Rebirth of Bayi Fishing and Hunting in the Northwest

Although it was all expected, Li Long was still quite happy to see the cotton in the drip irrigation experimental field growing so well.

Professor Yang was even more satisfied than he was. Drip irrigation for cotton cultivation had always been part of his theoretical concept, but it had never been realized. The growth of only a few dozen plants on a small scale was insufficient to support his theory.

It was only after talking with Li Long that he decided to apply for this experimental project—in fact, he had concerns before that he hadn't done it because there wasn't a suitable person to manage it, and the project would probably take a long time to figure out.

Then he met Li Long, and the rest unfolded naturally.

He had considered the possibility that Li Long might be all talk and no action, spouting plausible theories but revealing his true colors when it came to execution.

Having worked in agricultural research for so many years, he has encountered many people like this, who only talk the talk but don't walk the walk—and most of them are students.

Now it seems that Li Long is really good; everything he said can be reasonably implemented in the experimental fields.

Although Li Long has been away these past few days, he has been involved in all the important tasks that needed to be done, and that is enough.

Professor Yang actually thought this was a good thing; otherwise, if Li Long took on everything, he and the students would just be spectators. Now that Li Long was away for a few days, he could use those days to have a proper discussion with the students about how to manage things going forward.

This also gives students time to be taught, so they don't seem too useless.

"Professor Yang, have all of your students worked in the fields before?" Li Long asked casually as he watched his students skillfully measuring the height of the cotton plants and selecting suitable plants for classification and statistics.

“Three of them were originally from rural areas and passed the exam. One of them, although he has an urban household registration, has been working with me for the past two years and is familiar with farm work. After graduation, whether he goes into management or research, at least he will understand rural matters.”

College graduates are still a rare breed. Regardless of the university, they are guaranteed job placement after graduation, although the placement locations differ. Some are assigned back to their county towns, while others are assigned to provincial departments.

Professor Yang meant that these people he trained would most likely work in agriculture-related fields in the future. He didn't expect them to be like farmers, but at least they should understand agriculture.

Unlike twenty or thirty years later, when a chef becomes a manager of drivers and has all sorts of impressive credentials, this time it's different. All he talks about are numbers, but all he's thinking about is business.

Well, we've gone off on a tangent.

Today, Li Long stayed attentively in the experimental field, observing the comparison between drip-irrigated and ordinary fields with Professor Yang and the others.

In fact, scientific research, including agricultural research, is really tedious. At first, you can't see anything from data comparisons. You need a lot of data to draw conclusions, and even then, they may not be completely correct.

Working with data like this for a few days is manageable, but doing it every day would probably be unbearable for most people.

Thinking about the pesticides that failed hundreds of times and the light bulbs that failed thousands of times, Li Long felt that such people were truly worthy of respect.

We ate lunch in the village. The agricultural extension school had booked meals for a local restaurant, and Professor Yang and his colleagues had been provided with meals by this restaurant during their stay. There were several main dishes to choose from, which was quite good.

This wasn't Li Long's first time here, so there wasn't anything special about it. Everyone just had a plate of noodles; some ate fried noodles, some ate mixed noodles, and some had a bowl of soup and rice.

Restaurants in rural areas generally don't do very well, since they're so close to the county seat. People who want to treat others to a meal go to the county seat, so these restaurants mainly cater to local government officials.

The food was delicious, the portions were generous, and you could tell the owner was very happy. After all, having the Agricultural Broadcasting School cover their meals was proof of their strength. Businesses thrive on popularity, and this place was popular; people looking for food would instinctively flock here.

So this restaurant has always been quite lively. The owner is happy, and when people from the Agricultural Broadcasting School come to eat, they naturally do their best to prepare the food. Of course, the township has also spoken to them beforehand, since these are experts from the Agricultural College, and the township wouldn't be happy if they didn't do a good job.

For a project at the autonomous region level to land in a township, that's an incredible stroke of luck! Even if it's an experimental project, even if it doesn't bring much substantial funding or benefit to the township, at least it has the title, right?
They were going to rest at the Agricultural Broadcasting School at noon. Li Long and his group were digesting their food in the conference room and discussing some issues related to cotton cultivation with Professor Yang.

In the afternoon, Professor Yang and Li Long, along with their group, went to the experimental fields again. The weather was getting warmer, and Li Long planned to see if there were any popsicle vendors nearby to buy some to cool off.

He hadn't been out of the school gate for long when he heard someone from the Agricultural Broadcasting School calling him to answer the phone.

Li Long thought it was a call from writer Mo, so he told Professor Yang and hurriedly ran back to answer it.

"Comrade Li Long? This is from the Sports Commission. We recently received a notice from higher up, mainly regarding attending the Asian Games opening ceremony. You've donated the most money in our county, and we're considering nominating you. What do you think..."

"Will they definitely participate if we report it?" Li Long breathed a sigh of relief when he heard it was reporter Mo. He really wanted to spend more time in the fields these next few days.

"It's uncertain, because we don't know the exact number of spots available," the other person said politely. "However, we will try our best to secure them."

"Then forget it." Li Long vaguely remembered that the Asian Games were held in September, which happened to be the time when cotton was in bloom, and that was the busiest time of the year.

The cooperative is fine, since there are people managing it, and I only need to check on it occasionally. The drip irrigation experimental field is different. I'm at least nominally in charge there; if I'm not there, it would truly be irresponsible.

"Aren't you going to apply? This spot is very valuable!" The other person seemed a little surprised. "This is the first large-scale international event our country has hosted since the reform and opening up. The lineup is huge, and the opening ceremony was spectacular..."

"Thank you for your kindness, but I really had something to do at that time, so I couldn't go," Li Long said. "Please recommend someone else."

Seeing that Li Long had already made up his mind, the people from the sports commission stopped insisting, thanked him again for his kindness, and then hung up the phone.

Actually, if he didn't have anything else to do, Li Long would still like to go and watch, after all, the Asian Games in his memory were really great - of course, after watching the opening ceremony of the Olympics in his previous life, the others were a bit lacking.

But it's already quite good. After all, it's a time to demonstrate the confidence of a major power, and we need to take it one step at a time.

After hanging up the phone, Li Long smiled at the surprised expressions of the staff from the agricultural extension school next to him, and went out to the experimental field.

As he left, he could still hear the staff member gossiping to others about it: "They're not even going to the Asian Games opening ceremony..."

Clearly, he had overheard a few words and knew what was going on. For Li Long, it was a matter of weighing his own situation; for these people, this was an immense honor, and yet they had declined it!

When we arrived at the experimental field, we saw Professor Yang instructing students on how to record data for replanting seedlings. Although the experimental field was cultivated, the germination rate couldn't possibly reach 100%.

After the seedlings emerged, they also replanted them, and now they are comparing the growth of the replanted seedlings with that of the original seedlings.

Seeing Li Long approach, Professor Yang smiled and asked him what was the matter.

"I donated some money to the Sports Commission. We're hosting the Asian Games, so this is just a token of my appreciation. They asked if I wanted to be included in their list. The autonomous region needs to submit its personnel list to the national level to see if I can participate in the opening ceremony."

"You applied?" Professor Yang was surprised and envious.

"No, it's September, that's when the cotton is in bloom, I don't have time." Li Long feigned a little, "I'm in charge of this experimental field, I have to be dedicated, right?"

"Hey, the Asian Games!" Professor Yang was genuinely surprised this time. "You're not going?"

"Haha, it's not certain we'll be able to go, there's a chance." Li Long spoke frankly, "To be honest, I'm really looking forward to our drip irrigation experimental field. Maybe we can harvest three or four hundred kilograms of cotton this year."

According to Li Long's current estimate, a yield of 300 kilograms should be no problem, 350 kilograms is expected, and as for 400 kilograms, it depends on the current cotton varieties and later management.

"I can't even imagine 400 kilograms. As far as I know, the current high yield of cotton in Xinjiang is around 280 kilograms. If our experimental field can reach 350 kilograms, that would be beyond expectations. I'm really looking forward to it."

Professor Yang is ambitious; if the cotton yield in the drip-irrigated experimental field can truly reach 350 kilograms or more, it would be considered a pioneering achievement in planting methods. Although the cost is still too high, the price of drip irrigation tape can be reduced.

The high price is due to two main factors: technology and raw materials. Professor Yang already knows that the Kuishi Machinery Factory has overcome the technological hurdles and reached world-class levels; the remaining issue is the raw materials.

He was well aware that the autonomous region would build a large petrochemical plant in Dushan District. Once it was built, there would be a continuous supply of raw materials, which would significantly reduce the cost of drip irrigation tape.

If the price drops below 50 cents, you can break even; if it drops further, you'll make a profit.

This is the effect of science and technology in agriculture. As long as a demonstrative example is set, the higher authorities will naturally promote this approach.

Li Long also believes that as long as this experimental field operates stably for two years and the yield can remain above 350 kilograms, the autonomous region will naturally focus its efforts in this direction.

The autonomous region will allocate funds to handle the preliminary work that rural areas cannot do on their own—such as leveling land, building pump houses, laying main pipelines, etc.

After all, that's how the autonomous region did it in the previous life.

While Li Long was still thinking about this, Professor Yang had already started speaking:
"Let me tell you, the country is currently carrying out a water-saving irrigation demonstration project called the 90-94 Water-Saving Irrigation and Yield Increase Project. The total investment is 600 million yuan, of which 300 million yuan is a national interest-subsidized loan and 300 million yuan is local government funding. The project will cover 3.5 million mu of water-saving land."

"Do we have any here?" Li Long's heart skipped a beat; this was a golden opportunity. "Does the autonomous region have any?"

"It's not finalized yet. The country has this project, and the start date is set for the second half of the year. The specifics are still under study," Professor Yang said somewhat ambiguously. "What's important for us now is to really solidify the production volume."

If this experimental field project can achieve the expected yield of 350 kilograms, then it may be possible to promote similar demonstration fields using this method.

After all, it was a project that hadn't even started yet. Although Li Long was eager to know if he could be among the first to board the ship, he could only wait and see.

In that case, my decision to stay and not attend the opening ceremony was definitely the right one. Of course, even if I submit the application, there's no guarantee it will be accepted.

Let's focus on doing things practically. If we can secure the drip irrigation project, even if it doesn't work out next year, we can try the year after. Even if the cooperative doesn't make much money at first, once we've laid the foundation and persisted for two or three years, the price of drip irrigation tape will drop, and we'll make an extraordinary profit!

Li Long's abilities are limited to this point; he's pretty much at his limit. After all, this is about as far as he went in his previous life. He can just sit back and wait to win. As for how agriculture will develop in the future, he has no idea.

Originally, he thought he would have to wait a long few years, but unexpectedly, the country has already started the project. Li Long was suddenly full of energy again, as if he had been injected with chicken blood.

Do it! Make sure it's done well!

He got home quite late that night; he had already eaten at the agricultural extension school. But his father, Li Qingxia, was still waiting for him in the yard. Seeing him get out of the car, he immediately asked:

"Did the sports commission call you? They said they were going to hold the Asian Games. Did you go?"

"How could I drive?" Li Long laughed as he corrected his father's words. "They're going to register me. The autonomous region is registering for the opening ceremony in Beijing, but it's not guaranteed I'll get a spot."

"We still have to report it! It's such a great honor!" All his life, his father had been thinking about bringing glory to the family, and now that Li Longzhen was going, it was clearly one of those things.

“I didn’t apply. September is a busy time, and besides, even if I applied, it wouldn’t necessarily be accepted,” Li Long said, explaining his decision. “Besides, I’ve already received the national advanced individual award, that’s enough.”

As for major honors, let's talk about that in a couple of years—wouldn't it be even more impressive if that writer Mo wrote about me in his book? That's much more impressive than being in the newspaper!

Li Qingxia was completely outmaneuvered by Li Long, and there was nothing he could do. Besides, Li Long was right; attending the Asian Games opening ceremony would only allow them to talk for a maximum of six months.

But if it's written into a book, it could be popular for many years!
At that time, books were not as abundant as they would become in later years, and ordinary people still held a certain degree of awe for the characters written in them.

In addition, Li Long also said that even if the sports committee submits the application, there is no guarantee that the candidate will be selected.

Li Qingxia accepted it, nodded, and left.

Li Long guessed that he was still a little regretful about the money he had donated. He felt that since he had donated, there should be some kind of response. Now that others had responded, he was not taking the bait.

How can that work?

But now Li Long is definitely making his own decisions, and his father can't argue with him, so let him be.

In fact, Li Qingxia was just making a suggestion. Now all her sons are very successful, especially Li Long, who has started a company with a high income. She herself holds an important position in the company and earns a lot of money. What more could she ask for?

The next day, after breakfast, Li Long planned to go to the township to check on the experimental fields again, but as soon as he drove to the agricultural extension school, his phone rang.

The staff called him again, and Li Long answered. It was Liu Gaolou's voice on the other end:

"Mr. Li, you must be very busy right now. I came so early and you weren't here."

"I'll be right back." Li Long thought to himself that he had forgotten about this guy. "Did you just arrive?"

"Yes, I left from Kui City this morning and just arrived," Liu Gaolou said. "Hurry back, we've hauled quite a lot of cargo this time."

Li Long could only tell Professor Yang and then quickly drove back.

The front yard of the purchasing station was packed with people coming to sell their goods. Although some people had stopped selling their fritillaria bulbs here recently due to price issues, causing some negative impact, the experienced middlemen all knew that selling their goods through Li Long was the easiest way to make money.

Firstly, the trading hours are long, so everyone has developed a tacit understanding. Secondly, it's stable; Li Long is well-informed, and his prices don't fluctuate much, which shows that the market itself is like that.

So there are still quite a few people coming to sell their goods during this period, and tea and benches are still provided in the courtyard.

When Li Long's car arrived, the people queuing around him made way. Once inside, they saw rows of large trucks parked separately, and Liang Shuangcheng was leading his men to unload them.

Liu Gaolou didn't go inside; he just stood at the door of the reception room, holding a teacup and watching the unloading. When he saw Li Long coming over, he smiled.

"Hey, you've gained weight." Li Long got out of the car, patted Liu Gaolou on the shoulder, and looked him over with some curiosity. "Your belly's bigger... Hey, why do you smell so strong?"

"I've brought you several large cartloads of hides, and even antelope horns. How could they not smell?" A slightly unnatural expression flashed across Liu Gaolou's face. "Come, come, take a look at this batch of hides. Let me tell you, this time I brought ten thousand hides!"

There are indeed quite a lot. Although spring skin is not as valuable as winter skin, that's relative.

The quantity is large enough to make up for the lack of quality.

"How's the situation over there this year?" Li Long asked casually as he sat down in the reception room with Liu Gaolou.

He doesn't need to worry about the unloading situation for now; Liang Shuangcheng and his team can handle it. After all, they're experienced in this field.

As for the smell on Liu Gaolou, it was definitely not the smell of leather and antelope horn that he described. It should be the smell of a member of his ethnic group. However, that was his private matter. Li Long was just doing business with him, and since the other party was unwilling to talk about it, he naturally wouldn't delve into it.

“It’s getting better and better for us, but it’s getting worse and worse for them.” Liu Gaolou naturally knew what Li Long was talking about. “It’s very chaotic. My uncle is now wandering around aimlessly. There’s no way around it. Too many people over there can’t afford to eat, and quite a few people are willing to take risks.”

“Then you really need to tell your uncle to be careful,” Li Long said. “He should be able to hold out for about a year or two.”

"Yes, my uncle thinks so too. Right now, that place is like a volcano. Once it erupts, things will be much easier to handle afterwards."

"Even with everything so tense, you still managed to bring in so much stuff?" Li Long asked with a smile. There were at least twenty-five cars parked in the backyard, an unprecedented number.

“There’s no way around it. The closer it gets to this time of year, the more they ship. After all, so many people need to be fed. You have no idea how popular your canned meat is—much more popular than white sugar!” Liu Gaolou said, beaming. “It’s real hard currency, it can be used like money.”

"How much can you consume in a month?" Li Long asked. "Can you consume a hundred tons?"

"I can take as much as you can eat!" Liu Gaolou said generously. "To be honest, as long as you can produce it to this quality, I won't haggle over the price. I'll buy it all!"

Li Long thought about it and figured that 100 tons a month was achievable with the current equipment and production capacity. The main problem was the lack of skilled workers; otherwise, it would be a piece of cake.

After all, that equipment has a daily production capacity of tens of tons.

Of course, the procurement of raw materials is also a major aspect. Currently, only Keyumu and Yushanjiang provide the raw materials. As for beef alone, about 100 tons per month is the current limit.

Of course, if we let it go for a while longer and allow the two of them to develop and integrate the cattle and sheep trade in northern Xinjiang, then increasing production capacity will not be a problem.

"If you ask me, you should just give up on this purchasing station and stick to this small-scale operation. You'll definitely make a fortune in the next few years!"

Li Long calculated that if he could produce 100 tons a month, based on the current profit margin, the gross profit per ton of canned goods would be between 2,000 and 3,000 yuan, so 100 tons would be 200,000 to 300,000 yuan.

The cost of the equipment can be recovered in about a year—it's really a huge profit.

But to say that the purchasing station is small-scale would be to underestimate it. After buying one kilogram of fritillaria bulbs, cleaning them, and then selling them, there is a profit of sixty to eighty yuan. A fritillaria bulb season is only a little over a month, and originally, they could collect ten tons of dried fritillaria bulbs.

Even if it's less, five to eight tons now, that's still a profit of four or five hundred thousand. How could it be a small business?
And it's not just fritillaria bulbs; they're also harvesting dried mushrooms this season. Their purchasing station buys morel mushrooms for less than 20 yuan a month, and this year it's even dropped to around 10 yuan.

But after cleaning and trimming the mushroom stems, and then selling them to Huang Lei, that's another sum of money—tens of thousands of yuan.

So although Liu Gaolou looked down on this business, he actually made quite a lot of money.

This is just the volume from this side. If we add the volume from Gu Boyuan's side, we'll earn even more.

Of course, it doesn't have the same long profit-making cycle as canned products; it only happens once a year.

But this can last a long time. Li Long's canned goods can last for about ten years, but what happens after that is unclear. But fritillaria can be sold for up to thirty years from now—of course, after twenty years they might not be allowed to harvest it in the mountains anymore, but by then artificial cultivation will have taken off.

“Even a small mosquito is still meat.” Li Long didn’t argue. Anyway, he had nothing to do with Liu Gaolou. He smiled and said, “We are not like you big bosses who control resources. We support so many people, so naturally we have to make money big and small.”

Li Long's praise made Liu Gaolou quite pleased. He laughed a couple of times before realizing what he had done and said, "I'm not a big boss at all. I'm just a middleman for my second uncle. Don't flatter me to death."

"Hahahaha," Li Long laughed, this guy was quite something, "Has your second uncle already obtained his citizenship over there?"

"I'm not really sure either, it's all very confusing." Liu Gaolou genuinely didn't know. "To be honest, I don't know how my second uncle will handle things later, but let's just do it anyway."

In fact, Li Long knew more about Liu Shanmin's general situation than Liu Gaolou did.

However, Li Long couldn't tell anyone about this, and Liu Shanmin wouldn't tell Liu Gaolou either. Some things, regardless of kinship, are hard to say who is likely to keep secret.

A loud noise came from outside. Li Long turned his head and saw that they were unloading a car.

“This time we brought eight cars,” Liu Gaolou said. “They’re all very new. Let me tell you, you need to sell them for a higher price. Selling them at the previous price won’t be worthwhile—they’re practically brand new.”

"Really?" Li Long stood up to look at the car outside. "This car can be brought over too?"

"They were used to pay off debts," Liu Gaolou said with a smile. "It was a government department that had just purchased these cars not long ago. The head of the department was arrested, so the deputy had to get rid of them quickly, otherwise, they would be in trouble if they didn't have any money in the books."

“Hey, this is a good deal for me,” Li Long said. “It’s a new car, so I really can’t sell it cheaply.”

“My second uncle said that the price he paid for them wasn’t high, so the price he’ll sell them to you won’t be based on the price of new cars. Two Mercedes are $25,000 each, and six luxury Volga are $8,000 each, for a total of $98,000.”

Li Long naturally had no objections; this was a brand new car! Mercedes aside, having sold so many cars, he knew the market price pretty well. A new luxury Volga cost around $20,000 to $30,000, so $8,000 was a steal.

Other parts, like antelope horns, haven't changed much.

Li Long didn't change the price of his canned goods; it was five yuan a can. At that time, a can of pork cost three yuan, the kind that comes in a half-kilogram container, so his five-yuan braised beef wasn't considered expensive—he just sold it to Liu Gaolou at a wholesale price, essentially charging the retail price.

Moreover, beef and mutton are relatively cheaper in northern Xinjiang, and prices have been rising steadily. A major price surge is not expected for more than 20 years.

So both sides can make a profit—Liu Gaolou didn't reveal that if this stuff were taken to Kazakhstan, it would sell for two dollars a can and people would be scrambling to buy it.

In times of famine, having food at all is a blessing.

Since they were both new cars, Li Long quickly ran out and shouted to warn them to unload them carefully. These two Mercedes-Benzes must be worth at least six or seven hundred thousand yuan, right?
That luxury Volga must cost at least 150,000, right?
With the big boss saying so, those people naturally proceeded with extreme caution. Liang Shuangcheng was an expert and knew that the car paint was the most crucial element. He watched over each car as it was being unloaded, making sure it wasn't scratched or scraped at all.

Once all eight vehicles are unloaded, things will be much easier.

Unloading the truck was hard work, so Li Long said that there would be an extra meal at noon, which made the newly recruited employees quite happy.

The food here is already better than at home, and now they're adding extra meals, which means more meat. It's their job, but the boss doesn't see it that way, which makes the employees genuinely grateful.

Li Long then called the cannery and asked the kitchen to add a meat dish.

This is very simple for canneries; the raw materials are readily available, and all they need to do is stir-fry them.

We unloaded today, rested for half a day, and will load again tomorrow. Liu Gaolou plans to set off again the day after tomorrow. When they arrived, it was a long convoy of twenty-five trucks, but when they left, they left five trucks behind, making it a convoy of twenty trucks.

When he left, he took fifty tons of white sugar and fifty tons of canned goods, almost emptying the cannery's inventory.

But Sister Yang was quite happy. The large quantity required by customers indicated that the product was popular. She told Li Long about it and increased the demand for raw materials, planning to increase the monthly output to 150 tons.

Li Long agreed to the plan. Since Liu Gaolou said he could take as much canned food as there was, then they would produce more.

Moreover, there is a domestic market for it, and it's easy to imagine how popular such high-quality canned food is—although the people who buy canned food are a specific group, there are still some, aren't there?
After Liu Gaolou left, Li Long spent most of his time at the experimental field, a small portion at the purchasing station, and occasionally visited the cannery and Meng Hai and the others.

After Meng Hai and his team finish their project, they'll also need to build a road, so they'll basically have work for the whole year. Yu Shanjiang also comes to check on things every few days; he now has about ten workers responsible for slaughtering sheep and delivering meat.

The five trucks that Liu Gaolou left with Li Long were sold out in less than a week. Nowadays, there's not much enforcement against overloading in the transportation business, so it's quite profitable. You can often see those trucks with extremely high loads shuttling back and forth on the Urumqi-Yining Highway.

It really proves the saying: "Work until you drop dead."

May passed just like that. On Children's Day, the kindergarten was closed, and Li Long and Gu Xiaoxia took Mingming and Haohao to Wucheng for a trip.

At that time, many people in small counties thought that going on a trip meant going to big cities, famous historical sites, parks, or amusement parks.

This was completely different from the grasslands, snow-capped mountains, or lakesides of later generations. The two children chattered excitedly in the car about the fun they had at school the day before during the Children's Day activities.

Because it was the last Children's Day we spent here, the kindergarten took it very seriously. Everyone had to perform a program, and there was also a tea party—which was actually similar to New Year's Day in elementary school. They would buy some melon seeds, peanuts, candy, and dates and arrange them in a circle so we could eat and play together.

As the two students with the strongest organizational and practical skills in the class, Mingming and Haohao also received prizes from the teacher. Mingming received a tin pencil case, while Haohao received a plastic notebook.

This is a commonly used prize at this time; it's very practical.

The two children felt a great sense of accomplishment at kindergarten, and they liked to share it with their parents. In this day and age, there aren't many parents like Li Long and Gu Xiaoxia who value their children's ideas as much as they do.

In most families these days, it's basically the parents who talk and the children who listen. As for the children's thoughts, let them talk to the other children.

Therefore, the family environment was very harmonious. The two children talked, and Gu Xiaoxia would occasionally chime in, which Li Long would listen to and laugh.

When Mingming and Haohao talk about childish, trivial things in a serious manner, and Gu Xiaoxia joins in the discussion in a serious manner, it's hard not to laugh.

It seems that after becoming a teacher, Gu Xiaoxia started speaking in a more reasoned way, like when she's talking to children. I wonder if that's a professional habit.

He had actually brought his children to Wucheng before, and they had visited the water park, zoo, and other attractions. But the children preferred this place, since there aren't many amusement facilities in Ma County, and this kind of place is probably one of the few in all of northern Xinjiang.

Well, the children had a lot of fun, and Li Long and Gu Xiaoxia treated it as a relaxing holiday.

The days that followed remained peaceful. Li Long had an additional activity: he would visit the fourth team every few days, because there were now more crabs, as well as more prawns and shrimp.

Many people in the team knew that there were shrimp in Xiaohaizi. These things are prickly to some people, but for the children, it was a great discovery. Live shrimp! They could only see them on the radio, on TV, and in books. Now that they had them in real life, how could they not be excited?

During this lull, Liu Gaolou came again and brought over the fritillaria that Gu Boyuan had collected in the valley—more than three tons.

Not many. Gu Boyuan also mentioned on the phone that there was nothing he could do because there were many competitors. Some people collect the goods on a scattered basis, while others collect them at fixed locations. Some people even organize a group of people to go into the mountains to dig, and then drive away after digging. Surprisingly, they are not locals.

Moreover, the valley is mountainous, and the forestry police station simply cannot patrol the area, unlike in Ma County, where the mountain roads are so wide that they can cover everything.

For example, Tangbula has dozens or even hundreds of gullies. If you go into any of them and search in the mountains, you can find this thing. How can you protect yourself from it?
This is also true in many places in the central Tianshan Mountains.

Although the area is large and there are many places to harvest fritillaria bulbs, many people have their eyes on it—but only in the last two years.

Gu Boyuan complained on the phone that before the purchasing station was opened, it felt like nobody cared about this place, and only the official medicinal materials company was buying fritillaria.

My purchasing station has only been open for two years, and now, a whole bunch of people are coming to buy my things; there are too many competitors vying for my business.

Li Long comforted him, saying that three tons was actually quite a lot. The average purchase price he got there was even lower than what he got in Ma County, so he could earn more per kilogram.

After deducting expenses and splitting the profits equally with Li Long, we should be able to earn at least 100,000 yuan this fritillaria season, which is pretty good.

Jia Tianlong arrived on June 12th. He transported nearly ten tons of fritillaria bulbs from Li Long's place, leaving behind 1.7 million yuan. Li Long had enough manpower to clean and dry all the fritillaria bulbs.

The quality is completely different.

Li Long has now come to his senses. He used to think that the peak season was only one or two months long, so he didn't hire that many people, thinking that Liang Shuangcheng and Sun Jiaqiang were enough.

As a result, I had to take on odd jobs from time to time, sometimes exhausting myself, and in the end, I still might not achieve the results I wanted.

Now, there are readily available workers with relatively high wages. They can do whatever they want, washing the fritillaria bulbs clean, combing the skin until it's fluffy, and scraping away all the grease. How wonderful!
Jia Tianlong had something to do, so he left in a hurry after saying a few words. Huang Lei and Zhao Hui, who came later, stayed in Ma County for several days.

They stayed there partly for their main business of selling dried wild mushrooms and skins, and partly to inspect Li Long's cannery.

To be honest, the canned food produced by the cannery was surprisingly made of solid and reliable materials, which surprised both of them.

After all, only the manufacturers know how much starch is added to canned luncheon meat these days.

Only military-grade braised pork canned food is made with pure meat and broth.

Li Long and his team made such high-quality canned meat, and the price wasn't much higher than other canned meat on the market, so both of them were interested in getting a batch to see how the market would react.

Sister Yang hauled away another batch of canned goods for Liu Gaolou, so when Huang Lei and Zhao Hui needed them, they each received five tons, which were freshly produced.

The two of them didn't even bother to choose; they bought the canned goods, took their own cargo, and left.

In June, it gets hot in Ma County, and various crops grow rapidly. However, field management is relatively simple at this time; if there are pests, spray pesticides, and then weed and water.

On June 19th, Li Long went to the fourth team to invite Xie Yundong, Tao Daqiang, and other members of the cooperative, including his elder brother Li Jianguo, to visit the cotton growing in the drip irrigation experimental field in the township.

"Xiaolong, is that drip-irrigated field really growing so well?" Despite Li Long's repeated requests, Xu Haijun still didn't quite believe it.

A mu of land can yield three to four hundred kilograms of cotton. What kind of land is that?
No one else spoke. Clearly, while they believed Li Long's explanation, they also wanted to see the actual situation.

When they saw the lush cotton fields, no one doubted it anymore.

Although the cooperative's cotton this year is still grown on saline-alkali land, after two years of improvement and the use of many methods, the cotton is growing very well and is already catching up with the cotton from other cultivated land in the team.

However, it can't compare to the cotton in this drip irrigation experimental field. Look at the leaves there, they are all dark green, dense and thick, and you can see that the cotton plants are very robust.

Li Long had already told Professor Yang and Principal Yang about inviting his elder brother Li Jianguo and the others to visit the cotton fields, so Professor Yang and the others, who were working in the cotton fields, didn't say anything. They had already met Li Jianguo and the others before, and after exchanging greetings, they went about their own business.

"Xiaolong, this cotton... is growing really well!" After walking around the field, Li Jianguo returned to the edge of the field and said with emotion, "If you say that this cotton can yield three or four hundred kilograms, then I will truly believe you."

Xie Yundong had a strong belief in science, so he went over to talk to Professor Yang about the drip irrigation experimental field. After learning that the cost was relatively high, he was somewhat disappointed.

Clearly, as the cooperative's manager, he intentionally wanted the cooperative's land to be in this state. However, he was very happy when he heard that Li Long was handling all of this and that costs might decrease later.

"Xiaolong, are you thinking of making the cooperative like this in the future?" Xie Yundong came over and asked Li Long.

"Well, the drip irrigation equipment is fine now, the only problem is the cost. If the cost can be reduced, our cooperative's land can be irrigated with drip irrigation, and then we can produce three or four hundred kilograms per mu. If cotton suddenly rises to five or six yuan a day, we'll be rich." Li Long said, half explaining and half joking.

Li Long didn't mention the autonomous region project; it's still uncertain. He could ask around, but whether it would work out is hard to say.

Of course, he didn't rely entirely on Professor Yang to inquire about this matter. After all, he was a member of the Ethnic Affairs Commission, so he could try to find out information indirectly from there.

There's no need to tell Xie Yundong and the others about this. After all, if something doesn't work out in advance, and it fails in the end, you'll just become a laughing stock.

PS: Thank you to reader "Spring Warmth in Eleven Provinces" for the reward and suggestion! I'm thinking of going online to see if I can order some custom-made pillows or something, and give some away in monthly ticket prizes or other events. I just need to think carefully about the design. (End of Chapter)