Rebirth of Bayi Fishing and Hunting in the Northwest

When the wheat was ready to be harvested, Li Long said something to Gu Xiaoxia, then drove the tractor back to the yard.

Li Qingxia and Tao Daqiang have stopped fishing these days. Wheat harvest is a big event, and we need to prepare in advance.

The preparation work is quite tedious. Before harvesting wheat manually, you need to sharpen the sickle, beat the reeds to make reed ropes (reeds tied together to make ropes for binding wheat), pack up the horse and donkey carts, and level the stalks at both ends of the wheat field and in the middle of the field.

When watering wheat in the past, it was necessary to build stalks in some places with steeper slopes to ensure that every part of the field could be watered.

Of course, before that, it is necessary to clean the threshing floor, flatten it, and each family needs to clear out the space for piling wheat.

Farmers are very dedicated to harvesting crops and never slack off in any preparation.

Although Li Long has already bought a harvester and all the wheat in the Li family must be harvested by the harvester, Li Jianguo still took advantage of his free time to sharpen all three sickles at home. If the harvester does not harvest well, it still has to be harvested manually.

What Li Long had to do was to work with Tao Daqiang to fix the harvester to the front of the tractor and connect the belts. After that, they had to tie the wooden frame of the truck bed.

Every year after the wheat is harvested, the work of transporting wheat bundles is also a very tiring job. At this time, on the road leading to the fields in the village, you can often see donkey carts and horse carts piled high with wheat bundles, pulling them to the wheat field.

Occasionally, a car with unstacked wheat bundles would be dumped on the roadside. This would be very frustrating for anyone who saw it, because they had to unload the bundles one by one and then load them again - it was very frustrating.

The degree of discomfort is similar to that when an online writer is asked by the editor to revise every chapter of a one-million-word online article.

Even pulling the cart to the field to load a new one would be better than this.

The tractor bucket was not very big and could only carry a few bundles of wheat. But with two layers of wooden frames, it could carry more bundles of wheat. One tractor could carry as much as three or four horse-drawn carts.

And because the wooden frame is square, it is easier to put the wheat bundles on it than on the long horse-drawn carriage, so it is very popular with everyone - of course, this is the first time this year, and many people don’t understand it yet, but after the transportation is completed, everyone will understand it.

I think by then other people's desire to buy tractors will be much stronger.

The rack was tied up with thick wire. Li Long checked it one by one to make sure that the ends of the wires were not exposed outside, otherwise it would easily hurt people.

"Brother Long, when will we start harvesting?" Tao Daqiang asked as he cut off the end of a wire with pliers and then smashed it into the wood.

"Tomorrow," Li Long said, "Tomorrow we will harvest the wheat in Donggou, and see how long it will take to finish harvesting the twenty acres of land. Daqiang, how many acres can you harvest in a day?"

"One day? I can harvest four or five acres, right?" Tao Daqiang thought for a moment and said, "Not necessarily. If it's too hot, I won't be able to harvest at noon. I can harvest more in the morning and evening."

Li Long nodded.

"How many acres can the harvester harvest in a day?" Tao Daqiang was also curious about this question.

"I think we can harvest more than 100 mu of crops." Li Long casually reported a number. Normally, more than 100 mu of crops can be harvested.

"So many?" Tao Daqiang was stunned for a moment, "Then..."

He wanted to say something, but he didn't say it in the end.

Li Long could guess what he wanted to say, but now was not the right time. Even if Tao Daqiang bought a tractor now, it would be too late because there was no harvester in stock.

Tomorrow, the whole Li family will go to the fields, except for the mother Du Chunfang who will prepare the meals at home. Liang Yuemei prepared a large bundle of reeds.

When she heard Li Long say that the twenty acres could definitely be harvested in the morning, she was a little skeptical, but she had already prepared all the reeds, and if they could really be harvested, they would be tied up in that day.

According to the previous wheat harvesting schedule, a family of 20 mu of land would need at least three to five days to harvest, bundle and transport wheat. After all, carrying wheat bundles is a technical and physical job.

In the days before tractors, it was normal to leave the wheat bundles in the field for a few days after they were tied. After all, each horse-drawn carriage could only pull a limited amount of wheat per day, and the speed was slow.

Li Long said that not everyone could understand that he had to finish the 20 acres in one day. Some things had to be seen with one's own eyes.

They went to bed early that night and got up early the next day. Liang Yuemei and Chen Lirong first boiled a large pot of water, put brick tea broken into small pieces in the teapot, poured boiling water over it, and placed it on the wall of the yard to cool.

After dinner, the water reaches about 50 or 60 degrees. Pour it into the plastic cage and carry it to the field.

Today's breakfast is steamed buns, boiled eggs, spicy fried eggs, pickles, and rice porridge. It looks very rich.

After all, you have to do physical work and you can't eat poorly.

Li Juan and Li Qiang went to school early after dinner, and Xueqin and Xueping also went to preschool. Li Long watched the four children leave, and he sighed again in his mind.

In my last life, I was really not a human being. Li Juan is only ten years old now. At this time in my last life, Li Juan followed Li Jianguo to the wheat field to pick wheat bundles on weekends, but I went to help other families... It's not too much to call myself a beast.

Well, I don’t know why I had such a personality in my previous life.

What the hell.

Li Long shook his head slightly while eating the steamed bun in big mouthfuls. Forget it, don't think about it anymore. If I have to live my second life, I will just live according to this one. After all, I can be considered a prodigal son who has returned.

After dinner, the men prepared tools, and the women quickly cleaned up the kitchen, put on headscarves, put on coats, and then got on the tractor together.

Wooden and iron forks, sickles, reed baskets, tea baskets, and a bag of steamed buns - anyone who gets hungry can have a bite in between.

It was hot, but everyone was dressed warmly. There was nothing they could do, the wheat awns were too strong. Whether it was harvested by a harvester or by people, the wheat still had to be bundled manually.

The wheat awns will scratch the backs of your hands, arms, insteps and all exposed skin, leaving a red mark.

In the hot summer, when the sweat passes through the red marks, it is burning painful. After all, there are fine serrations on the wheat awns, just like small saws, and the red marks made by sawing are actually wounds of varying depths. There is salt in the sweat, just imagine the feeling of washing the wound with salt water...

"Are you all seated?" Li Long shook the tractor and asked into the truck bed.

"Okay." Li Jianguo didn't have a carriage today, so he sat in front of the carriage and said, "Let's go."

Du Chunfang bent down at the door and watched with a smile. Although the harvest season is a bit tiring, it means that after a year, it is finally time to get rewarded.

Li Long got on the tractor, stepped on the accelerator, shifted gears, and then drove out of the yard with a puff of black smoke.

In fact, he was not willing to step on the accelerator so hard, but his family members liked it and said that this was what a tycoon should be like, and it had to make a loud sound to look impressive.

Well, it’s just a matter of putting a little more strength under your feet, no big deal.

The tractor went out and headed north, then headed east on the road, rumbling towards the wheat field.

Some people followed behind on bicycles, some walked quickly, and some had already gone ahead. Most men wore straw hats, and most women wore headscarves to protect themselves from the strong sunlight.

It takes half an hour to walk, twenty minutes by horse carriage, and only ten minutes by tractor to reach the field.

What surprised Li Long was that there were already seven or eight people waiting at the entrance.

Two days ago, Li Jianguo and Li Qingxia came here to clear the grass at the edge of the field and made a space, and the tractor was parked here.

Among them were Xie Yundong, Jia Weidong, and Tao Daqiang who rode a bicycle behind them. To Li Long's surprise, there was also the team leader Xu Chengjun. "Why are you all waiting here to watch the fun?" Li Long joked as he got off the tractor without turning off the engine.

"I just want to see how your harvester performs. If it performs well, I'll give my wheat field to you." Xu Chengjun said frankly, "If it doesn't perform well, you have to send the tractor to the factory for adjustment."

"Of course." Li Long smiled. "Da Qiang, come and help me unload the truck."

Of course you can't run with the cart bed when harvesting, so Tao Daqiang came over to help Li Long take down the cart bed with the frame.

"With the addition of the shelf, one truck can carry a lot, right?" Xu Chengjun came over, patted the wooden shelf and asked.

"These twenty acres of land will need three or four carts of wheat, right?" Li Long said casually.

"Wow, that's a lot!" Xu Chengjun praised casually.

Tractors are like iron bulls, so it is natural that they can pull more. Of course, this rack is great, and I will get one when I buy a tractor.

Li Jianguo and Liang Yuemei took the reeds off the cart bed. There was water in the canal nearby, so they soaked the reeds with water. When they tied them up, they would be stronger and less likely to break.

There were three sickles, one for each of Li Jianguo, Liang Yuemei and Chen Lirong. Li Qingxia took a wooden fork, ready to pick up the bundles of wheat together to make it easier to load them onto the truck.

Without further ado, Li Long came to the front of the tractor, pulled out the pole on the left side of the harvester and put it aside, then got on the tractor and drove to the leftmost part of the field.

There are stalks in the middle of the plots to mark the fields, separating the families. The wheat is also planted next to them, with similar seeds and management methods, and the growth is also similar.

After Li Long calibrated the tractor, he slowed down and drove towards the leftmost row of wheat.

He calculated silently in his mind that this strip of field was about 450 meters long, and the width of the harvester was 1.5 meters, so one trip would cover exactly one mu of land. To harvest wheat, you have to go around in a circle, harvesting from this side to the south, and then drive to the westernmost side of the field to harvest the western ridge. You can't just harvest it here, otherwise the wheat won't fall down.

The harvester idled for a long time. The moment it touched the wheat, Li Long felt nervous.

The sound suddenly became real. Li Long tried to straighten his back and looked forward. He watched the harvester cut the wheat, move it from right to left, and then cut it down at the leftmost part, and then continued to cut it.

On the left side of the tractor, a row of wheat lay neatly on the stalks. Li Long felt relieved and sped up a little bit, moving forward.

well.

very good!
very smooth!
There was no pinching of wheat, the harvesting was very neat, and the wheat was poured to the left very neatly. There was no misplacement, and the tractor did not press on the wheat. This harvester was very successful!
The people watching from behind also opened their mouths wide.

If such a row of wheat is cut manually, it will take at least two or three hours to finish, right?
It’s not like now, when the tractor moves forward, the wheat just falls to the side. It feels really amazing!
And they were all neatly laid out, right there, waiting for someone to tie them up.

"Hey, that's great!" It wasn't until the tractor drove out thirty or forty meters that Xu Chengjun exclaimed, "How much fun it is to harvest wheat? What else will people harvest in the future? Half a day of harvesting is not as good as five minutes of driving the tractor..."

Everyone nodded. At this rate, Li Long finished mowing the entire acre in five minutes. The only thing left was to bundle the crops - wouldn't that be much easier than mowing?

Li Jianguo had already picked up the reed shovel and carried the sickle, striding towards the harvested wheat, an irrepressible smile on his lips.

Li Long described it when he brought the harvester back, and he said it very well.

But no one had seen it except him. It was not that everyone did not believe Li Long, but it was something that they had not seen with their own eyes, so after all, they still needed a process of acceptance.

Okay, now I believe it.

This thing is so powerful for harvesting wheat!
Li Jianguo laid the reeds flat on the ground, stretched out the sickle forward, hooked it back, and picked up a bundle of wheat with his left hand. Then he put it down on the reeds, put the sickle aside, held the two ends of the reeds tightly and crossed them, stepped up with his feet to compact the bundle, pulled it hard, wrapped it around and tucked it in, and the bundle of wheat was done.

The second bundle, the third bundle.

The old farmer was careful with his hands and made sure that the bundles were of almost the same weight, so they were soon brought to the front.

"That's enough, no need to look anymore." Seeing that Li Long's tractor had already reached the end of the field and turned to the western ridge to continue mowing, Xu Chengjun shouted:
"I'll tell you guys, we'll harvest our wheat tomorrow. Line up and decide who's next, third, and fourth. Did Xiaolong tell me how much it costs to harvest one acre of land?"

"Two pieces." Tao Daqiang said.

"Two yuan... OK, it saves a few days, not bad." Xu Chengjun thought the price was good. "You guys discuss it, I'll go back and prepare it. Brother Lao Li, this is my second store, tell Xiaolong!"

"Okay!" Li Jianguo straightened up and responded.

"I'm the third one." Tao Daqiang knew that he had won a good fight for his family. The next ones were Lu Yingming, Xie Yundong, Jia Weidong and others.

In fact, they didn't really care about going smoothly. There were only a few of them at the moment, and if Li Long really followed his pace, he could finish everything in one day. After all, they only needed to cut, not pull, so it didn't make much difference who went first or last.

Besides, they were the first to stand up and support Li Long, so they seemed too utilitarian at this time.

When Li Long drove the tractor over to finish harvesting the western ridge, the people waiting here had already dispersed, and only Tao Daqiang stayed behind, and then explained to Li Long the order of harvesting the wheat.

"Just discuss it. We have to bundle the wheat after we finish harvesting it this morning. If everything goes well, we can go over and harvest it later. Anyway, we can only pull the wheat and bundle it in the afternoon."

Tao Daqiang thought for a moment and said:
"Why don't you finish harvesting your wheat here, and then go harvest mine. My fields aren't far from here anyway, so you can just harvest them and don't have to run around."

Li Long thought so and drove the tractor to continue cutting. At this time, Liang Yuemei was already holding a sickle and started to tie the wheat in the place where the wheat was cut on the west side, while Chen Lirong was waiting on the east side, and started to tie the wheat after Li Long started to cut it.

Tao Daqiang rode his bicycle quickly to the team. He wanted to tell his father to hitch up the horse-drawn carriage and come to prepare to bundle the wheat. Once the wheat is cut, it is best to bundle it up as soon as possible. As for the matter of pulling it away after bundling it up, there is no need to be so anxious. These days, wheat bundles are basically not lost, and people will not steal others' for one or two bundles of wheat.

Li Long's tractor was moving very fast. It took less than two hours to finish mowing the 20 acres of land. Tao Daqiang was already at the edge of the field on his bicycle, and Tao Jianshe also arrived on a horse-drawn carriage, and was clearing the stalks at the edge of the field and in the field.

Tao Daqiang's land was in the east, less than a hundred meters away from Li's land. Li Long drove the tractor over there and watched Tao Jianshe and Tao Daqiang harvesting the stalks on the flat ground from east to west, then he drove the tractor to start harvesting.

Li Long was still driving the tractor from the easternmost side, mowing the field very quickly. When he passed Tao Jianshe's side, Tao Jianshe came out from the edge of the field, stood on a stalk and looked north.

Looking at the neatly harvested wheat, Tao Jianshe sighed and said:

"This cuts quickly and well. Who would use a sickle to cut crops in the future?"

"It's hard to say." Tao Daqiang said as he leveled the stalks: "One mu of land costs two yuan, and this family has 20 mu of land, which means 40 yuan. Although Brother Long said that they can only pay after selling the wheat, some people will definitely not be willing to do so."

"Yeah, forty yuan can't be taken out all at once." Tao Jianshe knows the pain of being penniless.

“But think about it, if you can earn more than ten kilograms of wheat per acre, and save the hard work of harvesting wheat, then those who think it’s worth it will let machines harvest it, and those who think it’s not worth it will naturally not let machines harvest it. In fact, if you look at it in a nutshell, it’s just a little over one cent per kilogram of wheat…” (At that time, the wheat yield per acre was more than 100 kilograms, and more than 200 kilograms on good land).

Different people have different opinions. The Tao family has three people on the land and two laborers. Yang Pingping is pregnant and can't work. Now Tao Daqiang can earn more than a day's worth of money from catching and selling fish to pay for the wheat harvesting machine. He is definitely willing to pay for it.

Li Long finished harvesting the Tao family's wheat and it was already time for lunch. Li Jianguo and his team had not yet finished bundling the wheat, but they had basically finished it in the afternoon.

Li Long put the bucket on the truck, and everyone got on the truck. Today was the first day, and the villagers had already known about the harvester. I thought that some people would come to line up to harvest wheat in the afternoon or evening.

Li Long is very confident about this. Not to mention other villages, in his own village, he thinks at least half of the wheat field owners will let the harvesters harvest, and the others who are wavering may change their minds after seeing the real results.

The day to make money has come. (End of this chapter)