N-M Chapter 1418 Polati also started shaking.
Chapter 1418 Polati also started shaking.
After recounting the morning's hunting adventures to his father, the two of them shared a few drinks. Enjoying the long-awaited wild boar meat, they had a good chat.
After dinner, neither the father nor the son went to work; they rested in the yard for an hour or so. Then, the father, Li Qingxia, went to the purchasing station, while Li Long took half of the wild boar meat to his older brother's house.
Right now, Li Jianguo has a lot less free time. With Li Junfeng, Li Junhai, and a few others leading the work, he's in charge of overall management, basically just assigning tasks, so he's finally free.
As usual, Li Long boasted about his hunting experience. Li Jianguo was inevitably a little frightened when he heard Li Long say that he killed those wolves with a crossbow. But with so many people in front of him, he couldn't say anything.
However, Liang Yuemei, the eldest sister-in-law, couldn't help but remind her, "Now that we don't have guns anymore, we still need to be careful when we go into the mountains."
My mother, Du Chunfang, felt the same way. However, once she opened her mouth, the implication was, "Xiaolong has the ability to hunt even without a gun, and he can even bring wild boar meat. No one else can do that."
The old woman continued to spoil her brother-in-law as always, leaving Liang Yuemei with no choice but to smile wryly.
Li Long knew that his trip had actually been quite dangerous. He said, "After this experience, I'm less inclined to hunt in the future. Besides, I rarely go into the mountains, so I'll still be careful if I happen to encounter something like this."
Hearing Li Long say this, Li Jianguo felt relieved. He said with emotion, "In the blink of an eye, you're already thirty-four or thirty-five years old. Hao Hao is all grown up and will be going to junior high school soon. As his father, you still need to be more mature."
Li Long nodded in agreement. Actually, he felt he was still young, still a lad. But at this age, no matter what, he couldn't be as arrogant as he was in his twenties.
Fearing his elder brother and sister-in-law would criticize him further, Li Long changed the subject and asked, "What has the work group been busy with at the team lately?"
He hadn't been in the production team for the past few days and didn't know what was going on with the work team, but he was still quite concerned, since it was a major event involving the entire village.
Li Jianguo said, "After the planning was completed, the working group held another meeting with the team, mainly to plan out some things to be done after the autumn harvest, mainly the locations of roads, canals and pumping stations."
The team had a meeting previously, so now that the working group has determined which pump stations are useful and which need to be upgraded, the team members have no objections.
Li Long nodded and said, "It's right that no one has any objections. The autonomous region has already spent millions. If anyone is reluctant to dismantle the pump house, they're really putting the cart before the horse. The team leader is quite decisive."
Li Jianguo said, "At the last meeting, the team leader defended you. He still has a sense of responsibility. Compared with the village directors and team leaders of other villages, our village is better."
After chatting for a while, Li Long was about to leave. Liang Yuemei suggested that she cook the wild boar meat for him that evening so he could eat it before he left. Li Long waved his hand and said, "Xiaoxia and the others went to Urumqi to buy things today. They'll be back this afternoon. I'll get them some food when I get back. I don't want them to come back tired after a long day of shopping and not have anything to eat."
My mother wasn't too happy about that, and muttered, "What kind of behavior is it for a woman to go out and have a man cook?"
Li Jianguo waved his hand at his mother and said, "What's the big deal? We're all family. It's normal for someone to cook when they're free. Mom, just stay here and don't worry about so many things. Xiaolong and Xiaoxia are young people. They have their own way of life, which is different from yours and different from ours."
The old woman fell silent, clearly still not very happy. Li Long then said with a smile, "You see, I hardly ever cook for them all year round. So when I occasionally catch something good, I have to show it off, right?"
When he said that, everyone laughed, and my mother laughed along with him.
Li Long drove back. Gu Xiaoxia and the others hadn't returned yet. He reheated the braised wild boar he had made at noon and started a fire under the stove. He cut off a piece of wild boar meat, preparing to braise it so they could eat it cold when they got back.
Li Long was in a good mood after hunting today and boasted to his family that he would cook a good meal for Gu Xiaoxia and the others. In high spirits, he simply steamed a pot of buns and cooked some rice porridge, which would be a good dinner option.
After finishing all this, the sun hadn't set yet, and Gu Xiaoxia and the others hadn't returned. Li Long then made a cold spinach salad, put all the prepared food on the table, and went to feed Xiao Hei and the two fawns.
The two fawns had already become familiar with Li Long. When they saw Li Long carrying the basin over, they couldn't wait to run over and nuzzle the basin, wanting to eat what was in it.
Li Long made milk powder for the two of them and prepared some leafy greens. As for Xiao Hei, the leftover bones from lunch were given to him as an extra treat.
Several hedgehogs gathered around, peeking out curiously. Li Long went back to the kitchen, took a leftover steamed bun, broke it in half, and fed it to the hedgehogs. The hedgehogs weren't picky eaters and just started munching on it.
Seeing the little ones in the yard eating with relish, Li Long was quite happy. He was also a bit hungry and wondered if Gu Xiaoxia and the others would be back by now.
Just then, he heard a car horn at the door. He was about to walk to the main gate to open it when he saw the side door open, and Mingming and Haohao rushed in. They greeted Li Long, then went together to open the main gate.
After opening the gate, Gu Xiaoxia drove the car into the yard. Mingming and Haohao closed the gate again, bolted it, and then ran over excitedly to tell Li Long about their sights and experiences of the day.
It turns out they went to the zoo and water park today, and then Gu Xiaoxia took them to Tianbai Department Store to buy things. They had lunch in Wucheng, saying that the baked buns and thin-skinned buns there were delicious, and they both ate quite a bit, but now they're hungry again.
"The food is ready, you can wash your hands and eat," Li Long said with a smile. "Go and help your mother and Aunt Yang get their things."
Gu Xiaoxia and Sister Yang unloaded large and small bags from the car. Mostly clothes, but also some snacks and toys for the two children. Seeing that Sister Yang seemed quite happy, Li Long asked, "Sister Yang, how's Han Fang doing? Are you settling in well at work?"
Sister Yang said happily, "It's very good, very good. She said that her colleagues at work are all very nice to her, and the students are also quite obedient."
Li Long laughed; these were definitely words Han Fang used to comfort Sister Yang. Children at this age are as mischievous as monkeys; how could they possibly be obedient?
Gu Xiaoxia, who was carrying some things, chimed in, "Han Fang is a hard-working girl with a lot of experience. She can handle relationships with her colleagues well. Don't worry, big sister."
After washing their hands, the group went to the dining room for dinner. Xiaoxia and Sister Yang were quite surprised to see a table full of dishes. Mingming and Haohao immediately thought of Li Long's hunting trip that day. Mingming asked, "Dad, what did you hunt in the mountains today? Is this meat what you hunted?"
Li Long smiled and briefly recounted his experience in the mountains, deliberately downplaying the danger of fighting four wolves alone. He had been scolded by his mother, elder brother, and sister-in-law when he was in the fourth team, so Li Long felt it was better to keep a low profile and spoke of it rather lightly.
Gu Xiaoxia and Sister Yang immediately understood what he meant. Instead of being too harsh, they told him to be more careful in the future and not to go to dangerous places in the mountains.
The two children, however, kept praising their father, saying how brave he was, not only killing the wolf but also the wild boar.
In the eyes of children, wolves are evil, and killing wolves is doing a service to the people. Looking at his two sons' admiring yet slightly reverent gazes, Li Long felt quite pleased; he was a little giddy.
However, Li Long also knew that fathers were usually role models for their sons. So, while eating, he said to his two children:
“Now that there are animal protection laws, hunting is wrong. I hunt in the mountains mainly because wolves are preparing to attack me; otherwise, I wouldn’t hunt them.”
How to do something is one thing, but how to tell a child is another. Adults can be so hypocritical sometimes.
His words sparked a debate between Mingming and Haohao, who started asking whether protected animals should be killed. Li Long then recalled a famous case involving the outlaw Zhang San, and he smiled, saying:
"If you're in the wild and a person is starving to death, you can kill and eat any animal, let alone a wolf. People come first, animals always come second, including pets like cats and dogs, they can't come first."
It felt like she had instilled the right values in the two children, and Li Long also had a hearty appetite. The whole family, including Sister Yang, happily ate and chatted. Listening to Gu Xiaoxia recount her experiences in Wucheng, and comparing them with her previous impressions, she felt that Wucheng had changed quite a bit.
This period coincided with the fastest economic development in China. Even though Wucheng couldn't rank among the major cities mentioned earlier, its development speed was still exceptionally fast compared to the past. While it wasn't changing every day, a visit every now and then clearly revealed more buildings, wider roads, and more shopping malls.
After dinner, before it got dark, everyone chatted in the yard. Mingming and Haohao chased after the two fawns that were out for a walk, and every now and then they would tease the hedgehog that had come out for a walk. The hedgehog would then curl up into a ball and not move at all.
The adults knew the children were sensible, so they didn't interfere. More mosquitoes appeared in the yard, and bats could be seen swooping low overhead from time to time, so everyone went inside.
The two children, exhausted from a long day, quickly washed up at Gu Xiaoxia's urging and went straight to bed. Li Long and Gu Xiaoxia, on the other hand, watched TV and chatted.
Gu Xiaoxia asked Li Long, "Are you still going to the mountains?"
Li Long explained, "I still have to go. After all, I organized the construction of that road, and now the road conditions are bad, so I have to go and take a look. I need to see how the people sent by Meng Hai are doing with the road construction, and I need to see how well Halimu, that big rancher, is managing the summer ranch."
Gu Xiaoxia nodded without saying anything. She knew that Li Long had his own plans, and she couldn't offer him much help in his career, nor did she want to be a stumbling block for him.
As they slept, Li Long hugged Gu Xiaoxia and said, "We have enough money now. The cooperative and the team's farming has also become standardized and modernized. After this 10,000-mu farmland transformation is completed, I feel like I can retire."
With a blush on her face, Gu Xiaoxia couldn't help but tease, "How old are you to retire? If the old teachers at our school heard you say that, wouldn't they scold you?"
Some of them are already of retirement age and still want to contribute their remaining energy. You, on the other hand, are in your thirties and already thinking about doing nothing.
Li Long knew that at this time, retired teachers were truly contributing their remaining energy, and the general public still held teachers in high esteem. The teaching profession was considered very noble by most people, and the social atmosphere was not yet so bad, with the custom of respecting teachers and valuing education not yet broken.
He laughed and said, "The world can keep turning no matter who leaves, and I don't have such grand ambitions. Our lives are already considered very good in the county, and I have no intention of moving to a big city. I'll just live a leisurely life like this."
Gu Xiaoxia felt that Li Long's words made no problem, but she felt that it was a bit unreasonable for Li Long to announce his retirement now. However, she couldn't come up with any reasonable reasons to refute him.
After the May Day holiday, the crossbows that Lao Du had made for Li Long were delivered. Because they were mass-produced, the six powerful crossbows delivered this time were not as exquisite as the ones Li Long had received before.
The strength and crossbow bolts are about the same, so the power is not much different; it just looks a bit rougher.
Li Long put all the crossbows in the trunk, and after dropping Mingming and Haohao off at school early in the morning, he drove back into the mountains.
He had already discussed it with Gu Xiaoxia. The main purpose of this trip was to deliver these self-defense weapons to Harim and his group, and also to check on the condition of the mountain road.
During breakfast, Li Long instructed Gu Xiaoxia: "I'll go check out the mountain path early this morning, then head straight to the summer pasture, hand the crossbow to Harim, pick some mushrooms there, have lunch, and then come back. If I get back early for dinner, I'll cook for you—wild mushroom stir-fried with meat, it's delicious."
When he said that, not only Gu Xiaoxia, but also Sister Yang and the two children, Mingming and Haohao, were quite eager to go into the mountains to pick wild mushrooms. After all, the fun of picking wild mushrooms is something that only people who have been to the mountains can truly understand.
After entering the mountains, Li Long subconsciously turned right and drove directly to the hot spring resort. He wanted to see how the wolf carcasses he had abandoned last time were doing.
Nothing much had changed at the hot spring resort. Li Long stopped the car, picked up his crossbow, and walked up the hot spring. He soon found the battlefield where he had fought the four wolves alone.
Just as he expected, the place where the wolf carcass and wild boar hide and entrails had been placed was now a complete mess, a real mess.
Fragments of wolf pelts and fur were scattered over an area of twenty or thirty meters, while scattered pieces of wolf bones were found even further away.
The marks on the grass and trees suggest that there was a fight nearby, and some animals may have been injured, but it's unclear what exactly happened.
Li Long looked around and, finding no animals nearby, returned to the entrance of the manor with his crossbow.
Since he was already there, he figured he might as well go and take another look at the cabin, mainly to check on Polati's situation and whether anyone would occupy the cabin while he was away.
Before the car even reached the cabin, Li Long saw Polati riding a horse, wobbling as it headed towards the cabin, and he immediately laughed.
It seems I arrived a bit too early and missed Polati's "work" time.
When Li Long arrived at the cabin in his Land Cruiser, Polati had already tied up the horse and was preparing to light the stove to boil water.
Hearing the car horn, Polati, who was crouching under the stove preparing to blow on the fire, turned around and looked. When he saw Li Long, he was stunned for a moment, then stood up, pointed at Li Long, and said loudly, "Hey, Li Long, Adasi, how long has it been since you came over?"
The two walked together. Polati dusted off his hands, patted Li Long on the shoulder with one hand, and extended his other hand to shake hands with him.
Feeling the strength in Polati's hand, Li Long knew that his Uyghur friend harbored a lot of resentment towards him. He smiled and said, "Busy, I've been very busy lately, really busy."
"What are you so busy with? What's there to be busy with? Are you not making money?" Polati let go of her hand and complained, "Do you know that I come here every time it's time to dig for fritillaria and wait for you to collect it? But you never come. So I have no choice but to carry the fritillaria on my back and ride my horse to the county to sell it to your purchasing station."
Horseback riding is fine in the mountains, but it's too uncomfortable to ride long distances!
Li Long laughed and said, "Since I didn't come to collect them, you just sold the fritillaria bulbs to the purchasing station and made a lot of money, didn't you?"
Polati chuckled and said, "That's true. You can earn more than 1 yuan in one season of fritillaria. If you sell some other things, I feel like I've earned more money than I've ever seen in my entire life!"
I've already applied for retirement. Anyway, people like us who spend so much time in the mountains retire early. I'm still in good health, just wandering around the mountains every day, getting whatever I can and selling it—it's very comfortable!"
At first, he was complaining about Li Long, but when the topic of making money came up, Polati's face lit up with a smile. Perhaps it was because he hadn't found someone to talk to in a long time, or perhaps it was because he hadn't seen Li Long in a long time. So Polati started talking non-stop, recounting his proudest achievements of the past year or two.
"Look, the fire's out!" Li Long pointed to the fire under the stove and said, "Why were you boiling water?"
Polati quickly ran over, stuffed a handful of grass under the stove, and said while blowing on it, "Boiling water and cooking meat. There are quite a few people coming to the mountains to dig for fritillaria bulbs these days."
These people were constantly being chased around by the forestry police, and since they couldn't carry much food with them, they would come to me to exchange fritillaria bulbs for food.
Li Long asked with some doubt, "Now that guns are confiscated and hunting is prohibited, where did you get the meat?" Polati, with a sly expression, pointed to the saddlebag on his horse and said, "I brought dried beef and mutton. Just boil it, they won't be picky. It's good enough to have food; why be so picky? Oh, and I also brought onions and naan bread. One naan can be exchanged for one kilogram of fritillaria bulbs—a great deal!"
Of course it's a good deal. In the county town, a large naan bread retails for only 1 yuan, and even a kilogram of wet fritillaria bulbs can sell for ten or twenty yuan.
That's a steal!
No wonder Polati was so boastful earlier, saying he could earn 10,000 to 20,000 yuan a season from fritillaria. Li Long felt he was underestimating him.
After Polati started the fire, he fetched water and added it to the pot, then prepared to cook the dried meat.
Actually, dried meat can also be steamed, but at this time there are not so many rules.
Li Long went to look at the spring he had dug out. The area around the spring was now overgrown with tall grass, with only a small opening cleared near the wooden house. This was where Polati had drawn water.
This guy is pretty lazy.
Li Long originally thought of getting tools from the car to remove the tall weeds, but then he thought better of it. Anyway, he didn't plan to stay here, so he decided to let them grow. Even if he removed them now, given Polati's personality, he would leave after the fritillaria season ended in a little over a month, and the weeds would just keep growing back.
Polati was a rough man, probably not used to cooking at home. He just threw the dried mutton into the pot, added a few pieces of firewood under the stove, and continued chatting with Li Long.
He said that in the beginning, it didn't have to be so complicated. Last year, when he came, he would set up the stove, take his gun and go into the woods. In less than an hour, he would come back with his prey.
Back then, you could hunt red deer, roe deer, wild goats, and wild boars. If all else failed, you could also get rabbits and pheasants.
“It’s not possible now, my gun was taken away. I was thinking of getting another gun somewhere, but everyone’s guns have been taken away. There’s nothing we can do. Without guns, we can’t get those wild animals, so we can only bring dried meat from home.” Polati lamented that when he came before, he didn’t need to bring anything. He could create prey out of thin air and exchange it for fritillaria bulbs, which basically cost him nothing.
However, now that we need to get dried meat from home, there's an added cost. Ordinary ethnic minority families don't have much dried meat; they save it for later consumption.
Despite their pastoral backgrounds, most herders don't actually eat much meat on a daily basis, or they're reluctant to eat much meat. These cattle and sheep are their property, the foundation upon which their families depend for survival, and they wouldn't slaughter them at will.
Li Long knew this topic couldn't be continued; the general policy was that guns had to be confiscated. Otherwise, it would easily lead to serious crimes.
So he changed the subject and asked, "How many fritillaria bulbs have you traded this year? You must have made a lot of money, right?"
"About 300 kilograms?" Polati wasn't sure. "So far this year, not many people have come to me to exchange fritillaria bulbs. After all, at the beginning, everyone was carrying some supplies, and they wouldn't come to exchange their own unfinished goods."
I'm not in a hurry. I'll wait here. They'll come eventually; after all, it's not easy to walk up the mountain. Most people who go into the mountains to dig for fritillaria are seasoned hikers and don't want to waste time going in and out.
Li Long laughed, saying that these were all experiences he had summarized when he was exchanging things in the wooden house, and now Polati had also summarized them.
“I also brought some wine. Shall we have a drink when the meat is cooked?” Polati went over to the horse, took a bottle of wine from his saddlebag, shook it, and said.
The bottle was more than half full and had been opened. Li Long looked at the brand; it was Baiyang Laojiao.
He laughed and said, "You're fine now, no more drinking bulk liquor. This Baiyang Laojiao isn't cheap either, so it's best to drink less alcohol."
“If you make money, you should spend it as you see fit.” Polati is very open-minded. “Why save so much money? My son has his own things to do. I bought him a yard, and I also pay for my grandson’s schooling. I can spend the rest of the money however I want.”
He then said self-deprecatingly, "People like us, we stayed in the mountains when we were young, and we're still staying in the mountains when we're old. We can't get used to life in the county town. We have money but we don't know where to spend it. We just drink some wine and eat some meat. How much money can we spend in a day? We're like spoons, we have money but we can't spend it!"
It sounds very nonchalant, but Li Long also felt a little sad. There are quite a few people like this; they've become so entrenched in their own habits that they don't know how to integrate into society, or how to enjoy the conveniences brought by advanced technology and popular culture.
Just as Li Long was feeling sorry for Polati, he suddenly grabbed Li Long's shoulder and said, "You've come at the right time. I was just chatting with you about trivial matters. Now I have something important to tell you."
Hearing that Polati had something important to say, Li Long nodded and said, "Tell me, what do you need me to do?"
Polati rubbed his hands together and said, “I know you sell cars, and the cars you sell are of very good quality. You know, it’s too inconvenient for me to travel back and forth from where I live to the mountains on horseback.”
Li Long asked with some surprise, "You also find riding horses inconvenient? Aren't you known as a people who live on horseback?"
Polati quickly waved his hand and said, "We are used to riding horses, but riding for dozens of kilometers at a time will make anyone feel jolted. Horses get tired too. It's okay for short distances, but not for long distances."
"Then what do you mean?"
Polati added two more pieces of firewood to the stove and then said, "I want to buy a car from you. It doesn't need to be too expensive, just something I can drive around in the mountains. I think the one you used to drive is fine, but of course, this one is better."
As Polati spoke, he looked at Li Long's Land Cruiser with a gleam in his eyes, clearly longing for it.
Li Long smiled and said, "This car is a Land Cruiser, made in Japan, an off-road vehicle. I sell it for 20 at the recycling station, but if you want to buy it, it's 15."
Previously, the Land Cruiser sold for 15. As prices rose, Li Long also raised the price of the car. The main reason was that this thing was too popular, but the supply was insufficient, so he had no choice but to raise the price.
Polati hurriedly waved his hand and said, "It's too expensive, too expensive. Let's go with the kind of car you used to drive, the green one."
Li Long knew he was referring to the GAZ-69 tank, so he nodded and said, "That tank was used by the Soviet border guards. It's not expensive. If it's been driven for a long time, it might only cost 10,000 or 20,000 yuan. A newer one would cost 30,000 or 40,000 yuan. I have one at my recycling station that's been driven for more than three years. If you want it, I'll sell it to you for 25,000 yuan."
Li Long was indeed referring to a "friendship price." With the increasing availability of Xiali and Santana cars, car prices in northern Xinjiang have become more transparent. A Santana costs around 200,000 yuan, while a Xiali is slightly cheaper, but still around 60,000 to 80,000 yuan.
Minivans like the Dafa Songhuajiang are cheaper, so they are relatively more popular.
However, as the economy developed and people's lives improved, the main taxi drivers in the county used Xiali cars, while those driving in the urban-rural fringe areas used Dafa cars, and private car buyers used a wide variety of vehicles.
Through these price comparisons, those who bought cars from Li Long felt that the prices were more affordable. After all, even a used Santana costs over 100,000 yuan now, but buying a luxury Volga from Li Long was cheaper than a used Santana, and it also looked better.
So it feels more worthwhile.
Therefore, Li Long's used cars were very popular. Every time Liu Gaolou brought a car over, people would come to pick it up very quickly. Some middlemen who sold medicinal herbs to Li Long even started to reverse the business, buying the used cars from the purchasing station and reselling them at a higher price.
As Li Long mentioned, the GAZ truck was priced at over 35000 at the recycling station, and even the normal transaction price was 3. So what Li Long said was a friendly price.
Polati considered it for a moment and said, "Twenty-five thousand? Really? Then I'll buy it. Let me tell you, I actually have some money saved up."
With the cart, it's much more convenient for me to come and go here every day. If I get a lot of fritillaria bulbs one day, I don't have to worry about not being able to haul them all back. This horse is getting old; it can only carry a few dozen kilograms at most, and I can manage. But if it gets too heavy to carry, I'll have to get off and walk.”
It seemed that Borati really wanted to buy a car, so Li Long asked again, "Do you have a driver's license? It's easy to drive, and no one checks in the mountains or villages, but if you go to the county, they will check your driver's license."
Polati revealed a sly look again and said, "I'll drive around in the mountains for a bit, then drive out to our yard, drop off the fritillaria bulbs, and then ride my horse to the county to sell them."
I know this driver's license; it's not easy to learn. I'll have my son learn to drive it, and we can share one license. He can drive to the county seat. I'll drive in the mountains.
Seeing that Polati had already thought things through and even arranged how to drive, Li Long didn't say anything more and told him to take some money to the purchasing station when he had time to drive the car away.
Polati was a little impatient and wanted to drive the car away right away, so Li Long asked doubtfully, "Can you drive the car away now?"
Polati patted his chest and said, "Don't underestimate me, I can drive. When I was in the forestry bureau, I would drive trucks with the drivers when I had free time. I wanted to be a driver back then, but I didn't end up becoming one."
Li Long pointed to his car and said, "Try driving it and see, otherwise I won't feel comfortable selling it to you."
Polati followed Li Long to the Land Cruiser, where Li Long explained the difference between small and large vehicles. Polati, who genuinely knew how to drive a large vehicle, quickly grasped the concept.
Li Long sat in the passenger seat and asked him to sit in the driver's seat and drive for a while, to give it a try.
Polati wasn't intimidated at all. Since the surrounding area was all grassland, he took the wheel and drove off, making a big circle on the grass at a pretty fast speed. Li Long then told him to drive along the road for a while, taking a straight route. Polati drove east along the road until they were almost at the hot spring gully, at which point Li Long told him to turn around and go back to the cabin.
After parking and turning off the engine, Li Long praised Bolati for his driving skills. Bolati proudly replied, "Back then, in order to get a chance to drive a big truck, I gave the driver two bottles of liquor. At first, I thought it would be quite difficult, but after driving for a while, I found that it wasn't much harder than riding a horse."
Li Longxin thought to himself, "For some people, driving a car is really not as difficult as riding a horse."
Seeing that Li Long acknowledged his driving skills, Polati said to him, "Then let's go to the county now. I'll give you the money there, and you can give me the car. I drove here, and this afternoon we'll see how many fritillaria bulbs we can get before hauling them back."
Li Long asked with some surprise, "Are you in such a hurry? You've already cooked the dried meat, aren't you going to wait until you exchange it for some fritillaria bulbs before you leave?"
As Pollati removed the fire from under the stove, he said, "We can't wait any longer. If they don't come by now, they probably won't. I'll take the meat out and put it in the cabin. We'll replace it with fresh meat when they come in the afternoon."
Seeing that Polati was also impatient, Li Long went along with him and said, "How about this, I'll drive, and you ride the horse. We'll find a place to drop off your horse, and then I'll drive you back to the purchasing station. You can take the money, drive the car away, and that way you won't have to run back and forth."
“Sure, sure,” Polati said with a smile. “I’ll leave the horse with my friend, and you can drive after me. After that, we’ll drive back to the county together.”
Polati was also a quick-witted person. He took a bucket, poured water to extinguish the fire under the stove, then scooped out the dried meat from the pot, put it in a basin, and carried it into the wooden house.
It was only then that Li Long noticed that the doors to both wooden houses had been relocked.
Paula locked the door, mounted her horse, and cracked her whip. The horse immediately reared up and galloped quickly eastward.
Li Long got into the car and drove off. After leaving the mountains, they passed the checkpoint and soon turned onto a small road. Further on, they came to see earthen houses.
There are many red willows nearby, but Li Long had never noticed or been to this place before.
Polati handed the horse over to the people in the house, said a few words there, and then hurriedly got into Li Long's patrol car.
He led Li Long home to get the money first, and then they went to the purchasing station.
Li Long sighed at this moment, saying that many families have money but really don't plan to deposit it in the bank, probably because they feel that banks are inconvenient or unsafe.
On the way, Polati repeatedly asked Li Long if 25000 yuan was enough. Li Long replied while driving, "If that car is still here, it's enough. When I came here this morning, the car was still there, and I believe it hasn't been sold yet."
Polati was a little worried. He kept urging Li Long to hurry up, afraid that the car would be sold.
When the Land Cruiser pulled into the recycling station and saw the GAZ-69 parked safely under the shed, Polati felt relieved. He shoved the bag of money into Li Long's hand and said, "The money is yours, the car is mine."
Then I got out of the car and went to drive the GAZ truck.
Li Long was both amused and exasperated. He got out of the car with the money in his hand and chased after the car, saying, "We still need to sign a contract."
Polati waved his hand and said, "What signing? No signing, no signing! Cash on delivery. You see the money is real, and I believe your car is good. Give me the keys, I'm driving it away now."
Li Long had no choice but to ask Liang Shuangcheng to give him the car keys, and then insisted that he try driving it halfway around the backyard. Only after he felt that he could handle the GAS69 did he let Borati leave.
In the front yard, there were a few middlemen and some individuals selling fritillaria bulbs. Some of them recognized Polati, and seeing him drive away in his GAZ truck with a smug look on their faces, they remarked:
"This time, Bolati is really making waves! He can actually afford a car! He can just drive it away whenever he wants. That's really awesome."
Hearing this, Li Long laughed and said loudly, "You can do it too! You're all doing the same thing. If he can pick up his car today, you can pick it up tomorrow. Keep it up, work hard, I believe in you!"
The middlemen burst into laughter, their spirits lifted.
Some immediately stopped gossiping and left the purchasing station, intending to buy another batch of fritillaria or dried mushrooms to make some more money.
That person is from an ethnic minority group, and he used to be a forest ranger. Now he can afford to drive a car, while I'm still stuck here. It's really outrageous.
Li Long sighed, saying that he had originally planned to go into the mountains to check on the road construction, but now, after two trips, he hadn't accomplished anything of substance.
It seems I'll have to go tomorrow. (End of Chapter)