Rebirth of Bayi Fishing and Hunting in the Northwest

Chapter 422: Bombshell News
In early spring, the tractor body, oil and water are cold, and it is usually difficult to start. The technology at that time, or the tractor technology at that time was not as good as that of later generations.

The middle-aged man came over with a bucket of hot water and poured it into the water tank on the tractor. He smiled and said:

"When it's cold, you need hot water, just like when you're cold, you need to drink hot water. Come on, young man, give me a hand, let's start it together."

"Let me try it first." Li Long said with a smile, "Shake it a few more times, it will just stir the oil a bit."

"Okay, then you try it first. If it doesn't work, we can do it together." The middle-aged man didn't refuse. In front of young girls, young men usually want to show their masculine strength. He thought Li Long was the same. Of course, he also laid the groundwork, because it is really not easy to start the tractor alone at this time, so they usually have two people. One person presses the pressure relief with his left hand and puts his right hand on the handle of the crank. The other person can either put one hand on the shoulder of the person on the left and hold the handle of the crank with the other hand. The two people work together to crank. The person behind can also hold the crank with both hands, and three hands work together to crank.

Li Long has also seen children around ten years old, who, because their arms were not long enough, would lift their feet to reduce the pressure when starting the tractor, and hold the crank with both hands to crank it. When they felt it had turned almost enough, they would release their feet, give it another half turn with force, and the tractor would start.

The crank is equivalent to the car key at that time, but it is universal. At that time, not to mention tractors, even cars also used cranks, but the car cranks were longer and did not need to be turned many times like tractors. When cranking a car to start, it may only need to be turned half a circle, while a small four-wheel tractor usually needs to be turned at least three times.

Li Long took the crank from the empty space under the small four-wheel clutch and inserted it into the crank hole. Then he pressed down with his left hand to reduce the pressure, and began to exert force with his right hand - huh?

It's lighter than I thought.

It seems that my strength has really increased a lot, so there should be hope of launching it.

Although it was pressed to reduce pressure, it was early spring and the ice and snow had not completely melted away. The temperature was still below zero at night, so the tractor's rotor was still quite heavy when it turned.

But it was easy for Li Long.

He began to exert force, and the speed became faster and faster. When he felt it was about right, he loosened his left hand to reduce the pressure, and at the same time exerted force with his arms. When he felt his hands sink, he lifted them up suddenly and turned them another half a circle. At this time, he could hear the "thump thump thump" sound of the engine, and the rotor began to rotate.

"It's started?" The girl opened her mouth wide.

The middle-aged man also found it a little hard to believe. They sold tractors here and often looked for people to start the vehicles. There were many young and strong guys in the workshop, but none of them said that they could start a tractor by themselves in this season.

Of course it’s possible in summer, but it’s not summer now!
"Then let me try it first?" Li Long put the crank into the empty box under the clutch and asked with a smile, "Do you believe I can drive it?"

"Okay, drive it for a bit... Can you shift it into gear?"

"Yes, just watch." Li Long lowered the throttle, pulled the steering wheel and stepped on the floor to get on the tractor.

This will soon be my own tractor.

Li Long was quite careful and he had wiped the mud off his shoes before coming over. After getting on the tractor, he felt familiar.

Look forward, step on the clutch with your left foot, hold the steering wheel with your left hand, shift gears with your right hand, and while adding some gas with your right foot, slowly release the clutch with your left foot. The tractor leaves its original position and drives forward.

The entire tractor was vibrating strongly, and Li Long felt his body shaking slightly along with the tractor, but this did not affect his excitement - after riding in a horse-drawn carriage for more than a year, he could finally ride on a tractor!
Although it is still quite different from the car I rode before the end of my previous life, at least this step has been taken!
When Li Long drove the tractor in front of Li Anguo, Chen Xingbang and others, their eyes widened!

Li Long just drove the tractor over here?
The middle-aged man and the girl followed quickly. When Li Long stopped the car and put on the brakes, the middle-aged man gave a thumbs up:

"Young man, you have great skills. Where are you from?"

"I'm from Ma County, Hongqi Township, Ma County." Li Long said as he took out the certificate issued by the village. Now he had to bring all these documents to buy a tractor.

After reading it, the middle-aged man smiled and asked:

"How do you feel about this tractor?"

"Okay, it's pretty good. Of course, the No. 28 is better, with a pilothouse." Li Long joked, "It's a pity that I can't afford it now."

"If you buy this, you can afford that after earning money in two years. Not many people can afford a tractor now." The middle-aged man said, "You are already ahead of 90% of people. As long as you seize the opportunity, you will only get richer and richer in the future."

Li Long took this as a sincere blessing.

After paying the money, getting the invoice and completing the formalities, you will receive the accessories, a small gas keg, a rear lifting arm, etc.

There was no bargaining and no other gifts. When paying the money, Yang Yongqiang, Tao Daqiang and others protected Li Long tightly, making Li Long feel a little embarrassed.

But that was 4,500 yuan! Most of the people present had never seen so much money in their lives!

According to some people, the purchasing power of one dollar at that time is equivalent to dozens of dollars or even more in later generations in some aspects. Let's do the math... Of course, it may be a bit exaggerated. After all, the degree of price increase of different items will be different after forty years.

When Li Long put the documents into his bag, the middle-aged man had completed the transaction. He finally reminded Li Long:
"Try to find time to get your license, otherwise you might get caught if you drive on the road."

Not only the license plate, but also the agricultural machinery driver's license. This is easy to pass and the inspection is not strict, but it also needs to be obtained.

Even thirty or forty years later, during the busy farming season, many agricultural machines on the road were not checked, because most people in the industry knew very well that from the first bicycles purchased in rural areas, there were some vehicles that rarely took to the road, including bicycles, tractors, motorcycles, agricultural tricycles and finally electric tricycles.

Some cars may be used until they are scrapped without ever being registered or leaving the village.

Even when Li Long drove the tractor and pulled everyone out of the tractor factory, Yang Yongqiang and Li Junshan still couldn't believe it:
"This tractor belongs to Brother Long (Uncle Xiaolong) now?"

It was chilly in spring, and the wind blowing in our faces was cold. It hurt our faces when it blew fast, but no one complained.

When Li Long was driving the tractor, Yang Yongqiang and Li Junshan rushed to climb onto the paddle boards on both sides, but were then scolded by the middle-aged man from the tractor factory to get off, saying that this was unsafe.

But as soon as they left the factory, they both immediately flipped over from the back of the car to the front and sat on the doors - sitting in the car was so boring, it was better here!
Li Junshan was in a better situation, but Yang Yongqiang was not so good, because the side he sat on was relatively high - because there was a toolbox there. Fortunately, Yang Yongqiang reacted quickly, took off his coat and spread it on the toolbox, and then sat on it, but it was a bit cold when the tractor was running, so he had to look at Li Long with his face sideways, which made Li Long a little embarrassed.

"Xiaolong, are we going back now?" Li Anguo shouted at the top of his voice from behind, worried that Li Long couldn't hear him.

"No, I have something important to do." Li Long didn't look back, and said as he drove, "Let's go eat first. After dinner, we need to refuel. We also need to buy a big oil barrel - a barrel of oil."

"Yes, yes, refueling is a big deal." Li Anguo nodded in sudden realization. This is true. Although he has never driven a tractor, he knows that it consumes oil. Yang Yongqiang and Tao Daqiang know that Wang Caimi has several large diesel barrels at home. Every time the tractor goes out to plow the land, it must be refueled, and a lot of it must be refueled.

At this time, oil was cheap, only 50 or 60 cents per liter. Of course, it was expensive in the eyes of Yang Yongqiang and others, but Li Long didn't care. He brought 5,000 yuan with him on this trip, and more than 20 10-kilogram diesel tickets. After deducting the 4,500 yuan for the tractor, the remaining money was enough to buy a 180-liter barrel of oil.

They drove a tractor to the Shicheng state-owned canteen. When Li Long and his friends got off the car, the rumbling sound of the tractor attracted many diners to come out of the canteen to watch.

The brand new tractor next to the cafeteria made many diners look envious. Without waiting for Li Long to say anything, Yang Yongqiang walked up to the tractor, picked up the handle and walked into the house.

Li Long went to order food, which was fried pork with noodles as usual. Just like some southerners who feel they can't get full after eating noodles in the north, Li Long and his friends also feel they can't get full after eating rice when they are doing heavy work.

So it’s still more practical.

Six people sat around a round table, and Yang Yongqiang said excitedly:
"When we get it to the team, it will surely shock many people! This is the first private tractor for our entire team... no, it should be the first private tractor in the entire township!" Li Long smiled and said nothing.

What's the first tractor? After driving this short distance, I felt the wind hurt my face. He said before that he would buy a 28 horsepower tractor, and that idea was true. After all, that thing has a driving cabin, and this one doesn't have it. There is no need to do this with a 12 horsepower tractor - although some people did add it a few years later, but it is considered a modification, and you will be arrested if you drive it to the urban-rural junction.

Be patient for now. The tractor is just the first step. Three-wheeled motorcycles and cars are the real interim goals.

Tractor...just use it for now, there's no other way, this is the only way now.

After dinner, when Li Long and his friends came out, they found that there were a lot of people surrounding the tractor and pointing and talking.

Just as Li Long and his friends were about to get on the bus, someone came over and asked:
“Is this your tractor?”

Before Li Long could speak, Yang Yongqiang said loudly:

"Yes, it belongs to my brother Long."

As he said this, he looked at Li Long.

The middle-aged man in the Zhongshan suit also shifted his gaze to Li Long.

"You can afford a tractor, not bad. I work at our city's paper mill. Do you want to do a job? Transporting raw materials, five yuan a car, how about that? The distance is twenty kilometers, and you can make ten trips a day, that's sixty or seventy yuan..."

As soon as he said this, before Li Long, Yang Yongqiang and others could say anything, other people nearby were shocked: Is this how to make money?

"Really? Five dollars a car?" someone doubted.

"Of course, I'm in the transportation department of the factory." The middle-aged man said with some pride, "Our factory is short of transport vehicles, and horse carriages are too slow. Seeing that this brother has a tractor, I naturally wanted to introduce him to a good job. Of course, our factory is also lucky in terms of raw materials."

"Do you want a cart?" someone asked. "I have a cart at home."

"It's too slow and can't pull much." The man shook his head. "We don't even need an animal-drawn cart, let alone a flatbed truck. What we need at least is a tractor."

As he said this, he looked at Li Long.

"I'm sorry, I'm from Ma County and can't do it. Besides, this car will be useful after it's bought back." Li Long waved his hand and said, "You need to find someone else. Okay, we have to go buy oil. There's not much oil in the car we just bought, so we may not be able to drive it back."

"Smart!" Although Li Long did not agree to go to fetch the raw materials, the middle-aged man was not disappointed. He gave a thumbs up and said, "Not many people can think this way. I heard that someone who bought a tractor drove back excitedly without knowing to add water or oil, and ran out of oil directly..."

Li Long thought to himself, I was such a person in my previous life, and I almost didn’t make it home.

At this time, gasoline and diesel stations sell it. If the quantity is small, Wujiaohua Company and some stores also sell it. Li Long went directly to Shicheng East Suburb Gas Station and bought a barrel of diesel there. They also gave him a section of oil extraction pipe.

Li Long originally wanted to buy an oil pump, but was stopped by Yang Yongqiang.

"Brother Long, why buy that? You can just suck it with your mouth. I saw Wang Caimi always suck it with his mouth. He put one end in the oil barrel and sucked the other end, and the oil came out. It's so expensive to buy this!"

Well, people were all like this at that time. Few people who bought tractors in the 1980s had not drunk gasoline or diesel because of oil suction.

Yang Yongqiang demonstrated it to Li Long on the spot, pumped out a bucket of oil, and Li Long poured it into the fuel tank.

He heard about it later that a tractor comes with one liter of oil when it leaves the factory, which can last for a few kilometers. It may not be able to run from Shicheng to Ma County, but this bucket of oil contains five or six liters, which is enough to run back home.

Yang Yongqiang was not satisfied and smoked another bucket. Li Long added more gas to stop him from smoking. He closed the fuel tank cap, put on the tractor cover, fastened the buckle, then cranked the handle to start the tractor and drove out.

The sun was in the middle of the sky, and at this moment the sun was shining brightly, making Li Long feel warm on his back. He shifted the tractor to fifth gear, and the tractor emitted a puff of smoke, and it sped forward briskly.

At this time, the wind was not so cold. Li Long actually felt like taking a drive in the convertible. Although the road was not so good, there was no need to be so particular when sitting on the tractor. He drove all the way out of the suburbs, crossed the Ma River Bridge, and did not stop when passing Ma County. He passed the township, crossed the Mohe Canal, passed the nursing home and the primary and secondary schools, and drove all the way back to Li's home.

The rumbling sound of the tractor broke the tranquility of early spring and attracted many people's attention along the way. Especially after arriving at the team, the villagers who were still outside saw that it was Li Long who was driving the tractor, and they all opened their mouths wide, and then ran back home to report the news, and then many people hurriedly walked or even ran to Li's house.

Many children screamed and ran after the tractor, all the way to Li's house.

It caused a sensation.

If Li Long's purchase of a color TV caused a small sensation when the villagers found out about it, then his purchase of a tractor this time definitely caused a big sensation.

Even Xu Chengjun rushed to Li's house after hearing the news to see what the new tractor looked like.

Wang Caimi is here too.

To be exact, he should be the first person in the team to have a tractor, but he still owes the team money for the tractor. Looking at this brand new tractor, he said with some disdain:

"Oh, it looks good, but the horsepower is a bit low, only twelve horsepower..." Although he said that, his eyes were full of envy.

This tractor touches everyone's heart more than that color TV.

This is true for Li Long, and for everyone.

Color TV is more like an obsession for Li Long. After buying it and watching a few episodes of The Legend of the Condor Heroes, he didn't want to watch it anymore. After being bombarded by short videos and various commentaries from later generations, Li Long felt that the martial arts novel written by Mr. Jin was too small, or not suitable for him who always pays attention to orthodoxy and unity. After all, although the protagonist is a Han Chinese, he did not pass on the posthumous letter of Wu Mu to the Han people in order to recover the occupied land. The protagonist is a great hero, but he did not even avenge his father's murder. The book says "the greatest heroes serve the country and the people", but the protagonist has so many strategies to kill the enemy for the country and the people, but he doesn't use them. Maybe the values ​​are different.

In a certain interpretation, in Mr. Jin's novels, all he wants to say is that it is best to be content with the status quo, and anyone who wants to change it is either a villain or dies in the end. This is similar to the environment he lives in - otherwise he wouldn't say such shocking words.

Of course, achievements are achievements, and being able to write so many excellent martial arts novels is worthy of praise, but Li Long thinks it is unnecessary to read it. It is better to study "The Fire King Kong".

The villagers also felt differently about color TVs and tractors. A few days after Li Long bought the color TV, someone went to the county to inquire about it and found out that a black and white TV only cost a few hundred yuan, so it turned out that they could afford it!
Many people have this idea. If you can't afford a color TV, can you afford a black and white TV? Isn't it just one more color?

But the tractor was different. It was a huge piece of iron that could not be bought with just a few hundred dollars. The Li family bought a four-wheel tractor, which was like a bombshell to the rest of the village!

So when the Li family's tractor arrived, within half an hour the yard was crowded with people, all running over to see the tractor.

Li Qingxia and Du Chunfang looked at the tractor with joy and curiosity. Li Jianguo was sitting in the driver's seat at this time, and Li Qiang climbed up next to him and sat on the operating board, looking very proud and pleased.

The diesel barrel had been unloaded and placed beside the house. There were mud spots on the tractor. Liang Yuemei and Chen Lirong were wiping the dirty mud with rags.

This is a new car, you can't damage it, you have to take good care of it!
(End of this chapter)