Rebirth of Bayi Fishing and Hunting in the Northwest

Chapter 978 Preparations Before Returning to Yanjing: Old Li, You'd better save this job for me.
Black tiger paw mushrooms are easier to grade than fritillaria bulbs; you only need to check the integrity of the dried mushrooms. Tillandsia in the backyard are also much easier to process, requiring only trimming the stems and removing the residue.

In late July, the wheat harvest was almost complete, and Li Long returned to the Fourth Production Team.

There are six or seven threshing grounds in the whole village, and each one is now piled with huge stacks of straw. There are also quite a few stacks outside the old horse farm. These were bought by Uncle Luo and his family to be used as fodder for their cattle.

Chop the wheat straw into short pieces, mix it with sugar residue, and cows love to eat it.

Li Jianguo had already returned from harvesting the wheat and was now tidying up his Dongfanghong 75 tractor. After the wheat was harvested and stored in the warehouse, and the grain tax was paid, the farmers had some free time to prepare for plowing.

"Brother, are there many people asking you to plow the fields this year?" Li Long asked Li Jianguo, leaning against the tractor, after sharing the snacks he brought back with Li Juan and Li Qiang.

“Many, hey, apart from a few who are on good terms with Wang Caimi and Lao Xu, the rest have all come to me,” Li Jianguo chuckled. “Everyone has planted wheat, and the plowing work will take a while.”

"Did you earn enough from this wheat harvest to buy a tractor?" Li Long asked, looking at his older brother's tanned face with concern. "Your face is so dark, it'll take a while to recover, won't it?"

"What's there to be afraid of?" Li Jianguo said nonchalantly as he greased the tractor. "It'll be fine after a whole winter. The wheat field will be fine in half a month."

"Well then, brother, I might go to Yanjing in a few days to check on the cleaning up of our courtyards. Do you want to come?"

"No way, in this sweltering heat, who has time to go outside?" Li Jianguo hurriedly waved his hand. "We'll be making big brooms soon, won't we?"

"That's what I wanted to say. If you're not going, then get the yard ready. I can't come down every day. How about you be in charge of collecting the big brooms for our team after you finish plowing the fields?"

“Okay, that saves trouble, I won’t bother.” Li Jianguo smiled. “It’s too much trouble to scavenge for reeds everywhere. Xu Haijun has already gone into the mountains to cut the reeds. He’s made money selling these reeds in the past two years, and he’s tasted the sweetness of success, so he’s taken his men into the mountains early on.”

"We mustn't run into the forestry team," Li Long said. "If we do, and they're cutting down trees, we'll have to arrest them, won't we?"

"He came by once, saying he'd pulled some strings in the county and made arrangements with the forestry team." Li Jianguo finished applying the grease gun, put it down, took out a cigarette, lit it, and said while smoking:
"This is a good thing. Our team doesn't have enough poles. We can make several thousand, maybe even over ten thousand, large brooms in a month. But we can't find even half of the suitable poles."

Li Long knew that the task of making the brooms definitely needed to be arranged in advance. Last year, the prefecture issued a task of making 30,000 large brooms, and this year it should be about the same, right? With a month to prepare, the work had to be done well in advance, otherwise, there was a real possibility that not enough brooms would be made.

“The team is the core.” Li Long thought for a moment and said, “Let’s charge the same price as before, three yuan and fifty cents. Brother, you get fifty cents for every big sweep, so I’ll take four yuan from you.”

"Then how can I make money off you?" Li Jianguo thought that he already made a lot of money plowing the land, so why would he take money from the broom?
“That’s different. You did the work, so we can’t let you work for nothing.” Li Long smiled. “If the price of the broom goes up, then I’ll give you a dollar.”

"I don't need that many, I'm just checking the quality." Li Jianguo waved his hand. "Anyway, everyone here is experienced, and we've been collecting these big brooms for several years. They're used to me being stricter."

After telling his older brother about it, Li Long felt relieved. He went into the vegetable garden, picked a tomato, broke it open, ate it, and found it quite good. He then found two willow baskets in the yard, picked two baskets of tomatoes, and prepared to take them back.

"Aren't you going to pick more?" Li Jianguo asked. "Your sister-in-law went to find a bottle, saying she's going to make more sauce this year."

"That's enough." Li Long put the two baskets of tomatoes into the car and said to his older brother, "Brother, you go ahead and do your work. I still need to talk to other places."

The task of making large brooms was performed in Qingshuihe and in Wang Mingjun's company.

However, Li Long needs to go to Li Xiangqian first to finalize this matter.

"Aren't you going to eat?" Li Jianguo reminded him. "Your parents went to the threshing floor to clear away the wheat scraps. They'll complain again if they know you're coming back and not eating."

"It's alright," Li Long said with a smile. "Let's have dinner again next time I have time."

Driving his jeep, Li Long went directly to the supply and marketing cooperative.

Li Xiangqian was chatting with Zhou Yuan under the eaves of the supply and marketing cooperative's courtyard when they saw Li Long drive in in a jeep. Both of them smiled and looked at him.

Li Long got out of the car, picked up a basket of tomatoes from the back seat, and said with a smile, "Gentlemen, come and try some of my tomatoes."

"What, you're just giving us this to eat?" Li Xiangqian said this, but he still politely took one out, broke it in half, gave half to Zhou Yuan, took a bite, and mumbled, "It tastes pretty good."

"Okay, that's good then. I've delivered my gift." Li Long said with a smile, "Now, let's get down to business."

"Hey, this gift is really cheap," Zhou Yuan joked. "It's the first time I've seen someone give a gift so openly and honestly."

"Anyway, it's nothing special," Li Long chuckled. "Director, did the one that made the giant broom survive?"

Not yet, but I estimate it will be soon.

"I might go to Yanjing in the next couple of days, but I'll be back soon. You have to keep this job for me."

"Okay, keep it." Li Xiangqian nodded. "I don't trust anyone else with this job. But you'd better hurry."

"It's alright, I've already handed things over to the various points. They've already started pricking."

"You're preparing so early? Aren't you afraid you won't get this job this year?" After finishing her meal, Zhou Yuan took another one from the basket. Seeing that Li Xiangqian hadn't finished eating, she started eating it herself, saying as she ate.

"I'll keep these for now. If there's really no work, I'll take the brooms myself and find a way to sell them," Li Long said. "Our brooms are of good quality, so we don't have to worry about selling them."

He was certain that once his reputation and market presence were established, the broom business would never be without demand. After all, it was a rare opportunity for people from northern Xinjiang to produce a decent local specialty, so they certainly wouldn't give it up.

If there's any trouble, I imagine Director Qian would inform us in advance, right?

"Okay, you go ahead with your work. Just make sure everything is arranged properly. Like I said, make sure the quality of the brooms you hand in is up to standard."

Li Xiangqian had complete confidence in Li Long in this regard. As he himself said, if it were just a few thousand large brooms, he could easily find someone else to handle it. Last year it was 30,000 brooms, and this year it should be around that number. With so many large brooms, he certainly wouldn't trust just anyone to hand over the task.

Li Long chatted for a while longer, checked the time, and realized he still had enough time to make a trip to Meng Hai's place. So he said goodbye to Li Xiangqian and drove back to Qingshuihe Village.

Meng Hai was loading his own wheat straw in the threshing ground. He had sold the straw to a cattle farmer, received payment, and was now helping him load it onto a truck—using his own tractor.

Li Long drove to Meng Hai's house first, but Meng Hai's wife said he was at the wheat field, so Li Long drove his jeep to the wheat field.

Wang Cailing, who was already preparing to cook, thought for a moment, then went straight to the chicken coop, grabbed a big rooster, slaughtered it with a knife, and began to scald and gut it.

It'll be lunchtime in less than an hour, so we should at least invite Li Long to stay for a meal.

When they arrived at the threshing ground, Li Long saw Meng Hai loading straw, so he went over to find a pitchfork to help. While helping, he told Meng Hai about the big broom.

Because there were other people present, Li Long simply told Meng Hai to be in charge of receiving the goods in Qingshuihe Village.

"As I always say, quality comes first. I'll do random checks, and if a sample doesn't meet the standards, the whole batch is discarded." Li Long set a strict requirement. "You're in overall charge, so I'll have to come to you if anything goes wrong. Of course, if it passes inspection, there will definitely be a reward."

"Sure, Comrade Li Long, I've actually been thinking of confirming this with you these past couple of days before I head into the mountains to cut down some trees." Meng Hai knew exactly what to do each year at what time, which is why he said that.

The Dongfanghong 75 tractor is currently parked at Meng Hai's house, with a five-furrow plow attached to it. However, Meng Hai clearly has no intention of using the tractor to plow the land for profit, which reassures Li Long.

"Then let's get ready to cut them down. Actually, the state hasn't issued any quotas yet, but I think there will be quite a few this year, so I'm preparing in advance. If the state doesn't buy them, I'll collect the brooms myself and then find a way to sell them." "Then you'll be taking on a lot of risk, right?" Meng Hai asked worriedly, "What if they really don't buy them..."

"It's alright. If the state hasn't issued any orders by mid-August, we'll stop. I'll just take what's done." Li Long thought to himself that he couldn't possibly avoid all risks. He had to bear the risks since he'd made the money; after all, he had so many responsibilities.
After loading the straw, Li Long wanted to return to the county, but Meng Hai insisted on stopping him, saying it was lunchtime and he should at least have a meal at home. To persuade Li Long to stay, he stopped driving his small four-wheeled vehicle and had the cattle herder drive his tractor back to unload the straw, while Meng Hai himself rode in Li Long's jeep to his own home.

When they got home and saw the chicken feathers in the yard, Meng Hai laughed. His wife was good at that; she did a great job!
Wang Cailing had already started frying the chicken, and her children were picking out the feathers, apparently preparing to make shuttlecocks.

The child asked Meng Hai for some coins, but Meng Hai couldn't find any after searching for a long time. Li Long remembered that when he was cleaning the warehouse, he had casually picked up some relatively intact coins, played with them, and then thrown them into the glove box. He got into the jeep, picked up a few, and spread them out in his hand to Meng Junjun, saying:
"Here you go."

Meng Junjun took a few steps back, glanced at Meng Hai somewhat embarrassedly, wanting it but not knowing how to say it.

At this time, most rural children don't take the initiative to greet guests, mainly because they don't see them often. It's not that they're really shy; they can be quite mischievous when playing with their friends.

“Your uncle gave it to you, so just take it,” Meng Hai said with a smile.

Meng Junjun picked out two, held them in his hand, a little nervous, unsure of what to do next.

"Aren't you going to thank your uncle?" Meng Hai said with a laugh and a scolding tone, "I've never seen you so clueless before!"

"Thank you, Uncle!" Meng Junjun said, glancing at Li Long and then at Meng Hai.

"Take them all." Li Long thought to himself that he was the same way when he was a child, and so was Li Qiang. It's just that Li Qiang has seen a lot of the world now, so he's much more astute than before. Of course, more importantly, he's more confident and not afraid of anyone anymore.

"No need, two are enough," Meng Junjun explained, then ran off to make shuttlecocks.

He picked out the most common Kangxi and Qianlong coins. These two types were the most numerous among the copper coins Li Long collected.

"This used to fill half a drawer, but when we needed it, it would just disappear," Meng Hai said, a little embarrassed.

“Let’s keep them once we find them. After ten or twenty years, some of the coins will be worth something,” Li Long said. “There are also large coins, Yuan Shikai silver dollars, and silver ingots.”

"What do you mean?" Meng Hai asked.

"Gold is valued in times of chaos, and collectibles are valued in times of prosperity," Li Long said with a smile. "When I went to Yanjing, people there had already started collecting these old things. There are fewer people collecting them now, but there will be more in the future. You see a lot of these old things now, but you won't see them anymore in a few years. The fewer there are, the more valuable they become."

Meng Hai wrote down Li Long's words, thinking that he remembered his neighbor had a few big spenders, and he would exchange them later and put them away.

Meng Hai truly admired Li Long's abilities and believed everything he said, even to the point of blind faith.

Soon, Junjun finished tying the shuttlecock, ran out and kicked it a few times. Seeing that the feathers were tied firmly and showed no sign of falling off, he kicked it a few more times.

Since no one was playing with him, and children at this age don't usually seek out adults to play with, as parents hold a lot of authority at this time, Meng Junjun grabbed the shuttlecock and ran out of the yard, presumably to find some friends.

"Come back for dinner later!" Wang Cailing called from the stove. "Don't wander off!"

"I understand!" Meng Junjun replied and then disappeared.

"Once the holidays start, they're like monkeys, running off to who-knows-where," Meng Hai sighed. "Comrade Li Long, you don't know now, but you'll see in a couple of years when your two kids are a bit older."

"Hehe, kids should be a little mischievous, that's good," Li Long chuckled. "When are you going to have another one?"

"Well, we'll see," Meng Hai said, turning to look at Wang Cailing. "His mom said it'll be for the next year or two. Fine him a little, but he feels too lonely. Most of us his age have four or five siblings. Junjun is all alone; he has no one to play with."

This is a common mentality among rural people in this era. The rule states that you can't have another child after having a son, but most people would rather pay a fine than give up having another child, preferably a daughter.

If a daughter was born, there was a rule that after six years one could have another child, regardless of whether it was a boy or a girl, but no more children were allowed after that.

Here, the fines for family planning aren't like those people who can't afford to pay and end up stealing cattle or furniture, because there's plenty of land and few people. If the harvest is good and they do some side jobs, they can afford to pay the fines.

Meng Junjun didn't return for dinner, presumably because he was having too much fun with some friends. Meng Hai and the others didn't wait for the child and started eating first. At this time, the whole chicken was basically prepared as spicy chicken, and the staple food was rice; it hadn't yet evolved into the big plate chicken.

Meng Hai wanted to take the wine, but Li Long refused, saying that he had to go to another place in the afternoon to discuss the matter, so Meng Hai didn't mention the wine again.

Meng Junjun returned after finishing his meal, covered in sweat. He didn't want rice, but rice water—when you steam rice at this time, you'll get a large bowl of rice water, which is a good thing.

Li Long drove his jeep away from Meng Hai and hurriedly headed to the corps company to the north.

I was still a bit sleepy on the way. When I passed through the county town, I bought a watermelon. When I was almost at Baitukeng Reservoir in the north, I stopped, smashed the watermelon open and ate it. I had chicken for lunch and drank rice soup, but now I felt a bit thirsty, so eating watermelon was just right.

After finishing their meal, they washed their hands in the roadside ditch and then continued driving towards Wang Mingjun's company.

Wang Mingjun and Zheng Xiangyang were both in the company headquarters. When Li Long's jeep drove into the yard, they saw it through the window and quickly came out.

When they saw that it was Li Long and not the regimental leader, their smiles widened even more—the leader was there for an inspection, but Li Long was there to give them money.

"Hey, Comrade Li Long, you're here? We thought you should be here soon. Come on in, come on in!" Wang Mingjun said with a smile, shaking Li Long's hand first. "It's too hot outside, come in and have some watermelon."

After shaking hands with Li Long, Zheng Xiangyang smiled and said, "Old Wang said you should come over. I figured you must be busy. After all, it's a purchasing station, and you've been recognized as a national advanced worker, so you must have a lot to do!"

"It's alright." Li Long smiled. "I'm going to Yanjing in a while, and I came here today to talk about some things beforehand."

Just like he had told Meng Hai, Li Long told Wang Mingjun and the others to prepare for making the big broom, and that he would come and collect it later.

Li Long had also prepared a contingency plan: if there were no tasks from above, they would only collect the required number of doses when they came to collect the remaining doses, and then stop collecting them after that. If there were tasks from above, then they would follow the tasks assigned to them.

“Okay, okay, no problem. Comrade Li Long, you are efficient, and we won’t drag our feet either. I’ll announce it over the loudspeaker in a bit and have all the employees prepare for this at home.”

After the wheat harvest, there's a lull in the harvest season, which is a good time to do some side hustles.

Making large brooms was the largest, tangible source of income that the company's employees could earn from side jobs. Although Wang Mingjun also led people to hunt gazelles, not everyone did it, but making large brooms was something that all employees could do at home.

After finishing their business and chatting for a few minutes, Li Long saw the sun setting in the west and prepared to return.

Wang Mingjun wanted Li Long to stay for dinner, but Li Long said he had things to do at home, and there were many units he needed to notify, plus the distance was quite far, so he couldn't stay there.

Seeing that they couldn't keep Li Long, Wang Mingjun and Zheng Xiangyang had Lao Chen take two baskets of wine from the warehouse and load them into Li Long's jeep. Lao Chen noticed that there was also a basket of tomatoes in Li Long's jeep, so he simply had someone load a sack of watermelons into it, saying that they were grown by his own company and that Li Long should take them back to eat.

Li Long didn't stand on ceremony. He waved to Wang Mingjun and the others from inside the car and then drove away.

After driving less than two kilometers back from the company, Li Long was startled when two people stood in the middle of the road blocking his way.

The sun hasn't even set yet, are they planning a robbery? He noticed the two men weren't carrying any weapons, just waving; was something wrong?
Although he slowed down, Li Long was still prepared to charge forward if anything happened!
PS: Someone illegally trespassed the Langta Ancient Road (next to Huxian County) and got trapped. They were just rescued.

(End of this chapter)