Chapter 196: Mountains are treasure houses

Uncle Dong Kuan has lived on the ranch all his life. Even though he is old, he works very efficiently. Before others have finished packing up, he has already started to light up the small clay stove, taken out the mutton skewers and skillfully roasted them. He evenly spread the chili and soy sauce on the mutton skewers with a small brush. After a while, the mutton skewers sizzled on the fire.

Xu Lingjun couldn't help sniffing at the aroma. Dong Kuan saw it and called out, "Come, have two skewers of mutton first!"

Xu Lingjun was not polite. They all would be grazing together for several days. Whoever had good things would share them with others. Now Dong Kuan was giving him the food, and next time it would be his turn to give it to others.

He took out a pot of highland barley wine from the package, poured a cup for Dong Kuan and himself, then took the mutton skewers and grilled them with the same skill. In the world of "The Road of Life", he was a nationally renowned gourmet and had mastered the skill of grilling long ago.

"Wow, I haven't seen you for a few days. Your skills have improved." Dong Kuan's eyes lit up when he saw his actions.

"It's still missing some chili and cumin. I have chili here." Xu Lingjun took out the chili powder he had prepared in advance and sprinkled it on. "I don't have cumin right now. Next time I go to town, I'll see if I can find it. Adding these things will make the lamb skewers taste better."

The aroma also attracted Guo Chenzi, Haisheng and others. They came over sniffing, took the barley wine from Xu Lingjun and took a sip. When they saw that the mutton skewers were cooked, they took one skewer each and started eating without waiting for Xu Lingjun to distribute them.

As soon as everyone tasted it, they praised it unanimously, "Wow, Lao Xu is different now that he has a wife. Even his lamb skewers are better than before."

Xu Lingjun also took two bites. The mutton skewers lacked flavor due to lack of seasoning, but the fresh grassland mutton was enough to make up for this shortcoming. The mutton was fat and lean and melted in the mouth. Paired with a sip of spicy barley wine, it was definitely an ultimate enjoyment in the chilly spring breeze of the Qilian Mountains.

Nowadays, it is impossible to eat enough mutton skewers. After everyone tasted a few bites to satisfy their craving, they took out some heated barley cakes and started eating them. This is the only thing that can really fill your stomach.

After dinner, everyone started to busy themselves with setting up tents. The wind was strong on the mountain and it was impossible to do without a tent to shelter from the wind. Xu Lingjun had been grazing on the ranch for ten years, and these tasks had long become muscle memory. He set up the tent in no time.

The horses could eat grass by themselves. Except for a few herdsmen who took shifts to guard the periphery and guard against wild beasts, everyone else was half lying on the grassland, smoking and chatting. Xu Lingjun, who had just got married, became the focus of everyone's teasing.

After a while of noise, it was time to change shifts. Xu Lingjun and Dong Kuan rode on their horses to replace Haisheng and Guo Chenzi. Xu Lingjun saw that Dong Kuan was carrying a handful of five or six and a half guns on his back.

The traditional ferocious beasts in China are nothing more than jackals, wolves, tigers, leopards and bears. Usually only 1-2 of these five animals can be found in one area. However, the four major ferocious beasts, jackals, wolves, bears and leopards, are all found in the Qilian Mountains.

Jackals are very brave creatures. A group of jackals would even dare to attack a tiger. The same goes for wolves.

The leopard is the snow leopard, which is known as the king of snow mountains and is the absolute king in the heights of Qilian Mountains.

The bear is a Tibetan brown bear, also known as the Tibetan horse bear. It is brutal by nature and will even attack humans.

These animals will threaten the existence of the horse herd, so you must bring a gun when you go out to graze.

In addition, there are many kinds of animals in the Qilian Mountains, such as gazelles, lynxes, Tibetan foxes, white-lipped deer, Tibetan wild donkeys, wild yaks, etc. If you come across them, you are lucky, because the herdsmen will rush up to kill these animals, eat their meat, and exchange their fur for money.

According to convention, this money belongs to oneself, so everyone gets some extra money for no reason.

Xu Lingjun has experienced a lot, but he has never really played with a gun. There is no shortage of guns on the ranch, but because he is a rightist, the ranch management is still wary of him and will definitely not give him a gun easily.

Since the cowshed was removed, the relevant regulations have been relaxed, but Xu Lingjun still had concerns. In addition, he always regarded himself as a scholar and had little interest in shooting, so he did not mention it.

Over time, everyone got used to it. If they encountered a wild beast, other people would go ahead and give Xu Lingjun some meat. A lot of the dried meat in his family came from that way.

The situation is different now. Xu Lingjun is now very interested in playing with guns. After going through several worlds, he has never played with this thing seriously, so he couldn't help asking, "Uncle Dong, can you let me try the gun?"

"Oh, you just finished firing a cannon and you can't help but play with the gun again? How come you are getting more and more irritable now that you have a new wife?" Dong Kuan turned around and joked.

Without waiting for Xu Lingjun to respond, Dong Kuan started to make excuses for him. "As the saying goes, an old house catches fire faster. You have been holding it in for more than 30 years. You are like a pine tree that has been exposed to the sun. A spark can ignite it."

"Here, play with it." Dong Kuan rode up to Xu Lingjun and handed him the gun. "If you want to shoot, you have to go far away, otherwise it will be troublesome if you scare the horses."

"I know." Xu Lingjun took the gun and looked at it excitedly. It was the same when he encountered wild beasts in the past. Unless it was an emergency, he would ride a horse to drive the beasts away before shooting.

"There is a ravine ahead. We can shoot there without scaring the horses. If you want to try, I'll take you there later." Dong Kuan said cheerfully. He is old and looks at Xu Lingjun like his own child. He will never be stingy as long as he can help.

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"Okay, I'll go with you after the shift change." Xu Lingjun also wanted to try shooting, so he readily agreed.

While watching the horses and playing with the gun, it was time for the shift change before they knew it. Two herdsmen came to replace them. Dong Kuan said something to them and took Xu Lingjun to a ravine not far away.

Just as they reached the mouth of the ditch, Dong Kuan suddenly stopped his horse and called out to Xu Lingjun, "Old Xu, come here quickly. We can have a good meal tonight."

He dismounted and followed him to take a look, only to see clusters of pale yellow mushrooms with wrinkled caps growing in the grass. Xu Lingjun hurriedly started picking them. This thing is called Qilian yellow mushroom, which tastes extremely delicious. In later generations, it became a precious specialty, and some high-quality products can even be sold for four or five hundred yuan per kilogram.

Looking at the side, Xu Lingjun saw several immature Cordyceps sinensis. He couldn't help but sigh: wild animals, mushrooms, and medicinal herbs, the Qilian Mountains are really a huge treasure trove.

It's a pity that Xu Lingjun and other herdsmen didn't explore this treasure house well before. Now he has walked into this treasure house with a head full of knowledge. So he still needs to worry about not having a good life? (End of this chapter)