Chapter 23 This is a friend Next to the stove, there were three deer antlers, all of which were bigger than the ones he had gotten yesterday. Li Long just took a look and then handed the purchased items to Halimu. "This is tea leaves, this is salt, and this is sugar." After taking them out one by one, he finally took out the fruit candy and gave it to the old man. Halimu's mother said: "For you!" The old man didn't speak Chinese. He took the things, smiled and asked Li Long and the others to sit down, then asked Halimu's wife to mix the milk tea for them. She then took out a handful of fruit candies and shared them with her grandson. After Li Long and the others took off their shoes and got on the wooden kang, Halimu also sat over and said: "After you left yesterday, I went to look for other shepherds. Someone indeed had sheep that had frozen to death. They didn't want money, but tea. I gave them tea and brought back two sheep. Oh, and that one, too." He pointed to the antlers. Li Long took the milk tea from the woman, put down the tea bowl, took out a paper bag from his pocket and handed it to Halim: "Here are twenty rounds of ammunition." Harim opened the paper package and looked at it. He was very happy:
"That's great! A wolf came last night and I didn't sleep well at all! With bullets, I can shoot the wolf! Brother Li Long, you really helped me a lot!" Li Long took a sip of milk tea and said with a smile: "We are mutually beneficial. You helped me find the frozen sheep and deer antlers, so I should help you find these things." "Yes, yes, yes, let's help each other!" Halimu's Chinese was a little stiff, but he was able to express his meaning well. "When winter is over and spring comes, I can hunt wild boars or something. Come over here!" At noon, Halimu showed Li Long how the Kazakh men slaughtered the sheep within a few minutes. Li Long had been refusing and trying to stop Halimu from slaughtering the sheep, but Halimu's family believed that the sheep must be slaughtered, otherwise it would be unfair to Li Long, such a close guest. Halimu also said: "We don't have much fodder. The snow is very heavy this year, and the cattle and sheep can't eat the grass under the snow. Some sheep can't survive until the snow melts in spring. They are still fat after being slaughtered now. Otherwise, they will starve to death when spring comes." Li Long was well aware of the harm caused by the snowstorm. He remembered that a few years after his previous life, the village called on students to donate fodder to help the herders in the pastoral areas. At that time, it was the snowstorm and insect plague that caused the herders to run out of fodder. Maybe what Halimu said was true, but of course it was more likely that he was trying to cover up the fact that they slaughtered sheep specifically for Li Long. At noon, they stewed the mutton directly, adding only a little salt and melted snow water. Li Long could see that the two children were also staring at the meat in the pot. Apparently, they hadn't eaten meat like this for a long time. Looking at the thigh stones they had piled up in the corner, Li Long's heart moved, and he said to Nathan: "Can you give me some of your thigh stones?" Nathan didn't understand, but Halimu said a few words to Nathan. Nathan looked at the thigh stones, then at Li Long. Halim said a few more words, and Nathan looked at the fruit candies in his hand, then pushed all the thigh stones over. Li Long smiled and said: "Not that many. I have nieces and nephews who like this but don't have it, so I'm asking for a few for them." Li Long took ten thigh stones. There were about thirty or forty of them in the pile, so ten was not too many. When the meat was cooked, everyone sat at the table and started eating the meat and gnawing the bones. Tao Daqiang couldn't let go, but Li Long didn't say anything. Since he was here and the food was ready, he should eat more. When he comes here next time, just bring more food here. Halimu has bullets, and he can get everything back by killing a few wolves. After eating the mutton, Li Long and his friends drank the mutton soup, and then they went out contentedly, put the two frozen sheep into the carriage, and then he planned to get some pine wood to load on the carriage. "I went to get some coal yesterday." Halimu pointed to the back of the winter den, "but because I went there on horseback, I didn't bring much."
"Then you guys stay and burn it." Li Long knew that Halimu and the others also burned coal, so he didn't plan to take the coal back. "You guys pull it up. We are close to the coal mine and we can bring some back every few days. When you come next time, I can bring back more coal." Halimu was also stubborn. Li Long did not refuse again. He and Tao Daqiang put the coal on the carriage, and then loaded some pine wood, and finally the three deer antlers. Li Long weighed them and found that the three antlers weighed about ten kilograms. According to the man at the purchasing station, they could be sold for at least thirty or forty yuan. I'll have money in my pocket again! "Li Long, if you need anything else, tell me. I'll go find other people when I'm free and I can exchange it with them if I meet them." With bullets, Halimu became much braver and could run farther. He felt that he owed Li Long a lot of favors, so he naturally hoped to help Li Long. "If we can kill a wild boar, it would be best to keep its stomach." Li Long thought, "There are still few things in the winter. In the summer, there will be more medicinal herbs, which can be sold for money, as well as mushrooms..." There are many good things in the mountains, but there are only a few in winter. There are brown bears in this mountain. They are bigger than black bears and weigh more than 200 to 300 kilograms. If ordinary people want to provoke them, they are looking for death. So Li Long would not talk about these things. As for the wild boar, with a rifle in hand, Halimu also knew the importance of it. Even if he could not kill it, at least he could ensure his own safety. But thinking that the wild boars were coming down in groups, he planned to bring more bullets next time. After bidding farewell to Halimu's family, Li Long and Tao Daqiang drove the carriage down the mountain. When they arrived at the county town again, Li Long asked Tao Daqiang to wait outside while he carried three deer antlers into the purchasing station. This time the person inside was not Chen Hongjun, but a middle-aged woman. The woman looked at Li Long holding the deer horns and was delighted, but her face remained calm as she asked: “You come to sell antlers?” Seeing that it was not Chen Hongjun, Li Long did not reply directly, but asked: "Let's take a look at the price first." "This deer antler..." The woman picked up the deer antler that Li Long had placed on the counter, looked at it carefully, and said: "It looks good, but it's over-frozen and cracked. I'll give you two yuan per kilogram, which is already a high price. How do you think?" "Forget it." Li Long put away the antlers and prepared to leave. He remembered that Chen Hongjun said he would be there on 13th and 5th, so he would wait until Chen Hongjun came and talk about it. Two yuan per kilogram, that would mean selling it for more than ten yuan less! A lamb is gone! The woman didn't expect Li Long to be so straightforward, so she immediately said: "Then I'll give you a raise, how about two dollars and fifty cents?" Li Long didn't stop. The woman also had a mission, and helplessly saw Li Long already holding the deer horns and walking to the door, so she said: "Then it's three dollars, no higher!" "Okay." Li Long turned around and put the antlers down. This woman hated Li Long a little bit. He really didn't want to see the rabbit before he released the eagle. Few people who came here to sell things would bargain. This allowed her to buy a lot of good things at low prices. She was very upset after hitting a snag with Li Long. (End of this chapter)