Chapter 384

The Li family's east room didn't have a stove set up, mainly because Li Jianguo didn't expect Li Long to return so quickly.

"Your second brother, brother-in-law, and Junshan left yesterday. I pulled the horse cart and sent them to the county bus station. They said there was a train back that night, take a bus to Wucheng train station, and then buy a train ticket. Calculating it, they should be able to arrive home next Wednesday."

"They brought quite a lot of things, right." Li Long said with a smile. "But with a few strong laborers, there shouldn't be any problems."

"What problems could there be? There won't be any."

Liang Yuemei asked:

"Little Long, have you eaten? These buns will be steamed soon. If you're not in a hurry, just wait until the buns are steamed, and I'll stir-fry a dish for you, and you two can drink a bit?"

"Okay." Li Long wasn't polite either, and said with a smile, "Then I'll wait for sister-in-law's craft. Stir-fry some salted vegetables, I haven't eaten them for a few days."

"Okay, I'll cut some meat and stir-fry some salted vegetables." Liang Yuemei agreed readily, and exclaimed again, "This time last year, who could have imagined we could eat white flour buns every day?"

"Yeah, the grain distributed by the team, eighty percent coarse grain and twenty percent fine grain, let alone us, even for Juan and Qiangqiang, there was no way to eat fine grain every day..."

"Even then, you let me eat fine grain together with Juan and Qiangqiang!" Li Long interjected. Although he had made up for a lot in the past year, his face was actually quite red when he said this; he was really ignorant at that time.

"It's all in the past. Now in our team, let alone our team, even in the whole brigade, the whole township, how many families eat like ours?" Li Jianguo was quite proud. "Life will definitely get better and better. Little Long, your brain is active, but doing things still needs to be a bit steady. We have enough money to spend now, some dangerous things, it's better not to be too active."

"Big brother, I know." Li Long nodded and accepted the teaching.

Liang Yuemei saw the time was up and went to open the steamer lid. The chopping board had already been cleaned up. Layer after layer of steamer lids were lifted, and large, white buns were spread out on the chopping board. Li Juan and Li Qiang had already gathered around.

Although life had improved greatly over the past year, the fragrance of freshly steamed buns still attracted them.

"Each of you take one to eat." Liang Yuemei told them, dipped her hand in some cold water, and separated the buns one by one, so as not to destroy their integrity when separating them after they cooled down.

Li Juan and Li Qiang each held a large bun, exchanging them between their left and right hands, and occasionally gasping from the heat.

Li Long and Li Jianguo were chatting about things, things for this winter, things for next year.

"I plan to buy a tractor next year." Li Long expressed his thoughts. "With this thing, going into the mountains, going to sell things, it can be faster. For the wheat we plant, I'm also thinking about whether I can get the agricultural machinery factory to make a harvester or something, so that harvesting wheat won't be so troublesome."

Li Long remembered that before the popularization of combine harvesters in later generations, there was a period when it was quite popular to use small four-wheeled tractors to carry wheat harvesters, hanging them in front of the small four-wheeler, directly cutting the wheat down, so that manual labor only needed to bundle it up and then pull it away.

Although it still needed to thresh wheat on the threshing floor, it avoided the process of harvesting wheat, at least saving a large part of the labor—harvesting wheat is really a shadow.

And he remembered that this kind of harvester wasn't actually complicated; it was like a circle of blades like a chainsaw, driven by a small four-wheeled belt.

If you go to the agricultural machinery factory and provide some ideas, should they be able to make it?

That's what Li Long thought. After all, those people were experts, and the agricultural machinery factory now also needed sales channels for agricultural machinery. If they could come up with a popular piece of agricultural machinery, the agricultural machinery factory's profits would also be very high.

Not just this, Li Long also remembered many more convenient agricultural tools from later generations. He could actually take this opportunity to come up with them bit by bit—it's just that he didn't seem to have connections in this area.

Should he find Li Xiangqian or someone else to ask? Buy a stake or something, provide ideas, and he could share the money.

Oh, thought too far.

"Buy a tractor? That's not cheap!" Li Jianguo's expression was solemn. "A tractor would cost at least five or six thousand, and a larger horse cart is even more expensive. You still have to build a house and get married next year, will that money be enough? I still have some here..."

"Big brother, my money should be enough. There are still a few months left, and I can still earn some." Li Long hurriedly waved his hand. "Don't worry about the money, it's just that you need a license to drive a tractor. When the time comes, big brother, you should also learn. If I don't go into the mountains, then you can drive this tractor at home. For farm work and such, a tractor is better than a horse cart."

"That's true." Li Jianguo naturally understood this principle. "If there really is a tractor, threshing the floor will be much easier. Pulling a roller with a horse cart is much slower than a tractor, and it consumes more fuel."

"How much can that consume?" Li Long smiled. "Fuel prices aren't expensive now."

People who buy tractors in this day and age will buy an oil drum, the kind of large round iron drum that holds 180 liters. Those with money will also prepare a pump, and those without money will just get a soft hose. Then they also have to prepare small oil drums, pump the oil out of the large oil drum and pour it into the tractor.

Not many tractor drivers in this day and age haven't drunk diesel; that taste—hehe.

However, diesel in this day and age is indeed cheap, less than one yuan per liter, but you need an introduction letter to buy it, and individuals generally can't buy it. But next year will be different. Once the production team's tractors are distributed to individuals, the purchase of diesel by individuals will slowly open up.

So Li Long isn't worried about not being able to buy fuel, nor is he worried about not being able to buy a tractor—reform and opening up, whether it's state-owned enterprises or government agencies, all have to slowly adapt to this process.

"Next year, the team's land might also be contracted to individuals." Li Long continued. "When the time comes, if we really buy a tractor and can come up with a harvester, our family can contract more land."

The first round of land contracting for the production team here is fifteen years, from 1983 to 1997. The second round of land contracting is from 1998 to 2027, with a duration of thirty years. In fact, it's the land during the first round of land contracting, and the next thirty years will remain unchanged, with no land added for increased population and no land reduced for decreased population.

Because the production team Li Long is in has a relatively large area of wasteland, which was basically developed later, each person's average ration land plus contracted land is about fifteen mu. This laid the foundation for large-scale land entering cooperatives starting in the 2010s, with dividends of tens of thousands or more.

By that time, contracting land to the outside will only be possible for one year at a time, and almost no collective or individual will contract out all their land for several years at once.

After all, from the 2000s to around 2020, land prices rose year by year, from a few hundred yuan per mu to a maximum of 1,800 yuan per mu. If you contract it out for ten or twenty years, you'd lose everything.

"Contracting so much, can we plant it all?" At this time, Liang Yuemei had already skillfully stir-fried a dish of salted vegetables with meat, and she intended to stir-fry another dish.

Li Jianguo took out a bottle of liquor, and when taking the wine glasses, he shouted towards the kitchen:

"Are you drinking?"

"I'm not drinking." Liang Yuemei knew he was shouting at her, and responded, "I'll stir-fry another dish, you two drink first!"

Li Jianguo took two glasses, rinsed them with water, and poured a glass for himself and Li Long each.

"This land, contracting more is not wrong." Li Long said, "We are farmers, besides land, what else can we have? With land, we are in an invincible position, at least we won't worry about food and drink. As for whether we can eat well and drink well, that depends on how we operate."

He hadn't thought of a very good method for the time being. In his previous life, he was too muddled, and before he was separated from his big brother's family, he didn't pay much attention to farm work and agricultural industry, and knew very little. Some things in his memory needed key information to be triggered. But he believed he would think of them eventually. When the time comes, engage in some special planting or chase some trends, maybe he could lead his big brother's family to make a fortune.

People like Li Jianguo and Gu Bo Yuan are relatively cautious, after all, they have experienced a lot, and they still have some guesses about contracting production to households. Li Long clearly knows the historical trend, so he won't worry about any changes later.

Changes will only get better, at least the general trend for the next few decades is like this.

"Come, drink one." In terms of drinking, Li Jianguo is quite good at talking when persuading outsiders, but there's nothing to say with his own family.

"Drink one!" Li Long was also quite happy. Is this a summary of the year? It's been a year since he was reborn. In this past year, he had truly brought huge changes to his family, to everyone's family, to his old father and mother, including the entire production team.

Quite proud.

Of course, the biggest change is himself. If he hadn't been reborn, at this age he would still be a 'hot secretary', still have a strong vanity, but would only take things from his own home to enthusiastically help others.

Bitch!

Now? The family has money, he has money, his old father and mother also have spare money, he also found a beautiful and capable partner, bought a large house, had a good 'job', and solidified good connections.

Growing up fast!

Li Long himself was also very satisfied with the changes this year, and he readily poured that glass of fifty-gram, fifty-degree white liquor down his throat.

So spicy!

Living two lives, Li Long never tasted what was good about this white liquor. Not just white liquor, he didn't like red wine or beer much either. However, among the three types of alcohol, beer was barely acceptable, mainly because the alcohol content was low.

As for the yellow rice wine promoted by some health masters and popular in the south, Li Long hadn't drunk it yet.

Cannot evaluate.

However, once the alcohol entered his stomach, he felt his body heat up, and then his head felt a bit dizzy, and his words couldn't help but increase.

"Big brother, if there's any freezing rain or something later, don't go out." Li Long's biggest worry was actually this. "What? What freezing rain?" Li Jianguo poured wine for himself and Li Long, Li Long wanted the wine bottle, but he didn't agree.

The wine commander is in charge of the wine bottle, this power cannot be given to others casually.

"The freezing rain that falls!" Li Long's mood was complicated, a bit excited, and without waiting for Li Jianguo to raise his glass, he picked up his glass and drank it dry in one gulp.

He was a bit tipsy.

Although his big brother was clearly sitting at the table, opposite him, but once he brought this up, he would think of his big brother in his previous life, who went out during the freezing rain period to look for him, and ended up falling to his death.

"What freezing rain?" Li Jianguo still didn't understand, but he could see that Li Long was a bit unusual, and only poured half a glass for him. "What do you want to say?"

"Winter, just this weather now, it rains, the rain falls on the ground, doesn't it freeze? Isn't that freezing rain?" Li Long drank a bit fiercely, and was tipsy after two glasses. He explained with a thick tongue, "When freezing rain falls, the road is slippery, don't walk around casually. Now Juan and Qiangqiang are both on vacation, if freezing rain falls, let's not go out."

"Where has freezing rain ever fallen here? Impossible, right? Can it rain in the middle of winter?" Li Jianguo didn't believe it. "You've only drunk two glasses, why are you talking nonsense?"

Seeing that his big brother didn't take it to heart, Li Long was a bit anxious, pressed on the table and said:

"Big brother, listen to me, this matter, you must listen to me! Definitely write it down... Our life has gotten better, we must live it well..."

In his previous life, it was because his big brother passed away because of him, and then Li Long repented, but it was already too late then. His sister-in-law, Li Juan, and Li Qiang wouldn't forgive him, and he actually didn't forgive himself either.

!.

This life has already changed, but until that day comes, Li Long is always uneasy.

He had originally suppressed this matter in the bottom of his heart, but today, once he drank alcohol, once he started chatting, he couldn't help but say it out.

"If Little Long said it, just write it down, right?" Liang Yuemei brought another plate of stir-fried sour cabbage, and a plate of buns. "Isn't everything Little Long said this year verified to be correct? Don't worry about so much, just write it down. You two don't just drink, eat buns!"

"Okay, okay." Li Long heard his sister-in-law's words and smiled. If his sister-in-law said so, his big brother should take it seriously.

Li Long also knew he drank a bit fiercely, so he didn't drink much more, picked up a bun and ate it in big mouthfuls, eating it fragrantly with the vegetables. This was much better than the offal he stir-fried in the wooden house.

Li Jianguo also stopped drinking and started eating buns; alcohol needs to be pressed down with food. The fifty-gram glass was quite large.

Li Long ultimately didn't return to the Old Horse Corral. While they were drinking, Liang Yuemei set up the stove in the east room. Having drunk alcohol, and it being late at night, Li Long clearly looked tipsy now, and she wasn't at ease letting Li Long return to the Old Horse Corral by himself.

There's a lesson—a person who drank alcohol didn't walk steadily on the road, slipped in the middle of winter and fell into the snow on the side of the road, and then suffocated himself to death.

It happened in a neighboring village, this is a lesson.

Li Long was actually still sober, but he was relatively compliant. Since he drank alcohol, and since the east room had already been tidied up and had a stove, then don't leave, it's better to sleep comfortably.

The next day Li Long got up relatively early, feeling refreshed, as if he had cast off the heavy stone in his heart, feeling relaxed all over.

The stove had already gone out, the temperature in the room wasn't very low, he put on his clothes, got up and opened the door, the cold air outside almost knocked him back. But he was even more sober. He went to the toilet on the east side to release water, and when he came back, he found black smoke rising from the chimney of the west room; they should be cooking, right?

Of course.

After breakfast, Li Long rode his bicycle to the Gu family, sent the cotton-padded rubber shoes he bought for Gu Bo Yuan, chatted with this half-old man there for a while, and ate lunch there.

Gu Xiaoxia made pulled noodles, which in Li Long's opinion, tasted not bad.

After eating, Li Long didn't stay there long, and returned to the Old Horse Corral.

Halfway there, he ran into Tao Daqiang and Yang Yongqiang who were looking for him.

"You didn't go to sell fish today?" Li Long asked.

"No, we went to the Horse Corral to find you early this morning, didn't find you, went to your big brother's place again, and then they said you came here, so we didn't dare to come over." Yang Yongqiang said with a smile.

"Then let's go, go to the Old Horse Corral first." Li Long said while pushing the bike.

The three of them arrived at the Old Horse Corral. Old Uncle Luo was listening to the radio. Hearing the movement, he came out to see Li Long had returned, so he helped set up the stove and let the young people chat.

The radio was playing storytelling, and he couldn't bear to miss it.

"Are there many people buying fish?" Li Long sat down and asked. "Is it easy to sell?"

Last year it was still the black market, and Li Long had to go to the family courtyard to sell the fish he caught, or run to Shicheng to find a factory to sell them. This year there's a market, it's much more convenient.

Life is getting better day by day, Li Long sighed to himself.

"It's okay," Tao Daqiang said a sentence that was equal to not saying anything.

"Harder to sell than in summer." Yang Yongqiang said, "There are four families in our team selling fish, all are seventy or eighty kilograms, we have more, about twenty kilograms. There aren't many people buying fish, so basically we can only return in the afternoon."

"Then it's not as good as saving up a cart of fish and pulling it directly to Shicheng to sell." Li Long said, "Shicheng has a big market, many people, and many people buying, no need to waste so much time."

"We thought so too."

Li Long thought for a moment and said again:

"If we want to go to Shicheng, we can't just bring fish. Today let's get some snares, snare some rabbits, and pull them over together to sell when the time comes. If we can sell them, sell them; if we can't sell them, we can eat them ourselves. Since we're going, let's have more variety."

"Okay!" Tao Daqiang was also quite happy. Once Li Long returned, it was like he had a backbone.

"You go ask others if they want to sell fish to us." Li Long said again, "How did you sell them in the market?"

"Same as last year, crucian carp eight mao, carp one yuan."

"Then ask them, I'll collect fish here, four mao per kilogram, unified. If you sell to me, then just weigh it directly. We'll collect more fish, pull them to Shicheng all at once to sell, and earn the price difference."

Whatever you do, you have to have scale. Small fights earn small money, seeking stability; big openings and closings do big actions, mainly earning big money.

"Okay, I'll go ask in the afternoon!" Yang Yongqiang was very familiar with this. Wasn't that how it was done during the time the big sea was cleared? But the price collected now is much higher than at that time.

Li Long clearly discovered that his few suggestions greatly increased the initiative of Tao Daqiang and Yang Yongqiang. Yesterday, when he saw them selling fish in the market, their enthusiasm wasn't as strong as it was now.

Is it because they are used to relying on him, so they became like this?

Does he need to let them do things alone and cultivate their ability to handle things?

Then Li Long smiled. They aren't big figures, why make it so complicated?

It's quite good like this, right? Strong obedience, can earn money, young, obedient, and no miscellaneous things.

Must they cause trouble to count?

Just like this.

Li Long started making fine iron wires and rabbit snares.

Most of the ones from last year were wasted by him, this year he must make more, and remember to recycle them when the time comes.

After all, half a thread and half a strand, always remember the difficulty of material resources. (End of chapter)