readease Chapter 1388 He's better than Lao Zuo!
Chapter 1388 He's better than Lao Zuo!
After arriving in the county, Li Long first dropped Gu Xiaoyu off in the courtyard. Gu Xiaoxia, who was already on holiday, was waiting for them in the courtyard.
After a brief greeting and exchanging pleasantries, Li Long drove Li Juan to the fourth team.
Gu Xiaoyu stayed in the courtyard. Gu Xiaoxia had already set up the stove next to the guest room, and the fire wall was burning warmly. There was no dampness in the room, which was a completely different world compared to the freezing cold outside.
After putting their luggage away, the two sisters held hands and sat on the bed in the room, talking.
“Minghao Hao goes to his grandpa’s as soon as he has a holiday, so I sent them there early,” Gu Xiaoxia said with a smile. “We haven’t seen each other for several years, right? Let’s have a good chat these few days. By the way, stay here for one night, and I’ll drive you to the team to see your dad and Aunt Song tomorrow.”
Although they talk on the phone often, they talk even more when they meet in person. Gu Xiaoxia said her younger sister had lost weight, while Gu Xiaoyu thought her older sister was still so young. When the two sisters chatted, they talked about all sorts of trivial things, laughing heartily from time to time.
If it weren't for Sister Yang calling them from outside to eat, they probably would have talked all day.
Li Long drove Li Juan to the fourth team. When they heard the car, the Li family all came out, including Li Juan's mother, Du Chunfang, who was always afraid of the cold. Everyone had a smile on their face as they watched Li Juan get out of the car and said words of concern to her.
Without Li Long's help, Li Qiang had already helped his sister carry her luggage into the house. Seeing that his mother was dressed lightly, Li Long hurriedly went over to support her as they walked inside, saying, "Mom, what are you doing out here? It's cold outside, don't catch a cold."
"Now that you're back, shouldn't you come and see us?" Older Mother Du Chunfang said with a smile. "Flying is so fast! We were in Yanjing this morning, and we're home this afternoon."
“I’ll book the tickets tomorrow so you and your dad can fly out and have a look around,” Li Long said. “We’ll go to the beach and visit some big cities.”
"I'm not going to ride it. That big metal thing flying in the sky, who knows if it's safe or not." Du Chunfang's words made everyone laugh, but her mother said seriously, "I'm right, that airplane is such a big thing, and it doesn't have wings, it's really scary to be suspended in the air."
The group chatted and laughed as they entered the house. Li Juan changed her clothes, and Liang Yuemei brought out the food, urging the two of them to eat quickly.
While the two ate, the others asked about the situation, mainly about the weather in Yanjing, Li Juan's studies, and her vacation.
Older sister Du Chunfang found it noisy here, and seeing that Li Long was alright, she went back to her own room. After Li Long and Li Juan finished eating, Liang Yuemei cleaned up and went to the kitchen to work. Li Juan followed her, and the mother and daughter talked in the kitchen.
Mingming Haohao snuggled up to Li Long for a while, then dragged Li Qiang out to play.
At this point, only Li Qingxia, Li Jianguo, and Li Long remained in the room.
Li Jianguo said to Li Long seriously, "You left in such a hurry that you didn't explain the situation clearly. What's going on over there?"
Li Long shook his head and said, "That person isn't doing well; they're in the hospital."
Li Jianguo's expression also turned grim. He sighed and said, "How could this happen? He should be fine."
Li Long's age places him in the transitional generation among Han Chinese who entered Xinjiang after liberation; he is neither a first-generation Xinjiang resident nor a second-generation Xinjiang resident.
But precisely because of this, he knew even more how much weight that general carried in the eyes of the Han people in the northern frontier.
To be honest, only twenty or thirty years later, Zuo Zongtang's achievements were repeatedly mentioned, and everyone felt that he truly deserved credit for recovering Xinjiang.
But in the eyes of the younger generation in Xinjiang, this is the real hero.
When the People's Liberation Army entered Xinjiang, there were many bandits entrenched throughout the region, engaging in arson, murder, looting, and even separatist activities. It was this general who quelled those bandits with an iron fist, and it is no exaggeration to say that countless lives were saved.
The bandits of that time had experienced the Hui Rebellion in Shaanxi and Gansu and later rebellions supported by the Russians in Central Asia, and their methods were extremely cruel.
This man truly lived by the principle of "an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth," ensuring thirty years of peace in the northern frontier, and even scattering his last ashes on the Tianshan Mountains.
Due to certain political needs, there was little publicity. However, in the eyes of the older generation of people in northern Xinjiang, only this person is truly worthy of praise.
After all, Zuo Zongtang, and those who went further back to the Han Dynasty who established military farms in the northern frontier, were all of the same lineage.
But the one who truly allows them to feel and experience it firsthand is this person.
Therefore, Li Jianguo and his contemporaries, whoever received such news, would feel sad.
Li Long didn't say anything; he was in a slightly better mood, having already gone through one wave.
Li Jianguo paused for a moment, then started talking about other things. He said Xie Yundong had told him that the cooperative's loan had been processed, the agricultural supplies had been delivered, and now all that was left was to wait for spring planting.
Li Long laughed and said, "Old Xie is becoming more and more capable of handling things on his own, so I can just enjoy my dividends without having to worry about so many things."
Li Jianguo wholeheartedly agreed: "This cooperative is really worry-free, much less troublesome than our old one. This is what they always talk about in the news and newspapers—the revitalization of the country through science and technology and the modernization of agriculture, right? Now that we have so many large machines for farming, we've really caught up with a good time."
“It’s right here,” Li Qingxia finally interjected. “Our hometown is still no good. Although the land is flat, there are too many people. Each household only has a few acres of land, so large machinery simply cannot be used.”
The Central Plains region has always been a key area for agricultural production, but Li Long couldn't really explain it in detail. Fortunately, his parents, as well as some close cousins and nephews, had come over, so they decided to develop their businesses here.
After all, there are more development paths available here.
Before it got dark, Li Long drove back to the compound. After parking the car, he saw Gu Xiaoxia and Gu Xiaoyu coming out of the guest room together. He smiled and said that they could continue chatting while he went to rest.
Although he said he was resting, Li Long actually started tidying up some things after entering the house.
After this trip, Director Dai and Xiao Wang from the State Ethnic Affairs Commission's Beijing Office were a great help, and they even gave him so many gifts when they left. Since it would be impolite not to reciprocate, Li Long thought he should select some local specialties to send to them.
Specialties from northern and southern Xinjiang are out of the question, and even the specialties from other provinces and cities are not as abundant here as in other places. So he plans to select some specialties from Central Asia, Kazakhstan, and Russia, pack them into a box, and send them over as a New Year's gift.
While they were choosing, Gu Xiaoxia came into the room. Seeing Li Long organizing these things, she smiled and said, "I heard from Xiaoyu that he was able to take a plane this time thanks to the people at the State Ethnic Affairs Commission's Beijing office."
"Yes, they were a great help this time, so I was just about to pick out some things to send to them," Li Long said. "There's still a box of local specialties they gave me in the car that I haven't unloaded yet. I'm going to pick out some suitable things for them as well."
“Yes, yes, that’s the right thing to do.” Gu Xiaoxia looked at them and then said, “I’ll also give two items to Xiaoyu. He’s in Yanjing, and although he’s seen a lot, he doesn’t have the same access to these kinds of things as we do here.”
Gu Xiaoxia picked out two items and gave them to her sister. Li Long also picked out more than a dozen items that were rare and of suitable size. They packed them into boxes and prepared to send them out when they had time.
He then took the red coral he had bought from the car, carried the box into the house, and initially thought about displaying it there, but then decided against it.
My two kids are already showing signs of becoming little devils, so I'd better not display this thing. It's too fragile; a slight drop would cause serious damage. I'll leave it for now and deal with it when the kids are older.
Gu Xiaoxia came over from the other side and saw Li Long preparing to put the box down. She asked curiously what was inside. Li Long told her it was a red coral tree and then opened it to show his wife.
"It's so beautiful!" Gu Xiaoxia exclaimed in amazement. "It must be expensive, right?"
“Tens of thousands of yuan,” Li Long said. “In two years, you won’t be able to buy it anymore. As a teacher, you should know that coral is an animal. Our country has listed it as a protected animal, just like the horns of the gazelle and antelope. It will be difficult to buy it in China in the future.”
Gu Xiaoxia knew her husband liked to collect these things that would later become contraband, but to be honest, they were really quite beautiful. So she asked, "Is it illegal for us to have them now?"
"No, that doesn't count. The shop we bought from can issue legitimate invoices and certificates. That proves we're not doing illegal trading, so we can keep these things without any problems. But in a few years, they won't be able to issue those anymore, and that's when they'll really ban the buying and selling."
After explaining some basic knowledge to his wife, Li Long changed his clothes, washed up quickly, and went into the bedroom when he saw that it was getting dark.
Gu Xiaoxia chattered on and on about the parent-teacher meeting, saying that her two sons had good grades, ranking among the top in their classes, but they were too naughty and had too many problems, making many teachers both love and hate them.
“Children who are too honest will never amount to anything,” Li Long said casually. “Our child understands reason, but he’s just a bit too curious. How many kids these days aren’t mischievous? Anyway, if there are any problems at school, we’ll correct them promptly, as long as the child doesn’t go astray.”
Gu Xiaoxia was packing her clothes when Li Long lay down on the bed and casually picked up a book from the bedside table to read.
That was a book called "The Legend of the Swordsmen of Shu Mountain". Li Long had read it many times, once reading it from beginning to end. When he read it again, he would just flip to whichever page he happened to be on.
Today, he stumbled upon the passage about "hairy legs and jade legs flying together," and vaguely remembered that a web novelist had borrowed from it, but that wasn't what he was thinking about at the moment.
After not eating meat for N days, when he looked up at his wife again, she seemed especially charming, so he simply pulled Gu Xiaoxia into his arms and his hands began to wander.
"Oh dear, they're packing their things," Gu Xiaoxia said, twisting her body, which only provoked Li Long more.
"What's there to clean up? We can clean up tomorrow." Li Long turned off the light and started working.
"It's still early, why are you in such a hurry..." Gu Xiaoxia became a little embarrassed.
"I've been away for several days now, and I've been missing you."
……
After her sister left, Gu Xiaoyu looked at the two local specialties: a Turkish shawl and a Russian women's mink coat.
At this time, Sanmao was still very popular, and her style of dressing, which resembled wearing a large shawl or a large bed sheet, was also very popular.
Some people think this is the attire of Gypsies and have even given it a name: Bohemian style.
She had seen people at school wear this kind of shawl, but she had never tried it herself, and now she was a little curious.
I draped it over my shoulders, swayed it from side to side, and thought it was quite novel.
She then set it aside. She didn't really like this style, but the color combination of the shawl was beautiful, and she thought it was nice.
Then she draped the mink coat over her shoulders. It was quite thick, and Gu Xiaoyu looked at herself and could feel that wearing it really gave her an air of luxury.
The bed was already made. After quickly unpacking her luggage, Gu Xiaoyu pushed open the door, intending to go over and talk to her sister some more, only to find that the lights on the other side were already off.
She was a little surprised. Were her sister and brother-in-law going to bed so early? Or was her brother-in-law just too tired?
Then she vaguely heard some sounds that made her blush. Gu Xiaoyu blushed and hurriedly turned around and went back into the house.
Perhaps because the fire in the stove was burning too brightly, the room was a bit hot, and Gu Xiaoyu didn't sleep very well that night, only falling into a deep sleep just before dawn.
She woke up after Sister Yang had prepared breakfast and Gu Xiaoxia came to call her.
Gu Xiaoyu was a little embarrassed, but Gu Xiaoxia thought it was normal that she was tired from traveling back and forth by plane yesterday.
Han Fang and the others had a late holiday and hadn't returned yet. After the four of them finished breakfast in the morning, Sister Yang went to the cannery, while Li Long and the Gu sisters drove two cars to the fourth team.
Gu Xiaoxia and Gu Xiaoyu went directly to Gu Boyuan's place. The couple had returned from the valley half a month ago.
Although the fourth team is a village and the river valley is a city, Teacher Song really follows her husband wherever he goes. Every year during the Spring Festival, she takes a holiday to come and stay in the village with Gu Boyuan.
Moreover, she got along well with her neighbors. Many of the villagers said that Gu Boyuan had been lonely for half his life, and now he had finally found a good match.
After the car arrived at the gate, Gu Boyuan was already waiting. He told Gu Xiaoxia to drive the car in and park it in the yard.
They parked their own car further inside; the yard was big enough to accommodate them.
Gu Xiaoyu got out of the car carrying the things she had prepared in Yanjing. Gu Boyuan then said, using a phrase often used by the older generation, "It's enough that you're back. Why are you carrying anything?"
His face beamed with joy. He hadn't seen his youngest daughter for many years, and he was overjoyed that she had come to spend the Lunar New Year with him.
Teacher Song also stepped forward, smiling and talking to the two sisters, urging them to come inside quickly, and then she poured them some water.
Gu Xiaoxia told her to stop busying herself, but she said she couldn't stay idle and that she would let the three of them talk while she went to prepare lunch.
After Teacher Song went into the kitchen, Gu Xiaoxia whispered to Gu Boyuan, "Dad, let's not exaggerate, this woman is much more virtuous than my mother."
Gu Boyuan was a little embarrassed, smiled and said, "She's used to it." Then he asked Gu Xiaoyu:
"You didn't feel well on the plane yesterday, did you? You don't look well. Didn't you get enough rest? Why don't you stay in the yard today? Your sister and brother-in-law's yard is big, but their stove might not be as good as ours."
These words made Gu Xiaoyu a little embarrassed. She glanced guiltily at her sister, then shook her head and said, "It's not that I didn't rest well, it's just that it's my first day staying here and I'm not used to it. It's okay, I'll stay at my sister's place. I can talk to her there, but I might feel even more uncomfortable here."
"It's okay, Xiaoyu has a long vacation anyway, she can stay in either place." Gu Xiaoxia smoothed things over. "I'll move down in a few days too, and then Xiaoyu and I will live in the front yard. We have a car, so it'll be convenient to go back and forth."
"Besides, Dad, this room used to be mys. It hasn't been dried in ages, has it? It's probably very damp now. Even if we set up a fire today, it won't warm up anytime soon."
Gu Boyuan knew his eldest daughter was right, so he nodded.
The father and his two daughters chatted about their recent situations, each telling their own stories. Since Teacher Song was cooking over there, they tried to avoid mentioning the sisters' biological mother.
Fortunately, there was a lot to talk about. Gu Boyuan had also become involved in import and export trade in the valley, and the company's business had improved considerably, giving him a rather triumphant air.
The conversation inevitably turned to Li Long, and then Gu Boyuan once again urged Gu Xiaoyu to get married. He implied that since her older sister was already married and had two children in elementary school, Gu Xiaoyu couldn't not get married.
At this point, Gu Xiaoyu fell silent, choosing not to respond.
It wasn't until Teacher Song brought the dishes into the house that the awkward silence was broken.
Gu Boyuan brought up the topic again at the dinner table, which Teacher Song changed the subject.
After dinner, the two sisters stayed there for another hour or two before driving away.
After they left, Gu Boyuan didn't say much. Parents always worry about their children.
"Sigh, when will Xiaoyu find a suitable partner to marry?"
Hearing her husband's sigh, Teacher Song, who was packing up the things Gu Xiaoyu and Gu Xiaoxia had brought, looked up and said, "There's no use in worrying like this. Xiaoyu lives so far away from us, and she works at a university. There are so many good young men in Yanjing. It's unlikely that she won't meet someone suitable. Maybe she really doesn't want to get married?"
"How could I not want to get married?" Gu Boyuan was relatively traditional and couldn't understand it.
At this moment, Teacher Song leaned closer to him and whispered, "Do you think Xiaoyu isn't getting married because of Li Long?"
"What nonsense are you talking about?" Gu Boyuan glared at him. "Xiaoyu would never do such a thing. Li Long is her brother-in-law, and the two of them don't even have much interaction, right? Besides, he's a college student, while Li Long didn't even graduate from junior high school. How could that be possible?" "Look at what you're thinking!" Teacher Song laughed at him. "I'm saying that Li Long is still quite outstanding."
Although he lacks formal education, he's incredibly successful in business, capable of making money, able to mentor you, has a wide network of connections, knows many people, and is also quite good-looking—tall and imposing.
"And it's good for Xiaoxia too. Look at all those rich people in society these days, having affairs and keeping mistresses. Li Long has done a great job in this regard; look how happy Xiaoxia is."
“What you said is true, but what does that have to do with whether Xiaoyu finds a partner or not?” Gu Boyuan was a little slow to react in this regard.
"How could they not be related? Xiaoyu and Xiaoxia are sisters, and twins at that, so it's inevitable that they'll be compared. Xiaoyu used to be in Yanjing and went to university, so she must have had some sense of superiority."
Teacher Song put down what she was holding and sat down next to Gu Boyan, analyzing the situation objectively: "But later, when you compare them, you find that although Xiaoxia lives in a small county town, her life is not bad at all, and she has found such an excellent husband. How could Xiaoyu not have any feelings of comparison?"
When introduced to someone, the first instinct is to compare them to Li Long, and after comparing them, one finds oneself inferior to Li Long, so naturally, it's difficult to find someone one finds appealing.
After a moment's thought, Gu Boyuan realized that what Teacher Song said actually made a lot of sense.
However, he subconsciously began to suspect that his youngest daughter might actually have something going on with Li Long.
From then until the New Year, Gu Boyuan secretly observed the situation. The final result reassured him: there really was nothing between his son-in-law and his youngest daughter. They were normal when they were together, without any pretense or flirting, which meant he had been overthinking things.
But with Li Long as a point of comparison, finding a suitable one is really difficult.
Moreover, he spends most of his time in the valley, while his youngest daughter stays in Yanjing, so she really can't be of much help.
All I could do was send Gu Xiaoyu some money from time to time, hoping she could have a better life.
The Gu sisters went to find Gu Boyuan, while Li Long went to find Xie Yundong.
Xie Yundong was tinkering with his car in his own carport.
After getting a car, Xie Yundong, Xu Haijun, and the others all built carports in their yards, the kind with doors, so that driving in winter would be much easier.
This is probably the earliest garage in the four teams.
After Li Long entered the yard, he heard a noise from the garage and called out. Xie Yundong and Deng Guilan, who was in the kitchen, came out together. After seeing Li Long, Xie Yundong took a wrench and went into the house with Li Long.
"I heard you came back yesterday. I thought you must have been traveling a long way and must be tired, so I didn't come to see you." After taking off his gloves, washing his hands, and pouring water for Li Long, Xie Yundong sat down and said.
"I heard from my older brother that you've already gotten the loan back," Li Long said, holding his teacup. "It went smoothly, didn't it?"
"It went very smoothly, beyond my expectations," Xie Yundong said with a smile. "I really didn't expect it to be so easy to get a loan here. The credit union even suggested we borrow more, but I said no."
As the two were talking, they heard the sound of a car outside, followed by footsteps.
Next, Tao Daqiang, Xu Haijun, and the others arrived one after another, just like the cooperative was about to hold a meeting.
Several people asked Li Long how things were in Yanjing. Li Long gave a brief answer, saying that the weather was cold and although the city was big, the area where he lived wasn't very lively, not as lively as the Fourth Team.
"You're just being hypocritical after getting a good deal." Xu Haijun used a newly learned phrase. "They can have big courtyards in Yanjing City. They're definitely landlords. When will we be able to do that? Then I dare say, hey, Yanjing City is not as popular as our team."
“That’s easy,” Li Long joked. “In places that aren’t in the very center of Yanjing City, a courtyard house costs around 100,000 yuan. You’ve definitely saved enough to buy one. Want to give it a try?”
He was just making up that price; after all, he didn't know the market situation. But at this time, 100,000 yuan should be enough to buy a courtyard house outside the city center of Yanjing.
"Forget it." Xu Haijun shook his head. "What good would it do if I bought it? I can't go there or live there. It's just money sitting there. If I had that spare money, I could have put it in the credit union and earn several thousand yuan in interest every year."
"One hundred thousand yuan!" Jia Weidong exclaimed. "Xiaolong, how much did you pay for the yard back then?"
"A little over ten thousand," Li Long said casually.
"It's only been a few years and the value has increased tenfold!" Xu Haijun was also somewhat surprised. "If we had bought a few more courtyards over there back then, wouldn't we have made a fortune selling them now?"
Li Long thought to himself, "If you knew that in another twenty or thirty years, a courtyard would cost tens or hundreds of millions, wouldn't you be terrified?"
Ordinary people sometimes can't hold onto their money; if there's a profit to be made, they might be tempted to spend it, fearing they won't be able to earn it later.
The most pragmatic one was Tao Daqiang. He shook his head and said, "Back then, where would we get the money to buy so many courtyards? Let's just honestly farm the land. Our cooperative will eventually consolidate everyone's land and create a second plot. If we earn money for a couple more years, maybe we can afford to buy a courtyard in Yanjing."
"Xiaolong, do you think the second plot of land will still be managed under the current model?" Xu Haijun suddenly asked.
"Of course!" Before Li Long could speak, Tao Daqiang habitually said, "What, you want to split up the family?"
Xu Haijun didn't speak, but looked at Li Long, waiting for his answer.
“The land in our team will still be managed according to the old model,” Li Long said. “Whether it’s merging those cultivated lands or opening up a new saline-alkali land, it will still be managed according to the old model, and Lao Xie will be in charge of it.”
His words elicited different reactions from the various people.
"Which saline-alkali land are you looking at?" Tao Daqiang asked with a hint of surprise. "Brother Long, when you cleaned up Xiaohaizi last year, were you thinking of storing up more water so you could clean up more saline-alkali land?"
Jia Weidong was also somewhat surprised and asked, "How big of a saline-alkali land are you going to transform? Will it be the same size as ours? Which direction will it face? It should be transformed in two or three years, right?"
Liang Dacheng stated his thoughts directly: "I think the area by the small lake is quite good. Although it's a bit alkaline, the land is large, and there are several patches of bitter beans and reeds growing in the middle, so the soil quality should be better. That area is over a thousand acres, right?"
Xie Yundong gave a wry smile and said, "Xiaolong, are you putting pressure on me? Are you worried that my hair isn't falling out fast enough?"
Xu Haijun remained silent, a hint of resentment flashing in his eyes.
"We won't decide on the specific location yet, but generally speaking, the team's transformation will be faster. However, we shouldn't just focus on the team; we should also look outside."
Actually, other production teams also have quite a few plots of land available for contracting out. If we could directly acquire developed land—the large plots—even if the contract fee was slightly higher, as long as the contract term was for several years, it would be worthwhile for us.”
Li Long's words immediately drew everyone's attention.
He added, "If we really do contract land from other production teams, then we'll have to assign someone to manage it separately, for example..."
At this point, he looked at Xu Haijun, and he sensed that Xu Haijun understood the meaning behind his words. He smiled and said, "For example, Haijun. If you can sign a contract for a thousand acres of land for more than five years with the Third or Second Team, we can send you out to be in charge of managing that land."
"Why sign a contract for more than five years?" Tao Daqiang asked, somewhat puzzled.
"Isn't it obvious?" Xu Haijun's mood brightened immediately. "Only signing a five-year or longer contract makes any transformation worthwhile. We're contracting land, definitely for growing cotton. And what's the best way to grow cotton?"
"Of course, we use drip irrigation to grow cotton now," Tao Daqiang said matter-of-factly.
“That’s right. Drip irrigation for cotton yields high profits.” Xu Haijun mimicked Li Long’s tone, coaxing him, “But the land needs to be renovated. The renovation cost for a thousand acres would be hundreds of thousands, right? If we really contract the land for three or four years, and then return it after only two years of planting, we won’t even have made back the renovation cost. Wouldn’t that be a huge loss?”
"Can we go to other production teams' contracted land for renovation?" Liang Dacheng still had some concerns.
It's easy to manage within your own production team, since you know the people and the place well, and everything is happening right in front of you, so there's no need to worry.
But it's a different story for other production teams, as they are not easily controlled within their own territory.
"Let's take it one step at a time." Li Long wasn't worried at all. "We definitely need to sign formal contracts when we contract land. For anything over 1000 mu, you have to go through the township government to get the paperwork done. Think about it, once it's all done through the township government, do you think they won't recognize it?"
Although the situation across the country is largely the same, the northern Xinjiang region, being sparsely populated, is less prone to the situation where land is reclaimed and forests are planted only to be reclaimed, as is the case in the inland areas.
Or rather, it was less common in the 1990s and 2000s.
People still have some sense of shame.
Li Long dared to think this way because in his previous life, when there were no restrictions on arable land, the largest cooperative and contractor had contracted tens of thousands of acres of land to grow cotton.
These tens of thousands of acres of land were divided into seven or eight plots, with one person in charge of each plot. Each person was responsible for coordinating agricultural supplies such as fertilizers, seeds, and machinery, and received rewards based on yield.
An individual's ability is ultimately limited. For example, each of the people in the cooperative can only contract a few hundred acres of land at most, and that's about it.
However, with the cooperative as their backing, they can now easily contract thousands of acres of land, and in another ten years, contracting tens of thousands of acres will not be a problem.
Of course, this is just a concept at the moment, and the current situation is not so optimistic, after all, the price of drip irrigation tape is what it is. The cost of farming entirely by drip irrigation is still quite high.
However, Li Long believes that once the petrochemical plant in Dushanzi is built, it will inevitably lead to a decrease in the price of plastic raw materials in the vicinity, and then the spring of drip irrigation farming will arrive.
His current idea is just a small-scale trial, with everyone taking turns to contract out the work.
After all, the era of machine-harvested cotton has not yet arrived. When cotton and linen companies start collecting cotton or when the government allows private cotton purchases, then the cooperative cotton farmers will truly see a bright future.
"Xiaolong, do you think I could go out and manage a group then?" Liang Dacheng was also a little eager to try.
“Of course, no problem,” Li Long said with a smile. “As long as you can negotiate a large plot of land, with a reasonable price and a long contract period, our cooperative will guarantee it for you and let you take charge of that plot.”
Li Long thought that last year's cooperation with the county's No. 1 High School was quite pleasant, and the entire senior year students were kept in the county to pick cotton, which had a good effect.
If a new piece of saline-alkali land is reclaimed, or if Xu Haijun and Liang Dacheng go out and create their own land, then the students in grades 10, 11, and 12 of the county's No. 1 High School can stay in the county to pick cotton, achieving a win-win situation.
Deng Guilan had already started cooking on the stove. Li Long thought it was about time and was about to leave when Xie Yundong and Xu Haijun stopped him.
“That’s perfect! Why are you leaving?” Xu Haijun urged the host to keep the guest. “Xiaolong, I’ve just realized that you have a whole development plan for the cooperative in your head. I used to think that we were almost successful each time, but after talking with you, I realized that there are even broader development plans behind it.”
“Exactly, to be honest, I never thought I could contract land outside before,” Liang Dacheng said. “But now that you mention it, it seems like it’s only natural.”
Each production team certainly has some reserve land. Although nominally, that land is mainly for contracting out to villagers, nobody's stupid enough to lease it to outsiders for a higher fee, making more money and benefiting the village. This can definitely work!
"Brother Long, I feel you're pretty sure cotton prices will stabilize or even rise in the future." Tao Daqiang then thought of another aspect, "Are we going to keep growing cotton forever?"
This is a sensitive topic, and everyone's attention is focused on Li Long.
“Yes, we will definitely grow cotton for the next twenty or thirty years,” Li Long nodded and said. “Mainly because the weather and land here are suitable for growing cotton. These newly reclaimed saline-alkali lands are not suitable for growing other crops. Growing a little bit of goji berries is okay, but we can’t compete with the Jinhe area.”
"Planting cotton will be fine then. Market demand is high, and prices will definitely rise steadily. If cotton prices suddenly spike one year, we might just make a fortune."
"Hehe, in the eyes of the rest of the team, we've already made it big," Jia Weidong said with a soft laugh. "Next year, at least half of the team's land will probably be planted with cotton. I don't know if we'll be able to meet our grain quota."
“If you can’t pay, just pay the money.” Liang Dacheng didn’t care. “If all else fails, we can buy some wheat from the third team. Daqiang, talk to your father-in-law and we’ll buy wheat from him.”
“It’s not that bad,” Xu Haijun shook his head. “Old Wang’s family in our team has planted several hundred acres of wheat. Although their land was only reclaimed two or three years ago, they can still harvest more than 100 kilograms per acre, so it shouldn’t be a problem.”
If all else fails, we'll just buy it from them. Our families have a considerable amount of grain to pay as public grain quotas, and even Daqiang's father's family might not have enough."
The conversation drifted further and further away, so Li Long fell silent. The production team's quota for grain wasn't just limited to cereals; it also included other crops like sunflowers.
Li Long's household registration is still in the village. The tasks assigned to his family are all done by his older brother. He has never cared about them or worried about them.
Soon Deng Guilan brought the dishes to the table, while Xie Yundong habitually went to get the wine.
Li Long recalled the scene of Halimu and Yushanjiang hiding at his purchasing station to eat.
Even in the dead of winter, the four teams would get together and start drinking.
Fortunately, when friends come over to drink at a Han Chinese home, there's no need to slaughter sheep or cattle. They can just bring out their own stock, even if it's just a plate of fried peanuts, a plate of cold mung bean sprouts, or even a plate of stir-fried pickled vegetables, and they can still drink two bottles.
There are ways to drink whether you're poor or rich; once the relationship is established, you don't need to care about the food on the table.
From this perspective, Han Chinese are more casual and more practical.
Before even drinking any wine or eating a few bites of food, Xu Haijun asked Li Long, or anyone else at the table, which team would be the most convenient to contract land from.
Li Long casually said, "The second team. The second team's land is next to the Mohe Canal, and the plots are larger than those of the newly separated sixth team. They have more arable land available for cultivation, but less land for growing cash crops. If you go over and have a good talk, you might be able to contract one or two thousand mu, but a few hundred mu shouldn't be a problem."
"A few hundred acres is a bit too little?" Xu Haijun felt that the cooperative now had 1,500 acres of land, and seeing how well Xie Yundong managed it, he felt that he might not be any worse than Xie Yundong.
Li Long smiled and looked at him, saying, "If you're just starting out, a few hundred acres would be just right. After all, you'll have to start from scratch, from leveling the land, building pump houses, filter ponds, repairing ditches, digging wells to sowing seeds and hiring people to do all of that yourself."
"If we develop over a thousand acres at once and something goes wrong, the losses will be enormous."
Li Long was telling the truth and wasn't making fun of Xu Haijun. Xie Yundong also said, "Haijun, if you really plan to go out and contract land from other teams, Xiao Long is right. Try it out with a few hundred acres first, and then you can expand."
"Let me tell you, although I haven't made any major mistakes in the past two years, to be honest, I've lost a lot of hair."
As he spoke, he wiped his head to show the others: "Look, my hair is much thinner than before. Before, when I went to the barbershop in the countryside, they would thin it out. Now, they just trim it and style it."
"Hey, Lao Xie, you still go to the countryside to get a haircut?" Tao Daqiang said with a smile. "I just have my wife give me a quick trim with clippers."
"Let's get down to business!" Xu Haijun patted Tao Daqiang on the shoulder. "Don't show off your wife's abilities here. Haven't you ever thought about going out and doing business yourself, managing a whole area?"
"No, I don't have that kind of ability." Tao Daqiang immediately shook his head. "I see Lao Xie managing so much, using his brain all day long, but I'm not cut out for this. Even the part I'm in charge of right now is giving me a headache."
"Alright, simpletons have their own kind of luck!" Xu Haijun thought Tao Daqiang was hopeless, or maybe he just liked being this way?
Regardless, he really wanted to go out and try his luck; better to be a big fish in a small pond than a small fish in a big pond. (End of Chapter)