Li Long shuttled through the mountains and forests with a gun on his back.
The sun is strong in the afternoon and you feel hot when it hits your body. However, when you enter the shade of trees or mountains, your body feels a little cooler. The difference between hot and cold is just one step away.
The small stream in the valley occasionally makes a gurgling sound, reminding Li Long that there is water here. He was carrying a kettle with water in it. That kind of behavior like drinking directly from a mountain spring water with a spoon will not happen here.
After all, there are many more organisms that breed in mountain spring water than in pressure wells. It's hard to say which mouth of water contains frog or snake eggs.
Li Long vaguely remembered that his elder brother Li Jianguo said that when they went into the mountains to weave handles to dig fritillaries, they had to wear leggings to prevent snake bites.
Li Long doesn't know how. He associates the leggings with the former Red Army and thinks this thing is quite high-end.
The goal this time was the hot springs, but the process of walking was still southwest first, and then directly east. He still wanted to see if he could encounter the two-headed deer.
Although the hope is slim.
Although it was said that he would take the same route, it could not be exactly the same as the last time. Therefore, Li Long discovered a lot of things while walking.
There are more caladiums along this road, and some already have four opposite leaves. They are not too big, and people who are not familiar with them cannot spot them.
There are also a lot of Codonopsis pilosula, and some of the poles are even as thick as the little finger. Li Long guessed that the ginseng body underneath might weigh a kilogram!
As for some other wild plants, Li Long didn't know much about them. However, he knew very well that there were many treasures in this mountain, and to put it scientifically, he needed to have certain knowledge to identify them. In metaphysical terms, it is reserved for those who are destined.
He vaguely remembered that in his previous life, he saw a book that compared and introduced photos of various plants in the Tianshan Mountains. He felt that it was very good. Then he looked at the price, 263 yuan, okay, I'm sorry.
But knowledge is priceless. I found so many plants to compare and take pictures to explain. The hundreds of pages of color pictures are worth the price.
Li Long walked forward through the gap in the pine trees, holding a gun in his hand, so that he could respond in time if he discovered the situation.
If I had shot the deer when I saw it for the first time yesterday, maybe I would have left the deer behind?
Of course, I wanted to make a living at that time, and that was correct. There will always be many regrets in life.
Through this pine forest, we arrived at the ditch where we saw the two-headed deer yesterday. Li Long looked around and found nothing.
He didn't go to the mouth of the ditch. Since he didn't, let's go directly to the hot spring ditch. See if there are any animals there.
With a "plop", a pheasant flew diagonally from the front right, flying forty or fifty meters in the air of more than ten meters, and when it landed, it had already arrived in the woods in the southeast.
Li Long didn't chase it. He saw that it was a male pheasant. He thought that he must be looking for food where he just settled, and there would be no eggs.
Just keep moving forward.
As soon as he climbed to the sparse forest on the ridge, he heard movement down the slope in front, and Li Long immediately raised his gun.
He slowly approached, walked a few steps over, and saw a dark shadow under the bushes. Li Long looked at it carefully and shouted:
"Who?"
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The black figure immediately huddled up and hid in the bushes.
"Speak, or we'll shoot!" Li Long shouted again.
He could see that it should be a person.
That is to say, when I entered the mountain earlier, I met someone who came in to collect fritillaries, and I knew that there were already people in the mountain. Otherwise, if you just heard the noise and saw the shadow, you would have fired, and someone might have died!
"Don't shoot, don't shoot!" When the black figure heard that Li Long was about to shoot, he immediately spoke, "I am... a Fritillary digger, don't shoot! You can't do it..."
Li Long couldn't distinguish the Shaanxi-Gansu accent very clearly. He watched the man stand up with a bag in his hand. It felt very flat, so he probably didn't dig much. The other hand holds a shovel-shaped object, which should be used to dig caladiums.
It is said that this homemade tool is very convenient for digging caladiums. The shovel head is small and the body is slender. You can shovel the bottom of the caladium and dig it out. If you find it, you will take it out. If you can’t dig it, you will find another one. Strains, never waste time.
A powerful person can dig several kilograms a day.
But it seems that this person has gained nothing.
Looking at this person again, his hair is almost shawl-like. He hasn’t washed it for an unknown amount of time, and it feels like it’s almost felt. His beard has also grown, but he looks not too old, about thirty years old, a little thin, and I don’t know how he lives in the mountains.
There was a lot of mud on the clothes and there were some holes. It looked like he was having a rough time.
"Speak earlier when you hear noise next time, otherwise I will shoot you and your death will be in vain." Li Long warned, "There are many rangers in the forestry team here in the mountains, and they all carry guns. Yeah, don’t risk your life for something like that!”
After saying that, Li Long walked around the man with his gun and headed east.
The man looked at Li Long's leaving figure with complicated eyes.
There was a stone in his hand holding the bag. He originally planned to make a sneak attack if Li Longqiang wanted to take his Fritillaria.
When I was a kid, I was able to get a good stone from herding sheep. If I attacked Li Long now, I might be able to hit him - just as I was thinking about it, I saw Li Long turning his head and looking at him.
With just one glance, the man shrank immediately.
People don’t completely believe in themselves, so be wary!
Li Long will not hurt people casually, but he will not trust people casually. He has seen the cruelty of blind people looking for money in the mountains, so he will not really show his back to others.
“Hey, do you want to collect the Fritillaria?” The man suddenly shouted.
"Take it, if there are more, I will take it." Li Long stopped, looked sideways at the man thirty or forty meters away, and said, "Do you have any?"
"Not now, in a few days That’s it.”
“I’ll be here these days, if you want. If you want to sell it, there is a relatively flat grassland in the west. Go and find me there. "
"In three days, I will have five kilograms. Can I exchange it for steamed buns...or rice noodles?"
"Yes." Li Long liked this kind of bartering the most.
"Okay." The man responded, and when Li Long walked away, he continued to lower his head and start digging up the fritillaries.
Sure enough, the action was very fast.
Li Long just glanced at it and left. Now the two of them actually don't trust each other. There was a trial for a deal only because although Li Long was carrying a gun, he didn't confiscate the other's fritillaries or make any strong moves. This kind of goodwill made the other party feel that it was okay. There are further contacts.
Whether it is good or bad, no one can tell.
Li Long entered the forest and continued walking forward with his gun in hand.
After two more valleys, we should reach Wenquan Valley.
I also saw a rabbit on the way. There were fish scurrying up the stream while there was no one, no birds, no animals. The fish was not big, and Li Long didn’t catch it. It was just a small fish, which was quite flexible. .
Finally, when we arrived at Hot Spring Valley, we could clearly feel the warm and moist smell.
There was a faint smell of sulfur in the air, and Li Long used this to determine that his position was still three to five hundred meters away from those pools.
So he walked forward, and the smell of sulfur became stronger as he went up. When he reached the pool, Li Long found that there were no animals.
Very disappointed.
There are hoof marks nearby, but not many, you can see them, like wild goats or roe deer, and wild boars.
The water was very clear. Since there were no animals, Li Long squatted down and felt the temperature of the water, then he simply prepared to take off his clothes and take a dip himself.
I haven’t soaked in a hot spring for a long time, so don’t waste it when you come.
At this moment, at his cabin, there was a forestry team ranger riding a horse and carrying a gun, circling around.
They knew that this cabin belonged to a non-staff ranger and was considered one of their own. But what’s going on with this tractor? Did the ranger buy a tractor?
The reason for riding here is purely because there have been a lot of people entering the forest recently. They are worried that these people will cause fires when they light fires, so they want to patrol. After all, the spring grass has not fully grown yet, and those dead grasses are not covered. If a wildfire really breaks out, a large area will be burned at once.
He wanted to wait for Li Long and communicate. Since the people are here, there is nothing wrong with taking care of this forest.
Then I didn’t wait for Li Long, but I waited for Yushanjiang.
Yushanjiang came over to tell Li Long where there were wild things.
In the past few days, they were busy preparing and packing things before moving to the field. The cattle and sheep did not go far, but they still found traces of some wild animals.
The ranger was a little surprised when he saw Yushan River.
"Bolati, what are you doing here?" Yushanjiang knew this ranger. He was once a herdsman. Later, he handed over his flock to the forestry team and became a ranger. He picked up the paid wages.
"Let me see the people here." Polati pointed at the wooden house with his riding crop and said, "Do you know this person? Isn't this your pasture?"
"Yes, his name is Li Long, and he is also a ranger." Yushanjiang dismounted his horse, tied it to the shed, and walked out and said, "It's my friend. What, is there something wrong?"
"It's okay. Recently, there have been a lot of out-of-town blind people digging for fritillaries and collecting antlers in the mountains. We have been doing a lot of patrols, and we want this person to follow us and take care of this area.”
I heard that he is a friend of Yushanjiang, Pola. It would be much better if you raise your attitude. He can be cruel to blind people, and he can be cruel to Han people he doesn't know, but he knows that many of the herdsmen in this area of Yushan River are from the same tribe. He used to be a herdsman, not from this tribe, so he wanted to go to forestry. Team.
Provoking one of them is equivalent to provoking the entire tribe, and the trouble will be great.
He is not stupid either.
"Okay, I understand." Yushanjiang sat on the threshold and said to Bolati, "Have you received any fritillaries recently?"
"No, what's wrong?"
"If you want to receive it, you can bring it to my friend to exchange for money. , you can exchange it for something." Yushanjiang actually solicited business for Li Long, "The fritillary you received will be given to the forestry team, right? How much will it be?"
"Receive it? One kilogram will be rewarded with one yuan." Polati was a little excited.
"If I send it to my friend, I will give you at least three yuan per kilogram." Yushanjiang vaguely remembered that Li Long collected fritillaries at this price last year. He smiled and said, "How about it? Exchange it for something else. Okay, wine, cigarettes, sugar cubes—you shouldn’t be short of these things, but what you’re short of is money, right?”
"No, how can there be no shortage?" Polati immediately became interested, "Can it really be exchanged for wine?"
"Yes, how can one kilogram be exchanged for two bottles of loose wine?" Yushanjiang knew Nowadays, ordinary bulk wine costs less than one yuan per kilogram, and bottled wine is only more than one yuan per bottle. A bottle is less than half a kilogram, so there is no problem in replacing it.
"Really? Can you make the decision for him?"
"Yes." Yushanjiang smiled, "You can also collect Fritillaria from your colleagues and friends, this thing Well, the more, the better.”
“Okay. I can bring you a bag of caladiums tomorrow. Do you promise to take it?”
"Promise. When will it be tomorrow? If you can be sure, I will come too."
"In the morning, when the sun has not risen." Polati said immediately.
"Okay, I'll be here then." Yushanjiang felt that this time was quite good, so he wouldn't delay his work.
Polati raised his riding whip, dismounted his horse, neighed lightly, and trotted away.
Most of their daily tasks are to patrol the mountains. If they encounter someone digging for fritillaries, they can naturally hide them, but this thing needs to be exposed in the sun, otherwise it will break down soon. They live in a forestry brigade settlement, so they must not be allowed to dry in the sun where they live. Fresh caladiums are not accepted at the collection point and must be dried in the sun.
The forest rangers also have tasks, and the forestry team also needs them to hand over the collected caladiums to generate income. Some of them also need to dig for caladiums. They also want to go down the mountain to sell. Firstly, it takes a lot of time to ride back and forth. Secondly, if they are discovered, they will most likely be fired.
Someone who took this risk was really fired, so this Bolati wanted to sell to Li Long. Not to mention the high price, the important thing is safety.
After Bolati left, Yushanjiang looked around and then watched around the tractor.
They are used to riding horses, but they were also very interested in looking at this tractor. This thing can pull more than a horse-drawn carriage. It would be much more convenient if they had something like this when transitioning. It's a pity that the tractor can't walk on the road to transfer. Otherwise, Li Long would have been asked to help with the transfer.
After taking a dip in the hot spring, Li Long got dressed and walked back directly. He walked directly north along the hot spring ditch, then to the northwest. It was much faster to walk in a straight line, but he was picking wild vegetables as he walked. I also saw dandelions, wild mushrooms, wild onions, and wormwood, but I didn't pick them. It tastes a bit weird when eaten cold.
When he came back from getting a bag of wild vegetables, before the sun set, he saw the Yushan River.
After the two people greeted each other, Yushanjiang said his purpose.
"You mean, there were wild boars in that ditch, and roe deer appeared on the top of the mountain?" Li Long looked at the map drawn by Yushanjiang, and after thinking about it, he knew where it was.
"Yes." Yushanjiang drew the picture again and pointed at the location he mentioned, "It's right here. But if you want to go, it's best to go in the morning or when the sun is about to set. Let's put it there The cattle and sheep will be nearby, and these things will pass by after we leave."
Li Long nodded and said:
"I'll go there tomorrow morning."
"Not tomorrow morning." Yushanjiang shook his head, "I met the ranger here just now when I came here, and he said he would bring some caladiums over tomorrow morning Sell it to you - I remember you said you were collecting caladium, so I agreed for you."
"Okay." Li Long smiled. It's great to have caladium now. After all, the actual digging of caladiums usually takes place in late April or early May, when caladiums have not yet grown up.
"It's three yuan per kilogram. I'll come over tomorrow morning. He said he'd come before the sun rises. Remember to get up then. By the way, he said he could exchange it for wine. If you don't have it here, If you want to drink, just pay first. I think you can do it later. Bring some wine and other supplies, they will definitely be willing to exchange them. I will leave first, and I have to pack up my things when I get back. I will leave in a few days."
Li Long watched Yushan go. Jiang left and started to make dinner.
He really didn't have any wine here, so he definitely couldn't exchange it for wine this time. Next time I bring a bar, these people don’t really like to drink bottle wine, bulk wine is cheap and strong enough.
The herdsmen in "My Altay" drank bottles of wine, and there were also various bottles of wine in the canteen. Li Long guessed that it was probably because the shopkeeper was not able to bring loose wine. He remembered that these herdsmen here, including those from the forestry team and animal husbandry team, would buy loose wine in cups when they went to the canteen. One cup cost ten cents (a small teacup, not a wine cup). No food was needed. They could just drink and leave, or With a few people, buy a few more cups and take turns drinking.
Even in the 1920s, you could still see a few people sitting around in some parks in the Ili area, drinking and chatting there in broad daylight. None of them are good wines, and there aren't many dishes to go with the wine. It's probably just a pack or two of mustard peanuts, and I can drink them for most of the day. I don't cause trouble even if I drink too much. I just lie down on the grass and fall asleep, or lie down on a bench in the park.
Set up the stove, boil water, pick up wild vegetables from the spring, wash them, blanch them in boiling water, then chop them up, add salt, oil and chili seeds, add vinegar, mix them, and put the steamed buns on the stove Bake it underneath. After it's browned, take it out. It feels like it's not enough, so I bake another one. I didn't gain much today, so I'll just make do with it and see if I can gain something tomorrow. I have to have something tomorrow, otherwise I can't just eat steamed buns like this.
The cold dishes naturally have some flavor and taste good, but Li Long is not satisfied.
After dinner, thinking about buying caladiums tomorrow morning, he packed up his things and brought two more buckets of water over to wipe the tractor. The tractor has done a lot of work since I bought it, so I can't treat it badly.
After the tractor was wiped and the sun had set, Li Long tidied up the house and poured out the cold leftovers. This stuff used to be left out to eat at night, but now there are so many things to worry about, and he knows about green leafy vegetables. It's not healthy to let the night go, so don't ruin your body.
After the stove was on fire, Li Long went into the house and locked the door. As soon as it gets dark, it gets cold outside, and I don’t know if those people who come into the mountains looking for money have dug nests in the ground or cracked holes in diamonds.
Going into the mountains at this time is really a torture. When the time comes, you will bring people over to make the work, and you still need to let them make the nest well, otherwise, you will be in big trouble if you get sick.
In the middle of the night, it started to rain lightly outside. The temperature in the room was okay and the stove was not turned off. Li Long just listened to the sound of rain, turned over and fell asleep again.
In a daze, someone knocked on the door, and Li Long woke up.
Looking at the window, it was still dark outside. Li Long got up and put on his clothes and asked vigilantly:
"Who?"
It was definitely not the case at this time. Yushan Jiangpolati them.
"Fellow, fellow, can you open the door? My brother has a fever, do you have any medicine... If there is no medicine, can you get a bowl of hot water to drink!" The voice outside was urgent.
A blind way to dig for fritillaries? It's not the one I touched during the day, and the sound is different.
Li Long held the 56 semi-automatic rifle. (End of this chapter)