At midnight, in Xiaobaiyanggou, in front of the fire in front of the nest, young people who could not sleep listened to Li Jianguo telling stories about the past.
"...At that time, Usman took the bandits to Northern Xinjiang, Eastern Xinjiang, and later to Qinghai and Gansu. Anyway, those bandits did not do good things. At first they started to revolt. At that time, I resisted Sheng Shicai, but later, When this guy got big, he started to rob. Then he just robbed a place of money and food... It was just like saying that he didn't do anything evil."
"Robbing our place?" Xu Feihu was very interested in this and asked.
"Let's rob. It seems that we fought with Sheng Shicai's army here. When he was strong, there were many people, thousands of bandits, all on horseback. They robbed a lot of things and killed a lot of people..."
“What about those things that were robbed? They were all spent?”
"I don't know. The food may have been eaten. As for the money, some of it can be bought by the Soviet Union at the time and later the United States to buy weapons and recruit people. It is said that when we peacefully liberate XJ later, we will ask him to surrender. He didn't vote. At that time A special envoy from the United States and a veteran agent have people among his bandits. That's where the money was probably spent. "
"I heard that he was responsible for the destruction of the city. Is that true?" Wei? Zhonghua asked, sitting on the edge and stirring the fire.
"No, no." Li Jianguo has been to many units and read many books. He has also experienced the Yita incident and is very familiar with the history of northern Xinjiang. He said: "When the city was destroyed, at least It was before the Qing Dynasty, and there was no Usman at that time. It had nothing to do with him. He would only burn a village, but not a city. , Do you think it would be possible if some of the treasures he robbed were hidden in the mountains and were found later? "
"Of course there is! Bandits, they can't defeat the regular army. If so, don't you have to run into the mountains?" Li Jianguo didn't say anything, and Lu Yingming rushed to say, "Maybe there are things left by the bandit near us."
"It would be great if we could meet each other. If we have a bunch of them, what else can we do? If we go to Wucheng to buy a house and get a city resident's registered permanent residence, then we can enjoy the blessings!" Xu Feihu's eyes were full of fantasy.
Li Jianguo smiled and said nothing. He remembered that the things Li Long had brought back seemed to have been obtained in this mountain.
Whether it belongs to those gangsters, although I have some guesses, I am not sure.
"You? You just met me, do you know me? Those things that were made decades ago, who knows what they have become rusted into now? It is said that there is jade in this mountain, I don't know if it is true or not "Yes." It was Xu Dejun who spoke.
They looked at Li Jianguo together.
"Jade is real." Li Jianguo nodded, "The county annals of Ma County say that in the Qing Dynasty, the Ma River had a gold-plated jade base, which means there were gold sand mines and jade in the river. This jade mountain was washed down from the Tianshan Mountains. . Last year, Xiaolong’s friend gave him a piece of jasper, but most of the Mahe jasper was not worth it.”
Li Jianguo didn’t want to cause trouble for Li Long, so he blurred this paragraph. When others heard this, they would all think that the jade Li Long got was not worth much.
In fact, it is true. The jade picked up in the mountains is not worth much now, just like the jade picked up by Li Long when he took the three people into the mountains for hunting. That one is just average.
"We are still too far away. If we were in the mainland, there would be a lot of valuable things there." Tao Jianshe said, "In the city where I used to live, there were old tombs and things like that. Over time, things would be exposed. Come here, our area is sparsely populated, there was no famous city before, and there was nothing good about it.”
This was agreed upon by everyone.
The fire gradually extinguished and the moon rose. Li Jianguo said:
"Okay, pack up and go to bed. Get up early tomorrow morning to cut strips and weave them. Only when you make money can you really make money."
< br>"Yes, yes." Xie Yundong echoed, "Just listen to those things. Only those who make up the tricks are true."
Everyone dispersed, went to their dens, and pulled Open the quilt and sleep.
When the sun shines during the day, they will hang their quilts outside or spread them on the grass to dry in the sun. Only by covering themselves with the quilts at night can they stay warm. After all, it's still damp in the nest. Although there is hay underneath, the temperature difference is huge in the early morning, so the return of moisture is quite uncomfortable.
In another ravine, in a stone cave, Lin Xiaofeng and He Yiku were sleeping face to face, with grass under their bodies. The bedding on both of them was very new. He Yiku couldn't sleep and asked:
"Boss" "Do you think we can find that location?"
"The map is probably real, but the hand-drawing is a bit too random. I think we can still find several points on it if we look at the mountain shape tomorrow. Well, as long as you find one of them and confirm it, you will know the rest. There is no problem with the source of this picture, and I think the content should be as well."
"I hope it all lies in this. "
"I gave away all my money to exchange for this picture. I think it must be true. As long as the things in the picture are taken out, our lives will be better in the future."
There was a howl of wolves outside, and it was nearby. He Yiku looked at the stone cave blocked by a simple door made of branches, and said fiercely:
"When we are sure and find those things, I will Go get that gun, none of these wolves can survive! They are trying to treat us as snacks.”
“Hey, hey, don’t act rashly, so as not to alert the enemy. I think we have been working hard in the past two days, and we should have preliminary results tomorrow. . ”
Everyone has his own thoughts throughout the night.
At dawn the next day, Lin Xiaohu and He Yiku got up. They cooked some porridge on a simple stove, put out the fire, covered up the entrance of the cave, and walked into the mountain with their tools.
From time to time, Lin Xiaohu climbed up the mountain ridge and took out an old piece of yellow paper to look at it, compare it with the terrain, and then slowly touched the piece of stone where Li Long was digging out something last year.
"Found it! It should be here!" Lin Xiaohu was very excited, "Yiku, come on, let's move this stone!"
Lin Yiku looked around and said:< br>
“Boss, please take a look at the situation, I will do this work.”
He Yiku was very strong and quickly lifted up that piece of stone, revealing some of the rocks below. The mess comes.
"It seems like someone has touched it." Lin Xiaohu came over and squatted down to look carefully. Although there were some things underneath, most of them were made of copper, which was not very valuable. There were also some pieces of cloth that were all rotten.
“All the good things were taken away?” He Yiku was greatly disappointed, “If you let me know who took it away, I will kill him!”
“Don’t be so angry. "It's heavy." Lin Xiaohu said with a smile, "As long as the dot is found, it means that the map is indeed real. But this is not the main hiding spot, there are several more locations. As long as we find the biggest one, we won’t have to worry about it for the rest of our lives!”
Lin Xiaohu doesn’t like these. thing, said:
"Put the stones back on the pile and bury them, let's go!"
They left this place quickly.
Li Long took a late nap today. When he got up, he saw that the sun was almost coming out. He opened the door to let out the stale air in the house, went to the toilet at the back to fill the water, and then came over to set up the stove and cook.
After breakfast, I saw that the sun had just risen and the dew had not yet dried, so I took down the tractor handles one by one and placed them next to the house to make it easier to pull the tractor today.
There was enough space to place the handles next to the wooden house, but he planned to pull them down the mountain after saving a hundred. After all, the backyard warehouse of the supply and marketing cooperative was bigger and easier to store.
When the dew dried, he took out the Fritillaria and hung them up in the sun, and the dried meat was hung up again. Although he couldn't stay away for fear that the man who brought the Fritillaria would not be able to find anyone, Li Long was not idle either, holding a gun and spinning around on the nearby turf. In late April, the morels haven't come out yet, but there are already quite a lot of straw mushrooms. It’s good to pick up more mushrooms like this and dry them to eat in winter.
The whole morning passed, but no one came to exchange the Fritillaria for money. This made Li Long a little confused. Did someone dig it up yesterday and take it down the mountain, or was there someone like him who went around the mountain to collect the Fritillaria and sold it to others?
Of course, such an idea only flashed across my mind and was unlikely. There are too many caladiums in the mountains. Li Long guessed that the man who dug the caladiums planned to save them before sending them over.
Since no one sent Fritillaria, he started to clean up the house. The caladiums delivered by the two people yesterday were already half-dried. Li Long picked out the dirty things and dried them all afternoon. After another day of drying today, Li Long felt that they were almost done. These caladiums were a little dirty, and since they were half dry and difficult to wash, he simply sat on the edge of the caladiums and picked out the dirt.
Last time, Chen Hongjun showed it to others and said that his Fritillaria was clean and of high quality, so he could not smash this brand once it was established. There's nothing you can do about it, just pick.
At noon, Li Long saw that it was almost done, and then went to cook.
The mushrooms picked up in the morning can be broken open and dried on the grass. They are big enough to be found in the fallen grass, but the caladiums cannot be helped.
Li Long also used a handle as a drying ground and put some mushrooms on it to dry, which was also good.
Idle time is idle anyway, I have to find something to do for myself.
For rice at lunch, he guessed that Lao Huang would still be making pancakes or steaming steamed buns for people in Xiaobaiyanggou in the evening, so he could just eat rice here at noon. Keep the remaining rice in the house and fry it with the eggs you brought tomorrow morning. Someone came over while he was cooking, which surprised Li Long.
"Boss, are you exchanging Fritillaria for something?" The man was in his fifties, and by the sound of his voice, he came from Ganzhou. He was not tall, a little stooped, and very thin. He was carrying a bag and holding a stick in his hand.
“Exchange.” Li Long said while cooking, “How many caladiums do you have, what do you plan to exchange for?”
“Can you exchange for a meal? I’ve been waiting for several days. Not full.”
“Okay. "Li Long didn't choose, "How many caladiums do you have? What else are you going to change?" "Clothes, shoes, rice noodles, quilts, I want to change everything, but the caladiums are not enough, yesterday and today. I dug up seven or eight kilograms," the man said.
"Wait while I serve this dish out." This time it was fried meat with wild celery. Li Long took out the dish and pushed the Fritillaria on the case to make a space to put down the vegetable basin. "Open it and let me take a look at the Fritillaria." How are you, mother?"
The man opened his pocket and let Li Long look inside.
"Put it on the handle over there. How can you tell if you look like this?" Li Long said, "No, wait a minute. I'll weigh you."
This The old man's shoes were torn, his clothes were in tatters, and he had several cuts on his face. This was considered a serious crime.
Li Long went into the house and took out a scale to weigh him. It was six kilograms and nine. Li Long calculated seven kilograms for him.
"Do you still have wine here?" The door of Li Long's small room was not closed, and the old man saw the cage containing wine inside.
"Well, there is some loose wine."
"Can you give me a cage of loose wine? I like to drink some at night. I haven't drunk it for several days."
"Yes, but I think it would be better for you to get more food." Li Long advised kindly.
“OK, OK, change everything.”
The old man couldn't carry it, so Li Long gave him half a bag of noodles, a pair of shoes, a set of denim clothes, a cage of wine, and an enamel basin with a basin of rice covered with vegetables.
Originally, Li Long wanted to let the old man eat here, but he refused to eat and said he wanted to go back.
I don’t know if there are others in the mountains.
So Li Long finally gave him another five yuan, saying it was the remaining money. He did not dare to give more to the old man for fear that he would not be able to carry it.
What can I say, life is not easy.
Those caladiums fell on the handle, which surprised Li Long. These were the cleanest caladiums he had ever collected. There are almost no stray leaves and very little soil.
There is almost no need to wash it, just dry it in the sun. The old man may be slow to dig up medicinal materials, but he is very careful.
Li Long regrets a little. He should give the old man more money, next time.
After lunch, Li Long habitually took out the quilt and dried it in the sun. It is really comfortable to sleep on a quilt that has been exposed to the sun at night. While he was drying the quilt, Polati came over.
This time Bolati did not bring Fritillaria, and Li Long was a little surprised.
After the greetings, Polati dismounted and said to Li Long:
"Our forestry team came to notify us. Recently, there was news from the east, Beiting, that a wanted criminal has entered the mountain. He came by mouth, let us Be careful when patrolling the mountain. We in the forestry team all know this. I will come over and tell you. I have told you about those people in your team. There are many of them, so be careful here. .”
"Could it be the person who injured Hamiti?"
"No. It was two people who injured Hamiti, and the wanted criminal was one person. He was very fierce. Anyway, you met him People who come here alone, be careful. You have a gun. If something bad happens, take out the gun first and hit it. The most important thing is to save your own life. "
Bolati can say this. The words surprised Li Long. He smiled and said, "Don't worry about this. I cherish my life very much. If anything happens, I will save my life first."
"That's good. I haven't received the Fritillaria in the past two days. I will send it to you when I receive it."
Bolati really came here to give the notice, and left after the notice. . Li Long finished drying the quilt, entered the room and took the gun.
Being wanted means that you are most likely to be extremely evil, so you really have to be careful, otherwise if you do get caught, you will be the one who suffers.
He also knows that in fact, in the mountains, the targets of those blind streams are small, because it is easy for a person to hide in the mountains and forests, and it is not easy to find. On the contrary, I have a wooden house here and have a big goal. If the house cannot be moved and there are still things inside, it is equivalent to tying yourself up.
But it is also beneficial, otherwise there would be no way to set up such a "sales department" in the mountains and exchange things with several parties. Every exchange adds to your income. Although it's not much, compared to the income of a top editor, it adds up to a lot. He won't let this go.
And he knew that there were many valuable things in the mountains, not just caladiums. These blind people might be able to find some good things, they might take them in their hands, or they might exchange them for what they need.
Just like now.
"This thing, if it were kept in the past, it would be worth some money if it was good, but now, I think it can be exchanged for a few kilograms of rice." Li Long casually fiddled with the tall and thin blind man in front of him. Something to come.
He already knew the origin of the other party in just a few words. I came from the mainland and heard that digging caladiums would make money quickly, so I went into the mountains. Unfortunately, although I knew caladiums, I was not good at digging caladiums. Others only needed a shovel to dig out caladiums. He needed to dig them out and then pull them out. It took me a long time to find it. Others dug several kilograms a day, but he couldn't dig even one kilogram a day. He ran out of dry food and was starving. I met other blind people and heard that there was something to eat here, so I hurried over to get some food first.
What Li Long is holding is a round bronze mirror. I don’t know its age. The front is covered with green rust. Fortunately, it feels like the rust is only on the surface. The whole mirror is relatively complete. There are patterns on the north side, like It's a bird or something. There is also a button.
"Let's change, let's change. I picked it up in that ditch." Before Li Long continued to talk, this person said it himself, "In the stream, I was drinking water, and I saw that there was a crack in the stone beside the water. What can I exchange for these fritillaries? Is there anything ready to eat? I'm so hungry!"
Li Long gave him some sesame cakes and chicken cakes, and packed some rice for him. He also wanted to exchange for shoes and sugar cubes. He seemed to like sweets and wanted some money.
"That's not enough." Li Long waved his hand, "Your little Fritillaria is only worth the price of one kilogram of sesame cake and chicken cake. The rest is exchanged for this. What I gave you is not Less. Besides, why are you asking for money in the mountains?”
“I don’t want to do it anymore. Get some money and go out to see if you can find a new job or seek refuge with relatives." The man said bluntly, "I find that I can't make ends meet, so I might as well find another way out..."
He hesitated. After a moment, he took something out of his waistband and said:
"See how much I can exchange for this?"
This is a yellow piece, quite heavy and heavy on the hand. One end is square and the other is round, and the round end has an eye as big as a soybean. Li Long took a closer look and saw that there were words written on it, but they were not Chinese characters, nor did they look like the current Uyghur or Kazakh characters. It's written vertically, so I can't read it.
"Is it copper? Is it worth seven or eight yuan?" Li Long weighed it and said, "Where did it come from?"
"I picked it up there too. I also found some rust. It's a piece of hemp, a piece of rag." The man said, "Can this one be sold for seven or eight yuan?"
"Hmm."
"What about the four?" The man took out three more from the waistband of his trousers, "Can they exchange for more than thirty yuan?" He looked radiant, "You said you can't go back on it!"
Li Long was a little dumbfounded, what is this? Wholesale? Isn't it imported from Yiwu?
He regretted the price he had offered earlier. (End of this chapter)