Rebirth of Bayi Fishing and Hunting in the Northwest

Because the tractor was carrying a harvester, the rumbling sound it made was a little duller than usual.

Abulati and Abdusaimaiti took turns to get on the harvester and try to operate it. One was in the car, and the other was watching in front of the harvester. Li Long guided them on the side, trying to make them familiar with each operation process.

It was obvious that both of them had driven a tractor before, and they became proficient at it after operating it twice.

"What has been adjusted now is that the cut crops are pushed to the left side of the tractor and laid down for easy bundling." Li Long explained, "These two poles are extended out to indicate the width of the harvest.

If you want to pour it to the left, remove the left rod. If you want to pour it to the right, remove the right rod. The adjustment switch is here.

I used this harvester to harvest crops all summer this year. The most common problem was that the gaps between the blades could easily get caught in the crops, causing the machine to stop turning and cutting. This is easy to spot.

When you find it, just stop the machine, turn off the engine and take out the crops stuck in the middle."

Li Long not only taught them how to operate the harvester, but also explained the minor problems of the harvester one by one.

This made both Abulati and Abdusaimaiti very satisfied.

At least Li Long's service attitude is very sincere.

"This is the current condition of the harvester." Seeing that neither of them planned to try, Li Long turned off the tractor, put some wood on it, and unloaded the harvester by himself.

Abulati hurried over to help.

After putting the harvester away, Li Long said:

"You can think about it. If you really need it, then buy it. If you feel you need to discuss it further, that's fine too."

Life is not easy for farmers, and 550 yuan is not a small amount of money for most farmers today.

So Li Long didn’t think that people would definitely buy it.

Since they have come all the way here, they must be sincere, so naturally I should also express my sincerity.

As for whether the deal will be successful, that will depend on what happens next.

Even if it doesn't work, benevolence and righteousness must still be there.

The two brothers discussed it, and Abulati said:

"Comrade Li Long, let's go back to the hotel first. Our transport truck will not arrive until tomorrow morning, so for the time being we are not sure whether we can buy it..."

"It's okay. You guys go about your business," Li Long said. "I have to go out to do some work. I'll wait for you tomorrow morning. If you want to buy anything, come over. It should be enough time before twelve o'clock, right?"

"That's enough. It's almost time for eleven o'clock." Abulati said hurriedly.

"Well, I'll wait until twelve o'clock. If you don't come, I'll go do some work. My household registration is in the countryside, and I have some business there, so I have to go there as well."

"It's winter now, and you still have something to do?" Abdusaimaiti was a little confused. Could it be that Li Long was trying to play hard to get?

"I took a job from the supply and marketing cooperative to buy one ton of frozen fish. There is a small lake in our village, which is a reservoir. There are fish there. Some people break holes in the ice to catch fish. I want to collect the fish."

"So that's how it is. There are also fish in the Yili River where we are. They are very big, more than one meter long..." Abulati said with a smile, "But not many people catch them."

Li Long nodded. The big fish in the Ili River were famous for decades, but after ten years of the 21st century, big fish were rarely seen and most of them had been caught.

After the brothers Abulati and Abdusaimaiti left, Li Long started the jeep and drove out. After locking the door, he drove towards the team.

The two brothers had not gone far yet. Seeing Li Long driving away in the jeep, Abulati looked at the jeep that was gradually disappearing and turned to look at his brother:
"I think Li Long is quite down-to-earth. He can drive a jeep and live in such a big yard, so he must be no ordinary person. He was so enthusiastic in teaching us how to use the harvester and he didn't force us to buy anything. I felt really good about it."

"That's right." Abdusaimaiti nodded, and then said, "But there is only one harvester. I'm worried that if there is any problem when we pull the harvester back, it will not be easy for us to come here."

Abulati didn't say anything, thinking about something.

The two brothers walked back to the hotel.

After entering the house, Abdusaimaiti breathed a sigh of relief and said, covering his ears, "It's much colder here than where we are."

It also snows heavily in Yili at this time, but the climate in the river valley is different from the climate in the northern Tianshan wind belt. It is dry and cold here, the kind that freezes you to the bone.

Li Long drove the jeep to the team, and when he arrived at Xiaohaizi, it was almost one o'clock.

Many people breathed a sigh of relief when they saw Li Long appear.

Liang Dacheng and Li Long were joking:

"You didn't come this morning, and some people were worried that you wouldn't come and collect the fish."

"How could that be possible? I was just delayed by something." Li Long smiled and said, "I will definitely catch the fish. Even if I am not big, my elder brother and my father will have to catch it for me."

"Haha, we thought so too." Liang Dacheng smiled and continued fishing.

There were already five or six big fish in front of him, and a bunch of small fish as well.

Li Long looked at it and said with a smile:

"Not bad, not bad. Today's harvest is pretty good. There's even a big one."

"Oh, let's just do it this way." Liang Dacheng was not actually very satisfied. He felt that it was less than yesterday, but there was nothing he could do about it. He could only rely on luck.

It is no longer possible to catch fish like we did last winter or summer.

There aren't that many fish anymore.

Li Long walked around and looked at the fish everyone had caught. To his surprise, Tao Dayong and Tao Daqiang had caught the most big fish.

Tao Dayong also got a five-striped black carp weighing nearly three kilograms. It is rare to see such a big fish.

Is this a benefit for newbies?
When Li Long arrived at Li Jianguo's place, he found that his elder brother and his father were catching fish in an ice hole, each one of them.

"When did you make the hole in the ice?" Li Long asked curiously, "I haven't been here this morning, and you made another hole?"

"It was smashed just now." Li Qingxia said, "Brother Daqiang helped. Why did you come just now?"

"Some people come to buy a harvester, and I show them how to use the harvester." Li Long explained.

"Have you sold them?" Li Qingxia asked, as he put a net of small crucian carps on the ice with his backhand.

"No, he hasn't decided yet. For more than 500 yuan, he has to think about it carefully." Li Long didn't care. "Dad, can I copy two nets?"

"Go and take your brother's place. He has been fishing there for a long time. I am in a new hole and have only fished a few times."

"Row."

Li Long went over and asked Li Jianguo to come up, and he started to fish it out.

Li Long's luck had run out in the past two days, and he kept catching fish until noon. The biggest fish he caught was a big crucian carp weighing less than half a kilogram.

However, my dad caught a grass carp weighing more than three kilograms from the new hole, which was the biggest grass carp he had caught in recent days.

After carrying the fish back, the others started to pack up.

Li Long felt that no one had caught many big fish today, and he didn't know why. When they arrived at the big yard, Li Qingxia and Li Jianguo went to the back yard to wash their hands, while Li Long started collecting the fish.

Liang Dacheng's big fish weighed only seven kilograms, so he paid seven yuan. The Meng family father and son weighed more than nine kilograms, so Li Long paid nine and a half yuan.

There were two other families whose catches did not exceed ten kilograms. However, the brothers Tao Daqiang and Tao Dayong caught a total of eleven large fish today, weighing more than fifteen kilograms. Li Long gave them sixteen yuan.

It was change given so that the two brothers could divide it easily.

"Brother Long, I will bring Pingping's brother over tomorrow, is that okay?" After Tao Daqiang divided the money equally between his brother, he asked Li Long about this matter.

Tao Dayong moved his mouth but didn't say anything.

"Okay, Yang Yong is a good guy," Li Long said, "He works honestly and won't cause trouble. So how are you three going to divide the money?" "Tomorrow we'll break another ice hole. I'll make a scoop net for Xiao Yong, and my brother and I will split up. Whoever scoops gets the money."

"No, no." Tao Dayong waved his hands hastily, "Just give one share to each of the three of us. Why separate them? We are all family..."

The two brothers didn't say anything more. Li Long smiled and let them go back.

After collecting the fish, Li Long put them into the house, covered it, and then went to the backyard to eat.

He planned to store the fish for two more days and take it back in early January. It would not be good to keep it here for too long. Although there were no mice in the house, no one could guarantee that the mice would not dig a hole to get in in the winter if they smelled the fishy smell.

It is safer to hand it over directly to the supply and marketing cooperative. The warehouse there has cement floors, which makes it difficult for mice to get in, so it is safer.

After lunch, we rested for half an hour and then continued to go to Xiaohaizi.

The afternoon was better than the morning. It was probably because after the quiet at noon, the fish began to gather in the ice hole, so Li Long caught a big carp weighing more than two kilograms with his first net.

The carp was very unruly. After being pulled out of the water with a scoop net, it kept wagging its tail.

The sunlight sparkled on the golden scales. This was a very fat local carp, with golden head and tail, and two long whiskers around its mouth, which were now frozen and stuck to its body.

The carp opened and closed its mouth. Although it still wanted to move, the cold temperature outside soon made it lose the ability to move.

Li Long cast a few more nets and pulled out a grass carp and a bighead carp.

He really wanted to catch a fish with five black stripes, because that fish tasted good. But he still couldn't catch it until his father came to replace him.

The harvest in the afternoon was obviously greater than that in the morning. When the sun was about to set, the temperature dropped suddenly. Li Long came out of the ice hole and said to his father and eldest brother:
"Let's go back, it's too cold."

Li Jianguo and Li Qingxia both agreed. The three of them packed up their things and headed back.

The others watched the Li family go back, some packed up their things and followed, while others planned to fish again. As long as one of the two or three nets holds something, the interest in this thing will not diminish, and as long as there is physical strength, you can keep fishing.

Moreover, when fishing, you can forget about the cold and hunger and won’t think too much about it.

It was not until I had to go back that I realized I was hungry, cold and almost dying.

Li Long returned to the big yard and drank two bowls of warm fish soup to warm himself up before going to the front yard to start collecting fish.

The sun had already set and the temperature in the yard dropped dramatically. No one cared about a few hundred grams more or less; they were all anxious to weigh the goods, get the money and leave.

Li Long estimated that he had caught more than 30 kilograms of large fish this afternoon, and with the ones he caught himself, the total was almost 50 kilograms.

If we continue like this, we can complete the acquisition task before the New Year.

Li Long put the fish into the vacant house, locked the door, and made sure there was no gap under the door so that mice could not get in. Then he went back to the side where people lived, turned off the fire in the stove, locked the door and left.

It was already dark when they returned to the county compound. Sister Gu Xiaoxia Yang came over to open the door and asked Li Long if he had eaten.

"I've eaten." Li Long said as he carried several kilograms of peeled crucian carp. "I'll have to collect fish every day in the next few days. You don't have to wait for me to eat at night, and you don't have to leave any food for me."

Sister Yang agreed with a smile and took the fish from Li Long to process it.

"Is the person who bought the harvester here this morning?" After entering the bedroom, Li Long was washing his hands and changing clothes. Gu Xiaoxia was helping him and asked.

"Yes, two ethnic minority friends came from the Yili River Valley. I showed them the working process of the harvester this morning, and they are still discussing whether to buy it." Li Long said, "If you can buy it, buy it. If you can't buy it, don't force it. After all, more than 500 yuan is not a small amount."

"That's right. Five hundred yuan is more than my annual salary." Gu Xiaoxia also thought so. "I saw the apple on the table. The apple was so big. We shared it during lunch."

"Brought it from Yili," Li Long went over and turned on the TV. The news had ended and a TV series had begun. The two sat down and chatted about family matters while watching TV.

After breakfast the next day, Li Long wanted to see Gu Xiaoxia off, but Gu Xiaoxia still refused. Li Long then decided that if it snowed again, he would see her off anyway.

While Sister Yang was out selling food, Li Long went to set up the stove in the glass house, checked on the seedlings, watered them, and then came back to wait in the house.

The jeep had been filled with water, and Li Long decided to wait until twelve o'clock. If the two brothers did not come, he would drive directly to the team.

Abulati and Abdusaimaiti were also very anxious at this time. They had already decided to buy a harvester, but the transport truck that was supposed to come back did not come back last night and did not come back this morning.

The two of them were very anxious. On the one hand, they were worried that something might happen to the truck, and on the other hand, they were worried that Li Long might leave first, which would delay them for another day.

Finally, the two brothers decided that Abdusaimaiti would wait for the truck at the hotel, and Abulati would go to Li Long's yard, so as to avoid being caught up in waiting at both ends.

When Abu came to the yard, Li Long was in the yard getting plastic sheets to cover the harvester. He thought the two brothers were not going to come, so he decided to cover it first.

"You guys are here? Hey, where's your brother?" Li Long let Abulati in, looked back and saw that there was no one else, so he asked.

"He's waiting in the hotel," Abulati explained. "The transport truck we're waiting for hasn't come yet. We're afraid you can't wait any longer, so he's waiting there. I'll come over and talk to you first."

Since the other party wanted a harvester, Li Long lifted up the half-covered plastic sheet and said:

"I've said everything I should have said yesterday. Let me leave you the phone number of our supply and marketing cooperative, and you can also leave a place you can call, such as your village. This way, you can call me if you have any questions later."

"Good, good, good!" Abulati was overjoyed. "That's great. I...our village..."

He took out a pen and paper from his black leather bag, shook it and wanted to write the address, but he was in a hurry and couldn't write it. Li Long went to the house to find an oil pen and wrote down the specific address of his supply and marketing cooperative.

At this time, most calls are transferred, and if you want to find someone, you need to be transferred several times.

It may not be connected yet.

Li Long invited the man into the house, and the two began to talk about each other's experiences.

Abulati’s ancestors were originally herdsmen. They started to farm with the Han people only a few decades ago. They planted wheat, rice, and corn.

The agricultural mechanization there is even less than here, and more manual labor is required.

There are many arable plots of land in the Ili River Valley, and the water conservancy facilities are relatively complete, so there is not a lot of land per capita. It’s just that mechanization is not popular enough, and manual labor is more tiring.

That's why the two brothers thought of using machinery. After seeing the news in the newspaper that Li Long got rich by using a harvester and used the harvester to help herders cut grass, they had actually thought about it a long time ago.

But the farm work there is also very busy. During the slack season, they have to help collect the farmers' leftover grain and earn some agency fees.

In late autumn, they also use tractors to collect apples and sell them in the city, making a profit from the difference. If they don't do this kind of work, they can't afford to buy a tractor.

I was busy with all kinds of work, so it was delayed until winter.

"We have decided to buy this harvester. After we go back, we will get familiar with it first, and then wait until the wheat season comes, when we can harvest wheat, and later we can harvest rice."

Abulati has already made up his mind. He will work hard next year. If things go as well as Li Long said, the money he earns next year will be enough to buy another tractor.

Li Long was also asking about the situation over there, confirming his memories from his previous life.

In comparison, we found that the mechanization development there is indeed slower than here.

But it's not one or two generations slower, it's just that the penetration rate is not as high as here.

After all, Guozigou restricts the flow of many materials in and out.

For example, now, if we want to transport a harvester back, we need to wait for the transport truck to arrive. If there is a problem with the transport truck, we just have to wait.

Abulati took out several stacks of money from his black briefcase and placed them on the table.

Li Long counted the money one by one and confirmed that it was 550 yuan. Then he took a pen and paper and wrote a receipt for Abulati.

After waiting for about half an hour, at half past twelve, there was a knock on the door. Li Long and Abu Lai went out to open the door and found that it was Abdusaimaiti who came in a truck.

The truck was a half-old Dongfeng, and the driver was also a minority. Li Long could even smell the alcohol coming from him.

He now understood why the man was late.

"Okay, let's load it first. After loading, we will leave as soon as possible and try to get to Kuitun for lunch at noon." The driver drove the truck into the yard and immediately gave instructions, "Don't waste time, hurry up!" (End of this chapter)