Chapter 18 Can I eat someone who is frozen to death?
The matter was settled like this. Li Long put his right hand on his chest and took a sip from the milk tea bowl handed over by the middle-aged woman with his left hand. When the hot milk tea entered your mouth, a stream of warmth flowed from your mouth to your throat, and your body immediately felt warm.
Isn’t this more comfortable than eating cold hair cake?
Tao Daqiang also took a sip, and then whispered to Li Long:
"Brother Long, have you already planned to come here to do this?"
"Yes." Li Long said, "Our trip here is not just about pulling wood, we also have to think of ways to make money. They are more familiar with us in the mountains and there are more ways to make money."
"Like the antlers?"
"Yes, this is just one of them." Li Long was drinking milk tea and eating naan while looking around the yurt, and then something hanging on the wall caught his attention. .
He pointed at the thing and said to the male host:
"Is this your own?"
"Well, it was sent to us two years ago." The middle-aged man pointed to himself:
"My name is Harimu, what's yours?"
"Li Long." Li Long pointed He pointed at himself and then at Tao Daqiang: "His name is Tao Daqiang." Qiang, we don’t have enough firewood at home, come and get some.”
He saw that Harimu’s house was burning coal, so he asked:
“Brother Harimu, what’s the coal for you guys?” Did you buy it? ”
"No, no, no, it was dug from the mountain over there."
"Dig it?" Li Long immediately became interested, "Is it far?"
"It's quite far. It's about a kilometer away." Harimu pointed to the mountain, "There is no road, it's hard to walk now."
Okay. Li Long was a little disappointed. If he could dig coal, it would be better to bring some coal back.
Halimu placed the cut air-dried mutton on a plate in the middle for Li Long and others to eat.
The two of them each picked up a piece and chewed it - it was chewy and not particularly dry.
The two children also crawled over. Harimu took two pieces of mutton and handed them to them, touched the children's heads and let them eat.
Li Long asked Harimu:
"If you have a gun, then you won't be afraid of wolves. By the way, are there wolves in the mountains?" Hanging on the wall is a Type 56 Semi-automatic rifle, barb is open.
“There are wolves.” Harimu said in a muffled voice. “They killed three sheep. It snowed heavily a few days ago and two sheep froze to death.”
"Why not kill the wolf?" Tao Daqiang couldn't help but ask.
“Because we ran out of bullets.” Harimu said, “We didn’t issue many bullets last year. When winter first came, there were more wild boars. After shooting several times, we ran out of bullets.”
Li Long and Tao Daqiang looked at each other, and then he said:
“I can get bullets.”
The township holds militia training every year, and Li Long’s current household registration is in the production team , is a basic militiaman with a target shooting mission. He had a dozen practice bullets left.
"Really?" Harimu's eyes lit up, "If you can get it, I'll trade the sheep for you!"
"No, no, no," Li Long waved his hand, "I'll bring it up when I have time, yes. "Where are your frozen sheep?"
"Thrown them in the snow," said Harimu. "I don't know if they are there."
That’s fine with me,” Li Long said.
He knew that minority herdsmen would not eat frozen cattle and sheep, but to him, what was the difference between frozen cattle and sheep?
Tao Daqiang also became excited. If he could bring a sheep back, then... he could cut the legs of the lamb himself!
He touched Li Long lightly and whispered:
"Brother Long, I also have a few bullets..." "Well, keep them, they will be useful." Li Long nodded.
"Then...when can you come up again?" Harimu asked eagerly. It’s not just the herdsmen who are affected by the heavy snowstorm. If the wolves are short of food, they will also take the risk of attacking the herdsmen’s warm pens.
"Tomorrow and the day after tomorrow." Li Long thought for a while and said, "I'll try to be as early as possible, but I have to pull the wood back today. I don't know if I can borrow a horse tomorrow or the day after tomorrow."
"Then I'll wait for you. , I will give you the sheep. Forget about the dead sheep. I will give you the live sheep.”
“No, no, no!” "Li Long is not a virgin either, he said: "I have other things to ask you for help. When the wild boar comes down, leave it to me. By the way, the same goes for the wolf. If you want the wolf skin, I will. Wolf bones, wolf meat, etc.”
“Okay.” Harimu agreed happily.
Li Long drank the milk tea in one sip, stood up and said:
"Can I go see if the frozen sheep is there?"
"Okay, I'll take you there."
Halimu took Li Long and the others to the back of the yurt. The snow was already waist deep there.
Peering through the snow with a wooden pole, Li Long and the others only found a frozen sheep.
"The others should have been picked up by wolves." Harimu felt a little regretful.
"Brother Harimu, do you know where the other herdsmen are? Since there is a snowstorm, there should be frozen sheep in other places, right? If you can find them, I will take them. You can exchange them for tea, salt or other things."
"Okay. I'll ask tomorrow." Harimu nodded. Although each herdsman family is relatively far away from each other, if you ride a horse, you can always reach one in an hour.
After watching the frozen sheep, Li Long and the others went down to the bottom of the ditch, took off the ax from the carriage, found a place where the wind had fallen down the wood, and started chopping the wood.
Halimu also helped, and the two children were wearing thick clothes and watching from a distance.
The wood used for burning firewood does not need to be too regular. Harry Mu is a frequent visitor here and knows where there is more wood. He took Li Long and the others to a place in the ditch. He pointed to Xuexia and said ：
"There was a flood in autumn, and there were a lot of wood washed down there. You can take a look."
Tao Daqiang immediately went over and took a look at the snow. Sure enough, there were many large and small branches piled there.
Soon, there was a pile of wood beside the carriage. Li Long pulled the frozen sheep over and put it on the carriage, then led the horse over, set up the carriage and loaded it.
Finally, the wood was tied up with ropes, and Harimu took Li Long and the others into the yurt to drink milk tea. After taking the antlers, he sent them off.
At this time, the sun was setting in the west.
"Brother Long, we have really gained a lot from this trip!" Tao Daqiang was a little excited, "These wood alone are enough to burn for a long time!"
"Well, it's a pity that the coal side is far away, otherwise we would have burned it for a long time!" It would be better to light coal." Li Long was still a little dissatisfied.
Both of them were walking. Although they were walking in snow that was shallow and deep, they were in a good mood.
Li Long calculated silently in his mind that the two antlers weighed six or seven kilograms in total, so he should be able to sell them for ten yuan.
A frozen sheep weighs about fifteen or six kilograms, and it weighs about ten kilograms after removing the skin and internal organs. Now the mutton costs only 1 to 2 yuan, which is more than ten yuan.
Not counting the firewood, if we can still get frozen sheep tomorrow, our income in these few days will be higher than a month's salary of a worker in the city!
The point is, this work can be continued!
As long as you run more diligently throughout the winter, it will be no problem to save enough money to buy a bicycle in the spring!
Although his eyes were full of white snow, Li Long saw hope in his eyes.
The hope of living a better life!
(End of this chapter)