As he cycled toward the mountains, Li Long saw that the vegetation on both sides of the road from County Town had turned green. The closer he got to the mountains, the more brilliant the colors became. Vast patches of wild tulips-Xinjiang's wild tulips, which would become famous in later years as nationally protected second-class plants-bloomed on the slopes.
The locals called them "crow garlic" because their bulbs resembled single-clove garlic and tasted a little sweet, so children would dig them up to eat every spring.
The "crow" in the name referred to the bird, which the locals called "laowa."
Farther into the mountains, wild roses were blooming too, along with nameless wildflowers spreading over the hills.
The snow had melted completely from the outer ranges. The mountain streams were running high, and now and then, beneath the splashing water, he could see dark gray fish desperately darting upstream.
There were basically only two kinds of fish here: Small Ditch Fish-High-Mountain Loach-and the white minnows that looked so impressive in great numbers in the reservoir but were really just tiny fish. The locals called those Mianyuzi.
It looked like he could bring a small net and catch some fish here when he had time-when he was staying in the mountains for a longer stretch, of course.
Pedaling uphill took quite an effort. Li Long was starting to miss the car he had owned in his previous life. On a slope like this, a press of the accelerator would have taken him up easily.
When he reached difficult stretches, he had to get off and push. Still, he thought about how easy the return journey would be. He would not have to exert himself at all, just steer, work the brakes, and coast all the way down.
When he reached Harimu's