Rebirth of Bayi Fishing and Hunting in the Northwest

Aidasi is from Aksu and is an apple grower.

Li Long didn't think he was a nationality at first glance, except for the name. Then the old man told his story himself.

Aidaxi is actually a Han child. When he was four or five years old, his parents wanted to take him back to his hometown, but they got separated from him when they changed trains in Aksu. He was hungry and tired at the time, and walked to the outskirts of the city while looking for his parents. He was then adopted by a Uyghur couple and given an ethnic name.

My memory of when I was four or five years old was still very vague. The couple didn’t speak Chinese very well, but they always told Aidaxi that his Chinese name was Ganggang. If his parents came to look for him in the future, this name would serve as proof.

The Uighur couple even kept the clothes he was wearing at the time. The couple also did not let Aidaxi call them mom and dad, because they felt that Aidaxi should find his biological parents when he grew up.

There were two boys and one girl in his adoptive parents' family. When he grew up, Aidasi married the girl. He did not go to look for his biological parents, but settled down in the local area.

After the household contract responsibility system was implemented, Aidaxi started to grow the famous local apples and led his fellow villagers to grow apples together. He also went to the Wucheng Fruit Wholesale Market to look for buyers, leading his fellow villagers to get rich together, and he can be regarded as a leader in getting rich in his hometown.

Now Aida speaks Chinese well and Uyghur even more fluently. He said that he is a Han Chinese who was raised by Uyghurs, and he wants to contribute to the unity of the two ethnic groups.

"Have you ever thought about looking for your biological parents when you have time?" Li Long asked after listening to Aidaxi's story.

“No.” Aidaxi shook her head. “I think things are fine now. I know I am Han Chinese, and I also know that I am actually Uighur. I live well here, and maybe my biological parents live well too. Some things are over and done with. Look, I have two lovely children…”

He pulled out a black and white photo from his pocket, which showed two beautiful children with slightly nervous expressions. The older one was a boy and the younger one was a girl. Both children were very pretty, with big eyes, slightly curly hair, and wearing ethnic costumes.

"Can they speak Chinese?" Li Long asked.

"Yes." Aidaxi said with a smile, "The older one has already gone to school. He said he wants to work in Wucheng in the future."

"Good idea." Li Long said with a smile, "Train him well and he will achieve great things in the future."

"Actually, I just hope he's safe and sound, and not like me." Aida said with a sigh.

Li Long could see that he still had some issues in his heart.

But soon Aidaxi asked Li Long:

"Little brother, what about you? To be able to come here to participate in the commendation, what you have done must be extraordinary, right?"

"Compared to you, I really didn't do anything." Li Long was modest and told him what he had done and how he was interviewed by a reporter and reported in the newspaper by chance.

"Hold together like pomegranate seeds... Brother, you said it very well!" Aidaxi repeated this twice and gave a thumbs up:

"You are really amazing to say such things! If I were Halim, I would be very happy to have a friend like you!"

Li Long hurriedly humbled himself, he felt more and more the power of those words.

The two of them talked a lot until the waiter came and asked them to eat.

The meeting was held the next day, but considering that some people were far away, accommodation started this morning.

The lunch is quite rich, with rice, noodles, pilaf and other staple foods, stir-fried vegetables, fried noodles, etc. You can choose freely, similar to the buffet mode.

Aida chose pilaf, and Li Long ordered a bowl of noodles. Later, I met a friend from Sichuan who said that noodles are not enough to make you full, only rice can make you full. Li Long was just the opposite. Even if he ate two bowls of rice, he would feel full at the time, but he would be hungry soon afterwards.

The taste was a bit light, but very delicious. Li Long ate a portion of noodles, but was still not satisfied, so he asked for half a portion of fried noodles.

The beautiful and enthusiastic service staff would come over from time to time to ask what they needed, which made some guests including Li Long a little uncomfortable. These people were completely on a different level from the service staff in department stores and supply and marketing cooperatives in the county town. They were beautiful, enthusiastic, positive and proactive.

Li Long thought that if all the sales clerks in the department store had this kind of service attitude, the items inside would have been sold out long ago.

Of course, it's just a thought.

After dinner, he drank a bowl of tea - to Li Long's surprise, there was no noodle soup. The tea was rose tea, which tasted very fragrant.

After finishing his meal, Li Long returned to his room and found that Aida was not there. His study bag was left untouched on the table, and his own bag was placed under the bed.

When Li Long came here, he was carrying a small satchel. He thought there was nothing to do here, so he simply left the room. There were still people waiting at the signing table, so Li Long went over and asked:

"Comrade, I'm here to attend a meeting. If you have nothing to do in the afternoon, can I go out and do something?"

"Sure, but be careful. If there is any situation, you can call us." The middle-aged woman in charge of registration asked Li Long to write down the phone number and asked him where he was going.

"I'm going to the Bayi Agricultural College to ask someone for advice on some agricultural issues."

Li Long thought that since he had come here with great difficulty, he might as well go to the Bayi Agricultural College to ask the expert Huang for advice on the mid- and late-stage management of melons.

At present, the melons planted by my eldest brother are growing well, but this is only the initial stage. The later flowering and fruiting and the expansion period of the melons should be more important than the early stage. Li Long feels that it is necessary to learn some knowledge about planting management in advance, so that he can respond in time if there is any situation.

The Bayi Agricultural College needs to take bus No. 17. The female comrade enthusiastically told Li Long how to transfer. After Li Long left the guesthouse, he followed the female comrade's instructions and arrived at the Bayi Agricultural College after several transfers.

The Agricultural College was in class, and Li Long went to the gate to register and said he wanted to see Professor Huang Shuyi. The guard registered his situation, and Li Long said that he had contacted Professor Huang before and told her that he could contact her if he had any questions about planting.

"Professor Huang is giving a lecture. Please go to the teaching building over there and wait. It may take about half an hour." After looking at Li Long's work ID, the guard pointed to the specific location for him.

Li Long took his bag and went to the teaching building where the guard pointed to and waited.

He was not in a hurry. He looked inside the door and found that the lecturer was indeed Ms. Huang, whom he saw when he went to buy seeds last time. Li Long was relieved. He slowly sorted out the questions he wanted to ask in his mind to avoid missing any questions and getting flustered when asking.

Twenty minutes later, the class was over, but Professor Huang did not leave the classroom immediately. Some students stood up from their seats and came to the podium to ask questions, and Professor Huang patiently answered their questions.

Some of the questions seemed a bit childish to Li Long, but Professor Huang was very patient when he spoke and did not laugh at the students, which made Li Long admire him very much.

After finishing the lecture, seeing that all the students had left and no one came to ask questions, Professor Huang packed up his teaching materials and walked out with them.

Then I saw Li Long.

"You are..." Professor Huang thought the young man looked familiar, but he couldn't remember where he had seen him before. After all, he had met at least 800 students since he came to the college.

"Hello, Professor Huang. I'm Li Long, who sells melon seeds at the seed company." Li Long introduced himself hastily. "I came here to ask you some questions about growing melons."

Two female students were passing by side by side. When they heard Li Long say that they came to ask for advice on growing melons, they both laughed out loud.

"I remember now. You are the young man who bought all the melon seeds from the seed company. Okay, let's go to my office." Professor Huang said with a smile, "I don't have any classes now, so we can talk about it in detail."

Li Long reached out to take her book and said:

"Professor, let me get the book."

"No, no, I'm not old enough to need someone to get me textbooks." Professor Huang said with a smile, "Have you planted the melons? How are they growing now?" Although Li Long did not participate in the planting and management of melons, he went back to the village before coming here to take a look at the fields and had a good exchange with his elder brother. Now he has a basic understanding of the planting and growth of melons. He talked about the process from soaking the seeds to the present when the melon vines are about to bloom.

"You use manual seeding? You said you made a seeding tool? Draw it for me later, I'm curious." Huang Shuyi was unexpectedly interested in the seeding device that Li Long made, and asked a question specifically. Then he started talking about the planting of melons.

"Now that the vines have started to grow, we need to water them appropriately and prevent diseases and insect pests. We also need to observe their growth properly. If they are not growing well or are turning yellow, we need to spray foliar fertilizer if necessary..."

As they talked, they walked to the office. Professor Huang's office was still a bungalow, not very big, but fortunately it was one person per room, and after entering, Professor Huang asked Li Long to sit down.

There is a cabinet in the office, which is filled with books and paper materials. There are also many books on the desk, and there is a thick stack of mimeographed materials on the wooden sofa where Li Long sits.

"It's a bit messy here, don't mind." Professor Huang poured a glass of water for Li Long and said with a smile:

"Come on, tell me in detail. By the way, can you draw the on-demand device?"

Li Long asked for paper and pen, and quickly drew the on-demand device. Since his drawing skills were average, he just talked while he was drawing.

"Not bad, not bad, it's a good idea, it can actually be promoted... Of course, you can also build a factory to produce it yourself. In fact, I think this kind of on-demand device has a huge market in our rural areas."

Professor Huang quickly understood the principle of this on-demand device, and then sighed that practice really makes perfect.

Li Long felt a little ashamed, and continued to talk about the current situation of melon cultivation.

When Professor Huang learned that the melon was growing well and had already shown signs of flowering, he frowned and thought for a while, then said:

"It's a bit early for it to bloom now. I can't see how it will grow, but I can't rule out the possibility that it may bloom early due to insufficient fertilizer. My suggestion is to apply foliar fertilizer and base fertilizer together."

Li Long hurriedly asked what kind of fertilizer to use. Professor Huang provided Li Long with several options. After all, which one can be purchased depends on the situation of the county agricultural material company. Similarly, Professor Huang also talked about the prevention and control of diseases and insect pests in detail.

"The prevention and control of diseases and insect pests is mainly based on prevention, and reasonable fertilization is used to improve the disease resistance of melon vines. In particular, attention should be paid to the coordinated use of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium fertilizers to prevent excessive nitrogen application. After the rain, water accumulation in the ditch should be drained in time to prevent the seedlings from soaking and improve disease resistance. Spray pesticides in time during the high-incidence stage of diseases and insect pests, focusing on the prevention and control of vine blight, anthracnose, powdery mildew, and aphids. Other diseases and insect pests should also be observed in time to prevent..."

As Professor Huang was talking, he told Li Long what kind of disease required what kind of medicine to prevent and treat it. Li Long had a pen and paper in his hand and wrote down everything.

"That's about it." Professor Huang said, "When you go back, observe the situation and respond to any problems in a timely manner. If there are any problems that I haven't mentioned, you can come to me. The college has allocated a house for me, and I also live here during my holidays."

After Li Long finished writing, he carefully unwrapped the paper and put it in his bag. He wanted to say thank you, but Professor Huang smiled and said:

"You don't need to say thank you this time. Remember to come and tell me if there is any situation. If not, you can take some time to come and tell me about the situation after harvesting the melons. I can understand the planting process and the overall data, which will also be beneficial to my teaching research. The piece of jade you left behind last time was very wrong, but don't do such things again in the future. The data you can provide me is much more valuable to me than leaving that piece of jade."

Li Long felt a little embarrassed.

Professor Huang then asked Li Long why he came here.

"Can't I just come here to ask for advice on how to grow melons?"

"That's unlikely. If you came here on purpose, it must be because there was a problem with the melon planting." Professor Huang said with a smile, "From what you said, I can see that your management of melons is quite strict. There was no problem with the melons. You came to ask me mainly to prevent problems before they happen. So there is only one possibility, you came here on your way."

"Professor Huang is amazing." Li Long praised sincerely, "I came here to attend the Autonomous Region's National Unity Commendation Conference."

"You were commended? That's impressive." Professor Huang was a little surprised. "Come on, tell me about it."

Li Long briefly explained the situation. This was not the first time he had done so, so he spoke smoothly.

"Not bad, not bad. Pomegranate seeds. You said that those of us who study agriculture are not unfamiliar with pomegranates, but we never thought of linking national unity with this. It's really a bit of a dead end in our research..."

"No, no. You guys are studying the growth of pomegranates, and I'm just expressing my feelings. You are wise men who make mistakes even after careful considerations, and I am a fool who made this achievement after careful considerations..."

"You can't be a fool if you can say that." Professor Huang shook his head. "Young man, you're still true to your original aspirations. That's good of you. The relationship between you two is also quite enviable. There are both Han and ethnic minority students in my class. Can I tell them about your story?"

"Sure." Li Long nodded. "I'd be honored if it could be of any help."

"Hey, the way you talk makes it hard for people to associate you with a farmer who hasn't received much education." Professor Huang teased Li Long.

Li Long actually had prepared a piece of jade, but after Professor Huang said that, he felt embarrassed to put it down.

After leaving the Bayi Agricultural College, before the sun set, Li Long took a bus to the jade factory.

The side door was still open, and what surprised Li Long was that there was someone talking to the people inside, and it seemed that he wanted to buy jade.

Is Mr. Liu’s business improving?
Li Long walked over and saw that it was still Engineer Liu inside. He looked better than before and his complexion was much rosier. It seemed that his life had improved a little.

Engineer Liu was showing a jade Buddha to the customer and talking about its features. When he saw Li Long out of the corner of his eye, he was stunned for a moment, then delighted:
"Hey, Comrade Li, you're here?"

"Hello, Mr. Liu. Please go ahead and do your work first." Li Long said hurriedly, "I'm not in a hurry here."

"Okay, okay." Engineer Liu nodded with a smile, "Wait a moment."

Li Long was not in a hurry, and neither was the customer. They slowly bargained with Mr. Liu.

"I told you, fifteen yuan is the base price. The things placed here in the factory have a base price. I won't make money from you, but you can't make me lose money, right?" Engineer Liu said patiently, "This really won't make you money, why don't you look for something else?"

"I like this. If you give me two more dollars, I will buy it." The man was very persistent, and Mr. Liu had no choice. Two dollars was not a small amount of money for him. It was a day's food allowance. There were requirements from the factory for him to sell things.

Finally, the middle-aged man paid fifteen yuan and took the jade Buddha. He originally wanted to ask Engineer Liu to give him a small piece of other material, but was rejected by Engineer Liu.

After the middle-aged man left, Li Long came to the counter. Engineer Liu simply let Li Long come in through the door next to him. He said:
"Comrade Li, if everyone who comes to buy jade is as straightforward as you, I wouldn't have to waste so much time talking. Come on, sit down. Have you had dinner yet?"

"No." Li Long said.

"That's perfect. My wife sent me some food, but I can't finish it all by myself. Can we eat together?"

"Sure." Mr. Liu wanted to invite him, and Li Long did not refuse. He started eating with Mr. Liu and chatted while eating.

It wasn’t a very good meal, just cornmeal steamed cake, stir-fried Chinese cabbage, and a small bowl of pickles.

"If you still want to buy jade, I've left you a few pieces of slightly larger material with good carvings." Engineer Liu said, "Same, I'll give it to you at the factory price. To be honest, if it weren't for you, I would have planned to retire due to illness. Now think about it, I might be useless now after retiring. With you here, I think I'm still okay and capable."

Mr. Liu's words came from the bottom of his heart, and Li Long didn't know how to respond, so he smiled and changed the subject:

"As long as you carve the material, I want all of it."

Master craftsmen are rare, and it would be a great honor for me to be able to choose the one for myself.

Such a good thing, why not rush to get it? (End of this chapter)