Rebirth of Bayi Fishing and Hunting in the Northwest

Chapter 1034 Xu Chengjun's anger was directed at certain people.

Flood prevention in residential areas is naturally a priority. Most farmland is currently uncultivated, and the few winter wheat fields are not afraid of flooding, so when floods come, the biggest concern is the residential areas.

"The second thing is that after the snow melts in the spring, everyone has to contribute labor. We need to clean up the flood control channels on both sides of Xiaohaizi. Brother Li, you have to drive the tractor to push the North Dam line a bit thicker... Your tractor can do twenty workdays a day, how about that?"

“No problem.” Li Jianguo nodded.

He could say he didn't need work points in front of Li Long, but he wouldn't be modest and refuse anything the team leader said at the village representative meeting. It was his rightful interest, and he had to fight for it.

Unlike Li Long's "you're all good, I'm all good" mentality in the village, in reality, when the village representatives hold meetings, if you don't fight for things, others can really let you get away with it.

The Fourth Squad has its good points, but in some areas, the peasant-like cunning and short-sightedness are unavoidable.

"Let me make this clear to you: this year's key areas for flood prevention are Xiaohaizi and residential areas, and of course, the same goes for Weigouqiao," Xu Chengjun emphasized. "Don't think this is a trivial matter."

You all know how much snow fell this winter. This time I don't need to pay any extra money. All able-bodied men from each household should come over. I'll take attendance, and those who don't come will have more than just one or two work points deducted each day.

If you don't come, you can forget about any good things happening in the team; you'll have to wait your turn!

His words immediately displeased some people, and a representative from the eastern settlement couldn't help but speak up:

"Didn't Li Long contract that small lake? Shouldn't he be in charge of flood control? He made a lot of money from that lake before, right? Shouldn't he use that money to repair the dam outside the lake now?"

"What do you mean?" Li Jianguo turned to look at him: "Xu the Blind, do you think Xiaohaizi belongs to our family? If you want everyone in your eastern area to agree that Xiaohaizi belongs to our family, then let me tell you, you don't need to worry about flood control at Xiaohaizi!"
The small lake is contracted by Li Long. Your family hasn't eaten any fish from it, right? Your brother-in-law catches fish in the lake every summer, are you pretending not to know? ..."

“Li Jianguo, don’t use your seniority to insult people…” Blind Xu’s face immediately turned red. “I’m not targeting your family, I’m just telling the truth! That Xiaohai Lake isn’t considered public property anymore, so why should everyone have to work on flood prevention? I just want a fair answer…”

"Fairness my ass..." Li Jianguo wouldn't listen to his bullshit, stood up and turned to attack.

"Brother Li, sit down!" Xu Chengjun snapped. "Xu Youdao, you fucking shut your mouth!"

When Xu Chengjun got angry, Li Jianguo sat down as well. He didn't really want to fight, he just wanted to show his attitude. Although he was the only one of his brothers in the team, he was not someone to be bullied!
"Xu Youdao, I'm talking about the mission, not discussing it with you!" Seeing that the two of them had sat down, Xu Chengjun felt that his distant relative had really lost his mind. If you were talking about it in private, I could explain it to you, but to bring it up in public like this, aren't you just asking for a scolding?
Anyway, he figured someone would eventually expose this, and whoever it was would just walk right into the line of fire. Even though they were his relatives, there was nothing he could do. Who told you to be so stupid?

“Xiaohaizi was contracted out to Li Long, but it still belongs to the team! If you rent out a house to someone else and that house catches fire, are you not going to help put out the fire, but waiting for the tenant to put it out?”

Besides, don't you use the water from that little lake? If I told you there was no water for the ten acres of land your family reclaimed last year, would you be happy about that?

Do you know that the water allocated to our team by the water supply company is limited? Any extra land we reclaim will have to be irrigated with water from the small lake! If you plan to plant dry land this year, then you don't need to worry about it!

And another thing! Let me tell you, over the years, Li Long has given our team so many lucrative jobs! If you have no conscience and say you haven't made any money from Li Long, then you can just openly say you don't need to go!
"Of course you dare say that now? I can have Old Li tell Li Long right now that you don't have to do the big broom-making work this year! I heard you're planning to plant watermelons this year, but do you know who collects all the watermelons in our county?"

Xu Chengjun doesn't mind threatening people at all, and he does it face to face!

"You want to make money off others, but when it comes to doing the work, you complain that it's their job and you don't want to do it. How can you expect to have such a good deal? Besides, this is a decision made by the team! What, do you want to go against the team? Do you want to rebel, or do you want to transfer your household registration out of the team?"
If you can do either of these, I'll acknowledge your skill! So, which one do you choose?

Xu Chengjun's words, along with his spittle, landed directly on Xu Youdao's face. Xu Youdao was clearly burning with anger, but he dared not say a word!
He was afraid that if he argued back, Xu Chengjun would slap him across the face with the sole of his shoe—even though he was of a higher seniority than Xu Chengjun.

But Xu Chengjun's stubborn personality, coupled with the temper he developed in the army, made him dare not.

Besides, he really didn't have much to say—he was a bit short-sighted, unable to think or see that far ahead.

As soon as Xu Chengjun said it, he understood. Yes! Every year, by making big brooms, the team members can basically earn several hundred to a thousand yuan.

Every year, the watermelon seeds and sunflower seeds that are grown can be sold for a good price. Isn't that all thanks to Li Long?
If it weren't for Li Long, would I have earned so much money?

But... there's always something unsettling about me.
Of course, at this point, no one explained to him that this emotion was called jealousy, the inability to bear seeing others doing better than oneself.

"This isn't just for Xu Youdao, it's for the whole team!" Xu Chengjun said, turning to Xu Youdao when he stopped talking. "Let me tell you, this little lake is a treasure for our team! With it, we can irrigate all the wasteland we clear, and if anyone wants to catch fish, they can just go in and catch them."

Don't mention Dahai Lake; that's not under our team's jurisdiction. We only occupy the south bank; it has a name on it, you can tell from the name that it doesn't belong to us. We just need to protect Xiaohai Lake!

The matter was dropped just like that. Xu Youdao got a scolding for nothing, but he could only listen to it sheepishly.

Xu Chengjun assigned some more tasks. In any case, after the spring, all the main canals in the team and the branch canals south of the residential area should be cleaned up to ensure smooth flow. If floodwaters come down, they should be able to flow downstream immediately and not affect the safety of the residential area.

Once this is done, the rest will be much easier.

When Li Jianguo got home, he immediately told Liang Yuemei:

"The team was very supportive of this meeting, but some people were really making a scene! Xu Youdao's family, I'm not plowing the land this year! Damn it, they want our family to do the work, but they also want to shirk the flood control work at Xiaohaizi onto Xiaolong. How can they be so unreasonable!"

He doesn't care whether people are reasonable or not, but he has some power, and if someone makes him unhappy, he'll retaliate just fine!

Liang Yuemei also cursed a few times, but knowing that the team was fair and considerate of Li Long's feelings, she felt relieved.

Li Long was unaware of what had happened in the team, and he was planning to take the truck into the mountains again.

The main reason is to hurry up and get another batch of cattle and sheep before the snow in the mountains melts. Zhao Hui and Huang Lei both called to say that the batch of dried beef and mutton had already sold out in just over ten days!

There are plenty of people who want it!

Li Long was genuinely surprised. Given that beef jerky was quite expensive, considered a high-end snack, it shouldn't have sold so quickly.

The fact that it sold out in such a short time only shows that people's purchasing power is gradually increasing. Even if each person buys a small amount just to try it out, such a large market, with hundreds of kilograms of dried meat, can be quickly consumed.

So Li Long went to the mountains first, greeted Halimu and the others, and then took the truck into the mountains the next day.

Because the snow at the foot of the mountain had already started to melt, it was impossible to make a large quantity of dried beef and mutton at once. So Li Long ordered ten sheep and one cow that had already been slaughtered, and the rest were to be slaughtered and processed slowly after being taken back.

In the mountains, Yushanjiang told Li Long something.

"After the weather got a bit warmer, one day, a pack of wolves ran from my winter den, and something was chasing them. It looked like a tiger, but it was too fast for me to keep up... It was huge, much bigger than the tiger we had caught before!"

Upon hearing Yu Shanjiang's words, Li Long immediately thought of the tiger whose ear he had knocked off. Could it be that tiger?

It's getting hot; shouldn't this guy go deep into the Tianshan Mountains? It's probably much more dangerous out there, isn't it?

He considered spending another night or two in the mountains when he had some free time, but then decided against it.

Firstly, I'm too busy right now, and secondly, that thing is still quite dangerous, so I shouldn't think about it for the time being.

Li Long doesn't really need any materials from the tiger right now; he has all sorts at home. So, he'd better just stay in the county.

Li Long descended the mountain, pulling a truckload of slaughtered and gutted cattle and sheep, along with two truckloads of live cattle and sheep.

Once the beef and mutton were brought to the courtyard, Sister Yang immediately started cooking. Li Long temporarily hired two people, retired canteen workers whom Zhong Guoqiang had helped him find; they were paid ten yuan a day temporarily. While they were making jerky, Li Long took the live cattle and sheep to Old Ma's place and asked Uncle Luo to find an empty pen to keep them there, as they would be slaughtered every day.

Knowing that Li Long was making jerky, Uncle Luo didn't mind, only asking Li Long if he would add any feed to the cattle and sheep.

"Without adding any ingredients, it should be finished in a few days. Even if we add ingredients, it won't speed things up, so let's forget about it," Li Long said.

The roads had already been thawed and the students had started school. Li Long told the truck driver to drive back, while he went back to his older brother's house.

Li Jianguo has already started driving his tractor with bulldozer blades to Xiaohaizi to get things done. There's a lot of mud there, so people can't go in right now, but tractors can.

Li Qingxia was worried, so she went with her eldest son. Du Chunfang was fine for the moment and sat in the yard basking in the sun—the yard had long since dried out, and the sun wasn't too strong yet, so it felt warm on her skin.

Du Chunfang was very happy to see Li Long return. She pulled him aside and chatted about what had happened recently, saying that her appetite had increased a little, and that she had dreamed about people from her hometown again last night, and so on.

Liang Yuemei was tidying up her farm tools at home, preparing for spring work. She checked the hoes, seeders, and other tools. Although the stove was still burning at home, she also turned over the corn stalks in the yard. After the snow melted, she could cook on the stove in the yard.

Li Long didn't stay at his elder brother's house for long before rushing back to the county to help oversee the jerky production.

The seasonings are all pre-mixed; just add them according to the proportion of meat. The main thing is to stir them. After cooking, take them out, let them dry, and then cut them into chunks or strips.

Because the required quantity is large and the time is tight, it is more convenient to do it with more people.

Sister Yang is now mainly guiding the two people who are helping out, while she also does the work herself, demonstrating as an example.

This time, the pre-ordered paper packaging had words printed on it. The county printing factory had finally received a large private order—previously, these were all production tasks for various units in the county. This was the first time Li Long had taken on a private job. Although the quantity and the money were not large, the significance was different.

"Old Li's Dried Meat"—that's all there is to the packaging. The meat is cut into strips, dried, then wrapped in paper like candy, with both ends twisted, and finally packed in a plastic bag. Each bag contains ten strips, weighed before cutting; one bag weighs 200 grams, meaning each strip is 20 grams.

Li Long demanded that the error not exceed ten grams, otherwise it would cause some trouble later.

For ten yuan a day, the two retired women work very hard. Although they are retired, their pensions are not high, and their children are mostly unemployed and have to support their families. They cherish such good jobs very much.

The Li family's courtyard was large enough that they could easily set up two side rooms to serve as work areas. Li Long bought several white lab coats as work clothes, and everyone also had to wear masks and hats.

Although Sister Yang and the two retired women felt it was a bit unnecessary, Li Long explained very seriously and clearly that there could be no hair in the packaged beef jerky, and that if they didn't wear masks while talking, saliva would fly into the jerky, so it had to be done this way.

If things are standardized from the beginning, things will be much easier to do later.

As for food inspection and quarantine, let's take it slow.

Because of the addition of two temporary employees and the fact that the meat was dried using a baking process instead of natural air drying, more than a ton of dried meat was already ready when Zhao Hui came to collect the hides on March 7th.

Li Long asked Sister Yang to take two people to continue making the product, and he also took Zhao Hui to see the production process.

"I only saw the finished product before, not the manufacturing process, so I thought it was just average. But now it seems, Comrade Li Long, that you've done a very professional job!" Zhao Hui said. "If only I had a camera, I could take a picture of this scene and show it to those hesitant people. They'd definitely want to buy it!"

"What's the big deal? I have a camera at home. Come on, let's take a picture!" Li Long thought to himself, "This Zhao Hui is something else. This is practically an advertisement!"

"Great, great, that's wonderful. I'll wait half a day to get the photos developed before I leave!" Although Zhao Hui knew that the main business was collecting hides, he was more optimistic about the jerky business.

Because how many people wear leather? It's definitely a very small minority in the population.

But what about those who eat dried meat? A package like Lee Long's, once opened, can be distributed to quite a few people, so if you tighten your belt a little, you can afford it!
It has a wide audience!
Therefore, Zhao Hui felt that he had to tie this deal tightly with Li Long, and make the jerky his exclusive business!

This time, Zhao Hui ordered 500 kilograms of dried meat and 500 kilograms of meat with bones. The packaging for the meat with bones was larger, as the bones themselves were chopped into fist-sized pieces, and there was a lot of meat attached to them. The packaging also bore the words "Old Li's Meat and Bone".

This is a trademark.

Li Long only registered the trademark with the industry and commerce bureau after printing it and selling it to Zhao Hui. He wanted to register it not only in Ma County, but throughout Xinjiang and the whole country.

Of course, it's unlikely that anyone would contest this trademark with him.

After Zhao Hui took his batch of meat, Li Long worked for another week to finish processing all the beef and mutton he brought back from the mountains. In between, he went and brought back another batch of beef and mutton, and now there are still two or three hundred kilograms of dried beef and mutton piled up in the side room of his house.

The main reason was that after Zhao Hui left, Li Long sent another batch to Huang Lei via regular postal mail. It's currently the off-season for wild mushrooms, so Huang Lei couldn't get any. Other ingredients were also scarce in northern Xinjiang, making it impossible to arrange for a freight train, so regular mail was the only option.

Fortunately, even with shipping costs, Huang Lei still makes a profit, so he doesn't mind.

When Zhao Hui arrived, Chen Hongjun finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"Old Chen, I never thought you'd end up back in this line of work after all these years," Zhao Hui said with emotion when he saw Chen Hongjun. "When Li Long told me, I didn't quite believe it, but to be honest, you should have started doing this a long time ago. Staying cooped up in that other unit was such a waste of your talent!"

Chen Hongjun smiled; he had already expressed his feelings, and was actually quite calm at the moment.

He didn't tell Li Long or Zhao Hui that if Li Long didn't come soon, his family would have used up all their last bit of money and wouldn't have any money left to buy the goods!

If Zhao Hui can come, he can also openly hang up a sign that says "Closed for business, shipping today," giving those who come to sell their goods confidence.

Zhao Hui arrived with a vehicle, which carried not only over a thousand hides he had taken from Li Long, but also nearly a ton of dried beef and mutton.

Because there was too much, he couldn't put it in the cab this time, and he was also afraid that the smell would get mixed with the leather, so he packed the dried beef and mutton into several layers of bags and tied the bags tightly.

"Not bad, Lao Chen, the leather here is cleaned very well," Zhao Hui said with a smile. "It's almost up to Li Long's standard—not bad at all, I have no choice but to give you a high price!"

Zhao Hui went to many purchasing stations and middlemen to buy hides, but very few of them actually cleaned, scraped off the oil, and combed the fur a second time.

That's why Zhao Hui values ​​Li Long so much, and now there's another one, Chen Hongjun.

"No, I learned it from Li Long," Chen Hongjun said honestly. "In front of him, I'm just like a student."

"Hehe, not bad, not bad, Old Chen, you have a really good attitude!" Zhao Hui's mood immediately changed. He felt that with Chen Hongjun's attitude, he would definitely make a fortune.

In the end, Chen Hongjun's 220-plus hides were sold to Zhao Hui at an average price of 95 yuan, which means they sold for more than 20,000 yuan!
Not counting the medicinal herbs in the warehouse, we broke even in one go!
In other words, all those medicinal herbs were profitable!

Chen Hongjun finally understood Li Long's words. In less than half a month, he earned more than six or seven thousand yuan! At this rate of making money, he could earn tens of thousands of yuan in a year!
No wonder Li Long said that once he got the hang of it, he would feel that buying 35% of the shares for 20,000 yuan was a loss—this money is just too easy to make!
Of course, he didn't think money was easy to earn; it was just that Li Long had paved the way, and he was just following the path that others had laid out, so of course things went smoothly for him.

At that moment, Chen Hongjun felt incredibly fortunate for his decision!
Although I kept reminding myself that the decision to go into business and take a leave of absence without pay was the right one, I was always a little uneasy until the products were sold and the money came in.

Now, the worry that had been hanging over me can finally be put to rest!

(End of this chapter)