Chapter 42: Success Is Not Something Anyone Can Replicate

Li Long drove the cart out of the production team. As he neared the commune while heading west, he glanced back and noticed a dark figure walking in the same direction, less than a kilometer behind him.

With no pollution at the moment, the visibility was quite clear. Li Long wondered who would be heading out so early.

In the dead of winter, with temperatures outside at minus thirty degrees, people rarely went out unless there was an emergency. It wasn't like later generations; households had little spare cash, and there wasn't much to find in the county or the commune, so most people stayed hunkered down at home.

Of course, Li Long was merely curious, so he continued on his way.

He didn't idle on the horse carriage; having brought a bundle of thin iron wire with him, he began making rabbit snares while on the move.

Rabbit snares were actually quite simple. He hadn't lied to Tao Daqiang about them; you just make a loop and a slipknot, ensuring that once a rabbit kicks its way into the loop, it tightens easily.

After all, the most important skill lay in where one set the snares. The rest was left to luck. He remembered from his previous life that with good luck, setting about twenty snares might net six rabbits, which was considered ideal.

The carriage didn't stop at the commune. The commune's retail department hadn't opened yet, and there was nothing he needed to buy there. Li Long headed straight for the county; he planned to go to the black market to bring some grain to Halim's family.

In a Kazakh nomad's home, two things were essential: milk tea and naan. Milk tea required tea leaves and salt, while naan required flour.

As he approached the county town, Li Long set down the bundle of thirty or forty rabbit snares and jumped off the carriage to walk for a bit to stretch his legs. When he turned to look back, he saw that the dark figure was still there.

Was that person also going to the county?

Li Long didn't think much of it. After entering the county, he took a turn and went straight to the black market.

It was daylight now, and while there weren't many people at the black market, fortunately, the grain sellers were still there. Li Long also saw people selling chickens, meat, and even fish; it seemed he wasn't the only one thinking about selling fish.

Business would be harder to do in the future.

He paid a high price for ten kilograms of flour, and the seller even threw in a small cloth bag, which made Li Long quite happy.

Passing by other stalls, he found nothing else worth buying, so he drove the carriage toward Qingshui River.

Just as he left the black market, Li Long heard a commotion behind him. When he turned around, he saw two people wearing red armbands running toward the area. The stallholders were either packing up or fleeing in a chaotic scramble.

Although it had nothing to do with him, he instinctively flicked his whip to drive the carriage away quickly from this place of trouble.

On the other side of the black market, Gu Ermao was pushing desperately through the crowd. He tried his best to keep up with Li Long's pace, but with the crowd in a frenzy and everyone running in different directions, he simply couldn't squeeze through.

Gu Ermao cursed in frustration, but who would pay him any mind?

By the time the people rushing out of the black market had dispersed and the stallholders had hidden, he finally had some space, but the silhouette of the carriage was already long gone in the distance.

"You! You there! What are you doing?" While Gu Ermao was still searching for any trace of the carriage, a voice called out to him.

Gu Ermao turned to look and saw the red armbands. Terrified, he turned to run, but another person in a red armband grabbed him, sneering

"Speculation and profiteering! Do you know what crime that is? Which commune are you from? Come with us!"

Seeing that Gu Ermao's clothing didn't belong to any local county unit, the two men in armbands felt no psychological pressure in arresting him. Over the past few days, more and more people had been setting up stalls at the black market, and as the crowds grew, the leaders had found out and had been scolded by their superiors.

If they didn't arrest someone, how could they account for it?

Gu Ermao tried to defend himself hurriedly: "I'm not... I just came here to find someone..."

"Heh, running to the black market to find someone in the early morning? You'd better wait until you're inside to explain yourself! Move!"

With that, they gave Gu Ermao a hard shove and marched him forward.

Gu Ermao was beyond tears. He had only wanted to follow Li Long to see which mountain he entered, how could he be so unlucky?

Naturally, Li Long had no idea that Gu Ermao had been caught for stalking him. He only slowed down after driving the carriage out of the county town.

There were still very few people on the road, so Li Long simply got off the carriage and walked to get some exercise and stay warm.

As the carriage entered the mountains, the road became difficult to traverse.

It had been manageable before with Tao Daqiang's help in pushing, but now, leading the carriage alone was quite difficult.

Fortunately, some paths had already been pressed down. Li Long pulled hard on the reins, barely managing to bring the carriage to a halt where he had previously stopped. He unhitched the carriage, led the horse, and walked toward Halim's winter shelter with the small bag of flour.

The dog barked twice and then went quiet, wagging its tail in front of the winter shelter.

Halim opened the door and walked out. Seeing Li Long, a smile immediately spread across his face.

"Jaks?" Li Long greeted him with a smile.

Halim froze for a moment, then burst into laughter. He came over to take the horse's reins and replied

"Jaks, jaks."

"Jaks" means "good" in Kazakh and is a common greeting. Li Long had learned it from his brother, Li Jianguo. When Li Jianguo first arrived here, he had gone into the mountains and dealt with the nomads, so he knew a few things.

Entering the winter shelter, Li Long handed the bag of flour to the old man.

"This is for you. It's flour."

Halim translated, and the old man smiled as he took the flour, handing it to Halim's wife before gesturing for Li Long to sit on the wooden kang.

Two children, Nasen and Sasquen, were playing on the kang and smiled when they saw Li Long. They remembered this Han uncle had brought them candy before.

After drinking a bowl of milk tea and warming up, Li Long asked Halim

"Have any wolves come by these past two days?"

"Yes." Halim pointed to a semi-automatic rifle hanging on the wall and said with a smile, "I shot one dead, and wounded another. They haven't come back since."

Li Long gave him a thumbs up. "You're very impressive!"

"By the way, Li Long, there's a group of wild boars nearby lately. They run down the mountain early every day and run back into the mountains when it gets light. Do you want them? If you do, I'll take you to hunt some tomorrow morning, and you can take them back."

Halim's words immediately caught Li Long's attention.

"Is it far?"

"Not far, less than a kilometer from here. If you don't want to hunt them, I'll go and drive them away tomorrow anyway. Otherwise, they'll start rooting up my grass."

"I'll do it!" Li Long was instantly interested. His family was superstitious; they wouldn't have a "New Year pig" to eat this year, so if he could get a wild boar, it would serve as a decent substitute.

He then remembered the other important reason for his trip and asked Halim

"While you're in the mountains, have you come across any beautiful stones? The green kind? Like jade—you should know what I mean?"

Upon hearing this, Halim burst out laughing.