The next day, Li Long drove the tractor into the mountains to help Harimu and the others haul hay. Some winter camps were inaccessible to the tractor, so he hauled the hay as close as he could, and horses dragged it the rest of the way to be stacked at the winter camps.
For the next few days, Li Long hauled hay in the mornings, then brought a load of brooms back from Qingshui River to the Big Courtyard on his way home in the afternoon.
After all the big brooms had been collected, it took another two days to finish hauling the hay.
On the day they finished, Li Long wanted to return to the county seat, but Harimu and the others would not let him.
"We're heading back to the summer pasture tomorrow too. This afternoon, we're going to have a good feast and some drinks." Harimu told Li Long very solemnly:
"We started hunting yesterday, but the wild animals are very sharp these days. Between yesterday and today, we only got one deer and one wild mountain goat.
"We actually ran into wild boars too, but you know we don't eat those, so we didn't shoot them. Today, we'll have grilled meat and a little liquor to celebrate. Tomorrow, we'll head up to the summer pasture, so you won't need to come over tomorrow."
Li Long nodded. They called it a celebration, but he seemed to have seen this routine before.
Someone dug a trench in the ground. Li Long could tell it was for grilling meat. Others got a charcoal fire going and set up a rack beside it. Were they planning to roast the whole deer?
Naturally, there was a big pot. They brought out the liquor container too. There was only one glass, but