Rebirth of Bayi Fishing and Hunting in the Northwest

Chapter 1091 I just wanted to protect Xiao Haizi, why are you concerned about water conservancy now?

“I predict that in ten to twenty years, one-third to one-half of the arable land in our township will be planted with cotton.” Li Long’s first sentence surprised Jiang Zhiyu.

"How could that be?" Jiang Zhiyu retorted instinctively. "We're only just starting to solve the problem of food and clothing and are moving towards a moderately prosperous society. Shouldn't grain cultivation always be the dominant crop?"

At least for now, most of the commune's farmland is planted with various grains.

The task of delivering grain to the state was relatively heavy, and at that time the yield per unit area of ​​grain was relatively low. In order to deliver all the grain and ensure that the family had enough to eat, most of the farmland had to be planted with grain.

In addition, almost every household in the countryside raises chickens and pigs. These poultry and livestock also need to consume grain, so some coarse grains must be planted. After all, it is impossible to rely entirely on pig feed. That stuff is good for supplementing the diet, but pigs will not grow meat if they only eat coarse grains.

"Officer Jiang, have you noticed that our farmers' grain yields are increasing year by year?" Li Long brought up another topic. "Good seeds, more fertilizer, and large areas of wasteland being reclaimed are all contributing to increased grain production. In the future, grain production won't just rely on increasing the area."

"That's right." Jiang Zhiyu works in publicity in the township, so she must know about this.

"If we can eat our fill and pay our share of the grain tax, what's everyone thinking about next? It's getting rich, isn't it?" Li Long laughed. "Didn't our country's major conferences say that we should focus on economic development and let those who get rich first help those who are still poor?"

Everyone is determined to get rich, but how? Farmers still have to rely on farming. Growing grain won't make you rich; you can only grow cash crops.

“Yes, I know that. You leading the villagers to plant watermelon seeds, sunflowers, and sugar beets are all good directions,” Jiang Zhiyu said.

“But these cash crops are greatly affected by the market and land.” Li Long sighed. “Take watermelon seeds as an example. If the harvest stops one day, everyone’s watermelon seeds will be stuck in their hands.”

Jiang Zhiyu hadn't really thought that far ahead. Now, the area planted with watermelon in the township is second only to wheat, corn, sunflower, and rice, becoming the fifth largest crop. When the statistics were submitted to the commune, some township leaders were quite surprised.

She greatly admired Li Long's sense of crisis, and asked:
"Doesn't that type of cotton have the same risk?"

"No," Li Long said with a smile. "The cotton is purchased by the state. The county cotton and linen company buys cotton at a set price, so there's no problem with it not being sold."

I haven't learned anything about Jiang Zhiyu yet.

"Officer Jiang, do you know why the per capita net income of the people in Beiwucha, Liuhudi, has been higher than ours in the past two years?"

"Why?" Jiang Zhiyu didn't know either.

"Both of these townships grow a lot of cotton. The yield per unit area of ​​cotton can reach more than 100 kilograms, and one kilogram is more than two yuan. You do the math, how could that not be high?"

"No wonder... so you got this spraying machine? Was this some kind of pre-planning?"

"Yes, that's what I thought of after visiting the six households. I'm thinking of planting several dozen acres of cotton next year to see how it goes." Li Long didn't hide his thoughts at all. "If it goes well, we'll plant even more later."

"Can you manage to grow it all? I've heard that growing cotton is more troublesome than growing grain crops."

"What's a little trouble? Farmers won't complain about trouble if they can make money from farming. Besides, I only got this sprayer because it's troublesome," Li Long laughed.

As they were talking, Liang Yuemei quickly walked out from the courtyard. Upon seeing Li Long, she immediately called out:

"Xiaolong, your phone! It's Xiaoxia's dad from the purchasing station calling. He said someone in Urumqi called you about the sluice gate and the bridge!"

"Okay, okay, I'll go answer it right away!" Li Long hurriedly replied, then said to Jiang Zhiyu, "Officer Jiang, I'm sorry, as you can see, I have to take another call, I'm a little busy..."

"It's okay, it's okay. You can answer your call first. By the way, about this gate and bridge... no rush, no rush, I'll ask you after you finish this call."

Jiang Zhiyu was extremely excited. It seemed that she had made the right decision to come here. Otherwise, how would she have known about the sluice gate and the bridge?

A sluice gate? She vaguely remembered seeing a report from the fourth team to the township about building a sluice gate for the team's reservoir. Was this Li Long's doing?
Has Li Long gotten involved in water conservancy construction?

Because of Li Long, Jiang Zhiyu paid more attention to some information about the fourth team, so he learned about it, but not much. In his opinion, Li Long didn't fit in.

Watching Jiang Zhiyu hurriedly follow Li Long to Li Jianguo's yard, the few people still on the wheat field became quite gossipy.

"Hey, my uncle is pretty amazing! All the local officials are chasing after him!" Li Junfeng joked.

"Xiaolong is really something. Not to mention the township officials, even female officials in the county often interview him." Sister-in-law Lu was even more gossipy, laughing as she said, "People used to say that Xiaolong was marrying up by marrying Xiaoxia. Now many people say that Xiaoxia is lucky to have married Xiaolong."

Li Junfeng laughed: "No matter what, it's a good thing that my uncle and aunt are doing well. My uncle is really capable!"

Chen Qianjin didn't say anything. He was also quite curious about Li Long. He slept in the same room as Li Junxian at night and heard a lot about Li Long.

Li Junxian was inquisitive and talkative, and had learned quite a bit from Li Jianguo and Li Junfeng, some of which were rather exaggerated. Chen Qianjin just laughed it off.

Now it seems that this brother-in-law's younger brother really has a knack for it.

Talking about gossip while working creates a good atmosphere and everyone is more motivated, so Li Qingxia didn't stop the younger generation from doing so.

After hanging up, Li Long called back to the purchasing station. Gu Boyuan gave him a phone number, saying it was left by someone from Wucheng.

Li Long recognized the number as belonging to Professor Luo's office, having left it there before.

Li Long dialed the number from there, and Professor Luo, who was right next to him, answered the phone and said:
“Li Long, I’ve found you a professor specializing in water resources. He doesn’t work in this field, but he said he has a student who currently works at your county’s water resources bureau. My friend has already called Yang Bo at your county’s water resources bureau. You can go directly to him.”

"Yang Bo, right? Okay, okay, I'll come over tomorrow." Li Long took the paper and notebook next to the phone and wrote down the name, position, and contact information.

After thanking Professor Luo, Li Long hung up the phone, and Professor Luo breathed a sigh of relief. He had finally managed to get a job from Li Long after searching for several days, and now he had finally found a reliable one.

That should be enough to get the job done.

After Li Long hung up the phone, he walked out of the courtyard. Jiang Zhiyu was chatting with Liang Yuemei. When she saw him come out, she stopped talking and asked:

"Comrade Li Long, could you tell me about the sluice gate and the bridge you mentioned?"

Li Long thought to himself that this Jiang clerk was really gossipy, but there was nothing to hide, so he briefly explained the matter of repairing the sluice gate at Xiaohaizi and building a bridge in the mountains.

"As expected! As expected!" Jiang Zhiyu was overjoyed and could hardly contain her excitement. Hey, it was definitely the right decision to come!
"Can we go to Xiaohaizi now? I want to see the place where the sluice gate is being repaired and take a couple of pictures."

"Alright." Li Long was a little surprised. "Take my car and hurry up, I have things to do on the way back."

He drove the jeep back to his older brother's yard, unloaded the watermelon, and asked Jiang Zhiyu if she wanted some. Jiang Zhiyu's mind was full of possible news, so she naturally had no interest in eating watermelon.

After they left, Du Chunfang muttered to herself:

"A man and a woman alone together..."

Liang Yuemei laughed as soon as she heard this:

"Mom, what are you thinking? Is Xiaolong that kind of person? Officer Jiang is someone who does important things; he has important business to attend to..."

"I was just worried that someone would tell Xiaoxia..." Du Chunfang said, "It's fine if nothing's wrong, but if it gets back there, even if nothing's wrong, something will still happen..."

"Hey! Mom, don't think so much. Xiaolong has a lot going on outside and interacts with a lot of men and women. If everyone starts to overthink things, it'll be a huge problem." Liang Yuemei was a little amused and exasperated. Her mother-in-law's way of thinking was really different from most people's.

Upon arriving at Xiaohaizi, Li Long led Jiang Zhiyu to the location of the sluice gate and explained in detail the reasons for building the sluice gate.

"When it comes to water conservancy, everyone's thinking about clearing canals and digging wells. You've done a great job, combining nature's existing infrastructure with artificial dredging. This not only preserves floodwaters for agricultural use but also ensures the smooth flow of waterways. It's a great thing that benefits the present and the future!" Well, these people really know how to talk a good game in propaganda, Li Long said with shame.

"I didn't think that much about it. I just felt that since I had taken over this small lake, I had to be responsible for it now."

Besides, if a flood really comes and washes away the dam, the reed ditch bridge that leads our fourth team out will definitely be washed away as well, and then it will be a problem for students to go to school and for villagers to go out.

For me, repairing a sluice gate isn't a huge burden, but there are many advantages, so I'll do it. However, I'm a novice, so I'd like to ask a professional for guidance.

"What about the bridge in the mountains?" Jiang Zhiyu asked. "When are you going into the mountains? Could you take me with you?"

Li Long thought it was a good idea, but Ma Xiaoyan might have objections.

But it's alright, it's first come, first served. Since Jiang Zhiyu has already brought it up, let's prioritize her first, so he nodded.

Seeing that Li Long had agreed, Jiang Zhiyu became happy. She quickly raised her camera and took a few pictures. Then she had Li Long stand in front of the dam and took a few more pictures of him posing. Only then did she finish.

The topic returned to cotton planting. Jiang Zhiyu didn't know much about it, so on the way back, she asked Li Long to explain it to her in detail. Li Long then talked about cotton planting from sowing to harvest.

Some machines are already in use, such as seeders, tillers, and the pesticide sprayer that Li Long has already developed; some machines don't exist yet, and Li Long can only dream about them, such as cotton harvesters and threshing machines.

Li Long is even imagining technologies like drip irrigation, which will be widely used more than 20 years from now, and he wants Jiang Zhiyu to keep remembering them. These are things that are no less imaginative, science fiction, or even fantasy to her.

Some of them she had heard of or read about in the newspaper, and some she had never heard of, but at this moment Jiang Zhiyu felt that perhaps what Li Long said might actually come true in the future.

Back at the Li family home, Jiang Zhiyu looked at the three full pages of notes she had taken and was quite satisfied. She was a little thirsty this time, so she ate the watermelon Li Long had cut, washed her hands, and happily went home.

Li Long also hurried back to the county. After having lunch at home, he went to the county water resources bureau during his afternoon work hours.

Yang Bo was not tall, less than 1.7 meters, and a bit stocky. Upon seeing Li Long, he smiled and said:

"When my teacher called me, I really didn't expect him to assign me this kind of task."

"I'm really sorry, I can't find any professionals here, and I don't know anyone here, so I had to ask someone in Wucheng for help." Li Long was genuinely embarrassed.

In fact, even if he had to do it all over again, he would still do the same thing. At least at this stage, the tricks of a society based on personal connections are still very effective. If it weren't for the introductions from Professor Luo and Professor Dong, Yang Bo's teacher, if Li Long had come directly to the Water Resources Bureau to find someone, they would definitely have followed the official procedures.

"Haha, since we've already talked about my teacher, then we're on the same side. Professor Luo really praised you a lot." Yang Bo is around thirty years old. He was already quite old when he entered the August 1st Agricultural College, so he hasn't been working for very long now. He's about the same age as Li Long: "We should keep in touch more often in the future."

"That's right, that's right. I'll be asking you for a lot of help later."

"Call me senior brother." Yang Bo was very familiar with him. "Although you didn't go to the agricultural college, my teacher said that Professor Luo and Professor Wu both admire you very much and said that if you went to school, they would definitely be willing to accept you."

Li Long hurriedly waved his hand. At this time, things were different from when they first started recruiting worker-peasant-soldier college students. Now, they needed solid academic qualifications, and he had nothing.

"Let's just call it that," Yang Bo waved his hand, stopping the conversation. "Shall we get down to business?"

So Li Long left it at that and explained the two matters.

"If that's how it is, it's actually quite simple. But I think I need to go and take a look. How about this, I'll ask my supervisor later, and we can go tomorrow? If there aren't any major problems, I'll give you some drawings and some points to note, and then you can find a construction team to fix it."

"Okay, okay." Li Long was naturally pleased.

The matter was settled like that.

Li Long left a packet of dried meat, saying he wanted Senior Brother Yang to taste it, and then he left.

After Li Long left, his colleagues in the office clamored to taste the dried meat together, so Yang Bo opened it and gave each of them a few.

Eating meat was no longer a rarity at this time, but this kind of relatively exquisitely packaged jerky was still quite rare. After a colleague tried one, he kept the rest to take back to his child.

Li Long has a big reputation, and there are ethnic minority colleagues in the water resources department, so everyone is actually aware of his past. Yang Bo and Li Long established a relationship not just by reminiscing about their teacher-student relationship, but because these connections are mutual.

Now that Li Long is asking him for help, he might ask Li Long for help in the future; it's a two-way street.

When Li Long returned to the courtyard, he ran into Liang Wenyu, who was driving a tractor and preparing to leave.

Li Long was somewhat surprised that he hadn't seen Liang Wenyu for a while.

With Li Long back, Liang Wenyu naturally couldn't leave. He parked the tractor by the roadside, and after Li Long parked the jeep in the yard, the two of them opened the gate and started chatting at the entrance.

There was no other way. Liang Wenyu's tractor was carrying half a load of watermelons. Half of them were unloaded in Li Long's yard, where Han Fang was watching over them. The other half were still on the tractor, which was planned to be taken to the fourth team.

"Where did this watermelon come from?" Li Long asked curiously. "I don't remember your family growing these, right?"

“Hey, I’ve been harvesting wheat for people these past few days,” Liang Wenyu said with a smile. “I went to a neighbor’s house. I recognized what they were saying, and when I asked, we found out we were from the same village! They insisted on having me stay for a meal and then gave me a whole truckload of melons. I felt bad asking for money, so I just brought the melons back.”

"You lost money?" Li Long laughed. "We're from the same hometown, so losing a little is just losing a little. When you're away from home, you should help each other out if you can."

“That’s exactly what I mean.” Liang Wenyu nodded. “My family can’t eat it all, and some people in the team gave us a lot, so I brought it over. You keep some, and take the rest to your older sister’s place.”

"Where is my second sister?"

"Yes, I delivered them." Liang Wenyu nodded. "When someone from the previous team delivered melons, I took some to their house. You know, in the first two years, I was making money with you, and I was leading the team, so they were grateful to me."

Li Long nodded. It's a good thing that the people you make know how to be grateful.

Liang Wenyu hesitated, but Li Long told him to just say it.

“Our team has so little land,” Liang Wenyu sighed. “Grain isn’t worth much now, but we can’t stop planting. What can we plant on the little land we have left? We’ve stopped weaving bundles and started making big brooms. We don’t have any reeds here, so we have to go far away to get some…”

"Growing vegetables." Li Long had actually thought about this issue a long time ago, but he hadn't had time to talk to Liang Wenyu about it. He vaguely remembered that in two years, the country would launch the "vegetable basket project."

Even now, it's clear that once people are full, they naturally want to eat well. In the past, there was more rice than vegetables at the dinner table. Now, everyone wants to eat delicious and nutritious food, so the demand for vegetables has increased.

"Grow vegetables?" Liang Wenyu asked, somewhat puzzled. "Grow what? What if we can't sell them?"

"After the corn harvest this fall, go to the market and see how much people are buying things like scallions, cabbage, and potatoes, as well as other vegetables." The path Li Long pointed out was actually the path that Liang Wenyu's team planned to take in a few years.

With limited land, we can only focus on high-quality cultivation. Being close to the county town, the best solution is to grow vegetables.

"Okay." After all these years of testing, Liang Wenyu had enough faith in Li Long. Since he had said so, they would just have to go and see for themselves to find out.

Liang Wenyu didn't stay long; he needed to hurry and deliver the melons to the fourth team before going to harvest wheat. Harvesting wheat could earn him quite a bit of money now, so he was actually quite content.

But with the number of harvesters gradually increasing, he wasn't sure how far this way of making money could go, so he definitely had to consider the future.

Besides, he has many followers, and others are hoping he can point them in the right direction.

Let's find out first.

(End of this chapter)