Chapter 78 The Efficiency of Mountain People Seeing that it was still early, Li Long drove the carriage to the big meat canteen, bought a few buns, and ate them while heading into the mountains. It is said that an old horse knows the way. The big red horse No. 76 was indeed very familiar with the road into the mountains. It didn't need Li Long to drive it at all. It just followed the road into the mountains on its own. When we arrived at the "parking spot" near Halimu's winter nest, the dog beside the sheepfold barked in time. Halimu crawled out of his winter den, hunched over, and was a little surprised to see Li Long's carriage. "I came here to discuss something important with you." Li Long got straight to the point and said to Halim before even entering the winter den: "Last time I heard you and Brother Yushan Jiang say that your stockpiled fodder might not be enough, so I thought about whether I could help. This time I went down the mountain to the county and contacted the supply and marketing cooperative. They can accept sheep, but they need more than ten..." Halimu was stunned for a moment and repeated Li Long's words: "The supply and marketing cooperative is collecting sheep. More than ten?" Li Long thought Halimu didn't understand what he meant, so he explained, "I remember you said that there wasn't enough grass, so we should kill and sell the sheep that are too weak to survive until spring. That way, the remaining sheep can survive until spring when grass grows." Halimu nodded repeatedly: "Of course I can..." "Halimu, how did you sell sheep in the past? By the piece or by the kilogram?"
"I've had both." Halimu said, "To weigh the kilogram, the sheep has to be slaughtered, and the skinned and visceral limbs (only the sheep bones and meat) are weighed, and the price is 50 or 60 cents per kilogram. If the sheep is whole, a rough estimate is about ten yuan." "Then I may need you to slaughter the sheep and I will take Kronzi away. How about that?" Li Long asked. "Of course, no problem. Ten, I can kill them all in one day." Halimu was very confident. "If you need, twenty or thirty will be fine." "Yushan River is also possible, right?" Li Long asked again. "Of course." "Okay, you can notify him for me. You guys should prepare everything first. I'll come over tomorrow." Li Long took out the remaining several dozen dollars from his pocket and handed them to Halim: "This is the deposit." "What are you talking about?" Halimu pushed his hand back. "We are friends. Don't we trust you? Just come over and pull the sheep tomorrow." Seeing that Halimu was determined not to accept it, Li Long did not know what to say. He had something on his mind, so he drank a bowl of milk tea at Halimu's house, waited for Halimu to kill another sheep, skinned it, cleaned the belly and put it in the car, and then hurried back. Li Long plans to go to Shicheng tomorrow to pull some fish, and then take a look around the staff quarters of the agricultural machinery factory, sugar factory, and wool spinning factory to see if he can find a suitable person to ask if they are short of sheep. Thinking about Halimu's actions just now, it was really neat! After returning to the county, Li Long first went to Ma Mengqi's place, or rather, his own house. After hearing the knock on the door, about three minutes later, Mr. Ma came to open the door. After seeing Li Long, he smiled and said: "What's the matter, Xiao Li? Are you so impatient to move in?" "That's not the case." Li Long smiled and said, "I might bring a cart of sheep here tomorrow. I may not be able to sell them right away, so I might leave them here for a while. Is there an empty room in our yard that I can leave them in?" "Yes, yes, yes." Upon hearing this, Ma Mengqi smiled and said, "There are more than 20 rooms in this yard, most of which are empty, you can put it wherever you want. By the way, I will leave at noon tomorrow to meet a friend in Wucheng. You can take the key first, and you can come in directly when the time comes." Li Long didn't act pretentiously, he took the key and said: "Well, old man, I wish you a safe journey. You go ahead and do your work. I'll go back first." After leaving here, Li Long drove the carriage back to the production team in a hurry. When we arrived at the team, the sun had not yet set. Li Jianguo and Tao Daqiang were still fishing in the small lake, and Li Juan and Li Qiang followed them. Li Long unloaded the sheep and returned the carriage. When he returned to the Li family's yard, Li Jianguo and the others had also returned. "Going to sell fish tomorrow? Sure." Tao Daqiang said with a smile, "Then you stay, I'll go home first." Then he strode home. Judging from his pace, he was obviously in a good mood.
Li Long and Li Jianguo divided the fish together. As Li Jianguo divided the fish, he asked: "Xiaolong, what have you been busy with these past two days? You seem to be running back and forth." "My friend is short of fodder in the mountains, and they have a lot of sheep to feed. I plan to let them slaughter a batch and then help them sell them." "How much do you want to sell it for?" Li Jianguo knew that Li Long's friends were very kind to him these days, so he asked, "If not, can we see if we can buy some fodder from here?" "We still don't have enough fodder here," Li Long shook his head and said, "I plan to help them sell a few dozen." "Dozens?" Liang Yuemei also came to help and was shocked when she heard this. "Can we sell them?" "I asked the supply and marketing cooperative, and the purchasing manager there is a relative of ours, also surnamed Li, and he said he would only take 10 or more. In addition, I actually pulled down two sheep yesterday, and they were all sold out at the supply and marketing cooperative. Meat is in short supply in butcher shops right now, and meat tickets are required. I don’t need meat tickets for my direct sales, and the meat is fresh, so many people want it. I plan to take the sheep to Shicheng tomorrow to see if there is a market for it.” "Well, this idea is right. We can't just rely on the supply and marketing cooperative." Li Jianguo has always been prudent in doing things. After listening to Li Long's idea, he nodded. Liang Yuemei was thinking about something and didn't say anything. Today, Li Jianguo and Tao Daqiang caught fifty or sixty kilograms of fish. Seventeen or eighteen of them weighed more than two kilograms and could be sold. The remaining crucian carp weighed less than ten kilograms. Including the catch from the day before, Li Long calculated that there were about 40 large fish and 20 kilograms of small fish. The remaining miscellaneous fish needed to be processed now and then frozen. The whole family joined in the process, even Li Qiang joined in helping to scrape the fish scales beside the large washing tub. By ten o'clock in the evening, all the fish had been processed and Li Long didn't want to move anymore. "Xiaolong, go lie down on the kang for a while. The fish soup on the stove is ready. I'll bake some steamed bread slices and it will be ready in a while." As a traditional housewife, Liang Yuemei is a typical hardworking woman. After finishing her work, she is also responsible for cooking. Li Jianguo was already sweeping the stove with a broom. After sweeping it clean, he put an iron grate on it and placed the sliced buns on it. The fire was not very strong at this time, and soon one side of the buns was roasted to a golden brown, and the fragrance spread. Li Long smiled and said: “This toasted steamed bread slice is so delicious!” Li Juan and Li Qiang didn't say anything, but they watched eagerly. Soon, a large plate of steamed buns was placed on the table and the family began to eat happily. The next day, still before dawn, Li Long and Tao Daqiang drove a horse-drawn carriage towards Shicheng. (End of this chapter)
