Although the winter slaughter is not a festival, it is more lively than a festival for the herdsmen. The herdsmen of this era usually lived their own lives in the mountains. They would only gather together for fun during winter slaughtering, sheep hunting, and horse racing.
Later they settled down and started herding. The traditions of the herdsmen did not change because of this. Every winter, they would still gather together to play sheep and race horses.
It’s just that because the space is small, Diaoyang Horse Racing is very noisy, and there is no special venue. It will be on the highway and through the village. It will inevitably hurt the villagers, especially the children.
In some places where herders have settled, similar things happen almost every year. Dozens of horses rushed into the village and ran wildly in the alleys. It was scary.
But this kind of thing is difficult to stop. After all, it is a national custom, and some things cannot be explained. The best way is of course to have a dedicated venue, just like the man who became popular this year standing on a horse and whistling to cheer his nephew.
They have a dedicated field, and they are happy and relaxed when playing.
Dongzai is still very lively, just like celebrating the New Year or going to the market in the 1980s. It is difficult to gather people together, everyone talks and laughs, as if they have suddenly integrated into society.
People are social after all.
When Li Long arrived, he started slaughtering the cattle over there.
There is a difference between slaughtering cattle and slaughtering sheep. For herdsmen like Harimu, slaughtering sheep can be done by one person, but slaughtering cattle is a big job.
Just imagine that the cowhide alone could take up the floor of a small room.
The herdsmen who helped slaughter the cattle were also very excited. Each had their own assigned tasks, such as skinning, disemboweling, setting up stoves to boil water, and cleaning internal organs.
Because Harimu had previously said that he would give the cow's sewer to Li Long, so two young men took out the cow's sewer and put part of it in a big basin to freeze, while holding the belly and intestines. Go to water to cleanse.
The intestines need to be rinsed with warm water, because there is oil in it, which will condense when washed with cold water. The dirt inside cannot be washed away and will smell.
But don’t use too hot water, as it will boil the intestines and make it impossible to wash them.
Warm water is best.
Li Long couldn't help, so he simply asked where the highlands near Halimu had springs with more water.
Halimu thought for a while and pointed out a location to Li Long and asked him to look at it.
Li Long walked over there.
All winter nests are basically built on relatively gentle grassy slopes. The view is relatively wider, making it easier to build cattle and sheep pens and pile grass.
Li Long walked out for fifty or sixty meters before reaching the mountain wall. There were trees and shrubs here, and there were many weeds. He looked at it, walked forward, and found a stream.
Although it is winter, the water is still flowing, with only a thin layer of ice on it, and the water flow is not small.
Li Long turned his head and looked at Harimu's winter nest, where the young people had already begun to remove the bones and meat to prepare for cooking in a big pot.
There are not so many types of food these days. Boiling, roasting and stir-frying are basically what everyone eats.
He looked at the distance from here to Dongwozi. If hard plastic pipes were used, most of them would have to be buried underground, otherwise they would be easily damaged.
The water pipe's inlet can be on the edge of the stream. Li Long's idea is that it is best to go to the source of the stream, where there should be spring water.
He broke off a branch from the side, explored the path and walked in, thinking that if the water source was not far away, it would be best to be at the water source, which would have the least chance of being contaminated.
After all, there are relatively few places with springs next to his wooden house.
Soon, Li Long discovered that it would be difficult to go further. There was a small waterfall here in the stream, and it was difficult to climb up.
But even here, the altitude is twenty or thirty meters higher than that of Dongwozi, and higher than the height of the water tower built later by the fourth team, which is enough.
He looked at the location of the small waterfall and rushed down to a small puddle with a stone base. Li Long felt that he could dig a trench and bury the water pipe in the puddle.
Of course, the opening of the water pipe must be covered with gauze, otherwise stones will get in and the pipe will be blocked over time.
The gauze will easily rot over time. It is best to build a wire mesh with very fine mesh.
It's a little troublesome, but once done, it can be very useful.
Li Long walked down while thinking about what to do.
The stick in his hand kept probing. There was wind and snow blowing at this time, so it looked like white snow in front of me, but if I stepped on it, I might find a snow pit.
In the end, it is safer to just step back according to the footsteps in the direction you came from.
Even so, the stick in his hand found several snow pits, just one or two steps away from where he was stepping.
It is still very dangerous in the snowy mountains, not just the wild beasts.
Li Long returned to Dongwozi and found that the cow had been slaughtered and was being decomposed. Large pieces of beef bones and meat have been cooked in the pot, and the internal organs have been almost cleaned and put in bags, ready to be frozen and taken away by Li Long's tractor.
The things in the tractor have also been taken out and scattered into piles. The people who come to help will use horses to carry the things away when they leave.
A pile of leather has been placed on the tractor body. On the surface, most of them were wolf skins and deer skins. Because there were so many skins, Li Long only glanced at them twice and planned to sort them carefully after he returned.
And he didn’t have time. The beef bones cooked in the pot had already been turned over many times. At this time, the smell of the meat could spread for several kilometers.
There are wolves howling in the mountains in the distance, and I don’t know if it has something to do with the winter slaughter here.
Without any more words, the bottle of wine brought by Li Long was opened, and the pieces of meat were fished out and placed in the enamel basin brought by Li Long. Otherwise, there really aren’t that many bowls here in Harimu, so we would just grab and eat.
The naan is beaten and each person breaks a piece. Most people mainly eat the meat first. Winter slaughter is also a day to satisfy cravings. Meat is the main meal, and naan is the last to relieve greasiness.
Li Long had no shortage of oil and water in his stomach. He picked up a piece of neck and gnawed it slowly. The meat here has flavor, but it's a little troublesome to chew. After all, the meat is trimmed first, and the trimmed meat is kept by the owner for winter consumption.
The bottle of wine was poured into the glass, and those who liked drinking had a glass each. Someone handed it to Li Long. Li Long pointed at the tractor and said he would not drink it, otherwise the tractor would be driven into a ditch.
The others did not force themselves and handed the wine glass to others. They chatted with each other about interesting things they had encountered in Xia Ranch, sometimes in Kazakh and also in Chinese. They mixed their stories together, which gave Li Long some understanding of Xia Ranch.
The summer pastures in the deep mountains belong to alpine grasslands or meadows. The terrain is very high. There are also patches of irregular grasslands there. They are not as vast as the grasslands in Ili or Inner Mongolia. They are covered with cedar trees. , shrubs, rivers, etc.
And these areas have become the exclusive pastures of each herdsman. They are in different locations and encounter different things.
“Such a large piece of ice fell from the ice cover with a crash, and almost hit my sheep. I didn’t dare to herd sheep there anymore…”
This is a herdsman talking about herding sheep to the edge of a glacier.
“… Such a big group of wild goats, at least seventy or eighty of them. I thought it would be great if I could mix these goats into my flock. But they ran too fast. It’s so fast, I can’t even catch up on horseback...”
Others laughed at him, and he blushed and defended:
"It's not like you don't know that that thing runs up the mountain, and my horse can't get up at all... Every day in my grassland, I kill several of them, and the sheepskins are all there!"
He pointed to the leather on the side of Li Long's car to show that he was telling the truth.
Someone else confirmed that he had indeed brought the leather, and everyone believed him with a smile.
“...several nights, some of my sheep were eaten. I hid beside the sheepfold at night and saw a black thing rushing into the sheepfold. I used to I thought it was a wolf, but I found this guy alone and didn't howl. I shot him and found out it was a leopard..."
...
Li Long listened to the stories they told with great interest. He wondered if he would also go to Summer Ranch when he had time?
Don’t think about it in the short term. After Gu Xiaoxia gave birth to a child, she didn't dare to run far away. At least until the children go to school.
Well, let them say that they are quite yearning for it.
Yu Shanjiang and Harimu didn't say anything here. They looked at each other, smiled and didn't speak.
After eating the meat and drinking two bottles of wine, Harimu refused to let him drink it, or refused to give it to him. Li Long brought a lot of wine, but Harimu didn't share it. He was worried that someone would open the bottle and drink it on the way, and he would be too drunk to go back.
After eating and drinking, the herdsmen climbed on their horses one by one and staggered back. Harimu and his wife cleaned up the mess. Li Long wanted to help Harimu but refused to let him go back to the wooden house quickly.
"I won't keep you here. You have your own house. Go back quickly. There is also a stove there."
As the sky darkened, Li Longyuan thought about whether to go back directly. In the county, after thinking about it later, I decided to go to the wooden house to have a look. I have to go to the Yushan River early tomorrow.
When Li Long drove the tractor to the wooden house, the sun had completely set and night had fallen. Li Long hurriedly got off the tractor and drained the water in the water tank first.
The wooden house is relatively well preserved and no one damaged the door. It seems that not many people come here.
He opened the door, lit the oil lamp first, and then set up the stove.
There are firewood, charcoal, and kindling materials in the shed. After the ashes in the stove are cleared, the stove can be set up quickly. It was cold in the wooden house, but Li Long didn't mind. He believed that as long as the stove burned, the place would heat up quickly.
It was getting dark. Li Long held a flashlight in his mouth and put the leather in the tractor bucket, the bag of cow sewer and suet into the small room, otherwise he would be sure to stay at night. There will be predators that will come and take things away.
Whether it is water or skin, it is their delicacy in winter.
After finishing this, Li Long locked the door of the small room and entered the big room holding the tractor's handle.
The stove was already burning and the temperature in the room was rising. He sat on the pot and started to boil water.
The spring water was not frozen. Li Long carried a bucket and fetched two buckets of water and came back. The temperature in the room increased again.
He shoveled some more coal from the shed, took it to the house, and smashed it into small pieces with a hammer for later use.
The door was closed and buckled, and an oil lamp brought dim light to the wooden house.
Li Long was a little used to the electric lamp in the big yard, and suddenly switched to using this oil lamp.
He sat on the bed and felt that the quilts on the bed were still a little cold, so he lifted them up and put them on the stool, close to the stove, and toasted them.
Li Long ate the meat meal from noon to afternoon. He was very full and brought back a basin of broth and two bones. But he was not in the mood to eat right now. He just wanted to warm up the bedding and sleep.
It is said that if you eat too much, your stomach and brain will compete for blood, so your brain will feel groggy and want to sleep.
The quilt couldn't be warmed for a while, so he rummaged around on the bed, pulled out a book, leaned against the table, and read close to the oil lamp.
"Seven Heroes and Five Righteousness" is a traditional chivalrous novel. It is not as colloquial as Jin Guliang Wen's, but it looks good.
After all, I have read The Romance of the Gods which is more classical than this one, let alone this one?
After a while, the temperature in the room came up completely, the coals burned into red charcoal, the water in the pot boiled, and the howling of wolves came from outside.
These beasts have such good noses that they can smell even the slightest smell of blood.
But today I can only be disappointed.
Li Long was not in good spirits at this time and had no intention of hunting. He put down his book, stood up, scooped out the water from the pot and poured it into the thermos. Then he took the pot down, shoveled some coal foam to suppress the fire, and covered the stove. Lid, turned around and made himself another bowl of tea.
Kazakhs basically only add salt when cooking meat. Li Long only ate a piece of meat, and the beef neck was not small. After finishing the meal, he drank a bowl of broth. It felt very fragrant at the time, but now he felt very salty and thirsty.
Drinking tea slowly and reading a book, I felt that the temperature in the room seemed to be constant. After drinking a bowl of tea, I touched the bedding. It was already hot, so I picked up the bed and blew out the oil lamp. sleep.
The howling of wolves outside became closer, Li Long turned over and fell into a deep sleep.
A few wolves walked lightly through the snow and came to the area around the wooden house. They smelled the aroma of meat and walked around the tractor several times, but found nothing.
In the end, the wolves left in anger, knowing that the wooden house could not be broken with their teeth and claws.
Because he went to bed early, Li Long also got up early. He looked at it that it was still dark outside, but he couldn't sleep, so he simply got up.
I can't feel it when I fall asleep. When I wake up, I feel that my bladder is heavy and my mouth is very dry.
Pour half a bowl of boiling water from the thermos, add some cold water, drink it, wipe your mouth, then pick up the gun and open the door.
A blast of cold air hit my face, followed by some powdery snow in the sky.
Is it snowing?
Li Long looked outside and made sure it was not snow but wind-blown snow. Then he saw many paw prints on the thin snow on the wooden floor outside.
Wolf!
Li Long hurriedly loaded the gun and felt excited for a moment.
I haven’t hunted for a long time. I wonder if there are any wolves outside? How many are there?
Li Long went out through the crack of the door with his gun in hand, closed the door, and observed carefully.
The sky is not bright yet, there are some stars overhead, and there is no movement next to the tractor.
Run away?
Li Long was a little disappointed and carefully observed the paw prints again. Sure enough, there was still a little bit of snow on them. The wolf had been here for a while.
He walked around the tractor and looked into the distance. He didn't see the shadow of the wolf, but he didn't dare to let down his guard.
I walked around the wooden house with my gun in hand and looked inside the shed. I didn't find any movement, so I had to turn on the water and return to the house.
Look at the watch on your wrist. It’s past seven o’clock and it’s still dark. There should be wild boars coming down the mountain by this time, right?
But today we are going to Yushanjiang, so don’t mess with that gang yet.
Going back to the house, clearing the stove and boiling water, Li Long added some water to the broth from last night to heat it up, planning to make some naan for breakfast.
As for the two bones, he has no appetite for the time being.
Go to the corner of the room and open the jar, take out the frozen pickles from the inside, put them in an enamel basin and boil them with warm water, wash them and cut them into small pieces, add oil to the pot, stir-fry briefly, put them out, and eat them. Very fragrant.
Everything was packed, the door was locked and the tractor was driven to Yushanjiang.
Someone has arrived at the winter nest in Yushan River and is helping to clean up the place.
Yu Shanjiang’s family also slaughters cattle, and he is taking the cattle out of the pen.
The cattle breeds here are mainly local yellow cattle and brown cattle. Brown cattle are huge. An adult cow can slaughter five to six hundred kilograms of meat, while yellow cattle are much smaller.
Yesterday, Harimu slaughtered a yellow cow, and today Yushanjiang's family slaughtered a brown cow - herders don't raise many brown cows, mainly because this guy has a huge appetite. In the past, it wasn’t really possible to afford it.
Fortunately, this year, Li Long used a tractor to cut grass, and he was able to cut grass that was previously unreachable. He saved time and gained more forage.
Secondly, because Li Long brought in some things from time to time, Yushan Jiang Harimu and the others were reluctant to feed them concentrated feed. Of course, as members of the animal husbandry team, they would return supplies to the cattle and sheep they handed over. Yes, let's settle accounts. Everyone has their own plans in mind.
For example, Yushanjiang, he meant that as long as there was enough fodder, it would be better to raise more brown cattle. Anyway, the amount of meat would be large, and one head of cattle would be slaughtered several times.
Of course, the food intake is the same.
Yushanjiang thought this way. After slaughtering the cow, he wouldn't be able to eat much for today's meal. He would give Li Long a share of the remaining beef and take the cow's water to Li Long. The remaining meat would be dried and waited for the students to have a holiday. Come on, take your wife and children over.
The two children are now older, and they eat more when they eat more. Life is not so difficult now, so it’s just a good time to make up for it.
This brown cow was much taller than the yellow cow. It seemed that it felt that the end of the day had come. It kept roaring and refused to move forward.
Li Long stepped forward to help. He was very strong and worked together with Yu Shanjiang to lead the cow to the place where he was going to slaughter it. A stake was set up here to tie the cattle. Later, the cattle's hooves would be tied up and then slaughtered.
Li Long vaguely thought of a story he had heard before, saying that an old man killed a cow and just knocked it on the cow's head with a wooden hammer, and the cow fell to the ground and died.
Very magical.
I don’t know where it hit.
"Have you seen the leather yesterday?" Yushanjiang asked Li Long.
"No, I went home late, so I took Pizi into the house and went to sleep." Li Long explained.
Yu Shanjiang nodded and said no more.
Li Long didn't feel anything at first, but after thinking about it, he felt something was wrong.
After Yushanjiang and Harimu gave him something, they usually wouldn't say anything. They always said it was as much as he said, and it was what he said.
Why did you suddenly say this today?
Is there anything special about those leathers?
Just as Li Long was about to ask, a few more people came. If there are more people, the cow can be slaughtered.
This matter was temporarily put aside by Li Long.
(Acute suppurative tonsillitis, intravenous injection, but the high fever still does not go away. There is only one chapter today, and there is nothing I can do. The mother of the child is not here, so I can only think about it) (End of this chapter)