Chapter 17: The Drunkard's Interest Lies Elsewhere

“Brother Long, I think there should be fallen trees under the snow over there. Let's just get to work right here!” Tao Daqiang said, panting as he looked around and pointed to a windthrow tree at the bottom of a distant slope.

“No, let's go a bit further ahead.” Li Long pointed to the sloping land beside the winter camp (dongwozi) and said, “The location there is best.”

“But there’s no more road ahead. If we go any higher, our horse carriage might not be able to make it up,” Tao Daqiang said, looking somewhat troubled.

“Just push it,” Li Long said with a smile, watching the wisps of smoke rising from the winter camp. “A little difficulty like this won't stop us.”

So, Li Long pulled from the front while Tao Daqiang pushed from the back, maneuvering the carriage onto the gentle slope ahead.

“Alright, let's settle here.” Li Long assessed the terrain, deciding it was a good spot, then pointed toward the winter camp: “Come on, let's head over there for lunch, and then we'll get to work.”

“Go there... for lunch?” Tao Daqiang was surprised. “Will they let us eat there?”

“Don't worry, those people are very hospitable.” Li Long pointed to the tea and salt they had brought on the carriage. “We aren't bad guests; we're bringing gifts.”

A *dongwozi* is a place where mountain herders reside during the winter for fixed grazing. In the summer, they move to higher altitude alpine meadows known as summer pastures. In the winter, they descend to lower altitudes to live in the *dongwozi* and graze on winter pastures; the process of moving between them is called *zhuanchang*.

Most of the herders in these mountains are Kazakh. Since the turn of the new century, the authorities have organized them and moved them to the foot of the mountains, allocating land to them and transitioning them from nomadic to fixed grazing.

A few households from Li Long's village had been allocated land here, so he was quite familiar with the situation.

The Kazakh people are extremely hospitable. In the past, when strangers arrived at their yurts, they would typically offer them yak cheese nuggets, naan, and milk tea.

A *dongwozi* is essentially a triangular excavation into a hillside, using the mountain itself as the back wall and timber for support. A row of houses is built inside, including warm enclosures for livestock and living quarters for people. Outside, large amounts of livestock manure are usually piled up.

Li Long also planned to come here in the spring to collect some manure, as he remembered that the first round of land contracting would begin then.

Although each person would only be allocated two *mu* of land at that time, it would be land that truly belonged to them!

After unloading the carriage and leading the horse to the front of the *dongwozi*, they saw two dogs rush toward them, barking wildly at Li Long, Tao Daqiang, and the horse.

The door of the *dongwozi* opened, and a man in his thirties walked out, looking somewhat surprised to see Li Long and the others.

“Hello, we are here to collect timber. We're tired from the journey; could we rest here for a while?” Li Long said with a smile.

After eyeing Li Long and his companion warily, the middle-aged man nodded, barked a command at the dogs, and walked out to point at some wooden stakes not far from the *dongwozi*.

Knowing he meant for them to tie the horse there, Li Long led the horse over. The man pulled a bundle of hay from a haystack beside the *dongwozi* and placed it by the horse; the horse Li Long had led over immediately lowered its head to eat.

After securing the horse, Li Long smiled when he saw the herder's own three horses grazing nearby.

It was exactly as he had experienced in his previous life—they were truly warm and welcoming.

The man led Li Long and the others into the *dongwozi*, and their vision instantly dimmed.

Once their eyes adjusted to the light, Li Long saw that the *dongwozi* wasn't very large. There was a wooden *kang* (heated brick bed) with a small table on it, and a small stove was burning with a teapot sitting on top.

Inside the room, an elderly woman sat by the *kang*, her head bowed as she fiddled with a clump of sheep's wool, while a woman in her thirties wearing a headscarf watched them nervously.

A blanket was spread over the wooden *kang*, where two children were playing with a pile of sheep's knuckle bones, also watching them.

Li Long took the brick tea and salt from his bag and handed them to the middle-aged man, saying

“This is for you.”

Tao Daqiang felt a pang of regret; those two items together cost several yuan. They could have easily had lunch outside, and with so many sesame cakes available, one would usually only eat one during the New Year! Why go through all this for such a luxurious lunch?

However, since Brother Long had made the decision, he must have had his reasons.

“...Thank you.” The man looked surprised and somewhat moved when he saw the tea Li Long had produced.

He turned to look at the woman and then at the elderly woman before accepting the gift.

Both the old woman and the woman smiled. Li Long could tell they sincerely appreciated the gift.

The man invited Li Long and Tao Daqiang onto the *kang*, asking them to sit toward the inner side. The elderly woman took a sheet wrapped in a cloth from a cupboard and opened it on the table, revealing pieces of naan. The woman began preparing milk tea, while the man stepped out for a moment. When he returned, he was carrying a dried mutton leg, gesturing for Li Long and the others to slice and eat it, before drawing a knife and preparing to head back out.

“No, no, no, don't go to such trouble. We need to eat quickly and then load the wood to head back,” Li Long said, waving his hands immediately upon seeing the family preparing for a major feast. “This is more than enough.”

The man was reluctant, but Li Long grabbed him directly. He could tell that if he didn't stop him, the man would most likely go out to slaughter a sheep.

That would be overkill.

While sheep aren't considered very valuable to herders nowadays, they are usually too precious for them to eat casually.

The old woman said something in Kazakh to the man. As the man tried to break free from Li Long to go out, Li Long, in a moment of urgency, looked around and pointed at something near the stove

“Don't slaughter a sheep. Just give me that!”

The man stared at the object, momentarily stunned.

Seeing an opening, Li Long said with a smile

“I want that... that can be sold for money if I take it out.”

He had recognized it: it was a deer antler.

In a few decades, deer antlers wouldn't be worth much, as deer farming would become very common. By then, even the price of velvet would have dropped significantly, let alone the antlers.

But at this time, deer farming was a very rare endeavor, and ordinary people rarely saw it.

In the mountains, the antlers of male red deer fall off once they reach a certain stage; found antlers can truly be sold for money.

“Really?” the man asked doubtfully.

“Really, it's a yuan a kilogram,” Li Long lied haphazardly. “Just giving me this is enough.”

This antler had three branches and looked to be at least two or three kilograms; it would certainly be enough.

Only then did the man put down his knife, but after a moment of thought, he stepped out again.

A short while later, just as the woman had finished the milk tea and was handing it to Li Long with both hands, the man walked back in, carrying a deer antler alongside another one.

Li Long could see that this antler was broken in one section; it wasn't as beautiful as the original, nor as heavy.

“Nasen found this in the forest,” the man said, pointing to the young boy on the *kang*. “We were originally planning to use it as firewood.”

Use it as firewood? What a waste!

(End of Chapter)