Rebirth of Bayi Fishing and Hunting in the Northwest

Chapter 950 The phone call went through, bringing us one step closer to modernization.

As Li Long was about to pay, he casually asked:
Am I one of the first to pay?

"Yes, that's right," the staff member said with a smile. "There aren't many people as proactive as you."

"Could you offer some discounts? Like, how about choosing a number or something?" Li Long knew that when installing telephone lines, the post office (later the telecommunications company) would assign numbers to you, and you had no say in what number they gave you.

"There's nothing we can do about it," the staff member shook his head. "We don't have the authority to allocate phone numbers; it depends on the management."

Li Long knew what was going on.

He asked about some business details and learned that he could activate long-distance service here. After paying the fee, the staff verified his address and told him to go home and wait.

Li Long didn't go home; instead, he drove his Jeep to the supply and marketing cooperative.

When Li Long arrived at the supply and marketing cooperative, he went directly to Li Xiangqian's office.

"Xiaolong, you're back from the mountains?" Li Xiangqian asked as soon as he saw Li Long. "I went to a meeting in the prefecture this time, and I reported this matter. I even made some boastful promises to the leaders. Have you communicated with them properly? Can it be fixed? Don't leave me hanging."

“It can be repaired,” Li Long said. “I went to the mountains, and the tribes there have already held a meeting and agreed to build the road. They even collected a lot of supplies for me, worth twenty or thirty thousand yuan. I plan to add some money to buy a bulldozer specifically for road repair.”

"Hey, you're planning something big, huh?" Li Xiangqian's face lit up with a smile when he heard that the road repair was no longer a problem. "Okay, okay, don't worry, as I said, I'll definitely provide you with supplies. The supply and marketing cooperative doesn't have a lot of funds in this area, but it shouldn't be a problem to add three to five thousand yuan for you."

By the way, have you made any plans? When will the repairs start? Shouldn't you contact the reporters and the county's publicity officer beforehand?

"Yes, I'll take care of this in the next couple of days," Li Long said. "I should be able to get Manager Ma over by then."

"Okay, okay, I trust you to handle things." With everything he cared about settled, Li Xiangqian relaxed. "What brings you here?"

“Now that the county has started providing program-controlled telephones, private households can get telephones installed, so I was thinking of getting them installed in my home, at the purchasing station, and in my older brother's village. I paid the money, but they told me I couldn't choose the number; the right to choose the number was with the leaders. That's why I came to you.”

"I knew you wouldn't come here unless you needed something." Li Xiangqian chuckled. "It's nothing big, just choosing a phone number... You're something else, installing three phones. Each one must have cost several thousand, right?"

"It's necessary for business. We made some money from this purchasing station last year, and this year we need to get business from the factories in the area, so this phone is definitely a must-have."

"Don't worry, we're not jealous of you. We all know how hard you worked to earn that money. Director Qian even gave us a special commendation this time, saying that you have the courage and ideas to sell our local specialties, which is a great achievement and brings honor to Beiting Prefecture."

"The number thing is simple. I'll call Lao Liu right now—he works in logistics at the post office, we deal with each other often, he should be able to handle it. By the way, have you thought about what kind of number you want? Don't even think about the really good ones, you can't get them."

“I know that too. So I was thinking, the two numbers in the county seem to start with 666, so let’s make 6661666 and 6662666. The one in the village starts with 661, so let’s make 6616688?”

"This number isn't small, is it? But... it's alright, at least it's not a four- or five-digit consecutive number, so it's fine." Li Xiangqian didn't have much of an opinion about it.

This number looks impressive, but it's really just so-so. In later years, many businesses in the county used five- or six-digit consecutive numbers. Why? Because some of these numbers were held by the post and telecommunications department (later known as the telecommunications company), and you had to pay to get them.

At this point, leaders are afraid of making a bad impression, so they won't choose numbers that are too easy to get.

The area code for Beiting Prefecture is 0994, and the phone number for Beiting City is also 0994, starting with 2. The phone number for Ma County starts with 6. Initially, because there were relatively few phone subscribers in the county, the first account was opened with 666, and the last four digits were random.

The phone numbers sent from the county to each township also have a specific prefix. For example, the township government for Li Long's team starts with 661.

Li Xiangqian made a phone call, exchanged a few pleasantries, and then told the other party about the matter.

The other party asked for Li Long's name, and after learning that he had paid the money but the connection hadn't been established yet, they asked for the phone number he wanted, and then smiled and said that the number was good, and then he agreed.

"Alright, it's settled then," Li Xiangqian said with a smile. "If there's nothing else, go about your business."

Li Long left the supply and marketing cooperative with a smile, and now all that was left was to wait for the line to be pulled.

The post office was very efficient at this time, perhaps because there was less work, so they were able to get things done quickly. Within a week, they laid the wires, brought them into the homes, installed the telephones, tested them, and even issued the numbers. The two telephones in the courtyard and at the recycling station were all done.

The phone number for the large courtyard was 6661666, and the recycling station was 6662666. Both Gu Boyuan and Gu Xiaoxia were very satisfied.

The landline phone is red, the most basic kind, without an LCD panel, and the buttons are very large.

After the landline was installed, they also gave him a simple telephone directory of various government agencies in the county—at that time there was no Yellow Pages, and if Li Long wanted to do it, he could actually snatch business from a famous figure in later generations.

Of course not, it's too much trouble and you won't make any money.

At noon, Li Long, Gu Boyuan, Gu Xiaoxia, Sister Yang, Han Fang, and even Mingming and Haohao gathered around the phone, looking at it curiously.

"Where should we call?" Gu Boyuan suddenly suggested.

Li Long thought for a moment and said:
"In that case, let me check it out first."

"Where should we look?" Gu Xiaoxia asked.

"Our county is on lunch break now, so we can't get supplies from the supply and marketing cooperative..."

"Does the village head have it?"

"No, the old phone number has been removed." Li Long shook his head, then said, "People are already back to work in Yanjing, but I don't know..."

"You want to call Xiaoyu?" Gu Boyuan immediately understood, and he became excited, but then asked worriedly, "I don't know the number."

"Then let's ask. Our phone number has long-distance service." Li Long picked up the phone and dialed 010114. "If we don't know the number, we can look it up."

"Hello, could you please provide the phone number for the XX Graduate Entrance Examination Office of XX College at XX University? Thank you..."

After a short wait, the phone number was given out.

After Li Long wrote it down, he hung up the phone, then dialed again. After dialing, he handed the phone to Gu Boyuan.

"Uncle Gu, you tell Xiaoyu..."

Although he had called before, Gu Boyuan was still quite excited to hold the phone today.

A man's voice came from the other end: "Hello, who are you looking for?"

"Oh, I'm looking for Gu Xiaoyu." Gu Boyuan almost called out Xiaoyu's name, but realized it was a man's voice and hurriedly said, "Could you please call her?"

"who are you?"

"I am her...family member." Gu Boyuan hesitated for a moment before saying that he was Gu Xiaoyu's father, worried that it would cause misunderstandings.

"Okay, wait a moment."

Gu Xiaoyu was preparing materials in her office when she heard someone calling her, so she went to answer the phone.

"Hello, this is Gu Xiaoyu."

"Xiaoyu, it's me." Gu Boyuan's voice trembled slightly. "I made the call from your brother-in-law's house, and now we have a phone..."

"Dad?" Gu Xiaoyu exclaimed, "My brother-in-law got a phone at home? That's wonderful! Quick, tell me the phone number so I can write it down..."

"6661666, that's your brother-in-law's number. The recycling station's number is 6662666, that's where I usually work. Your sister can only make calls after get off work and on weekends, but I can make calls anytime..."

“The area code is 0994,” Li Long reminded him from the side, “We have to add the area code.”

“Yes, yes, yes, there’s an area code, 0994,” Gu Boyuan quickly added. Because Gu Xiaoyu was still at work, she didn’t say much, only that she would call after get off work.

"Hey, that's fast, we got through right away." Gu Boyuan only realized what was happening after hanging up the phone, feeling a little awkward as he hadn't let Gu Xiaoxia and his sister speak.

"Okay, we'll just wait for Xiaoyu to call again. She'll definitely call tonight." Li Long smiled. "Now that the call is connected, we can just call the purchasing station when the food is ready here and let them know."

"Yes, yes, I'll go over there first and check on the installation."

Li Long smiled as he watched Gu Boyuan leave in a hurry.

In the previous life, after telephones were installed in the village, their main use was for arranging to play cards or go fishing with nets. It was lively for a while, but gradually fewer people made calls.

Back in the east room, Sister Yang noticed that Han Fang was still somewhat absent-minded, so she said, "When we move back to the south courtyard, we'll get a cable and a telephone line. After you go to university and leave, you can call home if you miss your mother."

"Okay," Han Fang said, "I've moved in. During the holidays, I'll help my mom sell food to earn more money so I can get a phone line back."

Gu Xiaoxia went to work, while Li Long stayed at home studying the phone.

He remembered that the area code for Kuitun was 0992, so he looked up the phone number of the agricultural machinery factory, dialed it, and found Director Du.

When Director Du heard from the office that someone was calling for him, he asked:
Did they say who made the call?

"I forgot to ask..." the staff member said somewhat embarrassedly.

Factory Director Du didn't say anything. The phone hadn't been installed long, and he hadn't trained the staff, so it was normal that he forgot to ask where the call was coming from.

"The person only said it was a long-distance trip," the staff member added.

Long distance? Who would make that call?

Factory Director Du answered the phone and responded:
"Hello, this is Du Tongzhou."

"Hello, Director Du, this is Li Long." Li Long replied with a smile, "How was your New Year?"

"Comrade Li Long, hello! Where are you calling from? How did you know my number?"

"I got it from directory assistance," Li Long said with a smile. "I'm calling from home. We just got a phone line installed, so I called you as soon as it was up to check on things over there."

"My situation is alright. We're producing both harvesters and tillers. The tiller is quite good. We've partnered with a tractor factory. When they sell their tractors, they introduce our tillers and harvesters. We give them a commission for every one we sell, and it's been very effective. We're getting a steady stream of orders."

Factory Director Du was in a good mood. After all, the factory had orders and was doing well, which motivated the workers. With continuous bonuses, the factory would become more and more prosperous.

Both of these star products are related to Li Long, so Director Du naturally treated Li Long with great courtesy.

"Hey, it's good to have orders. I'll go pick up a few cultivators in a while; they'll be very useful after we start planting this spring."

"No need to come over. We're going to deliver goods to Wucheng in a while, and we'll bring them with us. We'll unload them for you when we pass through Ma County. How many do you need?" Director Du's tone was unusually confident.

The factory's products are sold not only in Urumqi, but also in southern Xinjiang. Although there are now counterfeit products on the market, their factory has already established a brand effect. Those who have the money and trust the brand will still buy from their factory. The production scale has been expanding, which is why they are confident enough.

"That would be great," Li Long said with a smile. "Then I'll be waiting here."

"We can't just wait around," Director Du said with a smile. "You should let us know if you have any new design ideas. We've been partners for a long time, so if you have any new ideas, you must remember us."

"Let's put it this way, our cooperation so far has been rather rudimentary. If you come up with any better ideas later, once the product is made, I'll give you a percentage of the profits from every unit sold, how about that?"

Factory Director Du had already thought about this. Both products proposed by Li Long were very popular in the market. Their own technicians had also researched agricultural machinery, but the products they produced couldn't find a market, farmers didn't accept them, and most of them felt somewhat useless, with no market and couldn't be sold.

The production of the harvester, in cooperation with Li Long, involved defining the sales area, a point that both parties were quite satisfied with. Regarding the cultivator, Li Long didn't make any demands, but Factory Director Du wasn't thinking of getting Li Long's design for free. He planned to give Li Long the cultivator he wanted for free and even pay him a design fee.

Having worked on these two products, he deeply understood the importance of design—it could be said that the agricultural machinery factory's growth and expansion were entirely supported by this harvester, and now the intermediate cultivator has followed suit. Although the price is not high, with the reclamation of wasteland in various places, the demand for this intermediate cultivator is huge, even greater than that for the harvester, and almost every small four-wheeled tractor may be equipped with one.

Little by little, it adds up to a considerable amount.

Of course, Director Du also knows that the technology involved in this tiller is much less than that of the harvester, and it is easier to imitate. So now he is trying to find a way to quickly establish a brand and capture the market.

"Sure. I have some ideas for now, and I'm working on perfecting them. Once they're finalized, I'll go to Kuitun and discuss them with you in detail." After learning about the cotton production situation in the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps last year, Li Long knew that something even more popular than harvesters and tillers, and with a particularly long production lifespan, could be launched on the market two years ahead of schedule.

After chatting with Director Du for a few more minutes, Li Long hung up the phone.

It feels great. I no longer need to run around to get things done; one phone call is all it takes.

Much less trouble.

Li Long spent the entire afternoon making calls to his "connections," while also updating his personal contact list. Back then, without cell phones, almost every household had a handwritten phone book besides the one issued by the county government, where they would write down the phone numbers of important people.

Li Long not only called Director Du, Section Chief Hu, Director Qian, and others to extend his greetings, but also contacted Jia Tianlong, Zhao Hui, Huang Lei, Bai Xiuming, Dong Zhichao, and others in Kou. Jia Tianlong said he would come to see him after spring. When Zhao Hui learned that it was Li Long who called, he immediately asked him how the hides he had collected were going.

Zhao Hui's family is in the south, where the importance of celebrating the New Year is much greater than in Li Long's area, so he doesn't plan to come out yet since the New Year isn't over.

Li Long also told him that he had some hides stored up, and if Zhao Hui came after the New Year, it would be enough to fill a truck.

As for Jia Tianlong, he is content to stay at home taking care of his children and is very happy.

Calling Huang Lei, Bai Xiuming, and Dong Zhichao was just to maintain relationships and give them my phone number so they could notify me promptly if there were any acquisition plans in the future.

Don't underestimate the power of making this call. At this point, many people were still hesitant about the 4,000 yuan installation fee, and some lost business opportunities because they didn't install the phone.

After all, when these roasted nut factories need raw materials, they naturally hope to find out if there is any available without leaving the factory, so as to avoid making a wasted trip.

Of course, things will be different later on when everyone starts to take it seriously.

Before he knew it, Li Long's network of connections had grown considerably. This made him quite proud; relying on this network, he could easily earn hundreds of thousands of yuan a year by purchasing various supplies from the county and reselling them.

For example, last year, putting aside the smaller aspects, I earned more than 200,000 yuan from fritillaria bulbs; however, because I received payment before receiving the goods, my principal was not that much, so the actual profit was less than 200,000 yuan, which is not much different.

But throughout the year, the net profit from the scattered skins was more than 100,000 yuan, and from harvesting melon seeds, the profit was less than 200,000 yuan.

Adding in items like the large broom, the final net profit was around 500,000 to 600,000.

With this purchasing station, the money earned in one year increased more than tenfold compared to the previous year.

The speed at which he was making money caught Li Long off guard.

Of course, he also knew that to a large extent, it was because he had made a name for himself and established a brand in the entire Beiting area.

So even though it's still winter, people from other counties still come to sell their goods every day.

That's the power of branding.

Just as I was reflecting on this, the phone rang.

Li Long checked the time and guessed that it was most likely Gu Xiaoyu calling.

(End of this chapter)