After the roe deer was hauled away, Li Long finally breathed a sigh of relief.
One important job he had had these past few days was cutting grass for the roe deer. The thing was terribly picky, too. It ate less than half of each bundle at most and wasted most of the rest.
Li Long had actually considered letting it go hungry for a while, but in the end, he held back.
He still wanted to take it home and pair it with the male there. He had also thought that, with just one male and one female, who knew how many years it would take to build up a herd? But this was a start, after all. Maybe he could get more later?
Besides, if he really could make a pair of them, that would count as a good deed on his part.
Relieved, Li Long gave the small room a thorough cleaning that afternoon, even scrubbing the floor carefully with warm water.
The roe deer's urine smelled quite rank, and getting rid of it was no easy task. Once Li Long finished cleaning, he went to bed early.
The next morning, he got up before sunrise. The fire in the stove had not quite gone out. After getting it going, Li Long ate a simple breakfast, banked the fire as usual, and left a kettle of water warming on top before slinging his rifle over his back and heading into the mountains.
Having learned from his previous outing, Li Long did not wear his overcoat this time, only his cotton-padded jacket as an outer layer, along with his fur hat. He brought ammunition, rope, a shoulder bag, plastic sheeting, and a lighter.
He headed for the valley where the young men at the last Buzkashi game had