Rebirth of Bayi Fishing and Hunting in the Northwest

Chapter 1146 New Year's Eve, The Grand Plans for the Year
The New Year's Eve dinner was eaten in the house of the eldest brother, Li Jianguo. The food was prepared by his sister-in-law, Liang Yuemei, Gu Xiaoxia, and Li Junfeng's wife.

Li Junfeng's wife, Dong Xiaojuan, has almost fully recovered after giving birth. Li Junfeng is holding the baby and is curiously watching Li Qiang, Mingming, and Haohao running around in the room.

The child was still small; after eating, he only needed to be held for a short while before becoming sleepy. There was no need to carry him back; he was simply placed on Li Qiang's single bed and gently covered with a coat. The room was warm, so there was no worry about the child getting cold.

Once she saw that the child was asleep, Li Juan whispered to her younger brothers to stop making noise, saying that the child was asleep and they didn't want to wake him up.

As dusk fell, the children and women sat at one table, and the men at another, and they began to eat.

Li Qiang sat at the same table as the children again, and said with some dissatisfaction:
"Dad, Uncle's room is bigger, why don't we move to that room for dinner? We'll need to split the table here, and there's not enough space."

Li Qingxia, Li Jianguo, and Li Junfeng, who were already seated at the table, were all stunned. The women hadn't expected Li Qiang to ask such a question either. Only Li Long smiled and said:

"Because your dad is the eldest in our generation. Now that your grandparents are getting old and can't manage some things anymore, your dad is the eldest in this generation, so all of us—your second uncle, your aunt, and me—have to listen to your dad."

So you see, your second uncle and your aunt are coming over tomorrow and the day after, and they'll be coming here too. Your grandparents are also staying at your dad's place.

"Your generation is the same. Juan and you are the eldest among the girls and boys, so now the younger siblings all have to listen to you. Of course, you have to set a good example; only if you do well will they listen. We listen to your dad now because he was a good eldest brother, understand?"

"I understand." Li Qiang was completely convinced. The way he looked at his father was different now.

"Come on, come on, eat up!" Li Qingxia said with a smile. "Xiao Long is right. Alright, stop watching and eat while it's hot. This TV show is actually quite good."

This year, neither Li Anguo nor Chen Anbang came back early or called. Li Long and the others didn't know what was going on, so this New Year's Eve dinner consisted of Li Jianguo's family, Li Long's family, Li Junfeng, and Li Qingxia and his wife.

The men wanted to drink spicy liquor, while the women drank either sweet wine or soft drinks. The children were also quite lively. Gu Xiaoxia saw Hao Hao put down the half-eaten sugar bun and insisted that he finish it.

"Do you know that we have enough sugar here, even more than enough? In many places, sugar is hard to come by! Each person only gets about two ounces of white sugar a month, which is a lot. If some people want to eat sugar, they have to get a prescription from the hospital to buy it. And now you're wasting it..."

"Is sugar really that scarce?" Du Chunfang asked incredulously. "Buying sugar here seems so easy."

“Mom, there’s a sugar factory here.” Liang Yuemei believed it for sure. “There’s a Shicheng Sugar Factory here, so it’s convenient for us to buy sugar. But in the whole of northern Xinjiang, there are many places where you can’t get sugar. Hospitals don’t give prescriptions to just anyone. Only people with hepatitis or other serious illnesses can get a prescription to buy sugar.”

Those who still eat commodity grain are still mainly under the planned economy. Sugar, grain and other things are rationed every month. It's not too bad around Shicheng. Even if the rationed sugar is not enough, you can buy sugar cubes and white sugar at the store. Although the price is a bit higher, there is no shortage.

In other places, most people only have two ounces of white sugar per month, and there's nowhere to buy it even if they wanted to.

“It’s still better here,” Du Chunfang exclaimed. “It feels like I haven’t lacked candy since I came here. I never thought… Come to think of it, candy was really hard to buy back home.”

The two of them have been here for several years and have adapted to life here. But now, after Gu Xiaoxia mentioned it, they suddenly thought of the situation back in their hometown, as if it were a different world.

At the table over the men's side, Li Junfeng said with a smile:

"Uncle Xiaolong must have made a lot of money this year, right?"

"It's alright." Li Long nodded. "We got some things from the Soviet Union that are scarce here, so we can sell them for some money."

"That car is really nice," Li Junfeng exclaimed. "I wish I could have one someday."

“Junfeng was also very capable this year,” Li Qingxia said. “He didn’t have a moment’s rest all winter. He was busy catching rabbits, breaking ice holes to catch fish. Except for the month when his wife was in confinement, he was constantly busy.”

“There are many opportunities here in northern Xinjiang, and you can make money if you’re busy,” Li Junfeng said. “I want to stay, so I have to work hard.”

"Are you still getting supplies from the Soviet Union next year?" Li Jianguo asked Li Long, holding a bottle of liquor. "Is the risk too low?"

"It's alright, all the paperwork is in place," Li Long said with a smile. "Brother, how about we do it together?"

As the business grew, there were more and more things to take care of, and Li Long felt that it would be best if his older brother could come and help.

“I can’t let go of things here.” Li Jianguo thought for a moment, then shook his head. “The land, my parents, the big tractor—can I abandon any of them? I’d better stay with the team. You can earn whatever you want over there, but in the end, I’ll still have a way out.”

Li Long nodded.

The eldest brother's thinking might be a bit conservative, but who can say for sure about these things? Nian Guangjiu's business was so big, but he was still arrested in no time.
Although Li Long knew that the business environment in northern Xinjiang was different from that in the border region, because there was a lack of business people, the government was very lenient towards anyone who could do business. Moreover, he had always been very conscientious in paying taxes and did not even intend to do any reasonable tax avoidance.

In addition, with his national advanced individual title and occasional appearances in the regional daily newspaper, there's virtually no one foolish enough to mess with him.

But the eldest brother wouldn't think that way. Just like he told Li Qiang and the others, Li Jianguo, as the eldest of the brothers and sisters, has always been the one to protect them. Whoever does well, he'll naturally be happy.

If someone doesn't do well and falls on hard times, it's still the leader who will help them make a comeback.

“Then let’s plant cotton properly in the spring,” Li Long said after thinking for a moment. “Plant a hundred acres. Have Dad call back home and bring over seven or eight hardworking and reliable guys like Junxian and Junfeng.”

I'm building a row of bungalows on the east side of my yard so they can live there. Junfeng, you can manage them. If the cotton grows well, one mu (approximately 0.16 acres) will yield 150 to 200 kilograms. At a little over one or two yuan per kilogram, after deducting costs, one mu will bring in one or two hundred yuan. Becoming a ten-thousand-yuan household in a year won't be a problem.”

Since the eldest brother wants to stay in the team, he needs to pave the way. He has a tractor, and cotton farming requires a lot of people. Back home, there are many people but little land, so bringing some people over to work here shouldn't be a problem.

Junxian brought a lot of money with him when he went back to his hometown in winter. He'll definitely make some people envious when he gets there, and then it will be easier to bring people over.

"Are we going to plant that much?" Li Jianguo hadn't expected Li Long to take such a big step; he had been thinking of planting twenty or thirty acres to try it out first.

“Brother, listen to me on this,” Li Long said. “Cotton planting is the future trend. The best part is that the government buys cotton, unlike with seed cotton where if no buyers come, the cotton will just sit at home. And cotton prices will keep rising. They’re even building cotton mills in Kuitun. Think about it.”

In a few years, Li Long thought it would be good for his older brother to open a cotton ginning factory near the village. Cotton purchasing has always been a highly profitable industry, and in certain special periods, the government subsidies for cotton were even directly deposited into the cotton ginning factory's account.

As the process progressed, the profits of cotton ginning factories increased. Eventually, many cotton ginning factories in Ma County, Shicheng, and even Kuitun were bought up by merchants from the south, who then set uniform prices.

One year, when cotton was first harvested in southern Xinjiang, a local cotton ginning factory offered 9.3 yuan per kilogram. After only one day of operation, it closed down. The bank refused to lend it money, its competitors reported it, and a whole host of other problems led to the factory's bankruptcy.

Finally, the average price of cotton that year was over seven yuan.

Who got rich?
it goes without saying.

Later, when Li Long has his own capital, he can have his older brother open a cotton ginning factory. It won't be difficult to get it running. There are only a few years when cotton prices skyrocket. If you can seize one year, you can make money for a lifetime.

Of course, the most urgent task right now is to persuade the eldest brother to plant more crops. "Also, we should try to clear as much wasteland as possible in the team," Li Long continued. "It would be best to directly contract out that two or three hundred acres of saline-alkali land next to the canal."

"Then we'd have to contract it out in the township." Li Jianguo felt that there was no point in taking it over.

“The contract lasted until 1997,” Li Long said. “The first land contract was for fifteen years. For that saline-alkali land, it was one yuan per mu per year. The township was definitely willing to give it to you. After plowing it out, if you didn’t want to plant cotton, you could dig ditches and plant goji berries. Those things aren’t afraid of saline-alkali soil.”

Planting goji berries was just a pretext; the real purpose was to occupy land. Once the land was occupied until 1997, the second round of land contracting would begin, allowing for the reclamation of even more wasteland. Someone even cleared out saline-alkali land, and the township was willing to lease it to them for seventy years at one yuan per mu per year!

Land is a resource. Those 70-year contracts are mostly invalidated in the end, but the township still recognizes the 30-year contract stipulated by the state.

So since his older brother was going to stay in the village, Li Long thought about making sure he had a backup plan.

After listening to Li Long's explanation, Li Jianguo pondered for a moment, raised his glass, and after everyone clinked glasses and finished drinking, Li Jianguo wiped his mouth and asked:
"Can this cotton really be grown for a long time? I used to grow it in the production brigade. This stuff attracts insects easily, and it's a hassle to pick it up."

“It’s not like I’m doing it myself. We can have Junxian and the others come and do the picking, or we can hire odd jobs. I know a little about the technical aspects, and don’t forget, I have connections at the agricultural college.” Li Long said with a smile.

"When it's time to pick cotton, you and your sister-in-law can just cook a meal for them. Junfeng will take care of everything. We're family, so we can manage things. We'll give him a bigger management fee. Junfeng, what do you say?"

“Sure, why not?” Junfeng was naturally happy. He knew Li Long’s abilities. In fact, when Li Long told Li Jianguo to go out and do something, and Li Jianguo didn’t plan to go, Li Junfeng wanted to volunteer, but he held back.

Now he could see that Li Long didn't intend for him to leave, but rather to stay in the team and help Li Jianguo.

That's good, he was just worried that Li Long wouldn't assign him any work. Knowing his uncle as he did, the fact that Li Long was willing to assign him work meant he trusted him, and his uncle would help him with the money and identity issues he was worried about later.

Listening to his youngest son's plan, Li Qingxia thought it was quite good, and he couldn't help but say:

“I’m interested! I’ll call Anmin after the Lunar New Year to see how things are there. All the able-bodied men in our hometown are out of work and have to go to the south or the coast to find jobs. Rather than going to a place where we don’t know anyone and being bullied, it’s better to come here. There’s someone to look after us, we can earn money, and they won’t cause any trouble.”

Li Long understood what his father meant. Many people from their hometown went out to work, going to the more affluent areas in the south and along the coast, where they earned a considerable amount of money each year.

But that's a glamorous world. When grown men go out to work, there are always a few who are influenced by the outside world, tempted by too many things and unable to control themselves. They either fall into a honey trap or throw their money into the casino.

Although they are isolated cases, the impact is not good. Some people no longer dare to let their family members go out to work, tied to that small plot of land, with little hope.

Rather than that, it would be better to come here and work honestly. At least you're close to fellow villagers, someone will take care of you and you won't have to worry about work. Besides, it's in the countryside, so there are fewer places to spend money and you can save up.

Li Jianguo felt that Li Long had thought things through, so he didn't say anything more.

Anyway, the family already has a tractor and a harvester, and when spring comes, Dad can call people from our hometown over, so we'll have the people. Next, Li Long said he wanted to get a pesticide sprayer from Kuitun, which relieved Li Jianguo of another worry.

“When it comes to building houses, I don’t raise pigs or sheep there anyway, so I’ll just build a row of bungalows, they don’t need to be the same size as the main house,” Li Long said. “We can lay the foundations when the snow melts in the spring, so we don’t have to dig up any more earthen blocks, it’s too much trouble. We can just buy bricks and build brick houses, it’ll be quick to build, and people can move in right away.”

“Those brick houses must be so cold in winter,” Li Jianguo still had concerns.

"Why are you even thinking about winter? All those villagers will go back home in winter, won't they? Besides, just make sure the stove and chimney are in place, so we can set up the stove when it gets really cold."

“That’s true.” Li Jianguo’s rebuttal mainly stemmed from his feeling that buying bricks to build a house was wasteful. Making mud blocks would be much cheaper. But considering that he was building several houses at once and time was tight, he decided not to worry about it too much.

The children finished eating early and were watching TV. The women were already clearing the table. For ordinary people, Lunar New Year's Eve is still quite significant at the end of the year; although they are busy, they are happy to be busy.

As Liang Yuemei was going to bed that night, she whispered to Li Jianguo:
"You're saying Xiaolong wants us to plant a hundred acres of cotton all at once? Is that even possible? We need to plant wheat, sunflowers, and corn, and then another hundred acres of cotton... this land..."

“Go ahead and plant them. We have big tractors. Xiaolong said so too, let’s give it a try. Besides, Dad can call people over. Our main job is to cook, direct the work, and make sure everyone does their job well.” Li Jianguo reassured her, “We’re landlords now, how can we work like we used to?”

“Hehehe,” Liang Yuemei said with a laugh, “Who would have thought that after being a farmer for half her life, I could become a landlord again?”

"Life will be good from now on," Li Jianguo said confidently. "If we work hard, we'll save up money to buy houses and yards for Juan and Qiangqiang when they go to university. Look at how things are now, there will be more and more machinery for working in the fields, so it won't be as tiring as before. The more land we cultivate, the more we'll earn..."

"Yeah, it's like a dream," Liang Yuemei exclaimed. "It's only been a few years! We bought a small four-wheeled vehicle, and now we have a big tractor, and all the land is hundreds of acres... Oh, right, that courtyard in Yanjing, we still have to give that money to Xiaolong. I heard you say it was bought with foreign money, so aren't we taking advantage of Xiaolong?"

“You don’t need to worry so much. Xiaolong knows how to be grateful, and I understand this. Now that I drive a big tractor, it’s like we’re partners. I’ll work hard for the next year or two, and when it’s time to split the profits, I’ll give Xiaolong a bigger share.”

"Yes, yes, even though he earns a lot, he might not be interested in this money, but we still have to do what we're supposed to do. We're the eldest brother and sister-in-law, we can't let people laugh at us."

As she said this, she seemed to remember something and said with a smile, "What Xiaolong said at dinner tonight was quite insightful. He makes a lot of money and has a large family business, but he still knows his place and respects you as his boss. That's better than... that."

Liang Yuemei actually wanted to say that they were better than her second son and brother-in-law, but she didn't say it out loud. In fact, in the past year or so, the Li Anguo and Chen Xingbang families had done much better than before.

Li Jianguo had no comment, so he remained silent.

The next day, when it was still barely light, the sound of firecrackers could be heard in the village. At first, there were only a few sporadic explosions, but soon they started going off one after another.

Li Qiang had already gotten up and was urging his mother to hurry up and prepare the dumplings, because he was going to set off firecrackers.

After having dumplings for breakfast, the family gave each other lucky money for the children. Just as they were discussing how to send New Year's greetings, the phone rang.

Li Jianguo hurriedly went to the inner room, lifted the dust cover on the telephone, picked up the receiver, and listened to a few words. Li Long could tell that his second brother, Li Anguo, and his sister's family had arrived and were waiting at the county bus station.

It was quite difficult to get a ride at this time. Li Jianguo put down the phone, put on his cotton-padded coat, and started the No. 69 train.

Li Long wanted to drive his 69 truck, but Li Jianguo refused, telling him to wait at home. He then prepared some hot water, started the truck, and hurriedly drove towards the county.

About an hour later, the person was brought back, and the courtyard became even more lively.

To Li Long's surprise, this year, both his second brother and his sister-in-law brought a lot of things for his parents and eldest brother for the Spring Festival. With so many bags and packages, plus the seven of them, the car was packed full.

The children were the happiest. The siblings were a little unfamiliar with each other when they first met, but Li Juan had grown up and only needed a few words of reminiscence and "Hongqin has grown taller" and "Xueqin and Xueping have become more beautiful" to make the children feel familiar with each other.

Before the adults could even exchange a few words, the children were already playing together, running, laughing, and jumping in the front and back yards. Mingming and Haohao, dressed in thick clothes, looked like two little buns running behind, overjoyed.

Is this the meaning behind the older generation's advice to have more children?

(End of this chapter)