Rebirth of Bayi Fishing and Hunting in the Northwest

Chapter 1031 Xiao Haizi doesn't just belong to Li Long, he belongs to our team too!

Even after finishing the meal, Chen Hongjun still hadn't made a final decision.

Li Long could certainly understand. Let alone now, even if we push the timeline back twenty or thirty years, it would be extremely difficult to get someone who has worked within the system for ten or twenty years to suddenly quit their stable job and start their own business.

It really depends on the individual. Some people want a stable job to live out the rest of their lives, while others want to take a chance and realize their personal value amidst the turbulent currents.

Different ideas lead to different choices.

After the meal, Li Long said goodbye to Chen Hongjun, as he had finished his business and was heading back.

Chen Hongjun pushed his bicycle slowly towards his workplace, weighing the pros and cons along the way, wondering what he should choose.

Li Long's words were sincere, and Chen Hongjun was confident that if he went into business and opened a purchasing station, he could really make money in a short period of time.

But making money is for now, but what about later? Without a stable job to back you up, all the benefits will definitely be gone, and you might not even be able to keep your social circle.

Although the trend of starting a business and making money is gradually gaining popularity, to be honest, those within the system look down on those outside the system who are busy in the business world.

Even if they earn much more than me, they are still at the bottom of the social hierarchy within the system.

If I were still a passionate young man, I might have quit my job immediately to make my own way in the world.

But now that I'm middle-aged, making such a decision is really difficult.

When Chen Hongjun arrived at the office, it wasn't yet time for work, and most people hadn't arrived yet. After parking and locking his car, he went into his office, habitually poured himself some tea, and opened a newspaper. He paused for a moment, then paused again.

Is this the kind of life you'd be living day after day?

Looking at the newspaper in front of him, Chen Hongjun stared at a point for a long time without moving. He couldn't remember the contents, but his mind was filled with the trivial yet fulfilling life at the purchasing station in Ma County.

"Old Chen, you're here early? Did you know that recently another one of our colleagues took a leave of absence to start his own business? I heard he joined some company as a deputy manager, working for someone else. You know, why would someone like him give up a perfectly good government job to work for someone else... Even if he earns a few hundred yuan more than us a month, he won't feel at ease with that money, right?"

When some colleagues came over to gossip, Chen Hongjun laughed it off, then suddenly realized that several people had left their jobs or taken unpaid leave to start their own businesses and make money recently.

In the eyes of those who stayed, those who left were always rushing around, and it was nothing compared to the comfort of the workplace.

But in Chen Hongjun's eyes, those people must be enjoying themselves, right?
After this colleague left, someone else came over; this time it was a former employee who had worked with him at the purchasing station in Ma County.

"Old Chen, you know, we're stuck in the office all day, there's not much work, the pay is low, and there are no bonuses. It feels like we're going to die of boredom."

"So what do you want to do?" Chen Hongjun asked, a thought flashing through his mind. "You can't just follow those guys and take unpaid leave, can you?"

"I'd like to, but I don't dare. I've never worked outside before, and I don't even know what kind of work I do." The colleague was also filled with anxiety. "Before, when I was in the county, although I couldn't go home often, if I did well, I would get bonuses and send more money home, and my spouse didn't have any objections."

Now, it's right at my doorstep, so I can go home on time, but I bring back less money, and our household expenses have suddenly become tight. My wife complains that our life isn't as good as it used to be... Sigh, why did they have to shut down the purchasing station? It was so much better before!"

Chen Hongjun was actually facing a similar situation. If he hadn't provided Li Long with useful information, and if Li Long hadn't paid him a substantial fee for it, his life would be just as chaotic as it is now.

"If I were to set up another purchasing station, do you think I could make money?" Chen Hongjun asked with a smile, almost as if it were a strange coincidence.

"Really opening? That'll definitely make money!" Chen Hongjun's colleague thought he was joking and said with a smile, "Think about it, everything is going up in price now, so the things we used to buy must have gone up in price too."

But the dealers and the original owner won't pay such high prices for the goods they buy. They buy low and sell high, and that's how the money comes in. Before, we worked for the government, and the money we earned belonged to the government. Now that we're doing it ourselves, the money we earn is our own.

He shook his head again as he spoke:

"But it's difficult too. In the past, the government would bail us out; whatever we received, the government would have money to cover it. Now, where are we going to come up with so much money as working capital? This kind of thing, you can't even get started without at least ten thousand yuan..."

This is something ordinary families simply can't do. Those who have the money to do this would have done it long ago—some people, because of their different positions, have already started exploring ways to make money, especially ways to make big money.

Especially in this era of limited information, if there's even a way to make money, people have already jumped on it.

Basically, it won't be left to ordinary people who are not well-informed.

For example, regarding taxi licenses from the 1990s to the first decade of the new century, the relevant authorities released them in batches. When they were first released, they were very cheap, but the market was extremely competitive and difficult to obtain.

The relevant authorities will release this thing without any publicity. Those who know about it know, and those who don't know have nowhere to find out.

Then you can get a certificate for 50,000 yuan and resell it for 350,000 yuan. That's how fast the money comes in!
In another thirty or forty years, the spread of information on the internet will accelerate, and any news will go directly online. However, this will also bring negative impacts, as rumors will spread online, making it difficult to distinguish between true and false information. This will require a keen eye.

Chen Hongjun didn't respond. He didn't have that problem. Li Long had said that if he opened a purchasing station, he would lend him start-up capital. Chen Hongjun trusted Li Long's character.

But Li Long said it's best not to bring former colleagues, because former colleagues are still colleagues, even if they are superiors and subordinates. Because "nobles and generals are born with special privileges," it's unlikely that colleagues and you will adapt to the relationship between leader and employee.

There's a high chance that you won't even make any money before your relationship with your colleagues falls apart.

Chen Hongjun is a man of goodwill; otherwise, he wouldn't have introduced his connections to Li Long when he was preparing to leave Ma County.

So after thinking about it, he still said to his colleague:
"How about I open a recycling station and have you work for me? I'll pay you 100 yuan a month."

"That won't do, Lao Chen, that's not fair. If you're going to open a purchasing station, I have to be a partner!" the colleague said with a smile. "I may not have the money, but I have work to do. If I join your purchasing station, you have to give me two or three percent of the shares, right? We've been through thick and thin together, haven't we?"

Chen Hongjun smiled and said:

"Exactly, if you join the purchasing station, I'll definitely give you shares."

That was the last thing that happened.

Indeed, those accustomed to being cadres find it hard to accept a subordinate position. The traditions left by Chen Sheng and Wu Guang, coupled with the post-liberation emphasis on equality for all and the habit of being masters of their own workplaces, make it difficult to adapt to being employees.

It seems that Xiao Li's suggestion is really pertinent. If you want to do it yourself, it's best to directly hire hardworking young men in the city who are unemployed and doing odd jobs, or honest young people from the countryside who come to the city to work.

Unbeknownst to him, Chen Hongjun had already taken on the role of a purchasing station owner.

Clearly, Li Long was genuinely interested in what he said.

Over the next few days, Chen Hongjun began wandering around Beiting City, looking for a suitable courtyard to house the purchasing station.

To operate a purchasing station, you need a large yard, many warehouses, and a location where communication is convenient.

After wandering around for a while, he finally found the place where Li Long had intercepted someone else's fritillaria bulbs.

This is the courtyard of the old recycling station. Because the boss got into trouble, the recycling station eventually closed down, and the courtyard has not been rented out yet. After all, these days, doing business is all about good luck. The original courtyard had such a big problem. There are other suitable places elsewhere, so why choose this place?

So the courtyard was left empty.

It's a government-owned compound, so it's hard to rent out and not many people care. Chen Hongjun inquired around and found out that the compound rents for 800 yuan a year, which isn't much.

Then there's the recent price of various goods. After inquiring, Chen Hongjun discovered that, as Li Long had said, the prices of everything had indeed increased. The profit from simply buying goods and reselling them might not be as high as he had initially thought.

But once the setup was up and running, he believed that people would gradually come – because he had learned how the original purchasing station had gone bankrupt after this inquiry. It was precisely the service mentality and price exploitation that Li Long had mentioned.

As for service awareness, Chen Hongjun knew that was easy to handle. As for the price, as long as he didn't want to make too much profit, raising the purchase price a little would be easy.

Of course, that's just what they say; actually doing it is definitely not that simple.

Then came the paperwork—Chen Hongjun went to inquire about the procedures for the purchasing station himself, which surprised the business administration officials.

"A purchasing station? Can it even stay open? Two of them have already gone bankrupt..."

The procedures were easy to handle. Although Chen Hongjun had previously worked in Ma County, he had connections and influence here, which made the procedures go smoothly.

Then there's the procedure for taking unpaid leave, which isn't a big deal, since someone in the company has already done it, and I heard the boss didn't make things difficult for me. After all, it's not like I'm resigning and leaving; who knows, I might come back sometime and become a boss myself.

The last factor is whether your family is willing.

Chen Hongjun went back and discussed the matter with his wife, and to his surprise, she agreed.

“You haven’t been very happy lately, and I guess it’s because of this. Actually, it’s good that you want to go out and do something else—just give it a try. Anyway, you said you’d take a leave of absence without pay, and if you don’t do well, you can come back.”

Besides, some people are afraid of losing their jobs after taking unpaid leave, so what are you afraid of? You said it yourself, your current job is just reading newspapers and studying documents, which is completely meaningless. You might as well go out and try your luck!

With family support, this last shortcoming was made up, and Chen Hongjun was quite fortunate. At that time, most families hoped for stability and there weren't many who would support starting a business.

He wasn't entirely sure, but he often told his wife about Li Long. Li Long, a young man, had started a purchasing station with his father-in-law's help, and it was thriving, making him quite wealthy. His wife knew a lot about it from that.

After all, when Chen Hongjun talked about Li Long's experience running the purchasing station, he would also add his own opinions. In his wife's eyes, Li Long was able to start the station mainly because of two things: one was that he had the capital to buy things at high prices, and the other was that he had connections with his husband, which allowed him to sell the things he bought.

Firstly, Li Long is willing to help solve the problem, so it's not a problem. Secondly, the connections were introduced to Li Long by her husband, so if they have connections in the family, wouldn't it be perfect to use them?
It's readily available!

Ten days after Li Long left, Chen Hongjun finally made up his mind to open a purchasing station.

However, he did not immediately take a leave of absence without pay, but instead began to make preparations.

After returning from Beiting, Li Long first went to the Fourth Squad.

The snow was about to melt, and Li Long went back to remind the team leader that the flood prevention work at Xiaohaizi had to be done.

Since we've protected it once, we have to protect it a second time. We have to at least protect this place, otherwise all the work we did before will have been for nothing.

Xu Chengjun was listening to the radio at home. The snow was about to melt, and to be honest, as the team leader, he didn't have much to do.

Not to mention him, almost everyone in the entire fourth team was like this. After all, it wasn't spring yet, and even after the snow melted in spring, they would have to wait until the ground temperature rose before they could go to work in the fields.

Of course, Li Jianguo had already started getting busy, which meant he was starting to maintain the tractor and add oil.

Although it's still early, it's good to take it slow now.

"Oh, Xiaolong's here, what a rare guest." Xu Chengjun stood up and said with a smile when he saw Li Long come in. "Mingwa's mother, pour Xiaolong some tea. Come, come, have a seat."

The Xu family still had a kang (heated brick bed). Sitting on the edge of the kang, drinking water, Li Long looked at them and asked:
"Captain, you've added quite a few new things to your house."

"Hey, I made some money following you," Xu Chengjun said without any attempt to hide it. "Otherwise, how could I afford it?"

They added a TV and a radio, had new furniture made, and bought a sofa. The house wasn't big before, and it even had a kang (heated brick bed), but now it's packed full.

Fortunately, the layout is quite good and looks very comfortable.

"It's not just me; everyone's hardworking. Otherwise, even if the job is delivered to the door, some people won't be willing to do it properly, and you won't earn any money," Li Long said honestly.

Xu Chengjun didn't know if Li Long was mocking those clueless guys in the team or if he was just saying it offhand. He didn't know to comment, so he just smiled.

Just then, his wife, Ma Hongmei, brought over some tea and a plate of roasted melon seeds on the kang table, so the two of them could chat while they ate them.

"Xiaolong, what brings you here this time?" Xu Chengjun didn't put on airs as the team leader. To be honest, after the implementation of the household responsibility system, his authority as team leader had declined considerably, especially after more people in the team started making money. His words as team leader no longer carried as much weight as before.

Of course, it's only a slight decrease; others might not notice it, but he, as the person involved, felt it quite clearly.

"It's about flood control," Li Long said bluntly. "With so much snow this winter, the floods after spring will definitely be significant, and they might even wash away the north dam line of Xiaohaizi. I was thinking that after the snow melts, could the team organize some people to clear the flood control channels on both sides of Xiaohaizi? I'll have my brother drive a tractor to raise and thicken the north dam line as well."

Xu Chengjun didn't respond, so Li Long immediately added:
"I'm willing to give money to the team."

“Why would I need you to pay me?” Xu Chengjun laughed. “Even if you nominally contracted Xiaohaizi, isn’t it still our team’s territory? Even the Third Team and the head of the higher-ups know that Xiaohaizi is our Fourth Team’s reservoir and has nothing to do with other teams.”

Protecting Xiaohaizi is a matter for our team; how could we possibly ask you to pay for it? We used to ask you to pay for public utilities, but back then the team really didn't have any money.

Things are different now. Everyone in the team is rich now, and many of them are rich because of you. How many families in the team haven't eaten fish from the small lake? Our team has reclaimed so much wasteland, but the water supply from the water station is limited. The rest of the water still comes from the small lake.
The team members have benefited from the small lake, so isn't it their duty to repair the flood control canal along the lake and prevent the northern dam from being washed away?

Xu Chengjun, as the team leader, was clearly aware of this.

It's normal that some people in the team don't understand. After all, you can't expect everyone to think normally. Having been a captain for so many years, he understands this very well. There are selfish people, generous people, kind people, and cowardly people in the team.

However, as the team leader, there are some things he must keep in mind. To put it bluntly, Li Long staying in the fourth team is an honor for the team, a source of pride for the team, and also a way for the team members to make money.

Does Li Jianguo's family have no chance to go to the city? With Li Long's current abilities, wouldn't that be a piece of cake? If Li Jianguo's family leaves, will Li Long still have the same feelings for the Fourth Squad?

It's hard to say.

Anyone in the team could see that for the first ten years or so, Li Jianguo treated Li Long like a son, but in the last few years, Li Long matured and succeeded, and now he's repaying his older brother, including the fourth team.

After all, over the years, the Fourth Squad had taken in Li Long and basically treated him like an outsider. They were all from different parts of the country, and once he settled down, he was one of their own.

Could anyone else do the work that Li Long assigned to the Fourth Squad? Of course they could! So why was it given to the Fourth Squad? Isn't it because Li Long considers this place his hometown?
As for repairing Xiaohaizi, to put it bluntly, ever since Li Long broke the ice hole in Xiaohaizi to catch fish, Xiaohaizi has made many families richer.

Of course, there were also those who felt it had nothing to do with them, but Xu Chengjun didn't care. With him as the captain, he knew that Xiao Haizi was in his team, and that Li Long's heart was still with the team. His obsession wasn't just with the Li family, but also with Xiao Haizi, and that was enough.

If he could get Li Long to do him a favor by repairing a small lake, he would have made a huge profit!
Li Long laughed when he was surprised that Xu Chengjun thought that way.

"Is that so? We can't assume everyone is so selfish," he said with a smile.

"That's good. I was thinking that this little lake has made a significant contribution, and it will continue to play a role for decades to come. We can't let it be washed away!"

"Don't worry about that! It won't happen!"

Xu Chengjun made a guarantee.

(End of this chapter)