Rebirth of Bayi Fishing and Hunting in the Northwest

Chapter 1316: Freelance workers are now willing to negotiate prices; the drip irrigation experimental field is a success.

In late September, as cotton entered the harvest season, the casual labor market in Ma County became bustling, and casual laborers became highly sought after. Some quick-witted casual laborers had already begun to learn how to negotiate prices with cotton field owners.

Yes. The gig economy has always been a supply-demand imbalance, with everyone scrambling for work. Some people might not even be able to find work even if they wait all day.

So whenever there's work, they basically don't haggle, or they pay according to the market rate. They're willing to accept a lower price, since it's better than having no work at all.

Things are different now. With the increase in cotton-growing landowners, the number of workers needed to pick cotton is also increasing. The few dozen people who come to the casual labor market early in the morning are clearly not enough to fill the gaps.

Vans, small four-wheeled tractors, and even oxcarts came to pick up people, and before dawn, those who arrived early had already been divided up. Those who arrived late could only wait—cotton pickers usually picked up people early and then took them to the fields.

If you arrive too late, the landlord won't take it—it's too much trouble, unless the cotton in the field is blooming so profusely that it's impossible not to pick it.

Li Long had no objection to the bargaining for casual labor. Since the other party was in a dominant position, they naturally had the right to negotiate prices. So, the agreed price for the passengers he was picking up today was two cents, which was the standard price.

The main reason was that Li Long arrived early. He lived in the county town and got up before dawn, without even eating, to go directly to the temporary labor market to recruit people.

Li Long was the first one, so even though the other party wanted 25 cents, Li Long waved his hand and said, "I'm from the cooperative. We have over a thousand acres of land and we pick flowers regularly. It's stable. Send ten people, they need to be quick and efficient!"

The man who tried to bargain was immediately pushed aside. Li Long was a familiar face in the casual labor market and came here often. These casual laborers also knew him well and knew he wouldn't rip them off—if they could find a boss who wouldn't cheat them, the casual laborers would rather not bargain than work for him.

After all, both sides were a bit wary at this point, and Li Long still had a good reputation because of his experience finding odd jobs over the past few years.

So before the man could even negotiate the price, ten people had already squeezed into the GAZ truck—there was no other way, the Land Cruiser couldn't fit that many people, and Li Long didn't want to squeeze them in like that.

"Two cents," someone confirmed with Li Long after getting on the bus.

"Hmm, two cents." Li Long nodded. "The same price, but don't stuff mud or anything in the bag, and don't leave me too much hair, or don't blame me for being impolite."

Li Long's words silenced the carriage for a moment, but someone immediately laughed and said:

“We all know the rules. We’ll clean it up as much as possible. Boss, you have thousands of acres of land. We’re looking for long-term work, so naturally we’re willing to clean it up as much as possible. Everyone agrees, right?”

"Yes, yes, that's right. We're still willing to do this job. We know whether it's better to do it for one day or for a month."

"By the way, Mr. Li, you used to hire people to peel skins all the time, why haven't you done that in the last six months?"

Li Long turned around and looked at the person who had spoken, somewhat surprised, and then asked:

"You've ever skinned animals at my scrap yard?"

"Yes, I've scraped it. Not just the leather, but I've also unloaded trucks. It's just that I haven't seen you hire anyone lately."

"Oh, there's too much work, so I've hired some regular workers," Li Long explained. "I'll contact you guys when there's more work later."

After hearing that this person had worked for Li Long, someone behind him quietly asked him what he thought of Li Long as his boss.

"Good, very good." The man said in a low voice with a sense of authority, "The food is good, and the wages are sufficient. The big boss doesn't care about that little bit of money. As long as the work is done well, everything else is negotiable."

Hearing this, the others felt relieved.

Actually, this wasn't the only one who had worked for Li Long; it's just that this one was more talkative.

Li Long drove his GAZ truck towards the fourth team. When he got to the township, he passed a tractor. He saw that it belonged to a landlord from another cooperative in the team. He figured that if he went over there now, he could probably still pick up some people.

As dawn broke, Li Long arrived at the cotton field in his GAZ truck. Xie Yundong and the others were already there. After waiting for them to get off, they distributed bags and cotton quilts to them, and also prepared some straw hats—these would be returned later and given to the cotton pickers to borrow.

They are human beings too.

Tao Daqiang assigns people to different plots of land, and this must be done by designation; otherwise, those who prefer the best plots will pick and choose, which can easily lead to conflict.

In reality, people who frequently pick cotton don't really care about which row is better, since a row of cotton is hundreds of meters long, and the beginning of a row can't possibly represent the rest.

After Li Long picked up the person, he drove back to his older brother's house to have breakfast.

By this time, the eldest brother and sister-in-law had already gone to the fields—there were other fields to harvest.

When Li Long hurriedly finished eating and was about to go to work in the fields, his mother said with a bit of concern, "What's the rush? It's okay if you go a little later. Take a rest for a while. There's no need to rush. There are so many people in the cooperative; they don't need you."

Li Long found it funny; his mother felt she was too busy.

Actually, he doesn't have much to do; he's just picking someone up. And even if they go to the fields to pick cotton, he won't pick it from beginning to end. At most, he'll just supervise the day laborers.

It's not about discriminating against them, but rather that if day laborers aren't supervised, it's hard for them to be self-disciplined. Some people are even doing well if they pick cotton without picking up the leaves; others will put cotton plants and clods of soil into bags.

There's no way around it; if you put this stuff in a bag, it costs money.

But since I said so, I'll stay a little longer. Li Long has a lot of freedom in the cooperative; he's only responsible for the technical aspects, and he can manage or not manage anything else.

He offered to hire odd jobs because he had spent more time managing the drip irrigation experimental fields this year and felt he hadn't spent enough time visiting the cooperative's land.

These ten people were just what he brought. Xu Haijun would also drive and bring some more. Anyway, for this thousand acres of land, it would take at least thirty or forty day laborers to work.

After chatting with his mother for a while, Li Junfeng's mother arrived, and Li Long drove to the fields. With Junfeng's mother with him, his mother was more talkative.

When Li Long arrived at the cooperative's cotton field, there were more than twenty casual laborers there. Xu Haijun and Liang Dacheng were both there, and Li Long guessed that they must have brought them over.

Li Long glanced around and surprisingly spotted the person who had asked him for 25 cents. He smiled, realizing that asking for a higher price might not necessarily work.

Of course, the basic price is still fine. The market is what it is, and as long as it's not a double-dipping, casual laborers are still willing to pick it up.

With so many people picking flowers, Li Long had an easy time. He and his group each followed a group of people, so they didn't have to work so hard to pick them up.

The casual laborers who come to pick flowers can each pick an average of 50 kilograms or more, and some skilled ones can pick up 100 kilograms a day without any problem.

The number of people brought in to pick flowers is uncertain. In addition to the thirty or forty day laborers, we also need to include the family members of the cooperative who are willing to come and earn money.

This year, Li Long completely delegated the task of making large brooms to Wang Mingjun and his team. When Li Xiangqian approached Li Long in early September, he made it clear that the competition was fierce this year, as the other counties were not satisfied with Ma County's monopoly on making so many large brooms.

Now that Director Qian knows that Li Long has taken on multiple businesses, he has made some adjustments, and Ma County has secured a job making 30,000 large brooms.

Li Long calculated that Wang Mingjun and Zhao Zongming's two companies could easily handle 30,000 units, so he simply called and contracted the work to them.

Another major issue is that the price of the large broom was set at eight yuan, which is somewhat inconsistent with the ever-increasing prices of other supplies, so Li Long doesn't really want to deal with this anymore.

Wang Mingjun and Zhao Zongming were quite happy about it, as it was a new benefit for the employees. The number of cotton growers in the Production and Construction Corps was also increasing, but the Corps had already contacted schools early on; when students went to pick cotton, the employees could spare some time to make large brooms.

The employees themselves are happy to do so.

Lunch was eaten in the cotton field. The cooking was done by Xie Yundong and Jia Weidong's families, and this was also counted in their wages. In other words, cooking for the cooperative was also paid for.

Everything is clearly defined, which makes everyone happy, and everyone can make their own money.

"See? I told you so. This family's lunch is different now, and there's plenty of meat! It's no longer that awful cabbage and shredded potatoes. I reckon this is the only family that would serve spicy stir-fried pork and celery stir-fried pork."

Li Long was eating his steamed bun and holding an enamel basin when he heard someone talking. He smiled and realized that the voice was clearly that of the day laborer who had helped him clean leather for his recycling station that morning when he was picking people up.

That's good too, it can help with promotion.

The food here is good, mainly because the cooperative's leaders all eat together. The meat is provided by Li Long; it doesn't cost much, and he can get some from the jerky processing workshop as well.

As for vegetables—everyone has more vegetables in their garden than they can eat. Because of the establishment of the cooperative, housewives have had much more time, so they have plenty of time to tend to their vegetable gardens.

The vegetables we grow aren't just for spring, summer, and autumn; we also prepare winter vegetables. Any leftovers from the summer are dried and hung in baskets in unused rooms.

In autumn, we pick all the remaining vegetables in the field, wash them clean, and pickle them into salted vegetables. A large vat of salted vegetables, plus another large vat of sauerkraut, is enough for the whole family to eat until April next year.

Therefore, the cooperative provides better food for cotton pickers, which attracts more casual workers to come and pick cotton. At the same price, who wouldn't want to eat something nice after a hard day's work?
Everyone understands the principle, but not everyone can put it into practice. For example, Xu Haijun is now sitting next to Li Long with an enamel basin, eating and talking about the gossip he knows:

"Those two cooperatives are also looking for casual workers, but to be honest, there are quite a few conflicts. The food they cook is not very good, it's not very oily, and they are very strict in inspecting the cotton, scolding people all the time. I heard they almost got into a fight a couple of days ago."

Those two cooperatives were doing this for the first time, and they learned the rules from this cooperative by imitation. However, since it was their first year, they couldn't be completely sure about everything, so they were being stricter, which is understandable.

But this thing needs to be done in moderation. Just like when Li Long is supervising the odd jobs picking cotton, as long as they don't stuff mud and cotton plants into the bags, and as long as they're not all covered in fuzz, he generally won't say anything.

After all, everyone is trying to make money. If the cooperative has a lot of land and the requirements are too strict, it will scare people away, and it will be difficult to pick flowers later.

But the two cooperatives had different considerations. In their first year doing this, they probably thought they would at least have a decent number on paper by the end of the year, that they could make a profit.

Knowing this, Li Long said, "It's just that they have few plots of land. Otherwise, if they really ruined their reputation in the casual labor market, it would be difficult to find flower pickers later."

“We need to think of a solution,” Xu Haijun said. “Right now, we can manage 30 to 50 people a day. But if we expand the plot next year or the year after, how many people will we need? Where will the temporary labor market in Ma County find that many workers?”

"That's easy. Look at all these day laborers picking cotton, right? While they're working, just keep telling them that there will be more and more cotton fields in the future, that's inevitable."

Tell them to go back to their hometown at the end of the year and tell their families that they can come and pick cotton every September. They only need to pick for two months, but they can earn a year's worth of money… See if anyone is willing to come.”

"Hey, that's a good idea." Xu Haijun nodded.

"Furthermore, many people in our team have relatives back in their hometowns. When we chat with them, we mention this, and they naturally start thinking about bringing their relatives over to pick cotton and make money." Li Long was talking about the same tactics he had used in his previous life.

Just like Li Junhai and his group, the people in Team Four come from all over the country. They can recruit some people from their respective hometowns to work long-term or short-term jobs.

The shortage of flower pickers is indeed a rather troublesome issue. In their previous life, Li Long and his colleagues used to directly pick up people getting off trains at Wucheng Railway Station and employ them as long-term flower pickers.

Unfortunately, machine-harvested cotton hasn't become popular, so labor costs are only going to keep rising.

After finishing lunch, Li Long told Xie Yundong and the others, and then went back. He still needed to go and check on the drip irrigation experimental field.

Professor Yang was in charge of picking cotton in the experimental fields. Principal Yang had the faculty and staff organize the trainees to pick cotton, and they were paid and provided with meals, which were quite good. So the trainees really enjoyed doing this work.

Of course, what Principal Yang and the others said is also quite good. The future development direction of cotton lies in this land. You should take a look around, broaden your horizons, and understand things ahead of others. This will make it easier for you to master the technology for growing cotton in the future.

The art of deception.

In any case, when Li Long arrived at the drip irrigation experimental field, he was quite envious of the more than twenty trainees finishing up a batch of cotton in the ten acres of land.

How wonderful it would be if all these trainees went to pick cotton for the cooperative!

Professor Yang was overseeing his students' registration in the field when he saw Li Long approaching. He took off his straw hat and said excitedly:
"Comrade Li Long, just as you thought, the yield of the first batch of cotton flowers has been tallied, at 307 kilograms per mu! The second batch of flowers can still yield quite a lot. There are still quite a few bolls on the cotton plants that have just started to open. In about ten days, when they open, we should be able to harvest at least 50 or 60 kilograms per mu, right?"

No wonder Professor Yang was happy. A yield of 300 kilograms per mu already exceeded the original expectations, and 350 kilograms was actually considered an extremely high yield in his opinion.

Of course, with current technology and costs, drip irrigation for cotton planting cannot be widely implemented yet, as the cost is too high.

But costs will eventually come down, and the output is real!

"These cotton bags are picked cleanly," Li Long said, walking over to the cotton bags and grabbing a handful. "The trainees are so obedient."

"If we clean it up too thoroughly, the pace will slow down. With this many people, we should have finished cleaning up a few days ago," Principal Yang said, seemingly appearing out of nowhere, with a hint of dissatisfaction. "But Old Yang said we need to clean it up more thoroughly for better statistics, so there's nothing we can do about it."

"Do the trainees have any objections?" Li Long asked.

"What complaints could they possibly have? They're all incredibly excited to see how well the drip-irrigated cotton is growing," Principal Yang said with a smile. "It's an autonomous region project; being able to participate is such a great honor. They're overjoyed."

Okay, if picking cotton counts as participation, then I really did participate.

Li Long looked at the field and saw that there were still quite a few bolls on the cotton plants. Actually, if there were too many fields to harvest them all, they would have to use a flowering-inducing agent.

He thought that if the cooperative expanded its cotton planting area next year, then they would really have to do this. Otherwise, picking up the second crop of cotton would be laborious, time-consuming, and unprofitable, which wouldn't be worthwhile.

“The leaders from the county’s agricultural bureau came over yesterday,” Professor Yang said. “They were quite surprised by the results of the experimental field. They said that if cotton yields are this high, then cotton planting will definitely be popularized throughout the county. However, after we explained the costs, they didn’t say anything more.”

"Have you taken any photos of the cotton in the experimental field?" Li Long asked casually.

It's quite normal for leaders from the Agriculture Bureau to come. The autonomous region doesn't have many projects in the county, so they naturally pay a lot of attention to even one.

"We took photos, it's definitely necessary to take photos, we need to take photos at every stage," Professor Yang said. "I had someone take photos before picking cotton, and after they were taken, I even developed them and sent them to the school. Later, all the photos will be compiled into a book and then sent to the Autonomous Region Project Office."

This isn't urgent, because there's a second batch of flowers to harvest. After that, we'll collect them and finally recycle the drip irrigation tape.

Only after the entire process was completed did Professor Yang and his team's year-long experimental project come to an end.

Moreover, this project is not just for one year; there should be more to come.

“Professor Yang, if there are any support projects for this in our autonomous region, please let us know.” Li Long reminded him again, “To be honest, we really want to do this, but without the support of the state, we can’t get it started.”

"Don't worry, don't worry, I'll definitely let you know if it comes up," Professor Yang said. "I can see your enthusiasm for developing agriculture. And in my opinion, this project can only be truly applied here. It's hard to say whether others can use it well after applying for it."

Professor Yang was speaking from the heart. He could also see that Li Long's understanding of drip irrigation farming far surpassed that of the average farmer. If a drip irrigation support project were to be implemented, Li Long could take over and use it immediately, while others would need technicians to teach them step by step.

Therefore, if the autonomous region really has this project, Professor Yang will definitely try to help Li Long secure it.

The cotton harvest was almost complete, and Li Long helped weigh it, something he was more skilled at than the others. After weighing, the cotton would be taken to the Agricultural Extension School for further research, something Li Long didn't quite understand.

Returning to the purchasing station from the agricultural extension school, the sun had just set, but it wasn't dark yet. Li Qingxia was discussing the Asian Games with the middlemen. Li Long then realized that the Asian Games had already begun and were still underway.

Only then did he belatedly realize that some students had been singing the song "Asian Heroic Spirit" in the drip irrigation experimental field. At that time, Huan Ge and Wei Jie were both in high spirits, and Lao Xu was also very impressive.

A generation's memories.

The old man and the middlemen were discussing today's competition and who won the gold medal. At that time, the domestic sports scene was still very strong. It was the first time that an intercontinental competition had been held, and the athletes were all eager to prove themselves, so the results were very good.

A few days ago, Liu Gaolou brought over another truckload of hides. In the backyard, Sun Jiaqiang and his men were cleaning the hides. After Li Long came over, they greeted him and then continued working.

Li Long had nothing else to do, so he went to tell his father that he was going to pick up Mingming and Haohao from the Second Primary School.

Although Mingming Haohao attends the same school as Gu Xiaoxia, Gu Xiaoxia cannot leave immediately after school. She is not only a leader but also a teacher and needs to do some follow-up work. Therefore, Li Long and her father, Li Qingxia, can both pick up the child.

Li Long waited for a while at the entrance of the Second Primary School. The school bell rang, signaling the end of the school term. Li Long saw students pouring out of the school—and soon he spotted Mingming and Haohao walking with their classmates.

Mingming and Haohao also noticed Li Long leaning against the car. Mingming ran over to Li Long and said, "Dad, you go back first. I'll go back with my classmate. His house isn't far from ours."

Li Long smiled, nodded, and drove back.

The child has grown up a bit and now has his own ideas, which is perfectly normal.

Thinking back to when Li Qiang was in first grade, he also walked three or four kilometers to school with Li Juan. Later, they bought Li Juan a bicycle, so she could take Li Qiang to school, but it was still far enough.

The second school is less than a kilometer from his own courtyard. Even if he went around, it would only be about 700 or 800 meters away at most. Li Long thought it would be good for them to walk and get some exercise.

He drove back to the compound and found that Sister Yang had already started cooking.

After a while, the small door opened, and Mingming and Haohao walked in together with their schoolbags. After seeing Li Long, Mingming said, "Dad, you don't need to pick us up and drop us off at school anymore. We'll walk by ourselves."

There are some classmates nearby; they all walk by themselves, but we take the bus. It feels different from other people's trips.

“Okay, if you’ve made a plan, then go together.” Li Long didn’t insist. Although they were only in first grade, Minghao and his brother were about the same height as the average third or fourth graders. They were very active and well-nourished, so walking several kilometers wouldn’t be a problem for them.

Sister Yang couldn't help but laugh in the kitchen, and then asked:

"Mingming, Haohao, how are your studies at school?"

"It was too easy, we learned all of that in kindergarten, and my brother and I both got 100!" Hao Hao complained, then turned to Li Long and asked, "Dad, I heard that some people skip grades, can my brother and I skip grades?"

"No." Li Long rejected it outright. "Study hard. What you're learning now is the basics. You learned some things in kindergarten, but it might get more difficult later. Learning is a gradual process. We're building your foundation now. If you learn well now, it will be easier later."

Li Long knew his son was smart, but he decided to forget about skipping a grade.

Hao Hao was only briefly disappointed after being rejected by Li Long, and then ran off to play with the hedgehogs in the yard with his brother.

Hedgehogs are timid, but Minghao Haohao really enjoys teasing them and sometimes even feeds them.

Li Long casually asked, "Have you all finished your homework?"

"We finished it a long time ago. The homework was just as simple—writing and arithmetic. We finished it in class," Mingming said without turning her head.

Li Long then stopped interfering. Students at this time were quite fortunate; they didn't have many subjects or much homework. Most first-graders could finish their homework in class. Children from rural areas might have to help their families with chores when they got home, while city kids mostly just played.

About half an hour later, Gu Xiaoxia arrived home. After parking the car, she washed her hands while talking to Li Long about work. Gu Xiaoxia enjoyed sharing her work with her family, and Li Long could clearly sense that she was slowly starting to like lecturing, even when talking to her family, it was like talking to a child.

Li Long found it quite interesting and fun.

After the National Day holiday, the weather turned noticeably cooler, and it felt chilly in the mornings without a jacket.

The cooperative has just finished picking its first batch of cotton, which has already sold over 100 tons. They still have a considerable amount of cotton left to pick from the second batch. Xie Yundong estimates that this year, the 1,000 mu (approximately 67 hectares) of land should yield 170-180 tons.

The cost of picking the second crop of flowers has increased to 25 to 30 cents, because even a skilled person can only pick 50 to 60 kilograms a day.

The drip irrigation experimental field is an exception; the second crop of flowers has already been harvested halfway through, and the trainees are picking up 60 to 70 kilograms a day, and some even more.

By mid-October, all the cotton in the drip-irrigated experimental field had been harvested, with almost no cotton bolls left, so there was no need to pick the bolls and peel them anymore.

Professor Yang asked Li Long to help find a pole to knock down the cotton stalks in the field, and then led the students to pull back the drip irrigation tape. Next, they plowed the field.

Li Jianguo didn't even need to plow the twenty mu of land; Chen Qianjin could do the job with his high-horsepower tractor.

Principal Yang finished plowing without hesitation and settled the bill immediately. The plowing fee had increased this year to ten yuan per mu. Chen Qianjin took two hundred yuan and drove home.

The price was three yuan per mu (unit of land area), but Li Long didn't want to accept the money. Principal Yang insisted on paying, saying that this was an account that had to be kept. This was an experimental field, and every expense had to be recorded, not mixed with personal favors.

Principal Yang also mobilized the students to pick up the residual plastic film and cotton roots in the experimental field, pile them up at the edge of the field, and burn them.

According to Professor Yang, this will make it easier for the cotton to grow when the planting season starts next year.

Residual plastic film in cotton fields has always been a headache, but to be honest, it's hard to get rid of. Relying on natural degradation would take forever. Some people still pay attention to it now, but once those fields are contracted out annually, nobody will bother with it anymore.

On October 17th, Li Long went to the Agricultural Broadcasting School in the morning for the first phase summary of the drip irrigation experimental field project.

Actually, everyone knows the situation, but it still needs to be said, as this is a necessary part of the project.

Principal Yang and Professor Yang were chatting in the courtyard when they saw Li Long's car drive up, so they made way for him to park.

After Li Long got out of the car, Principal Yang said with a smile, "Little Li, your car is really nice. I wonder when we'll be able to drive a car like this..."

Li Long did the math. Principal Yang is in his forties now, and in another ten years or so, family cars will become more common. He smiled and said, "You'll definitely be able to drive one before you retire."

"Don't joke around. I only make a little over a hundred yuan a month now. Even when I retire, will I make two hundred yuan?" Principal Yang didn't have high hopes for economic development.

Professor Yang, on the other hand, seemed to have a deeper understanding of this. He said with a smile, "Two hundred yuan is definitely the limit, let alone two hundred, it might even reach five hundred. Think about how much we earned when we first started working? And now? With economic development and rising prices, wages are bound to increase as well."

The bell rang, and the students had already started class. Principal Yang threw away his cigarette butt, stomped it out, twisted it a couple of times, and said, "Whatever, we haven't seen anything yet. Let's go, let's start the meeting."

In the conference room, several of Professor Yang's students were present, with notebooks spread out in front of them. Some held pens, while others placed their pens on their notebooks, chatting amongst themselves.

As soon as Er Yang and Li Long arrived at the door, the students immediately stood up and stopped talking.

"Please sit down." Professor Yang sat in the main seat, Principal Yang sat opposite him, and Li Long casually found a seat. He wasn't the main character today, so he figured he'd just listen.

"The drip irrigation experimental field project has come to a close. The harvest of the ten-acre experimental field has been completed, and the follow-up work has also been finished." Professor Yang took the lead in starting the project, and then asked his students to report the data from the beginning of sowing to the present.

Li Long was familiar with most of the data, including the average investment for ten mu of land, plus the cost of drip irrigation tape, which came to nearly 1,200 yuan per mu – mainly the cost of the drip irrigation tape.

Even at Li Long's wholesale price, this stuff costs one yuan per meter, and at least one thousand meters per acre, so there's no way to cut corners.

"...The yield was 384 kilograms per mu, which exceeded the current record for the highest cotton yield in China. Although we were planting in an experimental field, we have demonstrated the potential of cotton cultivation, showing that this approach is feasible."

The content read by the students was of a very high standard, and Li Long felt that Professor Yang must have added those sentences.

This is followed by a summary and review of the entire planting process. It mainly focuses on what aspects were done well and what areas need improvement.

The summary report highlighted Li Long's achievements, noting that he found suitable drip irrigation tape, which played a crucial role in leveling the land, constructing the pump house and water pipelines, and providing numerous feasible suggestions during the planting process.

The summary report also highly praised Principal Yang and his team, mainly for their participation in construction, support, and statistical analysis of experimental data, as well as their assistance in completing the cotton harvest.

Upon hearing this, Principal Yang's face broke into several wrinkles with a smile. With this report, his year-end summary report would be much easier to write.

After reading the summary, Professor Yang said, "So, what aspects of this report do you see that need improvement?"

"No, no, we only did a little bit of work," Principal Yang said modestly. "The main work was done by you, and Xiao Li too. Look at these young people, they were all so fair-skinned when they came, and now they're all tanned. They worked so hard!"

"It's no trouble at all, it's our duty," the students immediately said modestly.

Li Long waved his hand and said, "There's nothing to add. It's well written. I feel embarrassed that you've made me sound so important."

Everyone burst into laughter when he said that.

"You are really quite important." Professor Yang said sincerely after laughing. "There are some things we really don't know, but I feel like you have all these things readily available in your mind. It's as if you've done them all before—to be honest, I'm not afraid of Principal Yang gossiping, this drip irrigation experimental field really wouldn't have been possible without you."

"What nonsense am I talking about? The initial content of this project was all done by Comrade Xiao Li. I only played a minor role," Principal Yang said. "Without Xiao Li, we wouldn't even have been able to come up with the initial project proposal."

Now that the project has succeeded, everyone deserves credit. Indeed, as you all said, Xiao Li was truly very important.

Li Long was joking when he said he was sorry, but now he's genuinely a little embarrassed.

"Alright, alright, let's continue. Don't let the young people laugh at us." He said hurriedly, "The summary is fine, next item, next item."

"The next item is funding and follow-up work," Professor Yang said. "The first phase of our experimental field project has been completed, and we still have a considerable amount of funding left. This is the guarantee for continuing the second phase of the project, which means we can continue planting next year."

Of course, after the report is submitted, I will continue to apply for funding for next year's planting. And Comrade Li Long, I'll still need to contact you for the drip irrigation tape next year. The responsibility of ensuring the drip irrigation tape supply falls to you.”

“That’s no problem,” Li Long said. “I can’t say I can provide as many as you need, but at least I can definitely provide enough for this experimental field.”

The Kuishi Machinery Factory has already sold more than 20 sets of drip irrigation tape production equipment, nearly 10 of which were sold to foreign companies, which can be considered as contributing to export earnings.

These days, companies that can export and earn foreign exchange are all strongly supported by the government. Director Du called Li Long to talk about this, and when he spoke about it, his tone was genuinely proud and smug.

Of course, Director Du knew that these benefits were closely related to Li Long, so he specially brought Li Long a case of raw liquor from the Kuishi Winery, a case of foreign red wine, and small gifts such as silk scarves from abroad. He said they were all gifts from foreigners who came to buy equipment.

So getting some drip irrigation tape from him was no big deal. Li Long was even thinking that once the drip irrigation support project reached Team Four and his own cooperative, he would get a set of drip irrigation tape equipment and produce it specifically.

Making money from both ends is the most satisfying.

His thoughts drifted, while Professor Yang's summary was nearing its end.

The input cost per mu was too high, which was unavoidable. However, the yield of cotton was more than 380 kilograms per mu. Because the picking was done carefully and the impurity removal grade was high, the selling price per kilogram was on average 2.1 yuan. In the end, the income per mu was nearly 800 yuan.

Based on this calculation, the subsidy needed per mu (unit of land area) is only around 500 yuan, which is not particularly high.

This is also why Professor Yang is so happy – if the price of drip irrigation tape can be reduced, even to 50 cents per meter, then it will be close to breaking even.

Of course, this is not easy, since it is difficult to lower the price of raw materials before large-scale polyethylene petrochemical enterprises in China have started production.

The students present were also very happy. They concluded that with the completion of this project, their internship period was over, and they could now return to school or go home.

These students are facing job assignments, and Professor Yang's evaluations in their internship reports are crucial. The current summary is full of genuine praise and commendation for them. While this won't guarantee a good job placement, it will at least offer some assistance.

After the summary meeting, Principal Yang said that he had already ordered food from the restaurant where the meal was made. Today's meal was a celebration, with each table having a big plate of chicken and other side dishes, so that everyone could have a good meal.

There aren't many fancy meals in the countryside; the main dishes are just like this, though the portions are generous.

Since it wasn't lunchtime yet, after the meeting, the two Yangs went out to sunbathe and chat, and Li Long kept them company. Professor Yang talked about the things he needed to do when he got back, while Principal Yang was thinking about whether to continue planting next year.

"Should we keep using the same twenty acres next year, or should we also plant another ten acres with drip irrigation?" Li Long asked.

This year, the yield of ordinary cotton on those ten mu (approximately 0.67 hectares) was only 180 kilograms per mu, less than half that of the drip-irrigated fields.

It's not that the planting wasn't done carefully; it's just that the soil fertility was just so-so.

"I'll finish this phase of the report when I get back, and then see what the school and the department say," Professor Yang said. "I estimate that by then, all twenty acres might be planted with drip irrigation, but of course, that's just my guess."

Li Long didn't care. No matter how he planted the seed, the program was the same, and he felt he could handle it.

At this moment, Li Long was thinking about the situation at the cooperative. They'd only been planting cotton for two years, and problems were already arising during the cotton-picking process. Although more and more cotton pickers were coming to Xinjiang, it was unlikely that the cotton would end up unpicked.

But he felt it was still necessary to prepare early, such as by applying a flowering promoter in advance.
As the sun slowly climbed higher in the sky, Principal Yang heard the doorbell ring and said to Professor Yang and Li Long:

"Let's go eat. Today's a celebration, we should at least have a couple of drinks."

Although there was no prize money, the project came to an end, and as a participant, he was very happy that Professor Yang gave him a prominent mention in the summary report.

Teaching the students well is his primary job. It's not easy to excel in this kind of work, but now that he's excelled in this extra task, Principal Yang feels quite happy.

This will be useful for future promotions and advancements.

Li Long didn't drive; the group walked to the restaurant, where the owner had already prepared two large plates of chicken and was setting them on the table.

Li Long and the others politely declined each other's offer and sat down. Principal Yang placed two bottles of Baiyang Special Qu on the table and said:
"I didn't say anything all year, we just kept working, and since the final results weren't out, it wasn't a good time to celebrate. But now it's different, the results are great, and Lao Yang's summary is spot on, so we absolutely have to drink this!"
"Xiao Li, don't tell me you can't drink and drive. You have to drink today!"

Li Long nodded with a wry smile, "Fine, I'll drink it."

PS: Thank you to reader Crocodile Eyes L for the generous donation! Thank you to readers Mo Yuan f, Zhai Mao 518237, Tian You Yu Bu Bu Zu Ren Bu Bu You Yu, reader 20260204144515664, Li Dong Zhi Lang, reader 20180516031720612, and goldad for their donations.

Qidian is having an event. I'm not sure what it's like, but I participated anyway. Here are my thoughts: there are bonus chapters available, I'll see if I can use them.

(End of this chapter)