Rebirth of Bayi Fishing and Hunting in the Northwest

The next day, Li Xiangqian came to the supply and marketing cooperative with a rosy face. Zhou Yuan, the purchasing manager, had already arrived at the office early. He watched Li Xiangqian riding his bicycle into the yard from the window. He immediately walked to the door with a rag. When Li Xiangqian came over, Zhou Yuan smiled and greeted him:

"The director is here? You came pretty early today!"

This is almost a daily routine during normal working hours.

Zhou Yuan had just finished greeting when he suddenly noticed something strange. He pointed at Li Xiangqian's head and asked:

"Director, why is there a little gray in your hair?"

Li Xiangqian was not surprised. He smiled and said:
"It's nothing, it's just a little bit of blood heat."

At that time, people generally had more hair. Although Li Xiangqian could not be said to have long, shiny black hair, he definitely had more hair than the average 30-year-old person in later generations. It was just that a tuft of hair had turned white, which was more conspicuous, a bit like the highlights in later generations.

Zhou Yuan didn't know the reason, but Li Xiangqian knew it himself. It was caused by the drink he drank yesterday. The drink was too strong, and although he took measures after returning home, the drink still turned a tuft of his hair white.

Of course, compared with the benefits brought by this glass of wine, this tuft of white hair is nothing.

Li Long is really thoughtful. Li Xiangqian walked to his office, thinking with emotion, it's just that the amount of wine in the bottle is a little small. Based on the amount he drank yesterday, he could only drink it about ten or twenty times. I wonder if I can get some more later.

Li Xiangqian was quite satisfied, and Director Qian and Director Wei had similar ideas.

There are some things that don't need to be said too much. When people reach middle age, they understand everything. It's not that they are unable to do things, but they are definitely not as good as when they were young.

Practice is the only criterion for testing truth. Both leaders were able to accept Li Long's alternative way of expressing gratitude.

Early in the morning, while eating, Li Long told Gu Boyuan that he planned to go into the mountains today to bring Sun Jiaqiang back, settle him in the purchasing station, and help Gu Boyuan.

Gu Boyuan naturally had no objection. He was very busy during this period. Although Li Long was helping him, Gu Boyuan also knew that Li Long had several things to do and it was impossible for him to stay at the purchasing station all the time.

If you can find a helper for yourself, that would be the best.

Gu Boyan had heard about Sun Jiaqiang's affairs. Li Long had tested this young man for two or three years and found him to be quite reliable.

Li Long drove the jeep into the mountains. This time there was nothing in the car. He planned to bring back some things from the mountains.

When the jeep passed the Qingshui River, Li Long found that there were fewer people moving around in the fields. He guessed that a considerable number of them must have followed Meng Hai to the mountains to cut poles.

Come to think of it, there is not much work in the fields now, and there are many idle people. Cutting a pole can earn 50 or 60 cents, and it is no problem to make 20 or 30 yuan a day. If you look closely, you can see that some people have piled up a lot of poles in their yards. Some elderly people are not convenient to go to the mountains to cut poles, so they sit in the yard to straighten and peel the poles for later processing.

Meng Hai is a good leader. Rural areas these days need people like him to step forward and lead everyone to prosperity.

Li Long did not stop here, but drove straight into the mountains. At the wooden house, Sun Jiaqiang was standing by the table, turning over and drying Fritillaria.

Sun Jiaqiang was very happy to see the jeep coming. He waved to Li Long in the jeep and continued to do his own thing.

On the wooden floor in front of the cabin, mother-of-pearls are drying on the large table. They are cleaned very well and look like a piece of white pearl.

After getting off the car, Li Long went to the case and asked Sun Jiaqiang:
"How are you these past two days? The Fritillaria season is almost over, so there should be fewer people coming to exchange Fritillaria, right?"

"Yes, there are basically one or two people every day these two days." Sun Jiaqiang nodded and said, "The old relatives have come to say hello, saying that they are planning to go down the mountain in groups at night. This way they are not afraid of wolves, nor do they worry about being caught by forest rangers."

"That's a good idea." Li Long nodded. Wolves in mountainous areas rarely form large groups. If three or five people gather together and hold a stick, they will not be afraid of wolves. There are many wild animals grazing in the mountains, and wolves generally will not go against groups of people. Unless they can't find food in winter, wolves rarely attack people. After all, bipedal animals are also very dangerous to wolves.

"Then let's go down the mountain." Li Long said to Sun Jiaqiang, "I'll take you to the barber shop after we go down the mountain, get your hair done, change your clothes, and then go to work at my purchasing station. As for your household registration, it can be processed in the next two days."

"Really? Then won't you stay for two more days?" Sun Jiaqiang couldn't believe his ears. Could he really go down the mountain and work steadily?
Although collecting Fritillaria in the mountains is an easy job and the food is good, to be honest, after staying in the mountains for a long time, Sun Jiaqiang feels like a savage.

At the beginning, he was worried that those who dug Fritillaria would harm him, so every time someone came to exchange Fritillaria, he would take a knife or a stick.

But as time went by, Sun Jiaqiang even began to look forward to those people coming. When they came, there would be someone to talk to him and chat with him, proving that he was not alone in the mountains.

If Li Long hadn't come to deliver supplies every now and then, Sun Jiaqiang really might not have been able to hold on.

Now that the hard work has finally paid off, Sun Jiaqiang himself is a little hesitant.

"Boss, should I stay for two more days? Although the Fritillaria are beginning to bloom, there must be people digging them in the mountains. I think we can still get some more Fritillaria. We haven't replaced all the supplies in the hut yet..."

"No more waiting." Li Long waved his hand. "We don't need that much. The purchasing station buys more than 100 kilograms of dried Fritillaria every day. Although the price is high, those Fritillaria have basically been collected, and the supply is relatively stable. You help my father-in-law at the purchasing station. You are a worker after all. You do a decent job, which is better than here."

"What if someone else wants to exchange things?" Sun Jiaqiang has a strong sense of responsibility.

"It's simple. Once the door is locked, we can just hang a sign to clearly state that we won't be changing it this year." Li Long said, "We can't wait until everyone stops coming before closing the door. We can't waste that time."

Since Li Long had made the decision, Sun Jiaqiang no longer had any concerns. He immediately went into the house to get a bag of urea and started to dig out the Fritillaria that had not yet dried.

Li Long also began to pack up the supplies in the cabin. There were not many things left that had not been exchanged, half a bag of rice, half a bag of noodles, and the instant food such as canned noodles, egg cakes, and sesame cakes that were stored here were all gone.

The supplies were loaded onto the jeep, the Fritillaria were also placed in the trunk, and finally Sun Jiaqiang's personal belongings.

Li Long did not move the bedding. He felt that he would have to go up the mountain when he had time later. He also kept the stove, pots and other things in the big house, and did not move the jar of pickles in the corner.

When Sun Jiaqiang got into the car with his bag, he turned around and looked at the wooden house with some emotion. He had been staying here for a month and had developed some feelings for it.

Li Long sat in the driver's seat and said jokingly, "Why, you still can't bear to leave? If you can't bear to leave, come back next year when we change to Fritillaria."

"Hey, come on." Sun Jiaqiang wasn't sure whether Li Long was joking or serious, but he didn't think coming here to exchange things was a bad job.

You can decide what, how and how much to change by yourself. Although Li Long is the real boss, you are the one who controls these degrees. You have a strong sense of autonomy, and Sun Jiaqiang quite likes this feeling.

Most of the people who come to dig Fritillaria to exchange for things have to listen to their own opinions. Although a small number of people are a bit stubborn or troublesome, it is not impossible to negotiate with them.

This will definitely not be the case when you go to the purchasing station, and you will have to have a sense of service at that time. Sun Jiaqiang knew this without Li Long reminding him.

"You have worked here for a month. I roughly calculated that the dried fringe shells you received in exchange should be around 700 to 800 kilograms. I will pay you 400 yuan. Take this money and buy yourself a nice outfit and some daily necessities when you get to the county.

In the future, your basic salary will be 50 yuan, and you will get a bonus if you do a good job. The amount of this bonus is uncertain. If you collect a lot of things and get good reviews from everyone, then the bonus will be high, otherwise it will be low, or even zero.

I will try to get your household registration done in the next two days, but I have to say this in advance: I can only give you a rural household registration, and without any land.

The main content of your job is to help my father-in-law purchase various supplies. My father-in-law knows the prices of various items, so you just need to assist him.

When I am busy, I am responsible for collecting the things, and when I am free, I will process the things I have collected. For example, the mother-of-pearl needs to be cleaned, and the leather needs to be combed.

My father-in-law knows this well. Just listen to him. He went to college when he was young, so he knows a lot. You can ask him for advice if you have any questions. There are rooms and beds in the purchasing station. You can live there. I will deliver food to you in the first two days, but you will have to cook for yourself in the purchasing station later."

Li Long did not plan to invite Sun Jiaqiang to the big yard for dinner. Sun Jiaqiang was different from Sister Yang and the others. He was his first formal employee. This relationship had to be made clear and could not be made inappropriate.

Sun Jiaqiang listened to everything and had no objection at all.

Previously, he had told Li Long that if he could get his household registration, he would work for free for this month. Now Li Long had promised to help him get his household registration, gave him this month's wages, and arranged a long-term job for him with a good salary. What else could he ask for?

It’s hard to find even with a lantern!

When leaving the mountain, Li Long could see some people cutting poles in the ditches, but he didn't care. The jeep drove out of the mountain quickly. He was still thinking about asking Sun Jiaqiang to get himself ready in the morning so that he could help Gu Boyuan with the work in the afternoon.

After arriving in the county, Li Long took Sun Jiaqiang to a state-owned barber shop. Before entering the shop, Li Long first gave Sun Jiaqiang 100 yuan and told him that it was time to deal with his own affairs. After everything was done, he would go to the purchasing station to start working.

The remaining 300 yuan will be given to Sun Jiaqiang after he settles down.

Sun Jiaqiang certainly had no objection. After getting off the jeep, he saw the pedestrians passing by, the rows of houses, and the occasional car passing by, and felt that he had finally returned to the world.

Haircut, bath, clothes shopping.

One hundred yuan really doesn't go far, so Sun Jiaqiang rushed to the purchasing station with a few bags before lunch - the county town is so small that he could find out the location of the purchasing station by just asking.

When he saw people queuing up to buy things in the yard of the purchasing station, Sun Jiaqiang understood why Li Long had pulled him over in advance.

If business was this good every day, one person would not be able to handle it.

"Make way, make way, let me go in first." Sun Jiaqiang shouted as he walked in.

"Everyone is lining up to buy things, why should we give you the first chance?" someone shouted dissatisfiedly.

"I'm a new guy," Sun Jiaqiang explained, "I'm not here to sell goods."

Everyone gave way with some doubt. Sun Jiaqiang came to the door and saw the person receiving the goods inside. He immediately greeted him:

"Uncle Gu, right? Boss Li asked me to come and report to you."

Boss Li? Gu Boyuan knew Sun Jiaqiang, and seeing that he had packed up fairly neatly, he smiled and said:
"Come in. Your dormitory is the second room on the east side. Put your things in there and pack up, then come over to help. You're here pretty early, huh?"

"Okay, okay, I'll put my things down and come right over." Sun Jiaqiang picked up the bag, quickly went to the dormitory, threw the bag away, and then came out to help.

Although Sun Jiaqiang had never worked at a purchasing station, he had at least trained in the cabin for more than a month. Combined with the experience he gained last year, he was able to follow Gu Boyuan in collecting things without making any mistakes.

Li Long has already said that he, Sun Jiaqiang, was helping Gu Boyuan. Sun Jiaqiang kept this in mind and did not take over the main task. He did whatever Gu Boyan asked him to do. When Gu Boyan didn't say anything, he would help out by weighing and loading the goods. Occasionally, he would sing the same tune with Gu Boyuan and even help to lower the price.

In just half an hour, Gu Boyuan realized that Sun Jiaqiang was quite capable. Although he could not handle things on his own, at least he could be a helper.

"Come on, let's line up. Don't be in a hurry. There are people behind you who will be in line for a while. There is tea by the wall. Come over and have a bowl.

It's hot, let's be more understanding of each other."

Sun Jiaqiang helped while watching outside. When there was less work to do, he went out to maintain order. There were still a few mischievous people who came to sell things. Most of them were relatively obedient. Some of them had been waiting in line for a long time and were resentful, but after hearing Sun Jiaqiang's shouting, they suppressed their anger.

The service here is much better than those in state-owned enterprises, and the price is reasonable. Isn't this what you come here for?
Li Long brought lunch to the purchasing station. He brought two aluminum lunch boxes, half of which were filled with rice and the other half with stir-fried vegetables.

Celery fried with meat, leek fried with eggs. Although it is already May and the weather is getting hot, there are only a few edible vegetables in the vegetable garden. Hairy celery and leek were available last year, and they started growing in the spring this year. Chinese cabbage is mixed with cold sauce, usually eaten in the morning.

The other vegetables cannot be eaten yet; they are just seedlings and have not bloomed yet.

Li Long had already eaten and gave the two lunch boxes to Gu Boyuan and Sun Jiaqiang respectively. He took over the job of purchasing supplies.

There were not many people left at this time. At noon, the people behind were seeing that they could not get in line, so they simply went to eat early and planned to find a good seat after finishing their meal.

Sun Jiaqiang hadn't had a proper meal for a long time. He wolfed down the full lunch box of rice and vegetables in vain. He finished it in ten minutes. He burped twice, scooped half of the lunch box of tea from the bucket by the wall, rinsed it, and drank it down in one gulp.

It has a bit of the feeling of being full and satisfied.

"Boss, let me do it." After Sun Jiaqiang washed the lunch box, he came over to replace Li Long.

"You should help me." Li Long said, "How is it? Can you adapt?"

"No problem." Sun Jiaqiang was quite confident, but he felt that he was a little too confident. He turned his head to look at Gu Boyuan and said, "It depends on whether Uncle Gu approves of me."

"Xiao Sun is still okay." Gu Boyuan ate slowly. He didn't have the stomach of a young man. Now that life was better, Gu Boyuan also wanted to live a few more years and take good care of his internal organs, so he chewed every mouthful of rice a few more times. After swallowing the food in his mouth, he said:

"Very capable. I have no objection."

"Okay, that's it." Li Long said as he packed up his things, "You'll have one day off a week. I'll pay you at the end of the month, how about that?"

"With such good conditions, I will definitely accept it." Sun Jiaqiang said with a smile, "As long as you don't change your mind, I will continue to work here."

The matter was settled like that.

With Sun Jiaqiang joining the team, the work at the purchasing station was back on track. In addition, the Fritillaria season was over. Although there were still many people delivering Fritillaria every day, according to Gu Boyuan's account book, the number of dried Fritillaria collected every day was gradually decreasing from 100 to 90 and then to 80.

When Sun Jiaqiang has free time, he will clean the local Fritillaria that have a lot of unclean residues, select and screen them, and then put them in the backyard of the purchasing station to dry.

Li Long would deliver lunch and dinner to the purchasing station every day, and Sun Jiaqiang would take care of his own breakfast. The purchasing station had a stove, a pot, and running water, so it was quite convenient to cook porridge or something.

There were small Chinese cabbages in the courtyard, and Li Long brought some pickles to Sun Jiaqiang. Sun Jiaqiang would go to the naan stand to buy a pile of naan and put it down.

This is already good.

Anyway, Sun Jiaqiang was very content. Li Long went to the supply and marketing cooperative to tell Li Xiangqian about his household registration. Li Xiangqian naturally had no objection and said it was just a matter of greeting. Of course, Li Long also gave the money for the gift. The money given to Sun Jiaqiang was less than what Li Long had planned, and part of it was used to handle the household registration.

So when Sun Jiaqiang learned that he would have a formal household registration in Ma County in half a month, he was extremely excited.

I have been struggling with this for several years, but to Li Long, it seems like just a few words.

If I had known this earlier, why would I have gone to look for those unlucky relatives?
The real Buddha is right in front of you, but you don’t know how to worship him.

Li Long ignored Sun Jiaqiang's feelings, he had other things to do. The most important thing at the moment was that Professor Luo and his team were about to finish their research on saline-alkali land improvement and leave. (End of this chapter)