Rebirth of Bayi Fishing and Hunting in the Northwest

When Li Long brought Mingming and Haohao back from Team Four, he sensed that Gu Xiaoxia wasn't very happy.

Mingming and Haohao also sensed it, and Mingming handed over a large handful of elm seeds that he had gotten from Li Qiang to Gu Xiaoxia:

"Mom, here, have some!"

"Mine's for you too!" Hao Hao offered a bag of prickly ash flowers. These two kinds of snacks are now rare for rural children—elm seeds are almost gone, so Li Qiang took Mingming and Hao Hao to the big elm tree near Yan'erwo to break off branches.

The same goes for prickly ash flowers.

Gu Xiaoxia immediately smiled, plucked an elm seed, then picked a prickly ash flower and put it in her mouth, saying:
"Okay, I've eaten. You guys can have the rest."

When the two children saw their mother smile, they put away their things and went to eat and share—mainly because there were deer, lambs, and even Chongchong the dog's little hedgehog in the yard, all of whom could eat this stuff.

The two children were very generous; they would take a bite themselves and then share a bite with the small animals. Several small animals gathered around them. The little deer was rather mischievous and would try to snatch the food. The lambs, on the other hand, were quite well-behaved—when the little deer tried to grab the food, Xiao Hei would stand by and maintain order.

If you call out twice, the deer will behave.

One thing brings down another thing.

"What's wrong?" Li Long finally asked.

Gu Xiaoxia didn't hide anything and told Li Long about the phone call.

"I understand." Li Long smiled. "My ex-mother-in-law remarried, and she might feel that she is happier than you are, so she will be more tolerant for the first two years."

She's afraid that your presence and Mingming and Haohao's maternal grandfather will affect her 'happy' life, so she won't see you. But with Xiaoyu there, she should gradually realize that we're doing quite well, and that we've even bought a courtyard house in Yanjing, which might make her feel a sense of loss.

She couldn't boss you around, so she could only leave the child with Xiaoyu. She's probably still resentful, thinking, "Why should you and my father-in-law be better off than her?"
I'm not trying to belittle your mother, I'm just saying she might have some inherent flaws. Many people have these things; some hide them well and can control them, while others… well, they just can't control themselves.”

Gu Xiaoxia hadn't expected Li Long to analyze things this way; she just couldn't understand why her biological mother harbored such malice towards her.

After Li Long analyzed it this way, it actually made some sense.

"Then..." Gu Xiaoxia was starting to panic. "What should we do?"

"Don't worry about it. Our happiness is our business, what does it have to do with her? It's already over since she decided not to see you and Mingming and Haohao anymore," Li Long said with a smile.
“If Xiaoyu tries to interfere again when you contact her in the future, just hang up. After a couple of times, she’ll understand.”

"Well, that's it."

“It’s just making things difficult for Xiaoyu,” Li Long added. “Since she can’t control you, she might take her anger out on Xiaoyu.”

"That shouldn't be the case. She's not stupid. That family has a son, but he's not her biological child. Can she really rely on him? In the end, she'll still have to rely on Xiaoyu. Now that she's offended Xiaoyu, what will she do in the future?" Gu Xiaoxia analyzed.

"Yes, I hope so. Call Xiaoyu again later and tell her to confirm her arrival time as soon as possible. It's better to come early. Anyway, she doesn't teach, so taking a day off shouldn't be a big deal."

“Okay, I’ll call her now.” Gu Xiaoxia nodded.

Sister Yang was cooking, and Li Long didn't pay any attention to her. He went to the back to get some hay and sugar residue to feed the sheep and deer. Before feeding them, he needed to clean up the manure in the yard and near the greenhouse to avoid getting his feet dirty.

Fortunately, the droppings of deer and goats are relatively easy to clean up. Unless they are sick, you can only sweep up small droppings.

After Li Long finished cleaning the yard and putting out the sugar residue feed for them, Gu Xiaoxia also finished her phone call and came out.

"How is it?" Li Long asked, leaning on his large broom.

“My mother scolded Xiaoyu, and eventually found out why I called. Then she left grumbling and wouldn’t let Xiaoyu ask for leave before leaving.”

"What did Xiaoyu say?"

“Xiaoyu said she’s already taken leave, and she’ll be coming over in a few days anyway.” Gu Xiaoxia smiled, then a hint of worry appeared on her face. “I’m fine, she’s so far away, she can’t come over and won’t bother me. Xiaoyu lives so close, it’s impossible for us to cut ties, she’ll have a lot of trouble later.”

"Have your dad find Xiaoyu a boyfriend in Yili, then you won't have to worry about him anymore. He'll be able to check out Xiaoyu's potential boyfriends then," Li Long said half-jokingly. "Xiaoyu isn't young anymore, she needs to find someone to marry."

"That's true. I just don't know what Xiaoyu is thinking. Beijing is so big, there must be a suitable place."

Li Long didn't reply; he was too far away to help.

These past few days, Sister Yang hasn't been as busy. She's mainly been hiring more people. The jerky processing workshop has expanded its production, and with more staff, production is back on track. She's just training the newbies so they can start working normally, and the rest of her work involves some supervision.

So Sister Yang cooks breakfast, lunch, and dinner more diligently and with more care.

Every day after Keyum delivers the meat, Sister Yang sets aside some of the better quality meat to prepare for lunch and dinner, which makes things much more convenient.

So when we were having dinner that night, Gu Xiaoxia jokingly said that Sister Yang's cooking had gotten even better lately, and that she had gained weight and needed to lose some, otherwise she would develop a double chin.

"It's good to be fat, it looks prosperous." Sister Yang thought this was the greatest compliment to her work, and said happily, "Mingming and Haohao should also eat more, they seem to have lost some weight in winter."

Actually, they're not thin; the two boys are just growing taller and don't look as chubby as before.

Li Long remembered Gu Xiaoyu's figure and said with a smile:

“When Mingming and Haohao’s aunts come over, they can stay at our house for a few days and gain some weight. Xiaoxia, she’s ten kilograms thinner than you, almost as thin as a stick.”

"How can that be?" Gu Xiaoxia hadn't seen her sister for several years, and she became a little anxious upon hearing this. "Why is it like this? She doesn't have to go hungry!"

“Then you’ll have to ask her.” Li Long shook his head, not saying anything, of course he didn’t know the reason either.

After putting Mingming and Haohao to sleep that night, Gu Xiaoxia said to Li Long, "I need to call Xiaoyu tomorrow to confirm when she's coming. She should come as soon as possible. You said she's so thin, it seems she hasn't had a good life these past few years."

"It's probably not that bad. Maybe she just likes her to be this thin," Li Long reassured her. "It's okay, she'll be here in a few days. You can ask her then and we'll take care of her if needed. Life here isn't as lavish as in Yanjing, but we can still fatten her up."

"Listen to what you're saying," Gu Xiaoxia said, amused by Li Long. "It's like feeding pigs. If Xiaoyu knew, wouldn't she scold you?"

"To be honest," Li Long chuckled. "Alright, don't worry. She'll be here in a few days, and I'll make room for you two so you can have a good chat."

There are many rooms in the courtyard, and Li Long has actually cleared out a few to serve as guest rooms. Inside, there are newly made wooden beds, both single and double, and new quilts and mattresses. Since he started growing cotton, Li Long has been using some old quilts as mattresses.

Some of them haven't been used for very long; you can take them to a wire mesh shop to have them re-flicked and they'll still work.

So when Gu Xiaoyu comes over again, she can stay with Gu Xiaoxia, and it won't be a problem for Li Long to sleep in the side room.

That's the advantage of having a big yard; you don't have to worry about not having a place to stay.

The next day, after lunch, Gu Xiaoxia called Gu Xiaoyu's workplace again to ask about the specific time and learned that she would be coming by train on May 19th.

Li Long then called Gu Boyuan and told him about it. Gu Boyuan was quite relaxed over there. Although the wedding was in ten days, everything was actually arranged by someone else. He had found a general manager to take care of things, and he didn't have to worry about the hotel, the banquet, or anything else.

Her new courtyard has been decorated, mainly by Teacher Song Xiaojuan – some of the original Russian style has been preserved, and some modifications have been made.

Gu Boyuan became a hands-off manager, and Teacher Song, feeling that he was working hard, took over all the tasks.

When Li Long made the call, Gu Boyuan was chatting with people at the purchasing station. After answering the phone and hearing Li Long talk about Gu Xiaoyu, he paused for a moment and said, "Let's talk about it when I get here."

There were some things he couldn't say too much about, and he could only wait for Gu Xiaoyu to come over and understand the situation before discussing them.

Li Long talked about other things, including the small but very large "stone ball". Gu Boyuan took it very seriously and said, "You'd better find something to test it and see if this thing has any radiation."

"What kind of test do we use?" Li Long had heard of Geiger counters, but didn't know where to find one.

"That Liu Shanmin, he can definitely get it for you. Of course, if it's in China... then you'll have to go to those universities. This thing isn't easy to buy in ordinary places... By the way, actually, there's no need to go through all that trouble. Just give Xiaoyu a call, she can definitely buy it over there. Some universities use this stuff."

Li Long thought to himself, "That's right. Gu Xiaoyu has readily available resources, so we can definitely buy them."

After hanging up the phone, Li Long called Gu Xiaoyu's office.

"A Geiger counter? This is..." Gu Xiaoyu really didn't know anything about this thing, but she asked her to inquire about it.

Li Long wanted to wire her money, but Gu Xiaoyu said no need, she should find out first.

Li Long didn't say much. As for whether Fan Wenli made things difficult for her, Li Long didn't ask. He'd let Gu Xiaoxia discuss that with her, and besides, she'd be here soon anyway, so they could talk about it then.

Judging from her voice, Gu Xiaoyu doesn't seem to be experiencing any emotional changes at the moment, which is quite normal.

After hanging up the phone, Gu Xiaoyu followed the clues given by Li Long to inquire about radiation measurement—she would have to ask a colleague who specializes in physics.

Gu Xiaoyu had a classmate who worked as a teaching assistant in the physics department at the university. She called to ask, and the other person clearly stated that there were basically no civilian-use versions of this.

“Even if you find a way to buy it, you can only get Geiger tubes, not Geiger counters. There’s nowhere to buy these things, and not many people would buy them,” Jiang Yingnan said on the other end of the phone. “Why are you looking for this?”

“A relative of mine got a special stone, which he guessed might be a meteorite, but the stone has patterns and is very heavy, so he wanted to see if it would emit radiation,” Gu Xiaoyu said truthfully.

"Well... how about this, come here. I have a spare one here. We don't need this one right now; it's been sitting in the warehouse for a while. You can write an IOU, and I can lend it out for a bit. But this thing isn't cheap; even the internal price is over a thousand..."

Jiang Yingnan bought a Hetian jade bracelet from Gu Xiaoyu. The price was relatively cheap, only a few hundred yuan.

When she wore it out, someone in her family who knew their stuff said that in a jewelry store in Beijing, a jade bracelet of such high quality would cost at least a thousand yuan, and if someone liked it, it could sell for several thousand yuan.

Jiang Yingnan felt she owed Gu Xiaoyu a favor, and that she had gotten a great deal, so she had to repay the favor.

"Is this... appropriate?" Gu Xiaoyu was happy, but she was also afraid of affecting Jiang Yingnan.

"There's nothing inappropriate about it; you're not an outsider. Our school has regulations that allow internal staff to lend their jade pendants. By the way, if you want to thank me, help me find some better jade pendants."

Several of my relatives have their eyes on this jade bracelet, but I can't give it to them. I heard you're not selling these anymore. Given our relationship, I won't spread the word. If you can find one or two for me, that would be good for me.

“Okay, I’ll head over now,” Gu Xiaoyu replied with a smile.

Although she wasn't selling them anymore, she still had a few small jade pieces, all of very good quality, which she planned to keep for herself.

After hanging up, Gu Xiaoyu called Li Long again and explained the situation.

"Thank you to your colleague," Li Long said. "See if she needs anything, like local specialties from the border regions, I can send it to her."

"No need, no need. I sold her a jade bracelet before. She still wants more jade items. I have a few more here. I can give her one or two," Gu Xiaoyu said.

After hanging up the phone, Li Long wondered if he should go to Wucheng and ask Liu Gong to buy some more jade items to keep. It had been a while, and Liu Gong should have some stock left.

By the way, Yusufu has been in southern Xinjiang for so long and hasn't called me. I wonder if he's managed to buy the tiger skin or not.

Did he buy it and then sell it at a high price?

Li Long needs to go to Wucheng to find out the answers to these questions.

However, borrowing a Geiger counter from someone else is not a long-term solution. I often take things from the mountains myself, and there's even a meteorite in the jade pile now, somewhat like peridot. I don't know if that thing has any radiation.

So I still have to make one myself.

After thinking for a moment, Li Long called Liu Gaolou again.

"Liu Gaolou isn't here; he went to Yining," said the woman who answered the phone.

Li Long could tell that the woman was not old and should be of a certain ethnicity, but he didn't know if she was Kazakh, Uyghur, or Russian.

Li Long thought to himself, "Has Liu Gaolou's business grown quite large now? He even has new employees."

He remembered that Liu Gaolou's phone used to be in the courtyard. Had it been converted into an office?
But thinking about it, it makes sense. After all, they received a lot of good stuff from the Soviet republics of Kazakhstan every month, and it's impossible that they traded it all with them.

Don't put all your eggs in one basket. Not only did Li Long do this, but Liu Shanmin certainly did too.

However, judging from the current situation, they probably received the most supplies from him. After all, not everyone can be like him, backed by a sugar factory—at this time, many people in the country were still restricted from using sugar, and even some places in northern Xinjiang were in the same situation.

Li Long isn't a saint; he won't give up the sugar business because of this. It's true that sugar is a strategic resource, but it's not exactly a necessity. Being able to use connections to exchange it for what he needs is worthwhile.

Li Long left a message for the girl, asking her to write down that he was Li Long from Ma County, and that he was looking for Liu Gaolou to help him buy a Geiger counter from Harbin. The girl repeated the message to Li Long, and after confirming that it was correct, she hung up the phone.

With a two-pronged approach, there shouldn't be any problems.

Next, it's time to prepare wedding gifts for the father-in-law and mother-in-law.

Li Long and Gu Xiaoxia discussed gifting Teacher Song a set of jade items as well. These items are never shameful in any era and are quite elegant.

Teacher Song is a cultured person, so he should like this.

A set refers to a pair of jade bracelets, a jade pendant, a pair of jade rings, a pair of jade earrings, and a jade necklace.

There's this thing readily available, but as for matching it, Li Long thinks he should still go and see Engineer Liu.

So the next day, after breakfast, Li Long went to Wucheng.

There were more cars on the road, and the roadside grass was mostly bitter bean. Right now, only children like this plant, because even cows and sheep don't eat it—only in winter, when fresh grass is scarce, will they eat dried bitter bean leaves.

Kids loved that they could pluck a handful of these straw hats and easily weave them into a straw hat. Children of that era grew up watching shows like Tunnel Warfare, Mine Warfare, Guerrilla Warfare on the Plains, and Crossing the River Reconnaissance. The Eighth Route Army, New Fourth Army, and People's Liberation Army soldiers in these shows often wore camouflaged straw hats, which became the role models for the children.

It's hard to imagine that decades later, few children would use this to weave straw hat hoops, but bitter beans have become a favorite of the elderly. In order to harvest bitter bean seeds, those elderly people can ride electric tricycles for dozens of kilometers.
Without stopping, Li Long drove straight to Wucheng and went to the train station first.

It was lunchtime, and the area around the train station was filled with the aromas of various delicacies—stir-fried pork, minced meat, meatball soup, rice soup, pilaf, and so on.

Compared to when Li Long came last time, there seemed to be a few more restaurants. Some people were carrying their luggage and leaving in a hurry, while others rushed into the restaurants to enjoy their meals.

Li Long parked his car and went to the dried fruit street to find Yu Sufu—the dried fruit stalls here had become quite large, with at least twenty or thirty stalls selling dried fruit in one alley, making it very lively.

Yu Sufu and his son's stall occupied a prime location because they set up early, and there were quite a few people around at that time.

As Li Long walked over, he overheard someone selling raisins chatting with Yusup in Uyghur, passing on their knowledge:

"Yu Sufu, I heard you recently bought a tiger skin and then sold it for an extra 20,000 yuan?"

"Who told you that? That's not true."

“I heard it from Aihemaiti. Is what he said true? You don’t need to hide it from me. I’m not jealous… Are there still tigers around here? I didn’t even know.”

“Haha, there used to be some in southern Xinjiang,” Yusufu said, “but not anymore, you can’t see them anymore. Those tiger skins were all hidden away by others. They weren’t sold for 20,000 yuan, 18,000 yuan…”

Li Long slowed his pace, listening as he walked.

Damn, it turns out the tiger skin wasn't that they couldn't find it, it was just sold.

No wonder they haven't contacted me.

A surge of anger welled up inside him. He was about to confront Yu Sufu, but he quickly suppressed his anger.

Put yourself in his shoes. Yu Sufu found the tiger skin and then sold it without telling you. He didn't actually do anything wrong—he was a little dishonest, but you didn't sign a contract with him. What's the point of just morally condemning him?
Merchants prioritize profit. If you criticize him, he'll just laugh it off; there's no chance he'll get the tiger skin back. Besides, even if he did sell it to you, the price you'd offer might not be as high as what he'd pay. He's definitely in it for a profit.

So although Li Long was genuinely angry, he was only angry that Yu Sufu had broken his promise.

If it were Halim or Yushanjiang, Li Long might be even angrier, though he might also try to find reasons to appease them.

I and Yusufu haven't reached that level of relationship yet.

So when Li Long got to Yu Sufu's stall, he wasn't angry at all, just a little regretful.

As soon as Yu Su looked up and saw Li Long, her face turned red.

He knew that Li Long understood some Uyghur, but he wasn't sure if Li Long had heard his conversation with the stall owner next to him, or if Li Long understood it. He felt guilty and couldn't speak for a moment.

"How is it?" Li Long asked with a smile. "Business is good."

"Not bad, not bad," Yu Sufu replied hastily. "You've got some free time now?"

"I've been busy, but I came here because of something. Have you found any good jade recently?" Li Long asked.

"Yes, yes, yes." Yu Sufu felt relieved when he saw that Li Long did not mention the tiger skin. He immediately took out a small cloth bag from under the stall, cleared a space on his stall, pushed aside the ordinary jade stones on the stall, and took the items out of the cloth bag.

Seeing Yu Sufu's somewhat hurried and rough actions, Li Long wanted to laugh, and the people looking at the jade in front of the stall were also a little surprised.

Then I saw him take out four pieces of jade of different sizes from the cloth bag.

"I know you like good quality. Take a look at these pieces." Yu Sufu said proudly as he took out the jade stones. "They're all top-quality materials!"

The largest is comparable to an ostrich egg, while the smallest is about the size of a chicken egg.

Li Long stepped forward and picked up the largest piece of material—it was incredibly smooth and lustrous, definitely of the mutton fat grade, and felt extremely comfortable to the touch. It had a small, palm-sized patch of gold-flecked skin. The only flaw was a crack; he didn't know if it had gone deep inside.

Judging from the surface, this piece of material can yield at least two bracelets. As for the more specific details, it depends on how it is cut open.

The remaining materials were also of good quality; even the worst ones were at least Grade 2A, as would be called in later generations, and they were all very lustrous.

Even a layman can immediately tell the difference between good and bad jade by comparing the pieces on the stall and looking at these few pieces.

Immediately, some customers became dissatisfied, saying that Yu Sufu was looking down on them by not bringing out the best materials to sell.
Judging from his accent, he was from the same region. Yu Sufu was an experienced businessman. He calmly picked up the smallest piece and said:

"Look at this piece of material. It's raw material, unprocessed. It's only one hundred yuan. Who wants to buy it? You can take it directly if you want."

One sentence shut those people up—Yu Sufu wasn't just saying that for nothing. Just now, these people were looking at the jade stones on the stall, some costing only a few dozen yuan, but they kept picking them up and looking at them, unwilling to spend any money.

Now, how could they possibly be willing to spend 150 yuan to buy a piece of jade the size of an egg?

Actually, this price was also set for Li Long. This year, the price of jade pebbles has risen again, and Yu Sufu knows that Li Long will accept any good jade pebbles, so he also wants to earn more.

In his view, Li Longfa, who used to sell jade with him, had become very successful. It seemed like he never ran out of money. As long as it was good material, he would buy it no matter how much it cost, so he also raised his prices.

Those men didn't say anything, turned around and left. Yu Sufu smiled and said to Li Long:
"There's no other way to deal with them. Don't worry, I'll give you the cost price. We're good friends, so there's no need for this."

He pointed to the six pieces of jade on the stall and said:

"How about a package deal, 1000 yuan?"

“Sure.” Li Long naturally had no objection. In fact, the largest piece weighed about two kilograms, which would be worth three or four hundred yuan at the current market price.

The remaining items, while not particularly heavy, are still quite substantial when added together, mainly due to the quality of the materials.

Li Long paid and bought some raisins, dried apricots, and the like. Yu Sufu didn't ask for money; he simply picked out some good ones from the stall, wrapped them up, and handed them to Li Long as a bonus.

He made nearly three hundred yuan from these six pieces of jade, so there was really no need to pay for these dried fruits.

Li Long picked up his things and left the stall to eat.

Yu Sufu breathed a sigh of relief, thinking to himself that Li Long hadn't mentioned the tiger skin, otherwise he really wouldn't know what to say.

But then it suddenly dawned on him: if Li Long hadn't mentioned it, what did that mean? It meant that Li Long had overheard his conversation with the neighboring stall owner and knew that he had already sold the tiger skin, which was why he hadn't mentioned it.
Upon thinking this, Yusufu broke out in a cold sweat.

Li Long was one of his biggest clients, and he had even helped him when he was in dire straits. It was neither morally nor logically that he should betray Li Long.

But the person who bought the tiger skin gave too much.

Yu Sufu became conflicted.

Today, Li Long wanted to try something different. He saw a newly opened restaurant with pretty good-looking pilaf, so he ordered a bowl of pilaf with four thin-skinned buns.

When the rice was served, Li Long nodded. It was the kind of pilaf cooked in a small pot, with the rice and meat cooked together, unlike the large pot pilaf of later generations, where the meat was cooked separately, the rice didn't have the aroma of the meat, and it wasn't soaked in the meat broth, so it wasn't fragrant.

The thin-skinned buns were sprinkled with black pepper. Li Long picked one up and took a bite. The slightly hot mutton soup flowed out, and the flavor was very rich—not too gamey, quite good.

The thin-skinned buns are filled with small pieces of mutton, not the scraps, and the only topping is onion, which makes them very fragrant.

They ate the four buns in two bites each, and then ate the pilaf.

It smelled delicious, so Li Long asked for refills of rice twice, which surprised the waiter, since it's not common to get refills of rice twice when dining here.

After finishing the last grain of rice and drinking two sips of the brick tea brought by the waiter to wash away the grease in his mouth and throat, Li Long burped contentedly, paid, and left.

He made a mental note of the shop; he could take Gu Xiaoyu there next time he picked her up.

After driving to the jade carving factory, Li Long noticed a few people browsing in the shop window near the side entrance.

Li Long parked his car and walked over, peering through the shop window.

He's tall, so he doesn't need to squeeze in; he can see inside the room even from behind these people.

"Why are you pushing?" A woman in front of her seemed to sense Li Long's pressure and couldn't help but say.

"I didn't push," Li Long said innocently. "I was half a meter away from you, what are you saying?"

"I was afraid you'd squeeze me." The woman knew she was in the wrong, but she wasn't willing to back down verbally. "You're so tall..."

"Do you have paranoia?" Li Long was also a little angry. How could this person be like this?

However, he didn't dwell on it. Seeing that Engineer Liu wasn't inside, he asked the apprentice standing in front of the shop window:

"Is Engineer Liu not here?"

"Yes, the foreman went to the factory to get the materials."

"Did they say when they'd be back?" Li Long asked again.

"They didn't say, they've been gone for more than ten minutes."

"Okay, I'll come back later." He didn't want to get entangled with the middle-aged woman who was glaring at him. The woman was angered by Li Long's comment about "persecution complex" and kept rolling her eyes.

But Li Long is tall and strong, so even if she fought him, she definitely wouldn't be able to beat him, so she could only use magic to attack.

Li Long returned to his car, closed his eyes to rest, and considered it a post-meal break.

A dozen minutes later, the woman and her companion left. As they left, she glanced at Li Long, who was sitting in the car with his eyes closed. But when she glared at him, Li Long suddenly opened his eyes, startling the woman. She quickened her pace and left in a somewhat disheveled state.

Li Long smiled, feeling a bit like he'd succeeded in a prank; it seemed like it had been a long time since he'd acted so childishly.

He got out of the car, locked the door, and went over there. Engineer Liu hadn't returned yet. The apprentice knew Li Long, but it wasn't appropriate to let Li Long in at this time, so he brought out a stool for Li Long to sit down and wait.

Li Long took the stool, walked to the shade of a nearby tree and sat down. After waiting for about ten minutes, he saw Engineer Liu come out from inside.

"Little Li is here?" Engineer Liu didn't seem very happy at the factory earlier, so his smile was a bit forced when he spoke to Li Long.

"Mr. Liu, what's wrong? Is things not going well at the factory?" Li Long asked with concern.

“Sigh, you’re not an outsider, so let me tell you. When I asked for the raw materials, they wouldn’t give me the good ones, just some scraps, and the quality wasn’t even very good. The management has changed, and my shop isn’t valued anymore—I’m also trying to generate profits for the factory.”

"Is it because the price of raw materials has gone up?" Li Long asked again, asking for his analysis.

"It's not just about rising raw material prices, but also about the factory's production needs, which are being met by less funding from higher authorities."

Actually, I suggested to the factory leaders that after completing our planned production targets, we could produce more common, popular items and put them on the shelves for sale, but the leaders weren't willing.

Mr. Liu was one of the first to open this shop selling jade, so he has a good understanding of the market.

But the factory leaders had different considerations than he did.

Li Long couldn't get involved in this matter.

So Li Long expressed his thoughts:
"Mr. Liu, I came here to buy some jade items. An elder is getting married and I want to give him a set. I have some at home, but they don't match. I'm wondering if you can help me put together a set."

"A complete set?" Liu thought for a moment and said, "I've made some recently, including bracelets, necklaces, and earrings, but that's all. However, you can mix and match the other pieces—I used good materials, come and take a look."

Engineer Liu led Li Long into the inner room, where there were carving tools, lamps, and other items on the table, with an unfinished piece of jade placed in the middle.

Li Long discovered that the cabinet under the table was locked. Engineer Liu took out a key, unlocked the lock, and took out a box from inside, placing it on the table.

"Take a look." He opened the box, lifted the silk cloth covering it, and showed it to Li Long.

The bracelets, necklaces, and earrings are carved from jade of the color of mutton fat. The earrings are teardrop-shaped, the bracelets are traditional round, and the necklace is actually a jade pendant strung on a red cord with many small jade beads on it. They should have been taken from the same piece of jade, as they look consistent in color and very harmonious.

Li Long picked them up and looked at them, feeling that these items were indeed quite nice.

It's a high-quality item, so he'll definitely take it. He believes it should be enough as a wedding gift for him and Gu Xiaoxia to give to Teacher Song.

Liu was quite proud of his works. Judging from Li Long's expression, he knew that Li Long had taken a liking to them—this was a kind of kinship. In fact, there were plenty of people who wanted the things he had carved and crafted.

Of course, it's also because I admire Lee Yong that I have this feeling.

"Mr. Liu, could you make a more upscale jewelry box?" Li Long was a bit greedy. "It would make me look more respectable."

"Yes, yes, yes," Liu said with a smile. "We make these things in the factory, and we use good wood. They're usually given as a free gift when you buy high-end jade. Otherwise, you have to buy them. I brought a few over a while ago... Come, come, let me get you a different one."

Mr. Liu put the jewelry into a box for Li Long. He still charged almost the cost price for the whole set, eight hundred yuan.

Li Long wanted to pay more, but Engineer Liu refused, saying that the beef jerky Li Long delivered each time was worth a lot of money, and he couldn't just eat it for free.

Li Long thought to himself, "These two values ​​are completely unequal."

However, what Engineer Liu meant was that money can't buy happiness, and he liked receiving this money. As long as the factory could handle it, his share of the profit was just a token gesture.

This time, there wasn't much material left for Engineer Liu. The main reason was what Engineer Liu just mentioned: after the factory changed leadership, there was less support for Engineer Liu. Good materials had to be prioritized for the factory's production tasks, so they could only give him scraps.

Li Long wasn't disappointed. Getting a set of jewelry from Engineer Liu was already beyond his expectations, so he was very satisfied.

Having accomplished his task for the day, Li Long didn't linger. He chatted with Engineer Liu for a while before driving away.

Back in the county, the sun was already setting. Li Long decided to wait at the kindergarten for a while until Mingming and Haohao were dismissed from school, then picked them up and went back to the compound.

Li Long let the two children play in the yard, then took the jewelry box and the jade pieces to the inner room. He would store the jade pieces for now and put the jewelry on the writing desk, to be checked on when Gu Xiaoxia returned.

At dinner, Li Qingxia, the old man, saw Li Long and said to him:
"Around 12 noon, Professor Yang from the College of Agriculture called you. I told him you went to Wucheng, and he said he would call you again tomorrow, as if he had something to discuss."

"Professor Yang?" Li Long was a little surprised. Professor Yang studies cotton, so normally he shouldn't be calling him.

After all, the fourth team has only been growing cotton for two years. Is there some private matter at play?

"Then I'll go to the purchasing station tomorrow morning and wait there to see what he has to do."

After dinner, and after putting Mingming and Haohao to sleep, Li Long asked Gu Xiaoxia to take a look at the jewelry set. Gu Xiaoxia was quite satisfied with it.

At this time, raw materials were easy to find—at least with Master Liu. So, with good materials and the presence of a master like Master Liu, the jewelry made was naturally of an exceptional quality.

“Then let’s give this.” Li Long nodded. “You can keep it. We’ll go together later, and you can give it to Teacher Song quietly.”

Gu Xiaoxia naturally had no objections. The gifts given by the couple were quite valuable, and if they were given publicly, with Gu Xiaoyu also present, those who were interested would definitely make comparisons.

Giving money privately is a different story. Since Teacher Song married Gu Boyuan, she must have some understanding of the situation of Gu's two daughters. It's understandable that they would compare their financial situations privately. Since the two families' financial situations are not exactly the same, they would naturally each keep their own accounts.

That was settled. As Li Long lay in bed, he was still wondering what Professor Yang wanted to talk to him about.
In the end, I still couldn't figure it out.

The next day, after breakfast, Li Long went to the purchasing station to wait. People came to look at cars early in the morning, and Li Long would go and keep them company whenever he had free time. This person was from Shicheng; he didn't say which company he worked for, but Li Long felt he was a leader from some large factory—not a high-ranking leader, but more like a middle manager, like Section Chief Hu.

Because his speech unconsciously carries a bit of an official tone, which is considered a professional habit. He had his eye on a luxury Volga, picked one out of four cars, and then wanted to test drive it.

Having learned from past mistakes, Li Long asked the other party in detail if they could drive. After receiving an affirmative answer and watching the other party skillfully get into the car and operate it, he felt relieved.

At this moment, Liang Shuangcheng ran out and told Li Long that Professor Yang's call had arrived.

"You stay here with Comrade Guo while I look at the car, I'll go answer the phone." Li Long told Liang Shuangcheng to wait there while he went to take the call.

"Comrade Li Long? This is Old Yang," Professor Yang said politely. "I remember you planted a lot of cotton this year, right?"

"Yes, our cooperative has planted about 1,000 mu."

"Is it saline-alkali land? How are the seedlings germinating?" Professor Yang asked. "I have a few students with me who would like to visit your land for a few days to observe. What do you think?"

"Sure, welcome!" Li Long said with a smile. "We've only been growing cotton for two years, and we still have many practical questions to ask you."

“Okay, if it’s feasible, I’ll bring my students to your place around the 20th. You don’t need to worry about where we’ll stay; someone has arranged that. We’ll mainly be conducting research on your land. It won’t be long, maybe five or six days.”

It was just in time for me to go to Yili, which was great.

Li Long readily agreed; he was quite looking forward to Professor Yang and his group coming.

P.S.: Thank you all for your concern and support. I've been lying in bed for several hours today, writing here and there, and I'm feeling much better now. I've been reflecting on what happened, and the reason that sneeze was so powerful was mainly because I was in the car at the time, wearing a seatbelt, and couldn't move.

Then today I sneezed indoors but it was fine. I used a medicated plaster, a heat patch, and took the medicine. I'm much better now, and hopefully I'll gradually recover.

Thank you again everyone! (End of Chapter)