With the matter settled, Li Long pressed his right hand to his chest and took the bowl of milk tea the middle-aged woman offered him with his left, then had a sip. The hot tea sent a stream of warmth from his mouth down his throat, warming him up at once.
Wasn't this much better than eating cold steamed rice cake?
Tao Daqiang took a sip too, then said quietly to Li Long:
"Brother Long, did you plan all along to come here and do this?"
"Yes," Li Long said. "We didn't come just to haul firewood. We need to find ways to make money too. They know the mountains better than we do, and there are more ways to earn money here."
"Like that Deer Antler?"
"Right. That's just one of them." Li Long looked around the Yurt as he drank his milk tea and ate naan. Then something hanging on the wall caught his attention.
He pointed at it and asked the man of the house:
"Is that yours?"
"Yes. They issued it to us a couple of years ago." The middle-aged man pointed to himself.
"My name's Harimu. What's yours?"
"Li Long." Li Long pointed to himself, then to Tao Daqiang. "He's Tao Daqiang. We're running short of firewood at home, so we came to haul some back."
Seeing that Harimu's family burned coal, he asked:
"Harimu, do you buy your coal?"
"No, no. We dig it out of the mountains over there."
"Dig it out?" Li Long immediately perked up. "Is it far?"
"Pretty far. About a kilometer." Harimu pointed toward the mountains. "There's no road, and it's hard to get there now."
Well, then. Li Long felt a little disappointed. If they could dig up coal, hauling some home would be even better.
Harimu put the sliced air-dried mutton on a plate and set it in the middle for Li Long and Tao Daqiang to eat.
Each of them picked up a piece and began chewing. It was pleasantly chewy without being too dry.
The two children crawled over too. Harimu handed them two pieces of mutton, patted their heads, and sent them off to eat.
Li Long asked Harimu:
"You've got a gun, so you don't have to worry about wolves, right? Speaking of which, are there wolves in these mountains?" Hanging on the wall was a Type 56 semiautomatic rifle with its flat bayonet extended.
"There are," Harimu said glumly. "They've killed three sheep. Two more froze to death in the heavy snow a few days ago."
"Why don't you shoot the wolves?" Tao Daqiang couldn't help asking.
"Because I'm out of bullets," Harimu said. "They didn't issue us many last year. There were a lot of wild boars at the start of winter. I went shooting a few times and used them all up."
Li Long and Tao Daqiang exchanged a glance, then Li Long said:
"I can get bullets."
The township held militia training every year. Li Long's household registration was with the Production Team, and as a member of the core militia, he had target practice duties. He still had a dozen or so rounds left from training.
"Really?" Harimu's eyes lit up. "If you can get some, I'll trade you sheep for them!"
"No need, no need." Li Long waved a hand. "I'll bring them up when I have time. By the way, what happened to the sheep that froze to death?"
"I threw them into the snow out back," Harimu said. "I don't know if they're still there."
"Just give me the frozen sheep," Li Long said.
He knew that ethnic minority herders didn't eat cattle or sheep that had frozen to death. But to him, what difference was there between an animal that froze to death and one that was slaughtered?
Tao Daqiang grew excited too. If they could haul a sheep home, then... even a leg as his share would be fine!
He nudged Li Long and whispered:
"Brother Long, I've got a few rounds too..."
"Right. Keep them safe. They'll come in handy." Li Long nodded.
"Then... when can you come up again?" Harimu asked eagerly. The heavy snow had brought disaster to more than just the herders. Short of food, wolves would also risk attacking the herders' sheltered livestock pens.
"Tomorrow or the day after," Li Long said after a moment's thought. "I'll try to come as soon as I can, but we have to haul the wood back today. I'm not sure if I can borrow a horse tomorrow or the day after."
"Then I'll wait for you. I'll give you a sheep when you come. Forget the dead ones-I'll give you a live one!"
"No need, no need." Li Long wasn't some saint either. "There are other things I need your help with. When the wild boars come down, save any you shoot for me. Wolves too. You can have the pelts. I'll take the bones, meat, and so on."
"All right." Harimu readily agreed.
Li Long drained his milk tea, stood up, and said:
"Can I go see if those frozen sheep are still there?"
"Sure. I'll take you."
Harimu led Li Long and Tao Daqiang behind the Yurt, where the snow was already waist-deep.
Probing the snow with wooden poles, they eventually found only one frozen sheep.
"The wolves must have carried off the others." Harimu sounded regretful.
"Harimu, do you know where the other herders live? With all this snow, they must have sheep that froze to death too, right? If you can find any, I'll take them all. I can trade tea, salt, or other things for them."
"All right. I'll ask around tomorrow." Harimu nodded. Although the herders lived far apart, he could still reach another household within an hour on horseback.
After checking the frozen sheep, Li Long and Tao Daqiang went down to the bottom of the gully, took the axes from the cart, found a fallen tree, and began chopping.
Harimu helped too, while the two children watched from a distance, bundled in thick clothes.
Wood meant for burning didn't need to be cut into neat lengths. Harimu knew the area well and knew where there was plenty of wood. He led them to a spot in the gully and pointed beneath the snow.
"There was a flood one time in autumn. A lot of wood washed down there. You can take a look."
Tao Daqiang immediately went over and scraped away the snow. Sure enough, branches of all sizes were piled beneath it.
Before long, a large heap of wood stood beside the cart. Li Long dragged the frozen sheep over and put it on the cart, then brought the horse over, hitched it up, and loaded the wood.
After they finally tied down the wood with rope, Harimu ushered Li Long and the others back into the Yurt for more milk tea. Then, holding the Deer Antler, he saw them off.
The sun was only just slanting westward.
"Brother Long, we really got a lot out of this trip!" Tao Daqiang said excitedly. "The wood alone will last us ages!"
"Yeah. Too bad the coal is so far away. It would've been even better to get some of that." Li Long still wasn't quite satisfied.
Both men walked alongside the cart. Though they trudged through uneven depths of snow, they were in good spirits.
Li Long silently did the sums. The two Deer Antlers weighed six or seven kilograms together. Selling them for ten yuan shouldn't be a problem.
The frozen sheep weighed about fifteen or sixteen kilograms. After removing the hide and innards, there should still be around ten kilograms left. Mutton currently sold for one yuan twenty a kilogram, so that was another dozen yuan or so.
That wasn't even counting the firewood. If he could get more frozen sheep tomorrow, his earnings over these few days would exceed a city worker's monthly wages!
The important thing was that he could keep doing this!
As long as he made enough trips throughout the winter, he would have no trouble saving enough for a bicycle by spring!
Although everything before him was blanketed in snow, Li Long saw hope.
Hope for a better life!
(End of chapter)
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