Rebirth of Bayi Fishing and Hunting in the Northwest

Chapter 984 We still need to learn from the veterans of the Corps!
Director Qian answered Li Xiangqian's call and listened to his account. He then said with some surprise:
"You mean that when Xiao Li went to Yanjing this time, he was received by that leader? And they talked for more than half an hour? Is that true? I didn't even get to meet that person before."

He was different from Li Xiangqian, who was younger than him. He had gone to Beijing on a business trip a couple of years ago, hoping to visit that leader.

I didn't see him.

What a pity.

It's definitely not because that leader is arrogant. They might not even be from the same system. Besides, the message might have been intercepted before it even reached the leader. After all, you can't just let anyone come in for a visit and expect them to see you in the office, right? How would we work then?
Anyway, the fact that Li Long was received by the leaders was unexpected by Director Qian. But thinking about it, it was probably just that Li Long was very lucky, and of course, the things he did were also quite influential.

“That’s what he said,” Li Xiangqian said. “I don’t think he would lie about that, would he?”

"That shouldn't be the case, and it won't happen." Director Qian regained his composure and said with a smile, "Well, how should I put it, young Li is really lucky, and of course, what he did had a significant impact. Hmm, not bad, not bad. With this connection, his path will probably be smoother in the future."

Sigh, sometimes I envy that kid. How come he always seems to have all the good things happen to him? Anyway, he's back. How's the broom thing going?

"We'll bring several truckloads over tomorrow. Don't worry, Director, the quality is definitely not a problem; it should be about the same as last year."

“Okay, I’ll take a look tomorrow,” Director Qian said.

After hanging up the phone, Director Qian thought about the matter and suddenly smiled. "That guy..."

Let's see how far he can go.

Li Long drove into the mountain pass, and before he even reached Halimudongwozi, he could already hear the sound of tractors cutting grass.

Now there are three tractors in the mountains. After the road leading to the winter pasture was repaired, it has become much more convenient to cut and transport hay. I imagine these herders must be very happy.

When the jeep arrived at Halimdongwozi, Li Long discovered that there were people making naan bread there.

A young man whose face looked familiar but whose name he couldn't recall smiled as soon as he saw Li Long. He bent down and patted a piece of dough into the tandoor oven, then stood up, wiped his hands on his clothes, and came over to shake hands with Li Long: "Hello, Li Long, they've gone to cut grass."

His Mandarin wasn't very good, but it was quite fluent. Li Long could feel that his hands were warm and sweaty, so he smiled and said, "You're in charge of making naan? Then I'll have to have a good taste of it later."

"Okay, okay." The young man smiled, then pointed to the direction where Halim and his men were cutting grass, "There, three tractors are cutting grass together."

"Then you go ahead and hit it, I'll go take a look," Li Long said.

Li Long walked towards the grassland, where he could already see tractors cutting grass and young men playing by the edge of the field.

Three tractors can be used to cut hay on the same pasture. This way, the hay can be cut quickly and dried early, making it easier to harvest.

Li Long could see that Halim and Talihar were on the tractor, but Yushanjiang was not. The other tractor seemed to be carrying a Buick.

When Li Long walked over, someone had already spotted him, and then someone shouted loudly.

Halim was driving his tractor around the field when he saw Li Long. So he sped up and started climbing the slope.

The air was filled with the scent of fresh grass juice, which smelled wonderful. Li Long shook hands with each of the herders, asking them about the situation in the mountains.

"That's just how summer pastures are," someone said. "This year's rainfall has been good, the grass is growing well, and the cattle and sheep love to graze on it."

"The grass is good, so the wild animals come over, and we've harvested some. When there's more of this stuff in the fall, we can harvest some more."

"There are many wolves and bears this year as well."

"The snow lotus is growing very well. We've picked a lot, and they're all drying now."

……

Everyone was talking at once about the situation at Xiacaochang, and Li Long really longed to go there.

After Harim finished cutting the grass, he parked the tractor at the edge of the pasture. He called out, and a young man responded. After greeting Li Long, the young man ran over happily.

There were a few trees where everyone was resting in the shade. They were driving tractors to cut hay, and although the sun was very strong, the young men were all very happy, clearly enjoying the work.

Halim smiled and hugged Li Long, saying, "It's been a long time. How are you, Dorsen? I heard you went to Yanjing. How is it there?"

“Very good, very good,” Li Long said with a smile. “There are a lot of people and cars, but there’s no naan to eat, so I came back.”

His joke made everyone laugh.

This patch of shrubs, along with a few trees, blocks out the sunlight, and the grass underneath has been trampled flat by everyone, making it very comfortable to sit on.

"I brought some watermelons with me in my car. I'll go get them now and we can eat some to quench our thirst," Li Long said.

"No need, no need, let them go." Halim smiled and instructed the two young men to carry the watermelons, and the young men ran off with smiles.

The watermelon was handed to Halim, who took a knife from his waist, first cut off a small piece of the rind, sharpened the knife, and then began to cut the watermelon.

This watermelon is from the Pingyuan Forest Farm. Local watermelons taste very good, and everyone was very considerate when eating it, pushing and shoving each other.

"The road is repaired, it's really convenient." Halim said to Li Long while distributing melons. "The tractors can drive directly to the entrance of each wintering ground, which saves a lot of time when hauling hay. The road from the foot of the mountain to the summer pasture has also been repaired, it's wide and easy to walk on."

“We’ll repair another section in the fall,” Li Long said as he took the watermelon and ate it. “It might not be repaired until next year, maybe the year after or the year after that.”

"No rush, no rush," Halim said with a smile.

“That’s right, no rush.” The other young men chimed in, “We’ve been riding horses up the mountain here for years, and this road has been repaired very quickly.”

“There are also drawbacks.” Li Long naturally couldn’t only report the good news and not the bad. “Now that the road to the winter hut is open, many people will follow this road to find the winter hut, and many people will go in and stay there when you are digging for fritillaria.”

If it's just a simple place to stay, that's fine, but I'm worried about vandalism. After all, even Li Long's own cabin has been vandalized. Being alone in the mountains, some people's moral standards might be lowered.

“It’s nothing,” Halim said. “Even before there were roads, people would still stay in the winter shelters when we weren’t there, and people would throw garbage in them. As long as the winter shelters aren’t demolished, they can be cleaned up.”

Li Long admired the herdsmen's open-mindedness and optimism.

“Someone found this in the mountains.” After finishing the watermelon, Halim took out an irregularly shaped gold nugget the size of a baby’s fist and said, “The person is in the mountains and asked me to give it to you as payment for road repairs.”

“Road repairs won’t cost that much.” Li Long hurriedly waved his hand, refusing to take it. “You can keep it to make some jewelry. Hunt around when you have time, and you’ll have enough pelts. This stuff will be more valuable in the future.”

Despite Li Long's insistence that he wouldn't accept it, Halim eventually put the gold nugget back into his pocket.

The other young men were talking quietly; some of them didn't understand Li Long's behavior.

“Road repairs don’t really cost that much.” Knowing what they were thinking, Li Long continued to explain, “The money you’ve earned from trading the hides, jade, and deer antlers you’ve collected has been enough to cover the road repairs during this period.”

I haven't seen what you brought back yet, but I've heard that we should have enough money for road repairs by autumn. So, it's good that we continue with the road repairs as they are. Once the road is completed, you can drive your tractors up and down the mountain easily. It's better to keep some things to exchange for money later and buy whatever you want.”

He sacrificed a lot to build this road, but gained even more. Not only the supplies brought by Halim and his group, but also the title of National Advanced Individual. This would prevent others from coveting his purchasing station and his business, allowing him to safely continue earning his money and living a good life.

He wasn't a greedy rich man who would take everything for himself. "With these tractors and the roads near the winter pastures being repaired, we can finish hay cutting five or six days earlier this year," Halim said. "After that, we'll return to the summer pastures as soon as possible to graze and hunt."

Li Long smiled and told him there was no need to rush.

He also shared his experiences in Yanjing and told Halim that dried meat was very popular in Yanjing, and that people there ate meat in a similar way to ordinary people, so it was impossible for them to eat it every day.

"If only I could sell meat in Yanjing someday," Halim said with a sigh.

Li Long smiled. Transportation was difficult at the moment, so this kind of work could only be done in winter. Besides, there were large ranches nearby in Yanjing, so there should be no shortage of meat.

As they chatted and watched the grass being cut down, the young man who had been making naan bread came over with a basket of naan bread a short while later.

The aroma of the naan bread immediately attracted everyone, and the herders laughed and shared it.

Li Long had only come in to check on their grass-cutting progress. Seeing that everything was proceeding smoothly, he didn't stay long. He left behind the watermelons, rice, flour, and other supplies he had brought, and then drove back.

He has to go to Wang Mingjun's place early tomorrow to inspect the large brooms. Halimu and the others understand, so they didn't ask him to stay.

Driving the jeep out of the mountains, Li Long thought about the gold nuggets that Halim had taken out and marveled at how abundant the resources in these mountains were.

He had found it in the hot spring water a few years ago, then Halim and his friends found it for themselves, and now it's here again.

But thinking about it, it makes sense. Such a large mountain range, and it belongs to a geologically complex plate, so having all kinds of resources is a standard occurrence, right?

Back in the courtyard, Sister Yang hadn't finished cooking dinner yet, and Han Fang was playing games with Mingming and Haohao. Li Long played with them for a while, then went to check on the furs that Halimu and the others had brought.

The room where the leather was stored smelled strongly. The leather was laid out on the shelves, and although some insect-repelling measures had been taken, leather naturally has a smell, and it wasn't specially treated by a tanneries, so it was unavoidable.

Just now on the way, Li Long was thinking about how abundant the resources were in the mountains, but now he can only sigh again.

Bear skins, snow leopard skins, deer skins, wild goat skins, roe deer skins, ibex skins, etc., with at least two of each type of skin, and nearly half of the skins being whole hides, indicating that Halim and his men's hunting skills are truly getting better and better.

Li Long sorted through the skins and found several pieces of jade. Although they weren't very big, the quality was quite good. The seven jade pebbles weighed about 40 to 50 kilograms in total. Only one of them had a few small black spots, like fly droppings; the others were relatively pure.

It seems that Harim and his group have also learned how to distinguish the quality of jade.

This is already a huge fortune. Li Long wasn't lying when he said it was enough to repair the road in the fall; it really was enough, and there might even be more.

After the big sweeping was finished, except for a few high-quality hides, the rest were taken to the recycling station.

The next day, after breakfast, Li Long drove to the supply and marketing cooperative.

To his surprise, ten large trucks were parked directly at the supply and marketing cooperative. Li Xiangqian had mobilized all the transportation resources of the cooperative and must have also coordinated trucks with other units. Some of the trucks and their drivers looked unfamiliar to Li Long.

“Xiao Li, this time it’s not just you who will be doing the inspection; I’m also bringing nine inspectors from our commune with me,” Li Xiangqian said. “Let’s get this over with quickly and not keep the state leaders waiting.”

Li Long thought to himself, "That's more like it. How long would it take to do the inspection by myself? With so many people going together, the job will be much easier."

After Li Long arrived, Li Xiangqian organized the people and began to arrange the tasks for this trip, including the personnel responsible for various aspects such as acceptance, loading, escorting, and counting.

"Xiao Li, you can talk to them about settling the bill. We'll just keep track of the numbers for this trip, and we'll settle the account with you when we get back from the prefecture," Li Xiangqian said. "Is that alright?"

“Of course, that’s fine.” Li Long smiled, pointed to the jeep and said, “I’ve already brought the money for them, I’ll settle the accounts with them.”

"Alright, let's go then." Li Xiangqian waved his hand and got into Li Long's jeep.

A jeep led the way, followed by a line of large trucks. In those days, such a sight was rarely seen except for military exercises and training, so it attracted the attention of passersby.

It was quite spectacular.

Sitting in the passenger seat, Li Xiangqian looked out the window. As they were about to leave the county, he suddenly said to Li Long:
"Xiao Li, are you coming with me to the prefecture this time?"

“I won’t go. I need to settle the accounts with the company and clarify the work to come.” Li Long had already thought it through. “If there are any substandard work on their end, I need to explain it to them. The Corps does this big brooming like an assembly line. If one link has a problem, it can affect a whole series of things.”

Li Xiangqian nodded: "Okay, sure."

When the car arrived at Wang Mingjun's company, Wang Mingjun, Zheng Xiangyang, and Lao Chen were already waiting. Li Long had mentioned the day before that the director of the supply and marketing cooperative would personally bring a vehicle to pick up the large brooms, so naturally, they took it very seriously. This was Li Long's direct superior; if he was coming in person, they had to give him a proper welcome.
Seeing Wang Mingjun and the others come to greet him outside the company, Li Long parked the jeep by the roadside. Li Xiangqian got out with a big smile on his face.

"This must be Company Commander Wang! And this must be Political Instructor Zheng? And this is... the Quartermaster? Okay, okay, thank you for your hard work..."

Li Long stood by the car, watching the spectacle. It turns out Director Li Xiangqian is quite the gentleman, respecting and valuing his subordinates.

After the introductions were finished, they walked inside talking as they went, while Li Long led the convoy to the company headquarters.

The area was piled high with brooms, so jeeps and large trucks had to park outside.

Wang Mingjun wanted to invite Li Xiangqian and his men to rest, but Li Xiangqian said the mission was urgent. After eating a few bites of melon with the people he brought, he started working.

There were also many young men in the company helping out, mainly by carrying large brooms and loading them onto the truck.

Li Xiangqian was in charge of overall coordination, while Li Long worked with the inspectors to randomly check the quality of these large brooms.

Each person is responsible for one vehicle. Once the vehicle passes inspection, it is loaded onto the vehicle. They work in groups of five, and there is a logbook to keep track of the numbers. There are people watching from both sides, so there is no worry about mixing up the quantities.

In the past, it would take Li Long a whole day to finish the inspection with so many large brooms by himself. Now, with so many people helping, the efficiency has really increased a lot.

It's unclear whether it was because Li Long was particularly strict or because the brooms he inspected weren't very good to begin with, but there were slightly more substandard brooms found near his car.

But by the time it was almost time to eat, nearly 8,000 brooms had been inspected, and ten trucks were already full. The total number of brooms that failed the inspection was no more than 100.

"Company Commander Wang, the Corps' reputation as the elder brother is no exaggeration." Li Xiangqian was also full of admiration. "You made so many large brooms, and our requirements were so strict, yet your pass rate was still so high. What does that mean? It means that the Corps' combat effectiveness is very strong and their fighting style is very tough. This is something we should learn from!"

"Not at all, not at all." Wang Mingjun couldn't stop smiling when he heard this. This wasn't Li Long saying this; it was the words of the director of a county supply and marketing cooperative!
If I say that, I could brag about it for a whole year!
"Director, we've finished the inspection and the trucks are all loaded. Shall we eat first?" Zheng Xiangyang came over to ask for instructions. "Everyone has worked very hard. Although our company's conditions aren't great, we hope to treat everyone well."

"Alright, alright, let's go eat!" Li Xiangqian said. "Don't make any exceptions. It's best to finish with a plate of noodles. We still have a long way to go to get these qualified brooms to the prefecture!"

"Hey, lunch is just hand-pulled noodles. Our quartermaster, Old Chen, is good at this; he learned it from Comrade Li Long's brother," Wang Mingjun said with a smile. "Come on, everyone, let's go eat!"

The aroma of food from the team headquarters had been wafting out for a while; Old Chen had started preparing as soon as he learned there would be so many people. In this area, people who eat mixed noodles or hand-pulled noodles like this prefer plenty of toppings.

There were two main dishes: stir-fried persimmons, long eggplants with chili peppers, and mutton. The vegetables were stir-fried until very soft, and the noodles were very flavorful with the broth. The stir-fried potato shreds were also very soft, not the sour and crispy kind that you get in restaurants in later times.

The toppings consist of fried chives, celery, and chili peppers that have been blanched in boiling water, all finely chopped and placed on a plate for anyone who wants to eat.

Hey, it looks delicious!

(End of this chapter)