Rebirth of Bayi Fishing and Hunting in the Northwest

Qiangqiang's schooling is a big deal, but other things can't be ignored. Li Qiang and Li Juan boarded the train heading east, while Li Long quickly contacted the supply and marketing cooperative to arrange the work of making large brooms. Li Xiangqian gave Li Long 3 brooms for this year's task.

Although the number decreased year by year, Li Long didn't say anything and simply handed the task over to Wang Mingjun and Zhao Zongming. Anyway, the two of them had been organizing people for this kind of thing for years, so he didn't need to remind them; the work was already underway.

The delivery time is more flexible than in previous years; it can be delivered to the autonomous prefecture's supply and marketing cooperative before the end of September. Li Xiangqian instructed Li Long: "First, the quality must be up to standard, and the delivery must be on time."

In Li Xiangqian's office, without Li Long having to ask, Li Xiangqian himself said, "Our big broom is actually quite popular in the market, especially among state-owned enterprises."

After all, this thing is more comfortable to hold than a bamboo broom. It's a bit more expensive, but it's durable; one broom can easily last for half a year. However, precisely because it's so good, it attracted attention. Reed grass isn't just found here; it's also grown in Gansu province. After we developed the market, some people there saw it as a way to make money. Then they organized people to produce it there, and the price was even cheaper than here.

So it's hard for us to compete, considering how far away it is and the shipping costs. Those places are so close, and some areas are even poorer than ours.

A large broom can cost four or five yuan, and even if it's not as well-made as the ones we have here, it's cheap. So they've taken over the market.

This kind of situation is basically unsolvable. Who told you to be located in such a remote area? Who told you that transportation is relatively difficult right now? Twenty or thirty years from now, many things in China still won't be eligible for free shipping to many areas in northern Xinjiang, let alone now.

So Li Long could understand. Less is less, as long as there was some, it would ensure that the workers in Wang Mingjun and Zhao Zongming's two companies could make money.

However, after instructing the two men, Li Long also reminded them that this kind of work would definitely decrease in the future, and it was hard to say when it would disappear altogether. If the supply and marketing cooperatives were to be closed down or merged in this era, like last time, then they would certainly cease to exist.

However, regarding the method that Li Long mentioned to Director Qian, the Autonomous Prefecture Supply and Marketing Cooperative is currently submitting a report to the Autonomous Region Supply and Marketing Cooperative to conduct research and see if it is feasible.

If feasible, this would be a good way to continue the existence of supply and marketing cooperatives. As long as this approach exists, the business should continue. After all, such a large market has been built up over the years; even if it shrinks, there will be a limit.

During this time, Li Long went into the mountains again to check on Halimu and his group as they harvested hay. Halimu is now considered a large rancher. Most of the pastureland that used to belong to those dozen or so herders now belongs to him.

He now owns thousands of cattle and sheep, and the amount of fodder he consumes throughout the winter is astronomical.

After Li Long entered the mountains, he learned from Halim that he had now hired 11 young Kazakh men, each with their own duties.

There were herders who specialized in herding, patrolling the pastures to drive away wolves, and others who, like those now working in the winter pastures, were specifically engaged in hay cutting. Of course, when winter came, their jobs were pretty much the same.

Looking at the young men's faces, Li Long realized that they were quite satisfied with their current lives.

In a daze, he seemed to see himself in the first two years after he entered the mountains, watching horse races, playing Buzkashi (a traditional Tibetan martial art), eating roasted meat, and cooking mutton with the group of young men led by Harim and Yushanjiang.

Our generation has grown up and entered middle age, but generation after generation of young men are still repeating the same life they had back then.

Li Long thought of Yushanjiang, who complained to him that his son, Yeerjiang, didn't plan to go with him to buy cattle and sheep, but wanted to become a worker in the city.

Looking at these young men, one can only say that times have changed, people's horizons and experiences are different, and their aspirations and goals for a better life are also different.

When Li Long arrived, Halim immediately slaughtered a sheep. He left the other lads to handle the chores. He and Li Long sat in front of the winter hut, drinking milk tea and talking about what had happened recently.

Halim said, "I'm doing quite well now. My mother, wife, and children are all in the county, so they don't have to suffer at the summer pasture. They live in a clean and tidy courtyard with running water and electricity."

The school is relatively close by, and I know a lot of friends here. I herd cattle and sheep here, and sell a batch every now and then; I make some money.

Their lives are good; they have these things. The young men look after the cattle and sheep, and every now and then, I can go down the mountain to see my family. It's good, very good.

Halim's two children are Nash and Tasken, who will be taking the college entrance examination in two years. With their ethnic minority status, they will definitely have no problem getting into a university within Xinjiang.

Unlike Yushanjiang, Halim is relatively younger. He feels that if his two sons can leave the mountains, get into university, and have a stable job, they will be much more successful than him, which would be better.

After the mutton was prepared, the young men brought Li Long and Halim the cooked mutton and grilled mutton skewers, and also cut the watermelon that Li Long had brought.

Li Long said with emotion, "When I came here before, we worked together. Back then, I knew so many people. We laughed and joked, and it was so much fun. Now it's just the two of us left, and someone else helps us grill and cook. Sigh, time flies so fast."

Halim took it all in stride. As he ate his mutton, he smiled and said, "Everyone has a good life now, no longer having to live those hard days in the mountains."

Look, a few years ago you helped us renovate our winter shelter, and we lived much better than before. Later you helped us repair the road and bring water, and life became even better.

Later, they didn't want to herd sheep in the mountains anymore and returned to the team. Life in the team was definitely much better than in the mountains; the conditions were better, and the living conditions were more comfortable. So life got better and better, although they saw each other less often, but everyone had their own things to do.

Compared to Halim's optimism, Li Long felt he was being a bit melancholic. He nodded and said, "Yes, yes, that's right. When life is good, everyone has their own things to do, life is fulfilling, and the children's future is bright, then everything is good."

Li Long drove back to the county town that afternoon. As he was leaving, Halim said to him apologetically, "Because the grassland I'm managing is quite large now, I've been focusing my energy on the cattle and sheep, so I haven't been hunting much lately and haven't found any good deer antlers or jade."

Li Long told him, "We already have plenty of those things at home, there's no need to look for more. It's good if you have them, but it's okay if you don't. Just take good care of yourself and your cattle and sheep, and that'll be fine."

Life in the county is much more convenient for us than it is for you in the mountains, and you don't need to worry about these things anymore. Just take good care of your cattle and sheep; when we come to the mountains in the future, you can slaughter sheep for us to eat.”

Halim smiled and said, "That's definitely not a problem."

After returning to the county, Li Long resumed his routine of clocking in at the cotton purchasing station. On the morning of September 3rd, he received a call from Factory Director Du, who brought him good news: the first cotton harvester, modeled after a replica manufactured in the factory, had been successfully assembled and was running normally. However, suitable experimental land was still lacking. Li Long asked what constituted suitable experimental land, and Director Du replied that it was the current cotton fields. This cotton harvester was optimized based on the most mainstream cotton planting structure and was suitable for the cotton fields commonly cultivated today.

However, even after being cleaned by professional cotton cleaning equipment, cotton harvested by cotton harvesters is generally not purchased by cotton and linen companies, resulting in some waste.

Of course, the factory has experimental funds and will provide some compensation. However, the factory has contacted several units within the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, but has not yet found a suitable location, and negotiations have not yet reached an agreement.

Li Long then asked Director Du, "So you mean you want me to provide some experimental land for operating cotton harvesters?"

Director Du said, "No. I remember you were planning to set up a cotton ginning factory, weren't you? You know I've also developed the professional cotton cleaning equipment."

I heard you're also doing garment business with Kazakhstan. How about this? We'll arrange some experimental land here, and you can buy the harvested cotton at a suitable price, process it using cleaning equipment, and bale it. Then we can see whether to sell it directly to Kazakhstan or make it into garments and sell it there.”

Li Long said directly, "Buy cotton bales? You actually came up with this idea? Kazakhstan is also a major cotton producer, and they produce just as much cotton as we do. Selling clothes there is a possibility. In that case, I'll have to contact some garment factories."

After considering it for a moment, Director Du said, "How about this, you don't contact the garment factory. If the garment factory wants to use that stuff, they at least need to turn the cotton into cloth."

I contacted the cotton mills in Kui City; they definitely need a lot of raw materials. I have some influence in Kui City. As long as your cotton cleaning equipment and ginning mills can produce qualified cotton, then we should be willing to buy it.”

Li Long said, "I would like to do this, but the government doesn't allow private acquisitions right now, so neither you nor I can do it."

Factory Director Du was also scratching his head, saying, "We can't just waste the stuff we've developed, can we?"

Li Long was also thinking of an idea. He said, "Why don't you use the experimental funds to collect the cotton first? Anyway, you have cotton cleaning equipment there. Let's clean it up together first. As for what to do next, we'll talk about it later."

No one dares to easily violate policy. However, if a machinery factory compensates cotton farmers for the cotton harvested by their harvesters, and then the factory cleans the cotton using its cleaning equipment, would that be considered not violating policy?
Li Long himself couldn't say for sure, because after all, it would be several years before the country relaxed its cotton policy. Cotton is a strategic material, even more important than sugar. For this reason alone, no one dared to act recklessly before the policy was relaxed.

Factory Director Du was also in a dilemma. The cotton harvester had been produced, but there was nowhere to test it. Without testing, the cotton harvester could not be proven to be reliable.

This thing will definitely have its problems, but how can you discover them without actually operating it? It's impossible. Unlike a snowplow, which clears snow from the road and allows for timely adjustments if problems arise, this thing isn't like a public facility where they can simply apply for permission to test a section of road.

But the cotton fields belong to individuals or collectives. Does the machinery factory have to wait another year until they contract the cotton fields themselves, and then conduct the experiment? That's unlikely; they can't afford to wait that long.

Li Long then said to Director Du, "If all else fails, we can experiment in the cotton fields we've contracted. We've contracted twenty mu of land separately in the township, which should be enough for the experiment."

Factory Director Du said, "That place is too far away. If there are problems with the test, it would be troublesome to drive it back to the machinery factory for adjustments. The factory still plans to find a cotton field near Kui City."

Li Long said, "Then let's cooperate with the Production and Construction Corps. They've always been quite welcoming of these advanced machines. You could donate a special cotton cleaning device to them, the kind that can specifically clean cotton that might have residual film mixed in. That way, it'll be easier for the Corps to operate."

Factory Director Du said with a wry smile, "We've mentioned this matter to the Corps, but they have differing opinions internally. Otherwise, I wouldn't have called you."

"Fine, I'll try to negotiate with them again, even if it means making a concession. I've come to realize that although cotton harvesters have a large market in the future, if the cotton market isn't liberalized and specialized cotton cleaning equipment can't be used in state-owned cotton and linen companies, then these cotton harvesters won't be widely adopted."

Li Long also knew the reason behind this. Currently, the domestic labor market is still very robust, with demand exceeding supply. Even without cotton harvesting machines, a large number of workers willing to manually harvest cotton would flock from surrounding provinces and cities.

Therefore, although the government, including the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, has been developing cotton harvesters and looking forward to their future market, at this stage, there is no urgent need for them to develop this technology.

Because, mechanically speaking, it's not particularly difficult to develop or buy a cotton harvester; the key is the supporting facilities.

For example, importing advanced equipment from the United States would require adjusting the cotton planting structure, along with the need for specialized cotton cleaning facilities, adjustments to the ginning mill, and a series of related processes.

The existing system involves many steps, and it's relatively easy to change things within the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps and the cooperatives. However, it's much more difficult to change things within the cotton company and the cotton and linen company.

Li Long then asked the two foreign aid workers from Kazakhstan, and Director Du said, "Daman is working with our technicians to study the technical improvement and imitation of cotton harvesters, while also trying to learn Chinese."

Korpova did a great job as a translator; many technical terms would have been difficult for most people to translate accurately without her. However, now that Daman's Chinese is gradually improving, Korpova feels that her role in the factory is becoming less significant.

She also mentioned that she might consider moving to Wucheng later, feeling that there would be greater development prospects there. Also, quite a few young men in our factory are pursuing her, but she hasn't been interested in any of them.

You know, those young men are too green for Kolpova; those who've achieved anything are already married. And believe it or not, she still has some feelings for you.

Li Long didn't take Director Du's joke seriously. He had almost forgotten what Kolbova looked like, only that she was quite pretty.

Li Long also knew that in the past two years, Liu Shanmin had brought in a number of scientific research talents from the neighboring country. Some were working in northern Xinjiang, and others had gone to the border region, though he didn't know their exact whereabouts. This information was revealed by Liu Gaolou during casual conversations.

Director Du remembered something else and said to Li Long, "By the way, Lao Li, I have something else to tell you. I heard that the expert you brought in last time is called Akinbek. He's now working at the Petroleum Administration Bureau, involved in the planning of a large-scale petrochemical project in Dushanzi District."

I heard it's already in production, and the first batch of materials was produced some time ago. Aren't you working on drip irrigation projects? Since they're producing a large quantity of raw materials now, will the price be cheaper later?

Dushanzi Petrochemical's production capacity has picked up. Li Long was pleasantly surprised. However, he was slightly unaccustomed to the fact that Director Du had started calling him Old Li.

I remember at the beginning, he called himself Little Li, or Comrade Li Long. Now he's started calling me Old Li. Time flies. I'm over thirty now, so calling me Old Li is normal.

Although he feels young, he realizes that it's been almost 20 years since he came to northern Xinjiang; it feels like the blink of an eye. He's been reborn in 1981 for 12 years now, and looking back, the changes he's caused are truly significant.

Gathering his thoughts, Li Long said, "Once I've finished up what I need to do, I'll go and buy a batch. We'll need a lot of drip irrigation tape for cotton next year, enough to supply at least two or three thousand acres. We can't do without it. If the price comes down, it'll save me a lot of money."

Factory Director Du joked, "Wow, Lao Li, you're a big landowner now. Two or three thousand acres, that's incredible. An ordinary production and construction corps company only has a little more land than you. Impressive!"

Li Long hurriedly and modestly said, "What I have is nothing. This is our cooperative's land. In my opinion, two or three thousand mu is not enough. I also plan to contract other places and try to get 1 mu of land within 5 years."

Factory Director Du took Li Long's words as a joke. Ten thousand mu of land? What did that even mean? An average production team only had a few thousand mu. After all, production teams like Team Four, which owned large tracts of wasteland, were a minority.

Despite the vast size and abundant resources of northern Xinjiang, with a large per capita land area, the actual amount of arable land is not that much. After all, the two major deserts within the two basins alone occupy hundreds of thousands of square kilometers. If you remove the mountainous areas and lakes, the remaining arable land is not as much as you might imagine.

After hanging up with Lao Du, Li Long thought that he would have to adjust his planting methods in the next year or two, and see if he needed to gradually adapt to the arrival of the cotton harvester era. Of course, he couldn't rush it.

After talking to Lao Du about Ajinbek, Li Long called his second brother, Li Anguo.

Li Anguo was at the oil refinery at this time. After his refinery expanded, under the guidance of the safety rules left by Akinbek, all the regulations in the plant were implemented and the management became more standardized.

He was listening to someone's report in his office when the phone rang. He told the person giving the report to leave first.

Li Anguo answered the phone.

Li Long inquired about his second brother's situation at the oil refinery, and then asked if Ajinbek was still there and if he came to his refinery from time to time. Li Anguo said, "Ajinbek has only come once since July. He said he's very busy with various things at the petrochemical plant."

Although he wasn't specifically in charge of any particular task, as a technical consultant, he was paying attention to all aspects, just like he had been attentive to everything about my refinery from the very beginning.

However, with him around, I've saved a lot of trouble. This year, the oil city has been gradually shutting down unregulated small refineries, but my refinery has continued to operate normally.

The community also mentioned that my business is a legitimate one, and I think Akinbek's frequent visits are largely due to that reason.

Li Long was quite satisfied with what he heard. He said to his second brother, "Luckily, you told me to help you find a technician. It was the right decision. Not only did I find an expert, but I also found you a strong backer who can protect you from the storms of life."

Li Anguo laughed and said, "That's true, we didn't expect that at the time. But to be honest, it was a lucky accident. Now the crude oil we bring in from there every month is enough for my refinery."

I didn't do anything shady in the oil city, so they didn't plan to touch me.

I'm not a very ambitious person, as you know. I'm content just staying here at this factory and making a decent profit every month.

Now I've sent Xueping and Xueqin to the petroleum school. Their academic performance is just so-so. They can't compare to Juan and Qiangqiang from my older brother's family, and I don't think they can compare to your Mingming and Haohao either.

Even if I retake the exam, it's unlikely I'll get into university again, so going there to learn a skill is better than staying at home.

Li Anguo was speaking from the heart. He is very content with his current life; it's much better than he originally imagined.

Not only him, but his wife Chen Lirong was also very content. Although the oil city was more remote than the original Kui City, the urban development was better. Because of his oil refinery and because of Ajinbek, it was easy for Chen Lirong and her family to settle down.

Moreover, the benefits in the oil city are quite good. Li Anguo had also received a hint from someone at some level, suggesting that he affiliate his company with a unit under the Petroleum Administration Bureau, and he was currently hesitating about it. He hadn't told Li Long about this; as the second brother, he also had some self-respect and couldn't rely on Li Long to solve everything.

He figured it was fine to just operate under a shell company; he'd made quite a bit of money in the past two years, more than enough to live on. Even if the oil city were to acquire his business, he felt he could still live comfortably with his current lifestyle.

Li Long naturally knew that his second brother wasn't the type to cause trouble. Besides, with expert Akinbek keeping an eye on things, nothing serious would happen at the refinery. Those two things were enough.

Now, my second brother's children, Xueping and Xueqin, have found a place to go. In the past, the petroleum school was like a school for the children of workers and cadres within the system. After graduating, they were guaranteed job placement. So, my second brother is basically worry-free now, and that's good.

After hanging up the phone, Li Long was filled with emotion. Of his siblings from Koukou, his second brother's family was currently the most stable.

Although it's hard to say whether this oil refinery will still exist in a few years, for now, the future of the second brother's family looks promising.

Even if the oil city were to take over the refinery in the future due to environmental or production reasons, the second brother's family would definitely receive a sum of money as compensation, enough for them to live on for the rest of their lives. Therefore, Li Long was no longer worried about his second brother's family.

Needless to say, my elder brother's family is also doing well. Right now, their agricultural machinery driving force is growing like a snowball, enough to ensure their future livelihood. It's also very likely to lead to the formation of a large agricultural machinery consortium.

As for Li Juan and Li Qiang, there's even less to worry about. After graduation, one of them will most likely work in a regional-level unit, while the other will be assigned to the military, working in some aerospace research institute or launch center—both have bright futures ahead.

My own family is doing relatively well; the only thing I need to worry about, or rather, that's less stable, is my sister Li Xia's family.

Although his brother-in-law Chen Xingbang had taken his advice and started helping his sister expand her breeding scale during the Chinese New Year period, Li Long was worried that his brother-in-law was not a peaceful person and was also a bit chauvinistic. He was concerned that Chen Xingbang would not cooperate with his sister so obediently.

However, each family lives its own life. It's unlikely that Li Long would force himself to arrange things for his sister's family, since everyone is an adult.

If they're not doing well, it's normal to lend a hand. As things stand, their lives are already much better than the average person's. I offered suggestions during the New Year, and if they followed them, then there's nothing wrong with that; if they didn't, I couldn't force my brother-in-law to do those things.

On September 4th, Li Long went to the No. 9 Middle School to inquire about the students' work-study program of picking cotton. Because the cooperative had provided good support for this work last year, and both teachers and students were quite satisfied, the school readily agreed when Li Long contacted them this year.

Aside from one grade needing to go to the Production and Construction Corps to pick cotton due to a task assigned by higher authorities, both the second and third-year high school students will participate in the cooperative's cotton picking task at Team Four. Li Long also assured the school that this year's support would be no worse than last year's.

After discussing with the school and confirming the date, workload, and unit price of cotton, Li Long rushed back to discuss with Xu Haijun the issue of arranging student accommodation in the second team.

In previous years, the second team had never had such a large number of students coming to pick cotton as part of a work-study program. Although occasionally farmers would ask the school for one or two classes to help with farm work, they usually came in the morning and left in the evening. It was unheard of for them to stay for 20 days like this.

However, they do have a place to live. The old production team headquarters and granary are still there and empty. They can be used as living quarters after simple cleaning and tidying.

There wasn't enough time to go into the mountains to collect fallen trees. So Li Long simply used four large trucks from his purchasing station to go directly to the lumber mill and buy some pine planks. He then cleared out the second team's headquarters and grain warehouse to serve as temporary accommodations for the students.

As for food security, after discussing with the village head of the second team, Li Long and Xu Haijun decided to recruit some housewives from the second team to be responsible for cooking.

As for ingredients, fresh beef and mutton are brought directly from Lao Ma Hao in the fourth team, vegetables are purchased from local villagers, and rice, flour, and oil are bought directly from the county.

Li Long directly asked the village head to recommend someone to be in charge of cooking. This greatly pleased the village head. In addition, they wanted to buy vegetables and other groceries from the village in large quantities. This resolved some potential conflicts among the villagers regarding the cooperative's contracting of their land.

Xu Haijun also gave the village head a flexible idea, saying, "The cook will tell the village head what kinds of vegetables are needed every day, and the village head will announce it to everyone in the team through the loudspeaker. Those who have these vegetables at home can just send them over."

Think about it, with two or three hundred students in one grade, the amount of vegetables they consume daily is definitely not small. Just from that, the villagers can make a small profit. Moreover, the cooperative will lease this land for several years, ensuring this income every year, so the villagers are naturally happy.

The village head of the second team naturally supported the cooperative's actions. After all, some villagers had objections to his decision to contract over a thousand acres of land to people from other villages.

However, for now, the things the cooperative is doing are bringing tangible benefits to the village. Furthermore, Li Long has promised to recruit some temporary workers from the second team during the cotton-picking season to help maintain order and pack the cotton.

That way, the village head can give an explanation to the villagers. Besides, he immediately signed his son up so he could join in and help.

The village headman put it nicely: "We can pay you whatever we want. So many students have come to our team, we can't just leave them without giving anything in return."

Li Long immediately praised the village chief's noble character and said, "The wages will definitely be paid according to the unified standard, and there will be a bonus depending on the situation after the cotton is picked."

The village head was even more satisfied.

Xu Haijun and the people he hired began making preparations for the students' arrival.

Meanwhile, he instructed the women recommended by the village chief to provide meals to the students in the most convenient and effective way. After all, the cooperative had already done it once last year, so Xu Haijun had some experience in this area. Seeing how well he was handling things, Li Long didn't interfere any further and returned to the fourth team.

In the courtyard of the cooperative in Team Four, Xie Yundong and his team were already busy at work. The house was already built; it only needed a simple cleaning. The stove that had been dismantled last year needed to be rebuilt.

The women who did the housework and cooking volunteered this year without Xie Yundong and the others even having to ask them to. The cooperative paid them well, so they were naturally happy to do it.

Li Long also told Xie Yundong that they could follow what Xie Yundong had told the second team: announce over the loudspeaker that anyone with extra vegetables could bring them to the cooperative and be paid at the market price.

Although the people in Team Four were relatively wealthier compared to other production teams, no one ever complains about having too much money. In the past, the surplus vegetables from the gardens that they couldn't eat were either dried or made into sauce, but even so, there was still a considerable amount left over after winter. Now that they could sell them to the cooperative, everyone was naturally happy to do so.

When they learned that Team Four would be bringing in students from Grades 11 and 12 to pick cotton this year, the parents of Team Four students who attend No. 1 Middle School were quite happy.

After all, they felt much more at ease seeing the students picking cotton right in front of them, and they could go over and check on them from time to time, unlike in previous years when they would be away for twenty days at a time, to the Production and Construction Corps, which was quite far away, and they couldn't see them even if they wanted to.

It wasn't just the fourth team; the first, second, and third teams shared the same idea. This matter spread quite widely and garnered a lot of attention.

Just like when he first contracted the production of brooms from the supply and marketing cooperative to the team, he emphasized quality. Now, Li Long is emphasizing to Xie Yundong and Xu Haijun that they must improve the students' meals.

Leftovers from the previous day should not be consumed. All food must be thoroughly cooked, and rice must be steamed until fully cooked. We cannot allow students to have any problems with this.

Actually, these days, apart from Li Long, almost no one else would specifically emphasize this. Because in the eyes of ordinary people, the students eat the same food as the host family, so the host family naturally wouldn't intentionally give the students unclean things.

Whether it's a school, a host family, or a student, if someone occasionally gets diarrhea, they don't think it's a problem with what they eat; they're more likely to think it's a problem with their digestive system.

However, each team has over 200 students, and it's impossible for all of them to have such healthy digestive systems. If a few get diarrhea from the food they eat, even if the others are more tolerant, it's still not ideal.

The students or the school might not pursue the matter, but if it gets out, it won't be good for the cooperative. That's why Li Long is particularly strict about this.

Fortunately, everyone here has children, and they can empathize with Li Long's thinking. Therefore, no one has any objections to this request.

九三年的中秋节和国庆节连在了一起，中秋节是9月30号。而李龙和学校约定拾棉花的日子是从9月18号开始，10月8号结束。20天时间。高二是每天30kg任务，高三是每天35公斤任务。

Therefore, Li Long also plans to give each student a mooncake and two apples as a Mid-Autumn Festival gift.

Mooncakes are easy to find; you can buy them at supply and marketing cooperatives and department stores. Of course, you might not be able to buy that many at once, and you might need to go to Wucheng to purchase them.

The quantity of apples needed was quite large, so Li Long directly called Gu Boyuan, who was still in the valley, and asked him to be in charge of purchasing a batch of apples. Apples from Yili were quite famous at this time, and people would likely like them after they were purchased.

Then, he called Liu Gaolou and asked him to reserve half a carriage of empty space so he could bring the apples over. Liu Gaolou naturally had no objections.

After settling everything, the next step was to wait for the students to arrive. September 18th was also a special day. Although many people who have studied history know the significance of this day, neither the official nor the public held any special commemorations for it; they only knew that this day had special meaning.

After lunch, the four buses from the purchasing station went to the entrance of the county's No. 1 Middle School to pick up students in batches and take them to Team 4 and Team 2.

This year there are new changes. Students from Team 4, Team 2, and even Team 3 no longer need to go to school and make a detour. After informing their teachers in advance, they can go directly to the cooperative's courtyard or the old team headquarters of Team 2 to report.

Because Xie Yundong was in charge of the cooperative in Team Four, Li Long felt at ease, so he kept an eye on things in Team Two.

The accommodations have all been cleaned, with large communal sleeping areas made of pine planks. The boys' and girls' dormitories are clearly marked. We had communicated with the teachers beforehand; once the students arrived, the teachers would arrange their accommodations, and Xu Haijun and his team would assist in maintaining order.

Li Long made a point of checking the ingredients to prepare dinner. Fortunately, they were all fresh vegetables delivered from various gardens that day and had already been washed.

He brought the sheep himself from Old Ma's place, and he would deliver mutton every day from now on. Temporary toilets were also built near the team headquarters and the old granary; since they were dry toilets, it was easy to dig and build them.

After the students arrived, Li Long watched as the teachers and Xu Haijun's group arranged for them to check in and familiarize themselves with the environment in an orderly manner, so Li Long didn't disturb them too much.

With over two hundred more students suddenly appearing in the village, it immediately became lively, with people from every household watching the excitement from their doorsteps.

The students looked around curiously. Although the villages were all similar, and more than half of the two hundred students were from rural areas, it wasn't their own backyard. They noticed and compared the subtle differences, their chattering voices clear and melodious, full of youthful energy.

Li Long truly envied them; they were so young, and the world was so wonderful. When he was in junior high, he was like a clueless idiot, knowing nothing, and he hadn't even finished school yet. Looking back now, it was incomparable to that time.

As he walked back to his car to retrieve his belongings, he overheard two girls whispering as they passed by, worried that they might not be able to complete tomorrow's mission. Li Long wanted to chuckle to himself; perhaps in a few years, they would realize that these current anxieties were truly insignificant once they were over.

That day, Li Long ate dinner with his teachers and students before leaving. Since it was the first meal, it was relatively plentiful: stewed mutton, stir-fried celery with pork, tomato and egg drop soup, rice as the staple food, and watermelon as the dessert.

At this point, this standard is already quite good.

During the meal, Li Long took a walk around and could tell that both the teachers and students were quite satisfied with the food, which put his mind at ease.

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Someone had previously said they wanted to see drip irrigation tape, but when I went to the field today, it was raining, so it was difficult to go in. Not only did I get my feet muddy, but the people there weren't happy about it either.

I took some wide shots first, and will take more later once they're dry, along with a few other photos.

Brown bear
The cotton plants have already sprouted; the red bags represent branch pipes, which are used to supply water to the drip irrigation system. (End of Chapter)