Rebirth of Bayi Fishing and Hunting in the Northwest

Chapter 1220 A fence needs three posts, how about starting a cooperative?
When Gu Xiaoxia went to pick up Mingming and Haohao from kindergarten, they were already waiting at the school gate.

There was a little girl at the school gate, and a woman next to her. The girl and the woman were talking to each other, and the woman pulled the girl away. Mingming and Haohao went up to the woman and talked to her.

When Gu Xiaoxia got out of the car, Hao Hao ran over to her and said:

"Mom, can Wu Xiufang ride in our car? She said she's never ridden in a car before and really wants to."

Gu Xiaoxia looked over at the girl and woman. The woman, Wu Xiufang's mother, smiled awkwardly and said:

"No, no, we're heading back now... it's not far anyway."

"Come on, it'll be more convenient in the car," Gu Xiaoxia said with a smile. "The kids are good friends, Mingming and Haohao definitely promised, and if you promise something, you have to keep it, right?"

“Yes!” Mingming and Haohao responded loudly, and went over to pull Wu Xiufang. The little girl smiled, but then looked up at her mother.

Unable to refuse the woman's hospitality, the middle-aged woman didn't insist any further. Nodding, Wu Xiufang happily followed Mingming and Haohao to the car. However, she didn't get in immediately but turned around to greet her mother.

Hao Hao was very clever. He sat in the passenger seat first, and then turned around to tell Wu Xiufang about the situation in the car.

After everyone was seated, Gu Xiaoxia started the car. There weren't many people on the street, but she didn't drive fast—Wu Xiufang's house was located behind the Xinhua Bookstore, not far away, and there was no need to take a long detour.

The three children laughed and talked in the car, sometimes about what happened in class, sometimes about how comfortable the car was.

They soon arrived at Wu Xiufang's house. Gu Xiaoxia stopped the car, and Mingming got out first. After Wu Xiufang and her mother got out, Mingming and Haohao said goodbye to them before getting back into the car and closing the door.

After parking her car at home, Gu Xiaoxia watched as Li Long hummed the song "Life Always Has Its Encounters with Wolves" from the TV series "The Legend of the Heroes of Yiwei" while tidying up his sidecar motorcycle.

Father-in-law Li Qingxia was helping out, and the two of them were working very hard.

"Why are you so happy today?" Gu Xiaoxia asked with a smile after locking the car door. "You even started singing."

"Haha, the high-horsepower tractor is sold... I really didn't expect it! A high-horsepower tractor costs over 200,000 yuan, and someone actually bought it!" Li Long said to her with a smile, "There are really a lot of rich people these days!"

"It's sold?" Gu Xiaoxia was also somewhat surprised. "Where did they buy it? How come they're so rich?"

“Jimusa’s family, big-scale farmers,” Li Long said. “Several of his brothers have cleared land to grow wheat, and they own quite a lot of land.”

Selling a high-horsepower engine can earn you 100,000 yuan. Although it takes a long time to sell one, it feels really great.

Gu Xiaoxia knew that the car sales had been booming recently because of advertising. At first, she had some reservations about advertising, thinking it was too ostentatious.

Gu Xiaoxia always felt that the family's wealth was already more than enough, and that Li Long should continue with his current lifestyle, steadily and continuously increasing his wealth.

It's not that she doesn't like money, it's just that there's too much money in the house, and she's a little panicked—she's never managed so much money before—not all the money in the house, but the money Li Long has entrusted to her has exceeded 100,000 yuan, which makes her feel that she simply can't control so much money.

She knew Li Long had even more money, but she never asked how much exactly, afraid that knowing would give her a heart attack.

Gu Xiaoxia knew it was her own fault, so she simply stopped interfering and just wanted to live a good life.

After all, she knew that Li Long wasn't the kind of person who broke the law; all the money he earned was clean.

Seeing Li Long so happy today, she felt good about it too.

Just as I was about to grab a towel to wipe the car, Sister Yang called out from the kitchen:
"Dinner's ready... Let's eat first."

The family then happily went over for dinner.

Although the advertising on Beiting TV has ended, the newspaper ads are still running, and the advertising effect is ongoing.

By the end of November, when Liu Gaolou brought over three high-horsepower tractors, five trucks, and eight cars, Li Long had already stocked up on 1,500 leather coats and over 1,000 pairs of cotton shoes, which made Liu Gaolou very happy.

“My second uncle found a suitable channel, mainly the Ministry of Agriculture of the Kazakh constituent republic. He obtained detailed data from them and knew where to find second-hand high-horsepower tractors. Then he sent people over to negotiate.”

Liu Gaolou was cracking sunflower seeds in the reception room while explaining to Li Long:

"In the dead of winter, these high-horsepower tractors are useless sitting there. Right now, some mechanical research institutes and farms are also very poor. Although they are not starving, they seem to be living much harder than we are here. They can't even afford black bread."

They might as well just scrap the big tractor; the money would at least buy some necessities.

Don't assume that farms there provide enough food just because they grow crops. The Soviet Union was a unified entity with many constituent republics. While republics like Kazakhstan didn't have as fertile land as Ukraine, they were still considered the Soviet Union's breadbasket, so much of their grain was requisitioned and sent to other countries.

The locals are actually having a harder time.

“My second uncle said that these sugar, cotton shoes and cotton clothes are enough for him to exchange for other mission items, and he has earned quite a lot of US dollars. You can just give me these three high-horsepower tractors in RMB, consider it the money I earned before the New Year.”

Liu Gaolou was quite happy. With three high-horsepower tractors and other leather goods, he could earn nearly a million yuan on this trip. Even if he had to give some to his family, the rest would be enough for his family to live a very good life.

Of course, Liu Shanmin also gave him other procurement tasks, but there was no need to tell Li Long about that.

Liu Gaolou priced Li Long's three high-horsepower tractors at 160,000 yuan each, the truck at 15,000 yuan each, and the leather at 80 yuan each—he brought in 5,000 yuan worth of leather this time.

The car payment was settled in US dollars, deducted from the sugar payment. Li Long would have Liu Gaolou haul away fifty tons of sugar this time. The sugar factory said they couldn't do more, as the demand for sugar in some parts of Xinjiang was very high at the end of the year.

Li Long must have felt the pinch of having to shell out nearly a million yuan.

However, he felt it was worthwhile, since he could make almost double the money back on each item when he resold it.

Leather and trucks are easy to find. There are no trucks left in the yard now; they've all been bought up. The transportation industry in northern Xinjiang has always been quite prosperous, with trucks hauling coal in winter and building materials in hot weather—it's never stopped.

After Liu Gaolou left, the speed at which Li Long sold cars and trucks began to slow down.

No one even came to look at the high-horsepower tractors. Li Long felt that these three high-horsepower tractors would have to stay in his hands for the time being.

It doesn't matter, I'll just leave it there. If I can't sell it by spring, I'll just keep it for myself. Anyway, most of my relatives from my hometown can drive high-horsepower tractors now.

Even Xie Yundong and Tao Daqiang would occasionally drive the tractor to the Li family's house, and they all praised how comfortable the high-horsepower tractor was—of course it was comfortable, the cab had air conditioning, and it was warm in winter and cool in summer.

At the end of November, it snowed twice more, but business at the purchasing station remained lukewarm. In previous years, there were more people selling hides at this time, but in the past two years, due to the implementation of the Animal Protection Law and the establishment of the Forest Police, fewer people are hunting in the mountains, so the purchase of hides has also decreased.

But it's not entirely absent. Fewer people are hunting in the mountains, but sporadic hunting still exists in the northern sand dunes. Moreover, the Production and Construction Corps is under the jurisdiction of the reclamation area's public security bureau, so the enforcement is somewhat different.

So Li Qingxia still received leather and the like every day. To Li Long's surprise, Bai Xiuming came over again, this time with cotton shoes. He wasn't going to exchange for a car to go back, but wanted to exchange the melon seeds that Li Long hadn't been taking care of in his warehouse.

"There's not a shortage of raw watermelon seeds this year, but flat-mouthed ones are still scarce. Farmers in our area don't want to go through the trouble of harvesting them; they'd rather pay a lower price. But the market needs flat-mouthed ones, so we have no choice but to search around." Bai Xiu explained his purpose, and Li Long didn't say anything.

The price of melon seeds hadn't gone up in recent years, so he still packed up all the seeds in the warehouse and sold them to Bai Xiuming for 3.5 yuan, and also took 3,000 pairs of cotton leather shoes.

After the accounts were settled, Bai Xiuming didn't stay any longer. Mainly, it got much colder here by the end of November, and Bai Xiuming couldn't get used to it, so he left early.

After that, nothing much happened at the purchasing station. The high-powered tractor was parked in the backyard of the station, and this time it really served as the store's prized possession. Although it wasn't completely ignored, when someone did inquire, they immediately backed down upon hearing the price of 300,000.

On average, a car can be sold every two or three days, while a truck can be sold every five days.

Li Long also started to let go and stopped monitoring the situation every day. If someone was buying a car, his father, Li Qingxia, would make the decision when he wasn't around.

After all, the prices are transparent. Unlike high-horsepower tractors, the prices of these cars are fixed and not negotiable.

Li Long had more time, occasionally returning to the Fourth Team—winter had begun, and he was busy treating everyone to meals. Li Junxian and the others had already packed their bags to go back—actually, they didn't really want to. Some were homesick, but thinking about how their living conditions back home would definitely not be as good as they were now, they were all a little reluctant.

Li Junxian made it clear that he plans to come here as early as next year, and it would be best if he could settle down here.

Although Chen Qianjin didn't say it, he meant the same thing, while Li Junhai was still hesitant.

Li Junfeng has already brought his children here to study; he's determined to settle down here.

Although the household registration hasn't been processed yet, it's only a matter of time.

Since it wasn't the weekend, Gu Xiaoxia and her child didn't come over. Li Long was making fish soup in the electric hot pot he had bought.

Here is the head of a large silver carp. Li Long and Tao Daqiang fished this silver carp out of an ice hole in Dongdagou.

When the Dongdagou area was flooded, after the flood receded, there were several large pits in the Dongdagou where water remained, and there were fish in them.

Those pits varied in size and depth, and were mostly filled with crucian carp. In particular, in a few pits that were three or four meters deep and only about ten meters in circumference, the crucian carp were so thin that when they were taken out and stewed, there was hardly any meat left, just bones.

There was a large puddle surrounded by reeds, and there were quite a few fish inside.

Dongdagou is a bit far from the production team's settlement. At first, people would go there, but later, during the busy farming season, fewer people went, especially after the school year started, and very few people went there anymore.

A few days ago, Li Long and Tao Daqiang suddenly remembered the rabbit trap. When they went to set the trap, they discovered the large pit. They broke a hole in the ice while setting the trap. The next day, when they went to retrieve the rabbit, they brought a landing net. When they got there, they knocked off the thin layer of ice that had frozen on top, and they actually managed to scoop up several large fish.

This silver carp weighed nearly ten kilograms, and the landing net almost couldn't catch it—if it weren't for the fact that fish are less active in winter, such a large fish would have been easily smashed to pieces by the fish's tail in the summer.

Li Long handed over the other fish he caught to his sister-in-law, but he kept this one. He cleaned it, chopped off the head and a piece of the body, and stewed it in a hot pot.

He caught nine rabbits, kept one that weighed over four kilograms, and stir-fried it with plenty of chili peppers, Sichuan peppercorns, and oil.

I also fried an egg, mixed some mung bean sprouts, and stir-fried some pickled vegetables. That's it!

It was still the same five people. They drank at noon, and it was almost afternoon. Going back then wouldn't be dangerous.

In recent years, several people from nearby villages have died from falling into ditches or freezing to death on their way home after drinking. We must be vigilant.

Xie Yundong and the others were talking about planting cotton next year.

Judging from the cotton growing situation in the Li family this year, there is great potential in this field.

"Old Xie, how many acres of wasteland did you clear this year? How many acres of cotton do you plan to plant next year?"

"I applied to the township and they approved 80 mu (approximately 1.3 hectares) of land," Xie Yundong said. "We irrigated the land once before winter to wash away some of the salinity. We'll see how it goes in the spring."

If a thick layer of alkali remains on saline-alkali land after the snow melts in spring, then planting is impossible. If not, and no alkali is visible on the surface, then planting is possible, and the soil can be improved through later fertilization.

That's what Li Long said, and that's what Xie Yundong did.

“I’ve cultivated 120 mu,” Liang Dacheng said with a smile. “In addition to the 40 mu of land my family already had besides wheat, all of it is planted with cotton.”

"You've invested quite a bit this time," Tao Daqiang said, cracking open a handful of sunflower seeds. "And quite a few people, right?"

“Then let’s find some people. Learn from Xiaolong and bring some people from our hometown, or go to the temporary labor market. I’ve noticed that there are quite a few people working in the temporary labor market these past two years. On Sundays, some people who have jobs in the county come to the temporary labor market to work.”

“That’s right. When I was picking the second crop of flowers, some of the people I brought were from the county and worked in the factory.” Li Long brought over a plate of braised meat, untied his apron and said, “Alright, come on, let’s eat.”

"I've been wanting to start eating for a while now, the fish in this hot pot smells so good!" Tao Daqiang said, picking up his chopsticks. "This fish has been in the Dongda Ditch for almost half a year since it was released from the reservoir, and I didn't expect it to still be so thin."

"You two are really lucky," Jia Weidong said with a smile. "You can catch a big fish even when you're just trying to catch a rabbit."

"Brother Long is lucky. I've just been following him around." Tao Daqiang picked up a piece of fish maw and ate it while saying, "I've been benefiting from Brother Long's success for seven or eight years now."

"Hehe, you're really lucky," Liang Dacheng said. "How much cotton do you plan to plant next year?"

"About a hundred mu," Tao Daqiang said. "I watered the wasteland my family cleared up twice before winter, and I think it can be planted next year."

The applications for wasteland reclamation submitted by the township were from Team Four. There were not only those from the team members, but also one from team leader Xu Chengjun for reclaiming 60 mu, and another from Xu Haijun for reclaiming 80 mu.

However, the largest amount of land reclaimed by Li Long was the 280 mu, which showed great ambition.

Fortunately, everyone knows that the Li family has so much farm machinery and so many people that they can easily manage to cultivate all the land.

Li Long took out a porcelain bottle of Yili Special Qu liquor, poured a cup for everyone, and then said:

"Let's not compete in drinking, let's drink slowly, and we can talk about things for next year."

"Okay, okay, let's not beat the game yet. I drank so much I blacked out several times when I finally beat it recently," Tao Daqiang said first. "Dacheng's alcohol tolerance is really good..."

"What a joke." Liang Dacheng shook his head, exposing his own ugliness, "You see I'm fine when I drink it, but as soon as I go out and catch a chill, I come back and immediately throw up, feeling so awful that I can stay up all night."

"Let's not talk about it yet, let's have a couple of bites first and see how the dishes I prepared are." Li Long pointed with his chopsticks, then took out a piece of fish face meat from the hot pot and ate it. This was considered the best piece of meat on the fish.

It's not as fatty as the belly meat of a fish, nor as bony as the back meat; it's also fresh meat, so it's just the right amount to eat.

Small fish have no flesh on their faces, so you can't taste it; only big fish like this are really satisfying to eat.

As everyone started eating, Jia Weidong asked:
"Xiaolong, how much cotton will your family plant next year?"

"Three or four hundred mu?" Li Long thought for a moment and said, "Anyway, we have land and people, so let's plant as much as we can. Depending on the situation, I'm thinking of keeping some of the two hundred and eighty mu to plant goji berries."

"Old Jia, what about you?"

"Since there's no one home, I won't plant that much, maybe fifty mu," Jia Weidong said. "I don't know if we can clear the wasteland."

“Hey, I suddenly remembered, the wastelands of our families aren’t far apart, although they’re not connected, they’re all in one large area,” Liang Dacheng suddenly said.

"We should set up a cooperative. The wastelands aren't far apart, so they're easy to manage," Xie Yundong joked. "With unified management and Xiaolong in charge, we can work with peace of mind."

"That cooperative disbanded a long time ago, so how can it be allowed to be re-established now?" Jia Weidong shook his head.

Tao Daqiang had never heard of a cooperative, but Liang Dacheng had heard his elders mention it once.

"The old cooperatives were changed to people's communes, and later the people's communes were changed to townships, but that didn't say cooperatives couldn't be run, did it?" Xie Yundong, clearly having researched this, said with a smile:

"Actually, our group is just like the early mutual aid group of the cooperative. The cooperative was set up by the mutual aid group, so it's pretty much the same."

Li Long never expected Xie Yundong to come up with such an idea.

Is it actually possible?
He thought it was possible... but the details certainly couldn't be the same as in later generations.

Have to study it carefully.

(End of this chapter)