Rebirth of Bayi Fishing and Hunting in the Northwest

Li Jianguo finally decided to put the reed collection site in the front yard, which was Li Long's yard.

The yard was spacious and there were no big objects in it, so the reed bundles could be pulled over and piled up, and when the truck came to pull them up, they could be loaded up as well.

There are a lot of debris in my yard, there is a tractor, and my family members come in and out, which is inconvenient.

He planned to live in the front yard in the next few days and watch over the reeds. Although there had been no thefts in the fourth team, especially in the new settlement, it was still better to be on guard.

Originally, Li Jianguo's family was just like any other family, honestly making reed handles, brooms, and broom handles to earn money with their skills. But now, they have suddenly become the client. Both Li Jianguo, who does the work personally, and Liang Yuemei, who provides support in the rear, need some time to adapt.

Although Li Jianguo had little experience, he knew that he had to stick to one thing: the quality must be excellent.

When younger and less experienced people come to hand in reed bundles, Li Jianguo doesn't say much, just checks the quality. If the reeds in the bundles are broken, thin, not long enough, or not in sufficient quantity, they will all be returned.

As a village founder, Li Jianguo still has some prestige. If he says that the person is not qualified, the other party will not make excuses, and his words are true. Of course, Li Jianguo will not talk nonsense.

As for the older ones, usually no one would come to make trouble for them. When handing over the reed bundles, they could still chat with Li Jianguo with a smile. If they failed, then they failed. After all, they were making money from this.

Of course, some people also think that Li Long was too strict when collecting reeds before. Now that Li Jianguo has taken over, the requirements will definitely be relaxed a bit. It’s just a matter of words.

Of course it's impossible to really relax.

Li Jianguo looked at the reed handle again and again, then frowned and said:

"Brother Jianlin, your reed stems are not good. Seven or eight out of the twenty reeds are too thin. If you hand in such reed stems, they will be returned." As he said this, he put the reed stems aside. The meaning was very clear: they were unqualified and would be returned.

The smile on Chang Jianlin's face froze a little. It was not that he cared about the thirty-five cents, but mainly because he was too concerned about his reputation. If it were just him and Li Jianguo, he would have just returned it without saying anything.

But when he was pulling the reed stems over, he ran into Ning Yourong from the same settlement. He asked Chang Jianlin about the quality of the reed stems. Chang Jianlin liked to brag and habitually said that there was no problem and that they must have passed the inspection. Unexpectedly, the second one failed the inspection.

"Jianguo, look at this reed handle, it's not that bad, right?" Chang Jianlin coughed lightly, bent down to pick up the reed handle and said, "This reed... hey, it's a little thin, but it certainly won't affect its use. Twenty reeds, most of them are thick enough, right... our brothers..."

"Brother Jianlin, let me tell you, this is the first time I've gotten work from Xiaolong. You know the big broom job, right? If Xiaolong hadn't insisted on quality, we wouldn't have gotten the next job - you should have heard about this, right?"

Ning Yourong smiled and said:

"I've heard it! It's right to strictly control the quality. We earn the money we deserve, so we don't need the products that don't meet the quality standards."

"That's right," Li Jianguo continued, "the reeds are used to build houses. If the quality is not up to standard, then...will I still have to bear the consequences in the end?"

Chang Jianlin was extremely embarrassed.

"This one is good, this one is also good... See, Brother Jianlin, this is your standard." Li Jianguo checked two more qualified ones, smiled and said:
"The one who failed was careless at the time. I said it shouldn't be like that..."

"Hey, the kid came over to tell me something. I guess I wasn't paying attention at that time..." Li Jianguo gave Chang Jianlin an excuse, and he immediately followed him down the slope. "Don't worry, I will definitely pay attention next time. We can make money from this job, so I can't let it go because of me..."

Most people in the team were counting on the two big jobs that Li Long had brought in to make their lives better.

I usually don't care about it, nor have I thought about it, but if I really think about it, if next year I suddenly lose the job of making brooms and reed bundles, although life will not be impossible, it will definitely be impossible to eat meat once every ten days or half a month.

Would the family be willing?

You don't want to do that, right?
Chang Jianlin unloaded the fifty-six qualified reed stems, and he did not want the seven or eight unqualified ones and threw them directly into the Li family's yard.

There were quite a few unqualified ones piled up there. After seeing them, Chang Jianlin felt a little relieved. It turned out that there were quite a few unqualified ones.

These will eventually become firewood for the Li family.

Fifty-six reeds, each costing thirty-five cents, and Chang Jianlin got a total of nineteen yuan and sixty cents. He counted the money twice, put it in his pocket, and a smile appeared on his face.

Ning Yourong's was less than his, and the unqualified ones were also less, so he got 16.5 cents in total.

The two men walked away, pulling the horse-drawn carriage and the donkey-drawn cart one after the other. When they passed by the backyard, Chang Jianlin looked at the small four-wheel tractor in the Li family's yard, thinking that if the melon seeds he planted had a good harvest next year, he would buy one then!
He bought the seeds from Li Jianguo. Thinking back to that time, Li Jianguo said that he might not make much money from growing melons next year and might not even be able to sell them. Chang Jianlin didn't believe it.

If your family makes money, don't you want others to make money? Or just give up on that little thought.

Chang Jianlin thought that if he worked hard next year, he would be able to drive a tractor and rumble around, and his heart was filled with motivation.

We still have to work hard to make reed bundles this year. If we make money, we can have a good winter.

The Li family's rise to wealth is right there. Some people are watching, while others are copying it.

By now, the villagers already know that the small lake has been contracted to Li Long, but the Li family has not prohibited others from catching fish in the small lake.

How did Li Long make his money? He earned part of it from the mountains, and the other part was earned by him and Tao Daqiang breaking holes in the ice in winter, and then using sleds and horse-drawn carts to go to the county and Shicheng to sell fish.

Then there are the few big tasks that come later, which are another story.

As for breaking holes in the ice to catch fish every day, some people are capable of doing it, but most people don't: either they are too lazy to do it, or they don't want to do it because it's too cold.

So not everyone can earn this kind of money. No matter what, the villagers still admire Li Long in this respect, at least he can endure the hardship.

How did Li Jianguo earn the money to buy the tractor? It is generally accepted that he earned the money from growing melons.

When it comes to hunting and fishing, the team members feel that they may not be able to compare, but when it comes to farming skills, it is hard to say who will win.

You can grow crops, and so can I. We are both farmers, so who is worse than who?

Of course, they didn't know that since Li Jianguo had some spare money, he listened to Li Long's advice and used a lot of fertilizers, whether growing wheat, corn, or melons and sunflowers. At the end of winter or before the spring ploughing, the Li family would bring fertilizers home by tractor.

Li Long vaguely remembered where he saw the data in his previous life. After the reform and opening up, farmers' grain output was increased, and chemical fertilizers accounted for at least half of the credit.

So while he asked Gu Boyuan to open an agricultural supply store, he also kept nagging Li Jianguo to use more fertilizers.

As for what to use, I have experience from my previous life, such as urea, potassium dihydrogen phosphate, superphosphate, etc.

It's nothing more than nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium.

Li Jianguo never told anyone else about this, and there was no need to tell anyone. Everyone knew that fertilizers were useful when the village was built, but other families used less of them. Why? Because it costs money.

Li Jianguo also realized that the input-output ratio of fertilizer is very good. If you spend one hundred yuan on fertilizer and spread it on the fields, the extra grain produced can be sold for at least one hundred and seventy or two hundred yuan.

That's worth it.

But the team members are not very clear about this, and when money is tight, they are not willing to make this investment. Currently, they still rely more on farm manure.

Li Jianguo would not take the initiative to tell them that the lesson of life is that you will never learn from other people's lessons until you experience it yourself.

When Chang Jianlin was walking back, he saw some people pulling reed bundles and walking towards Li's house. There were many of them, some small, and they were all talking and laughing.

Well, when I first arrived at this production team, everyone was the same. Although we couldn’t be called proletarians, we basically all had one set of clothes and one set of bedding and that was all.

Over the years, it all felt the same at first. We all lived in mud houses and the furniture was pieced together.

How come things have changed so much in the past two years? They have become bosses, but I am still working for others?
I can’t figure it out, I can’t figure it out.

Li Jianguo did not expect that he would be notified the day before and start harvesting the next day. He harvested nearly one thousand reeds that day and more than eight hundred the next day.

The original plan was to complete the harvest in 20 days, but seeing the current situation, it was completed in about 10 days.

Everyone is very motivated!

But think about it, although making a reed handle also requires cutting reeds and pulling out reed leaves like making a big broom, it is much easier to make it than a big broom.

The team was working hard again, so there were naturally more people at the beginning, but it became slower later. On the third day, Li Long brought Song Ming to pull the reed bundles.

In fact, Li Long went to Shicheng on the first day of harvesting reeds.

When he drove his jeep to Shicheng, he went to his sister Li Xia's house first.

Hongqin was still in school, and Li Xia was sewing something in the yard. She saw Li Long's jeep approaching the door, and she stood up with a smile to welcome Li Long in.

Li Long saw that the dress Li Xia was sewing was small and not like the one Hong Qin was wearing, it was too small, so he smiled and asked:

"Sister, are you sewing this for Mingming Haohao?"

"Yes. Although Shicheng and Maqi are not far away, I don't have time to visit the two children, so I thought about sewing clothes for them." Li Xia went into the house and took out a few more small clothes, as well as small cloth shoes and socks.

"Hey, it looks really good!" Li Long took the blue cotton dress. Although it looked small, the stitches were very neat and each part was very delicate. He praised, "Sister, you have really skillful hands!"

"It's not a coincidence, I'm just thinking about it." Li Xia said modestly, "What are you doing here? Is everything okay at home?"

"It's all good. Dad has returned from his hometown and put us all on the family tree. Your name is on it, and Hongqin's is on it too."

"Really?" Li Xia asked in surprise, "I have a name too?"

Li Xia's reaction was a bit exaggerated, and Li Long didn't quite understand it, but he still nodded vigorously:

"Yes, I've checked. You, brother-in-law, eldest sister-in-law, second sister-in-law, Hongqin, Juan, Xueqin and Xueping's names are all there... This is what Dad did specifically when he went back this time..."

"Oh my god——" Li Xia's lips moved, she was so excited that she didn't know what to say.

Li Long has lived in northern Xinjiang for more than ten years and has become accustomed to the living environment here. He really doesn't care much about his family tree.

But Li Xia has always lived in her hometown, and the living environment there made her realize how difficult it is for a woman to be included in the family tree!
From ancient times to the present, even though the country has been established for many years, in the minds of many people, women have a low status, and the preference for boys over girls has been deeply engraved in the bones of most people. If women want to have a little status, they must make many times more contributions than men.

As for being included in the family tree? It was simply impossible... Dad actually did it?
Li Long didn't understand, but he respected her. He didn't interrupt Li Xia's digestion process, but went to the back seat of the jeep, took out a bag of rice and put it in the kitchen in the yard.

Although Chen Xingbang has a salary, he should not have to worry about food and drink here, but Li Long thought that this rice was produced by the Fourth Team and was very famous in the area. The rice itself was also fragrant, so he let his sister's family taste the new rice.

Li Xia recovered and hurriedly went to find a bag to wrap up the clothes, shoes and other things she had made and put them in the car.

Li Long told her that he still had to go to the sugar factory to find someone to do something, and asked Li Xia if she had enough sugar residue.

"It's enough. It can last for another month or two." Li Xia said hurriedly, "I dried it all and put it away. Now you don't need to pull it out."

"Then wait for another month or so and I'll send some more over." Li Long said.

Although she wanted to keep her brother to talk, Li Long had something important to do, so Li Xia sent him out the door.

When Li Long passed by the market earlier, he found that there was no sign of a storefront being built here, and it should be built by next year, so he went straight to the sugar factory.

When waiting for Song Ming at the back door, Song Ming was a little surprised why Li Long was waiting here at this time.

"New job." Li Long waited for Song Ming to unload the sugar residue and drive the car back before saying to him, "I need to pull reeds from the village to the county. It's just right for you to help pull the sugar residue. We can return to the city with an empty car. After accounting for the freight and the time wasted, I'll give you twenty per car..."

"Hey..." Song Ming waved his hands hurriedly, "Comrade Li Long, you are too polite. I am making money, but I can't make money like this. If you give me a week's work of pulling sugar residue, I can earn an extra eighty-one hundred yuan a month. Bringing things back for you is just a bonus. If I ask for more money..."

"Let's put it this way. A truckload of reed bundles can carry two to three thousand, and it takes time to unload and unload. You have to wait, and it will be dark when you get back..."

"That's not a problem. Who among us has never driven at night?"

The two of them pushed and shoved each other, and finally decided that Li Long would pay an extra ten yuan for each load as gas money.

In doing this job, both of them felt that they took advantage of the other.

I still feel a little embarrassed.

"I will deliver the sugar residue the day after tomorrow. You have to be in the village then. At least you have to lead me there this time." Song Ming set the time.

"That's definitely no problem." Li Long said, "I'll wait for you at the Lao Ma."

With Li Long's words, Song Ming felt relieved.

Two days later, when Song Ming pulled the sugar residue to Laomahao, not only Li Long was there, but also Tao Daqiang and a few others he called upon. These people helped unload the sugar residue, and then they helped Uncle Luo pile up the sugar residue. Li Long drove the jeep in front to lead the way and took Song Ming to his own yard.

After Tao Daqiang and his friends sorted out the sugar residue, they were not polite and each of them pulled a sack of sugar residue back home. Although his family's donkey cart was given to his eldest brother, the chickens and pigs they raised all ate this stuff. It was the same for other families. If they had any living things, they would not pick this as food.

Li Jianguo watched the truck coming and asked the people he had called to help load the goods.

There were still some sugar residues on the truck that had not been cleaned up, so he took a big broom, got on the truck and swept up the debris on the door frame - he was still complaining in his mind that young people were always rash and careless when doing things.

Song Ming still wanted to help load the truck, but Li Long asked him to take a rest. Li Jianguo had Lu Yingming, including Tietou from their family, Li Long, and several neighbors in the front and back yards who all helped to load the truck.

If you load it directly on a truck, you can't carry too many reed sticks. Li Jianguo learned this when Li Long was carrying a handlebar. There are two sticks on each side of the handlebar, which is equivalent to raising the height of the car body, so that more can be loaded.

After the car was loaded, it was braked with a rope, but it could not be tied too tightly. After that, Li Qingxia came back from the reservoir and asked Li Long to put some of the fish in urea bags and give them to Song Ming.

"If you don't have enough time, I won't let you pick it. You can go back and clean it up yourself." Li Long said, "Small crucian carp is especially delicious when stewed in soup."

"Hey, you get paid for your work and you get to eat fish, Comrade Li Long, you are too polite..."

"Let's not talk about that anymore. We still have a long time to cooperate in the future."

Because of the tight time, Li Long and Song Ming did not eat here. They drove to the supply and marketing cooperative one after the other.

The door of the supply and marketing cooperative had been closed for a long time. Fortunately, the security guard had known Li Long's situation over the past two years. When there was work, these things had to be unloaded to the backyard even after dark, not to mention now.

It was not easy to find people at this time. Li Long and Song Ming were busy unloading the truck for more than an hour. They finally finished unloading the reed bundles after dark.

Li Long thanked Song Ming for his hard work. There was no place to eat at this time, but Song Ming was still thinking about going back to deal with the crucian carp - these fish were not rare to Li Long, but they were quite rare for someone like Song Ming who lived in the city.

The next day, Li Long came to the supply and marketing cooperative again and looked for Li Xiangqian. Li Xiangqian naturally knew that he wanted to check the reed stems, so he handed the matter over to the warehouse manager.

Li Long could clearly feel that the commune did not take the inspection of the reed stems very seriously this time.

He guessed that the leaders of the commune might know that this work of pulling reeds would not last long, so they did not take it so seriously.

No matter what, he still had to do a good job here. As for how the higher-ups were playing games, that was none of his business.

The first batch of reeds delivered was 2,877. The warehouse manager was very considerate and signed a note as all of them were qualified.

Li Long went to the finance department to collect the money, said goodbye to Li Xiangqian and went back to the yard.

He really planned to spend some time with his family during this period of time.

Of course, I also have to go and see if the market’s storefront has been built.

After all, this is a big deal.

Buying a storefront, whether you use it or not, marks the beginning of commercialization.

Of course, in Li Long's opinion, building a factory is the real deal. Take it step by step, don't rush. (End of this chapter)