Rebirth of Bayi Fishing and Hunting in the Northwest

Chapter 1022 Gifts keep coming in, it's hard to refuse their hospitality!

Half a sheep, ten kilograms of beef, two ribbonfish, a box of apples, a box of Kuitun Special Qu liquor, a plate of frozen shrimp, and a piece of pork belly.

All of these are high-quality items; they probably cost more than a hundred yuan in total.

Li Long guessed that the factory probably wouldn't give these things to everyone. Sure enough, after receiving them, the staff member said:
"Because you designed this snow removal machine, our factory received a lot of bonuses before the New Year thanks to it. Everyone is grateful to you, so we have an unusually large number of these things!"

Li Long accepted it with a smile; he really appreciated the gesture.

The items were loaded into the car, the last being a case of Kuitun Special Qu liquor. Looking at the uniquely shaped bottle, Li Long wondered if he should stock up on a batch, since these bottles would be discontinued in a few years. In a few decades, a bottle of this liquor would cost over a thousand yuan.

Storing dozens of cases now will make you look good when you drink it later—the key point is that the wine now is truly brewed from pure grains, but who knows what it will be mixed with later.

Factory Director Du asked his staff to arrange lunch for Li Long, as he was too busy to eat with him. According to the staff, Factory Director Du's mealtimes had been irregular lately, as too many people came to discuss cooperation.

Director Du didn't want to be the kind of person who discussed business over dinner; he wanted to finish the normal cooperation in the office before doing anything else.

Li Long declined the staff's offer to have lunch with him and simply went out and ate at a random place on his own.

I could have gone to my second brother's place, but I wanted to leave quickly so as not to bother them.

Perhaps because they didn't live together growing up, they weren't that close. If Li Jianguo's family lived here, Li Long would go over for a meal without hesitation, but he couldn't bring himself to do it at his second brother's or sister's house.

I ate at a state-run restaurant, then went to the distillery, bought two cases of Kuitun Special Qu liquor, loaded them into the truck, and drove back.

As we drove back, there were fewer people carrying guns and shooting at gazelles on the road, but there were still a few.

Some vehicles had a catch, indicating that herds of gazelles had passed through, while others had caught nothing and were simply munching on dry naan. Compared to steamed buns, naan is easier to carry and relatively tastier, although it can be a bit dry and chewy.

Li Long didn't stop, and drove until he was almost at Shicheng when he saw a small flock of gazelles rushing across the road and running into the Gobi Desert to the south. The distance was quite far, and he didn't bother to attack them anymore.

Li Long didn't stop when passing through Shicheng, and drove back to Ma County. He felt his butt was getting a little uncomfortable.

The purchasing station was already closed, but when I passed by, I could still see a person carrying a bag, peering through the iron gate. When Li Long's jeep drove by, that person left.

Li Long hesitated for a moment, but didn't stop. Judging from this person's appearance, he didn't seem to be in a hurry, so he probably wasn't desperate for money. He just didn't know that the purchasing station had closed earlier than last year, and he had made a wasted trip.

Back in the courtyard, Han Fang was playing with Mingming and Haohao, along with the three little black lambs. The three lambs were quite mischievous, occasionally standing on their hind legs to nudge Mingming and Haohao, who would fight back.

The jeep drove in, and the little lamb ran away in fright, but Little Black kept jumping around, welcoming Li Long's return.

Li Long got out of the car and started moving things into the house. Sister Yang also came over to help, and was a little surprised to see so many ingredients.

"The welfare provided by the agricultural machinery factory is enough to feed us for several days," Li Long said with a smile. At this time, even the fattened cattle and sheep were fed concentrated feed, free from clenbuterol or other chemicals, so they were safe to eat.

Li Long asked Sister Yang to take out some of the food so they could cook it in the south courtyard, and Sister Yang agreed.

In the afternoon, just as Gu Xiaoxia was about to get off work, the phone rang in the room. Li Long went in and answered the phone; it was Wang Mingjun calling.

"Hello, Company Commander Wang," Li Long greeted him, somewhat surprised.

"Xiaolong, once this broom job is finished, you're not coming over. We've got several hundred sheepskins here, and with the heavy snow, it's difficult for us to deliver them to you. What do you think we should do?"

"Then I'll go pick them up tomorrow." They've reserved hundreds of hides for him; how could Li Long not go and pick them up? That would be a bit odd.

"Okay, we'll be waiting for you." Wang Mingjun laughed, replied, and then hung up the phone.

Li Long hurriedly pulled out his phone book, looked around, and called the county transportation company. The person on the other end answered the phone, knew that Li Long wanted to hire a truck, asked for Li Long's name, said they would report it, and quickly returned to say that the truck was available and Li Long could come over the next day.

We're long-time customers, so we can still give them this much face.

The next day, Li Long went to the transportation company. This time, he didn't drive; he went directly with the truck to the corps company in the north.

The further north you go, the more you get that feeling of "a thousand miles of rivers and mountains, ten thousand miles of snow" and "the earth is a vast expanse of white, so clean and pure".

Occasionally, you can see black dots and patches in the snow; these are shrubs that haven't been completely covered.

Apart from the sound of the car engine, you couldn't hear anything else; it was as if you had entered a completely still world.

Heading north from Ma County for more than ten kilometers, once you leave the township's territory, there are tractor tracks on the road, but it's not impassable.

But the further north you go, the fewer tire tracks there are. At first, the entire road was flattened, but after traveling dozens of kilometers, you've left the town and entered the territory of the Production and Construction Corps. The snow in the middle of the road has stopped being compacted, and only the area where the tire wheels are is flattened.

The snow on both sides of the road is quite high. Unlike in the mountains, where there is little vegetation and there would inevitably be wind blowing snow, here there is none. The snow looks exactly like it does now.

As Li Long watched the road conditions worsen, he wondered if there would be no road at all and he would have to clear the snow.

"Mr. Li, don't worry, our truck has plenty of horsepower." The driver saw Li Long's concern and said with a smile, "Even if the snow on the road hasn't been cleared, we can still drive over and help them clear the road."

Li Long smiled to himself, thinking that the snow on the roadside must be at least 80 centimeters thick. How far could this truck possibly push the snow?
Of course, he only thought about it and didn't say it out loud. He was wondering if he should get a snowplow for Wang Mingjun and his team? At least that thing would actually work. After all, Wang Mingjun's company already had a small four-wheeled tractor, which would be convenient to carry.

Unexpectedly, as we approached the company, the road suddenly opened up, the snow in the middle was cleared, and there was at least a three or four-meter-wide road, making driving very smooth.

"The people here are pretty amazing." The driver looked around. "It wasn't cleared by snowplows; they organized a team of people to push it out directly."

Looking at the clear road ahead, Li Long was pleased. This must have been organized by Wang Mingjun; it was quite well done.

When the truck arrived at the company headquarters, Wang Mingjun and Lao Chen were already at the door.

Li Long hurriedly told the driver to stop the car. He got out, shook hands with the two men, and said with a smile:

"Company Commander, Brother Chen, your fighting strength is impressive! The snow has been cleared so well, all the way from here..."

"That really took a lot of effort and hard work," Wang Mingjun laughed. Old Chen explained from the side, "You know how heavy the snow has been these past few days. Fortunately, there's not much to do in winter. As soon as it snows, the company commander organizes people to start shoveling snow, treating it as a form of physical exercise and training for the troops."

Li Long thought to himself that Lao Chen's awareness and language skills were now on par with the company commander's.

Once inside the company headquarters, Wang Mingjun began to complain:
"The regiment allocated snowplows, and those things are really efficient at clearing snow! But there's only one, and after clearing the snow at the company headquarters, it was snatched up by nearby companies. Our companies, which are far away, can't get a turn at all... and we don't even know where to buy one. If we had one of these machines, things would be much easier for us."

In the dead of winter, who wouldn't want to stay indoors by the fire, cracking sunflower seeds? But Qingxue had no choice but to come out..."

"As for a snowplow, I can get you one." Li Long thought to himself, what a coincidence! "Come to my place after the New Year, and I'll get you one."

"You can get your hands on one?" Wang Mingjun's eyes lit up, and he grabbed Li Long's arm, saying, "Really? You mean one of those that goes on a small four-wheeled tractor? The kind that can roll up snow?"

"Yes, it's that one from the Kuitun Agricultural Machinery Factory." Li Long was too embarrassed to say that he designed it himself. "I have a good relationship with them. They got one for our team and two for the herders in the mountains. If you want them, I'll take you to pick them up."

"Go to Kuitun? That's a bit far," Old Chen said with some concern.

“We don’t need to go to Kuitun. Shicheng Tractor has a dealership,” Li Long said. “We can just pick it up there.” “No problem! Don’t wait until after the New Year. Judging from the weather, there’s bound to be a heavy snowfall in the next few days—you take the tractor first, and I’ll go to the county this afternoon to find a place to stay. I’ll find you first thing tomorrow morning and then bring the snowplow back, okay?” Old Chen was even more enthusiastic than Wang Mingjun in this regard, immediately asking the company commander, “Let’s go with a tractor and drive it straight back…”

Wang Mingjun nodded and said:
"Sure, definitely. How much does this snowplow cost?"

"Two or three hundred," Li Long said with a smile. "It's the price of a few sheepskins, not expensive."

"Hey, that's great!"

That's how it was settled.

After drinking tea and chatting for a while, Li Long went to look at the hides and calculate the price with Old Chen.

"Before the New Year, when it snowed heavily, flocks of gazelles ran south from the nearby sand dunes. At first, the company organized hunting trips, but later, after the militia finished their training, the workers simply borrowed guns and went to the sand dunes to hunt on their own, and the company didn't really interfere. Anyway, when they borrowed guns, they returned them with hides, and the hides just kept piling up."

Old Chen opened the storeroom, and a stench wafted out. Li Long took two steps back and said:
"Brother Chen, your warehouse must have been closed for a week, right?"

"Ugh, it smells awful, nobody wants to come in. We were just hoping you could come over quickly and take the hides away so we could have some peace." Since they were all family, Old Chen spoke the truth.

"Look at the register, there are 216 whole pelts, and the condition of the damaged pelts varies, totaling 485," said Old Chen. "They are mainly sheepskins, with a small portion of red deer pelts and some fox pelts, and nearly a thousand rabbit pelts."

"Let's take a look then." Li Long had a good relationship with this side, but he still had to do the routine work. He handled the leather pieces one by one from the warehouse, estimating their prices.

By the time he finished looking at everything, more than an hour had passed. After he finished, Old Chen had already ordered his men to load the leather onto the truck.

"The average price for a full pelt is eighty yuan. The quality of damaged pelts varies, so we won't go into too much detail. The average price for a damaged pelt is fifty-five yuan. The remaining fox pelts, regardless of size or condition, are forty yuan each. Rabbit pelts are three yuan each. The total is forty-six thousand eight hundred and fifty yuan." Li Long gave a total price.

"Okay, no problem." Old Chen grinned. This price far exceeded his and Wang Mingjun's expectations, so it was definitely no problem.

“Then let’s go to the finance department, sign the papers, and you’ll have to give me a receipt,” Li Long said.

"Let's go, let's go." Old Chen was the quartermaster, so this was his responsibility. He left the task of moving the leather to others and took Li Long to get the invoices.

"Where's the instructor?" Li Long asked in the quartermaster's office.

"He's on vacation," Old Chen said while issuing the invoice. "Every winter, the instructors usually go back to their hometowns for the Spring Festival."

"Why don't you bring your family over?" Li Long asked curiously.

"They came, said they couldn't adapt, and went back." Old Chen handed the ticket to Li Long, smiled, a smile tinged with sarcasm, "They probably thought this place was backward."

Li Long didn't say anything more. He took stacks of money out of his backpack, placed them on the table, and asked Old Chen to count them.

Everyone has their own ideas, which is normal.

To be honest, the company is located in the Gurbantünggüt Desert, so it's normal to say that it's behind the times.

Generations of workers from the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps have transformed this place into a garden town. When they first arrived, it was truly desolate; not to mention barren, it was simply unsuitable for human habitation.

These workers spent half their lives building this place into a habitable settlement, greatly improving their lives compared to before. This improvement was achieved through their own hard work and is something they can personally attest to.

So for those who haven't experienced the changes here, simply saying "backward" is tantamount to wiping out all their efforts.

How can we empathize then?

Do we not know that this place is backward? But what about before? A lot has changed here. Although it is still backward now, we have been working hard.

Therefore, the ridicule made Lao Chen very unhappy.

Li Long remained silent. Having been through similar experiences, he likely had a more comprehensive understanding of the situation. After all, it was a matter of perspective, and he was certainly willing to stand on Old Chen's side, because he had contributed to this development and construction—especially in the case of Northern Xinjiang.

It's understandable that they don't like it here; after all, coming from the border region to this sandy area inevitably brings a sense of disillusionment. Aren't all those civil servants and public sector employees who came to northern Xinjiang from the border regions in later generations the same—running away in less than three months?
If it's too different from what I expected, I won't be able to handle it.

After the money was paid, Old Chen took Li Long outside again.

"It's almost Chinese New Year, and we don't have much good stuff here, so we'll just bring you some local specialties." Wang Mingjun, who was also outside, said to Li Long, "We'll give you one of each of the gazelles and deer we hunted. This is a cleaned and gutted roe deer. We also have about ten rabbits and seven or eight pheasants. Don't be picky."

"Also, the people from Baiyang Winery all said our homemade wine is excellent. We'll bring you two baskets to take back to your older brother, Lao Li; it doesn't give him a headache. There are also some odds and ends, like honey and pickles. Given our relationship, I'll give them to you; please accept them."

Li Long smiled as he watched the young employees load things onto the truck, and he didn't refuse at all.

"That's right, let's go, let's eat. We won't drink today, but it's winter, so we should still have a good meal," Wang Mingjun said with a smile.

Li Long laughed too. It seems that Company Commander Wang could even refrain from drinking for the sake of the snow removal machine. What does that mean? It means that the company commander can still distinguish between important and trivial matters, urgent and non-urgent ones.

The meal was indeed very lavish, just as Li Long had come to know the Corps as an elder brother – a large bowl of mutton, a large plate of venison, a large plate of spicy chicken, and a large plate of... There were only two vegetarian dishes on the table, one was hot and sour shredded potatoes, and the other was cold bean sprouts.

"Sigh, it's winter, there's not much good food," Old Chen said modestly. "Just make do with what you have. Things will be better in the summer, or even in the spring, I can get you some better dishes."

"It's already very good," Li Long said with a smile. "In a state-run restaurant, you couldn't get this for less than twenty or thirty yuan."

His true thought was that if this were in later generations, you wouldn't be able to serve this table of dishes without a thousand dollars!
We ate quickly and comfortably without drinking alcohol, and the conversation flowed smoothly.

After finishing his meal and wiping his mouth, Wang Mingjun shook his head and said:
"If we don't drink, it just feels like something's missing..."

"Company Commander, our business is more important. This food is nothing. There will be plenty of opportunities later. If we have to make big brooms again in the fall, won't we have to come back again?"

"Yes, yes, yes," Old Chen chimed in. "Company commander, it's no big deal. Forget autumn, by spring we'll have plenty of hides in the warehouse. Then..."

“Yes, yes, that’s it.” Wang Mingjun smiled.

With Li Long's help, the company's employees earned more money from side jobs, and the company headquarters became more financially secure, making many other companies envious.

Therefore, Wang Mingjun felt that he must maintain his relationship with Li Long.

Of course, he wasn't worried. With Li Jianguo's connection, Li Long wouldn't let the company down no matter what.

Old Chen had just taken the time to explain things to him, and Wang Mingjun was even more satisfied—this Li Long is really something! Truly reliable!

As Li Long left Wang Mingjun's company, he could tell the driver was also very happy. Not only was the food good, but Old Chen even gave him two packs of cigarettes when he left. This kind of treatment was more common a few years ago, but it hasn't been as good in the last two years.

The car drove out of the company and onto the main road. Not far away, the driver saw someone blocking the roadside, and his attention was immediately drawn to them.

"Master, pull over over there. This guy's looking for me." Li Long had sharp eyes; he recognized him from afar and smiled. Wasn't that Zhao Zongming, the company commander of the 13th Company?

Not only Zhao Zongming, but he also brought two young men with him, carrying large and small bags at their feet, and a small four-wheeled tractor next to them.

Li Long immediately realized that this was aimed at him!
(End of this chapter)