Chapter 1341
Zhao Shijie's Experience of Seeing the World in the Mountains
Li Long had heard of this Great Jade Mountain in his previous life, but had never seen it. He had once gone to the mountain to look for jade, hoping to find some. He had also visited the homes of Kazakh herders in the mountains and bought some mountain jade.
However, the herdsmen he encountered back then were not as simple and honest as Halim and Yushanjiang. Having experienced the baptism of a commodity society, the herdsmen Li Long met had a bit of a shrewd business mentality.
He spent 2000 yuan to buy a piece of mountain jade weighing six or seven kilograms. The middleman assured him that the jade was of excellent quality and had been carried out of the mountains by herdsmen.
There is no direct road connecting that large jade mountain; only the herders know the mountain paths. These herders ride horses to the jade mountain, chisel out the jade stones, and then sell them.
Those two years, Mahe jade was quite popular, and the county set up a jade garden and a jade culture festival.
Many people who find jade will take the stones out to sell, and many jade lovers will come to buy them. You can buy a very nice jade bracelet for three to five hundred yuan, of course, the kind with fly droppings and black spots.
If you want the kind of flawless jade that Li Long got, a bracelet like that would cost several thousand or even tens of thousands.
Back then, many people would buy jade from herders in the mountains, and then take the jade to craftsmen to carve bracelets or hand-held pieces.
During that period, there were many jade carving shops along both sides of the Urumqi-Yining Highway, which were quite popular for a while.
As a result, Li Long took the stone down the mountain and found a carving master. As soon as the master saw the material, he told him that he had been tricked.
Actually, when Li Long first bought the material, he was also skeptical, because although the material looked somewhat like jade, the cut surface was a bit white, which was very different from the jade he saw in movies and TV shows.
The middleman said that the finished jade pieces had all been carved and polished, and since they were raw materials, they were naturally different. Because he had a good relationship with the middleman, he believed him.
As it turned out, people said he had been tricked, that the jade was blasted out with explosives, and that the blasted jade was full of cracks. Although it was indeed pure Mahe jade from the mountains, it was difficult to produce a finished product.
At this point, it was difficult to find someone to help. Li Long, with nothing to lose, asked the carving master to cut it open and take a look. Sure enough, the material was full of cracks. In the end, he managed to make a bracelet, which still had some cracks. The rest could not be made into anything else.
At that time, Li Long already knew about this Great Jade Mountain and its history.
During the Qing Dynasty, the government had already begun mining jade here. Of course, the government's mining was not so brutal. They did not use explosives, but instead used the most primitive tools, such as hammers and steel chisels, to pry the jade out of the mountain and then transport it down the mountain by horses.
Because this large jade mountain is hidden deep inside the Tianshan Mountains, it is inconvenient to obtain materials. In addition, the value of this type of jade is not as high as that of Hetian jade, so it is not well known to the public.
Later, for various reasons, official jade mining stopped, and the jade craftsmen all left, leaving the place abandoned.
When jade from Ma County was popular a couple of years ago, this jade mountain was brought up again. After exploration and measurement, it was discovered that the reserves were enormous, and it's no wonder it's one of the world's three major jade producing areas.
However, due to various reasons, the road into Yushan was later blocked, at least private individuals were no longer allowed to enter the mountainous area to dig for jade.
Moreover, since there has been no road construction, it takes several hours to get from outside the mountains to Yushan by motorcycle. The paths are narrow and winding, and it's impossible to find without an expert's guidance.
Li Long was staring blankly at the scattered jade stones at the foot of the jade mountain when Zhao Shijie glanced around but couldn't find the lynx. He became impatient, patted Li Long, and said, "Let's go, let's go. It seems to have run off somewhere to hide."
This is just a pile of rocks, nothing much to see. Let's go.
Li Long was still thinking about how to explain the Great Jade Mountain to Zhao Shijie, but the man didn't care at all and just left.
He then realized that at a distance of sixty or seventy meters, coupled with the wind and sun, Zhao Shijie's eyesight was only at the level of an average person, making it impossible for him to see or perceive that the ground was covered with broken jade stones.
After all, for most people, even if they were placed right in front of them, they might not necessarily recognize an uncarved or unprocessed piece of jade as a gemstone.
Li Long readily agreed, turned around, and went down the ravine with Zhao Shijie, walking towards the car.
Although I kept looking around, I didn't find anything along the way.
Seeing Zhao Shijie's somewhat disappointed expression, Li Long said while driving, "Let me take you to visit a herdsman's family. We'll have lunch in the mountains, and after lunch we'll take a drive around the grassland before heading back."
Zhao Shijie was somewhat surprised: "Grassland? How could there be grassland here? Aren't there layers upon layers of mountains?"
Li Long laughed and said, "Right now it's all mountains, but if we go further in, we'll find mountain grasslands. The herders' summer pastures are in the mountains. Think about it, if it's a pasture, it certainly can't be in the kind of terrain we see now, right?"
Zhao Shijie thought about it and agreed, and then he started to look forward to it.
This road wasn't maintained this year, and some grass has grown in the middle of it, but you can see tire tracks from no more than 10 days ago.
Li Long wasn't sure if the car came from Yushanjiang or Talihar, but it was definitely heading to the summer pasture.
The river water by the roadside is quite clear, and you can occasionally see fish swimming in it; the scenery is getting better and better.
Zhao Shijie calmed down and began to appreciate the scenery.
Some mountains ahead were shrouded in clouds and mist. He had never seen such scenery before, and for a moment he regretted not bringing his camera.
Li Long smiled and said, "There will be many more opportunities to come here in the future. It's not too late to bring a camera next time."
Zhao Shijie thought it made sense and had just nodded when he saw two animals in the middle of the road turning their heads to look at the car curiously. He exclaimed, "A deer!"
Li Long also saw it clearly and corrected, "It's not a deer, it's a roe deer, the same species as the Northeast roe deer mentioned in the book."
As they were talking, the two men, terrified, darted into the forest and fled.
Li Long had actually slowed down and was about to stop, but the two wild animals that were thirty or forty meters away had run away, so there was no point in stopping.
Zhao Shijie said with some regret, "Why did they run away? The book says that these animals are very curious, right? They should have taken a look at us when we came over, so why did they run away?"
Li Long explained, "The roe deer in our mountains have a different temperament than those in Northeast China. They are very wary and will run away immediately if they see people or other animals. They are unlikely to come over out of curiosity."
Zhao Shijie thought for a moment and said, "One region's water and soil nurtures its people, and one region's water and soil also nurtures its animals. I've learned a lot today."
When the car passed the deep ditch where the two roe deer had run into, Li Long slowed down. Zhao Shijie turned his head to look inside, only to find that the ditch was full of pine and cypress trees, and there were no animals in sight.
Li Long asked, "Should we stop and take a look?"
Zhao Shijie immediately said, "Stop, let's go into the woods and see. Maybe they really are waiting for us there."
Knowing he wouldn't give up, Li Long pulled the car over to the side of the road, and the two men, each carrying a gun, walked into the woods, one on the left and one on the right.
Because they weren't encountering a carnivore this time, both of them were quite relaxed and careful, trying not to make any noise.
As he entered the woods, his vision darkened, but Li Long quickly adjusted. He glanced ahead and was surprised to find a layer of moss on the ground, along with many low shrubs. He even spotted morel mushrooms in his line of sight.
Morel mushrooms should have been past their peak season by early June, but they were still growing in this valley, probably because the temperature was low.
Zhao Shijie looked up and searched ahead, trying to see if there was any sign of the two roe deer.
We didn't see anything.
When he turned to look at Li Long, he saw Li Long squatting on the ground picking something up, so he called out to him.
Li Long looked up and beckoned him over, and Zhao Shijie came over.
Li Long pointed to the ground and said, "Look, morel mushrooms!"
Zhao Shijie has traveled all over the country, and although he spends most of his time in cities supervising projects in various parts of the north and south of Xinjiang, he knows the value of morel mushrooms.
He squatted down and said with some curiosity, "This is morel mushroom? I've had morel mushroom and chicken soup when my work unit treated me to it in Yili, but I've never seen fresh ones. Hey, this really is!"
As Li Long picked the morel mushroom, he said, "It's quite rare to see one now that it's past its season. If it were May, you could pick quite a few in the mountains."
Zhao Shijie nodded, then asked with some doubt, "Why didn't you pick it by the roots? Wouldn't that waste the remaining part of the root?"
Li Long smiled, picked another morel mushroom, shook it, and blew off the moss, saying, "Morels picked this way don't have as much dirt on them."
If you harvest them by the roots, there will be a lot of soil. When you put them in a bag, that soil will spill into the folds of the other morels, making them very inconvenient to clean.
Looking at the layers of wrinkles on the cap of the morel mushroom, Zhao Shijie suddenly realized, "No wonder! When I ate morel mushrooms before, I always felt like there were some bits of grit inside. Now I understand. Hey, I've learned something new."
Li Long pointed to the surrounding area and said, "Morel mushrooms usually grow in large patches. Look around here, you should be able to pick some."
Zhao Shijie's interest was immediately piqued. He turned off the safety, slung the gun over his back, and crouched down to search the vicinity.
Li Long reminded him again: "This thing is just like when you were catching crabs in the small lake. Don't rush, you might not see it. Just touch it with your hand, it might be right under your feet."
Zhao Shijie was just about to take a step when he heard what he said, so he stopped and squatted down, examining the moss in front of him inch by inch. Hey, he actually found one.
He followed Li Long's example, breaking the morel mushrooms off the moss from the base, holding them loosely in his hand, and then going to find a second one.
Once the first one was found, a second one followed. The two of them found more than 30 morel mushrooms on the moss in this forest.
Li Long made one last inspection and, finding that there really weren't any left, stood up. The two of them then carried the morel mushrooms into the car.
Reaching the car, Li Long opened the trunk, found a cardboard box, and put the morel mushrooms inside. Zhao Shijie also put the morel mushrooms in. Li Long shook the box and said, "Let's go back and slaughter a chicken, and make some morel mushroom chicken soup." Zhao Shijie smiled and agreed. The two got back into the car and drove off.
As they approached the summer pasture, Li Long spotted the prey first this time.
On the steep cliff to the left of the opposite bank of the river, a herd of wild goats were grazing on the bushes on the mountainside.
Li Long stopped the car, pointed to the wild goats, and said to Zhao Shijie, "Look, those mountain spirits, they walk on such steep cliffs as if it were flat ground, they are really amazing."
Zhao Shijie got out of the car and said with some surprise, "Is that a wild goat? Isn't it some herdsman's goat? It looks just like the goats raised by people in the village."
Li Long smiled and said, "They are wild goats, without owners. They live in these mountains, free, but with wolves, lynxes, and even brown bears as natural enemies. Or rather, domestic goats were originally domesticated from wild goats; they all share a common ancestor."
Looking at the white sprites leaping on the mountainside, Zhao Shijie exclaimed, "I never expected this. If you hadn't told me, I would have thought someone's sheep had gone missing."
Li Long smiled and said, "This is a Class II protected animal in China. If we go further in, we might even see a Class I protected animal, the Siberian ibex. Anyway, these things are hard to find outside the mountains."
Zhao Shijie pointed to the ground and said, "You built this road, which has broadened my horizons quite a bit."
Li Long smiled and said, "This is an unexpected gain. Actually, the purpose of building the road was to make it easier for the herders in the mountains to get in and out. Their lives used to be really tough. They lacked oil and salt, and because of language barriers, they lacked many daily necessities."
"Of course, things are much better now. There are roads now, and the township has helped them settle down. They've built them courtyards and re-divided the grasslands, so their lives are much better."
The car continued on its way, this time driving all the way to Halim's summer ranch, without seeing any other animals.
Upon reaching the hillside of the summer pasture, Zhao Shijie quickly asked Li Long to stop the car. He was truly awestruck by the vast expanse of mountain grassland.
In the distance, flocks of white sheep resembled pearls adorning a green painting. Further away, snow-capped mountains reflected the surrounding white clouds, while wisps of mist enveloped a vast forest. This beautiful scene made Zhao Shijie feel as if he had entered a fairyland.
Li Long smiled as he stopped the car. After getting out, he looked down and pulled a bag out of the car, then began picking up round mushrooms from the grass.
He had picked these mushrooms before; the largest was no bigger than a small chicken egg, and the smaller ones were about the size of a pigeon egg or a quail egg. They grew in patches along a small groove. They tasted similar to round mushrooms and were very fragrant when stir-fried or stewed with chicken.
He picked up two or three kilograms in a short while. Zhao Shijie was admiring the beautiful scene and was about to invite Li Long to look at it together when he saw Li Long picking mushrooms again. He was a little amused and exasperated.
But seeing the patches of mushrooms on the ground, he couldn't resist squatting down and picking them up.
This way of hunting in the wild struck him as particularly novel. He had grown up in the city and spent most of his time working and living there, occasionally going on spring outings to the countryside, but he had rarely seen such scenery or done such things.
People are always eager to reap unexpected rewards without paying any extra price, such as picking mushrooms or digging for wild vegetables.
As the two were picking them up, they heard the sound of horses' hooves approaching from afar.
When Li Long looked up, Halim had already ridden up to him. He dismounted and gave Li Long a big hug.
Li Long smiled and said, "Duo Sen, how are you?"
Halim laughed heartily, released him, and said, "Okay, okay."
This was how they greeted each other when they first met. They hadn't used it in a long time, so it was kind of funny to hear it suddenly again.
Li Long introduced them to each other. Halimu knew that Zhao Shijie had come to help Li Long with his project, so he immediately thanked him. Then he led the two men to the yurt, tied up their horses, and then, without saying a word, prepared to slaughter a sheep.
Gulimire came out of the yurt, saw that it was Li Long, greeted him with a smile, and then invited them into the yurt to have milk tea.
Two large dogs ran over, and Zhao Shijie, a little frightened, took a few steps back. Li Long, however, reached out and patted the dogs' heads. The two dogs seemed quite affectionate towards Li Long. Zhao Shijie, curious, asked in a low voice, "Do they know you?"
Li Long smiled and said, "Yes, I know them. The dog in my yard is related to these two dogs, and I often come here."
Zhao Shijie suddenly realized that although he also wanted to touch the two dogs' heads, these two Tianshan mastiffs were over a meter tall at the shoulder. Although they were smaller than the popular Tibetan mastiffs, they still looked fierce enough.
For safety's sake, he felt it was best not to touch it.
After pouring milk tea for the two of them, Gulimire started setting up a pot outside.
The summer pasture was a temporary place to live, so the stove outside was quite simple, just a pot propped up by a few stones.
Gulimire went to get cow dung cakes and brought some firewood, which she piled up next to the stove.
Feeling embarrassed to drink tea inside, Li Long went out to find a bucket, fetched water, poured it into the pot, and then Gulimire lit a fire.
Halim had already caught a sheep, tied its three hooves together, turned it over, slit its throat, and then began to skin it.
When Zhao Shijie saw Li Long come out, he hurriedly followed. He happened to see Halim slaughtering a sheep, which he found both novel and somewhat uncomfortable.
When the blood spurted out, he felt a little cruel, but then, watching Halimu's skinning skills, he thought the herdsman was really amazing.
Li Long continued to fetch water, while Zhao Shijie, feeling a bit bored, went to pick mushrooms again. He discovered that there were many of those small mushrooms nearby, growing in large patches along the small ditches, and he could easily pick several kilograms of them.
He remembered that he hadn't seen any dried mushrooms when he entered the yurt. Don't these herders eat mushrooms?
When she leaned close to Li Long and asked in a low voice, Li Long shook his head.
Zhao Shijie thought to himself, "These people are really wasting resources. They don't even use such good resources."
Li Long guessed what he was thinking and explained in a low voice, "The herders have their own diet, and there are many things in the mountains that they don't eat."
After fetching the water, Li Long opened the trunk and unloaded some supplies he had brought, putting them into the yurt.
Li Long was extremely skilled at this task, and Zhao Shijie could tell that he must do it often.
After moving the supplies, Li Long went to look around the yurt and found a barbecue grill.
He immediately cheered, found some coal behind the yurt, picked up some burning wood from under the stove and put it into the barbecue grill, then spread the coal on top.
Zhao Shijie asked, "You're planning to have a barbecue? Is that okay?"
Li Long chuckled and said, "How could it not work? Look, there's a grove over there. Let's get some branches to use as tweezers. Oh, and bring the gun. Who knows what wild animals might be in the grove? Forget it, I'll go."
Zhao Shijie hurriedly waved his hand: "No, no, no, I'll do it. I'd feel a little embarrassed if I didn't do anything."
Li Long then instructed, "Be careful, there are brown bears around here. If you see any movement, come over immediately, load your gun, and make sure you are safe."
Zhao Shijie waved his hand and said, "Okay, I understand."
As he spoke, he picked up his gun and went to break off tree branches.
After Li Long and Halim gutted the sheep, they cut off a piece of meat, found a basin, cut it into small pieces with their own knife, and then marinated it with some onions and eggs.
These tasks were familiar to him, and he finished them quickly. While waiting for the meat to marinate, he glanced at Zhao Shijie. Although he was still a little worried that Zhao Shijie might be attacked, he figured that since the other party was armed, he should be fine.
Seeing Zhao Shijie holding a gun in one hand and breaking tree branches with the other, Li Long turned to Halimu and asked, "Halimu, have any wolves appeared in the area recently? Have there been any bears?"
While processing the sheep's internal organs, Halim said, "No, none of them. A while ago there were wolves, I killed two of them, and then the rest ran away."
I recently bought two more flocks of sheep. They're fine; I just ride around the neighborhood on horseback, and if I encounter anything, I shoot it, and the animals all run away in fright.
Li Long nodded, relieved; it seemed quite safe.
A dozen minutes later, Zhao Shijie returned with a bundle of tree branches, and Li Long took out a knife and began to carve them into skewers. Although these branches were not as good as red willow branches, skewering meat with them and grilling them gave them a unique flavor.
There must be iron skewers here, but Li Long didn't look for them after failing to find them. He suspected that those iron skewers must have rusted long ago.
While Halim was putting large chunks of mutton into the pot to cook, Li Long started skewering and grilling meat.
Zhao Shijie was in a dilemma. Should he eat hand-pulled mutton or roast meat later?
Gulimire had handed over her work to Halim while she went to knead the dough, planning to bake some naan later.
Li Long is a very important guest to their family, so they need to treat him well.
Just as the meat was almost cooked, another car horn sounded. When Li Long turned his head, he saw two cars driving up from the foot of the mountain.
"It seems the car belongs to Yushanjiang and Talihar," he laughed.
I never expected it to be such a coincidence that everyone is here today.
After Yushanjiang, Talihar, and Buick got out of the car, everyone laughed. Li Long greeted them while flipping the skewers.
The area in front of the yurt suddenly became lively. (End of Chapter)