Rebirth of Bayi Fishing and Hunting in the Northwest

When Li Long returned to the reed ditch in front of the team, he saw that some people were already cutting reeds there.

Seeing Li Long passing by, someone shouted:

"Xiaolong, where have you been?"

When Li Long saw that the person shouting was Tietou's mother, Mrs. Lu, he stopped the car and said:
"I went to the mountains. Look, I just came back after finishing my work."

"Then you weren't the one who caused the incident with the reed handle?"

"No. But I have something to do over there too." Li Long responded, and when he saw them continue to cut the reeds, he rode his bike back home.

Li Jianguo and Liang Yuemei were feeding pigs at home. What surprised Li Long was that they did not go to cut reeds.

"You're back?" Li Jianguo asked with a smile, "Look at your bag... you got quite a lot."

"Large Codonopsis pilosula." Li Long said with a smile, "Keep some at home and send some to my parents later. This should be good for replenishing qi."

He took off the sack and took out a few Codonopsis pilosula from it, giving one to the elder brother and one to the elder sister-in-law:
"Let's get some for Uncle Liang and his family. Uncle Liang's lungs aren't very good and he keeps coughing. I don't know if this will help."

"Oh my god... How old is this Codonopsis? It looks like a carrot!" Liang Yuemei was also amazed, "It's so big... These two must weigh half a kilogram, right?"

"Almost. It's good stuff." Li Jianguo weighed it in his hand and asked, "Is it all in your sack?"

"And some dried meat. I stole a roe deer I don't know where, and got some dried meat."

"You're living well in the mountains, with meat to eat every day." Li Jianguo said with a smile, "In the first two days, the military kids were looking for you like crazy... You should know that, right?"

"I guessed it. It's about the reed stalks." Li Long said, "The team is already cutting reeds now, so has it accepted the job?"

"You also know it's someone else's job?"

"How could I not know? It was the work of the supply and marketing cooperative. I was in the mountains at the time, and Section Chief Li had no choice but to give some of it away."

"So what are you going to do?"

"I have accepted the job of carrying 10,000 reed bundles, but I don't know how many people in the team can still do this for me."

"Maybe not much. The military kids announced it at the meeting earlier. Participation is voluntary. Ten thousand reeds, one for ten cents, two and a half meters high, ten reeds per bunch. Whoever does more will get more money..."

"The conditions are the same." Li Long said, "I think most of the team members have done it, right?"

"There are still some." Li Jianguo said, "Daqiang didn't do it, but he came here to ask. Yang Yongqiang didn't do it either, there are still a few... but I guess there won't be many people."

"That would be very troublesome. If it doesn't work out, I'll just ask Team 3 to go." Li Long said, "There shouldn't be many people who want to work and earn money."

"Don't worry." Li Jianguo waved his hand, "First see how many people in the team are working with us. After that, we can see how many people are missing, and then we can see the situation."

Listening to what Li Jianguo said, Li Long had some ideas, wondering if his elder brother had already thought of everything.

He asked:

"Brother, why don't you go cut some reeds and make some reed bundles?"

"Hey, those guys are talking in such a sarcastic tone, asking me to do it for them? No way!"

Li Long asked in detail, but Li Jianguo didn't want to say it, so Liang Yuemei told him.

"The person who took on the job found two people in the team to take charge of this. Those two people don't get along with your eldest brother. It was you who did the lifting of the handle and tying of the big broom the first two times. Your eldest brother also became famous in the team, so those two people were not convinced.

This time they were in charge. During the team meeting, they criticized your elder brother and scolded him. He refused to do it. This kind of thing depends on the individual. Our family doesn't want to do it. It's up to the people in our group to do it voluntarily. They don't need to consider our family. Your elder brother also specifically told them, so many people followed suit. "

Li Long understood that making money was not a big deal, no matter who you worked with. The money was real only when you got it.

Now it depends on how many people we can find on our side.

While he was still thinking about it, Tao Daqiang and Yang Yongqiang came to Li's house together.

"Brother Long, you're back." Tao Daqiang said with a smile, "How is it staying in the mountains?"

"Good, Daqiang, you know how to ask questions. You've made progress." Li Long replied with a smile, "The mountains are nice. I dug some Codonopsis pilosula. You can take two back later. Yongqiang, you can also take one back. Slice it and stew chicken for your dad in winter, or slice it and make tea. It's a good thing."

"Yeah." Yang Yongqiang didn't refuse.

"Brother Long, this matter about the reed handle..."

"Did you two do it?"

"No." Tao Daqiang and Yang Yongqiang said in unison.

"We are waiting for you." Tao Daqiang added.

"Okay, then you guys go ask around in the team to see if anyone wants to work for me. A reed handle costs 1.5 cents, but it has to be of good quality. I'll provide thin iron wire and gloves for pulling the reeds." "Really? I guess everyone in the team wants to work with you." Yang Yongqiang said with a smile.

"I don't think so. Those who are now tying reeds and pressing reed stalks have probably already agreed with the team and Hu Laoer that they have to tie several hundred stalks before they can be accepted." Tao Daqiang asked in detail, "If they don't tie enough stalks, they will have to pay compensation. If they tie enough stalks and pass the inspection, they will be paid..."

"It depends on who hasn't made an agreement with them yet. Those who can make reed bundles for us will be paid. Those who can come can go to Laomahao tomorrow to get wire and gloves. The reed bundles will be made directly to Laomahao, and the money will be paid every day." Li Long has a task here, and he will not count until he gets the things.

"No need to ask, I roughly know that I can get less than ten." Yang Yongqiang seemed to have been prepared. "Some of them don't get along with Hu Laoer and don't want to do it. There are also some I have heard of and think this is not very reliable. I think you can definitely get this job, so I want to work with you. There are also two families who have family matters... I have to ask if I can do it."

"If a family works together, at least one or two people will be needed to cut the reeds, one person will pull the reeds, and then press the reed stalks..." Tao Daqiang was calculating, "If three or four people work together, we can probably produce about sixty or seventy reed stalks a day, right?"

"It depends." Liang Yuemei heard this and spoke up, "Collecting and delivering reeds is hard work, so two people are best. One person cuts the reeds, and the other bundles them and delivers them to the car, and they are almost ready for transport. The other person pulls the reeds, and then presses them directly after pulling them. If they work quickly, a team of people can get a hundred bundles a day."

"In that case, there should be enough people," said Li Long.

"It's okay. I'll find you some good laborers." Li Jianguo suddenly said, "I'll ride my bike to look for people tomorrow morning. I can find at least 70 or 80 people... but they have to live here."

"Then they can live in the Old Horse. Clean up the unused rooms, spread straw in them, and they can just bring their bedding."

"Then you have 10,000 reeds. Are they enough?"

"Section Chief Li said that it depends on the quality. After we finish these 10,000, if the quality is good, we can get other jobs."

"That's fine." Li Jianguo said, "It's a little late now. I'll go find someone tomorrow morning."

Li Long was somewhat puzzled and asked:
"Brother, where are you going to find someone?"

"Don't worry about this for now. Daqiang, go ask first and find out which family members are willing to tie the reeds for Xiaolong."

"Okay, I'll go ask now." Daqiang is not afraid of working.

Yang Yongqiang also followed.

"Your elder brother must have gone to the Corps to look for someone." Liang Yuemei revealed Li Jianguo's answer at this time, "He has a fellow villager there, and he almost shot him."

"What's going on?" Li Long became interested and asked with a smile.

"When this team was first formed, I was looking at Weihu Lake with an old Type 79 rifle." Li Jianguo smiled, a little embarrassed:

"At that time, each team was recruiting people. If they wanted to recruit people, they had to build houses. Even if they couldn't afford houses, they had to build shacks or dig holes in the ground, which required reeds.

The team's land has not been fully opened up yet, and the reeds are resources that cannot be touched by others, let alone set on fire. I actually used the Lao Qijiu to prevent wolves, mainly to watch out for people from setting fires in the reed lake, otherwise, hundreds of acres of the reed lake would be burned down in one go.

One day, I was cooking in my shack when I heard some noise from the Weihu Lake. I went over with my gun, thinking that if it was a wolf, I would at least kill one to improve my food supply. But when I went over, I saw two people. When they saw me pointing a gun at them, they were so scared that they fell to the ground.

Li Long thought, how can I not sit on the ground? The old 79 rifle uses the 53 rifle bullet, which is actually the 56 heavy machine gun bullet. The bullet is 7.62 caliber, but it is loaded with more powder, and the shell is easy to be large. Who wouldn't be afraid of that thing pointing at them?

"I asked them what they did, and they said they had just moved from their hometown to settle in the Corps, and they wanted to build a house, but they didn't have reeds, so they wanted to collect some. I heard we were from the same hometown, and then I asked if we were from the same county, so I helped them collect a cart of reeds, and that's how we got to know each other."

"I haven't seen you two interacting in the past few years?" Li Long asked puzzledly.

"Then how do you know we don't come here? You were always in the team in the first two years, and you often go to the mountains this year." Li Jianguo laughed at Li Long, "When Lao Zhang came here, you were never there."

"Did his regiment send anyone over?"

"Why not? They are in charge of the production of the land, not the people. Now the busy farming season is over, the winter wheat has been planted and watered. The grain and money they can get in a year are not as much as we do, and they are tight on money now. Don't even mention 1.5 cents for a reed bundle. Even if it's 1 cent, they will come to fight you."

"That's all right." Li Long said with a smile, "I'll go clean up the old horse house later and lay some straw. They can bring their bedding over. When the time comes, ask Uncle Luo to cook more - or they can send one person to help with the cooking."

"Well, it's settled."

Li Long put down the bag of Codonopsis pilosula, took out most of it and gave it to Li Jianguo. He put part of the air-dried meat in the kitchen and packed the rest and took it away. He would give part of it to Gu Boyuan later and leave some for Uncle Luo.

Now that we have it, let's keep some of it. The elderly are all builders and contributors here, so there's nothing wrong with eating more good food.

When passing by the preschool, Li Long heard Li Qiang playing games with a group of people, shouting "...I farted, and it flew to Moscow and floated to Italy. The King of Italy is watching the show..."

Li Long laughed. How many years have I not heard this jingle? It sounds quite funny.

When they arrived at Gu's house, Gu Boyuan saw Li Long and asked about the problem of Weibazi. Since they were all family members, Li Long did not hide anything and told them everything.

"Okay, I'll go with your brother tomorrow to collect reeds. Your family has a horse carriage, and the reeds I collect can just be transported away."

"Okay," Li Long said with a smile, "Uncle Gu, I'll wait for you tomorrow. I'll put on a pair of gloves for you first. It's hard work to harvest reeds."

"Don't worry. You don't need to remind me. Your eldest brother and I did a lot of reed harvesting back then. Your eldest sister-in-law also harvested reeds in the waist-deep reed lake. People of this age in our team often do this. You are no less capable than us."

Li Long really didn't know that his elder brother and sister-in-law had such a history. He returned to Lao Ma with a lot of questions in his mind.

There is still a lot of work to do. (End of this chapter)