Return to 1983 Hunting Xing'an Mountains

Chapter 617: Signing a Contract to Cover All the Mountains and Getting Kicked in the Head by a Donkey
September 9, Autumnal Equinox.

A light rain soaked the ground last night, and the flowers and plants seemed to grow more vigorously after being moistened, but little did they know that this was their last carnival of the year.

In another six or seven days they will gradually wither, with their roots buried in the ground in an attempt to grow and bloom again next year.

The stream in front of Old Xu's house has risen in water. It must be that there was more rain in the mountains last night, which also means that the roads in the mountains are slippery and muddy.

At around 5 o'clock in the morning, when Xu Ning went out carrying the泔水桶, he smelled the scent of earth in the air, which made him feel refreshed and happy.

He has been waiting for news from Zheng Yunlong from the forest farm these days, but he has not heard anything yet, which makes him very anxious.

There were five plates of dumplings stuffed with leeks and eggs, as well as pickles and second-cut porridge on the dining table. Since Sun Lianfang was coming back home today, Liu Lizhen got up early to make dumplings and prepared a gift for her.

Sitting at the dining table were Sun Liansheng, Chen Hedong, Su Yawen, and everyone from Old Xu's family. Sun Liansheng arrived around 4 o'clock yesterday afternoon. He came mainly to pick up Sun Lianfang to go back to her parents' home. After all, Old Xu's family didn't have a car, and it was very inconvenient to go to Sandaohe.

After the meal, exactly at 5:, Xu Ning, Wang Hu, Guan Lei and others moved the return gifts prepared by Liu Lizhen into the trunk of the car, and then watched the three of them drive away.

Xu Ning rode his donkey to deliver a plate of dumplings and pickles to Ma Liu. When he came back, he happened to meet Lao Qian driving his old Jiefang. He had talked to Lao Qian on the phone yesterday. Lao Qian happened to be back to visit his father. Xu Ning asked him to come over in the morning to pick up Liu Lizhen and others to go to the city...

Old Qian sat at the dining table and ate a plate of dumplings. Liu Lizhen and the others had also cleaned up. Under Liu Lizhen's endless instructions, Xu Laonian, Xu Ning and the others sent the old woman to the car.

Originally, Meng Ziyan had no plans to go to the city, because she and Xu Ning had only been married for a few days and didn't want to be separated for too long.

But Liu Lizhen spoke personally, first, asking her to accompany Guan Hua and Su Yawen, second, letting Xu Ning live a single life at home, and third, wanting to buy clothes for her and Wang Shujuan, and some cloth.

Ever since Meng Ziyan entered Old Xu's house, she has always wanted to try out a sewing machine, but there was no fabric at home, so she had to give up.

Immediately, Lao Qian drove away with a group of old ladies, including Han Fengjiao, Wu Qiuxia, Yang Shuhua, Guan Hua, and Su Yawen.

Liu Lizhen originally wanted to persuade Zhang Guifang to go with her to see the world, but Zhang Guifang said there was nothing to buy in the city, so it would be better for her to stay at home and cook for them.

Hearing this, Liu Lizhen also felt that having an old woman at home could make her feel more at ease. After all, these old men were really spoiled and basically had everything they wanted. So she told Zhang Guifang to let her and Huang Lin live in the west room of Old Wang's house first, and they would be back in four or five days.

It was past 7 o'clock. Xu Ning sat on the sofa and felt a little uncomfortable. Without the old woman at home, it was as if something was missing. He felt empty inside...

After Xu Laonian and Wang Erli left, Yang Jun drove over. They sat in the reception room and drank some tea, then hurried to the lower room to move the plastic sheet, chainsaw, axe and other things into the car. Then they left Zhang Guifang alone at home and went to the field.

At this time, Yang Jun, Liu Daming, Wang Hu and others were working in the 28th log yard. The preliminary preparation work was to clear the open space for storing logs in the log yard, and build shacks, kangs and stoves for the workers. The shacks were actually the workers' dormitories. In order to keep warm, they had to build kangs and stoves, otherwise they would not be able to survive the winter with temperatures of more than 30 degrees below zero.

When the shack was being built, Yu Kaihe, Niu Li, Niu Le, Lao Jiang, Lao Wei and others came to help. At noon, Wang Biao and Huang Lin went home to get food, and they had a simple meal in Lengchang. When they returned home in the evening, they only had four dishes. After all, Zhang Guifang was busy alone, and it was impossible for her to prepare six complicated dishes.

In his spare time, Ma Liu led Wang Hu, Wang Biao and others back to the Dongshan cellar and moved the pots, pans, and cast iron stove in the cellar to Lengchang. Because he had to patrol in Lengchang this winter, they had to build a small shack for him.

He built the shack himself. He first dug a meter and a half underground and then erected four pillars. It was built like a cellar, but with a pointed roof. This type of shack had a larger space, with a height of about 1 meters and a maximum of 2 meters.

Many hands make light work. Since many people came to help build the shacks, the shacks in the three small fields were completed in two days.

That day, Xu Ning took some time out to go to Mangliutun and found the night watchman Zhao Shengmin who was introduced by Lao Deng. He told him to pack his things as soon as possible and he would take him to No. 25-2 Lengchang in four or five days.

Zhao Shengmin seemed very anxious and asked if he had any food and wine. Upon hearing this, Xu Ning knew that Zhao Shengmin must be short of food and wine. He turned around and brought Hu Zhiyong to his home and gave him 5 kilograms of rice and 10 kilograms of corn stubble.

Xu Ning introduced Hu Zhiyong to him, and Zhao Shengmin realized that he was not the night watchman for Xu Ning's Lengchang, but the night watchman for Hu Zhiyong's Lengchang, so his face looked a little ugly.

Seeing this, Xu Ning smiled and explained, "Uncle Zhao, I have shares in the 25-2 Lengchang, and my uncle Deng's nephew Li Ye also has shares. They are all real relatives of our family."

After sorting out the relationship, Zhao Shengmin nodded and said frankly: "I don't have much stuff at home, so I can go to the Lengchang now."

Of course Hu Zhiyong was willing, and then he sent Zhao Shengmin to Lengchang and gave him two baskets of vegetables and half a bag of noodles. From then on, Zhao Shengmin had to stay in Lengchang all the time.

When Ma Liu heard that an old friend was helping his nephew look after the No. 25-2 field, he went there with a bag of old dry tobacco and a pot of wine.

Although the two had never met before, they felt somewhat familiar with each other when they first met. After chatting for a while, they realized that they had the same problem, so in the days that followed, they would get together for a drink when they had nothing to do.

Originally, Xu Ning was thinking of going to Wangxing. After all, he hadn't seen the Gou Gang for a long time and he really missed them.

But that evening, when Xu Laonian came back, he told him that Zheng Yunlong asked him and Du Shoucai to go to the forest farm the next day, probably to complete the procedures for contracting the barren mountain.

Hearing this, Xu Ning's heart was at ease. He had thought that this would be difficult to do, but after thinking about it carefully, it was quite easy to do. After all, he had family members in the forest farm, the village and the city, and doing this did not violate any discipline.

The next day, he and Du Shoucai came to the forest farm. As soon as they entered the door, Zheng Yunlong stood up with a smile, asked the two to sit down first, and then he went to make two pots of tea.

"It can be done, but I need the help of Brother Lao Du."

Du Shoucai had heard what Xu Ning said before he came, and nodded: "Okay! So what should we do specifically?"

"To put it simply, the collective and the forest farm sign a contract, and then the collective and Erning sign a subcontract agreement. This is a unique transaction, so the standard given by the city is very low. Now it costs about 1 yuan to contract each mu of mountain forest land, and the profit is divided into % and %, which means cents per mu."

“But the price of wasteland will have to be halved, and wasteland is even worse than wasteland, especially the Shilazi Mountain that Erning has his eyes on, which has almost no value. So the price can be 2.5 cents per mu. The forest farm will not participate in the profit sharing. If the collective is also unwilling to participate in the profit sharing, we can add 5 cents per mu to ensure that the collective interests are not affected.”

There are a total of 64 acres of land behind the Xu family's back mountain. If we calculate it at 16 yuan per acre, the price for a year's contract is only 6 yuan. Is it cheap?

From Xu Ning's perspective, it is indeed quite cheap, but from the perspective of others, who would be willing to pay nearly 17 yuan a year to buy a barren mountain? What can you do with this barren mountain? You can only look at it, but you can't give birth to a baby.

Besides, the price is different in every region, and the reasons are quite complicated. It depends on the local economic conditions. For example, the prices of barren mountains around the provincial capital or the city are different, not to mention the pure mountain valleys like Qingantun. "Erning, how about this price? This is the best I can get."

Xu Ning said with a smile: "Uncle Zheng, this is a very good job. I think it's good enough to be able to take care of it for 30 yuan."

"How can it be so expensive? A barren mountain has no economic value. Both the forest farm and the city are willing to contract it out... Besides, what if you can make money? Wouldn't it serve as an example for other barren mountains so that they won't be left there idle?"

Zheng Yunlong handed Du Shoucai a cigarette and continued, "According to the contract period, the minimum is 15 years. If you want to plant trees, such as mixed forests of pine and oak, the minimum period is 40 years, and this period can be inherited and transferred..."

Xu Ning shook his head: "There is no way to plant trees on that mountain, so we can only think of ways to do breeding. Uncle Zheng, what is the maximum term for my contract?"

"On January 1 this year, a 'Notice on Rural Work in 1' was issued which clearly stipulated: extend the land contract period, encourage farmers to increase investment, cultivate soil fertility, and implement intensive management. The land contract period should generally be more than 1984 years. For projects with long production cycles and development purposes, such as trees, forests, barren hills, and wasteland, the contract period should be longer."

Zheng Yunlong put the newspaper down and said, "If you don't plant trees, I suggest you take care of it for 15 years, because there may be changes in the future."

There is nothing wrong with this. Xu Ning remembers that a new guideline was issued around 92, which meant to extend the contract period by 30 years on the original basis.

Xu Ning smiled and said, "Uncle Zheng, let me ask one more question. Is this mountain unused land, construction land, or agricultural land?"

Zheng Yunlong's eyes lit up when he heard this, "Hey, Erning is quite knowledgeable."

"Haha, I like to do random research when I have nothing to do."

"This mountain must be unused land, so it's so cheap. If you want to convert it into construction land, I think the procedures can be completed, but the price will naturally be higher."

"Understood! Uncle Zheng, then shall we sign the contract?"

"Wait a minute, there's one more thing. If you contract for 15 years, the contract fee needs to increase by 16% every year. For example, this year's price is 6 yuan. After five years, it will increase by 4% every year. In the sixth year, it will be more than 17 yuan, and in the seventh year, it will be more than 18 yuan..."

"Okay, no problem with that." Xu Ning agreed promptly.

Subsequently, Zheng Yunlong signed a contract on behalf of the forest farm and Du Shoucai represented the collective, which then subcontracted the project to Xu Ning personally.

Xu Ning prepaid the contract fee for the first five years on the spot, which was less than 100 yuan in total, which he thought was quite cheap.

At noon, Zheng Yunlong bought some vegetables with his own money and asked the canteen chef to prepare four dishes. Everyone had a nice drink, and Xu Ning and Du Shoucai returned to the village.

As soon as we got off the car, Du Shoucai said with a smile: "If the news that you contracted the back mountain gets out, everyone in our village will say that you got kicked in the head by a donkey."

"Hahaha, say whatever you want. Anyway, I don't think it's a loss, uncle. When there is news about the package, please let me know."

"What? You still want to rent it out? What's the use of this old, dilapidated, barren mountain? If you have some spare money, why not rent out the place and do some business?"

"I'm busy now, so I thought I'd try something new. It won't cost much."

Du Shoucai said with a smile: "You think 17 yuan is not a lot of money, but others may regard 17 yuan as a treasure. A penny can make a hero fall..."

Xu Ning curled his lips and said, "What kind of hero doesn't have a penny? If he doesn't have any money in his pocket, he's not really a hero."

"Oh my god, you are talking nonsense, don't go out and brag about it. Also, keep the matter of the mountain package a secret if you can, don't tell anyone in our village, it will easily lead to gossip."

"know."

Although the mountain behind Lao Xu's house is a whole mountain, it is a connected double-peak mountain with an area of ​​about 64 acres, which just separates Qing'an and Taipingtun. This place will definitely be of great use in the future, but the unused land needs to be converted into construction land. Zheng Yunlong has already said that this can be done, it's just a matter of paying a little more money.

September 9, around 28:5 p.m.

A Yellow River car was parked in the open space in front of the courtyard gate. Xu Long jumped out of the car and shouted towards the courtyard. Xu Ning and others heard the voice and ran out quickly.

Among them, Xu Laonian's performance was the most exaggerated. He stood at the door and laughed three times, shouting with a smile on his face: "Zhen! Zhen! You are finally back. I haven't slept well these past two days because I was thinking about you."

Liu Lizhen pushed it aside with disgust, pointed at the back of the car and said, "There are a lot of things in the car, take them inside."

Xu Ning and others walked to the back of the car with smiles on their faces, and saw Xu Feng and Jin Yumantang also coming back. In fact, they came back mainly to wait for the three of them to finish school, otherwise they would have been home in the afternoon.

The newlyweds hugged each other and bit their lips affectionately as soon as they met. Fortunately, there was a tarpaulin blocking them next to the car, otherwise Meng Ziyan would have been embarrassed again.

The old ladies went to the city to have fun for five or six days. They spent two days in the mall alone and bought many things, including fabrics, clothes, shoes, pants, etc. Then Xu Long drove them to various scenic spots. What were the scenic spots? There were only mountains and trees, but they had stairs built on them.

Liu Lizhen said that instead of spending time there she might as well go to the mountain near her home to pick some mushrooms, but afterwards they also went to the memorial hall and the museum and saw many strange things.

After everyone entered the house, Xu Laonian kept pestering Liu Lizhen and asking if they were hungry or had eaten, which annoyed Liu Lizhen so much that she pushed him away.

Finally, when she had no other choice, Liu Lizhen threw the woolen sweater and autumn clothes she bought for him on him. Xu Laonian held the new clothes with a smile on his face, and said that his wife was still the best.

Liu Lizhen not only bought things for her own family, but also bought a coat for Zhang Guifang and a pair of shoes for Huang Lin. When Zhang Guifang learned that her aunt bought things for her, she was very touched and couldn't stop smiling.

Why buy clothes for Zhang Guifang? The reason is that she has been helping the Xu family for a long time, and after they went to the city, she was left alone to cook and clean the house, and she rarely went home.

Besides, Da Laba was quite particular. He left the pork unsold and went to Wangxing to help Xu Ning to hunt livestock. Maybe someone would say, isn't hunting livestock profitable? It is true, but not as much as selling livestock meat!
(End of this chapter)