Rebirth of Bayi Fishing and Hunting in the Northwest

"Xiaolong, you seem to be so idle, doing nothing. You just sit in the stable, and then someone delivers things to you. This is all money." Xu Chengjun said sincerely.

"That's difficult." Li Long said as he piled up the reeds. "My task is to collect 10,000 reeds, and it's far from enough to just use these little bits and pieces. I have to find someone to do it properly, otherwise I won't be able to complete the task when it's due."

"I think it's definitely possible. If you can offer 1.5 cents per reed, most people in the team will want to work with you. But you went to the mountains during the most critical days..."

"I don't want to either. In the past, we harvested reeds half a month later. Who knew it would be earlier this year?" Li Long also smiled bitterly. "If I had known, I wouldn't have gone to the mountains. I could have taken on those 20,000 reed bundles."

He already knew that Wang Tiancheng's cousin's husband was a deputy director of the county supply and marketing cooperative, so this job was originally Li Long's, but Li Long was not there, and since others guaranteed that they could complete the task, naturally he had to give someone a share.

The reason why Li Long was able to get the remaining work was, on the one hand, due to Li Xiangqian's efforts, and on the other hand, his credibility from having completed the task before. In fact, there was another very important aspect, which was the commendation notice sent to the supply and marketing cooperative by the task force for this major Shicheng case.

In order to protect Li Long's information, the notice was only shown to a few responsible persons. This was a great honor for the supply and marketing cooperative. Because of this, the leaders were proud of it. So when Li Xiangqian suggested leaving some work for Li Long, the leaders agreed.

So based on this face, if Li Long could come back a few days earlier, he could really take over all the work.

I can only say that my luck bar is not full enough, there is nothing I can do.

"Most people in that team are collecting reeds for that guy named Wang, and you guys..." Xu Chengjun is a little worried.

"My brother will find some people from other places to take over first." Li Long did not say that if this task is completed well, there will be more work to do later. He said: "Anyway, as long as they are strong and not afraid of hardship, there will definitely be a lot of people who want to do this job that can make money."

"That's the truth. You're offering such a high salary that I want to come." Xu Chengjun waved his hand. "No more talking. I'm going to go cut reeds first and finish Hu Laoer's task quickly. If you haven't finished your task yet, I'll come over to cut reeds for you."

"Row."

Li Long also realized that the more simple families basically followed the rules. Those who had signed the paper with Hu Laoer before should just honestly help them collect reeds first.

On the contrary, those who are usually more cunning and only care about making money will secretly send the bundled reeds to their side to get the money first.

Li Long didn't care about so much. He had to wait until Li Jianguo got the people over and made arrangements for himself before going to the county to buy grain and other things.

After all, if there were really a dozen people coming, the food consumed in a day would be quite a lot. Although the radishes, cabbages and potatoes harvested in the autumn in Uncle Luo's yard were certainly enough, the most important thing was the staple food.

By the time it was almost noon, Li Long's steamed buns had been prepared and the big pot of potato chips was ready to be fried. Voices and footsteps were heard outside.

coming.

Uncle Luo was cooking, Li Long went out to greet him, and then saw about ten people carrying bedding walking over. Li Jianguo was walking in the middle, pushing a bicycle, and talking to a man in his forties as they walked:

"Here it is. The living conditions are a bit poor, so make do with it. Do you smell anything? The food should be ready. You can eat right away when you get there, and then you can start working in the afternoon. This work is by the piece, so it would be best if you three families work together. You will be paid for each piece according to how many reeds you can press out. How do you think?"

"Sure, sure." The man had no objection. "Old Li, let me tell you this. We provide food and lodging. Don't ask for 15 cents. Just 10 cents will do. We are all fellow villagers. You are kind to us. We are not money-minded. The people I brought with me are all strong laborers. The cost of food a day is not small. We discussed it and decided to pay 10 cents for each reed stalk..."

"The price is another matter, but the quality must be guaranteed. Otherwise, if my brother doesn't want to buy it, you can't argue..."

"Don't worry about that! We work according to our conscience! You tell us the standards, and if our products don't meet the standards, we will tear them down and burn them!"

As they were talking, they had already arrived at the door of the Lao Ma Hao. Li Long was somewhat surprised that there were three women among them: a middle-aged woman of 34, a woman of 27 or 28, and a girl of about 20.

This is a bit troublesome to live in.

"Come on, Old Han, let me tell you, this is my brother, Li Long. He got the job I'm telling you about from the supply and marketing cooperative, and he was the one who paid for the delivery in the evening..."

"Your brother is really young. What do you call it? Young... promising. Promising... promising. Yeah, that's it!" Old Han said with a smile.

"Hello, Brother Han." Li Long came over to greet him. "Welcome, welcome. Come in first and put your things down. We'll be having dinner soon."

"Oh, white flour steamed buns, this food... Lao Li," Lao Han looked at the steamed buns that had been opened from the steamer and turned to Li Jianguo and said, "This meal is a bit overcooked, I feel a little sorry."

"Don't worry about that. Your job is to work. You eat what we eat." Li Jianguo was very proud to see that Li Long had prepared so well. "Today is our first day, so we must eat something good. Plenty of steamed buns and meat in the dishes. Otherwise, how can we work?
Of course, you guys will have to eat steamed cakes and cornmeal porridge later, but you guys have to bear with that. You guys should eat whatever Xiaolong and the others eat here, is that okay?"

"What's the problem? Just based on the food, if any of us tries to cheat, I'll be the first to disagree!"

There were three families. The middle-aged man and the young man put their bedding in the room near Li Long, and the women's room was at the innermost. Although it was close to the deer pen, it was the safest place.

The bedding was spread out, and the middle-aged men and young men were chatting and laughing inside. The curiosity and trepidation they had when they first arrived were replaced by joy and happiness. The first meal was white flour buns, so the host would definitely not treat them badly.

After all, even in the production team, how many times can you eat white flour steamed buns in a year?
There was a time when the quality of life in the Corps was not as good as that in the local areas. After all, after the local areas implemented the household contract responsibility system, regardless of how much money they made, at least the quality of food improved immediately.

"Come, come, it's time for dinner." Li Long shouted at the kitchen door. "The steamed buns are here, help yourselves. There are three baskets of steamed buns, take as many as you want. Each of you will get the dishes. Did you bring your rice bowls? Don't get too much at once, and serve after you've got them all. Also, there's vegetable soup in the pot, drink some after dinner to soothe your throat. There's warm water in the big teapot and the basin in the kitchen, and those who brought a kettle can fill it up themselves while you work in the afternoon..."

After Li Long explained everything clearly, he was pulled aside by Li Jianguo.

"There are three families coming here this time, all of them are relatives. The one I just talked to is Old Han, who is the one I told you before. We are acquainted. The eldest sister-in-law is his wife, and she came with her two sons. There is another family, a couple and a girl, surnamed Zhang, who is about eighteen or nineteen years old. There is another family, a father and two sons, a total of ten people."

"Okay, we can just calculate the number by family, so we don't have to argue about the money."

The eldest brother Han is called Han Benzhong, his wife is Zheng Xiumei, and his two sons are named Dachun and Daqiao, which are really down-to-earth names. The one with the surname Zhang is called Zhang Laoshi, who is in his thirties and is Zheng Xiumei's cousin. His wife is He Ping and his daughter is Zhang Min.

The other father is Zheng Songlin, and his two sons are Zheng Dagang and Zheng Xiaogang. They are Zheng Xiumei's relatives and cousins.

They are all related. Life in their hometown was not good, so they came to the northern border to make a living, and then settled in the Corps.

"Xiaolong, don't worry about the cooking. Your sister-in-law and two other women will pull the reeds and press the reed stalks here, and cook the meal." Han Benzhong said to Li Long while eating steamed buns, "You guys prepared so well and made so much that we are embarrassed to ask for money."

"Okay," Li Long said with a smile, "I'll give you some gloves later. You need gloves when you hit the reeds. The thin wire is in the yard, you can use it whenever you want. There are two pliers for pressing the reed handles, you can use them alternately, I'll see if I can find another one..."

"No, no, two are enough. Just take turns using them." Han Benzhong didn't want to trouble Li Long anymore. "We are all family. We won't fight. Don't worry about the rest."

Li Long agreed with a smile.

Li Jianguo also had his meal here, because after the meal he would take Han Benzhong and others to the reed lake to show them where to cut the reeds. At the same time, he also reminded the other people in the team who were cutting reeds that he had brought these people here, so they should not be bullied by the team members.

After eating, Li Long drove the horse-drawn carriage, loaded with wood, and went to the county to buy grain. This time, he not only bought grain, but also loaded the wood at home into wooden boards. It was okay to let these people live on the ground covered with wheat straw for the time being. If there was still work to do with reeds later, and they had to live for a long time, they would have to build wooden beds. After all, the ground was cold and damp in early winter.

I also need to buy two stoves and put them in the house, otherwise it will be too cold. It would be best if I could build a fire wall or something - we'll see.

After Li Long left, Han Dachun whispered to his father:

"Dad, this... this... the food is so delicious... I didn't expect it to be so delicious... but this... this... this house is a bit shabby, and we live... live... on the ground."

He is a stutterer and his speech becomes incoherent when he gets excited.

"Okay, stop being so picky." Han Benzhong slapped him in the face: "Even white flour buns can't stop you from talking!"

"Well...well...Daqiao ate three steamed buns...compare...compare. He ate one more than me." Dachun was a little dissatisfied. Why did his younger brother just eat without any help from his father, and he got slapped for just saying something?

"Your brother doesn't talk, but you do. How bad would it be if people heard you?" Han Benzhong was very disappointed. "The master is good to us, so we should work hard! Don't be lazy when you are cutting reeds later, or I will beat you to death."

At this time, Han Benzhong no longer had the smile on his face when talking to Li Jianguo and Li Long. These two brothers from the same hometown were both honest people, so he couldn't lose face and had to give face to his fellow villagers. Li Jianguo explained the matter clearly on the way. Because there was competition in the team, not many people took the job, so they found foreign aid.

According to Han Benzhong's calculations, a family of three or four people can make at least a hundred reeds a day. At 1.5 cents per reed, that's about ten yuan... It would be a blessing for him to be able to do such a good thing. How could he not try his best?
This is why the people he called were all relatives. Relatives know each other well, and if he, as the leader, talks well, the relatives will work hard. If it were someone else, if they didn't work hard and acted cunningly, he would have a hard time managing them.

When Li Long brought a pile of wooden boards, four large bags of grain, and two iron stoves from the county, the three women were already pulling reeds in the yard of the old horse house. There were quite a lot of reeds piled up - Li Long guessed that they were all carried back by people.

This road is not short!
There is no way. There are few means of transportation these days, let alone horse-drawn carriages, donkey carts, and even handcarts. Manpower still accounts for a large part.

He hurriedly asked people to unload the things, and then when Han Benzhong and others brought the reeds over, he handed over the carriage directly.

Li Jianguo and his men also joined in the reed harvesting, but Liang Yuemei did not participate. Li Jianguo's side was like a friendly sponsorship, and as for the payment, Li Long would calculate it separately in the end.

Just by bringing these people here and establishing normal relationships, the middleman can make a lot of money per person.

That evening, when those members of the team who were delivering reed bundles came over to see, the stable yard was already bustling with activity.

From the first day, the three families headed by the old Han family did not produce many reed handles. After all, they had just started, so there were only about dozens of them.

And the people who came with Tao Daqiang in the morning brought over more than 200 reed bundles in one day.

After checking, Li Long paid in cash one by one.

There really wasn't a single unqualified person on Lao Han's side. There were a few unqualified people in the team, but they didn't bother about it and just smiled and took the unqualified people back.

In the end, there were more than a hundred reed bundles that were secretly delivered, most of which were unqualified. Li Long didn't say anything and just picked them out for them to take back.

Nearly five hundred reed bundles were collected that day, and Li Long paid more than one hundred yuan for them, mainly for food and stoves.

It's all worth it.

Li Long was very happy, but Hu Laoer was not so happy.

Since yesterday, the number of reeds he received has obviously decreased. After Li Long came back, the completion of the reed task would definitely be affected, and he was mentally prepared for this.

But he had inquired and found out that Li Long did not look for the people he had decided on, but instead looked for those who had not agreed to him, and also brought in people from outside, which left him with no way to use any tricks.

They did it in an honest way, so there was nothing he could do even if he was extremely angry.

But Li Long directly raised the price of a reed handle to 1.5 cents, which made him very angry.

Isn't this forcing the people on our side to defect?
As a henchman, he couldn't make the decision, so he could only rush to the commune to find Wang Tiancheng.

Only Wang Tiancheng has a solution to this problem. In Hu Laoer's opinion, as long as Wang Tiancheng also raises the price, the problem will definitely be solved. (End of this chapter)