Li Long's idea was to unload the furniture, drink two bowls of milk tea, and then go out of the mountains and return to the county. If he had enough time, he could pull more furniture into the mountains.
But he hadn't come for a long time, and when he finally came, the Harimu family had no intention of letting him leave in such a hurry.
Leaving Li Long here, Harimu's mother's wife cooked together. What I do at noon is grabbing rice, which requires a process. Li Long and Halimu took the time to leave the winter nest and waded through the snow to see where the water pipes were planned to be in the spring. When they came back, the smell of rice had already wafted out from the crack in the door of the winter nest. .
The two children, Nathan and Susken, were old enough to work for the family. When Li Long and Harimu came back through the snow, they were cleaning the grass stalks in the sheep pen that had been chewed out of leaves. They piled the straw poles together with wooden forks, then picked them out together and threw them aside. After the pen was cleaned, they picked the straw bales into the pen and spread them out for the cattle and sheep to eat.
This kind of work needs to be done three or four times a day. The cleared grass poles are piled higher and higher. When they are dry in the spring, they can be used as fire fuel.
Li Long and Harimu did not enter the winter nest. They took the wooden forks from Nathan and Susken, finished the remaining work, and then put down the wooden forks.
"The water pipe must be connected, and the opening will be placed here." Harimu pointed to the edge of the sheepfold enthusiastically and said, "It will be much more convenient for the sheep to drink then.
If the water is larger, I would also like to dig a sheep washing pond here. When the time comes to drive to Summer Pasture, it will be much more convenient to see if I can wash the sheep first and then go to Summer Pasture. ”
Li Long still knew a little bit about sheep washing.
Sheep have more hair than cattle and are prone to parasites. If not treated, the sheep will develop skin diseases, causing all the wool to fall off, and even skin ulceration and death.
Therefore, every year in early summer, sheep farmers will drive their sheep to the sheep washing pool to let the sheep "bathe".
It is actually a long pool with water in the middle and a drug to kill parasites, usually clarophosphorus, in the water. The sheep herder drove the sheep to one end of the sheep washing pool, and then drove the sheep one by one into the pool.
The pool must be twenty or thirty meters long, enough to soak the sheep, and only then can the parasites be killed. At the other end of the sheep washing pool is a sheep pen, where the washed sheep stay. After all the sheep are washed, the sheep owner drives the sheep away.
Usually such a sheep-washing pool was originally used by a large group for public use. Later, when the household responsibility system was implemented, the sheep-washing pool was still used. It is right next to a canal, and whoever uses it releases the water and brings their own medicine.
The fourth team had a sheep washing pool, but because it was a directly dug pit with rammed earth walls on both sides, it was a bit crude. After a few years of use, it was slowly abandoned - no one repaired it.
Later, a private person specially built a sheep-washing pond. Its shape reminded Li Long of the shape of the Western Zhou Dynasty tomb that he had seen in books. It was just a pit dug out of earth, then laid with bricks and plastered with cement. It can be used for a long time.
This kind of sheep washing pool can be rented out, and a certain sheep washing fee will be charged for each sheep washed. Li Long vaguely remembered that around two thousand years ago, the fee for washing sheep was only one dollar and a half each.
It’s not clear what happened to Li Long later.
Harimu said very excitedly:
"If we could dig a sheep washing pool, our sheep would no longer have to rush to the sheep washing pool at the foothold of the animal husbandry team at the foot of the mountain to wash our sheep. It would take a whole day to go back and forth, which is too troublesome."
"It takes a day for you, but those who live deeper in the mountains may take longer." Li Long sighed, "It is indeed quite troublesome."
"Yes, but what can we do? Sheep must take a bath, otherwise there will be too many bugs on their bodies and the sheep will die."
Those parasites not only suck sheep blood, but can also transmit diseases, which is indeed very troublesome.
Li Long thought about it and said:
"It's possible to dig, but to be honest, the amount of work is a bit large."
Harimu also knew that what Li Long said was true. A sheep-washing pond must be at least thirty to forty meters long from beginning to end and at least sixty centimeters deep. This involves not only digging a pit, but also tamping the bottom of the pit and building walls around it.
Even if it is near his pasture and can save the work of the sheepfold at the end, the simple version is not something that the laborers in their small tribe can complete in a short time.
Moreover, as soon as spring begins, their main time will be spent grazing. At that time, the fat of the cattle and sheep must be caught up as soon as possible - grass is the best feed.
Harimu sighed, just think about it.
After the meal was ready, Harimu's wife went out to ask them to eat, and the conversation about the sheep washing pool ended there.
There are carrots, sprouts, and mainly lamb chops in the pilaf. There is a lot of oil and it is very fragrant.
In his previous life, Li Long never liked eating pilaf from restaurants outside. Of course, it might be because the restaurants he went to didn't cook well.
The pilaf on the street is divided into vegetarian pilaf and meat pilaf. I won’t talk about vegetarian pilaf, after all, most people still like to eat meat.
To make meat pilaf, you need to fry the meat bones first, stir-fry until fragrant, add rice and other vegetables, and then braise the rice.
However, in order to save time, or perhaps for other reasons, some restaurants make meat pilaf with meat, but there is no meat flavor in the rice.
Normally, pilaf is stir-fried with meat and the rice is simmered directly with broth. However, some restaurants cook the meat and stew the rice. After it is cooked, they put a few pieces of meat on the pilaf - such rice is not Not fragrant.
Therefore, some people prefer small pot pilaf, because most of the steps in this small pot pilaf are the same as those made at home.
The taste was very fragrant, and Li Long ate two large plates. The habit of Harimu and the others when eating pilaf is to put two large plates of pilaf on the dining table. They used to eat it with their hands, but after getting to know Li Long, they gradually changed it. They put a few iron spoons on the plate, one for each person. A plate or an enamel basin, and use a spoon to serve rice on your own plate.
The two children ate quickly. Although they glanced at the meat in the rice from time to time, when they actually ate, they ate at most one or two pieces of meat and mainly rice. They were quite sensible.
After dinner, I drank brick tea - it wasn't milk tea at this time, it was brick tea without milk. Because rice is very oily, drinking this tea can help the oil in your mouth and throat go down, which is very comfortable.
In later generations, some restaurants used rose tea, which tasted more fragrant, but Li Long felt that brick tea and pilaf were the best match.
After eating and resting for half an hour, Li Long got up and said goodbye to Harimu and the others. He went out and shook the tractor. With the wave of the Harimu family, he drove out of the mountain.
After tidying up the things after the meal, Harimu's wife and mother looked at the furniture that Li Long had pulled over, their eyes bright.
Previously, Li Long mainly ordered a small kang table for Nathan and Susken to do their homework.
Later, Harimu's wife also asked for other furniture.
At the moment, she just envies Talihar's grandmother Sana for being so decisive and capable that she directly replaced all the furniture in her house.
To be honest, there is really not much furniture that can be placed in the winter nest, but these furniture are used by Yanggangzi every day. Who doesn’t like to use new, easy-to-use, strong cabinets and boxes?
Putting a new kang table will make you feel much better when eating, right?
The two of them discussed together the practicality of these furniture, the pattern styles, and whether these patterns could be used on blankets woven at home in the future, etc.
Harimu did not participate in the discussion. He saw Nathan and Susken grabbing the stone on the wooden kang, so he scolded them and told them to do their homework quickly.
In his opinion, it was simply unforgivable to not do his homework well even though he had a new kang table.
Even he didn't have any furniture to use alone. Li Long was too good to them.
Li Long drove the tractor out of the mountain and headed north along the way he came.
After the snow falls in northern Xinjiang in winter, it first turns into ice crystal particles, with a layer of snow crust on top, and underneath are all salt-like particles. After tractors passed over the road, the snow was compacted or pushed to both sides, and the ruts extended far to the Qingshui River.
Although the temperature was still very low, Li Long was warm all over just after eating. He was wearing a cotton hat and his coat was unbuttoned, so he didn't feel that cold.
In early February, even the temperature on the mountainside had risen from more than minus 30 degrees to more than minus 20 degrees. During the day in the county, it occasionally reached minus ten degrees, which was already relatively comfortable.
As the temperature rises, people in Qingshuihe Township are doing more outdoor activities, collecting firewood, collecting dung, etc.
There are also drop-ins.
When passing by Qingshuihe Village, Li Long didn't see anyone he knew, so he didn't slow down and drove past the village towards the county.
When several people who knew him in the village heard the sound of the tractor and ran out, they found that the tractor had already driven away.
When Li Long's tractor arrived in the county, the sun had not yet set, so he simply drove to the woodwork factory.
Qi Xinzhi was not there, and the factory director He Changming was talking to the workers in the workshop. When he saw Li Long driving in with a tractor, he came out to say hello.
"Hello, Director He, I'll come over and take away the remaining furniture."
"Okay, okay, Lao Qi told me, wait a moment and I'll find someone to open the door." He Changming said with a smile, "How about it, the furniture made by our factory is good, right?"
"Very good. My friends like it very much and may want more later." Li Long said with a smile, "Take away the finished furniture today." "Okay, okay, as long as you order it, we can make it here." "He Changming said with a smile, "You can rest assured about the quality!"
He Changming called someone to open the door, and then called a few young people to help Li Long put the furniture in the car. He also got a lot of wood shavings and piled them under the furniture, and then tied the furniture with hemp rope.
Because he had already settled the bill before, Li Long gave the factory a receipt to prove that the furniture had been completely received. Then he greeted He Changming and drove the tractor to the county.
When he returned to the compound, it was almost dinner time, and Li Long was somewhat surprised to see Gu Boyuan.
"Uncle Gu, are you here today?" Li Long got off the tractor and greeted Gu Boyuan.
"Yeah." Gu Boyuan wiped his face, "I can't help but come up. There are too many people coming to drink with me, and there are also people from the third and second teams. I'm afraid if this continues, I'll die drunk in the team, just Come up quickly.”
Gu Boyuan said seriously. Li Long laughed when he heard it. He went to get a basin and drained the water from the tractor. When draining the water, he said:
"That's just right. I smell that Sister Yang must be cooking porridge. Drink more porridge to nourish your stomach."
"Well, I thought Xiaoxia had already gotten off work." Gu Boyuan never entered the house, just standing outside. Thinking about it, it was inconvenient, "I didn't expect that we haven't arrived today yet."
"It should be here soon," Li Long looked at the sun and said.
He has a watch, but to be honest he doesn't really want to wear it. He occasionally takes it off and forgets to put it on.
Check out the 16-9 book bar and see the correct version!
Sister Yang knew Li Long was back, came out of the kitchen to say hello, and then continued cooking.
Gu Xiaoxia got off work in half an hour, so today was indeed a little later than usual.
"The New Year has passed, and a lot of notices have been issued from above. There are still some documents that need to be studied, and some preparations should be made for the start of school." Gu Xiaoxia came back and said to Li Long while changing clothes, "I was originally going to send someone to I went to the countryside to see how the school was doing, but because of my health, I was not allowed to go.”
Li Long nodded, this is what it should be.
After breakfast the next day, Li Long drove the tractor into the mountains again.
What surprised Li Long was that when he arrived at Harry Mudong's nest, many people had gathered there. There are also many horses tied up in the stable.
Seeing Li Long's tractor driving over, many people cheered and then rushed over to follow the tractor on both sides.
Li Long slowed down the tractor, drove to Dongwozi, turned off the engine and got off.
Yushanjiang was also there. After he and Li Long greeted each other, he said:
"Everyone is happy to know that you have brought all the furniture."
"Good boy!" Talihar's grandmother, Sana, patted Li Long hard with a smile on her face.
Although she had already gotten all her furniture, she still wanted to come over and have a look. It was like a party here.
Li Long couldn't understand her words, but he could understand her meaning and smiled in response.
He also saw Talihar, this young man who was originally very confident and flamboyant, seemed a little silent today.
Li Long wanted to ask about the details of the big brown bear, but it was obviously not the time now. Some people had already gotten on the tractor's bed and started to unload the furniture.
Harimu also opened the door of another room in Dongwozi and asked the young men to move out other furniture.
These pieces of furniture look really beautiful when put together.
Li Long and Halimu stood at the door of Dongwozi, watching the herdsmen choosing their own furniture.
They don't quarrel, the older ones come first, then the younger ones, and the older ones take what belongs to them first. Everyone remembers what furniture they have registered. Some people are more interested in the made furniture registered by others and just ask about it.
Soon, everyone got their own furniture, and the matter did not end there. Instead, everyone started chatting more enthusiastically, talking about the benefits of these furniture: they are strong and beautiful.
He also talked about how he would use the furniture, and that the old furniture at home would not be thrown away, but would be used for other purposes.
Although Li Long didn't understand it very well, he could feel the love for life.
"Talihar, come on, come on, look at how good and strong this table is... Don't hang your head, take a look, come and see..." Old lady Sana called Talihar over and asked him to Look at the furniture in other people’s homes.
Li Long guessed that Talihar's grandmother asked him to come here just to let him relax and have some fun.
“I can already imagine the long kang table with dried fruits, yogurt dumplings, and cream,” another woman in her fifties said with a laugh. “This table is really strong, just look at it, it’s really OK! ”
Everyone spoke loudly and sounded cheerful. Although the weather was still a bit cold, Li Long felt that these people's enthusiasm for life was really heartwarming.
Music suddenly came from the winter nest. Although it was not traditional Kazakh music, some people had already started to dance, and some even took out the dombula from nowhere and started playing it.
The sound of Tambula playing was a bit monotonous, but in the midst of this monotonous music, someone immediately started to dance like a black horse. Even a layman like Li Long could recognize this dance at once.
Harimu and Yushanjiang watched from the side, and Li Long was among them. Harimu's wife and mother couldn't help but entered the dancing circle one after another and started dancing together.
The person playing the donbula was a man in his thirties. Seeing this situation, he played even more vigorously.
Seeing that Li Long was looking seriously, Yushanjiang touched him with his arm and motioned for him to move his arms after him and learn the dance moves.
Li Long has seen many such videos in later generations, and he thinks this action is quite simple.
But when I started to swing, I realized that my arms were really stiff and it was difficult to swing smoothly to the rhythm of the music - even if I could swing, the movements were not in place.
Sure enough, you still need to practice.
This spontaneous small-scale dance did not last long. After getting the furniture, the herdsmen couldn't wait to rush home and use it. They tied the furniture to their horses, said goodbye to each other, and rode toward the mountains.
Li Long originally wanted to keep Talihar to talk about the big bear, but he saw that although Talihar became slightly more cheerful because of this small gathering, he still did not recover. When I came here, I gave up this idea.
It's better to wait until the water pipe is pulled before asking, thinking that Talihar should have recovered by then.
The last person to leave was Yushan Jiang. He also told Li Long about the big bear, and said that he had seen a few deer recently, but he didn't catch them because he ran too fast. If Li Long had the idea of hunting, he would You can tell Li Long where it is.
"If you want to fight, you must call us." Yushanjiang warned Li Long, "It is not safe in the mountains. Animals such as bears and gray wolves will become more ferocious when spring is about to begin. A It’s very dangerous for people to hunt.”
Li Long nodded and said he understood. He also told Yushanjiang that he had no intention of hunting at the moment. After going out to the mountains this time, the snow might melt next time he came.
Hunting used to be his main way to make a living and make money, but now that there are more ways to do it, hunting has become a pastime and hobby.
Of course, if he encountered someone with a gun, he would definitely have to shoot him. For example, he wanted to ask about the situation of the big bear.
Even if you can't hit it, at least you know the specific details.
It will also be beneficial to your future activities in the mountains.
This time someone registered some furniture again, which was considered an increase. It was not as much as last time. Li Long estimated that the total was less than a tractor-trailer.
And if you don’t need it urgently, I can just send it to you in the spring.
The herdsmen who placed the order didn't bring anything with them. After all, they had just made a last-minute decision and said they would bring something to Li Long in exchange for furniture the next time they came over.
Li Long naturally didn't care.
Next, he had to go to Kuitun. (End of chapter)