Rebirth of Bayi Fishing and Hunting in the Northwest

Chapter 1090: Wang Mingjun's "Repayment"

Wang Mingjun put down the phone, a smug look on his face.

"Hey, Company Commander, you've been making quite a splash these past few days," Zheng Xiangyang said with a smile. "Except for the two companies near the regimental headquarters, all the other company commanders or political instructors in our regiment have come to you, all for this pesticide spraying machine job. How's it going, did you recoup your costs?"

"I've already made my money back!" Wang Mingjun laughed heartily. "Wasn't my judgment accurate? I knew back then that this pesticide spraying machine had a bright future! Five hundred yuan! I think Comrade Li Long never even considered asking for five hundred yuan..."

"Then why were you so determined to pay?" In Zheng Xiangyang's opinion, since Li Long hadn't originally planned to ask for such a high price, Wang Mingjun could have easily lowered the price.

You have to understand that 100 yuan is not a small amount these days. Although the government has issued 100-yuan bills, ordinary people rarely break up their savings to spend 100 yuan.

It can do a lot of things!
"Hey, you don't understand, do you? That's where my brilliance lies! Let me tell you, I've always felt that someone in our company has connections with Old Zhao from the 13th Company. You see, several times when Comrade Li Long came over, Old Zhao arrived shortly after."

This isn't the first time he's followed us around trying to make money. This time, it was only because I was firm and directly handed Li Long five hundred yuan that he couldn't refuse. Otherwise, let me tell you, don't let Old Zhao's rustic appearance fool you; he definitely has guts.

If I didn't take the sprayer directly into my hands, even the slightest hesitation would have been enough for him to bring it back to his unit!

Zheng Xiangyang thought about it and realized that it really made sense!
“Let me tell you,” Wang Mingjun said smugly, “These past few days when I went to other companies to spray pesticides, I was straightforward and said cash on delivery! Three cents per mu, really not much. And that’s the current price; it won’t be this price when they spray the flowering-inducing agent.”

Flowering promoters are actually a type of defoliant. If some cotton plants are planted late or grow well, the cotton bolls may remain closed, which can be quite troublesome.

At this point, you need to apply a flower-inducing agent, which also requires carrying a sprayer on your back.

That's what Wang Mingjun was talking about. Actually, he himself felt that three cents was a bit low.

Even if it's impossible to get two yuan like when harvesting wheat, it should at least be fifty cents or more.

But if we've already given Zhao Zongming three cents, it would be a bit unfair to raise the price for someone else, so we'll just leave it as it is for now.

Even so, the incredibly low price of three cents per acre allowed him to earn over six hundred yuan directly, recovering his costs long ago—after all, the fuel cost wasn't much.

"We're having an extra meal today!" Wang Mingjun turned to Old Chen, who had just come in, and said, "Old Chen, go buy a chicken. We'll have an extra meal at the company headquarters. It's on me!"

"Hey, the company commander's made some money, his voice's gotten much louder now!" Old Chen said with a laugh. "The workers came over and reported that a herd of gazelles came from the sand dunes to the northeast, and they asked if we should attack them?"

“Who has time to hunt? Let’s keep hunting this thing out until winter,” Wang Mingjun said after a moment’s hesitation. “Right now, we should focus on taking care of the crops. We’re employees, we have work to do. Besides, the authorities are stricter on guns and bullets these days, it’s not good to go hunting.”

In winter, when the militia were training, they could get guns and bullets to hunt, but now they can't even register them.

Although I know that a pelt is quite expensive now, if I am caught hunting with a gun without permission, I will be in big trouble.

Wang Mingjun knew exactly which was lighter and which was heavier.

Be careful and you won’t make a big mistake!
Old Chen was hoping to increase the company's treasury income, but it seemed hopeless. He was slightly disappointed, but he quickly took the money from Wang Mingjun and went to buy chickens.

The company headquarters didn't raise chickens; if you wanted to eat chicken, you had to buy it from a worker's home. Wang Mingjun asked him to buy two chickens. They slaughtered and plucked them, one was taken to the company to eat, and the other was sent to Wang Mingjun's home.

Wang Mingjun could have gone home to eat, but he was the company commander. Li Long had come to the company that day to test the sprayer. He had gotten the sprayer from the company headquarters, and he had borrowed money from the company.

Although the money was paid back immediately, it had all gone through the motions, and both Lao Chen and Zheng Xiangyang had witnessed it. Now that they'd made money with the pesticide sprayer, even though it was all clean, they still wanted to share some when they met. So they ate at the company headquarters, so everyone got a little something, and at least they felt a bit more at peace with each other.

Wang Mingjun collected cash when he went to other companies to spray pesticides. For pesticides needed by his own company, he simply recorded it in the books, and the amount would be deducted at the end of the year.

"We've really benefited from Li Long's new equipment. Comrade Li Long is truly a generous guy," Zheng Xiangyang exclaimed. "He always thinks of us first when it comes to good things. The children he raised are really something else!"

“That’s right.” Wang Mingjun echoed, “If Brother Li hadn’t left, the company commander position would have been his, and I wouldn’t have had a chance. But if he’s still here, I’ll be the deputy company commander, and that’ll be just as fulfilling.”

"How can we thank them? They said they gave us money, but now other companies are asking around and can't buy one either. Is this the only one available right now?"

“Comrade Li Long has no shortage of money,” Wang Mingjun said after thinking for a moment. “How about you, Lao Zheng, put your writing skills to use and write a report to submit to the Corps Daily? Once it’s published there, we can send the newspaper to Comrade Li Long. Hey, he’ll definitely be happy!”

"It's not that easy to get on board." Zheng Xiangyang shook his head. "I can get on the regimental news, but it's not easy to get on the Corps Daily."

"Give it a try," Wang Mingjun encouraged. "Who knows, it might work! This could be the first pesticide spraying machine in the whole Xinjiang region. Mechanization might start right here. Wouldn't that be big news?"

Zheng Xiangyang's eyes lit up, and he said with a smile, "Company Commander, I noticed you don't write much, but you're quite sensitive to news! From this perspective, it's actually quite possible... I'll give it a try!"

This time, he was a little impatient. After all, if he could be featured in the Corps Daily, he would definitely become famous in the regiment.

Do you want to be famous? Of course I do.

There are bonuses for being featured in the Corps Daily, and it's not just about the bonuses; you might also catch the eye of the corps leaders.

Zheng Xiangyang had always wanted to work in the regimental headquarters. Being a political instructor in a company sounded prestigious, but in reality, it wasn't much different from being an ordinary employee.

He had some power, but he looked down on it. Zheng Xiangyang possessed the lofty ideals of an ordinary intellectual; he wanted to showcase his abilities and talents on a larger stage, rather than spending his days talking about trivial matters with these workers who were no different from old farmers!
This is a good approach, but it didn't work before because there wasn't suitable news.

It makes sense when you think about it. In the company, you often deal with trivial matters. Almost all companies are similar. What you are experiencing is happening elsewhere, so the newspaper certainly doesn't care.

But this one is different. The Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps has been consistently and vigorously developing mechanized agriculture, making great progress, and the leadership is paying close attention. Now there's a news story about the Corps being the only one using mechanized pesticide spraying, so the newspapers will definitely take notice.

Seeing that Wang Mingjun had scratched Zheng Xiangyang's itch, he picked up his water glass, took a sip, and smiled.

Li Long isn't short of money, so let's help him become famous. Although he's already a nationally recognized outstanding individual, one can never have too much fame, right?

Li Long was unaware that Wang Mingjun and Zheng Xiangyang were behind this for him. Two days after his phone call with Director Du, he went to Shicheng and received his second pesticide spraying machine.

For now, this sprayer is not of any use, so it will remain in the courtyard.

It was July, and the wheat in some areas was already ripe. Li Long left twenty or thirty kilograms of mutton with Keyum and took some time to visit the herding team's outpost, delivering some to Yushanjiang and Halim's homes, along with some other supplies.

They were all familiar with each other, and both sides were quite happy when Li Long came over. Li Long also told them that in a little over a month, it would be time to come down from the mountains to cut grass, and then he would be able to meet his family.

After all, with tractors now available, cutting grass is convenient, and getting back and forth is easy.

Jiang Zhiyu looked at the Corps Daily, rubbed her forehead, and felt speechless and regretful.

We knew Li Long hadn't been repairing roads lately, probably busy with the purchasing station, but who would have thought he'd come up with a pesticide spraying machine!

After developing it, why didn't they say anything before testing it at the Production and Construction Corps? Who is this Zheng Xiangyang? A communications officer? Not even a reporter?

If I can get this news in advance, I'll have accomplished my mission for this year!

After all, the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps Daily is a provincial-level newspaper. If I were to write it myself, it should be able to get published in the Autonomous Region Daily, right?
The Corps Daily wasn't subscribed to by the township; Jiang Zhiyu specifically sought it out to improve her writing skills.

And that's what I saw.

Feeling somewhat unwilling, she rode her bicycle to find Li Long.

Li Long now goes to the fourth team from time to time, since the wheat harvest has started and his own and his father-in-law's grain rations have to be paid by his elder brother's family.

In the threshing ground in front of Li Long's courtyard, the Li family's wheat stacks were piled high, two or three times the size of other families' stacks. There was no other way; with more people required to pay grain taxes, naturally more wheat was planted.

Li Jianguo took Li Junxian to harvest wheat for other people, and now Li Junfeng and Chen Qianjin are working on the threshing floor under the guidance of Li Qingxia.

Liang Yuemei stayed at home and prepared meals with Dong Xiaojuan.

The Li family had a lot of wheat, so many people contributed, and they even had a tractor. Nobody complained; in fact, everyone was quite happy.

When Li Long came, he brought a truckload of watermelons. Watermelons have only been in season for a short time, so the price is a bit high, already at 10 cents per kilogram. In a few days, it will drop to 8 cents.

You can hardly find watermelons for five cents anymore, but even so, it's still quite cheap.

"Come on, stop for a moment and have some watermelon!" Li Long shouted to the people who were picking wheat straw.

The wheat in this threshing batch has already been threshed with rollers, and everyone is picking through the straw. After the straw is removed, the remaining wheat, mixed with stalks and other debris, will be piled up in a large heap. Once one family's wheat is finished, it's the next family's turn.

The Li family was the third in the lottery, and they are currently doing the work of the Lu family.

People in rural areas tend to have close relationships, which is a great convenience. On the same threshing ground, several families from nearby areas usually work together, taking turns and helping each other. This is why it's said that a close neighbor is worse than a distant relative; a close neighbor can help you when needed.

Li Long cut open two large watermelons—both weighing seven or eight kilograms each. The cut watermelon flesh looked beautiful, sandy, and sweet.

These people didn't stand on ceremony; one by one they came over, clapped their hands, picked up watermelons, and ate them while praising them.

Actually, every family that came carried a tea basket and a tea mug. At this time, vendors selling watermelons and popsicles would also come by, but not many people bought them.

After all, there are so many people here. If we're going to buy something, we'll definitely buy it together for everyone. It's hard for a thrifty person to be so generous as to treat everyone.

Aside from Li Long, everyone knows he earns a lot of money and is generous. They've benefited from him more than once or twice, and of course, when the Li family needs help, they just need to call on them, and everyone will come to lend a hand.

"Xiaolong, how's your rabbit pelt business going lately?" Lu Yingming asked. "Are you still buying rabbit skins?"

"Yes, we're buying them, but there aren't many rabbit pelts for sale right now," Li Long said while eating some melon. "Everyone's busy harvesting wheat lately."

Xie Yundong, Tao Daqiang, Liang Dacheng and others from the team have all driven their tractors to other places to harvest wheat. For them, this is the biggest harvest season of the year.

Although I don't earn as much as I used to, I can still make a thousand or two thousand yuan a wheat harvest season.

"Uncle Xiaolong, I heard that you invented that combine harvester? That's amazing! Those few days I watched my uncle drive the combine harvester to harvest wheat, and I thought to myself, this thing is really good! One machine can do the work of more than ten people!"
Back home, they still use sickles to harvest wheat. Harvesting wheat, ugh, that was such a grueling job!

Everyone burst into laughter when he said that.

“Junfeng, you don’t seem like someone who’s afraid of work. I’ve seen you working really hard these past few days. You must be quite good at working back home, right?” Lu Yingming said with a smile.

"No way." Li Junfeng was a little embarrassed by what was said. "My grandpa, uncles, Uncle Xiaolong, and aunties are all so good to us, so of course we have to work hard, right?"

Hey, Li Junfeng is capable and eloquent. Has he changed his ways?
Li Long really didn't expect that things would change so quickly since Li Junfeng arrived. At first, he wanted to find some easy work, but after deciding to do farm work here, he actually settled down and did it diligently.

Li Long guessed that he might try to slack off or be lazy, but to his surprise, he didn't.

Moreover, Li Junfeng is the most talkative among these nephews, with a sweet tongue, and he gets along well with the neighbors. Even his wife has a good attitude towards him.

This impressed the Li family. Li Jianguo said privately on two occasions that if Li Junfeng continued to work like this, he would be willing to give him a bonus at the end of the year.

If you do a good job, getting more pay is no problem.

Under Li Junfeng's encouragement, Li Junxian and Chen Qianjin were very enthusiastic. Li Junxian assisted Li Jianguo on two tractors, and he was covered in oil and mud all day long. He didn't get dirty on purpose; he was just working hard.

In his view, this was a rare opportunity to learn a skill. After all, back in his hometown, let alone the Dongfanghong 75 Iron Ox, he wouldn't even get a chance to handle a small four-wheeled tractor.

Now that we have such a good opportunity, why not learn properly? Otherwise, we'll go back and learn nothing but the Northwest Wind.

Chen Qianjin was not a talkative man, but he was a hard worker. He was probably motivated by others to keep up with him and not to be looked down upon. So he worked hard and got up early. He was not only diligent at the Li family's place, but also eager to do work at Lao Ma's place, which earned him a lot of praise from Uncle Luo.

Li Long gradually learned about these things, and he was quite satisfied.

Of course, the food at both the Li family's and Old Ma's shops was quite good. It was the busy season, so meat was a daily necessity. Li Long would bring some meat over from time to time; sometimes it was cooked offal, and sometimes it was fresh beef or mutton.

He had gotten used to it. Every morning when Keyum brought in beef and mutton, he would occasionally go over and take a few kilograms to eat at home or bring to the team to improve their meals.

If you do a good job, then you should naturally have good food.

Li Junfeng and his wife have said more than once that the meals they eat here are even better than what they eat during the Spring Festival back in their hometown.

Li Qingxia was occasionally encouraged by a few young people to go to Xiaohaizi and cast a few nets after finishing her work in the afternoon.

For them, it's both a way to relieve stress and a chance to catch some fish. Although there are far fewer fish in the small lake now than before, they can still catch some with their nets.

(In reality, Xiaohaizi received a grant in early 2025. When repairs began, the ice hadn't completely melted yet. Excavators dug up the east and west dams and diverted the water to clear it out. As a result, the water was diverted, and the fish inside froze to death. The old man cast his nets several times this year but didn't catch any.)
Although the work was hard, the living conditions were good. Li Jianguo told them that they would get a lot of money at the end of the year, and that people like Li Junxian could learn skills here, so everyone was naturally very enthusiastic.

As for Dong Xiaojuan's pregnancy, no one in the team cared. After all, her household registration wasn't with the team, and family planning wasn't as strict there; they just needed to mind their own business.

After finishing the melon, Sister-in-law Lu, seeing that Li Long ignored the melon rinds, said:
"Little Long, do you want this melon rind? I'll take it back to feed the pigs."

"Alright, alright." Li Long naturally had no objections. He didn't have any tools for his work here; he had just come over to treat everyone to some melon seeds before heading back to the courtyard.

There were still quite a few watermelons in the jeep, and he planned to give them all to his older brother's house, as his mother and the others still needed to eat them.

Just as they were about to leave, Jiang Zhiyu arrived on her bicycle. She was quite happy to see Li Long and rode directly to the wheat field.

"Officer Jiang, what brings you here?" Even though he knew Jiang was looking for him, Li Long still asked politely.

"I need to talk to you about something," Jiang Zhiyu said frankly. "Would you like to go over there and discuss it?"

“Okay.” Li Long roughly guessed Jiang Zhiyu’s idea, so he pointed in the direction of his own house and said, “My yard is over there, shall we go there to talk?”

"Okay." There were too many people here, and Jiang Zhiyu felt it wouldn't be good to conduct the interview. It would be better to go somewhere with fewer people.

After the two left, Li Junfeng said with a smile:

"My Uncle Xiaolong is amazing! Is this a reporter who came to interview me?"

“A cadre from the township.” Lu Yingming had met Jiang Zhiyu twice and knew her identity. “But your Uncle Xiaolong is really impressive. People from the county and township are vying to come and interview him.”

Li Long was unaware of the gossip about him circulating in the wheat field; he was currently answering Jiang Zhiyu's question.

"Actually, it's the same topic you covered last time, which is agricultural mechanization. Let me explain the efficiency of manual spraying versus machine spraying, and you'll understand."

Jiang Zhiyu quickly took out her notebook to write this down; this was firsthand data!
(End of this chapter)