Rebirth of Bayi Fishing and Hunting in the Northwest

Chapter 1173: Cotton Broadcast Begins, News of High-Horsepower Tractors Arrives
Now is the perfect time to plant vegetables.

Li Long led the workers to Yushanjiang's courtyard and then assigned them tasks.

The two vegetable growers were told to first turn over the soil in their plots, divide it into sections, and tie them with stalks. The others then began clearing away debris from inside and outside the house.

The doors to the house were all open, and inside were some old clothes, broken furniture, newspapers, old books, and the like.

One of them asked Li Long:
"Boss, are you going to throw all of these things away?"

"Okay, throw it all away." Li Long didn't plan to keep it. The original residents had made the house quite messy, so Li Long thought he would clear away all the clutter, clean it thoroughly, and if possible, whitewash it again, and finally build a wooden kang (heated brick bed) and put furniture in it.

"Could you give me these things? I don't want wages!" the man said boldly. "I think these things are still usable..."

"Sure, but you'll be responsible for hauling it away yourself, and it would be best if you could also clear away all the clutter in the yard," Li Long said. "How about it?"

"Okay, okay." The person was naturally happy.

Li Long guessed that this person must have come from the border region to work, and that his whole family had rented a house or bought a yard to live in. There wasn't much usable furniture in the yard, so naturally, he would have thought of using whatever he could find for free.

The others, hearing Li Long say that these things could be taken for free, were now somewhat envious. One of them had a companion there, and he said to his companion:

"Old Xu, let's move out what we can use first, and you can watch over it for me. I'll borrow a tricycle later to haul all this stuff away, and then we'll clear away the rest of the trash, okay?"

"Okay, but I also want some of the clothes here," Old Xu bargained.

"Go, go, go."

The group then got to work.

Li Long divided them into groups and paid them by area to avoid them being forced to work unnecessarily. After he finished, he drove away to buy vegetable seeds.

The agricultural supply warehouse at the purchasing station had some seeds, but not many. This is because Yushanjiang and Halim mainly grow onions and potatoes.

Li Long got the green chili pepper seeds and cabbage seeds from the purchasing station, and he bought a whole sack of potatoes directly from the market. These things only cost a few pieces, so they could be planted directly. After planting, the rest could be given to Yu Shanjiang and the others as vegetables.

Li Long hauled these things to the yard, but instead of handing them over to the two vegetable growers immediately, he waited for them to prepare the stems.

The original owner of this yard left early, and the vegetable garden hasn't been turned over yet, or rather, it wasn't turned over last year. The remaining vegetable roots and stalks need to be cleared away, and half of the abandoned land needs to be turned over again. These are all quite heavy tasks.

The person who wanted the items had already arrived on a tricycle and was loading them onto the vehicle. Seeing Li Long drive over, he hurriedly went forward to explain after Li Long got out of the car:

"I'll pack up what I need first, then come back to work, you see..."

"Let's get to work first. We'll take your things last." Li Long shook his head. "Let's finish the work first, then we'll leave the stuff here. We'll also clear out the garbage first, and finally take the furniture and clothes away."

The man smiled and said, "Okay."

It wasn't that Li Long didn't trust him; it was mainly because he didn't know him and there was no one to vouch for him. He didn't care about the money itself, but if that person took the things away and didn't come back, there was nothing he could do, right?

I can't afford to lose this person.

The yard was instantly covered in dust.

At this time, most people are quite honest in their work, doing whatever they are asked to do. And because the areas have been divided and the standards have been explained, they want to finish as soon as possible and go home.

Li Long paid them quite well, so these people worked very hard. Soon, you could see some of them taking off their coats and others already sweating.

The two vegetable growers had already turned over and prepared the soil in their two plots. One of them was indeed a skilled vegetable grower; he broke up the soil in his vegetable garden after turning it over. The other one started off a bit sloppy, but seeing how well his colleague was doing, he immediately changed his approach.

People are afraid of comparison no matter where they are, but this comparison has yielded results, and Li Long is very satisfied.

He walked around the house and saw that there was nothing usable. There was a clay stove outside that could be used, but unfortunately there was no pot.

Li Long then drove away to the supply and marketing cooperative, where he bought a pot, a teapot, a ladle, several enamel bowls, and a packet of brick tea. He returned to the yard and used the garbage and debris he had cleared out to start a fire and boil a pot of water.

Boil the water, break a few pieces of brick tea into a new teapot, pour in the boiling water, brew the tea, and place it in the courtyard. Say to those working:

"There's tea here. If you're tired and thirsty, come and pour yourself a drink." After saying that, he poured out a few bowls and left them to cool, so that at least the tea would be cold when you drank it.

"Hey, boss, you're too kind. We can have cold water, that's fine with us," one of the workers said with a smile.

"You should drink hot water if you can," Li Long replied. "You guys are working pretty well, take a break."

Perhaps it was because there weren't many people hiring workers at this time, or perhaps it was because of Li Long's generosity, that these people cherished this opportunity to work today.

Because I was delayed a bit by going to the fourth team in the morning, it was lunchtime before I had even finished half of my work.

The situation was different now. The man on the tricycle and Old Xu went home first, as there was food at home. Most of the others took out the steamed buns they had brought and ate them with the tea that Li Long had brewed for them—that was their simple meal.

Li Long himself went back to the courtyard for lunch. After finishing his meal, he returned and had the two vegetable growers plant cabbage, chili peppers, and onions in the leveled ground.

As for potatoes, the land isn't ready yet because we need to dig ditches; we'll plant them later.

At that time, there weren't many vegetable seedlings for sale, so people usually grew vegetables using seeds or by cultivating their own seedlings.

The work in the Jiang family's courtyard in Yushan was completely finished by the time the sun was about to set. Li Long had already asked the people there, and two of them knew how to apply whitewash, so Li Long would have them come over to paint the house tomorrow.

These two vegetable growers are doing quite well, and Li Long will have them grow vegetables in Halimu's yard tomorrow as well.

The courtyard over there was relatively clean and there wasn't much to sweep, so Li Long didn't move.

After seeing everyone off and locking the doors to each room, Li Long took one last look at the newly renovated courtyard, clapped his hands in satisfaction, and drove away.

During dinner that evening, Li Qingxia said that Director He from the furniture factory had come to look at the GAZ trucks and had reserved one of them, saying that if Li Long came back, he should let him know so that he could come over for a test drive the next day.

"That factory manager has good taste; he took a liking to the one I drive," Li Qingxia said with a smile. "The car is in good condition and drives smoothly."

"Should we tell him to get a different one?" Li Long asked.

"No need, no need, I can drive whichever one I want. Business is the priority," Li Qingxia said. "Buying things comes first. We can make a lot of money once this car is sold. We can't afford to turn down money."

Fine, Dad's more like a businessman than I am.

After dinner, we practiced driving as usual. Mingming and Haohao were shouting from behind the car:

"Mom and Dad are off on a date!"

Li Qingxia quickly stopped him:

"You can't call him Mingming Haohao like that, people will laugh at you."

"Why?" Mingming asked, puzzled.

"Because adults usually don't let others know when they're on a date," Li Qingxia explained after thinking for a while, though he was a little resentful of his youngest son.

In ordinary families, children are taught to respect their parents (this was the case in the 1980s). If another child dared to make fun of their parents, a fight was inevitable.

However, Li Long and Gu Xiaoxia were very lenient with their two children, which led to a close relationship between the children and their parents, and a lack of respect for them.

This is out of step with the times.

Of course, Mingming and Haohao were smart enough. Although they couldn't quite understand what their grandfather was saying, they naturally didn't want their parents to be laughed at, so they immediately stopped talking.

"Hey, you're really obedient." Li Qingxia was very satisfied and left with his hands behind his back.

Back at the purchasing station, seeing that Liang Shuangcheng had already eaten and was preparing to wash the dishes, he asked:
"You made noodles again?" "No, not today. I bought a naan and stir-fried some potatoes," Liang Shuangcheng said with a smile.

"Not bad, not bad. I heard you found someone? What does your family do?"

"Sister Tie introduced her to me. Her family runs a business, and she processes dried meat in Sister Yang's workshop."

“An unemployed youth,” Li Qingxia nodded. “Did you only graduate from junior high school?”

"Hmm, he was quite diligent in junior high." Liang Shuangcheng was quite satisfied.

"Is your yard all tidied up?"

"It's still being worked on. I go over and tidy it up every week, there's no rush."

Li Qingxia then changed the subject. The two men working at the purchasing station cherished their jobs and worked very hard; both Li Long and he were quite satisfied.

Once young people start a family, their minds settle down, and they'll definitely have better jobs in the future.

Of course, Li Long wouldn't treat them unfairly.

The next day, Li Long went to lead people to work as usual. Today, in addition to planting vegetables and painting houses, Angge also led people to Halimu's yard. One reason was to move the furniture in, and the other was to start building a wooden kang (heated brick bed).

It would take at least a week to build wooden beds in both courtyards. After asking Qi Xinzhi and learning that Angge was a reliable and steady worker, Li Long handed him the keys and returned to the purchasing station.

At this moment, Director He was practicing driving at the purchasing station. His driving skills were average, but fortunately he was quite steady and didn't drive fast.

After driving around the car for a few laps, and carefully inspecting the engine, trunk, chassis, and other parts, Factory Manager He smiled and signed the contract with Li Long before driving the car away.

He was clearly quite satisfied.

By the time the two courtyards were tidied up, it was already mid-April. On the afternoon of the 16th, Gu Boyuan returned from Yili with Liu Gaolou's long convoy.

Gu Boyuan seemed a little thinner this time, but he was clearly very excited. However, he did not talk to Li Long immediately, but instead let Liu Gaolou and Li Long complete the transaction first.

"We don't have that many GAZ trucks right now. This time, I brought one GAZ-69, two Ladas, and one Moskva. The trucks are all in pretty good condition, and one of the Ladas is practically brand new."

My uncle said these four carts are worth four thousand US dollars, which will need to be deducted from the sugar payment. This trip only yielded five hundred pairs of antelope horns; there were no hides left.

It's currently planting season in Kazakhstan, and herders need to prepare for their migration, so hunting has come to an end. Liu Gaolou said that the five hundred pairs of antelope horns were found by chance.

As usual, the antelope horns had to be brought back to the yard for storage. By this time, Li Long had tens of thousands of pairs of antelope horns, filling two rooms, and they didn't smell very good.

For the five hundred pairs of antelope horns, Li Long gave Liu Shanmin 15,000 yuan, while Liu Shanmin gave Li Long 46,000 US dollars as payment for the sugar.

"My second uncle asked how the cement is going here. We'd like to haul some over next time," Liu Gaolou stated his plans. "Also, what do you need?"

"I want to get two high-horsepower wheeled tractors, preferably new, but if used, they need to be in good condition and come with matching farm implements," Li Long said. "Preferably made in Europe or America. Although Soviet-made ones are sturdy and easy to repair, they consume too much fuel."

At that time, high-horsepower wheeled tractors usually referred to those with more than 150 horsepower. John Deere was the most famous, and Germany, France, and Italy all produced them. The Soviet Union also had a high-horsepower Kiro-K-700/K-701, but in terms of performance, it was not as good as the American one.

After all, at that time, the United States was at the height of its technological prowess.

“Okay, I’ll go back and talk to my second uncle to see if he can help. So, how do you plan to pay?” Liu Gaolou asked.

Both parties have excellent credit. The cost of two high-horsepower wheeled tractors plus the matching farm implements is roughly equivalent to the cost of three trips for sugar, so it's not like they lack that much credit.

Liu Gaolou was simply curious.

“If I had a choice, I would naturally prefer to pay in RMB,” Li Long said with a smile. “The US dollar is becoming more and more valuable now. In another two years, the ruble in Kazakhstan will probably have depreciated to its lowest point. If I save some US dollars now, I can buy a lot more things then than I can now.”

"Hey, my second uncle thinks the same way. He sells the sugar and cement I bring over here directly in US dollars. He gets loans for everything, and he makes a huge profit on the difference between the purchase price and the cost." Liu Gaolou wholeheartedly agreed. "Sigh, who would have thought that such a big country..."

They've all taken history classes, and the ruble's devaluation reminded them of the gold yuan.

Of course, this topic is not suitable for in-depth discussion here, so the two discussed the next activities.

The last time Liu Gaolou left in a hurry was when Liu Shanmin urgently needed a batch of white sugar. He still needs it now, but he's not in such a rush.

Therefore, Liu Gaolou plans to rest for a day before heading to Khorgos, so Li Long doesn't need to worry about them tomorrow; he plans to wander around the area on his own.

Li Long treated Liu Gaolou and his group to a meal, then took them to the guesthouse before returning to the purchasing station to chat with Gu Boyuan.

Li Long originally wanted Gu Boyuan to go out to eat with them, but Gu Boyuan refused. He smiled and said he wanted to go back to the courtyard for dinner. He hadn't seen Mingming and Haohao for several days and missed the children.

The sun had already set. Today, Li Long didn't accompany Gu Xiaoxia to her driving practice. Instead, he listened to Gu Boyuan recount his experiences at the recycling station.

"To be honest, there are a lot of resources over there. Leathers—I went to several black markets, and dozens of leathers were put up for sale every day in each place. Besides leathers, there are other things too."

Medicinal herbs are available, but most locals sell them to supply and marketing cooperatives or pharmaceutical companies. A few middlemen buy them and transport them out to sell. Because there aren't many purchasing units, you don't see many places selling medicinal herbs.

However, the geographical environment there is good; there are many medicinal herbs in the mountains. I've found out that, and as long as we can buy them at a high price, I believe someone will definitely dig them up and sell them.

Gu Boyuan also mentioned the situation where Revolutionary Buick organized militias at the township level to hunt wild boars and wolves. If all the wolf pelts hunted in a county in a season could be sold to his own purchasing station, then the purchasing station could basically be established.

"I plan to run an advertisement on the local TV station, which will have a greater impact."

“Okay, no problem,” Li Long said. “Not many farmers and herdsmen own televisions, but the middlemen definitely do. As long as they know, they will definitely go to the farmers' and herdsmen's homes to buy their products, and this channel can basically be established.”

“I’ve already bought the yard. It’s on Jiefang Road in Yining, not too far from Huacheng. It’s a bit out of the way, but it’s right by the road. The yard is big enough, a little smaller than this one. I plan to go there and find someone to build a few more warehouses, and then hire people.”

"Where do you plan to recruit from?" Li Long asked.

“They have people from the Revolutionary Buick family.” Gu Boyuan had clearly planned this out in advance. “First, we’ll hire two bilingual and hardworking people. Buick can vouch for that, so they’ll be easy to find. We’ll start with them, and once we’ve built up a scale, we can hire others.”

Li Long nodded. If his father-in-law truly had ambition, then his organizational skills and depth of thought would be no less than his own, so there was no need to worry about that aspect.

“You need to prepare some start-up capital for me. But this time, although you'll take the lion's share, our profit split won't be the same as before,” Gu Boyuan said with a smile. “How about 50/50? I'll do all the work over there, but I don't have that much money.”

I can tell Wu Yongbo is aiming for something big. If he brings over a large quantity of leather, I'm not sure I can handle it.

"Alright, I'll prepare 500,000 for you first, how about that?"

“That’s enough. Let’s wire the money,” Gu Boyuan said. “That way I won’t have to carry so much cash; it’s not safe otherwise.”

The two discussed the advertising again. Since the TV station in Yili broadcasts in three languages, Li Long suggested that the advertisements be shown in all three languages ​​from the beginning, for a week at a time.

At this time, advertisements were truly advertisements, much like the blue-background police notices used in later times, where a short text clearly explained the matter, and the price was not high.

After all, there weren't many private companies at that time, and advertising was relatively expensive; most people who could afford it only spent a day on it.

Li Long's idea was that if they were going to do it, they should do it big. As long as the purchasing station had legal permits and paid taxes on time, there was nothing to worry about.

Of course, given the complexity of the situation there, Li Long's suggestion was to hire more people.

Gu Boyuan hadn't paid attention to safety issues yet. News wasn't as readily available back then, and there were some things he wasn't aware of, but Li Long was.

Therefore, he insisted that Gu Boyuan hire more people, preferably some veterans.

Money is just an external thing; safety should be the top priority.

(End of this chapter)