Li Long drove the cart out of the Production Team and headed west. As he neared the commune, he glanced back and spotted a dark figure less than a kilometer behind him, heading the same way.
There was hardly any pollution back then, so he could see quite far. Li Long wondered who else had gotten up so early to head out.
It was the dead of winter, thirty degrees below zero outside. Unless something urgent came up, few people went out at this hour. Unlike in later years, families had little money to spare, and there was little worth buying in the county or the commune, so most people stayed tucked away at home.
Still, Li Long was only briefly curious before continuing on.
He did not sit idle on the cart, either. He had brought the bundle of thin wire with him and started making rabbit snares as he rode.
Rabbit snares were actually very simple. He had not been talking nonsense to Tao Daqiang: all he needed to do was form a loop and twist a slipknot, making sure it would tighten easily once a rabbit stepped into it.
After all, the real skill lay in choosing where to set the snares. The rest came down to luck. He remembered setting rabbit snares in his previous life. On a lucky day, twenty-odd snares might catch six rabbits, which was a pretty good result.
The cart did not stop at the commune. Its store had not opened yet, and there was nothing he needed to buy there anyway. Li Long headed straight for the county, planning to visit the Black Market and buy some grain for Harimu's family.
Kazakh herding families could not do without two everyday staples: milk tea and naan. Milk tea required tea leaves and salt, while naan required flour.
As he approached the County Town, Li Long put down the bundle of thirty or forty rabbit snares and jumped off the cart, intending to walk alongside it for a while and stretch his legs. When he looked back, the dark figure was still there.
Was that person heading into town too?
Li Long still thought little of it. Once he entered town, he turned and headed straight for the Black Market.
It was light out now, and the Black Market was not very crowded. Luckily, the grain seller was still there. Li Long also saw people selling chickens, meat, and fish. Apparently, he was not the only one who had thought of catching fish to sell.
Business would be harder from now on.
He paid a steep price for ten kilograms of flour, but the seller threw in a small cloth sack, which pleased him considerably.
After looking over the other stalls and finding nothing worth buying, he drove the cart toward the Qingshui River.
Just as he left the Black Market, Li Long heard a commotion behind him. He turned and saw two people wearing red armbands running over. The stallholders scrambled to pack up or flee, throwing the market into complete chaos.
Although it had nothing to do with him, he instinctively flicked his whip and hurried the cart away from the trouble.
At the other end of the Black Market, Gu Ermao shoved through the crowd, desperately trying to keep up with Li Long. But with everyone running every which way, he could not force his way through.
Gu Ermao cursed furiously, but who was going to pay him any attention?
Only after the people fleeing the Black Market had scattered and the stallholders had hidden themselves did he finally have room to move. By then, there was no sign of the cart in the distance ahead.
"You! Yes, you! What are you doing here?" Gu Ermao was still searching for the cart when a voice called out to him.
Gu Ermao turned to look. The sight of a red armband frightened him into turning and running, but the other man in a red armband grabbed him and sneered.
"Speculation and profiteering! Do you know what kind of crime that is? Which commune are you from? You're coming with us!"
One look at Gu Ermao's clothes told them he did not work for any organization in town, so neither man had any qualms about arresting him. Over the past couple of days, more and more people had been setting up stalls at the Black Market, and the crowds had grown as well. The higher-ups had found out and called their supervisor specifically to give him a dressing-down.
How could they answer to their superiors without arresting someone?
Gu Ermao hurriedly tried to explain.
"I'm not! I only came here to find someone..."
"Heh. You came to the Black Market at the crack of dawn to find someone? Save your explanation for when we get you inside! Move!"
With that, the man gave Gu Ermao a hard shove and marched him forward.
Gu Ermao wanted to cry, but no tears came. All he had wanted was to follow Li Long and see where he entered the mountains. How had he gotten so unlucky?
Naturally, Li Long had no idea that Gu Ermao had been arrested while following him. He only slowed the cart once he was out of the County Town.
There was still hardly anyone on the road, so Li Long simply got off the cart and walked alongside it. Moving around would help warm him up.
Once the cart entered the mountains and Harimu's Winter Camp came into view, the going became difficult.
It had been manageable before with Tao Daqiang helping to push, but leading the cart alone was much harder.
Fortunately, their earlier trip had already packed down a bit of a track. Li Long hauled hard on the reins from the front and barely managed to reach the spot where they had stopped last time. He unhitched the cart, then led the horse toward Harimu's Winter Camp with the small sack of flour.
The dog barked twice, then fell quiet and stood outside the Winter Camp wagging its tail and bobbing its head.
Harimu opened the door and came out. As soon as he saw Li Long, his face broke into a smile.
"Jakusi?" Li Long greeted him with a smile.
Harimu paused in surprise, then burst out laughing. He came over, took the reins from Li Long, and replied.
"Jakusi, Jakusi."
"Jakusi" meant "good" in Kazakh, and this was a common greeting when people met. Li Long had learned it from his older brother, Li Jianguo. When Li Jianguo first arrived here, he had gone into the mountains with others and dealt with the herders, so he knew a little.
Inside the Winter Camp, Li Long handed the sack of flour to the old man.
"This is for you. It's flour."
Harimu translated. Smiling, the old man accepted the flour and passed it to Harimu's wife, then gestured for Li Long to sit on the wooden sleeping platform.
The two children, Nasen and Sasiken, were playing on the platform and smiled when Li Long came over. They remembered that this Han Chinese uncle had brought them candy.
After drinking a bowl of milk tea and warming up, Li Long asked Harimu.
"Have any wolves come by these past couple of days?"
"Yes." Harimu pointed at the Type 56 Semi-Automatic Rifle hanging on the wall and smiled. "I killed one and wounded another. They haven't come back since."
Li Long gave him a thumbs-up and said.
"You're really good!"
"Oh, Li Long, there's been a herd of wild boars nearby lately. Every day, they head down the mountain early, then run back up after dawn. Do you want any? If you do, I can take you hunting tomorrow morning, and you can bring one home."
Harimu's words immediately caught Li Long's attention.
"Are they far away?"
"No, less than a kilometer from here. Even if you don't want to hunt them, I'll go shoot at them tomorrow and drive them away. Otherwise, they'll come rooting through my hay."
"Let's hunt them!" Li Long's interest surged. Their pig had come down with what they called "superstition," so there would be no pig to slaughter for the New Year. If he could get a wild boar, it would make a decent substitute.
Then he remembered the other important reason he had come this time and asked Harimu.
"Living up here in the mountains, have you ever come across any pretty stones? Green ones? I mean jade. You know what that is, right?"
At that, Harimu smiled.
Thanks to readers heidiww, Shave Your Head to Be a Light Bulb, and Love Reading Historical Fiction for your monthly votes. Thanks, everyone, for your recommendation votes, continued reading, and suggestions. The novel has been featured, and the numbers look decent. I hope you'll keep supporting it. I'm posting an extra chapter today; we'll see how things look tomorrow...
(End of chapter)
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