Li Long woke with a start that morning. Hearing a faint noise outside, he quietly got up, dressed, picked up his Type 56, and went to the window.
Then he heard Harimu's voice:
"Let's put the hides and things here-when Li Long wakes up, he can take them with him..."
"Harimu," Li Long called, not knowing whether to laugh or cry, "I'm in here. I'm awake. I heard you."
With that, he opened the door.
Harimu and another young man were outside unloading things from their horses: several hides, two deer antlers, two roe deer antlers, and a bundle of snow lotuses.
"I thought you were still asleep," Harimu said after setting everything down. "Are you heading down the mountain now? We're in no hurry."
The other young man wanted to say something, but held back.
"Since you're here, take some flour first." Li Long pointed to the small room. "I've left a little under half a sack of rice and a little under half a sack of flour in there, and a canning jar of oil."
"All right." Harimu did not refuse. "We'll gladly take them, then."
After Harimu and his companion left with the rice and flour, Li Long went to the spring to wash his face, then examined the hides.
There was one roe deer hide and two wolf pelts. The deer antlers looked quite fresh and had probably been shed that year. The roe deer antlers had blood at their bases, and Li Long guessed they had been taken straight off the animal's head.
The haymaking season lasted half a month at most. The grain these hides and antlers could buy would be more than enough to feed them.
Li Long wheeled out his bicycle and secured the hides to the rear rack. Then he bundled