Rebirth of Bayi Fishing and Hunting in the Northwest

After exercising and cleaning, Gu Xiaoxia lay beside Li Long and asked softly:

"Have you finished the work? Do you need to go again tomorrow?"

"It will take another half day." Li Long hugged her and said, "We dug a well, but I forgot about the cement yesterday. It can be used now, but both families have children. If they are naughty, the well-pressing platform will probably break soon. I plan to buy a bag of cement tomorrow and go over to apply it and reinforce it. I will be back before noon. There is nothing else to do next."

"Yes, that's what I should do." Gu Xiaoxia also came from the countryside, so she naturally knew that if there was a pressure well at home and there happened to be several children, the pressure well would probably not be at peace all year round.

When the children came home from school or playing and were thirsty, they would not think of going into the house to get some water to drink. Instead, they would go directly to the well, block the well spout with one hand and press it with the other hand. After water came out, they would release the well handle, leaving a small gap with their hand blocking the well, and they would put their mouths close to the well to drink slowly.

Sometimes we fill a tube with water and several people can take turns drinking it. We feel that this water tastes much better than the tea at home.

For children, pumping water out of a well is a magical operation, so they can't help but try it even if they are not thirsty. If the well-pressing platform in the countryside is not made of concrete, it is inevitable that it will break down frequently.

"After my two colleagues left our house that day, they kept praising our home for the next few days. Sister Tao even told me today that she wanted to bring her children to our home to see the deer on the weekend. She said her children had never seen a deer before and only knew about deer from books. There is no zoo in our county. After hearing Sister Tao say that we have a deer at home, the children were very surprised and wanted to come over to see it on the weekend. They also said they wanted to buy some food to feed the deer."

"Come on, it's a good opportunity for you colleagues to get closer." Li Long said indifferently, "Our house is usually quiet, it's good to have a child come over, it will add a little popularity. Should we also try hard to have a child as soon as possible?"

"You can't have it just because you want it." Gu Xiaoxia clearly felt the changes in Li Long's body and said shyly, "Besides, how will I take care of the child now that I have it?"

"Don't worry about taking care of the child if you have one." Li Long had actually thought about it, but now was not the time to talk about it. The mother could naturally come and take care of the child, but Gu Xiaoxia might not necessarily accept the way the mother took care of the child.

Of course, the most important thing is whether you can have a child. As for how to raise the child, there are many ways to solve the problem.

So, we have to work hard now.

Li Long turned around and moved closer to Gu Xiaoxia.

Two people work together to create a new life.

After breakfast the next day, Gu Xiaoxia went to work. Li Long fed the roe deer and teased the hedgehog that was no longer afraid of people. Then he drove the tractor to buy cement and went to the pastoral team.

Zhang Xinhua, a reporter from the Autonomous Region Daily, and Zheng Mingyue, an intern reporter, had originally planned to go to Yili, but after listening to the county broadcast yesterday, they decided to change their itinerary and get this matter sorted out first.

As a senior reporter of the autonomous region's newspaper and a third-year college student, Zhang Xinhua was accompanied by a person from the county's publicity department when he settled in Ma County. Although he knew that the other party was not here to interview, he took the initiative to introduce the county's situation, including some typical cases, hoping to leave an impression.

After all, if it can be published in a major newspaper, it is a great achievement.

As a result, we were originally planning to send him away today, but unexpectedly Zhang Xinhua suddenly said that he wanted to stay. Ma Xiaoyan, the publicity officer who was accompanying him, was so happy that she was stunned. Was he going to interview him?
When Zhang Xinhua and Zheng Mingyue were having breakfast in the guesthouse, Ma Xiaoyan went to report to the leader. Zheng Mingyue was sitting at the table with porridge and whispered:
"Teacher Zhang, do you think it's possible that the county deliberately made up this manuscript because we came here? Isn't this too coincidental?"

"No." Zhang Xinhua said while eating steamed buns with pickles, "I listened to the manuscript carefully. The writing style is a bit immature. The writer should be young. Although it has been revised, it can be seen that it does not look like it was written by an old hand. If the propaganda department deliberately made up such a story because of us, it would not be so immature. Besides, it will take at most half a day to read it. If it is fake, do you think I can't tell?"

As a member of the third batch of college students, Zhang Xinhua has experienced a lot. Although she wasted a lot of time going to the countryside during that special period, it helped her to develop a strong will and keen sense.

So you can tell true news from false news at a glance.

After dinner, the county dispatched a 212 car to take them to the animal husbandry team. On the way, the propaganda officer Ma Xiaoyan introduced Zhang Xinhua and the others:

"This article was written by an intern broadcaster in our animal husbandry team. I called the animal husbandry team and asked her. The incident was true, and it was roughly as described in the article. As for the parties involved, both families were there, but Li Long, who was repairing the house, was not there. The house and yard have been repaired, and the well has been dug, so they should not come anymore."

"Do you know which unit Li Long works in?" Zhang Xinhua asked.

Ma Xiaoyan shook her head and said:

"I can't get much information over the phone, so I thought I would get to the place and ask the two families and I should know."

Zhang Xinhua nodded and stopped talking.

That's right. If Ma Xiaoyan could tell right away which unit or village Li Long was from, then there must be something wrong.

The 212 drove smoothly and arrived at the herding team in an hour. Yelaya was waiting by the roadside early.

She was very excited. The county called and said, this is a big reporter in the autonomous region! Just a few pointers are enough for me to learn well. Yelaya didn't expect that her manuscript could attract such a big reporter. She was really surprised and happy.

"You are Ye Laya, hello." Zhang Xinhua smiled and shook hands with Ye Laya. The girl looked a little nervous and terrified, but it didn't seem like she was pretending.

I didn't expect that she could write such an article, it's very realistic.

"Hello, Teacher Zhang, Hello, Teacher Zheng! Hello, Secretary Ma!" Yelaya shook hands with everyone and said hello. "Halimu's house is just ahead. I'll lead the way."

Although this reporter Zhang looked to be in his thirties, he had sharp eyes and seemed to be able to see everything at a glance. Ye Laya suddenly became a little nervous.

Zheng Mingyue wanted to say, "I'm not a teacher, I'm just two or three years older than you," but she was too late to say it.

"Let's get in the car and go over there?" Ma Xiaoyan said, "It'll be faster this way."

"If the distance is not far, let's walk. I can ask Yelaya some basic information." Zhang Xinhua said, "Xiao Ye, is it ok for me to call you like this? I know your names are not called like this, but when we were in the newspaper office, we were used to joking with ethnic comrades, so we called them like this. There was a guy named Yelsen, and we all called him Old Ye..."

"It's okay, it's okay." Yelaya said hurriedly, "Sure, Teacher Zhang, feel free to ask any questions you have."

"Okay, I want to ask when Li Long came to repair the house."

"The day before yesterday, we worked for two days. The day before yesterday, we repaired Halim's house and courtyard wall, and cleaned the ground. Yesterday, we drilled wells for both families. The water from the wells is really sweet. Many people in our team envy us. This morning, many people went to the two families to pump water back to drink. It is much better than river water."

"Then how many people did he bring with him, and how did they eat lunch?"

"We brought six people." Ye Laya thought for a moment and said, "The day before yesterday at noon, Li Long bought a sheep from our team and we all ate it together. Yu Shanjiang's wife made pilaf yesterday at noon, and I heard her say that the meat was also brought by Li Long last time."

"Last time?" Zhang Xinhua discovered a point.

"Yes, since Halimu, Yushanjiang and their families moved here in April this year, Li Long has come three times. The first time he brought rice and flour, and school supplies for the children. The second time he brought mutton to the two families. This is the third time."

"So that's how it is." Zhang Xinhua was now certain that this was a piece of news that was very worth digging into.

The two of them went to Yili to collect news because this May is the second national unity education month in the autonomous region. Collecting such news has the above meanings and also for the sake of national unity. The autonomous region is a region where many ethnic groups live together. In this place, if we want to achieve stable development, national unity must be vigorously promoted and promoted.

Originally, there were not many ethnic minorities in Beiting Prefecture, and the news clues were relatively common. Zhang Xinhua wanted to find some more novel ones.

Isn’t there a path that can be explored right now?
When we arrived at Halimu's yard, we saw people queuing with buckets in their hands. An old lady was sitting on a log at the door, twisting wool with a smile on her face.

The platform for the well pump was a little unstable, but the water output was huge. After a few pumps, a bucket was full. The yard had been renovated and was higher near the house, so the overflowing water flowed to the south. Zhang Xinhua thought it would be nice if he could grow vegetables there.

Seeing Yelaya coming with a few Han people, the people in the yard were a little at a loss. Someone asked Yelaya, and Yelaya said that these were cadres from the autonomous region who wanted to ask Halimu's mother something.

Hearing that the cadres of the autonomous region had something to do, those who were fetching water left one after another.

Halimu's mother stood up, said a few words to Yelaya, and turned into the house.

"Auntie said she'd like to pour you some milk tea, let's go inside."

Zhang Xinhua shook his head and said, "Let me take a look at the yard first. Xiao Zheng, take some photos of the yard. It's a pity that there are no photos of them working..."

"I have some." Yelaya said, "I took pictures the day before yesterday and yesterday, but they haven't been developed yet."

"Really? That's great." Zhang Xinhua was a little surprised. "How did you think of taking pictures?" This is a habitual professional question.

"I thought I'd develop it when I have time, and use it as reference at the end of the year." Yelaya explained, "We have to submit a summary at the end of the year, and I think this can be used."

Well, the simplest answer actually reflects the most real situation. This just shows that this incident was not deliberately done, and it was completely a coincidence that Zhang Xinhua and others heard this press release.

When Ma Xiaoyan saw and heard it, she praised Ye Laya’s answer in her heart. This time it’s a sure thing!

This news will most likely be published in the Autonomous Region Daily!

Zheng Mingyue took pictures of the newly plastered roof, the courtyard wall, and the flat ground, then took a distant shot to compare the front yard with Halimu's house. After all, the front and back yards were the real situation of the team, both were in tatters, and only Halimu's yard was the most obvious.

"Do you usually drink river water?" Zhang Xinhua took out a notebook and wrote it down. "Where is it?"

"It's about four or five hundred meters from here." Ye Laya thought for a while and said, "Teacher Zhang, please wait a minute." She trotted to the house opposite, and quickly scooped a spoonful of water with a ladle and showed it to Zhang Xinhua.

The water was slightly turbid and there were many creatures in it, especially many black mosquito larvae that were twisting rapidly in the water, which looked quite disgusting.

"Do you usually drink this water?" Zhang Xinhua said nothing. This was the water she drank from the reservoir when she went to the countryside. But Zheng Xinyue couldn't stand it. She took a picture with her camera and couldn't help saying:
"Can you drink this? It's full of bugs!"

"It's drinkable. Boil the water and the bugs will die." Yelaya smiled. "Of course, now Halimu's family has a well, and Yushanjiang's family also has a well. Many people will come to fetch water. This water is really good. I tasted it yesterday and it was really sweet."

However, Zhang Xinhua saw that the well platform was already shaky. If it was not dealt with, the well pressure might not survive today and would fail.

Fortunately, this is not a big deal. It can still be used by supporting it with bricks.

Just as she was thinking about this, the sound of a tractor was heard outside.

Ye Laya was startled when she heard this, and she turned around and ran out of the yard. After she ran out and took a look, she said to Zhang Xinhua happily:

"Teacher Zhang, that Li Long is coming!"

Li Long is here?

Is it coming towards me?

Zhang Xinhua couldn't help but become suspicious again.

This is such a coincidence, isn't it? Did the county notify us?

She looked at Ma Xiaoyan, who also looked confused. She didn't even know which unit Li Long was from.

Li Long looked at the 212 parked in front of Halimu's house, and then looked at Yelaya's expressions and actions, and he made some guesses.

Is it just a coincidence? Or is this incident a bigger one?
Although the county had propaganda and documents were given to each household, he did not participate in the study at the supply and marketing cooperative, and the team did not organize special studies in this regard, so Li Long was not aware that May this year was the second National Unity Education Month in the autonomous region.

Since he was here, he would not go back. After parking the tractor on the roadside in front of 212, Li Long turned off the engine and got out of the car. He walked down to the yard with a bag of cement, nodded to Zhang Xinhua and the others, and then asked Ye Laya with a smile:

"Xiao Ye, why is it so lively today?"

Zhang Xinhua saw Li Long holding cement and immediately understood. He was probably overthinking it. This guy must be here to reinforce the well platform.

She took the initiative to ask:

"Are you Li Long? Are you here to reinforce the well platform?"

"Yes." Li Long nodded. "I overlooked this when I was digging the well yesterday. In fact, digging the well was a spur-of-the-moment decision. I had thought about renovating the house a long time ago. When I was renovating the house the day before yesterday, I saw that the river water was still used here, which was not clean and far away. The old lady is in poor health, and it must be hard for her to fetch water from such a long distance. I thought it would be more convenient to dig a pressurized well, and it worked. We got water the first time."

"You've never drilled a pressure well before?" Zhang Xinhua found it a bit magical.

"No, my brother has done it before. He used to work in the county well-drilling company. He dug the pressure well in my yard. I watched him dig it and thought it should be relatively easy." Li Long smiled, "It was just that we did it in a hurry and didn't do a good job on the well platform. When I went back yesterday, I thought it would definitely break easily, so I bought a bag of cement today and made it into concrete. It should be able to be used for a long time."

"That's a good idea." Zhang Xinhua nodded. "When did you and Halimu meet?"

Li Long looked at her and asked:

"Excuse me, are you..."

"This is reporter Zhang from the Autonomous Region Daily." Ma Xiaoyan said at the side, "Reporter Zhang heard about your situation and came here to check on the situation."

She emphasized that Zhang Xinhua came from the autonomous region, meaning that she hoped Li Long would pay more attention to him.

"Yes, I listened to the manuscript written by Xiaoye in the county yesterday, and I thought what you did was very interesting, so I wanted to learn more about it."

"Can we wait a moment?" Li Long pointed at the well platform and said, "This is more important. I'll get some sand, how about we talk while we work?"

Before Zhang Xinhua could say anything, Ma Xiaoyan was unwilling to do so. She said with a stern face:
"Comrade Li Long, how can you say that? How can repairing the well platform be more important than interviewing? You need to correct your attitude. Reporter Zhang is from the autonomous region. Time is precious. You can repair the well platform anytime..."

"You are..." Li Long asked Ma Xiaoyan.

"I am a clerk in the county propaganda department." Ma Xiaoyan said a little proudly.

"Sir, I think you are wrong. If I hadn't dug a well and repaired the house, I don't think reporter Zhang would have come here, so repairing the well platform is actually the most important thing. Besides, I'm just going to get some sand, which won't take much time. We can talk while we work."

Li Long's words left Director Ma speechless.

Zhang Xinhua thought Li Long was quite interesting. She smiled and said:
"Okay, go ahead. We'll wait for you. We can also ask the old man some other questions."

Li Long was very satisfied. The reporter's attitude was right.

Interviews are interviews, and they should not affect the main business. It's just another newspaper appearance, it's not like it hasn't been in the newspaper before, so what's the big deal? This well platform is the most important thing to him.

The sand had to be collected by the river. Li Long knew the place when he went to fetch water the day before yesterday. He drove the tractor to shovel a pile of sand and returned to Halimu's yard. He found that the old lady had taken out the small kang table and placed it outside. There was milk tea on it. When she saw Li Long coming back, she smiled and waved to him, indicating that he should drink milk tea.

Li Long went over and drank a bowl, then started using cement and sand, and when they were almost mixed, he added water.

The bricks on the well platform were a bit loose, so Li Long simply took them down one by one, then used the tile trowel he brought with him to flatten the bottom, and then began to lay the bricks layer by layer.

At this time, Zhang Xinhua also began to interview him.

"How do you know Halim?" (End of this chapter)