Crossing the Western Tianshan Mountains

Ling Fengxi went to the back mountain to see the sheep.

While Ayala was bending down to add fuel to the fire, she calmly wiped the tears from her face.

She could do what was right for her, and she could endure her own embarrassment, but she didn't want Ling Fengxi to see it. However, this West Tianshan Mountain was so naked, nothing could be hidden, all the glory, all the shame, all the tears and laughter, there was no place to hide, just exposed, for everyone to see.

At breakfast, Hanati hadn't gotten up yet. He had drunk too much, so Ayala accompanied everyone to eat mutton and drink milk tea. Ye Minglang felt embarrassed and said, "I'm sorry to bother you too much."

Ayala said it was no trouble, Hanati often had friends coming here, and she was used to entertaining his friends. He would get drunk after most of his friends came, and then she would send his friends to the top of the slope to say goodbye.

When leaving, Ling Fengxi gave Ayala three thousand yuan, saying it was for food.

Ayala was determined not to accept it, but Ling Fengxi had a good reason. "To entertain us, you slaughtered a sheep yesterday. That sheep must have cost more than 2,000 yuan, right? Add to that your busy schedule from yesterday until now, and the refreshments. 3,000 yuan is not a lot. You should accept it."

Ayala was about to refuse, but Ling Fengxi spoke in official language, "We are here to check on the herders' winter living conditions. If this visit only increases their financial burden, then there is no point in us doing this. Please accept it."

If Ayala refused the official language again, it would make her seem narrow-minded, too calculative, and ignorant.

Ayala accepted the money and sent Ling Fengxi and the others to the top of the slope. He pointed ahead and said, "There are a few more families over there, but you don't have to go. They're all Hanati's friends. I met them yesterday. Their situation is similar to ours. We don't need to move to other places. They all use squared hay."

He added, "We herders have so many sheep; they won't starve to death. Leaders, don't worry. What we're more concerned about is whether building a tunnel will affect our living environment and pastures."

In fact, this is a question that Hanati often mentions and discusses with friends. Ayala is afraid that this will cause trouble, so she asks it here.

If there were a good reason to give Hanati, both parties might be happier.

Ling Fengxi looked at Ye Minglang. Ye Minglang turned on his phone, pulled up the file, and after carefully observing it for a while, he said to Ling Fengxi, "It's possible that our tunnel will pass through this half-slope. If we move quickly, we'll reach this location by the middle of next year."

Ayala's face looked grim and full of worry.

But after all, we only have a map now, and the tunnel is very narrow. Even if we go through the half slope and directly reach Hanati's Hasabao, the situation is still relatively small. At the moment, Ling Fengxi did not dwell on it anymore and only said to Ayala, "Everything can be solved. I believe Hanati and the others will understand."

After all, Hanati was doing business at the foot of the mountain and had transformed into a good businessman. He had been exposed to all kinds of fun and delicious food at the foot of the mountain and had been impacted by all kinds of ideas there. His horizons must have broadened, and he would not cause any trouble because of the tunnel construction.

Ling Fengxi and the others said goodbye to Ayala and walked forward for a long time. When they looked back, Ayala was still standing there, like a short wooden stake in the snow.

Although Ayala said that the herders nearby were in the same situation as their family, Ling Fengxi still did not slack off. He thought that since he was out anyway, he might as well go and take a look. However, the situation he saw was not as good as Ayala said. Two herders' families lacked Hasa bread and even coal. Both the people and the sheep were so cold that they had nowhere to go.

Their children even ran to the simple sheep pen and squeezed their bodies between the sheep to keep warm. The sheep pen was where they ate, lived and played.

They didn't have any extra cotton-padded jackets, so they could only kill sheep to make them. However, there were relatively few sheep, only about fifty or sixty in total, and they were reluctant to kill them.

They couldn't speak Chinese, but luckily, Gulnar and Nurlan were there. Ling Fengxi asked them why they didn't report it to the government. It was easy for something to go wrong if they lived like this in the winter.

The two families just shook their heads woodenly and smiled innocently. Later, Gulinar said, "They didn't know how to report it to the government. They couldn't speak Chinese, and they wouldn't come down the mountain. If they did, the people down there would dislike their stench and wouldn't want to interact with them, and would laugh at them."

Ling Fengxi was really anxious when he saw the two families. This was not a problem that could be solved by simply buying a few sheep. They had cash, but were unwilling to go down the mountain to buy things, which was also a problem.

Finally, Ling Fengxi asked Ye Minglang to write it down and say, "Report this to the government. Then, purchase supplies, such as Hasa bags and windshields for the sheep pens. Go directly to the mountains and exchange them with the herders. It's not a donation, but an exchange. However, the highest price of the sheep must be exchanged for the lowest price of the supplies. If there's a shortfall, apply for subsidies."

Ye Minglang wrote them down one by one, "Why not donate?" he asked puzzledly.

"The herders don't understand the significance of donated supplies, and we're afraid they'll think they can get something for nothing. So we need to help them through exchange, and teach them that trading can make them richer and get them used to it. They'll become even richer if they can trade down the mountain. If the West Tianshan Tunnel is opened, allowing for the exchange of supplies between the north and south, they'll be even richer. The current situation will definitely not happen."

Ling Fengxi's words made everyone present feel as if they had suddenly realized something. They all couldn't help but admire that Ling Fengxi was worthy of being an official. His thinking was different from that of ordinary people. He could indeed see a longer-term perspective.

This trip can be said to be very fruitful, especially the matter about the "village chief" mentioned by Hanati, which Ling Fengxi actually took to heart.

After returning to the camp, we hadn't even sat down before we were out again and headed to the county.

Because he thought the proposal was very good. After the natural village was formed, it should be brought under management as soon as possible. There was nothing wrong with the proposal of Hanati to be the village chief.

It turned out that the county did have this matter, but they also had other things to consider. There were only seven or eight herders in the area where Hanati was located, and these herders did not live there all the time. They would move to other pastures in the summer, and that area might be empty, without even a house, because the Hasa bags were movable. Only some sheep dung balls and cow dung balls, and abandoned stoves would be left.

So even if the village is given a name, it is meaningless. They are a "nomadic people" and the people in the county deliberately emphasized these four words.