In the mountains southeast of the wooden house, Li Zhengting was silently filling a bag with caladiums. Most of these caladiums were dug by him in the past two days.
"Zhengting, please listen to my advice. It's not necessarily more cost-effective for us to take it down the mountain and sell it ourselves than to sell it to the tractor driver. This trip down the mountain will take more than a day to go back and forth. You may not be able to sell it for more money, so why bother?"
"I just can't bear it." Although Li Zhengting saved his life, he felt uncomfortable looking at Li Long.
Li Zhengtang was just the opposite of him. Li Long administered the medicine late at night and later exchanged supplies for them, which made him very grateful to Li Long. Having such a "sales department" in the mountains is like another channel for blind people like them to save their lives and live a good life.
He could vaguely guess why Li Zhengting was dissatisfied with Li Long and did not want to go to Li Long to exchange the mother-of-pearl for money. The reason is most likely that he still feels that he is no worse than Li Long, but his luck has only fallen to where he is now.
To put it bluntly, Li Long was doing better than him, and he was jealous. Young people can't suppress their jealousy. They would rather work harder than let Li Long get more benefits.
As for Li Long's administration of medicine, in Li Zhengting's opinion, he had already thanked him, so it was settled.
Actually, Li Zhengtang doesn’t think so. Can it be cleared up?
The caladiums have grown out in the past two days. There are fewer people coming to the mountains now, and there are fewer people to take care of them. Although the forestry team will send people to collect caladiums, there are few people after all. They can find some. In the area of caladiums, one person dug out more than ten kilograms of caladiums in the past two days.
According to Li Zhengting's calculation, Li Long exchanged things for a discount. Fresh fritillary cost three yuan per kilogram, which would cost Shanxia at least five or six yuan. How can these dozen kilograms of Fritillaria be sold for seventy or eighty yuan? It’s more than one or two months’ wages for workers!
How many things can you buy in the county with this money?
But Li Zhengtang didn't want to take risks. After all, there were too many uncertain factors.
"Zhengting, we have to cross several ditches when we go down the mountain. Maybe we will encounter the forestry team, and these fritillaries will be gone."
"Then let's leave at night." Li Zhengting was determined to go down the mountain to take a look at the market. He had thought about this problem for a long time, "Let's leave as soon as it gets dark and walk all night. In the county town, if we rush to the buying station to sell fritillaries during the day, then go back to the mountains to buy things, it will only be a waste of one day tomorrow, but the money we make is enough to make up for this day.”
Li Zhengtang didn't expect that his cousin had thought everything over, but he still didn't want to go out:
"What about the danger? There are wolves in and out of the mountains, and they often live in groups."
"What are you afraid of? Each of us weighs a stick, and don't we have a shovel in exchange for it? Don't we?" On the waist. I don’t believe they dare to attack two big people. As long as we walk faster, we will arrive after ten o’clock. It will be much safer if we take the main road."
He packed up the fritillary and looked up at Li Zhengtang:
"Brother, if you don't want to go, then I will go by myself. I won’t force you, I just won’t do it..."
How could Li Zhengtang let him go alone? He sighed and said:
"Okay, let's go over there, but that's the end of the story. If we go, if it doesn't reach what you want, after this trip, you can stop bothering, and I won't follow you if you bother again."< br>
Li Long can exchange caladium for money, which Li Zhengtang thinks is really a good thing and is beneficial to both parties. Now Li Zhengting insisted on making such a fuss, which made him very embarrassed. He made up his mind that if he came here again next year, he would definitely not bring this kid with him. When I came here, I was told that everything would be up to me, but as soon as I got here, this kid became stubborn.
He also put the caladiums he dug into a bag, and while picking out the dirty things, he said:
“I remember that the purchasing station last year said they only collected dried caladiums, and we didn’t have room. If they don't accept it, they'll be in big trouble."
"I've thought about this a long time ago. If the buying station doesn't accept it, we'll go to the medicinal material company. If the medicinal material company doesn't accept it, then we'll sell it in the market. There will always be a discerning person. Let's go to the purchasing station to get the price for one kilogram of dried caladium. Say hello, and then the converted price of fresh fritillary is one or two yuan lower than this price in the market, and it will definitely be sold!”
Seeing that Li Zhengting had already thought about it so clearly, Li Zhengtang didn't say any more. He tied up the fritillary bag, brought all his own things, prepared sticks, and walked north with Li Zhengting.
Walking through the mountains first, you won’t have to worry about being caught by the forestry team in the dense forest. In fact, they can also find patterns. Forestry teams usually look for valleys where horses can pass through and where cattle and sheep have trampled. Those valleys where mountains are high and densely forested and bushy are difficult for people to enter and where horses can hardly enter. Basically, those from the forestry team will not enter.
When they walked to the third level of the mountain from north to south, Li Zhengtang and the others stopped. It's not dark yet, and in front of them is a wide ditch running from east to west, with trails trampled by cattle and sheep. Although there are many caladiums on the shady hillside, Li Zhengtang and the others dare not dig.
After waiting for a long time, when Li Zhengting was a little anxious, he saw a young man carrying a gun and riding a horse slowly walking past the path. He was still humming a song he didn't understand. Hold a glass bottle, take a sip occasionally, and look satisfied on your face.
Li Zhengting noticed that the man was holding a small bottle of champagne. He had seen it in Li Long's "sales department", and he was reluctant to exchange half a kilogram of Fritillaria for a bottle of that drink.
When the young man walked away, Li Zhengtang whispered:
"He must have gone to the sales department that drives a tractor" to change things. There was a lot of stuff on the horse.
Li Zhengting came to watch the man drink a small bottle of champagne, but he really didn’t see anything on the horse.
But no matter what, the thing this person exchanged for something must be a caladium, and I don’t know who it was collected from.
The guy driving the tractor is an accomplice!
Li Zhengting found an upright reason for not selling Fritillaria to Li Long.
The two people immediately carried Fritillaria on their backs down the mountain, climbed over the valley, and quickly came to the bushes of another mountain.
I had a rest just now, and now I am a little tired. Their nutrition couldn't keep up. They couldn't feel the more than ten kilograms of caladium at first, but after carrying it up several mountains, it started to feel heavier and heavier, weighing down on their backs like a mountain.
Li Zhengting is worse than Li Zhengtang, but it was he who suggested going down the mountain to sell Fritillaria, and he had to persist even though he had some regrets.
Each break was longer than the last, and the sun was setting.
Then they saw Li Long.
Li Long drove the tractor back to the wooden house. After a brief tidying up, he took the thin wire from the small room and planned to get some covers. He would go to the place where Sun Jiaqiang mentioned and lay a few to see if he could catch some small wild boars.
After tying the condom, Li Long walked there with two kilograms of corn particles, a gun and a shovel on his back.
Driving the tractor made too much noise, so this time he wanted to use the walking tractor.
After arriving at the place, Li Long first found a suitable place to put the condom on, and then sprinkled corn particles around the condom.
This thing is only left for one night. Although it is likely to attract hares, this is a necessary cost.
He finished his things and was about to leave when he saw Li Zhengtang and Li Zhengting.
Seeing two people walking from the south with pockets and sticks on their backs, and then looking at him dumbfounded, Li Long reacted after being stunned for a moment, smiled at the two people, and then left with the shovel. .
Li Long is very clear about the two people's thoughts, which is normal.
Some people are willing to make money in the mountains, such as Sun Jiaqiang, and some are just reluctant, such as these two brothers.
Of course, this is normal. If they want to go out to the county to change, then go ahead and change. Anyway, they are not afraid of hard work, so just leave.
On the way back, Li Long also lamented that these two people were really brave. After all, these days, there are wolves even in the wasteland outside Lao team village, let alone this mountainside? There is already sunset in the west, and it will be dark in half an hour. They may have just left the mountain at that time, and the road behind... won't be lost, right?
But Li Long was also curious about how their caladiums were dried. After all, there are grass everywhere in the mountains now, and the places without grass are covered with shrubs and trees. There is no natural place suitable for drying caladiums, unless the place is cleared manually like Li Long's place.
Did they find a natural drying ground?
Of course Li Long didn't know that Li Zhengtang and the others were going to sell fresh fritillaries. In Li Long's impression, the purchasing station does not accept fresh fritillaries, only dried ones. This should be common sense.
After Li Zhengtang and Li Long met each other, they began to lament and sigh all the way. He knew that Li Long had seen through their purpose. If this trip didn't go well, and they dug up the fritillaries later and wanted to sell them to Li Long, would the other party make things difficult for him?
Li Zhengting naturally had this concern. Hearing his cousin's sigh, he said in a bachelor's manner:
"Brother, tell him when the time comes that this was my idea. Just push it on me Okay. That's it. I'll carry it, and the worst he can do is not accept my fritillary." Li Zhengting's words sounded unsatisfactory, but they actually reflected that in his heart, he had placed Li Long in a position that was powerful and several ranks higher than his own. . Otherwise, how could you possibly manipulate them casually?
"Sigh, let's take it one step at a time." Having already reached this point, what else can Li Zhengtang say, "Let's go, maybe people won't care, maybe People know that we will only suffer losses if we go like this.”
After that, he stopped talking and strode north.
But before I walked more than ten meters, my pace slowed down and I bent even more.
So tired!
Li Long returned to the cabin, tidied up the outside, turned off the stove fire, locked the door of the cabin, then entered the room, closed the door, put down the fire in the stove, and then went to sleep. .
When I came back today, I got seven or eight kilograms of fritillary from the young forestry team member Hamiti, and I gained a lot. The caladiums have been washed, and the moisture on the outside has almost dried. They can be spread outside to dry in the sun tomorrow. Nowadays, there are so many caladiums that they can no longer fit in the small room, so they can only be dried outside.
When I got up early, the room was not as cold as before. The northwest two sides feel different after adding wall mud.
Li Long got up and put on his clothes. He felt that his bladder could still bear it, so he drained the stove. Seeing that there was still charcoal left, he added some small pieces of coal and saw black smoke rising. He closed the stove lid and opened the door.
It was still dark outside, and I could barely see clearly. There was dew everywhere outside. Li Long went to the toilet at the back to put some water. When he came back, he ate something simple, put on his coat and carried his gun. , took the bag and satchel and went out.
He planned to stay in the wooden house during the day. At this time, he went over to see if he had got the little wild boar.
While walking there, Li Long guessed that Xie Yundong and the others would enter the mountain today. He planned to drive the tractor there in the afternoon. If they arrived, he would unify his thoughts and explain what was needed. The next step is to come over every day to check the quality of the weaving work.
You have to set the rules today, otherwise the quality will not be up to par and you will be in trouble.
Li Long is confident in this regard. After completing all kinds of big tasks last year, he believes that he has left a clear impression on the team members. When it is time to fall out, he will never smile.
Walking in the mountains with one foot deep and one foot shallow, his trouser legs soon became wet with dew. His eyes had adapted to the environment. Li Long knew where he was going. Now he just hopes that there will be no accidents on the road he takes.
However, the more he was afraid of something, the more he feared it. As he walked, he felt that his foot was missing. When he stepped on the missing foot, he subconsciously started to run, but he was still a step too late and sprained his foot. .
Feeling a pain in his left ankle, Li Long hurriedly stood on one foot, then slowly sat down, and gently touched his ankle and moved it. Fortunately, it was not particularly painful.
It must have slipped a bit, but it was not serious. Li Long stood up and tapped his toes on the ground. It felt okay. He slowly stepped on it. Although it still hurt a little, he could bear it.
You'd better react quickly, otherwise you'll be in trouble if you stumble like this.
Slowing down and becoming more careful, Li Long heard the movement below when he reached the top of the hill to the south of the area where he was lowered.
He was overjoyed and felt that his feet no longer hurt. He immediately bent over and walked forward. He had made sure yesterday that it was not a storm here and the wild boars could not smell him.
Go to the mountain ridge and look down, the sky is not very bright yet. He could only see a patch of dark green. When he looked carefully, Li Long was disappointed: there were only two small wild boars moving in that area. They must have been trapped. They barked occasionally, maybe because they were tired. There wasn’t even a single big wild boar!
All ran away? You don’t want the little wild boar anymore?
Li Long walked down with his gun in hand, thinking, okay, having two little wild boars makes the trip worthwhile, at least he is not empty-handed.
Thinking like this, I suddenly heard a "rumbling" sound, and a wild boar suddenly jumped out of the bushes. After seeing me, it ran eastward crazily!
The wild boar opened its head, and then a group of more than a dozen wild boars ran wildly to the southeast, northwest, and one of them actually rushed straight towards Li Long!
Li Long was startled, raised his hand and fired, then avoided the side and fired another shot. The wild boar stopped six or seven meters away and planted itself crookedly on a bush. Not moving anymore.
Li Long looked at the other wild boars, but they had already disappeared.
He sighed, he was not good at this. Fighting alone, it would be better if he ambushed a wild boar. But it was too late. Not to mention being deceived by a wild boar, a group of wild boars would only hunt one and lasso two. Well, this record is not even as good as last year.
But it’s just a sigh, some gains are good. Li Long went over and dragged the half-grown wild boar towards the two small wild boars. He didn't expect that these wild boars would lie down and rest here after eating. Didn't they always go back to the mountains after finishing?
The two little wild boars were a little frightened when Li Long came over, and kept barking. Li Long untied one end and stuffed it into the bag, then untied the other end and stuffed it into the bag, and then started to collect the condom.
Being so frightened, it is estimated that the wild boars will not dare to come over for a while.
During the process of collecting the condom, Li Long had a little surprise. There was a little wild boar trapped in the bushes. However, when it struggled after being trapped, it got stuck at the root of a bush and could not move or scream. Why call it out? If Li Long hadn't come over to untie the condom, it would have died within half an hour.
Putting the three small wild boars in the bag and carrying the half-grown wild boar on his back, Li Long returned to the wooden house.
At this time, Li Zhengtang and Li Zhengting had just woken up from the cold under a bridge. The two shiveringly picked up some firewood and started to light a fire.
Last night, two people walked north. After leaving the mountain, they searched for more than an hour and finally found the way to Qingshui River. However, after walking through Qingshui River, the two of them were already very tired. , the howl of wolves came from the distance again, they discussed it and decided to rest first.
We found a bridge hole nearby and got in. The two of them lit a fire and cooked themselves. I thought it was pretty good at the time, so I found some hay to spread on and fell asleep in the bridge hole.
However, the weather in northern Xinjiang has a very large temperature difference between day and night. The two of them woke up from the cold several times at night. This time, they finally couldn't sleep anymore, so they had to wake up.
I will light a fire and plan to grill it, eat some dead dough pancakes that I brought with me, and then continue on my way.
When the sun rose high, the two of them finally walked back to the county town.
There were already several blisters on their feet. The two of them were tired, hungry, and reluctant to go to a restaurant to eat. When they went to the market, they met Sister Yang selling porridge, so they drank a bowl each for 10 cents. .
Went to the purchasing station. When Li Zhengtang and Li Zhengting went in to inquire, they found out that they did not accept fresh Fritillaria here.
Although he was mentally prepared, Li Zhengtang still felt like the sky was about to collapse.
Do you really want to go to the market to sell caladiums?
"Brother, I asked." Li Zhengting was very excited, "If our Fritillaria is dried, it can be sold as a second grade, forty yuan per kilogram! If you convert it into fresh food, it will cost five or six yuan. Let’s go to the medicinal material company and ask if we can accept it, or sell it at a reduced price!”
Li Zhengtang could only listen to his cousin at this time.
Two people who looked like they were blind workers arrived at the medicinal material company and were "invited" out without even meeting the manager. The staff said they would not accept them.
Li Zhengting was not so excited this time. He forced a smile and said to Li Zhengtang:
"Brother, let's do the third method and sell it in the market. I don't believe you can pay four and a half yuan per kilogram." Can’t sell it? If we can’t, let’s find a place to dry it!”
Li Zhengtang smiled bitterly, why bother?
What a regret!
Arrived at the market, found a place, and the two people started setting up a stall. I have never shown off, and I don't know how to shout. I see others shouting, but I can't open my mouth.
The administrator came over before they even opened.
Pay the money!
That’s it for tonight, let’s watch it during the day (end of chapter)