Rebirth of Bayi Fishing and Hunting in the Northwest

Ma Aihong had just finished his meal and was watching TV with his wife. The child who was still in school was doing homework in the inner room. His wife would go over to check every once in a while to see if the door was pushed open and if the child was sticking to the door to peek at what was being watched on TV outside.

Although the couple tried their best to turn down the volume of the TV, it still had a fatal attraction for the children.

In particular, the martial arts film "Wu Song" was playing on TV.

When Li Long knocked on the door, Ma Aihong's wife was scolding her child because she had just caught another person and she discovered the child was eavesdropping on the TV by the door.

"Go open the door. It's inevitable that children like to play." Ma Aihong tried to smooth things over. "If you know you're wrong, let them do their homework and go to bed early. They still have to get up and recite tomorrow morning."

"Okay, okay, you're the only good person!" Ma Aihong's wife complained, "I'm the bad guy every day. You don't care about the naughty children. Two students dropped out of the midterm exam again. If you keep going like this, I'll have to work at the construction site in the future..."

"What's wrong with going to the construction site?" Ma Aihong didn't like it. "Workers are the leading class. Being a worker is the dream of many people, but they can't even if they want to!"

"Who wants to be a worker when you can be a cadre?" The woman was still complaining as she walked to the gate of the courtyard, "You just know how to talk big!"

She opened the gate and was surprised to see Li Long carrying something. After so many days, she no longer remembered Li Long.

"Who are you...who are you looking for?"

"I'm Li Long." Li Long said with a smile, "I came here two months ago. I'm looking for Section Chief Ma. Sister-in-law, I came from Ma County. Section Chief Li Xiangqian asked me to say hello to you."

"Oh, oh, oh, I remember now. You are the boy who drove the tractor!" Ma Aihong's lover remembered and said with a smile:

"Come in, come in. You just came here, why are you carrying things? It's so embarrassing..."

Li Long carried his things into the yard. Hearing the noise, Ma Aihong turned off the TV and walked out of the room. When she saw Li Long, she smiled and said:

"Xiao Li, what a rare guest! Come in, come in, mom, make some tea for Xiao Li. Let me tell you, Xiao Li was listed as an advanced figure in the Autonomous Region Daily. Our company has learned from his advanced deeds."

"Ah? Really?" Ma Aihong's lover was really surprised this time. "This is a rare guest. Come on, Xiao Li, come in and sit down!"

Li Long knew that Ma Aihong must have read the newspaper. He went into the room, put the things on the coffee table, and said with a smile:

"Chief Ma, let's not be so polite. My incident was just a coincidence, and it's not a big deal."

"Hey, this is exactly the coincidence we want. If it was done on purpose, then it really wouldn't be a big deal. Only you are so low-key even though it's reported in the Autonomous Region Daily. If it were the young people in our company, they would have been so arrogant long ago. It's a blessing for Lao Li to have you under his command!"

After Ma Aihong's praise, Li Long really didn't know what to say, so he had to change the subject:
"Chief, you've been very busy lately, haven't you? I heard from my second brother that the company has a lot of construction tasks right now."

"Yes, in order to speed up the realization of the four modernizations, we are now taking small steps and running fast. As a transportation hub in northern Xinjiang, the entire KT city does not have supporting facilities in many aspects, so we are strengthening them now." Ma Aihong said a few official words, then smiled and said:

"So we are in great need of people. I have been keeping an eye on your second brother and his people. They are down-to-earth, hardworking, and not talkative. That young man, Yang Yongqiang, is also good. He has a quick mind and is willing to learn. So this group is among those eligible for regular employment. You came here because of this, right?"

"Yes, yes." Li Long said sincerely: "On the one hand, they work hard, but I also know that without the care of the section chief, they would not be able to make such rapid progress, so on behalf of our family, thank you."

"Hey, we are all family, don't be so polite." Ma Aihong felt comfortable listening to Li Long's words, "Even if we don't consider Lao Li's face, your second brother and his friends do a good job, so we will definitely keep them."

"Chief Ma, I may need to trouble you with something later."

"You tell me, is it a problem or not? In principle, as long as it does not violate the regulations, we can discuss it."

"My second brother's household registration is in my hometown, and the political review letter is about the situation there. Because my family has moved to northern Xinjiang, I am afraid that someone in my hometown will be jealous of my second brother's job as a worker and will do something bad in this regard..."

"Are the people over there so bad?" Ma Aihong's wife brought tea to Li Long and asked, "This is a good thing in itself..."

"I'm not sure either. I'm mainly worried. After all, my hometown is different from here. Most of the relatives would be happy if a worker came out. But we can't rule out the possibility that one or two people would be jealous and do something bad."

"Indeed, it is possible that such a situation exists. We have encountered it before." Ma Aihong nodded and motioned for Li Long to drink some water. "Don't worry. We have seen how your second brother and his friends are doing here. Now is not ten years ago, and background and past are not so important. The focus is still on actual performance. I will pay attention to this."

"Thank you, Chief Ma." Li Long said sincerely.

Ma Aihong was mainly interested in Li Long and asked him in detail about the things that were reported in the newspapers. Li Long then gave her a brief introduction to how he and Halimu and the others got to know each other.

"It seems that you two are destined to be together. You really have a brotherly relationship. I think you will keep this friendship going. To be honest, what you said is really good. Our leader has said that, look at their level. What you said is so appropriate!"

Li Long had to smile, feeling very embarrassed on the inside - I claimed it as an unauthorized person, please don't mind, everyone in the parallel world.

After chatting for a while, Li Long said goodbye and left. When Ma Aihong's lover was packing up the things Li Long brought, he found a wad of money among them.

She counted them and found ten big unity notes, a total of one hundred yuan.

It’s equivalent to my husband’s two months’ salary!
The woman was a little worried, so she told Ma Aihong about it and asked in a low voice:

"Do you want to return it? This money..."

"Keep it." Ma Aihong guessed what Li Long was thinking. If she really sent the money back, Li Long would feel uneasy.

Besides, Li Anguo and his team had been working hard for the past two months, and Ma Aihong had seen it all. If anything went wrong with the letter of inquiry, he would really speak for Li Anguo. So he felt relieved to receive the money.

After Li Long came out, he drove his tractor to the guesthouse of the construction and installation company. Before leaving, Ma Aihong told him to stay at the company's guesthouse and she would call the guesthouse to treat it as a business reception.

Li Long was not polite. Living in a state-owned unit's guesthouse was naturally much safer than staying in a hotel outside. And he also wanted to go and have a chat with his second brother.

When the guard heard Li Long say that it was Chief Ma who arranged it, he let him pass. Li Long handed a pack of Yao Chi cigarettes to the guard, then drove the tractor to the guesthouse.

The waiter at the guesthouse actually recognized Li Long and arranged a triple room for him, but Li Long was the only one staying there, so it was quite convenient.

After Li Long settled down, he asked the waiter and went to the dormitory to find his second brother and others.

Li Anguo and the others were still awake and chatting in the dormitory. When they saw Li Long coming, Yang Yongqiang stood up and gave him his seat with a smile.

Li Long came here mainly to ask them if they wanted to go back with him.

"I won't go back for now. I won't go back in the next two days." Li Anguo said, "I want to wait until the official promotion is officially finalized before going back."

Li Junshan naturally had no idea. After all, his family was all in his hometown, and there was no need to return to Manas.

"Me too." Yang Yongqiang said, "I will be officially transferred to a worker in a few days. Then I will ask for leave to go back. At that time, I will have four days off a month. Now I will be deducted money for taking leave. It's not worth it."

Since the three of them had made up their minds, Li Long didn't say much. After chatting for a while, he returned to the guesthouse. The next day, Li Long had breakfast in the guesthouse. Li Anguo and his team had already gone to the construction site. Li Long didn't look for them again, but drove his tractor out of the construction and installation company and headed to the Kuitun Agricultural Machinery Factory.

The tractor entered the agricultural machinery factory, and Li Long discovered that there were several more tractors in the factory. Some technicians and workers were doing something around the tractors.

After parking the tractor, Li Long went to find Factory Director Du Tongzhou.

According to Li Long's understanding of Du Tongzhou, he should not be in the office, but in the workshop. Li Long looked around the factory and found Du Tongzhou. At this time, he was sitting on a tractor, operating the machine.

Li Long looked at the machine hanging in front of the tractor and felt a little surprised. This should be the harvester he needed, right?

It just looks a little different from the one in my mind?

Compared with the original one, this harvester has two more forks on both sides. Li Long can understand that this should be used to separate wheat. But with these two forks, how to dump the wheat after harvesting?

The principle of the harvester is to cut the wheat with a rotating blade, and then turn the blade head to turn a row of wheat to the left side of the tractor, so that it is easier to bundle. Now with these two forks, the wheat can't turn around after being cut, and it will fall on the spot and be crushed by the tractor, right?

Li Long felt that Du Tongzhou would not make such a low-level mistake, so he walked over and wanted to ask what was going on.

When Li Long came up to him, Du Tongzhou had already gotten off the tractor. He had also seen Li Long and said with a smile:

"Comrade Xiao Li, come and have a look. This is the second harvester we made. The first one had some problems. This one has been tested and has been used to mow grass experimentally. It feels very easy to operate and basically meets the requirements you put forward at the time."

"Director Du, what are those two forks for?" Li Long asked his question. "If there are forks, the harvested wheat will not be able to roll to the side of the tractor and will be crushed by the tractor."

"You are an expert indeed. You can tell it at a glance." Du Tongzhou said with a smile, "Comrade Xiao Li, you have a good eye. Come and see, this fork is used to indicate the direction of the tractor so that it does not go wrong. It is also used to separate the furrows in the fields where the wheat is planted densely. You see, these two forks are detachable. When harvesting, you can remove one side and let the wheat fall to the other side. It depends on your choice. The rotation of this blade can also be adjusted. Before harvesting, there is a switch on this harvester. Turn it to the left to make the wheat fall to the left, and turn it to the right to make the wheat fall to the right..."

Li Long watched and listened, and felt that it was really good. The blade looked very strong, and it was easy to cut wheat stalks.

"The blades can be disassembled and replaced. So this harvester, in theory, can not only cut wheat, but also cut grass, and beat corn and sunflower stalks. Of course, the blades will be worn out. You see, it is connected to the tractor's diesel engine with a belt, so the power is still enough..."

Du Tongzhou introduced the performance, operation and features of the harvester to Li Long one by one, just like he was introducing his own treasure.

Li Long nodded after listening to this. He felt that Du Tongzhou had already thought of everything he could think of.

Apart from the fact that this harvester looks a little different from what I imagined, there are basically no other shortcomings.

"Then... Director Du, how much is this harvester? I can't wait to drive it back." Li Long said with a smile, "Although it's still some time before we can harvest wheat, but you said it so well, and it looks so powerful and durable, so I'm thinking of driving it back this time."

Du Tongzhou could tell from Li Long's tone and expression that Li Long was really satisfied with this harvester.

That'll do.

"Drive away, no problem. As for the price, just name the cost price." Du Tongzhou was also very generous. "It was you who came up with the idea. To be honest, although we are doing the practical part, if it weren't for your idea, we might still be thinking about imitating tractors.

You have given us an idea. In fact, we can develop supporting facilities for tractors, which will still have a market and make money.

So, we only charge you the cost of this harvester. Of course, we also have a requirement that if you find any problems or improvements after harvesting the wheat, you must come back and tell us.

We plan to make a few prototypes of this harvester this year, and if your harvesting goes well there, we will start mass production by the end of this year or next year.”

"Okay." Li Long naturally would not refuse this kindness.

Creativity is not very valuable these days, patent laws are not yet popularized, and people don’t really care about the value of creativity. There are many creative ideas, but the key is to be able to realize them.

So Li Long was actually very satisfied to get the harvester at cost price. After all, Kuitun Agricultural Machinery Factory is a state-owned enterprise, and it is basically impossible to buy shares. Now this form is not accepted here. Unless you set up an agricultural machinery repair shop in the village and start from scratch.

But I don't have the technical ability, so don't think about it for now. I'll save some agricultural machinery that will be useful in the future in my mind and take it out when I have the ability and opportunity to produce it.

Because Li Long still had to drive the tractor for more than 100 kilometers, the harvester was not loaded on Li Long's tractor after being unloaded. Instead, it was directly lifted by the workers and placed in the truck bed. It was tied tightly with ropes to prevent it from being bumped or scratched.

"Two hundred yuan." The number Du Tongzhou pointed out made Li Long feel that he had picked up a great bargain. If this thing really needs to be mass-produced, it would cost at least five or six hundred yuan, right? This saved the money for two bicycles.

After paying the money and getting the invoice, Li Long wrote down the factory's phone number and promised Du Tongzhou that he would give him feedback as soon as there was any situation.

Li Long was still very excited after driving out of the farm machinery factory. If this harvester was as powerful as Director Du said, there would be a lot of work to do later.

He had already imagined that if he could earn two yuan per mu of wheat, he could harvest 100 to 150 mu of wheat in a day. After deducting the cost, he could still make 200 yuan a day.

After all, the first guy in the village who bought a high-horsepower wheeled tractor basically worked hard to make money. He drove a horse-drawn tractor to plow 400 acres of land in one day and one night. Let's not compete with that madman. We just work during the day and can do half to one-third of the work.

After all, harvesting wheat with a harvester is much easier than plowing the land.

With this in mind, Li Long went to the winery and bought a box of Kuitun Special Liquor. He then went to the Hongqi Building and bought some miscellaneous items, including food, clothes, children's toys, and clothes for the elderly.

After saying goodbye to Li Anguo and the others at the construction site, Li Long drove the tractor to the canteen to eat. It was not yet one o'clock, so it was a bit early to eat, but Li Long still did not plan to eat at those roadside canteens along the way, so he ate first and then rushed back.

After eating a bowl of mixed noodles and three sides of noodles, Li Long drove the tractor out of KT City, filled up the gas at the gas station near the military station, and then drove eastward.

It came quickly and went back quickly too.

It was already late May, and there was not much vegetation on the Gobi Desert on both sides. It had not been reclaimed into fertile fields on a large scale like in later generations. At this time, the air was steaming and the sun was burning on my body, which was still quite uncomfortable.

Li Long regretted not getting a straw hat. He clearly remembered that straw hats were sold in the Red Flag Building, and they seemed to be 2 yuan or 2.5 yuan each.

At that time I thought this hat was a bit rustic, but now I feel the power of the sun and think I am so pretentious. I am a farmer, so what's so rustic about it? Is there anyone who can be closer to the land than me?
After two days of eating full meals, I really don’t know how high the sky is or how deep the earth is.

In desperation, he took off his coat and put it on his head, then stepped on the accelerator and drove east.

Someone from a roadside restaurant heard the noise and came out to wave to Li Long, indicating that he could stop and eat. Li Long waved his hand and drove past without stopping.

I ate three more bowls of noodles in Kuitun. Now I’m full and don’t need any more.

The tractor's shock-absorbing system was still relatively primitive, so after driving for an hour or two, Li Long could already feel his teeth chattering.

My whole body was shaking along with the car.

Finally, we saw a large oasis ahead. We had arrived at Stone City. (End of this chapter)