ryethenovel Chapter 130 A Gathering of Men
Chapter 130 A Gathering of Men
From Nantun Railway Station to the winter pasture, the two tractors drove until after 8 p.m.
Zhang Taibao in the car behind was very resilient and didn't need to be changed many times along the way.
Xiao Kai, who was in the lead vehicle, didn't drive again except for the first section. He just wrapped himself in a roe deer skin sleeping bag that Su Dao had brought along and taught everyone how to drive a tractor.
In the last part, Chen Tuo also drove for more than an hour, which was a simple review of his driving skills.
Despite encountering snowdrifts several times along the way, Xiao Kai didn't regret borrowing the tractor.
Even with a six-wheeled truck, it might not be able to cross the snowdrifts, but a few meters of snowdrifts are easily traversed by the Dongfanghong 28 rubber-wheeled truck.
Upon arriving at the winter ranch with its wooden cabins, the group didn't stand on ceremony. After a simple meal and drinks, they settled into the warm, shared sleeping area.
The Naadam festival at this winter pasture in Nantun has been held several times a year, not just once or twice.
The rows of wooden houses, the huge stacks of firewood and cow dung were all obtained by the herders who came to participate in the winter Naadam festival through various channels.
The grasslands today, just like before, still have production teams, except that the main work of these teams is herding and cutting grass.
With the winter off-season in full swing, the gathering place for the winter ranch was built with a tacit eye.
Chen Tuo moved into the dormitory-style room, which brought trouble for Bai Long and Su Mo.
Among the group were four young men: Chen Tuo, Xiao Kai, Zhang Taibao, and Guan Tianpeng, who were all young bachelors.
Wu Laowai and Guan Dunzi are old-fashioned folks.
According to Su Dao, Morigen also lived alone in the hunter's settlement.
However, there is only one communal sleeping area in the wooden cabins of the Nantun winter pasture.
Logically speaking, Su Dao is the best partition.
But after lying down properly, Chen Tuo became the partition, and he was covered with Bai Long and Su Mo under a large reindeer hide.
The reindeer hide, sewn with roe deer sinew, served as both the cover for the tunic and a product brought by Su Dao.
If the transaction fails, it can still serve as a place to stay on the way back.
Newly tanned reindeer hides inevitably have a tan smell.
Chen Tuo didn't mind the smell, but Su Mo, who smelled strongly of fur, snuggled into his arms, which felt a bit off.
According to Wu Laowai, it's only comfortable to sleep in a roe deer skin sleeping bag if you take it off.
Su Mo and Bai Long did the same, which made Chen Tuo feel a little uncomfortable, since this was a large dormitory with many people around!
"Section Chief Xiao, does Ejin Banner have any industrialized leather tanning technology?"
Embracing the wild and untamed Su Mo, Chen Tuo got down to business in the dark.
Hygiene habits are indeed a major weakness of the hunter settlement.
This might be difficult for the hunters to solve, but for Chen Tuo, it was very easy.
Sauna, tanning agents, plus smoke and fire—it's that simple!
Even without a sauna, a reindeer hide tent will do.
The herbal incense that Bailong used on the North Mountain smelled quite good.
It's just a hygiene habit; once you get used to it, it'll be a different story.
"Yes! That's great! There's a huge tannin factory in Yakeshi! And there's a factory here too, all ready-made!"
When it comes to tanning leather, Xiao Kai is not exactly an outsider. He is familiar with the tanning methods used by the mountain people, as well as those used by the military.
Due to limited conditions in the mountains, the hides from the hunters' settlements had a strong odor, not mainly due to the tanning process, but because the cleaning process was missing.
"Besides the tannin extract from Yakeshi, Hailar also has a large slaughterhouse, where there are plenty of cattle and sheep hooves and hides as scraps!"
After a brief encounter, Xiao Kai realized that Chen Tuo was a shrewd and calculating person, so he simply revealed all his connections.
"That's good. I'll go take a look when I get back..."
Chen Tuo got down to business, and neither Bai Long nor Su Mo bothered him.
But as they talked, the two, who had been freezing all the way, fell asleep, and Chen Tuo was thus spared a disaster.
The next morning, Chen Tuo was about to get up with the men to unload the truck when Su Dao, who was sleeping next to him, pushed him back into the reindeer hide blanket.
Seeing the two neat and clean Evenki girls dressed and tidying up their bedding, Chen Tuo simply lit a cigarette and watched them.
After Bai Long and Su Mo finished packing, the three of them left the wooden house. Chen Tuo then realized that apart from a few women who grazed livestock on the winter pasture, all the people who came were men.
The horses tied up in the makeshift stables were more robust than those in the pasture stables, and the cattle and sheep were about the same size.
When Xiao Kai and Su Dao came out, they didn't unload the truck, but instead set up a stall on the spot.
Seeing the horses tied to the stables, saddled, and with guns in their saddlebags, Chen Tuo walked over to the tractor and asked:
"Uncle Su, don't they have guns? Type 56 semi-automatic rifles, no less..."
"Chen, those are government guns and your own horses!"
Before Su Dao could speak, Xiao Kai pointed out the difference between a gun and a horse, and he emphasized the horse.
Chen Tuo looked at the horse pen at the winter pasture for a while before noticing the difference.
The horses that the herdsmen rode were mostly tall and strong, while the horses in the pasture stables were all Mongolian horses.
"Are they here to sell draft horses?"
Chen Tuo saw through the trick, and Xiao Kai didn't explain further.
The situation here is difficult to explain, and cannot be explained well.
Raising cattle, sheep, and horses for the public on the grasslands is different from the livestock sheds of a real production team.
While horses typically give birth to one child at a time, twins do occur, and twins are even more common in cattle and sheep.
The grasslands are too vast, and the distances between teams and households are too great, which also affects the living conditions of the herders.
If we strictly adhere to fixed quantities and supplies, most people would find it unbearable.
That's why these cattle, sheep, and horses appear in winter pastures.
This is also why the Naadam festival can be held year-round, even in winter.
Because the business is mainly trading, the people who come to the pastures in winter are almost all men, and there are very few women.
After the transactions were completed and they received a living allowance, the men naturally wanted to relax, which led to the current winter Naadam festival.
In addition to the goods traded, both the herders and Sudao brought out extra goods.
Su Dao's side produced two water-based bullets, one Beret, and three hundred rounds of ammunition.
The herders would bring out one or two horses and a dozen or so sheep, depending on the number of people in their household.
These additional traded goods, once gathered together, include cattle, sheep, horses, firearms, and hides, which are then exchanged for standard Mongolian horses from the ranch's stables.
Most of the draft horses and Mongolian horses gathered around Chen Tuo's two tractors.
After a quick glance, Chen Tuo guessed the prices here.
A stream of water is equivalent to a draft horse or a dozen or twenty sheep.
A single Beredank can be exchanged for a Mongolian horse.
If, as Wu Laowai said, a draft horse costs a thousand, then Su Dao has made a huge profit this time.
"Uncle Su, were the three guns from before the transaction fee?"
Having roughly understood the prices, Chen Tuo didn't understand the purpose of the three guns, so he asked about it directly.
"That's our food and drink, plus the competition rewards. It'll be over in a little while, and you'll understand..."
Even after arriving at the winter ranch and the trade had already begun, Su Dao remained secretive and did not reveal his purpose.
Chen Tuo then looked toward the temporary horse pen, where the horses were armed with both guns and bows and arrows.
He guessed that most of the hunters in Sudao had probably suffered a defeat in the competition and wanted to settle scores...