Rebirth of Bayi Fishing and Hunting in the Northwest

Chapter 1188 Meng Hai got a job; the first-generation contractor is about to start work!

Something happened to Wang Sanwa's cotton field.

After spraying the pesticide, Li Long came over every day for the next few days to check if there were any problems in the field before shifting his focus to the purchasing station. Although the harvesting of fritillaria was nearing its end, the purchasing station was still receiving large quantities of fritillaria and dried wild mushrooms every day.

Fritillaria bulbs are manageable; Li Qingxia can basically handle them all by herself. However, dried wild mushrooms are a different story. They need to be checked to see if any unwanted or even poisonous mushrooms are mixed in, so the workload is much larger and more complicated.

While Li Long was picking mushrooms from a man who had recently come from the mountains at the purchasing station, he received a call from his older brother informing him of the accident that had happened to Wang Sanwa's cotton field.

“His field was infested with spider mites, which angered the Liang family so much that they scolded him for a long time. He had no choice but to spray the spider mites twice, but when he saw that it didn’t stop, he came to find him.”

Li Jianguo said he had actually told Wang Sanwa that the spider mites were infesting the area and that nothing else would work except for pesticides. Wang Sanwa did use a sprayer, but it didn't stop the problem, which made things difficult.

Liang Dacheng was also worried that the red spiders might spread to his own land, so he went to the Li family with Wang Sanwa to hear Li Jianguo's or Li Long's opinion.

“Either he didn’t spray the back of the leaves, or he used too little pesticide.” After listening to his older brother’s account on the phone, Li Long immediately judged and said, “Let him drive his little four-wheeled vehicle to haul the pesticide tanks to spray it, or we’ll just have to wait for a production cut.”

“He said he had it administered twice. I don’t think he’s in a huge rush now, but Liang Dacheng is extremely anxious.” Li Jianguo also felt that if the medicine had been administered twice, it shouldn’t be so difficult to stop the bleeding.

"Don't worry about so much else." Li Long knew Wang Sanwa; he was stingy and a bit selfish, and frankly, he didn't want to deal with him. However, Li Jianguo and his father had a good relationship; they were of the same generation. Since Wang Sanwa had come to him for help, he couldn't just ignore him.

"Brother, tell Dacheng that our two families' land is fine. Wang Sanwa isn't worried, but he's concerned that if he doesn't handle things properly, the red spiders might spread to our land, and he'll think we're more anxious than he is."

But actually, when we sprayed pesticides, we sprayed the entire field, and not just once. The Furadan we used is a long-acting pesticide, lasting for several dozen days, so the spider mites wouldn't even bother going into Dacheng's field while they were eating their cotton..."

Li Long suddenly thought of a question and said:

"Brother, I've got it! I bet Wang Sanwa only sprayed the area he spotted. He doesn't know how quickly spider mites reproduce and spread. The area he saw was the most obvious, but other places might already have them, though the reaction on the leaves isn't as noticeable... Hey, stinginess can be a killer!"

"Xiaolong, are you saying our two families' lands are fine? We don't need to fight again?"

"No need, no need. Just you wait and see. This is our first time growing cotton, and the spider mites haven't developed any resistance yet. Furadan, that highly toxic pesticide, will kill them completely in one go."

Actually, you can tell by looking at the Navy's land. You see, after he sprayed the pesticide, it wasn't obvious the next day, but from the third day onwards, the red areas stopped spreading, and new leaves grew, so you couldn't see the red leaves anymore, right?

"That's true." Li Jianguo realized.

"So, if you spray now, the spider mites will die as soon as you spray them. He lost control, probably because he didn't finish spraying them—after all, the insects are on the back of the leaves, and if a person is carrying a sprayer, they may not be able to reach them all."

The pressure from that nozzle can't compare to the machine. The second possibility is that he didn't spray the entire area... You should ask Da Cheng. Of course, it's also possible he didn't mix enough pesticide.

Li Jianguo understood.

"Brother, I'm a bit busy these next few days and can't go back for the time being. I'll go back after I finish this period. You and Dacheng keep an eye on things. If I'm not mistaken, then you don't need to worry about it. It's his own land. We'll make things clear to him and let him take care of it himself."

Li Jianguo hung up the phone and told Liang Dacheng and Wang Sanwa in the outer courtyard about the situation.

Liang Dacheng's expression immediately relaxed, and he said to Li Jianguo:
"Uncle, you're right... that's it. I watched Sanwa get the medicine, that's the area they sprayed."

He then turned to Wang Sanwa and said:
"I feel you didn't mix enough pesticide. If you want to earn more this year, you'd better do another spray now, or borrow our sprayer. Let me tell you, we two sprayed heavily and it's fine, but yours... if you don't control it, a reduction in production is inevitable."

Wang Sanwa's face was already flushed. Li Jianguo told him Li Long's analysis, which was exactly the same as his family's actual situation. He and Liang Dacheng had come together with the intention of dragging both families down with them.

If you don't fight it, it'll spread to your family. If you do fight it, then you can just laugh it off and casually mention that you'll also fight our family members, saving you trouble.

Now look what's happened, I've made a huge fool of myself!
Li Jianguo felt that Wang Sanwa's behavior was not good either. He planned to take some time to talk to Wang Sanwa's father and tell him that farming should be done honestly and steadily. Taking shortcuts would only lead to being punished by the land at the end of the year.

At the end of the month, Liu Gaolou came again, this time only to pick up white sugar, because Li Long had already run out of cement. Liu Gaolou's intention was for Li Long to contact the cement supplier, as cement was frequently needed.

Li Long naturally had no objections. Of the five cars that Liu Gaolou brought this time, there were still three GAZ trucks, one Volga, and one Lada.

Santana cars are now appearing on the streets of Ma County.

Back then, at this time of year, if a Santana appeared in a small county town in Northwest China, it was absolutely a status symbol, incredibly cool.

But Li Long has brought back quite a few cars from last year to this year. Whether they're new or not, they all look pretty good on the surface. City dwellers have seen so many different kinds of cars that the Santana just doesn't seem like much anymore.

So the first person to buy a Santana spent nearly 200,000 yuan, but didn't achieve the same effect as in the previous life.

However, he was just spending money to enjoy himself and didn't think about anything else.

In the next few years, the number of cars in the county will continue to increase, with more and more hatchback Xiali cars and Daihatsu minivans appearing, making the roads even more bustling.

The GAZ engines from the six trucks that Liu Gaolou brought last time have all been sold; they were all bought by middlemen.

There are still two cars left, but they're expensive and not as practical as GAZ cars in the eyes of dealers.

Of course, Li Long wasn't worried. He believed that as time went on, there would be more and more wealthy people who would focus on enjoying life, so there would be no shortage of cars to sell.

Consider that a Santana costs over 100,000 to nearly 200,000 yuan, and a Xiali costs 60,000 to 70,000 yuan.

But buying a used one from Li Long for only 40,000 to 50,000 yuan is definitely a good deal!

The key point is that sedans are only now being introduced, and it's almost impossible to buy a used Santana or Xiali in Northwest China.

So the day before Liu Gaolou arrived, when Huang Lei came to collect wild mushrooms again, he couldn't resist the temptation and drove off in a Volga.

Because he was a long-time customer, Li Long gave him a discount. He charged him 60,000 yuan for the Volga, which he had only driven for less than three years.

Huang Lei is a good judge of quality, after all, in his hometown, a used Santana costs over 100,000 yuan.

Li Long had already given him a very low price.

So he said he would bring more crab and shrimp larvae on his next trip.

Li Long was naturally happy to do so.

If this is done for three or four years, there will be more crabs and shrimp in the small lake, and probably more snails too.

These seedlings will definitely contain eggs or larvae of other aquatic organisms, so it can be considered an introduction.

"Do you want some wool?" Liu Gaolou asked. "My second uncle said that you can still get wool over there, but it won't be as cheap as antelope horns, though it will be much cheaper than here."

Li Long suddenly remembered a video he had seen before. It seemed that about ten years later, some scoundrels would try to smuggle weapons into Khorgos by hiding them in wool, only to have them discovered by the armed police border control personnel.

Should I give you a reminder?
I probably won't need it for now. However, he doesn't plan to buy wool, even though it has a market—there are wool textile factories in Shicheng—but the profit margins are relatively low. He shook his head and said:
"Forget about the wool, see if you can collect any deer antlers over there. I need antelope horns and deer antlers, and if you have any deer velvet, I'll take those too."

In the future, the Russians will collect deer antlers and velvet and sell them—the main buyers will still be from our side.

After all, this is something that's mostly used in medicine in our area.

“No problem,” Liu Gaolou said. “Just let me know what you need. I’ll handle it if I can, and there’s nothing I can do if I can’t.”

"It's good as it is now," Li Long said with a smile. "We've made quite a bit of money from these things."

The two men looked at each other and smiled. Li Long kept half of the RMB he gave Liu Gaolou, not wanting to give it back to Liu Shanmin; this was money he had earned for his family and himself.

Liu Shanmin only needs the profits from those sugar and cement to support the trade and secret operations there.

This involves things like exchange rates and the black market, which Li Long and Liu Gaolou don't need to worry about.

"By the way, my second uncle's foreign wife gave birth to a son, and he's very handsome." Liu Gaolou said to Li Long as he watched the driver help unload the goods, "My second uncle named him Xiaolong and asked me to tell you about it, and said you shouldn't mind."

"Why would I mind? There are plenty of people in China with 'dragon' in their names." Li Long smiled. "That's your second uncle's prerogative."

In fact, Liu Shanmin told Liu Gaolou frankly that he chose this name to try and share in Li Long's luck. However, Liu Gaolou didn't relay this to Li Long. Although he knew his second uncle believed in Li Long's luck, he himself wasn't so convinced. But since it could help him make money from both sides, he naturally didn't think too much about it.

Li Long took the car to the courtyard to unload the antelope horns, and when he came back, he gave Liu Gaolou a cloth bag.

“There’s a Guanyin statue made of mutton fat jade in here. It’s for your second uncle; I told him it was a gift for his son,” Li Long said. “I don’t have a chance to go there right now, but I’ll take a look when I have time.”

"Alright, alright." Liu Gaolou smiled and took out the jade Guanyin to look at it. He touched it and felt that the jade was really good. He said with a smile, "This mutton fat jade is really nice. It feels just like a baby's face."

"Then I'll bring you two pieces when you go back to your hometown," Li Long said.

"That's a deal. I'll ask you for it later." Liu Gaolou made a note of it.

"Don't worry, you'll have plenty left."

Gu Boyuan asked Liu Gaolou to bring over 1.5 tons of fritillaria bulbs and more than 300 kilograms of dried wild mushrooms.

Gu Boyuan had called earlier, clearly stating that the 500,000 yuan was almost spent, so Li Long quickly went over and transferred the money, explaining which portion was investment and which portion was dividends for Gu Boyuan.

After all, the fritillaria bulbs brought over were all sold from here. After deducting costs, the profits would be split 50/50 between him and Gu Boyuan, as previously agreed.

Li Long roughly estimated that, based on this calculation, Gu Boyuan could earn about 300,000 to 400,000 yuan in this fritillaria season.

That's quite a lot.

This is one of the reasons why Gu Boyuan went to Yili to explore the market.

Liu Gaolou brought three thousand pairs of antelope horns and about two thousand hides, and the busy farming season had begun there.

As usual, after deducting the cost of the car and giving Li Long over 40,000 US dollars, Liu Gaolou accepted the 250,000 yuan from Li Long and happily went to the bank to deposit it.

Although there are now large denomination RMB banknotes, the efficiency of the banking system has improved, and many people have started to deposit money in banks... mainly because the interest rates offered by banks are currently very high.

Another thing happened during this time. Yang Bo from the Water Resources Bureau called Li Long and asked if Li Long needed help with the repair of a section of canal. He said he could take the lead if Li Long needed it.

Of course, the quality must be high.

Li Long immediately went to find Meng Hai and asked him about the situation there.

Meng Hai's busy farming season has just ended, and he also plans to ask Li Long to take people into the mountains to repair roads.

After Li Long explained the situation, he hesitated.

“It’s alright, we can leave the road repairs for the fall,” Li Long said. “It’s rare to get a job like this. Senior Brother Yang said that the bridges and sluice gates you build can withstand scrutiny, which is why we thought of you for this project.”

“Then we’ll accept it.” Meng Hai was naturally very happy. “Should we thank Comrade Yang?”

“We’ll talk about that later. Your main focus should be on ensuring quality according to the project requirements,” Li Long said. “If you can take on the project, organize people now and make sure the quality requirements are met. I’ll go talk to them now and get the details.”

Meng Hai was somewhat apprehensive—which was exactly what Li Long had hoped for.

If Meng Hai is extremely confident now, then he really needs to be careful.

After all, this is an official project, and if it's not done well, it will be a huge embarrassment. The financial losses, of course, are another matter.

Meng Hai started organizing his team, while Li Long immediately went to reply to Yang Bo and arranged a time to have a proper talk.

"It's actually not complicated. This project was already taken over and finalized at the beginning of the year," Yang Bo explained while eating on Zhong Guoqiang's turf.

"As it turned out, the boss of that construction team had too big an appetite and took on too much work, so they couldn't keep up. We were also urging them to meet the deadline, so we took the materials back."

I'm a veteran at the hydropower bureau, and I thought your guy was pretty good at this job. It's simple, I figured he could handle it, so I decided to come."

The project was small, a section of canal less than two kilometers long, with a construction period of one month. The requirements were simply to dig the canal according to the route, with concrete along the sides and two small sluice gates in the middle.

The project cost wasn't much, only 30,000 yuan including the gate.

Li Long roughly estimated that if Meng Hai and his team did an average job on the entire project, they could earn about 15,000 yuan. If they did a better job and were more meticulous, they could earn a little over 10,000 yuan.

However, judging from the construction period, that is to say, a construction team of about ten people, after deducting the cost of machinery and equipment, each of them can earn about seventy or eighty yuan.

It earns less money than repairing roads for yourself, but it helps you hone your skills, and the reputation is different too.

Repairing irrigation ditches for the government! If it passes inspection, then you'll have credibility—when you're in a construction team, you can tell your boss that you've repaired concrete irrigation ditches for the government and that you've repaired gravel roads for private bosses; the difference is completely different.

When Meng Hai arrived, Li Long arranged to discuss the matter with Yang Bo, and then it was up to them to coordinate.

Li Long privately discussed the quality issue and approximate profit with Meng Hai, emphasizing the importance of this.

As for where the people they brought would stay, Li Long suggested they simply set up cotton tents and live near the construction site, which would be more convenient.

Meng Hai naturally had no objections; he listened to Li Long very much.

Li Long also told Meng Hai that he would introduce this project to Yang Bo, and he gave Yang Bo a thousand yuan as a referral fee. This money would be given to him after Meng Hai and his team completed the project and received payment.

One yard owned by a yard.

Meng Hai naturally understood that he was truly grateful to Li Long.

Of course, Li Long didn't care about this gratitude.

Li Long directly asked Yang Bo about the referral fee, but Yang Bo replied that since they were all on the same side, there was no need for such a fee. Li Long pressed further, and Yang Bo finally admitted that the going rate was around five or six hundred yuan, and that he hadn't dealt with it much before.

Li Long made the decision himself to give 1,000 yuan, which wasn't a bribe, but rather a token of gratitude.

This was the only time Li Long felt that Meng Hai and his group needed this opportunity; as for the future, he didn't care.

They are not gods who are detached from worldly affairs; leave human matters to humankind.

After finishing this busy period, Li Long finally had time to go back to the fourth team to see his family, check on the crabs, and check on the cotton situation.

To his surprise, the crabs in the small lake had grown to the size of coins, and occasionally he could see small crabs crawling to the shore, waving their pincers and eating.

Small shrimp can't see it, but this thing becomes transparent as soon as it enters the water, making it really hard to spot.

He went to the cotton field again. Wang Sanwa's cotton was obviously not growing as well as Liang Dacheng's next door. The leaves were a bit sparse, but the insects had stopped.

My older brother isn't home, and neither are Li Junfeng and the others.

“There’s grass in the cotton fields over there by the dam, and they’ve all gone to weed them,” said Du Chunfang, the old woman. “I want to go too, but your sister-in-law said the cotton plants are too tall there, and I wouldn’t be able to find my way around. It would be troublesome if I got lost, so I’d better stay home.”

He could tell from her voice that his mother still wanted to go to the fields, so Li Long smiled and said:

“Come on, Mom, I’ll drive you to the fields. We don’t have to work, we can just take a walk around.”

"Can it work?" Du Chunfang really wanted to go and see.

"Why not? Let's go!" Li Long opened the car door.

"Hey, having a car here...it's so convenient." Du Chunfang smiled, a smile that reflected the attitude her youngest son had towards his old mother.

Hmph, you all advise me not to do this or that, but look at Xiaolong, hmph!

(End of this chapter)