Bolati skinned the sheep very quickly and disemboweled them very quickly. Lao Huang brought over a basin, and Li Long helped Bolati take out all the sheep's internal organs and barely put them in the basin. Lao Huang grinned, showing his big yellow teeth, very happy.
“Okay,” Polati finished finishing the sheep and said to Li Long:
“I’m going back. If there is anything else later, I’ll come find you. What happened just now? , I have removed the bitten part, you still don’t want to eat that part, oh?”
“Yes, I understand.” Li Long nodded.
Bolati wiped his forehead, where there were fine beads of sweat. He wiped the knife on the sheepskin, front and back, twice, then put it into the scabbard at his waist, went to the horse, and got on the horse. , pulled the reins, turned half a circle, and left at a trot. Soon, the horse released its speed and disappeared at the end of the valley.
The sheep's internal organs were removed, and the whole chicken was placed on the sheepskin. Li Long took out his knife, removed one of the hind legs and handed it to Xie Yundong next to him:
"Brother Yundong, this sheep Leave the legs here for you to eat. Let Brother Huang cook some offal tonight, and I'll take the rest away. "Although I don't understand the origin of this sheep, I can." No one is unhappy when eating fresh mutton.
Li Long went to Lao Huang to get some salt and rubbed it on the mutton to prevent insects from coming. The internal organs have been cut into parts and fried. Li Jianguo put down his work of weaving handbags and came over to help wash his stomach and intestines.
Li Long put the mutton, sheepskin and other things into the tractor compartment, and then went over to help his elder brother.
"What's going on with this sheep?" Li Jianguo asked while turning his intestines.
"I was bitten by a snake. As you know, brother, they don't eat like this. There's nothing wrong with the meat bitten by the snake, so I bought it."
"Hey, How much did it cost?”
“ Ten yuan."
"It's cheap, but it's a small loss for them. No wonder that Bolati took the initiative to help peel it." Li Jianguo said with a smile, "There aren't many such things. Right? ”
"Not many. Some herdsmen throw away their sheep when they encounter such a thing. They may not let us encounter it."
The two people were talking and laughing, and their stomachs turned inside out. Lao Huang had already cut some offal and fried it, and the others were also very happy. Being able to eat fresh meat and add extra meals is a good thing for everyone.
Li Long took the intestines and stomach, put them on the sheepskin, rubbed salt on them and prepared to take them back. In fact, he wanted to keep some, but Li Jianguo waved his hand and said forget it. This means that he can exchange it for some money when he takes it back, but leaving it here will not produce any economic value.
Speaking of which, Li Long brought some meat here and there, and the food for these people who made the most of it was considered very good. According to Li Jianguo, when he was in the production team, the people who came to work in the sideline team were basically sallow and thin when they returned. Fortunately, I can make money and no one has any objections.
It's better now, everyone's face is red, and the food here is not as good as at home.
It's not a good thing if the conditions are too good. After all, it's easy to raise the conditions, but if you put them down later, these people will probably have objections.
Shengmi's kindness and rice's enmity are not just talk.
So Li Jianguo asked Li Long to take back the many things. Just let everyone eat the things you bought with real money. There is no need to use them all as a favor.
Li Long was embarrassed to say that he could earn four yuan per piece. He wanted to wait until all the accounts were compiled and settled, and then he would tell Li Jianguo. Anyway, he will definitely not take money from his elder brother. Li Jianguo should be able to earn a thousand yuan by then.
So to Li Long, ten yuan of mutton is nothing even if it is all put here.
Of course, he also knew that this was not how the accounts were calculated. If someone else took the job, the commission might be even harsher than his.
After finishing this, Li Long went to check and accept the handles, registered the number, had someone sign it, and put it in the pile.
The handles over there are also stacked separately, one hundred in a pile, which is good for counting. There are now seven piles. Although the seventh pile is not enough to reach a hundred, it is almost there.
Soon, the vegetables were cooked, and Lao Huang shouted, and everyone came over to eat. At this time, Sun Jiaqiang also came back with a bag.
Li Long came here in the morning a few days ago. When he came over, he had already dug fritillaries and could not be seen on either side. So Sun Jiaqiang was also very happy to see Li Long coming this time.
He took out two large bags of caladiums from his nest as if they were offering treasures.
"Oh, so many!" Li Long was a little surprised, "You are getting more and more efficient at digging Fritillaria!"
"That's right. No one is checking here. I dig with peace of mind. There are many Fritillaria ditches nearby, and Old Huang is good at cooking.” Sun Jiaqiang said with a smile, “I don’t have to cook like others. I have more time, so I can dig naturally. That’s more.”
This is the truth, Li Long smiled.
“I didn’t bring a scale today, so I can only give you an estimate.”
"No problem, I believe you. By the way, I've finished my bottle of wine. Have you brought any wine?" Sun Jiaqiang asked.
“I took a cage, what, you want it again?”
“Yes.” Sun Jiaqiang whispered, “I kind of underestimated the drinking capacity of fellow countrymen like you, you brought it to me A bottle of wine is not enough for these people to drink... How many more bottles will you bring next time?"
" Okay. This is five liters, which is enough for a while. Don't drink too much. Be careful." Li Long took out the wine from the cart and handed it to him. "I'll take stock of these two bags."
Two full bags of Fritillaria, plus more than eight kilograms today, Sun Jiaqiang’s Fritillaria totaled forty-nine kilograms.
"Let me give you fifty kilograms, but to be honest, if I don't come for another two days, your caladiums will get moldy." Li Long poured the caladiums into his bag, looked through it and said, "You Why didn’t you find a place to dry it out?”
“Hey, I didn’t think of it. "Sun Jiaqiang reacted, "That's right, there are so many people here, it would be great if I could lend you a hand to dry these fritillaries!"
Sun Jiaqiang asked for one hundred and forty yuan, and the rest was left. He exchanged the money for wine and asked Li Long to bring some other daily necessities when he came over tomorrow.
When the two of them finished here, everyone else over there had packed their meals and gathered around to eat. Lao Huang saved vegetables for the two of them, including corn pancakes, stir-fried offal, and wild vegetable soup.
"Guys, my wine has arrived today," Sun Jiaqiang said loudly: "We didn't drink enough in the past two days. Come here today. If you want to drink it, pour it yourself. As long as you don't get drunk and don't delay your work tomorrow. It’s okay. I’m young, so I don’t drink that much. I’ll have two drinks with you, and I’ll keep these five liters of wine here.”
As soon as Sun Jiaqiang said this, the others also smiled and started talking. Most of them were saying that Sun Jiaqiang was a son, grand and cheerful.
Li Long smiled and watched the lively scene while eating. This year, the people who are responsible for editing are relatively harmonious and don’t have so many chores. In addition, if there is an outsider here, even if the team members are a little unhappy, they will put it down and don't want to embarrass themselves in front of outsiders.
Of course they also know that some people committed crimes last year and did not come this year. Nowadays, the number of knitting tasks every day is registered. The money earned in one day can be as much as that of an apprentice in a month. Anyone who can't figure it out and still messes up is really a spoon boy.
After eating, Li Long said something to his eldest brother, waved his hands to the others, rocked the tractor and headed towards the wooden house. He only drank a small cap of wine and had no reaction. At this time, Sun Jiaqiang and the others were still drinking. The sky has darkened, and there will be no more work. Today is considered a short rest. Everyone is relaxed, laughter and laughter can be heard in the valley, and some people even sang opera.
In fact, these days, people of these age groups usually sing some of the eight major model operas, such as "Red Lantern", "Shajiabang" and so on. After that incident, no one sang for two years, but now there is nothing more. In fact, some of the famous jokes came from the mouth, and they were simply sung while drinking, which gave a rather heroic feeling.
Li Long listened to the singing getting farther and farther, and then his tractor faced the wind, turned on the headlights, and headed towards the wooden house.
There are lights and I encountered many small animals along the way. Most of these small animals forage for food at night, and will be very alarmed when they see car lights and hear movement.
When we arrived at the wooden house, there was not much movement. I thought that even if someone wanted to change the Fritillaria, they couldn't see the tractor, so they left.
After Li Long turned off the engine, he wanted to dispose of the mutton in the car bucket in the dark. The main thing is to break it into pieces and soak it in a large basin. Do the same with the remaining offal. It gets cold at night, so soaking it in cold water will keep it from getting damaged. Let’s deal with it tomorrow morning.
After all, after eating a full meal, the stomach and brain compete for blood supply, and the brain is not very awake and wants to sleep.
After spending every day busy, Li Long would not take the initiative to do overloaded work. Since we can work tomorrow and there are no lights outside now, let’s rest.
Early the next morning, Li Long got up to put out the water and saw someone waiting outside.
Li Long was not surprised that these people came so early to sell caladiums. He skillfully stepped forward, weighed the caladiums, and asked if they wanted money or supplies.
Twenty-one kilograms of Fritillaria is not a small number. After hesitating for a while, the man finally decided to pay sixty yuan and exchange the remaining three yuan for some sesame cakes.
Now is the caladium season, and those who dig caladiums also know to save time. If you can do it, don’t cook. If you save time, you can dig more caladiums.
Li Long was careful, and before giving the other party money, he poured the fritillaries into the prepared handle, and then found that these fritillaries were all fresh, and there were none that he had washed before.
Not him.
After giving the money and sesame cakes to the other party, the other party thought for a while, took out another ten-dollar bill, and asked Li Long if he had any cooked dried meat that he would like to exchange for some.
Li Long gave him five dollars and took three pieces of air-dried cooked meat. One kilogram of cooked meat may be turned into air-dried meat, and only 300 grams may be left, so the price of air-dried meat is higher. After the man left, Li Long set up the stove, cooked porridge, and then began to wash the fritillaries.
Including the Fritillaria that Sun Jiaqiang brought over yesterday.
After washing and drying the fritillaries, and the porridge was almost ready, Li Long baked steamed buns under the stove and ate breakfast in a hurry with red tofu and the spicy sauce he brought.
The offal brought back yesterday is washed and cooked, and the meat needs to be broken into small pieces and cooked. Nowadays, those who want to change meat basically need air-dried cooked meat. Li Long couldn't simply put salt on it and let it dry. Once cooked, they are sprinkled with salt and left to dry. After drying, they can eat them directly.
By noon, Li Long's things had been packed up, the cooked meat was taken out, smeared with salt and hung. Because it is dry, it only needs to be cooked, and it does not need to be stewed like the one you eat. The offal needs to be marinated and not air-dried.
While working, he collected more than 70 kilograms of Fritillaria, and Li Long washed and dried them intermittently. Fortunately, there are so many handles, and there are slits under this thing for ventilation, so there is no need to worry about mold.
Just turn it over every once in a while.
After finishing the work, Li Long wanted to take a rest before eating. Anyway, there is meat and offal, all you need to do is add some dipping sauce.
The broth is also drinkable. Now I am not afraid of the three highs. It is already very beautiful.
Then I saw two men in black clothes walking over in the distance.
At first, Li Long thought they were selling Fritillaria, but the two men were holding only cloth bags. Then they walked to a place twenty or thirty meters away from Li Long and stopped.
The two people whispered something, and then shouted to Li Long:
"Comrade, do you have any medicine?"
"Yes." Li Long stood up and walked over there, then Two old men in black clothes said hurriedly:
“Don’t come over, don’t come over, we "I just want medicine."
Li Long felt a little strange. These two people looked very clean, and their hair and beards were not messy. They must have been treated. Why did he feel like they were afraid of close contact with others? Since the other party made the request, he stopped and said:
"What medicine do you want?"
"Aspirin." The other party said the name of the medicine.
"Yes, there are a few bottles."
"Let's change." The two men opened the cloth bag, and inside were several neatly folded leather bags.
Deer skin, wolf skin, and roe deer skin look ripe and feel very soft.
Li Long was a little surprised. If these leathers were to be put outside, it would be no problem to exchange them for two to three hundred yuan.
Now that prices are rising, one piece of these complete, ripe leathers is already sixty or seventy yuan.
Four skins.
"Change two bottles." One of the old men said simply. The hair of both men was short, almost close to their scalps, and their clothes were clean and patched. Li Long didn't think they looked like people who often traveled in the mountains.
"One piece of skin is enough. And there are more. Do you need to exchange for other supplies. Such as matches, salt, rice noodles, or other medicines." Li Long said, not wanting to take advantage of the old man too much. , "I can exchange four bottles of aspirin for you. I also have painkillers, metamizole, yeast tablets, hawthorn pills, etc."
The two old men looked at each other and then said:
"Then I need a pack of salt and a pack of matches. In addition to aspirin, I also want some metamizole."
Li Long put the things in his hands. Wrap it into a big bag and prepare to take it.
The two men immediately backed away, and when Li Long put the things on the leather, the old man who spoke briefly said:
"Take all the leather, and then step back."
"Do you... have any infectious disease?" Li Long asked suddenly, he didn't dare to pick up those pieces of leather. If these people really had a disease like plague, he would really not dare to use that thing.
"No." The other man shook his head firmly, "We... are sinners."
When he said this, Li Long didn't understand even more.
But the old man stopped talking, and Li Long couldn't guess. He picked up the leather and walked back. The two men came over to take the things, bowed to Li Long, and then turned and walked back into the mountains.
Li Long was stunned there.
He believed that these two people would not lie to him, it was just a matter of belief. In the mountains, if there really is an infectious disease like the plague, to be honest, even if the other party lies to you, you may not be able to escape it. But if the other party tells the truth, no, then he believes it.
It’s not stupidity, it’s just a feeling.
But what does that last sentence mean?
After the two people disappeared, Li Long went over and picked up the leather.
It wasn’t something that was killed recently. The skin must have been preserved for a long time. The fur is very good and the leather is well cooked and very soft. When unfolded, you can see that they are all adult animals. The skins are large and there are no gunshot wounds.
Don't know how it was caught.
To this day, Li Long still can't figure out what these people do. After living in the mountains for so long, I haven't heard from Harimu or the others that such people exist. It stands to reason that Harry Muyushanjiang and the others should be able to meet each other.
But never heard of it.
Is there some secret base in the mountains?
With doubts, Li Long spread out these leathers to dry them.
Just in case, he washed his hands with some wine and disinfected them.
I ate some lunch while thinking. He had already eaten some while the meat was drying, so he wasn't really hungry.
In the afternoon, some more caladiums were collected one after another, and in the evening, more caladiums were given away. Most of these fritillary diggers knew that when they arrived at Li Long's place, those who patrolled the forest ignored them. They may even make a large circle, emerging from the southwest or west.
Li Long made a rough estimate and found that he harvested nearly 200 kilograms of Fritillaria today.
We have to pull back again tomorrow and the day after tomorrow.
Seeing that it was getting dark and no one was coming, Li Long collected all the fritillaries. The collected caladiums can be washed at any time, but most of them can only be stored in the wooden house.
Early the next morning, Li Long drove his tractor to Xiaobaiyanggou without seeing anyone coming.
There was still smoke floating in Baiyanggou, which made Li Long couldn't help but wonder whether the fire where his eldest brother and the others were roasting strips of rice had not been extinguished all night.
After checking everyone's bags, Li Long found his eldest brother Li Jianguo and whispered about the man in black yesterday.
Li Jianguo glanced at Li Long and said softly:
"We met before when we were working in the sideline team. We guessed that these people are probably...some of the people left behind during the prosperous times."
I didn't expect that my eldest brother actually knew something about it. .
"From where your wooden house is, walk into the south mountain for more than ten kilometers. There should be a ditch to the southwest. That ditch is full of bones. Human bones." Li Jianguo looked around. , and then whispered, "Don't go there. We guess there is either a war or a plague among the bones in the ditch."
Li Long wrote down that place, and he really didn't plan to go there.
Life is important.
After knowing the general idea, I am no longer so curious.
Sun Jiaqiang has already gone to dig Fritillaria. This kid usually seems to be laughing and joking, but when it comes to making money, he is quite reliable. (End of this chapter)