Rebirth of Bayi Fishing and Hunting in the Northwest

After Li Xiangqian informed Li Long, Li Long left the supply and marketing cooperative and drove his jeep directly to Team 4.

In the Li family's yard, Li Qingxia was picking up nets and Du Chunfang was tending to the vegetable field. They were both very happy to see Li Long coming over.

"My elder brother and sister-in-law went to the fields?" Li Long asked after getting off the jeep.

"Well, we went to thin out the seedlings in the field above the sea."

Du Chunfang saw that Li Long was in a hurry, and pointed directly to the north, "Can your car drive over there?"

"Yes, the road over there is fine on sunny days." Li Long did not explain what happened. He said hello to his parents, then hurriedly got into the car, started the engine and backed up to rush to the field.

He found his elder brother Li Jianguo in the field.

Winter wheat is growing well this year, so the two brothers of the Li family have divided their land together, planting wheat on one side and sunflowers on the other. The sunflower seedlings have now broken through the soil and are growing, and Li Jianguo and Liang Yuemei are thinning them out.

When sowing crops, there will be an excess of seeds. For example, if there are 6,000 seedlings per acre of land, 10,000 to 20,000 seeds may be sown during sowing. This is mainly because people are afraid that the seeds are not suitable or there are problems with the land. In addition, the weather may affect the growth of seedlings, so the seeds are basically more than normal.

But usually, unless there is a serious disaster, there will be no problem in producing more than 80% of the seedlings. This often leads to more seedlings. Of course, it is better to have more than less.

When the seedlings grow three to five centimeters above the ground and are basically stable, you can thin them out. Except for crops like wheat, this does not require thinning. Other crops planted here, including corn, oil sunflower, flower sunflower, melons, etc., all require thinning.

After all, if they are planted too densely, the seedlings will compete for nutrients and will not grow well, so a certain distance between the seedlings must be maintained.

When did thinning out no longer become necessary? It took more than 20 years. At that time, cotton was planted with a seed drill or drill. One or two seeds were planted in each hole and covered with a film. The survival rate was high, so thinning out did not occur.

It's still early.

Thinning out seedlings is hard and tiring work. One has to squat on the ground and stop after each step, leaving the strongest ones in the bunch of seedlings and removing the rest.

Some seedlings have very deep roots, and the soil is relatively dry and easily compacted, so if you don't pull them out properly, you only need to pull out the head of the seedling, and it will continue to grow.

It's OK if there's less land, but if there's more land, then twenty mu of land, even if you dig a row of half a meter, it's more than 20,000 meters, how many steps do you have to squat and move? At the end of the day, you're almost exhausted.

The eldest brother Li Jianguo wore a hat, and the eldest sister-in-law Liang Yuemei wore a headscarf. The wind was strong in early spring, and in just a few days, the faces of both of them had become dark.

Farmers work hard, facing the earth and with their backs to the sky.

Decades later, Li Long looked at the mechanized, large-scale and even unmanned farmland and wondered how farming could be so easy now? Why was it so hard before?

Li Long walked into the field. He was in a daze and realized that he had hardly stayed in the farmland since he was reborn at the end of August 1. Farming seemed to be a very far away thing from him.

If I put myself back into the ground, would I still be able to endure this hardship?

It's hard to say.

"What happened? Why are you here?" Li Jianguo was leaning against the tractor drinking water at the edge of the field. Since the beginning of spring, the Li family has to boil a pot of tea every morning after dinner - boil water, break up the brick tea blocks in the teapot, and pour the boiling water into it to make a big pot of tea.

After finishing the odd jobs around the house in the morning, the temperature of the tea in the teapot dropped a little, and then I poured the tea into a plastic cage - what is called a briefcase in some areas of the south.

At this time, there is no such thing as plastic pollution or microplastics. These plastic cages can be used to hold hot tea, wine, and honey.

When working in the fields, of the five kilograms of tea in the basket, only one or two kilograms might be left by noon - in the 1980s, the dry climate in northern Xinjiang at the beginning of spring was no joke. Li Long himself once had a nosebleed while working.

"Four thousand of the people who made the handles survived," Li Long said. "The price is higher this year."

"Can it be more expensive than last year?" Li Jianguo was a little surprised.

Now that there were no outsiders around, he dared to speak up. Last year, Li Long paid him the full price. Others took four yuan for each porter, but he took eight yuan.

He can earn about one thousand yuan per season, which is not a small amount of money!

Nowadays, the gross income of an average family from farming for a year is less than 1,000 yuan.

This is the case in northern Xinjiang where there is more land. In areas with less land, the annual gross income of two or three hundred is already a lot at the current level.

"This year, a porter gets nine yuan, but next year there may not be such a job."

Liang Yuemei led the next row of seedlings over, and when she reached the end of the field, she stood up and walked over, smiling and saying:
"Xiaolong is here, is there something urgent?"

"Well, the one who carried the bag survived." Li Long said.

"Then you go, Jianguo." Liang Yuemei knew that she could make money by being a porter, and she also knew that her family earned more than others, so she had to thank her brother-in-law for this.

Li Jianguo looked at the land, hesitated for a moment and said:
"I haven't finished transplanting the sunflower seedlings yet. I still need to water them..."

"Then don't worry about it." Liang Yuemei was very decisive at this time, "It's not like I can't do this job. Besides, you can earn a lot of money in a season as a braided braid, and you can get cash. Xiaolong will take care of you... How can I not go?"

"Brother, this is what I think." Li Long said, "Just like last year, we will send a group from our team, Wenyu will continue to call, and Qingshuihe Village will also be included. So, we can have about 30 people. The task is to have 4,000 people to carry the banners, and it will be completed in ten days."

Li Long's meaning was very clear. This time, the grouping of the leaders did not need to last for a month like the first year. The people he took with him were all good laborers. If they were taken away for a long time, it would have a great impact on the agricultural life of the fourth team.

But if it is only ten days, it is still acceptable. After all, the spring sowing has passed. After the seedlings grow out, the next step is thinning, weeding, watering, applying fertilizers, etc.

Liang Yuemei can also drive a tractor, and with her father Li Qingxia and mother Du Chunfang to help her at home, it shouldn't be a problem.

Then go for it.

"Then I'll go talk to Xie Yundong and Xu Haijun now." Li Long said, "Let them do the organizing."

"Xiaolong, don't leave in a hurry. Let me ask you, do you use your tractor regularly?"

"Not very useful." Li Long said.

"Then come back this afternoon and take me to the county. Your sister-in-law wants to use this tractor to farm, so I have to drive your tractor to the mountains." Li Jianguo said, "Do you think it's okay?"

"How can it not be possible?" Li Long smiled. This would definitely be possible.

After agreeing on a time, Li Long went to find Xie Yundong - he did not go to Xie Yundong's home, and at this time of year, Xie Yundong should probably be in the fields as well.

Organizing human and material resources is an offensive job. Xie Yundong has been doing this for three or four years and he can convince everyone to do this job. Of course, Li Jianguo can do it too, but Li Long means that his own brother does not need to work so hard and can just make money by organizing a group of people.

Xie Yundong was also in the field. When Li Long found him, he was weeding in the sunflower field. At that time, people had not yet used plastic film to grow crops. The grass in the field grew quickly, especially the reeds. It was as if they could not be killed. As long as a few roots were left in the field and the soil was turned over when the field was plowed, a clump of reeds would grow in the second year. If they were not pulled out by the roots, they would continue to grow after being weeded out.

It will take another ten years before a specific medicine for reeds is available, and it will kill them with one wipe.

After Li Long told him about the weaving of the handlebars, Xie Yundong stopped weeding, put away his tools, and drove the tractor back to the team.

Making money is the real thing.

Li Long told Tao Daqiang on the way that although he would not go, his father would definitely go. Then he went to the Lao Mahao. Xie Yundong would notify Jia Weidong, Liang Dacheng and others.

Xu Haijun was holding a shovel and helping a few college students to dig soil from the saline-alkali land at Laomahao.

The first step in soil testing and fertilization is to understand the key elements in the soil, so that you can then choose the right fertilizer to neutralize the salt and alkali in the soil.

It sounds simple, but it is very complicated to operate.

"Navy, the job of making a band is here. Are you still going to do it this year?" Li Long asked. "If you don't do it this year, I'll find someone else."

He knew very well what Xu Haijun was thinking, but he had to tell him about this matter to avoid complaints later.

Xu Haijun was a little confused.

He has just become a little familiar with these students, and he is a little reluctant to go to the mountains now.

But he was reluctant to give up the job. After returning home, Xu Haijun stayed at home to work. After seeing the life outside, he no longer wanted to continue being a farmer. However, as he was not married yet, he could not leave the family and live alone.

Although he had been a soldier for two years, he had been in the barracks and had little contact with the outside world. He had no idea what kind of business he should make.

He originally wanted to follow Li Long and observe to see if there was any job suitable for him, but he didn't want to be inferior to Li Long, which was a bit embarrassing.

Now that there were female students here again, Xu Haijun stayed for two days and took a liking to He Lijuan.

He Lijuan is from Miquan County, which is not far from Ma County. Unlike Zhu Yuechan, who is from Kouli, she will be assigned back after graduating from university. It is too far away.

He had already found out that He Lijuan came from a well-off family and had a cheerful personality, which Xu Haijun liked very much.

Although He Lijuan was not as pretty as Gu Xiaoxia and Wu Shufen, she had the advantage of being a college student with good temperament and unusual conversation, which was very attractive to Xu Haijun.

However, the two have just known each other and are still a long way from talking about marriage. Now is the critical period of getting to know each other. Xu Haijun feels that if he works hard, he may be able to deepen their relationship.

Should we go at this time?
"Please think about it. I still have to go to the south to inform Liang Wenyu and the others." Li Long did not urge Xu Haijun. This matter did require careful consideration.

Li Long did not want to comment on Xu Haijun's pursuit of female college students. To be honest, he could see that among the two female students, He Lijuan was indeed a bit naive, had little experience, had not met many bad people, and thought that people outside were quite good.

As for whether I have a destiny with Xu Haijun, it’s hard to say.

He didn't get involved either. At this time, the main thing was to get the job done.

Of course, he would not remind Professor Luo about this matter. These college students are adults and have their own judgment.

Li Long drove a jeep to Liang's house.

Liang Donglou and Liang Wenyu are repairing farm tools. The village has little land, so growing food is not economically profitable. Now they have started to grow cash crops - this year they are growing green onions. Green onions need the green onion bulbs to grow tall, heavy, and valuable. This requires "embracing the green onion", which means burying the main body of the green onion with soil, leaving only the leaves on top, and letting it continue to grow upwards. The part buried in the soil will be the green onion bulbs, and it will grow longer and longer.

Yongcong used a thinner shovel than the ordinary shovel. Although this place is only two or three kilometers away from the fourth team, the commonly used farm tools are really different.

There is also a tool called a planer rake, which is actually a rectangular hoe. It is completely different from the chopping block and round hoe used by Team 4.

Seeing Li Long coming, Liang Donglou, Liang Wenyu and Chen Xiuzhu who was working in the vegetable garden all came over to say hello.

"Uncle Liang, I came here to tell Wenyu that the job of making the handles is still available this year. If Wenyu doesn't have much to do, he can go again like last year. The salary for making handles is five yuan this year, but there may be no such job next year."

This production team had relatively few natural resources, with no reeds or sedge, so the only job Li Long could help the Liang family with was carrying the handles.

Of course, Li Long will definitely be able to find other work to help the Liang family in the future.

If Liang Wenyu didn't have a bright future, Li Long would even think about getting him to the purchasing station to help him run the store.

This is also someone who can be trusted.

"Okay," Liang Wenyu stood up at once, "I'll go and inform them now... They came to me a few days ago and asked me if there was any work for the band this year. They made some money last year, and they even spoke differently at home."

"Go ahead." Liang Donglou knew what his son was thinking, and waved his hand, saying, "Your mother and I will take care of the housework. Go over there and do your best. Don't let Xiaolong down."

"Don't worry, Dad. It won't happen." Liang Wenyu left in a hurry.

After Li Long chatted with Liang Donglou for a few more words, he drove away in the jeep. He also had to tell He Yuqing and Meng Hai about this matter.

Qingshui River is also one of Li Long's bases. He Yuqing and Meng Hai are very good to Li Long and they will definitely not abandon them in this matter.

When Li Long found He Yuqing, he was discussing something with Meng Hai in the team headquarters.

"Hey, Comrade Li Long, we thought it was time for you to come over." Meng Hai watched Li Long's jeep drive into the yard, smiled and came out to greet Li Long who got out of the car, "Is it time for the job of carrying the handle?"

"Yes." Li Long shook hands with the two men and said, "The standards and scale have not changed. I'm still the same. I come here every three days. Five yuan each. This is the only year I can carry the broom. Next year I can only wait to tie up the big broom."

"One year's earnings are one year's earnings. One year's earnings are good enough." Five yuan a person can make one hundred pieces of work, that's five hundred yuan, which is equivalent to some workers' annual wages!
That’s a lot!
"Okay then, I'll come over to inform you. I'll go back now. I also need to prepare..."

"That won't do. We have to eat here anyway... Let's go to my house!" Meng Hai pulled Li Long out, but was stopped by He Yuqing: "We are already at my house, how can we go to yours? Stay here and eat at my house! By the way, Comrade Li Long, your child is almost one year old, right? I have some eggs here for you to take back and feed to your sister-in-law and the child to supplement their nutrition."

"Then I'll go back and catch two chickens," Meng Hai said sincerely, "and come back later."

Li Long also knew that he couldn't leave. Anyway, he had already notified everyone he needed to notify today, so there was nothing wrong with having a meal here.

In the fourth team, Jiang Zhiyu has interviewed Professor Luo and several college students. She found that one of the key links is Li Long. So Jiang Zhiyu wants to interview Li Long about his plans for this saline-alkali land and Lao Mahao.

But this morning, Li Long shot a cow and left. When she came over, Li Long had already returned to the county. Although she saw the jeep afterwards, it was only from a distance and she couldn't catch up with it even if she wanted to.

In desperation, he had to ask Uncle Luo about Li Long.

At this time, Xie Yundong and his team had already started packing their luggage. Since the porters had survived, they could not wait any longer and quickly gathered the people, prepared the supplies, and then went into the mountains to start making money.

This is business.

"Xiaolong, he has been very smart these past two years." Old Uncle Luo said cheerfully, "He gave the land to his elder brother to farm, let us raise the livestock, and pay wages to us five-guarantee households - hey, we can get wages too.

Every year he takes on work for people in the team, such as making handles and tying large brooms. Just these jobs make our team much richer than other teams.

Besides, there are thousands of acres of saline-alkali land in our team. It would be a big deal if we could improve it! I said that Xiaolong is a generous person, and his thoughts are different from those of ordinary people... He is amazing!"

After Jiang Zhiyu interviewed Lao Shu and others, he found Xu Haijun. Xu Haijun was worrying about whether to go into the mountains or seize the current opportunity to chase He Lijuan, but he was caught by Jiang Zhiyu.

He was a village cadre, so it was difficult for him to refuse. Then they started talking about Li Long - Xu Haijun was so upset. It was ok for college students to ask him about Li Long, but it was quite a blow to him because you, a village cadre, also asked about him.

But he couldn't help but talk about it, so he had to patiently tell him about some of Li Long's past - after all, he had been in the army for two years and hadn't participated, so he was talking about the past.

Xu Haijun even embellished it a little, but what Li Long did before was indeed not very reliable. It could be said that he was enthusiastic, but his enthusiasm was not on the right track.

There have been some changes in the past two years, but the change was a bit too fast.

After interviewing Xu Haijun, Jiang Zhiyu was a little confused. Was Li Long a prodigal son who turned over a new leaf after being fired, or was his previous enthusiasm not used in the right way and was later turned around?
She didn't understand either.

But since Li Long was not there, she couldn't catch him and naturally had no way to answer the question.

In the evening, He Lijuan and Zhu Yuechan, who were tired after a day of work, soaked their feet, lay on the bunk bed and chatted in low voices.

I have to say that young people are very adaptable. After only a few days, the two of them have gotten used to the life here. They even feel that it is not bad to continue like this, which is better than being in school.

"Lijuan, Xu Haijun seems to have a different eye on you these past few days. Is he pursuing you?" Zhu Yuechan turned sideways and looked at He Lijuan beside her.

"No way?" He Lijuan was a little slow in emotions, the kind that realized things after a while. She shook her head and said, "He was quite polite and enthusiastic towards you."

"I feel differently. He is more enthusiastic and proactive towards you. I think he wants to pursue you as his girlfriend."

"If I want to pursue someone, I should pursue you." He Lijuan didn't care and said with a smile, "You are prettier than me, petite and delicate, and you can do so many housework, and you are also good at studying. If it were me, I would definitely pursue you."

"That's different. My family probably thinks I will go back to my hometown after graduation, right?" Zhu Yuechan analyzed, "You are different. You are in the same state, so the distance is relatively close... Besides, you are pretty and your family is well-off..."

"Hehe, let's stop bragging to each other. Maybe they don't have such intentions at all... In fact, I think that Li Long is quite amazing. He has built such a big business before graduating from high school. He is about the same age as us. There are no such amazing people among our male classmates."

"Lijuan, you wouldn't fall in love with him, would you? He is married..." Zhu Yuechan hurriedly reminded her.

"No, no, I'm just comparing. By the way, I feel that Xu Haijun is more manly than our classmates...

It’s just a little vulgar.”

If Xu Haijun knew what the female college student said about him, he would probably be angry. (End of this chapter)