Chapter 439: Farming First

Although he had only stayed in the county town for a few days, when Li Long returned, he discovered that most of the land in the team that hadn't been planted with winter wheat had already been sown. As the soil moisture improved, the wheat had begun to grow, and the fields were patches of green, the once barren earth becoming full of vitality.

Along the ditches by the roadside, the tenacious reeds had poked their sharp tips out of the ground. Many children going to or from school would break these reed tips off to play with, using them as pens, darts, or betting chips. They would get bored of them before long, and those with livestock at home would collect them to take back as feed.

For example, Li Qiang; when he came home from school, the empty space in his schoolbag would be filled with many such reed buds. As soon as he returned, he would dump them for Number 76 to give it an extra meal.

Li Long was drying melon seeds in the big courtyard. After drying for one day, they would be soaked for a day, and then they could be planted. His new big courtyard didn't have so many messy things yet; it was relatively flat and spacious.

Several reed mats were spread on the ground, and the melon seeds were on the mats. The sun wasn't too scorching at this time, and it felt warm on the body, not unpleasant.

A breeze blew up, carrying a hint of damp, earthy scent. At this time, the grass in the wild hadn't fully grown, so when there was a strong wind, there would be sandstorms, and a light breeze would also stir up a little dust. In a month or two, after the wild grass grew wantonly and covered the barren beaches in the wild, the wind would no longer be able to blow up large patches of dust.

In the evening, he would collect the melon seeds and put them in a bucket to soak. After fishing them out tomorrow afternoon, they could be planted the morning after next.

Not wanting to cook for himself, Li Long went to his eldest brother's house in the backyard to eat. His eldest brother and sister-in-law went to the fields to work, and dinner was cooked by his second sister-in-law. The family chatted and laughed while eating dinner, and then Li Long returned to his own courtyard.

Alone and solitary—that was exactly what he was now.

Li Long was a bit regretful now. The life he had lived these past few days was like a fish in water. Although it didn't reach the point of making him forget his home, the feeling was truly addictive, and he didn't want to delay even a single day.

Now that he had to return for serious matters, Li Long originally felt that he had been single for twenty years and it was no big deal, but he didn't expect that once he had tasted it, he truly couldn't forget it.

It was hard to cut off.

Fine, let's find something to distract himself.

He found a pen for writing gifts and got a blank notebook, preparing to write down a plan.

The notebook for recording gifts had long been put away, and these gifts would all have to be returned later. Now, in the village, such gift-giving usually only happened at weddings and funerals; there weren't so many rules. Unlike later generations, with weddings, baby's full-month celebrations, first birthdays, school graduations, and even coming-of-age ceremonies...

In later generations, they were criticized quite a bit anyway. Doing these things in the city was fine; no one said anything, as they didn't invite many people, basically just relatives and friends. But doing this in the village? Wasn't that asking to be scolded?

There were three main things to do next. The first was to plant the melon seeds. This carried the heavy responsibility of the Li family's development of economic crops; it was the first step taken, and planting them well would at least be a good omen. If they didn't grow well, Li Long planned to switch to planting something else.

The second thing was to go into the mountains. On one hand, it was to deliver grain to Halimu and the others. They should be moving pastures soon and would need quite a lot of supplies. At the same time, it was to see Halimu and Yushanjiang's elderly and children and see how they were doing in the pastoral team.

The third thing was to find a courtyard for his brother-in-law, Chen Xingbang, and then bring some sheep from the mountains for him to practice with. Since his brother-in-law had come over and didn't want to be a worker, he would help him within his capabilities. It was said that no one was necessarily a good person or a bad person. In his previous life, neither his second brother nor his brother-in-law were like this. In this life, at least from what he could see now, they were both quite good. One could only say that changes in the environment were also affecting every decision each person made.

Now that Chen Xingbang could stay in the village and work steadily, it meant that at least he could afford to wait and also trusted Li Long.

After Li Long finished writing these three points, he calculated and felt something was still missing. After thinking about it, he added a fourth under the third point.

The fourth point was to find an opportunity to see Li Xiangqian and ask about the stretcher-bearer team. Li Long believed that this thing would still have to be woven for at least two or three years. Before cars and pushcarts were popularized in all units, this would definitely be needed for work.

Li Long suddenly thought of one thing: could he find the Kuitun Agricultural Machinery Factory and let them produce some two-wheeled pushcarts? Like the kind on construction sites in later generations, they could definitely hold more things than the current flatbed pushcarts. He felt that if they were produced, they would definitely be popular.

But after thinking about it, he decided against it. What constrained production now were parts. Any machinery factory could build a single-person two-wheeled pushcart, but being able to build one and being able to build them in large batches were different things. What was lacking now? What was lacking were hubs and bearings and such.

After recording this point, Li Long read it over again. For the time being, these were the few things.

Right, he also had to find time to take the tractor license exam and get the license plate. Although it wasn't strictly checked now, the necessary procedures still had to be followed.

Then he read a book and went to sleep.

The next day, Li Long took the net with his grandfather and drove the tractor to Shicheng to sell fish. There actually wasn't much fish, only twenty or thirty kilograms. Li Long went to Shicheng mainly for the courtyard. He took Chen Xingbang with him to the courtyard where Gu Ermao and those people used to sell smuggled electronic watches. People were already living in that courtyard now. However, Li Long's target wasn't this one, but another courtyard across the street. When he was chasing Gu Ermao over there, he remembered that this courtyard had been abandoned.

At that time, Ke Ke Ke Youmu also said that there was a courtyard here that wasn't occupied. When Li Long came over this time, he was somewhat surprised to see that Ke Ke Ke Youmu's milk tea shop had opened again.

Li Qing Xia went to set up a stall to sell fish, and Chen Xingbang followed to help out, while Li Long went to the milk tea shop.

"Boss, Jiakesi ma? You didn't open the shop for a while, was there something wrong at home?" Li entered the shop and asked Ke Ke Ke Youmu directly.

"Hmm, there was a little something at home." Ke Ke Ke Youmu didn't expect Li Long to have been paying attention to him, nodded, and said while making naan, "My family, they want to continue living in the mountains. Me, I want them to come to Shicheng to live and find some work. What's so good about living in the mountains? They aren't willing. I went back this time to persuade them..."

"Did you persuade them?" Li Long asked.

"No. The elderly feel that they still want to live in the mountains. They don't like the city, saying there are too many bad people here."

Fine, if you really want to talk about it, the elderly weren't wrong.

"I want to inquire about something, which is that courtyard over there. If I want to rent it, who should I find?"

"If someone is living there, just find the person. If no one is living there, you have to find the neighborhood office." Ke Ke Ke Youmu was still quite clear about these things and said, "There is an empty courtyard over there, but I don't know if it has been rented out yet."

"Then I'll go ask the neighborhood office. Do you know where it is?"

"I know, I know." Ke Ke Ke Youmu pointed out the location to Li Long and said with a smile, "If you come over to do business, that would be great. You can come over to chat and drink some milk tea when you're free."

"No problem."

The distance wasn't far, and Li Long didn't drive the tractor. He looked at his father and Chen Xingbang selling fish there, with many people surrounding them, so he walked to the neighborhood office himself.

"Rent a courtyard?" The person in charge of this area was an older sister. After hearing Li Long's idea, she began to flip through the materials, "Are you talking about that row of courtyards by the old street?"

"Yes." Li Long stated the location.

"There are indeed courtyard owners there who left their keys with us seeking to rent them out." That older sister flipped through the materials and quickly found a power of attorney, then looked up at Li Long and said:

"Since you want to rent, I'll tell you the situation. The owner said, renting is fine, but for at least half a year. The rent is twenty yuan per month, paid for half a year at once. If you renew the lease, talk to us one month in advance, and also find us here. If you think this is okay, then let's go see the courtyard now. If you think it's too expensive, then don't bother. We have courtyards in other places here, all entrusted to us for rental by the original owners who went to the interior."

Li Long's heart stirred as he listened, and he asked:

"Then is this courtyard for sale?"

"For sale? They didn't say. Maybe not for sale. We can't make the decision on this."

Fine, Li Long originally thought about picking up a bargain. After all, the housing prices in Shicheng would rise later, and they hadn't really dropped much until the real estate winter.

Besides, this place was next to the old street, and the housing prices would definitely fly later... Forget it, there were many ways to make money; he didn't lack this one.

"Then let's go see it." He definitely had to see the courtyard. He had only seen the outside before and hadn't seen the inside, so he didn't know how it was.

That older sister took Li Long to the courtyard. After opening the courtyard gate, Li Long found that the layout of the courtyard was somewhat similar to his own; the vegetable garden was quite large and separated from the courtyard by a flower wall. However, the vegetable garden was barren at this time, with nothing in it. Actually, there was no need to plant anything; keeping it for raising sheep would be good.

That older sister opened the room door and said:

"This house hasn't been lived in for almost a year. It's a proper brick house. Inside, there's a stove, a fire wall, and everything. You can live here in winter. The furniture is basically all here. Although it's not new, it can be used..."

The rooms were opened one by one. Li Long looked around. The original owner had left in quite a hurry, basically packing up everything, leaving only some odds and ends, but it wouldn't take much effort to clean up. The floor was paved with bricks, which would be quite convenient to clean.

The whole courtyard was smaller than his own, but larger than the one he bought south of the Wuyi Highway for Sister Yang to rent. In this location, twenty yuan wasn't much.

Li Long's plan was to rent it for half a year first, and let his brother-in-law, Chen Xingbang, work there first. He would pay the initial rent himself, just as a subsidy for his brother-in-law. After half a year, if he could do it, Chen Xingbang should be able to get a foothold. He wouldn't worry about this courtyard anymore and would hand it over completely to Chen Xingbang. He thought that by then, his brother-in-law should be able to bring his sister and children over, right?

"Rented." Li Long made the decision, "Should I pay the money and write the contract now?"

"No need to write a contract. You pay the money, and I'll write you a certificate." That older sister didn't expect Li Long to be so straightforward and said with a smile, "Let's be clear first: pay the rent for half a year at once. If you want to renew the lease, say so one month in advance."

"Good." Li Long said firmly. The older sister locked the door and took Li Long to the neighborhood office to pay the money and get the receipt. At this time, the older sister emphatically asked about Li Long's identity. Li Long took out the certificate from the Supply and Marketing Cooperative and his work ID. The older sister was quite happy; after all, people from the public sector were more trustworthy.

After paying the money and getting the certificate and keys, Li Long thanked the older sister and quickly went to the old street.

In just this short while, the twenty or thirty kilograms of fish Li Qing Xia brought had less than five kilograms left.

"Father, I've rented the courtyard. You keep selling, I'll take my brother-in-law to see the courtyard." Li Long went over and said, and Chen Xingbang stood up excitedly.

"Fine, you go." Li Qing Xia could handle selling fish alone and said with a smile.

Li Long took Chen Xingbang and walked toward the courtyard. Chen Xingbang asked while walking:

"Xiao Long, why so fast? This matter was handled efficiently. Is that courtyard big? Can it hold a few sheep?..."

There were many questions. Obviously, Chen Xingbang hadn't said much these past few days, but he had thought quite thoroughly.

Li Long pointed to the courtyard side and said:

"You see, it's a big courtyard. The vegetable garden in front—if you block the gate, it's just right for raising sheep. However, you'll have to bring some feed from home. That's easy to say."

Arriving at the courtyard, Li Long opened the lock and pushed the door open, letting Chen Xingbang go in first to take a look.

Chen Xingbang walked in excitedly. One glance at the large vegetable garden in front, and he was very satisfied. Looking at the red brick-paved ground and the house on the three-layer steps, he was also very satisfied.

Li Long opened the room door again to let him see.

!.

"Not bad, not bad, much better than I imagined." Chen Xingbang had a smile on his face, "This rent isn't cheap, right?"

"I've already paid for the first half year." Li Long said, "After half a year, you should be able to stand on your own feet. By then, you pay it. Twenty yuan a month, do you think that's okay?"

"It's okay!" Chen Xingbang said with a smile, "Twenty for such a big courtyard, and it's right by the old street, it's really not expensive!"

Fine, since Chen Xingbang didn't think it was expensive, then this matter was basically settled. The next step was the cattle and sheep.

After Chen Xingbang looked around, he made a decision.

"Xiao Long, I won't go back today. I have to tidy up this courtyard properly and also need to get some things over here. It's just right by the old street, so some things can be arranged here. You and Father go back. When do you plan to go into the mountains?"

Li Long calculated that he had to plant melon seeds tomorrow, which would take a day. He would have to be busy with some finishing work the day after tomorrow, so he said:

"The day after tomorrow, we'll go into the mountains the day after tomorrow."

"That's fine. I'll take the bus to Maxian early the day after tomorrow, and I'll wait for you at the entrance of the grain store."

"Fine." Li Long didn't say much more. Chen Xingbang was anxious to engage in his own career, which was completely understandable. After all, Li Anguo and Li Junshan were already considered to have entered units, while he still had nothing, so his psychological pressure must be quite high.

"I'll pay you back for the rent of this courtyard once I make money." Chen Xingbang said again.

"No need, no need." Li Long waved his hand, "This is a gift from me to you, it's what you should have. You don't need to worry about these things, just think about how to do it well later."

Li Long came out of the big courtyard and walked to his grandfather's place. Li Qing Xia had already sold the fish and was tidying up. The tractor's crank was also here. After Li Long helped tidy up, Li Qing Xia asked:

"Your brother-in-law stayed there?"

"Hmm, he's not coming back. He'll tidy up the courtyard properly, and the day after tomorrow he'll go into the mountains with me to buy sheep."

"Fine, as long as he can do things." Li Qing Xia's thinking was very open, "He's good at tidying up this."

The two of them arrived at the tractor. After putting the things down, Li Long asked his father:

"Father, do you want to drink some milk tea?"

"No, I still like to drink porridge. Besides, I'm not hungry now. I earned more than twenty yuan today. Let's go, back to that county, the big meat canteen over there, I'll pay, let's eat that oil-splashed meat mixed noodles!"

Father is generous!

Li Long drove the tractor with a smile. When turning, he bypassed Ke Ke Ke Youmu's milk tea shop, waved his hand as a greeting, and then drove away with a "tut-tut-tut," leaving behind a cloud of smoke, diesel smell, and the envious gazes of many people.

After eating, Li Qing Xia insisted that Li Long drive the tractor to the market, where he bought some vegetable seedlings, and only then did he sit on the tractor contentedly to rush back.

Li Long didn't see Sister Yang at the market. He didn't know if she had finished selling a pot of rice and gone back, but looking at the time, it was also time to cook lunch, so she should have gone back to cook, right?

Returning home, his father didn't cast the net in the afternoon. Li Long asked him, and he said that they would plant melon seeds tomorrow, which would require manual labor, so he also wanted to go to the fields to take a look.

The next day, the tractor took the whole Li family to the melon field.

Li Jianguo and his wife, Li Qing Xia and his wife, plus Li Long. Chen Li Rong wasn't there; she stayed at home to cook.

The tractor stopped at the edge of the field. After Li Long turned off the engine and went to the back to get things, Li Jianguo had already jumped off the back, holding a bag of melon seeds and placing them at the edge of the field.

Liang Yuemei, wearing a headscarf, followed behind with three seed-planting devices. Li Qing Xia carried a cage with five kilograms of tea water, and Du Chunfang carried a basket on her arm, inside which were dried steamed bun pieces.

It was the habit here that if the steamed buns steamed in summer couldn't be finished, they would be broken into pieces and dried, so they wouldn't spoil easily, were easy to store, and were good for the stomach.

It was just that later on, people slowly stopped steaming so many buns, and coupled with refrigerators, fewer and fewer people dried bun pieces.

When Li Long was watching short videos in his previous life, he saw that in Qitai, Dongsan County, they were still drying bun pieces until the 2020s, which really felt quite intimate. Some customs and some dietary habits, although gone in Maxian, still existed in other places.

For example, Qitai's dried buns, for example, Fangcaohu's cold noodles.

Of course, it was also very easy to be targeted by internet celebrities, who would come up with fake and shoddy things.

One needed to distinguish carefully.

Once the things were in the field, Li Long took a seed-planting device without hesitation, uncovered the lid, grabbed a handful of melon seeds from the bag, and put them inside.

Li Jianguo and Liang Yuemei followed. They had used this in their vegetable garden at home, but this was a large field, and the feeling was different.

With Li Long's action, their confidence was restored.

Li Long came to the edge of the field. This field had already been plowed, leveled, and harrowed, and was very flat. Stepping on it, one could feel the looseness of the sandy soil, not bad.

He pointed to the ground at the very edge and said:

"Two rows per ridge, separate by eighty centimeters to one meter before starting another ridge. I'll lead."

Saying this, he took the seed-planting device and gave a demonstration.

Watching Li Long's movements, Li Jianguo and Liang Yuemei, who often farmed, understood immediately and followed suit.

However, they didn't move forward while planting.

Li Qing Xia and Du Chunfang filled three cloth bags with more than half of the melon seeds, about two or three kilograms. Li Long and the other two each tied one around their waists. Before the seeds in the planting device hit the bottom, they would take a handful from the bag and add it, so they wouldn't miss any seedlings.

Start working! (End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 440 =====