Rebirth of Bayi Fishing and Hunting in the Northwest

Chapter 1315 Li Juan Goes to School, Cotton Fields Have a Bountiful Harvest

The township head and the deputy secretary in charge of education arrived. They didn't come empty-handed; they brought two suitcases: one a hard leather suitcase measuring 1 meter by 80 meters, and the other a semi-soft cloth hand-held suitcase measuring 60 meters by 40 meters, both very practical.

At this time, people often used such leather suitcases when traveling long distances.

Township head Qi Xianzhe smiled and said to Li Jianguo, "This is great news! It's an honor for our township! I heard from Lao Ma that this is the first time since our township was established that someone from our township has been admitted to Renmin University, and also the first time that someone from our township has been admitted to a prestigious university like Yenching University. We must reward them!"

Ma Youde, the deputy secretary in charge of education, also said with a smile, "That's right, your family has excellent parenting skills! I heard that Li Juan's younger brother also got into the No. 1 Middle School this year, and his academic performance is also very good. He'll be a promising student in the future!"

Li Jianguo was so excited by the praise and affirmation from the township head and deputy secretary that his face turned red. He hurriedly invited the two leaders to take their seats. At this moment, Xu Chengjun rushed over and accompanied him.

Li Long then went to the south courtyard to find Li Juan. Two leaders had arrived; they had to meet the person in charge, after all.

Li Juan was sitting at the table chatting with her classmates about what had happened in the past few days when she saw Li Long rushing over and quickly stood up.

“Juan, come with me for a moment. The township head and deputy secretary are here. We should at least meet them. It’s nothing, just say hello. Then you can come back and continue spending time with your classmate,” Li Long said.

"Okay," Li Juan replied, then told her classmates and followed Li Juan.

Township Head Qi and Deputy Secretary Ma only met briefly to offer some encouragement to Li Juan before letting her accompany her classmates.

When Li Juan returned to the South Campus, the dishes had already been served on the table. The students didn't stand on ceremony and had already sat down separately, eating and chatting.

"Li Juan, your village seems quite wealthy. There are so many cars parked in front of your house... Are they all from your village?"

"Yes, most of them are," Li Juan said without hiding anything. "Most of them are used cars. My uncle's company sells used cars, which are cheaper than new cars. Plus, many people in our team have made money in recent years and bought cars."

"Your uncle is amazing! He looks so young..." one classmate exclaimed. "Which school did he graduate from?"

“My uncle didn’t even finish junior high school,” Li Juan said with a smile. “He figured it out on his own. Come on, everyone, eat first, don’t be shy.”

"You even have shrimp here! Oh, and crabs too!" A student exclaimed in surprise, noticing the unusual dishes. "Are they fresh?"

"It's fresh. My uncle contracted a small lake, you know, a small reservoir. He asked a friend in the area to get some crab and shrimp larvae, and he kept them there for two or three years. Then the shrimp and crabs grew out. Oh, and there are snails too. I wonder if they have them on the menu today."

"Hey, that's great..." one of the male students exclaimed excitedly, "I've never seen live shrimp in the river before!"

"I've seen shrimp before, but I've never seen live crabs. I wonder if I could see one..."

Ma County is quite large. In some reservoirs, fish fry can mix with shrimp fry, but this is not yet widespread in most areas.

The stir-fried river shrimp with chives was quickly devoured. Some girls even picked up a whole prawn but couldn't bear to eat it, so they just kept it in front of them and looked at it.

"Li Juan, after we finish eating, can we go check out that little lake you mentioned?" a classmate suggested. "Let's see if we can find any live shrimp or crabs..."

“Sure.” Li Juan naturally had no objection. She was very happy that her classmates were coming and wanted to make sure they had a good time. However, she still explained, “You should be able to see the shrimp, but not necessarily the crabs. Crabs usually only come out of the water at night, and these crabs were caught at night.”

It's nearly a kilometer from the Li family's house to Xiaohaizi. Li Juan didn't want her classmates to walk there, since it was too hot, so she went to the backyard to find Li Long.

When Li Juan found Li Long, her father Li Jianguo was greeting guests. He was calling the team members to sit down at the table.

Li Juan pulled Li Long aside and whispered about the matter.

Li Long thought for a moment and said:

“My car is too small, and if anyone’s going to sit, it has to be a GAZ… but a GAZ is too cramped. Let’s take a minivan. Wait a minute, if we’re going to catch shrimp, your classmates might not be able to wait while we set the shrimp traps. I’ll go find two more landing nets and put them in the minivan to take with us.”

"Okay, okay." Li Juan nodded repeatedly.

"Then let your classmates wait a moment. I'll arrange for these people to sit at the table, and then I'll go get the van." Li Long asked Li Juan to go and tell the classmates first.

When Li Juan returned and told them, the classmates were so excited they couldn't wait to leave. However, Li Juan still advised them to eat something first, otherwise they would definitely get hungry while staying at Xiaohaizi for quite some time.

Li Long settled things over there and left the rest to Xie Yundong and Tao Daqiang. Xu Haijun could also lend a hand—mainly because these people in the cooperative were all considered his own people, and Li Junfeng was also taking care of things, so Li Long didn't stand on ceremony with them.

Li Long drove the van to the front gate of the yard and stuffed three nets and a set of waders under the seats inside as a backup.

Upon seeing the van arrive, several boys eagerly ran over, greeted Li Long, and then climbed into the van.

The van only had nine seats, so it was bound to be a bit cramped. But Li Long had come prepared. He put a few small stools in a row in the middle of the empty space, and with two petite girls squeezing into one, they were able to sit down, and it wasn't too crowded.

Li Long started the car, told them to sit down again, and drove towards Xiaohaizi. The road conditions were very good, so there was little worry about bumps. As they drove along, some students started singing behind them. At first, they sang softly, but later they sang louder.

The songs he sang were quite varied, including "Let Us Row Our Boats," "On the Road," "Childhood," "My Chinese Heart," and more fashionable ones like "Really Love You," which was sung in a very non-standard Cantonese style, as well as "A Thousand Songs," and so on.

As Li Long drove, he sighed: "It's the prime of youth. Although there are some minor troubles, there's more of a fearless spirit and strong enough self-confidence."

Xiaohaizi has arrived.

After the students got off the bus, the boys hurriedly ran towards the water's edge—such scenery might be quite rare for city dwellers twenty years from now, but for young people in a small county town, it's really nothing special.

Their commotion startled a flock of wild ducks, and a group of half-grown ducklings, unable to fly, hurriedly darted into the water, then emerged again and disappeared into the reeds.

The girls walked slowly to the embankment together, and were quite surprised to see the wild ducks. There were not only wild ducks, but also other water birds. Occasionally, they could see egrets and swans, as well as cormorants that looked like monsters.

The girls were all looking at the scenery, so Li Juan took out her point-and-shoot camera and took photos of them, including group photos. At this time, almost no one was taking individual photos; it was all group photos, because they didn't know when they would be able to get together again.

Keeping a memento is a must.

Li Long was accompanied by several of the most enthusiastic boys, who held nets and looked quite proud and spirited.

Upon reaching the sluice gate, Li Long casually picked up a scoop net and scooped up a handful of shrimp from the concrete ditch below the gate. When he pulled the net up, the jumping shrimp inside immediately attracted the attention of many boys.

"There really are shrimp!" The boys immediately gathered around, and Li Juan took the opportunity to snap a few pictures.

Li Long handed the net to the eager boy next to him, letting him fish it out himself.

Those from rural areas are better off; they know how to use it. But those from county towns can only imitate it blindly, leading to gasps of surprise, delight, or disappointment—it's quite a spectacle.

The boys' exclamations attracted the attention of the girls, and some of the girls who were waiting to take pictures ran over to see what was going on.

For Li Long, coming here to catch fish and shrimp was an ordinary thing, but after the boys and girls shouted and made a fuss, it seemed like a good experience.

Being older, Li Long quietly watched them frolic, acting as both an observer and protector. The water at the entrance to Xiaohaizi Sluice Gate was two or three meters deep, so he dared not be careless.

If they fall in, and if these students can't swim, then it will be a problem.

Fortunately, everyone was quite cautious, taking turns catching shrimp and searching for crabs. They actually found a small crab in the grass by the water – which they caught with a net.

Although they had never seen a live crab before, they knew that crabs could pinch people.

So I don't dare to grab it directly with my hands.

The little crab attracted the attention of both boys and girls, who all stared at it curiously. Eating crabs at the banquet was one thing, but seeing a live crab was quite another.

Li Long stood at the sluice gate, watching silently. Actually, crabs could still be vaguely seen in the water; after all, it was a sluice gate, with a lot of flowing water, and some things would be washed ashore.

However, he didn't say anything and told the children to play by themselves.

The students played there for over an hour before reluctantly deciding to leave. Li Long had brought some watermelons in the van, and he cut some for them to eat along the way—after all, they had played for a long time and were quite thirsty on such a hot day.

When they drove back to the Li family's house, the guests had changed; the township head and deputy secretary had already left.

Li Long told Li Juan to continue playing and taking pictures with her classmates nearby, while he went to check on his older brother.

Li Jianguo had been drinking, and his face was flushed. He was chatting with a fellow villager about going to university.

“When I was in school, my biggest wish was to go to university, but unfortunately I couldn’t. I dropped out of junior high school and came to northern Xinjiang. Now my daughter has been admitted to Renmin University, which is one of my wishes.”

"Hey, even if you were in school back then, you might not have been able to get into such a good school." The villager's surname was She, which is a relatively rare surname. He didn't live in this village but in another village, but he came over this time—it was a big deal.

He and Li Jianguo have a good relationship, so his words weren't very pleasant. Only people who are close to each other would say that; otherwise, it would just be flattery.

"That's true. I was just thinking of getting into medical school or a teacher's college, that would be about it," Li Jianguo said honestly. "Who would have thought I'd get into Renmin University... Hehe, hehe!"

He had a smug and satisfied look on his face.

Li Long didn't disturb them and continued to greet the guests. Most of the villagers arrived in the morning, while people from other villages, who lived further away, arrived later, but they still came one after another.

Some people brought money, but the Li family refused to accept it. It was just a celebration, not a wedding or funeral, which was unprecedented in the Fourth Team, so it was normal not to accept it.

Many people in the village already knew about it, so they bought some things, such as schoolbags, notebooks, pens, etc.

Xie Yundong and his fellow villagers shared the same idea: they bought a large box and a small leather suitcase for easy use when going to school.

A simpler option would be to bring a basket of eggs, or some gifts such as wine or canned goods.

A wide variety of items filled the empty house.

Around 5 p.m., Li Juan came to find Li Long, wanting him to help take her classmate to the county.

Li Long then drove his van and picked up all the classmates. The classmates were clearly having a great time. After getting in the van, they rolled down their windows one by one to say goodbye to Li Juan, promising to write to each other after they went to university, and to visit their teacher's home for the New Year during the winter break, and so on.

Li Juan agreed to all of them, waved goodbye to her classmates at the gate of the college, and promised to send the photos to them after they were developed.

For these classmates, this was a rare reunion; for Li Juan, it marked the end of her high school years and a preview of her upcoming university years.

I didn't feel it too deeply when I graduated from junior high school. After all, my classmates were all from the same village. Even if I didn't get into high school, I still remembered which village I was from. Good friends are easy to find.

But in high school, classmates were scattered in various towns and villages. The county was so big that it was difficult to find them. Moreover, some of them went to university and ended up working in the city where the university was located.

We're all so far apart, it'll be hard to see each other again.

Li Long was driving towards the county when a boy from behind asked him:
"Uncle, you have quite a few cars. I heard from Li Juan that you sell used cars?"

"Yes, I run a trading company that imports goods from the Soviet republic of Kazakhstan and sells them here," Li Long explained simply.

"Is it rich over there? How does it compare to our area?" another boy asked.

"Right now, they're a bit worse off than us. They've been suffering from famine for the past two years, and they're almost starving," Li Long replied as he drove.

"Impossible, right? Aren't the Soviet Union and the United States supposed to be the two most powerful countries? How could they be starving?" one girl retorted.

Li Long smiled. He could understand that many people nowadays have a biased view of foreign countries, or rather, most people in this era are like that.

Therefore, he patiently explained:

"The Soviet Union had not yet entered communism; it was composed of many constituent republics, and the economic conditions of those republics were not entirely the same."

Like our neighboring Kazakh republic, which is larger than our northern border but has a smaller population. When their agriculture suffers a famine, other countries can't supply them with enough resources, and their people go hungry.

I'm currently exporting canned goods and sugar to them, which are very popular because their production can't meet the needs of the people.

They used to be quite wealthy, but that only applied to a certain social class. Now things have changed; the rich have become poor, and they have no choice but to sell their goods. For example, many of the cars I import here are quite new, but they have to sell them because they can't afford to maintain them anymore.

Some people believe it, some don't. One boy couldn't help but ask, "Why is that?"

This is a characteristic of Chinese people; they are generally quite concerned about national and international affairs. Li Long smiled and said:
"Yes, why is that? You'll have to explore the answer to that later. My understanding might be different from what you imagine."

Li Long continued driving, and the students, who had been so full of vigor, began to ponder the question.

When they arrived at No. 1 Middle School, Li Long let the students down. They greeted and said goodbye to Li Long, and they were all very polite.

When Li Long drove his van back to the Li family's house in the fourth team, many people had already left, and the courtyard was filled with a mixture of smells of alcohol and food.

Most of the tables were empty; those remaining were scattered about, some drinking, some playing drinking games, and some chatting and gossiping.

Li Long guessed that his elder brother, Li Jianguo, was not in the yard; he had drunk too much and gone to sleep inside.

Sister-in-law Liang Yuemei and Dong Xiaojuan were cleaning up the mess. As always, Sister-in-law Lu had a loud voice. While washing the dishes, she complained about her daughter's lack of learning and envied Liang Yuemei's good fortune.

Li Long smiled and began to help tidy up the mess on the empty table.

Over the next few days, Li Juan quietly prepared her luggage, while Li Jianguo and his family packed up the things that the guests who came on the 16th had brought.

There are too many eggs, so we have to give them away. They'll spoil if left out for too long; we can keep the chickens, though. As for other things that can't be stored for long, we'll give them away, and put the rest away in different categories.

As time went by, Li Jianguo and Li Juan spent the last few days running around handling the paperwork. Li Long had already helped Li Juan buy a train ticket for the 24th.

They discussed whether to send Li Juan off, but Li Juan firmly refused. So Li Long asked Gu Xiaoxia to call Gu Xiaoyu and ask her to pick up Li Juan at the train station.

Li Juan didn't want to do that; she wanted to do these things herself, since she was already an adult.

However, there was no room for negotiation on this point. As Li Jianguo had privately told Li Long, if Li Juan were a child, she could have gone ahead on her own. But she was a girl, and aside from the dangers outside, girls generally face far more hostility than boys.

Therefore, Gu Xiaoyu will definitely have to pick her up. Once she gets to the school, things will be much easier.

Fortunately, Li Juan lived on campus for three years during high school, so she still knew some basic social rules; it was just that she had gone from a small county to a big city.

There wasn't much to bring. At first, I thought I'd bring everything, but then I realized it wouldn't be convenient for a girl to bring her own. Gu Xiaoxia suggested we not bring bedding and that Gu Xiaoyu prepare it over there. I just needed to bring some personal belongings, which could all fit in a small suitcase.

Otherwise, it would be difficult to pack all those bags and packages, even two suitcases. And so, these miscellaneous details were settled.

Gu Xiaoyu was also extremely surprised to learn that Li Juan had been admitted to Renmin University. She agreed with everything her sister said and told Li Juan on the phone to just bring some personal belongings, and she would take care of the rest.

So when the formalities were completed, and Li Long drove Li Jianguo and Liang Yuemei to Wucheng Railway Station, Li Juan was only carrying a small suitcase.

However, at the train station, Liang Yuemei still bought a lot of food, such as bread, paper cakes, instant noodles, packaged braised eggs, and so on.

Because we bought a sleeper berth, specifically a lower berth, we weren't too worried about Li Juan being uncomfortable sitting there.

After buying platform tickets and seeing Li Juan off on the train, I looked around and saw that most of the people there were indeed sending their children to school, as well as business people and people on business trips. Overall, they seemed to be of decent quality.

When the train was about to depart, they got off and waved to Li Juan through the window—Li Long noticed that Li Juan seemed quite excited.

On the way back, Liang Yuemei complained to Li Jianguo that he hadn't insisted on sending Li Juan to Yanjing, saying that the other parents were sending their children to school and that they were able to do so.

Li Jianguo explained that you heard it yourself: some of those kids saw that Li Juan was going to Yenching University alone, and some of them were secretly telling their children to learn from Li Juan.

"She'll have to grow up and face these things sooner or later. It's all the same whether it's sooner or later. We can't be with her forever."

Li Long could tell that his sister-in-law was very unhappy. He could understand it; their daughter was in high school, and although she lived at school, she could still come home once a week. Now she was so far away, only able to come back every four months, and unlike later generations with cell phones, she naturally wasn't happy to see her for so long.

After dropping his elder brother and sister-in-law off at home, Li Long went to the Agricultural Broadcasting School. The cotton bolls were already turning black, so the yield was basically certain at this point.

However, we still cannot let our guard down, as there are still factors that could lead to reduced production, such as pests and diseases.

When Li Long arrived, Professor Yang and the others were not at the school, so he went to the experimental field.

Sure enough, Professor Yang and his team were in the field, surveying the average number of cotton bolls.

Seeing Li Long approach, Professor Yang smiled and said:

"The cotton plants in the drip irrigation experimental field have an average of eight more bolls per plant than those in the ordinary field! And that's counting the number of fully formed bolls!"

A mature peach is a large peach that is guaranteed to bloom in September or October; smaller peaches do not count.

"So many?" Li Long was startled. Let alone how many more there were, even if each cotton plant could produce seven or eight peaches, the cotton would already be a bumper harvest. This is so many more!

Incredible!
This is only preliminary data; further detailed data will need to be verified, and all of this needs to be recorded and reported.

Li Long walked into the experimental field and indeed found that the number of cotton bolls under the leaves, which had turned reddish-brown, was significantly greater than in the neighboring field. Some bolls even had more than nine, with a single cotton plant possibly having a dozen or twenty.

Of course, there are also a few with fewer branches. I don't know if it's because the drip irrigation hole wasn't aligned, or because they were naturally weak, or because they were replanted. They have fewer branches and only about ten mature peaches on them.

Professor Yang's students were scattered in different areas to conduct comparisons and registrations, and each of them was very serious.

Li Long was somewhat impressed by these students. They were all the pride of heaven at this time, after all, no one who could get into university was easy, but now they were all doing the work that these old farmers did.

I wonder if Li Juan will experience the same thing when she does her internship after four years of university?
Should I pursue research or teaching?
Li Long didn't understand, and the thought only flashed through his mind.

After completing his military training, Li Qiang began his high school life. The two-week training had left him very tanned, but he was very excited. He fired a gun, gave a performance demonstration, and even retrieved a few spent bullet casings.

Li Long had given him many spent bullet casings, but these few were ones he had fired himself during military training, and they felt different—Li Qiang said that the person behind him at the time was his class instructor. After firing, he tried to pick up the casings, but the instructor kicked him and wouldn't let him move.

But the instructor helped him pick up the five spent cartridges and put them in his pocket when he put away his gun, saying that the cartridges were still warm.

The experience of boys and girls living in dormitories is different. However, Li Long still reminded Li Qiang that if anyone bullied him, he should come back and tell them. After all, several years had passed, and he wondered if the local thugs near the school had reappeared.

Putting these thoughts aside, Li Long walked through the cotton field. Because it was an experimental field, no random things were planted when replanting seedlings; instead, some pumpkins were planted on the cotton stalks at the edge of the field.

The pumpkins are growing quite large now, with six or seven on a single vine. I don't know if it's due to fertilizer and water or because the soil here is naturally fertile. The largest pumpkin is about one and a half basketball sizes, with a very thick skin, and it's clearly ready to be picked.

The smallest ones are the size of a soccer ball and can last for a long time.

This row has about ten pumpkin vines, separating the ordinary experimental field from the drip irrigation experimental field.

These pumpkins alone are enough to feed the teachers at the agricultural extension school for a long time.

Following Professor Yang and his team, we divided the cotton plants in the experimental field into sections for statistical analysis. After the analysis, we averaged the results and recorded them to obtain the comparison values.

Such comparisons should be made during seedling emergence, flowering, and boll formation, and also when the cotton is harvested and weighed.

It seems that Li Qiang and his group will be picking cotton again this year, but it's not confirmed yet, and it's unclear whether they'll be going to the Production and Construction Corps.

It's that place with the inscription "Hometown of the Production and Construction Corps, Long Road," the several regiments of the Eighth Agricultural Division—147, 148, 149, 150, etc.

Wang Mingjun and the others were also in that area. Li Long thought he would have to ask them about it later, and if so, he would have to take care of them.

Li Qiang is a stubborn kid and doesn't want to be taken care of, but as an elder, he naturally doesn't want him to suffer.

After finishing the statistics, Li Long returned to the field and sat down with Professor Yang by the filtration pool to chat.

"After the cotton is harvested and the stalks are trimmed, we still need to collect the drip irrigation tape," Li Long said. "After recycling and cleaning it, we can send it back to be crushed, mixed with new materials, and made into drip irrigation tape again."

"Recycling, that's good," Professor Yang said with a smile. "It seems our experimental field is doing quite well. Based on your experience, how much can you harvest?"

“It should be at least three hundred,” Li Long said. “If things don’t change, we should be able to collect three hundred and sixty or seventy without any problem.”

"Yes, that's my initial estimate too. But the cotton hasn't been harvested yet, and there are still many possibilities, so we can't let our guard down." Professor Yang is a cautious person. "These past few days we've been inspecting the fields every day to ensure that the cotton yield reaches the expected level when it's harvested."

Li Long nodded without saying anything.

"What will you do when you're picking cotton?" Professor Yang asked. "What do you think would be the best approach?"

“Use students from the Agricultural Broadcasting School,” Li Long said matter-of-factly. “If you hire odd jobs on the street, the cotton they pick will definitely not be clean or accurate, and you’ll miss a lot of it.”

"When the time comes, please tell Principal Yang that these trainees understand the importance of this experimental field. Even if they are a little slow in harvesting, it's only ten acres. With so many trainees, it can be cleaned up in a few days, and there won't be any follow-up problems."

Professor Yang also had this idea, but since Li Long was more experienced, he wanted to ask for his opinion.

Using students from agricultural extension schools has another advantage: it allows these students to understand the actual situation of high cotton yields in this drip irrigation experimental field, and then expand the publicity through them, making it easier to promote it in the future.

Li Juan boarded the train, feeling quite intrigued. Although she had taken the train before and visited Yanjing, she had always gone with a group of people. Now, alone, she felt a little lost, but mostly curious.

Shortly after the train started moving, someone came up to chat with her. It was another girl going to study in Yenching, accompanied by her mother.

"Which school are you going to?" the student asked. "Where are you from? I'm from Wucheng."

“I’m in Ma County, and I’m going to the People’s Congress,” Li Juan said with a smile.

"Renmin University!" the girl exclaimed in surprise. "That's amazing! What was your score on the college entrance exam?"

"Over 600 points," Li Juan said. "And you? Which school are you going to?"

Li Juan had never heard of the school the other party mentioned, so it's no wonder the other party had that expression. Of course, the other party's score—over 400 points—also confirmed that this school couldn't compare to Renmin University.

Several students were on the T70 train, but Li Juan had heard from her uncle on the way that most of the students carried their own luggage and sat in hard seats, since most students at that time could not afford sleeper berths.

Li Juan felt quite at ease with the students around, chatting about things from her student days and her major.

The parents were happy to see their students interacting with each other, since they were all from northern Xinjiang and would eventually return to Beijing. Getting to know each other in the same place would provide mutual support.

When it was time for dinner, Li Juan didn't have much of an appetite, but she was afraid of wasting food, so she took out the bread and cakes that her mother had bought and ate them.

One student's mother thought Li Juan didn't have much money with her and wanted her daughter to treat everyone to a boxed lunch from the food truck. Li Juan refused, saying she had money but just didn't really want to eat a boxed lunch right now.

Li Juan brought quite a bit of money with her this time. Her grandparents, parents, and even her uncle and aunt all gave her money. In fact, she could be considered a small millionaire. However, despite living in a dormitory for three years, she didn't develop a habit of spending money extravagantly. On the contrary, she and her roommates learned to be frugal.

The express train sped along, and by the next day, some of the people in the nearby carriages had become familiar with each other. Several students even got together to play a card game on Li Juan's bunk.

Most of these people went directly to their destination, Yanjing, and not many got off along the way. While playing cards, they made a pact that they could organize a hometown gathering after arriving in Yanjing and having a holiday.

Li Juan had originally intended to mention that she owned a courtyard house in Yanjing, which would be suitable for hosting gatherings, but in the end, she didn't. Having lived in the dormitory for three years, she already knew that it was better to keep things to herself at this point.

When they arrived in Yanjing, everyone else was carrying large and small bags, but Li Juan simply picked up her small leather suitcase and easily got off the train, which aroused a lot of envy.

She knew her aunt's younger sister was waiting outside the station, so she followed the crowd out and searched for her nearby.

Gu Xiaoyu knew that Li Juan was taking this train, so she came early and waited at the exit.

While she was still searching for Li Juan, Li Juan had already seen her.

Carrying her suitcase, Li Juan approached Gu Xiaoyu and greeted her warmly, "Hello, Aunt Gu!"

Gu Xiaoyu looked at Li Juan, who was half a head taller than her, and said with a smile, "You've grown so tall... Are you tired? Come on, let me take you to eat."

"Okay," Li Juan replied. She remembered what her uncle and aunt had said: just treat Aunt Gu as an elder in the family.

The two chatted about their journey as they got into a taxi.

In the car, Gu Xiaoyu explained the itinerary: "After we finish eating, we'll go to your yard to rest first. I'll take you there to register tomorrow. Oh, by the way, I've bought your bedding and everything. I'll take you there to register tomorrow, so just bring it with you."

Everything was arranged, and Li Juan felt great about it. She was also very grateful to Aunt Gu.

Gu Xiaoyu took Li Juan to a restaurant near the courtyard for a simple home-cooked meal. After the meal, she called Li Jian's family to let them know she was safe and sound, and then went to the courtyard.

Li Juan looked at the courtyard and thought it was quite nice. After all, it had been decorated in an antique style, and it looked quite similar to the ones in movies and TV shows. Moreover, it was autumn now, and the trees in the courtyard could provide shade.

That evening, Gu Xiaoyu was worried that it wouldn't be safe for Li Juan to stay in the courtyard alone, so she stayed with her and told her some things to be careful about when going to school. The next day, she took her out for breakfast and then they went to register together.

At that time, college students were very precious. With Gu Xiaoyu leading the way, Li Juan's registration went smoothly, and she then entered the dormitory.

And so began my university life.

Li Jianguo and Li Long were relieved to know that Li Juan had arrived safely in Yanjing.

In early September, preparations began for harvesting corn and sunflowers, but the biggest task was still harvesting cotton.

The cooperative has too many cotton fields, so they still mainly drive around to pick up odd jobs. There's no other way, since at that time, students mainly went to the Production and Construction Corps for cotton picking as part-time work, and it wasn't widespread in other areas yet.

Li Long deeply misses the era of machine-harvested cotton!

“Professor Yang, Principal Yang, you two can keep an eye on things while we’re picking cotton. My cooperative has over a thousand acres of land, so I’ll mainly be keeping an eye on that side,” Li Long said. “You know the situation. Besides, we only have twenty acres here, so we can easily pick all of it.”

The two Yangs knew Li Long was telling the truth, so they didn't ask him to come every day while picking cotton. Currently, there aren't many factors that could threaten cotton yields anymore. Spider mites might be a possibility, but since they're watching the fields every day, it shouldn't have much of an impact.

Between late August and early September, Huang Lei and Zhao Hui came over one after another. When they took away dried wild mushrooms and skin, they each took away ten tons of canned meat.

Liu Gaolou also came over. He mainly took away canned goods and sugar, but brought Li Long a pretty good used car.

These were all routine transactions, so Li Long didn't pay much attention. He had to keep an eye on the cooperative and the renovation of the cannery.

There are quite a few workers living at the cannery now. It was originally designed mainly for summer living, and in winter a simple stove would suffice.

Seeing the large population, Li Long decided to switch to centralized heating for the winter. The county already had centralized heating, and Li Long originally wanted to set it up himself, but the cannery's premises were quite large, so he simply connected to the county heating company's centralized heating network and paid the heating fee.

After all, there's such a large factory area, and radiators need to be installed in those equipment rooms. Otherwise, you can't process canned goods while burning the stove in winter, because that kind of thing is distracting.

Not only the cannery, but also its own compound and purchasing station will be renovated later.

While setting up a stove is relatively convenient—you can set it up and take it down whenever you want—central heating means you don't have to burn coal at night, which is quite convenient.

As for any modifications or repairs needed, professional workers will do them; you just need to pay them.

So Li Long has to divide his attention between these three tasks. He needs to work on all three locations, and someone needs to oversee each one. Fortunately, he has plenty of workers now, so he's not worried. The only problem is that there are too many secrets in the compound, so he'll have to keep an eye on everything himself, since there's a cellar and things hidden in the various rooms.

Installing radiators in so many rooms is a considerable expense, and for ordinary families, it would be a painful thought. But for Li Long, it's standard practice and nothing to worry about.

Of course, he didn't plan to install radiators in several rooms in the courtyard. He used them as spare rooms, and the things inside needed to be kept cool to prevent them from spoiling.

Amidst this busy period, which lasted until mid-September, the cotton began to bloom.

The cooperative has already started taking on casual workers to pick cotton. Li Long stayed in the fourth team for two days, supervising the casual workers picking cotton and listening to Xie Yundong and the others talk about their work.

The two cooperatives didn't have that many cotton fields. They didn't open many fields at the beginning, so only a few households in the cooperatives were picking the cotton, working together to count the quantity.

This was learned from Li Long's cooperative, where members are paid for picking cotton, allowing them to earn an extra income.

Li Long and his team didn't worry about much else; the heating systems at the cannery, the courtyard, and the purchasing station had all been upgraded. Although some areas still needed stoves in winter, it would be very convenient mainly for boiling water and cooking.

So he kept an eye on the cooperative's cotton, and on his way back in the morning and evening, he would take a look at the cotton in the drip irrigation experimental field—and I must say, the cotton in the drip irrigation experimental field was really beautiful!

It was all white from top to bottom, like a tree covered in cotton flowers. It felt like you could just pick the cotton from bottom to top.

Li Long thought that the students from the agricultural extension school must feel very happy picking cotton like this!
After all, you can pick a whole bag full of cotton just by walking 20 or 30 meters. This kind of feeling is not easy to find in an ordinary cotton field!
Although many people who participated in cotton picking did not have pleasant memories of it, to be honest, if you came across a field with exceptionally good cotton blooms and a large number of cotton flowers, the sense of satisfaction from picking cotton was quite high.

Overall, it was a bumper harvest!

(End of this chapter)