Chapter 30 Why should I tell you?
This is where Achnatherum splendens grows. Achnatherum splendens is a good material for making big brooms. Li Long remembers that in his previous life until the beginning of the 21st century, people came to the village to collect it, and one kilogram of Achnatherum splendens was two yuan. When he was selling fish, he asked an old man who was selling brooms made of Achnatherum splendens next to him. The old man proudly told him that it was with this Achnatherum splendens that he bought houses for his two sons in the county town and had a lot of savings.
At that time, after the land was joined by the cooperative, the villagers started to do side jobs when they had free time. They could sell things like bitter beans and Stipa sphenanthera for money.
No one wants Stipa sphenanthera now. It is as tall as a person and cannot be covered by snow.
Groups of quacking chickens would lie down at the roots of the Sphagnum Achyranthes to shelter from the wind and keep warm.
Although Li Long didn't turn on the lights, the sky was still bright enough to vaguely see some black lumps next to the Stipa sphenanthera.
That should be it, right?
He walked over slowly and turned on the flashlight.
Sure enough, many quacking chickens huddled at the roots of the Sphagnum reed to keep warm.
Although the flashlight startled several quacking chickens that were looking this way, they had no intention of flying away. They just shook their bodies and continued to lie there.
Li Long stepped forward, squatted down, and gently covered it with a scoop net.
This net caught four of them. If it weren’t for the Stipa sphenanthera blocking the way, there would have been more!
As soon as the quacking chicken entered the scoop net, it immediately panicked. Li Long hurriedly reached under the net, grabbed the quacking chicken and stuffed it into the urea bag.
The quacking chickens outside the net had started to climb up, but because of the Stipa sphenanthera blocking their way, they couldn't fly away immediately, so they could only run away from Li Long.
The snow was very thick, and it was inconvenient to walk with one foot deep and one foot shallow. As a result, before a few quacking chickens could run away, Li Long had already covered them with his net.
In this way, when flocks of quacking chickens were startled and flew away in all directions, Li Long had already caught eleven quacking chickens.
It’s a great harvest!
Carrying the six or seven kilograms of harvest, Li Long happily hurried back.
Although the way back was long, he felt very comfortable in his heart.
Tomorrow I'll leave a few quacking chickens at home and sell the rest together with the fish. I should be able to get a good price, right?
It's game after all!
It was already 40 minutes later when he got home. Li Long was so tired that he was out of breath. He thought it would be better to just go to the Achnatherum next time instead of taking a long detour. Otherwise, it would be a waste of time to walk a long way.
Back in his room, Li Long tied up the bag of quacking chicken and placed it in the corner. He changed into cloth shoes and was taking off his clothes to prepare to roast it when he heard the door open.
When I looked up, it was Zhang Qianjin from the Zhang family in the team.
Zhang Qianjin is about 30 years old. Although he is not much older than Li Long, he still calls Li Jianguo uncle. Of course, since they are people who moved here from all over the country, they call Li Jianguo uncle because Zhang Qianjin's father Zhang Guangzu was also one of the people who came here with Li Jianguo to build the team.
So like Tao Daqiang, each of them had their own opinions. When he saw Li Long, he smiled and said:
"Xiaolong, where have you been? I just came over and saw you weren't here."
"I can't sleep, so I'm going out for a walk." Li Long and Zhang Qianjin were not familiar with each other, so he said while changing his clothes, "What's going on?"
"Yes, there is something." Zhang Qianjin was met with a soft nail, but he didn't get angry. He was very friendly and said with a smile while sitting on the kang:
"Today I borrowed the team's horse carriage, intending to follow your example and pull some wood from the mountains for firewood. But when we reached Qingshui River, we didn't know how to get the rest of the way. I barely pulled the carriage to the mountain pass, but couldn't find any wood, so I ended up picking up some branches and coming back."
Li Long said "hmm" but didn't say anything. Zhang Qianjin was a little depressed. According to Li Long's previous warm-heartedness, he would naturally take the initiative to point out the way for him.
He borrowed the carriage today for the same price as Li Long, spending one dollar and sixty cents. And because he was unwilling to give up, he spent another dollar and sixty cents to borrow the carriage for tomorrow.
If we can’t get back anything valuable, then wouldn’t the three dollars be wasted?
So although Li Long's lukewarm attitude made him a little embarrassed, he still said:
"Look, you brought back so much wood and even picked up a frozen sheep. We had three carriages, and the captain brought his brother-in-law's carriage. We found a way into the mountains and brought back a section of pine wood.
I think that wood can only be used as firewood, and cannot be used as material. You are really awesome, Xiaolong!"
Zhang Qianjin praised Li Long because he remembered that Li Long used to be very vain. When praised by others, he would definitely spill the beans and say all the things that should and shouldn't be said.
However, today, after hearing his words, Li Long still replied with a lukewarm "No, no, no" and said nothing else.
Zhang Qianjin heard something fluttering in the corner behind the door, but at the moment his mind was focused on how to find a way into the mountain, and he didn't think about anything else.
In fact, he and other coachmen felt that even if they did not know the way into the mountains, they could find the place as long as they followed Li Long's carriage tracks.
But they forgot that there was wind at the mountain pass. Li Long and his team did enter the mountain from Qingshui River, but the road Li Long took to enter the mountain was relatively remote, and the mountain pass was windy. The tracks left by Li Long when he entered the mountain were covered by snow and the wind blew away that night.
That's why the mission ended in failure.
Seeing that Li Long refused to speak, Zhang Qianjin had no choice but to bite the bullet and ask:
"Xiaolong, can you tell me how to get there? If you tell me, I'll give you a block of wood when I bring it back, how about that?"
Li Longxin said it was not very good!
Your father is a man who likes to take advantage, and so are you. It sounds good to say that you are taking advantage, but it is not the case when it comes to doing things. Besides, why should I tell you the route?
"I entered the mountain from Qingshui River." Li Long pointed to the south. "The mountain pass is so big. Just follow the direction. How can we not find it?"
"We just couldn't find it! There were so many ditches and canals there, and there were so many bushes growing outside the production team. There was no road at all. We had to wade through it!"
Zhang Qianjin asked Li Long to look at his hands. There were many small cuts on his hands, which were caused by the thorns of the bushes when he was struggling.
"Then I don't know." Li Long said, "I walked that way, entered Qingshui River, then turned a few times and went in the direction of the mountain pass."
It's not that he wants to eat alone, but these people are a bit too much, which is equivalent to blocking his way.
You have blocked my way, and you still expect me to show you a way to make money?
Zhang Qianjin couldn't get anything out of Li Long, so he had to leave in disappointment.
He was furious on the way. I don't believe that I can't find the way into the mountain without you, Li Long? When I pick up the frozen sheep and come back, I will make you die of arrogance!
After Zhang Qianjin left, Li Long quickly took off his clothes, turned off the light and went into bed. He believed that if he left the light on, someone would definitely come over to ask.
As if in tacit agreement, the light in the west room went out soon.
When Li Long got up the next day, he was shocked again!
Thanks to book friends heidiww, 20220308131935841 and Li Xiaobai for their monthly tickets, and thank you for your recommendation tickets. My reading and collection have been increasing in the past two days. Thank you again! May Day is coming soon, I wish you all a happy holiday!
(End of this chapter)
