Rebirth of Bayi Fishing and Hunting in the Northwest

Chapter 999 Old Du's sincerity is evident, Li Long is cautious.

Director Du was very well prepared for the cooperation, which Li Long thought was good; at least he showed sincerity.

He took a notebook out of his satchel, asking as he did so:
"Director Du, could you tell me, if my snow removal machine design works perfectly and has no design flaws, what would your buyout price be, and what percentage would you take as commission?"

"If it's a buyout," Factory Director Du said, "ten thousand yuan, isn't that a lot?"

For ordinary people, designing such a snow clearer only requires drawing a few pictures, and then receiving a design patent buyout fee of 10,000 yuan is already quite high.

It was 1986, and 10,000 yuan had considerable purchasing power; it could buy a courtyard house in Beijing—not necessarily in a particularly central location.

Of course, for an ordinary person, Director Du wouldn't be able to pay such a high patent buyout fee. The main reason he could come up with so much money was that the two agricultural machines that Li Long had previously collaborated on with him had both proven to be excellent.

"How about a commission of 15% of the profit or 5% of the selling price for each unit sold?"

Li Long thought for a moment and said:

"Then let's go with the latter. Just give me 15% of the profits. Let's do it business-to-business. Take a look at my design."

He trusted Director Du's reputation because they had worked together twice, and the director's actions made him feel that he was trustworthy.

Li Longxian took out the first design drawing, which was about a hand-push gasoline snowplow.

"Director Du, this is the first type, powered by a gasoline engine. It's mainly used in the courtyards of workplaces, but it can also be used in schools."

"You're using a roller winch? Huh? Why didn't we think of that back then? But this isn't very effective for very thick snow, is it?" Director Du immediately noticed the design flaw.

“Fifty or sixty centimeters of snow is still a minority. Most of the snowfall is only twenty or thirty centimeters, or even ten or twenty centimeters.” Li Long pointed to the drum of the push snowplow and said, “If the snow is thick, just walk slowly. It’s still faster than clearing it by hand.”

"That's true." Director Du knew that what he was talking about wasn't some insurmountable problem, but he was a little unconvinced because the technicians in his factory hadn't been able to solve it, so he subconsciously wanted to find some minor flaws in Li Long's design.

Then I started to seriously look at Li Long's design.

The design principle is actually quite simple: it uses the rotation of the roller to swirl the snow forward with steel brushes. The steel brushes are arranged in a certain pattern; their diagonal arrangement allows the snow to be swirl upwards and to the right, thus blowing it away without any resistance in front.

It looks like a thin layer of paper; an experienced technician like Director Du can understand it at a glance.

It was something that was so obvious at first glance, but he and his team of technicians and workers just couldn't figure it out. They only focused on the snowplows and ultimately failed to make it work.

It's still a matter of limited vision and perspective.

After understanding the principle of the hand-push snowplow, Director Du looked up at Li Long.

"I also have a type that can be mounted on a small four-wheeled tractor. Director Du, do you think this kind of cooperation is worthwhile?"

"It's worth it," Factory Director Du exclaimed. "I never imagined that a small roller could solve a problem that had been bothering me for so long. Sigh—Xiao Li, I think you should just come and work as an engineer in our factory. I feel that your thinking is much more open-minded than ours."

"Take a look at this first," Li Long smiled, it seemed the collaboration was almost finalized. "This is my design, but production will be quite challenging, especially the steel brush itself. Of course, the arrangement of the steel wires on the brush is also crucial..."

Now that a cooperation agreement had been reached, Li Long gave a brief explanation to Director Du.

"Okay, I'll have someone in the office draft a contract, we'll sign it, and then have dinner together tonight to celebrate?"

"No, I've already made plans. My second brother works for a construction and installation company here. I'm going to his place for dinner tonight, and I'll be meeting a few fellow villagers as well."

"Alright, we'll talk about it later when we have time. Once the contract is signed, I need to get everyone together quickly and produce one to see how it goes—of course, Comrade Li Long, I have great confidence in your design. By the way, do you have any ideas about pricing these two products?"

"The hand-push type, because I'm not sure about the current price of gasoline engines, so I can't say. The latter type seems simpler, at most a hundred or two hundred yuan, right?" Li Long said. "With so many government agencies, enterprises, schools, and towns in our northern Xinjiang, even if each unit only has one, we could sell several thousand or even tens of thousands of units."

Moreover, I think this snowplow can still expand beyond northern Xinjiang and into the border markets.

"If you put it that way, I'll actually have some confidence. It snows not only in our northern border region, but in many provinces in the north. There's definitely a market for this stuff!"

"Like I said before, once it's ready to be rolled out, you must speed up production. It would be best if you could expand your factory. Otherwise, with your current capacity, you probably won't have produced many before imitations appear," Li Long reminded him. "Right now, we can't ask others for help, so we can only focus on being the first to market, branding, and quality."

Since he was going to sign a contract and take a cut, Li Long naturally hoped to sell as many snow removal machines as possible. Unlike harvesters, these machines could be used for up to forty years from now, and he hoped to continue doing this business in the long run.

After all, if I keep doing this, I can keep receiving money—Director Du didn't mention the time limit for the snow removal machine patent.

I doubt he even has a concept of this time limit in his mind.

Li Long glanced at the contract and saw that it was a template, with some of the content already written in advance, only now the snow removal machine had been filled in.

Li Long thought for a moment and added the words "roller steel brush type" to the front of the snow removal machine.

After seeing Li Long's revisions, Director Du smiled and said, "Yes, yes, our version was a bit too brief."

Li Long carefully examined the contract. Contracts at this time were not as lengthy as those in later years. They only contained a few points: one was that the two parties would cooperate, with Li Long providing the design and the agricultural machinery factory providing the production; the final agreement was that Li Long would receive 15% of the profits from each machine sold; and Li Long had the right to check the accounts at any time afterward, etc.

The contract was made in duplicate. Li Long signed it, and Factory Director Du signed and stamped it. Then each of them took one copy.

Factory Director Du was eager to take the design to the technicians to study production together, while Li Long was thinking of going to his second brother's place to see if Junshan and Yang Yongqiang had come over.

When Director Du explained the two types of snow removal machines designed by Li Long to the workers, they immediately understood.

feasible!

But when Factory Director Du said that Li Long would receive 15% of the profits from the patent, everyone became dissatisfied.

"Why should they take 15% of the profits from such a simple design?"

"Yeah, I could have come up with that too, but I've been thinking about snowboards these past few days and haven't been able to process it yet."

"To be honest, the design is pretty good, but that 15% commission is a bit too high..."

Director Du sighed as he listened to what the workers and technicians had to say.

Sigh, they're all so arrogant, yet so limited by their own limited perspectives; it's truly worrying.

He waited until everyone had finished speaking before asking:
"We've been wanting to develop this snowplow for at least a year, right? We've been actually in the design and production phase for about a month now. And what's the result? Have we finished it yet?"

Everyone fell silent.

"Not only did we fail to develop it, we've also hit a dead end!" Director Du's words were like a slap in the face. "You're all technical personnel, so why can't you have the courage to acknowledge the excellence of others? Is Comrade Li Long an ordinary person? You don't think that his design of this snow removal machine was just a coincidence, a lucky break, or a stroke of pure luck, do you?"
Think about the harvesters and tillers he designed. Have you ever thought of these things before? Have you ever designed them? Or is it that every time you see the design drawings after he finishes it, you suddenly realize, "Oh, that's how it should be done! You could actually design that too!"

After Director Du said that, the technicians all fell silent.

Director Du hit a nerve—in their eyes, the things Li Long designed weren't really anything profound.

But ironically, they never thought of this path in the first place.

Once you see Li Long's design, you realize it's just so-so; if you had some time, you could probably make one too.

The question is, has it been solved?

Nothing.

Factory Director Du had finally realized the truth, because he discovered that Li Long's design truly stayed grounded in fundamentals and was extremely practical. It was precisely because of this that these people felt the design was just so-so.

If it happens once, twice, and three times, will it still happen?
Is Li Long always just a little bit better than them? That's not what you imagine.

"Alright, stop thinking about it so much. If we really want to give Li Long a share, we have to start producing it first. Now let's break down the production process of this snow removal machine. The roller is the biggest part, and the technology involved is quite advanced. We need to study it carefully."

Furthermore, we need to carefully consider whether to produce both, or focus on just one.

These events will determine the direction of the agricultural machinery factory director's production going forward.

Li Long reminded Factory Director Du to expand production in the future, but Factory Director Du also had his own difficulties. He also wanted to expand production, but there were some things he couldn't control, and he wasn't entirely in control of the situation.

This agricultural machinery factory is considered a state-owned enterprise, but due to the system, although it is currently very profitable, there are still many people eyeing it.

These are not things that Li Long is considering.

The agricultural machinery factory was just a casual arrangement he made. He had originally placed high hopes on it, but now that his purchasing station was becoming more profitable, the profits from agricultural machinery had become icing on the cake, and Li Long no longer paid much attention to it.

Driving his jeep toward his second brother's yard, Li Long passed a delicatessen, bought a piece of braised beef and two cold dishes, put them in the car, and drove off.

There weren't many pedestrians on the road at this time. Kuitun is just a small county-level city with a small population and limited area. In the dead of winter, apart from those who had to work, everyone else stayed at home.

The jeep pulled up to the edge of his second brother's yard, and Li Long, who was carrying groceries, got out and saw that his second brother was already in the yard.

I imagine there's not much work at the office in winter, so leaving early isn't a big deal.

Upon hearing the sound of the jeep and the voices of Li Long and Li Anguo, Li Junshan and Yang Yongqiang both came out of the house.

Li Junshan is over thirty and has become much more mature, while Yang Yongqiang still looks young, only stronger than when he was in the village, and doesn't look as reckless anymore.

"Uncle Xiaolong!"

"Brother Long!"

The two men greeted each other with smiles, and Li Long patted them on the shoulder one by one, saying with a smile, "Good, good, looks like you're both doing well. Junshan, you're settled now, you're starting out like a parent. Yongqiang, have you found a girlfriend yet?"

"Hehe, we're talking about it right now," Yang Yongqiang said with a smile. "Whether it works out or not is still up in the air."

"Let's talk this over properly. I'm looking forward to attending your wedding."

“Yongqiang is very popular; he gets introduced to many potential partners,” Li Junshan said with a smile. “But he has high standards; he doesn’t even look at the average girl.”

"No, not at all," Yang Yongqiang said somewhat embarrassedly. "It's just that we like each other."

"Yeah, it's about chemistry. You wouldn't look down on someone who's not good-looking." Li Junshan and Yang Yongqiang were very close, so he wasn't afraid to joke around and get beaten up.

Yang Yongqiang's face immediately turned red.

Li Long smiled and said, "That's normal. It's all about first impressions; it's just about what you find pleasing to the eye."

"Come inside, come inside, it's cold outside." Li Anguo took the braised meat and cold dishes that Li Long handed him and said, "Your sister-in-law is cooking, it'll be ready in a bit. You guys come inside and play cards first, I'll go check on the kitchen."

Although it's more than 100 kilometers away from Ma County, the habits are similar. In winter, before drinking and eating, people play cards to pass the time.

Fortunately, it had been a long time since we'd seen each other, so we played cards together and chatted about various topics.

Li Anguo became the group leader, while Li Junshan became the deputy group leader in another group—the deputy group leader position wasn't a formal one, but it came with a monthly allowance of five yuan, which was pretty good.

Li Junshan's wife has a good job, and the two of them both have salaries. They live in a dormitory, so they don't lack money. The only problem is that they don't have children yet.

Yang Yongqiang was also there, so Li Long didn't ask why they didn't have children. He just hinted that they should have children as early as possible.

He asked Yang Yongqiang when he was coming home, and Yang Yongqiang said it was before the Lunar New Year, around the end of the twelfth lunar month. Li Long joked that maybe he was finalizing his relationship with his girlfriend during this time, which was why he wasn't coming home, but Yang Yongqiang didn't respond.

Li Long guessed that the lack of response meant he had tacitly agreed.

Not bad. Of the people who followed him, Tao Daqiang had children early on, Sun Jiaqiang now has a daughter, and Yang Yongqiang has a girlfriend.

People are generally in the process of starting a family and building a career, so they tend to get married early and have children around the age of 25.

Li Junshan is thirty years old and still doesn't have children, which is considered relatively late.

But this can't be rushed. Just like in later generations, many people have been married for seventy or eighty years without having children, while some young people get pregnant on the first try without getting married. Who can they complain to?
They chatted while playing cards, and thankfully they drank tea instead of alcohol, which made things a bit more civilized.

After a few rounds, Li Long was in the lead twice, and Li Anguo called for the table to be cleared and the dishes to be served.

Dishes were served one after another, and the wine was the famous Kuitun Special Qu. This kind of wine bottle is also very famous in Ma County because the lower half of the bottle is curved. Someone once soaked cotton thread in alcohol, wrapped it around the bottle, and heated it. When it was hot, he broke off the lower curved part of the bottle and used it as a special water cup.

The wine was excellent, and the food was good too. As the guest of honor, Li Long was naturally the one being toasted.

Li Long always came in a hurry, delivering things and leaving without ever having a proper meal at Li Anguo's house. Therefore, Li Anguo took this visit very seriously.

After eating and drinking for a while, Xueping and Xueqin came back from school, and Chen Lirong took them to eat in the kitchen.

Li Long asked Li Anguo, Li Junshan, and Yang Yongqiang about their situation, and they also asked about Li Long's situation.

Li Anguo went back home during the National Day holiday and knew some things, but not much. Now Li Long has told him more, including how to become a national advanced individual, as well as collecting hides, mushrooms, and fritillaria bulbs. He came here to submit design drawings to the agricultural machinery factory.

"Design what?" Yang Yongqiang, his face flushed from the alcohol, asked. "Brother Long, are you designing agricultural machinery?"

“No, a snowplow,” Li Long said, putting down his chopsticks. “These last two snowfalls have been quite heavy, and I was thinking of getting a snowplow so that snow removal wouldn’t be so troublesome.”

“Hey, that’s good. We have nothing to do now, so we just shovel snow as soon as it snows. The snow is so thick, it’s too much trouble to shovel,” Li Junshan said.

Li Anguo thought so too. Living in the big courtyard was comfortable, but shoveling snow was a hassle. In such a large place, a heavy snowfall could take two days just to shovel snow.

If there were snowplows, these people would have less to do. In the dead of winter, when it's freezing outside, who wouldn't want to stay indoors and enjoy the winter?

Drinking in Kuitun is similar to that in Ma County; you also play the game of "passing through the gates".

After drinking for a while, Li Long felt a little dizzy, but not too much. In addition, the room was hot, and the alcohol fumes were expelled with his sweat, so he stopped feeling dizzy.

Knowing that Li Long was getting stronger, Li Junshan, Yang Yongqiang and he drank a lot. In the end, both of them felt they couldn't drink anymore, and Li Long took the initiative to suggest that they stop drinking.

"We can't drink anymore, or I won't know how I'll get you guys back later," Li Long joked. "I still don't know where Junshan lives, but Yongqiang's dorm is alright, I still remember it."

They stopped drinking alcohol and started drinking tea and chatting. After chatting for a while, Chuanzi drank a bit too much hot tea, which helped dissipate some of the alcohol's effects. Then Li Long saw them off.

There was no other way but to use a jeep, otherwise they wouldn't be able to deliver it. Fortunately, Li Long had regained consciousness. He put on his clothes, turned on the lights, and drove to their house, following the directions given by Li Junshan and Yang Yongqiang.

Li Junshan lived in a small courtyard, very small. When Li Long knocked on the door, a woman he remembered opening it, saw Li Junshan, complained, helped him inside, and thanked Li Long.

Li Long didn't go inside to rest; instead, he went to see Yang Yongqiang off. Yang Yongqiang had another colleague in his dormitory. Li Long helped him lie down on the bed, covered him with a blanket, and then left him there.

Then he returned to Ang Lee's country.

The next day, after breakfast, we drove back in the jeep.

(End of this chapter)