readease Chapter 1385 Even stones from other mountains can be made into jade
Chapter 1385 Even stones from other mountains can be made into jade
Throughout the winter, Halimu and Yushanjiang came to Li Long's place to hide more than once. Sometimes they would come together, and sometimes it was just one of them.
They were used to it, and so were the others at the purchasing station. Even when Li Long wasn't there, Sun Jiaqiang or Liang Shuangcheng would pour them water and let them stay comfortably in the meeting room for half a day.
Li Long has his own things to do in winter and can't always be with them. For example, right now, on Sunday, December 27th, he, Tao Daqiang, Xie Yundong, and a few others are on Xiaohaizi, preparing for a big event.
Several holes had been drilled in the ice, and several landing nets and half a bag of fish were placed nearby.
However, that's not the main point. The main point is that these people are currently standing next to the largest clump of reeds in the small lake, examining it.
"It's time to do it, otherwise the reeds will grow shorter and shorter and won't be able to squeeze out," Tao Daqiang said after looking around.
“That’s true. If we don’t remove the old reeds, the new reeds will be suppressed and won’t grow tall or thick enough. They’ll eventually become brittle reeds and may not grow at all,” Xie Yundong said.
Li Long understood the logic, and the reason was actually quite simple. In the past, the reeds here and in the downstream reed lake belonged to the production team. Once the production team opened up the area, everyone could cut the reeds as they pleased.
Back then, there was a lot of reed harvesting, and harvesting reeds became an extra source of income for the villagers. Everyone was very enthusiastic, and even if the water in the small lake was deep, everyone would try to find a way to harvest the reeds there.
However, later on, paper mills and other enterprises stopped buying reeds, and fewer people made reed mats. Many people started using planks to build houses, so no one wanted the reed bundles anymore.
Of course, the most important thing is that Li Long contracted out Xiaohaizi. At first, no one cared, thinking that Li Long, this young upstart, could only take the fish out of it at most.
Some people who want to cut reeds can just come and do it without even notifying Li Long.
Gradually, Li Long's influence grew, and he eventually became a representative and an advanced individual. He also built roads for the team and spearheaded the establishment of a cooperative.
Although he didn't live in the team, his influence within the team grew, so eventually no one cut the reeds in Xiaohaizi anymore.
They were still catching fish, after all, this was permitted by Li Long, but they were cutting reeds less often.
At most, around the Dragon Boat Festival in May, people would go to the small lake to collect some reed leaves to wrap zongzi (sticky rice dumplings), but that wouldn't affect many reeds.
Li Long himself couldn't remember, and he rarely even came to break the ice hole in winter, and in summer he only came at night to catch crabs or something.
He hardly ever paid attention to what the reeds looked like.
As a result, the old reeds remained, causing the new reeds to grow worse and worse.
The beauty of Xiaohaizi in summer largely comes from the reeds in the middle and the clear water. If the reeds gradually disappear, it will become no different from Dahaizi in the future—bare and the fish will not taste as good.
The solution is simple: just burn it.
However, no one dared to burn it.
Or rather, nobody bothered with this.
Moreover, in winter we burn coal, and in summer we burn corn stalks and sunflower stalks. Reeds don't burn well, and most people are too lazy to cut them because it's troublesome.
Today, Tao Daqiang came over to clean the ice hole, wanting to improve the meals for the elderly and children in his family. When he saw these reeds, he remembered this.
After he finished cleaning the ice hole, he went back and called Li Long. When he came out, he ran into Xie Yundong, and they came over together.
Li Long looked at the reeds and hesitated for a moment.
In the past, if something burned, it would just burn; he could immediately judge the wind direction and start the fire from upwind.
But things are different now. Some of the reeds downstream of Xiaohaizi haven't been cut yet, and this large area of reeds covers several hundred square meters. If it were to be set on fire, all the smaller reed clumps around it might also be set ablaze.
Once the fire starts, it can't be put out; he needs to think this through.
The reed lake downstream is not a small area; it stretches from Xiaohaizi to Dahaizi, and there are two residential areas nearby, which seem to be contracted out to others. He didn't want to cause any trouble.
"Or not?" Tao Daqiang asked.
“Point.” Li Long looked downstream, then waved his hand and said:
"Don't order this area yet, order the northernmost part closest to the reed lake first."
"Why? What's the difference? There are fewer reeds over there." Tao Daqiang didn't understand.
"If we burn that area down, then burning this one later won't trigger a chain reaction," Li Long explained. "When we burn this larger area, only that area will burn, and it won't set other places, like the reed lake, on fire." (First published on Qidian.com)
Tao Daqiang looked back and saw that the uncut reeds in Weihu Lake were twenty or thirty meters away from the northernmost reed bed of Xiaohaizi. He shook his head and said:
"It's so far away, it won't burn, right?"
"Don't underestimate reeds. A reed with a broken stalk can fly quite far while still on fire!" Li Long pointed to the tassels on the reed and said, "As long as there's just a tiny spark, it can ignite and burst into flames in a flash!"
As he spoke, he walked to the northernmost patch of reeds and looked up to observe the movement of the reeds.
The wind is from the southwest now, that won't work.
But now he had something to do. He searched around the reeds and found a branch. He picked it up, broke off an extra fork, and then waved the branch around, hitting the reeds while shouting, "Ah! Ah!"
A flock of birds were startled and flew away from the reeds.
"What kind of bird is that? It doesn't look like a sparrow!" Tao Daqiang followed over and saw the flock of birds take flight. He looked up and stared at them, asking.
Li Long also saw what the birds looked like. They were about the size of sparrows, but their feathers were bluish-green, their heads were a bit grayish-yellow, and two small feathers resembling whiskers hung down from both sides of their beaks, making them exceptionally unique.
"Just light it and burn it, maybe we can even taste it," Xie Yundong joked.
"It won't burn, will it?" Tao Daqiang was even considering the possibility. "If that bird sees fire, it'll fly away as soon as possible."
Li Long ignored the two of them and continued to tap and scare them with the branch until there was no more movement in the reeds.
Where are the wild ducks? Where are the water chickens?
Li Long vaguely remembered someone saying that these two kinds of birds were resident birds, so why aren't they here?
But it doesn't matter anymore, anyway, they've already been scared away.
He walked to the north side of the reeds and continued to stare up at the reed fluff.
When the wind changed direction and the reeds began to drift south, or more precisely, southeast, Li Long immediately gathered some reed leaves from the reeds into a pile, then took out a lighter and lit it.
Although these reeds were on a surface of ice and snow, they were exceptionally dry. Once a fire was started, it spread like wildfire, quickly igniting the nearby reeds.
"Back up, back up!" Li Long pointed and immediately stepped back, reminding the others at the same time.
Tao Daqiang and Xie Yundong were not idle either; they lit a fire by the reeds so it would burn faster.
This patch of reeds grows close to the dam line, in long strips and not very thick, so when it burns, it burns from the middle outwards. With the northwest wind, the fire spreads to the southeast, but it is not very intense.
"See, nothing's wrong." Tao Daqiang smiled and clapped his hands, saying, "By burning this area, we've created some distance, so we can focus on the others without worry."
"It's best to be careful and burn off all the small ones along the North Dam line." Li Long shook his head. When it comes to starting a fire, you can never be too careful.
Theoretically speaking, he could afford to burn down the reed lake to the north, but things couldn't be done that way.
After clearing away the seven or eight small reed clumps to the north one by one, Li Long returned to the largest reed clump, looked at it, and said:
"Let's burn this one, and we won't burn any more this year. We'll burn the rest next year."
"Why go through all that trouble?" Tao Daqiang asked, puzzled.
"You saw it yourself, there are quite a few birds in these reeds. Let's give them some space to move around," Li Long said half-jokingly.
"Hey, things are different when people get rich," Tao Daqiang joked. "We used to eat even the old sparrows, but now we're even giving these little sparrows room to roam."
He wasn't mocking Li Long, but rather reflecting on the changes of the times.
It hasn't been long since they went from not having enough to eat and owing the production team work points all year round, to now having savings of over five figures.
He had even burned sparrows when he was hungry.
My current life is something I never dared to dream of before.
As usual, the three of them walked around the large reed bed and knocked on it, scaring away all the birds before starting a fire.
This reed patch is quite large; when it burns, the flames soar into the sky, and the black smoke rises very high, visible from a great distance.
Even after the three of them retreated twenty or thirty meters, they could still feel the intense heat; waves of heat washed over them, which felt rather strange in the dead of winter.
All three of them were dressed in thick clothes, and to avoid sweating, they retreated about ten meters before they felt a little better.
"I never expected that burning reeds could cause such a commotion," Xie Yundong said with emotion.
Just as Li Long was about to speak, he heard the sound of a car coming from below the dam line behind him.
Then, shouting and cursing came from over there:
"Damn it! Who the hell is this, coming here to start a fire? Don't they know this place is privately owned? Are they trying to set the reed lake on fire?!"
The voice of the team leader, oh no, the village head, Xu Chengjun.
Li Long and the other two were a little embarrassed. They took a few steps forward and met Xu Chengjun, who was coming up to the dam line.
Xu Chengjun was furious. He had brought Xu Haijun with him. They had gone to the accountant's office in the morning, and before they even got home, they saw billowing smoke over Xiaohaizi, which startled him. He quickly called Xu Haijun, who had come to see him, and they drove over there.
When they reached the bottom of the dam, they saw Li Long's car, but they assumed that Li Long had come over because he had been watching the arson, so they didn't think much of it and drove onto the dam while cursing.
When they got up there, they found there was no one else there, just Li Long and his two companions. The situation was quite awkward.
Xu Haijun reacted quickly and immediately asked:
"Did you set the fire?"
"Well, the main reason is that there are too many old reeds. If we don't take this opportunity to burn them, new reeds won't grow in the summer, and the little lake will become unsightly," Li Long explained.
Xu Chengjun understood the reasoning. Although it was a false alarm, he still walked around the Beiba Line and went to check the fire to make sure it wouldn't cause a fire before he felt relieved.
“We won’t burn it anymore. We’ll burn half of it this year, and then burn the old reeds on the south side next year,” Li Long said.
"Alright, next time you want to burn them, just let me know in advance. This time you really scared me," Xu Chengjun said. "By the way, you could have just brought your harvesters over, cut the reeds down, and then burned them."
This method carries less risk but is more complicated.
So Li Long didn't plan to adopt it, but things will be much easier next year.
When Xu Chengjun left, he took two fish weighing more than two kilograms each from the bag containing the fish and carried them away as a way to calm his nerves.
Li Long and the others smiled but didn't say anything.
Once the fire had burned down the large area of reeds, today's mission was considered complete. Li Long and his team made a few more net hauls, and each of them took some fish back with them.
That evening, Li Long told Gu Xiaoxia about how setting fire to the reeds had attracted the team leader's attention. Gu Xiaoxia laughed at Li Long and the others, saying they were like immature children and deserved to be scolded.
“Since we have nothing else to do, let’s burn those reeds. The little lake will be prettier next year,” Li Long said. “How can you call it a child?”
"Don't say this in front of Mingming and Haohao," Gu Xiaoxia whispered. "They've always looked up to you as a role model. If you say this, who knows what trouble they might cause when they come to the fourth team during winter break."
Li Long believed this to be true.
Hao Hao has grown up a bit and isn't as well-behaved as he was when he was little. He has a lot more whimsical ideas in his head, which sometimes give him and Gu Xiaoxia a headache.
The house was completely messed up, and so was the school, but because she was an excellent student, the teachers liked her quite a bit.
But now they've started messing around with the purchasing station, and with Li Qingxia protecting them, the two kids seem a bit fearless.
Fortunately, rules were established from a young age, and the family was quite strict with him. He also had good upbringing, so he didn't develop into a brat. He's just curious, daring, and prone to getting into trouble.
At this stage, boys have a peculiar interest in fire, so it's best not to mention it. If the two of them were to go to the small lake and set fire to the reeds during the holidays, it might actually cause even bigger trouble.
For the next few days, Li Long didn't go to the fourth team. He stayed at the purchasing station to be in charge of the receiving platform. His father, Li Qingxia, finally didn't want to stay there anymore and went back to the fourth team to hibernate.
According to him, there was nothing to do here, but Li Long guessed that the old man would find it hard to walk from the purchasing station to the courtyard for breakfast every day in the dead of winter and have to get up so early, so he simply refused to do it.
It's so comfortable to be home. It's okay to sleep in a little later, since there's a stove and food is saved. There are no students in the fourth team, and they don't eat breakfast that early. Although there are fewer people to chat with, he can still gossip about others.
On December 31st, the last day of 1992, Liu Gaolou led a convoy, bringing the last truckload of supplies for the year.
"Why did you bring over something like this? Aren't you afraid of damaging the truck?" Li Long asked, looking at the large rock on the last truck.
"You don't think it's just an ordinary stone, do you?" Liu Gaolou said with a smile.
"So this is... wait? This is jade?" Li Long examined it closely, then exclaimed in surprise, "It looks like a pretty good piece of jade!"
He simply climbed onto the car and carefully examined the texture of the stone.
“There was jade in the former Soviet Union too,” Liu Gaolou said, standing by the car. “It’s just that no one has paid attention to it, either in the past or now.”
“Naturally nobody cares. Foreigners are particularly fond of gemstones, but jade and the like are mostly just something Chinese people play with,” Li Long said as he looked around.
Currently in China, only Hetian jade and jadeite are recognized, along with a few types such as Tianhuang stone and chicken-blood stone. Moreover, apart from top-grade Hetian jade, ordinary jade cannot fetch a high price.
Therefore, the Qinghai and Russian jade that were more common in later generations are now worth only a few cents per kilogram and nobody wants them. Even in a few more years, a truckload of Qinghai jade will be worth several thousand yuan, which is like dirt cheap compared to later generations.
"This material is quite good." Li Long looked at the stone, touched it, and found the exposed jade.
Although they have been exposed to the elements for a long time and some have shown signs of weathering, upon closer inspection, one can still see that the jade is white and smooth, and the exposed pieces at least reach the highest level of whiteness and fineness.
very nice!
"Did your second uncle find a jade mine?" Li Long clapped his hands, jumped down from the back of the carriage, and asked.
Liu Gaolou went into the house first, and Li Long followed. He felt that Liu Gaolou was a bit lacking in yang energy, even though he was dressed so thickly, he was still afraid of the cold.
"It was found over there, but not in a jade mine. It was from an old herdsman who lived there in 1962. His family was starving to death. He handed this over to my second uncle's men in exchange for canned food."
"Your second uncle's men know their stuff?" Li Long asked, somewhat surprised. "How many did they exchange?"
“How could my second uncle’s men possibly recognize this? But the old herdsman knew that the canned goods were made in China, so he said that if this thing could be shipped to China, it must be valuable. My second uncle’s men reported it as gossip, and then my second uncle went to take a look and found that it really was jade.”
At this point, Liu Gaolou took a sip of water, shook his head, and said with a sigh:
"It is said that this herdsman was one of the first to go there, bringing his family and livestock. He had high hopes, but he didn't expect that there would be no protection like we have here. Soon his cattle and sheep were gone, and his family became someone else's dependents."
"Doesn't he know how to appraise jade? Can't he make a living? He should find a way to sell it domestically!" Li Long said, somewhat puzzled.
"Do you think everyone has connections?" Liu Gaolou sneered. "Besides, those people who went there back then were all settled quite far away to prevent them from running back. They wouldn't even know how they ran away, so how could they possibly have connections?"
Li Long thought about it and agreed. Although Chinese people like jade, firstly, there is no shortage of supply in China now, and secondly, it is not top-grade material, so it is not expensive.
Another major problem is how to transport it over. Don't think that cross-border trade is easy. Although things are chaotic there now, and although the two countries have started trading, it's not something anyone can do.
Just transporting such a large piece of jade to the border port is no easy task.
“That old herdsman still has a few pieces of land at home. They were from the pastures he used to graze other people’s livestock, but they didn’t want them, so he managed to haul them back. He originally thought he could sell them for a lot of money, but now his family is starving to death, so he ended up exchanging them for two boxes of canned food.”
What is jade? It's tremolite.
Since the quality is the same, the final comparison is the place of origin, which is the most authentic.
“My second uncle has inquired and found that there is a lot of serpentine over there, which is what we call Xiuyan jade, but it is even less valuable.”
Xiuyan jade is not valuable in China. Even in the wholesale markets of later generations, there are many bracelets and the like for a few dozen yuan.
large.
It has never been considered a high-end product.
"My second uncle asked if I wanted this kind of material. If I did, he said he could bring me a whole truckload every time. There really is a mine for this stuff in the mountains over there."
"If they're all this quality, then bring them to me, I'll take them," Li Long said. "I'll stock up on some, just in case they become valuable later. Even if they don't, they're still pretty good for building walls, right?"
"Great idea!" Liu Gaolou gave a thumbs up, then changed the subject: "I heard you have some top-quality deer penis here? Let me ask around, does that stuff really work?"
"What? You're not up to it anymore?" Li Long laughed.
“You’re the one who can’t do it!” Liu Gaolou’s face turned red instantly. “I asked for my friend. He’s a friend I made in Khorgos, and he’s also in the export business.”
“Deer penis does have its uses, but it has to be the right one for the right condition,” Li Long said with a smile. “Soaking it in alcohol is also quite good. By the way, you can ask those in the foreign trade industry if they know anyone from Northeast China who can get tiger penis from the Russians; that might be even better.”
"That's a good idea. I'll go back and ask around. But that's too late. Do you have any deer penis here? If so, could you give me one?"
Li Long did indeed have something to say. He told Liu Gaolou to wait while he went back to the main courtyard.
He did indeed have two tiger penises, both of which he soaked in alcohol, but he didn't drink them.
He also had wine infused with deer antler. He poured Liu Gaolou a beer bottle of the wine, wrapped up two deer antlers, put them together in a handbag, and took them away.
"This wine is..." Liu Gaolou asked, looking at the contents of the briefcase.
"It's medicinal wine, made by soaking deer antler velvet with other medicinal herbs," Li Long said.
"You have a prescription? Then write one for me... no, you'd better prepare everything for me, anyway, you definitely have more things here than in Khorgos."
After he said that, Li Long agreed, and Liu Gaolou simply took the wine away.
The next day, when Li Long went to the county hotel to find Liu Gaolou after getting all the medicine, he found that Liu had a wad of cotton stuffed in his nose.
"What's wrong?" Li Long asked, somewhat surprised. "Is the heating too hot or too dry?"
"I drank a few glasses of the wine you gave me..." Liu Gaolou said a little embarrassedly, "I didn't expect this to happen..."
"How many cups? Just a small cup a day!" Li Long was both amused and exasperated. "You don't actually think that stuff is sugar water, do you?"
"It does have a sweet taste, and a slightly fishy smell, but it's not very strong, so I drank a few more cups..." Liu Gaolou became increasingly embarrassed, then whispered to Li Long, "It really works, it really works!"
"Hey, still saying it wasn't you?" Li Long seized on the loophole in Liu Gaolou's words and burst into laughter.
"I'll just try it, try it for a friend..." Liu Gaolou was about to argue, but seeing that Li Long didn't believe him at all, he stopped explaining, took the herbs from Li Long, and asked about the steeping time and method. Upon hearing that it needed to be steeped for a month, he couldn't help but say:
"Then pour me some more, a month is a bit long!"
"You've gone too far. You should bear with it and take some time to rest!" Li Long advised. "Don't play around with your health!"
P.S.: This couple has been together since the beginning of spring; they're truly a loving couple.
The water is clearer now, and there are more water birds. (End of Chapter)