The sound of tractors in the mountain forest echoed in several nearby valleys, and the small animals that were originally active nearby moved away from here.
After the grass on this hillside was cleared, Harimu guided Li Long to another hillside. This pasture has been inspected by herdsmen, and some wooden piles have been cleared.
“I never thought that it would be so easy to cut grass.” Harimu sighed again, “It feels like playing. I go around the grassland on the hillside and come back.”
"You are also working. It will take time to remove the wooden piles." Li Long joked.
"What kind of work is that? Nathan and Susken can come over and do it." Harimu sighed, "If we do this this year, next year..."
"I will come again next year." Li Long said matter-of-factly.
Halimu looked at him and smiled.
In the afternoon, before the sun set, Li Long drove the tractor back to Harimu’s winter home.
The other young men have also returned following Yushanjiang.
“I’ve seen all the pastures nearby.” Yushan Jiang dismounted and said to Li Long and Halimu, “Tomorrow and the day after tomorrow, we can basically go through everyone’s pastures. Except for a few This area is a place with a lot of shrubs. It is impossible to use a tractor to cut grass there, but it can be covered in other places. ”
"At Li Long's cutting speed," Harimu thought for a while and said, "Five or six days? It should be almost complete, right?"
"Absolutely."
At the moment, everyone's There are actually not as many pastures as there will be in later generations. After all, the number of cattle and sheep to raise is limited, and the manpower is also limited.
We still had wolf meat at night. Li Long felt tired and panicked, so he made some wild vegetables and put them in boiling water. There is only salt here in Harimu, no vinegar or other seasonings, so just make do with it. He planned to bring some vinegar or something over tomorrow morning, otherwise he would soon be unable to eat anymore just by eating like this.
Halimu and Yushanjiang went to whisper in private again. Li Long didn't care that much. Anyway, even if he talked about himself, it was basically a good thing.
People are mutual.
After dinner, I drove the tractor back and ran back. The sun hadn’t set yet, so I had to quickly pack up the roe deer roe meat when I got back.
Staying in the water won’t do either.
Going back to the cabin, opening the door, there was a smell. The fire in the stove had been extinguished. Li Long first set up the fire, then put the pot on the stove outside and lit the fire.
When the fire started, he first pulled the wooden case out of the small room, wiped it with a rag, and then pulled the roe deer meat out of the basin.
It was originally disassembled, but it was relatively rough, including the four legs, ribs, spine, etc. Now, if you want to cook and sear the meat, you have to cut it into small pieces and remove some of the meat, including the small amount of suet.
There is no way, there is no refrigerator in summer, so we can only do this.
Put the chopped bones into a pot and cook. Scrape out the water from the other pot and pour it into the thermos. After the pot is dry, pour some vegetable oil as a primer, and then cut the suet into small pieces. Put it in and listen to the sizzling sound. This is carburetion.
The next step is to cut the meat into small pieces. The oil slowly melted until half of the pot was filled, and the meat in the meat was actually forced out, slowly covering the meat.
The oil boiled and rolled, and Li Long removed the fire. When it cools down a little, find a large enamel basin to take it out. The oil will seal the fried meat inside, then solidify it, and let it cool down in the house. It will not go bad for a long time.
When cooking, use a shovelful of it. If there is oil and meat, it is a good dish.
The bones are also boiling here, and Li Long uses a spoon to skim off the bloody foam and pour it on the grass. When he was fetching water, he saw that the parts of the roe deer that had been peeled off by wolves in the morning were gone.
I don’t know if it was taken away by a wolf or gnawed by a fox. There are many small carnivorous animals in the mountains and it is impossible to find them.
When the roe deer roe meat is cooked, the roasted meat and oil are put into the basin, and the stars rise again in the sky.
Hey, hard work.
The meat and oil were moved to the small room, and the door was locked. Li Long carried a bone and gnawed it while entering the big room, locked the door, and went to sleep after eating.
I didn’t have to get up so early the next day. I got up and went to pee. As expected, the urine still smelled bad.
Come back, set up the stove, boil water, go to the next room to get a bone and heat it up, heat up the remaining dough pancakes, and have a simple meal.
He planned to come back in the afternoon to steam steamed buns, but he felt uncomfortable just eating dead dough pancakes.
After dinner, we packed up here, filled the tractor with oil and water, and got ready to go.
I brought two oil drums with me when I came here. Judging from the current situation, they probably weren't enough.
I have to go down the mountain tomorrow and the day after tomorrow, so bring back some more diesel.
When the tractor was driving to Harimudong's nest, Yushanjiang and the others had already arrived.
While Li Long was eating, they were also eating. Since we had to work together, we simply got up early and went to Harimu's place for dinner together.
There is still some wolf meat left, so no one wants to eat dried naan alone.
After Yushanjiang and Harimu discussed it, they expressed their thoughts to these herdsmen brothers.
"There will be some free time in the past two days when we are harvesting grass. In our free time, let's go hunting and pick up stones. Li Long came over and harvested grass for us for free. We can't just accept it for nothing.
Whether you find skins while hunting, or pick up jade or other things, it is our intention to give them to him
< br>We didn’t bring anything with us on this trip. Otherwise, we could just give him a few sheep. Now we can only hunt or collect stones. These things are of little use to us. Li Long can use them to exchange money for other things. , Even if it’s to change the oil, we can’t let our friends do it in vain.”
The young men and the gentlemen all agreed loudly.
Kazakhs are the most sincere to their friends. If others give one, they will give five to ten.
When Li Long's tractor drove over, everyone was joking as usual, and then some of them followed Li to cut grass, while others went to other hillsides.
We had dinner together at noon. In the afternoon, Li Long went back to the cabin directly after finishing his work.
He wants to make steamed buns, so he has to go back early. Anyway, we cut grass on four hillsides today and exceeded the task.
The herdsmen who had hurriedly finished their dinner here in Harimu returned to their winter dens on horseback.
Their winter dens were far apart, but three or four ravines were close to each other.
In fact, the herdsmen are relatively clear about what is near each winter nest. Usually hunting is just to prevent animals like wolves from attacking the sheep, but now it has a new meaning.
Li Long returned to the wooden house, parked the tractor, opened the door and saw that the fire in the stove was not out, so he poked it a few times, added coal, and started kneading the dough.
The old noodles are completely dry and need to be soaked in water to serve as a starter for fermentation and then kneaded.
While waiting for the noodles to be cooked, Li Long went to get some wild mushrooms nearby. The grass in the mountains was slowly starting to turn yellow, and it was no longer easy to get wild vegetables.
Originally, according to last year's practice, I should have gone into the mountains to get black tiger palm fungus a month ago. This thing is big and grows many. If you buy more, you can sell it for more money.
But because he had to cut wheat and had no time to come, Li Long could see that many black tiger palm fungi had dried up and rotted away.
There are still some straw mushrooms. Although there are not many mushrooms because the grass has grown, you can find some.
No more meat. He planned to stir-fry wild mushrooms while steaming the steamed buns later, and make one cold in the morning. It should be quite refreshing to eat.
Good facial hair and kneading steamed buns are Li Long’s strengths.
After kneading, put it on the table to wake up, put the water in the pot to boil, brush a layer of cooked oil on the cage, and then put the steamed buns.
If you are in the village, when steaming steamed buns, a layer of reed leaves is placed on the cage. The steamed buns have the fragrance of reed leaves and the smell of rice dumplings.
Before steaming the buns and cooking, Li Long took the blocking net placed in the corner and strode out.
The water in the valley stream, which is only 500 to 700 meters away from here, is not as big as before, but the place with a drop is still a good place to set the net.
Put the net under the water, press it with stones, and Li Long goes back.
Come early tomorrow, there will definitely be fish in this net.
Since you’re in the mountains and it’s not just for a day, you have to find a way to eat well by yourself.
Back at the wooden house, the sun had just set. Li Long broke the washed straw mushrooms into small pieces, shook off the water, put a pot on the stove outside, scooped out a spoonful of burnt oil, and there were ten dozen in it. Melt a piece of meat in a pot, then stir-fry.
Some people find it annoying, so they won’t say much. The steamed buns are out of the cage, the vegetables are out of the pot, and some porridge is added, and it is a good meal.
The steamed buns were scattered on the table to dry, and then placed in a steamed bun basin and covered with a cage cloth. I didn’t eat seriously for two days, so there was no leftover mushroom meat from the stir-fried dish.
After cleaning up the mess, Li Long put out the fire outside, returned to the house with the rocker, and rested.
At night, gunfire occasionally rang out in the mountains, but because of the high mountains and dense forests, it did not spread too far.
I got up a little early with something on my mind.
I still went to the back to solve the major life problems, and then I set up the stove and boiled water.
Without doing anything else, he quickly walked out and came to the place where the net was lowered. Li Long smiled when he saw the fish flapping at the bottom of the net.
Breakfast can be added.
Remove the stones holding down the net, lift the net and shake it. Three or four small fish slipped out of the mesh and fell into the stream, and swam away quickly. The remaining slightly larger pike and white stripes weighed almost a kilogram.
In addition to frying, you can also make soup, which is good.
Li Long carried the fish and walked back. When he arrived at the spring in front of the wooden house, he squatted down to work.
The fish isn't even big, so you don't need tools to peel it open. With just a little force of your fingernails, you can cut open the belly of the fish, take out the internal organs and gills, wash it and put it aside.
Puppy fish have no scales, and the white scales are almost negligible. Divide these fish into two parts, one part will be stewed later, and the other part will make soup.
It is quite rare to eat fish stew early in the morning.
But it doesn’t matter. Li Long was harvesting wheat the previous month, and spent nearly half of the time eating lunch with the landowner at the end of the field. He had breakfast and dinner, and the food was not good.
Due to busy farming, Li Qingxia had no time to catch fish. Not to mention him, almost no one in the whole village went to catch fish.
So Li Long still wanted to eat the fish.
That’s why I took off the Internet last night.
The fish is stewed, the steamed bun slices are grilled on the stove lid, and a bowl of fish soup is placed on the table.
After eating, Li Long was satisfied for a while.
After tidying up here and watching the sun showing half of his face, Li Long took out the crank handle, started the tractor, and drove towards Harimu's winter home.
There are few people in front of Dongwozi today. Currently there are only Halimu, Yushanjiang, and two young men.
No one else arrived.
Li Long was also a little surprised, but he didn't think too much. After driving the tractor in place, he unloaded the bucket and went to clean the grass residue on the harvester.
I came here to work all day yesterday, and the harvester hasn’t been cleaned much yet.
There is no need to oil it yet, but when the diesel is not enough, when you go down the mountain to add diesel, you should clean it up and put some butter on it.
Anyone who works with agricultural machinery these days needs to understand this. There is a grease gun, which is similar to the glass glue gun of later generations. It is cylindrical and has a mouth. When you press the back, the butter in the front mouth will come out.
This butter is used for lubrication. Mechanical equipment will easily rust and cause poor friction if it is not used.
Yushanjiang is skinning a roe deer that he shot this morning.
Li Long went over and took a look. The bullet hole was in the neck, and there was no damage to the entire leather.
The male roe deer has horns on its head. They are not long and should be made from velvet that hardens.
"Li Long, the leather belongs to you." Yushanjiang said, "Rub it with salt and dry it later. You can take it back at night."
"Okay." Li Long was not polite.
Halimu took out two stones from the house and put them in Li Long's cart.
Okay, two pieces of jasper - one is of good quality and has no pitting, the other has green and black leather and is pitted, but it looks like good jade quality.
Li Long was happy, these people were silent, they were just collecting wealth for themselves.
After a while, young men and gentlemen came over one after another, some had something to gain, and some were embarrassed that they didn't get anything.
Actually, this is normal. Only three people actually hit something, two roe deer and one wild goat.
Another person picked up a piece of jade. It was quite big and made of ordinary jade material, but it was also seed material. It weighed more than ten kilograms and he also put it in the car.
Leave two people here to clean up the meat, cook some of it and dry some of it.
The rest went to work.
Li Long drove the tractor up the mountain and started cutting grass.
This hillside is a bit high, and it is the steepest of all the previous hillsides.
Li Long tried it and felt that the tractor could go up, so he stepped on the accelerator and started cutting.
It’s okay, although it consumes a bit of oil, it can really cut. Oil is cheap now anyway. Compared with the hard work of cutting grass, this little oil is really nothing.
It is not easy to go up Tutu Tutu, but it is much easier when you come down. Li Long had to keep the car in first gear, otherwise he would run fast to avoid sliding and being unable to stop, causing the car to overturn.
While he was raking grass, a pheasant suddenly sprang out from the harvester. However, both wings were broken in half. When it sprang out, it was already stained with blood. After two flutters, it fell to the ground. Li Long hurriedly braked. , jump down and hold down the pheasant.
It's quite big, and it's a male. The wing hair is gone, but the tail hair is still there. It's quite beautiful.
And it was quite fierce. When Li Long pressed it, the pheasant turned its head and pecked Li Long.
Li Long broke his neck, carried it onto the tractor, and placed it on the toolbox next to it.
You can have an extra meal at noon.
Li Long continued to drive down, and soon two more pheasants sprang out from the grass. These two were female pheasants. After they sprang out, they flew towards the nearby forest.
Although they could not fly high, they were not something that humans could catch up with. Li Long could only watch them disappear into the woods.
Okay, just run away.
Anyway, we have already caught one, so we can’t eat it for everyone, but it’s still okay to make a tooth sacrifice.
After all, hunting rabbits is an extra thing.
After driving down the slope, Li Long threw the pheasant to Harimu.
Halimu's main purpose here is to follow and see if there is anything he can do to help.
He was very happy now. He took the pheasant and started plucking its feathers.
Li Long drove up again, originally thinking to see if he could get another pheasant out, but unfortunately no more pheasants were fooled.
That male pheasant must be stupid.
After one side of the slope is dry, move to another area. This is better. It's not even a slope, it's just flat turf.
Although there are some ups and downs, it is much easier to cut than the hillside.
Li Long finished cutting this piece and returned to the winter nest with Halimu. Harimu had already cleaned all the internal organs of the pheasant, and he just wanted to go back and chop it up before frying it.
The meat in the cauldron has been cooked. Because there were a lot of wild animals, there was more cooked in the pot this time, and more was made into air-dried meat, rubbed with salt, and is now hanging on the wood next to the winter nest.
There were wasps and wasps surrounding me, but they didn’t dare to step forward. That salt is very useful.
The boys rode back one by one. They went to the pasture in separate groups this time. Two or three people were responsible for one area. A group of people could clear two or three pieces of pasture in the morning.
I cut grass all the year round, and I know where there are wooden stakes in my pasture, so the work is easy, and I laugh and talk when I come back.
When he looked at Li Long, his eyes were filled with enthusiasm, gratitude, and happiness. With Duosen here, this year's grass cutting season is really easy.
It’s easier than herding sheep.
You must search carefully when you go back at night. You cannot let Duo Senbai drive a tractor to cut grass here.
Li Long parked the tractor, filled the water tank, and went over to look at the roe deer meat in the pot.
A few young men came up to the tractor and pointed. Some of them rushed to sit on it and turned the steering wheel to simulate driving the tractor. Then Harimu scolded him twice and got off.
Obviously, the tractor and harvester are a big treasure to them right now, and Harimu doesn’t want the boys to break it.
The boys didn't take it seriously, laughed and came down, and then continued to watch.
Both tractors and harvesters are new gadgets to them, and it is impossible not to be fascinated by them.
After all, you have to cut grass every year. If you have such a thing, it will be so convenient.
Of course, I’m just thinking about it now. That tractor is not cheap, so the young guys just think about it.
Middle-aged people like Harry Mu Yushanjiang have no such idea. Just herd sheep and cows honestly, and we will talk about other things later.
After all, life is getting better and better now, much better than before.
They will have unrealistic ideas, but they will not show them.
Harimu poked the meat with a chopstick. After checking that it was done, he took a salt bag and poured salt into the pot, stirred it a few times with a spoon, and declared that the meat was ready.
Take it and eat it yourself! (End of this chapter)