Rebirth of Bayi Fishing and Hunting in the Northwest

He Lijuan hummed "Young Friends Come to Meet" and walked briskly to the dormitory and began to pack her things.

After class, her roommate Xu Hongxia looked at He Lijuan packing her things and asked in surprise:
"Lijuan, are you sure you want to go?"

"It's confirmed." He Lijuan said with a smile, "We will leave tomorrow. Come, help me pack my things."

He Lijuan comes from a wealthy family, but she is not arrogant. She does not feel superior when interacting with her roommates. She is warm and generous and likes to help others. In comparison, Xu Hongxia is the person who has received the most help from her.

Xu Hongxia's family lives in the neighboring province and she comes from a rural area. She was able to be admitted to a university here mainly because she has an uncle who works in a county government in northern Xinjiang. In her place, there is a serious preference for boys over girls. Normally, she would not be able to go to university. Her parents planned to let her work at home after graduating from elementary school, and get married when she is older, so that she can get some gifts in return.

It was her uncle who came back from visiting relatives and persuaded her parents, and paid for her tuition (there was no nine-year compulsory education at that time) for her to go to middle school. Later, he supported her to take the college entrance examination and paid for her college tuition.

My uncle's family was not rich, so Xu Hongxia lived frugally when she was in school. He Lijuan's family was well-off, so she often helped He Hongxia, and the two had a very good relationship.

So this time when He Lijuan was going to Ma County Village to do research with Professor Luo, she did not hide it from Xu Hongxia.

Xu Hongxia advised He Lijuan earnestly:
"Lijuan, I think you should be cautious. Although you are from the county, you have never been to the countryside and don't know the hardship. Let me tell you, in the countryside nowadays, you can't eat white flour buns every day. It's good enough to eat corn flour.

The situation in Northern Xinjiang is better than my hometown. We can eat enough, but that's just enough. You must have had a hard time in the past...

Take drinking water for example. When you go there, you have to fetch water from the well for cooking, washing and drinking. If there is no well nearby, you have to fetch water from the ditch. There might be bugs in the water, so you have to drink it anyway..."

"No way?" He Lijuan was a little unconvinced. "The professor said we don't have to cook. We pay for the meals. The school pays part of it and we pay part. Someone will cook for us there."

"Can you get used to it? The food in our school cafeteria is average, but at least we have rice, steamed buns, and noodles. You can get whatever you want. If you don't like the food there, you won't be able to find a place to improve the food in the village..."

"So I thought about buying some sesame cakes and egg chicken cakes to take with me. If that doesn't work, I'll ask the villagers to buy some eggs and boil them to eat." He Lijuan is still quite optimistic. She tries her best to use her existing conditions and methods to solve any problems she may encounter.

"That's not impossible..." Xu Hongxia didn't expect He Lijuan to be so determined, so she stopped trying to persuade her not to go. Instead, she tried her best to explain the living conditions in the countryside so that she could be mentally prepared:

"You may have to sleep in a dormitory over there. It's spring now, and you still have to be careful about where you live... in the countryside. It's normal to have bugs in the house. The most serious problem may be mice. After all, it's hard to find vacant houses in the countryside. When relatives come to our house, they don't stay overnight because we have no place to stay..."

"Are there any rats?" He Lijuan hesitated for a moment. She was still very afraid of rats. "Then... I'll ask Li Qingyuan and Zheng Zhiguo to help us check the house carefully and drive away any rats if there are any... By the way, Zhu Yuechan will go with me. She's not afraid of rats."

"That's fine. Then you should prepare more towels and clothes. Forget about taking a shower there. If you want to stay for a month, you can only wipe yourself in the house. Get on good terms with Li Qingyuan and the others, and ask them to help you carry water... Oh, firewood is also a big problem..."

Xu Hongxia was a little worried.

She actually had never lived in the rural areas of northern Xinjiang, but she was comparing her hometown with He Lijuan's possible life:

"It's spring now, and there may not be much firewood where you live, so boiling water is also a big problem. The water there is not as good as our school. It may be saline water. Bring more toothpaste and remember to brush your teeth well. Otherwise, if you drink the water there often, your teeth will turn yellow..."

This made He Lijuan a little hesitant. It is a girl's nature to love beauty, but what can she do about a mouthful of yellow teeth?
In fact, at this time, there are yellow teeth and tetracycline-induced black teeth. Many girls have such teeth, but He Lijuan herself has white teeth. She doesn't want to become like that...

But I have already made a promise to Professor Luo. It would be so embarrassing to back out now.
"Then I will just brush my teeth more and drink less water!" He Lijuan thought for a moment and said, "It's only a month anyway, at worst I can find a way to go to the county... Even if I don't go to the county, I can go to the township."

The two went to eat together. On the way, Xu Hongxia gave He Lijuan some "popular science" about some bad habits in the countryside, and reminded them to pay attention to safety, not to go out after dark, and to follow Professor Luo closely.

This actually scared He Lijuan, so she went to find Li Qingyuan and the others in the afternoon to discuss some countermeasures and what extra things they should bring.

Li Long only stayed at the purchasing station for half of the afternoon when Li Xiangqian came to find him on his bicycle.

"The Agricultural College called. Professor Luo said he wanted to see you. He will call back in half an hour..." Li Xiangqian looked at his watch and said, "Twenty minutes left."

"Okay, I'll go over right away." Li Long was counting leather for a customer. He immediately stood up and said to the people behind him, "Everyone wait a moment. I have something urgent to do. I'll close the door first..."

"Then what should we do?" The people behind immediately became dissatisfied, "We have been waiting for several days and you just opened the door. We can't wait in vain?"

"Yes, yes, my family is waiting for money urgently!"

"That's right, you can't close the store. You have to collect our goods before leaving. Didn't you say there are still twenty minutes?"

Li Long smiled and said:

"I'm just locking the door first. I'll be back later. You guys can still line up. I'll be back in no more than half an hour. Come on, I'll settle the bill for the leather first. Those behind you, please step back and wait in the yard. I won't lock the door to my yard. Is that okay?"

"That's pretty much it."

Li Xiangqian sighed:
"Your purchasing station is quite prosperous. You can collect a lot of things every day."

"Not bad." Li Long smiled, collected the leather on the counter, settled the bill, then locked the door and drove the jeep to the supply and marketing cooperative.

Li Xiangqian was riding a bicycle behind, looking unhappy: "Hey, I am worse off than an extra-staff purchasing clerk, really..."

Li Long drove to the supply and marketing cooperative and was about to go to the purchasing section chief's office when he discovered that there was another person sitting in the section chief's seat. He vaguely remembered that this person was an old employee of the purchasing department.

"Hey, Xiao Li is here? Did the director find you? The call was answered in the director's office, you have to go there."

The new section chief named Zhou Yuan was very enthusiastic towards Li Long: "The phone hasn't come in yet, please sit down first, I'll pour you some water..."

This enthusiasm is not like that of a section chief at all.

Zhou Yuan naturally knew that Li Long was Director Li's trusted and beloved general, so as a section chief, he should not take advantage of him and should just treat him as a peer.

"Thank you, Section Chief Zhou." Li Long took the water and said with a smile, "Congratulations! I was negligent in my duty. I only found out about your promotion to Section Chief..."

"Hey, you're different from the rest of us. As the section chief, I'm here to serve everyone... By the way, Xiao Li, I have something to ask you. Do you have any wolf tooth or thigh stone? Can you make one for me? My nephew is turning one year old and he's a little timid. I want to make a..."

"I have it now." Li Long took out a wolf thigh stone from his jacket pocket and handed it over. "Tie a red string and wear it. They say it can ward off evil spirits. Let's just give it some peace of mind."

"Okay, okay, thank you!" Zhou Yuan took it with a smile.

What is the fastest way to get closer to people? Either give them gifts, things they like, or owe them favors, neither too big nor too small, so that it is easy to repay them later. Over and over again, the relationship becomes closer.

After drinking some water and chatting, Li Xiangqian also entered the yard. Li Long stood up, greeted Zhou Yuan, then went out to the corridor and entered the director's office with Li Xiangqian.

The call will take a while. Li Long smiled and asked Li Xiangqian:
"Comrade Director, what do you think about this office change?"

"Feelings are bullshit. I only realized after becoming a director that there are too many relationships to deal with. This position looks comfortable and the level is high, but to be honest, it's really scary."

"It's not that exaggerated, right?" Li Long picked up the thermos, refilled Li Xiangqian's cup with water, poured himself some water, and sat on the wooden sofa holding the cup, sighing:

"Hey, this director's office is bigger than the section chief's office, and it's more comfortable. Section chief, I think something is wrong. Why don't you change the things in here? It seems to be arranged the same as when Director Wei was here?"

"What's there to change?" Li Xiangqian waved his hand. "I think this place is pretty good. When Director Wei was here, most of these things were purchased with my help. When he left, he basically didn't take anything with him, so these things are just placed here. By the way, let's continue with your business. Why did you bring the experts from the Agricultural College here? Do you have any new ideas?"

"That's what happened. You've been to our team before," Li Long thought for a moment and explained, "There are a lot of wastelands in our team, but most of them are saline-alkali land. I was thinking that if we could improve them into fertile fields, how much more grain could we produce and how many more cash crops could we grow?"

"You want experts from the Agricultural College to help you improve the saline-alkali land? Go away! If they are capable of doing this, then how many saline-alkali lands are there in our northern border? Wouldn't they have been reclaimed long ago? Are they still waiting for you to do it?" Li Xiangqian is no lazy person. He used to follow the grain procurement team to various places to purchase grain, so he is very clear about the land situation in Ma County.

"Didn't I just give them an idea?" Li Long didn't argue with Li Xiangqian, and slowly explained: "In the past, we had less chemical fertilizers and mainly used farmyard manure. If we wanted to improve the saline-alkali land, we could only soak it in water to remove the alkali on the surface. We could plant crops that year, but the alkali in the soil would rise again in the second year.

Now we have more and more types of fertilizers. We can apply fertilizers in a targeted manner according to the soil conditions. If there is too much alkalinity, we can use acidic fertilizers. Then the acid and alkali will be neutralized. This is taught in middle school chemistry..."

"Do you still remember high school chemistry? I heard from your brother that you didn't study hard when you were in school and didn't even graduate from junior high school. Now you're showing off this to me?" Li Xiangqian was a little confused.

"Well... I have a wife who is good at studying." Li Long said with a smile, "I am not a good student, but she is good at studying, that's all."

"Hey, you really caught me..." Speaking of Li Long's wife, Li Xiangqian thought she was very good. If Li Long was not strong in other aspects, Li Xiangqian would probably think that this was a flower stuck in cow dung.

Li Long just chuckled, a smug laugh.

The phone rang, Li Long stood up but didn't answer it. Li Xiangqian smiled and picked up the phone:
"Hello, this is the Supply and Marketing Cooperative... Professor Luo? OK, OK, Li Long is here, wait a minute..."

Li Long went over and took the microphone. Li Xiangqian stood up and motioned for him to sit in his seat. He then moved to the wooden sofa where Li Long had sat before, and listened to what Li Long had to say while drinking tea.

Professor Luo was also very happy to find Li Long and said with a smile:

"Comrade Li Long, we plan to go to your place tomorrow and take the morning bus. Do you think you can pick us up? We have luggage, some instruments, test equipment, etc."

"No problem. I'll wait for you at the Ma County Bus Station tomorrow morning." Li Long didn't expect Professor Luo to come so soon. He asked, "Professor, how many people are coming this time?"

"I am bringing five students with me. Can you arrange accommodation for me? Don't worry. We don't have high requirements. We just want bedding and separate boys and girls."

"Don't worry about this. It has been arranged long ago. However, the conditions are not very good. You will have to sleep in a large dormitory." Li Long said.

"That's good. We will pay for accommodation and meals. However, we are not very self-reliant students. Eating..."

"Don't worry, I've arranged meals for you. I can't say they'll be good, but they'll definitely fill you up."

"That's fine, nothing else matters." These were the few basic issues that Professor Luo wanted to discuss with Li Long. Since Li Long had already arranged everything, he had nothing to say.

In fact, I only met Li Long once, and the rest was all heard from Professor Wu. Professor Luo was still a little nervous before the call, but now he is relieved.

Next, it depends on the actual situation. Professor Luo thinks that Li Long, such a sunny young man, should not lie or brag, right?

After hanging up the phone, Li Long looked at Li Xiangqian.

"Come over tomorrow, and then you'll go back to the team?"

"Yes, Director, I have to ask you for help this time."

"You say." Li Xiangqian saw that Li Long had not sat down in his seat before, so he sat back down with the jar in his hand. "Don't ask for too much. I just took office here, and there are so many eyes watching me."

"I just want to ask the institute to coordinate a large truck. There are six people coming with Professor Luo, and my jeep can't accommodate them... and there are a lot of luggage and experimental equipment."

"That's no problem. Tomorrow morning, right? OK, I'll call the head of transportation later and you can go see him tomorrow morning." Li Xiangqian smiled. It was Gaga's matter.

"Now that you're back in the team, what about your purchasing station?" Li Xiangqian asked, "It's not a good idea for you to run back and forth by yourself."

"There's nothing we can do for now. We can't find the right person." Li Long smiled bitterly. "Let's just stick with it for now. It will only take a day or two for the team to stay there. I'll arrange for them to stay and I'll be back after the experiment starts. At most, I'll go there once every morning and evening. We have a jeep, so it's convenient."

Now Li Long has to split his business into three parts, and he is really tired.

"Then this year we are going to take down the leader, do you still want to do it?" Li Xiangqian asked, "Can you coordinate it?"

"That's definitely no problem." Li Long said with a smile, "I'll just organize people to go into the mountains and take over the inspection."

"Okay, I believe you." Li Xiangqian said with a smile, "The task will be given before the end of this month. It is said that this year's tasks will not be more than last year, but the price will be higher. The requirement is still the same, the quality must meet the requirements."

"Don't worry, Director. I care most about quality." Li Long said seriously.

After leaving the supply and marketing cooperative, Li Long went to the purchasing station to collect the goods from the remaining people. During this time, there were more people in the yard.

Li Long kept collecting the things until it was almost time to get off work. Seeing that there was no one behind him, he quickly locked the door and simply left the things at the collection station instead of moving them to the jeep. Then he drove the jeep to the team.

On the road, I met students going home from school. Most of the middle school and primary school students walked in groups of three or four, laughing and playing on the road. When they heard the sound of a jeep, they would quickly hide on the side of the road and wait for the car to pass.

Li Long knew that Li Juan and Li Qiang were both riding bicycles and should have reached their homes by now, so he drove directly to the Laomahao.

Uncle Luo and his friends were drying the sugar residue. The door of the sheep pen was open, so Yang Laoliu should not have returned from herding the sheep yet.

Seeing the jeep coming in, Lao Shu Luo waited for Li Long to get off and said with a smile:

"Is this urgent? Is that professor coming over?"

"Well, come over tomorrow. Let's start slaughtering pigs tomorrow morning," Li Long said. "I'll tell my eldest brother, Daqiang and the others to come and help. It will be morning when they arrive tomorrow, so it's just right for the pig-killing meal. Let's welcome them now."

"Okay." Uncle Luo had no objection. "It depends on who we invite. There will be no problem on our side. They are professors and college students. We must not treat them unfairly. They are all educated people and are precious."

It has been a tradition in China since ancient times that scholars have a high status. By the end of the 1980s, the four teams had produced no more than two college students, which was very valuable.

Even if they are not the God of Literature who has descended to earth, they are still powerful figures and should not be treated badly.

After Li Long informed them, he went to each household to inform them. As for slaughtering pigs, Uncle Luo and his men could actually do it, but as they got older, their movements would inevitably be slower, so it would be better to ask some strong laborers to come and help.

Of course, it is not in vain. Tao Daqiang, Xie Yundong, Jia Weidong, Liang Dacheng and other families will get a piece of the meat in due time, which can be regarded as the advance dividend of this year's partnership.

Well, that's it.

Li Long gave the order, and after a round of discussion, everyone readily agreed to come. Even Wang Caimi said that he would come and kill the pig early tomorrow morning and then he would go to plow the fields for other families.

What a great honor! (End of this chapter)