside. This was what was called children having fire in their bodies. Anyway, when Li Long felt his soles starting to get cold, the two children were still playing happily. When Li Long pulled them back into the room, they were still a bit reluctant.

When Gu Bo Yuan came to eat at noon, he chatted about Sun Jia Qiang. He said that Sun Jia Qiang had been working quite normally during this period, just going back to the courtyard next door to eat at noon, and then coming over to work, just like normal commuting.

After Sun Jia Qiang moved out, Gu Bo Yuan moved into the purchasing station's courtyard; after all, someone needed to watch it here. For Gu Bo Yuan, watching it here was also quite good.

"That Tie Lanhua has been running around in the countryside to collect skins during this period. Sometimes she doesn't even come back at noon, but seeing that there is a harvest every day, she is still quite capable." Gu Bo Yuan also admired this Hui girl with her own ideas. "When it's good, she can collect three or five skins a day; when it's bad, she collects one sheepskin. There is always goods."

"Her family hasn't come over again, right?" Gu Xiaoxia asked while eating.

"No. I heard from Sun Jia Qiang that after her brother got married, the girl he married was Tie Lanhua's elementary school classmate. After that girl entered the Tie family, she took on the work of Tie Lanhua's mother, started doing housework, and was busy from morning till night... Tie Lanhua said she was glad she chose the right step now."

In Sun Jia Qiang's small courtyard, there were not so many rights and wrongs; they just needed to make money and live a good life.

And making money was exactly what Tie Lanhua was good at.

Sun Jia Qiang was also very satisfied. Morning and evening, Tie Lanhua would make good food. Even if she didn't come back at noon, she would prepare what was to be eaten at noon before leaving in the morning.

"Little Sun's complexion has improved a lot these two days, and there are more smiles on his face." Gu Bo Yuan joked, "It seems this wife was married right."

"I just don't know if her family will continue to look for Tie Lanhua after they have no money." Gu Xiaoxia was a bit worried.

"It's okay. Little Sun said his wife said that the matter was witnessed by the *Ahong*, and the Tie family didn't dare to do anything else; otherwise, they wouldn't have the face to see others."

This matter was just an interlude for the Li family. Li Long went to the purchasing station in the afternoon and found that Sun Jia Qiang's complexion had indeed improved a lot, and he was much more spirited, wearing very clean clothes.

Hopefully it can continue.

Snow would fall every once in a while. During this period, what the purchasing station mainly collected were various skins.

Gazelle skins were the most, mainly in the Gobi Desert to the north; there were really many of these creatures. At this time, the national border wasn't perfect, and it wasn't possible to put up barbed wire along the entire national border, so these creatures could run back and forth. Sometimes a group could reach thousands or tens of thousands.

So there were really many.

For the gazelle winter skin purchase price this year, Li Long set it at fifty yuan per full skin, and twenty to thirty for damaged skins. As for the other large quantity of rabbit skins, it was still three yuan per skin, because the leather factory hadn't increased the price yet.

The next day, Li Long didn't go into the mountains either. When Halimu and the others came over, they said that they had to continue tidying up supplies these two days, which was to haul coal and tidy up the things in the winter lair.

So Li Long didn't go over for the time being. He went to the Fourth Team.

Li Long had already trimmed the meat off the tiger Halimu hunted yesterday, and then divided it into several portions. Today he planned to send the meat out.

The first to be given naturally were his own father and mother and older brother and sister-in-law. Uncle Lao Luo and the others at the Old Horse Corral also had to be given some, and each family of Tao Daqiang who worked with him also shared some.

"What meat is this?" Tao Daqiang asked.

Uncle Lao Luo and the others were also asking, and Xie Yun Dong and the others naturally wouldn't avoid it.

Of course, the first to ask was older brother Li Jianguo.

"Tiger meat." For his own family, Li Long naturally didn't lie, just didn't let it spread out. "Eating it is a great tonic. You can braise it or stew it, eat a little every day, don't eat too much."

"Got another tiger?" This time, not only Li Jianguo, but even Li Qing Xia was greatly surprised.

Is tiger not valuable anymore? How come there were two in these few years?

"Yes, from the mountains," Li Long said. "My friend hunted it, just a while ago. Since the meat is still fresh, eat it first."

Although he said not to spread it out, this meat couldn't all be kept at home to eat, so he shared it. The family could be told, but others weren't told. Li Long told Tao Daqiang and the others it was leopard meat, also a great tonic, and these people were naturally happy.

Love tiger meat!