Rebirth of Bayi Fishing and Hunting in the Northwest

“They do everything we do, copying me every day. If they can’t learn it, they come and ask me.” Xie Yundong complained to Li Long in the meeting room of the purchasing station. “Those two cooperatives really don’t know anything.”

“It’s not that they don’t understand, it’s that they’re afraid of making a mistake,” Li Long said, revealing the real reason. “Our cooperative was a success last year, and it’s their first time doing it, so naturally they’re worried about not doing it well. Our farmers rely on this harvest for the whole year; if we mess it up, wouldn’t they be furious?”

So don't be fooled by their boastful claims that anyone can run a cooperative.

In practice, however, they were very careful and didn't want to make any mistakes.

So this is normal.

"I came here today to pick up agricultural supplies. Just you wait, when I get back they'll definitely ask me what I bought and how much it costs per acre. Once they've figured it out, they'll come back tomorrow to buy the same things."

"It's alright, let them buy it. Anyway, I'm the one who's making money." Li Long smiled. "We still have to say what needs to be said. After all, we can't just watch people's farming go wrong."

"Don't worry about that. We're all on the same team, and I don't have any bad intentions. They just want to make money, but... hehe." Xie Yundong chuckled, not finishing his sentence.

In fact, both he and Li Long knew that even if they tried to imitate the cooperative's methods, they would not be able to reach the same level of success by the end of the year.

Firstly, it was evident that they had hastily cleared the land, and the drainage ditches were not even dug very deep. Some people did the flooding and drainage work, while others rushed through it.

Even if the cooperative's land had a good harvest last year, the large-scale flooding at the end of the year washed away the alkalinity, and then it will have to be washed again after the snow melts in the spring this year. In addition, soil testing and fertilization are needed to suppress the surface salt and alkali and allow the cotton to grow better.

These tasks all need to be done. Other cooperatives, on the one hand, are trying to save money, and on the other hand, haven't secured a water source, so this year's flood irrigation will definitely not be carried out, or they won't be able to.

Li Long and his team can simply follow last year's procedure, since it has been proven to be very successful.

After chatting with Li Long for a few minutes, Xie Yundong drove his tractor back with the agricultural supplies. They hadn't brought enough last time, so this was a replenishment and there was no need for Li Long to drive the large truck.

After all, Li Long also had his own things to do.

After Xie Yundong left, Li Long went to check the leather in the warehouse. The leather had all been processed and re-tied up; Li Long was checking it to prevent it from being chewed by rats.

Theoretically speaking, the warehouses are all made of brick and cement, with no holes on any of the four sides. The windows are covered with fine wire mesh, and the doors, while not completely sealed, are firmly attached to the ground.

However, no one can guarantee that mice won't get in during every inspection or when goods enter or leave the warehouse, so necessary inspections are still necessary.

After inspecting only three warehouses, Li Long heard Liang Shuangcheng calling out from the front. He hurriedly left the warehouse, locked the door, and headed over there.

"Brother Long, it's the phone." Liang Shuangcheng ran over and said, "It's Director Du from Kui City."

Li Long strode over, answered the phone, and greeted, "Hello, Director Du."

"Okay, okay, the exchange I mentioned earlier has been officially confirmed. We have six people going, including two women, which will make the exchange easier."

"Your friend should get ready to arrive at Wucheng Railway Station on February 27th. I've already bought the train ticket. Would you like to meet here or go directly to the train station?"

“Let’s go to your place. I’ll drive him there on the 26th,” Li Long said. “Let’s get to know your colleagues beforehand so that we can communicate more easily later.”

"Okay, okay," said Factory Director Du. "I'll wait for you here. By the way, we've produced another set of drip irrigation tape equipment. This set will be used as a prototype and will be taken to Wucheng for exhibition and sales later. You don't need it for now, right?"

"Not for now." Li Long thought to himself, "If I want to set up a drip irrigation tape factory, I'll at least have to wait until I can secure a large-scale support project from the autonomous region. Right now, it's just an experimental project; it's still a long way off."

"Okay, the factory already has orders for more than a dozen sets, so we'll start production. We can arrange for delivery whenever you need it."

Although orders need to be queued, Li Long, as one of the inventors of the device, has priority.

After hanging up the phone, Li Long went to the meat processing workshop to find Sister Yang and told her about the matter.

Sister Yang was instructing the new female workers on how to package lamb offal. When she heard what Li Long said, she looked slightly flustered, but quickly calmed down.

Li Long knew this was the first time he had done something so big, so he couldn't help feeling a little uneasy.

"Go and take a look first. Call me if anything happens, and we'll discuss it together," Li Long said. "There are also female colleagues from the machinery factory who are going with you. You can ask them for advice then."

“Okay.” Sister Yang nodded, then hesitated for a moment and said, “My idea is to start small, with a small piece of equipment. It would only cost a few tens of thousands of yuan, which is affordable. If we go all in with a full set of automated equipment and something goes wrong…”

“It’s alright, you don’t need to worry about the money, I have it here,” Li Long said. “This business of ours will last at least ten years.”

Developing small-scale equipment as a temporary measure wouldn't be out of the question, but the production capacity wouldn't keep up. The Soviet Union was in high demand for canned goods, every two weeks, at least ten or even dozens of tons each time. Small-scale equipment could only produce a few tons a month at most; we didn't need it.

Since Li Long had said so, Sister Yang no longer insisted on her idea, and instead called over the group leaders to start assigning tasks.

The jerky processing workshop had always been managed by Sister Yang, so Li Long only informed her about the trip to Kui City before leaving.

When the female workers learned that Sister Yang was going to Kou Li to buy canning equipment, they were quite happy, but also a little apprehensive.

What makes them happy is that the factory is going to expand, and these older women will naturally be given important responsibilities, and might even get a raise.

What's unsettling is that it's automated equipment; what if I don't know how to use it? What if I get fired because I don't know how?

Sister Yang glanced at everyone and knew what they were thinking. She said calmly, "You are all long-time employees of the workshop. Don't worry, even if the new equipment comes, I won't fire you. After all, we will continue to make this jerky."

However, if you are willing to learn and research, and are eager to improve, then the extra team leader positions when new equipment arrive will be reserved for these people. Team leaders are paid more than regular employees; you all know that.”

As soon as these words were spoken, the eyes of these people immediately became fervent.

Who doesn't want to improve? Take the dryer and packaging machine, for example. Before they arrived, they were worried they wouldn't be able to learn them, but now they've learned them very well.
Seeing how Sister Yang had managed to motivate everyone with just a few words, Tie Lanhua thought to herself that she had to learn from Sister Yang.

She has always been very proud of herself, and of course, she works very hard. Now she is a team leader in the processing workshop.

Of course, she was unwilling to give up; she wanted to continue striving for improvement.

She learned from Sun Jiaqiang that once the equipment was purchased, the factory would be divided into two parts: one for the original dried meat and the other for the newly established canned food processing.

There will be two people in charge, and she hopes to be one of them—preferably the person in charge of the canning plant.

Although Tillandsia didn't receive much formal education, she believed that as long as she was willing to learn, she could definitely master those skills.

Sure enough, Sister Yang appointed Tielanhua as the temporary person in charge, which made Tielanhua's face show a hint of pride, but it disappeared immediately. She knew that only if she managed the workshop well and prevented any problems during Sister Yang's absence could the subsequent goals be achieved.

No one else had any objections to Sister Yang's decision. Tielanhua's husband was an employee of the purchasing station, and Li Long was one of the owners of the processing workshop. Furthermore, Tielanhua's hard work was evident to all, so no one objected.

However, some people know that the standards for Tillandsia flowers may be even stricter, so they are still a little hesitant.

After arranging everything, Sister Yang called the Tillandsia aside and gave her some detailed instructions, especially regarding the quality of the product.

"Sister Yang, I understand. Our products are the same as those from the purchasing station, and their main selling point is high standards," Tielanhua stated. "I will strictly control the quality and absolutely not allow a single substandard product to leave the warehouse."

With the Tillandsia's statement, Sister Yang felt a little relieved and hurried back to the courtyard to pack her things.

She had already packed everything, but she was still worried and wanted to check it again.

Han Fang went to school yesterday. Her trip will last about half a month to twenty days, and she won't see her daughter for a while.

Fortunately, we spent the whole holiday together, so not seeing each other for a while didn't feel like anything was wrong.

In the fourth team, the hardworking farmers have already started getting busy, while some of the lazier ones haven't done anything yet.

The snow has only just begun to melt, and it will take at least a week for it to completely melt. Some people will wait until the snow has completely melted before they start making preparations.

Li Jianguo and his team have already prepared to irrigate the cooperative's land with water from Xiaohaizi. As soon as the snow melts, they will start irrigating the land to dissolve and wash away the newly formed layer of alkali on the surface. They will then prepare to sow seeds when the soil is almost ripe, which will result in a higher germination rate.

In the afternoon, Li Andong brought a basin of fish to Li Jian's house, handed the fish to Liang Yuemei, and said with a smile, "I've been wandering around around here these days when I have nothing to do. Hey, there are so many fish in those ditches!"

Li Jianguo knew he was going to the drainage ditch. There wasn't much standing water in the other ditches, and even if there had been some last autumn, the fish that had been there would have frozen to death over the winter.

Only in the drainage ditch is the water deep enough that even in a winter when the ice layer on top is very thick, there will still be a small amount of water at the bottom, and the fish will live there.

“If you’ve caught them, just eat them, Second Brother,” Li Jianguo handed Li Andong a cigarette. “Why are you bringing this over?”

"We caught a lot, about ten kilograms," Li Andong said with a smile. "How could we possibly eat it all at home? Junhai said that when we irrigate the fields in a few days, there will be plenty of fish. We're all family, let's eat them together."

Li Jianguo naturally understood the goodwill his second brother was showing. Since the meal on the fifteenth of the first lunar month, Li Andong had quieted down considerably, no longer mentioning investing in the cooperative or settling down. He would come over to chat occasionally, and would also bring over some wild game if he caught anything.

Li Jianguo would naturally send some things back. They all shared the same surname and had no grudges. They were from the same grandfather generation, so once things were cleared up, there was nothing to worry about.

It can only be said that Li Andong changed his identity very quickly, and he seems to have already made up his mind to settle down and live here.

"There are fewer people in this northern Xinjiang than in my hometown, but there's so much stuff! Look at that pile of firewood. I was wondering why we didn't bring some back to burn."
Junfeng said, "What's the point? There's stuff everywhere, and we have a lot piled up at home too. Enough is enough. If we pile up so much, it'll be a hassle to clean up when we build the smaller house later."

Li Andong had come to appreciate the abundance of resources in the northern frontier. Just like catching fish, he could only catch fish like this when he was a child during floods. When he was a little older, around ten years old, it became much harder to catch fish, since there were many people and food was scarce, so fish were considered a delicacy.

Here? Just wander around in the wild and you'll find plenty of things.

You won't starve to death.

“Jianguo,” Li Andong said, taking a drag of his cigarette, “I’ve finally figured it out these past few days. Farming in the northern frontier is completely different from back home. Mechanization has developed to this point; I’m totally bewildered.”

Don't blame me for being senile; I genuinely didn't know anything for the first couple of days after I arrived. Now I understand that Junfeng wouldn't have been able to hold on without your help.

I've thought it through. If there's any work or anything, just let me know. But no matter how well that's said, nothing's more important than living a good life. We're just old farmers; we can manage a small plot of land, but if we want to farm more, we'll have to learn from you guys.”

“What’s there to learn? You’ll learn it in three days by watching.” Since his cousin was being so humble, Li Jianguo wasn’t a cold-blooded person. “Don’t rush. Get used to it first and see if you can stay here. If you can, then we can talk about settling down. If you can’t get used to it, then we can talk about it later.”

“I’m used to it, I’m used to it.” Li Andong wasn’t stupid; he could compare the conditions back home with those here. Although he didn’t know the situation in the whole of northern Xinjiang, at least here, in the rural areas of this fourth team, the conditions were better than back home.

Otherwise, Junshan, Junfeng, and now Junhai and others would all want to settle here.

If the conditions aren't good, who would be willing to come?

After all, through the efforts of several generations, this place has been transformed from a barren Gobi desert into a new rural area in the new era.

Just look at that horsepower, wow, it's so much better than the grasshopper-leg-shaped horsepower used back home.

“Okay, wait for my news. By the way, have Junfeng prepare the materials,” Li Jianguo said. “Once we’ve made the arrangements here, have Junfeng submit the materials, and then we’ll just wait for things to be finalized.”

However, as I said before, it takes three years to distribute the land. Fortunately, there are no restrictions on land reclamation now, and our family has a tractor, so we won't have to worry about reclamation if we really want to. It's just that the land we clear won't be cultivated like the way we used to back home.

“I understand, I understand. There’s no rush. Settling down is a big deal. Once we’ve settled down, it’s okay even if we don’t get land for the time being. Junfeng has twenty or thirty acres of land, which is enough to farm.”

Back in my hometown, farming usually only involved growing grain. After paying the grain tax to the government, there was basically only enough left for the family's own food. Getting any money from that small plot of land was extremely difficult.

Farming here offers a large number of acres and great flexibility. In addition to paying grain taxes, you can also grow cash crops, and you can earn a considerable amount of money per acre.

For generations, Li Andong has been a farmer, and he feels that making a living by tilling the land is still the most peaceful thing to do.

It's his old profession, so it's impossible that he really knows nothing about it as he humbly claims.

If we don't know how to plant, we can't just learn how?

After Li Andong left, Liang Yuemei was cleaning fish in the kitchen when she said, "Junfeng's father has changed quite a bit."

“He’s seen the situation clearly.” Li Jianguo took a small stool and scissors to the kitchen to help, and said while scraping the scales, “Seeing that the living conditions here are good, he naturally wants to settle down. But settling down and getting land isn’t so easy. If he wants to live a good life, he naturally has to lower his expectations.”

Liang Yuemei smiled and changed the subject.

Now her family is doing very well in every way, even better than she ever dreamed of, and she has no more requests.

My eldest daughter, Li Juan, is taking the college entrance exam this year. Her homeroom teacher said that as long as she performs normally, she will be able to get into university.

My son, Li Qiang, consistently ranks among the top students in his class, often coming in first place. He receives praise from all his teachers, so getting into high school is definitely not a problem for him.

On the 26th, after breakfast, Li Long drove Sister Yang to Kui City. Sister Yang originally planned to take the bus herself, but Li Long felt it would be more appropriate for him to take her there himself.

"I'm leaving now. You'll have to take care of yourselves for the three meals a day." Sister Yang said in the car, still a little embarrassed, "Xiao Fang's aunt is busy at work, so the meals can't be missed."

"Don't worry, big sister," Li Long said with a smile. "We can all cook. Whoever gets back first will cook. Besides, I don't have anything serious to do, so cooking for a few days won't be a problem. You just need to focus on your investigation. Call me if anything comes up."

The road to Uyghur has dried up, but the sides have become muddy due to the melting snow. In the ditches, you can vaguely see weeds that are gradually turning green after the snow melts.

During this period of early spring, the northern slope of the Tianshan Mountains is mostly sunny, and the snow melts very quickly, which is quite unique.

The snow in the south of Uygur Autonomous County is still quite thick, while in most areas to the north, brown soil has been exposed, interspersed with scattered Gobi stones.

They are separated by only one road, but the difference is huge.

Li Long drove for more than an hour to reach the Kui City Machinery Factory. When the gatekeeper saw the car arrive, he immediately came forward and, after seeing that it was Li Long who was driving, smiled and let him through.

Lu Xun entered the courtyard and parked in the parking lot. As soon as Li Long got out of the car, he saw Director Du and Engineer Deng walking over.

"Comrade Li Long, you're quite fast! And this must be Comrade Yang? Hello, hello!"

Factory Director Du and Engineer Deng took the initiative to greet Sister Yang. Sister Yang, who has become more accustomed to such interactions over the past two years, smiled and replied. The four of them then went to the meeting room together.

After a few words, the group arrived at the conference room. Director Du introduced the others who had come with them, led by Engineer Deng. The main purpose of their visit was to discuss specific projects related to machinery production.

Because the place we were going to was similar to a machinery capital, with complete sets of equipment for producing canned food, that's why we asked Sister Yang to go with us.

"Comrade Yang Xiulan, Li Mei and Zheng Xiuqin are the technical backbone of our factory. If you have any questions, you can communicate with them more," Director Du introduced to Sister Yang. "The three of you will live in the same room, which will keep you company."

Having a female companion along would make things much more convenient.

Sister Yang stayed at the machinery factory's guesthouse that night, and the factory will send a car to take them to the station the next day.

After having lunch at the machinery factory, Li Long drove away.

Having met with his second brother's family a few days ago, Li Long didn't go looking for Li Anguo again and drove back to Ma County.

After Sister Yang left, he had to rush back. He would have to take care of Mingming and Haohao for the next few days and also cook for them.

For the next few days, Gu Xiaoxia cooked breakfast and dinner every day, while Li Long cooked lunch, and they worked together quite well.

On March 2nd, Sister Yang called to say that she had arrived there. Engineer Deng and the others went to attend a conference and exchange, while she had someone take her to visit the factory that produces complete sets of canning equipment.

There are indeed two types of equipment there. One is a simple device, which is a semi-automatic machine with manual operation involved, consisting of a sterilizer and a can sealing machine. The other type is a complete set of equipment, where the entire process, from empty can production, sterilization, filling to final sealing, is completed by the machine.

The manual laborer only needs to prepare the metal can and the raw materials for its contents.

Of course, the proportions of the ingredients in the canned food need to be prepared in advance.

“However, the complete set of equipment is still too expensive. A set of equipment costs 2.6 million yuan. I told you our needs, and even if it is a simplified version, it will still cost around 2.3 million yuan.” Ms. Yang felt that buying this was not worthwhile.

How long will it take to earn it back?

Li Long told her to take a look, and if all else failed, to buy the set.

"To save on labor costs, although the higher-ups aren't as strict about how many people to hire now, we still need to be careful," Li Long said.

The "seven up, eight down" rule (in the initial market opening, workshops and small factories could not employ more than seven workers, hence "seven up"; if they exceeded seven or reached eight, they had to shut down, hence "eight down") has not been mentioned for several years, but that does not mean there will not be a small recurrence.

The current meat jerky processing workshop actually has more than eight employees, but most of them are temporary workers and are not counted. If an inspection were to be conducted, these temporary workers could simply go home, so there would be no risk.

But if you actually start a cannery, hiring won't be calculated that way.

Of course, this was also Li Long's excuse; he didn't want to start with a small-scale project and then move on to a complete set of equipment later, as that would be too much trouble.

Wouldn't it be great to get it done in one go!
Seeing that Li Long insisted, Sister Yang stopped talking and instead said that Engineer Deng and the others would stay there for a few more days, so she could also go and take a look at other factories.

In early March, when school started, the snow melted quickly. Principal Yang from the township agricultural extension school called Li Long and told him about the land leveling project, asking if he could start.

Li Long then drove to find Liang Wenyu. Liang Wenyu was also waiting for news, so when Li Long came to find her, he drove his tractor with a bulldozer attached to it to the countryside.

Li Long followed Principal Yang to the edge of the field, watching Liang Wenyu drive a bulldozer to level the land.

This plot of land is located right behind the township government building, on the south side of the road in another brigade; it's in a good location.

Seeing that Liang Wenyu was quite skilled at leveling the land, Li Long and Principal Yang set up other facilities here.

"I think it's better to build the pump house here. It's right at the edge of the field, next to the canal, so it's convenient for drilling wells and getting water for irrigation."

"We contracted this land for five years to drill a well. I've already listed out the costs for drilling the well. If we can really get the drip irrigation working this year, I'll ask the township to contract it for another ten years."

Principal Yang's eyes revealed wisdom and cunning: "The agricultural extension school is poor. Anyway, it won't cost much to contract these lands from the township. The output will be our agricultural extension school's welfare."

At this point, he regarded Li Long as one of his own at the Agricultural Broadcasting School—after all, he had become the person in charge, so he was truly one of his own.

"So, should we start building the pump house in the next couple of days? Should we lay the foundation first, or drill the well first?"

“If you’re sure you want to use well water, then let’s drill the well first, and then build the pump house,” Li Long said. “Anyway, the groundwater level here is still shallow. If we drill deeper, it will last for several more years.”

Using groundwater became more common for farming later on. After all, the water allocated from the Ma River was simply not enough for the increasing amount of land.

After the well is drilled, the remaining cost is electricity, which is not expensive compared to the volume of water produced per second.

Having finalized the order of well drilling and pump house construction, Li Long went to find someone to drill the well. Since it wasn't a pressure well, this required professionals, and electrical wiring would also be needed. Installing electrical wiring meant a separate electricity meter was required, making the whole process quite complicated.

Liang Wenyu worked very hard, spending three days leveling the twenty acres of land, and then took the three hundred yuan that Principal Yang had given him and went home.

He had originally planned to give 100 yuan of it to Li Long, but Li Long refused, so he didn't refuse anymore.

We'll settle the accounts and pay back the money at the end of the year.

Principal Yang was quite satisfied with the work done by Liang Wenyu. In three days, the twenty acres of land were made very level. Not only were some of the pits that could be seen before gone, but the land was also very flat from the edge of the field.

After the well-drilling team arrived and determined the location, they began laying pipes and drilling the well. This would take several days, so Li Long took some time to visit Meng Hai in Qingshuihe Village.

The snow in Meng Hai's area hadn't completely melted yet, and the roads were quite muddy. After following Li Long to the edge of the village to see the location of the pump house, he confidently said that not many people were needed. Once the well was drilled in a few days, he would send five or six people over, and it would be done in two or three days.

"We need to dig the foundation and a water filtration pond," Li Long reminded him.

"Don't worry, we'll just bring an excavator and a truckload of materials over."

He was a professional, so Li Long trusted him.

Once these two things are arranged, the rest is to install the drip irrigation main pipe after the well is completed. That's not urgent for now; we have to wait until the ground is completely thawed. It's fine to start in mid-March.

Two days later, Sister Yang called again, this time sounding more excited:
"Uncle, I've run into something that might be a good thing. Let me tell you. The factory I was looking for has made a complete set of equipment for the Northeast. It's the kind of equipment that only medium-sized factories and above can use, capable of operating at full capacity and producing tens of thousands of tons a year."

"Such a large piece of equipment?" Li Long was somewhat surprised; this thing was beyond his imagination.

"Yes, it's the equipment worth over two million that I told you about. But when the equipment was finished and ready to be loaded onto the truck, the factory in Northeast China went bankrupt," Sister Yang said. "They've already paid the deposit, and now they can't take the equipment."

"You mean we should take over? What kind of canned food does that produce?"

"We can produce a variety of products. If changes are needed, we can modify the molds." Sister Yang has seen a lot these days and can use the technical terms now. "The main thing is that the factories in the Northeast need money to pay the workers' final wages, while the factories here need a deposit."

The factory here definitely won't give it to us, so it's a stalemate. I found out about this and was thinking, maybe we could try to mediate and get them to compromise a little, so we can get the equipment?

Li Long thought to himself, "Can this really be accomplished so easily?"

"How do we coordinate?" he asked.

“If we can get this equipment, the equipment manufacturer will have the money to refund part of the deposit to the company in Northeast China, and the equipment will have a place to go. Otherwise, they'll be stuck with this equipment,” Sister Yang said matter-of-factly.

"We're in a dilemma now, but if we step in, we can solve it."

“Then go and talk to both sides, see what they think,” Li Long said. “Is someone with you over there? Be careful.”

"Yes, don't worry, Comrade Li has been with me the whole time." Sister Yang said excitedly, "I'll see if I can get this equipment for two million."

Sister Yang is really making a big deal out of this.

After hanging up the phone, Li Long kept thinking about this.

Even if the annual production is 10,000 tons, he can make at least 1,000 yuan profit per ton. That year... wow!

That's a bit of an exaggeration.

The well was drilled smoothly, and water was produced two days later, in large quantities.

The power station came and installed the electricity meter. After the well was installed, Li Long kept the well-drilling workers behind and told them about the supporting equipment needed for the pump room. These people were very familiar with the project and immediately said that they could get it for an extra fee.

Money was certainly not a problem; there was still plenty of funding for the experimental field project. Principal Yang made the decision as soon as he heard it.

He completely trusted Li Long in this regard and knew that Li Long had no need to play dirty tricks on this—he didn't lack that kind of money.

Moreover, during the handover of supplies and payment, Li Long avoided any appearance of impropriety and did not participate at all; he only discussed how to get things done.

What he wanted was that sense of accomplishment.

After the equipment was set up, Li Long immediately called Meng Hai over and asked him to lead people to build the pump house and dig out the water filter pool.

At this point, it was also necessary to dig the main pipeline, and Li Long handed this task over to Principal Yang.

It wasn't anything too technical. Principal Yang waved his hand and called over the trainees from this training session at the Agricultural Broadcasting School to help. Li Long was in charge of pointing out the location of the main pipeline, and the trainees just had to dig it.

The twenty mu of land is a long, narrow field, less than forty meters wide at one end and three or four hundred meters long. Drip irrigation tape is laid from one end to the other, and the main pipeline is horizontal and not very long.

There will be branch pipes in the middle, also horizontal, and they won't be too long. This isn't digging for cables; the main pipe is about half a meter deep, and the branch pipes can be even shallower.

With Li Long's guidance, the trainees spent most of the day digging and burying the main and branch pipes.

The agricultural school provided lunch, giving each student a bowl of noodles, which made the students extremely happy.

Li Long thought to himself, "Human resources are really cheap right now!"

With the main supervisor and branch supervisor in place, that concludes the land-related matters for now.

Principal Yang assigned Li Long to be in charge of purchasing agricultural supplies. Li Long didn't manage it and told him to send someone to pick them up, either from the agricultural supply store at his purchasing station or from other agricultural supply stores.

Although he was in charge, he knew very well that he couldn't take on everything himself.

We can't make the water too clear, after all, his self-positioning is only temporary.

So many people are watching this project, and he's taking over everything himself. What will others think?
Moreover, he had his own things to do; Sister Yang called.

“I’ve reached an agreement with both sides,” Sister Yang said, her voice a mix of exhaustion and excitement. “We ultimately offered 2.17 million. What do you think, Uncle? Can you take it?”

"Yes, yes, yes, as long as the equipment is complete, we can definitely get it." The price was even lower than Li Long had expected. "Does that mean that once I make the payment, it can be loaded and shipped out right away? By the way, regarding the technical aspects..."

“The factory will send technicians over to handle the installation and operation. Our yard won’t do; it’s too big for them,” Sister Yang said. “My idea is to sign a contract first, find a suitable factory in the county, and then have them ship the goods from here.”

“We can sign a contract, but the equipment can’t be left with them. We have to bring it back directly,” Li Long said. “We’ll find a suitable location and then have them send someone over to guide the installation.”

Li Long was worried that even if the contract was signed, the equipment might not be delivered. If a suitable location was found here, and there were problems with the equipment there, it would still be troublesome.

Even though there's a contract, if they try to argue it out, you'll need the energy, right? You'll also have to go to court, which is a hassle.

Don't blame Li Long for thinking that way. He was a farmer in his previous life. Although he has a large business in this life, he is actually just a big middleman. How much experience can he have?
“If it’s about signing the contract, you’ll have to come,” Sister Yang said. “They won’t agree to my processing workshop.”

Li Long overlooked this point.

But he didn't want to go there. After thinking it over, he said to Sister Yang, "Don't worry, let me think of something. If Engineer Deng and his team can sign on my behalf, that would be fine too. I'll call Director Du and see if that works."

It mainly depends on whether the machinery factory can endorse Li Long.

As soon as Director Du heard this, he immediately said there was no problem and that he would contact Engineer Deng to resolve the matter.

In addition, to get the goods delivered, Li Long needs to wire some money first. The machinery factory can handle this, and they asked Li Long if he needed them to pay the money in advance.

Li Long hurriedly said he would pay the money. The equipment factory had an account, and he could just transfer the money there. Anyway, it wasn't a one-time payment; he could pay part first and then pay the rest after the installation was completed.

Li Long could afford this amount of money. He asked Factory Manager Du to speak to Engineer Deng and ask them to help inspect the equipment, just in case there were any problems that would cause trouble.

Factory Director Du readily agreed.
Once the deal was finalized, Li Long waited for the contract to be signed before transferring the funds.

The matter could be explained in just a few words, but the two sides dragged it out for a long time, and it wasn't until mid-March that the matter was finally resolved.

Li Long wired one million yuan as a deposit, and Deng and the others checked the equipment and found it to be in good condition. Sister Yang also oversaw the entire process of loading the equipment from the factory onto the truck, transporting it to the train station, and then sending the delivery order to Li Long so he could take people and a vehicle to Wucheng to pick up the goods.

When Sister Yang called Li Long, her tone was relaxed. She laughed and said, "I never thought this matter would be settled in the end. It's over two million yuan..."

The largest sum I've ever dealt with was tens of thousands of yuan, two million... I never even dared to dream of that before! How many years would it take to earn that much?

"Don't you feel much stronger than before?" Li Long said half-jokingly.
“Actually, you can be even more capable. I’m currently looking for a factory. Once I find one, you’ll come back and be the factory manager again. You’ll be in charge of the factory. Just think about it, maybe in the future you can produce millions of canned goods a year!”

Sister Yang fell silent, her breathing becoming rapid.

I could have thought of it, but I've been busy with equipment these past few days, so I haven't considered it.

This is a set of equipment needed only by medium to large-sized factories. Once it's set up, even if it's not operating at full capacity, it can still produce tens of thousands of tons a year... no, several thousand tons...

It took Sister Yang a while to react. She said, "I'll try my best. My mind is a bit of a mess. I need to think about it, I need to think about it."

They could make phone calls at the guesthouse where they were staying. After hanging up at the front desk, Ms. Yang returned to her room feeling a little dizzy.

Li Yan noticed that her expression was a bit off and hurriedly asked her what was wrong.

"Our...the boss said that I would manage the cannery from now on, but I'm a little worried that I won't be able to manage it..." Sister Yang said honestly. To the outside world, she claimed that Li Long was the boss.

“How could you not be able to manage it? Think about it, you’ve negotiated back and forth these past few days and you’ve gotten the equipment sorted out. Managing the factory shouldn’t be any more difficult than this, right? Besides, you’ve managed the jerky processing plant before, so this is actually even simpler. You just need to master the technology.”

Li Yan, who understands technology, thinks technology is easy; management is the real challenge. Sister Yang, on the other hand, is good at management; all she needs is some technical knowledge.

Just like how people who know computers find things like turning the computer on and off and opening folders incredibly simple, but for people who don't, these things seem incredibly mysterious.

One reason.

Encouraged, Sister Yang asked in return, "Can I really do it?"

"It will definitely work!" Li Yan encouraged her again. "There are technicians to teach you, right? Once you've grasped the basics, it'll be no different from your workshop."

Sister Yang nodded vigorously, feeling somewhat more confident.

Li Long quickly looked for a suitable place.

First, I went to the housing management department and found two suitable places. One was a former street factory that had been abandoned after it went bankrupt. The other was a joint public-private workshop that had also gone bankrupt a few years ago and was then taken back by the housing management department.

Li Long looked around and realized that to set up a cannery, the space needed to be large, and it would require industrial electricity, and the building also needed to be easy to renovate.

The workshop was too small and not suitable, so he chose the previous factory, which he wanted to buy.

The housing management department still allowed him to rent it first. As a leader in getting rich in the county, Li Long still had some special privileges and eventually bought the factory.

Before the equipment arrives, go find Meng Hai and have him bring people to clean up the factory, level the ground, reinforce the buildings, and then find the power supply station to bring in industrial electricity.

Many hands make light work, and the factory buildings themselves were made of brick. Although they looked somewhat dilapidated, they were really sturdy and could be used again with a little repair.

The factory was about half the size of the purchasing station, and it had a factory building, raw material room, warehouse, and office space. Before the equipment arrived, Li Long even had someone paint it.

The factory is located just two blocks away from the purchasing station, less than 500 meters away, which is quite convenient.

Next, we just have to wait for the equipment. (End of Chapter)