Chapter 512: Yang Yongqiang's wild ambition

After breakfast the next day, before Gu Xiaoxia went to work, she rummaged out a pair of leather knee pads from the bedroom and let Li Long put them on when driving the tractor.

"This is made from the sheepskin you left behind. You drive facing the wind early in the morning, so it must be cold. Cover something on your knees, so you won't get wind in them and have pain later."

The knee pads looked a bit earthy and ugly, but Li Long didn't dislike them at all. He put them on his legs in front of Gu Xiaoxia, moved around, and felt they were not bad, so he said with a smile:

"Alright, you go to work with peace of mind; I might be back tomorrow."

After Gu Xiaoxia went out pushing her bicycle, Li Long first added food and water for those few roe deer and little deer, and swept the courtyard clean again before driving the tractor out.

The road was quite far. He first went to the oil depot to add oil and brought two more barrels of oil before driving west along the Wuyi Highway.

Running all the way to the Old Street market, he didn't see his old man and Tao Daqiang. He greeted Chen Xingbang, bought two naan that had just been hit and were still hot in Keyumu's shop, put them in the car, and continued west.

Alone, Li Long wasn't afraid.

Under the bag in the tractor trailer was a 56-style semi-automatic rifle. Under his seat was a machete. If there were any blind people who wanted to do something, anyway, most of the places to the west were uninhabited, so he didn't mind doing some things that outlaws liked to do.

All the way west, 143, Wulanwusu, Shawan, Anjihai.

In the middle, Li Long rested in the no-man's land, let out water, and gnawed on naan. This time he didn't go to the roadside restaurant to eat; mainly, he still had to maintain a certain vigilance.

He vaguely remembered that a taxi driver from Kuitun was once kidnapped to the Gobi Desert here and killed, and it hadn't been solved for more than ten years—actually, the person was caught, but the taxi driver's body wasn't found, so it couldn't be closed.

Occasionally, a car would drive over from behind, honking its horn and passing Li Long. Li Long also honked his horn in response. When cars weren't the mainstream means of transportation and people were still mainly accustomed to animal-drawn carts, a few dozen kilometers of road was already quite far. So for such friendly greetings, Li Long naturally didn't mind responding.

Driving all the way to the Kuitun barracks, Li Long's heart relaxed a lot. At this time, it was already noon and approaching afternoon. Five kilometers north from the barracks, he entered KT City. Li Long drove the tractor directly to the First Construction and Installation Company.

It should be work time now. Li Long originally thought about waiting outside, but he didn't expect the guard at the door to recognize him and greet him to come in.

Li Long parked the tractor in the open space outside, got down, and walked to the guard's place, handing cigarettes to the person.

"Young man, I remember you. You drove a tractor to haul people over two months ago, and also hauled sand and bricks here for a few days." The guard took the cigarette and said with a smile, "I was strange then why you suddenly left. Now that you've come, are you planning to join the company?"

"No, no, no, my brother is inside, I'm here to see him." Li Long pointed inside and said, "Still a temporary worker, don't know which construction site he's working on."

"Temporary worker, huh? It's said a batch of temporary workers is going to be regularized recently; don't know if your brother is among them. If he's a temporary worker, he should be at the construction site over at the Octagonal Building now. If you are in a hurry to find someone, you can go take a look there. By the way, do you know where the Octagonal Building is?"

"Know, know, thank you." Li Long thanked the guard and drove the tractor toward the Octagonal Building.

The Octagonal Building was just the local people's name; in fact, the full name was Red Flag Market, which was the original manager building of the Agricultural 7th Division Supply and Marketing Cooperative, later handed over to KT City. In this era, it was considered a landmark building in Kuitun.

Red Flag or Red Flag Building basically existed in every city in Northern Xinjiang, so it was easy to find. Li Long himself also knew the location, and soon drove the tractor to the place.

The construction site was next to the Red Flag Market. When Li Long found a place to park the tractor, he had already seen his second brother Li Anguo and nephew Li Junshan, who were lifting bricks and plastering walls. They were both skilled workers, and there were people helping them on the side.

Li Long scanned the circle and then saw Yang Yongqiang. He could see that Yang Yongqiang was still doing small labor. He was much darker than before, but fatter; it should be because of the large amount of activity and eating more. The food here should be better than in the team, right?

Li Long didn't go over to disturb their work. He sat on the tractor and waited. There wasn't enough shade from trees here, but fortunately, it was already afternoon, the sunlight wasn't very strong, and slowly the sun slanted west. Seeing the work at the construction site entering the end, some people started packing up tools, and some were speeding up the construction progress, at least finishing the finishing work before ending.

Waiting until the work ended and the workers packed up tools preparing to leave, Li Long got off the tractor, ran across the road, and shouted toward Li Anguo, Li Junshan, and Yang Yongqiang in the team.

The three of them weren't together when working, but they gathered together when the work ended, which was just convenient for Li Long to greet them.

"Yo, Little Long is here!"

"Little Long Uncle!"

"Long Brother, you're here!"

The three people made exclamations almost at the same time, and their faces were also surprised expressions.

Li Anguo hurriedly went to tell the team leader, and Li Junshan and Yang Yongqiang had already come to Li Long's side with full faces of smiles.

"Junshan, Yongqiang, you two have both become sturdy." Li Long patted the two people's shoulders and said with a smile, "Not bad, not bad, looks like the food is quite good."

"What's good!" Yang Yongqiang complained, "There's no oil and water, and it's hard to eat meat..."

"That's still better than at home." Li Junshan smiled, "Good, good, I think it's not bad. Not as good as the meal at Little Long Uncle's house, but it's okay."

Li Anguo walked over with a tool bag at this time: "Little Long, when did you arrive? Go, let's go eat. I asked the team leader for leave; the four of us go together."

"Then put the bag in the car." Li Long said with a smile, "I didn't arrive long ago. I saw the telegram you sent, second brother; are you three all going to be regularized?"

"Yeah." Li Anguo nodded.

"I'm just a small worker, the job type is different. But I'm also working hard, striving to get a technical job before the end of the year." Yang Yongqiang was a bit dissatisfied with himself, "The competition is too fierce; everyone wants to do technology."

"You are young, your brain is active, and there is still more to learn." Li Anguo comforted, "If it really doesn't work, after regularization, go sign up for night school. Now the company supports workers going to night school to learn. We are too short of technical personnel; if you can graduate from night school, then you will be a technician stronger than us in the future."

Li Anguo was right. Now every industry was thirsty for technical talent; otherwise, it would be impossible for a secondary school graduate to become a national cadre.

"That's right, Yongqiang. Your sister's learning ability is so strong, you are not bad either." Li Long said loudly while driving the tractor, "Set a plan for yourself, study well, later get a technician, sit in the office drawing blueprints, or wear a safety helmet to check the construction situation—how good that is!"

Yang Yongqiang smiled.

Actually, he himself also had thoughts, but he hadn't said it all along. Now that Li Anguo and Li Long said it, he didn't hide it anymore:

"I also thought so. Now just do the worker's work first; after the regularization is approved, go to night school! My grades in school were actually not bad... it's just..."

Alright, grades weren't as good as his sister's, plus he was naughty then, so it was normal that he couldn't continue.

The tractor drove to the entrance of a cafeteria. Unlike Ma County, although Kuitun was only a county-level city, the headquarters of the Agricultural 7th Division was north of the city, and the 130th Regiment and 131st Regiment were not far away, so there were more state-run cafeterias open to the outside.

Parked the tractor, took important items, and seeing Li Long carrying something long, Yang Yongqiang asked:

"Long Brother, is that a gun?"

"Yeah, driving over alone, still have to prepare something for self-defense." "Should be." Li Anguo said, "This road is more than a hundred kilometers; can't prepare for what might happen in the middle. Eat noodles?"

"Eat noodles, and let them stir-fry a spicy chicken." Li Long said, "Do you drink beer?"

"Drink some." Yang Yongqiang said with a smile, "I'll treat, anyway, there's nothing at night."

"Can't let you treat." Li Long waved his hand, "I'll come, I'll come."

"Hey! Arrived here and still let you pay?" Li Anguo waved his hand, "Don't rush, you all go sit, I'll order."

Li Long said in a low voice:

"Second brother, a month ago, I earned the money for a tractor... don't fight with me."

"What?" Li Anguo was startled.

During this period, he had received two salaries, plus the money saved before the New Year that hadn't been spent, he had several hundred yuan in hand, which was actually not little.

But Li Long saying this truly startled him.

!.

Li Long smiled:

"Not joking with you, alright, you all sit, I'll come."

He went to order a spicy chicken, four noodles, and eight bottles of beer. After paying the money and tickets, he went back and sat at the table.

"Little Long Brother, is everything okay at home? Is my sister doing okay in school?" Yang Yongqiang asked impatiently.

"All good, all good." Li Long said with a smile, "Two days ago I went back, your dad was still asking. Your sister is doing well in school; that grade doesn't need to be said, very good."

"That's fine." Hearing that everything was good at home, Yang Yongqiang felt relieved.

"I came over this trip, and also wanted to ask you all, if I go back tomorrow, do you want to go back together?" Li Long asked, "When exactly is your regularization? Do you have to wait for the letter of inquiry?"

"Yeah, have to wait, this political review is still quite important." Li Anguo smiled, "But for us, it's basically just walking through a procedure. That Section Chief met us and said, this is just a procedure; if the hometown side doesn't open it properly, we aren't afraid either."

This situation wasn't non-existent. The Li Qing Xia family had all moved to Northern Xinjiang. At present, there were no immediate relatives in the hometown; those who were there were cousins, no immediate relatives. So the letter of inquiry went back; couldn't say whether someone would make trouble out of jealousy.

"Having these words is fine." Li Long said, "Tonight I'll go see Section Chief Ma, and by the way, probe the situation and also say this situation. Yongqiang's side should be no problem; our team does political review letter of inquiry, the team leader never makes trouble, all speak well."

He looked at Yang Yongqiang and said with a smile:

"Yongqiang, no matter what job type, at least among you young people, you are the first one to jump out of the team, proud, right!"

Yang Yongqiang's face was a bit red, but there was truly a bit of pride in it. He said with a smile:

"Yeah, this one is also an accident. If it weren't for Long Brother, I wouldn't have come out... later have to have a drink with you."

The beer was served first. At this time, the life-taking Wusu hadn't been produced, and what was served on the table was Xinjiang beer. This beer later, because it was acquired by Wusu Beer, slowly faded from people's sight.

Each moved, each poured a cup, Li Anguo raised his cup:

"Come, Little Long came to see us, the three of us are about to be regularized, touch one, celebrate!"

Four cups touched together, making a crisp sound, and the four people drank it in one gulp.

At this time, the beer was brewed strictly according to the process, the amount of hops was very sufficient, and the taste was also very strong.

When pouring again, Yang Yongqiang wanted to raise his cup, but Li Long hurriedly waved his hand:

"Stop, stop, stop, I have to drive the tractor, let's drink slowly, wait until the dishes are served and pad a bit before saying."

Yang Yongqiang smiled and said:

"Long Brother is still as cautious as ever, good, good."

The dishes weren't served, the noodles were served first. Li Long was hungry, and Li Anguo and the others were also hungry. They were all doing physical labor, so they didn't yield anymore, put the dishes on the noodles, and started eating.

Eating halfway, the big plate of spicy chicken was served. Li Long and the others didn't stop their mouths, finished the noodles, still felt unsatisfied, but didn't add more noodles, instead touched another cup, and started talking about their own things.

Li Anguo and the others were here, "covered" by Section Chief Ma Aihong, and in general, the work was quite smooth. Plus the three were all willing to work, and themselves weren't people who were lazy, also for the sake of hoping to stay and become a formal worker, so they quickly left a good reputation in the construction team.

The construction and installation company counted and evaluated two days ago, and posted the list of the first batch of regularizations. All three were on the list, which was also in line with everyone's view; no one had opinions on them. After all, people worked steadily and had leadership care, so no one had opinions.

"There will be two more batches of regularization later. If none of these two batches enter the list, they will be dismissed in the end." Li Anguo said, "Some people couldn't go on and walked away. The three of us have been taking care of each other. In the middle, Junshan was sick once, Yongqiang took care of him, running around."

"Hehe, all own people." Yang Yongqiang smiled, "Anguo Uncle, you also helped me quite a few times."

Listening to them talk, Li Long felt relieved. The three came together; he was most afraid of having estrangement because of some things. Now it seemed very good, so that was fine.

"Second brother, after you are regularized, when will you distribute the house? Sister-in-law and the baby can't always be separated from you in two places, right?"

"Sigh, it's hard to say for a while." Li Anguo shook his head, "For the house distribution, I privately asked Section Chief Ma. He said after regularization, let me apply, but he doesn't guarantee when it will be distributed. The company now has families who don't have houses to live in, and we can only wait in line. However, I heard Section Chief Ma say the company also wants to build a batch of such small courtyards. The place is there, just see when it will be built."

Li Long nodded and asked Li Junshan again:

"Junshan, what do you think? This regularization, are you going back to your hometown to find a wife, or are you going to find a partner here?"

"I haven't thought about it yet." Li Junshan shook his head, put down his chopsticks, and said, "Just work first. I just want to save some money first."

Also a good, steady idea.

The four people ate, drank, and chatted. Li Long talked about the situation at home in detail, including Yang Yongqiang's family situation. Li Anguo also talked about the situation here. The city wants to develop and needs a large population. The construction and installation company bears the brunt. After all, infrastructure construction, various government agencies, enterprises, and schools all need construction. Their work is a lot, and there are bonuses, so actually, if you talk about salary and treatment, it's also quite good.

As long as you have technology and are willing to sell effort, there will always be real returns.

So hope is in sight. After drinking a bottle and a half of beer, Li Anguo even said his most real thoughts:

"If I still can't get a house before the end of the year, I'll go rent a small courtyard outside, pick up your second sister-in-law and the baby, and if I can't rent one, I'll buy..."

This is a good idea, and Li Long is quite supportive.

Actually, the drinking capacity of the four people is more than two bottles of beer, but Li Long has to drive the tractor, and the other three have to go to work tomorrow, so they didn't drink much. After eating and drinking, it was a feeling of slight intoxication. Yang Yongqiang even wanted to get on the tractor and drive it himself, but Li Long pulled him down and pushed him into the tractor trailer.

Just kidding, if you let him drive now, it's likely to cause an accident.

Li Long rocked the tractor, drove north, and the construction and installation company was in the north.

In the middle, he ran into a state-run store. Li Long went down and bought two bottles of wine, two bottles of canned food, and a pack of snacks. Later, after he sent Li Anguo and the others into the company, he planned to go see Ma Aihong.

Even if it wasn't for asking about Li Anguo's matter, with Li Xiangqian's face there, no matter what, he had to see him once he came over.

Human feelings and worldly wisdom, nothing more than this. (End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 513 =====

"If I still can't get a house allocated by the end of the year, I'll go rent a small courtyard outside and bring your second sister-in-law and the kids over. If I can't rent one, I'll buy..."

This was a good idea, and Li Long was quite in favor of it.

In fact, all four of them had a tolerance for more than two bottles of beer, but Li Long had to drive the tractor, and the other three had to work the next day, so none of them drank much. After eating and drinking, they just felt a bit tipsy. Yang Yongqiang even wanted to get on the tractor and drive it himself, so Li Long had to pull him down and push him into the trailer.

Just kidding; if he let him drive at a time like this, it would likely lead to an accident.

Li Long cranked the tractor and drove north; the Construction and Installation Company was right to the north.

On the way, he ran into a state-run store. Li Long went down to buy two bottles of liquor, two cans, and a package of pastries. After he dropped Li Anguo and the others off at the company, he planned to go see Ma Aihong.

Even if it wasn't to ask about Li Anguo's affairs, given Li Xiangqian's face, since he was already here, he had to see him regardless.

Human relationships and worldly wisdom are nothing more than this. (End of chapter)