Rebirth of Bayi Fishing and Hunting in the Northwest

Chapter 1006 Nationwide Snow Disaster: The Losses Are Too Great

Upon hearing Li Long's request, the sales staff here, although they knew Li Long, did not dare to make a decision. They temporarily suspended their work negotiations with some other staff members and called Factory Director Du.

Li Long was also feeling uneasy, wondering if Factory Director Du would agree to allocate two more snowplows to him. It was clear that snowplows were selling very well, and he figured he should be able to get a decent share of the profits soon.

The salesperson's surname was Qi, and his name was Qi Yuanhu. After finishing his call, he came over to Li Long and said:

"Comrade Li Long, we don't have many snowplows left in our inventory. How many do you need?"

“Two, hand-push type,” Li Long said hurriedly.

"Okay, then sign here. The factory manager said to take it away after you sign it."

Li Long hurriedly signed the document, but as he was signing, someone else complained: "Why can he just sign and take away the snowplow? I've already paid, and you're making us wait?"

"Exactly! Even in buying and selling, there should be a first-come, first-served principle, right? Why can he cut in line?"

Li Long hesitated. This matter had made him seem like he was being treated differently.

"Let me tell you, if you don't give us an explanation, we won't buy this snowplow. Not only will we not buy it, but we'll also report your backdoor practices to higher authorities!" someone threatened. "You must give us an explanation!"

"Yes! You must give us an explanation!"

"Because he's the inventor of the snowplow!" Qi Yuanhu, seeing those who were about to discuss cooperation getting angry one by one, remained completely calm and pointed at Li Long seriously, saying:

"These two types of snow removal machines were designed and invented by Comrade Li Long, and then handed over to our factory for production. As the inventor of the snow removal machine, he has the right to have priority to obtain the snow removal machine for trial operation, which is stipulated in our contract."

"What?" Some people looked at the young Li Long in disbelief.

"Not only snowplows, but also harvesters and tillers produced in our factory have the participation of Comrade Li Long. So don't underestimate Comrade Li Long just because he is young. He is a very capable inventor!"

When the salesperson said that, these people believed it. After all, if they only mentioned snowplows, others might still have doubts. Nowadays, even people in government offices mostly go to the fields to conduct research and provide guidance, so they are quite clear about the functions of harvesters and cultivators.

Therefore, the way these people look at Li Long has changed from doubt and anger to appreciation and admiration.

Li Long felt a little embarrassed, so he quickly signed the papers and went to the warehouse to pick up the snowplow.

After receiving the snowplow and mounting it on his small four-wheeled vehicle, Li Long was stopped by someone as he was about to leave.

"Hello, you must be Comrade Li Long? Let me introduce myself. I am Chen Guangyu from Shicheng Tractor Factory, the deputy head of the technical department."

"Hello, Section Chief Chen." Li Long was a little puzzled as to why Section Chief Chen wanted to see him.

"I never expected that Comrade Li Long, at such a young age, would invent so many significant devices. I really didn't know. I still don't know where you graduated from, Comrade Li Long?"

"Me? I'm too embarrassed to say, I didn't even graduate from junior high school."

"Ah—that's an inventor who rose from the grassroots! That's even more admirable, truly amazing! Now I understand the meaning of the saying 'from the masses, back to the masses' even more. Only by deeply rooting ourselves among the masses can we achieve something!"

Only someone like Comrade Li Long, who truly understands the specific needs of farmers' production, could invent harvesters and cultivators. We should learn from you; compared to you, we've been building castles in the air and reinventing the wheel.”

This man spoke in a very logical and eloquent way, which left Li Long somewhat confused, so he could only smile.

“By the way, Comrade Li Long, how about we go to my office for a chat?” Chen Guangyu extended an invitation. “I would like to ask you to give a report to our technical staff, to talk about your ideas and original intentions in inventing these devices, and to give young people some inspiration.”

"I'm sorry, Section Chief Chen, I'm in a hurry to get these two pieces of equipment to hand in my report." Li Long hurriedly waved his hand. "Sorry, besides, this was just a sudden inspiration, I can't compare to you technical people."

"Don't mention it, Comrade Li Long, you're too modest," Chen Guangyu said with a smile. "Chairman Mao said that we should learn from the peasants when it comes to farming, so it's only right that we learn from you. After all, the accomplished are the first to be recognized."

Li Long smiled, eager to leave. Chen Guangyu didn't want to stop him, but after a moment's hesitation, he asked a question:
"Comrade Li Long, may I ask why you didn't approach the agricultural machinery factory in your Ma County, or our Shicheng Tractor Factory, but instead went to the more distant Kuitun Agricultural Machinery Factory to discuss cooperation?"

Li Long laughed and said:

"Is Section Chief Chen new here?"

"Hmm, I've only been here for two years," Chen Guangyu said. "I used to work in the technical department of the regiment."

"No wonder. Actually, I looked in both places, but because of my educational background, neither your factory nor the Ma County government really liked my design, so I went to Kuitun."

"Huh?" Chen Guangyu was stunned.

I never expected it to be for this reason!
"Alright, Section Chief Chen, I really have something urgent to attend to. Let's talk again another time." With that, Li Long got on the tractor and prepared to leave.

Chen Guangyu realized what was happening and quickly pulled out a small notebook and pen from his pocket. He wrote a note and handed it to Li Long: "Comrade Li Long, this is my office phone number. If you have any good ideas in the future, please contact me directly. I believe that with me here, this kind of thing will never happen again in the technical department..."

Li Long accepted the note, waved to Chen Guangyu, and drove the tractor back to Ma County.

He was ready to hand over the two push snowplows, so he drove the tractor directly to the supply and marketing cooperative and gave the two snowplows to Li Xiangqian.

When the snowplow was unloaded, everyone from the supply and marketing cooperative watched, clearly envious.

The snow has already started falling, and the snowplows are proving their worth. The Education Bureau and the Supply and Marketing Cooperative are probably the most prominent units in this regard.

Li Xiangqian had mentioned that the supply and marketing cooperative also had other warehouses and courtyards with heavy snow removal tasks. The snow removal machines were used in rotation, so there were more wolves than meat. Now that there were two more machines, these people naturally wanted to use them in their own offices.

"Don't even think about it, this is for the state commune." Li Xiangqian's words immediately shattered everyone's plans. "Alright, everyone disperse now and get back to work."

After everyone had left, Li Xiangqian said to Li Long:
"I need to send this to the state commune right now, are you coming or not?"

"I won't go," Li Long shook his head. "I have a lot of things to do here."

He was mainly slacking off. It was Li Xiang who brought this up; even he hadn't expected it. Li Xiang was clearly trying to curry favor with Director Qian, and Li Long felt it was best for him to stay out of it.

He had a good relationship with Director Qian and Sister Guan. The relationship between Li Xiangqian and Director Qian seemed to be more complicated, so Li Long wanted to keep things simple and decided not to go to such places himself.

Seeing Li Long's resolute answer, Li Xiangqian didn't press the matter further. He asked Zhou Yuan to arrange the vehicle, and together they pulled the snowplow to the state commune.

Upon meeting Director Qian, Li Xiangqian naturally didn't forget Li Long, and specifically mentioned that Li Long had obtained the snow removal machine, which surprised Director Qian for a moment.

"Xiao Li is quite capable. He can hunt, invent, and manage production very well. Not bad at all!" He admired this young man more and more.

“Yes, I feel like he could achieve great things anywhere,” Li Xiangqian sighed. “Compare that to when I was his age, I was still following others around, learning from them.”

"Xiangqian, don't underestimate yourself. When you were your age, you also carried a gun and followed the grain procurement team, running around to procure grain for our large-scale production. You were brave back then too." Director Qian smiled.

“Come on, the snow in the yard hasn’t been cleared yet. Let’s go see how your snowplow works. If it’s good, let’s notify the county and township governments so we can buy a batch and save manpower and resources.”

Li Xiangqian smiled. Although Li Long didn't come, he also benefited from this.

Li Long returned home from the supply and marketing cooperative. It was past lunchtime, but Sister Yang had left him some food, which was still warm in the pot. Sister Yang herself watched as Mingming and Haohao took their afternoon nap.

Li Long quickly finished his lunch, cleared away the remaining snow in the yard, hauled it out in a wheelbarrow, and dumped it into the tree field outside.

When Gu Xiaoxia returned in the afternoon, she brought two people with her; they had helped return the push snowplow.

During dinner, Gu Xiaoxia said, "The snowplow our unit uses actually cleared the snow in the yard quite early this morning, and then we borrowed it from several other units. When they returned it, they said they wanted to order one too. Our leaders here are also planning to buy two."

Originally, Director Wang's idea was that schools could order them, since they weren't expensive. However, some leaders felt that schools had many students and needed to develop their practical skills, so they shouldn't use the snowplow. Therefore, the schools decided not to buy it…”

Li Long smiled. This was normal. Each school had at least a hundred students, and even first and second graders had to shovel snow at this time of year. With so much manpower available, the schools weren't worried about the snowfall at all.

Even thirty or forty years later, it was still pretty much the same. In fact, back then, students were so busy with schoolwork that shoveling snow became a way to relax.

The subsequent phone call from Director Du confirmed this.

"Xiao Li, let me tell you, I really underestimated this market. Just after this snowfall, we've already received orders for over three thousand units," Factory Manager Du said, feigning a complaint. "Our workers are working three shifts, putting in extra hours to produce, and even so, the orders are already booked for a month in advance."

"Isn't that great?" Li Long said with a smile. "Although snowplows are seasonal products, our factory can make a living this season, right?"

"Yes, yes, yes, we're really full, stuffed!" Director Du was genuinely happy about this. It was only early December, and he estimated that the snowplows could be sold for another month or two. After all, this year's snowfall was extraordinary, and it seemed unlikely that it would stop after just one or two more snowfalls.

Moreover, with each snowfall being this heavy, farmers might be happy, since the soil moisture will definitely be good in the spring. But for various organizations, too much snow is a problem.

Snowplows are time-saving and labor-saving, so they are naturally a necessity.

He estimates that he should be able to sell around 10,000 units this winter.

The production workshop is now operating at full capacity, but even so, it can only produce a maximum of a hundred units per day.

Even after removing the substandard ones, it would take at least two months to produce 10,000 units.

The question is, will anyone still need snowplows two months from now? After all, January is over, and it's unlikely that there will be as much snow in February.

Of course, even if it doesn't reach 10,000 units, but even 5,000 units, the agricultural machinery factory can still have a good year this winter.

This is good news for the agricultural machinery factory, and also good news for Li Long. In other words, even if he did nothing all winter, he could still earn tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of yuan.

Wow, that's amazing!

Since Director Du was so honest in telling Li Long the data, he certainly wouldn't be up to any tricks when it came to profit sharing. It was practically a certainty that Li Long would receive a large sum of money before the end of the year.

Another reason Director Du called Li Long was that although the agricultural machinery factory hadn't promoted its products in Ma County, many units there had already placed orders with them. He guessed this was thanks to Li Long, so he wanted to let him know.

What happened next left Li Long with mixed feelings of joy and worry.

There were three snowfalls in mid-December: two light snowfalls and one heavy snowfall. The light snowfall was one thing, but the heavy snowfall was nearly forty centimeters deep. Li Long had to go into the mountains again to deliver supplies.

Halim and Yushanjiang cleared the snow from the roads in the valley again with snowplows. Fortunately, the winter shelter road was now open, and the supplies that Halim and Lilong had brought last time had been distributed to the homes of the herders.

As Li Long had thought, for now they could only rely on the grass they harvested in the fall to feed their cattle and sheep through the winter.

Li Long hadn't fulfilled his promise to deliver a truckload of sugar residue, so after delivering the supplies this time, he went straight to the sugar factory, found Song Ming, and made his request.

“If we’re going into the mountains—noon is just enough time.” Song Ming thought for a moment, “We can load it onto the truck and take it away now.”

"Okay," Li Long said, "Let's do it this way then."

Having worked together for a long time, the two had developed a tacit understanding, so there was no need for much explanation. Song Ming loaded a truck full of sugar residue and then followed Li Long's jeep into the mountains.

The sugar residue was unloaded in front of Halimudongwozi, some of which had already frozen.

This stuff is good feed for livestock. Li Long's idea is to have Song Ming make a trip every day to ensure that every herding household gets a truckload.

Song Ming had no objections, since there was a freight fee for each trip anyway, and it was just during his lunch break, so there wasn't much of a problem.

Halim and his men were overjoyed and wanted to slaughter a sheep for Li Long and his group, but Li Long refused. He was joking; the sugarcane residue was brought in to help the cattle and sheep survive the winter, not to eat them.

After Li Long and Song Ming left, Halim was about to drive his truck loaded with sugar residue to Yushanjiang. Once there, Yushanjiang, upon learning the situation, told him to stop transporting it.

“If Li Long can think this through, then he will naturally understand that the sugar residue will definitely be transported to each household by truck,” Yu Shanjiang said. “You don’t need to transport it like that. We just need to hunt a few more wolves and give the wolf pelts to Li Long. That way, we can earn back his transportation costs.”

“Perfect timing! I have a pack of wolves at my place that's really annoying at night!” Halim said with a laugh. “I’ll take them down in the next couple of days and skin them.”

"That's exactly what I mean." Yushanjiang's wife and children were still at the herding team's post. He went to check on them once in the last couple of days and then hurriedly returned. The tractor was convenient, but with the snow so heavy right now, he didn't dare stay there alone for too long.

There are also wolves on his side. After all, with the snow thick, it's not easy for wolves to find food. These herders' cattle and sheep are good food for them.

Li Long and Song Ming spent two days making sugar residue, and then Li Xiangqian called him and asked him to go to the supply and marketing cooperative.

Fortunately, Song Ming knew the roads well, and Li Long had already arranged with him that regardless of whether he went or not, he would haul a truckload into the mountains every day for thirty yuan a truckload. After all, the mountain roads were treacherous and much more troublesome than the plains, and the goods had to be delivered to the entrance of the winter camp and then unloaded—it wasn't an easy job.

When Li Long arrived at the supply and marketing cooperative, everyone there seemed to be in a hurry and very busy. They simply greeted Li Long briefly and then went back to their own business.

When Li Long arrived at the director's office, he saw Li Xiangqian writing or drawing something in a notebook.

"Sit down, I'll be right there." Li Xiangqian saw that it was Li Long, pointed to the sofa and said, "Pour yourself some water."

After waiting a while, when the hot tea that Li Long had poured was ready to drink, Li Xiangqian put down his pen, looked up at Li Long, and said:

"The state office called; things aren't going well this winter."

"Snow disaster?" Li Long asked.

“Yes.” Li Xiangqian was somewhat surprised by Li Long’s keen observation, then smiled and said, “That’s right. It’s only been a little over a month since winter started and there have been so many heavy snowfalls. Anyone with a bit of sense could tell.”

"What do you want us to do?" Li Long asked.

"The snow disaster has the greatest impact on herders. We need to help them raise fodder, coarse salt, and daily necessities. Now all the winter pastures are covered by heavy snow, and many herders do not have enough fodder prepared in the fall. This winter will be tough."

Li Long nodded silently.

Actually, if it weren't for the fact that I repaired the road for Halim and his family in the summer, helped them repair their winter shelter last year, and even helped them buy a tractor and harvester when they were cutting hay, Halim and his family would probably have had a hard winter.

Even so, we still need to provide the mountains with refined feed such as sugar residue, otherwise those culled sheep might not survive.

Thinking about other pastoral tribes, they must be even more distressed.

"I can provide some fodder and feed, but personally, I can't provide much," Li Long said after thinking for a moment.

"We need to take a two-pronged approach."

"How do you mean by double-barreled?" Li Xiangqian became interested. "I actually had the same idea. Let's see if our ideas are the same."

Li Long then shared his opinion.

(End of this chapter)