Chapter 181 Water rats are good things!
The next day, Li Long slept until the sun was high before getting up.
It’s not that I stayed in bed intentionally, it’s not that I was tired, I just felt tired and didn’t want to think about it.
After getting up, Li Jianguo and Liang Yuemei had already gone to the fields. Li Juan and Li Qiang also went to school early. Except for the occasional pig squawking in the yard, the only things left in the yard were hens and their chicks. The sound of eating.
The sunshine was not very strong yet. Li Long went to the kitchen and saw that breakfast was all covered, including porridge, steamed buns and vegetables.
He finished the meal slowly, washed the dishes, and stayed in a daze for a while. Then he returned to his east room, spread out a cloth on the floor, and began to clean the gun.
During the time he was in the mountains, Li Jianguo had dismantled the fire pits in the two rooms and replaced them with steel tube beds.
The steel tube bed is very simple. The bed frames at both ends are connected with angle irons to form a square frame, and then a wooden board is laid in the middle.
With the fire wall, stove and stove removed, the space in the room is much larger.
Ever since that shot wounded the red deer but got nothing, Li Long knew that this small caliber was still too weak for hunting in the mountains, so he had to change to a 5-6 semi-automatic rifle.
He carefully cleaned the small-caliber rifle, wiped the outside with gun oil, and put it in the holster.
Let’s wait until winter to hunt hares and foxes for this thing.
The weight of the five and six half felt heavy in my hands. Li Long took it apart piece by piece, wiped it carefully, and then assembled it again.
The only troublesome thing now is that bullets of five to six and a half are not as easy to obtain as small caliber bullets. Although I still have a hundred and eighty rounds in hand, small-caliber bullets can be purchased, but half-caliber bullets can only be collected from "private people."
It seems we can only wait until winter when the militiamen are training. The worst case scenario is to trade meat for bullets.
As soon as he finished wiping, Li Long heard footsteps outside. The door to his room was not closed, so he shouted:
"Who?"
"Brother Long, it's me." Tao Daqiang's voice.
Li Long asked while cleaning up the gun cleaning cloth on the ground:
"Why don't you have a good rest and come here now?"
"After sleeping for a day, I'm not tired anymore." Tao Daqiang smiled naively, "Brother Long, are you still catching fish?"
"If you're not tired, we'll catch it." Li Long said, "Stay a while. Let’s pick up the net and put it down in the afternoon.”
“Why not now?”
“Now? Now, if the fish is caught on the net, the silver carp will die within half a day. How will it be sold tomorrow?" Li Long explained to him, "If you put the net in the afternoon and pick up the fish in the morning, there is a high chance that it will be caught that night. It won’t die. Even if it dies, it won’t stink.”
“Oh, I understand.” Tao Daqiang said.
Li Long put the gun away and walked out of the house. He was about to get the net when something suddenly occurred to him. He said to Tao Daqiang:
"Let's go dig for water rats?"
"Okay. Ah!" Tao Daqiang suddenly thought of the water rat and was excited. said, "The skin of a water rat!"
"It's just losing its hair now. The skin may not be as valuable as in winter, but it's easier to dig now than in winter..."
"I'll get a shovel. ..." Tao Daqiang turned around and ran away before Li Long finished speaking.
Li Long wanted to shout, but in the end he didn't.
I have a shovel at home, but since Tao Daqiang wants to take it, let him take it.
The two men walked together towards Xiaohaizi carrying shovels. As they walked, Tao Daqiang asked:
"Brother Long, do you think there are any water rats in Dahaizi behind?"
< br>"Probably not, Even if there are some, they are few." Li Long thought for a while and said, "Water rats like to stay where there are reeds. Most of them are bare in Dahaizi. If there are any, we will go there and take a look when we have time. ”
The two came to Xiaohaizi, and Li Long took Tao Daqiang to the east bank.
"Brother Long, why are you walking this way?"
"There is a dike in the north," Li Long explained as he walked, "We can't dig holes even if there are water rats. This east-west south Just dig on three sides, there won't be any big impact."
"Is there any mark on the water mouse hole?" Tao Daqiang asked again.
“Look,” Li Long recalled, shook his head and said, “The cave is by the water, it should be half above the water and half under the water.”
The two began to search one by one. Li Long remembered that there were still a lot of water rats in his last life, and they soon found a cave in a grass nest.
There is green excrement at the entrance of the cave, and the outside is covered by grass. You can hardly see the traces unless you look carefully. But it was half submerged in water, and you could tell that something was coming in and out frequently.
"This is it, let's dig." Li Long said, "Look at other places while digging, maybe there are other exits."
Tao Daqiang dug first, and Li Long followed Look at the movement in other locations.
“This hole is strangely deep.” Tao Daqiang dug out the hole like he was lifting a lid from top to bottom. Li Long could see that the hole was about thirty or forty centimeters from the ground and was about half the thickness of a bucket. At first, there was still a hole in the hole. There was water, but it disappeared a little deeper. Then I turned a corner and saw a nest made of reeds and hay.
But there was nothing in the nest at this time, only some half-gnawed fresh reed buds.
"They've drilled in, let me dig it!" Li Long said immediately, "There must be some in the hole!"
"I'll dig it for a while!" After hearing Li Long say this Tao Daqiang said that Tao Daqiang was worried, so he speeded up digging, while Li Long focused his attention elsewhere.
At this time, the water rats will most likely plan to escape from other places, so let’s see where their other exits are.
"There!" Li Long suddenly saw a dark figure swimming towards the water more than three meters away. He rushed over with a stride and used a shovel to push the dark figure out of the water. This wave of water brought the black shadow directly to the shore.
Tao Daqiang came over in a hurry and hit the black shadow with a shovel, making the thing squeak.
Li Long saw another black shadow coming out, and he dialed it again. The shadow was quite tenacious and turned around in the water. Li Long only dialed it halfway, and the guy was half His body was exposed and he struggled to run into the water. Li Long hurriedly used another shovel and pulled it out this time.
As soon as this thing landed, it obviously slowed down. Li Long was afraid that others would take the opportunity to run away, so he took a photo of this guy with a shovel, and then used the shovel to poke the hole. He felt like he had hit something soft, but he didn't dare to let go. "There's one here too!" Tao Daqiang turned to look at the place where he had just dug. A black head also popped up there. He hurried over and the guy came out and crawled into the water gurglingly. It was just that His movements were too slow, and Tao Daqiang overturned it in one fell swoop. Then he shoveled it to the shore with a shovel and beat it to death.
When no more water rats came out, Tao Daqiang continued digging, digging a large ditch, and finally took out a small one.
This water rat's hole has one main path and several branches. The branch that Li Long pressed down with a shovel was one of the branches. There is a large nest on the main path, more than two meters away from the entrance of the cave. In addition to the small nest at the beginning, there are two other small nests on the branch.
These nests are made of reeds and hay. The largest diameter is nearly one meter and they are very soft to the touch. These water rats really know how to enjoy themselves.
When Li Long chopped it off with the shovel, there was also a water rat here. Its front legs were pressed by the shovel, and the blood flowed out. It could not be pulled back, and in the end it became the prey of Li Long and the others.
"Five, not bad." Li Long smiled, "Although it is spring leather, it looks smooth and smooth, and one piece can be sold for five yuan."
"Hey." In just a short time, he got more than 20 yuan. Tao Daqiang must be happy.
"Brother Long, I don't want this money anymore. I still haven't paid off the money I owe you. I'll put down the net in the afternoon and get the fish tomorrow. I'll go to the market with you to sell the fish, okay? I'll pick up the net when I get back." ——I just want to see how the fish is sold."
"Okay, actually I will catch the fish tomorrow. You can sell it in the free market, and I can go to Shicheng to sell it." Li Long said, "I will take you there and release you to the county, and then I will go to Shicheng." The money has been paid, don’t talk anymore.”
“No, no, we’ll get it tomorrow.” After catching the fish, I put the net at home first. I carried the fish on my back and walked to the street - I can walk fast and can get there in more than an hour. "Tao Daqiang said excitedly, "You bring the fish, and you also have to take Juan to school. I won't delay you. ..."
"In this case, you walk to the street and I will divide the fish. , ride to the free market to find you..."
"Brother Long, you can go your own way, we will get the fish at dawn, it's still early! I just carry the fish on my back and the basin, go to the market and find a place to put it.”
"That's fine." Seeing that Tao Daqiang had already thought about it, Li Long stopped trying to persuade him. In fact, he is not very optimistic about Tao Daqiang's selling fish, but since the other party wants to give it a try, then let's give it a try - even though he is talking to himself very well now, but if he is really asked to set up a stall, it will be difficult for him to shout out. Secondly, there is a high probability that he will not be able to deal with those smart and cunning little citizens.
Five water rats were obtained. The two men put the prey aside and began to fill in the soil.
At this time, someone shouted not far away:
"What are you two doing, digging in such a mess?"
Li Long looked up and saw that it was Jinbao, the original sheepherder in the team.
Ma Jinbao was an old bachelor in his fifties. He used to herd sheep for the team. When the team gave birth at the beginning of the year, he took over a dozen sheep in the team due to debts, saying that the accounts would be settled by the end of the year.
Ma Jinbao also works when farming is busy, but most of the time he still herds sheep. Li Long knew that he was a lazy person who was used to herding sheep and didn't want to work - herding sheep is so easy. Now there is a large wasteland outside. Just drive the sheep to a place with good grass beside the canal, and people can Rested.
"Where's the water-digging rat?" Tao Daqiang was still so simple, and Li Long shook his head slightly.
“This won’t work.” Ma Jinbao came over with a whip pole, “The water stored in this small sea will irrigate thousands of acres of our team’s land. What will you do if you dig up this embankment? ? Please fill it in quickly, or I will report it to the captain..."
Li Long felt that this guy was really looking for trouble, he thrust the shovel into the soil and said:
"Old Ma, which one of your eyes saw that there is a dike here? The east side is directly sloped, and the flat ground covers it. When the water is strong, there is water where you and I are standing. Is there still a dike?"
" Hehe," Ma Jinbao originally wanted to bluff Tao Daqiang, but he wasn't upset when Li Long exposed him. He swung the whip stick Said:
"What's the use of digging this water rat? You can't eat it, there's no meat, and it's very troublesome. Li Long heard that you made money, I'll sell you a sheep at a cheap price. How about sixteen yuan?”
Li Long was speechless. People who can’t carry it really can’t carry it anywhere.
This Ma Jinbao spent his whole life herding sheep in his last life, and he is still herding sheep in his seventies. He has also been a bachelor all his life. Other families have made a fortune farming, and his family's land has been contracted to others for a long time at a low price. Plant and give him some grain and some money every year.
At first he thought it was pretty good, but then the land price rose and he regretted it. However, the person who signed the contract and contracted his land was also conscientious and increased the land price for him, but he was not happy with it. As a result, he went to court and lost. .
Later on, I gave up on myself. Herding sheep and having a good yard at home have not changed much in twenty years. I don’t grow vegetables either. I pick one thing at home and the other at home. In the end, I end up living like a dog. Hateful look.
"Don't buy it, your sheep are too thin." Li Long glanced at his sheep with disgust, "I still have a lot of meat..."
Tao Daqiang suddenly shouted:
"Old horse, your sheep has fallen into the water!"
The old horse turned his head and saw that a naughty goat had fallen into the water and was still struggling there in order to reach the reeds in the water.
The old horse didn't care to say anything else, and ran quickly to fish it out with his whip in hand. Li Long kicked Tao Daqiang, and the two quickly picked up shovels and took the water rat home.
Back at Li's house, Li Long took a knife and started skinning the water rat. This time he paid special attention and found a small fleshy bag between the navel and genital pores of the two water rats. This should be the scent of muskrats.
I don’t know if the purchasing station will accept it.
The skins of the five water rats were quickly peeled off. Tao Daqiang asked Li Long:
"Brother Long, do you want the meat of this water rat?"
"No, you want it?"
"Well, I think it's very fat..."
"Then when you take it back to eat, you must stew it thoroughly." Li Long warned, "Don't get sick."
"I understand." Tao Daqiang happily left with the water rat meat. .
Northern Xinjiang is a large area, so firewood is easier to find in summer, so there is no need to worry about firewood for cooking.
In fact, why is firewood ranked first in the ranking of firewood, rice, oil, salt, sauce, vinegar and tea? Because firewood is in the Central Plains area of Kouli, it is not readily available most of the time. Li Long didn't understand it at first, but he only found out when he listened to Li Jianguo's gossip.
In the mouth, when there was no harvest, Li Jianguo went to the river to catch fish and shrimps. Usually it was either fish or shrimp, but if it didn't work, snails (field snails) would also work, and the worst were river mussels and crabs.
I don’t want to catch river mussels because it takes more firewood to cook them. There were many people in the mouth at that time, unlike here in XJ, where just catching them out of the yard is enough to burn them for a day.
That’s why Li Long asked Tao Daqiang to cook more and stew more. Firewood is not worth much here anyway and is easy to find.
After Tao Daqiang left, Li Long rubbed the leather with salt, hung it up, and then went to cook. If you don't work in the fields, you have to cook.
(End of this chapter)