Rebirth of Bayi Fishing and Hunting in the Northwest

Chapter 985 It's worth getting tanned to a crisp.
Zheng Xiangyang wanted to offer some wine, but Li Xiangqian firmly refused, saying that he had to go to the prefecture to report to the leaders and that he definitely couldn't drink the wine.

Then let's just enjoy our noodles. Although many people in later generations would add noodles, most people are used to eating hand-pulled noodles by eating them slowly first, and then pouring the noodles in when they arrive. It's best to mix them in as soon as they arrive.

Because noodles are eaten in two batches, the second batch isn't as flavorful as the first. So when getting the food, Old Chen would stand by the pot and ask how many noodles the customer wanted. That way, they wouldn't have to go back for more, and they could eat their fill in one meal.

The two main dishes were served in bowls, and you could take as much as you wanted. They smelled delicious, and there was a cook in the kitchen who was there to swat away flies.

When Li Long arrived, Old Chen specially brought him a few peeled cloves of garlic to eat with.

Most of them are young, and it's no exaggeration to say they wolf down their food. They're already tired, so the stir-fried dishes are fragrant, and the noodles are chewy, soft, and smooth without being hard. It's a very comfortable meal.

So basically everyone gets a large enamel plate of noodles, finishes it in less than ten minutes, then rinses the plate with the noodle soup, lets it cool, drinks it, and that's it.

Although he ate quickly, he really enjoyed it. Li Long felt that he hadn't eaten so deliciously in a long time—probably because he hadn't been this tired in a long time either.

To be honest, the quality of the brooms made by the company is as good as ever. He thought that when the state leaders saw these brooms, they would probably be able to feel the difference when they saw the ones made by the company in a couple of days.

The main thing is that the brooms made by the Corps are not only of good quality, but also look beautiful. They are truly exceptional.

After eating and drinking their fill, Li Xiangqian rested for a while and chatted with Wang Mingjun, while Zheng Xiangyang weaved through the crowd, wanting to talk to these people more.

When Li Xiangqian stood up to say goodbye to Li Long, he whispered, "This instructor is a real schemer. He kept asking our people how much the supply and marketing cooperative gave us for each broom."

Hehehe, I was prepared for this. I mentioned it when I came, and told everyone I knew nothing about it—only you and I have seen this document, so he won't get any information from me, don't worry!

Li Long glanced at Zheng Xiangyang, who was chatting with an inspector, and thought to himself that this guy was no match for Wang Mingjun.

What good will it do you to ask? Do you think you can bypass yourself and deal directly with the county supply and marketing cooperative? That's impossible. Li Xiangqian only recognizes himself now; even if he finds someone in the county, they won't let him live.

You could say this person is somewhat clever, but not much.

Li Xiangqian, seeing that it was about time, told everyone to leave. Wang Mingjun and the others hurriedly saw them off. Seeing that Li Long wasn't moving, Wang Mingjun asked curiously, "Little Li, aren't you leaving?"

"Who's going to settle the bill if I leave?" Li Long said with a smile. "I'm not leaving. After I see the director and the others off, we'll settle the bill. Now that the broom is gone, I'll naturally settle the bill."

"Great, great, great!" Wang Mingjun was overjoyed. Li Xiangqian hadn't mentioned the money yet, as he was too proud to say anything. Now that Li Long had offered to stay and pay the bill, that was naturally the best outcome.

After seeing the convoy off, Li Long began to check the quantities and calculate the money with Lao Chen.

“A large broom costs three yuan and fifty cents. You have a total of seven thousand eight hundred and eighty-nine qualified brooms, which is twenty-seven thousand six hundred and eleven yuan and fifty cents.” Li Long calculated in his notebook. “You can see the specific numbers here. I’ll calculate the total here.”

Old Chen calculated it once, and it was the same as Li Long's calculation. Then he showed it to Wang Mingjun and Zheng Xiangyang.

They naturally had no objections.

"Then sign and take the money." Li Long took out a bag from the jeep, pulled out stacks of money from it, and had Wang Mingjun and Zheng Xiangyang sign the notebook.

Wang Mingjun and Zheng Xiangyang exchanged a glance, then signed the papers decisively, while Old Chen began counting the money.

After counting the money and handing it over clearly, Li Long, holding Old Chen's receipt, said to Wang Mingjun:

"Company Commander Wang, Political Instructor Zheng, let's talk about one last thing now."

"Go ahead." Having received the cash, Zheng Xiangyang's smile was even wider than Wang Mingjun's. "We're listening."

"As Director Li Xiangqian said, the quality and pass rate of our brooms this time are very high. In other places where brooms are made, out of seven or eight thousand brooms, there might be six or seven hundred or even a thousand that are substandard. Yours is really good."

Li Longxian praised them at length, making Wang Mingjun and Zheng Xiangyang feel a little embarrassed.

"But because your method is assembly line tying, if it is not up to standard, it is easy for a whole batch to be unqualified. So I will talk about the common problems of these unqualified products. The main problem I found was with the handle."

The red willow branches are of very good quality, but if not properly shaved, they can easily prick your hands. I think you can see the other specific problems as well, so I won't go into detail.

This isn't really a big problem. Li Long is a perfectionist, and Wang Mingjun and Zheng Xiangyang both understand that. But if we're talking about making changes, it's just a matter of saying a few more words, so they readily agreed.

When Li Long returned, he brought back some more hides. During this time, Wang Mingjun led his men to cut reeds and tamarisk stalks, and they would encounter wolves, deer, and gazelles in the Gobi Desert. Since they encountered them, they would fight them. After the fight, the meat would improve their diet, and the hides would be left behind.

Li Long drove back to the county with seventy or eighty hides and unloaded them at the purchasing station. Gu Boyuan also had to register these hides; that's how business is—there have to be rules.

Li Long observed that the vendors here mainly sold black tiger paw mushrooms, in large and small bags, occasionally with some peels, and sometimes with codonopsis pilosula. However, Gu Boyuan had driven down the price of the codonopsis pilosula very low, since it wasn't yet the right time to harvest it; drying it now would make it too weak.

When Li Long arrived at the backyard, he saw Tillandsia still processing black tiger paw mushrooms. She greeted him with a smile and thanked him for the dried fruit he had brought her.

Li Long shared some of the snacks he brought back with Sun Jiaqiang's family. It wasn't much; it was mainly just for them to try.

After putting the leather down, Li Long saw that there was nothing else for him to do, so he went back to the courtyard.

However, he rushed back shortly after returning home, as Gu Boyuan called to say that Zhao Hui had arrived.

In the summer, there are fewer skins, so Zhao Hui only comes once every month or two, but since he's here, Li Long naturally has to welcome him.

“Every early autumn, you have some rare furs available here. How about this year?” Zhao Hui asked bluntly. “If you have any good furs, you must give them to me. I’ll definitely offer you a price that will satisfy you!”

Li Long smiled and said, "There are indeed a few hides available right now. You can look at the ordinary hides first, and I'll go and bring the rest over to you."

Without waiting for Zhao Hui's reaction, he went out the door.

Li Long had long legs, and Zhao Hui couldn't keep up with him. There was a height difference of nearly 30 centimeters between them, and by the time he reached the outside of the purchasing station, Li Long had already disappeared.

After waiting for a while, Li Long drove up in his jeep, stopped in the backyard, and took out the leather to show him.

"Two bear skins and one snow leopard skin, how about that? The rest of the deer skins and stuff aren't anything special."

"This bear skin is nice, and this snow leopard skin is nice too... Good, good, good. Although there are bullet holes, those things are unavoidable." Zhao Hui was actually quite satisfied.

Li Long took out other hides from the warehouse, including the hides he had received from Wang Mingjun that day.

Zhao Hui followed and saw a thick pile of hides in the corner. Because of the dim light, he couldn't see them clearly, so he asked, "Where are those hides?"

“That’s sheepskin, and you don’t want it,” Li Long said with a smile.

Zhao Hui chuckled awkwardly. He really didn't want the sheepskin; there were plenty of sheepskins available right now, and they could be found anywhere.

Then he began sorting the hides, saying as he did so, "Something big is about to happen, Mr. Li, you know that, right?"

"You mean the Wildlife Protection Law?" Li Long replied as he helped him sort the hides.

"You know?" Zhao Hui had originally wanted to show off his information, but he didn't expect Li Long to know!

"Yeah, I know a little. But to be honest, it definitely won't be strictly enforced at first," Li Long said with a smile. "This kind of thing, it takes time to get implemented here. But once it's implemented, won't the price of leather go up?"

“The price has gone up now,” Zhao Hui sighed. “Right now, a bear pelt like this used to fetch a little over a thousand, maybe two thousand at most. But now, a pelt this big can sell for three thousand.”

Snow leopard pelts are even more expensive. They used to cost around three thousand, but now, if it's a full pelt, five thousand is the minimum…

“Hey, then I’m in for a treat,” Li Long said. “Boss Zhao is so generous, he just gave me the price right away.” Zhao Hui thought to himself, “Don’t you know? Someone who knows about the upcoming implementation of the Wildlife Protection Law must have that much awareness. Rather than offering a low price and letting you laugh at me, I might as well just give you a price.”

Li Long has a stable source of high-end leather for him, and he doesn't want the cooperation to break down over a small amount of money, not even a possibility.

Li Long thought to himself that the price of the few good hides he had stored in his room would likely continue to rise.

In the end, Zhao Hui settled the bill for Li Long for these special hides, along with other deer hides and such—the price of a full deer hide had risen to 100 yuan, and this was for autumn hides; according to Zhao Hui, winter hides had risen to 120 yuan.

It's crazy!

Of course, this is a good thing for Li Long, since the higher the price, the more money he makes—he had only paid Wang Mingjun over 20,000 yuan, and then received over 30,000 yuan from this side, so he still made a profit.

Of course, you'll settle your accounts at the supply and marketing cooperative later, where you'll earn even more.

Zhao Hui stacked the hides, and Li Long drove him to the transportation company in a jeep.

Leaving Zhao Hui behind, Li Long drove the Jeep back to the compound and called Zhao Zongming to confirm that he would come to inspect the property the next day.

The next day, when Li Xiangqian went to Zhao Zongming's company, he still accompanied him. Both sides treated him the same, which made Zhao Zongming extremely happy. The meal he was treated to was also much more lavish.

Zhao Zongming's team produced a little over 7,000 qualified brooms, slightly fewer than Wang Mingjun's team, and the qualification rate was also slightly lower, but still much higher than the team's overall.

More than 7,000 large brooms were transported to the prefecture. Li Long was still behind in settling accounts and receiving real money. As a result, the enthusiasm of the employees in Zhao Zongming's company for making large brooms soared.

Li Long ignored all of that and focused on the Fourth Squad and Qingshuihezi. The Fourth Squad had collected a total of 5,500 brooms, while Qingshuihezi had collected over 4,600, for a total of 25,000 brooms. They had completed 60% of the mission, and only half the time had passed.

Only after all the goods were transported to the prefecture could Li Long finally relax and take a break.

He bought 25,000 large brooms, and the supply and marketing cooperative paid him over 150,000 yuan, while he paid less than 90,000 yuan and made over 60,000 yuan.

This is only a part; if you calculate it all, he could earn around 100,000 yuan.

There's a stable job like this every year, and it only lasts for a little over a month, so it's really lucrative.

Of course, a management fee also needs to be paid to the eldest brother. After all, it was previously agreed that for each large broom collected, he would receive 50 cents, and after the price increase, it would be one yuan. The cost of a large broom for the Fourth Team is only four yuan and fifty cents, which can be considered a benefit that Li Long is giving to his eldest brother.

While Li Long was busy with his sweeping spree here, back in Yanjing, that leader obtained the textbooks from the ethnic minority school, along with their translations.

Upon seeing the contents, the leader frowned—this teaching material was truly unbearable to look at!

How could this happen?
The leader is thinking of a proper solution. Now that he is no longer working in northern Xinjiang, it wouldn't be good to bring up the matter rashly; a suitable opportunity is needed.

Li Long took some time to go into the mountains and told Halim about it. Halim was initially dismissive, but Li Long's serious tone made him take it seriously. Yushanjiang didn't come down this time, but his child was at the livestock team's outpost, and being relatively old, Li Long asked Halim to keep an eye on him as well.

Throughout August, Li Long was focused on making the big broom, so much so that when Halim and the others finished cutting grass ahead of time, drove the tractor back, and rode back to the summer pasture on horseback, Li Long didn't have time to see them off.

Fortunately, they were all on the same side and didn't care about such formalities. When Halim came to release the tractor, he said he hoped to see more roads repaired when he returned from the winter migration.

Li Long naturally agreed. He thought that first they would collect the large brooms, then the melon seeds, and then they could start working on the road repairs.

Since Meng Hai doesn't grow any cash crops, he could organize road construction on his own after planting winter wheat. I can tell him about it then.

Huang Lei came over at the end of August when Han Fang and her classmates started school. However, the purchasing station bought too many wild mushrooms this time, so he didn't bring enough money and could only take away a portion.

"I never expected that you would have harvested more than four tons of black tiger paw mushrooms in such a short time!"

"Who says there aren't many of these things in the mountains?" Li Long chuckled. "This year is a bumper year, and people from several nearby counties who pick mushrooms are sending wild mushrooms here, so naturally there are more."

Huang Lei brought 50,000 yuan with him on this trip, thinking that was enough. He never expected that Li Long would have collected so many wild mushrooms, and they were all processed and of very good quality.

I don't want it, but I can't bear to part with it; if I do want it, I don't have enough money.

Tangled ah.

Since his location didn't have that much working capital, he could only discuss with Li Long about taking a portion of it first.

"Of course, no problem." Li Long wasn't in a hurry. Huang Lei wasn't the only one who had come to buy wild mushrooms these past few days. If he only wanted a portion, the rest could be sold to others.

Huang Lei offered 25 yuan for the black tiger paw mushroom, which is unimaginable for ordinary people.

Even though Li Long knew that the price of this wild mushroom would rise to several hundred or even thousands in the future, the price at this time was still quite astonishing.

It was only after his purchasing station opened that many people realized this wild mushroom was valuable; before that, very few people knew. People in the mountains know that this wild mushroom grows in large quantities at a certain time of year; as for its taste, some people like it, and some don't.

The lack of smooth information flow, or rather, the information gap, is the fastest way to make money in this era.

Even in the internet age, many people can find enough information online, yet they are still exploited to make money—even with the internet, you can't find everything you want in a short time, but some people can compile these things and sell them to you.

In early September, Li Long delivered the last truckload of brooms to the supply and marketing cooperative, thus concluding his mission.

All payments at each location have been settled in advance, so the money the supply and marketing cooperative is giving Li Long now is pure profit.

Because he had to travel back and forth between the Corps, Qingshuihe, and the Fourth Squad, and there was also a trip to deliver large brooms from the Corps to the prefecture, Li Xiangqian sent Li Long there. He took this opportunity to meet Director Qian.

Director Qian remained very kind to Li Long, urging him to do a good job. He even boasted to some leaders that as long as he was there, Li Long would be the main force in making the big brooms.

There was nothing that could be done; although Li Long didn't know, the other leaders did. This year, out of 60,000 large brooms, Li Long had taken on 40,000. Some people had complaints, but no one dared to voice them, given how well Li Long had performed last year.

This year, after receiving the large brooms from Li Long's unit, other units also sent their large brooms over. When compared, it was immediately obvious to anyone with eyes to see the difference.

It's fair to say that the difference in quality is obvious.

Therefore, no one objected to Director Qian's words. Some of these large brooms were sent out of the district, representing the face of this area.

People may sometimes show favoritism towards their own people, but when it comes to crucial moments, quality must prevail.

After finishing making the big broom, Li Long was also tanned a bit darker—the ultraviolet rays in August and September were really too strong.

It was tiring, but worth it. After all, if this opportunity were given out, plenty of people would be vying for it, and the fact that he managed to get it was due to a combination of factors.

Gu Xiaoxia sent several more jade pieces to her younger sister, Gu Xiaoyu, saying that school had started there and many teachers and even students liked this kind of jade, and Gu Xiaoyu's business was booming.

That's a good thing.

Li Long also took some time to visit Kuitun and Shicheng. During his trip to Yanjing, he not only bought stationery for his elder brother's children, but also some for Xueping, Xueqin, and Hongqin. As their uncle, he couldn't show too much favoritism.

Next, I'll be busy again.

However, Li Long waited and waited, but neither the man surnamed Bai nor the man surnamed Dong came to collect the melon seeds, and he began to feel that something was wrong.

(End of this chapter)