Rebirth of Bayi Fishing and Hunting in the Northwest

Chapter 1228 Life has improved, but so have all sorts of monsters and demons.

"Li Long wants to set up a cooperative, that's a step backward! He wants to go back to the days of the People's Commune, he's trying to oppose reform and opening up!" Ma Jinbao, holding a glass of cheap liquor in the store, shouted at the top of his lungs, his face red, "What does he want to do? Does he want to go back to the old days of the communal dining system? Absolutely not! I'm going to sue him!"

"Old Ma, is it really that bad?" someone advised. "Although the cooperative didn't show any good results back then, it shouldn't have led to a return to the old system of egalitarianism, right? Li Long is a county people's congress representative, how could he make such a mistake?"

"Why not? He's gotten too cocky! Haven't you seen what he's been doing this past year? He bought two high-horsepower tractors worth two or three hundred thousand yuan each! He gave away the Dongfanghong 75 tractor he owned without a second thought! Wang Caimi is such a good person, but he's driven him to the brink of despair. Old Wang, don't you think so?"

In the corner, Wang Caimi was leaning over the counter, with a glass of loose liquor in front of him, but he had an extra packet of pickled vegetables compared to Ma Jinbao.

Upon hearing Ma Jinbao's words, he immediately waved his hand:

"Old Ma, I didn't say that. I can only admire his ability to make money. It's Xiaolong's freedom to do whatever he wants, right? There's nothing wrong with a cooperative. The cooperative was started by a group of people discussing it. If there were no benefits for others, would they follow him?"

"Then why don't you join his society? Since there are benefits, why don't you share some with us?" Ma Jinbao glared at Wang Caimi. "Coward! You get bullied and don't dare to say a word. Only you would do that. If it were me, I'd go to his house and demand an explanation!"

Ma Jinbao, spitting as he drank, downed half the liquor in his cup. His face flushed red as he suppressed the burning sensation and shouted:
"I'm going to the team to complain tomorrow! If the team can't do it, I'll go to the township! I refuse to believe there's no place here where justice can be served!"

"They didn't provoke you. Setting up a cooperative is just talk. Why are you so concerned?"

"What? I just can't stand it! I just can't let this world go back to the days when people couldn't even get enough to eat!" Ma Jinbao got so moved by his own words that he downed his drink in one gulp, slammed the glass on the counter with a "bang," and strode out.

That's quite bold.

After the door closed, the owner, Old Zhang, slammed his hand on the counter:
"Damn it, I got swindled by that son of a bitch, he didn't pay for the drinks!"

He threw on his clothes and hurriedly ran out.

The remaining people in the store burst into laughter.

Someone leaned over and asked Wang the Money-Grubber:
"The Li family made a fortune plowing the land, don't you really hate them?"

“What’s the use of being resentful? What I regret now is why I didn’t buy a new machine when I had almost saved enough money. If I had, even if they bought a high-horsepower one, my new 75 could still plow the fields. At worst, I could have worked for another team.”

Wang the Money-Grubber picked up his cup, took a sip, put it down, picked up a piece of oak leaf, and ate it while saying:
"They have the guts and the money, and they're willing to work in the countryside, so they should make that money. By the way, do you know that Xiaolong could have gotten an urban household registration and a government-subsidized food ration, but he chose to stay in the countryside? Why?"

"Why?" someone nearby asked, intrigued.

"I don't know either, but I think staying in the countryside must have its advantages; otherwise, he wouldn't have done something wrong. There's also the possibility of development in the countryside—"

How smart is Xiaolong? Look at him since he came back from Wucheng that year—has he ever done anything wrong? So, who knows, maybe setting up a cooperative could really make us rich.”

Everyone has doubts about this point. In fact, the older generation of the four teams had all experienced the primary cooperatives, but because the time in many villages in Ma County was too short, the transition from the primary cooperatives to the advanced cooperatives to the people's communes was so short that they hadn't even adapted yet.

Therefore, it's impossible to say whether the beginner's club is good or bad.

At this moment, Xie Yundong was at Xu Chengjun's house talking about the cooperative.

"This was probably started by Li Long, right?" Xu Chengjun asked Xie Yundong while watching TV. "Why are you here?"

"No, no, no, Captain, I started this." Xie Yundong waved his hand. "We were drinking together when I remembered this matter and brought it up."

"I really didn't expect that. How did you come up with that idea?" If Xu Chengjun weren't the team leader, he might have actually considered joining.

“It’s winter, and I was chatting with the older folks in the team, including Lao Luo and the others. We ended up talking about the cooperative. Those older folks still have a connection to the cooperative, and I thought it was similar to our current situation, so I brought it up.”

"And then you came up with it through discussion? I heard from the Navy that the regulations are quite detailed."

"Well, the basic framework is actually the original primary cooperative, but the specifics were proposed by Xiaolong. He knows a lot, and I think he's probably seen things outside," Xie Yundong said. "Then it was just a matter of discussing it step by step. I'm here today to report to the team."

"Do you think the higher-ups will approve this?" Xu Chengjun wasn't really sure either.

“Xiaolong is a People’s Congress representative,” Xie Yundong said with a smile. “He said that the country’s laws do not prohibit the establishment of cooperatives, so they can be established.”

He also said, "We people from northern Xinjiang just don't think as well as southerners. Southerners do everything except what's prohibited by law. We people from northern Xinjiang do whatever the law says we can do; if there's no question, we wouldn't dare do it."

"That's why Southerners get rich." Xu Chengjun vaguely felt that Li Long had said something similar, but he couldn't remember.

"Yes, yes, that's exactly what I mean. Right now, everyone wants me to be the manager of this cooperative, so I'll be in charge of the registration process. After the team approves it, I'll go to the township to register it in a couple of days."

"How do you know the team will approve it?" Xu Chengjun asked with a smile.

"Why can't it be approved? Even the Navy can join. I don't believe you didn't know that at first, Captain?" Xie Yundong used to work with the captain, and he knew Xu Chengjun's temper very well.

"Alright, find some time to get me a copy of the detailed rules you've come up with." Xu Chengjun nodded. "Do a good job. Your cooperative might even make the news."

Xie Yundong didn't say much; he was thinking about how specific the details he should give Xu Chengjun.

Is it about simplifying all the regulations, or down to the details of equity allocation for a few individuals?
It can't be too thin, right?
The next day, someone asked Ma Jinbao, who was herding sheep:

"Old Ma, didn't you say you were going to report Li Long and the others to the team? Why didn't you go?"

"Did I say that? How come I don't know?" Ma Jinbao shook his head and said, "When did I say anything about this? Everyone's busy making money right now, who has time to care about others?"

Upon hearing this, the person who asked the question was stunned.

I have never seen such a shameless person.

Over the next few days, Li Long would come back from time to time to discuss the details with everyone, and the framework and rules of the cooperative were gradually finalized.

Xie Yundong reported it to the township government. Knowing that Li Long was involved, the township government simply filed a case, discussed it briefly, and then dropped the matter.

As Li Long said, the country's laws do not prohibit the establishment of cooperatives. This person did not break the law or do anything wrong. It was just a group of people getting together, so it's nothing serious.

The team discussed the cooperative for a while, and some people even thought about trying it out, but it didn't work out in the end—firstly, because there wasn't enough capital to invest, and secondly, because there wasn't enough land.

With a little effort, one can still cultivate their own land, but if they need to reclaim more wasteland, then they don't have the resources.

Some people were thinking about joining the cooperative, but after asking around, they found that the cooperative was no longer accepting members.

I'm quite frustrated.

Their reply was quite fair; it's an experimental project, and it's unclear whether it will be profitable, so for now, they've decided on this number of people.

Besides, the conditions will be gradually revealed. When people hear that each family will invest in more than 100 acres of land, even if it is wasteland, it will be a huge investment.

Few others have the courage to do this, and some are not really willing to cooperate with others.

The few remaining families in the team who could cultivate the land, the Wang family and the Wang money-grubber family, were somewhat disdainful of the cooperative. They thought Li Long was stupid for having to share a perfectly good way to make money with others.

Old Wang even mentioned it when he was drinking with Li Jianguo, and Li Jianguo said that he had a lot of things going on at home, and Li Long also had a purchasing station business.

By forming a cooperative and investing your land, you'll definitely earn less money than if you worked on your own, but you'll also have less to do. If you don't want to work, you don't have to worry about the land at all.

Old Wang then realized what was going on. He thought about how hard his family had worked to reclaim wasteland, plant seeds, and harvest wheat. They had earned some money, but it was truly hard-earned money.

Should we get one too?
But he's gotten used to eating alone these past few years, and he's turned down all the people who wanted to team up with him.

So even if we were to find someone now, it would be difficult. Li Jianguo is someone we could work with, but he's already a member of the organization.

Life gradually returned to normal, discussions about the cooperative decreased, and the specific details of the cooperative were finalized. All six shareholders signed and pressed their fingerprints, thus sealing the deal. The temporary office was located at Old Ma's place, while the farm machinery was stored in Li Long's yard. Since everyone had a car, the cost of fuel wasn't a problem, and Li Jianguo even gave Jia Weidong some pointers on how to keep the accounts.

When Xu Haijun's 1,000 yuan arrived, the 10,000 yuan that Li Long had previously lent to the cooperative was also recorded in the account.

This 10,000 yuan includes the cost of agricultural supplies such as seeds, fertilizers, plastic film, and pesticides. So it's not just money; only 3,000 yuan was cash, and the rest was converted into agricultural supplies.

Li Jianguo also agreed that the money for the high-horsepower tractor to plow the fields in the spring could be deferred.

Li Long also said that before plowing the land in the spring, they should irrigate the saline-alkali land again to flush out the salt and alkali. Since the small lake itself has water, this first irrigation is free and Li Long pays for it himself.

It will cost money to water it again later.

Others wondered if the team would agree to use the small lake to irrigate the 1,000 mu of land. Li Long said that after the snow melts, there will be enough water in the small lake, and then there will be snowmelt floods that will fill the small lake directly, so there is no need to worry about the water.

Xie Yundong and the others remarked that the small lake had been contracted out. Others who cultivate hundreds of acres of wasteland would have to dig wells to irrigate their own land, but this was much better; they could simply use the water from the small lake.

really not bad.

After that, Li Long basically had nothing to do. He made a phone call to the purchasing station and bought several batches of agricultural supplies, which he then put there to sell slowly.

Several more agricultural supply stores have opened in the county, but the agricultural supply business at the purchasing station has not been affected much. This is mainly because middlemen can buy agricultural supplies directly from here after selling their goods, and the prices are cheap and the supply channels are very transparent.

They come from big companies, so people trust them.

Life seemed to be proceeding according to a predetermined trajectory.

On Saturday afternoon, there were only a few people left at the purchasing station. Li Qingxia quickly finished collecting the goods, sent the people away, and then said goodbye to Liang Shuangcheng before driving off to No. 1 Middle School.

School had already let out for the first time. Students from the county town and nearby areas rode their bicycles in groups, while some walked. The male students walked arm in arm, and the female students chatted as they walked.

As Li Qingxia's car drove up, the students quickly made way for it, all while curiously watching the vehicle.

Some people knew they were there to pick up students, while others were not, and they discussed it amongst themselves.

In the past two years, cars have started to appear in the county, and there are more than one car each, but the number is not large. For ordinary families, cars are still an unattainable luxury.

Li Qingxia drove the car to the school gate and parked it on the roadside to wait. Li Juan has now gotten used to her grandfather picking her up every weekend, which is good. It takes more than an hour to ride her bicycle home in the cold weather, which is very cold and troublesome.

After waiting for a while, Li Juan came out looking a little flustered, glancing around nervously. Li Qingxia found it strange. He got out of the car and looked around. He saw two young men squatting by the edge of the tobacco field to the west of the school gate, watching the students.

"Juan, what's wrong?" Li Qingxia greeted Li Juan and asked, "Did someone bully you?"

"No...no..." Li Juan picked up her schoolbag, opened the car door, and got in. "Grandpa, let's go."

Li Qingxia glanced at the two people, unsure of what to do, then got into the car, started the engine, and drove back to the fourth team.

Along the way, Li Qingxia asked Li Juan several times, but Li Juan didn't say anything, so Li Qingxia didn't say anything more.

The next day, after taking Li Juan back to school and having dinner in the courtyard, Li Qingxia called Li Long aside and told him about the incident.

"Could it be that some thugs are after Juan and trying to rob her?" Li Long thought for a moment and said, "Dad, it's okay, leave this to me. I'll go to the school to check on things whenever I have free time these next few days."

"Okay, then you should be careful too. I think those guys are ethnic minority men, they might have knives."

"Don't worry, I brought some things with me," Li Long said with a smile.

It's no longer practical to keep a gun in a car, so Li Long found a relatively straight piece of wood in the mountains and whittled it into a handy tool, modeled after an ancient mace.

It wasn't that he was imitating television from later generations, but when he was fishing at Xiaohaizi's place, he saw a piece of wood with a handle washed down by the water, and he suspected that it was a mourning stick placed at someone's grave.

Having lived two lives, Li Long didn't care about this. He just played with it. But the wood wasn't good enough to smash hard things, so Li Long went to the mountains to find some good wood and whittled it down. He made some improvements, sharpening the front to prevent people from saying that it was unlucky for him to carry this thing.

After dinner, Li Long drove to the side gate of the No. 1 Middle School. The main gate is usually open during school hours, while there are shops at the side gate, which is where boarding students often enter and exit.

Although it was already dark, the lights were still on at the shop near the school gate, and several students were coming and going to buy things.

Li Long parked his car in a nearby alley, where he could see the situation at the school gate from inside the car.

He didn't get out of the car, mainly because he was afraid of alerting the enemy.

After waiting for a while, it got darker and darker, and occasionally students would come back from outside and enter the school in twos and threes.

After waiting until past 11 p.m. without any further developments, Li Long went home.

He wasn't in a hurry; he had plenty of time.

I thought it would take a few days to get any clues, but I made a discovery the very next day.

Li Long figured those guys wouldn't be so bold during the day, so he decided to stake out the area at night. As soon as the car stopped at the alley entrance, Li Long saw two Uyghur lads swaying and wandering around for a moment before finally coming to a shadowy spot near the school gate, where they watched the students coming in and out.

Li Long thought about it and understood. These students came from home on the weekend, carrying a week's worth of living expenses, so they were considered to have some money. Now was the perfect time for them to "borrow" some money to spend.

Li Long watched as the two guys waited in the shadows for a while, seemingly getting impatient. When no one was around, they went into the store, bought something, came out, and then went back to the shadows. After a while, they started smoking.

They were standing about ten meters from the entrance. Although there was a guardhouse near the small gate, the door was closed and the lights were off. They didn't know if the guard was asleep or not there.

A little while later, several girls came out of the school gate to buy things at the store. Li Long heard a familiar voice, and Li Juan was among them.

The two men stared at the group of girls, and when they were about four or five meters away, they must have confirmed their location. Suddenly, they jumped out, pulled out knives, and approached the girls, saying in broken Mandarin:
"Excuse me, can I borrow some money?"

The girls, including Li Juan, were so frightened that they froze in place.

Li Long thought to himself that he was still stupid and inexperienced. He should have turned around and run into the school gate right now, shouting loudly!

"I know you. You have a car and you're very rich. We've been watching you for days... You guys can leave now, we need to talk to her." The two men had a clear target in mind; they were after Li Juan.

Two female students, upon hearing this, felt as if they had been granted a pardon and hurriedly ran back.

The other one held onto Li Juan tightly, shaking his head without saying a word, clearly not intending to leave.

Li Long had already gotten out of the car; he had heard everything. It seemed that Li Juan had made a good friend after all.

"Pay up, do you hear me? Otherwise, I'll slash your face with this knife!" One of the guys, fearing things might get out of hand, brandished the knife and said menacingly.

Li Long had already walked up to them when he heard this, and suddenly shouted, "Hey!"

The two scoundrels only noticed him then. Seeing how big Li Long was, they were stunned for a moment, revealing a hint of hesitation and fear.

This is it!

When Li Long shouted, he was trying to attract their attention. By the time the two men turned their heads, he had already accelerated and rushed over, swinging the stick down at them!

"boom!"

(End of this chapter)