For a full week after returning from the mountains, Zhao Shijie remained in high spirits.
The two of them divided the mushrooms they had brought back. Zhao Shijie left his share at Old Ma's Place, where they stir-fried them for two days running. Everyone said the mushrooms had a rich flavor and tasted fresh and delicious.
Whenever Li Long came over, Zhao Shijie talked about eating meat on the grasslands that day: how tender the hand-pulled meat had been, how flavorful the kebabs were, and how good the beer Jade Mountain River and the others brought had tasted.
Only after chatting with Jade Mountain River and the others that day had they learned it was no coincidence. Jade Mountain River had gone to the Purchasing Station to find Li Long. Learning that he had taken someone into the mountains, he simply brought Talihaal and Bek up the mountain with him.
Mostly, they had been busy supplying meat to the Canned Food Factory lately and had had no free time.
Since Li Long had gone up to the mountains for fun that day, they thought they might as well give themselves a day off too and wander around up there.
With Li Long going up, they figured Harimu would certainly slaughter a sheep for him. Even if he had not, he would slaughter one once they arrived.
Zhao Shijie sighed with heartfelt feeling. "Out on that vast stretch of grass, with the sky for a roof and the earth for a seat, holding hand-pulled meat in one hand and kebabs in the other, eating whichever I wanted, with beer right in front of me to sip whenever the meat got too rich-that was the first time in my life I'd felt anything like it. It was incredible!"
Li Long merely smiled