Rebirth of Bayi Fishing and Hunting in the Northwest

On the morning of the third day, Li Long started the tractor and prepared to set off.

The carriage was covered with thick straw, and Li Anguo, Li Junshan, and Yang Yongqiang sat on the shelf beside the carriage with their bags and bedding. The shelf was covered with wooden boards and padded with sacks, which made it more comfortable to sit on.

Because we are leaving now, everyone is sitting. After the train leaves, several people will definitely sit in the carriage. The wheat straw inside is very soft, and it is much more comfortable to sit on than on the carriage frame.

There were two 10-liter plastic barrels filled with diesel in the car, and a bucket was hung on the lifting frame behind the rear seat of the tractor, which was convenient for adding water on the way.

One very important aspect that tractor drivers need to pay attention to when driving long distances is to remember to add water. After a period of time, the water will boil and then continue to decrease. If the tractor driver forgets to add water, the engine will die due to high temperature after the water boils dry. Locals say that the engine will die due to high temperature. Of course, there are many reasons for the engine to die, and lack of oil can also be one of them.

Because it was still early, the land distribution had not been completed, but it had not started yet. Li Jianguo had to go to a meeting after sending them off. Yang Yongqiang had already said goodbye to his family at home, and he might not stay there, so his family did not come.

Chen Lirong and Li Anguo had already spoken, and at this time they just looked at their husbands. Although they were a little sad, they tried not to show it. The two children had already gone to preschool, and they were not particularly sad about their father's departure - they had left once before, so they had experience.

And this time, their father also said that he was going to work in a big city, and would come back after working for a while, or take them over, so Li Xueping and Li Xueqin were playing happily in the preschool at this time.

"Alright, stop talking and don't waste time. Let them go quickly. It's more than 200 miles and it will take most of the day to run. Let's get going soon." Li Qingxia finally decided, "Xiaolong, you guys go."

Li Juan and Li Qiang were also in the tractor. In the past, they would occasionally ride Uncle Xiaolong's bicycle to school, but this time, they rode the tractor directly to school. Both of them were very excited and didn't want to sit, so they grabbed the guardrail in front of the tractor and prepared to "go for a ride".

"Okay, let's go." Li Long shifted gears and stepped on the gas. The tractor made a rumbling sound and drove along the road out of the village.

The sound was so loud that people along the way couldn't help but look at it. The Li family also kept waving their hands. Du Chunfang muttered:

"I don't know when I can come back..."

It would have been better if she didn't say it. After she said this, Chen Lirong's eyes became red.

"What are you talking about?" Li Qingxia said to his wife, "Isn't this a good thing? You will be a worker in the future! Xiaolong didn't want to be one, but now An Guo can be a worker, that's a great thing! We can eat commercial grain in the future, and Xue Ping and Xue Qin can live in the city! What's there to say? There are buses going back and forth. Didn't Xiaolong say that it only takes one round trip a day. If you want to see it, can't you just take the bus and take a look?"

Du Chunfang glanced at Chen Lirong and knew that she had said something wrong, but she was the mother-in-law and it was difficult for her to apologize, so she took advantage of Li Qingxia's excuse and said:
"Okay then, since we've settled down in Anguo, let's go to the city!"

Liang Yuemei helped Chen Lirong:
"Xiao Rong, I'm picking seeds to plant a vegetable patch. Come over and help me. Pick more seeds so I can plant Xiao Long's yard as well."

Chen Lirong knew that this was her sister-in-law helping her out and distracting her, so she nodded and followed her.

"Let's go to the vegetable garden. Let's tidy up the vegetable garden over here, and then we'll tidy up Xiaolong's side. Xiaolong wants to buy fruit trees, and we have to provide a good place for them to plant." Li Qingxia couldn't sit still, and originally planned to go to Xiaohaizi to catch fish in the next two days, but Li Jianguo said that a snowmelt flood might come, and if he wasn't allowed to go, he would have to stay at home.

Li Jianguo went to the team headquarters to continue working on the land. Chen Xingbang didn't want to go back alone, so he followed Li Qingxia to the vegetable garden to work.

Li Long drove the tractor westward against the wind. The wind was still a little cold in the early morning. He was wrapped in a cotton coat. Although young people were strong, they still had to protect themselves. He also had cotton pants on his legs. He planned to take them off after passing Shicheng and getting warmer.

Li Juan and Li Qiang were not afraid of the wind at all. Li Qiang even opened his mouth and let the wind blow into his mouth. Li Anguo stopped him because he thought it would give him a stomachache.

The two children were very happy and met many classmates along the way. However, there were quite a few people in the cart now, and there was a lot of luggage, so Li Long did not stop - except for children with whom he had a good relationship, like Mingwa, he did not plan to take anyone else with him.

When the children came across a tractor on their way to school, they would usually chase it. If they could catch up, they would climb up from behind. If they couldn't catch up, they would shout and follow for a while. At this time, Yang Yongqiang would shout from behind to stop chasing, saying that there was no room for him.

When they got to the elementary school, Li Long stopped the car and asked Li Qiang and Li Juan to get off. At that time, there were many children in the car. Some of them were running very fast. For them, riding on the car was like hitchhiking and showing off.

After all, we have heard the story of the Railway Guerrillas since childhood, and this is equivalent to paying tribute to the heroes.

Li Long remembered that Li Qiang in his previous life had said that he had chased a tractor from the next village. The tractor often went to the village to pull things in the morning. He had ridden on it a few times, and other people had ridden on it as well. When they first got on it, the tractor would slow down when it reached the elementary school so that they could get off. One time, Li Qiang and another student got on it, and the tractor didn't slow down when it reached the elementary school. It rushed forward in fifth gear, and they had to get off. As a result, they fell down when they got off, and their faces were scratched.

He never rode on that man’s tractor again after that.

It's a lesson.

It's hard to say it's someone else's fault, but Li Long wouldn't do such a thing. Since there's a kid on board, just slow down when you get to school and let him get off. There's no need to teach him a lesson. It's not good to hurt a child.

The situation was better when the tractor went from elementary school to junior high school. Even though the speed was increased, there were still junior high school students trying to climb onto the tractor. However, they gave up when they saw there were people in the tractor.

When the car arrived at the village, it was only ten minutes later, Yang Yongqiang sighed:

"It used to take at least an hour to walk from the team to the village, and even riding a bicycle would take half an hour. This tractor is fast, so even though we were delayed for a while, we arrived in just ten minutes..."

Li Long heard this when he turned the corner, and thought that when you drive the car and arrive in a few minutes, there will be nothing to lament about.

It’s probably because the road is not good, otherwise we could get there faster with the speed of the tractor.

The road from the township to the county was better, as you could meet people riding bicycles, driving horse-drawn carriages, or walking to the county. When they arrived at the county town, Li Long and his team did not stop, but turned west and drove directly to Shicheng.

Driving all the way to Shicheng, Li Long looked at his watch and it took an hour and a half.

He wasn't hungry now, but the water tank of the tractor had already boiled. He parked the tractor outside the old street, without turning off the engine, and said to Li Anguo and the others:

"The tractor needs to rest for a while. This is the old street. There are many stalls now. Let's walk around and rest for a while."

"You guys go around, I won't." Li Anguo waved his hand. He could see that there were many stalls in the old street, but he didn't have much money, which he had to save for later use. He earned a lot of money before the New Year, but he left a lot for Chen Lirong. Since he had little money on hand, he thought about not spending it as much as possible.

After all, I haven’t earned my salary yet, so the less money I have, the better it is to spend it.

"Okay, you guys watch the tractor, I'll go take a look." Li Long got off the tractor and said, "Junshan, wait seven or eight minutes and turn off the engine."

"Okay." Li Junshan agreed. He got out of the car and sat on the front seat of the tractor.

Li Long felt his legs were numb from the shock, so he had to move them around. Although Yang Yongqiang often came to the old street to sell fish, he was always selling things, so he rarely went around, so he got off the car and prepared to go around. Li Long told him to be careful, there were thieves here. Yang Yongqiang responded and left quickly.

Compared with the previous year, there are now more vegetable stalls in the old street, including edible wild vegetables and flowers such as alfalfa, dandelions, and prickly ash, as well as early spring leeks, celery, and coriander grown at home. Li Long listened to the stall owner shouting, the price was not expensive, but there was no need to buy now, thinking that if there was still some when he came back, he could buy some.

There were many people pushing carts to sell food. He saw someone selling roasted sweet potatoes, so he bought four and wrapped them in newspaper to keep them warm. Sweet potatoes were sold by size, with large ones costing 20 cents and small ones costing 10 cents. It was quite expensive, but he just wanted to eat them for the freshness.

There are also people selling baked cakes, porridge, and hot steamed buns.

Variety.

It seems that Keyum’s milk tea house and naan shop are about to be challenged.

What puzzled Li Long was that the milk tea shop was still closed.

He walked around again, bought a few scones and walked back.

When they came, they brought a five-kilogram plastic cage filled with tea that they had boiled in the morning, which was still hot. Li Long planned to let everyone eat it to fill their stomachs, and then continue on their journey. As for lunch, he planned to eat it in Shawan.

At this time, Shawan's big plate chicken had not yet been released. Shicheng was about 60 kilometers away from Shawan. With the current road conditions on the Wuyi Highway, it would take more than two hours to drive there, just in time for lunch. When Li Long came back, Yang Yongqiang had not returned yet, so he invited Li Anguo and Li Junshan to eat roasted sweet potatoes.

"I don't eat it." Li Anguo and Li Jianguo had the same idea, "What's so good about it? I'm tired of eating dried sweet potatoes back home."

"Then you can have the pancake." Li Long handed the pancake over. "It's still hot."

Li Junshan had already turned off the tractor. He didn't dislike sweet potatoes, so he took one and ate it.

Li Long found an enamel pot and poured tea from the plastic cage to let it dry. It was impossible for everyone to take turns drinking water from the plastic cage - although this was a common thing, he thought it was better to drink from the pot.

Yang Yongqiang came back before he finished eating a roasted sweet potato. He walked to the tractor with a newspaper bag in his hand and said with a smile:

"I saw a stall selling chive dumplings, stuffed with chives and eggs. I bought four. Come on, one for each of you!"

No one refused this. Leeks and eggs were a delicacy for ordinary families at that time. Not every family was as extravagant as the Li family, who had meat for every meal. For some families, being able to eat eggs was already very good.

I originally planned to fill my stomach, but after eating a few things I felt a little full.

After eating and drinking, Li Long stretched out his body for a while, then drove the tractor out of Shicheng and continued westward.

Yang Yongqiang originally wanted to drive for Li Long for a while, but he didn't ask for it in the end. Now they are on the road, and they may encounter large trucks on the way back and forth, which may cost lives if they are not handled properly. Li Long didn't plan to let others drive, and he was not at ease letting others drive.

The tractor drove in fifth gear all the way, making a brisk sound. Li Long felt that the speed could now reach 40 kilometers per hour. The overall road condition was good. The wind was strong and he felt that his face was being dried, but it was not cold.

After Shicheng, there are the 143rd Regiment and Wulanwusu. Li Long remembered that the peaches of the 143rd Regiment were very famous in the later generations, but at present, the two sides of the road are mainly winter wheat, and there is also a part of vacant land. I don’t know what they are going to plant.

When they came across an artificial canal, Li Long stopped and took out the bucket without turning off the engine. At this time, Yang Yongqiang had already jumped off the truck and took over the bucket after Li Long had drawn water from it. Li Junshan was a little slower, but he was not idle either. He put one foot on the front wheel of the small four-wheeler and the other on the floor away from the driver's seat, turned around, took the bucket handed over by Yang Yongqiang, and poured it into the water tank.

The three of them worked in perfect harmony and poured half a bucket of water into the tank, causing it to overflow.

Li Long moved around on the spot for a while, then drove the tractor forward.

They encountered several oil tankers along the way, and Yang Yongqiang and Li Junshan were wondering what they were doing. Although Li Long was driving in the front, the noise of the tractor was very loud, but he still heard it, and explained loudly while driving:

"That's an oil tanker. To the west of Kuitun is Karamay, an oil city with an oil refinery. The oil in the tank is refined oil, and it's being transported to Wucheng."

Karamay itself means "black oil" in Uyghur, and there is the famous scenic spot Black Oil Mountain. The oil here first overflowed naturally. The oil mentioned in Shen Kuo's "Dream Pool Essays" usually emerges naturally, and it is here.

Our motherland was once labeled as an "oil-poor country" by foreign experts, but domestic experts discovered a large oil field in Karamay, which removed this label and made Karamay a real oil city.

However, as early as the end of the Qing Dynasty, the then Commerce Bureau of XJ drilled the first oil well in the Dushanzi District of Karamay, which was considered a very early commercial industrial application of petroleum.

From now on and for a long time to come, Karamay will become rich because of oil. The workers here have very good wages and benefits, and it was once the object of yearning for many people.

Listening to Li Long talking loudly about the good treatment and benefits of the workers there, the people in the truck bed were quite envious. It would be great if they could get in there - unfortunately, just thinking about it, it is really difficult to get in there.

It was already noon when the tractor arrived at Shawan. Li Long parked the tractor in front of a small restaurant on the roadside. There were already two large trucks parked there, so the food must be good.

Because the luggage was all on the car, Li Junshan volunteered to stay on the tractor to watch the car, while Li Long and the other two went into the restaurant.

The restaurant seemed quite simple to Li Long. It was just two adobe houses, but the area was not small. There was one door, the inner room was the kitchen, and the outer room was the dining room. Two tables of people were eating noodles.

The restaurant was not very clean and there were flies buzzing around, but that was not a big deal at this time.

The three of them sat down. Yang Yongqiang took the teapot and poured water first, while Li Long asked the waiter:

"Do you have spicy chicken?" Since the big plate chicken hasn't come out yet, Li Long wanted to ask about other dishes.

"What kind of chicken do you want to eat?" Li Anguo waved his hand hastily, "Just noodles. We still have to hurry on our way, and the chicken won't take half an hour to stew. We can just eat it and leave in that time."

The waiter was also very honest and said:
"There are chickens, but they have to be slaughtered right now. If you can wait, I'll go and slaughter the chickens now."

"Forget it, four fried pork noodles." Li Long waved his hand, "two with extra noodles each."

"Okay." The waiter was quite happy to hear that they had ordered fried pork noodles. The two tables over there had ordered minced pork noodles, which were cheaper.

Fried pork noodles can naturally make more money, and of course the ingredients will be more solid.

Soon the sound of frying vegetables came from the kitchen. There should be another pot underneath, and it was not operated by one person.

Li Long drank a bowl of hot tea and went out to the tractor. He was sweating in his cotton coat and was planning to change his clothes, but he didn't expect Yang Yongqiang to follow him out.

"I'll change my clothes. You guys stay inside. When the noodles come, eat them quickly." Li Long said.

From what he could see so far, the journey was relatively safe, and there were no bandits or robbers blocking the road, which made him feel pretty good.

After changing clothes and exercising, Li Junshan urged Li Long to go in. When he went in, he found that Yang Yongqiang had already started eating. He ate very quickly and it seemed that the noodles went into his stomach without him even chewing them.

"Eat slowly," Li Long said as he sat down and mixed his noodles, "Junshan is not in a hurry right now. Eating like this is not good for your digestion and it's not good for your stomach."

"No big deal, I'm used to it." Yang Yongqiang swallowed the noodles in his mouth and said with a smile, "This dish tastes really good."

Li Long took a bite and felt that it was true. The bowl of noodles was also large and the quantity was sufficient. He felt that one bowl of noodles was enough for him - mainly because he had just eaten something in Shicheng and his stomach was not empty.

Seeing the waiter bringing four extra noodles, he immediately said:

"Please tell the chef inside that there is one bowl of noodles missing." He turned his head and looked at Yang Yongqiang and the others.

"I still have two." Yang Yongqiang turned himself over.

"I want one too." Li Anguo didn't eat that much, so he also reduced his meal. Li Long then told the waiter, "Reduce two."

The fried pork noodles tasted good, the noodles were chewy, and the food only cost money, no extra tickets were required. This changed Li Long's prejudice against the restaurants on both sides of the road.

In the past, when he traveled by long-distance bus, he was quite prejudiced against the restaurants on both sides of the road. He felt that, firstly, the prices were high, and secondly, the food quality was poor. Basically, they were doing one-time deals and would "scam" as many as possible.

Now it seems that I was too shallow.

After eating, drinking noodle soup and resting for a while, they continued on their way.

More than two hours later, in the afternoon, the big sign of Kuitun was in sight. (End of this chapter)